Anyone else obsessed with being optimal in everything?

[ARTHUR]

I understand that half the fun comes from randomness and making due with what colonists you're rolled. But I am obsessively trying to research stuff like most optimal room size, what to build first and foremost.

I can spend hours watching Let's Plays and getting ideas from people with 100x the amount of hours that I've already spent and trying to remember everything. Maybe that's my real life personality trait, I've done more research that I've done playing Rimworld.

[Narrowmind]

There's no way to really do it unless. You play away from water, mountains and marsh. Usually, the landscape will specify what kind of perfection is possible. Since I normally don't play that way, I try not to be TOO perfect and work around what I can, but personally I can get angry if I don't rebuild mountain walls with brick, because I hate the thought of mountains being multiple materials in the wall. 😂 Perfection is its own enemy.

[Cat®]

It is apparently very common to watch videos about games for hours on end to try to replicate the success other players have. Or at least it is very common within the smaller group of people who visit community forums such as this, as opposed to the majority who just play the game and keep quiet about it.

I do not think this behaviour stems from a desire to be efficient, I think it stems from a decision paralysis and a fear of failure. In my experience the people who spend a lot of time watching others play to learn from them end up being not very great players by themselves, have little drive to improve, and lose motivation if they 'lose' or reach a failure state.

That's my two cents.

[sono]

I have the same impulse, and just redesigning bases over and over, figuring out optimal placement can be its own fun. It's kind of like Factorio, optimizing the factory, only with more moving parts. Sure, you're still often at the whims of the map and AI, but that just means the puzzle you're solving will never be done, so there's always something to do.

The fact that the 'optimal' setup changes throughout the game helps. For example, early on having more than 3*4 bedroom with a statue is pointless and you need the time and resources for something else, but later you can squeeze out a bit more, you can work hard to get the best quality of everything, make all walls marble etc.

You risk optimizing the fun out off games if you have this approach to games, but Rimworld is pretty friendly to approaching the game however you want to.

[Hoki]

Originally posted by sono:

For example, early on having more than 3*4 bedroom with a statue is pointless and you need the time and resources for something else, but later you can squeeze out a bit more, you can work hard to get the best quality of everything, make all walls marble etc.

and even that can adjusted just fun without the need to rebuild everything. just improve quality and materials and keep it clean.

when i started with 1.0 i watched a lot of yetis videos to learn about all the different systems but used that knowledge just as a reference. i never preplan my colonies for endgame but rather the initial state (where to farm, where to craft/cook/etc). efficiency is part of natural growth but not the biggest point. not every person likes giant empty rooms covered in gold. some prefer smaller rooms stuffed to the brim. i build according to location and the pawns i have. jealous and greedy get big rooms as that is easier for satisfying them. others stick to the initial 12-16ish tile rooms i give them (if possible not all being boring squares).

the main focus for efficiency i have going for my colonies is walking distance. everything else is not part of planning for me and will be adressed afterwards.

in the end its always a matter of focusing on the pawns or the colony as a whole. for the first you dont really care where you put stuff. you just pay attention to the need tabs of everyone. for the second one you just kim it and build it nice enough for everyone

[Astasia]

Half. I need to know the optimal way of doing everything, in every game, my brain is just wired that way. I usually use that knowledge specifically so I can play non-optimally and still keep a comfortable challenge. Basically I want to be good at games so I can play poorly and still win. Half my base is min-maxed, efficient cooking, efficient workshops, efficient storage, the other half is totally RP, giant bedrooms, large stylistic and cumbersome bases, thematic and often terrible "killboxes" etc. Some stuff is done wrong, I know it is, but because some other things are perfect I have enough slack to willingly make those mistakes. Though even the stuff that is "done wrong" still needs to be done perfectly to plan, and I often spend hours before the game unpauses for the first time planning out the entire base.

I used to spend more time watching than playing, I learned a lot about what not to do, by the time I started actually playing the game I already had a solid understanding and the ability to make a lasting colony on my first attempt. I don't think that is all that abnormal, a lot of content on youtube specializes in tutorial series specifically for people like us.

[Narrowmind]

Who do you study the most these days?

[Gnasty Gnorc]

Sounds like you should get some kind of testing done IRL, my man.

jokes aside, it depends. Some things I'll try to do optimally, other things not so much.

Really just depends on how my run is going.

[suejak]

Not at all. I really do roll with what I get and I enjoy the messiness when things are sloppy.

[martindirt]

I'm always want a base like that.
I'm plan my base (roughly) before start. I'm replan my base as game goes on.
But I'm always need to break my plan. I need 1 more bedroom, don't fit in the plan.
I'm need larger prison, don't fit in the plan.
Need another planting zone, don't fit in the plan.
After 1-2 in-game yrs, my base is a mess. Like a survivor camp in an apocalypse movie.
When I'm feel it's too mess, I'm start rework. From the middle, moving to the outskirts. But stg happens, and the mess continue to spread.

[Security Cam #7]

Nah I just roll with whatever comes to my mind. I find rimworld more fun when I don't need to worry about optimizing every route, workbench, room layout etc.

[whatamidoing]

I never plan, I just build out wherever I can squeeze things in.

[Slippery Williams]

I love tweaking my bases so not even a square is wasted and they don’t have to walk far. Plus it has to look good, so I don’t do things like put chairs and furniture in the way because I know they can walk over them but I try to be realistic like, I don’t want all my colonists vaulting over my butchers table to get to the main exit all the time. Also I’ll do stuff like rearrange everything so the research bench, dining table and chess set all use the same chair, I just like being very compact

Like, I make really small bedrooms, maybe 2x3 but add stuff like nice floors, a good/excellent dresser and plant pots so it’s at the very least ‘dull’.

Plus I don’t plan ahead, I just place the furniture I need, wrap a wall around it then knock out a wall to expand the room or add a door to make a new room. Plans never seem to go right for me so I make what looks good and is efficient in the moment

[eighmy_lupin]

Nope. In fact I hate playing that way.

I go for a mix of "realism" and "The Sims" approach.


Yes technically a could make two workbenches share a single stool and let two pawns sit on it at the same time,

I could shove a bunch of beds on on top of each other will no room to get on or off the bed expect at the head or foot,

I could make my pawns walk on top of hydroponics has they try to plant in the vary same hydroponics base,

but that looks awful and I love my pawns to much to mistreat them like that.



Also anyone saying you MUST build like that to be successful on harder difficulties is just bad at the game.