A suggestion on how to fix robots

[Annihilat0r]

While the new system of indirect control works great for biological pops (and adds a lot of immersion in my opinion), it does not work at all for robots. I would like to mak a couple of suggestions on how to fix that without too much work for the devs or too much micro for the player. A similar system could also work for hive-minded drones and enslaved species with bio-modding.

1. Let us add job preference when creating a robot template. This means the robots get maximum weight for these jobs and don't work anywhere else, so they don't take away other folks jobs. Example:

Spoiler

2. Let us choose which robots to build in the pop window by clicking on the robot without the need to enable population controls.

3. Add a button next to the aforementioned robot portrait where you can choose whether:

• to autobuild infintely (current behaviour)
• build a robot only when there is a free job with the selected suitability
• build a robot as long as there is a free job OR a non-robot pop working a job with selected suitability

4. Add a notification when the assembly plants are idling, because no robots are being needed.

5. Add the possibility to dissassemble unused (unemployed) robot pops for a small mineral/energy refund.

6. Drastically increase robot build speed. It should take much less time to build a robot than for bio pops to procreate. Instead, maybe increase mineral costs or maintanance costs, plus reduced stability or unhappiness if the ratio of robots vs bio-pops gets too high, to avoid robot spamming? The exact balancing would have to be evaluated in playtesting.

 

[MateuszS]

While the new system of indirect control works great for biological pops (and adds a lot of immersion in my opinion), it does not work at all for robots. I would like to mak a couple of suggestions on how to fix that without too much work for the devs or too much micro for the player. A similar system could also work for hive-minded drones and enslaved species with bio-modding.

1. Let us add job preference when creating a robot template. This means the robots get maximum weight for these jobs and don't work anywhere else, so they don't take away other folks jobs. Example:

Spoiler

View attachment 431608

2. Let us choose which robots to build in the pop window by clicking on the robot without the need to enable population controls.

3. Add a button next to the aforementioned robot portrait where you can choose whether:

• to autobuild infintely (current behaviour)
• build a robot only when there is a free job with the selected suitability
• build a robot as long as there is a free job OR a non-robot pop working a job with selected suitability

4. Add a notification when the assembly plants are idling, because no robots are being needed.

5. Add the possibility to dissassemble unused (unemployed) robot pops for a small mineral/energy refund.

6. Drastically increase robot build speed. It should take much less time to build a robot than for bio pops to procreate. Instead, maybe increase mineral costs or maintanance costs, plus reduced stability or unhappiness if the ratio of robots vs bio-pops gets too high, to avoid robot spamming? The exact balancing would have to be evaluated in playtesting.

My suggestion: increase their efficiency by X % (in comparison to organics) - bots don't need a break, after all.

 

[EvilTom]

How about both? I like all of the suggestions so far, especially being able to force robots into certain jobs, even at the expense of organics. The way the game works and the job allocations, it's not very efficient to make multiple types of robots. It's like the devs only expected us to make one master robot race.

I think it's strange that there are penalties in growth for selecting a specific robot to build. If anything it would be MORE efficient to specialise a manufacturing plant. Maybe a way of balancing it would be to just spend minerals and/or energy to choose specific bots to build, like it was previously rather than just 10 minerals a month, unless you set it to automatic building.

I'd also like to have the option for building robots only (not droids) which should in theory reduce the risk of of an AI uprising. Why do I want droid farmers, when robot ones are just as good?

How are growth allocations for robots figured out? Is it the same as for organics, where if they're underrepresented they grow, even if they're not needed?

 

[WhapXI]

bots don't need a break, after all.

I think this should be related to citizen rights. Citizen Synths absolutely want breaks and half-days and casual friday.

 

[Annihilat0r]

My suggestion: increase their efficiency by X % (in comparison to organics) - bots don't need a break, after all.

I don't know. I think it is safe to assume that the bio-pops don't do a lot of manual work either. It's more like a bio-pop operating the farming machine vs a fully automated, robotic farming machine. Even though the bio-pop needs breaks, I think they will both manage to give approximately the same yield when harvest comes.

Edit: also, robo empires wuld be severely OP with a general +X output to everything.

 

[MateuszS]

I don't know. I think it is safe to assume that the bio-pops don't do a lot of manual work either. It's more like a bio-pop operating the farming machine vs a fully automated, robotic farming machine. Even though the bio-pop needs breaks, I think they will both manage to give approximately the same yield when harvest comes.

Edit: also, robo empires wuld be severely OP with a general +X output to everything.

On the other hand, why would anyone invest in robo techs, build them and dumb resources into maintenance if organics can do the job with just some food and consumer goods?

 

[Annihilat0r]

On the other hand, why would anyone invest in robo techs, build them and dumb resources into maintenance if organics can do the job with just some food and consumer goods?

You already mentioned two benefits (no food/consumer goods). Also, robots need less housing. And you should be able to customize them better and assign where they work( which is not the case right now).

 

[MateuszS]

You already mentioned two benefits (no food/consumer goods). Also, robots need less housing. And you should be able to customize them better and assign where they work( which is not the case right now).

Yet robots need resources to work which can be spent elsewhere. You don't need food/consumer goods for anyone else than your own pops.

And if you really care about CGs, why don't you forget about bots and choose slavery? Slaves are cheap and more versatile even without techs.