Too many Specialists?
If feel that once the game progresse to day 50 or so, you end up with too many Specialists to manage. I easily end up with 9 Specialists by day 70.
The thing is that I am not certain if that will really stay an issue going forward. It is likely that Specialist Spawnchance/Maximum was increased to allow for proper testing of those mechanics. Or that in the future there will be in-colony work for specialists - the text for Leadership is not exactly subtle here.
Expeditions/Groups:
Even with addtional colonist jobst, I think at least when going outside, it would help if decent sized teams (2-6 colonists) would be easier to manage. And Cars gave me an idea:
What if the (only/lategame) way to send your Specialists out was a Expedition or "Group"?
- The Group would consits of several Specialists. At least 1 (so you can go out early game), but can be more. Of course for a minimum of 1, "group" would be a poor name.
- The Group would operate with an aggregate of all members stats*.
- A team as a whole can use Vehicles. It might also be good if operations in the world (Scavenging, Research, Punching Scavengers) could be done without leaving the vehicle - the effects like damage would still hit the Group as a whole.
*Of course the Stats are a major factor. Luckily how you derive the group stats does not have to be even:
- for stuff like Scavenging and Research, summing it up would make sense. Otherwise a "Highest Stat, +1 per additional Specialist" would be a good shortcut. It still gives you something for adding people.
- For exploration, Highest +1 per Specialist would make the most sense. You got one experienced Pathfinder with you and a lot of extra eyes and skill to see shortcuts.
- For combat (Attack + Defense), the average might make the most sense. The strong have to defend the weak.
- It could even be that you have to declare the role of a group (Combat, Scavenging or Research) when sending them out. This could represent giving them proper equipment and a Heirarchy that favors the people with the right skill. A combat team would use Sum/Max+1 for Combat Stats, but something worse for Scavenging and Research.
- Hitpoint and Damage is the one thing I have no real idea regarding. Groups should definitely roll 1/Group member on the damage chance. Beyond that, I got no real idea.
Minimal Self healing:
It is one thing that you want to have healing be done most in the Colony, but still some self-healing would be nice.
As I understand it, healing in the colony is something like "Recovery Stat * 10" per Specialist Cycle.
What if they could also regenerate in the wild, but very slowly - something like Recovery Stat per Specialist Cycle. Then the colony would still be 10 times faster, but at least they could heal somewhat.
You could limit it to people in a Car/Group. Having a mobile shelter/someone to take up guard duty would really help resting.
Off-Map expeditions/Infinite Resources:
Finite resources are really an issue. Trading and Excavations helps a lot here, but even those can get you into deadlocks/lack of sources. Just think about having no place to get components from - or the raw materials to make components. if that will be added later. Or lacking the resources to build a Excavator.
One solution would be to send your specialists onto a "off-map expedition". This could be them literally driving off the map for a while.
Or them just vanishing from the game, while they scavenge in all those places that are not explicitly marked on the map. A ruined city might have some spots for resources besides Shopping Centers and Gas Stations. And for a handfull of survivors, scavengeable resources might as well be infinite.
Bonus points if you can tell them what you want.
Car Management:
Managing a lot of cars quickly becomes an issue. It would help if I could set wich class of car should appear in each garrage.
Alternatively, what about a way to "park" the cars in the colony? Something simple like a underground parking lot. Maybe it needs some cleaning up/maintenance.
If feel that once the game progresse to day 50 or so, you end up with too many Specialists to manage. I easily end up with 9 Specialists by day 70.
The thing is that I am not certain if that will really stay an issue going forward. It is likely that Specialist Spawnchance/Maximum was increased to allow for proper testing of those mechanics. Or that in the future there will be in-colony work for specialists - the text for Leadership is not exactly subtle here.
Expeditions/Groups:
Even with addtional colonist jobst, I think at least when going outside, it would help if decent sized teams (2-6 colonists) would be easier to manage. And Cars gave me an idea:
What if the (only/lategame) way to send your Specialists out was a Expedition or "Group"?
- The Group would consits of several Specialists. At least 1 (so you can go out early game), but can be more. Of course for a minimum of 1, "group" would be a poor name.
- The Group would operate with an aggregate of all members stats*.
- A team as a whole can use Vehicles. It might also be good if operations in the world (Scavenging, Research, Punching Scavengers) could be done without leaving the vehicle - the effects like damage would still hit the Group as a whole.
*Of course the Stats are a major factor. Luckily how you derive the group stats does not have to be even:
- for stuff like Scavenging and Research, summing it up would make sense. Otherwise a "Highest Stat, +1 per additional Specialist" would be a good shortcut. It still gives you something for adding people.
- For exploration, Highest +1 per Specialist would make the most sense. You got one experienced Pathfinder with you and a lot of extra eyes and skill to see shortcuts.
- For combat (Attack + Defense), the average might make the most sense. The strong have to defend the weak.
- It could even be that you have to declare the role of a group (Combat, Scavenging or Research) when sending them out. This could represent giving them proper equipment and a Heirarchy that favors the people with the right skill. A combat team would use Sum/Max+1 for Combat Stats, but something worse for Scavenging and Research.
- Hitpoint and Damage is the one thing I have no real idea regarding. Groups should definitely roll 1/Group member on the damage chance. Beyond that, I got no real idea.
Minimal Self healing:
It is one thing that you want to have healing be done most in the Colony, but still some self-healing would be nice.
As I understand it, healing in the colony is something like "Recovery Stat * 10" per Specialist Cycle.
What if they could also regenerate in the wild, but very slowly - something like Recovery Stat per Specialist Cycle. Then the colony would still be 10 times faster, but at least they could heal somewhat.
You could limit it to people in a Car/Group. Having a mobile shelter/someone to take up guard duty would really help resting.
Off-Map expeditions/Infinite Resources:
Finite resources are really an issue. Trading and Excavations helps a lot here, but even those can get you into deadlocks/lack of sources. Just think about having no place to get components from - or the raw materials to make components. if that will be added later. Or lacking the resources to build a Excavator.
One solution would be to send your specialists onto a "off-map expedition". This could be them literally driving off the map for a while.
Or them just vanishing from the game, while they scavenge in all those places that are not explicitly marked on the map. A ruined city might have some spots for resources besides Shopping Centers and Gas Stations. And for a handfull of survivors, scavengeable resources might as well be infinite.
Bonus points if you can tell them what you want.
Car Management:
Managing a lot of cars quickly becomes an issue. It would help if I could set wich class of car should appear in each garrage.
Alternatively, what about a way to "park" the cars in the colony? Something simple like a underground parking lot. Maybe it needs some cleaning up/maintenance.
