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RimWorld out today on Steam Early Access - Colony Manager of Love and Life and Death

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
37824-teaser1.jpg



So today RimWorld releases on Steam Early Access.

>> edit: Game is available now. if you bought the game on the official homepage you can recieve your steam key here: http://rimworldgame.com/getmygame/

You might ask "ok, wow. so?".
And thats understandable, but you should also give this little gem a chance. Because its engaging, entertaining, relaxing - its adorable and believable and last but not least so much fun to play.

Rimworld is essentially a light version on Dwarf Fortress. Its a Colony Manager with heavy emphasis on basebuilding and managing your pawns but with alot of charm. Ive seldom had a game where I got this attached to my pawns and pets.

But what is Rimworld? Rimworld is a remote planet in the outer territories of the galaxy and you happened to crashland there with just your bare hands and a few ressources and your goal is to establish a colony secure, advanced and rich enough to once again build a spaceship to escape this miserable hellhole of a planet full of hostile wildlife, warmongering tribespeople, mischievous outlanders and defending yourself against spacepirates and pure evil and hostile mechanoid dangers whilst enduring natural dangers like solar flares, eclipses, volcanic winters, heat waves and much more. Or just last as long as you can before ineviteably your colony fails due to unsurmountable circumstances even for the most advanced colonies.


But this is all theory. Take a few minutes and watch this video. Without explaing too much and getting any insight into what are the structures on the screen and why are they there, this just describes best what rimworld is and why its such a great story - different every time.

So heres a little story of Rimworld
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEJ6QymV7-o


and heres the current trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=866pKJDoHj4




Everyone who likes basebuilding and managing - this game is for you. You wont believe how fast time goes by when you play this game.


Features and mechanics of the game:
  • Factions
  • Social relationships
  • Personality traits
  • Raider sieges
  • Various biomes
  • Medical system (long-lasting wounds, blindness, doctors, medicine, surgery, organ harvesting)
  • Crafting (weapons, armory, clothing, art)
  • Prosthetics (wooden legs to bionic eyes, neuro trainers, joy wires)
  • Quality system for items (from awful to masterwork)
  • Diseases (flu, plague, malaria, etc.)
  • Temperature and seasons (snowfall during winter, heat-stroke, weather-appropriate clothing, etc.)
  • Habits and interests (artists, sculpting, skygazing, mediation, chess, etc.)
  • Aging (cataracts, gray hair, etc.)
  • Animal taming
  • Ancient artifacts, cryopods
  • Storms and seasonal events (lightning storms, toxic fallout, volcanic eruptions, etc.)
  • Psychic powers, weapons, armor, traps, defenses
  • Dynamic ecosystem (predators, prey, spreading insect hives)
  • Economy (space-traveling traders, ground caravans, etc.)
  • Mining, farming, trading



Also its very lightweight (arround 100MB), DRM free (even on steam afaik), and even though its alpha it is very polished allready. Im playing it since alpha 9 arround 1 year ago and never had the game crash on me or generally having any issues with it.
It is developed mainly by 1 guy with help from another one since this year and is released to early access mainly to make it clear that they intend to add more content to the game. It is perfectly playable as is, even on linux as far as i know.



So, yeah, Im sure PC GAF will adore this game, its addictive, adorable, and can be very emotional with storys of your colonies and pawns that are not full frontal but hidden in the little details wating for you to discover and smile upon.


Also with alpha 14 a new scenario system is introduced. So if you want to play a colony full of nudist, gay, elderly nobles that are psychologically hypersensive, and not capable of violence that you can do so now.

Steam integration also means workshop integration so these scenarios can be shared through steam, so if you want to play as the lone survivor that has to deal with permanent toxic fallout and has to build his own vault, chances are you will find one allready premade.


And last but not least, mods. The game heavily emphasises mods and there are allready a good bunch of them available. They will be made available through steam workshop, so that should strive even more.




*** I would make this the OT but I didnt claim it and I just thought this morning I would just post a thread. Im not sure how usefull a OT would be for this game, as GAF doesnt seem to be too interessted in it (which is a real shame), but if its a good Idea, maybe a mod can just adjust the title.
 

Dantero

Member
Can we redeem it on steam if we bought it on their site already

From their FAQ:

Will I get a Steam key?
– Valve’s standard Steam distribution agreement does not allow us to sell Steam keys to a game that isn’t also up for sale on Steam. So, we can’t promise you’ll definitely get a Steam key, because that would be the same as selling Steam keys. (Note: This doesn’t apply if you bought the game on or before November 4, 2014. If you bought before that date, you will get a key when the game is released on Steam. The reason that date is special is because we used to promise Steam keys and that’s the date when Valve asked us to stop.)

Edit: I bought the game 3 weeks too late...
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Game is good, but it has a LOT of Rogue-like going for it. Those wanting a straight strategy/build experience are in for a surprise.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
We should start a New Player Tips section in the OP.

Stuff like: freeze your food, plant herbs for herbal medicine, don't dig into any chambers you find in mountains until you're really well equipped, don't place turrets within 3 squares of anything you care about, etc.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
From their FAQ:

Will I get a Steam key?
– Valve’s standard Steam distribution agreement does not allow us to sell Steam keys to a game that isn’t also up for sale on Steam. So, we can’t promise you’ll definitely get a Steam key, because that would be the same as selling Steam keys. (Note: This doesn’t apply if you bought the game on or before November 4, 2014. If you bought before that date, you will get a key when the game is released on Steam. The reason that date is special is because we used to promise Steam keys and that’s the date when Valve asked us to stop.)

Edit: I bought the game 3 weeks too late...

Yeah, I've commented on that before in the general Steam thread. It's a load of bull:

It's completely and utterly false. Chubigans had no issues handing out keys for The Oil Blue to those who'd purchased the non-Steam version over the years, for instance. The dev is simply counting on some people to double-dip.
The dev clarified it in the coments:

Valve’s rule isn’t against giving keys to people after the game is out. It is against selling keys before the game is available on Steam.

I am also able to generate all the keys I like. But, as I’ve been specifically told by Valve, I’m not allowed to sell those keys right now. That’s why I don’t promise keys.

So, to summarize. Later, I’ll be allowed to give keys to everyone. But now, I’m just not allowed to sell those keys, until the Steam release. Note the subtle but important difference.

I think he's either getting his wires crossed or has been misinformed. Plenty of games offer or did offer pre-release access via Steam ahead of a release on the Steam Store.

Edit: It's obvious he's backtracking:

Will I get a Steam key?
– It depends when you bought the game. If you bought the game on or before November 4, 2014 you will get a key when the game is released on Steam. If you bought the game after that, we will try to get you a Steam key but Valve’s policies prevent us from being able to guarantee this.

The above isn't some impressive-for-all-the-wrong-reasons typo. He is very clearly avoiding a commitment to providing Steam keys at all to those who purchased after 02/11/14.
 

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
This looks interesting.

Is there a game like this in a zombie apocalypse?

there is a mod for that.

https://ludeon.com/forums/?topic=3635.0


i would just wait, i guess it will only take a few days until most of the popular mods are available through the workshop


We should start a New Player Tips section in the OP.

Stuff like: freeze your food, plant herbs for herbal medicine, don't dig into any chambers you find in mountains until you're really well equipped, don't place turrets within 3 squares of anything you care about, etc.

that would get out of hand very quickly. Theres so much you can do, and part of the fun is figuring out how it works best.

Yeah, I've commented on that before in the general Steam thread. It's a load of bull:

im sure everyone that purhcased the game so far will also get a steam key.
But if you want to be sure, just wait 8 more hours.
 

Aaron D.

Member
This game quickly shot to the top of my most-anticipated list when I learned about it not long ago.

Looks like exactly what I'm in the mood for these days...a Dwarf Fortress colony management sim with just a bit more accessibility and production values.

I'm SUPER excited it give it a go this evening!
 

Lanrutcon

Member
This game quickly shot to the top of my most-anticipated list when I learned about it not long ago.

Looks like exactly what I'm in the mood for these days...a Dwarf Fortress colony management sim with just a bit more accessibility and production values.

I'm SUPER excited it give it a go this evening!

Yeah. And then malaria strikes during a cougar attack in the middle of a heatwave.
 

epmode

Member
Hooray! I've wanted to buy this for ages.

I still don't understand why the developer was so weird about Steam keys for pre-orders though. Yes, I've seen the public explanation but it doesn't match the accounts from dozens of other projects in a similar position.
 

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
Hooray! I've wanted to buy this for ages.

I still don't understand why the developer was so weird about Steam keys for pre-orders though. Yes, I've seen the public explanation but it doesn't match the accounts from dozens of other projects in a similar position.

i think he just wanted to be on the safe side and not disapoint people if something goes wrong. It looks like everyone will get a key.

just a bit over half an hour!
 

epmode

Member
The art style gives me major Prison Architect vibes.

https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=450b2959d5d8de1d9187b51ffa69c875&topic=23.msg52#msg52

I drew some inspiration from PA. Moreso from its own inspiration, Dwarf Fortress.

We don't share any tools. Chris at IV has his own tech foundation; I built this one on Unity.

But they do look somewhat similar; that's my fault. I'm not a good enough artist to come up with a really good original look. There are only so many ways to render characters on a tiny grid without using animations.

I hope the differences between the game will be enough for people to look past the aesthetic similarities. And if I get some funding at some point I can get an artist to help develop a more unique look.

I do think the similarities are skin-deep. In gameplay the game resembles DF much more than PA.

That post is three years old and I'm not sure if they ever hired an artist. In any case, it's obviously still based on Prison Architect's art style.

For the record, Introversion is OK with it.
 

Cronee

Member
I absolutely love this game. The stories that just write themselves was a huge selling point for me. Stories such as this one that happened with my second colony.

After around 20 hours or so with colony number two, I had a very interesting event happen. I had a colonist, I cant remember her name exactly so let's call her fred, who, after repeated raider attacks, had lost an arm, a foot, an eye, and an ear. Poor fred was reduced to hobbling around on a wooden peg as the colony had no prosthetic limbs to speak of. A season or two passes and Fred has finally accepted that she's going to be disabled for life, as the poor colony was never able to purchase the much needed, but extremely expensive, prosthetics. Harvest time draws near and it's shaping up to be the best one yet but tragedy strikes, another raid. Thrown on the front line with nothing but a pistol, the raiders close in and all hell breaks loose. All of the colonists fought bravely and the attack was repelled, but they still suffered heavily. Crops were destroyed, colonists maimed or wounded, and poor fred took a bullet to a lung and her one good arm. All of the injured were rushed to the medical ward and patched up as best as can be. Fred's luck looked like it was coming around as she's expected to make a full recovery, but as fate would have it, her suffering wasn't over yet. An infection developed in her arm. After lying in bed for a full day, Fred looses her mind at the thought of loosing another limb, let alone the only usable arm she has left. She jumps our of bed and begins wandering the halls in a daze, all while slowly stripping off her clothing. Nothing can be done to console her (because it's not an option in the game) so she's left to wander, naked and afraid. After she regains her composure, she reacquires her clothing and returns to bed. Two days pass, the harvest was a success despite the losses, a trader happened by who was selling prosthetics and the colony decided that fred had suffered enough. They traded nearly 80 percent of their harvest for a leg, an arm, and a bionic eye so poor fred could finally feel normal again.

I'm not the best story teller but that's the short of what happened. Anyway, the game is great give it a shot.
 
Is it up on Steam yet? I'm on my phone and I saw a link for a free demo but when I tap on it I get sent back to the store home.

Edit- just updated. the page is up, $29.99.
 
One of the deepest, most challenging game of all time.

I cant wait to eat again human flesh from the frozen corpses outside my deep tundra bunker, while i defend my colony against giant bug monsters that are trying to destroy my only source of heat.

Priceless.
 

Woo-Fu

Banned
Other than UI, what separates this from Dwarf Fortress?

DF is "bigger" in most meaningful game metrics. RimWorld gives you a similar experience and is a lot more manageable, particularly for new players.

That said, RimWorld can be quite a bit more challenging. It will regularly throw stuff at you that is seemingly impossible to deal with on the harder difficulty levels. In DF I feel safe once I've gotten a fort established, only way I "lose" is by making big mistakes. In RimWorld I never feel safe. When you get certain combinations of events you're pretty much screwed if you don't save scum, which I don't.

Great game. If it were priced a bit lower I think word of mouth would turn it into one of those Steam games that practically everybody owns.
 

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
I absolutely love this game. The stories that just write themselves was a huge selling point for me. Stories such as this one that happened with my second colony.

After around 20 hours or so with colony number two, I had a very interesting event happen. I had a colonist, I cant remember her name exactly so let's call her fred, who, after repeated raider attacks, had lost an arm, a foot, an eye, and an ear. Poor fred was reduced to hobbling around on a wooden peg as the colony had no prosthetic limbs to speak of. A season or two passes and Fred has finally accepted that she's going to be disabled for life, as the poor colony was never able to purchase the much needed, but extremely expensive, prosthetics. Harvest time draws near and it's shaping up to be the best one yet but tragedy strikes, another raid. Thrown on the front line with nothing but a pistol, the raiders close in and all hell breaks loose. All of the colonists fought bravely and the attack was repelled, but they still suffered heavily. Crops were destroyed, colonists maimed or wounded, and poor fred took a bullet to a lung and her one good arm. All of the injured were rushed to the medical ward and patched up as best as can be. Fred's luck looked like it was coming around as she's expected to make a full recovery, but as fate would have it, her suffering wasn't over yet. An infection developed in her arm. After lying in bed for a full day, Fred looses her mind at the thought of loosing another limb, let alone the only usable arm she has left. She jumps our of bed and begins wandering the halls in a daze, all while slowly stripping off her clothing. Nothing can be done to console her (because it's not an option in the game) so she's left to wander, naked and afraid. After she regains her composure, she reacquires her clothing and returns to bed. Two days pass, the harvest was a success despite the losses, a trader happened by who was selling prosthetics and the colony decided that fred had suffered enough. They traded nearly 80 percent of their harvest for a leg, an arm, and a bionic eye so poor fred could finally feel normal again.

I'm not the best story teller but that's the short of what happened. Anyway, the game is great give it a shot.

great story. these are the kinds of things that happen all the time and you get emotionally attached to your little pawns and pets. When your poor husky that was born in your colony and you named him when he matured and you trained him all the different things, he went through hell with you, hauled steel from across the map in -65°C winter nights, lost an ear, a leg and has scars all over from all the times he stood by your side to defend you and your colony with all he has - when he passes out from extrem pain becasue he was set on fire by some evil incendiery weapon -you will do everything you can to rescue him and patch him up as good as you possibly can, your best doctor, your best medicine, all the care you can.
Awesome game.
 

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
All my mods stopped working with the new build.

Nooooooo.

thats expected as tynan apparently has changed things to make the game even more accesable for modders. usually takes only a few days for the popular mods to be compatible again.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
thats expected as tynan apparently has changed things to make the game even more accesable for modders. usually takes only a few days for the popular mods to be compatible again.

I am weak: I can't play without the "use points to build your colonists" mod. I like using it to build 4 underdeveloped colonists with a lot of growth potential.

And then I give them funny names :(
 

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
I am weak: I can't play without the "use points to build your colonists" mod. I like using it to build 4 underdeveloped colonists with a lot of growth potential.

And then I give them funny names :(

you might be in for a bad surprise then. This particular mod, EdB Prepare Carefully, is currently not in active developement anymore. The modder said he wanted to move on. MAybe someone else will pick it up. But have you tried the scenario system? To some extend you can do likewise with it.

but the other to edb mods allready got integrated into the base game (colonist bar and mod order), so its not unlikely that the base game will be getting a similar feature in the future.
 
From earlier in the year, features in the game:
  • Factions
  • Social relationships
  • Personality traits
  • Raider sieges
  • Various biomes
  • Medical system (long-lasting wounds, blindness, doctors, medicine, surgery, organ harvesting)
  • Prosthetics (wooden legs to bionic eyes)
  • Diseases (flu, plague, malaria, etc.)
  • Temperature and seasons (snowfall during winter, heat-stroke, weather-appropriate clothing, etc.)
  • Habits and interests (artists, sculpting, skygazing, mediation, chess, etc.)
  • Aging (cataracts, gray hair, etc.)
  • Animal taming
  • Ancient artifacts, cryopods
  • Storms and seasonal events (lightning storms, toxic fallout, volcanic eruptions, etc.)
  • Psychic powers, weapons, armor, traps, defenses
  • Dynamic ecosystem (predators, prey, spreading insect hives)
  • Economy (space-traveling traders, ground caravans, etc.)
  • Mining, farming, trading
 

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
From earlier in the year, features in the game:
  • Factions
  • Social relationships
  • Personality traits
  • Raider sieges
  • Various biomes
  • Medical system (long-lasting wounds, blindness, doctors, medicine, surgery, organ harvesting)
  • Prosthetics (wooden legs to bionic eyes)
  • Diseases (flu, plague, malaria, etc.)
  • Temperature and seasons (snowfall during winter, heat-stroke, weather-appropriate clothing, etc.)
  • Habits and interests (artists, sculpting, skygazing, mediation, chess, etc.)
  • Aging (cataracts, gray hair, etc.)
  • Animal taming
  • Ancient artifacts, cryopods
  • Storms and seasonal events (lightning storms, toxic fallout, volcanic eruptions, etc.)
  • Psychic powers, weapons, armor, traps, defenses
  • Dynamic ecosystem (predators, prey, spreading insect hives)
  • Economy (space-traveling traders, ground caravans, etc.)
  • Mining, farming, trading

ill include that.
 

epmode

Member
I played for a bit. Unfortunately, the lack of UI scaling means that some of the text and icons are tough to deal with on my 1440p monitor. That's just a first impression. I'm not sure if it'll be too annoying to play over time.

Other than that, it seems interesting. I like that there's a way to gauge how beautiful your colonists will consider a particular area of the map.



edit: Can I just say that I'm getting really annoyed with games that ignore UI scaling. It's more important now than ever, what with 4K monitors becoming commonplace.
 

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
I played for a bit. Unfortunately, the lack of UI scaling means that some of the text and icons are tough to deal with on my 1440p monitor. That's just a first impression. I'm not sure if it'll be too annoying to play over time.

Other than that, it seems interesting. I like that there's a way to gauge how beautiful your colonists will consider a particular area of the map.



edit: Can I just say that I'm getting really annoyed with games that ignore UI scaling. It's more important now than ever, what with 4K monitors becoming commonplace.

yeah the scaling is unfortunate. apparently its a unity thing..


there are to different ways to gauge the beauty. once the area tool where you see the beauty value of each individual tile and the room info where you can see the overall beauty, space, impressiveness and richness of entire rooms.
 
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