I actually really like being able to have my plantation and ranch as a steady source of pixels and crafting material. I also like being a space explorer. I would love to see settlement functions expanded once you hit certain milestones. For example: Reach 10 Colonists Unlock ability to hire or appoint a mayor. Mayor's job is to report to the player on the condition of the colony. Are they happy? Scared? Starving? The Mayor can also collect rent from the colonists to give to the player upon return as a one stop check in. Obtain 10 fluffalo/moshi/chickens Unlock the ability to hire a rancher. Ranchers are dedicated to protecting livestock specifically (sorry colonists). Well cared for livestock produce more goods. Something like double drops. With a rancher on duty and at least 2 of a species there's a random chance that your rancher will discover an egg while going about their duties. Queue the Circle of Life music. The rancher gives the player the egg so the player can decide whether they want to keep the egg to raise or to sell the egg. Reach 10 harvestable crops Hire a farmhands? I'm not entirely certain what function farmhands could do except auto collect and sell crops. Sprinklers already keep crops well watered. I'm open to suggestions from others on this and other functions. Location, Location, Location -- Specialty colonies Give players the ability to "upgrade" a colony at the expense of both material, population, and pixels. That colony becomes a specialty colony with added functions. Colonies on lush planets are great at producing wood, cobblestone, and plant material. If you build a colony on an ocean planet then you can open a fishery. Extreme, Scorched, and Inconceivable planets offer the chance to establish mining colonies. Admittedly these are all still rather unrefined ideas. I welcome collaboration to help promote colony/colonization ideas that other players would like to see implemented by the devs too.
Definitely on board with the Mayor idea. I'm the intergalactic landlord kind of player, and going around my scattered colonies takes forever. There could be something on SAIL that offers an overview of all colonies, including "Quests Available" markers and any problems. I'd like to be able to move and relocate residents. Also, this is probably something for far in the future, but I'd like to see families instead of single residents. Maybe if you build two separate bedrooms, you could get a married couple with children. Actually, I'd like to see child NPCs in the game period; it's uncanny how many colonies are populated solely by adults
Larger colonies should definitely require a government. The specialty colonies are what got me though, it would be swell to have different planet types affect the colonies functions/abilities and production. I also would love for colonies to create stuff on their own; buildings, mines, farms.
I'm convinced everything reproduced through eggs you plant But okay! So a line into SAIL, a new interface button like you would see with crew but for mayors. This would let the player quickly check up on mayors, give them notifications. Families can move in perhaps if you have x amount of guards hired? Not sure how appealing a lava world with monsters is going to be for a family if there's no security. There probably has to be a trade off for colonies to build their own stuff. I'm thinking that the mayor will call the player up and ask for materials. Send them lumber, iron bars, and maybe an odd piece of furniture. What sort of trade off would y'all want to see?
Maybe the family-guards ratio could depend on the threat level of the planet. So Low threat would require a minimum of two guards, Moderate would require five and Extreme ten. Barren planets and your own ship wouldn't require any guards at all since there's nothing to protect anyone from Also, maybe the mayor could require a new kind of furniture (such as Executive). Until then you could have an Administrator's Station which works just like the Colony Deeds except it summons all colonists instead of the one who lives in that room. This would let you see any quests up for grabs very quickly, and let you collect your rent in one hit. Once you built a suitable lodging, SAIL would give you a message that "you are now able to select a mayor". You get to pick one from the existing colonists. It would be good if you could pick colonists as well. For example, your room is attractive to humans, three humans apply to move in and you select one based on personality traits. A really obnoxious one might cause other colonists to leave, and if you select that obnoxious one for mayor, your colony and rent amount suffer as a result. Larger colonies would attract a wider field of applicants (not everyone wants to live in the back of beyond with only one neighbor!) I'd also like it if critters would spawn on Barren worlds if you planted enough saplings; it would save me going around collecting them just to make my Barren colony seem more like home
I am not sure on what to trade off, because it is in the colony's own interest to build things. A farm, a mine. These things a settlement on a new planet would benefit from, unless you can convert energy to matter and have perhaps a fusion reactor in the backyard. If it is a mine, perhaps provide them with food to feed the miners, and a bit of pixels to pay them? If they build a farm give them metals and wood, maybe some glass too? Then I suppose they would need seeds once they are done building the farm, and livestock. So you'd no doubt need to help supply them. There could easily be quests for every stage they'd encounter. A small simple farm with just some potatoes and carrots, all the way up to a cotton plantation. Or perhaps an apple orchard. A vineyard. Many different types of farms they could create actually. As for the mines, the presence of an existing farm could make the upkeep easier to afford. Whereas the presence of a mine could cheapen the cost of building a farm. They would need a population big enough to efficiently mine though. There are other things to consider with the mining however, such as whether the player has already mined the area. At which point does the mine continue to function, and if so how? As for in town building, there are too many types of buildings and themes to discuss. Lastly, with considering the guards. It should be some formula comprised of two variables. Square distance, and threat level.
As someone who makes large colonies, a "collect all" on taxes would be great. Maybe if you recruit certain combinations of villagers and maybe other conditions, they could give you a quest for public works projects that then appear through the colony. For example: Chef + Naturalist Merchant + Having Six Types of Plants growing on tilled Soiled = Green House Project The quest could be go out and find a rare type of glass, and the reward is that you get to place down a prebuilt building that can house a certain amount of plants and it auto-waters them and increases the speed of their growth. Or Avian Priest + 4 or more Avian living a colony = Avian Shrine Project The quest could be go and get a holy relic that is being guarded by a lot of cultist and you get a decoration which you can click for a speed boost (similiar to the Avian in the ruins for those who have unlocked him) _____
