Green energy day job, game dev / design talks & tutorials at night.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFL6-QAPmuin1iXUY1MEe0g
He/him
This is also linked to the expressiveness of base-building, since the two are inseperable.
For example, we can suddenly have extremely large facilities now that we aren't punishing the player for ever tile a character walks across.
In addition, because the character WILL show up on time unless something interesting is happening to them, the facility runs a lot more reliably and can be easily predicted, linked up, and made arbitrarily nuanced.
If we simulate someone's life by what they do, rather than by what meter of grass they're walking across, we can get a much better grasp of their life, rather than a grasp on their ambulatory inadequacies.
It's the combat that requires that moment by moment tactical layout. When we throw it away, we throw away that obsession and open up a whole new set of things people can tell the stories of their lives through.
The existence of specific characters is a big monkey wrench. It's their story that expresses the base's story.
It's not Starcraft. And even Starcraft eventually added hero units. The base-building isn't combat-centric because lives aren't combat-centric.
I think expressing everyone's story through violence is a pathetic waste of potential, and I think if we ditch the microsecond combat sim we can radically expand our options for noncombat.
I've been thinking about base-builders. I know, a shock.
I've always thought the hypercompressed second-by-second simulation was a problem rather than a feature. It seems like DF and Rimworld and so on are split between a base-builder and a tactical combat game, and I can't say I like the combat half.
I think the construction half could be improved by simulating hour-by-hour or day-by-day instead of frame-by-frame.
The new worker at my favorite bakery asked me for my name, I said it, and then as the experienced worker was making a cappucino, they discussed how to spell it and how many other people they know with the name.
Which is fine, but hearing two ladies constantly murmuring your name to each other and glancing your way is a bit disconcerting.
OK, I admit it, this is not the video I thought it would be.
I enjoyed the part where he realized he HAD to keep his citizens working - 24/7 - or the game would crash.
These "skill challenge" videos sure hit differently on long-dead indie games.
I guess the basic difference between me and their target audience is that I like to figure out how to do something, while their target audience - at least in their heads - likes to take a log flume through a Disneyworld attraction.
A little jostling, a little fluids, but don't worry, baby, daddy Walt's got ya. You're safey-wafe, you don't even have to move, just sit there and tee hee, here's a wittle splashy-splash.
If I wanted that, I'd go sit in a fucking dog park and pet a dog.
I get it's a retention thing, but it's so disrespectful.
Autoscaling difficulty also pisses me off, because I'll be gearing up for a challenge and then the game will panic and lower it to super easy because I've been "struggling".
I'll die or something, go back to try again, but nope, now the challenge is gone. You succeeded! You made the game go away! Don't worry, those challenges were for someone else. Someone better.
I can't remember if I ever completed a game with autoscaling difficulty.