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Suggestion Possible way to add building requirements for more update pathes

Fugus

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8
This is from my suggestion on the Nexus section for Sim Settlements

"May I please make a potential feature request assuming it is possible.

When you are picking a plan, I notice it gives you the description and all as well. Could it also be possible to tie a resource cost at that point as well to make things more balanced? Like make it where it requires you have them resources before you can confirm the build and consumes them then.

Have the base plot cost a minor resource cost, then the plans on top of them cost proportional to what they provide. Would allow another upgrade path and justify allowing some stuff to be better than others. Also, just seems weird being able to plant corn fields without ever actually getting any Corn or any of the other crops.

Have a few base level plans that are free when you just start but they are just that, base level. Like having crops only grow the wild variety on them and require the actual crafting stuff to require the crafting stuff.

Would also make more sense when you get the mega pack stuff like the radroach farm if the requirements included the stuff to build a rad roach cage and stage one being the deployed cage, stage 2 being after it was caught, and then stage 3 when the farm is in full force.

I know you can't have the requirements when building the plot itself, but I figure when you choose the plan would be a good place to include a resource check.

Would also give a bigger reason for supply lines potentially."


Edit: Could also potentially use the scrap tags you see during the trade menu to list the building requirements.
 
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I suggest these because it just seems off not having to pay for the stuff or planting crops I don't even have.

I am also the type who can't get themselves to use the CVC mod or the Snappy Housekit mods because the building costs are so much lower than the normal stuff and feels like I am almost cheating getting better stuff for cheaper than the game allows by such a large margin.

And this could justify having majorly improved plots later with higher building requirements and even necessitating bigger building plots to build them.
 
I believe the intent and story of Sim Settlements is that your settlers are doing all the menial work. You're zoning section out for them to tell them where they can build and they do the heavy lifting of actually collecting the material and building the building.

In your example of the corn field, you may not have had any, but who's to say one of your settlers didn't bring some when they moved in. A big part of the fantasy behind Sim Settlement's is the settlers are doing the gathering and building and not just leaving it up to you.

If you ask me, it doesn't make a lot of sense in the vanilla version where you have to gather all the material and do all the building while 11 to 20 settlers reap the rewards.
 
The way I see it, you are the general planner or you can delegate it, but they do the heavy lifting.You aren't grabbing everything they will ever use, you are providing all the requirements for the initial building that they will be working at and you will be the one also getting the rewards when they work at that job.

The people who built the local Goodyear plant near where I live didn't also provide all the materials to do it as well free of charge just like they don't profit from all the stuff they built after they are done.

This also gives more possibility with Sim Settlements as well. And example would be having the resources so you can dump your rank 3 corn garden for another garden that has a higher level of materials to build and can go further.

The way the zoning currently goes feels less like I am a designer of the overall intent and reminds me too much of playing Populus back in the day. I didn't actually need anything, I just gave orders and they did the rest.

Don't get me wrong, he did some great work, but being able to build everything without even needing the materials it would take to build them feels a bit "cheaty" and a way to get around intended progression in the game. The heavily reduced costs are one of the main gripes I have in other mods that add better stuff with the lower building costs.
 
Any my suggestion also doesn't preclude the settlers from providing the materials as you can still trade with them and get stuff they have on them which could then be used towards the build costs of that item. That is assuming that they have something on them that can be used towards that plot. But to assume that the settlers have everything and will provide everything you are missing for every plot feels a bit much and also gets ride of much of the need to farm scrap for materials compared to what was originally intended.
 
You mentioned Populous, and that's kind of the style of game that this is based on. Anytime you mod a game, it's changes what was originally intended, but that's not what I intend to debate. I just feel like it's a bit of the opposite direction of the vision of the mod. With that being said, I could see an option to increase the base cost of the plot. Again, I like the idea that I'm making the settlers get out there to gather the materials themselves. I usually play with realistic build times to symbolize that action.

I'm paying for their water and electricity and other infrastructure. The buck stops here!
 
No, modding a game changes mechanics, to mod it where you are like Populus, you are talking about modding in cheat items.

You didn't pay for their wood, you didn't pay for their steel, you didn't pay for their plastic, they had to pay for all that themselves. That is like claiming you are a mechanic when all you do is provide the electricity for an auto shop while the customers have to provide their own tools and do the labor themselves.

But if this was implemented, I can about guarantee he would give the option to disable it for the people who want it more like Populus.

Actually having the person running the city and planning it all out also providing access to the materials to get it started isn't exactly something weird or exotic it matches what most would expect when you are building areas.

And this would actually give us a reason justify better quality plots later that can be upgraded as well. My personal view, getting something for nothing feels borderline cheating which is what the current system feels like to me and just because you enjoy that setup, for others, that isn't always the case.

And just increasing the base cost of the plot doesn't really address anything when you can plant corn without any actual corn, you can plant melons without any actual melons you can start shops without any starting capital and so on.
 
Sure but if I'm a city planner, I don't pave the roads or plant the farms either.
Correct, you provide the supplies or the funds to get the supplies to the ones who do.

City planners can't even point and say build this, and then walk away expecting them to find the funds and materials themselves.

That's the point I am getting at, if I am going to be a city planner, I want to be a city planner, I am not wanting to play a mini-god where I can demand stuff and they pull it out their butt like the monkey in Bruce Almighty.
 
Actually, I wouldn't even do that. Logistics and funding would belong to the specific home or business owner. Like, as a city planner, I'm just controlling the zoning and that's where the randomization comes in. Gives the fantasy that the settler decided what to build there.

And who is to say they pulled it out their butt? Are your settlers not sufficient enough to gather and supply themselves? These are adults. They go run to Diamond City and buy some corn seed or gather thier own scrap just as much as you would.

Just my opinion, but it seems counterproductive to fantasy to the mod.

Could probably be done with the current IR stockpile system, though. I haven't explored it much, but you could probably make a level 1 with a branch that would require corn seed before it upgrade. Granted, that would dictate what branch it would go, but say you need X resources to level.
 
If you are controlling the zoning, then you don't have near the control you do in this game. To have that level of control requires you to actually be providing the resources to start as well.

And alright, lets say they didn't pull it out their butts. Where do you think a bunch of stragglers coming to your settlement for the ability to actually survive and be protected and willing to work their butts off and only come in with the clothes off their backs, the most basic of weapons, and maybe a piece of food going to have the supplies? Again, up their butts? Are they theoretically just as adventurous as you are combing the wastelands for supplies to build their home and job? Like all of them are the equivalent of your provisioner while also building their job along with their homes? Sorry, that doesn't mesh well with anything.

I understand your mindset on here, you see the resource system and grind as being a hindrance and Sim Settlement allows you to bypass that hindrance while also being a decent addition (Kinda like a mod with a semi-builtin /tgm specifically for settlements).

The system you are talking about honestly doesn't match what I am talking about. I am talking about something like this.

First you set your plot, your plot has VERY little resource cost associated with it. It also does include some free plans you can put there, like the most bare basic of home setups with next to nothing in them that can upgrade some or a garden that is all Wild Variety stuff that can be eaten but not really crafted with or a bare basic industrial setup.

While these can be upgraded and still be better than the vanilla stuff, they still aren't that great. But later, you can get rid of them and actually send resources onto better stuff that actually upgrades to being that much better.

Like having your corn field require corn, or building a radroach farm and the requirements to start it are the requirements to build a radroach trap and a storage place. And then upgrades from there. Or upgrading a residential plot to an actual functional multistory building or upgrading to bigger plots later and have them require building plans to actual build anything on them and so on.

You want to see this as more like building in Populus, I am thinking more like Sim City back when I played it or maybe Minecraft where you actually need the resources to build what you are building and not expect others to provide it for you. Reusing the resources your current stuff brings in is perfectly acceptable but I see building from nothing to be rather immersion breaking to me.
 
you didn't provide the resources for the buildings in SimCity... you just zoned it and they built it....
 
you didn't provide the resources for the buildings in SimCity... you just zoned it and they built it....
In SimCity you were also taking the roll of an already established city using the funds and resources that city had already established, you weren't using more than the city could provide like I currently can here.
 
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