With the arrival of Patch 1.5 (no, I didn’t get the Anomaly expansion yet), I wanted to do a fresh Rimworld run and blog series. Same rules apply: Crashland with three people (chosen from the roster with no random replacements), Cassandra “strive to survive” difficulty with commitment mode on, and randomized starting area.
I got pretty lucky in almost all areas. I crashlanded into a temperate zone with a road, and my starting crew of Salad, Andy, and Dubs have a really strong mix of skills along with an extra autopistol (one of the new features in 1.5 is that your paws might spawn with their own gear).
After a few days, the new colony of Jackson’s Hope was shaping up very nicely. A bit cramped, to be sure, but it’s got tons of storage, some production facilities, a good stretch of farmland on rich soil, and power. I’m loving the new wall lights, as they save much-needed room.
There are a lot of goals for the first year of any Rimworld colony. Mostly my focus is building up a big food stockpile for winter, making winter weather gear, getting enough power/heaters online, and trying to recruit a few more souls. I did increase the colony to five members with a tamed wild woman and a captured raider.
In my Rimworld playthroughs, I’ve been trying to get more comfortable with pursuing quests and sending out caravans. We got notice that Bowman’s boyfriend was stranded a few days away, so I sent a party to rescue him. We had to build a temporary camp until he recovered, during which I got a notice that I had to flee before 17 days were up, as an incoming group of mechanoids was on the way. Happily, we all made it back safe and our colony added Mr. Lolo to the mix.
In the spring, the colony faced its greatest threat yet — an event that I called the Battle of the Squirrels. A manhunter pack of about 10 squirrels streamed into the area, seeking human flesh. Fortunately, all of my colonists had guns by then, so it was a one-sided slaughter. But a slaughter to be remembered!
My base after the first year. It’s pretty solid with lots of food, comforts, power, and defense. I’ve only lost one colonist to date due to an infection from a megasloth attack.
Our next loss came when a psychic ship crash landed and started spewing these murderous mechanoids. Lolo got shot to death within the first few seconds, while Yumiko barely made out out alive. Fortunately, we fared better when a lethal wave of guinea pigs tried to storm the colony walls.
What Rimworld takes away, Rimworld gives. I cracked open the Ancient Danger on the map to find a lone mechanoid (easily dealt with) and six cryocaskets loaded with escaped slaves. Five of them were still alive but in bad shape, so we rescued all and started treating them immediately. All five quickly joined the colony, swelling our population and straining the amount of beds we had available. But I’m not complaining!
Bio Break 