RimWorld Expansion Teas- ANNOUNCED!
A short couple of days ago, Tynan Sylvester, the mastermind behind RimWorld dropped a teaser for what I and essentially everyone else on the planet assumed to be for a new expansion. In the tease, Tynan simply said: ‘Soon…’.
I wanted to know whether we were talking ‘small child with the patience of a hyperactive puppy’ soon, or ‘Soon(tm)‘ soon. Turns out, it was much closer to the left side of that spectrum.
But I was in fact ready to do this whole post simply speculating on what the teaser image might be indicating was coming. We have a discoloured planet. We have a tiefling-looking alien. We have space ships, and meteors, and armor dogs, and… Whatever that thing on the end of the tube in his hand is.
My first wild speculation was maybe we’d get some more content set in space rather than land-bound. But that would’ve been quite the departure. And… as it turns out, was waaay off the mark.
Also? The release date is set for this month1. You can already check out the Steam Store Page for Biotech and wishlist it if you so desire.
The BioTech Expansion
If you’d rather get the information directly from the horse’s mouth, you can jump over and do so right here. Tynan published a post describing both the main features of the expansion and the upcoming associated, free to all, 1.4 patch.
The main features of the expansion being:
- Children and Reproduction
Dwarf Fortress, granddaddy of the colony genre, has had a concept of children for a while. Clanfolk, a more recent entry into the genre focused on this quite heavily too. RimWorld has long held the basis for such a relationship structure in its generated characters, but hasn’t let you have children in the colony.
The experience of the kids growing up will shape their traits and skills as they grow and I expect this whole system to add a rather challenging dynamic to the game. Unless of course you are willing to just throw all babies into growth vats and churn out cheap labour. - Genetic Modification
Expanding on the genetics system stemming from the children and reproduction system, Tynan will be opening ways and means to edit the genome of both children and adults. There will be factions in the world who have heavily edited their genetics — going to the reaches of adding glands for firebreathing, or hulking furry bodies to better withstand the arctic climate. - The Mechanitor
Add a special brain implant to one of your colonists to make them a mechanitor; capable of psychically commanding semi-living machines.
This includes some of the ancient menaces locked away in caverns across the world, through to brand new mechanoid laborers who can farm or manufacture goods.
Tynan describes Biotech as the largest RimWorld expansion so far, and has hired additional staff to help bring it to life. Honestly; I’m pretty excited for it.
I’ve always appreciated the expansion design philosophy on display for RimWorld, where each addition slots so seamlessly into the overall experience, expanding the options in direction and play while also feeling like it always belonged there. It looks like Biotech isn’t going to be any different.
My summary above barely touches the surface of what Tynan has detailed so far. More; he even goes into some of the thinking on why these features in particular. If you’re not wanting to hold back on potential spoilers, then I highly, highly recommend reading the full post.
I think with RimWorld (unlike Cities: Skylines), I’ll be happy to jump into a new expansion even without all mods. Just, plain ol’ vanilla. So I expect a playthrough to kick-off when this lands. How deeply I’ll engage with each of the new systems? I dunno! It sounds like, much with Ideology, you might be able to set some of your genetic traits right out the gate with game creation, so I’ll likely play with that.
But again, with how tightly integrated the new expansion systems usually are, just having them in the game can greatly expand on the richness of the experience and the character stories generated.
I’m looking forward to it!
