Rimworld Sneezing Mod

[cob]

I am working on a sneezing mod for the game, Rimworld. For those of you not familiar with Rimworld, think "The Sims", but set in the universe of "Mad Max". Basically, you control a few very unlucky people who managed to get sent to a hell planet on the outskirts of the galaxy. The thing that's somewhat unique about Rimworld, at least compared to other games, is that it's infinitely extensible, and there are thousands of mods for the game already - probably hundreds of thousands.

Here's the feature list so far:

1. Pollen Allergies and Sneeze size traits
2. Colonists have a Need "to Sneeze", which deteriorates over time, based on their pollen allergies
3. Need deteriorates more if they are working with plants - should not have much of an effect on those without pollen allergies
4. Once the need gets low enough, they will fulfill it by doing a Sneezing job, text will appear near them to represent the sound of the sneeze. There are no visuals

 

If anyone's interested, I have attached the mod in its current state. To install it, go to your Rimworld directory and just drag it into the "Mods" subdirectory. It should then show up on your mods list. I have not tested installing it on a fresh install. I also haven't tested it in a long game, most of my testing has been making new colonists and testing in the first few in-game hours. 

I don't think this mod requires any other mods, although I have been testing with a few on. I would recommend using "Prepare Carefully", otherwise it might take a while to find Colonists with Pollen Allergies.

My short term goals for this are:

1. Make Pollen Allergies trigger less indoors, or possibly not at all
2. Give each plant a unique pollen count (it doesn't make a lot of sense that a Colonist would have their allergies triggered by digging potatoes)
3. Add a "Sneezeweed" plant with a very high pollen count

 

I don't have a lot of plans outside of the short term, so I would love suggestions!

Mod.zip

[Via]

This is really cool! I unfortunately don't own Rimworld but have been following its development for a while, and if and when I do get it I'd be happy to test and provide feedback. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where you take it, and might drop some suggestions here later once I'm more available.

[cob]

20 hours ago, Subsiss said:

This is really cool! I unfortunately don't own Rimworld but have been following its development for a while, and if and when I do get it I'd be happy to test and provide feedback. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where you take it, and might drop some suggestions here later once I'm more available.

Thanks!

Here is a version where I've finished Pollen Allergies for the time being. The Sneeze decay that they cause is now based on proximity to various plants. Pawns without the allergy traits have a very slow rate of decay. I haven't been able to get it to turn off indoors, because I haven't found the method that the game uses to check that, and trying to implement my own would probably lag the game a lot. 

I also added a Sneezeweed plant that can be grown (and might appear naturally, not sure). It uses the same graphics as Rice. Harvesting it yields a Sneezing Powder item that maxes out the Pawn's need to sneeze when consumed, and uses the same graphics as Ambrosia. I tried to make my own graphics but the game didn't want to display them, not sure what the issue is.

 

The Mod that I'm copying off of to learn how to do all of this is called RimJobWorld (major CWs if you research this mod). It has a system called "Quirks" where pawns can be exhibitionists, or have various other fetishes. It can do this without using the normal traits system. My next goal is to get something like that working, but re-purposed for modifiers on the Pawn's sneezing/allergies. That way, each Pawn can have a unique combination of sneeze-related traits without wasting their real traits slots. 

Mod.zip

[Via]

On 4/1/2019 at 3:29 PM, cob said:

My next goal is to get something like that working, but re-purposed for modifiers on the Pawn's sneezing/allergies. That way, each Pawn can have a unique combination of sneeze-related traits without wasting their real traits slots.  

Oooh, I really like the idea of multiple types of sneeze-related traits. Did you have any specific ones in mind? I'd be happy to offer suggestions.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Subsiss

[Joona]

Ah it's always so cool seeing people do stuff like this! I took it for a bit of a spin in-game and it seemed to work well, plus I really liked how the size of a colonist's sneezes could be altered through traits. It definitely makes me interested in seeing what kind of other additional sneeze traits you're thinking of (and yeah making them "quirks" would make these much more practical for use in a long term game).

Great job so far, and really excited to see where this goes!

As for a suggestion, I guess I had an idea that as the need "to sneeze" meter rose up, colonists could make little sneeze-related comments: like saying that they need to sneeze, having false starts, things like that. I think that'd be really cool. 

Edited April 3, 2019 by achoo258

[cob]

20 hours ago, Subsiss said:

Oooh, I really like the idea of multiple types of sneeze-related traits. Did you have any specific ones in mind? I'd be happy to offer suggestions.

I'd love to hear any suggestions. 

So far, I've managed to make a button on the Bio pane where you can pull up their Sneeze stats. I've moved Pollen Allergies & Sneeze Size over to that system, and removed Sneeze Satisfaction for the time being. You can also re-roll their stats on the prepare screen, or if you have Dev mode on.

I created a new stat called Sneeze Shyness that I haven't done anything with yet, but the intent is to make them try to go to somewhere private before sneezing, and failing that, stifling/holding back. Perhaps I could make it based on their opinions of the pawns around them, where if they have a higher opinion relative to their shyness, they don't mind doing it in front of someone else.

I want to give them stats that represent their ability to stifle, and their ability to hold back. Those seem like good traits to have. Obviously I want to add other allergies at some point. It might also make sense to do some kind of sub-allergies, where they can have a general allergy to pollen, but a specific sensitivity to Oak Trees, or something.

Other than that I don't really have any plans. Feel free to elaborate on these too, or suggest changes to them.

 

10 hours ago, Achoonah said:

As for a suggestion, I guess I had an idea that as the need "to sneeze" meter rose up, colonists could make little sneeze-related comments: like saying that they need to sneeze, having false starts, things like that. I think that'd be really cool. 

This is a great idea. I'm not sure how it would work mechanically, as at the moment they are either sneezing or doing a different "Job". I might make a new Job for it that just doesn't take any time to do.

Another thing that could be fun, and would be relatively simple to implement, would be sneeze related conversations they could have with other Pawns. Like, "XYZ talked about suffering from allergies". Kind of like what the game already has, but just a few new topics that they can mention.

 

I will probably post my next update once I've finished implementing Sneeze Shyness, and holdbacks/stifles. 

[cob]

One specific thing I'd like some feedback on, in the current build I'm working on, their traits are simply numbers:

 

What I could do is "mask" the numbers with words, for instance, in this case it would say "Sneeze Size: Medium, Pollen Allergies: Very Strong, Sneeze Shyness: Not at all Shy"

Thoughts on this?

[cob]

Oh, and I forgot to mention an important thing I want to add. I want to make it so that there are several different "Sneeze Dictionaries" that the displayed sneezes come from. 

If you download the latest version of the mod I posted, this is defined under "SneezeJob.cs", in the first few lines:

Quote

 private string[] hitches = new string[] { "ah.", "aah.", "ah...", "ahh...", "ahhah...", "ahh...!", "ahhahh...!", "AHH...", "AHH...!", "ahhahh!", "AHHH!", "AHHAAH!", "AHHAAAH!!" };
 private string[] sneezes = new string[] { "coo.", "choo.", "chewwie.", "choo!", "achoo!", "ahhCHOO!", "ahhhCHHOOOH!", "AAHCHOO!", "haahhCHOOH!", "hhaaahTISCHOO!", "HAAHTISCHOOOOH!", "HHAAAHHCHHITTCHHOOOH!" };

If someone wants to work on making some more of these, they can be of any length, as long as they are arranged from smallest to largest. Ideally there would be different types of vocalizations for different pawns. I might even make it so that they have a low chance of pulling from another dictionary, just to add a little variety. Or I could make a pawn with two dictionaries, which they pull from equally. Lots of possibilities :)

[cob]

New version out! I've run out space to host them here, so here is a Google Drive link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ojcmeZg22njQUa3ol64WY3vwus96-u11/view?usp=sharing

New Features:

1. Stats pane, ability to reroll before embark, mask raw stats with text
2. False Starts & Talking about sneezes - Sometimes, the Sneeze Job causes them to do one of these things instead of sneezing. I think it might be a little too frequent at the moment. I will probably make it into a character trait so that some pawns do it more frequently than others.
3. Sneeze Shyness - Pawns will go and hide rather than sneezing in front of other pawns, depending on their shyness stat and their opinion of the pawns around them. 
4. Huge Fits - Sometimes they will have a larger than average sneezing fit.
5. Ability to toggle off Male Sneezing or Female Sneezing - this isn't technically new but it wasn't working in any prior version

Next I think I'm going to work on Dust/Dander allergies, as well as adding holdbacks and stifles. I think a shy pawn's first option will be to try to hold back, if they can't then they will run away like they do currently, and stifling will be reserved for when they can't get away, or if someone follows them.

 

The false starts pull from the hitch dictionary, and the talking pulls from it's own "Talkie" dictionary. Totally open to suggestions on dictionaries still. 

[Via]

On 4/3/2019 at 1:46 PM, cob said:

Another thing that could be fun, and would be relatively simple to implement, would be sneeze related conversations they could have with other Pawns. Like, "XYZ talked about suffering from allergies". Kind of like what the game already has, but just a few new topics that they can mention. 

I'm very into this idea! Any kind of additional/auxiliary sneeze-related conversation (whether it's directly inspired by the sneeze or just ambient) sounds amazing, and i would be all for it. In a similar vein, have you considered having nearby Pawns react in some way to sneezes as they happen? Blessing them, remarking on various aspects of the sneeze (if it was big/loud/a large fit), that kind of thing.

[cob]

42 minutes ago, Subsiss said:

I'm very into this idea! Any kind of additional/auxiliary sneeze-related conversation (whether it's directly inspired by the sneeze or just ambient) sounds amazing, and i would be all for it. In a similar vein, have you considered having nearby Pawns react in some way to sneezes as they happen? Blessing them, remarking on various aspects of the sneeze (if it was big/loud/a large fit), that kind of thing.

Sounds great. I have no idea how to make them comment on it instantly, like a blessing, but assuming it's possible I will add it eventually. 

Where I think I will go first (because I have a better understanding of how to do this) is to give pawns a "memory" of sneezes they've heard and who did them, so that they can bring it up in later conversation. 

I'm working on holdbacks at the moment, but you've inspired me to visit the social aspect next, since I haven't really done any of that yet.

[GoldenOwl]

This looks awesome! I don't have this game but I may buy it for this reason alone, lol. How many sneezes long is the average fit right now?

[cob]

8 hours ago, Ralala said:

This looks awesome! I don't have this game but I may buy it for this reason alone, lol. How many sneezes long is the average fit right now?

All of it's subject to change, I'm still playing with the stats and how those influence the sneezing. Right now the Pawns have a relatively static number that they need to accomplish before the fit is complete, but how quickly they reach that number depends on their sneeze size, with large sneezes reaching it faster, with fewer sneezes.

If the Pawn has a tiny sneeze, it might take them 6-8 times, whereas the largest sneezes only take 1-2. 

6-8 times takes more than 1 in game hour, so that's pretty much as high as it can go for now. I'm trying to make this mod so that the underlying game is still playable, and it wouldn't be if Pawns spent half their day sneezing. RJW has a mode that you can toggle where everything is cranked up to 11, so I might add something like that in the future for people who don't really care about playing the underlying game.

[burstrinatrix]

Really cool mod! Do you know if it's possible to get sounds into the game? Similar to gunshots and some animals that have sounds they make.

[cob]

34 minutes ago, burstrinatrix said:

Really cool mod! Do you know if it's possible to get sounds into the game? Similar to gunshots and some animals that have sounds they make.

Yes definitely. I have thought about this. Obviously adding sounds without getting the permission of the person who recorded them is off the table. 

But if there's anyone who records their sneezes and doesn't care, I can add sounds in. Or I could add some open source stuff in, like from here. https://freesound.org/search/?q=sneeze

It also wouldn't be TOO complicated to make it so that the user could drag and drop their own sounds into their own install.

Any sounds I added would need to be broken down where it's one sneeze per file. And also, we would probably want to have at least 20-50 possible sounds before adding any at all. If it was the same 5 sneeze sounds played over and over again, that would probably be worse than nothing.

[cob]

I've made a new version with quite few changes. But first, here is a demo video for anyone who's interested. I go through three demos with a shy sneezer. One where they are alone, one where they have someone in the room with them, and one where they leave to sneeze elsewhere but are followed. In the video I am using [SS]Maid Project, [SS]Lovely Hair Style, and Ty Female to make the cute maid.

Here is a link to the new version. Changes:

1. Added a spray animation
2. Pawns now notice one another sneeze and will occasionally bless - this shows up in the social log. Shy sneezers don't like to be blessed.
3. Added holdbacks and stifles. Pawns will only do this when they are sufficiently shy
4. Pawns can now get interrupted from their current job to sneeze, if their need is great enough. This currently includes sleeping, which may be removed later
5. As you can see in the demo, pawns can now sneeze while moving. When they have to sneeze and they are shy, they will start running away, but they will do their fit while running. 
6. Added Dust allergies that are triggered from nearby dirt. It would be possible to make "Dust" separate from dirt, but in the base game, dirt represents the mess that is made from normal living, so I figured it's the best fit.
7. Added Dander allergies. Most animals have the same value. I might change it so that it's modified by their size. Boomrats and Boomalopes are extreme dander producers, because I wanted Dander to be somewhat interesting. The idea is that the chemicals in these animals create super-dander, I guess. And I liked the thought of someone sneezing too close to a Boomrat and causing it to blow up (not currently a feature but it could be).
8. Added different sneeze types. There are currently only two. However, even better, I extended the functionality so that they can easily be added via XML. If you look in Defs/SneezeStyleDefs, you will find the file that does this. It's pretty straightforward and there are good examples already, but I can make a tutorial on how to add them if there's interest. If anyone comes up with some fun vocalizations, I would love to have them to add into the mod.
9. I added a "Tale" that can be created when a pawn sneezes particularly loudly. What this means is, when Pawns create art, the art may be about the loud sneeze they once heard. However, I have not been able to test this because I'm not sure how to force them to create art about a particular Tale. So no guarantees that this actually works.

 

That's it for now. Currently, when a pawn is drafted, the only affect sneezing has is that it will occasionally stop them in their tracks, but nothing will happen. I would like to determine how sneezing will work in combat, and also add some simulation of the fact that it makes noise. As in, other pawns will hear sneezes as well as just seeing them. With the eventual goal of adding some kind of sneezing while hiding element.

[Via]

Oh wow, this just keeps getting better! I'm a big fan of all the new changes, especially holdbacks and the whole sneeze Tale system. I'd be very interested in contributing new sneeze styles, so a tutorial for that would be definitely appreciated. Keep up the fantastic work!

 

 

[Usagi]

I like this! Can you show more video of it? I'd use it but I don't have the Rimworld or the money for it at the moment! This is really well put together I'm super impressed. 

[cob]

10 hours ago, Usagi said:

I like this! Can you show more video of it? I'd use it but I don't have the Rimworld or the money for it at the moment! This is really well put together I'm super impressed. 

Thank you! I will definitely make more videos of it when I have stuff to demo, but other than that I'm not sure what to make them of. What would you like to see? I could make a recording of myself playing a real game if there's interest.

10 hours ago, Subsiss said:

Oh wow, this just keeps getting better! I'm a big fan of all the new changes, especially holdbacks and the whole sneeze Tale system. I'd be very interested in contributing new sneeze styles, so a tutorial for that would be definitely appreciated. Keep up the fantastic work!

Thanks! Here is a tutorial. I realized while writing this, but at the moment, the mod will not pick up on any additional sneeze types that are added. But that should be a pretty simple fix. I know you don't have the game, so if you make a file just post it here and I'll try it out to see if it works. But for anyone who is actually using the mod (if that's anyone at this point lol), it won't work until I fix it.

[cob]

47 minutes ago, cob said:

But for anyone who is actually using the mod (if that's anyone at this point lol), it won't work until I fix it.

I have fixed it, I just pushed a new version to the same link from my prior post. When do you get the ability to edit posts here? Ideally I would always have the most current version in the top level post, so that no one has to hunt for it.

[Usagi]

I'm interested in seeing the different holdback/talkie/hitch combos that can come out of this. You did a good job on those in particular and how it goes with more then one person there honestly. Like seeing that in action I guess! 

[cob]

3 hours ago, Usagi said:

I'm interested in seeing the different holdback/talkie/hitch combos that can come out of this. You did a good job on those in particular and how it goes with more then one person there honestly. Like seeing that in action I guess! 

Okay! I will definitely post a few more demo videos, not sure what the timeline would be on that, I'm taking a break from the mod for a few days. Are people interested in seeing male stuff too?

[GoldenOwl]

Very interested in seeing male stuff. Yes, please!

[Usagi]

1 hour ago, Ralala said:

Very interested in seeing male stuff. Yes, please!

Same!! 

[cob]

I made another demo. I didn't feel like editing it, so it also shows off how you can force pawns to sneeze by spawning in sneezing powder. I forgot to mute the mic, the sound you can hear is it being too close to my computer's fan. I recommend muting the audio.

I haven't been interested in working on this lately.  I've been playing Risk of Rain 2 so I haven't been thinking much about Rimworld, I think that's probably why. Rimworld is one of those games I always come back to though, especially now that I have this mod, so I'm sure at some point my interest will spark again.