Kenshi - Post-Apocalyptic Weeb cousin of Mount & Blade

[Jose Beaner Luna]

mercenaries who cost way too much for early game.

I will not accept merc slander in my presence, in order to make full use of them is to loot bandits either luring them to cities or wait that a fight breaks, both of wich are not rare, looting bandits including starving bandits nets you around 4k, is very stupid how much money they net, then you gotta hire them for exactly 1 day (wich i think is 4k) and break havoc on any bandit wandering armies or camps, you will get even more money than you paid them for and also training as they will heal your ass if you got put in a coma, is one of my favourite methods to rise stats solo until im on a point i can safely get beat up.

Reagarding the criticism of the game: Yeah i agree with everything, the biggest issue was the retarded bong going too big, kenshi should have been the size of Old World (the name of beta kenshi) and kenshi 1 should have been kenshi 2, the eastern part of kenshi is painfully obvious is the first part that was ever developed by him, the UC, the Bandit fanctions in the Great desert, the Bandits in the pits,Southern hive, the anti slavers all of these factions have very interesting world states and interactions that not many people see because they stay somewhere around the borderzone, HN or shem, the Holy Nation and on is very clear the guy ran out of steam to the point he outsourced the writting to his sister, i've been looking around the FCS and there's so many instances of dialogue that either was never finished (like the western hive) or never triggers for x reasons (cannibals or reavers) is a tale of feature creep and trying to eat too much of what you can possibly carry.

 

[Jose Beaner Luna]

Doing a Chunk Man challenge in kenshi, i want to see how much i can survive doing outpost only, im only allowed to trade things that i refine (this means i cant just sell copper) and the armor and weapons i can use are only ones i can craft myself, everything else i can buy. However no long after i set my rock mine and basic processor the Holy Nation felt compelled to just come and threaten me, followed by a Bandit Demand, is this how it feels to live in portland?




My bug ass is still naked.

 

[Nox Was Right]

looting bandits including starving bandits nets you around 4k

Do you mean by looting off like 30 of them? Because the hungry bandits gear is pretty worthless and requires a lot of back and forth from the bodies to the barman.

break havoc on any bandit wandering armies or camps

Fair when you know where those are, but I have no idea where enemy camps are.

Thank you for the helpful comment though. This feature-creep but mostly the lack of polish is something that always saddens me in games, I don't hate Kenshi, I just wish it got the care it needed. The most glaring example to me is The Forest, the game is so close to greatness, but lacks simple QoL so you are not forced to mash your E key literally hundreds of time just because you're forced to put in every single stick one at a time, and has never fixed ubiquitous bugs like a page you're supposed to be able to pick up that no one ever could because of a stupid oversight. Something is wrong with games when I need to ask ChatGPT for an AutoHotKey script for a basic function so I don't get carpal tunnel.

 

[Broadside]

Understandable. But every single mod section has bugs reported in the comment sections, so the engine of the game must be really trash. And for another rant at how stupid the start of the game is: There are no mentors in this game, nor ways to train bar specific dummies that take a stupidly long time when using them. You cannot learn by doing because every single basic enemy is way stronger than you AND in a pack of at least 10, every single one. So already, all notions of RP are completely fucked when the only way to get stronger is to literally commit suicide against groups of bandits or to attract them like braindead insects to the guards 50 times in a row.

But even then, it's impossible to do this getting beaten up technique if you don't have multiple characters, because your character gets KOed and it's game over, they can never get back on their own if a single wound gets bad, and NOBODY will come to patch you up 20 feet outside the town. So you need multiple characters, but those all cost a lot of money, so back to the mine grinding you go... How the fuck is this game in such a shitty state, this a pre-alpha demo state, not a released game state. Everything you need to do in this game is either hours long of staring at a fixed screen, RP-raping cheese exploits, or a combination of both.

I somehow sunk 100+ hours into it though lmao

 

[browserbowser]

But as I pointed out, that is wishful thinking and not how it works in practice. Kenshi forces you to grind to explore without getting raped at random,

That's a problem of difficulty not of 'structure'.

True sandboxes like Terraria or Minecraft let you explore from the get-go without it being objectively a bad play.

A sandbox game being difficult doesn't make it 'not structured', it makes it difficult.

There is no freedom in how you get strong or rich in this game, genuinely what job even is available to the player that isn't smuggling drugs (no noob knows how to do that), getting bounties (requires grinding), stealing (universally recognized as very badly implemented), or mining (tedious)?

If we're to deconstruct minecraft there's even less freedom in how one 'gets strong'. There's only resource acquisition from specific depths/locations for particular objects that all lead to... making larger/nicer houses. That's it. There's no narrative whatsoever until the end screen after killing the ender dragon.

why would I want to explore if everything the game taught me in the first 2 towns I saw is that no NPC has anything to say and the towns are boring and soulless? The game doesn't even have voice acting, it would cost nothing to be able to ask a few questions to the barman as to what's in different directions or what the town offers, but you can't do that. It's also egregiously stupid that you are forced to first speak to the barman then select that you want to trade, every time, when there doesn't exist any other option anyway. From the first 2 towns, I can expect nothing from any other town than NPCs with 0 dialogue and shopkeepers, that's literally all the game has told me it has.

You're laser-focusing on the fact that the narrative itself isn't up to par with your standards and expectations to gloss over the fact that it still exists and thus is a structure. And as I said, if you don't find the world interesting, sure I can get that, but the statement that it 'has no structure' is false by your own admission. You're saying it has shitty structure you find unpalatable but that isn't the same as a lack of structure whatsoever.

the only actual reason to explore is the lore and landscapes,

Which would be an admission, as I said, that there's structure to it. And honestly I don't think an argument could even be made, outside of perhaps a game designed specifically with the intent in mind for it to be the case, that really any sandbox game 'lacks structure' if there is any kind of progression that can be made whatsoever in any regard.

You don't like it, that's valid. I said as much, it's a dogshit cobbled-together mess, I personally like the vibe, from the jank to the lack of polish in the narrative. And when I played it I found the idea of exploring the weird world and trying to survive in it appealing precisely because it was egregiously difficult. It's a matter of perspective.

I'd say that many of the aspects of the game are objectively bad but, to some it comes together to be an experience greater than the sum of its parts. If it doesn't 'click' for you there's nothing wrong with that, and I will note someone saying that the narrative, lore, whatever are 'good' are full of shit/delusional. Some of the characters are campy, some of the lore stuff while shallow is interesting albeit in a 'huh that's a cool idea' way and not really fleshed out. It has a faction of crab people with giant pet crabs. It's all over the place. The three main factions are all caricatures.

But some people like Sharknado. This game is 'Sharknado'-tier.

 

[Jose Beaner Luna]

Im really enjoying this challenge despite the fact that im just crafting and surviving between my means, using things like the shop counter and making items specifically to be sold there makes me wish the economy in this game was better balanced, is painful watch a black dragon ninja corpse knowing full well i'll get like 2000 easily, aside from that, having to plan out, timing the block option to give me an advantage to a clearly more skilled combatant or lock myself in the house and snipe them with the turret as they try to bash the door down has proven to be far more entertaining that i expected, so many little strategic things you lose by just grinding stats by punching animal on a bed.


i am finally able to have some weapons, no longer do i have to break my limbs trying to punch someone


Current base so far, i recruited a prince to help me mine and tend the fields, this is not india Vain anymore, so no caste system for you brahmin saar, time for your designated mining spot.

Do you mean by looting off like 30 of them? Because the hungry bandits gear is pretty worthless and requires a lot of back and forth from the bodies to the barman.

Dont bother with their clothes, just get the weapons, they sell for a surprising ammount and you can fit a lot of them in your inventory, in the case of dust bandits you just want the plate armor they wear.

Fair when you know where those are, but I have no idea where enemy camps are.

Get the map camera closer and you will see little gray camp symbols, similar to the nests that are marked by a doggy paw, at night they are easier to spot because they have torches.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Broke



To Entrepreneur


Also rip mein negger the prince that lasted like 4 days before i accidentally shot him with the turret, i already miss u.


There's no more hivers in this chunk and the lost drones refuse to join, i'll just hire a bull and complete the goals before moving to the swamp chunk, hopefully the bull wont be eaten before it can actually put up a fight.

 

[Smack Patrick]

Best minor faction is the Reavers, change my mind.
Wish there was a mod good mod that expanded upon them.

 

[Jose Beaner Luna]

Best minor faction is the Reavers, change my mind.
Wish there was a mod good mod that expanded upon them.

Based i cannot change your mind because you are objectively correct. All factions in the pits fucking rock honestly, maybe the exception would be the skeleton bandits until you install this mod and they become as creepy and cool as the skin bandits https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2894694324&searchtext=skeleton+bandit.

Did you know the reavers were planned to be joinable but chris couldnt make the gaining rep overtime as a slave work so the dialogue never triggers? i wonder if i could make it work by making that you gain rep per slave you deliver and you gotta talk to some rando Reaver recruiter until you gain enough rep to talk to the man himself or something as a workaround to what he intended. I wish i had more time, i havent finished the frog mod edit yet.

 

[Smack Patrick]

Did you know the reavers were planned to be joinable but chris couldnt make the gaining rep overtime as a slave work so the dialogue never triggers?

That actually fucking sucks.

>start as a slave
>get your ass beat
>Reaver Whelp
>get tougher
>Reaver Neophyte
>get stockholm syndrome
>raid with the boys
>Reaver Blooded
>conquer your way north
>Reaver Ironclad
>deliver Tengu to Valamon
>Reaver Chosen
Can you imagine how sick that'd be?

 

[Philly Phunk Machine]

-fight a Band of Bones group outside Mourn
-lock a few survivors in the cages outside city gates
-fuck off to the UC for 2 weeks or so
-come back to find them still locked up
-lockpick the shek girl out while she encourages me to do so
-chase her briefly until she joins up with me, saying she'll "get them back"
-her stats are 30+ in everything combat related

I have no idea what circumstances led to this happening but I'm glad to pickup a free experienced recruit. I wonder if I could turn some hivers this way.

 

[Jose Beaner Luna]

-fight a Band of Bones group outside Mourn
-lock a few survivors in the cages outside city gates
-fuck off to the UC for 2 weeks or so
-come back to find them still locked up
-lockpick the shek girl out while she encourages me to do so
-chase her briefly until she joins up with me, saying she'll "get them back"
-her stats are 30+ in everything combat related

I have no idea what circumstances led to this happening but I'm glad to pickup a free experienced recruit. I wonder if I could turn some hivers this way.

For a character to join you as an escapee the sum of their dex, toughness and strenght cannot be more than 84 also they need to have either honorable or brave to join, other personalities like traitorous or coward cannot join. That being said both band of bones and berserkers have a higher chance to have honorable or brave personality unlike other bandit gangs and the sum of their dex, tough and str doesnt go beyond 84 so you can potentially get bounties like ghost or tora the fearless to join you if you drop them to the fog islands or a slave shack, wait for them to be put on the pole/cage (and be concious) and either break them out or buy them.

If you put them in a cage they remember that and they will hate you, i suppose they stood there for so long and you were out for a while they just reseted their memories.

 

[Paul-Denton]

kenshi is painfully obvious is the first part that was ever developed by him, the UC, the Bandit fanctions in the Great desert, the Bandits in the pits,Southern hive, the anti slavers all of these factions have very interesting world states and interactions that not many people see because they stay somewhere around the borderzone, HN or shem, the Holy Nation and on is very clear the guy ran out of steam to the point he outsourced the writting to his sister, i've been looking around the FCS and there's so many instances of dialogue that either was never finished (like the western hive) or never triggers for x reasons (cannibals or reavers) is a tale of feature creep and trying to eat too much of what you can possibly carry.

I've indeed not yet made my way to the east yet and I'd honestly not included going there in my exploration, as I hope to go make a bitch of the fog islands and push on through to the leviathan coast. I will say that I love a lot of the environments in the western part of the world. Seeing the grid for the first time had me both curious and greatly intimidated. Very "this is not a place of honor" kinda vibe, but you could probably say that for a lot of Kenshi's world design.

I think that though Kenshi is feature creep:the game, I think it's more endearing than others just because it's kind of a feat in itself that it's so enjoyable. It's a man trying his best to approximate his ideal game for two decades and it's given most players more hours of enjoyment most $60 games. That being said, now that he has actual employees and more at stake, Kenshi 2 won't receive the same kind of clemency if it's lacking.

 

[Smack Patrick]

What's everyones modlist looking like?
Tried Expanded Vanilla Armour recently, but I dunno. Something about it feels off to me.

 

[Oilspill Battery]

Doing a Chunk Man challenge in kenshi,

What is chunk man?

 

[Philly Phunk Machine]

I've indeed not yet made my way to the east yet and I'd honestly not included going there in my exploration, as I hope to go make a bitch of the fog islands and push on through to the leviathan coast. I will say that I love a lot of the environments in the western part of the world. Seeing the grid for the first time had me both curious and greatly intimidated. Very "this is not a place of honor" kinda vibe, but you could probably say that for a lot of Kenshi's world design.
View attachment 8181563
I think that though Kenshi is feature creep:the game, I think it's more endearing than others just because it's kind of a feat in itself that it's so enjoyable. It's a man trying his best to approximate his ideal game for two decades and it's given most players more hours of enjoyment most $60 games. That being said, now that he has actual employees and more at stake, Kenshi 2 won't receive the same kind of clemency if it's lacking.

There's screenshots floating around that suggest a few key members of the Kenshi 2 dev team is of the woke variety. It hasn't reached GTA 6 levels of concern yet, so fingers crossed.

 

[TrainWreckWatcher]

There's screenshots floating around that suggest a few key members of the Kenshi 2 dev team is of the woke variety. It hasn't reached GTA 6 levels of concern yet, so fingers crossed.

I saw women on the team so I figured it was going to only be a matter of time.
Call me sexist all you want but bitches are emotional suckers for woke shit.

Holy Empire was right.

 

[Sheriff Mike Chitwood]

Doing a Chunk Man challenge in kenshi, i want to see how much i can survive doing outpost only, im only allowed to trade things that i refine (this means i cant just sell copper) and the armor and weapons i can use are only ones i can craft myself, everything else i can buy. However no long after i set my rock mine and basic processor the Holy Nation felt compelled to just come and threaten me, followed by a Bandit Demand, is this how it feels to live in portland?

View attachment 8093632
View attachment 8093635

My bug ass is still naked.

What is chunk man?

i seen this guy use that word "chunk" a lot and thats what i was wondering, what the fuck are you talking about? what is a chunk?

 

[Jose Beaner Luna]

What is chunk man?

Is based on a Runescape challenge similar to ironman, basically you can only be in one part of the map and do all of the missions to unlock the next "chunk" aka part of the game, in my case i start in the borderzone and i do goals that i set myself to unlock the next biome.



My goals in the borderzone are
-unlock all yellow book techs
-defeat all raids from black dragon niggers and dust bandits
-defeat the local bosses after defeating its raids
-get at least 1 recruit (hive only because i like playing only hivers)

Then i'll move to the swamp, the general rules are:
-i can only live in my outpost
-cant leave the chunk, if i unlock a new one i can only move between those two
-i can only make money through trade goods (drugs are banned) or things i refine (like iron plates)
-no thievery or assasination (too easy)
-no MA (also too easy)
-Hives only (best boys)
-no grinding combat stats (because i hate how you can trivialize the game with a gorillo in a bed)
-only 1 base per biome/chunk
-i can only wear armor and weapons i make myself

Is been fun so far i think the only thing i would change is partition the research to complete all of research level 2 in the borderzone and then in the next biome complete all of research level 3, it got me interacting with mechanics i never did before and realizing certain issues the game had with the economy, for example, all wandering traders but the hive ones are broke as fuck so they will not buy anything from your counter, i gave them money and suddenly not only did they bough shit but also i could sell them stuff like i can do with the hive caravan so yeah the traders guild caravan having 0 money is an oversight.



Finally a lost drone decided to join my crackshack, i dont feel so lonely now, i still miss that prince, he's been really good distraction while i snipe bandits with the ballista and hopefully he wont instantly die if i miss the shot and hit him with that armor.

i seen this guy use that word "chunk" a lot and thats what i was wondering, what the fuck are you talking about? what is a chunk?

Is a game concept that is better ilustrated in minecraft, imagine games beind divided by a grid of huge squares, all those squares activate in a radious around the player and is where the action occurs, this is to avoid the game having to process the entire map and saves memory, so essentially the parts were the player is not there remain in stasis or they "dont exist" until you approach them and so all the mechanics start to work.

 

[Paul-Denton]

-i can only live in my outpost
-cant leave the chunk, if i unlock a new one i can only move between those two
-i can only make money through trade goods (drugs are banned) or things i refine (like iron plates)
-no thievery or assasination (too easy)
-no MA (also too easy)
-Hives only (best boys)
-no grinding combat stats (because i hate how you can trivialize the game with a gorillo in a bed)
-only 1 base per biome/chunk
-i can only wear armor and weapons i make myself

This sounds torturous but I'm not as familiar with the ins and outs of the game. Still trying to find somewhere to set up shop. Just been spamming research in Squin while my only two competent characters out of the twelve go out looking for tech books and engineering research. Feel like shem might be nice but I really want to find a place with some natural walls so I only have to worry about the gate. Not making money from bandits would drive me absolutely insane. Have you written off bounties as well? idk what i'd do without a band of mercenaries helping me scoop up the dust king.

 

[Jose Beaner Luna]

Not making money from bandits would drive me absolutely insane. Have you written off bounties as well? idk what i'd do without a band of mercenaries helping me scoop up the dust king.

I havent written off bandit bounties since i still have to defeat them, however my base is a hub of action, there's always a fight going on somewhere meaning i can just sneak behind the bandit chief and challenge him to a 1v1 then i deliver him to squinn if i win, i have moved the "block" key to B wich allows my shitty stats bug to have an edge in combat by activating and deactivating block, the timing is very forgiving and is not a cheesy solution since the bandit can still fuck me over, i also have weapons that give me +attack to have higher chances to land a hit, however now that i have an extra guy i set him on block and taunt and i pick them up 1 by 1 with my better stats bug set on normal. I also hired mercenaries to help me with base defense (since i am not cheesing stats they are a must) now that the alcohol well is flowing uninterrupted, im becoming fiflthy rich thanks to cactuces, i allow the bugs to get viciously beaten if they are around because i sleep soundly knowing they will heal me, sadly the last HN raid whiped them out as well as the nearby outpost, chance of death x2 is very spooky.



Rip shek vendor, i now have to buy my building materials somewhere else...

Edit: oops forgot to mention that i allied the starving bandits, this is aparently a vanilla thing, i baited their food dialogue and gave them 1000 cats for food and now i have support in the streets, when they see me they just follow me around like mercs, they suck but the distraction is appreciated. My hiver has become some kind of mafia.