Frontier Cultures & Conflict is now in public beta, and I would love help testing it

Frontier Cultures & Conflict is now available on the Steam Workshop:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3782031299

This is the first day of release, so the Workshop page is still getting its full screenshot and presentation pass. I wanted to get the actual mod into players’ hands first, because it has reached the point where real colonies, real mod lists, and real player feedback are more valuable than trying to predict every edge case alone.

FCC is a systems-focused RimWorld expansion about the history your colony creates through play.

Your colony does not choose a culture at the start. It gradually develops one from what your people actually do. Research, combat, rescue work, farming, trade, production, repeated consumption, major victories, losses, and important people can all shape the colony’s identity over time.

Some of the main systems currently included:

• Colony culture that develops from sustained behavior
• Emerging tendencies and established traditions
• Cultural Staples based on real consumption and meaningful production
• A persistent Chronicle that records research, battles, traditions, rescues, deaths, and major milestones
• Historical Figures that can emerge from real contribution and accumulate rank, reputation, archetypes, and remembered deeds
• Emergent pawn identities and mood thoughts based on actual gameplay evidence
• Faction memory, attention, threat, and important-pawn tracking
• Raid doctrines such as Raid and Plunder, Breach and Burn, Capture and Withdraw, Scorched Earth, and more
• Specialist raider roles including Looters, Breachers, Demolitionists, Medics, Gunners, Kidnappers, and others
• A full FCC dashboard for culture, history, conflict, world figures, and storyteller state
• Narrative pressure and storytelling support, including The Hollow’s dedicated horror-oriented framework
• Custom Thought & Trait Studio integration for persistent runtime thoughts, traits, and emergent identities

A few examples of what I want FCC to create:

A colony that repeatedly researches and produces advanced equipment can become known for its Scholar or Industrial culture.

A settlement where people constantly rescue one another and keep the wounded alive can develop Frontier Medicine or No One Left Behind.

A pawn who spends weeks fighting, surviving, treating others, constructing, crafting, or researching can develop an identity that reflects what they actually contributed, rather than receiving a random label.

A faction that has lost people to your colony, been robbed, humiliated in raids, or encountered a historically important colonist should remember more than a single goodwill number.

And ideally, raids should feel like they have intent. Looters should want loot. Breachers should want access. Medics should try to save allies. Kidnappers should care about captives. That part is one of the biggest reasons I am opening the beta now.

This is a public beta, not a finished 1.0 release.

Most of the major systems are implemented and playable, but I am actively looking for reports from different mod lists, colony layouts, storage mods, combat mods, faction mods, xenotypes, storytellers, and weird RimWorld situations that I cannot reproduce alone.

The primary beta area is specialized raid behavior. The systems work, but rare pathing, storage, equipment, extraction, and objective cases can still happen. If a Looter stares at a Deep Storage container, a Medic ignores a downed ally, or a raider gets confused by a specific map setup, that is exactly the kind of report that helps.

FAQ:

Does this replace Ideology?

No. Ideology is about declared beliefs. FCC is about what a colony actually becomes through sustained behavior.

Are the emergent traits random?

No. They are based on real event evidence and repeated actions. Identities are deliberately paced so a pawn should need around 10 to 15 qualifying in-game days for most meaningful identities.

Does it use generative AI during gameplay?

No. The system uses authored rules, real RimWorld events, contextual data, and accumulated evidence.

Does it replace vanilla raid AI?

No. FCC layers doctrine objectives and specialist behavior over RimWorld’s existing raid systems. It is meant to add intent, not replace the game’s entire combat foundation.

Will it work with a huge mod list?

Hopefully, but that is exactly what this beta is for. I am not going to promise universal compatibility before players have had a chance to test it in real setups.

Can it be added to an existing save?

Usually, yes, but please back up important saves first. FCC starts recording its own culture and history from the time it is installed. It cannot recreate every event that happened before then.

What does it require?

RimWorld 1.6, Harmony, and Custom Thought & Trait Studio.

I genuinely think FCC is worth trying now if you enjoy colonies feeling more remembered, reactive, and specific to their own story. The goal is not to bury RimWorld under systems. The goal is to make the things that already happen in RimWorld matter for longer.

If you test it, I would really appreciate feedback. The most helpful bug reports include:

• Player.log
• Full mod list and load order
• What happened
• Steps to reproduce it
• Whether it still happens after reloading
• For raids, the doctrine, role, faction, map layout, and relevant storage or combat mods

Thank you to anyone who gives it a try, leaves feedback, or helps stress-test it. Screenshots, better Workshop presentation, and continued polish are coming next. Today is just the start.