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Is it the intention of the developers that the plague spores can only be defended against using strategically placed plasma turrets and adequately supplied hospitals? That's all very well, but what ever happened to hand weapons and the ability for the colonists to be able to defend themselves with plasma rifles? 

I would suggest having space marine outposts capable of being equipped and manned for the task of defending the base internally against such enemies or for the colonists to be able to grab a weapon from the nearest locker in their own defence.

Alternatively, if that is not the final intention then what about having automatic internal blast doors that can be used to quarantine off an area, thereby stopping the plague spores from spreading beyond a certain area? Surely that would have to be a prerequisite for the safety of the base anyway in case of a internal explosion or external shard impact? We are talking about a planet with a predominantly carbon dioxide atmosphere outside and would be almost instantaneous death without an oxygen mask.

Are they unreasonable requests? What do you think?

Actually, one thing I think would really be helpful, is to be able to close up some "doors" over the intake fans, or put a little shield over them.  The intake fans are the biggest liability as far as plague spores are concerned.  Problem is, the colonists need those to circulate air properly around the colony.  It would help a lot if there was some kind of protocol to close the intake fans when plague spores have been detected in the vicinity.  They can turn back on when the spores have been shot out of the sky by cannons.  If there are no cannons, the spores can float around a bit and away. 

I do find it odd that the spores are "smart" enough to deliberately fly over to the colony and to the nearest intake fan.  Last time I checked, spores of any kind are not intelligent.  I'd believe the flying jellyfish are intelligent enough to fly over to the nearest, highest structure, but not spores. 

I think it would make more sense if little "clouds" of plague spores floated over the area (kind of like the toxic gas clouds from the geothermal vents), following the prevailing winds, and eventually blew out of the area.  Then it would seem more random [and realistic] if some got sucked into whatever air intake fans happened to be in the clouds' paths.  For now, it looks like a little green blob that intentionally wants to kill your colonists, and that's not realistic at all.  

That's interesting because I had thought the same for the plague spores myself, them been more like a pollen/gas cloud, and your solution using doors or a shield on the fan intake is just as fitting, although I think it would be great fun to be able to see the marines in action using the C button. That's one reason why I prefer building the air filters rather than the intakes and would like to see some sort of restriction that can be put in place to counter the threat of the plague spores if they do manage to get internal to the colony.

Do you think that the colonists would merrily walk around oblivious to the fact that a plague spore contamination is heading their way or would you see them run like the clappers for the nearest place of safety closing the doors behind them asap? And do you think a marine squad would be a handy thing to have in a dangerous and hostile environment? You can guess what I think!

The trouble with spores is, you can't actually see them in real life.  Plant and fungal spores are microscopic.  The only reason you can see them in the game is because the game is programmed to show you.  That little green blob you see is actually invisible, which is why the colonists that are unfortunate enough to be walking near the intake fans get infected.  If the colony were real, I think they would have put in alarms in the colony (kind of like fire alarms or tornado horns) to warn when biological threats have been detected.  That way, the colonists would know if plague/jellyfish spores were in the area, or a worm had [literally] reared its ugly head.  However, such an alarm would be kind of superfluous to the game player. 

When I see the plasma guns shooting upwards at the ice in the shard storms, I keep imagining that if there were kids in the colony, they would get a kick out of watching the ice get blasted out of the sky.  The teens would take bets on how long the shooting would last, hehe.

A marine squad would only be useful if space pirates or rebels showed up in force to try and attack the colony.  I'm not sure what direction the developers are going with that, but we'll definitely have a problem with them down the line, if the exploration missions are any indicator.

I agree. The plague spores in reality would be very small individually and have the characteristics on mass of a cloud floating in on the wind and not the tiny balls that go puff when they hit a colonist as is depicted in game. However, the game mechanics has the plague spores visible and can be killed using the plasma cannons and on that basis there should also be an equivalent defence against any infiltration of the colony. It would be the reasonable thing to do under the circumstances.

I suggest that they have a security team or space marines to counter the threat and the police drones do the job of maintaining order but do not have the ability to combat the plague spores. Surely there are military personnel they have come to the Aven planetary system on board the mothership to do exactly what I have suggested? It is apparent that the colonists themselves are trained for expeditionary duties and combat and it seems unreasonable to not have a security team within the colony itself. Most of the Science fiction books or films I have ever read have always had a some sort of personnel for combat, so why not Aven Colony?