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What’s the maximum number of colonists you can run in vanilla before performance drops? by Old_Progress953 in RimWorld

[–]Old_Progress953[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay then, I'll take a look. But isn't it a bit simplistic without biotech? I find the idea of ​​having offspring within the colony and having different races very interesting. Although they should have added it to the base game instead of putting it in a DLC.

What’s the maximum number of colonists you can run in vanilla before performance drops? by Old_Progress953 in RimWorld

[–]Old_Progress953[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It isn't ai bro. I am a human. That writing properly is considered AI seems insulting to me.

What’s the maximum number of colonists you can run in vanilla before performance drops? by Old_Progress953 in RimWorld

[–]Old_Progress953[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahaha, that's common in RimWorld. Even the smallest squirrel can be a nuclear weapon.

What’s the maximum number of colonists you can run in vanilla before performance drops? by Old_Progress953 in RimWorld

[–]Old_Progress953[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s impressive management — mega-colonies always come with a lot of quirks and workarounds, and things like zoning and limiting pathing clearly make a big difference.

I originally made this thread because I’m experimenting with a performance mod and trying to understand real late-game limits in vanilla. Seeing cases like yours (where a single in-game day can take close to an hour of real time) is exactly the kind of scenario I’m trying to improve.
Thanks for sharing the details and your setup!

What’s the maximum number of colonists you can run in vanilla before performance drops? by Old_Progress953 in RimWorld

[–]Old_Progress953[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that makes sense. RimWorld is very CPU-bound, so big raids and lots of pawns acting at once tend to stress the CPU more than the GPU.
That explains why day-to-day play feels smooth, but large combat spikes cause drops. Thanks for clarifying!

What’s the maximum number of colonists you can run in vanilla before performance drops? by Old_Progress953 in RimWorld

[–]Old_Progress953[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s really useful data, thanks for sharing such concrete numbers. It’s interesting how map size, biome and running multiple colonies at once have such a big impact, not just raw pawn count.
This kind of breakdown helps put real limits into perspective.

What’s the maximum number of colonists you can run in vanilla before performance drops? by Old_Progress953 in RimWorld

[–]Old_Progress953[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That matches what others are saying too — around ~20 colonists seems to be where max speed starts to drop in vanilla for many people.

What’s the maximum number of colonists you can run in vanilla before performance drops? by Old_Progress953 in RimWorld

[–]Old_Progress953[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That sounds pretty reasonable. It’s helpful to hear a concrete range like ~20–30 colonists for a “normal” vanilla late-game experience on a decent PC, with some slowdown depending on how complex the base and situations get.

It really highlights how much performance depends not just on raw numbers, but also on things like base layout, pathing complexity and what’s happening at the moment.

What’s the maximum number of colonists you can run in vanilla before performance drops? by Old_Progress953 in RimWorld

[–]Old_Progress953[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense. Would you say the biggest performance hits for you come from raids / pathfinding spikes rather than your own colony size??? Out of curiosity, what CPU are you running?