Outcast Quest [Updated 10/10/18 - Turn 14]

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Razor One
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by Razor One »

Algae has a lot of potential uses, from biofuels to waste management, food production, and even plastics. The Algae you'll be carrying is a 'slush' variant used mainly for waste management, but has the necessary genes in an inactive state so it can be tweaked over to the other uses as the need arises. Tweaking it over to food should be fairly easy with a biolab, although you can probably do it with existing facilities at higher difficulty level, but the other uses are a bit harder to get right. That difficulty will mostly show up in the research rolls.

A varied diet in the form of a lot of Earth-native organics will have a good effect on morale. Theoretically you could feed your people on yeast and algae alone. The Nutrient Paste that your character lived off as a kid was essentially made from that stuff and you loved it, especially the blue nutrient paste. Your colonists just wouldn't like it very much for the most part and would riot the moment anything sweet came their way unless you were doing something absolutely amazing to keep them happy. It'll also give you a legup on trade, since anything that's earth native is effectively 100% unique to you.

Even sans Earth-native organics, you could also trade your way up to a varied diet. Alien foodstuffs that don't kill or poison you would be rather useful in such a scenario, but you need to have something to trade with from the outset. I think I've got a decent system to streamline and simplify trade so you're not operating fully off a barter system (the horror) but like all gameplay mechanics its slightly arbitrary.

Okay, heading to sleep now. Vote will remain open for another 17 hours or so, unless you want me to call the vote early of course.
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joestej
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by joestej »

dragoongfa wrote:Hmm...

First of all thanks for the votes :)

Now, having thought about it, Algae could replace one of the genetic samples. They have diverse set of usage, which makes them valuable both for the colony and for trading, especially if they have some gene engineered advances when compared to ours.

There are two choices as far as I can see:

1st: Ditch the Oak trees for Algae. Oak is a hardy tree, a great source of hardwood and produces acorns. It is easy to create an Oak forest which would be the cornerstone of an implanted biosphere. The problem is if these benefits are really worth it. Wood is bound to be a luxury in that tech level, no much use in weapons, acorns are not a great source of nutrition and implanting a biosphere shouldn't be a priority.

2nd: Ditch the Berries for Algae. Berrie shrubs grow quick and would be an immediate source of fruits. Some variants are hardy to various climates. The problem is that the fruits wouldn't be great in number and that it doesn't have any other advantage other than immediately covering the need for fruit.

I initially thought that the Orange trees could also be used to make way. However some Orange tree variants are very hardy, in Greece we use a variant of Citrus trees in city streets because they can stand the pollution and remain with leaves through the year with not much watering.
Not sure how much we'll have to worry about vitamins (medical supplies might cover that), but oranges and other citrus fruits have some very critical nutrients. It'd really suck if our colonists started dropping to scurvy. Plus they're tasty, which should keep people happy. I think leaving them in is a good idea.

As Razor mentioned, algae has a huge amount of utility, and it should be very fast to grow even from just a sample. Pull something to insert them and I'm on board with plan "Complicated Security with a headstart". Both oak trees and berries sound like good choices to lose. Berries grow fast and don't need a lot of tending, but oak will be a nice luxury good to trade with later on. Maybe keep the oak trees? We've got chocolate if people need a treat in the short term, and bees will give us honey.

EDIT:

Also got a chance to look over our ship. Good thing we took a non-martial path, because with nothing but 2 PD lasers we won't even be able to stand up to another human vessel, much less a Loroi or Umiak one.
Last edited by joestej on Thu Oct 15, 2015 8:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Siber
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by Siber »

I'm all for ditching the oak in favor of algae.
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by dragoongfa »

Indeed Algae are a great tool and could prove extremely useful in mid to late game, as well as an easily renewable food source in case of a catastrophe or the establishment of a secondary colony.

Oaks could be useful for luxury good trading as well as provide cheap housing materials in mid game if we need to quickly build more houses or basic facilities for some reason (see complication).

Berries on the other hand offer fruits and some basic trading with them... We have live Bees and Staples which should allow for the production of basic food and honey. Honey covers a lot of dietary needs and is a great luxury foodstuff, which means that it alone could cover Berries at the short run while chocolate will also be a good supplement in case of a morale hit.

Damn, I am going back and forth like a pendulum here.

EDIT: Damn, forgot paper production. Until we get some short of industrial base with the ability to replenish our tech then we will have to limit the use of computers to research and equipment handling and replace some paper pushing with actual paper.

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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by Nugget »

As much as i like Berries Oak will probably be more useful.

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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by joestej »

dragoongfa wrote:Damn, forgot paper production. Until we get some short of industrial base with the ability to replenish our tech then we will have to limit the use of computers to research and equipment handling and replace some paper pushing with actual paper.
Considering it'll be a year or two before any trees will be big enough to warrant cutting down for paper, I doubt that'll be a concern. With the technology we have now I can buy a 7 TB drive with the same dimensions a thick novel. For reference, the entire contents of the United States Library of Congress are estimated at 10 TB of uncompressed data. By 2160, tablets and other personal electronics will likely be advanced enough that we shouldn't have any trouble keeping our paperwork electronic without needing to pulp precious trade resources just to have something to write on.
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by dragoongfa »

True that...

After some more thought I have come to the conclusion that Berries are replaceable with everything else the ship carries and a hardwood tree will be a potential trading resource as well as a cheap alternative resource for use in housing and furniture in mid game, which is important if something happens to the initial settlement.

So my revised proposition and vote is:

[X] Plan: Complicated Security with a headstart v2 (105 points for 2 complications)
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[X] 200 Passengers (LOCKED) {Free}
[X] Extra Passengers (1d100+100) {9 Points}
[X] Marine Contingent (Company sized, 1d170+80 Marines) {9 Points}
[] Luxury Goods {9 Points}
[X] Scientific Equipment {9 Points}
[X] Industrial Equipment {6 Points}
[X] Raw Materials {3 Points}
[X] Data Hard Drives {3 Points}
[X] Medical Supplies {6 Points}
[X] Yeast {3 Points}
[X] Potatoes {6 Points}
[X] Chocolate {3 Points}
[X] Mining Equipment {12 Points}

Bio Stuff:

-[x] Livestock (small) (4)
-[X] Staples (Wheat, Corn, Rice) (6)
-[X] Bees (6)
-[x] Insects (Various) (4)
-[] Apple Saplings
-[] Bamboo Saplings
-[] Pine Saplings
-[x] Oak Saplings (4)
-[x] Algae (4)
-[x] Orange Saplings (4)
-[] Aldean Peppers
-[] Berries (Various)
-[x] Cacao Saplings (4)

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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by alpha »

dragoongfa wrote:True that...

After some more thought I have come to the conclusion that Berries are replaceable with everything else the ship carries and a hardwood tree will be a potential trading resource as well as a cheap alternative resource for use in housing and furniture in mid game, which is important if something happens to the initial settlement.

So my revised proposition and vote is:

[X] Plan: Complicated Security with a headstart v2 (105 points for 2 complications)
SpoilerShow
[X] 200 Passengers (LOCKED) {Free}
[X] Extra Passengers (1d100+100) {9 Points}
[X] Marine Contingent (Company sized, 1d170+80 Marines) {9 Points}
[] Luxury Goods {9 Points}
[X] Scientific Equipment {9 Points}
[X] Industrial Equipment {6 Points}
[X] Raw Materials {3 Points}
[X] Data Hard Drives {3 Points}
[X] Medical Supplies {6 Points}
[X] Yeast {3 Points}
[X] Potatoes {6 Points}
[X] Chocolate {3 Points}
[X] Mining Equipment {12 Points}

Bio Stuff:

-[x] Livestock (small) (4)
-[X] Staples (Wheat, Corn, Rice) (6)
-[X] Bees (6)
-[x] Insects (Various) (4)
-[] Apple Saplings
-[] Bamboo Saplings
-[] Pine Saplings
-[x] Oak Saplings (4)
-[x] Algae (4)
-[x] Orange Saplings (4)
-[] Aldean Peppers
-[] Berries (Various)
-[x] Cacao Saplings (4)

I guess this means I will not be able to have berry pie on Fridays. :P

I'm surprised that I was the only one to go for double biology at the expense of complications.

Hmm...

Plan "Simplify with Complications": Buy everything and give up trying to decide what samples to bring. Yes, that includes another 36 point Biological samples module just so that we can have live samples of everything (I'm looking at you, Pine Saplings). You never know what will happen. Also, this is 6 probably (hopefully) slightly beneficial complications and 204 points. This plan is definitely not pointless.
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[X] 200 Passengers (LOCKED) {Free}
[X] Extra Passengers (1d100+100) {9 Points}
[X] Marine Contingent (Company sized, 1d170+80 Marines) {9 Points}
[X] Luxury Goods {9 Points}
[X] Scientific Equipment {9 Points}
[X] Industrial Equipment {6 Points}
[X] Raw Materials {3 Points}
[X] Data Hard Drives {3 Points}
[X] Medical Supplies {6 Points}
[X] Yeast {3 Points}
[X] Potatoes {6 Points}
[X] Chocolate {3 Points}
[X] Mining Equipment {12 Points}

[X] Biological Samples (Pick up to 3*(36) points worth) {6 Points Each Live, 4 Points Each Genetic}
-[X] Livestock (small)
-[X] Staples (Wheat, Corn, Rice)
-[X] Bees
-[X] Insects (Various)
-[X] Apple Saplings
-[X] Bamboo Saplings
-[X] Pine Saplings
-[X] Oak Saplings
-[X] Algae
-[X] Orange Saplings
-[X] Aldean Peppers
-[X] Berries (Various)
-[X] Cacao Saplings
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by Absalom »

Sorry to intrude, since I'm not playing, but for those of you who are, remember that bees need nectar or equivalent. I think that the fruit trees and berries are the only sources, so if you start without those you'll need a replacement source, maybe from the algae.

Also, while the cacao tree is a better source of wood than any of the fruit trees (it's trunk gets wider, so bigger pieces of wood), it requires flies for pollination, bees will not do that (they can't), so you need the other insects if you want cacao beans. Given the choice between cacao saplings or fruit tree saplings, I'd probably go for cacao: it's not just useful for chocolate and wood.

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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by Razor One »

Most plans that have cacao and oranges also seem to have insects (various) and bees, so there shouldn't be too much concern if I'm tracking the vote correctly, although I'm going to mention that people really should make their votes absolutely crystal clear.

And Absalom, don't feel like you're intruding. Anyone can join or leave at any time. The game isn't closed to anyone who wasn't here at the start. If you have important info to share or a strategic vote to cast to break a tie, anyone and everyone is welcome to pop in and cast a vote.

Unless you're multi-accounting. That would be bad. It would also make me sad.
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by joestej »

[X] Plan: Complicated Security with a headstart v2
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by Razor One »

Checking things over, it seems that this plan:

Plan: Complicated Security with a headstart (105 points, 2 complications):
SpoilerShow
[X] 200 Passengers (LOCKED) {Free}
[X] Extra Passengers (1d100+100) {9 Points}
[X] Marine Contingent (Company sized, 1d170+80 Marines) {9 Points}
[] Luxury Goods {9 Points}
[X] Scientific Equipment {9 Points}
[X] Industrial Equipment {6 Points}
[X] Raw Materials {3 Points}
[X] Data Hard Drives {3 Points}
[X] Medical Supplies {6 Points}
[X] Yeast {3 Points}
[X] Potatoes {6 Points}
[X] Chocolate {3 Points}
[X] Mining Equipment {12 Points}

Bio Stuff:

-[x] Livestock (small) (4)
-[X] Staples (Wheat, Corn, Rice) (6)
-[X] Bees (6)
-[x] Insects (Various) (4)
-[] Apple Saplings
-[] Bamboo Saplings
-[] Pine Saplings
-[x] Oak Saplings (4)
-[] Algae
-[x] Orange Saplings (4)
-[] Aldean Peppers
-[x] Berries (Various) (4)
-[x] Cacao Saplings (4)
Is in the lead with votes from:

Sunphoenix, Siber, Nugget, joestej

Since dragoongfa did propose it, I'll assume it gets his vote too, but since there's no clear "I vote [X] Plan This" I can't be 100% certain.

I'll extend voting on this for a bit. If you haven't voted on a plan yet, please do.

In the meantime, I'll open up the final two rounds of customisation before we begin.

Firstly:
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As a transport vessel, you were carrying some passengers along for the ride. Who are they? Choose one.

[] Frontier Colonials: The hardworking men and women of Earth's colonies know best how to build colonies from the ground up in even the harshest conditions with the smallest amounts of materials.

+1 Stewardship Action

[] Core Worlders: The Core Worlds of the Terran Colonial Authority, also known as The Six Worlds of Humanity include people from Earth, Mars, Alpha, Proxima, Aldea and Esperenza are a diverse mix of the best and worst traits of Humanity.

+1 Martial Action

[] Skilled Migrants: 99% of Humanity still lives on Earth. As such, the best and brightest minds of the generation are found there, just waiting for their chance to take to the stars. This was supposed to be their shot.

+1 Learning Action
And secondly, since the marine contingent is a component of the most populous vote so far:
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A Marine Contingent was attached to your transport. You didn't ask where they were going, they didn't tell, and their credentials checked out. Who was their leader?

Choose only one.

Nova Company Commander

[] Colonel Brian Pierce

Age: 45

Martial: 20
Diplomacy: 12
Stewardship: 13
Intrigue: 14
Learning: 10

[] Colonel Tanya Barrett

Age: 44

Martial: 20
Diplomacy: 10
Stewardship: 11
Intrigue: 14
Learning: 14
For those wondering, your character and Sharon in particular have a martial stat specialising in naval command. You belong on the bridge. Your marine contingent colonels however belong in the field, and their martial stat is geared towards that. If you tried to command the marines yourself, you'd take a large hit on your martial stat as a modifier, and likewise, whichever Colonel you pick would take a similar hit if they had to take the bridge.

That doesn't mean you're not in charge of them of course. You can give them goals and direction just fine, it's you who's in command after all, but it's their CO's job to prosecute those goals.
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by joestej »

Razor One wrote:Checking things over, it seems that this plan:

Plan: Complicated Security with a headstart (105 points, 2 complications):
SpoilerShow
[X] 200 Passengers (LOCKED) {Free}
[X] Extra Passengers (1d100+100) {9 Points}
[X] Marine Contingent (Company sized, 1d170+80 Marines) {9 Points}
[] Luxury Goods {9 Points}
[X] Scientific Equipment {9 Points}
[X] Industrial Equipment {6 Points}
[X] Raw Materials {3 Points}
[X] Data Hard Drives {3 Points}
[X] Medical Supplies {6 Points}
[X] Yeast {3 Points}
[X] Potatoes {6 Points}
[X] Chocolate {3 Points}
[X] Mining Equipment {12 Points}

Bio Stuff:

-[x] Livestock (small) (4)
-[X] Staples (Wheat, Corn, Rice) (6)
-[X] Bees (6)
-[x] Insects (Various) (4)
-[] Apple Saplings
-[] Bamboo Saplings
-[] Pine Saplings
-[x] Oak Saplings (4)
-[] Algae
-[x] Orange Saplings (4)
-[] Aldean Peppers
-[x] Berries (Various) (4)
-[x] Cacao Saplings (4)
Is in the lead with votes from:

Sunphoenix, Siber, Nugget, joestej
Actually, I voted for the "v2" version of that plan that had the Berries swapped for Algae. Dragoongfa said he would be voting for the "v2" plan as well:
dragoongfa wrote:So my revised proposition and vote is:

[X] Plan: Complicated Security with a headstart v2 (105 points for 2 complications)
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sunphoenix
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by sunphoenix »

[X] Skilled Migrants {Those who do not learn are doomed to repeat the failures of the past! 'nuff said}

[X] Colonel Tanya Barrett {Cause female marine commanders are Hot! :)}

My votes.
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Razor One
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by Razor One »

joestej wrote:
Actually, I voted for the "v2" version of that plan that had the Berries swapped for Algae. Dragoongfa said he would be voting for the "v2" plan as well:
My bad there, didn't notice the difference and thought he'd edited his original vote to the v2. Recounting.

[X] Plan: Complicated Security with a headstart v2

Siber, dragoongfa, joestej, Sunphoenix

Sunphoenix and Nugget need to confirm their support for v2. I'll assume that they'll support it for now since there's only one minor change, but I'd prefer to have proper confirmation before calling that part of the vote. There are about eight or nine people playing judging by how many voted on the surveys, so five is a solid enough majority to call the vote on, especially considering that the other plans have proposals but not very many votes to them.
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by joestej »

No worries, I assumed the same thing until I checked what you had written down.

---

My votes:

[X] Skilled Migrants

[X] Colonel Brian Pierce
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sunphoenix
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by sunphoenix »

Oh yeah.. I support v2. No problem!
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[IC] Cydonia Rising/Tempest Sonnidezi Stormrage
[IC] Incursion Maiannon Golden Hair
[IC] TdSmR Athen Rourke

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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by Suederwind »

I'm with sunphoenix on this one.
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dragoongfa
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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by dragoongfa »

My votes:

[X] Frontier Colonists

The Learning action will certainly prove more useful because the cargo helps with both Martial and Stewardship a LOT while the initial game plan is aimed at pacifying the civilians early so the fact that they have no idea of what being a colonist is like should not be much of a concern.

EDIT: Thinking about it some more, wouldn't Learning through R&D be easier if the initial colony established itself far more quickly?

[X] Brian Pierce

Its a show off between Learning and Diplomacy/Stewardship.

The Marines will handle a lot of civilian affairs at first and we want as high a diplomatic bonus as possible. Stewardship will help with their own day to day affairs, a company of Marines involves a LOT of paper pushing, take it from someone who was in the army. His average learning is regrettable but establishing a working relationship with the Marines without having to hold their hands as much is imho the better option.

EDIT: Remember that the Marines are a different military branch and as such there should some short of contest about who will run things on the colony side.
EDIT2: Also bear in mind the possibility of a 'Mizol Seduction plot' ;)
EDIT3: Vote change
Last edited by Guest on Fri Oct 16, 2015 4:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Outcast Quest

Post by Jericho »

[X] Core Worlders

[X] Colonel Brian Pierce

Yarr me harties! we be hardy space pirates and we be taking all the booty YARR!
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