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

[Sweforce]

Agreed regarding biochem vs physiology. I expect we'll want to diplomasize the Loroi this turn, and hopefully continued efforts to understand them might help with that. Researching the collars would probably have the opposite effect.

I guess that the collars work pretty much as the loroi psychic amplifiers but tuned to suppress their powers instead. If that is true, it would be something in it for them if they can be switched to amplify instead. But then again, to even know of the existence of amplifiers are another matter altogether. The guests may know but it is up to them to share that information.

By the way, are the loroi guests misjumped shipwrecks themselves or descendants of some? There may be an entire loroi civilization in this otherspeace.

[Razor One]

June 2nd, 2155

Turn 2

Your colonists have taken to calling your new home Niflheim, meaning Mist Home, or Abode of Mist, a realm of primordial ice and cold. Honestly the name baffled you at first until you looked a little deeper into the Norse cosmology. The fact that you have living elves amongst you was almost certainly a part of it, you're sure, but it makes sense in retrospect.

Still, headaches abound. You'll need to set a definite date to hold elections for the civilians. You're pretty certain that the longer you leave it, the more agitated they'll get. Your potatoes are still growing and it'll be another two months before they're even ready to harvest. Even then, you'll need to at least double your yield just to pull people off rationing.

It's still not going to be enough though. Your XO told you a joke between work shifts, "How many potatoes does it take to kill and Irishman? None.". Grim as it was, her point, as advised by several botanists, was that unless you diversified away from potato production once you were out of danger of starvation you were just one crop failure away from starvation.

Your Loroi guests have been getting agitated. Ensign Izumi's assignment to work details has left them without a familiar point of contact, and though Spear's English is good enough to get the broad strokes it's evident that she wants to talk with you.

Even then, there's still so much more to do. Your colonists are still cooped up in the passenger module between work shifts, you know very little about how to medically treat your Loroi guests beyond simply assuming they're like humans and acting accordingly, you've got to bootstrap an economy from effectively nothing and despite it all you've been having increasingly terrifying nightmares of you, your crew, and all the people you're responsible for wasting away and becoming shambling corpses that blame you for everything.

The only reason you're not punching walls in frustration right now is because you've got a meeting with your crew on what to do next. Those at least feel vaguely productive.

Free Action:

On which turn do you hold the civilian elections?

[] Write In.

10000 Resource Units
2000 Medical Supply Units
1000 Units of Chocolate
610 Food

Martial: {Locked}

Both Commander O'Malley and Colonel Pierce are allocating all available personnel to help break ground for the colony. No military actions may be taken until then.

Diplomacy: Though Ensign Izumi is still in quarantine, she's your most effective diplomat, though you're no slouch yourself in that department. (Choose One.)

[] Improving Relations: Developing a closer rapport with your Loroi guests would definitely be a plus. Put some time and effort into learning each other's cultures.

Cost: 0, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 70%, Reward: Boost in Loroi Opinion, ???

[] Meeting with Spear: Spear has expressed a desire to meet the person responsible for her people's rescue.

Cost: 0, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 70%, Reward: Introductions between Spear and yourself, ???

[] Friend or Foe?: Jonathan Spencer is the leader of the people who oppose Vannessa and Richard Hughes leadership. The rival political group is still in its foundational stage and is trying to find its feet. Getting to know what their intentions are could be vitally important. Critically, they don't seem to have made up their minds regarding you, yet.

Cost: 0 Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: ???, Reward: Meeting with Jonathan Spencer, Knowledge of Rival political group

Stewardship: Alex Cole and an economist, Samantha Nguyen, have worked out not only a way to easily tabulate your resources, but also what you can do to build your colony up. (Choose 2)

[] Habitation Complex: Your colonists are itching to get out of the passenger module and stretch their legs. The habitation complex will provide room for 500 people to live comfortably.

Cost: 1000 RU, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 80%, Reward: Habitation Complex Built, New Options, Colonists off your ship, Improved morale, Requires 250 RU upkeep.

[] Agricultural Complex Expansion: An expansion to your existing Agri-Complex, this expansion will double your food production capacity.

Cost: 2250 RU, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 90%, Reward: Agricultural Complex Expanded, Increased Food Production, +500 Food, requires 250 RU upkeep, requires two turns to begin production after completion.

[] Yeast Production Plant: Yeast has numerous uses, from basic food production to alcohol and bread making.

Cost: 750 RU, Time: 2 Months, Chance of Success: 90%, Reward: Yeast Production Plant Built, New Food Options, Able to Grow Yeast, +250 Food, requires 125 RU upkeep.

[] Stabilisation Thrusters: Your home asteroid is not fixed in space. There is a slim chance that it could float off and strike another asteroid, or be struck itself. Needless to say, this would probably be a bad thing. Build stabilisation thrusters to help hold your colony in place and allow it to nudge itself away from impending doom.

Cost: 3000 RU, Time: 3 Months, Chance of Success: 60%, Reward: Not getting crushed by flying mountains, requires 500 RU upkeep.

[] Biolab: The biolab will handle all science biological, from alien physiology, botany and disease control, to genetic manipulation and vaccination production.

Cost: 6500 RU, Time: 4 Months, Chance of Success: 90%, Reward: More research options, biologically related research improved.

[] Physics Lab: The physics lab will handle all science physical, allowing you to understand the new realm you find yourself in more fully.

Cost: 8750 RU, Time: 6 Months, Chance of Success: 90%, Reward: More research options, physics related research improved.

[] Mining Operations: Unpack your mining gear and break ground on the positively immense mineral wealth available to you.

Cost: 0, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 100%, Reward: Mining operations commenced, +500 RU per turn, unlocks new options.

[] Fuel Refinery: Harvests the surrounding hydrogen rich atmosphere and converts it into delicious fuel for your ships to burn.

Cost: 4000 RU, Time: 6 Months, Chance of Success: 70%, Reward: Ship automatically refuels while at home.

[] Docks: Basic mooring and umbilicals for the L'Amour, allowing for ease of transport and for cargo and personnel and basic repairs.

Cost: 3000 RU, Time: 3 Months, Chance of Success: 80%, Reward: Allows for easy disembarkation of people and goods, Unlocks new Options.

[] Warehousing: Space to store spare parts, raw materials, and sensitive goods. Allows you to empty the L'Amour's cargo hold.

Cost: 1000 RU, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 90%, Reward: A place to store goods and cargo other than the ship.

[] Machine Shop: Allows for the reproduction and repair of basic tools and equipment.

Cost: 1000 RU, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 90%, Reward: Basic tool production, New options.

[] Medical Center: All colonies require medical treatment for the sick and injured and the biolab is no place to treat broken bones.

Cost: 2000 RU, Time: 3 Months, Chance of Success: 80%, Reward: Medical treatment available for all colonists except Loroi.

[] Scrapping the Jumpdrive: Your Jumpdrive is useless here and consists of a lot of highly valuable materials that could be used elsewhere in the founding of your colony, though Volkova argues that it's made of precision parts that can't be easily reproduced.

Cost: 0, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 100%, Reward: +15,000 RU.

Intrigue:{Locked}

As a military transport vessel, signals intelligence or other intelligence related officers were not a part of your crew.

Learning: You have many skilled people at your beck and call just waiting to tear into the unknown and reveal its juicy, succulent knowledge. (Choose One)

[] Loroi Trade: Ensign Izumi wishes to continue learning Trade as fast as she can with the help of your new Loroi friends.

Cost: 0, Value Needed: 701 / 1750, Reward: Ensign Izumi increases her knowledge of trade, can teach others upon completion.

[] Urkuk: Considering how prolific the Urkuk are to the region, it may be prudent to have the Ensign learn what she can of Urkuk. Perhaps they'll go away if you ask them nicely?

Cost: 0, Value Needed: 230 / 750, Reward: Ensign Izumi increases her knowledge of Urkuk, can teach others upon completion.

[] Jump Transit Analysis: Chief Engineer Volkova wants to look over the data for your last jump transit to see if your sensors picked anything up anything unusual, perhaps what brought you here in the first place? Perhaps a clue to getting home? She's not sure.

Cost: 0, Value Needed: 0 / 500, Reward: ???

[] Loroi Biochemistry: Doctor Campos would like to do a more detailed study into Loroi biochemistry to determine with certainty what foods the Loroi can handle as well as derive what nutrients they require to fully recover from their ordeal in addition to what medicines they're able to consume.

Cost: 0, Value Needed: 127 / 1000 , Reward: Knowledge of what is and is not toxic to Loroi biochemistry.

[] Loroi Physiology: Doctor Campos would like to do a full medical workup on the Loroi in your care. As similar as they are physically, there may be differences that could hinder effective medical treatment.

Cost: 0, Value Needed: 0 / 80, Reward: More effective medical understanding and treatment for Loroi.

[] Slave Collar: Chief Volkova and a number of scientists want to look into how the slave collars removed from the Loroi work.

Cost: 0, Value Needed: 25 / 50,000 (DC 90), Reward: Knowledge of the inner workings of the collar, ???

[] Drone Design: Some of your civilian engineers want some time to continue designing those sensor drones they proposed to you.

Cost: 0, Value Needed: 64 / 500, Reward: Disposable sensor drone capable of extending your sensor range.

[] Jump Sickness Research: Dr. Campos research into jump sickness has the potential to eliminate it in your population. All he needs is time.

Cost: 0, Value Needed: 819 / 5000, Reward: Jump sickness penalty removed.

Personal: {Locked}

You don't have any time to spare. Every day you work yourself to the bone. Every night you fall asleep dead tired. Your parents built the colony you grew up in, and now you know just how much hard work that is. Lately you've been having some rather severe nightmares. It's not affecting your work so far, but you're definitely getting less sleep.

--

Agreed regarding biochem vs physiology. I expect we'll want to diplomasize the Loroi this turn, and hopefully continued efforts to understand them might help with that. Researching the collars would probably have the opposite effect.

I guess that the collars work pretty much as the loroi psychic amplifiers but tuned to suppress their powers instead. If that is true, it would be something in it for them if they can be switched to amplify instead. But then again, to even know of the existence of amplifiers are another matter altogether. The guests may know but it is up to them to share that information.

By the way, are the loroi guests misjumped shipwrecks themselves or descendants of some? There may be an entire loroi civilization in this otherspeace.

Your Intelligence Report on the Loroi may have some answers for you there. If you want more detail though, either meet with Spear or do Improving Relations.

I agree on this, it's just that the 1000 biochemistry does look extreme and it will take more than a full year with just average rolls.

I will insist on having the research changed from biochemistry to Loroi physiology. Physiology which has just an 80 research limit will be over in 1 maybe 2 turns and I think that there will be a synergy bonus while also ensuring that we are able to heal our guests.

I've been considering the matter, but I don't think the absolute value here will change. Biochemistry is a prickly thing to pin down, and this is a completely alien biochemistry, even if there is some overlap. Reducing the amount you have to research would make Biochemistry look easy, which it most definitely isn't. Synergy values will be how you conquer this. Bonuses to rolls and extra rolls will certainly help speed things along plausibly, provided that you make the correct decisions to gain them.

I've updated a few descriptions to make certain things a bit more clear. Minor for the most part though.

Been watching this for a little while, and now looks like a good time to say hi. So, um, hi! This is awesome, btw.

I'm glad you're enjoying the game. It's my first time running one, so seeing new faces (or old if you're a lurker, ) pop up be definitely feels especially good.

Anyway, that's Turn 2 up for you. I'll be busy prepping the next survey, but I'll leave this for a day or two so you guys can discuss amongst yourselves and ask questions.

{Edit}

Simplified food production. Initial investment is higher, but no longer requires large upkeep costs. All food structures operate at maximum capacity.

<< Turn 1 Results || Turn 2 Results >>

[dragoongfa]

Hmm...

Let's get the easy out of the way first.

Diplomacy

[X] Meeting with Spear. Getting things over with the Loroi quickly will be beneficial for the long run in terms of diplomacy. Leaving Jonathan Spencer alone for a month after we announce our plans for the election will be beneficial in order to observe his behavior before we approach him.

Stewardship

[X] Agricultural Center, we still need more food + one more to initiate the diversification process.

[X] Mining Operations. Self explanatory and 100% is a certainty.

The next in the build order will have to be the Machine shop in order to enhance our RU

Learning

[X] Loroi Physiology to get a possible synergy bonus for the biochemistry.

Now for the hard part:

[X] Elections after stabilization.

Normal pre election periods are usually two to three months long in order to allow those coming forward to properly pan out their policies. The problem with our situation is that until things stabilize in the food, housing and medical front tempers will be high and the pre election period will suffer as a result.

-[X] The elections will be held in six to eight months, allowing enough time for the building of housing and the lightening of the food restrictions. Both key concerns of the colonists that must not be used in any short of pre-election campaign.
--[X] We will make it clear that demagogic actions during the food and housing shortage will not be tolerated, nor any type of action that will in any way impede the construction of the necessary infrastructure that is key for the survival of everyone.

[Siber]

My thoughts at the moment

[X] Elections on turn 4
I'm leaning towards this as it gives people time to campaign and debate and such, but doesn't look like we're stalling to stay in power. Food will, if I understand correctly, start coming in on turn 3, so hopefully that'll lead to an easing of tempers and we can A) go into the elections on a relatively positive note, and B) show that we got things off to a decent start when we were running things.

[X] Meeting with Spear
Bypassing the leader to talk to the general Loroi seems like it could be a considerable misstep. Of course talking to Spear could be a misstep if there's dissent among the Loroi that we don't know about, but it seems the better bet right now.

[X] Yeast Production Plant
[X] Mining Operations
I'm leaning towards voting for yeast production as a stewardship action to go along with that. Two turns for that means we could maybe get some vodka flowing during the third month too, and have a real good 'we have food now!' celebration. I ought to check some numbers to see how the food and RU budgets work out there. If this is viable I'd say next turn we should set up the habs.

[X] Loroi Physiology
as previously discussed.

[ChaosFarseer]

Hm, going for the Biochemistry made a lot more sense assuming that the 4d100 + 4d20 roll was for all Learning options, not just Linguistics. Oops.
With that in mind, since the Loroi are growing restless, we're going to need to talk to them at some point. And when we do, it'd be a lot easier if we have a better understanding of Loroi Trade. We've got about a 50% chance of finishing Loroi Trade in 4 turns and a ~85% chance of finishing in 5 turns (assuming 4d100 + 4d20 + 18 per turn... but is the Learning stat counted once per week?). I'd think that if we can talk to them, it should make the following Physiology discussion easier, but doing Physiology before Loroi Trade wouldn't help as much.

Currently, I believe we're just operating at the 3 RU -> 1 Food option, which is 1750 RU upkeep per month so far, creating 500 food per month. The consumption at full meals looks like it should be about 555 food per month, so we're almost there. I don't think we need to massively increase food production by expanding the Agricultural Complex yet, but the Yeast Production Plant covers the minor difference while giving us food at triple efficiency.
With the Agricultural Complex Expansion, we have maximum 1000 Food per month, at 2165 RU upkeep per month (1665 for 555 food, 500 of upkeep).
With the Yeast Production Plant, we have maximum 750 Food per month, at 930 RU upkeep per month if the 1 RU -> 1 Food rate applies to all locations (555 RU for food, 375 upkeep), or 1540 RU per month if the ratio only applies to the food produced in the Yeast plant (915 for 305 food in agriculture, 250 for 250 food in yeast plant, 375 upkeep).

With those rates in mind, I think we should go for the Yeast Production Plant as a higher priority, regardless of how the rules work. The only downside is it takes one additional month. Someone please correct me if these numbers are wrong.
It also indicates we need to get onto mining ASAP, because we're going to run out of RU really fast.

I'm glad you're enjoying the game. It's my first time running one, so seeing new faces (or old if you're a lurker, ) pop up be definitely feels especially good.

Been watching the forums off and on for ... a long time now. Four years? Hadn't seen an CK2 game on a forum before, but it's looking great so far. Thanks for running it.
(Did you get the profile pun? Excellent!)

[anamiac]

Diplomacy
[X] Meeting with Spear.

Stewardship
[X] Agricultural Center
[X] Mining Operations

Learning
[X] Loroi Trade.
[X] Elections after stabilization.

[X] Agree that the elections shouldn't happen during the food crunch. 6 turns is the earliest, but it would probably be better to say 7.

[dragoongfa]

I think that the RU investment for food is either an one off at the first planting (to pass on the fact that planting an in doors field for the first time needs soil with nutrients) or counted once after each harvest (Why would someone replace the soil, when we can do crop rotations?).

I am going to assume the first because the RU costs for food will be game breaking otherwise. Around 550 units eaten each month (whenever we drop the food restrictions) means 1650 RU consumption each month before the usual upkeep. With 500 RU input from mining alone then either the machine shop will have to produce several thousands of RUs or we will be in RU red with nothing to do about it. Breaking down the Jump drive won't fix the balance in the mid run if these numbers stay as they are.

I think that we need some hard numbers Razor.

[joestej]

Quick question.

Once elections are completed, how much authority will we have over civilian operations? Obviously if we tick off whoever is elected they'll cause lots of problems either way, but I'm curious how decision-making will work once democracy is reestablished.

If we're going to loose a lot of our control, we'll want to make sure we put the elections off until after we've got the most critical stuff taken care of. If not, giving them elections soon would be a nice distraction.

Also, are we going to need to use an actions to make the elections happen, or will that be done by civilians in their spare time?

[Razor One]

Regarding your Mining:

500 per turn is your initial income. You can boost that by expanding operations. Building a mine will also allow you to build an ore refinery, which will double your total mining income. Building powerplants for the ore refinery will double your income again, and while expensive, you can also work towards increasing the efficiency on your refinery, giving you more boosts to income, though this will become exponentially more expensive as you pursue it.

I was going to make the initial investment into planting a per harvest thing, but that's probably a bit too much overkill. I'll nerf it down to an initial investment and fold that into the cost of expansion to simplify matters.

Building a surplus of food is good. Building a surplus with diversity is better, since you're less likely to be crippled by things like a Potato Famine.

Regarding the 4d100 + 4d20 rolls, that's explicitly for Ensign Izumi when learning languages. Doing a bit of simulation shows that the Ensign can learn to speak the language in roughly a year as good as a native speaker, provided that the people she's learning from know all the ins and outs, which sounds about right to learn a language.

Figuring out a completely alien biochemistry is a bit harder though, especially with your guests effectively vegetating in a not-quarantine and getting agitated and utilising a transport vessels rather limited medical bay for some seriously hard research.

And on the subject of learning and languages, Spear's understanding of English is currently better than Ensign Izumi's understanding of Trade. You can check it on the character sheets here, but she's currently 1034 / 3000 on English. She's conversational but will be baffled by certain terms. She can for all intents and purposes speak with most people reasonably well, but she'll be perceived as a bit slow and stuttering, and since verbal communication doesn't come naturally to her, she's a bit hesitant to open her mouth, making her look timid, but blunt when she does, making her sound clipped and arrogant.

Regarding your elections:

You won't be losing control of anything. This is more or less a shitfight between the civilians because their appointed leadership is not widely appreciated by the colonists. They were meant to be a temporary inconvenience they were willing to put up with until they got to their real destination and leaders, not a permanent arrangement. For the most part, the civilians manage the smaller affairs that you and your crew aren't bothering with, such as who's on the janitorial duty roster, working out disagreements, managing shifts and working out problems that you don't need to oversee.

They're still working out their political differences. The longer you give them to find their feet, the more likely they'll prefer some of your policies to others, which will show up as a bonus to certain actions. Give them too long though, and they'll start getting restless.

Campaigning and such will actually be quite quick and merciful and won't take more than a month. Part of this is because the small size of your population, part is because they don't use an excessively silly or complex system of caucasus, by elections and whatnot. It's just a fairly simple preference vote for who you want to be running things. You get to call when elections begin, and can call for a new election every six months at a minimum and three years (24 turns) at a maximum.

So, for example, if you call for an election in Turn 3, the earliest you can call one is at the start of Turn 9, and the latest is Turn 27, where you have to call for one by default as per TCA law in your role as military governor.

So, put simply, you get to call elections, and whoever wins will give you varying bonuses depending on their slant. If you'd aced Soothing Tensions, you'd have been able to net bonuses across the board with a slight skew instead of splitting things along party lines. Checking in with Jonathan will let you see what his particular slants are, and will let you compare him with Vanessa and Richard, who have a different bias.

Calling when an election occurs is a free action. You just have to announce a date (Turn) when the election will take place and your citizens will handle the rest over a month long period between work shifts. If an election is called for Turn 6, then the results will appear in the Turn 6 results.

[dragoongfa]

Hmm...

Some change of my mental planning is in order then. The initial investment for food can be overcome with proper income so we will see how things will stand with the refinery investment on turn 3.

If the refinery is cheap and somewhat quick (2 turns?) then on turn 3 we can expand the mine and start work on the refinery. Which will allow us to invest on a machine shop on turn 4 which will mean that on turn 5 we will have both ready and churning out 2000+ RUs. Then we upgrade the agri center to 3 and start work on the thrusters. When the agri centers are done we can go with covering the morale with living quarters and then look into the medical center which should by then come out when the first births are taking place.

With the above in mind I would put the elections when the medical center is done. Since survival would be secured and all that would be left would be industry and research.

[Absalom]

Turn 2: One more agri-complex and the establishing of a mine.

Turn 3: Third agri-complex aiming for food diversification (and the eventual lifting of food rationing) and housing (huge morale boost from both at turn 4).

I was initially thinking that a turn 2 Ag expansion was a bad idea, but with the Tensions vote failing it probably is the better option. With what Razor has said, the initial Mine should completely counter the Ag costs.

Hmm...The next in the build order will have to be the Machine shop in order to enhance our RU.

Where does it say that the Machine Shop generates RU? Or are you talking about building more mining equipment?

If the refinery is cheap and somewhat quick (2 turns?) then on turn 3 we can expand the mine and start work on the refinery. Which will allow us to invest on a machine shop on turn 4 which will mean that on turn 5 we will have both ready and churning out 2000+ RUs.

This is much better than housing on turn 3.

Then we upgrade the agri center to 3 and start work on the thrusters.

The third food production expansion being another Ag complex, however, is a no-go. It needs to be Yeast, for the sake of diversification. This isn't about crop failures, but rather diet: potatoes and wheat (or rice, or corn) is roughly equivalent to bread, bread, and more bread. By adding yeast, the colony will achieve more protein (search Google for "yeast protein content" and similar, it provides you with some proportion info, and the difference is drastic: yeast has ~ 1/3 protein per gram, while the rest... are much lower; fat content seems the same), and more vitamins.

[dragoongfa]

I was initially thinking that a turn 2 Ag expansion was a bad idea, but with the Tensions vote failing it probably is the better option. With what Razor has said, the initial Mine should completely counter the Ag costs.

My thinking was that we want at least two meals per person as soon as possible, to keep the morale stable and thus the civies and marines off our backs.

Where does it say that the Machine Shop generates RU? Or are you talking about building more mining equipment?

I was thinking about the tool shop. Razor said that finished goods are worth more RUs than the materials used to make them. Breaking down stuff from salvage is where the RUs will be lost.

This is much better than housing on turn 3.

My thinking exactly.

The third food production expansion being another Ag complex, however, is a no-go. It needs to be Yeast, for the sake of diversification. This isn't about crop failures, but rather diet: potatoes and wheat (or rice, or corn) is roughly equivalent to bread, bread, and more bread. By adding yeast, the colony will achieve more protein (search Google for "yeast protein content" and similar, it provides you with some proportion info, and the difference is drastic: yeast has ~ 1/3 protein per gram, while the rest... are much lower; fat content seems the same), and more vitamins.

Hmm....

True...

So Yeast being the third food production while we invest the price difference into expanding the RU. With Yeast being churned out we can begin to slowly crop diversify as well.

[Razor One]

Survey is now up. Please vote here.

I've included when to hold elections on the survey as well. The most you can delay it is to turn 12, the earliest you can call it is this very turn. Consider your choice here carefully.

[dragoongfa]

Voted.


[X] Meeting with Spear
[X] Agri center
[X] Mining
[X] Loroi physiology
[X] 10 (turn 2 + 8 of my previous thinking)

[ChaosFarseer]

Haven't voted yet. Can I ask again why we should go for the Agricultural Center Expansion now, as opposed to getting the Yeast Production going? Unless we suddenly need twice the food production as our consumption, the yeast facility provides greater efficiency and gives us the diverse crops sooner.

Razor One, what is our monthly food consumption without rationing? I calculate 539 per month, assuming that the Loroi eat 1/3 of a food each. 555 if not.

Edit: I couldn't find anything saying the Loroi eat only a third of the food. So let's assume 555 per month.

[dragoongfa]

By getting the two Agri centers going we can remove the harsh rationing and institute a 2 meals rationing in turn 4 when the first harvest will be done, with the second harvest done in turn 5. Instant rise in morale from that. If we devote turn 3 to RU investment (mining + ore refinery) then we get to start building the Yeast factory in turn 4, having it finished in turn 6 with the first Yeast coming in at Turn 7.

The thinking behind this is that two agri centers instantly allow for 2 meals per day rationing by turn 4 which will vastly improve morale. With Yeast production this would be done in turn 6 (Second harvest plus Yeast is the only time that the numbers add up). With what I propose the Yeast will be coming in at turn 7 which will also allows for the full lifting of food rationing at that very turn if we don't choose to stockpile food for a rainy day (or begin diversification by introducing bees and other crops in plots).

EDIT: The Loroi have a far more efficient metabolism, in canon they eat in once a day.

Let's put my thinking into a construction plan:

Turn 2: Agri center + Mine

Turn 3: Mine + Ore refinery (I assume 2 turns)

Turn 4: Tools + Ore refinery (This should bring more than 2000 RUs each month)

Turn 5: Yeast + Thrusters

Turn 6: Yeast + Thursters (Food done at this point)

Turn 7: Housing + Thursters (Food + Housing morale secured)

Turn 8: Medical + Power generator (for extra RU if thrusters are done)

Turn 9: Medical + Power/Fuel refinery (depending on what has been finished.)

Turn 10: Medical + Power/Fuel refinery

[Razor One]

Your agri center can currently produce 500 food every two turns because you're growing nothing but potatoes. Doubling up lets you get 500 food per turn due to alternating harvests, allows you to build a surplus rather than operating on a minor deficit, and makes keeping track of things a little easier for me to boot.

After that, diversification is important for food security. How you do that is up to you. Once you hit a certain amount of diversity, new factors come into play.

I do recall reading somewhere that Loroi only need to eat once a day due to a more efficient digestive system or somesuch. If it's not true, then it is for the purposes of this quest because I'm not redoing the math.

Without rationing, your food consumption would be 531 (your pop) plus 24 Loroi at 1/3rd, which neatly becomes 8, so all up, 539. Your current rations are actually less than half due to all the people on 1/3rd rationing currently, though you've got until Turn 7 to redress that before you start taking a major morale hit. You're still at Cooperative, but that's mostly because it's an eyeball estimate at the moment and not a hard system. If you're still on the harsher rationing by Turn 7, you'll drop to Friendly, Turn 8 or 9 will drop you down to neutral, and after that, well, it gets progressively less and less pretty. I may systematise things later once I'm more confident in the current mechanics.

For the moment your colonists are distributing food mostly equitably. Pregnant women, shuttle pilots, and anyone doing sensitive or dangerous work do get slightly more than those that aren't, since being able to concentrate on your work is better than getting a severe case of the munchies while on the job and prevents accidents.

Your character is on 1/3rd rations as a matter of principle, she can hardly ask everyone else to do with less and then not do the same, though this isn't doing wonders for her general disposition. Couple this with mounting stress and a number of lingering issues, to say nothing of civilians overstaying on her ship, even if they are relegated to the cargo hold, and she's getting mighty testy. Fortunately it hasn't affected her work. Yet.

[ChaosFarseer]

Your agri center can currently produce 500 food every two turns because you're growing nothing but potatoes.

Aha. I didn't notice the every 2 turns part, which explains a lot of things. Thanks.
I assume that means crops which take longer to grow are eventually going to require more greenhouses. Well, we'll deal with that when we get there.

Let's put my thinking into a construction plan:

SpoilerShow

Turn 2: Agri center + Mine

Turn 3: Mine + Ore refinery (I assume 2 turns)

Turn 4: Tools + Ore refinery (This should bring more than 2000 RUs each month)

Turn 5: Yeast + Thrusters

Turn 6: Yeast + Thursters (Food done at this point)

Turn 7: Housing + Thursters (Food + Housing morale secured)

Turn 8: Medical + Power generator (for extra RU if thrusters are done)

Turn 9: Medical + Power/Fuel refinery (depending on what has been finished.)

Turn 10: Medical + Power/Fuel refinery

I believe the Mine only takes 1 month, but otherwise that looks like a good plan to go for.

[dragoongfa]

That's two mines for a total of 1000 raw which with the Ore refinery will bring in a total of 2000. If the Tool shop also provides some RU (manufactured goods) then the total will be in excess of 2000 RUs per month.

Covers the 500 upkeep for the agri cultures with a 1500 initial surplus. The Yeast, thrusters and housing will eat almost 1000 of that when they are done so going for a power generator is a must at that point. With the power generator and the medical center done I foresee a solid 2500 RU surplus that we can invest in many ways.

EDIT: Question to Razor, how much will the mine expansion cost?

My plan assumes that the original mine (without the equipment we brought) would cost 1000 RUs (like the RUs just for the Agri center). With the expansion following the same philosophy and being cheaper at 750 RUs.

Also how much does the Ore Refinery cost? My assumption is 2000 RUs with a two turn construction time.

EDIT: Tools, do they produce RUs or an other bonus?

[Razor One]

Expanding an existing mine, once it's built of course, won't cost you much because you brought mining equipment with you. The most you need to do is build miscellaneous stuff to help extract the ore from deeper parts of the mine. I figure the cost will rise 250 RU per expansion, cumulatively.

Thus:

Build Mine: 0 (4000 Base Cost)
Expand Mine: 250
Expand Mine 2: 500
Expand Mine 3: 750
Expand Mine 4: 1000
Expand Mine 5: 1250 (etc.)

I may adjust those figures if you're making too much bang for your buck though.

Since the ore refinery is very valuable and powerful, I'll probably be making it expensive and more difficult to make, I haven't quite settled on the numbers there, could be more expensive, could take more time, could be both. Expanding your mine will be a much cheaper alternative for now. At some point, building new mines will be cheaper and easier than expanding existing ones, and upgrading your efficiency will be preferable to either later down the track.

The machine shop will unlock basic toolmaking and will allow you to reproduce your tools to millimeter accuracy. It would also halve the cost for building a mine if you hadn't taken mining equipment. If you were to build a new mine on a nearby asteroid, you'd need to start from scratch since your mining gear is locked up in your existing mine, and the cost would be at base. A machine shop lets you build the more basic mining tools amongst others, halving the cost.

Advanced Machine Shop halves it further, allowing you to reproduce a full suite of tools down to micron accuracy.

The Precision Machine Shop will allow you to build the highly precise tools required for scientific insight. You're currently limited to your physics lab and biolab with the equipment you have, if you want something more than that, you're going to want this. It basically allows you to build additional types of research structure. It will also allow you to build laser systems, the more powerful mass drivers, computer systems and so on.

Basically, the machine shop tree gives you the tools to make the tools to make the tools that let you burninate your enemies. As Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri put it:

Technological advance is an inherently iterative process. One does not simply take sand from the beach and produce a Dataprobe. We use crude tools to fashion better tools, and then our better tools to fashion more precise tools, and so on. Each minor refinement is a step in the process, and all of the steps must be taken.

It's fairly useful in many respects, but not absolutely critical to your survival.