Bay 12 Games Forum

7th of Timber, Late Autumn of 101
Overlord's log

I have a feeling that Velmenni likes his job too much. He's been labeling the biofuel canisters with his signature and calling them masterpieces. At least it keeps him happy and doesn't affect efficiency.
Unfortunately we don't have accurate accounts of pretty much anything. I'll have to have an office set aside for myself for accounting. And perhaps some suitable furnishings. Maybe a weapon rack...
I've asked Marvin to set up a processing station for all these ornamental minerals we've been finding. They ought to be good for trading. I hear organics love them. I'll have Marvin embed some of our products with them.
I believe we are sufficiently prepared should any trade caravans arrive. Biofuel and clutter some people think is art. I think it's a clever way to cheat people out of their money.

End of line.

A mechanical force of overpoweredness has arrived!

Robots! Damn them!

I swear, run outside and rush for the green base, realising my need for more biomass. Can't make much changes without enough materials, right?

You must have missed this the first time around, so I'll repost it:

I'll join blue.

I scowl at the equipment bin (or what's left of it in case SOMEONE decides to scavenge it) and instead attempt to morph into a horrible abomination of nature, with tentacles, claws and more than enough eyes.

3rd of Malachite, Midsummer of 101 AE (After Emergence)
Private journal of Overlord Gamma Razorshoot


We are progressing quite well considering the circumstances and the...occasional strange activity from some of my compatriots. The fuel cultivation chamber's done, as well as a protective wall around the entrance. I'll have Spelguru attend to the roof and once the first underground level has been properly secured I'll have them dig a trench around the wall to deter intruders. Marvin, despite his protests, finally agreed to set up a proper gate. TBM has been busy excavating further chambers, one of which will become the foundry. The only minerals found so far have been some tetrahedrite, a few lumps of native aluminum and some shiny rocks. Spelguru insists that they are gold opals and clear zircon, but I have to take his word for it. I don't care if it's not claro opal.
Looking at our stock of fuel it's clear that we'll need more, but Vél insists that the cultivated biomass grow further before harvesting. I decided to send Billy topside to harvest some local wildlife. Told him to take the extra sawdisc. Last report from topside indicates that he's running after camels, swinging the sawdisc madly and generally enjoying himself too much. I'll need to do something about that bot.

End of Line.


((In other news, Gamma has fallen in love with Marvin. Because I decided to ignore gender completely when naming robots and ended up with a female Marvin. I wonder how I should handle this. I'm taking suggestions.))

The desert sand was rendered scorching hot by the baleful sun overhead. There was only a little wind which didn't do much for the local wildlife, which consisted mostly of bristling saguaros and the occasional spiky lizard-thing or a scorpion. One of them crawled over a small mound of sand, searching for food. What it got instead was a metal foot from above.
Overlord Gamma ignored the crunching sound and looked around. The party had reached the point where sandy desert gave way for rocky wasteland. The stony earth would be easier to fortify. The sand could provide glass for optical instruments. The magma pipe not far from the end of the desert would provide plentiful power.
Gamma glanced at Marvin, the tech-bot, who managed an apathetic shrug. "Should be far 'nuff. The Glazed Council won't find us here. Maybe. Like I care. Wouldn't make a difference if they were aiming global-range railguns at us already. Wouldn't have to put up with-"
Everyone automatically tuned his complaints out. All of them had learned to do so as soon as possible. Nobody wanted to listen to his rants, and even Vélmenni, an old and often oblivious model, actively avoided conversation with him. Vélmenni had been a bit of a problem. Both Spelguru (assembler and heavy construction bot) and Froginator (sawbot) showed open disdain of having to drag an obsolete lump of steel around and Vél sulked often because of that. But no-one else was available to be in charge of the fuel cultivation chambers, so the task was left to Vél.
They brought a TBM as well to excavate underground areas and assist in planning certain structures. The group was rounded out by 'Billy'. Everyone shied away from him due to his record. He had been a warbot, but due to his over-enthusiasm in making enemies (and sometimes friendlies) suffer as long as possible by severing all of their limbs and kicking them around he was reassigned to organic processing. Gamma was relieved that purely military weapons were hard for civilians to acquire back home. Who knows what Billy would have done if he'd gotten himself a powerblade?
On the other hand they had a hard time finding suitable self-defense weapons in case of organic raids or the Natural Glaze taking interest in their group. Being accosted by wetware 'bots would have been very unpleasant. Thankfully they had managed to get a hold of a pair of sawdiscs along with the drills, a stock of unrefined fuel and the...wagon. To avoid detection by both the Glaze of Dangers and the Natural Glaze they had to leave most high-tech stuff behind. No generators, no long-range communication...no motorized vehicles. They had had to steal an organic wagon with organic engines. Gamma made a mental note to have them processed as soon as possible now that they were no longer useful.
"TBM, Spelguru. Excavate there and set up an enclosure. We will need to make this place secure. Set up a fuel cultivation chamber on the desert side. Froginator, disassemble the wagon. Vél, set up the refinery. Billy, start processing the biomass. The sooner we can secure this spot, the better."

If I had known how long it would take for the next version to come out, I would have started this immediately after the untimely death of Steelgripped. For those of you unfamiliar with the fort in question Steelgripped was a community fortress with the rather unique twist of running my Robot Fortress mod. Since then I've made quite a few interesting modifications to the mod, for example robots wearing cloaks (or capes, shawls or rags) and making the robots not need water. They don't drink at all. Instead, I've renamed the different 'meals' into different grades of biofuel. And we hopefully won't have to endure any more miniforges, due to me cutting out all the toys from the entity file and replacing them with simchips. Instruments have been replaced with computer parts. Regular toys and instruments do exist, but robots don't make 'em.
The fortress will also be founded in a desert this time, mostly to make it more inhospitable for organic scum defendable. I've also considered raising the overall tech-level of the surrounding world. Goblins, for example, should they ever become too much of a pushover will be replaced with cyborg goblins. I may or may not add this later.

In any case, I'll need six volunteers to accompany a parallel world Overlord Gamma into glory. Any takers?