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[Majestic7]

So, in many games I get this death spiral where a friendly unit decides to attack enemy factions on their own. This increases tension which causes more attacks which causes more attacks etc... Is there anything I can do to prevent it happening in the first place? Often it happens when I've barely settled (I almost always start as an outcast) so my avenues are very limited.

[Vaccean]

Were you inspired by any books or media when creating the atmosphere for the game? I am strongly reminded of Zalazny's Amber series when it comes to the politicking and the whole cycle-of-rebirth thing.

I don't think I heard about the Amber series before, or if I did I forgot, but I'm glad you brought them up because I've been in the mood for something like that for some time! I'll probably check them out.

As for the game's atmosphere, I wish I could say it's inspired by something cool and intellectual but I'd say it's mostly a product of local evolution. It's based on a silly old project of mine which was in turn based on a sillier, older, embarrassing RPG Maker game I did many, many years ago.

You know, I have a dinky old laptop I take on trips and mainly use as a writing tool. Unlike my desktop, it can't really run games. Still, it has two games on it - Neoscavenger and Anamnesis. I've likely played Anamnesis lots and lots of hours in trains and hotel rooms on work trips to stave off boredom. So yeah, keep on trucking.

Honestly, you have no idea how happy it makes me to know that.

So, in many games I get this death spiral where a friendly unit decides to attack enemy factions on their own. This increases tension which causes more attacks which causes more attacks etc... Is there anything I can do to prevent it happening in the first place? Often it happens when I've barely settled (I almost always start as an outcast) so my avenues are very limited.

Does this still happen in the newest version? It's one of the kinds of unpredictable violence that should have become rarer now. I can't think of readily available strategies to avoid this right now without being more settled, other than trying to keep tension low or resorting to the help of opportunists. But maybe I can add something if this is still a problem.

[E. Albright]

I don't think I heard about the Amber series before, or if I did I forgot, but I'm glad you brought them up because I've been in the mood for something like that for some time! I'll probably check them out.

Anamnesis aside, the Amber cycle is certainly worth reading. There are a few parts that feel slightly dated, but surprisingly few. Zelany was a magnificent writer and author - his writing is both easy and enjoyable to read. I'd recommend the whole series - it's 10 books, but it's light reading even though it's not shallow.

(There are some thematic similarities between Anamnesis and Amber, but I think some of it might also be your writing style.)

[Nordlicht]

Thanks for this awesome game! I haven't checked your site for a while now, and really feared to see it discontinued. I really like the universe and atmosphere you created.

[ChairmanPoo]

Is there any getting started guide? I really want to get into the game but I keep being beaten up for some reason

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Is there any getting started guide? I really want to get into the game but I keep being beaten up for some reason

I have no idea how to play too

[EuchreJack]

Is there any getting started guide? I really want to get into the game but I keep being beaten up for some reason

I have no idea how to play too

The website has some basic stuff.

I'll add that each area is defended by an enemy unit.  If you fight them, then your Local Tension goes up, which means you are more likely to have to fight enemy units when entering territory in the future AND enemy units are more likely attack you.  If you stay home for a couple weeks, Local Tension usually goes down, and you are less likely to have to engage with the enemy unit when you enter the territory.  Rushing in too quickly, without resting at home for the Local Tension to go down, is probably one of the more common mistakes.  And once it starts to build up, it can be hard to recover.

If you want to win those fights, you have to recruit/summon a unit and either have that unit go to the territory, or use a merit to pool your units.  Or just get whooped, rest at home for a few weeks, and hope they let you slip by next time.

Start on Governor if you want the most survivability to do whatever.  I find Merchant is actually the best start since you can set up a stream of income and it doesn't overindulge you like Governor does.  Merchant will show you what you need to do in general.  Adventurer is generally supposed to be about mostly ducking the big nasty units and finding all the relic pieces.

Recruiting Renascents is important because each Renascent is another chance to have someone skilled in the Relic Piece quest instead of having to do it yourself or pay merits.  But honestly, I generally try to have enough merits saved up before going relic hunting so that I can just buy my way to the relic piece if I have to do so.

The game, especially as an Adventurer, is about exploration.  Every cycle, you have to travel the world, figure out what territories exist, and find out how to best accrue Merits and Arkke.  What works on one cycle might not work on others.

I'll throw in one final word on Faries, since it is not obvious and you need to know.  They can affect you and the world without you knowing they exist.  Kinda like radiation, except they can sometimes be helpful.  But its when your local tension goes up randomly or you get fatigued periodically that you need to remember that they might just be floating around invisibly screwing you over.

[Majestic7]

Does this still happen in the newest version? It's one of the kinds of unpredictable violence that should have become rarer now. I can't think of readily available strategies to avoid this right now without being more settled, other than trying to keep tension low or resorting to the help of opportunists. But maybe I can add something if this is still a problem.

I'm afraid the death spiral still happens in the latest version. Mind you, I always start as an outcast, so I'm not sure if it applies to other stars. For example, in my latest game I started as an Influenced Outcast and a Nivharian Corporate Lawyer decided to attack a destroyer. They were naturally defeated and local tension jumped to 75, immediately starting a strain of constant hostile encounters. This even before I had a base, it can get even worse when you have a base to act as a target.

Mind you, losing is fun and it is okay that things go to shit sometimes, but the key is "sometimes".

[EuchreJack]

Does this still happen in the newest version? It's one of the kinds of unpredictable violence that should have become rarer now. I can't think of readily available strategies to avoid this right now without being more settled, other than trying to keep tension low or resorting to the help of opportunists. But maybe I can add something if this is still a problem.

I'm afraid the death spiral still happens in the latest version. Mind you, I always start as an outcast, so I'm not sure if it applies to other stars. For example, in my latest game I started as an Influenced Outcast and a Nivharian Corporate Lawyer decided to attack a destroyer. They were naturally defeated and local tension jumped to 75, immediately starting a strain of constant hostile encounters. This even before I had a base, it can get even worse when you have a base to act as a target.

Mind you, losing is fun and it is okay that things go to shit sometimes, but the key is "sometimes".

How do things go when you aren't an Outcast?  For other modes, you have barriers/decoys to avoid encounters.  On Outcast, you just hope to find a location with an ability to lower Local Tension.  There is no rest mode.  Some locations are even dangerous since your only choices are boost local tension or boost stress.

[ChairmanPoo]

Yeah I think my problem was precisedly starting as an outcast. Its sort of described as beginner mode but that it aint

[Vaccean]

Alright then, so the checklist is allied attacks balance and looking into easing new players' experience.

The game kind of recommends outcast mode for beginners as I think it gives players a taste of things without bogging them down too much with more obscure mechanics and features. I'm not sure whether a first experience with all the menus unlocked can be more interesting than just having them jump straight into some action, so in the end I just left those ambivalent messages about governor and outcast there and allowed players to make their own choice.

Maybe I'll just make the first cycle in basic mode easier and more forgiving or something.

[EuchreJack]

New players expect to win.*  Outcast mode is difficult to win even by experienced players.  It is therefore NOT good for new players.

I'd suggest a disclaimer along the lines of "Outcast mode is difficult to win.  It should only be tried by experienced players."

..it sort of comes down to how many players you want to hear vent about "Outcast mode is too hard/unwinnable" (which is true), and the risk that they might not try the more normal modes.  Ragequit syndrome.

*I don't generally use bold, but I thought this worth emphasizing.

[Majestic7]

Yeah the reason I start as an outcast is because I always enjoy starting as an underdog and fighting my way upwards (I mostly play minors in Paradox games, for example), so the success feels more earned when it happens. Getting teeth kicked in seven times out of ten in the process is completely okay. This, however, is different from what a new player might think or want.

Perhaps, outcast mode should be flagged as an underdog mode with less options in the beginning, so less complexity and easier to learn as such, but harder difficulty. While governor mode is the opposite, all the options and complexity and less difficulty.

[Vaccean]

I think I fixed the issues we talked about last time in the newest version of the game.

But maybe I didn't. I can still hardly believe there are people out there choosing to play things other than minor nations in paradox games anyway.

Change Log:

* Outcast Preparedness and Captivity: Outcasts meeting the requirements of the territory they find themselves in will be able to prepare for enemy attacks creating local barriers in that territory. They will instead find themselves trapped in a minority of territories, at which point they'll have to work towards escaping, usually at a small cost of some kind, least they want to spend dozens of weeks stuck. Enemies, considering these players dealt with, will not attack them as long as they remain in one of these territories.
* Temporary garrisons consisting on the units of allied lobbies will occasionally be available to defend friendly territories at no cost to the player. They might do this even when the player is outcast and unable to issue orders on their own accord.
* Players can now choose to forfeit territories rather than fight for them when attacked by the enemy, which will also lower Local Tension.
* The max number of simultaneous social contexts has been increased to 4.
* Players can now individually reroll each starting social context in advanced mode and starting appearance trait while keeping the rest.
* Successful players now have the option to choose starting with a smaller base or no base at all while still keeping their due money in new cycles rather than being forced to play as Governors or Merchant Venturers.
* Completing the impositions of opportunist aristocrats now lowers Local Tension by 5.
* The descriptions of the starting player positions should lead to less misunderstandings now.
* Added 1 new relic.
* Added 2 new units.
* Added 5 new social contexts.
* Delved too greedily and too deep into old code and awoke nameless fears and bugs.

[Majestic7]

Woooooooooo, new version!

No lethal bugs so far. However, I noticed that no matter what I do, my reputation doesn't seem to change from unknown? Is it harder to change than in previous versions or is there a bug here? I pretty much killed twenty people in the gazebo as an outcast (using kill an enemy -option several times in a row), but never became Ruthless. Actually never become anything other than unknown at all.

Edit: Playing a different character, I was able to become a Hedonist pretty much immediately. Hmm. I wonder if it was just RNG, or if it is something wonky regarding Ruthless?