Psych Card suggestion :
- If you build it: + 10 to all construction actions is strong (Consider, for a fact, that we have 4 (technically 5) of those actions lying around). In addition, I'm wary of not researching much for another year. We're almost through our obvious engineering projects, we might need to start researching soon.
Purple Spot Suggestion : B then A
Storm Suggestions : D and A
* [1/1] Heavy Bot Mech
- Construction : +5 bonus: Continue Sealing up the upper cave
- Mining : +5 bonus
- Conversion : +15 bonus to another construction or mining action
* [1/1] Powered Exo-skeleton Constructor Units
- Construction: -5 penalty : Construct the vehicle work bay by salvaging the Machine workshop (-20 New World, +10 Skunkworks (it's a prototype), +20 Overseer )
- Conversion : +10 bonus to another construction action :
* [4/2] Powered Exo-skeleton Constructor Units
- Construction : +10 bonus : Fix the factory/factory dome (+10 Extra manpower)
- Conversion : +20 bonus to another construction action
* [2/2]Digging & drilling vehicles.
- Mining : +10 bonus : Continue mining the underground tunnel
- Conversion : +10 to underground or other construction where appropriate
* [0/2] Damage Control & machine shop [Sheduled For moving]
- Maintenance and Repair Action:
- Construction [0/8] : Labor intensive for regular construction
- Conversion : +10 to another maintenance or Construction action:
- Art and Sundries [0/1] : Moral bonus
*[3/1] My First Factory kit
- Construction/production : +20 : Construct a BioRecycler Kit (-5 damage, +10 extra crew)
- Engineering action : +0
- Conversion : +20 to another engineering action or +30 to another construction action :
- Basic production : Can consume resources to produce basic or advanced parts
* Multi-Chemical Production Facility (choose 1)
[no manpower] Break down and/or produce chemicals. Production and energy needed varies. Basic chemical content will be reported on as well.
[no manpower] Purify and mix air or water, does not produce new oxygen or water.
Output depends on how much work is needed to purify, high quantities of sewage or industrial waste water would be considerably slower. For these purposes this facility would handle grey water while the existing ship systems would handle more difficult waste water. Two such facilities should be good at least for the current population for water.
[0/4 manpower] Chemical and material science research slot at +0 (or +10):
* Medium Mineral Processing Facility MPF
[1 manpower] for general production; +5 to basic construction or +10 to advanced materials construction(these will be more difficult to make anyway) to one project
[1 manpower] Eliminate relevant material related penalties to 2 projects.
[2 manpower] Geology and Material Sciences science slot at +0
* [2/2] Medical Bay.
- Research (Medical) : No bonus :
- Crisis Mitigation / Healthcare : Reduce impact of critical failures
- Wake Up Crew: Up to 10 per month, +0 roll with 1 manpower, +20 with 2 manpower.
* [2/4] VR CAD
- Engineering slot: Transportation Solutions (+10 Skunkworks, +5 extra crew)
VR Pod bonus Choose 1:
- Reduce Engineering slot manpower to [0/1]:
- add VR Recreation Slot [0/1]: Moral bonus
* Optronic Central Computer
Counts as 5 manpower for trivial tasks (can operate 50 trivial facilities)
Choose 1:
+30 bonus to one of virtually any construction, engineering, mining, science or maintenance action
[2/2] Engineering (design only, same as your VR project) slot : +20 : Industrial Coordination (+10 New World, +20 Skunkworks)
* [0/4] Satellite Survey
- Exploration action (+10 bonus) :
- Conversion : Can provide a +10 bonus to an appropriate mining, engineering or science action.
* [0/24] Manpower action
- Manpower : Does anything possible at a -20+X modifier, where X is manpower.
- Conversion : A Manpower action can be converted to a +X bonus to any type of action, where X is the amount of people involved.
* [1/1] Recreational Commons
Moral bonus
* [1/1] Group Activities (Team cobra special)
Moral bonus
* Misc Manpower Needs
- [0/1] Troubleshoot Colony Computer [Usefulness unknown]
- [3/3] Large Closed Loop Life support
- [1/1] Duel Core Fusion Reactors :
* Exceptional
- [1/1] Monitor Weather situations
Bonuses and penalties :
New World
+10 repair and maintenance actions (Sure it is broken, but if we just move this part over...)
+10 to one engineering and prototyping action per turn (Everyone brainstorm new ideas)
Resource Efficiency (We need to do more with less)
-20 to one construction action per turn (Why am I doing this the old way?)
Natalia Delacruz - A star ship designer who was tasked to lead development of the systems used in the Ark and Outpost ships. She oversaw the creation of the Ark cryo pods and Expert tested reactors before launch. Some blame her lax leadership style for the failure of the drop pod project. She has risen to the challenge of directing the outpost by concentrating on her specialization and delegating work. In some cases the extra personnel assigned to tasks have been helpful, particularly in driving the dome construction.
Skunkworks: +20 to one engineering or prototyping action per turn. +10 to all other engineering or prototyping actions.
Scheduling Nightmare: -10% rounded up manpower (-3 currently)
Site Manager: +20 to one construction or industrial action
Overstretched: +5 bonus to any action (besides manpower) at the cost of 1 extra manpower. Up to 4 per project.
Edit: On a side note, now I'm wondering. How much time do we have before the Ark arrives?
Speaking of which, I propose we give our settlement a name. We haven't actually done that, I believe.
I propose "Aurora". The Latin word for Dawn, and, as a bonus, in Asimov's stories, it is the first planet colonized from Earth.
Turn 13 March 2111The outpost team began switching gears as more people are assigned to construction.
* Seal upper cave 39+5=44 completed, 17 overflow into multipurpose bay
* Repair factory dome 90+10+10+10 success, half advanced parts refunded, 20 overflow into multipurpose bay
* Multipurpose Vehicle Bay 26-20+10+20-5=41 41+20+17/75 completed
Work on sealing the cave and moving the first system out of the ship goes quickly this month. The chemical factory is turned over to produce a small amount of lime plaster and portland cement while the heavy bot spreads a wire mesh across weak points in the roof of the vehicle bay. Mixed with a finely ground up version of the ubiquitous green sand, this cement plaster represents the first completely native building material created on the planet. The plaster is tough and both water and air tight although it does little to reinforce the structure of the cave. Plans are laid out for researching tougher building materials working with limited amounts of concrete, with ideas for cement covered packed earth and steel reinforced stone work taking center stage.
As the first patch begins to dry word comes down from the weather satellite, the dust storm is still growing and will soon cover the base. The name Aurora has become popular with the crew, but now dusk may be settling in for a while. Thanks to forewarning materials are transported quickly and setup is put on hold while a concerted effort is made to repair the damage to the factory dome.
Rather then fix the dome itself scaffolding is built inside to hold up metal plating which is then sealed around the puncture. The work is done just before the first major windstorm hits, blotting out the sun and reducing visibility to near zero. The exo suits and heavy bot return to finish the Maintenance and Vehicle Bay while the factory kit control room is inspected for damage. One of the core optronic systems needs to be repaired but everything else seems fine. The control room still looks beat up but the underlying systems are working perfectly.
Putting the vehicle bay together proves a little trickier then expected but a combined effort finishes the work on time.
Maintenance and Vehicle Bay completed. Cave is sealed but not reinforced.
Factory dome repaired, .1 advanced part used.
Alternative Basic Construction Materials can be researched at -10
Dust storm has hit, all work next turn will be at -10 if it involves going outside. All facilities not directly connected to the ship (factory dome, CC domes, external material scavenging and central caves) are considered at a short distance away instead of adjacent and work there will be at -10. * Central Access Spire 25+10=35 233/250 almost completed
Shortly after the second dust storm of the month hits a warning comes through from the emergency warning systems again. The geological survey satellite happened to be passing over when it notices unusual readings. A quick warning goes out to evacuate the tunnels not a moment too soon as another seismic event hits. This one is not as strong as the last although there are several aftershocks. A careful review of the cave system shows no damage to the spiral ramp and it's adjoining caves. The deep underground large cavern is not so lucky and is found completely blocked up.
Digging is delayed by the safety checks and the last part of the spiral and medium cave are not completed. The crew of Kaivaa and Doug however are already planning on the next set of expansions to be completed after this one.
3 small caves available.
2 medium caves available.
Underground large cave is destroyed.* Construct Bio-Recycler 35+20-5+10 60/250
Between the fuss of repairing the dome and the sandstorm work is slow on the bio-recycler. The final design should be able to process waste for far more then the total crew, allowing excess capacity to support in plastics, biofuels, hydroponics or a bio dome system once it is completed is set up.
One suggestion is to dismantle the life support systems on the ship and use them to create a water recycler, air control system and hydroponics underground. Reserves of food and water could be used in the meantime.
* Transportation Solutions 11-10+10+5=16 no progress
Work on new transportation options stall as the designers come up against the limitations of the VR systems. All too often they need to default back to the colony computer which is taken up with its own task. Light rail, rovers, dirt bikes, small boats, and helicopters are all considered but without a practical way to test anything it goes nowhere.
* Industrial Coordination 68-20+20+10+20=98 success
No one could deny the benefits of having groups of mechs working together. Projects which might need scaffolding and temporary support beams could be completed in less then half the time. Cutting down on tool swapping was another primary reason for the initial successes, particularly in the dome building.
On the other hand, working out manufacturing times and assigning construction priorities was currently delegated to the colony computer, which often gave conflicting or useless orders. The expert systems were simply not designed for the complexities of real world manufacturing. The two major issues were workers literally getting in each others way and supply bottlenecks where literally nothing was being done while waiting for a part to be manufactured or pulled out of storage.
The design team decided that creating a new dedicated industrial management system was needed, as the colony computer simply did not have the capacity. Basing their designs on the decision engine of the colony computer they quickly come up with a simple program which can coordinate labor, detected progress, give out tasks and make changes as needed.
The primary drawback of the Industrial Management Software is that it is not a true expert system. Not only does it need regular oversight but the workers on the ground need to constantly call in and help debug the system. It also needs bulky computers and monitors, requiring at least a small office.
Despite these drawbacks initial simulations show that many of the issues previously seen can be avoided and each labor unit will be able to perform to their best ability without being hampered.
You can construct a Labor Management Office, 1 manpower, small, 100 labor, 1 MW, up to 20 industrial slots managed
This will change the way manufacturing and industrial actions are done in a purely beneficial way.New research available: Industrial Expert Systems (-50) (fully automated Labor Management) Human-Robot Labor Interfacing (-30) (More consistent results from bots) Specialized Exo Suits (-30) (several designs for more efficient but limited scope exo suits) Manufactorium (-40) (Scaled up (huge) version of the My First Factory Kit)* Cargo hold 20+10=30 failure
After the tremors pass the damage to the large cargo bay is reinspected and one of the central support girders looks a little more bent then before. The team is quite worried.
-10 ongoing to checks.
New Research Available: Quake Defense Designs (-0) (More expensive building with a bonus against quake damage)
Word comes from the woman taking care of the fusion reactors that she has not been able to come up with any easy fixes for the damage. The currently working reactor appears fine but she just does not trust the other one.
As the second sand storm of the month dies down an attempt is made to download an update from the weather satellite. And there is no response, at all, from any of the orbiting system. The autopilot switches over to directly pinging each system and manages to get in touch with the weather and geological sats then routes over to the comm sat from them.
Something has damaged the communications satellite and no one is really sure what it was.
Damaged Satellite may be repairable or at least you can investigate the damage. Repairs need to be conducted by the Satellite survey action.
Due to network delays exploration bonus removed and conversion will no longer work, manpower needs reduced to 2.
Captain Pickens and a tired looking medical tech had settled down in Natalia's office. Well, office was a poor choice of words for the cramped autopilot room but it was the most official place in the base so far. The Commander had a hard to read expression on his face, but it was probably anger. And a lot of it.
So what is the issue the made me just kick two people out who were working to restore communications?The room had no windows but everyone knew a third wave of dust was on its way. The whole crew was a bit on edge.
You know I would not interrupt if it was not important, Pickens explained in an even voice,
I have seen how you are handling things and. He pauses.
And I do not want to seem like I am undermining your authority.No, you have not been a burden. I am just a little tired, I value your advise.Good he looked a little satisfied, nodded then turned to the woman beside him.
Tab, tell her what you found.The tired woman shifted, pulling out a datapad and handing it over to Natalia. As she did the threadbare nature of her uniform showed, even stitched and repaired the long lasting fibers were finally wearing down. Another item added to the long check list in her head.
I was working in the medical bay, looking over what we had and rearranging them for easier access. That is when I noticed what was missing. At first I thought I just misplaced the drugs she shrugs
sometimes that does happen, but not this time. I checked the cargo container also. We are missing critical parts of our drug supply, primarily ones used for treating the disorders found after cryogenics wake up.
Could they have been suffering symptoms and self medicated?I know my patients, we do regular checkups! Tab burst out, clearly upset at the implication.
If anything had happened we would treat it right away. There was no legitimate use for these. And the other thing. She turns to Pickens.
Tab came to me first, unsure about what to do. So I did a discrete look over all of our supplies.A pit formed in her stomach. She could not decide whether it was from the idea that she was not the first one to be informed or what she was afraid she was about to hear.
One of the discarded containers that keeps the drugs stable was also missing. Along with almost half a year's supply of emergency rations.Emergency rations. She stated in a shocked voice. Why would anyone want the disgusting emergency rations when meat was available now. They had even had near-pizza just last night and meat buns last week.
Where would they store so much, why would they take them?I just do not know. We need to act now though before this gets out of hand..1 unit of medical supplies and .5 units of food are gone.
Turn 14 decisionsIf You Build It now replaces Brave New WorldSearch for the supplies: Each poster can choose a location, if the supplies are there they are recovered. This is not a vote so don't choose the same place twice.
Investigation: How should the theft be handled?
Actions: This will be in a separate post as the current one is too long