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Author Topic: Outpost: Outcast [Heart of Sky]  (Read 37843 times)

VoidSlayer

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #495 on: January 18, 2016, 03:47:41 pm »

The plan is that the Ark should arrive in 4 more years, it may take several months to get to the planet after contact is established.  It will then break into three parts, the fusion drive and main power will stay in orbit while two massive drop ships will land, each containing two 500 MW fusion cores, enough internal HE3-fuel for one year, 50,000 colonists in cryogenic sleep, 20-30 crew crew quarters and such, a small medical facility and maintenance bay, food water medical and part supplies and a truck like rover.

The "pods" are designed to be somewhat aerodynamic and flat, at least as much as a skyscraper sized building can be, air breaking with a suicide rocket burn at the end similar to the outpost ship.  It should be able to land close to the base, +-10 KM.

tryrar

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #496 on: January 18, 2016, 05:18:15 pm »

plan ebbor seems good, though I want to see if we can get a dedicated concrete production facility designed so we're not taking up both the chem facility and the mineral processor to do it. We really need concrete to completely seal the caves so we don't get carbonate fractures.

I say we hold off transportation solutions until after we design such a facility

Edit:Oh yeah, just to be clear, I support If you Build it, B&A for the Spot, and D&A for Storm Management
« Last Edit: January 18, 2016, 10:41:16 pm by tryrar »
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This fort really does sit on the event horizon of madness and catastrophe
No. I suppose there are similarities, but I'm fairly certain angry birds doesn't let me charge into a battalion of knights with a car made of circular saws.

tryrar

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #497 on: January 19, 2016, 06:52:23 am »

Actually, thinking on it, do we have enough calcium to create a plaster analogue? That will work better that using full concrete coatings if we layer it right, and with the right chemical composition it'll be highly water and corrosion resistant. Plus, we'd only need to use the chem facility to do it!
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This fort really does sit on the event horizon of madness and catastrophe
No. I suppose there are similarities, but I'm fairly certain angry birds doesn't let me charge into a battalion of knights with a car made of circular saws.

VoidSlayer

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #498 on: January 20, 2016, 03:10:06 pm »

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

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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 2111

The 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 decisions

If You Build It now replaces Brave New World

Search 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
« Last Edit: January 20, 2016, 03:18:05 pm by VoidSlayer »
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VoidSlayer

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #499 on: January 20, 2016, 05:43:12 pm »


Normal Actions:

Unassigned Slots 13 manpower available (27 base - 3 (leader) -7 assigned - 4 passive)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Available Projects
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Assigned Slots 4 manpower
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Passive Slots 7 manpower
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bonuses and penalties
:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

tryrar

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #500 on: January 20, 2016, 07:26:58 pm »

For now, I'd say we move all the stuff out of the cargo bay into two of the medium domes we have available, then start disassembling since it appears we don't have too much time left until the whole thing collapses. Also, I vote mining rollover should be another three or so large CC domes on the inner ring next to the ship so we can finally start on proper living spaces.


Spoiler: unassigned slots (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: active project changes (click to show/hide)
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This fort really does sit on the event horizon of madness and catastrophe
No. I suppose there are similarities, but I'm fairly certain angry birds doesn't let me charge into a battalion of knights with a car made of circular saws.

10ebbor10

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #501 on: January 21, 2016, 01:54:54 am »

On the other hand, our caves aren't exactly known for stability either.
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Terenos

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #502 on: January 21, 2016, 02:15:53 am »

*Disregard this, I was never here.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2016, 09:07:50 am by Terenos »
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But despite what you've been told, I once had a soul. Left somewhere behind...

tryrar

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #503 on: January 21, 2016, 03:19:55 am »

I think it may be wise to start pushing quake-proof designs, given the seismic instability.

Already part of my plan, see active project changes :P

Plus, I'm pushing alternate building materials so we can start reinforcing stuff
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This fort really does sit on the event horizon of madness and catastrophe
No. I suppose there are similarities, but I'm fairly certain angry birds doesn't let me charge into a battalion of knights with a car made of circular saws.

Terenos

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #504 on: January 21, 2016, 04:32:20 am »

*Disregard this, I was never here.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2016, 09:08:01 am by Terenos »
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But despite what you've been told, I once had a soul. Left somewhere behind...

10ebbor10

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #505 on: January 22, 2016, 04:23:25 am »

On that note, we should better start looking for supplies. My guess, in the ship, in the disused engine sections that haven't been entered since we came down from orbit. Pressurized, easily accessible, closeby, and unlikely to be visited.
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VoidSlayer

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #506 on: January 22, 2016, 04:54:01 am »

On that note, we should better start looking for supplies. My guess, in the ship, in the disused engine sections that haven't been entered since we came down from orbit. Pressurized, easily accessible, closeby, and unlikely to be visited.

Oh um.

The autopilot reports heat increasing in multiple places across the inner hull, most notably the thuster with temperatures which should be melting the recently placed advanced parts into the walls of the acceleration chamber.


Dedicated Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster destroyed.


Concerned about the ongoing smoke from the magnetic coils a half dozen vac suits are fished out and a group exits from the fore cargo bay to examine the ship from the outside.  The momentous occasion of humanity setting foot on a truly alien world is ignored in favor of careful analysis of the heat stressed and fractured hull.  By the time they make it to the other side of the ship the smoke has died down and the melted mess of an engine is simply glowing white hot but rapidly cooling.  The group makes their way back slowly, observing the slight curve the ship now sports and the hole in the side where they can wave to the cargo team.  They promptly shove a shorn off piece of a cargo container side in the hole and cement it up as best they can. 

The areas around the engine are completely toast, it was hot enough to burn in a nitrogen/carbon dioxide atmosphere.  The engines have been the primary source of materials with structural steel, reinforced hull plating and big chunks of melted high tech engines being cut off and moved to the factory.

Some time back you opted to draw materials from unneeded parts of the ship and the useless scrap there was the first to go.

A team cataloging and carefully collecting the stuff would probably be a good idea though.

10ebbor10

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #507 on: January 22, 2016, 04:58:24 am »

Surely there are parts of the engines which aren't entirely destroyed. It's a big ship, after all.
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tryrar

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #508 on: January 22, 2016, 06:15:32 am »

I say search any of the corridors leading to the engine room, since we don't use those anymore. Other than that, I'd have no clue where the stuff was hidden since they'd need somewhere pressurized that isn't used much.

As for what to do when we find out, punishment detail for them. They get basic rations only and get to work the shittiest jobs we got. Plus, you know, they'll be known as a thief which should do for public shaming.

One last idea, see if we can cook up some quick RFID tracking tags to slip into the rest of the supplies. This should let us search for any future missing stuff.
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This fort really does sit on the event horizon of madness and catastrophe
No. I suppose there are similarities, but I'm fairly certain angry birds doesn't let me charge into a battalion of knights with a car made of circular saws.

VoidSlayer

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Re: Outpost: Outcast [Hard sci fi suggestion game]
« Reply #509 on: January 22, 2016, 06:30:35 am »

Surely there are parts of the engines which aren't entirely destroyed. It's a big ship, after all.

Oh hell, you meant the stolen supplies and I am an idiot.

Yeah they could easily stash them somewhere in there.
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