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Author Topic: Colonial Conquest [Turn 6: The End Of The Beginning]  (Read 4488 times)

TricMagic

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 2: Thinker Tutorial]
« Reply #30 on: September 16, 2024, 04:18:00 pm »

Quote from: Proposal Votebox
Communal Responsibility (0):
Basics of Transport (0):
Basic Herbalism (0):
Communal Ethos - Reclaim The Old (6): ZBridges, Nirur, Kashyyk, VSkies, IronyOwl, TricMagic
Nature's Balance (0):

Quote from: Name Votebox
The Reclamation (0):
Mira (0):
Mirai (3): Nirur, VSkies, TricMagic
Pylos (0):
New Hearth (2): ZBridges, IronyOwl
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Powder Miner

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 2: Thinker Tutorial]
« Reply #31 on: September 17, 2024, 11:36:43 am »

Quote from: Proposal Votebox
Communal Responsibility (0):
Basics of Transport (0):
Basic Herbalism (0):
Communal Ethos - Reclaim The Old (7): ZBridges, Nirur, Kashyyk, VSkies, IronyOwl, TricMagic, Powder Miner
Nature's Balance (0):

Quote from: Name Votebox
The Reclamation (0):
Mira (0):
Mirai (3): Nirur, VSkies, TricMagic
Pylos (0):
New Hearth (3): ZBridges, IronyOwl, Powder Miner
Reclaim the Old I really enjoy, even aside from the practical elements I think it's just an interesting take that fundamentally makes sense with the origin and will have interesting generational effects later on down the line - and maybe even lead to some interesting need to redefine what we're reclaiming eventually. I like that.

As for our name... I prefer the generic for these starter names - the plain English meaning gives us more room to work with down the line, and we always have the option of steadily changing our names down the line as our civilization evolves. I don't necessarily want to nail us down to a specific Japanese kind of aesthetic, either, we haven't had even a turn so far.
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Man of Paper

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Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #32 on: September 17, 2024, 06:26:42 pm »

Turn 2: Thinker Tutorial Results
The Moosick

Proposal: Communal Ethos - Reclaim The Old
Result: 5 [3+2]

The earliest waves of colonists had many initial problems to tackle, and they did so with haste. They tore down the relics of their old lives and repurposed them into something new - appropriately within the shadow of The Trash Converter. Teams formed to perform specific tasks together, although a large amount of autonomy was allowed in part due to the lack of any centralized organizational structure. The furnaces within provided light and warmth in this gentle but uninviting landscape, and those fires were fed at all hours thanks in part to the electrical lighting the facility provided. Once the bare minimum was available to the colonists they had to face a very present, very obvious, and very unanticipated issue:

Colonial children. Familial relationships, or at least the definitive knowledge of who one was related to, was part of that grand memory loss, and undeveloped minds were especially susceptible to wider memory loss. Pictures and databanks that could have filled in the blanks were ashes at best, and last names proved to be unreliable (especially regarding the Smiths). This resulted in a 100% orphaned population.  It was beneath the permalights of The Trash Converter where those with a natural inclination to care for and educate youth set about their good work. A significant amount of education revolved around hunting, gathering, and scrapping, but there was also a focus on "teachings" of "the old Earth". Faded memories of fables and myths were fused with tales of the technological wonders witnessed during the golden age of humanity - of how the strange and wondrous workings of even The Trash Converter paled in comparison to the grand creations that powered, fed, and housed them all before embarking on The Colonization.

A few months of creative storytelling built upon itself an interesting, if somewhat inaccurate, retelling of events that had resulted in the Colony's present situation. The Colonial Fleet was staffed entirely by paragons of self-sacrifice (the children included, even if they couldn't remember any of it), people willing to vacate paradise and create a new utopia in order to preserve the old one. The Scattering was the ultimate test of the willpower of the Colonists - a message from the universe that they could not simply bring paradise with them, but they'd have to nurture it from a seedling on their own. In true isolation.

It wasn't just in their best interest to rebuild a most perfect society, it was also a Mandate of The Universe. It didn't take long for orphans being told they're glorious martyrs required to create a perfect world they have no recollection of from scratch to develop a range of Complexes, with Hero and Superiority right at the top of the list. Still, it led to diligent work when the children got their hands dirty, which inspired the adults who weren't keen on being outworked by someone with their first set of teeth.


Technology Discovered:

Communal Ethos - Reclaim The Old: Sets Colonial society down a path that identifies them in part as diligent, focused Scavengers. Controlled regions capable of producing Scrap will produce +1 Scrap. [Technically] No Resource Cost. (See Below)

Mandate of The Universe: A belief that the colony is predetermined to bring about another utopia for humanity comparable to Earth. Unless something is done as deterrence, this belief will become more deeply ingrained over time. No Resource Cost.



As a result of Communal Ethos - Reclaim The Old, 0,0 now produces 4 Scrap.

As days and nights turned into weeks and months, the idea that the survivors weren't just stationwrecked colonists but a fledgling society began to root itself beyond the teachings of the children. Even if the teams of hunters, gatherers, and scrappers "worked together separately", they began to identify as part of a whole. Split on what to call themselves, they opted to remain "Colonists" for the time being. They did, however, begin to centralize their resources for bookkeeping and rationing. When one thinks rationing, it's typically cutting down on what one gets. In this instance it served to make sure Colonists got the sustenance they required when most were barely subsisting on what they could gather for themselves.

The Colony now requires One(1) Food Upkeep.



RESOURCE UPKEEP
Resource Upkeep represents resources reserved for use in producing or maintaining technological and societal advancements. Resources represent a threshold or bandwidth available to provide adequate amounts of various resources. There are two types of Upkeep you can break things down into:

Tech Upkeep: This is the Resource number you'll (eventually) see in the Tech spoiler. If a Tech's Upkeep needs cannot be met, impact of the tech will diminish to near nothing until it is re-funded or wholly abandoned. Partial funding does not mean partial efficacy, it just slows the decline into nothingness (ex. A Tech with 1 out of 2 Scrap will not cap decay at 50%). You can opt to make a Tech OBSOLETE by adding a vote to the turn to do so, but please be respectful and not unnecessarily revisit a tech's obsolescence vote if a decision gets cast in either way. Obsolete Techs will no longer require Upkeep, but will also no longer directly hold any impact of significance on future advancements. Depending on the type of tech, Upkeep can come in the form of any number of resources in any combination.

Societal Upkeep: Now that you're no longer ripping out your fingernails panic-digging into the soil, metaphorically in most cases, maintaining cohesion as a society will require some effort. This will almost always come in the form of a Food Upkeep cost, although I wouldn't outright say it's impossible to apply other resources to the task as well, you just might have to get creative. Societal Upkeep, if we're being entirely honest, is based 100% on "vibes" - there is no deep complicated mechanisms in place to determine how much 1 Food equates to mouths fed. As society grows and expands, so too will Upkeep costs, and driving them down will not be an easy task. Expanding the colony to provide for the needs of an expanding colony will be your most straightforward means of keeping Societal Upkeep from catching up. If Society cannot be maintained through Resources, disillusionment and unrest will fester and eventually foment violence. Internally, to be clear.


TURN 3: CREATOR TUTORIAL

The Colonists labor and toil, spilling sweat and blood as they work to provide the bare minimum for the Ceridwen survivors. For all the damage that the crash caused both physically and mentally, it could not put a damper on human spirit and ingenuity. Or maybe it's the desire to do as much work with as little effort that drove the muse of invention into the hearts and minds of the Colonists. Either way, a number of novel tools and devices had been cooked up by various colonists with equally varied levels of natural talent. One of these creations managed to have an outsized impact, for good or ill...


The focus of this turn will be Creator actions. If you are familiar with Design Bureau/Arms Race/Founders-type games, this is as close to a typical Design Phase as you can get without being one. A Creator action falls on the Internal-Material corner of the "alignments" mentioned during the Thinker Tutorial. Tools, devices, structures, and just about anything else that can be operated, handled, or manipulated and is made of matter will likely fall under a Creator action. Basic Scrap Tools and Scrap Housing are both definitively examples of Creator actions. If there are questions about the validity of a proposal, it is best if a proposal is written first so that it can be properly judged by my dry brain.

With the name vote split evenly, that vote will carry over to this turn as well. Don't push it off for too long though!


PILLAR SHIFT!

Nirur Torir has the prestigious honor of being made an example of! As the author of the winning proposal they receive TH+1! They have bragging rights as the greatest Thinker (for now). All players who voted for the winning proposal receive TH+0.1 as well! Simple as!


Spoiler: Technology & Knowledge (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Resources (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Map & Key (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Regional Details (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Pillars of Society (click to show/hide)
TURNTURNTURN
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TricMagic

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #33 on: September 17, 2024, 06:43:20 pm »

Creator: Electric Carts
Something ingrained in humanity, vaguely. But with the scrap allowed the creation of a wheel, axel, and cart. While made crudely, they would allow one to travel farther and bring back more. Something important was the discovery of batteries among the wreckage which could power a motor. Hooked up to the generator it let them actually move the wheels without the need for domesticating bison.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2024, 06:45:02 pm by TricMagic »
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Man of Paper

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #34 on: September 17, 2024, 07:25:53 pm »

Wheel/axle/cart+batteries+motors and all the manufacturing required for that is a dramatic leap from knowing how to turn things on and off and wrapping cable around a table leg and some scrap metal for an axe. You're gonna need to figure out a more creative means of getting what you want and fitting it to what you have available right now.
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TricMagic

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #35 on: September 17, 2024, 08:44:05 pm »

Fair enough.

Creator - Wheels and Carts
Two sections of wood of similar size are cut from a tree log, bark removed using an axe and the edges sanded. Followed by burning a heated metal bar through the center. This axel has another a bar tied or otherwise part of it which bars of metal are bound to to form a cart with handles sticking out the end. While crude, it allows transport of materials through manpower far more effectively than simply carrying them. Plastic sheets are used to cover the frame the bars create to prevent things from dropping out.

Sorta like this. If we had a way to make planks and nails would be easier.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: September 17, 2024, 08:47:56 pm by TricMagic »
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Nirur Torir

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #36 on: September 17, 2024, 08:45:44 pm »

Is this valid?

One teenager found a broken piece of life support vent. It had a fan with broken blades, and a standard power plug (assuming the engineers were pressed enough for time to use standard consumer electronics in critical equipment). He took the motor out while trying to fix the blades, and, his friend, with the expected self-restraint of a bored teen, plugged it into one pair of the funny power outlet holes in the Maintenance Module. Nothing bad happened, and they learned that it spun.

Weeks passed, and he couldn't find replacement blades that he was satisfied with in his little free time. One of his chores was breaking open the hard outer shells of grain with hand tools, which he hated. He eventually realized he could use the spinning thing to do that instead.


Creator: Motorized Hand Mill
We have found motors in the scrap, and how to use a plug to make them spin. With some ingenuity, using more scrap around it and some padding to keep it in place, we can use power to mill grain instead of doing it by hand.
While only a small time savings, given how limited grain is in our diet, we are thrilled to have figured out a piece of technology other than light switches.


I might vote for unpowered grocery carts instead. I expect that Motorized Hand Mills would mostly serve as a foundational theory tech.
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TricMagic

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #37 on: September 17, 2024, 08:49:29 pm »

Got my edits in. The spoiler image seems doable for the tec level?
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Man of Paper

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #38 on: September 17, 2024, 09:22:08 pm »

Wheels and Carts works.

As for the Hand Mill, I definitely would prefer avoiding a "we find (x)" approach in normal proposals. It's too strong a handwave, especially in a setting where you're ultimately cavemen dropped from space and the intent is more developing from the ground up than leapfrogging haphazardly - or at least they should be able to walk before they run and faceplant into disaster. Electricity and energy is a very tasty fruit for a civ at any point in their lifespan, hands down no questions asked, so it's a tempting thing to build off of immediately, but sometimes the fruit's just out of reach. The most convincing argument I made for myself when debating it was that it comes down to maintenance and the need to replace worn parts before, for example, the (re)discovery of metallurgy. Finding a motor that works would be a(nother) miracle - finding as many as necessary to ensure the hand mill has a tangible impact on the colony for as long as necessary is a little much (and why I didn't include a 3D printer in the starting choices like I'd initially written down eheheh).
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TricMagic

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #39 on: September 17, 2024, 09:53:14 pm »

If it's threshing grain the solution is as simple as two sticks. Hulling is a pestle and mortar. Probably semantics, but did play a game with that sort of thing. A pedal can spin a wheel which can quickly thresh grains, but it's a bit more handicraft. This is all for rice specifically though.
If it's milling, a lever that can be pushed up, and then drop down can do the job too. Though a water or windmill is probably "better" since it can be automated... Most of this is for when we can get agriculture running.
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ZBridges

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #40 on: September 17, 2024, 10:25:59 pm »

As we anticipate the potential for increased societal upkeep, and in order to leverage our recently increased supply of scrap, a scrap-based food tech may be useful.

Creator: Animal Traps
Made from collected scrap, these simple traps allow hunter gatherers to produce more food more easily for the colony. Though crude, the traps are effective enough to ensnare animals in a manner less time-intensive and calorie-intensive than hunting with scrap weapons.
« Last Edit: September 18, 2024, 04:37:30 am by ZBridges »
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Kashyyk

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #41 on: September 18, 2024, 05:09:59 am »

Oh cool, we already have access to the resources on our tile. I was worried we'd have to develop enough to be ball to extract them.

Animal Traps are exactly what I was gonna suggest, so have a vote.

Quote from: Votebox
(1) Creator: Animal Traps - Kashyyk
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TricMagic

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #42 on: September 18, 2024, 08:16:21 am »

Given food is an issue right now, can leave wheels for another turn... Not sure if they will be effective against bison though..

Creator - Bow & Arrow
A branch of wood whittled down to form a staff and a metal wire salvaged from the wreckage serves to form a crude bow, with bolts of metal used as ammo. While it's range is poor it offers a way to bring down bison, drawing on our roots as stamina hunters to slowly tire out prey before moving in for the kill.

Also as a compromise. Call the settlement New Hearth and the planet Mirai? Bow and arrow out of touch MoP?

Quote from: Votebox
(1) Creator: Animal Traps - Kashyyk
(1)Creator - Bow & Arrow - TricMagic


(1) Planet: Mirai, Settlement: New Hearth: TricMagic
(2) Mirai : Nirur, VSkies
(3) New Hearth : ZBridges, IronyOwl, Powder Miner
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FiveBalesOfHay

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #43 on: September 18, 2024, 08:27:10 am »

Definitely pro getting more food.

Quote from: Votebox
(2) Creator: Animal Traps - Kashyyk, Bales
(1) Creator - Bow & Arrow - TricMagic


(1) Planet: Mirai, Settlement: New Hearth: TricMagic
(2) Mirai : Nirur, VSkies
(4) New Hearth : ZBridges, IronyOwl, Powder Miner, Bales
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Powder Miner

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Re: Colonial Conquest [Turn 3: Creator Tutorial]
« Reply #44 on: September 18, 2024, 10:23:42 am »

Here's another angle - since we already have access to both sources of food on our tile, and no eyes at this time on any more potential food sources, it might be best to aim to maximize what we can get out of both of them rather than go for traps (better for the rabbits) or ranged weaponry (better for the bison). This would be a bit silly to propose in a more directly literal cavemen context, but I think it makes sense here.

Creator: Butcher's Complex
Access to food was a rough and crude process for those who had fallen from the Ceridwen. Hunters' efforts managed to bring in food for usage, rabbits, bison taken by blood and sweat or by opportunity, but the the payoff was pitiful: animals roughly butchered and roughly seared over an open fire. Piece by piece, the more gourmet-oriented members of the colonists sought to change this. Scrap hammered into the shape of pans, refined over iterations, small knives and large cleavers. Bison could be taken apart with care, many more cuts of meat spread across more people, and more tastily at that. Even rabbits could turn into multiple meals.

Quote from: Votebox
(3) Creator: Animal Traps - Kashyyk, Bales
(1) Creator - Bow & Arrow - TricMagic
(1) Creator: Butcher's Complex - Powder Miner


(1) Planet: Mirai, Settlement: New Hearth: TricMagic
(2) Mirai : Nirur, VSkies
(4) New Hearth : ZBridges, IronyOwl, Powder Miner, Bales
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