Erkloro 8: Trials of Fate

[Torvus]

Decided to start a new colony today and document it's progression. See it grow from an upstart to a grand empire.


Behold! This is the land known as the Timberlands of Reason. It has a a pleasant climate and access to fresh water, and valuable minerals. It is a land of milk and honey and impact crater ore. Here is where my clansmen shall settle and build their new life. Also, the landing shuttle looks like a baby. This pleases me.


The Dagoroth are an industrious people. Immediately the colonists set to building temporary shelter, planting crops, and digging deep into the earth to obtain that meteorite treasure. You will notice that the structures are connected directly to the power supply without need of cables. This is the kind of ingenuity you won't find among Core World pissants.


There's a fat unicorn sleeping on one of my stockpiles. No doubt after helping himself to the food of my people. We cannot risk conflict with wild beasts while we are so few numbers and not yet trained in combat. You win this round, Fatty.

That's all for now. I'd give you spoilers about what's to come, but I don't know that either.

[Administrator]

May the blessings of their Dagoroth ancestors guide this colony to a bright, prosperous future!

It is a land of milk and honey and impact crater ore. Here is where my clansmen shall settle and build their new life.

That impact crater ore is what I'm all about. It almost makes off-world trade too easy, with the abundance of precious and ultra-dense metals. You've chosen an excellent building site.

You will notice that the structures are connected directly to the power supply without need of cables. This is the kind of ingenuity you won't find among Core World pissants.

Pffffffffft! They've no eye for aesthetics! I'm considering adding a noise mechanic to the game, where heavy machinery generates sounds that humans find disruptive when they're trying to sleep. We've already got a pretty cool sound model in the game, and humans / creatures / properly equipped robots hear and react to sounds, as part of their environmental awareness processing. Presently, all machinery is silent, though.

It's not an urgent feature, but it's the kind of thing I'm considering down the road. This would force players to locate heavy equipment away from housing, as it probably should be.

There's a fat unicorn sleeping on one of my stockpiles. No doubt after helping himself to the food of my people. We cannot risk conflict with wild beasts while we are so few numbers and not yet trained in combat. You win this round, Fatty.

I'm dying laughing - can't even deal! Part of the problem with these non-aggressive creatures is that there's no good way to set up colonists to keep them away from stockpiles. Your colonists don't perceive fat unicorns as a threat, because they're generally passive and don't attack humans. However, when they're bogarting your food, you currently need to direct your colonists to kill them off, manually. Maybe there should be a setting somewhere to make your colonists auto-kill creatures that steal food from your stockpiles.

[Torvus]

Chapter 2: Blood and Iron Gilded with Gold

Thus continues the saga of Erkloro 8


Immediately I see wild beasts in the stock piles. Now they are forming lines. My patience is at an end with these bilbits. I order the militia to get rid of them. One young man by the name of Jams Ewing took it upon himself to attack without back up. And from very close range.


The benefit of guns is their range, you young, dumb fool.


It was a grisly battle and he slew all his foes, but the wounds he took were substantial and he fell but a moment after they. Go to our fathers and mothers, noble Jams, and find your peace in the Realm of the Honored Dead. If they won't accept you, what hope has any man?

Immediately I set to bury the brave and foolhardy lad. I ordered him a coffin of Grey Tower wood and a tombstone made of the same. I was ashamed that our first death, and such a heroic death, should receive nothing more than a slab of wood, but though we landed on a treasure trove, it was still deep beneath our feet. However, the manufacture was not done. We had no Furniture and Consumer Goods Crafting Station with which to create them.

And so it was a race; to dig up the necessary minerals before the corpse rot set in. We made it. And with the necessary materials for the station, a good deal of gold had also been dug up.


That gold was used to make a solid gold sarcophagus and a solid gold obelisk. It seemed fitting to give special consideration to our first casualty as it was his blood that first mixed with the soil. If this colony is to become a nation, a good deal more of our people's blood will have to seep into the earth, and let this serve as a reminder to the colonists here today and to their children tomorrow.

And don't let this glittering tomb be seen as a glorification of a violent act. It is a glorification of sacrifice. It is simply an unfortunate fact that when people wish to give to their fellows that the price demanded is blood. Jams Ewing died to secure the future for his friends and for their children. And because of that, I know that he did not die in vain.






SON OF A BILBIT

[Administrator]

God bless this thread.

The benefit of guns is their range, you young, dumb fool.

Humans should be smarter about this. What they should do is position themselves away from non-aggressive creatures before firing on them.

It was a grisly battle and he slew all his foes, but the wounds he took were substantial and he fell but a moment after they. Go to our fathers and mothers, noble Jams, and find your peace in the Realm of the Honored Dead. If they won't accept you, what hope has any man?

Hahaha, oh man, he died an awful death. Clawed to death by a flightless bird and an oversized rodent. The poor bastard...

That gold was used to make a solid gold sarcophagus and a solid gold obelisk. It seemed fitting to give special consideration to our first casualty as it was his blood that first mixed with the soil. If this colony is to become a nation, a good deal more of our people's blood will have to seep into the earth, and let this serve as a reminder to the colonists here today and to their children tomorrow.

I like your feature request to be able to designate specific burial accommodations for specific dead. Your undertaker was wise to choose such a fitting monument, but that's control the player should have, when it's wanted.

SON OF A BILBIT

AHAHAHAHAHAHA, YES! I'm wondering why the fat unicorns are so addicted to stealing food from your stockpiles. They should be content to graze on the abundant grass that's all around them. I'll have to take a look at why they're obsessively stealing your food, but I'm proud of them nonetheless. For all the years of furious trolling I've endured at your hands, I'm so happy that my game can finally troll you back, even if it's unexpected.

[Torvus]

That gold was used to make a solid gold sarcophagus and a solid gold obelisk. It seemed fitting to give special consideration to our first casualty as it was his blood that first mixed with the soil. If this colony is to become a nation, a good deal more of our people's blood will have to seep into the earth, and let this serve as a reminder to the colonists here today and to their children tomorrow.

I like your feature request to be able to designate specific burial accommodations for specific dead. Your undertaker was wise to choose such a fitting monument, but that's control the player should have, when it's wanted.

I never actually crafted the wooden coffins. I explicitly produced only the single set of golden burial items to make sure our first hero got the best. I didn't trust npcs to make the right call.

Also, I was hoping I could make the golden obelisk a monument, but I don't think I can.

[Torvus]

CHAPTER 3: THE ESSENCE OF MAN IS TO BUILD

Thus far our goal has been to gather resources, and gather we have. Now the time has come to do something with what we have. New crafting stations are ordered up and some of the colonists decide to take the initiative to make some items of their own.





Behold the fruits of our labor. These are exceptional items. Do you have any idea how awesome a table has to be in order to get it's own name? No you don't because you haven't met Hixontoose, the Byzantine Luxurious Table. As the first of these legendary items I think this table will be enshrined in the future so that all may take in the glory of the greatest among tables.


In time, fall comes and so do the colorful leaves. Another round of harvest brings in more food for the colony.



The time of living in pre-fab structures is coming to an end. This 5 story granite tower boasts 20 small apartments that should prove a step up from the communal huts we've been living in. We are Dagoroths, not Kelgonians, and we will live like Dagoroths. Unfortunately, There is currently no fabric with which to make new beds so they aren't very livable at the moment.


Jams Ewing's grave has become an official monument of our people. The light stone floor was necessary for the great monument spirit to recognize it as a monument. Now all our people can take pride in this tomb.


A small schoolhouse was built so as to better train the youth. Remember, If you don't teach your kids, the Kelgonians will.

I also now have some exceptional dark stone walls and ceiling. These may serve in the construction of the shrine of the Hixontoose. But first I will need to acquire some fabric and other items to make the quality of life a little better.

[Administrator]

I love everything about the progression of Erkloro 8!! That apartment block - every time I build a colony's first one, I feel like I've taken such an excellent step toward securing the future of my people. Did you find the construction meta-order tool easy to use?

Hixontoose, the Byzantine Luxurious Table.

It is a thing of unparalleled majesty. The name is cracking me up, but your colonists are producing far too many exceptional items. Having seen your population trends in the email you sent me, I've got to make some adjustments to how people with genius level intellect react to menial labor. I think your colony should be in a state of insurrection, but for whatever reason, your population isn't unhappy.

Ironically, it may be this very proliferation of exceptional items that's preventing the whole thing from collapsing. There may be so much "pride in the objective accomplishments of our culture" experiences that they're overwhelming the negative experiences people have when doing menial tasks, keeping net mood positive.

Regardless, I'm immensely impressed by what you've managed to accomplish with your population in only 1 world year. This is why real testing, from real players, is so important. Ironically, you're accomplishing things I never have, despite the fact that I designed and built this thing...

Jams Ewing's grave has become an official monument of our people. The light stone floor was necessary for the great monument spirit to recognize it as a monument. Now all our people can take pride in this tomb.

We need to build in more mechanisms for colonists to properly venerate their most sacred ancestors. I want to see Dagoroths holding nightly vigils by the side of Jams' holy tomb.