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Are we sure the secret Koreans are actually alive 
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Aug 20, 2019 00:46
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Slaan posted:What if the aliens aren't just animals but have laser weapons to shoot down ships coming from space and we only got through because we were the first to arrive without stealth tech Come turn 95 or so and we'll be facing down an XCOM base raid from the other direction.
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Aug 20, 2019 01:19
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Cythereal posted:It gets spookier.
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Aug 20, 2019 01:59
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Good lord, i'm expecting the endless to turn up with the koreans being another pissed of ancient experiment. That or this is the place where lost colonies go to die.
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Aug 20, 2019 02:30
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Diplomatic Brief: Chungsu Approved for: Governor Arshia Kishk, Office of Foreign Affairs, select other officials Information about Chungsu is spotty at best in the Golden Shah's databases, and information about Han-Jae Moon, the apparent leader of the Chungsu colony, nonexistent. Fortunately, the databases of the Conestoga, the American starship, both survived the Seed's crash-landing and had much more information. Colonel Martinez, the highest-ranking American military officer to have survived the Conestoga crash and the trials of the Roanoke settlement, gave us access to the American records. Chungsu posted:Like any clandestine organization, the Chungsu entity is the frequent target of conspiracy theorists and political demagogues. As the agency does not have a public face, it is often under scrutiny from international bodies such as the UN+S and Blue Planet Peace. Rumors include everything from illuminati-like secret society to anti-PAC terrorists. Spokespeople for Chungsu claim it is simply a semi-public defense consulting enterprise. The reality of the matter is somewhere in between. Some of the few facts that have been independently verified are as follows: It is an organization based in the Korean peninsula, if not originating there. It ostensibly replaced Korean military forces, and foreign affair and financial bureaus. It is most likely responsible for decades of political influence in Chinese and Japanese interests. It is believed to house numerous facilities, if not its headquarters, in subaquatic environments. Han-Jae Moon posted:To his enemies, Han Jae Moon is the enigmatic leader of a dangerous organization. To his friends, he is a stoic and deliberate ally who treats his position in the Chungsu with the utmost respect. Of all colony leaders, Han Jae Moon is the most introspective and reserved. He never rushes to judgment, preferring to consider the possible consequences of a decision before settling upon what is almost always the wisest course. His conservative methods and careful administration have earned him the title of “the Young Sage.” In summary, we do not believe Han-Jae Moon will be inclined towards rash action or displays of exuberance. He is likely to remain a closed book in diplomatic affairs, and will only commit Chungsu to courses of action he has thought about carefully. As long as Moon does not consider Al Falah a threat, Chungsu is likely to be a peaceful if distant neighbor. What exactly would constitute Al Falah becoming a threat in Han-Jae Moon's eyes, however, is a far more difficult question. For the moment, Moon's apparent emphasis on cultural pursuits among Chungsu - and his tacit admission that Al Falah has surpassed his own people's cultural vibrancy - appears to indicate peaceful intentions. On a secondary note, we've appended the details of what became of Al Falah on Earth following our departure. The news is... not encouraging. If those we left behind have any hope, that hope rests on our shoulders. Techs and buildings from the previous update. Old Earth Relic posted:On Old Earth, the center of many villages and settlements was frequently a structure housing a relic, usually one of religious or historical significance for the inhabitants. Indeed, many towns owed their existence to a particularly famous relic of some sort displayed in a sanctuary. That tradition was carried to this alien planet, where one of the first buildings constructed after basic housing was often devoted to memorializing the colonists’ homeland or interstellar voyage to this “better world.” These relics took many forms, and served to reinforce the common culture and bonds shared by Colonists facing an uncertain future in this hostile environment. The structure itself was often constructed of materials salvaged from the star-faring spacecraft, and as such became part of that cultural heritage as well. In most colonial settlements the relic building served a number of vital functions before more specialized structures were built: meeting hall, library, school, administrative center, and so forth. While over time, as the colony became secure and grew and diversified, the importance of the relics might diminish in the minds of the people, the buildings housing these nevertheless remained a valued and visible part of the cityscape. Trade Depot posted:From the French for the noun “deposit” (dépot), colonial depots served as the storage buildings for materials vital to the success of the venture. Among the first structures of each colony, these initially served as warehouses for the spaceship’s cargo necessary for survival. Later these would be the repository for salvage and scrap as the ship was cannibalized for colony use; later still depots would store the materials harvested, mined and processed from this new world as the colony grew. Operation was largely automated, and so required fewer man-hours than in previous ages, an important asset when so many other tasks demanded direct attention. The depots were, inevitably, the hub of the freight transport system of the colony as well, a process of increasing complexity as the colony grew. The actual functioning of the depot depended on the underlying economic system of the specific colony. But whether communal, capitalistic or some combination, the depots served as the primary foundation for colonial production. Laboratory posted:It was obvious that research and understanding would be a key to colonial survival and success, so creation of laboratories devoted to the many scientific disciplines necessary for settling an alien world was a priority for colonial administrators. While research in the traditional sciences such as chemistry, biology, geology and meteorology sought to understand and harness the wonders of the planet, new sciences arose from that understanding. Clinical investigation into unknown resources, flora and fauna conducted in colonial labs has brought technological and biological advances in a wide range of fields. With prototypes or designs of the latest research equipment at the time of launch, the colonial labs were models of efficiency as well as efficacy. To the already immense scientific databases were added thousands of inventions, insights, applications and discoveries to promote colonial expansion and exploitation across this new world. Although the hard-won knowledge was not always beneficial – some developments had unintended and unfortunate consequences – nevertheless the search continues unabated in laboratories across the planet. Ecology posted:Due to its interdisciplinary roots, the science of ecology traces its origins to the late 1700s AD and the works of diverse scholars such as Alexander von Humboldt, James Hutton and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. By the mid-1900s this little-remarked “science” began to expand, as concerns with unchecked human population growth, limited natural resources, climatological change and disappearing wildlife habitat became widespread among policy makers and the general populace of Earth. The aftermath of the Great Mistake brought ecology to the forefront of the applied sciences. When colonial sponsors launched their missions, ecological scientists were an important part of the effort, for it was hoped that their research would guarantee that the problems that had shattered Earth’s ecosystems might be avoided on this new homeworld. Genetics posted:For decades after Gregor Mendel published his famous paper on inherited traits in 1865 AD, the field of genetics was regarded more a curiosity than a science. But the 20th and 21st centuries saw phenomenal advances in mapping genomes, recombinant research, fertilization and reproduction application, and paramutation manipulation. By the time of the colonization efforts, most genetic disorders could be avoided and progress on human adaptive mutations was rapidly exceeding expectations. Most colonial missions included cellular collections and gene libraries to recreate Old Earth species (including humans), either in original form or tailored for the alien environment. In some cases, the colonists pushed the genetic boundaries even further, to the point where their offspring might hardly be recognized as human as they strove to master this planet.
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Aug 20, 2019 02:35
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I think this is the planet from Subnautica.
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Aug 20, 2019 03:40
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Randalor posted:Well obviously it's because all of those colony ships were using cryo-technology to keep everyone in stasis until the ships landed. Our ship was the only one that had people awake at the helm. The only other survivors are the ones that are not-very-secretly XCOM, right? The Providence Discovery was a trap
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Aug 20, 2019 06:02
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Now the Supremacy victory condition makes perfect sense for us. Screw this planet, we're going home
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Aug 20, 2019 07:20
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RedSnapper posted:Now the Supremacy victory condition makes perfect sense for us. Screw this planet, we're going home It also makes a Purity victory comically spiteful. "HEY IDIOTS, YOU LET US GO TO THIS CURSED-rear end HELL PLANET? WELL WE'RE DRAGGING YOU ALONG WITH US"
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Aug 20, 2019 07:50
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Yknow what, gently caress it this is perfect, work it into the narrative.
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Aug 20, 2019 08:06
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ManxomeBromide posted:The only other survivors are the ones that are not-very-secretly XCOM, right? Eh, XCOM has either MEC Soldiers or Sparks, the robots don't need to sleep. Nothing nefarious there. Now excuse me while I let my
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Aug 20, 2019 13:22
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Cythereal posted:
Not at all a positive example from fiction, but this kinda shows off why some goon way back when called S-H the "if you wanted to play the Combine from HL2" option. Glad to see you doing an LP! This game had so much potential and I'm happy to see it getting LPed by a fan. Makes me want to go back and play it.
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Aug 20, 2019 15:02
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I've already learned from this thread that you can get new expedition modules for explorers by going back to central, and about civilopedia. Huh. Really wish BERT had been a little more self-explanatory.
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Aug 20, 2019 17:24
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Crazy Joe Wilson posted:I've already learned from this thread that you can get new expedition modules for explorers by going back to central Explorers can resupply from any city, not just your capital. Outposts don't count, though, which is why in that update I sent the explorer back to Ard - Farah was still in the outpost phase. GunnerJ posted:Not at all a positive example from fiction, but this kinda shows off why some goon way back when called S-H the "if you wanted to play the Combine from HL2" option. Or my favorite aesthetic comparison: the aliens from X-COM. Randalor posted:Eh, XCOM has either MEC Soldiers or Sparks, the robots don't need to sleep. Nothing nefarious there. Now excuse me while I let my Chungsu's actually pretty laid-back as an AI. They will spy on you, because that's just what they do, but they're not usually aggressive or militaristic unless the AI feels threatened. Han-Jae Moon also has one of my favorite affinity-based appearance progressions if he goes Supremacy - Moon's a drat sharp dressed man in general, and he trades out his black suit for a white suit of the same make if he goes Supremacy. The real rear end in a top hat factions in Beyond Earth are the Americans, the Russians, the Brazilians, and the British.
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Aug 20, 2019 17:37
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Explorers also doesn't need to stop in the city tile, it's enough if they move through a city to resupply.
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Aug 20, 2019 17:39
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Cythereal posted:The real rear end in a top hat factions in Beyond Earth are the Americans, the Russians, the Brazilians, and the British. This checks out
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Aug 20, 2019 18:05
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I swear, this planet is just turning more and more into Space Australia
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Aug 20, 2019 18:39
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If we can make it here, we can make it anywhere!
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Aug 20, 2019 19:33
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Seriously, narratively this planet is amazing. Frozen planet, Half a dozen failed seedings, THE loving BOOGEYMAN ACTUALY EXISTS! Like, no joke, a PNP campaign in this kind of setting would rock
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Aug 20, 2019 21:08
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Siegkrow posted:Seriously, narratively this planet is amazing. Frozen planet, Half a dozen failed seedings, THE loving BOOGEYMAN ACTUALY EXISTS! IN THE COLD, RED LIGHT An adventure for 4 to 6 players 400 years in the future, fragments of humanity cling to civilization on a frigid colony world orbiting Barnard's Star -- a world almost as hostile as the failing Earth they left behind. Here, the burgeoning city of Ard serves as a mecca for industrialists and criminals, artists and refugees, scientists and spies. When a government official goes missing in New Holland District, the player characters are hired to investigate, only to uncover a wave of similar vanishings ... and the dreadful secret underlying them. Is it the work of foreign agents, rogue transhumanists, alien fungi, or something even more sinister? A future-noir adventure for levels 5 through 7; recommended at least one character have the Synesthesia trait.
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Aug 20, 2019 22:06
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I would recommend using the Codex mod for a more interesting experience. It adds a whole lot of new features (Affinities being more like Religions from BTS, and you can kind of troll the other sides by making their citizens switch to your affinity via spies, an SMAC like government system, a somewhat stronger AI because the AI has less hoops to jump through etc.). I never lose a city to the AI on Sojus in Vanilla, I do occassionally lose one or 2 to the AI in Codex. I also have to think more about my decisions, vanilla I can play on autopilot. Interesting thing: -All Civ leaders have certain preferences in terms of egalitarianism/individualism, secularism/spirituality, militarism/pacifism etc. They like people who are just like them more (you can switch your preference after a fairly early tech and a national wonder). Slight problem? Well, who do you think is militaristic, egalitarian, traditional, secular and collectivistic? If you awnsered Space Russia, you are right. If you awnsered Space Brazil, you are also right. So, basically the 2 most straightforwardly aggressive factions will nearly always be pretty best buds (unless they start right next to each other, then it is an early thunderdome challenge and the winner is going to have 2 capitals).
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Aug 20, 2019 22:11
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Mightypeon posted:Well, who do you think is militaristic, egalitarian, traditional, secular and collectivistic? If you awnsered Space Russia, you are right. Funny, given that the base game's cinematic trailer features an Orthodox priest blessing a Slavic colony ship and Kozlov is confirmed to be practicing Orthodox in outside of the game materials. Brasilia's leader was also stated to be a practicing Roman Catholic. That mod doesn't sound remotely appealing to me. None of that addresses what I want more of out of the game.
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Aug 20, 2019 22:19
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Blegh, roboboner people win the vote, just like last time I'll still check it out but goons are dreadfully predictable
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Aug 21, 2019 00:57
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Aug 21, 2019 01:10
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Cythereal posted:It gets spookier. Every day we creep closer to the answer to Fermi's paradox.
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Aug 21, 2019 02:18
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Doing these is more fun than grinding daily roulettes in FF14 to relax after work tbh. You Take the High Road State of Al Falah, Turn 52  Ard  Farah  Aswat Adida  The end of Al Falah's first local year on Al-Jalidia is celebrated by generation ship descendants and refugee sleepers alike. The second piece of wreckage from the Reiziger was also inhabited by survivors, who join their fellows in Little Holland.  Giant kelp from Earth proved surprisingly resilient to Al-Jalidia's punishing conditions, and attracted a variety of edible local wildlife to boot. Aquaculture was alive and well. Yep, you can farm underwater in Rising Tide. Coast tiles are 1 food 1 production, making them the plains of the sea. Deep ocean tiles are 1 food 1 energy.   The recycled goods debate lasted several days in the Civil Administration, but ultimately ended in favor of the Office of Agriculture. More food is always good. The other option is +10% worker speed. There's a lot of +10% worker speed bonuses you can stack scattered throughout the game, up to a cap of about 60% that the game won't tell you about. I have other plans for reaching that cap.  Pioneer 1, now assigned to Aswat Adida, begins clearing the miasma field northwest of the settlement. The process is actually quite simple, if time consuming. Al Falah had plenty of experience with air filtration systems on the Golden Shah, and the same technology was simply applied on a larger scale here. The local beetles had been identified as a potential source of livestock, and xenoecologists believed that the beetles would suffer no harm from the removal of the miasma. The forest around this chitin resource would slow down improving the tile enough that I elect to clear the miasma first. Clearing miasma is 3 turns by default and isn't slowed by forests. Chitin is +1 food base, then +1 production when improved. Always useful, if you don't mind the implication that your society is now chowing down on docile giant bugs and using their shells as raw materials.  The planting of the new fields north of Ard commenced with great ceremony, for among the seeds being planted were the products of Ard's cytonursery: the first viable genetic modification of camellia sinensis that could survive in the wild on Al-Jalidia. After more than a local year - almost a year and a half on Earth - Al Falah would finally be making tea again. Tundra tiles can be farmed if there's a river. Not a common situation, but useful to remember. I'm also building a submarine in Ard rather than going for the pharmalab, so I can show something off later.  Outrider finally caught site of Jeongsang, Chungsu's capital city. Curiously, the Korean colonists appeared to be farming some kind of local fungus. We need a visible route to a foreign city if we want to trade with them, and hopefully we will start trading with Chungsu. Fungus is +1 food, and another +1 food when improved.  Nothing goes to waste in Al Falah. Nothing. It was a point of pride for many that they could do more with less than their neighbors who had started with so much greater advantages. +1 production to every basic resource? Yes, please! This is the end of my current investment in the Prosperity tree, but for reference this is +5 production to Ard (from the one each of coral, algae, fruit, copper, and tubers), and +2 for Farah right now (coral, algae). The value of this policy is only going to go up as we keep expanding, and it feeds my production fetish I seem to have going in this LP.  The expansion and modernization of Al Falah's engineering infrastructure and capabilities was not glamorous, but it was very useful. The expanded industrial and construction capacity would be vital for future projects. Left to right we have combat rovers, the first tank unit; thorium reactors, an energy-producing structure; repair facilities, which give a bonus to unit production speed; and being able to see and improve titanium, something we could do from the beginning thanks to that always handy tectonic scanner. Nothing particularly important for us, but a prereq for other things.  Arshia orders the Civil Administration and Office of Science and Development to continue their work on Al Falah's infrastructure and reconstructing Earth's databases. The focus of this new project, rebuilding Al Falah's high-energy physics know-how. A few useful things here but nothing amazing. Like Engineering, this is more to round out the beginning techs and as a prereq for other things.  With the miasma near Aswat Adida cleared on schedule, Pioneer 1 begins constructing a field paddock for the beetles. Not the most conventionally appetizing source of food or materials, but Al Falah is nothing if not adept at making do. Also at this time, we pop another supply pod. I'm not going to show supply pods again unless there's something particularly interesting. Assume there's a steady dribble of science, culture, and energy from here on out.   Diluting this discovery may be less efficient, Arshia decided, but would benefit the entire colony rather than merely the military. I know, you're shocked I picked the +production option. The alternative makes cytonurseries give a bonus to unit production. I'm not a warmonger, so I don't find that a compelling bonus.  The navy's first nuclear-powered submarine departed Ard under cover of darkness. Attention in the city was more focused on the construction of a new pharmaceutical research lab - and the promise that the facility could resolve the Subset Curse. You can see it to the south, next to the rippers and sea dragon. Submarines were added in Rising Tide, and are more useful than they are in other Civilization games. They now all carry a limitless supply of cruise missiles to bombard land targets in addition to using their torpedoes against aquatic targets.  Nomad finally locates one of the so-called hydracoral brains. This one is, thankfully, less titanic in scale than the central node Chungsu had found, and orders are sent to investigate.  Arshia receives another complimentary email with a familiar signature from an unknown sender. Ard IT earns another sleepless night. I'll stop showing repeat tweets for the future.  Another display of curious synchronicity among the alien life on Al-Jalidia...   Arshia sends a commendation to the head of the Civil Administration for listening to the corporate spokesman's entire sales pitch before laughing him out of the room. The other option just removes the maintenance cost on Old Earth Relics (a whopping 1 energy per turn). Yeah, no.  Farah is not to be outdone by Ard in the people's demand for home-grown tea, and a set of agricultural domes on the sea floor are established for the sole purpose of cultivating tea plants.   Outrider makes an interesting discovery. The single-use rocket and the solar power satellite are promptly launched into geostationary orbit over Ard. The last possible result of supply pods finally introduces us to the orbital layer! There's a lot of different satellites you can build and launch in this game, and the blue tile outline shows our orbital coverage range. Initially it's just a set radius around our cities, but there's a variety of ways we can expand this range and we can deploy a satellite anywhere in range. Satellites have a vision range to the planet below, and the solar power satellite has a two-tile ring radius of effect. All the tiles covered by the satellite, the blue hexes in and around Ard in this screenshot, produce +1 energy while this satellite is there. Satellites do fall back down to the planet eventually, but in the meantime it's a nice bit of extra energy. Oddly, we won't be able to build our own solar satellites for some time, and they're in a Harmony tech. The orbital layer is one of those neat ideas Beyond Earth has that it ultimately does little with. We'll get some use out of it later in the game when we start getting useful satellites of our own, and there's some very powerful satellites with some interesting purposes, but ultimately I've never found them worth all the fiddly effort. If you want to maximize your tools, they're there, but if you completely ignore the orbital layer aside from these supply pod satellites you won't realize you're missing anything.  There was, however, another surprise in the rocket pod...   With some work, the drones are put back to use by Al Falah's technicians. Schematics for a large-scale drone control center are developed and distributed. Yes. This is one of the artifact rewards I was hoping for, for reasons I trust are obvious. This building is especially useful for small cities but it never goes out of style.   Arshia's head hits her desk when the head of the Defense Bureau brings the reports to her attentions. What is wrong with this planet? Welp. Don't worry, we don't actually lose any population in Ard.   It's controversial, but the so-called Xenoharmony faction in the Governing Council prevails after a protracted debate. This is the Harmony approach to this quest. The Supremacy choice branches off the other, and it would ask me to do something I don't want to do (namely, pick a fight with the aliens).   By contrast, the latest vote over the Subset Curse is simplicity itself. Unfortunately, the Office of Science and Development soon concludes that publicly accepting the synesthestes is one thing, actually doing something about it is another. This is again the Harmony option, which I picked because it seems like the nicer thing to do and it's more in character for Al Falah. We'll have a while before we can build a biofactory, though, so Harmony won't take over our affinity.  Construction of the ultrasonic fence in Farah completes on schedule, but only time will tell how well it works. In the meantime, construction of a new research facility on the underside of the ARK begins.  The new vivarium under construction in Ard was designed by the Civil Administration to fill two roles: first, baiting and detaining the Vanishers, whatever they might be. Second, cultivating tomato and citrus plants. Efforts to adapt these species to the Jalidian climate was proving problematic, and fresh fruit to provide the potassium so lacking in the native ecosystem for the colonists (and replace the mandatory vitamin regimen) was deemed a priority. Vivariums give +2 food, but can only be built in land cities so Farah is out of luck. What would have happened if we started in the water, like Chungsu does? Well, hopefully the Vanishers quest would never fire. Firaxis supposedly fixed that in Rising Tide's one and only major patch...  Another month passes, another series of developments. Rangers are ranged soldier units. Observatories are a science building, but required an improved source of firaxite in a city and we don't have the tech to improve firaxite yet. Launch complexes expand a city's orbital coverage range. Drydocks are a production boosting structure exclusive to sea cities. Only that last one is of much interest to me, Farah will build one sooner or later.  Research efforts turn towards a comprehensive study of Al-Jalidia's biochemistry. Biochemistry only offers two buildings, but one's very important and one is more useful for the quest it unlocks than the building itself. The latter does depend on how much petroleum you have in your colony, though.  Fortunately, the presence of the American and Dutch refugees in Ard meant that English had become a common second language among Al Falah. Outrider encountered first radio broadcasts in English, then proper contact was made: the North Sea Alliance. According to the American and Dutch records, the Alliance had categorically refused to participate in the Seeding at the time they left - prompting the Dutch to fund their own separate venture. Things had clearly changed since the Conestoga and Reiziger left, an impression reinforced by the video screen of Duncan Hughes, the Prime Minister of the North Sea Alliance's colony. Hughes immediately struck the Al Falah - by nutrition and disaster a smaller people than their predecessors - as a giant, tall and powerfully built with a seaman's weathered air. Although Hughes seemed gregarious, the Alliance's presence nevertheless left Al Falah's leadership uneasy, particularly among the Dutch citizens. What would the Alliance do, they wondered, when they learned that Al Falah had rescued the Dutch survivors? The NSA is another new faction in Rising Tide, and represents a coalition of the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and the Low Countries - though the lack of any Dutch or Flemish or what have you names in the NSA's city list is what prompted me to write up the Netherlands as a possible non-canon sponsor. Hughes is specifically Scottish, and speaks with a rather thick accent. He's also kind of a dick! Hughes isn't quite as aggressive as the Americans, Brazilians, or Russians, but his loyalty score is distinctly on the low end of the scale and he can be very belligerent. If he sees an opportunity, he's probably going to take it. We can see on this screen, in the bottom right with the tooltip up, that Hughes has his second personality trait already. He's picked Colonial, which makes sense given that he starts in the water like Chungsu. He's going to like or dislike us based on our expansion.   Even if nothing came of the research, the Office of Science and Development and the Office of Public Health agreed that potentially improving the human baseline with safe pharmaceutical treatment was worth pursuing. If nothing else a lot of useful chemical and biological research would be performed. The alternative is to give pharmalabs another +1 health. Our health situation is okay for right now and will fade as we get other sources online. A bit of extra science will do us fine in the long run.  Arshia Kishk was on her first date since the death of her daughter's father shortly before planetfall when a backhanded compliment arrived from Duncan Hughes over the diplomatic channel. Her dinner companion, one of the finest scientists among the Dutch colonists, suggested that Hughes might be needling Al Falah over the Reiziger situation. Or maybe he was just being British.    Arshia can only shake her head as she reads the report in the morning. Al-Jalidia was testing both Al Falah's fortitude, and their patience. Turns out it's handy I already researched Physics.  Another solar power satellite is recovered from a supply pod. This one is launched into orbit over Farah. I'll stop noting when these happen now.  Using the schematics pieced together from the explorers, Ard begins construction of a drone command center for unmanned resource harvesting. With arable land around Ard exhausted, pioneers are sent into the water to follow Farah's example of aquaculture. Kinda glad we got this when we're going Supremacy.  Aswat Adida finally grows into a fully fledged city, and immediately begins work on a trade depot. Yeah, the worker's still chugging away on that chitin. Forests are annoying like that.   The Civil Administration publicly condemns the widespread rumor that Al-Jalidia is cursed following Outrider's discovery of a wrecked but recognizable - if mostly submerged - Seed lander. No one is mollified. Seriously. This game.  Our submarine finally makes it to the ice pack north of Farah. Submarines in most Civilization games enjoy this obscure perk, being able to travel under the polar ice caps, but it has more opportunity to come into play in Beyond Earth since submarines are available from one of the first techs you can research. Our brave little sub will be going exploring.  Only after considerable public outcry does the city administration of Farah begin construction of a proper hospital. At the same time, pioneers are sent north to a curious upwelling of relatively warm water frequented by immense schools of plankton - a tiny relative of the common rippers. Plankton is +1 science, and can be improved for +1 energy.  The outcry was quieted when Arshia announced the formation of a separate Office of Labor in the Civil Administration to handle the growth of the colony's infrastructure. Our first Industry culture virtue is a small bonus, but it helps and is a prerequisite for other things.  Eating giant bugs? Using their shells as lightweight construction material? Many of the Sleeper refugees in Al Falah had flocked to Aswat Adida, and all of those who had survived their respective crashes had done worse in the name of survival. Aswat Adida had a distinctly multicultural character, much more widespread than the American and Dutch quarters of Ard. Finally. With all the miasma about, I send the worker into the water to start farming.  Our sub shows that yes, it can ring the entire globe going this way. But there's something in particular I'm looking for...   The Office of Science and Development settles another debate. Interdisciplinary research is the order of the day. The alternative is explorers getting another expedition. They've got three already and will gain another through other means before long. I'd rather have the science.  Cursed though Al-Jalidia might seem, the planet is at least rich in thorium. A nuclear fusion plant relying on thorium fuel begins to take shape in Ard. Thorium reactors are the basic energy producing structure. I forgot I needed a ranger for the Vanisher quest and this seemed the best option to build.  And in Farah, work on a cytonursery to focus on aquaculture research begins.  Industry had become perhaps Al Falah's greatest asset in its struggle to survive on this brutal world, and much of the credit for that spirit of hard work rested with Governor Arshia Kishk, who won reelection by a landslide. And we're finished improving the Industrialist trait.  Ard's fusion plant is completed quickly enough, and the outfitting of a ranger battalion to deal with the Vanisher problem commences. The pioneers are sent west to begin mining the titanium deposit that had been identified at planetfall.  The fallen lander is found to be from the Tlaloc Initiative, a Mexico-based organization dedicated to ecological research and assisting climate-displaced refugees throughout the Caribbean. That even an organization of those noble ideals had felt compelled to abandon Earth was another dark sign to Al Falah, compounded by the tragedy that Outrider had discovered. The ARK system of the Tlaloc Initiative's lander had catastrophically malfunctioned during reentry, and there were no survivors. The remains of the lander and their ship, the Quetzalcoatl, were added to the Golden Shah memorial in Ard.    Perhaps Duncan Hughes' decision to broadcast the Alliance's discovery in the open across the planet was a sign of good faith. Or perhaps the Alliance explorers were as stunned by their discovery as Chungsu's had been by the hydracoral nexus. Either way, Al Falah had certainly encountered similar structures before... A second planetary marvel! The hydracoral brain thing will spawn on any planet with enough water, but this is specifically the frigid biome's marvel. The rewards are also pretty crap and we'll probably never finish it. Please ignore the oddities in the screenshot, there were technical difficulties.  The polar submarine expedition bore fruit, as Daoming Sochua was far more proficient in English than anyone in Al Falah was in Mandarin. Al Falah's neighbor to the east, who had also suffered from a malfunctioning guidance system, was the Pan-Asian Cooperative. Sochua, Al Falah's Sleepers attested, had been known for her intellectual brilliance and lack of people skills in equal measure. The woman was quite possibly the finest physicist and mathematician of her era, and also a remarkably efficient administrator and leader, but had absolutely no patience for petty politics or short-sighted political leadership. Sochua had been part of the research team that originally discovered the Inflection Point, and the loudest voice in the PAC in favor of joining the Seeding program. The PAC's leadership had largely dismissed the Inflection Point as pessimistic fear-mongering, and ultimately agreed to launch a single Seeding on the condition that Sochua personally command the colony mission. Whether Sochua had any awareness that the PAC was using the Seeding as a way to eject her and others deemed malcontents and troublemakers was both an open question, and academic. In video conference, Sochua was polite but curt, and declined to indulge in any but the most perfunctory pleasantries. Yes, if you're playing as PAC or Chungsu and the other is on the map, there's special diplomatic dialogue. Daoming is half-Chinese, half-Cambodian, and is a tad eccentric. As an AI, she's fairly laid-back, but she's very isolationist and defensive - she'll take more issue than most if we settle too close to her or station military units near her. She also packs a ridiculously overpowered sponsor bonus that the AI is too dumb to use intelligently. She's picked up two personality traits so far, rather than just maxing one out like I have. Practical reduces the upkeep costs of her units, and she'll judge us based on the combat strength of our most powerful unit. Progressive improves her colony's health level, and she'll judge us based on our health level.  Lesson learned, Arshia summarized to the Governing Council. A biological response had solved a problem that had escaped Al Falah's technological sensor, and they never would have clued in to it if they'd just shot the Vanishers. Indeed, the creatures seemed downright tame, with the right incentive. A possible candidate for domestication?  The lesson was not lost on the people of Al Falah. The lessons and opportunities of nature on this world should be heeded. And our first level of Harmony! We don't get any benefit from having one level each of Supremacy and Harmony, we'll need more levels in one or the other to start seeing effects. Funny thing I only noticed now: in the affinity pop-up art, you can see the helmet and gun of all six tier 4 infantry.    The frigate squadron on station near Farah concludes their investigation of the nearby alien structure in response to the Alliance's discovery, but answers remain elusive.  While the wildlife hasn't been as much of an issue for Ard as they have been for Farah, work nevertheless commences on an ultrasonic fence for the city.  The PAC wastes no time making use of the diplomatic radio channels. Daoming notes the positive response of Al Falah's people - the "safety blanket effect" - to the sophistication of the Al Falah Defense Force. I'm kind of surprised she's happy, to be honest. I thought she'd be getting on my case about not having level 2 in an affinity with the attendant units yet.  Aswat Adida's development continues apace. Like Farah, the trade depot is immediately followed by a recycler.  Al Falah finally has a complete picture of the biochemical basis of life on Al-Jalidia. Actually doing much with it is another question, but it's a solid base of knowledge for future research. Water refineries are what I'm here for, they grant +1 production to all water tiles worked by a city. Petroleum plants grant +1 production and +1 energy to petroleum worked by the city, but require petroleum in the city to build obviously. It's not bad and it helps, though the bigger advantage is probably the associated upgrade quest. The xeno siren is our first satellite, and it attracts aliens to the satellite's location. Can be useful for annoying the AI if you're into that, but the AI will notice if you're launching these near them.  From microscopes to telescopes, Al Falah's attentions turn next to the stars. If only to shut up the imams who have been arguing about calendar days and the precise location of Mecca ever since planetfall. One very situational perk and one useful if limited structure. It's fast to research, at least, and in character for Al Falah to pick up now that the beginning of the game essentials are done. State of Al Falah, Turn 76  Ard's near the end of what it can build and develop for the moment. Only the second algae and the firaxite are left in Ard's borders to grab, and we still don't have the tech to use firaxite. The city's also almost done with the seriously useful buildings we have access to right now. A water refinery will start as soon as the fence is done.  Farah continues to grow, and is starting work on an Old Earth Relic. The plankton's been improved and for now I'm adding more farms, but there's plenty of resources left to grab here.  Aswat Adida is our latest city and is still in its infancy. The worker has finished healing up from miasma damage and will be heading over to start mining the titanium next.
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Aug 21, 2019 02:39
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The drone artifact flavor text implies dogs and cats went extinct on Earth? That's sad if so, but I maintain that through Science we can design new and better pets. In the new Dog 2.0, genetic frailties from inbreeding will be a thing of the past. Modern methods will create robust, healthy breeds available in all colors and sizes. Housebreaking will be instinctive. Engineers promise a 49% adorability increase. A mute button will be standard.
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Aug 21, 2019 03:20
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And they stay as puppies for twice as long.
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Aug 21, 2019 03:35
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Given our cultural background, cats are more likely than dogs.
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Aug 21, 2019 04:14
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Mechanical Ape posted:The drone artifact flavor text implies dogs and cats went extinct on Earth? That's sad if so, but I maintain that through Science we can design new and better pets. I think you're confusing this LP with the Caveman 2 Cosmo one where you can actually breed 2.0 Ultra dogs.
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Aug 21, 2019 04:19
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I generally just cashed in artifacts immediately for the resources instead of waiting to get a set of three that might provide a useful building: getting the early techs/virtues stuff was just more valuable, and the reward is increased if you don't get a set. The drone control was the only artifact reward that was powerful enough and that had identifiable enough pieces to bother saving artifacts for. Also, you can use your cities' defence rockets on the aliens without pissing them off for some reason, if you want a bit more space.
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Aug 21, 2019 04:38
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Mechanical Ape posted:The drone artifact flavor text implies dogs and cats went extinct on Earth? That's sad if so, but I maintain that through Science we can design new and better pets. But will they be able to hug back?
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Aug 21, 2019 04:42
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It's interesting that "chitin" is a resource. In Terrestrial life, not only is it part of beetles and the like, but also part of fishscales and is a defining feature of fungal cells. It's almost like they were picking a biological resource that would make sense on multiple possible world types.
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Aug 21, 2019 07:38
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So wait if the vanishers were only interested in metal bugs, what happened to all the people that disappeared?
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Aug 21, 2019 11:56
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Tenebrais posted:So wait if the vanishers were only interested in metal bugs, what happened to all the people that disappeared? My personal answer? Died from exposure and injuries sustained as the vanishers were attacking them for the bugs on their metal equipment (and environmental suits, as appropriate). Like real world barracuda attacks - they're not really attacking people, they're attacking the stuff on them but people tend to get injured or killed in the process. ManxomeBromide posted:It's interesting that "chitin" is a resource. In Terrestrial life, not only is it part of beetles and the like, but also part of fishscales and is a defining feature of fungal cells. It's almost like they were picking a biological resource that would make sense on multiple possible world types. The various resources in the game: Strategic: Titanium, Petroleum, Geothermal, Xenomass, Firaxite, Floatstone Basic: Algae, Basalt, Chelonia (native life-form), Chitin, Copper, Coral, Eggs, Fiber, Fruit, Fungus, Gold, Minerals, Plankton, Resilin, Shells, Silica, Tubers, Vents. Omnicrom posted:I think you're confusing this LP with the Caveman 2 Cosmo one where you can actually breed 2.0 Ultra dogs. There actually is a quest that can pop up where if you aren't Purity, you find some friendly, docile aliens. Supremacy turns them into livestock, Harmony makes them pets. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Aug 21, 2019 |
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Aug 21, 2019 12:15
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The idea of the Nordics working with Britain is wild but then having the Scots be I charge? I thought this was Sci-Fi and not fantasy
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Aug 21, 2019 19:04
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Deceitful Penguin posted:The idea of the Nordics working with Britain is wild but then having the Scots be I charge?
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Aug 21, 2019 20:09
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You can traverse the interstellar void, you can yoke the power of distant suns, you can bring the light of knowledge to long-dormant spheres. But one thing you can't do is, you can't get a decent cup of coffee 6 light years from Earth. Now that we've met our neighbors, how likely is it that Al Falah will be at war at some point in the future? Is peaceful coexistence a possibility?
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Aug 21, 2019 20:29
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Mechanical Ape posted:Now that we've met our neighbors, how likely is it that Al Falah will be at war at some point in the future? Is peaceful coexistence a possibility? We haven't met everyone yet. I'm playing on a standard size map, which means seven players. We account for one, and we've met three. Assuming I set everything up correctly, we have three more neighbors to find. Al Falah is almost certainly going to end up at war before the end of the game. If nothing else, starting an ending sequence is going to really piss off at least one AI - the game tries to pick the strongest AI faction of a different affinity from you. However, until that time I'm certainly going to strive for a peaceful coexistence. I've been, and will continue to, building up my military in part because Rising Tide makes it explicit both how much each AI faction likes you and how much they fear you. Both play a factor in how they behave towards you. I don't intend to go conquering, but Al Falah will be ready if someone picks a fight and having a strong military will be a strong deterrent to AI aggression. Civlopedia entries for this latest update: North Sea Alliance posted:The British Isles and Scandinavia were largely unaffected by the devastation of the Great Mistake and its subsequent migrations, being too remote from the epicenters of those events to be viable targets. However, these low-lying nations were especially susceptible to the rising sea levels caused by the accelerating climate change. Traditionally coastal and maritime economies, Great Britain and the Nordic States faced the prospect of the total eradication of their way of life. Duncan Hughes posted:Born to a local shipping magnate in the Scottish port city of Aberdeen, Duncan Hughes was something of an enigma when he first appeared on the political circuit roughly a decade before the Seeding began. His gruff, sometimes surly demeanor seemed ill-suited to the rigors of a public figure, yet he was determined to further his career despite an obvious distaste for the pandering and proselytizing of his peers. Pan-Asian Cooperative posted:By the time of the Great Mistake, China was one of the world’s two acknowledged superpowers. However, China took perhaps the hardest hit of any nation from the events of the Great Mistake, and the region had to recover from ethnic strife, separatism, and a breakdown of social order. Central Asia was swept up by the chaos as other nations in the region faced outbreaks of violence; surrounding powers such as India and Russia mobilized their forces in fear that the conflict would embroil their populations. The Asian continent entered a period of unprecedented tension and fear as each nation sought to calm their own lands while keeping wary eyes on their neighbors. Daoming Sochua posted:Born to a Chinese mother and Cambodian father, Daoming Sochua was raised in the traditions of both cultures. She tested at genius levels at a very young age and progressed rapidly through the state-sponsored school systems for gifted children. She quickly surpassed her parents – who were both university professors in the sciences — and her bright siblings in her studies. Entering university in her early teens, she proved focused and motivated to dominate her older peers. Engineering posted:The application of practical principles to create and build structures, devices, machines and systems is the cornerstone of civilization. As theoretical science advanced, so did its applied aspects in the form of engineering. Mechanical, chemical, electrical and civil engineers were part of every colonial mission during the Seeding. Immediately upon landing, engineers were soon discovering and developing new materials and methods for use on the new world. In addition, they adapted traditional Earth methods to bring water, minerals, energy and other essentials for human survival to the colonies. Engineering extended both to the macroscopic and microscopic, as nanotechnology – with new “nanites” designed by engineers – was applied to the construction of massive projects such as the planetary Wonders. Physics posted:Just as the study of biology and chemistry on this unique world, research in physics – in all its many sub-branches – would take some unexpected paths as the like of floatstone and firaxite were discovered. Even in the realm of “classical” physics – mechanics, optics, acoustics, thermodynamics and magnetism – new discoveries energized research daily. Atomics and nuclear physics, meanwhile, took a back seat to studies in quantum and particle physics, where colonial scientists excelled. More recently, astrophysics has come to the fore, as the colonial settlements look to return to space. And, when colonial physicists pushed the theoretical boundaries, colonial engineers found means of putting their theories into practice with a host of gadgets great and small, without which the settlement of this planet would not have been possible. Biochemistry posted:Dealing primarily with the structures, processes and interactions of the macromolecules of living organisms, biochemistry on the new world focused first on the extraction and conversion of organic-based oils for use. The unique biochemistry of the “alien” flora and fauna forced the colonists to unravel its mysteries before native sources of both organic and mineral oils could be used for the production of fuel, petrochemicals and a host of other items. While useful in many realms, these petroleum oils were found to be unsuitable in the areas of food processing and chemical feedstock. After the initial surge of biochemical research aimed at harnessing the planetary fossil oils, colonial administrators cut funding; hence, further understanding of the biochemical operations of the indigenous lifeforms has been limited, but still significant. Pharmalab posted:With the development of the early transgenetic engineering, a number of procedures to create useful pharmaceuticals from plants in which exogenous genes had been inserted were created. In some cases, Terran fauna was modified with DNA structures from indigenous plants, and in some cases the reverse (such as the “super-fungoid” that produced a number of antivirals and fungicides that helped in treatment of miasmic poisoning). The genetic engineering and cultivation of transgenetic plants takes place in pharmalabs, most of which also conduct transgenetic research. The range of pharmaceuticals produced in colonial pharmalabs is impressive, covering virtually every medical procedure from contraception to euthanasia. In recent decades, pharmalab drugs have also become part of the research efforts to augment humans and create cybernetic organisms. But it is in the realm of the treatment of illness and injury that the contributions of pharmalabs have been most significant; without the modern pharmalab the settlement of this world would have been more hazardous and less rapid. Thus, pharmalabs have become a key component in the medical infrastructure of most colonial settlements. Ultrasonic Fence posted:It was known from planetfall that the indigenous wildlife could sense and react to sound and light wavelengths beyond normal human perception. One of the first efforts taken by most colonial settlements to passively deter their depredations was the installation of ultrasonic fences. Ultrasonic fences were used on Old Earth for livestock and wildlife control for many decades before the Seeding; while the colonists added ultrasonic transducers to the design, the basic configuration has remained unchanged. The transducers pick up high-frequency sounds (above 18,000 hertz) of passage of an alien lifeform, amplifies this and narrow-beams it back. In virtually all cases, this causes the animal to veer away from its current course to avoid the source location; it has been found that Siege Worms are particularly susceptible when travelling underground due to their sensitivity to vibration. However, the fences have proved effective against all indigenous lifeforms, even the marine species such as the Kraken. The passive nature of the deterrence is one of the major advantages to ultrasonic systems, impacting the ecology minimally. Although labor intensive – the inspection and servicing of the transducers is a daily chore – and demanding energy reserves often at a premium in small settlements, most colonial administrations invested in ultrasonic fences around their perimeters, and often extended these outward as the settlements grew. Vivarium posted:Those colonial administrators who prioritized the health and happiness of their Colonists usually had vivariums constructed shortly after landing. Beginning with cold frames, the colonists built these large greenhouses, using polyethylene film or multiwall polycarbonate sheeting included in their ship’s payload, to germinate and cultivate terrestrial seeds and seedlings. Insulated from planetary conditions and carefully nurtured, the many types of Earth fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, grains and even flowers enriched the colonial diet – in some cases supplying vital minerals and vitamins until substitutes could be found in or created from native flora – and raised colonial morale as well by providing arbors, flower gardens and other botanical spaces for recreation. Most of these constructs were bioshelters, solar vivariums managed as self-contained indoor ecosystems, with both plant and animal life carefully balanced. With automated ventilation and passive heating systems, the horticulture bioshelters were extremely efficient and cost-effective, with much of the waste recycled into compost for use in open-air agricultural plots. Over time, molecular and genetic tinkering with these Old Earth strains by colonial agronomists adapted some for free-growth, and many were not only commercially cultivated but spread in the wild, such as quinoa, fonio, yacon, sumac, kala jeera, durian, cherimoya and kapok. Thereafter, the vivariums played a greater or lesser role in the daily life of the colonists, depending on their philosophical approach to living on an alien world. Thorium Reactor posted:Although able to function for a period with portable power plants from the ship, the energy requirements of a growing colony demanded more than mere subsistence. In time, reactors were constructed to supply sustainable energy; while a few early generators built on the planet were based on traditional designs, these were at best inefficient applications of outdated technology. Best among these were the radioisotope thermoelectric generators that used thermocouples to convert the heat from the decay of a suitable radioactive material into electricity via the Seebeck Effect. However, most colonial administrations focused construction efforts on the likes of thorium reactors; thorium is relatively plentiful on this planet in the monazite sands, and produces the radioactive gas radon-220 as well as thorium-232, both used in thorium reactors. Although most thorium-related nuclear research on Old Earth was suspended after the Great Mistake, thorium reactors have proved a safe, efficient and inexpensive means to produce the power needed by the colonial settlements. Research efforts aimed at improving these aspects has led to even better thorium reactors and methods of electric storage, to the point where some settlements had an energy surfeit and were able to broker agreements to exchange their surpluses for materials they lacked. Cytonursery posted:The propagation of Old Earth plants was of great interest to those settlements looking to prosper and propagate. Rather than relying on seeds or spores, the first horticultural nurseries after planetfall used cells preserved during the interstellar trip (when cargo space was at a premium); these cytonurseries allowed the first farms and orchards to be established once the ground was prepared. Later, the cytonurseries were used to grow indigenous and transgenetic hybrids, both for research purposes as colonial scientists labored to understand this alien ecosystem and to supplement the original food and fiber crops brought from Old Earth. Although there are several methods, the reproduction of fully-formed clones from cellular plant matter is relatively straightforward; chemical and organic catalysts (usually enzyme-based) increase cellular division until cytoplasmic and organelle volume reaches a critical mass (the G1 phase), whereupon replication of the genetic material (the G2 phase) becomes automatic. Once a number of individual plants have been produced, they are transferred to a standard nursery or into the open, when normal breeding can occur. Although largely supplanted in function by other facilities later, many small cytonurseries continue to operate and contribute.
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Aug 21, 2019 22:43
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I just recorded the next update. Three more derelict settlements. God created Al-Jalidia to test the faithful.
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Aug 21, 2019 23:30
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