Outpost: OutcastBased on the
Outpost 3,
Outpost 4 and
Outpost 5 games, by SakSak and Trent01 of SB and Draxis, respectively.
Most of the credit goes to SakSak, the ensuing games heavily draw on his systems.
Thanks to 10ebbor10 for the opening credits and part of the introduction here copied from
Outpost:Exodus
This is a new outpost game after
Outpost: Exile fell through. The game involves establishing an extrasolar colony after the destruction of Earth in a hard(ish) science fiction universe. I will be attempting new formatting and more relevant information for each phase, I would appreciate any feedback.
Sol 2071Mankind had reached the stars. Or at least the planets outside Earth. Over ten million live between the mining and manufacturing complexes at the asteroid belt, the Martian colony bio-domes and the deep research stations. Advances in technology and industry based on the foundation laid out in the previous century have brought about the beginning of a golden age.
That future however, was replaced by one filled with pure dread when a deep space observatory on the dark side of the moon first discovered something unusual. Repeated tests, theories and other investigations left only one possibility. The solar system would soon be engulfed by a storm of highly energetic particles, originating from a supernova that occurred thousand of years ago, and many light years from Earth. These particles would interact and collide with the solar wind, deforming the solar magnetic field, generating deadly radiation, and thus making space travel an impossibility. Eventually, the particles would overcome the magnetic field of the planet, with dramatic effects for any surface life.
It was estimated within 15 years, space travel within the solar system would be become impossible, for perhaps hundreds of years, however long it took for the particle wave, and ensuing solar activity to pass. The colonies on Mars and the moon would quickly become uninhabitable, but the destruction of the Terran biosphere would take far longer. Depending on how fast the intensity of the particle wave were to increase, it could take years, maybe even a decade before the radiation would have any effect on surface life. Technology however, would be affected much faster, and it would be impossible for modern civilization to survive.
The leaders of Humanity gathered. A large plan was drawn up, not to abandon the Cradle of Earth, but to hide deep underground in massive bunkers. Billions would be saved by the Vault project, but the entire thing was a sham, meant to placate an already rebelling population. The chance of the Vaults surviving multiple centuries was minuscule, so a project to save perhaps as many as a million people was devised.
Three great Ark ships, each containing half a million souls in cryogenic suspension were constructed. They would seek out a new hope for humanity around alien stars. Almost 9 years went into constructing these ships which would take decades to traverse the light years to nearby systems which would be outside the wave of radiation. In order to ensure the survival of the colonists a smaller, faster ship would be sent out ahead of each of the main Arks to adapt, research, and establish an industrial and agriculture base.
An Outpost of humanity to welcome the refugees.
This is a suggestion game which will be divided into three stages, the build phase, the flight phase and the outpost phase. During this first stage you will design the ship and it's contents as well as deciding where it will go. During the flight phase you will deal with what happens on the trip to the new system, generally disasters which will build up and threaten the mission. During the outpost phase you can explore and build on the new world, adapting and facing the hardships necessary to be prepared for the arrival of half a million colonists. If you fail estimates are that less then 1000 people will survive.
I will do a write up on each phase later, though it will be mostly based off the same system as 5 and Exodus.
General Mechanics
The primary mechanic for rolls are 1d100 with bonuses or penalties added. A natural 10 or lower is a critical fail and can result in anything from a total failure to a major disaster, a natural 90 or above is a critical success and will add a bonus to the result which can overcome penalties or push the result even higher. Critical failures can generally be mitigated but not prevented by bonuses, with the closer the result is to 1 being more serious.
Resources will be handled in a combination of discrete units for most cargo items and vague estimates for things like scrap or planetary resources. Finding or making many basic chemicals and elements will be key to survival, it is best to assume very little will be present on the target planet so bring a lot with you. Any real world scientific and engineering knowledge that can be reasonably applied is appreciated.
The game can be a little overwhelming so please ask questions or give advise in a polite manner.
This game is not set within the same continuity as the previous games, and various systems have been modified. It is also set one multiverse away, so the destination systems may not match up with what is known about real world ones.
Build Phase
During this phase there will be 4-5 turns, 3 months per phase, about a year total, to finish the Outpost ship. Each turn you can build up to three systems or modification using a limited supply of Resource Units and taking up both Mass and Space on the ship. You can also order cargo. Statistics will be included for what the items will provide during both the flight and outpost phases.
If the systems are not to your liking, you can research new ones. Several of the items available were proposed during other outpost games and included for posterity. There will also may be numerous events which can provide extra resources or endanger the mission. While you can make and research new systems on the target planet, during this phase you will have the bulk of humanity's scientific minds helping you with advanced facilities for testing and manufacturing, so major advancements here will be much easier then later on.
This game will be more relaxed on building, so that if new systems or redesigns become needed you can replace similar existing systems for free. For example if you build a Fusion Torch propulsion system and research an anti-matter rocket system you would be able to replace the old one at whatever the cost difference would be without using up a build slot.
The general design of the Outpost (and Ark) ship is to (crash)land on the surface of a new world and be mostly disassembled for parts as a colony is built. The travel time will be decades in length so cryogenic pods will be available, however the technology is new and unreliable so pulling people out as soon as you get to the surface will be a good plan. Entertainment, medical facilities and maintenance will be minimal unless you include dedicated systems. The default crew quarters are small sleeping berths so larger awake populations will involve moral penalties, but provide maintenance and disaster response benefits. Food, water, air, vacuum suits and spare parts and materials of all kinds can, and should, be taken along.
Flight Phase
During the flight phase fuel and possibly food and materials will be used up while maintenance and moral rolls will be made during each 5 year turn. Some research and other activities can be engaged in based on suggestions. Generally these rolls will accumulate penalties until disasters occur which will require player input, otherwise these go pretty much automatically and will be posted in groups.
The time in years to get to the target system will be 5*sqrt(mass/thrust*distance{Ly})+Coasting years/2. Fuel can be saved thanks to a long time of zero acceleration, although this leads to a much longer journey overall.
Outpost phase
During the outpost phase the tools and systems brought from Earth can be unloaded and used. Each system will require manpower and electricity and allow various activates. Turns slow down to once per month and generally just setting up everything from the ship is a monumental task.
Adapting to the environment, building, researching and exploring all take place here, with the seeking of rare elements needed to sustain life and industry a priority. Most chemicals will actually be tracked individually for availability, until a good set are found and the correct faculties built so they can be hand waved away.
Resource levels will be in either discrete units or designated as trivial, poor, adequate, abundant or Inexhaustible. Trivial or poor levels may quickly run out, Inexhaustible resources are generally atmospheric and may or may not actually be in a useful form.
Discrete resources are numerated and used in projects directly, like food, life support, electricity and basic/advanced parts.
Building and facility sizes are ranked from tiny, small, medium, large, to huge. Each size category is roughly twice as large so a large size cavern could fit 1 medium and two small faculties.
Specifications for slots will be included in the descriptions for cargo and parts, this may make it take more time to get a full list of parts.
Manufacturing and construction: Building new equipment and facilities, may be limited depending on the type of item being made. For example exo suits can not build advanced computer parts. Can often be stacked for bonus construction.
Mining - Digging out raw materials, cutting out underground construction space or both.
Repair and Maintenance - Fixing damaged items, preventative maintenance on critical systems or scavenging from destroyed items.
Scavenging and Cargo - Unloading equipment and disassembling the outpost ship, mostly falls under manufacturing and construction although some specialized facilities might exist.
Engineering - Designing and building new systems to adapt to the new world or apply scientific research. Some projects need manufacturing to be completed, others will provide bonuses to other areas or provide projects.
Science - Learning about discoveries on the new world or basic research to expand human knowledge. Needs appropriate laboratories, learning about the new world is generally fast, basic research is much slower. Additional research options may be suggested, brought up through emergent game play or be the result of completed projects.
Exploration and Security - Exploration and security projects will be presented depending on situations, they will often provide new options for other areas, such as science or new materials for industry.
Manpower action - Inefficient action using raw manpower and basic or improvised tools. Needs 4 people for a terrible chance at succeeding, 15 for no penalty.
Entertainment - To keep up moral some manpower needs to be kept out of normal jobs. Otherwise work is 12 hour days 7 days a week. Needs additional facilities to make extra manpower placed here efficient, each entertainment facility provides manpower slots to "work" it in order to get the benefit. Having the facility at all though can at least mitigate a 'no entertainment' penalty.
Routine - Some facilities need manpower to operate but provide consistent results turn to turn. Ore processors, Meat vats, life support, reactors. Some do not need manpower at all just 'general oversight' resulting in no practical loss of manpower.
