Post by violetmuse on Apr 26, 2018 17:17:29 GMT
I'm not a hardcore gamer - I just like placing buildings and watching a community grow, with an occasional challenge here and there. Which is why I chose to play in 'relaxed' mode...but with all the bodies piling up, it's not feeling very relaxed at all.
And really, I like a little background story to give things depth and interest...but what background story there is feels kindof sketchy to me, like there's not much thought put into it.
First of all: supposedly the people have been living in a bunker for decades. So why are they standing in the middle of a field with no supplies? Wouldn't they want to build their first town around the bunker? Which would presumably have a dormitory, a kitchen/dining area, a sick bay of some kind, a power supply of some kind (to give them light and breathable air), a source of potable water (else they'd have died out long ago), and some kind of renewable food source (a room of plants under grow lights? tanks of fish? else, again, they'd have died out long ago).
Even if they decided not to build near the bunker, in case they ever needed a safe hidden place to return to, wouldn't they at least leave the bunker with enough supplies to keep them going for a few weeks while they got set up somewhere? Why would they leave everything behind and start empty-handed?
Or if they did build around the bunker, then logically as buildings were built outside and people moved into homes, set up greenhouses, etc. then the interior of bunker would be converted to storage. So that would basically be your first (underground) storage building, and as each new building was built then the amount of supplies that could be stored in the bunker would increase, until it reached full capacity (as all parts converted to storage only).
Also, the number of people at the start is ridiculous. Presumably it's because a large number of them are going to die off in the beginning? It would make more sense to start with 10 - 15 people, enough to have feasibly survived in a small bunker, enough to start building and get the food and water supply going, enough that they could just manage to feed & house themselves if they worked hard (without it seeming like an insurmountable task from the get-go). Others would eventually join them and be put to work as well to keep the community running smoothly. But to have the community start off with so many people only to have them die off makes it hard for me to feel invested in them. Heck, I'd rather start off with just ONE character (the town leader) and have others show up as she begins to build a safe space to live in. Especially since she's the only one who seems to do anything at the start - she's running about scavenging, building buildings, getting things set up while the others - useless lumps, the lot of them - are still slowly ambling their way towards her.
And in what apocalyptic scenario would these people all be standing about doing nothing while the town leader scrambles to support them? Oh heck no. She should be delegating tasks, getting everyone moving rather than being the one who does the moving herself. People shouldn't just start murdering the first day - criminal activity should be a result of bad leadership. (Especially after decades of a close-knit in-your-face community inside a bunker.) The leader isn't paying attention to who's doing what, isn't assigning tasks, so people get grumbly and start to do their own thing, turning to crime and drugs and whatnot. Having those things as a default from day one is disheartening. Why am I putting this much effort in? Again, I'd rather go off by myself and just build and scavenge than have this lot of useless criminals following me about.
Scavenging should be the default for everyone else in the beginning. Sure, building a scavenger's hut would ensure that there was always someone assigned to look for needed supplies, with the town leader letting them know what to look for specifically - but at the start, rather than standing around waiting, everyone should be doing their part to build the community, and that means scavenging for supplies so they can, y'know, actually do some building. They should be grabbing whatever they can carry and piling it up at the storehouse, then pestering for another storehouse when the first one fills up. As the community grew eventually they'd get peeled off to do other jobs, and the town would be left with just the dedicated scavengers - people who know what the town needs, and scavenge intelligently rather than just picking things up willy-nilly - based at scavenger's huts.
And by the way, the list of items being scavenged makes zero sense if these people have been living in a bunker for decades, as the intro states. Medicine? Would not last decades. Bottled water? Would no longer be potable (especially in a nuclear scenario). Canned goods and MREs might still be reasonably useful, but if they've been soaking up radiation for decades? I'm not sure I'd want to risk eating them.
Scavenged lumber would be useless. Look at the 9th Ward in New Orleans, just 13 years post-Hurricane Katrina, where the houses are collapsing due to dry rot and termite damage. Look at Plymouth, Montserrat, where iconoclastic flows from a volcano left the town an apocalyptic wasteland (similar to what I'd expect if nukes were dropped - everything burned and melted and half-buried under rubble). There's nothing salvageable there. Look at Chernobyl, where rust and acid rain have weakened metals and corroded masonry. Look at Detroit, where empty homes left unattended turn to so much useless rubble after a dozen or so hard winters.
Your best bet would be to cut fresh lumber, but that doesn't seem to be an option in-game thus far. Gather rocks to build foundations as well as old bricks from the ruins - again, not an option.
As far as ruins that can be scavenged - a house here, a boat there, and days of running in between? Where are the clusters of suburban homes, or the crumbling remains of skyscrapers?
I know things have been simplified for the sake of the game...but what good is a game if it's all mechanics and no heart? I started out deeply interested in the scenario, but quickly became uninvested after a few hours of watching people mill about and then die. None of it makes any sense. It's just...there? For the sake of being there? I don't care if these stupid people live or die, I don't care if they murder other people, I don't care if they enslave other people. They're just standing around doing nothing. I don't want to run around and try to support them. That's not what a leader does. That's not how a community works. Not even a fake AI one.
The premise sounded fantastic and really grabbed at my imagination - but I'm disappointed with what I've seen so far.
And really, I like a little background story to give things depth and interest...but what background story there is feels kindof sketchy to me, like there's not much thought put into it.
First of all: supposedly the people have been living in a bunker for decades. So why are they standing in the middle of a field with no supplies? Wouldn't they want to build their first town around the bunker? Which would presumably have a dormitory, a kitchen/dining area, a sick bay of some kind, a power supply of some kind (to give them light and breathable air), a source of potable water (else they'd have died out long ago), and some kind of renewable food source (a room of plants under grow lights? tanks of fish? else, again, they'd have died out long ago).
Even if they decided not to build near the bunker, in case they ever needed a safe hidden place to return to, wouldn't they at least leave the bunker with enough supplies to keep them going for a few weeks while they got set up somewhere? Why would they leave everything behind and start empty-handed?
Or if they did build around the bunker, then logically as buildings were built outside and people moved into homes, set up greenhouses, etc. then the interior of bunker would be converted to storage. So that would basically be your first (underground) storage building, and as each new building was built then the amount of supplies that could be stored in the bunker would increase, until it reached full capacity (as all parts converted to storage only).
Also, the number of people at the start is ridiculous. Presumably it's because a large number of them are going to die off in the beginning? It would make more sense to start with 10 - 15 people, enough to have feasibly survived in a small bunker, enough to start building and get the food and water supply going, enough that they could just manage to feed & house themselves if they worked hard (without it seeming like an insurmountable task from the get-go). Others would eventually join them and be put to work as well to keep the community running smoothly. But to have the community start off with so many people only to have them die off makes it hard for me to feel invested in them. Heck, I'd rather start off with just ONE character (the town leader) and have others show up as she begins to build a safe space to live in. Especially since she's the only one who seems to do anything at the start - she's running about scavenging, building buildings, getting things set up while the others - useless lumps, the lot of them - are still slowly ambling their way towards her.
And in what apocalyptic scenario would these people all be standing about doing nothing while the town leader scrambles to support them? Oh heck no. She should be delegating tasks, getting everyone moving rather than being the one who does the moving herself. People shouldn't just start murdering the first day - criminal activity should be a result of bad leadership. (Especially after decades of a close-knit in-your-face community inside a bunker.) The leader isn't paying attention to who's doing what, isn't assigning tasks, so people get grumbly and start to do their own thing, turning to crime and drugs and whatnot. Having those things as a default from day one is disheartening. Why am I putting this much effort in? Again, I'd rather go off by myself and just build and scavenge than have this lot of useless criminals following me about.
Scavenging should be the default for everyone else in the beginning. Sure, building a scavenger's hut would ensure that there was always someone assigned to look for needed supplies, with the town leader letting them know what to look for specifically - but at the start, rather than standing around waiting, everyone should be doing their part to build the community, and that means scavenging for supplies so they can, y'know, actually do some building. They should be grabbing whatever they can carry and piling it up at the storehouse, then pestering for another storehouse when the first one fills up. As the community grew eventually they'd get peeled off to do other jobs, and the town would be left with just the dedicated scavengers - people who know what the town needs, and scavenge intelligently rather than just picking things up willy-nilly - based at scavenger's huts.
And by the way, the list of items being scavenged makes zero sense if these people have been living in a bunker for decades, as the intro states. Medicine? Would not last decades. Bottled water? Would no longer be potable (especially in a nuclear scenario). Canned goods and MREs might still be reasonably useful, but if they've been soaking up radiation for decades? I'm not sure I'd want to risk eating them.
Scavenged lumber would be useless. Look at the 9th Ward in New Orleans, just 13 years post-Hurricane Katrina, where the houses are collapsing due to dry rot and termite damage. Look at Plymouth, Montserrat, where iconoclastic flows from a volcano left the town an apocalyptic wasteland (similar to what I'd expect if nukes were dropped - everything burned and melted and half-buried under rubble). There's nothing salvageable there. Look at Chernobyl, where rust and acid rain have weakened metals and corroded masonry. Look at Detroit, where empty homes left unattended turn to so much useless rubble after a dozen or so hard winters.
Your best bet would be to cut fresh lumber, but that doesn't seem to be an option in-game thus far. Gather rocks to build foundations as well as old bricks from the ruins - again, not an option.
As far as ruins that can be scavenged - a house here, a boat there, and days of running in between? Where are the clusters of suburban homes, or the crumbling remains of skyscrapers?
I know things have been simplified for the sake of the game...but what good is a game if it's all mechanics and no heart? I started out deeply interested in the scenario, but quickly became uninvested after a few hours of watching people mill about and then die. None of it makes any sense. It's just...there? For the sake of being there? I don't care if these stupid people live or die, I don't care if they murder other people, I don't care if they enslave other people. They're just standing around doing nothing. I don't want to run around and try to support them. That's not what a leader does. That's not how a community works. Not even a fake AI one.
The premise sounded fantastic and really grabbed at my imagination - but I'm disappointed with what I've seen so far.
