Swamp RimWorld Challenge 2017 - The Final Countdown

[govmentchedda]

The post-binge wait is horrible.

[Johnny Carwash]

So the votes are in, and like the world's worst massage parlor, the Swamp has come out emphatically against happy endings. Will play this one out until the bitter end and post more updates starting tomorrow.

[P.D.X.]

So the most deplorable group from the outset ends up surviving the longest. 2016, amiright?

[Johnny Carwash]

So after deciding to continue on following the miraculous events of the previous days, a few mostly uneventful days pass:

- The Loyal Frogs attack again, but have been weakened by their earlier losses and are easily beaten.
- Giff throws an impromptu party for unspecified reasons.
- AB gets food poisoning and vomits all over the place, then keeps working where he stands.


But then the monotony is broken when the giant insects from the rec room come back with a vengeance. First to go is degen, caught watching TV when the swarm emerges.


The others rush to the room in an attempt to save him, but are overwhelmed by the sheer number of insects this time. They go out in the following order:
- degen
- Moreta
- AB
- Giff
- PDX
- EnochRoot

Congratulations, EnochRoot, you're the last person to slowly die of blood loss!

Swampville IV lasted 178 days, a new record. Here's a recap of our Swamp colonists' fates:
- duff - shot with lasers by hostile robots
- everyone else - killed by giant bugs

Aren't you guys glad you decided to pass on the offer of a presumed happy ending?

[DC47]

And some of you doubted our strategery. The old let the wargs nibble at you until you almost die of exposure and a random stranger finds and rescues you at the last minute gambit. Works every time.

Substitute "Packers" for "wargs" and "Stafford" for "random stranger" and this presages the Lions path to the play-offs.

[govmentchedda]

RimWorld zags when the Swamp zigs.

[Johnny Carwash]

Just a bump to note I'll be starting this up again sometime next week and will try to cover any remaining people who've shown interest in this thread.

Also, just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the response so far. I really never anticipated this would get the attention and participation that it did. Putting this together has been as fun for me as I hope it has for you.

[Johnnie]

Well, that ending was...abrupt. And resembles a direct reflection of the poll choice. Did you adjust some setting?

[bfj]

I miss readings these. Will they return?

[P.D.X.]

So is this game like truly random in that anything can happen at anytime or did some oversight or decision from earlier prompt the bug attack?

[Johnny Carwash]

There's a few options you can select from that influence the events the game can throw at you. I've been using the most random one because I think it makes for the best stories. I did some reading up and apparently the bug attacks are a persistent threat if you build into the side of a large rock formation, which I had done here.

To Johnnie's question above, I'd been playing on a harder difficulty setting for a while, where you need some strokes of luck to survive the more dire events--this happened with the warg attack earlier, but our luck finally ran out not long afterward.

I'm planning to get the next roster up tomorrow. I'm going to try to include everyone who's shown interest in this thread but hasn't been included yet, so it will probably be a bigger group than the previous ones. I'll also post the initial series of polls again, then start up a new game.

[Johnny Carwash]

Swampville V
Alright, back after a holiday break. Going with a bigger group this time, let's see how this works out...


bfj was born as the product of an illicit love affair and raised by nuns in a convent. Growing up he developed a love of sculpture and consequently has high skills in both artistry and mining. Exceptionally stubborn, he refuses to engage in violence, manual labor, or cooking. Additionally, he will fly into a jealous rage if he finds that his living quarters are less lavish than someone else's.


Shirley is completely incapable of empathy, which has been an asset in his career as a government agent. He is good at combat and research work and is a highly efficient worker. He is greedy and hates cleaning or working with plants.


govmentchedda earned fame as a chef, but his true gift is in his uncanny capacity for dealing with animals. He is exceptionally intelligent but also at a high risk for a mental breakdown. He refuses to clean up after himself.


brian is a former street hooligan turned space technician. He enjoys guns and drugs but is uninterested in any sustainable pursuits such as growing crops or preparing food. Basically a space libertarian.


Rush spent time as a medic on his war-torn home planet before becoming a factory worker. In addition to his medical knowledge, he is also skilled in construction. He steadfastly refuses to cook or to practice any artistic or intellectual pursuits. His hobbies include fighting and drugs.


Brontoburglar was born on a planet devastated by climate change, leaving him with serious emotional scars. He later defected from an oppressive dictatorship. A crack shot, he is also decent with medicine. He is a dedicated, if slow, worker. He has an aversion to art.


DC47 was genetically engineered to be an ideal soldier but somehow ended up as a space janitor. He still retains decent skill with a gun, as well as a knack for crafting. His body produces an inordinate amount of heat, leading him to prefer colder environments. He is incapable of caring or social interaction.


DSafetyGuy was raised in a cult and later became an architect. This background gave him high skills in both art and construction. He is described as "pretty." He has a high tolerance for cold and a predilection for substance abuse.

Also wanted to note that since the last session, the game received a substantial update, which added the ability to travel across the game world. This means we can now:
- Attack enemy bases, in the same way they do ours
- Send a trade caravan to a friendly neighbor colony (or alternately, use it as cover for a surprise attack)
- Pack up the entire colony and move it to another location
- Have two colonies going in different places simultaneously

[A_B]

Two colonies, huh.

Swamp RimWorld Survivor!

[govmentchedda]

I look like k.d. lang!

[Shirley]

Man, fuck trees!

[bfj]

Chedda looks like Sally Field.

[DSafetyGuy]

I enjoy that my namesake has a hairstyle about 180 degrees from my own.

[govmentchedda]

I dig my Marty McFly vest.

[Rush2112]

I like my toque. Very Andrew Clark.

[brian]

I enjoy that my namesake has a hairstyle about 180 degrees from my own.

Ha. That's right.

[bfj]

I'm rocking the Fat Jonah Hill look. Brian is going Eddie Munster.

[Johnny Carwash]

So the "who dies first" poll was inconclusive, moving on to the poll to select the biome for this round. Once we get this and the choose pet one out of the way, I'll start the game.

[Johnnie]

At least 3 of us want to watch the world burn.

Or freeze. Either way.

[Johnny Carwash]

OK, looks like Boreal Forest is the winner. I need to stop including the certain-death biomes in these polls, too many of you guys are trolls or nihilists or both.

Poll for the colony pet is now up. Once we have a decent amount of votes I'll get the game started.

[tennbengal]

Easiest vote we have had.

[bfj]

He better not have a nicer room than me.

[Johnnie]

Easiest vote we have had.

Uh yup.

[tennbengal]

Bump?

[Johnny Carwash]

First update is coming in a little while.

[Johnnie]

Can't wait for Rush and Brian to do drugs together and become besties.

[tennbengal]

First update is coming in a little while.

Sweet!

[Johnny Carwash]

Can't wait for Rush and Brian to do drugs together and become besties.

No bullshit, before the pool of interested people expanded I was planning to add Bernie Sanders to the game so Rush and Brian could fight over him.

e: proof

[Johnny Carwash]

With the recent game update, there is now a 3D view of the world. Here is our starting site, in a boreal forest, indicated by the red dot in the middle. Summers are mild, with an average temperature around 70F, but the winters plunge to only around 5F, so we'll need to thoroughly plan to cope with the heat and shorter crop-growing seasons. A check of the surrounding area reveals the following factions:

- The Nutty Lineup - pirate raiders
- Edbutthibo - friendly settlement
- Concord of Alécur - native tribe, sounds French and so should be treated with suspicion
- Confederacy of Caxadabiar - native tribe
- The Crouca of the Rock - native tribe


And here we are at the landing site. Our bear is named Blimp and bonds to chedda. This is a bigger group than I've ever started with before, so it should be a different experience at the start. On the plus side, we'll have more manpower, more coverage of the various skills, and more hands on deck for a fight, but at the same time more mouths to feed, and more chances for people to flip out and cause a chain reaction of disastrous events.

[Johnny Carwash]

Before long we get our first "refugee running from raiders" incident. Hey look, it's cerrano!


cerrano was abandoned on a wild planet as a toddler for unspecified reasons, and grew up as a feral child. This left him incapable of communicating outside of grunts and crude body language, though he is able to perform most basic labor functions. In other words, he is a Teamster. We quickly dispatch cerrano's pursuer and he joins the colony.

With our expanded manpower we're able to get our base up and running much more quickly this time, and soon have a decent size settlement with all the basic workshops and living areas in place.

We get a sculptor's bench set up and bfj goes to work. His first sculpture depicts Bronto tying up a female raider with "obviously excessive force." Subsequent bfj sculptures include:
- DSafe crashing in his escape pod
- Shirley conducting research
- a dancer holding a gauntlet
- bfj himself making a sculpture (Meta! This one's going in bfj's room.)
- chedda "realizing he truly loves a grizzly bear with a sense of satisfaction" (sounds more platonic than the degen/capybara one, though)
- a solitary aunt with a woodpecker on the side

A review of the social dynamics reveals that just about everyone gets along, surprising for the size of the group, and must less dysfunctional than last time. People especially like DSafe because he is pretty.


So here's what the settlement looks like as winter sets in. The cold weather kills off our crops, but we fortunately have a large stockpile that should get us through the season. Unfortunately though, our space-pot crop died just before it was harvestable. Everyone now has their own rooms, including bfj whose room includes his self-portrait sculpture, which should keep him happy.

It's been a mostly uneventful first few seasons so far, so I'll probably be taking the difficulty up a notch to make things more interesting.

[rass]

Blimp needs to sleep in chedda's room.

What is that little thing asleep in the other set of beds on the right?

[govmentchedda]

Good thing I boned up on old GPJ songs before I set out for RimWorld.

[Johnnie]

This left him incapable of communicating outside of grunts and crude body language

Well, ya. He's from Philly, right?

Good thing I boned ... GPJ before I ... Rim.

[Brontoburglar]

wtf bfj

[bfj]

Everyone now has their own rooms, including bfj whose room includes his self-portrait sculpture, which should keep him happy.

That's a lot of clay.

[bfj]

Good thing I boned ... GPJ before I ... Rim.

Editing never gets old to me.