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The stuff in the very long post I am well aware of.  The proper use of a bow and its accuracy is reflected in stats.  The discussion was of use and viewed in context of Rim World.

The game has no ammo per se and limited materials.  I think you have a slight crossing of a generic cheap bow vs professional hunting and target bows of the modern eras.

Starting is the need to separate crafting from ownership.  A person can build a good pull that is relatively smooth for everybody.  A nice short bow isnt crafted to be competition accurate, but fireable.  Same with the arrows.  I fired em all the time as a kid.  My bros and friends could all fire same one without issues.  Rimworld this is reflected in its accuracy and range.  Easy to use, but limited function.

A great bow takes a bit of strength and training.  Once again reflected in the combined stats of build and skill.  These are not british longbowmen.  They are just guys rigging up what they can for their hunters.  Here is how you string, here is a pile of arrows.  Try not to hit Mike by accident.

Guns on the other hand require more training and knowledge to fire off.  The first smokeless cartridges even.  Ownership entails more knowhow of cleaning, loading and servicing.  So more skill in firearms is needed just to keep it from blowing up in your hand or prevent jamming.

So in rimworld, a gun wielder is more accurate and higher rate of fire vs bows.  Like real life.  But give a room full of office workers bows, and then another guns.  Give a quick instructions, no questions asked on how to use.  After two years in wilds, none of those guns will still be working unless they have the extra training.

So is no myth in my statement.  Is rimworld.  All of that is already in bows and guns.  Using, and using effectively are two very different things.  Craftability?  I am betting a person can make a bow and arrow by hand while sitting on the ground with minimal tools easier than they could guns and ammo. Also, the soldiers arent making the weapons and ammo.  Fletchers and smiths are.

350 x 262 map size, 98.93 E 79.39 N.

I like this seed as it has multiple spots all around -69 to -71 C. Changing map size will give different game map seeds, so you can play 30+ times and not have to repeat playing a map.

It is a pity the starting month was changed into the starting season though. The January landing at -107 C is now a little bit easier.

You can fix that.  Advanced settings on landing selections.  Yeah, still winter but starts a cold winter!

I need to check the avg temp in my coldest.  Saw -90s on start...

That one is pretty sad and if it was a favoured colonist of mine, would have been even worse.

My saddest/happiest.  Sorta a mixed emotion one was a roleplayish ending.  It was a good colony going when by real solid and hard working guy got injured.  Every colony has a pawn like this.  Never breaks, does stuff fast and from the start at that.

One minor raid, bang.  Critical headshot and permanent comatose.  Made him a hospital room just for him.  Clean with flower pots and climate control.  The "ending" was the colonists built him a ship and loaded him in. 

He was the only one in the ship, colonist built it just for him.  Off he went, hopefully to rest in true peace.

I did have a regrets "ending" that was a bit derpy.  Winter map, person berserked right after raid.  Incapacitated two people, then got knocked out by the cat. 

Technically, they all should have died from that, slowly starving on the floor.  However, I would not accept the derp of them not healing bruises incapacitation so after two days of them twitching on ground while cat healed 100%, I just devmoded them back up.  I still consider it sad in the pathetic sense that it would have ended otherwize.

Last ending isnt sad or even interesting from pure mechanics point of view, but from roleplay fiction it was.  Is the conclusion to my escaped convicts story.  A random statue placed was just too fitting coincidentally to the story I had written up to that point.  I thought it was rather moving and the final screenshot turned out quite nice.  It was a memorial to the one colonist who got killed by another.

[CHAPTER 6: HOW NOT TO WIN FRIENDS]

Decision 1.  b)  Just combat specialized personnel

Decision 2. Why not both? Keep the cats that get bonded, and sell the others. Do keep at least one female and one male.

Decision 3.  a)  She needs rescue

Decision 2.  Answer : b) I want them all.

CHAPTER 6:  HOW NOT TO WIN FRIENDS

"Cats?  Wait, never mind them.  If you know her and can vouch for her, see if you can get her.  We won't leave people to slavers if we can help it."  Slightly muffled over the radio, Kelly can be heard addressing others in the room, "Raj and Nelson, you guys head for the tree line for cover if he needs it.  Shonja, can you go wake up Graves?"

Capn' carefully sneaks up on the trio as they walk down the pass.  Fortunately, they are not watching their captor who trails behind as the two men chat.  Slowly and silently, he catches up on the ragged woman.  Suddenly and firmly, he covers her mouth, grabs her by the waist and lifts her in the air to start running.

"Wha-mmmphh!!!"

"Did you say some- Oh crap!  Somebody's grabbed Gen!  Flash, see if you can stop them!  I will keep a lookout for reinforcements."

"On it,"  The man with the shotgun is heard replying and takes off in chase, "He is running for some trees... That doesn't look right... too many and too dense... should I pursue?"

"No, come back.  We are exposed and is dark.  Leave her.  Isn't worth it."  The man with the pistol waits for his ally to return and they both leave to the east.



Raj, watching all this relays the information, "Looks like they are not pursuing.  Where are you going to take her?"

"Will put her in my room.  She is panicking something fierce so might as well set her someplace comfortable so can explain whats up."

Capn' is able to bring Gen to his room almost immediately-

"What?  Capn'?  What the hell are you doing here!  And more importantly, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

"Welcome to Gaiety Glen, am here livin'.  Though to be honest, I was kinda expecting a different reaction.  You know, leaping into my arms or perhaps one of your good kissins?"

"Wait.... you rescued me?  From what?  I had a nice room back in the town, and now I get a cozy cave in some shanty it looked like?"

"Uh... what?  Weren't those guys them slavers or something?"

"NO!  Those two guys took me in when they found me half dead in the desert.  They shared with me their food and rations in exchange for helping them hunt and scavenge!"

"Well... uh, dang.  Sorry about that.  Umm... so what now.  You gonna stay here or want to head back in the morning?"

"Head back?  Head back where?  I get abducted in the middle of the night, then suddenly show back up in the morning?  They will think I am compromised.  A saboteur or a spy.  It was hard enough to convince them I wasn't a threat the first time."

"Well, let us go and talk to em.  Am sure they will understand."

"Like hell they will.  They were suspicious of you guys as it is.  So strange people who built a fort out in the desert start abducting people in the night.  They will be coming to kill you before they speak with you."

"Uh.... damn..."

"Listen, just get out of here you ass!  Those were good people, and you dragged me to this hellhole."

Capn' closes and locks the door behind him.  He heads down the hall to another room and knocks on the door, "Uh... hey Nelson.  Mind if I bunk with you tonight... and probably for the next few nights?  I think I went and messed up a bit..."

The next morning

"You guys!  You're all alive!" Shonja cheers with delight, waking rest of the colonists up.

"Whats going on?  Shonja, you know these cats?"  Kelly asks with a yawn.

"Yes!  I know all of em!  We have Loyal, Ginseng, Gray, Frosty, Nairobi, Nietzshe, Dakota, Challenger, Gorda, and Ricky!  These were the cats I was tasked with to transport from some vacation planets back to the core worlds for their owners!  Transporting animals in space is a unique experience.  Most do not take well to zero gravity so my business is animal ferrying.  Who'se the cute kitties...."

"Sigh.... so what do we do with them...."

"Well, they look healthy, we probably can get some meat from em," Capn' says as he comes out into the morning sun.

"By the stars, no!  They are all friendly cats and well trained.  They are almost like kids to me after months in space with them.  I will look after them, don't you worry.  They do not eat much so it will be fine!  At least let me find homes for them!"

Nelson walks up to one of the felines and scratches it's head as two more walk up and nuzzle him, "Well, you said it yourself Kelly, we are not monsters.  How can we cut up these guys.  Probably be good for morale to keep them around.  They seem well trained and staying to the walls.  I am willing to bet locals wouldn't mind them for pets either if we find the right people."

"Uh... yeah... about that..." Capn' and scratches the back of his head, "I think we made a mistake last night.  Don't think anybody is going to be coming by for coffee any time soon." He proceeds to tell the others what happened."

"Well, we gave the go ahead, and given the situation, we probably would do it again.  Nobody got hurt, so if they don't wish to be diplomatic, then nothing we can do about it other than keep holding to our morals.  It is unfortunate that they will want to kill without dialogue, but if that is the case, we need to be prepared."

Kelly straightens her back and a stern look crosses her face, "Raj, see to it our defenses are improved.  We got a good stockpile of bricks so use your judgement.  If we get attacked, Shonja you and I will hold up back in the cave.  If we are attacked, we need to be ready for injuries.  You and I will be responsible for rescue.  Graves, you stop anybody who gets in.  We must hold them at the wall, don't let anybody in.  We won't go looking for a fight, but sure as hell we will fight back."

The next few days are ones of high spirits.  A light rainstorm brings down the dust and helps clean the grounds, though the muck does annoy people.  Shonja goes into a panic when she realized that the two male cats have been getting frisky and promptly relocates them to the storeroom to prevent, what she calls, a catsplosion.

The joy is short lived.  For a week later, the concerns sprang true.  On the second of fall, folks from the township came to clear what they deemed to be more pirate scum.

Capn' shouts to Kelly and Shonja, "They are coming up the east side of the hill!  You two, take cover in the dispensery.  If anybody goes down, you gotta get out there and rescue them!  Graves, you and I will take cover in your hut.  Raj, guard the ladies!  Nelson, use the cooler as cover to pot shots.  If anybody comes after you, or you're in trouble, take cover.  Shoot to Kill because they are going to do the same!"

On queue, the colonists all move in position and wait.  Capn's scouting proves true as people from the township rush into the compound.  They immediately spot Nelson and Raj.  Knife wielding townsfolk rush the two.  Once in the open, Capn' jumps out the doorway and opens fire.

Nelson panics as one rushes at him, "They aren't going down, this guy's got a shield," he shouts and ducks into the cooler.

As Raj keeps firing arrows, the shield wearer continues on and charges at Raj.  Meanwhile one of the knife wielders rush towards Capn' and the other heads to support the shield wearer.  In defense, Graves rushes out and engages in melee with Capn' offering support.  The first knife wielder goes down and the two move to take out a rifle wielder but are incapacitated by gunfire.

"Graves and Capn' are down!"  Nelson shouts, "Kelly, try to getthem out of there, we will cover you!  Raj, focus on the guy with the shield!  We don't have the weapons to engage hand to hand."  The shield user reaches the doorway to the dispensery where shanja and Raj move to engage hand to hand.



"Wait, It looks like they are falling back, I think we wounded them enough." Raj replies, tension clear on her voice, "Nelson!  Move up, looks like they are trying to flee with Graves, stop them!"

Nelson and Raj run up and cover the east gate as one of the township attackers tries to run with Graves.  The carrier is killed as she is about to round the corner of the wall.  In the meantime, Kelly is able to get Capn' and nelson is able to rescue Graves.  The rest of the attackers flee, leaving just one wounded behind.



Kelly once again takes charge as she carries Capn' to Nelson's bed, "Nelson, get Shanja patched up so she can help you with the others, Raj, Graves looked pretty bad, go tend to him.  I will come back and grab their survivor."

It is early into the next morning when everybody is finally bandaged up and relaxed.  The wounded are still in bed, but Kelly talks to the uninjured members during a very tired morning meal.

Nelson starts the conversation, "Man, am I glad you decided to set up that stove.  I don't know if I could make it through the day if I had to have nutrient paste.  Hash browns is definitely the way to go."

Kelly speaks next, "Well, we need to have the place comfortable.  This could be our home for the rest of our lives, so might as well be relaxed.  But isn't good if we lose it all.  That fight yesterday was pretty close and by all rights, we could have lost everything if they didn't turn to leave.  In the end, we came out the victors somehow.  One of theirs died, and we will heal up okay.  I am thinking we might need to review our strategy.  What we have could work, but I want your opinion Raj if we can do more."

MILESTONE

Well, that was fun, the first real raid.  Alas, it was from the one ally they had on this world.  They are lucky, it could have gotten much worse!

So this time, the milestone is something a bit different.  Raj laid out a basic plan for more fortifications.  Some walls and a bit of doors.  Is there a better plan?  Perhaps some more can be added.  How about automated turrets and traps?  This is now a top priority so all other constructions are on hold until defenses are done.  As such, the more the security, the longer to invest labour elsewhere.

Decision 1.  What level of defenses?
a)Walls and barricades.
b)+Turrets
c)+Traps
d)All of the above

Decision 2.  Is the attached wall layout good enough or should they revise their plan?
a)Yup, looks nice
b)Nope, MS Paint says this would be better

Looking forward to seeing what people come up with!

((Note, one thing I am not a fan of is the meta killboxes.  The piles of rocks with a simple bypass door that any actual attacking force would use.  So shortcuts are okay if they make sense, but if it is sorta meta or wouldn't actually work if the AI was more complex, I might tweak just a bit to make it more roleplay and story fitting))

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Thankies for the clarification!  I am quite wanting more of the health and ailment side of things as well.  I would like smaller raids, but less killboxes and to counter that, it would make the choices that much more meaningful if the after effects meant more.

The concept of gangrene and spread vs infection.  The way to differentiate would be infection from lack of cleanliness, but gangrene starts from not seeking treatment as well.

I also would like to see bleed out be more of a deal as well.  This is part of the smaller raids, more priority concept.  A few bad injuries, and bleed-out becomes that much more of a serious thing.  The idea that you have to pick and choose who to triage.

I think you view the game much like me.  For myself, it isnt so much a builder game, but more of a life and death struggle game.  Immersing myself into the characters and being forced to make choices.  On a frozen map, choosing to butcher the bonded cat so we may eat or once even killing and butchering a fellow colonist.  (The darkest moment in my gameplay that was).

The concept of having more in terms of mood and social.  The social side really should reflect more with moods.  If you have that beloved colonist that all others really like get comatosed, it is hard to put them down.  Whereas neutrals or negatives won't.  So once health gets into the picture, more intermediate decisions and having the colonists react to them really would be good.

Amputating that infected leg should give a temporary negative mood modifier.  One thing I have noticed is that colonists will go and cheer up people who are in a poor mood in hospitals.  The concept of colonists working to help other colonists through tough times?  I think it would just be grand.

I am imagining it now.  Your doc gets a wound on the foot during a raid.  You have to keep him running to patch up other people.  Gets foot infection.  Foot infection becomes gangrene and hits leg.  So you have to take leg.  Doc gets a negative mood modifier for the disability, but those positive with him go to chat with them and cheer mood up!

This makes for a new game dynamic.  Maintaining a positive social environment in and of itself becomes a counter to a tough life or situations.  I really thing it would add a lot to the game!  Sorry about the rambling 

I wouldnt knock the primitive weapons.  They hit hard and other advantages.  But I agree that it would be interesting if certain weapons had a minimum skill requirement.  In terms of bow weapons, they do not take much skill to use. Nock arrow correct way and twang!  Accuracy is reflective of skill. Even a pistol takes more knowledge to fire off a round and probably just as likely to miss with a no skill situation

Gangrene is in the game in terms of infection.  A pawn can die from a simple toe infection even.  When an infection does occur, you can amputate it without penalty, but are you looking for more depth to it or differentiation?

Same with coma,  just want to be sure reading post right.  It isnt so much about adding medical condition per se, but have more effect with the pawn itself on decisions.  The psychological in addition to pure logic?

[not]

- it's very wasteful to hunt very far away animals, especially in snow

Well, you could simply not flag far away animals to be hunted?  Am I missing something?

Yes. Animals move.

I hate it when there is that herd of deer right near my front door, give the hunt order.  Look away for a minute to focus on something and next thing I know they are on the edge of the map and six guys are walking to chase em with that half aim, move a step issue.

Scandalous!!!!!

Orbital beacons are room based now and do not need to be exposed to the sun unless you want that to be the landing spot is what is going on there.  This allows for better separation of store rooms for selling and securing now.

[CHAPTER ONE: BUILDING WALLS]

CHAPTER ONE:  BUILDING WALLS

"I don't get it.  This isn't possible!  The pods are supposed to lead us onto habitable lands.  This isn't even survivable let alone habitable.  Give me a minute to get a read on our surroundings.  The pods can protect us from the elements for a bit, but we cannot stay in them.  Especially once we pop the hatch"

The pods whistled as the cold air surrounded them.  Their hulls pinged and crackled as they rapidly cooled.   As the minutes went by, frost started to form in small pockets on the inside of the pods.  The retaining harness cycled heat directly to the body, but the air started to rapidly cool.  The ceramic insulation mostly consumed or damaged on final landing.

I am going to die!
I am going to die!
I will freeze to death! 
Become a corpse!

"Ms. Rhiandra!  Be quiet.  We will get out of here, but we have to work together as we only have a short window.  The command system jettisoned some basic shelter materials and they landed to the south of us.  They are not designed for this weather though.  I am reading some sort of structure to the south of us.  It seems to be exposed to the elements, but with our supplies, we might be able to seal it up and start a fire for some heat."

"But you don't understand, I-"

"I do understand.  The rate these pods are pumping heat, we will out of power within an hour.  We get out, we get covered, then we can go from there.  Goat, you and I will focus on sealing up the structure.  Rhiandra, you will get the fire going."  The small info monitor on your pod is removable.  It will lead you to your supplies and to the waypoint I set to the structure.  Do not hesitate at all.  We have maybe an hour before we are too cold to work.  On the count of three, blow your hatch, and run!"

"Three"
"Two"
"One"

The hatches shot off with a blast and at the same time, the restraints opened.  The shock of the cold air hitting felt like a wall.  They gasped for breath, but felt no air.  To Beasley, it is what she imagined being jettisoned into the vacuum of space must feel like.  Even ready for this, she found herself falling to the ground.

Her hands started to freeze almost imediately upon contact with the surface.  Recoiling, it was then she realized they were not on ground, but were on ice.  Glancing, she saw the other two.  Andreu was struggling to get to his feet while Rhiandra was huddled into a ball inside her jacket.

"Move!  NOW!"

Rhiandra grabbed the survival pack out of the base of her pod and ran over to the supply pod arriving same time as the Andreu.  "You grab that pack and set up the door, I will take this one which we can use to patch the walls."

"The sun's out.  How can it be this cold?  Where are we, I can hardly breathe!"  He glanced over towards the nearby structure and saw a hunched over figure with a pack flung over their back run into the building."

"We will figure it out later.  We don't got the gear for this.  Lets move"

The structure was a small stone building.  Andreu found the remains of a doorway on the southside and set about placing a new one while Beasley put covers over the holes the broken wall sections.  It was all done in less than an hour but already frostbite was setting in.

"There, the wall's fixed.... come on... warm up... that is a massive fire and even it can't keep this place heated? Rhiandra, can you- Rhiandra?"  Beasley looks over and spots Rhiandra collapsed by the fire.

Beasley hurries to by the prone figure, "Andreu, get over here!  She's got severe hypothermia, we gotta get her closer to the fire!"

For the next couple hours, the trio stay huddled in the confines of the building trying to build back up some warmth.  Eventually, the fire manages to gain advantage over the cold and they start to gain some heat.  Eventually, their unconscious companion comes to.

"Welcome back to the living.  Care to tell us why you are only wearing your jacket?"

"I wanted to be comfortable as I slept, that is all.  How was I supposed to know that we would end up crashing onto a planet that is cryo storage in itself?"

"You have done travel before, I figured I didn't have to explain basic protocols.  Either way, we only have a couple weeks of meals before we completely run out.  It looks like we landed straight on top of a massive glacier of some sort, but there are many peaks sticking up above the ice sheet.  If we can seal off and heat up some of that, then we might have a chance."

"How can I help?" Andreu asked, speaking for the first time since they finished securing the ruins.

"We have more shelter supplies as well as some fabrication tools.  Basic survival kit stuff.  Feed in basic alloy bearing rocks, and it will output a woven structure to what we need.  From walls to doors, all we have to do is lay out the grid and operate it as it fabricates out the structure we need.  We can make use of that to extend the walls of this building out to the cliff face and put up a roof.  After that, we set up some power and heaters, then maybe get some fast yield crops into whatever ground we can thaw."

"And what about me?  I cannot go out there dressed like this!"

"You have to, we all have to pull our weight or we all die.  If anybody is going to die, it will be the one least contributing first.  I recommend you get out there and haul."

"What?  Me?  Hauling stuff?  Never.  Goat, you haul us material, I will work with the wall.  That way when I start freezing to death, the shelter is nearby.  you have clothes on, you can run back to the pods and get the junk."

"Whatever, so long as you are working.  You okay with that Andreu?"

"Don't call him that!  He is lower class and you dare address him-"

"We are going to die and he works harder than you, I will address him how I feel.  ...Rhi-an-dra...  Andreu?  Can you bring the supplies here and keep an eye out for other useful stuff?  This didn't appear to be the only ruin, there might be more."

"No problem.  I got it covered.."

"Harumph...  Just hurry up so I can get to work then, goat."

Rowr?

"What the-" A startled Rhiandra asks, "A cat?"

"Yes, this is Rosebud.  My traveling companion."  Beasley coos to the white cat, "Poor lil' boy lost his ears to the cold."

"Well, your cat, his food comes out of your rations then!"

For the next two days, the party hurries to establish a perimeter wall to the mountain as well as build some solar and wind generators.  Overall, it takes four solar panels and two wind turbines to stabilize the power system and start heating the small space.  The whole time, the limited supply of fuel logs dwindle rapidly with the size of fire required to keep them warm.  Eventually, and with the help of five heating elements, they are able to keep the cold at bay long enough to plant some basic food crops.

"Hey guys!  Good news.  I was finally able to extract the drives from my pod!  There was damage to the connector which is why it never uploaded to my pad.  For now I cannot get the data, but with some work, I think I can devise a way to rig it up so we can get the data. "

"Well, that is a relief.  I want off this rock.  I already have enough information for a whole series of novels.  If you get us back, I will make you rich!"

"Knowing where we are is the easy part.  But letting somebody know where we are and getting off is something else.  Remember, we were heading to the rim.  It could take years to scrounge up the equipment and materials to build an interstellar transponder.  Even longer to get a transmission to somebody.  No, unless somebody is looking for us and comes close enough to pick up the pod beacons, we will never be found."

"You really have to work on your people skills, you know that?  This place is intolerable enough as it is without your positive motivational speeches."

"Is realism.  If you keep to your delusions, it is only a matter of time until you snap.  You snap, and I snap.  Get it?"

QUIET!"

"WHAT?"  Both women shout in unison?"

"Do you hear people?"

Yeah, they must have gotten the slightly bit hungry before anything healed.  I did devsploit them out of it, only because it seemed that somebody incapacitated for days from only some bruising was a bit lulz...  One thing about making an extreme map, it tends to break the game... Right now i have to kinda fudge the game a little as a trader decided to walk through and die, dropping a hundred thou of loot right in my power room.  This auto spiked my wealth so high that my colony of now four people are vs a raid of 30 tribes.

Ummm.... wow... I am doing an extreme challenge of sorts.  Anyways, one person went berserk, and knocked down the other two colonists before getting taken down by the cat.  Cat is 100% healed and not a single twitch of healing on the guys lying on the grounds?  So if I am observing right, bruising incapacitation after two days in a hardcore play will keep three people permanently in shock?

I am thinking I am gonna have to devmode my hardcore... whee for being incapacitated longer than the time to heal the injuries without medical treatment.

[PROLOGUE: THE FROZEN WASTES OF ZAURAK]

PROLOGUE:  THE FROZEN WASTES OF ZAURAK

"Come now my goat, I have done these trips multiple times, what do you fear?"

"I fear not the trip my lady Emma.  However I am sworn to serve you and the thought of leaving that duty to another does cause me fear.  For any misdeed towards you is my responsibility, even if in suspension"

The two walk towards the ship in the hangar.  It is quite small compared to the others around.  The craft is a specialized one designed for travel between remote worlds.  This style ship is sometimes referred to as a tomb ship.  One that carries the dead to a new life.  Once common several hundred years ago, advancements in technology and development in the core has seen their use nearly disappear.

The goat looks at the other ships.  Sleek and stylish liners that whole families can travel with without needing sleep.  Advancements in hydroponics and engines make travel between most systems done within a year or two.  Communications systems permitting messanges to be delivered within days from these advanced ships to the glitter and urban worlds.  In some of the more advanced trade lanes, it is even possible to hold direct communications with only minutes of delay.

Their ship however was bare skeletal plasteel.  Within it's lattice lay the cryptosleep sarcophagi tomb chambers and the barest of passageways between them and the control room.  It reminded the goat of the rodent tubes that he had seen in the animal stores.  Tubes, sleeping area, and a small captains area. 

The goat seethed with resentment.  While others at the mansion got appointed to lavish luxuries befitting of working with politicians, actors and great scientific minds, he was stuck being the pack animal for an eccentric writer.  One who felt a whim to head out to the wilds to find a new muse.

The young goat watches as a lady walks towards them from the direction of ship.  "Greetings!  You must be Emma and Andreu!  Ship is all ready for your trip to the rim!"

Emma lets out a shallow cough, "Ahem, that is Ms. Rhiadra to you and no need to be formal with the indentured.  You may refer to him as Goat.  Who might you be?"

"Ahh, sorry about that.  My name is Veronika.  Veronika Beasley!  Feel free to call me Beasley!  Pleasure to meet you.  I am the janitor for this here ship.  Oh!  But don't let the title fool you!  Technically the computer AI and the maintenance mechanoids are the ones that run the ship, but I keep it all going smoothly and squared away.  For over three hundred years I have watched over this ship!"

Goat stammers, "Three hundred?  How old are you?"

"Now now, not polite to ask a lady her age.  But I was born on the standard galactic year of 5089!  Most of that has been in the crypts of course.  Honestly, I sort of pity you young people.  Seeing five hundred years of development has been grand.  This ship is like having a time machine without the fiction!"

"Quite interesting.  Now if we may, we are getting older standing here.  Can you show me to my bed?  I have fans that are willing to wait the decades for my next book, but I doubt they will be so patient if they knew it was spent gabbing with you."

"Very well, if you can come with me."  Veronika leads them to the access hatch of the ship.  "Mind your head, it is an older model.  Built for travel, not for comfort."

The three walk under the ship to the ladder leading into the structure.  The tube measure approximately a metre in diameter.  Goat is surprised as to it's actual size once at the ship.  The design is an old style tug.  At the lead is four story tall antimatter reactor with twined thrusters on each side.  Trailing behind is the scaffold system.

"So safety and rules.  Even though you will be entering cryo before we leave dock, please head straight to your rooms in the middle level. We have four rooms which you can see to either side of the spine tube.  Two on left, two on right.  I ask you take the rear two since I will need one of the forward rooms for the trip.  I will have to periodically get up to access the ship so a close proximity to reactors and the service riser is helpful."

"You will notice that each tomb has an escape pod hanging from below.  Do not go in the escape hatches at all!  They are automated.  If you sit down, they will seal up and lock.  You cannot just open them.  The only way to open is by hitting the explosive releases.  In which case, we will need to get a new pod in and that will delay departure.  The riser to the top level?  Do not go up there.  That is where the AI core is as well as all the power systems.  It is crawling with mechanoids.  Go the wrong place and you can get yourself cooked."

"Your lecture is not needed.  I have no intention of knowing more about this ship other than going to sleep, and waking up.  Come along my goat, we have work to do.  Let us sleep and in a few minutes, we will be on a new world to experience new stories to share with the core!"

Beasley leads the two into the ship and opens up the hatches to their rooms consisting of a crypt standing upright with a hatch on the floor.  "Should an evacuation occur, this main door will seal and that hatch door there will open.  Just jump in and hit the only button right in front of you.  That will strap you in and then hang on for the ride.  Believe me, if that is open when you awake, don't wait to ask questions."

"You are filling me with confidence Ms. Beasley"

"No need for formalities, just Beasley will do!" Beasley says with a smile.

"No, to not show proper respect would be unfitting of one of a goat.  You will continue to address her properly."

"Yes, my lady."

But now, is time to sleep.  Lie down and once I have confirmed you both are secure, I will then turn control over to the AI and we will be on our way.  See you in a couple minutes!"

Rhiandra is first to be placed in Cryptosleep, followed by Andreu, the 'goat'.  Anxiously he awaits his first cryptosleep.  What will it be like?  Dreams? A long sleep?  Will it take long?  He blinks a few times then his eyes gets tired and he closes them for but a moment.

Andreu is suddenly deafened by the shriek of tearing metal and banging.  Alarms are wailing that the soft lighting of the room is replaced by a bright red glow at his feet.  Panicking, he steps out and finds himself floating over a pit!

"Both of you!  GET OUT NOW!  GET IN YOUR PODS!"

Andreu panics and does what the disembodied voice says.  He grabs the handle on the hatch in front of him to pull himself into the pod.  His feet slide into a pair of tubes that immediately latch onto his legs once the feet reach bottom.  In front of him is a large red button glowing brightly.  He presses it.

Large straps deploy across his chest and cinch him in while bars press down onto his shoulders.  His vision goes red as he suddenly is shot downwards.  After several seconds, the forces end, and the disembodied voice comes back.

"For the love of transcendence! What the hell was that?  Hang on everybody.  The system didn't have time to properly scan where we are.  I have no idea where we are going to land, hang on for turbulence, we are about to enter the atmosphere!"

The pods begin to rock violently as they come into contact.  The interior temperature beginning to rise rapidly despite the heat shielding.  What was a roar of breaking the atmosphere at supersonic speeds become deafening as pumps and coolant canisters vent to prevent the occupants from cooking.

Andreu's mind is in a whirl.  He just got on the ship.  Now his head is swimming with overload of noise.  A headache from the blood rushing in as they launched.  Now he finds himself feeling quite heavy as though he is being crushed into the floor of the pod.  Despite the anti g-force pressure from the leggings, he soon blacks out.

He wakes up, his head spinning.  A harsh thump clears his mind and he realizes the whole pod is tumbling then stops with a thump.  It bobs itself vertical and stops. 

The voice starts again, "Everybody, stay in your pods as I check conditions.... Oh no..." the comms cuts out.

After several seconds, it starts speaking again, "When we hit these doors, we are going to have to work fast.  We are at an elevation of six thousand meters so air will be very thin.  We will have a very short window to get our shelter set up before hypoxia kicks in."

"I hope this is wrong, but I am reading an outside temperature of minus ninety-two celsius.  We will be dead within the hour if we do not get ourselves secure."

1.  Room temperature, or temperature anywhere can be seen by just hovering over with the mouse.  If you have nothing selected, you should see some text in bottom displaying what is at the cursor location.  This will include temperature.  Hover mouse over room, and will display a temperature along with stuff like the flooring, whether is roofed, etc.

2.  To sell more, I am not aware of any hotkey, but you can click and drag the quantity one way or the other.  Move the mouse a bit to incrementally increase quantity, or far to have it scroll through quantities.  Further away, the faster and more.