Sea Ice Community Challenge

[Zhentar]

How'd you get enough steel to have a smelter going by day 35? Lucky ship chunk drops?

What are you doing with graves that is prevented by fail-to-constructs?


And agreed on the orbital bulk goods trader. On average, there's only one per year, which can mean a long, long time to wait for enough steel to do anything significant.

[Sola]

How'd you get enough steel to have a smelter going by day 35? Lucky ship chunk drops?

This time, yes.  I think it was two drops, one at 3, one at 4.  My components are through the roof.  Not that it mattered, though.  The sheer amount of steel required for the heaters, batteries, power generators, and the basins themselves make it negligible in comparison to the first bulk trader you need to get 'em going.

What are you doing with graves that is prevented by fail-to-constructs?

Nothing.  If I'm mentioning fail-to-construct, it's on the first building only.  It causes hypothermia to go to serious level, which eats up a veritable ton of time.

I make graves during the waking hours to increase constructor level, so when the bulk trader DOES come, I have a better chance of comfortable furniture.

And agreed on the orbital bulk goods trader. On average, there's only one per year, which can mean a long, long time to wait for enough steel to do anything significant.

I know, right?  This bulk trader was crap, too.  only 950ish steel and 1300ish wood.  No stone blocks to pretty up the room, make speedy walkways around the base, or to make ZZZT-proof walls with.  But seriously, I can't complain.  It allowed me to actually set up the hydro-basin and start to actually sustain.

[DeathWeasel]

How'd you get enough steel to have a smelter going by day 35? Lucky ship chunk drops?

There's enough steel at the start to have a smelter as soon as you research it with no drops. If you spend your steel on a wind turbine, battery, one heater, and a wooden research table you have 210 steel left which is more than enough.

I'm really getting to dislike "You need a bulk goods trader to show up" becoming an integral part of winning this challenge.

I didn't even bother building a comms console for the first two years in my game. You get enough steel from slag when drop pods arrive that with a smelter you can build whatever you want.

[DeathWeasel]

Thought I'd share a picture of my colony. It's winter 5504 and the colony is turning in to a fairly decent place to live. Research on the various ship technologies is progressing well, hopefully soon we will be able to start construction.

[Zhentar]

I knew that you could build a smelter instead of a comms console + orbital beacon (either option costs 170 steel), but I believed that steel would be too meager with just the smelter (buying 540 from an orbital trader in my current run still feels desperately scarce), but your success seems to suggest otherwise. I will have to try it next attempt.

[Shad]

The first raider had tuque and the first wandered had a shoddy, but muffalo parka. Having read all the horrible stories so far, I decided to do a different thing. I got Engie to pack up an leave. There's a 6 hex patch of ice sheet about 5 days travel away (around 10 degrees warmer), 2 of the hexes with hills. So Engie packed up all remaining food (13 days), some components and medicine and set off and colonised the hilly bit. Having found a vent she walled that off and no longer as to worry about freezing.

She may still starve to death, as I could not pack wood to set up a research bench and finish hydroponics. Will let you know how this proceeds.

And it seems a butcher table cannot be made without some wood either. Engie managed to survive, but until a trader comes, the seems to be stuck munching on unbutchered raider and escape pod corpses.

Why do these raiders not carry any food on them? I'm sure they are supposed to.

[DeathWeasel]

I knew that you could build a smelter instead of a comms console + orbital beacon (either option costs 170 steel), but I believed that steel would be too meager with just the smelter (buying 540 from an orbital trader in my current run still feels desperately scarce), but your success seems to suggest otherwise. I will have to try it next attempt.

It's a trade off either way, I suppose. Building comms console first means you're gambling for a bulk goods trader to come by but building a smelter means you get a slow but steady supply of steel from drop pods and raider weapons. You can get a comms console set up after you melt down a few slag, too, so at worst you're missing out on a couple traders.

My tactic was smelter first, then with the steel from slag I built a cook stove to cook some human meat and avoid the raw cannibalism penalty. I fed Engie human meat meals and forbid the packaged survival meals. If she got a mood penalty from a psychic drone or anything I'd put her back on a diet of survival meal to avoid breaks. After the stove I built a comms console and beacon. Using this tactic I still had 8 survival meals at the time I had my first hydroponics basic up.

Here's a picture of her very first harvest. She only managed to get three rice because of a solar flare. But hey, a harvest is a harvest.



There's only 4 packaged survival meals in the picture because she had a mental break earlier and decided to eat half of them.

[KatrinkaRose]

I've been playing this challenge since a few hours after it was issued.  I think it took me 5+ tries to even get the first structure built (I was WAY too ambitious at first).  Previously I'd never played on a difficulty higher than rough and mostly on basebuilder with Phoebe so this game has forced me to actually develop my non-existant combat/defensive skills.  I'm loving it!

My first run that made it past the first day actually made it to early winter.  Had some warm clothes and a generous thrumbo kept the cannibalism to a minimum and then I got my first bulk goods trader!  I was so excited I probably took half an hour trying to decide what Engie needed most.  Then, before the goods were even put away a Scyther came through and killed her.  I lost two more good runs to scythers before I got combat figured out. 

Run 18 (old Engie 0 research save)-  Day 5: Bulk goods trader!  At the same time Engie's brother wanders up and dies so Engie ends up with a few more precious resources and a 2 season long mood penalty.

A lone raider came and donated a camelhair parka and muffalo wool tuque just in time to help survive a solar flare.  Toasty warm.

Day 12: An exotic goods trader came and takes all the raiders clothes off my hands.

Day 14: Another Bulk goods trader!  Sweet!

Day 16: A kid wanders up, not good at anything but willing to do everything and Engie's feeling good after the traders so she gives him a shot.  Roman joins the colony.

Day 17: Scyther gets lucky and downs Engie with a shot to the leg. Roman picks up Engie's charge rifle and takes out the scyther in one shot.  Good thing she kept him around! 

Day 19: Patched up and back to business she notices Roman isn't inside and rushes to rescue the fool who got stoned and forgot he doesn't have warm clothes yet. After warning him off drugs and patching up his frostbitten toes she locks him inside.

Day 21:  The desperation of starvation has set in.  Engie butchers corpses to give them a chance to stay alive and while the food is welcome to both Engie snaps halfwaythrough the grisly task.  In a panicked attempt to block her outside Roman barricades the door, but with himself on the wrong side of the barricade.  Quickly realizing his mistake he manages to fix it while Engie punches him in the face.  While hiding inside and listening to Engie scream obscenities through the door he realizes he should have seen it coming when he saw Engie's last snowman holding a club.

Day 22: Eventually calm, Engie spends her days watching the sunrise and going for long walks trying to figure out how she got where she is but unable to reach any satisfactory answers she breaks again and wanders in a daze until she collapses from exhaustion. 

Day 23: Roman has a terrible time in his single player chess match and goes on a rampage.  It takes him a while but he eventually finds Engie as she drags herself home and they proceed to have a fistfight.  Despite her state Engie's experience serves her well and she knocks him out.  A feeling of peace and hope comes over her and she patches him up praying tomorrow will be better.

Roman and Engie are both still on edge and mending when a pirate raid charges.  Two succumb to the cold before they even got close, one finally went down after Engie shot him 6 times and the last fled.  Still bruised Engie crawls into bed for some much needed rest.

Day 24: While she's sleeping Roman is left with his dark thoughts and he snaps again.  He throws her out of bed and starts punching her over and over.  She goes down quickly but he just stands over her waiting for her to get up so he can knock her down again.

Day 25: Salvation!  Engie's lover, Tom, arrives and charges to her rescue.  He knocks him out and leaves Roman out in the cold getting some satisfaction seeing his rival die. 

Day 30: While very grateful for his assistance and research expertise Engie is a bit gunshy after her experience with Roman and still can't decide if she really wants to keep Tom around until a big pile of eggs and nutrient paste fall from the sky and she decides to give it a go.

Day 36:  Things are looking up and Tom proposes.  Engie supposes that even if she does have to do all the cleaning and hauling it is pretty nice having another warm body around so she accepts.

Day 40: A bulk goods trader!  While Engie sits on the comm bartering for their supplies a mercenary wanders up and hands Tom his muffalo wool parka and then walks  back out into the cold without a word.  A bit confused but far too grateful to refuse Tom is happy to be warm again. 

Day 47: Wedding Day!  Spring is here and life is good after that dark dark winter.

Day 49: Tom leaves the smelter running when there's no wind for the generators draining the batteries and killing all the crops.  He decides it's time to face reality and that if he wants to keep his new bride alive it's butchering time.  Still unhappy about it Engie finds cannibalism easier to bear with Tom by her side and even finds a little mean happiness eating her Roman burger.

Day 51:  A pirate merchant swings by taking all the raiders ratty clothes.

Day 54:  Tom once again proves his love for Engie when 2 scythers charge.  One takes Engie down with a shot to her bad leg but Tom kills them both before they can do any lasting damage.  While he's rescuing Engie a bulk goods trader arrives.  Tom doesn't know what to do with himself, he never could handle himself on the comm and while standing there flustered Jupiter waltzes in and starts barking out orders.  She sends Tom to tend Engie and talks down the traders to an excellent price on some desperately needed components and materials.

Day 60: Neither Engie nor Tom has mustered up the courage to send Jupiter packing.  She's just been SO useful Tom feels a bit sidelined and very glad he's married to Engie or he probably would have been sent packing in her place.  After the last trader it seems like there might be enough materials for an expansion.  Supporting a third colonist is risky though...

And that is when I went to bed last night.  One full year in and possibly enough materials for sufficient food and power production but so much risk... I ended up here making a forum account and sharing the story rather than play it to the end I know is so rapidly headed my way.

[Shurp]

OK, you guys are having too much fun with this, so I'm going to give it a try.  Will let you know how it works out

[KatrinkaRose]

Day 61: Engie is struggling to overcome plague and missing her right foot. Another bulk goods trader comes buy with more components and takes all our leather armchairs without asking what kind of leather they're made from.

Day 64:  Back on her feet and working with Jupiter to clean up the base all three rally together to fight off two scythers.  Tom takes a headshot and goes down.  Engie takes two to the chest and dies. Jupiter takes out one scyther but the last one kills her instantly with a shot through the heart.  Tom lays there and bleeds out while the scyther destroys all they built.

Turns out food wasn't the issue.  The number of traders on this run was crazy high compared to my other ones but in exchange I had very few cargo pods and only 1 single ship chunk.  I was happy with the tradeoff but it was interesting.  I'm getting way better at the combat mechanics but I'm still pretty terrible.  It's been so tempting to turn down the difficulty to accommodate but so far I've resisted. 

I think I'm going to take a little break before starting again with the new and improved Engie save. 

[Rhadamant]

Man I've been really enjoying everyone's attempts at this. Makes me want to play right now. Well, I think I will.

[DeathWeasel]

Spring 5504

Pirate trade ship showed up, the colony bought a slave. He was told to shovel snow. All of the snow.

Summer 5504

Ship research completed. Ship construction begins. It seems the colony is lacking uranium to complete the ship so hopefully a trade will show up soon. We should have enough steel and plasteel from disassembling mechanoids to complete everything else, though.

[Shurp]

So here's my story so far:

Run #1: built my initial hut too large, Engie got frostbite.  I restarted rather than waiting for her to get infected and die.

Run #2: Built my initial hut, discovered there is starting silver, decided to restart to use it.

Run #3: discovered I can only carry enough silver for five blocks, but that's 25 more wood I'll have later if I need it.  Initial fire warmed the cabin adequately.  Got my solar panel and battery built.  Built a heater, deconstructed the campfire... and promptly started freezing.  WTF?  Got frostbite running back and forth to build a 2nd heater.  But why does my 7x5 cabin need two heaters when one campfire worked fine?  Anyway, frostbite healed without incident, now planning to go out and do some hauling.  Right after I build a silver airlock.

[Shurp]

Oh crap.  After building a steel bed, a second heater, and a steel horseshoe pin... I don't have enough steel left for a coms console and an orbital trade beacon.  The second heater is what really did me in.  Sorry Engie, time to dig a hole in the ice and jump in.

Actually... I am not quite sure my initial plan is going to work no matter how I spin it.   You start with 450 steel.  Deduct 100 for a solar panel, 50 for a battery, 65 for a heater, that's 235 to survive.  170 gets you coms with orbitals if they ever show up.  That's 65 left -- 15 short of what I need for a stove. 

It seems like the better plan is to punt traders and focus on researching Electric Smelting.

[Zhentar]

There's a reason we're building tiny 3x4 huts One heater keeps mine up to a cozy -40C on the cold winter nights.


My first successful hydroponics harvest!


edit: Highly recommend building a turbine, not a solar panel. Solar will kind of sort of work in the summer, and produce a tiny trickle in winter.