Extreme Desert Challenge

[XeoNovaDan]

I guess it's more of a step-by-step progression sort of thing. Arid shrubland is the mildest on the arid biome spectrum, whereas desert is harsher and extreme desert is harsher still; just like boreal forest is the mildest on the cold biome spectrum, wheras tundra is harsher, ice sheet harsher still, and then harshest of them all being sea ice.

Although not necessarily dictated, that is indeed what's implied.

Edit: Normally, an Extreme Desert is somewhat easier than Ice Sheet due to the possibility of growing 'gravel potatoes' outdoors all year round. However, it's also harder in one aspect as you still need to build a freezer to preserve your food, whereas the coldness of ice sheets sort of does that for you (although you will still need a minor freezing project in more mild ice sheets).

However, this challenge would be just as hard as Sea Ice (certainly early game) because of the fact it's too hot to grow crops unless you completely splash out on a gargantuan cooling 'project' (heck, a single cooler even struggles to keep a tiny room cool in the dead of 'winter' on this scenario), and then freezing is going to be a luxury. You'd want to get pemmican ASAP, and rely on drops for fruit and veg. Although you can find the resources necessary in small amounts as it's an actual landmass as opposed to just basically the arctic circle.

Edit 3 (2 was in the passage above): But yeah, temperatures will still be around 90-100°C (194-212°F) even in the dead of Winter, and it's also a Climate Cycle so it'll get a whole lot worse in the peak of summer.

[TheMeInTeam]

Keep in mind there is no hot counterpart of Ice Sheet, let alone Sea Ice. Difficulty wise Extreme Desert is more like hot Tundra.

The intended progression after temperate is:

boreal --> tundra --> ice sheet
~~
arid shrubland --> desert --> extreme desert

Having played these biomes myself, I must respectfully disagree.  "intended" by whom?

Intended in terms of how the biomes are ordered.  Not intended to be identical at a given tier (though if extreme desert lacked arable land it would be pretty darned comparable to ice sheet).

I have played all of the biomes too.  I dislike jungle the most.  Some biomes present challenge but that one presents annoyance :p.

[b0rsuk]

Intended in terms of how the biomes are ordered.

I started my sentence with "Difficulty wise...". You just didn't notice it.

[TheMeInTeam]

Intended in terms of how the biomes are ordered.

I started my sentence with "Difficulty wise...". You just didn't notice it.

True, my bad.  That said, I consider them pretty comparable UNTIL you get ice sheet vs extreme desert.

Regular deserts might (or might not) have year-round growing, just as Tundra might or might not have 20 day growing seasons.  Tundra often has 1000 or more extra wood on the map to chop before unpausing, more animals, and a lot more harvestable low-prep food (berries) to go with better arable land (sometimes even fertile soil!) or at least more of it.  On the other hand, desert tends to have longer growing seasons and less likelihood of food mismanagement getting you killed.

For these it just depends.  IMO boreal is among the easiest biome options in the game with the thousands of berries and good wildlife.

But with extreme desert having decent amounts of gravel and ice sheet having no natural growing season at all, along with exactly 0 wood instead at least a little, the ice sheet is a miserable place.  Livable with trade abuse or cannibalism for tribes, but that's about it.

Altered temperature to bake crops out of functionality does indeed put extreme desert in that territory.

[b0rsuk]

For these it just depends.  IMO boreal is among the easiest biome options in the game with the thousands of berries and good wildlife.

Doesn't Tynan live in Canada ?

But with extreme desert having decent amounts of gravel and ice sheet having no natural growing season at all, along with exactly 0 wood instead at least a little, the ice sheet is a miserable place.  Livable with trade abuse or cannibalism for tribes, but that's about it.

But it's not even very realistic. Inuit (a.k.a. eskimo) people can survive in such conditions. There's fish, and if you can't catch fish they support seals and polar bears. Rimworld ice sheet only has an occasional polar bear, a passing mufallo, arctic for or wolf.

A bit later on snow really helps with defense, but it makes initial construction an awful process. And good luck if you have a siege on a large map, you either make your colony under a mountain or... build mortars!

[TheMeInTeam]

How much of Inuit living space is ice sheet vs tundra as the game presents them is debatable.  Ice sheet as it's represented in the game is more like the conditions you'd see only in northern Canada (or the islands north of mainland Canada) or inland NE Siberia where the global average temperature is actually negative (most regions of the world, even ones that get pretty cold, have at least slightly positive average temp...ice sheets in rim world do NOT).  A more extreme ice sheet would better resemble somewhat inland Antarctica, where in the most extreme cases its climate is more survivable than say Mars, but not by so much you could actually live there.

The game is a bit more lax.  -100C is colder than subliming dry ice, and living/working in 70C also absurd, I don't care what you're wearing if it isn't a space suit or something :p.

The game's description of it is "The surface is covered with sheets of ice which can be kilometers thick."  There are not many parallels for that on Earth, but Antarctica is the closest, and there truly isn't that much going on that an Inuit could survive inland Antarctica.

[eadras]

I have a game going.  The outcome is certainly far from certain, but here's some highlights thus far.

Day 1:  One door and a roof for the nearby ruin.  One solar panel, two AC units, and one battery.  That's what's required to survive the first day in hell.  Doesn't sound too difficult?  Well, it all has to be finished by 1pm, or you'll collapse from heat stroke.  Good luck, and don't fail construction on anything.  (Lumi really could have had at least 5 construction - 3 is just sadistic).

Day 2:  A Wind turbine, and knock out a wall to build a 3rd AC unit.  A stonecutter's table, and start cutting stone blocks.

Day 3-6:  Cutting stone blocks and replacing the steel structure and flooring with stone.  This also results in a larger room, and another AC unit is necessary.  Had to deconstruct a nearby steel wall and haul it back.

Day 7:  A wanderer joins!  He's a depressive slowpoke.  Tragically, he died of heatstroke.  I could really use a cowboy hat, so I grit my teeth and set to work turning him into leather 

Day 10:  A pirate is attacking!  Hilariously, it appears to be a naked girl with a club.  She must be desperate.  I smacked her with the butt of my charge rifle, and locked her in a closet.  Her name is Element, and she's an optimist and a nudist, with some good skills in areas that I lack.  Maybe I can recruit her, but the odds are very low.

Day 13:  I've been making plans for a temperature controlled greenhouse.  It's a daunting project, but as there are no animals here, it's my only hope of survival.  Unexpectedly, Element joins on a <1% recruitment chance.  That's great, as she has good social, crafting, and research skills, all of which I'm awful at.  What's not so great is my limited rations dwindling twice as fast.  I've built a comms console and a trade beacon, hoping for a bulk goods trader to pass by and shower us with manna.  Also working on a high-tech research bench for Element to work at.  We're going to need hydroponics and pemmican ASAP. 

Day 15:  My brother Rattlen showed up today.  I thought he died in the wreck.  It's great to see him again, but I'm worried about how we're going to feed him.  He's a really good miner, which is a boon, as neither Element nor I can even lift a pickaxe.  He's also a greedy person, and isn't happy about having to share a room with us.  I've built us 3 beds out of marble... they aren't very comfortable, but they're better than nothing.  Rattlen said he spotted a Thrumbo while he was out mining!  A thrumbo, on this boiling hell of a planet?  I tracked it most of the day before it fell over from exhaustion, then finished it off and hauled it back.  We'll eat well tonight!

Day 16:  Mech raid!  It's only one scyther, but that's still pretty scary at this point, as we have no personal shields and only one charge rifle for ranged weapons.  I got in a few lucky shots with my charge rifle, while the scyther's return fire blasted a hole in the wall right next my head.  That was close!

Day 18:  We spotted an escape pod in the distance.  Way too distant.  Hopefully the poor person died on impact.  We've been dining on Thrumbo steaks for days, but they are starting to go bad.  I thought about setting up a small refrigerator, but we simply don't have the space or the resources.  Element made a couple of Thrumbofur cowboy hats for us, but her craftsmanship leaves something to be desired.  Still, it's better than nothing.

Day 19: An exotic goods trader is in orbit!  Unfortunately, they have no foodstuffs.  We sell the thrumbo horn and spare fur, and buy 25 components at an outrageous price.  This should be enough for us to get our greenhouse set up in the coming days.  The trader has 2 squirrels and a boomrat for sale, so we buy them, too.  Food is going to be a problem.

Day 20:  The Greenhouse construction was halted by a solar flare.  We locked ourselves in the room, hoping the solar flare wouldn't last long.  It got really, really hot in there before the flare finally ended.  That was scary - and a reminder just how tenuous our existence here is.

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[jpinard]

Silly question, but is there a way we can get these awesome challenges put on the Steam Workshop?

Yes this would be a good idea if the scenarios were official placed on Steam Workshop.

That being said I've downloaded and look forward to not lasting more than a day or two LOL.

[XeoNovaDan]

Glad to see people getting tucked into this, and our first story report!

I'll put the scenario up on the Workshop later on, but school's always a priority.

Thanks people

[Hexejager]

Day 1
After about 4 restarts finally figured out how to survive day 1. This is certainly the hardest day as by 55-65% heatstroke you are down and dead. Poor Lumi... So many deaths. Key is to utilize the nearby bunker as it has slots for coolers and a door. Build Solar Panel -> Battery first to start charging for the night then roofed and made it inside with 50% heatstroke. As long as you pass out IN your cooled building the temp will be around 80-90 degrees and you'll recover. Literally no room for a failure constructing as well as that equals extra time and extra time = death...


Day 2
Now that Lumi is safe in her cooled hut, I brought the nearby supplies in and built a stonecutters bench to cut stone brinks while cooling off. Managing heatstroke is certainly the top priority as the temp outside is just brutal as you start cooking as sooner as you walk outside. Thankfully with two coolers its quick to recover. I build a silver bed to boost her mood as the pain from heatstroke plus anything else may be happening. I see things going from bad to worse really quickly when it does.


Day 3
I decide that todays focus is to start working on the Beta site. Food is going to be an issue after a few seasons and I need to get some plants growing fast. I found a nearby rock with some gravel patches for potatoes and laid out a base design. Now the challenge is running over there, building and running back to cool off. Thankfully there are enough food rations to tide me over.


Day 4
Sparkles, an NPC, joined my tribe. I had to think long and hard about keeping her. On one hand extra mouths will make food a pressing issue fast, but on the other hand she is a strong constructor and has research skill. Lumi on the other hand has a 0 in research. I decide to keep her and she actually made it to Alpha base before dying in the heat. Guess its meant to be!


Day 5
Sparkles and I go hard to work. Unfortunately sparkles is not doing to well outside Alpha base. I really underestimated how valuable Lumi's duster is. Sparkes can go outside but she roasts really fast. I decide to have her haul stone blocks and make bricks for Beta base. Days 6-7 is collecting metal and had a raid band attack me. Easily the best part of the whole experience. Watching them gear up and charge Alpha Base, only to all pass out and die moments later. So funny - well not for them


Day 8
Oh crap, a Solar flare. Of all the random things this one I was dreading the most. Worst off is Sparkles who just got back inside after hauling brinks to Beta site. Lumi was inside and 100% cooled off. Well this is going to be a rough night. I restrict the two to the alpha base and enjoy the cooled air as long as it lasts...


Day 9
Well that went horribly bad. Lumi and Sparkles both passed out from the heat in Alpha base as I prayed for the flare to end. Sparkles hits 100% heatstroke and is cooked alive. Lumi went to 90% heatstroke and the flare ended. 96% by the time the room cooled. Too close... I buried Sparkles out front. RIP.


Day 10
Beta base is more or less ready to go. Toren arrived, running from raiders, and I decide to let him stay. More because I want to see if he can survive the night in Beta base. My worry is with two coolers and a bigger sq footage, it won't cool down enough. The raiders die another hilarious death, they didn't even get close to the base. Toren made it, but was almost dead. I turn everything on, and Toren bunks in for the night.


Day 12
Ok so 3 coolers are needed. Toren dead, whoops. Well issue resolved and Lumi moves into her new base and starts planting crops. Getting a little worried about food as I am down to ten rations and make the call to save those and butcher toren and made 10 simple meals from him. Lumi is very happy so a little human flesh won't dampen her spirits to much. The next 5 days I plan to finish hauling supplies over, work on the 2nd layer of the wall (keep cold air in better is the thought), build the 2nd battery, and generator. I have to mine more metal though as I am out once again.


Day 17
So upset with myself. Lumi died from my being careless. I prioritized things wrong and didn't realize my error until it was too late. I build the second battery and the sun lamp, but should have build the 2nd solar panel. Gawwwh! I forgot the strain my 3rd cooler was putting on the power grid and was happy mining when battery juice went dead and then i realized my mistake. Lumi promptly passed out and died.

Overall it was a fun adventure. I wish day 1 wasn't so brutal and Lumi had higher than a 3 construction as one failure means you are starting over. Past day 1 I had alot of fun and tempted to try again as I am so mad I let something trivial end the scenario. I am by no means an expert on Rimworld, but did this for fun.

One question though for the community - what temperature do potatoes need to be at to grow? I assume they would die in heat so enclosed them all. Is that necessary? I didn't want to take the extra risk of wasted time.

[CptEgo]

I have a question related to this, what would be the best way to survive a cold map? I'm on a map, with 0 wood, and almost no animals for food, except for a single snow hare on occasion. I am going for the indoor growing thing research, but my best resarcher is 3 and theres no food so he's getting mad as hell. What are your tricks for the fastest way to get some food production started on extreme maps?

[eadras]

Chapter 2 for my merry band of castaways - "Hanging on by the skin of our teeth"

Day 21:  We saw some cargo pods falling in the distance!  It was an exciting feeling, until we saw that it was only marble blocks, and on the edge of the map, at that.  We managed to finish up the greenhouse, with 5 coolers and a sunlamp.  Temp seems to be holding reasonably well.  We added a solar panel and a third battery, hoping to charge one up and set it aside for emergencies.

Day 22:  Planted potatoes in the greenhouse gravel, and built a second wind turbine.  We butchered and ate the boomrat and squirrels.  From here out we'll have to go on strict rations.  Element finished researching hydroponics.

Day 23:  There is an eclipse this morning.  Our power reserves are limited, so we decide to forego turning the sun lamp on.  3 Hydroponics installed, and sown with rice.  It looks like they will be ready before the potatoes.  We're hungry now on half rations, in addition to being hot beyond description, and sleeping in close quarters.  Rattlen is complaining constantly and may break at any moment.  He has been mining distant steel ore veins like a champ, though.  The eclipse drags on and on into the evening, and the wind dies down to nothing.  Our batteries drain down to only a few percent reserves, and we fear this may be the end... when a sudden breeze picks up, and we are saved... by the skin of our teeth!

Day 24:  The eclipse drags on until nearly noon.  27 or 28 hours?  Unbelievable.  Finally the sun makes a grand return, and a strong breeze helps to recharge our flagging batteries.  We're going to have Element research geothermal power as soon as she finishes the multi-analyzer.  We're working on thickening the walls to provide better insulation, as the temperatures continue to climb.  Today the thermostat topped out at 232F, and it's not even summer yet...

Day 25:  A pirate merchant ship passed by overnight.  They had literally nothing we could make use of, and weren't buying anything we had to sell.  We spotted some more cargo pods, not too far away.  Simple meal x9!  Brilliant timing, as we were down to only a few days worth of rations.  The first of the rice is ready to harvest - that was fast.

Day 26: More cargo pods! This time, it's Fine Meal x11!  It never rain, but it pours.  We'll take it.  We're planning more coolers in addition to the thicker walls.  There's no telling how hot it's going to get, and we may be stuck here for some time.









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[TheMeInTeam]

I have a question related to this, what would be the best way to survive a cold map? I'm on a map, with 0 wood, and almost no animals for food, except for a single snow hare on occasion. I am going for the indoor growing thing research, but my best resarcher is 3 and theres no food so he's getting mad as hell. What are your tricks for the fastest way to get some food production started on extreme maps?

Before you get hydroponics + other advanced tech, you're stuck with cannibalism or trade.

[Thyme]

I have a question related to this, what would be the best way to survive a cold map? [...]

Before you get hydroponics + other advanced tech, you're stuck with cannibalism or trade.

You might want to have a look at the Sea Ice Community Challenge. I've learned a lot from reading it and will try that soon. It covers all the neccessary things for survival: Base design, heating, priorities of stuff, ...

[eadras]

One question though for the community - what temperature do potatoes need to be at to grow? I assume they would die in heat so enclosed them all. Is that necessary? I didn't want to take the extra risk of wasted time.

Plants don't seem to die from the extreme heat, but they won't grow in it, either.  You were correct to plant your potato garden indoors.

My colony is still alive, for now.

Day 27: There's been no wind all day, and our batteries are flagging somewhat.  We turned the sun lamp off early to be safe.  Then, just before sundown, a fault in a circuit caused an explosion, expending all of our battery reserves.  We turned off everything except for a few Ac units and sweated it out through the long night.  We lost the hydroponics, but the potatoes survived.  We really need a spare charged battery...

Day 28:  Our power situation is beginning to improve, when we spot a group of tribals in the distance.  They mill around for a few hours in the blistering heat, then begin to rush us.  They made it about halfway before collapsing from heat stroke.  We rescued two who were still alive, with the hope of making peace with their tribe and preventing future suicide attracks, but the language barrier was significant.  We released them, then made their dead comrades into a new duster for Rattlen.

Day 29:  We made some "people pemmican" today, and moods are quite low as a result.  The potatoes are almost in, so maybe we won't need to eat it for long, but it's better to be safe and not waste anything in this place.

Day 30:  Yet another wanderer joins.  We were tempted to turn her away, because we just don't have room, but she's just a kid.  Calls herself Bunchie.  She also seems enthusiastic about our "people pemmican", so we figure she can eat that while we eat baked potatoes.  We really need some bedrooms, but the power situation isn't going to allow any more expansion until Element finishes researching Geothermal - which has been brought to a halt by... power shortages.

Day 31:  We got a transmission from a self described "political activist" whining for protection from some pirates who were chasing him.  At the same moment, two drop pods appeared, and a pirate raid was upon us.  No one really likes political activists anyway, so we ignore his plea and turn our attention to the two pirates with personal shields who are attacking us.  It's a bloody fight, with Rattlen and Bunchie taking a bunch of small cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious.  We captured one of the pirates, and he appears to have a bionic eye.  That would be valuable, but we don't have anyone skilled enough to remove it.  Not sure what we're going to do with him.

I'm not really sure where to go from here.  I guess transport pods are the only way out of here, but getting enough fuel is going to be a problem.   I wish the storyteller would stop throwing new colonists at me.

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