Commmunity Challenge: Europa (Sea Ice Extreme)

Started by Rhadamant, November 18, 2017, 08:57:14 PM

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Vlad0mi3r

I went with a plasteel turret and sand bagged it all around. Use that plasteel and you only need 100 steel plus components.

I will post a screen shot later today but being able to repair the turret while a Scyther shoots at it is a relief. Place it near your power generation as that now seams to be a primary target in A18 for all raider types.

I like the Idea of survival shelter and campfire that is really clever. I might build a couple ahead of time during summer. That way I can just worry about dragging them half the distance.

Have you got Electric Smelting set up? Make sure you are melting down the crappy steel weapons the raiders drop. Its funny but the 6-7 steel you get from melting down a 42% awful quality revolver is worth more in silver for the raw steel than the weapon.

Depressive Neurotic. Gee just add pyromaniac and you have the perfect pawn (lots of sarcasm here)
Mods I would recommend:
Mending, Fertile Fields, Smokeleaf Industries and the Giddy Up series.

The Mod you must have:
https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=40545.msg403503#msg403503

Hans Lemurson

I'm smelting, I collected a bunch of raider weapons.  I kept the best of each category for some tactical variety, but the rest becomes sweet sweet Steel.

A Siege came in and froze to death while setting up.  I got an extra 400 steel from them, quite the windfall.  I built a roof over their siege-goodies using the steel on-site, since there was no way I'd be able to haul all of that before the medicine, components, weapons etc. degraded.

I also figured out a hauling trick:  If you leave your weapon behind at your base, then you can equip one of the raider's weapons and still be able to haul another item.  Double your hauling!

My wind-farm is walled in now, and all outward facing walls are steel.  I even had enough steel left over for a turret.  I could have built a Plasteel turret, but I misread the costs and thought I needed 175 Plasteel.  Nope, just 75.

The turret got deployed against a Poison Ship.  Cross hid behind a wall pelting the ship with grenades while the turret engaged the Centipede. 
Unfortunately armed with an Inferno Cannon.
Fortunately it deployed behind the ship and kept hitting that instead of my hiding spot.
Unfortunately the ship didn't last forever, and my turret got blasted with fire.
Fortunately the turret wasn't too flammable, and its battery was out of range.
Unfortunately Cross was flammable and in range.  (Cover is less effective when the enemy misses and hits behind you with an AoE weapon)
Fortunately, we were fighting next to one of the arctic ponds, so Cross was able to extinguish himself.
Unfortunately, his Wool Parka took a beating from being on fire.
Fortunately, the turret was able to draw enough Aggro that he only caught fire once more (that centipede was NOT going down any time soon without grenades) before the Centipede went down.
Unfortunately, it started snowing and the (foolishly) unroofed battery caught fire and exploded.
Fortunately, the battery was only damaged, not destroyed.

Cross tended his burns, cleaned up the mess, and was just in time for an Exotic Goods trader to come into Comms range, and I was able to sell 8 Scyther Arms and 2 Thrumbo Horns in exchange for lots of cash.  I bought a bionic arm "just in case", though I regretted its cost later, thinking how much steel or stone that could have been.

I also bought an Alpaca.  I will now produce my own wool, and will no longer be dependent on the whims of fate.  Also I have a pet.  Should have bought 2 Alpacas for breeding, but the trader left range before I realized I did have enough food for a herd.  14 Muffalo -> Simple Meals -> Alpaca Food
Mental break: playing RimWorld
Hans Lemurson is hiding in his room playing computer games.
Final straw was: Overdue projects.

Vlad0mi3r

Good work Hans keep going I am really hoping you get a second colonist to take the presser off Cross. I like the alpaca pet good call.

I crapped out got hit in the leg and actually ended up with a shattered femur. So half movement half crafting. Then got a chased refugee and thought yay I hope I can end up with a chance here. Second colonist so I can move forward.

She comes running naked yep completely in the buff chased by 10 raiders. She starts to feel the effects of hyperthermia fast and of course the raiders catch up and start pot shotting her. She goes down and by the time I have been beaten up by the raiders, smashing walls and stealing 6 of my 8 Syther blades she is dead. I gave up it was to much I couldn't go on. My hopes of a bionic arm and now leg plus someone who could actually operate on cross to fit them was shattered, just like Crosses arm and leg.

I have tried to start up again but am having issues getting the save game file to work again. I am importing it into the save game folder but when I start up the game it is not there to load up. Any advice on what could be happening would be good.




Mods I would recommend:
Mending, Fertile Fields, Smokeleaf Industries and the Giddy Up series.

The Mod you must have:
https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=40545.msg403503#msg403503

Hans Lemurson

I had to restart once.  I had deleted the old save file from the directory, and then pasted in the original.  That worked for me.

I will confess to having pressed the "reset button" (force-quitting the program before the morning auto-save) three times when a foolish error, bad risk, or miscalculation caused my immediate demise:
  • I walked to the edge of the map to retrieve some loot before realizing I was at 25% hypothermia.  The return trek is always slower than the journey out, and so Cross collapsed within site of base.  Um...that "Never Happened".
  • I pushed my luck hunting a Muffalo Migration for extra meat, and faced a 20-strong Manhunter pack.  A wooden door was insufficient to protect me from their wrath.  I tried to flee into the snow, but a Muffalo got to me and I could not disengage.
    I planned for my "Punishment" here for restarting would be that I would not hunt any Muffalo, preventing me from benefiting from my foreknowledge.
    However, the autosave put me back inside my base with Murderous Muffalo banging on my door.  Uh-oh, I was going to have to figure a way out of this mess!  I dropped my armor, and ran out into the Snow immediately before my second door was blocked. 
    I kited the Muffalo around, shooting the front-runner every time I got enough distance to risk a volley, and eventually, all the Muffalo had either collapsed of wounds or blood loss,
    or given up their Manhunter ways and continued the migration.
  • That plan failed the first time.  I did NOT in fact have time for two volleys.

If an error was due to lack of experience (how you kite Muffalo?) or a stupid oversight (weather is colder than last season), then I will consider it legitimate for a restart.

I'm not sure if I would have succumbed to the temptation of a "do-over" if I had had a limb shattered like you did, Vlad.  I am trying to restrict it to things that are clear, obvious, and immediate mistakes/oversights on my part, rather than things just not going my way.  But the further I progress, the more invested I am in not having to do everything over again.
Mental break: playing RimWorld
Hans Lemurson is hiding in his room playing computer games.
Final straw was: Overdue projects.

Hans Lemurson

Well, that's the end of that run.  Cross took a shot to the leg while repairing a turret that was engaging 3 attackers.  He had Sensory mechanites, and so this incapacitated him.  He was outside, next to a broken turret which then exploded, shattering a rib and injuring his lung.

Chances of regaining the ability to walk before death by Hypothermia?  Basically Zero.

Reloading from the nearest autosave (yes, I gave in) unfortunately put me back in the fight just a few minutes before the turret goes critical, and Cross is already down.  Chances of survival?  Basically zero.

The turret wouldn't have gotten so damaged if Cross had actually BUILT the sandbags after delivering the Steel...
Mental break: playing RimWorld
Hans Lemurson is hiding in his room playing computer games.
Final straw was: Overdue projects.

Killazer

#20
I checked this thread out multiple times before, but finally, two days ago I picked the challenge up. I died a couple of times, not realizing how fast the hypothermia really downs you.

But after few tries, I've managed to set up a decent shelter, built with wood and steel. I got a research bench, butchering table, bed, heater, battery (realized later I did not need it), and a solar generator.
I'm running out of wood, but managed to kill two polar bears and two raiders, without any injuries to Cross. I got food to last for a couple weeks, but I really need electric smelter...

Hans Lemurson

Steel is vital.  You need to make sure you have 170 or 160 steel saved up for either a Smelter or a Comm Unit + Trade Beacon.  These are the only ways you can ever get more Steel.  If you want to live life dangerously, you could build a Machining Table (150 Steel) and plan to get your Steel from Mechanoids, but they don't usually come until the second year.

If you don't have a plan for how to get more Steel, you will perish.
You might perish anyways, but lack of steel ensures it.

I wish you luck on your attempt, and remember: Never fight a battle without cover.
Mental break: playing RimWorld
Hans Lemurson is hiding in his room playing computer games.
Final straw was: Overdue projects.

Killazer

Quote from: Hans Lemurson on December 18, 2017, 07:17:42 AM
Steel is vital.  You need to make sure you have 170 or 160 steel saved up for either a Smelter or a Comm Unit + Trade Beacon.  These are the only ways you can ever get more Steel.  If you want to live life dangerously, you could build a Machining Table (150 Steel) and plan to get your Steel from Mechanoids, but they don't usually come until the second year.

If you don't have a plan for how to get more Steel, you will perish.
You might perish anyways, but lack of steel ensures it.

I wish you luck on your attempt, and remember: Never fight a battle without cover.

Thanks for the tips! Yes, I might very well be f'd, I only got 1 steel, and I wont get 169 more steel from shrinking my base and deconstructing the battery. But I can attempt to raid/loot a caravan, can't I?

Hans Lemurson

Not many caravans on the ice.  Calling in a caravan requires a Comm Unit and most of your silver.  Maybe you can get lucky with a Meteorite.  I've had 3 so far in 3 years: Sandstone, Steel, and Silver.

As for my death, I decided to blatantly cheat and heal my pawn back into mobility to finish his fight. 
As punishment, I allowed the Plasteel turret to be destroyed and gave Cross a number of injuries once he made it back inside (bullet to the femur, minor surgical failure) to see what would happen.  He lay there bleeding for a day, but didn't regain mobility.  I magicked his blood back in and after another day lying on the ground in his own filth slowly starving to death, his wounds finally stopped bleeding without treatment.  His consciousness was still too low to move, thanks to the Sensory Mechanite's gift of pain, and after waiting for most of a third day with no sign that he would heal on his own without bandaging (during which he came down with a bad case of the Flu), I magicked enough of his wounds away that he was able to grab some food and tend himself.

He survived this ordeal and patched up the base, and now my game is back on track.

If you do enough self-flagellation, cheating is ok!  ;D
(And by self-flagellation, I mean torturing your pawns)
Mental break: playing RimWorld
Hans Lemurson is hiding in his room playing computer games.
Final straw was: Overdue projects.

Hans Lemurson

#24
It was springtime, and the Dry Ice was starting to evaporate once more as "warmth" returned to this northernmost land.  It was warm enough that when a soldier radioed for help, I realized he might even be able to make it to shelter before he died!  As luck would have it, he was wearing a full Synthread outfit, and so the chill didn't bite quite as deep and he was going strong.

The raid came, 15 heavily armed pirates pursuing him.  Great!  Now I can try out my new kill-box on some Human opponents.  It's a lot of guys, but I can out-last them with better winter gear.

*SOLAR FLARE*

Uh, ok, so defending my base solo is going to be a bit harder than I thought without Turrets to distract them.  Gosh, that's a lot of guys.  At least I only have to kill half of them, and I'll soon have another man in the fight.  I'll stall them while Greg runs to my armory and HOLY SHIT THEY HAVE AN INCENDIARY LAUNCHER!!!  Greg's on fire!  And he's down.  Ah, it seems some of the pirates have Wool Parkas, and so were immune to Hypothermia.  That's how they caught Greg.  Ok, well if I can kill those guys first, I might have a chance.

Two Grenadiers and a Clubman walk into my kill-box ahead of the pack.  The clubman takes a stab to the arm from my steel trap, and I put a few bullets in him.  He keeps coming, but another volley drops him.  A grenadier approaches, and I give him a volley, but he is undeterred.  A second volley and GRENADE!!  FALL BACK!!!  I dodge the blast and fall back to the gate to my main base.  The second grenadier tosses his shot, but it misses and kills the first one.  I engage him, and wound him, but have to withdraw again into my windmill courtyard as another grenade is tossed my way.

The traffic jam at the entry to my killbox has cleared up and some gunners make it through.  An LMG and Assault Rifle make me reconsider my attempt to regain lost ground.  I lead them into my courtyard and shoot at them when they come around the corner.  Stupid.  They're the ones who have cover now, not me.  I run out a door back outside near the killbox's entrance.  I'll just lead them in circles and constantly engage from cover! 

If I can keep them distracted, they won't get bored and kill my Alpaca.  She's named Butterfly, you know, and gave me a brand new parka!  That's what will win me this fight, once all the pirates get too cold.  Hmm...it looks like they're only at 27% Hypothermia, and I'm already running and hiding.  I might not get to play that Ace. 

I run through the outer door as a burst of fire from an Assault Rifle catches me.  I take a small wound but I'm still in the fight.  I round the corner and engage the riflewoman now caught in the open.  We exchange fire, I wound her, she shoots the door.  The LMG man is now in range and fires as well.  Neither have cover, and I am the superior shot.  The LMG is shit, but that is a *Superior* Assault Rifle at 100% condition!  Once I take her down, Daddy's gonna have a new favorite gun for the arsenal! ^_^

Another volley and she's nearly down.  Once she's down, I'll have to skeedaddle, since more pirates are coming. The Solar Flare just ended, and my Turrets are starting to distract them.  I might even be able to run back into the kill box and just keep fighting in a circle.  But so far this strategy seems like it has pote-

Bee-Boop!!!!
THE BUILDER DANIEL CROSS HAS BEEN SHOT TO DEATH


A lone pirate had decided to take the long way around my base.  When he rounded the final corner, saw me standing next to a door with no cover, and his Bolt-Action-Rifle found its mark.

Or so I presume.  I didn't take a good look at all the details before rage-quitting.
Mental break: playing RimWorld
Hans Lemurson is hiding in his room playing computer games.
Final straw was: Overdue projects.

Hans Lemurson

#25
It was springtime, and the Dry Ice was starting to evaporate once more as "warmth" returned to this northernmost land.  It was warm enough that when a Wanderer Joined, she had no trouble making it to base wearing a shoddy leather parka.

Emily "Coyote" Luckhardt was a Psychically-Deaf Psychopath and a born Rebel who didn't care nothing for no-one.  Moderately capable in many areas, she was at worst another Hauler, but also had a passion for Construction.  I'd need to train her up in a few areas, but it's good to finally have a second pair of hands around here.  The only thing she won't do is Medical Care, but since you can "Self-Tend" now, that shouldn't be too much of an issue...

OH MY GOD THE SCYTHER SHOT CROSS'S LEG OFF!!!!!!!!  :o

I already used up my do-over this session, so I'm just going to have to deal with it.
 
"Hey Coyote, could you be a dear and help me get this Peg-Leg attached to the ruined stump of my limb?"
"No."
:'(
Mental break: playing RimWorld
Hans Lemurson is hiding in his room playing computer games.
Final straw was: Overdue projects.

Vlad0mi3r

#26
So here we are this is the result of 1 incendiary mortar round. Cross is dead burnt to a crisp and the two new colonists are badly burnt with no medicine available. Lets see how things go from here.

https://imgur.com/a/Pzzs4

Edit: Mitch went on to have a Murderous rage mental break. Killed Spider where she was laying in the snow and then went on to succumb to his own infections. 
Mods I would recommend:
Mending, Fertile Fields, Smokeleaf Industries and the Giddy Up series.

The Mod you must have:
https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=40545.msg403503#msg403503

Hans Lemurson

That reminds me of how my A16 attempt ended.  The base on fire, precious equipment smashed, the walls opened up to the elements, and pawns succumbing to hypothermia, blood loss, infections, and cannibalism-induced madness.

On my current run, I have made sure to wall in my base, except for leaving an open path through my killbox corridor leading into my Windmill Courtyard to provide attackers with a "target rich environment" to path into.  Why attack a Steel Wall, when you have a direct path to a Battery (past several turrets).
Mental break: playing RimWorld
Hans Lemurson is hiding in his room playing computer games.
Final straw was: Overdue projects.

Vlad0mi3r

I have given up doing it in one run. I have become the save scummer of all save scummers. Cassandra on extreme is a challenge under normal circumstances but when you are on the ice its just hard work. There is so much RNG factor plus value penalties I don't honestly know if someone could do it.

Things started falling apart for me this last run when I started get scyther raid after scyther raid I was dealing with them but I ended up with about 14 scythe blades in my stock piles which then bumped my net worth through the roof and now I have a poison ship to deal with which is proving tricky.

I haven't been scumming for the little things like leg shot off or eye damage. Just the big things like all 3 colonists down and no chance of recovery. But still, I just don't know if this is doable.

Mods I would recommend:
Mending, Fertile Fields, Smokeleaf Industries and the Giddy Up series.

The Mod you must have:
https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=40545.msg403503#msg403503

Pipotin

Hi,

Sorry for my english. I can't really tell stories about my colony, but I have some screenshots. This is Daniel Cross, year 5517. Ship is ready :



I lost 7 or 8 colonies before that one. Cross died from hypothermia, polar bear, starvation, scythers... Most times it was due to my own mistakes and thanks to this challenge, I learned a lot about this game. It was pure fun.

Daniel Cross in jugust 5502 :



I learned from my previous colonies that there's 2 major threats in this scenario : Scythers destroying windmills or batteries during the first years, and Zzzzt ruining your crops or setting fire to your home while Cross is far away, hauling precious shoddy stuff or steel slag chunks.
I prevented Zzzzt by not building power conduits (I use batteries and power switches as high-quality power conduit), and to prevent Scyther issue I rushed killbox before hydroponics. It came with a price : Cross was out of food during decembary 5501 and aprimay 5502, he had to eat some human meat. This is the only time I broke the optional rule "no human butchery". During the 15 next years, Cross decently buried every ennemy corpses and none was butchered.

At this point I already knew I was doing good and I had a serious chance to win : this killbox is almost 100% scyther proof.
Cross found a shoddy deadman wool parka during this summer 5502, allowing him to move freely on the map even during the coldest days. He also found an awful sniper rifle : rifle + parka means ability to kite centipedes at any time of the year, so I didn't fear mechanoid ships.

Cross stayed alone during the 5 first years because all potential recruits before that day were useless. Guys unable to haul, pessimists, junkies, old mens with bad back or frail, etc...
Here is Tildema, my first recruit, in 5505. Cross married her 1 year later.



A few month later I recruited Comba. A very good girl. Cross fell in love with her, divorced Tildema and married Comboa. Comboa in 5507 :



During the next years, Cross divorced again, then married Tildema a second time. He had an affair with Rissa, another recruit, and Tildema divorced again. Then Cross tried to marry with Rissa but she refused. His mood wasn't easy to manage.

I dont know if I'm just unlucky or if the scenario have been designed like that, but there have been a lot of orbital mechanoid raids inside my colony, almost one every year. That's the only thing I fear. In 5515 came the worst raid ever : 3 centipedes dropped directly in the core of my colony, my workshop. They destroyed everything. I rebuilt it bigger and better.



Here is the most useless pawn, Sir. A lazy and unskilled wanderer, he joined in 5508. In 5517 he is still alive... I don't know how. He's always on the first line when there's a threat. And he's the guy who clean the corridor filled with traps. He got many times serious injuries, he bears all the scars the other pawns don't have. Poor Sir.