P R E S E N T S
The Game
From Objectivus:
The following are additional clarifications of the rules of this game, intended to offer a more realistic simulation of the necessities of autonomous survival.
* Skill Levels
With practice and theoretical training, a human being can increase the performance of any given task and execute it with greater efficiency as it becomes a faculty of habit which, when automatized, leaves room in the brain to address other pursuits. In order to replicate this, every possible undertaking of the game shall be gauged via skill levels, whose system is quite elementary to grasp.
Every character who first endeavors to undertake a given task begins at Level 1. The number of the level equals the amount of times a task must be completed to rise to the next degree of proficiency. He must perform the action once to reach Level 2, twice again to reach Level 3, and so on indefinitely.
Thus far in the evolution of the game, only three skills are initially available, hunting, foraging, and woodworking. The level attributes of new skills shall come about as they are invented/discovered by players.
The following are the attributes of Level 1 characters exercising these skills:
Foraging: 84 hours are consumed to gather a week's ration.
Hunting: 42 hours are consumed to hunt down a week's ration of meat. However, this meat is raw and thus unsuited for consumption. I leave the players to discover a means of remedying this difficulty.
Woodworking: 84 hours are consumed to gather enough lumber for and construct a simple one-room log cabin.
* Lighting
The need for improved illumination has been one that has concerned man ever since his primeval beginnings. Being a creature suited to function only in daylight, man requires a source of artificial luminosity to expand his activities into times when nature does not furnish it. No matter how eager to work, a man can accomplish little in absolute darkness, and in this game it shall be considered impossible. Under the most primitive of conditions, a man's available working time is twelve hours per day, or 84 hours per week. However, techniques can be discovered for expanding a given character's available time in a given week. Here, a limitation does, nevertheless, exist due to the absolute necessity of sleep for at least six hours per day (for Randia's given level of technological advancement). Thus, the maximum time that can ever be gained due to lighting shall increase the duration one's turn to 18 hours times seven days, or 126 hours per week.
As skill levels and techonological opportunities rise, this time can become budgeted ever more wisely.
A new citizen has joined the Republic of Randia.
Name: Homo Sapiens
Age: 18
E-mail: Donetsk924@cs.com
Profession prior to the tragedy that occurred in the U.S.: Manager of Domino’s Pizza
From Objectivus:
* Storage:
It has been known since the earliest of ages that food which is left to the imperiling influence of the elements will decay before its time to be consumed comes. Especially for lengthy periods of time, all food must be stored in closed, insulated compartments. Every player begins the game with a rucksack that is filled to full capacity, containing 4 weeks’ worth of food. However, additional containers may be created to accommodate for further resources. A log cabin can hold another week’s worth, though not more, due to the fairly open nature of its confines.
There are plenty of spare malleable twigs lying around in the vast forests of Randia. Of these, baskets may be woven. Basketweaving at Level 1 allows one to create a primitive storage utensil, which is able to hold one weeks’ worth of food. Such a basket can be created after 42 hours of labor.
For the prices indicated below, you can now purchase the following items at the Randcastle Marketpace from Objectivus:
- A hatchet for 30 Objective Units
- A bow and quiver for 20 Objective Units
- A food ration for 10 Objective Units
You may also sell to Objectivus any items of that sort at the same generous prices.
A new citizen has entered the Republic of Randia.
Name: Robert James Montgomery
Age: 25
E-mail: machiavellieins@yahoo.com
Profession prior to U.S. tragedy: Civil engineer
Mr. Montgomery has successfully answered Objectivus’s questions and has thus gained a hatchet and a bow. He has also earned 500 Objective Units during his employment (as the real-life head of Edelman Technologies) in creating a convenient registration form for the Laissez-Faire Game. Unfortunately, difficulties with the Geocities server prevent the form from being enabled just yet, but its programming is faultless, and, hopefully, it shall be accessible in the near future.
Owing to his knowledge in engineering, Mr. Montgomery possesses Level 3 skill in Woodworking. At this level, 42 hours are required to construct a log cabin.
Mr. Montgomery will now spend some time utilizing his knowledge of engineering to design a small ranch where
local animals may be stored for purposes of controlled breeding and subsequent sale for consumption by the general populace.
Mr. Montgomery has gathered the necessary lumber and begun construction of the ranch. Seeing as it is a technical undertaking of greater complexity than a mere one-room cabin (it requires a roaming pen, stalls, internal walls in the animal barn, etc.), the endeavor occupies the entirety of the week. However, due to the exacting nature of the task, he is now halfway to Level 4 in Woodworking, at which constructing a ranch will consume only 63 hours.
From Objectivus:
* Animal Acquisition and Upkeep
Now that a ranch exists in Randia, it becomes necessary to address the opportunities open to its proprietors. Animals do not automatically appear in captivity; they need to enter it. Once a week, a grazing animal, such as a deer or wild cow, will stumble inadvertently into the confines of the roaming pen, after which the (vigilant) ranch owner will promptly lock the gate to prevent its escape. However, a more efficient method of animal capture can be employed.
Hence, the introduction of a new skill, Trapping, which, too, must be practiced for its improvement. Specific inventions in the future will alleviate the burden imposed by this task, but, for a Level 1 trapper employing only his bare hands and his knowledge of the geographical features of the area, it will occupy 42 hours to successfully bring an animal into confinement.
Once in captivity, animals need upkeep and nourishment just as men do, but the quantity and quality thereof should not necessarily be as high. A half-weeks’ ration of food is sufficient per week to sustain a single creature, and the Montgomery ranch (as well as any future ranch of a similar design) can hold up to six weeks’ worth of provisions.
If kept for a sufficiently long time, animals will procreate and replenish the population, thus rendering possible the scenario of a self-sustaining ranch. Once every three months, a new animal appears for every two already in captivity.
When an animal is slaughtered, it provides four weeks’ worth of rations for the proprietor.
· Woodworking Skill Levels Update
Seeing as Woodworking has been already substantively employed, I present a more comprehensive definition of the capacities and time expenditures open to the following levels of that skill:
Level 1: 84 hours to create a log cabin, 126 hours to create a ranch
Level 2: 63 hours to create a log cabin, 105 hours to create a ranch
Level 3: 42 hours to create a log cabin, 84 hours to create a ranch
Level 4: 21 hours to create a log cabin, 63 hours to create a ranch
Mr. Montgomery thinks it wise to now take time to study the roaming habits of nearby animals in an attempt to derive an efficient means of capturing them for storage in his ranch. He will then endeavor to create a trap system which he may utilize efficiently, after studying its properties, to deliver animals to his ranch.
After an observation session lasting 18 hours, Mr. Montgomery is able to increase his Trapping ability to Level 2. He spends the next 24 hours devising a trap mechanism, a cage created of tightly interwoven malleable twigs, which snap shut once an animal has entered it in hopes of pursuing the morsel of food that is left for the taking. Seeing as both his level and his technology has improved, it now expends only 21 hours of his time to capture an animal. During the remainder of the week, he captures two creatures in this fashion, while another one wanders into the roaming pen inadvertently. Thus, his herd of domestic animals has increased to three. His trapping ability, also, has been raised to Level 3. At this level, only 15 hours are expended to trap an animal (with a cage).
As a full week has not passed since their capture, the animals have not yet consumed a substantial amount of food. Next week, however, their upkeep shall require 1.5 rations of Mr. Montgomery’s stockpile.
Mr. Montgomery has consumed a week’s worth of rations, bringing his amount thereof down to 2.
Mr. Montgomery is also quite close to attaining Level 4 proficiency in Woodworking. This will require of him just one more woodworking endeavor.
Now that it has been invented, a wooden trapping cage shall require the following times to be built at various levels of Woodworking expertise:
Level 1: 63 hours
Level 2: 48 hours
Level 3: 24 hours
Level 4: 15 hours
From Objectivus:
* Grazing:
Seeing as it is an immense expenditure of space and food resources to maintain a large herd of animals under the given conditions, the rancher may now choose a second option of upkeep: grazing. As numerous lush wild grasses are available in the vicinity, animals may consume them without expending the owner’s rations store. 42 hours per week will suffice to keep them nourished during that particular week. However, while grazing, they must be kept under close watch. The owner must not stray from them lest they permanently disperse. Hence, tasks requiring high mobility such as Hunting, Foraging, or Trapping are incompatible while one is shepherding the animals. Undertakings of lesser mobility, such as Basketweaving, or Woodworking, on the other hand, can be performed during that time.
Week 3, Month 1, 1 YLF:
Monty now thinks it wise to purchase three additional rations from Philosophicus to further sustain his estate. He will then attempt to find a local stream where he will be able to construct a water mill to power a very primitive refrigeration unit he will then construct. He is aware that such will likely take much time, yet predicts it will inevitably pay off.
Mr. Montgomery, after purchasing three rations, has 470 Objective Units remaining. For the sustenance of his estate, 2.5 of these rations have been consumed, and 2.5 weeks’ worth remain in his stockpile.
As he begins to construct the water mill, Mr. Montgomery experiences a profound surge in his Woodworking abilities, which raises him to Level 4. At this state, it will occupy 105 hours of his time to build the water mill, of which 84 hours are already behind him. His skill, likewise, is one-fifth of the way to Level 5.
Another animal has wandered into Mr. Montgomery’s ranch, bringing his total up to four. The entirety of his living property (including himself) will consume three rations during the next week.
Mr. Montgomery will now purchase three additional rations for his estate. He will then spend time studying the art of construction, and attempt to devise more efficient means of building structures such as ranches and houses.
Mr. Montgomery, in the first 21 hours of the week, has completed the water mill and refrigeration system, which functions by means of a wooden shaft extending from the mill toward his quarters in the ranch, wherein a wooden box, filled with ice, has been placed, with fan blades carved of thin slices of wood rotating as a result of energy transferred from the water mill and maintaining the ice at desirable temperature. This box can store an additional 10 rations, elevating Mr. Montgomery's capacity to 20 weeks' worth of food.
Observing and experimenting with durable wooden structures, Mr. Montgomery has raised his Woodworking skill to Level 5. He has also learned to make use of the occasional haphazard chunks of rock that can be found in the vicinity by sharpening them by employing, rather cumbersomely, other pieces of rock which naturally possess a chisel-like edge. His Stoneworking skill is presently as Level 2, and will enable him to construct buildings of greater size, storage capacity, and durability. If only he could find a way to render the task more time-efficient…
Another animal has wandered into Mr. Montgomery's ranch, raising his total to 5. The entirety of his living property, absent the grazing option, will consume 3.5 rations.
Week 1, Month 2, 1 YLF:
A new citizen has entered the Republic of Randia.
Name: Edmund Daleford
Age: 33
E-mail: edaleford@libertyhaven.com
Profession prior to U.S. tragedy: Inventor
Mr. Daleford has successfully answered Objectivus's questions and received a hatchet and bow. His designs aim at exploiting the fertile soil of Randia and cultivating crops for consumption and sale. His first act in regard to the establishment of his farm shall be the construction of a log cabin, which has consumed the entirety of this week and raised his Woodworking skill to Level 2.
Mr. Daleford has consumed a week's ration and has 3 remaining.
As regards Mr. Montgomery, rumors have reached him that a solar-powered automaton employed in the assembly of vehicles has been left somewhere in the area from the ravages of the anti-technological blight that had afflicted the United States. He has ventured in search of it and plans to live off the land indefinitely until he locates the machine. He has established an agreement with Objectivus whereby the latter would tend to Montgomery's estate in return for any profits derived therefrom during Montgomery's absence.
Week 2, Month 2, 1 YLF:
Mr. Daleford has spent this week foraging for berries and the seeds therein. He seeks to plant the seeds within the land adjacent to his cabin for the purpose of harvesting a ready supply of food later. Since he has gathered a ration of berries, he can plant an equivalent quantity of seeds the next week. Every ration-equivalent of seeds planted will result in ten rations following a three month growth period. In the meantime, Mr. Daleford has consumed the berries themselves and raised his Foraging skill to Level 2, at which 63 hours are required to obtain a week's ration.
His planting activities require the introduction of a new skill, Farming. To plant a ration-equivalent of seeds, the following times are expended at different levels for an individual without any additional equipment:
Level 1: 42 hours
Level 2: 37 hours
Level 3: 32 hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another animal has wandered into the Montgomery ranch, elevating the total therein to 6. Animals already at the ranch have consumed 2.5 of the Montgomery Estate's 4.5 available rations. The Montgomery Estate purchases 18 rations from Objectivus for 180 OUs, leaving the Estate with 260 OUs.
The ranch has a storage capacity of twelve animals. In order to exceed this, a new ranch will need to be created in the not-so-distant future.
Week 3, Month 2, 1 YLF:
Mr. Daleford has planted the entirety of his seeds thus far over the course of 42 hours and has attained Farming Level 2. While the three months needed for his harvest to come to fruition pass, he requires an alternative food supply. He has therefore devoted his remaining 42 hours toward the acquisition of a ration of raw meat (which requires processing before being eligible for consumption). His Hunting skill, in the meantime, has risen to Level 2.
Mr. Daleford has 2 weeks' worth of rations remaining.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Another animal has wandered into Mr. Montgomery's ranch, raising the total of animals therein to 7. The Montgomery Estate has 17 rations remaining.
Mr. Daleford has expended 12 hours of his time constructing a fire from nearby twigs and cooking the game he had caught. Without any technology to assist him in the task, Cooking at Level 1 is cumbersome and time-consuming. Yet he has obtained a ration as well as the skill to rise to Cooking Level 2. Cooking levels correlate to the following times for preparing a ration of food:
Level 1: 12 hours
Level 2: 11 hours
Level 3: 10 hours
Mr. Daleford has realized that hunting alone will assure him a subsistence-based lifestyle at best and thus has journeyed to Randcastle in search for temporary employment with which he would be able to earn his sustenance more efficiently. Objectivus happens to possess a task to delegate to Mr. Daleford. Seeing as the nights in Randia pass in vain due to a lack of artificial lighting, Objectivus seeks to establish a commercial power plant which would furnish electricity for a price to his customers. To work on building this power plant, Mr. Daleford shall be paid 2 Objective Units per hour.
Given Mr. Daleford's considerable abilities in the realm of inventing new technological mechanisms and Objectivus's ready supply of metal to convert to wiring and electrical generators, the power plant is expected to be completed by the end of Week 1, Month 3, 1 YLF.
Working thus far, Mr. Daleford has earned 144 Objective Units. He has used 30 of those to purchase 3 weeks' worth of rations while keeping 114 Objective Units in his possession.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another animal has wandered into Mr. Montgomery's ranch, raising the total of animals therein to 8. The Montgomery Estate has 13.5 rations remaining.
Objectivus has begun to construct a second ranch in which to hold the future excess animal population of the Montgomery herd. His own woodworking skills are quite considerable, and the ranch will be completed next week.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Week 1, Month 3, 1 YLF:
This week marks the advent of Randia's first electric power plant, constructed and equipped by the labors of Edmund Daleford. The plant building itself is made of wood, hence Mr. Daleford's Woodworking skill has risen to Level 3 after the creation of such an extensive structure. Working for 84 hours of this week, Mr. Daleford has received 168 additional Objective Units, elevating his total to 282.
The power itself is furnished by a combination of solar panels and windmills which can be operated from a single control chamber within the main wooden building. Having a power plant readily available and connected to Randcastle, Objectivus is now able to enjoy lighting on demand within his own citadel. Given the rudimentary nature of the energy sources employed, however, only five dwellings can be fully supported by the Daleford Model A Plant.
For a fee of 50 Objective Units per month, collected at the beginning of each month, Objectivus has hereby offered to connect his power plant's electric grid to a dwelling of a citizen of Randia. This added lighting will increase one's available weekly time by 42 hours, which can, however, only be spent on work at or near the home, as lighting for the wilderness areas outside or any routes of transportation between the residences has not yet been developed.
Mr. Daleford has consented to such an arrangement and has thus gained an additional 42 hours this week to devote to the weaving of a basket to increase his ration storage capacity to six. He has attained Basketweaving Level 2, as well as two additional rations from Objectivus for 20 Objective Units.
Mr. Daleford thus possesses 6 rations and 212 Objective Units.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another animal has wandered into Mr. Montgomery's ranch, raising the total of animals therein to 9. The Montgomery Estate has 9.5 rations remaining. The animals have also procreated, raising the total to 13.
Objectivus has completed the construction of a ranch that shall belong to him (as part of his profits derived from the Montgomery ranch) and house any new animals that wander into it while exceeding the Montgomery ranch's storage capacity. The ranch possesses the exact same storage capacities as the Montgomery ranch.
Week 2, Month 3, 1 YLF:
With a forthcoming harvest, Mr. Daleford has begun to concern himself with developing the means to store a sufficient quantity for commercial sale later. He will devote his time to the planning and construction of a silo capable of holding 50 weeks' worth of rations. This is an expansive structure, which, at Mr. Daleford's level of Woodworking expertise, is projected to consume 700 hours, 126 of which had been spent this week. A silo can be constructed in the following times at various levels of skill:
Level 1: 1050 hours
Level 2: 875 hours
Level 3: 700 hours
Level 4: 525 hours
Level 5: 350 hours
Already, Mr. Daleford has obtained sufficient experience to rise to Level 4 of Woodworking, which shortens the time remaining for the task to 399 hours.
Mr. Daleford has 5 rations and 212 OUs remaining.