The main mods for this LP are Rabbie, Moyo, Crystalloid, Androids, Alpha Animals, Alpha Biomes and Genetic Rim. Other notable mods are Vanilla Extended (Vikings and Lasers), Carbon and BioReactor.
At first, I wanted to try a tribal run in an Anima Forest biome, but then I realized that I completely misunderstood when it's going to be finished. So instead I'll try the other thing I kinda wanted to, but never got around to - one of those difficult Alpha Biomes. At some point I was looking at the Propane Lakes, but getting them to spawn not on a pole is a chore, so I've decided to go with Tar Pits.
Tar Pits are always flat, which means there's little stone. They are kind-of like a desert in terms of temperature, but more fertile. Most terrain is a "parched mud" with 70% fertility, which is sufficient for potatoes. There are patches of fertile "lush grass", densely covered in thin and dry trees. "Fan palms", they look like a tall stick with brush-like rings of leaves coming out of the trunk. The local analog of berries is plentiful and grows even in low fertility. There's also plenty of animals.
Two main problems of this biome are difficult terrain and hostile fauna. Most of the land is "parched mud", and movement speed on it is just 30%. There are also patches of impassable tar, surrounded by tarred mud with 12% movement speed. The floors become very necessary, even outside of the base. There are also Bumbledrone hives, which act similar to Insect hives - as in, they periodically spawn insects and jelly. However, the Bumbledrones aren't agressive, just fiercely territorial. Meaning, as soon as anybody steps inside their territory, they rush to attack, but immediately lose interest when their target steps outside their turf. Individually, they are kinda weak, but they are never alone. Their stingers are toxic, and they also fly - that is, aren't slowed down by terrain.
I began with a modified Crystalloid starting scenario (mostly because it's the only way I could get the starting colonists to spawn properly). Instead of four Crystalloids (chosen out of five), I went with two Crystalloids, one Rabbie and one Moyo. Crystalliod lore describes them as an almost hive-minded collective, which they achieve due to their strong psychic attunement. And this psychic sensitivity comes from their brains, which are made of (or include, I'm not clear on that) psy... "Magical" crystals. They can also grow and shape similar crystals into weapons and stuff.
In the starting scenario, the player's colonists split off from the collective for some reason. In my scenario, this reason is that they wanted to start a clinic. Or, at least, a place that would be safe from all the drug cartels. The other races, Rabbie and Moyo, both have strong "cartel" themes. The Rabbie are rabbit-eared xenohumans, who colonize planets to harvest All-Spice, which grants them unmatched clarity of thought. But without it they all die. The Moyo are underwater xenohumans, who learned to distill their own blood into a powerful and highly addictive stimulant. And even though it is made of their own blood, they get addicted just like everybody.
I rolled up some colonists with the standard "randomize" button, and two of them ended up being a mother and a daughter. Using Prepare Carefully, I replaced the other two starting colonists with a Rabbie and a Moyo, gave everybody passions in Shooting, Melee, Medical and Intellectual, spread out the skills more-or-less evenly, and added a 10-pack of Planetarium Tea. Planetarium is the drug that the Rabbie can't live without, and 30 units are given in the 3-person Rabbie starting scenario. It's supposed to be enough to build their own Planetarium farms.
So begins a story of a scientist Soler, her daugher Rawia, and their allies: Rabbie engineer McMillan and Moyo engineer Xina (the part where they both ended up engineers is also mostly RNG). Will they be able to build a safe haven for all who suffer in the endless cartel wars? If not, will their story end up closer to Breaking Bad, or to the life of Pablo Escobar? Let's find out! Disclaimer: I haven't watched Breaking Bad, and know very little about Pablo Escobar.
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Week 1.
The starting location is pretty good. Central part is empty ground, which means it's convenient to build a base there, but only after it's all floored. The southern half of the map is full of fertile land, which will be our main farming area. The the northern edge also has fertile land, but it's real inconvenient to get there. There are 5 steam geysers on the map, and 3 of them are in relatively useful locations. The other 2 are too close to the Western and the Southern borders. There is an Anima Tree slightly West of Centre, and it's area covers two of the "good" steam geysers (and a Helixien geyser). But the most convenient one is on the very edge of this area, so a generator built on top of it shouldn't interfere much. Not to mention no colonists nave Natural meditation yet. There is an Ancient Danger close to the Eastern map edge, and the third "good" steam vent is slightly below it. There are two Bumbledrone hives (for now - I don't know if new ones appear). One is in the South-West corner of the map, and it shouldn't give us any trouble (unless a caravan passes by), and the second one is to the south of the Ancient Danger and the Eastern steam geyser. Relatively close, but not too close. There are also steel deposits on the map, and they look sufficient for now.
There are four starting goals: plant rice, potatoes and corn; clear out at least one Bumbledrone hive; research Planetarium; and open the Ancient Danger. The Cryptosleep caskets can hold McMillan if Planetarium isn't researched on time. Because of that, I've decided to set up camp in/around the small hill near the Ancient Danger. There's only a short walk from there to the fertile land, and having the beds close means less blood loss after the AD is cleared. On the other hand, if AD has mechanoids or something nasty, there's a much greater risk to the base.
Anyway, on day 2, the rice was already planted, and a wooden path was built between the farms and the base. Later that day, a transport pod crashed nearby. It carried a Royal Ave, who are amazing mounts, and Soler rescued it. On day 3, the Royal Ave (called Magna) joined the colony. At the same time there was a raid - a single young Moyo, called Snotface. Her skills were good, so I decided to recruit her. I should probably mention here that I've set the "enemies die when they aren't killed" variable to 0, for Maximum Friendship.
The raid was dealt with easily. Probably because the colony's main weapon, a psicharge rifle, does non-bleeding burn damage (it doesn't set people on fire). Also probably because it was just one enemy, coming in from a very advantageous (for us) direction - West. Confiscating the Snotface's revolver, the colony now has 4 weapons (the other two are a poor-quality pistol and a wrench). This should be enough to deal with the bumbledrone hive nearby.
Honestly, I was expecting that I'd have to reload the fight against the hive a few times. But it turned out that I needn't have worried. The Bumbledrones ignore everything that is outside of their territory - and that includes people just outside this territory, shooting at them and their hive. In the end, the hive was cleared successfully, and I've gained 200+ insect chitin, 500+ insect meat (which quickly rotted), and some jelly. And one case of "Ate raw jelly" food poisoning.
After this I realized I still haven't started any research. So I rushed the research table and an extension of the barracks, and reassigned McMillan from construction to research. The other builder, Xina, finished the pathway connecting the base and the nearest steel deposit. The colony now has a wind turbine, and the second one is waiting for steel. Batteries are being researched, and rice is at 96% ready. Some stupid iguana started munching on it, so I'll probably order to harvest it prematurely. There is no fridge yet, so if I kill the iguana, it might go to waste.
The relationships in the colony started taking shape. Xina had her first social fight with Rawia (the daughter-crystalloid, also the main miner), and rejected McMillan's flirting. I kinda hope they become an item, though - double beds save resources.
There was no "Name the settlement" event yet, so I fired one manually. The faction's name will be "The Tar Nation" (Marvel at my wit!), and the settlement will be called "Bourne-at-the-canyon".
The goals for the next week are: get batteries and clear the Ancient Danger. The old barracks then becomes a kitchen/fridge, and the AD itself turns into the Main Room.
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