An Unexpectedly Green Journey (orc life-simulator) [1.5+ Million Words] POST-RELEASE DISCUSSION- NEW! Speculative poll for focus of new DLC

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Be warned, below is a bit of a stream of consciousness live tweeting as I tried to break the game.

Summary

Okay, I know from looking at the code there are points where Piforgorcas will come to warn you if any of your stats are starting to drop. What I can’t get to happen is have those lines trigger in game. This is easier to tell now with the stats at the top of the city building menu (brilliant idea by the way) but my stats drop very low and I never receive any warning.

These are the stats from a run where I just waited and did nothing for a year every time, then sacrificed all the raiders after defending inside the city.

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Not only are my stats low, my population is in the negative and I’m not getting a game over. I can continue for several years (just doing the wait and do nothing option) prior to getting a game over screen.

Population is the easiest to test this with, you can drop your population very quickly, either through the raid or by building the slave pens and selling off your population, but I never receive a warning from Piforgorcas above any issues.

I did another run where I tried to bankrupt my city, spending on the most lavish options all on the city’s budget.

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I’m not sure what the anarchy cut off is, but I was able to keep spending from the city treasury until I hit the cyclops event and died (I hadn’t been doing anything but building massive public works).

I also hadn’t done any of the Krog’s Plan works at all and never got any inkling that was bad.

EDIT: Okay, at least managed to get the Krog is not happy message from not following the plan. Takes a WHILE for that to come up.

EDIT EDIT: Okay, I’m not sure how I did this. I thought I had been selecting city wealth for all the build options, but it wasn’t going down, in fact I was becoming more and more wealthy, so I thought maybe I hit personal loot once or twice, so I checked my personal stats.

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I don’t know how I got negative loot.

EDIT EDIT EDIT: Okay, Wealth may need a rebalance. I built every single structure in the build menu with city wealth and I have been unable to get it to drop to get the bank loan to fire. I have held multiple Fat Krogday celebrations, multiple Divine Reconciliations, just trying to drain the treasury and I can’t get it to to drop.

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: Okay, I managed to finally get a game over screen by doing nothing but chaining Fat Krogday celebrations on the city’s budget.

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But I went straight to a game over screen. I’m guessing one of my other stats (faith/crime?) dropped before my wealth did.

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: I managed to get the bank event to fire! All it took was 6 Fat Krogdays in a row!

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: It also seems like it is now impossible to get a gameover from falling behind on Krog’s plan. I never built any of the Krog’s plan options and I have gotten past the create a new god event (and many years past beside that) and while Piforgorcas has warned that Krog is pissed, nothing has happened from it.

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@NumberedEntity I see the repetition of Anarchy in all 4 opposing stats from one of the commenters. I have better names for this

  1. Wealth/Bankrupt
  2. Defence/Exposed
  3. Faith/Heresy

Law/Anarchy fits well, no need to change it.

And there should be better bad endings to each. Low Wealth means you either take a loan or ignore it and face punishment (Which you probably did already), Low Defence means your city should be attacked by raiders or MC’s Enemies, and Low Faith means you face the wrath of Krog.

(Wait… Did you do these endings accordingly to their stats?)

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@Patrick_Cody02

Hi patrick,

I already have endings based on failing each of the stats.

With low wealth, you take out a loan, which takes a portion of your wealth each turn if unpaid. If you default, then assassins go after you.
With low Law, the city streets descend into anarchy and gangs take control.

Low Defence gets you invaded by raiders.

Low Faith invites demons into your realm.

I do like the opposing names for the stats! Thinks I’ll add those :))

@anon12679161

Will get right to it. Seems as if I overcompensated on denying the fall into the bad ending.

I think if I put checks in two places it will ensure your stat checks hit when they are supposed to. Before, some of the stat checks may have negated each other. I will test this to see if it works.

EDITEDIT: I will adjust the cost of some things to make wealth more precarious.

UPDATE:

-Refined the stat checking progress. Your stats will be checked twice during each 3 years to ensure they are not skipped.
-Fixed population errors due to not building improvements to the slums.
-Your population will increase much more dramatically now- as was originally intended.
- You are not immune from Krog’s anger if you create another god, he will still encourage you to see through his plans.
EDIT- Fixed an infinite loot if your population dropped too low. The first time you get a warning for a low population, your shamans will drag malingerers from the plains into your city. If you get the warning again, you will get a game over.

Certain bonuses and penalties still need to be fiddled with to ensure balance but the section works much better in testing.

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When this game is fully released, I’m definitely going to play legitimately once or twice, and then cheat to see how absurd I can become.

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Any updates for analyzing Orc Odd Jobs, aside from the Blacksmithing Odd Job with Quality vs Quantity Effect. I found both Food Competition and Grog Brewing Jobs, The food competition has various foods from different races (?) Depending on MC’s Choice. One of the most awful foods is MC’s Special, which is a food abomination that is so awful not even the gods would dare taste it. For some reason, I think this looked like the perfect offering for the Dark Gods (I forgot the name of that pantheon), would Cyclopes even want to eat that? Anyways, The food competition job should be another start to the Big Belly Path or another factor for being judged by them, as well as the Grog Brewing Job. Do you think that both jobs should have a long-term impact on gameplay in the Big Belly Path?

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@Patrick_Cody02

Hmm, I like that idea, to influence the big bellies with those particular jobs. I’ll add that to my list.

If you have already had some successful experience with the big bellies, you are more likely to cook up, or brew, decent grub and grog for those jobs. Seems right to have it work both way too!

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You really added a mini version of Hell’s Kitchen in An Unexpectedly Green Journey in the Odd Job Path.

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Haha! Yes, there is a little bit of depth to the cooking and brewing tasks. Only a few of the jobs are as simple as they seem.

There is also the stage play, in one of Grandardgard’s public squares, where your orc has to make sure he times the special effects correctly. The rhymes the narrator says often change based on the order of the special effects- though since the play is supposed to be a retelling of the founding of the city, the audience will not approve of your reinterpretation.

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Looks like the perfect chance to add the Actor/Performer Path, if that even fits with the game and Orc Traditions and Stereotypes.

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Hi Patrick,

I think it is a good idea, but wouldn’t suit a plain’s orc. An imperial orc, maybe.

It would be an amusing story, for sure!

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I am out of ideas

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Is there really only one way to become chieftain in this game, makes it look bland

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Well, you do it orc style and challenge the leader. If you win, you get to be chief. If you don’t want to be chief, your orc can find something else to do.

Your character is an orc of the plains, not a noble of a feudal kingdom or a councillor in a merchant republic. In this game, you play as a traditional ‘plains orc’ and are tied by your culture and traditions.

At this point, I am looking to sew up and improve what is already in the game rather than adding massive chains of events. This game is a long, large game and making it any larger risks it falling apart. We must draw limits sometimes.

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I’m not sure if I would agree there is only one way to become chief. Sure, the only way to actually become chief is to challenge the old chief, but within the frame of that challenge you have lots of options about how you win that challenge. Gather allies from all across the continent, including human knights, animal companions and dark elf allies. Consort with demonic powers to gain enough personal strength to slaughter anyone who stands in your way. Go the good old fashioned route and train up your orcish skills and fight beside your boys.

Saying there is only one way to become chief is sort of like saying there is only one way to finish (as an example) Mass Effect 3, because no matter what you do you end up in the same place at the end. But that discounts all the roads and diversions you can take along the way.

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If you have a very strong foundation you made with my ideas and you own, maybe you can expand the options on becoming Chieftain. I saw that Slappa (I think) became Chieftain, should that also be an option for becoming Chieftain for the MC?

Wait a minute?

Did Slappa 'proclaim ’ himself Chieftain through corruption and his personal mob? I suspect he might be involved in the "Assassination " of the former Chieftain. Even Corrupt Politics are involved in the tribe

(I checked the story)

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Hi Patrick,

For the game to work, I found giving a cut-off time for becoming chief was best. This allows me to control the variables and the flow of a wider narrative. The emperor path also takes into account your ageing, which is something I have had to think about in a life simulator.

Slappa takes his time to build his support, through bribery and intimidation- he strikes when Morgorc is frail. After that, instead of the tribe wavering in their support of Morgorc (which you take advantage of), the tribe sees Slappa as the biggest, toughest git and accepts his leadership. By this time, you have simply missed your chance- but, just maybe, you might find a hopeful young orc able to challenge him much later.

Yes, Slappa… arranges the death of Morgorc. When chieftains show weakness, this often happens. The fact that he didn’t openly challenge Morgorc shows he is not one worthy of future greatness!

And, as @anon12679161 says, it is not simply a question of choosing to be chief, you use your connections and abilities to overcome Morgorc in various ways- ways unavailable to Slappa.

In the end, I am unable to include every idea. I have included lots of good ideas people have suggested. A few of the smaller ones may still be added when I go through the game after the old age section is done. It is the time for refinement and flavour now, a good bit of polishing.

I feel that what we have can, proudly, and honestly, hold the title of ‘an orc life simulator.’ You cannot do everything all the time, but you get a wide variety of choices throughout your life, with each major period of life offering its own tone and challenges without cutting any corners.

I love that you have stuck with this project since the earliest days of posting and have seen it develop. Now we can try to ensure Green is bug and typo-free and offers the uninitiated orcs a chance at the good life!

Cheers,

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This was great, I became orc god and saved the world.

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Hi Eric,

Welcome to the orc forum! Love that you enjoyed your time reforging a continent and creating a legend!

Please let me know if you found any bugs and typos.

Cheers!

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I am out of ideas, even Chieftain Politics are corrupt

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You have given me many fine ideas Patrick. Thanks for those.

Yes- though, sadly, I would say the corrupt nature of orc politics pales in comparison to the real world. Some of our leaders could do with a big green fist about the head!
(This is the opinion of all orcs and not endorsed by the human intermediary/author)

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