Stone Age Survival

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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Stone Age Survival - play as early man!

Set in the late mesolithic period, you are either a homo sapien (what we are) or a Neanderthal who is orphaned at a young age and must learn to survive on their own! This is based as much off reality as possible, very little fiction; despite researching, a few things have been difficult to find so I’m doing my best to make it as historically accurate as we know. There will be additions occasionally that give a more modern flair or touch an unknown subject about early man, but they are only there to simplify the writing/coding to the point I can do this without adding a co-author.

Please stop asking for a save file! I will not be adding saving at any point!

What’s currently done:
Everything up to the encampment scene, as well as an early look at the final encampment start
Sapien & Neanderthal beginning
Companion animal list is finished (but not included yet)

Coming up:
Updated weapons, tools, and materials
New foods and cooking
Mixed Species are coming in the next update

Link: https://dashingdon.com/go/7649
Official webpage for Stone Age Survival: https://solarwolf.wixsite.com/macnamara-works/stone-age-survival This page is found on my personal professional portfolio website but is the official webpage for the overview of the game. More may be added over time until the game is completed.

Yes, I am aware I have other games to work on, but a friend challenged me a few weeks ago & got me interested in learning about early man, heard I can write with ChoiceScript, & asked if I could do anything with this. Gives me a good motivation (not that I didn’t have it before though) to really work for the moment.
Updates may be sporadic, but I am interested to see how much this takes hold in my head right now.
& as a bonus: my kid saw me researching “big kitties” & rocks (he loves rocks) & wants to know what I’m doing now, so I’m seeing this as a good bonding experience which is super good for my mental health right now.

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This idea is very, very interesting. I wonder if our survival skill will be limited ? Because there are too many different skills in real life that can be applied into this game but they are very complex and diverse

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The plot idea immediately caught my attention! Living as an early man, huh. I will definitely keep an eye on this wip

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2 things

1 - I could’ve sworn that bug was fixed in my last update to Dashingdon XD

2 - So far there are only 6 levels of crafting. Basic, Simple, Intermediate, Advanced, Bone, & Designed

Basic is the very basic of tools, like hammerstones and hand axes and simple knives of stone. Simple are slightly more complex that require a bit more thought, like stone blades, choppers, or stone tipped spears. Intermediate is things like the bow & stone tipped arrows, burins, and a reusable torch coated in sap. Advanced is the ability to weave nets, make harpoons, and make your own sled (though you can either trade for or potentially find one later on). Bone is being able to craft things from bone, as you will have enough know-how to not splinter it, and Designed is simply making tools more durable & etching designs into your bone gear.
There are also artistic crafts, like necklaces and bracelets, you can craft for trading or potentially to woo a potential mate (each mate choice will differ in what they like, what they will accept, and some you might be able to ask just right out).

Edit: Also, as the game goes on there will be more crafts added like pots, clothing, and possibly other items. I’m more concerned on survival tools at the moment, so I haven’t thought much on future crafts. But more than happy to hear some suggestions.

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Hey interesting. Okay this is going to be a long ask. I hope that is okay

How are you intended to implement the differences in the gender roles? New research suggests that one of the reasons for the extinction of the Neanderthals was that the women and men did not develop different gender roles such as the gathering and skill development for the crafting of harvest of nuts and making clothes and shelters.
Also while the males of the homo sapiens where hunting bigger prey (mostly by running them down, damn that endurance thou) the females are to believed to hunt smaller game with traps.

Interesting would be that some Neanderthal females lived the caves full time even to a point where they could be anemic and have osteoporosis.

Ofcourse all is to take with a grain of salt since the research is not 100% sure.

Also are you going to let the two groups mingle together as it is not known when the contact was or when it was not conflict based.

Sty if I annoy you just very interested and have a high respect for taking on such a complex story

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I love this idea! I can’t wait to see more of this game.

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This is not annoying by any means! There is so much to research about the Mesolithic humans that I welcome anything people have to say, ask, or suggest or anything else.

So far males and females in the game can do anything the other can do, with the only difference being in your personal skills & stats. This may be because for yourself, you were orphaned at the age of 8. You did not finish growing up in a family group, regardless of size, so you have to learn to survive on your own in a changing world. You didn’t have the luxury of learning the differences between the different things you could do (or not do), but instead had to make the best of your situation. If you come across other humans, you may see them doing sex-specific activities but that won’t be the case for your personal character unless you make those choices.

The ability to make clothing will come much later, mostly (at least right now) because it takes awhile to built up the tech (aka crafting) skill enough to make a bone needle needed for sewing. Shelter can be made by anyone in the game, as this is the start of settlements so by the time you encounter other humans, their all beginning to learn together as a community (from what I’ve found so far, the end of the Mesolithic is a huge turning point for agriculture and community development). Only the children, elderly, sick, or injured will not build shelters

I had not come across that about H. Sapiens, but then again I’ve finding it slightly difficult to find stone age h sapien info that isn’t threaded through with a lot of modern information. Stone Age human behavior for h sapiens specifically is eluding me, no matter where I search.

The groups will mingle, as this is happening at the end of the Neanderthals; you may actually be among the last ones, as I’m not sure if you’ll even meet another one at this point (at least that are mate choices). Since Neanderthals ended up mating with some of the h sapiens at some point, it won’t be unheard of in this game for them to hook up in one of the settlements or with lone single h sapiens they come across.

I have to simplify more than I like, but I’m trying to keep it as true as I can while also making this game writable for me.

Also, for anyone who can answer, I cannot tell if humans gave each other names at this point. No matter my wording on google, I cannot seem to find evidence of that.

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Sounds Fun ill play It

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Thanks. Yea I get that and I look forward to your writing.
Also the inter breeding (God what a weird way to call it :see_no_evil:) is actually a little discussion in the Iintellectual circles. If I recall it correctly there are some anthropologists that suggest that the shared DNA is a result of a shared ancestry. But I like the idea of the shared blood more so go with it.

As for names I get that it will have to be your choice since the lack of comprehensive writing. If you don’t want names you could use a title system where the individual is spoken to by their title or status in a family or group?

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Hi again i encounter a Eror

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This error will be fixed in the next update, which will be coming later today. Currently writing the morning after you escape from the cave, will upload after that’s done and tested.

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@hexfur Are you gonna add the sabertooth in the next update? Really want to know And i have a suggestion you said you gonna Add settlement then i suggest you should add management to your settlement like building a Wall for protection and Starting a war to other settlement (sorry for my bad english its not my first language)

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Really interesting idea. Will hope it develops into cool game.

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Sabres have already been written in, but you won’t encounter them very often. This is around the time when the glaciers started moving north, and their usual prey followed them, so the sabres moved north too. There are still some around, but not many.

So you won’t build a settlement, but you can join one of the three settlements (I’ll go ahead and list them below) or live on your own but be settled.

Settlements (and their specialties)

  • Coastline Settlement - smallest settlement, specializes in catching fish, creating silt pots, carving shells for adornments of carious kinds, and possibly making boats (that last one is if I can find good evidence that boats were used at this time, if not that idea will be scrapped)
  • Forest Settlement - specializes in spear hunting, trapping, plant-based clothing, making sledges, and tree-based food (nuts, berries, fruits, roots, ect)
  • Plains Settlement - largest settlement, specializes in bone equipment and crafting as well as bow & arrow hunting, pelt-crafted clothes, and bone crafts

Lone Homes

  • Peninsula Cliffs - a smallish valley enclosed on three sides by high unclimbable cliffs, small lake with narrow path leading in and out of valley, opens out onto same plains as Plains Settlement
  • Silt Caves - natural cave formations a days journey south of Coastline Settlement, caves are higher than tide mark with sandy flooring, low ceilings with freshwater stream just outside along cliff
  • Narrow Clearing - small and narrow clearing in same forest as the Forest Settlement, borders a deep and wide river that can be used for fishing
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Can we interact and trade with them as a nomad ? I wonder if they will treat you differently because you are a nomad ?

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so this happened.

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Very interesting demo, tho! there aren’t a lot of games that feature early man, so this was a nice change of pace :slight_smile:

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No one cares whether you are a nomad or not, not even most of the mate choices (there will only be a few that will care if you are a nomad or not). All they care about is if you have anything to trade with, even if it’s just skills.

So far what I have planned for trading:

  • You can trade with any human you come across as long as they have items they need or are worth trading
  • Settlements will always have items available for trading; they actually have early versions of markets for what I have in mind
  • In some cases, you can actually trade for something (like extra skin or food) by offering to teach other humans any skills you might have; you can offer training in strength, intelligence, and crafting
  • When you ask for something (like meat for example), the person in question will tell you what they want in exchange, if you have said item you will see a choice to give it to them, or possibly multiple choices if you have lots of the items they are asking for; if you have nothing, the only non-greyed out option will be something like “I have nothing to trade with” or something along those lines
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found this. Looks like an amazing game though! I can’t wait to see where you go with it!

extra points if we get to tame a sabertooth :grin:

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Funnily enough, you can have the following animal companions (& adding their bonus!)

  • Wolf - helps with hunting small-to-medium creatures, can pull sled
  • Sabre - helps with hunting medium-to-large creatures, makes taking down large prey easier
  • Lion - helps with hunting medium-to-large creatures, notifies character of certain animals
  • Elk - warns character of approaching herds, helps find good plant-based food spots, can pull sled
  • Horse - can pull sled, allows character to ride sometimes, can help with carrying supplies along with sled

Edit: Should add that a few of them you can find & tame early, but most won’t be until you are grown (at least 16 or so), and almost all of these will be tamed very young

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I cant wait to see more and i was happy to see a familar profile

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