Part 1: Here's To New Beginnings

Chapter 1: Here's To New Beginnings



Friends, it has been a true pleasure working on this endeavor with you over the past decade. As we celebrate Freeland's tenth anniversary, let us welcome our guests of honor at this banquet, the brilliant Daoming Sochua and her entourage. Sadly, they can only be here via satellite comm link, but it's the thought that counts! We'll send you guys the best leftovers, I promise.


"The people of Tiangong honor your ancestors."

I'd like to take this opportunity to reflect on what we've been through since we got here. I still remember when we first landed, together with the finest engineers, machinery, and scanning equipment money can buy, full of excitement and energy... only to find that everything is made of fungus. The air. The trees. The river. I wouldn't be surprised if this planet's core is made of fungus.


This planet has a fungal biome, and we got a delightfully awful starting city position (which I did not improve with my choice of landing tile, but we'll get to that). This is gonna be great, you guys.


Now, there were some useful resources, of course. Bugs that secrete medicinal ooze. Titanium. Petroleum. I'm not sure how fields of stones that float are useful quite yet, but by God, we will find a way!


It hasn't been easy working these fields, I know. I put in my shifts just like the rest of you. But it is a damn sight better than what we had, even if taking a breather outside would probably involve inhaling a fatal amount of fungal spores.



The PAC landing, with minimap included for location reference.

We're not on our own either, of course! Our friends in the Pan-Asian Cooperative arrived less than a year after us, after all. And our scouts continue to find resource pods sent from Old Earth.





Let us take a moment to honor the memory of those who came before us and did not survive. Discovering that derelict settlement left by a previous expedition was a rollercoaster experience. I hope their souls will take some small comfort in knowing we will try our best to avoid their mistakes.




This planet is not without beauty! If any of you haven't been to visit the the Ranjani Pass yet, you owe it to yourselves to go. (With security escort, of course. Those giant flying bugs look pretty nasty, though they haven't attacked us yet, I assure you.) The canyons there are a phenomenal sight, and I'm sure thinking of the plate tectonics involved with the region will make the geologists out there blush.




It has been long enough for the scientists of Freeland to develop spore-resistant vehicles, and so the time has come for us to fulfill our duty. We must strike out into the wilderness and find areas for our people still waiting in cryogenic stasis to settle. I hope they will be proud of the unique character of our fresh new nation.




As the evening goes on, I will take suggestions from the scientific community on where best to apply our know-how next, from others on where to settle, and so on. I look forward to meeting a wide array of you colorful folks. Should give me a good idea what kind of people we have become.

Alright, I believe I have gone on long enough. I would like to propose a toast. To new beginnings. Cheers!


So, there are a few things you can vote on at this stage. Only the first is really necessary, but I'll take suggestions for everything.

--The most important is our first Virtue. Because of the bonus from exploring the derelict settlement, we got one early. Should we focus on Might, Prosperity, Knowledge, or Industry? Do some sort of spread? Regardless, we have to take the first one to unlock the rest of the tree, so we have to take one of these first:









--Research priority. Right now, the options are all about adapting what we already know to a new environment, but if you want me to explain any of them in greater detail, just ask.
Chemistry allows us to build Laboratory and Recycler facilities. It also gives us the means to construct petroleum wells. Petroleum is useful for many things, but particularly for building and launching satellites.

Ecology lets us build Miasmic Repulsor satellites to repel clouds of miasma, as well as Vivariums (granting an increase in food) and Ultrasonic Fences (to keep out native life forms.)

Engineering unlocks the Combat Rover unit, as well as Thorium Reactors and Repair Facilities. Reactors produce more energy, while Repair Facilities let us build units faster by replacing and recycling parts.

Genetics gives us access to the Pharmalab and Cytonursery, both of which increase Health (the game's happiness equivalent). The Cytonursery also increases Science.

Physics gives access to the Ranger unit, which attacks from a distance. It would also allow us to build Observatories to increase science output, and Launch Complexes to improve our orbital infrastructure.

Each field also has “leaf” technologies which are further specializations that usually yield powerful bonuses, but we have to research their associated branch tech first. They also unlock more techs deeper in the web. For example, to research Computing, we would first need to get either Ecology or Engineering (only one is necessary, which can make for an interesting tech web).

--Where to settle next, and what to call the settlement.

--What to build in Freeland. The current options are a Colonist, another Worker, Explorer, Soldier, a Clinic (bonus to Science and Health), an Old Earth Relic (bonus to Culture), or one of the four "developments", which convert Production into Food (Agricultural), Culture (Social), Industrial (Energy) or Research (Science), all at a 25% rate.