Strange Fellow
Peculiar
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- Jun 21, 2018
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Titan Outpost is a hard sci-fi RPG* made by Dutch developer The Boar Studios. Primarily a one-man effort, after a three-year dev cycle it was finally released last year, to widespread acclaim HAHA, no, nobody bought it. Reportedly, it released in a rather shoddy technical state, but after a year or so of patching and tweaking, the game has finally received the recognition it deserves nobody knows it exists.
*Permits are pending, lack of DEEP TACTICAL TURN-BASED COMBAT threw a wrench in the application process, please bear with us.
First of all, a bit of background: Titan Outpost is set on an outpost on Saturn’s moon Titan.
There, that ought to cover it.
LOG 1: TOUCHDOWN
Here we go. Starting a new game immediately sends us to the character creation screen, but we’ll skip over that for the time being. The intro sequence is the same no matter what sort of character you make, anyway.
We overhear a radio:
Easy lander, stand by.
PC jet, standing by.
Prepare to disengage. Locks.
Check.
Pressure.
Check.
ODS.
Check.
A spacecraft comes into view.
You are go for EDL.
Initiating burn.
Will there be a Uranus joke at some point?
You bet your ass there will.
Vector locked.
Confirm declining orbit established.
Orbit decline OK.
Good luck.
The lander enters the atmosphere.
AOA is too steep, adjust now. Easy, you’re coming in hot!
*static*
*sounds of bad shit happening*
This is impossible!
*static*
Ruh-roh.
***
Looks like the lander is making it down OK despite the rough weather.
Parachute detaches. Did I speak too soon?
*CRASH*
I did!
Wall-E moves over to help, and the scene fades to black once again.
***
We wake up inside the outpost. Before we’ve even taken a step, the outpost’s AI system makes contact.
Easy to be indifferent when you're the face that never remembered
Editor's note: CONTINUITY-BREAKING INFORMATION HAS BEEN REDACTED FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE. THANK YOU.
How did I get here? What happened?
The lander crashed after the parachute detached prematurely. The construction robot got you out of there.
What about my partner? What about Valentina?
Officer Grives didn’t make it.
The construction bot?
It was programmed to head to the landing site and open the hatch in case something went wrong. Something went wrong.
I need to talk to mission command about this.
You can use the comms panel to contact Kronos station. Let me know if you need any help with it.
Alright, thanks. Do you have a name?
I am the IASA Programmable Management System.
I PMS? That’s hilarious. And maybe a bit sexist.
Hello, I need Kotaku on the phone? Serious breach of incloosive gaming standards detected, cease all coverage of Titan Outpost AT ONCE.
Sexist how? You can change my voice settings if you want. IPMS is defaulted but not limited to female settings.
Alright, sorry I mentioned it. I’m heading to the comm station.
And here is the outpost. Next time, we’ll see about contacting Kronos and getting settled in.
But before that, it’s character creation time. I’m posting the character creation section outside of the spoiler tag so people who have no intention of following this LP can nonetheless enjoy the warm, smooth feeling of participation.
Remember: your vote matters!
*Permits are pending, lack of DEEP TACTICAL TURN-BASED COMBAT threw a wrench in the application process, please bear with us.
First of all, a bit of background: Titan Outpost is set on an outpost on Saturn’s moon Titan.
There, that ought to cover it.
LOG 1: TOUCHDOWN
Here we go. Starting a new game immediately sends us to the character creation screen, but we’ll skip over that for the time being. The intro sequence is the same no matter what sort of character you make, anyway.
We overhear a radio:
A spacecraft comes into view.
Will there be a Uranus joke at some point?
You bet your ass there will.
The lander enters the atmosphere.
*static*
*sounds of bad shit happening*
*static*
Ruh-roh.
***
Looks like the lander is making it down OK despite the rough weather.
Parachute detaches. Did I speak too soon?
*CRASH*
I did!
Wall-E moves over to help, and the scene fades to black once again.
***
We wake up inside the outpost. Before we’ve even taken a step, the outpost’s AI system makes contact.
Easy to be indifferent when you're the face that never remembered
Editor's note: CONTINUITY-BREAKING INFORMATION HAS BEEN REDACTED FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE. THANK YOU.
Hello, I need Kotaku on the phone? Serious breach of incloosive gaming standards detected, cease all coverage of Titan Outpost AT ONCE.
And here is the outpost. Next time, we’ll see about contacting Kronos and getting settled in.
But before that, it’s character creation time. I’m posting the character creation section outside of the spoiler tag so people who have no intention of following this LP can nonetheless enjoy the warm, smooth feeling of participation.
CHARACTER CREATION
Here’s the character creation screen. We get a slew of stat points to start with, as well as a certain amount of skill points (1 plus our Intelligence divided by 2, rounded down). Focusing on 2-3 skills seems like a fair balance.
Suggestions, please! Be as specific as you like, allocate points if you want, or just pick an archetype (like explorer or scientist). We also need a name. Detailed stat descriptions can be found below, although by the looks of things they're all pretty much self-explanatory.
Please don’t make me a charismabot.
STATS
- Physicality: Your physical prowess. Good physical attributes enable you to weather the cold a little longer, lift heavier and more things, reduce the long-term effects of low gravity and stay awake longer. When in doubt, use brute force.
- Intelligence: Intelligence determines your ability to formulate and develop a thesis and your capacity for learning. You gain a 25% bonus to scientific development per point of intelligence and an extra skillpoint per two points of intelligence. Always be smarter than the people who hire you.
- Charisma: The transference of enthusiasm. Your charisma allows you to convince others, have them work for you and soften the blow of perfidy. High charisma gives you a boost to your negotiation skill and contractor services cost 10% less per charisma point. Lack of charisma can be fatal.
- Awareness: Your ability to directly know and perceive, or to be cognizant of events. You get a boost to exploration, construction and logistics and notice things that are easy to miss. Paying attention pays off.
SKILLS
- Science: The systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world. A high science skill unlocks new potential discoveries at the research station. If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.
- Construction: Designing and engineering structures and manufacturing of items. The 3D printer on Titan Outpost is automated but requires knowledge and skill to program and operate. Increases building speed and allows you to conduct repairs in the field more efficiently. The road to success is always under construction.
- Negotiation: The skill to reach agreements. This works best in conjunction with a high charisma, but even unappealing personalities will be able to negotiate their way in and out of many a situation. Negotiate better contracts, new allegiances and plea for the skies. Don’t bargain yourself down before you get to the table.
- Logistics: Organization and implementation of complex operations. You gain a resource gathering bonus of 25% per point per day and can set more drone waypoints. Logistics is simple, but not easy.
- Hacking: Gain unauthorised access to systems. The interplanetary communication system, wherein every byte counts, can be eavesdropped by even the novice security aficionado, but Chinese protocols are a tough nut to crack. Flying down a tunnel of 0s and 1s is not how hacking is really done.
- Exploration: Much of Titan is still unexplored. The thick atmosphere makes optical imaging from space almost impossible and all you have to go by is radar data. A high exploration skill will enable you to widen your range with the rover and travel faster. Not all who wander are lost.
We can also pick a single trait:
Remember: your vote matters!
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