Into the far north we shall take you: Unreal World (A game diary)

[Kelron]

I probably could, though people would wander into my house and out with my items if I didn’t fence it off. You can even just fence off one of their existing buildings and hijack it, but I’d rather not.

[Kelron]

2nd May 16

Building a cabin. Heavy, tiring work. First Juhani needs to fell the trees, then they need to be dragged to the building site and fashioned into useable logs before he can put them together as a wall. When he’s felled all the nearby trees, he takes the raft further afield and looks for stands of trees along the shore.

Dragging heavy objects along the ground takes quite a while, both real time and game time. You can stack things on a raft to move faster.

After a week he has about a third of the logs he needs, and this is just for a small 2x2 cabin, enough room for a fireplace and bed. Tomorrow he’ll start building, it’s nice to have something to show for the work even if he’ll have to stop half way for more wood.

Juhani wakes up to a foul smell emanating from his cellar. The meat from the stag has spoiled already. Nothing to do with it but throw it out. If need be he can start eating dried meat, but when he goes to check the trap he finds a wild sow in one of the pits.

In tests on a previous game, I had raw meat last 20 days in a cellar, while raw fish seemed to go bad in a week or less sometimes. I’m not sure if there’s a random element, if it varies with weather, or if different types of meat have different lifetimes. The in game reference and wiki are very useful for general mechanics, but don’t have much in the way of numbers, you have to work them out yourself.

After two weeks building this is the state of Juhani’s cabin:

http://i.imgur.com/mP50RCk.jpg

Slow going, but he’s getting there.

Next: Danger and Excitement!

[internetonsetadd]

I feel like those LARPing images should be lower res to match the game. Also, I want to play.

Edit: like this.

[EPICTHEFAIL]

Very interesting read. The game looks quite fun, though the “pray to the spirits for a status buff” mechanic feels a bit silly in an otherwise realistic world. Also, the LARPing images are a rather unwelcome part of the interface IMO.

[QuantaCat]

And here is the reason why I never gave this game a chance.

you know this post is just trolling. In order for it to be not so, youd have to type a bit more than that. And thats not just my opinion.

[DaftPunk]

The whole game looks fugly as hell,otherwise it sounds like a fun game,i like this kind of games.

[EPICTHEFAIL]

The whole game looks fugly as hell,otherwise it sounds like a fun game,i like this kind of games.

It`s been in development for 20 years, what did you expect?

[DaftPunk]

It`s been in development for 20 years, what did you expect?

Ma nemoj…

[Kelron]

**17th May
**
A bear, a bear! It’s wandered into one of the pits, and is caught on the spikes.

Juhani’s well off for food, and until the house is finished he can’t preserve any more. So he’s going to leave the bear alone for now, perhaps the trap fence can serve as a very angry larder.

Dead animals will disappear after a while. I’m not sure if live animals can eventually get free of the traps. I don’t think they do, and I don’t think they will die from their injuries unless they are actively bleeding.

As the sun sets that evening, Juhani spies something in the distance across the lake.

http://i.imgur.com/O9jtomi.jpg

You can see my traps marked on the wilderness map, and my shelter is now shown as a settlement due to my building. You can also sometimes spot animals and people without climbing trees, if they aren’t in the forest.

The Njerpez are starting to show up in the region. What if they should stumble upon Juhani’s house when he’s sleeping or working? This is only a lone man, and perhaps Juhani can sneak up on him in the twilight…

He approaches quietly through the trees. As he gets close, he draws his bow and fires. The arrow lodges itself in a tree past the bandit’s ear. The surprise doesn’t last long; he spots Juhani and draws a nasty looking scimitar before charging. Another arrow misses and Juhani is in a dangerous spot. He’s standing there with nothing but a bow in his hands as the bandit enters melee range.

Juhani’s natural agility saves his life. He ducks and weaves while drawing his spear, avoiding the clumsy swipes of his assailant. A thrust to the bandit’s arm doesn’t strike true, but the sword clatters to the ground as the man recoils. Unarmed now, the bandit tries to fight, but Juhani barely feels the blows that do connect, thanks to his thick fur. Meanwhile more spear thrusts are connecting, but Juhani’s lack of experience prevents him causing serious wounds.

The bandit decides enough is enough, and flees. Rather than giving chase immediately, Juhani stops to catch his breath and pick up the fallen scimitar (metal weapons are valuable), before stealthily following the footprints. He spots the man under a tree a short distance away, and manages to fire three arrows before being spotted after one hit flesh. The bandit charges Juhani again, but the wounds are taking their toll. This time the spear hits him solidly in the shoulder, enough to break any remaining will to fight. As the man tries to run again, Juhani sweeps the spear across his legs, smashing open the bone.

http://i.imgur.com/sxWYov3.jpg

In this state, there’s no chance of running or fighting back. Juhani shows the same mercy he would’ve received – he stabs until the man stops moving.

Next: Home & Hearth

[DaftPunk]

Are you gonna eat falled bandit DOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEET! nomnomnomn fallenbandit :3

[Fanbuoy]

The combat sounds surprisingly interesting. I still have the feeling that this is a game I’d rather read about than play, though. So thank you!

[mammothbaby]

Enjoying this. Keep up the great work!

[Kelron]

18th May 16

Juhani sets about his building with renewed energy; simple hard work doesn’t seem so bad after nearly having his head chopped off. He spends the next few days gathering the rest of the trees he’ll need.

When he returns to his traps the bear is still stuck, but an elk killed itself in one of the other pits. Left alone it will be eaten by scavengers, so he cuts it up and takes it back to camp. The food might go to waste, but fur is always useful.

By the 28th he has the walls finished.

Walls take the most effort, requiring 6 trees each. Ceiling, floor and doors need boards and slender tree trunks, which are more easily acquired.

And after nearly a month of work, he’s the proud owner of a new home. This isn’t just shelter, the stone fireplace will stay warm long after the fire burns out, and can be used to cook a wider variety of food such as stews and (more importantly) smoked meat.

http://i.imgur.com/8cJhjnR.jpg

A small cabin lessens the immediate pressures of survival, but Juhani doesn’t plan to stop here. A fence will dissuade any wandering vagabonds from rummaging through his possessions, and he can turn his hut into a compound. Storehouse, workshop, animal pen. Stock of firewood for winter, organised cellars for long and short term supplies. Plenty to do, and plenty of time to do it.

Next: A bearskin cloak

[Kelron]

Will put a new entry up later today. My miniscule attention span got transferred to CK2.

[QuantaCat]

Will put a new entry up later today. My miniscule attention span got transferred to CK2.

I know the feeling.

[LTK]

Meanwhile, you can read this amazing story, which sounds like a great custom scenario for this game.

[Tikey]

I’m disappointed that Juhani isn’t a cat like Jedi. Otherwise this diary is great.

[DaftPunk]

Its really more fun to read about the adventure from this game then to play it,because i tried it and its,horrible.

[Kelron]

I’m disappointed that Juhani isn’t a cat like Jedi. Otherwise this diary is great.

Sorry! I had to google that, I pulled the name from a random finnish name generator.

[Kelron]

@LTK, interesting read. Their lifestyle sounds quite similar to URW, if you deny yourself human contact you’re very limited in what you can achieve, as you can’t do metalworking yourself. Every character starts with a knife, but it’s quite possible to start without an axe, and the only way to get a decent axe is from other people. You can make yourself a stone axe, but its very slow to do anything with, and not useable at all for tasks like making boards from a log. Which, in game, means no cellars, no cabins and no paddles, as I found out when I decided to start on an island and couldn’t get off it.

One thing that doesn’t happen in game is unseasonal weather, so you can’t have your crop ruined by late snow, but if you were living as a farmer and managed to lose all your seeds you’d be in serious trouble.

1st June 16

With a room to smoke meat, it’s time to deal with the bear caught in the pit. As Juhani approaches, he sees fresh bear tracks in the moss. Warily he draws his spear, perhaps the bear is loose and hungry. But as he reaches the fence, he discovers not one but two bears in the pits!

He’ll leave the second one alone for now, it doesn’t seem like they can go anywhere. Standing near the pit, he fires a few arrows into the other. Judging by recent experience he may have overestimated his skill with a bow, as the arrows fail to find any vital organs and the bear is left slightly angrier than before. Juhani moves in to poke it with a spear, and hurriedly retreats when the bear takes a swipe at him.

Losing a few arrows is better than losing his life, so Juhani empties his quiver into the bear. Eventually it collapses under sheer weight of arrows, and he finishes it off safely.

A bear is a good kill. Not only does it provide plenty of meat (though less than an elk), its fur is the thickest and warmest of any animal. Juhani prepares most of the meat for smoking, using the clothes from the Njerpez warrior and a stag fur he made a mess of for cord.

With plenty of cord left over, he gathers branches and rocks to fashion more arrows. A few broke or sailed off into the forest, but arrows are easily made as long as he has fur to spare. The bear skin is tanning while he does all this.

When the bear fur is ready, he makes himself a cloak from it. It’s heavy to wear, but worth it.

Armour has separate protection values for different kinds of attack. Fur is warm, gives good protection against blunt weapons and some against tearing (animal claws), but isn’t much use against swords and spears. It will still help against glancing blows or light cuts, but won’t save me from serious wounds. Different clothing pieces also cover specific body parts, with some clothing overlapping. A cloak for example covers my shoulders down to my knees, but not my arms, while an iron breastplate only covers the chest and waist but does so very well.
**
Next: Expanding the homestead**