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bug's This war of mine (PC)
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| [January 28, 2015 12:39:09 PM]
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Days 7-9:
Raiders came in the morning and took more than a little. Due to my lack of gastronomical foresight, resources are starting to run thin. Someone is always sick or hurt, and medical supplies are indeed a rarity. Recovery is possible without them: herbal medicine, food, rest and warmth all help a bit. I've been lucky enough not to learn yet how hunger, sickness, or injury affects these characters' lives when they become severe...
So far, I've managed to play it safe while scavenging, poking around the outskirts of dangerous areas, but I will need to start taking some risks. With considerable effort, I managed to upgrade a few workstations and build a couple weapons.
Day 10:
It's time. Health is deteriorating and I need to scrounge further.
Night 10:
...Marko was shot trying to loot the supermarket.
Reflection:
While this was perhaps a foreseeable outcome, it raises a lot of questions. How do we view the demoralization that all these characters (PC and NPC) are facing? With sympathy? Pity? Judgement? Many philosophers would denounce the stealing and violence outright, but, for example, what counts as stealing, when it's an abandoned supermarket? Ripe for analysis.
The game medium itself presents interesting choices, too: it's possible to redo a (game-time) day's worth of gameplay by reloading, including the results of the previous night (raids on the house, etc.). It's perhaps not an ethical issue, but one could ask whether this ability detracts from the player's ability to reason about the ethics that the game presents, i.e., by making it easier to go through the game without stealing or killing, thus avoiding the hard questions. Then again, the difficulty curve might be such that even that small advantage wouldn't be enough to bypass hardship-induced moral dilemma.
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| [January 27, 2015 05:09:23 PM]
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Days 3-5:
Things I learned:
You can go a day without food just fine. A cooked meal is enough to go by for two days (even if that sounds like hell). I probably could have skimped on meals earlier on.
Traders will appear at your door, as well as people asking for help. Bruno helped someone create a makeshift children's hospital, which didn't appear to give any material benefit, but lifted everyone's mood.
Traders often place different values on items depending on their immediate needs, although certain rare items like moonshine and jewelry seem to be always valuable. Additionally, all the NPCs I've bartered with so far have been in dire need of bandages or medicine, and some will ask for them outright. Trading with those who ask for medicinal aid will improve your morale.
Scavenging at certain areas can bring trade opportunities, others danger of gunfire, but some areas are simply private residences whose owners simply wish to be left alone.
HERE COME THE BIG MORAL CHOICES:
If you are discovered by a homeowner, even if they are not aggressive or particularly upset, everything worth scavenging from the house will suddenly be marked with "PRIVATE PROPERTY". I assume that this is a message from the scavenger PC's own conscience, since it does not appear until you have met the owners. They also really freak out if you start picking a lock. Whoops.
I expect things to get a lot more complicated and difficult, in terms of these choices.
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| [January 27, 2015 03:59:22 PM]
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(Please note: this entry was written for a play session of the game yesterday. In order to prevent data loss, I typically edit online posts like this in a local text editor before submitting, but I neglected to submit it last night.)
Day 1:
I'm immediately thrown into a burnt, half-collapsed building in the middle of a war-torn city, and put in charge of three lives. One of them is wounded, another sick, but at least we have a Good Cook, a Good Scavenger, and a Fast Runner. I start clearing out the rubble and collecting supplies from around the house, which I fashion into a bed to let Bruno, the sickie, rest. (The game helpfully hints that resting in beds does in fact help recover from sickness or wounds, and that clearing out debris is faster if one has a shovel. Good feedback.)
Time passes very quickly. By nightfall, I'm only able to gather a handful of scraps and build a single bed, and when I go out at night to scavenge from an abandoned, burning building, my haul is limited by what a single person can carry in a backpack. Apparently, the strongest lifter is Marko, who is still wounded...I decide to send someone else and have him rest instead of risk worsening his injury.
I foresee a pattern of barely scraping by...
Day 2:
The key is multitasking. By moving quickly between characters, I was able to clear out more rooms, pick a few locks, build another bed, a stove, and a heater. Bruno was also able to recover from his illness and cook enough food for everyone. I'm not sure how his "Good Cook" skill actually helps, but he's the obvious choice for preparing meals. (EDIT: the fan-made Wikia site tells me that he's able to cook more efficiently, using fewer resources when making meals and other consumables.)
I sent Marko to scavenge, despite that his wound still hasn't healed, but the night was uneventful. The same building is still chock full of food and building materials.
However, when he returns, I learn that the house was raided, and Bruno injured. The raiders took very little, but that injury will be a problem...
It's at this point that I get a feel for the game's primary conflict: not between enemies in war, but between other survivors.
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bug's This war of mine (PC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Thursday 22 January, 2015
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