Difference between revisions of "Human Play"
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Revision as of 06:23, 14 January 2014
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Going to be some heavy duty overhauling in here over the next few days. I have some good ideas, but I'm going to need time to write it all. Doram (talk) 07:35, 22 December 2013 (MST) |
Goals
General Advice
- First and foremost, communicate.
- Mush is a social strategy game. If you let your teammates know what you are doing and try to work with them, you will do better and so will your ship as a whole, guaranteed. You'll probably also have a lot more fun. :)
- Tooltips are not useful for telling you what your ship needs.
The tooltips tell you some possible actions that you can do. However, they are usually quite far off from what you should do, and in some cases, can be very counterproductive. Since AP is precious, ask your crewmates what you should be doing if you don't know.
- Do not cook a bunch of rations.
- This is bad or worse, depending on your ship's NERON settings. By default, NERON is set to automatically destroy cooked food at the end of the day. So any cooked rations sitting around at the end of cycle 8 will be destroyed with this NERON setting. If it's changed to preserve cooked food, any cooked food sitting around at the end of cycle 8 will spoil. Spoiled food is still safe to eat after one day, but after another day comes around it will have a chance to make any human who eats it sick. Either way, it's just not something that's good to do.
- Do not eat every time you can.
- While there are other ways to get food, the rations your ship starts with will be the bulk of your ship's food supply over the first 10 or so days. After 24 cycles without eating, a player gets the hungry status and loses 1 HP per cycle until they eat. If even a few people are eating every time they can, your ship will run out of food and starve. For most characters, it's best to only eat when you know you will be hungry soon, or when there is something important to take care of, like killing mush or putting out fires. If you're not sure, ask your shipmates whether or not something is worth eating to get done quickly. There are exceptions to this, like some ships will want Paola or Finola to eat daily during the beginning of the ship to get more done, but this should probably be agreed upon by the ship.
- Do not work on a NERON project that hasn't been agreed upon by the crew.
- In the NEXUS, there will be 3 NERON projects available to be worked on at a time. Once one of the three is completed, the other two are no longer available to your ship. Period. Therefore, someone should always list which NERON projects are available and what they do, then attempt to come to some sort of consensus on which is most useful to your ship. Some NERON projects are vital for a long lasting ship, so completing others when those are available is sabotage.
- Make sure cameras are set up early.
- Mush can infect humans with a spore without being detected in any room which does not have a camera. Doesn't matter if there are witnesses, if there isn't a camera, they can spore you all they like. For this reason, setting up cameras in key locations where people go offline should be a #1 priority for people without a specific job. Check storage rooms to find cameras, they will be on the walls or shelves there. The locations where you want to move them to are both dormitories and the bridge. The fourth camera can go in either the medlab or the engine room, although if your research team is doing their job, the engine room is probably a better location for a camera, since anyone idling in the medlab can easily check themselves for spores if the mycoscanner gets completed. It costs 1 AP to remove a camera and 2 AP to install it. Both these actions can make you dirty.
- Do not hang out in a room without a camera.
- As mentioned previously, mush can infect you with spores if you're in a room without a camera. Once cameras are set up, plan your trips so that you will have enough AP/MP to make it back to a camera and be protected. If everyone does this, it will be a lot more difficult for mush to turn anyone. The exceptions to this are whoever is using the medlab bed (usually Finola) and Chun, since she cannot be spored. To protect the medlab, the mycoscanner or mycoalarm research will need to be prioritized early on.
- Figure out what your character's role is and do it.
- There's a lot to do in the game, to be certain. However, while tempting, one should not explore the entire ship clicking all the things, as that is quite a bit of AP and MP that is not going towards your character's role aboard the ship. If you're unsure of your role, ask.
- Do not stay dirty for extended periods of time.
- There are many things which will make you dirty as a human. However, mush become dirty when they make spores and take damage when they take showers, so they very much have a built in incentive to stay dirty. Watching who is dirty, how often and for how long can help to identify mush. For this reason, if you stay dirty, you may very well be suspected of mush, and possibly killed.
- If your health or morale are getting low, do something about it.
- When you reach half health, it's a good idea to try to get healing. Anyone can heal 3 HP for you at the medlab for 2 AP, or you can heal yourself for 3 AP. This can also be done with the medkit in any room for the same cost. If your ship still has mush on it and you are low on health, it's best to PM people you trust to ask for healing, since it's not to your advantage for mush to know you'd be easy to finish off. Losing all your morale will kill you as surely as losing all your health, so you should also take action regarding this before it becomes critical. Lying in a bed in the same room as a shrink (typically Janice) will restore 1 morale per cycle, and you can also ask your shrink to use AP to restore 2 morale for you.
- Do not end a cycle in the same room as Raluca.
- Raluca loses one morale every cycle she ends in the same room as someone else, so she can very quickly reach 0 morale and suicide if people don't give her space. The exception to this is that if Raluca is on a bed in a dorm and Janice with the shrink skill is there, she is safe, because the morale gained will offset the morale lost. This can be risky for Raluca though, as Janice will need to make sure she stays in the room during cycle changeovers.
- Do not use the Microwave or the Mad Kube.
- The microwave can disrupt the ship's connection to Sol, costing your ship potentially quite a bit more than the 1 AP it would have taken you to cook that ration without it in the AP cost of reestablishing connection. The Mad Kube is a useless item. It has a very low chance of being successfully solved. Each person aboard the ship earns 3 glory the first time they solve it. Using it is generally regarded as a selfish AP waste, unless your ship is about to end.
Character Classes
Unlike in most games, classes in Mush are purely a matter of what skills you have that lend bonus points for action. This breaks down into the three titled administrators, and the remaining skill set owners: Commander, NERON Admin, Communications Officer, Pilot, Shooter, Medic, Technician, Gardener, and General Scientist. Each has strengths and weaknesses as well as areas of the ship that they will frequent, and from this comes their general duties that need to be carried out for a successful ship. Any one character can have the skills to fall into multiple of these classes, and they will have to combine the requirements of each into their gameplay (pilot and shooter come together often, for example).
Commander
Relevant Skills
Tasks
The Commander is essential for two specific situations: Moving the Ship, and Giving Missions.
Places to Spend Time
The Commander's place is on the bridge. Everyone who has to work on the bridge would benefit from a sofa being built there. As a central hub for work, the bridge is also a good place for a camera. If the camera and sofa are installed, there is really no reason for the Commander to ever leave the bridge.
Important Information for Communication
More than any other character, the Commander needs to pay attention to ALL the communication going on. Helping make decisions (or being the one to make the final decision when others agree to let you take full command), requires as much information as possible, and that means paying attention. If you have good players under you, you can set up some favorited lines of communication, and streamline the information flow a bit, but the average player will still mistakenly start new threads or use NERON announcements as excuses for new threads all the time, so vigilance is important.
When it is time to move, make sure that you tell someone to make sure the correct fuel is loaded, and announce when you are going to make the move. Ensure that there are no Hunters preventing the move with the Defense Team.
Other things to keep in mind
Neron Admin
Relevant Skills
Tasks
The NERON Admin is essential for two situations: Coordinating Research, and monitoring Ship settings.
Places to Spend Time
The Neron Admin is usually doing a lot of running around, especially since many of the first in line for the position also have other important duties (
Janice is needed in the Dorms often, for example). Generally, you will be bouncing between 3 places: The Nexus, The Bridge, and wherever else you are needed.
Important Information for Communication
For every round of research, the Neron Admin needs to get a consensus from the group, or a decision for the Commander, and direct the Science Team as to what to concentrate on. They can also call on the rest of the ship to progress vital projects as fast as possible (PLASMA SHIELDS! NOW!!!).
Other things to keep in mind
There are several ways that the NERON Admin becomes the center of things. The first Admin, Janice, is both the person to turn to for essential technology advancement and the person to turn to for 
Morale and psychological healing. Many times the Neron Admin will also find themselves acting as Commander, when the Commander is unavailable. You will be busy.
Communications Officer
Relevant Skills
Tasks
Places to Spend Time
Important Information for Communication
Other things to keep in mind
The Communications Officer is
Pilot
Relevant Skills
 Pilot
|
Learned by: | If  Mush:
|
|---|---|---|
An expert in manoeuvring the Icarus, Pasiphae and Patroller craft. Their aerial mastery is impressive.
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 Andie 1 Hua 1 Frieda 2 Jin Su 2 Roland 2 Terrence 3 Mage Book
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Kept |
Tasks
The Pilot is essential for two specific situations: Killing hunters from a patrol ship, and leading Expeditions.
Places to Spend Time
A pilot will spending a lot of time in ships: a Patroller shooting Hunters, Pasiphae collecting Scrap, or the Icarus on an Expedition. Since takeoff and landing both take 2 
AP, many times you will head out, and spend several cycles spending your AP and waiting for it to regen for more shooting before returning to the ship.
While out and about you are cut off from help for 
Health and Morale. While there are no events on a ship that will reduce your Health, you will lose Morale at the normal rate, so any extended time spent in a ship should be preceded by raising your Morale as High as possible.
While on the ship, stay in a bed as long as possible to regain AP as fast as possible to be able to head back out when the Hunters return.
The pilots are the backbone of the "Defense Team". They make sure that the ship does not get destroyed, and that the ship can move when necessary by eliminating the necessary attackers.
Important Information for Communication
Information that is useful for you that others can collect: How many and what kind of attackers are out there - can be seen from any Turret by any character.
Information that others might need form you: Do you have enough AP to take care of the current round? Can you kill all of them, or only enough to allow escape (a late game enemy, the Arack, can prevent you from running away)? How long will that take?
Other things to keep in mind
As a person that will be spending lots of time either in a ship cut off, or in a bed (preferably under a camera), a pilot is actually in the position of being one of the few members of the ship that has a very low chance of being caught by a Mush and converted. Take that into account when considering people you can trust.
Shooter
Relevant Skills
 Shooter
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Learned by: | If Mush:
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|---|---|---|
At ease handling all kinds of weapons
|
 Chao 1 Derek 1 Paola 3 Roland 3 Jin Su 4  Stephen 4 Terrence 4 Mage Book
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Kept |
Tasks
Places to Spend Time
Important Information for Communication
Other things to keep in mind
Medic
Relevant Skills
 Shrink
|
Learned by: | If Mush:
|
|---|---|---|
The Shrink is in charge of psychological support. They are able to keep morale high and treat psychological illnesses.
|
Janice 1
|
Kept |
 Medic
|
Learned by: | If Mush:
|
|---|---|---|
Medics have full medical training, allowing them to carry out rapid, appropriate procedures. They are also skilled in surgery
|
 Finola 2
|
Kept |
 Nurse
|
Learned by: | If Mush:
|
|---|---|---|
Always ready to help
|
 Chun 2
|
Kept |
Tasks
Places to Spend Time
Important Information for Communication
Other things to keep in mind
Technician
Relevant Skills
 Unknown skill
|
Learned by: | If Mush:
|
|---|---|---|
The IT Expert is at home as soon as they are in front of a screen. They manipulate the nexus, navigation and communications terminals with ease.
|
Janice 2 Eleesha 4 Frieda 4 Terrence 5 Mage Book
|
Kept |
Tasks
Places to Spend Time
Important Information for Communication
Other things to keep in mind
Gardener
Relevant Skills
 Botanist
|
Learned by: | If Mush:
|
|---|---|---|
Capable of distinguishing the characteristics of the various plants and fruits. They are also equally effective when maintaining the garden.
|
 Ian 1 Hua 2 Mage Book
|
Kept |
Tasks
Places to Spend Time
Important Information for Communication
Other things to keep in mind
Scientist
Relevant Skills
 Biologist
|
Learned by: | If Mush:
|
|---|---|---|
Highly skilled in laboratory research.
|
Finola 1 Ian 2 Paola 4 Mage Book
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Kept |
 Astrophysicist
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Learned by: | If Mush:
|
|---|---|---|
Skilled in scanning for planets in range or to determine their composition.
|
Frieda 1 Gioele 4 Kuan Ti 3 Mage Book
|
Kept |
Tasks
Places to Spend Time
Important Information for Communication
Other things to keep in mind
