Crew Management - Dev Blog #5
Greetings Overseer!
This week we are going to talk about the Crew Management system in Surviving the Abyss.
The crew is a vital part of your research base, providing the labour essential for research to progress and to keep the survival infrastructure running smoothly. As the Overseer, you are in charge of managing the crew and making sure that their basic needs are met.
[h2]Crew Relations[/h2]
First, we are going to talk about how you can keep track of your relationship with the crew and their general well-being. The crew relations bar monitors your performance as the Overseer on the base from the perspective of the crew. The crew status is determined by the combination of positive and negative occurrences on the base and the actions made by you.
This ranges from settling crew conflict to providing food and shelter. Some instances, such as crew death, may take immediate effect on relations, whereas other happenings may present themselves as emergent crew events, with your response determining the resulting loss or gain of relations. You have a number of approaches you can take in providing for the crew and solving problems on the base.
Not every occurrence can be accounted for through planning and preparation; the crew will make requests that you may not want to or are unable to fulfil, necessary actions may upset certain crew members, and an external threat still looms beyond the light. As such, crew relations will inevitably fluctuate even with the most proactive approach.
[h2]Specialisations and Employment[/h2]
There are four types of crew members that you are able to create through the cloning process:
[h3]Generalists[/h3]
The most common type of crew member. They are the easiest to clone and are able to work at almost all buildings which require crew, however they do not provide any extra benefits.
[h3]Scientists[/h3]
Specialised crew members that are able to work at all scientific buildings, such as the Research and Cloning Labs.
[h3]Engineers[/h3]
Those who are primarily responsible for the power generation and resource gathering buildings.
[h3]Explorers[/h3]
Crew members in charge of all expeditions and increase their success rates.
Scientists, Engineers and Explorers are considered to be Specialist crew members. Specialists are valuable parts of the crew, increasing efficiency and giving functional access to mid and late-game buildings.
The primary purpose of a specialist is to boost a building’s efficiency more than a generalist and fulfil any role requirements of an advanced building. Buildings that require a specialist role cannot operate without them being present. Outside of their specified job role and associated building, specialists function as generalists.
[h2]Health[/h2]
Each crew member has their survival requirements and can have negative experiences on the base which can impact their mental and physical health. Health is primarily affected by: O2, Food and Labour Accidents.
You can utilise Hospitals, to reconcile the negatives accrued by these factors and provide treatment to crew with declining health. Crew whose health reaches the threshold of requiring treatment will cease working and be admitted to a hospital, granted there is available capacity; crew will remain in treatment until their health has fully recovered. Crew without access to Hospitals will eventually succumb to their ailments.
The nature of the environment and the depth the base is situated at places the crew in a precarious position. As a result of this, crew can die through various situations that arise on the base, whether as a result of mismanagement or through labour accidents
The impact of crew death can be felt with varying degrees of severity across the base. Death transpiring as a result of mismanagement, whether that is by your action or inaction, accrues the Crew Death critical status and has an immediate negative effect on crew relations. This has typically the most severe effect on relations as the Overseer is failing in their role of providing for those on the base.
Crew death can also occur through equipment malfunction and workplace accidents in the form of emergent events. These events are more out of your control and as such, are not as detrimental to crew relations (though it’s still affected), however your response to them is important. Crew may request having new buildings constructed or may request repairs to damaged equipment, costing resources. Refusal of these requests will increase the negative effect applied to relations.
[h2]Recreation, Housing and Life Support Systems[/h2]
Like we talked about in our Population blog, there are several factors that affect your crew, other than their employment and health. Keeping the Life Support systems running is the most important aspect of keeping your crew alive. Making sure that they have consistent access to clean oxygen and food, stable power to keep all the buildings on, as well as providing your crew with a lit environment are your main priority when it comes to managing your crew.
Additionally, if crew members are left without housing and recreation, it will negatively affect your relations as well. Building living quarters and recreational buildings will ensure your workers comfort and thus provide you with an efficient crew.
[h2]Next Time on Surviving the Abyss[/h2]
In the next developer blog, we'll tackle the topic of Resource Management and take a closer look at how to best balance your needs versus your supply.
Also, before we sign off for today, the team here on the Surviving the Abyss team want to wish you very happy holidays and New Year! We'll see you next week for Dev Diary #6!
This week we are going to talk about the Crew Management system in Surviving the Abyss.
The crew is a vital part of your research base, providing the labour essential for research to progress and to keep the survival infrastructure running smoothly. As the Overseer, you are in charge of managing the crew and making sure that their basic needs are met.
[h2]Crew Relations[/h2]
First, we are going to talk about how you can keep track of your relationship with the crew and their general well-being. The crew relations bar monitors your performance as the Overseer on the base from the perspective of the crew. The crew status is determined by the combination of positive and negative occurrences on the base and the actions made by you.
This ranges from settling crew conflict to providing food and shelter. Some instances, such as crew death, may take immediate effect on relations, whereas other happenings may present themselves as emergent crew events, with your response determining the resulting loss or gain of relations. You have a number of approaches you can take in providing for the crew and solving problems on the base.
Not every occurrence can be accounted for through planning and preparation; the crew will make requests that you may not want to or are unable to fulfil, necessary actions may upset certain crew members, and an external threat still looms beyond the light. As such, crew relations will inevitably fluctuate even with the most proactive approach.
[h2]Specialisations and Employment[/h2]
There are four types of crew members that you are able to create through the cloning process:
[h3]Generalists[/h3]
The most common type of crew member. They are the easiest to clone and are able to work at almost all buildings which require crew, however they do not provide any extra benefits.
[h3]Scientists[/h3]
Specialised crew members that are able to work at all scientific buildings, such as the Research and Cloning Labs.
[h3]Engineers[/h3]
Those who are primarily responsible for the power generation and resource gathering buildings.
[h3]Explorers[/h3]
Crew members in charge of all expeditions and increase their success rates.
Scientists, Engineers and Explorers are considered to be Specialist crew members. Specialists are valuable parts of the crew, increasing efficiency and giving functional access to mid and late-game buildings.
The primary purpose of a specialist is to boost a building’s efficiency more than a generalist and fulfil any role requirements of an advanced building. Buildings that require a specialist role cannot operate without them being present. Outside of their specified job role and associated building, specialists function as generalists.
[h2]Health[/h2]
Each crew member has their survival requirements and can have negative experiences on the base which can impact their mental and physical health. Health is primarily affected by: O2, Food and Labour Accidents.
You can utilise Hospitals, to reconcile the negatives accrued by these factors and provide treatment to crew with declining health. Crew whose health reaches the threshold of requiring treatment will cease working and be admitted to a hospital, granted there is available capacity; crew will remain in treatment until their health has fully recovered. Crew without access to Hospitals will eventually succumb to their ailments.
The nature of the environment and the depth the base is situated at places the crew in a precarious position. As a result of this, crew can die through various situations that arise on the base, whether as a result of mismanagement or through labour accidents
The impact of crew death can be felt with varying degrees of severity across the base. Death transpiring as a result of mismanagement, whether that is by your action or inaction, accrues the Crew Death critical status and has an immediate negative effect on crew relations. This has typically the most severe effect on relations as the Overseer is failing in their role of providing for those on the base.
Crew death can also occur through equipment malfunction and workplace accidents in the form of emergent events. These events are more out of your control and as such, are not as detrimental to crew relations (though it’s still affected), however your response to them is important. Crew may request having new buildings constructed or may request repairs to damaged equipment, costing resources. Refusal of these requests will increase the negative effect applied to relations.
[h2]Recreation, Housing and Life Support Systems[/h2]
Like we talked about in our Population blog, there are several factors that affect your crew, other than their employment and health. Keeping the Life Support systems running is the most important aspect of keeping your crew alive. Making sure that they have consistent access to clean oxygen and food, stable power to keep all the buildings on, as well as providing your crew with a lit environment are your main priority when it comes to managing your crew.
Additionally, if crew members are left without housing and recreation, it will negatively affect your relations as well. Building living quarters and recreational buildings will ensure your workers comfort and thus provide you with an efficient crew.
[h2]Next Time on Surviving the Abyss[/h2]
In the next developer blog, we'll tackle the topic of Resource Management and take a closer look at how to best balance your needs versus your supply.
Also, before we sign off for today, the team here on the Surviving the Abyss team want to wish you very happy holidays and New Year! We'll see you next week for Dev Diary #6!