RTSC Startopia Guide Part 14: Boredom

The RTSC Guide to Startopia
Part 14: Boredom

Boredom is one of the hardest things to resolve on your Station and is measured in a Peep's Fun points. Of all the character traits in the game, these erode the fastest and are the whole reason for the Entertainment Deck. Things like toiletry, love, food or health are just bare essentials for a Station to function; the Entertainment Deck is where you have to get creative and the number of options and approaches you have for developing it expands considerably.

Retail Therapy

Retail Stores are the consumer versions of trading with passing merchants. While Traders will exchange dozens of Crates with you wholesale, retail stores generate a fair bit of extra cash by making a single Supply Crate last many serves. Apart from earning revenue, a Retail Store also boosts a Peep's Mind and Fun points in a single hit. Make sure you have sufficient supplies in storage, otherwise your retail stores will burn precious e generating them instead, biting into your profit margins.

Different Peeps have their own shopping preferences, so you build the right kinds of shops to attract the right kinds of shoppers. Everyone enjoys shopping, and there's no such thing as a truly unhappy customer. A typical customer in a Store will has lots of fun and burn up a few calories along the way. Their opinion of the Station improves a little, too. But not every Peep is interested in the same stuff and so won't score as highly, although everyone still burns the same amount of food. "Good" and "bad" customers are determined by the species' stereotyping: the tough Kasvagorians like Combat Stores, while the hedonistic Dahanese Sirens like Leisure stores, and so on. One thing you will notice is that the Greys are Startopia's archetypal tourist. They have no real preferences or aversions to anything.


Customer profiles

When visiting a Retail Store, Peeps are have one of three responses: either they like it, they like it a lot, or they like it only a little bit. Retail stores don't ever produce a negative result and you really won't lose anything by planting them everywhere. As far as aI can tell, Peeps never browse: they always enter a Store to buy something. You can tell a Store is occupied when it starts playing its custom sound effects. And, regardless of preferences, everyone works up a little hit of an appetite - so keep a Dine-O-Mat nearby for that extra shopping experience!

"Worst" customers +50 +3000 -100	Typical Customers +100 +4000 -100	Best Customers +200 +5000 -100

Notes

All Retail Stores use Supply Crates to produce their wares. They use one crate at a time and make it last several serves. The Sells box shows you which Supply Crate a particular Store uses, and how many serves you get from it.

If you run out of crates, the Station's replication system conjures the sold items out of your e supply. Cost shows you how much each serve will cost you in this situation.

Best and Worst shows you which are your most and least interested customers from the Peeps.


	General Store

Low brow convenience store selling snacks; General Stores do absolutely nothing to feed your population, but unlike all other Retail Stores your customers don't lose any Nourishment points, either.

Sells	Cost	Best	Worst

20	250e


	Computer Store

A geek's shopping paradise. All your electronics and computing needs are catered for in a Computer Store. Luddites and the non-technical need not apply!

Sells	Cost	Best	Worst

20	500e


	Combat Store

In case you forgot, Startopia is set at a time of galactic post-war reconstruction. Combat Stores are like Army surplus in space, selling firearms and other dodgy items for the violent and less well heeled of the Station are still available.

Sells	Cost	Best	Worst

40	1000e


	Music Shop

Your old music shop: records, instruments, etc. No space culture is complete without its music. But for some music is a frivolous distraction; a bit too arty farty for others...

Sells	Cost	Best	Worst

40	1000e


	Leisure Store

Bourgeoisie sports shop. Sports gear, ping pong and other fun and games. For outdoor sporty types only!

Sells	Cost	Best	Worst

40	1000e


	Curiosity Shop

A purveyance of fine, upmarket trinkets and weird curios; kick-knacks for the rich and curious. Barbarians and cheapskates just don't understand.

Sells	Cost	Best	Worst

40	2000e

Entertainment

Apart from shopping, there's a fairly diverse range of Station Facilities to pick from, and each of them have their own style and feel. But all of them combat boredom in a major way. You can alter the general tone and feel of your Entertainment Deck just by changing the numbers and combinations of these facilities on your floor plan.


	Disco

A Disco is a fantastic way to get Peeps into the swing of things and have a great time. Since its like a room it can be as big or as small as you like, and can fit in any awkward empty spots left over on the Entertainment Deck. Dancers progressively improve Mind & Soul and have lots of Fun along the way. For once, everyone can get involved, but all that dancing is a bit of an effort!

For every second groovers expend on the dance floor they burn up...

-5

-1

Everybody gets something out of a Disco, some more than others. Dance is universal in Startopia.


A bit daggy +90 +1	Typical tourists +100 +1	Best ravers +110 +5


	Holodrome

This is like the IMAX experience in space. This appeals to all gadget hounds, geeks and other adventurous visitors. But for a "drome" it can only accommodate one customer at a time(!), burns up a fair bit of power and has a large deck footprint. Occasionally I'll find Peeps trapped inside them after I've restored a saved game, but demolishing and rebuilding the Holodrome seems to set things straight. But for all that, the short little laser show put on offer scores Peeps a massive Fun hit, regardless of who they are.

For some reason though, Kasvagorians take the illusions a little too seriously and get hurt, suffering -1000!


Don't quite get it +100 +4000	Typical tourists +100+5000	Best Trek fans +100 +6000


	Roulesse Wheel

Give your Station a sense of sleazy class and earn some illicit cash with a Roulesse Wheel. This space casino naturally has the odds stacked in your favour. Winners score big in the cash and mental health department, but losers suffer the opposite. Most species seem to find some excuse to get fleeced, although the richer classes tend to dominate. Peeps only get their boredom relieved if they win and it's corrupting influence can complement other lucrative facilities (like Temples, Sick Bays and Lockdown Brigs) quite nicely. They just can't stay away!

All losers suffer equally, regardless of their origins. No fun is had.

-500

-100

(The Zedem's lose -500

All winners score: +100 -100 -100 plus...


+400	+800	+1000	+1200


	Plaza Fountain

A quiet, contemplative public park with nice fountains, where Peeps can meditate in relative quiet. Plaza Fountains form the centres of interest on the Entertainment Deck where tired Peeps can put their feet up for a bit or breath in the heady vapours emanating from the fountains. No money is made for you though, and the things take up large amounts of space, but it does wonders for alleviating boredom. There are two ways Peeps can use the Plaza Fountain. One is to sit down and take in its calming vapours; the other is to gaze up at the central tower in quiet contemplation.


Fidgety +200 +2000 +20	Typical +300 +3000 +30	Most relaxed +400 +4000 +40


	Viewing Gallery

This giant portal to outer space gives Visitors a chance to stand back and contemplate their place in the Universe - for a modest fee, of course! Many find it exhilarating and those who have a keen interest in studying the Universe or contemplating the stars get the most out of it. This is more like a coin operated telescope than a contemplative port hole though. Peeps pay their money and get a boredom-alleviating hit from it. There's a nice, mysterious feel to this little attraction, but not everyone is entirely comfortable with their place in the big picture.

You also get to see passing Traders and other peculiar space phenomena, not to mention a few passing jokes!


A bit uncomfortable +100 +100 +4000	Typical +100 +100 +5000	Best contemplators +100 +100 +6000


	Oroflex

		This weird, more-than-vaguely suggestive plant-like thing is one of the best entertainments available to Station Administrators. Its like a giant fairground attraction / ride. Oroflexes deliver huge dollops of Fun, Love and Mind points, and have a habit of emptying other venues once a couple have been installed. You just can't go wrong with these things. Its a wild ride though! Peeps burn up calories, get tired and need to go to the loo afterwards. More Oroflex details.


	Sleep & Accommodation


	States of Mind


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Last reformatted Fri, Nov 28 2003 by Lindsay Fleay