The 'Shroom:Issue 235/Strategy Wing
Director's Notes
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Hello, all you readers of The 'Shroom! A couple of friends recently informed me that Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave has ratites in it as mounts. I don't plan on picking it up myself, but I find that delightful! Emus, cassowaries, ostriches, rheas, and kiwis are such charismatic birds. It's a shame that fictional works don't feature the first four (or fictionalized equivalents of them) as mounts more often. A character riding on a huge bird running at the speed of a horse is wicked! You heard it here first, folks. Put ratites in your game or story for more hype moments and aura. It's in Strategy Wing. That makes it official for games, clearly.
Speaking of what's in Strategy Wing this month, we have the return of An Overly Detailed and Funny Walkthrough of Mega Man, with Sparks (talk) making the jump to the SNES! Now he's playing with power! Be sure to give his section a look to see what Mega Man manages with sixteen bits. We also have the return of Rhythm Review, so warm up those styluses! Killing the Killing Game Roles is here with another role from Awards Killing Game Odyssey, coming at you with the role-making knowledge you need to avoid croaking while you build a game. In China, last month's conquest of Luoyang pays dividends and diplomacy becomes a priority. Meanwhile, employee morale... takes a hit, shall we say, in The Death of the Player.
We also have a special guest edition of Four Steps this month, with Sparks heading to the Flower Kingdom and trying to apply a familiar level structure analysis framework to a wonder-filled 2D game. Give it a look, and if you feel so inspired afterwards, consider joining the team with your own Mario level analyses! The familiar four steps aren't the only framework out there, you know. You can consider levels through their lens if you want, or you can bring your own and see if there's a better fit for the 2D games or the sandbox 3D games! If you'd rather analyze a specific element of a game like Roserade (talk) or document a playthrough like Koops (talk) or Sparks, you can do that too!
I've kept you long enough, though, and I'm itching to go read about ostriches again, so I'll let you get to the rest of Strategy Wing! Enjoy!
Section of the Month
History unfolded before our eyes in China last month, didn't it? Through repairs to the devastated Jin Yang, the conquest of Ye, and the decisive campaign to liberate Luoyang from that tyrant Dong Zhuo, Harold Harefoot (talk) offered his insights into empire-building alongside his trademark humor. Lord Kong Rong now controls one of the most prestigious cities in the empire, and you can find out what he does with it this month! Be sure to pay him tribute by casting a vote for your favorite section!
| STRATEGY WING SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | So You Want to Romance the Three Kingdoms? | 4 | 25.00% | Harold Harefoot (talk) |
| 2nd | Pitohui's Pokémon Academy | 3 | 18.75% | Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
| 2nd | Move Reminder | 3 | 18.75% | Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
| 2nd | Four Steps for a 3D World | 3 | 18.75% | Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
| 3rd | Rising From Obscurity | 2 | 12.50% | Waluigi Time (talk) |
Four Steps for a 2D World
Howdy there! It's local Strategy Wing writer Sparks here with a special section just in time for Halloween! Last month I didn't write anything for SW, so I wanted to make up for it with a guest section - one inspired by Hooded Pitohui's very own Four Steps for a 3D World!
This is a section normally written by Hooded Pitohui. In it, he looks at levels from a selection of 3D Super Mario titles through the lens of a design philosophy Koichi Hayashida discussed in an interview, either mapping out how they use it or contrasting them against it. Except, the level I'm going to look at is from a 2D game, not a 3D one! That's why the title is slightly altered. Just slightly.
If you're not familiar with how this section goes, the writer analyzes a level from a Super Mario game by separating its segments into four different categories, some of which may be repeated:
- Introduction (
) where players learn a mechanic in a safe environment - Development (
) which builds on what the player is learning and introduces more complicated aspects of a mechanic - Twist (
) which adds some kind of significant wrinkle or challenge to force players to consider the mechanic from a new angle - Conclusion (
) where players get one final satisfying chance to show they've mastered the mechanic
Additionally, we have an oddball:
- Filler/Refresher (
) is used when we get a section that doesn't contribute to the stage's mechanics. Filler is just something added to the level that doesn't really mean anything, while Refresher helps players remember a past mechanic they might've forgotten about.
As I said earlier, the level I'll be checking out is not from a 3D Mario game. Instead, it's a 2D one! The game in question is Super Mario Bros. Wonder, a game known for its very unique levels and changes within them. This stage is one fitting for October, Light-Switch Mansion, filled with Boos, Hidden Blocks, and lights!
What's notable about Light-Switch Mansion is that it's the only haunted mansion level in Wonder, allowing it to differentiate itself from the rest of the game quite easily. It's got more to offer than what I just mentioned, so now I'll get right into the analysis itself!
| Step | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Introduction |
|
Upon starting the course, the player is put in a small room containing four Boos, three coins, and a door seemingly floating over a bottomless pit. However, this is not actually the case. We are immediately introduced to the core mechanic of Light-Switch Mansion; the signature Light-Switch Block. When struck, nearby lights will be turned on, illuminating invisible blocks and defeating any Boos that happen to touch the light. Players may also be alerted that the invisible blocks are also present even if there's no light. Additionally, we also find out that the lights only get turned on for a short duration, and we can reset the timer or reactivate the lights by simply hitting the Light-Switch Block. Entering the door transports us to the next section. Although this area isn't entirely safe from harm, we get all the necessary information we need: lights reveal invisible blocks AND defeat Boos. Nice! It makes sense that this short section is categorized as the introduction. |
 Development |
|
Right after the introduction we get into a LONG hallway. It's so long that all three 10-Flower Coins and two Checkpoint Flags are located here. So, it makes sense that I break this up into two parts. The entire hallway itself I consider to be the "Development" section for Light-Switch Mansion though, so let's find out why! This part will go up to the first Checkpoint Flag. Anyways, the first stretch of this hallway features more of what the introduction had: Boos, invisible blocks, lights, and Light-Switch Blocks. However, the game makes things just a teensy bit more complex by adding in actual bottomless pits and spots where invisible blocks look like they'd be but aren't, an example being the first "staircase" of blocks players see upon entering the hallway. The first 10-Flower Coin is "protected" by a wall of invisible blocks on its left, letting players know that they're not always beneficial. Boos are also placed at spots where the lights won't shine on them, so we have to use our brains by turning around and tricking them into moving towards the light to create a safe path for ourselves. It should also be noted that the Light-Switch Blocks affect ALL lights, not just specific ones. We also encounter the surprising Noknoks, foes that disguise themselves as ordinary doors to trick players into getting close to them to attack them when they least expect it! They can be stomped on to both temporarily stun them and allow us to enter their doors, although we only need to do that if we want one of the 10-Flower Coins, that being the second one. I should also note that there are many doors that lead nowhere, but again, we don't need them to reach the goal. From just this part of the hallway, players are challenged to defeat Boos and learn about the Noknoks. |
|
Past the first Checkpoint Flag is more of the same: Boos, invisible blocks, and of course, Lights and Light-Switch Blocks. We no longer have to deal with Noknoks, which makes sense since they were just a side gimmick and not the main focus of the course. To keep things interesting though, some invisible blocks now move - either on their own, or when specific conditions are met. One row of blocks shifts downward as the player runs across them; another only rises when Wonder Buds are activated. The former is meant to surprise the player; although it doesn't do much gameplay-wise, it'll get the player to say "Oh, they can move?" and get their attention. As for the blocks that rise, we have to use that to our advantage to get up a high ledge. Near the end of the hallway is when things get very interesting, as rows of invisible blocks will already be moving in circles. Players must use the lights to see where they are and jump across the blocks to avoid falling. Boos are a hazard throughout this entire section, but this is when defeating Boos becomes very important, since having them around makes getting by harder. They especially make nabbing the final 10-Flower Coin difficult. Afterwards, there is a door that leads to the conclusion (the Goal Pole), but hold on! This isn't the end of Light-Switch Mansion. Beyond the door itself appears to be a large abyss, but do you remember the coins from the introduction? A ? Block before the door has a Wow Bud that makes coins rain down, and one of them lands in the pit, revealing invisible blocks that lead to the best part of the course! By following this new path, we reach the second Checkpoint Flag and a door leading to the Twist... | |
 Twist |
|
When we enter this strange door, we arrive in a wide space inhabited by just two Boos. The Wonder Flower then slowly descends from the top of the screen. We must grab it in order to move on in the course. Upon doing so, the Wonder Effect starts and a familiar laugh is heard before King Boo appears and starts chasing the player, singing "A Night at Boo's Opera". Now, players are in a timed autoscroll sequence where they must flee King Boo and do some platforming. Light-Switch Blocks are thrown out the window; all lights in this part turn on and off on their own, usually in sync with the song. The invisible blocks also move with the music, as well as chandeliers serving as platforms. We also get to see a new kind of light that resembles a circle, kinda like a spotlight - its main purpose is to remove Boos in the way. The Boos and Noknoks encountered sing as well, although it doesn't impact the gameplay. It is worth noting that the Noknoks here stand still and don't pursue the player. Furthermore, they don't lead to anywhere. At the end of the song (and when the timer is very low), the Wonder Seed will appear. When it's collected, the Wonder Effect ends, and King Boo disappears. A door right afterwards sends the player to the conclusion. Everything before this centered around the players activating the lights at their will, but now they don't have any control over them! King Boo chasing the player is also a contributor for why this is the twist. |
 Conclusion |
|
Regardless if you got through the Wonder Effect or ignored it, the final section in Light-Switch Mansion is reaching the Goal Pole. The player climbs a staircase composed entirely of invisible blocks while avoiding two Boos and jumps to (hopefully) reach the top of it. There aren't any lights here, but you'll know by now that invisible blocks don't need light to be utilized, right? |
Time for me to give my own thoughts on this! Light-Switch Mansion - at least in my analysis - was very straightforward. It went from Introduction to Development, then the Twist and then finally the Conclusion. The Twist can be skipped, but a majority of those who play Super Mario Bros. Wonder try to reach 100% completion. There are no refreshers or filler sections, and no category repeated. The "Development" section was all one part that I split into two just because I had so much to say about it.
Below is a summary of why I chose each category for the sections of the course, just in case you didn't want to read all of that above:
- Introduction: The player is introduced to the Lights, Light-Switch Block, Boos, and invisible blocks. Players will also know that coins above pits may indicate safe footing.
- Development: Invisible Blocks are now moving and can act as barricades, players will need to trick Boos to go into light, pits are added and Noknoks are introduced.
- Twist: No more Light-Switch Blocks; lights activate/turn off on their own. King Boo chases the player, invisible blocks and chandeliers move.
- Conclusion: Invisible Blocks form a staircase to reach the Goal Pole, and one last encounter with Boos.
That may be because the courses of Super Mario Bros. Wonder are just short - there isn't any room to add in intermissions and refreshers, at least for Light-Switch Mansion. I can see refreshers for courses that have Wonder Effects from past stages, but they could also serve as Twists because the player may have to deal with brand new obstacles in a different form (for example, Deep Magma Bog Castle's Wubba Wonder Effect).
It was fun making this section about a SMBW course because of the unique mechanics and that the Wonder Effects always shake things up. I also chose this stage specifically because it's spooky and Halloween is coming up. I guess that's all I have to say so... thanks for reading and Happy Halloween!
Killing the Killing Game Roles
Welcome back, readers, to another edition of Killing the Killing Game Roles, the section where we analyze various player roles from past Mario Boards Killing Games in hope of answering the question, what makes for a good role? By analyzing what's come before, we can discover some tricks and tips that could even help you design your own roles!
Isn't this an eventful month for forum games on the Mario Boards? Awards Killing Game 2x2 has closed submissions for its finale, meaning that the thrilling conclusion is coming somewhere down the pipeline. Ninelevendo's (talk) Pokémon Mafia 2 just recently resulted in an innocent victory, while Hint Toad's (talk) Roshambo Battle Royale continues on into its last rounds. And now, GBA (talk) has put the second half of Investigations Odyssey: AEAEA into motion, finally continuing the mystery of the New Fallen Lotus. It's been very exciting to see all of this creative energy jumping through the air, within a whole variety of forum game formats!
This month's role selection is a bit topical, in that a participant in AEAEA was the one who utilized it during their Awards Killing Game: Odyssey run. However, the real reason we're looking at it is simple: I asked Pitohui what role he would like me to analyze, since I'm writing this on his birthday, and he selected this one! What a lovely, quaint choice it was. Thank you for your input and continued support of KtKGR!
Let's hop on in. Just uh, give me a minute to prepare vocally. Got a frog stuck in my throat.
AKGO - Amphibius, the Frog
Card 1 - Info
- NAME: DR. BUSHROOT
- VESSEL: CIRCINUS
- ROOM: STARBOARD-13
You are a frog, ribbit! Humble frogs may often be overlooked, but they shouldn't be underestimated! Frogs can appreciate astronomy, too, kero! You're here to see a comet, but, so long as you're here, you might as well show everyone how cool frogs are with your froggy abilities. Use them well, and you might just avoid croaking!
Card 2 - Role
- Like most frogs, you're an exceptional jumper, and you can jump high enough that you may even be able to jump between decks. You can breathe underwater, and may submerge yourself and hide in any body of freshwater (for ease, pools count as well).
- You have the ability to cling to walls and ceilings, if you can climb up to them, that is. You'll be able to cling indefinitely once you are up there, though. You secrete a sticky mucus to do this, and will leave behind traces of this fluid when you do.
- Dotted around your body are glands which secrete a second, poisonous fluid, generated only when you are under attack or in peril. Ingesting this poison is not lethal except in high doses, but it will cause temporary muscular paralysis and nausea if you can get it on their skin, allowing you a chance at escape. And, if you somehow can't escape and are killed, at the very least, if they try to eat your dead body for some reason, they will die. Your poison can be collected posthumously as well, bonus!
- Lastly, while most real frogs do not actually have long, chameleon-like tongues, you do. You have a long, sticky, whip-like tongue which you can shoot out and quickly retract, striking people or retrieving small objects.
Card 3 - Stats
- STAMINA: 4/5
- STEALTH: 4/5
- SOCIAL: 2/5
- SPEED: 2/5
- STRENGTH: 2/5
[FORBIDDEN ACTION]
Riiiiibbit, don't forget to keep yourself moist! You don't necessarily need to submerge yourself every night, but you need to rinse your whole body in water at least once a night. If you don't, you might just dry out for good!
Frog humor abounds! Certainly a lighter read compared to other role cards, too. This amphibious arsenal was given to Gabumon (talk) while he portrayed Dr. Bushroot, a reformed Darkwing Duck villain and eventual aide to the famous Great Detective, Herlock Sholmes. Later on, through the midgame role upgrade and Gabumon's character writing, these frog powers were flavored to be the gift of a particular frog spirit... but as always, we're looking at our base role, which treats the powers as something much more "innate" to the player wielding them. How does the Frog fare in the grander history of great Killing Game designs?
General Overview
While the Frog doesn't embody a specific niche when it comes to a gameplay role, it does fulfill a specific design niche that is fairly commonplace in KG: the animal role. As discussed in previous editions, players are assumed to mechanically have the characteristics of a "standard" human, including physical ability, dexterity, and biology. But what about a world where a humanoid player is able to acquire some other characteristics?
This is where the Frog comes in. The player with this role isn't entirely a frog, they stand on two legs and are just as tall as anyone else - but they take on a number of unique physical traits that make them overall frog-like, which comes with new mechanical opportunities. Killing Games in the past have done the same, but with wolves, birds, and even dinosaurs, to name a few.
What's the advantage of having an animal role in your game? The main thing I'd say is, you can select literally any animal you want and find a myriad of ways to incorporate what makes that animal itself into the player role. Give a flying squirrel role a glide maneuver; an elephant the ability to store water; a shark sharp fangs and heightened sensitivity to the smell of blood. That's three role ideas, right off the dome! The potential points of inspiration are basically endless.
With that ease of construction, animal roles also encourage you to keep things simple. They won't demand much of you as a host, merely some creative thinking on how you give a humanoid person the traits of an animal you like - and when you're in the midst of KG planning, thinking up very complex and intricate role abilities, this can be a helpful recentering on the vital components of a fun role. Not every toolkit needs to blow up the shed; these "simpler" roles are just as important to the game as the roles with lots of fine print.
As we can see, the Frog utilizes frog tropes to give the player good maneuverability options, a few defensive traits, and one more offensive feature. This is a great skeleton to glance at when considering how an animal role can be constructed.
Ability Application
First up on the docket, we've got the Frog's exceptional jumping ability. Being able to jump "between decks" is specific reference to the map design of AKGO's front half, that being a cruise ship; really, it indicates that the Frog can gain a full floor of height through a leap. That's really something when it comes to map traversal, and allows the Frog unique pathways and escape routes from something like a kill attempt. It's also a potent defensive tool. If somebody's coming at you with a knife, it would be quite simple to launch yourself outside of stabbing range.
The ability to breathe underwater is probably one of this role's most potent strengths. An immunity to drowning kill attempts is a pretty big deal, and tucking yourself into water is not an option many other players will have for hiding or sabotaging. Essentially, the Frog gets a number of "vantage points" on the map that few others will be readily able to engage with. The card says that the Frog can "breathe underwater" and "hide in any body of freshwater", though admittedly, it's not exactly clear whether breathing under saltwater is an option. I'm going to assume the trait applies only to freshwater, so that the ocean surrounding the cruise ship wasn't something the Frog could just camp in. That said, even just an application with freshwater is a huge boon.
Then, there's the wall cling. Much like the underwater breath, this trait allows the Frog to access entirely personal areas for hiding or preparing a sabotage on a passing player. Incorporating this into a kill attempt would be as simple as waiting on the ceiling, and then getting the drop on somebody walking in - literally. What's especially notable about this trait is that the cling lasts indefinitely, so however long you want to stake things out, you can. Certainly, you'll probably get questions from other players about where you were camping out all night... But like, it is a feasible game plan to ensure you don't get killed by tucking yourself into the dark upper corner of the room where nobody can see or reach you (without a distanced weapon, anyway).
As a last inherently defensive trait, the Frog has the poisonous fluid that is secreted in times of great peril. As if this role's other strengths weren't tailored enough towards a quick escape, this fluid will incapacitate an attacker with paralysis and nausea, ensuring that getaway. This ability is very context-specific, but having a passive ability like this helps a lot to ease the anxiety of going through the night, not knowing where other players have planned their own kill attempts. Anybody who jumps you will have to fare with some nasty side effects. I'd be curious if there would be allowances for schemes that involve collecting this fluid, without the Frog necessarily being in direct peril from another player. For instance, if the Frog elected to, I don't know, be blindfolded and have daggers thrown at them by a professional knifethrower - would the stress of that scenario be enough to cause a secretion? In that case, the poison could be collected intentionally by the player, which would open up a whole new world of possibilities in terms of using it for kill attempts or even more defensive measures.
The role card makes mention of ingesting the Frog's body directly would cause this toxin to become lethal. I, uh, I really struggle to imagine a scenario where this would become relevant, because I don't know if anyone's deranged enough to willingly eat a body, or utilize a dead body in such a demeaning way for a kill attempt. Good to know it's there, I guess?
Last but not least, we have the cartoonish frog tongue that the Frog can deploy. This one has some more innate offensive uses to it, a blunt attack that can knock somebody over, or a sticky end that can steal an object straight from someone's possession... But this is also a pretty clear defensive tool, right? If somebody's attacking you, knock them off their feet, or take the gun straight from their hand and point it back at them.
The more I've examined this role, the more I've realized just how slippery it is. All five defined role powers lend themselves to defensive play, in a way not many other roles can claim. Of course, plenty of these have their own offensive capabilities as well, but I suppose that this sheer amount of movement and escape options are pretty befitting of a role based on a quick-footed prey animal.
Environmental Functionality
What does this role necessitate from the map design? The most apparent one is water features! The ability to submerge and hide without drowning doesn't do much good without water to do that with. No putting the Frog in a completely dry desert.
The wall and ceiling clinging does also necessitate a map with defined walls and ceilings, or at least enough to make the ability worthwhile. This might be like a "well duh", especially because most KG maps tend towards enclosed spaces - but it's still worth keeping in mind that open, flat map designs wouldn't serve this role trait all that well. The same goes for the super jump; if the Frog is meant to jump between floors, the map needs to have floors, while also having enough open access points to make movement between those floors possible.
Drawbacks & Balances
In terms of balancing factors, the prominent one I'd name is the role's visibility. This role has probably some of the most apparent "tells" of any role in AKGO. People are going to be able to see you jump, and that tongue launching from your gullet will be more than apparent to anyone in the room. Additionally, your wall clinging results in a slimy residue being left behind, as does the poisonous secretion that appears in those panic moments. When somebody sees the Frog in action, they're going to quickly determine that they're a frog. In turn, this makes utilizing certain role traits harder: players might have defensive maneuvers in place to parry the tongue; players might know what the leftover residue is on the ceiling, thus leading to a quick kill solve.
What I will say is that this transparency doesn't truly affect this role's defensive capabilities, since the Frog will always have several options under their belt. Additionally, unlike some other "biological" roles, there aren't any intrinsic weaknesses baked into the Frog role. Whereas somebody whose role is "you're a robot" might have a demonstrable weakness to water or ice, as an example, the Frog doesn't face that kind of pressure. So while the player base might quickly determine the Frog's "real" identity, the Frog doesn't have to worry about that being a source of straightforward kill attempts against them.
Another notable aspect: the wall cling only applies to a specific spot that the Frog can reach, and they cannot climb to that position using suction cup fingers or anything like that. This does influence how the Frog would navigate to their perch... but I do feel that the jumping ability does kind of circumvent this. If you're capable of jumping an entire floor in height, can't you just leap up to the ceiling that separates you and the upper floor? Of course, there could be taller areas that are harder to reach, but I still get the sense that this isn't too much of a weakness.
Then there's the Forbidden Action, which is having to douse yourself in water every night. This does, admittedly, fall into the camp of "nightly chore FAs" that I'm not always keen towards, but I'm not sure if I have a better sense of what would be a better balancing factor for this role. Plus, if the Frog is already planning to hide underwater at all, this FA is immediately satisfied, so uh... It's really not that bad either, huh?
So yeah, the Frog doesn't have a ton of heavy balancing factors to contend with. But honestly, I don't think this is much of an issue. As stated before, the role is very visible, and when you combine this with the relatively low impact this powerset has on the overall game structure, it's not so bad that this role isn't too restricted. It's okay for simpler, more down-to-earth roles to be a bit more forgiving in terms of obstacles or punishments.
Player Responsibility
The main thing the player utilizing the Frog needs to worry about is ensuring that their FA isn't triggered every night, which should be straightforward to do when submitting their actions. I guess they might want to be prepared for the scenario where somebody knocks them out repeatedly and they can't get to the pool - but frankly, there's so many defensive options in this toolkit that I can't imagine the Frog ending up in that position to begin with.
In general, a player might want to prioritize which defensive motions they make first, in the event that they're attacked. This isn't a huge concern when there's a passive defense built into the role, though.
Host Responsibility
The host responsibility for the Frog is also fairly light. They do need to determine how visible the role powers are to the fellow players, but that's true of any role in the game when they're used "publicly". All in all, this is a role that can exist fairly independently in the game, without the host needing to keep a super careful eye on them.
Overall Thoughts
The Frog is a pretty excellent example of how to acclimate an animal's traits into an overall vision for a Killing Game role. While I might say that the sweep of powers might lean too heavily into the defensive side of KG play, this is pretty befitting of the selected animal, and these abilities still allow plenty of options for whoever is hopping around the map with them. I'm really fond of the Frog, and I hope it can serve as inspiration for how straightforward role design can be handled when crafting a KG.
That's all for this month. Tune in next month for more Killing Game goodness!
Move Reminder
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
"I'm the Move Reminder! Bring me a Heart Scale, and I can teach you any Pokémon technique that may have been forgotten."
Psybeam, Psychic, Psycho Cut, Psywave, Psyshock, Psystrike, Psyshield Bash, Psychic Fangs, Psyblade, and Psychic Noise – quickly, tell me which of these psy- moves was cut in Sword and Shield! Confused as a Psyduck yet? With this whole collection of similarly-named Psychic-type moves, you'd be forgiven if you failed to notice that Psywave dropped out of the roster in Galar. While it's not surprising that Game Freak cut a gimmicky Generation III move like Assist, when they cut a move that debuted all the way back in Generation I, it's worth dissecting their motivations. What was Psywave's mistake, and should it return to the series for a second chance?
Overview and History
| Name | Category | Power | Accuracy | Description | Base PP | Debut |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psywave | 
|
-- | 100% | The target is attacked with an odd psychic wave. The attack varies in intensity. | 15 | Gen I |
I haven't even covered Psywave's history, and already Psywave is doing something strange! Barring Champions, Pokémon games don't offer the most straightforward of move descriptions, keeping in line with the philosophy of largely obscuring numbers and under-the-hood math from players so that the Pokémon themselves feel more like living creatures than game characters. Yet, most move descriptions aren't this vague. "The attack varies in intensity" doesn't shed much light as to what a novice player should expect from Psywave. The damage from almost every offensive move varies slightly with each use due to a random factor in the damage formula, so this description can leave new players unprepared for just how much Psywave's power varies from use to use. It also fails to make clear that, despite being listed as a special move, Psywave doesn't factor in the user's special attack stat or the target's special defense.
Psywave cuts out stats and bypasses the usual damage formula, instead using its own formula to directly determine the amount of HP it will cost the opponent. The outputted value changes with each use of the move, influenced by both a random factor and the user's level. In Generations I and II, it deals anywhere between 1 HP of damage and an amount of HP equivalent to 1.5x the user's level, making it quite unwieldy and unpredictable. In Generations III-VII, it instead damages the opponent for an amount of HP between 0.5x the user's level and 1.5x the user's level. This change made it slightly less unpredictable overall, but for a higher-level Pokémon, it still has a broad range of possible damage outputs. Since it bypasses the damage formula, it also does not factor in type advantages and resistances (Dark-types remain immune). All-in-all, Psywave functions similarly to level-scaling fixed damage attacks like Seismic Toss, but undermines their chief advantage of reliable and predictable damage output by adding in a random factor.
Slipping Through The Cracks
As you can see, Psywave is an odd move in terms of function. It also went through some growing pains in terms of distribution and availability. In Generation I, no Pokémon learned Psywave by leveling up, instead requiring TM46. Twenty-one evolutionary lines could learn it, meaning it had decent availability, and it wasn't unusual for Generation I to restrict moves to TMs (it had twelve such moves, in fact). Others have called it odd that the move is handed out by Psychic-type Gym Leader Sabrina when players can get the far more powerful and reliable TM29 for Psychic from an unimportant NPC in the same city, but it makes sense in the broader context of the game's Gym Leader rewards. Every Gen I Kanto Gym Leader gives out a move exclusive to TMs (except Surge, whose Thunderbolt lost its TM-exclusive status in Yellow version). It's a cool bit of storytelling, implying that these are special techniques that the Gym Leaders have developed as advanced trainers. An argument could still be made that Psychic and Psywave should have been swapped, but then Psychic couldn't have been in the level-up learnpools of various Pokémon species, which would deprive a lot of Pokémon of an important lategame attack. While it seems strange now, Psywave's Gen I availability fits into its original context just fine.
The weirdness comes into play starting in Generation II. Most of the Kanto Gym Leaders no longer give out TMs, so a wide variety of Pokémon have incorporated those TM-exclusive moves into their level-up learnsets. Mega Drain, Bubble Beam, Fire Blast, and their compatriots were given to various Pokémon as midgame and lategame moves. Psywave, however, couldn't exactly fill that niche given competition from Confusion and Psybeam. While we'll never know exactly what happened in development, I get the sense that Game Freak struggled to find a suitable place for Psywave and hastily added it onto Misdreavus near the end of development. Misdreavus was added relatively late into the development of Gold and Silver to replace a scrapped Pokémon called Norowara, and it wasn't finalized as a Pokémon until very close to the end of development. I imagine that Misdreavus was a bit of a dumping ground for moves that hadn't yet found a purpose in Gen II, getting Psywave at the last second simply because it needed an earlygame damaging move and Game Freak conveniently had an earlygame-suitable move lying around unassigned. Other Pokémon that were developed late and shunted to the postgame like Sneasel also received unassigned moves around this time, which Asmorano of the Cryptodex also cites as evidence of Misdreavus getting Psywave in a last-second move cleanup. Misdreavus is the sole Pokémon to learn Psywave by leveling up in Gen II, with the Koffing and Gastly lines able to get it from Misdreavus as an Egg Move. In effect, most players won't see the move at all without trading over a Gen I Pokémon through the Time Capsule, since it's locked away behind a single rare Pokémon in the final area of the game.
Game Freak gets Psywave sorted out by Generation III. After (presumably) slapping Psywave onto Misdreavus in a panic, they decided to stick with the idea of making Psywave accessible to Pokémon as an early damaging move. They expanded it to actual Psychic-types starting in Gen III, making it much easier to encounter in doing so. From Ruby and Sapphire to the end of Gen VII, Psywave is learned by Spoink at level 7, Bronzor at level 15, Munna at level 1, Sigilyph at level 15, and so on. Finally, Psywave got the boot in Gen VIII and has not returned since.
However, that's not quite the end of Psywave's oddities. Back in Gen I, Psywave's minimum damage was 1 HP... when used by the player. When used by an opponent, it can, strangely, deal 0 HP of damage. That's questionable but not a problem in singleplayer. In link battles, however, each participant is the player in one game and an opponent in the other. Psywave can deal 0 HP of damage on one participant's system and 1 HP of damage on the other participant's system, desyncing the battle and causing a cascade of glitches. I have to credit that Mish Koz video I linked previously for bringing this one to my attention. It seems Psywave gave Game Freak a fair bit of trouble in those first two generations.
Non-Game Appearances
Much like Assist, Psywave did manage to make the jump to other media. It may have the most anime appearances of any move we'll cover in this section, seeing use on sixteen different occasions. Its appearances span from the Indigo League to the Kalos arc. Fortunately for this edition's length, none of those appearances are that notable. The move's varying intensity doesn't get much focus in the anime. I'm not sure if its unique property ever got a mention. Maybe somewhere Brock or Max or someone comments on its inconsistent power while doing mid-battle commentary? If so, I'd be hard-pressed to tell you! For the most part, Psywave gets treated as a generic flashy Psychic-type attack. I imagine the animators used it as often as they did because it's easy to draw some shiny rings and go "yep, that's psychic energy". It offered some variety when compared to Psybeam's beam of shining light... until they started to draw Psywave as a beam, too.
Likewise, Psywave saw use in the various Pokémon manga. It crops up a few times in Pokémon Adventures, and even appears in the more obscure Phantom Thief Pokémon 7 and Pokémon Try Adventure. Again, it seems to me that it saw use in the manga mainly because it's easy to visually represent psychic powers as waves... or... beams, again, in the latter two series. Ultimately, Psywave's strange properties don't get leveraged in non-game media. The artists could swap it for any other Psychic-type move without it materially affecting their stories, and they do just that after it gets cut from the games.
Closing Thoughts
After a rough transition in Generation II, Game Freak seemingly found a role for Psywave in Generation III, but it never was a very comfortable niche for it. It lacked the ease-of-use that other earlygame STAB moves have. Ember and Leafage are straightforward. They do good damage in the earlygame while gradually dropping off to encourage players to replace them with better moves. Psywave tends towards quite low damage in the early parts of the game as a result of the user's level being part of the calculations, but can randomly spike at any point. Scratch and Thunder Shock help players to understand the difference between special moves/stats and physical moves/stats. Psywave bypasses stats, so it can't teach that. Water Gun and Gust can teach players type advantages and disadvantages, while Psywave can only teach them that Dark is immune to Psychic. To compound these problems, while it's slightly more powerful than its peers, Confusion can slot into that same earlygame niche pretty well. I find it telling that Confusion replaces Psywave as the move that Spoink learns at level 7 in Scarlet and Violet.
Psywave's other potential niche as a fixed-damage, defenses-bypassing attack is undermined by the random factor in its damage calculation. It just can't comfortably join the likes of Seismic Toss and Dragon Rage when players can't count on an exact damage output from it. In a post-Gen I world, Psywave simply has no identity of its own. In the games, the anime, and the manga, other Psychic-type moves can replace it easily, and those other moves arguably do its job better when it comes to the games. Considering all of that, and the extra headaches its mechanics must have caused Game Freak when bugtesting, I understand why they cut Psywave. I don't see any justification for bringing it back without reworking it. Psywave had its time and place in its debut, but now it blends into a crowded Psychic sea. Let it sink, and nothing is lost.
"That's all for now. If you'd like to remember another move, bring me another Heart Scale next month!"
Rhythm Review
Hello and welcome back to Rhythm Review! This is Zange, and WOW did my personal life take me on a bit of an adventure the past few months. Sorry about that folks ^^;; No matter though, we’re back and ready to tackle more fun rhythm minigames! Last time, we covered the super fun Stage 4 of Rhythm Heaven for the Nintendo DS. This time, we’re going right on to Stage 5!
As a reminder: In most Rhythm Heaven games (including this one!), a stage consists of four rhythm minigames, followed by one remix, in which all the other minigames in the stage are put together in a new way to new music. Let’s jump in!
Splashdown
Starting off the set, we have Splashdown! You play as one member of a synchronized swimming team, and it’s about time for your show! You’ll follow what your teammates do while tapping, holding, and flicking the stylus on the touchscreen. Make sure you’re sticking with your part out there!
Gimmicks
When you tap and hold the touchscreen, you will dive underwater. When you release, you will come back above water. If you instead flick, you will jump out of the water on a dolphin! For the most part, you will follow the lead of your teammates. However, there are a few instances where you will all have to jump out of the water together. These instances are preceded by an audio cue of the crowd going “ooohhhh!” so they’re hard to miss. Still keep a sharp ear for that cue though!
How to Get That Superb
The criteria for getting a Superb is fairly straightforward. You just need to have good timing throughout, but especially on the flicks for the jumps.
Difficulty Rating
We’ll go with a 1.4/5 here, it’s not terribly difficult but the jumps have thrown me off many times.
Big Rock Finish
Next up is Big Rock Finish! You play as a ghost in a band of fellow ghosts - one of the guitar players, to be specific - and you’re in charge of making sure all your songs end with a flashy and stylish finish! Fortunately, all your songs are very short, so this is quite easy! You’ll listen for the drummer’s cue and then flick the stylus on the touchscreen to make sure every song ends the way it deserves to! Your name’ll be in lights on that little big stage for all time…
Gimmicks
There are 8 different songs played in this rhythm minigame, played through in one of four setlists. Before the end of each song, the drummer will count you off before you need to play with either a “one, two, one two three oo!” or a “one two three oo!” When you hear this, you need to get ready to flick the stylus to play the guitar for a flashy finish. The other guitar player tells you in the practice to just watch and follow what he does, but you do at least get the chance to practice two of the songs.
How to Get That Superb
Once again, pretty straightforward Superb criteria. You just need to play on time after the count and have good timing with the flicks for some big rock finishes.
Difficulty Rating
This one really keeps you on your toes, since you have no way of knowing what order the songs will play in, so we’ll go with a 1.5/5 here.
Dog Ninja
Moving on, we’ve got Dog Ninja! You play as the dog ninja himself, and you’ll flick the stylus to slice and dice the veggies and bones being launched your way! And.. tires and frying pans too?? Who is attacking this guy…
Gimmicks
There are different sound effects that cue you to what item is about to be tossed on screen. Vegetables, bones, and the heavier objects all have distinctly different sound effects. However, the timing for when you need to cut is the same for all of them. There are also a few instances of slicing two objects at once, as well as having to slice two objects one right after the other. For the latter, the sound of you slicing the first object masks the cue before the second object comes on screen, so keep an eye out!!
How to Get That Superb
Fairly straightforward Superb criteria here as well, you just need to have good timing for your cuts throughout, especially when you get the tires and frying pans thrown in the mix.
Difficulty Rating
It’s a little shocking how easy it is to get thrown off the rhythm here, so this one gets a 1.5/5.
Frog Hop
The last regular rhythm minigame of the set is the iconic Frog Hop! You play as one of the backup dancers for a singing frog. You’ll tap the touchscreen to the beat of the song to dance your little heart out, then watch out for cues from the leader that’ll tell you when to use new moves. Do your best to make it an unforgettable performance!
Gimmicks
This is one of a handful of rhythm minigames in this game where you’re constantly tapping the touchscreen. That being said, there are a few cues you need to remember because they have you doing slightly different things. When you hear “yahoo”, you will tap the touchscreen twice in quick succession. When you hear “yeah yeah yeah”, you will quickly tap the touchscreen three times. Finally, when you hear “spin it, boys”, you will flick the stylus to make your character spin. You’ll go back to the normal tapping rhythm after all of these cues.
How to Get That Superb
If I had a nickel for every time the Superb criteria was basically just “have good timing”... You basically just need to keep in time with the tapping throughout, keep in time with the special cues, and just be good about switching between regular tapping and what the cues require.
Difficulty Rating
Constant tapping my beloathed…. This one gets a 1.7/5 just because it’s so easy to get thrown off the rhythm if you’re not locked in.
Remix 5
We’ve finally made it to the remix for this set!! You have a whole crowd of people watching you this time! Which is very fitting because three of the rhythm minigames in this set have involved some sort of performance…
Gimmicks
There is a new audio cue in the Dog Ninja segments. Before an object is thrown at you, you’ll hear a voice say “Here we go” before the normal audio cue for something being thrown at you. I am assuming this is due to the quick transitions between rhythm minigames and the regular audio cue is already pretty quiet to begin with. Otherwise, if something has showed up in a rhythm minigame within this set, then it’s fair game to show up here as well!
How to Get That Superb
I’ve said it sooooo many times before, and I’m gonna say it again: This is a remix! The result text is the exact same for every remix! As a result, telling where the line lies between a Superb and an OK is a lot harder here! However, it’s safe to say that if you can get a Superb in the other rhythm minigames in the set, you shouldn’t have a hard time getting one here.
Difficulty Rating
Gonna go ahead and give this a 2.6/5, the transitions are nooooot fun this time.
Final Remarks
Gonna be so honest I didn’t even realize until writing about the remix that three of the four regular rhythm minigames here were performance-related. That’s the fun part about doing this section though, is going back and seeing what fun details like that I missed. I’ll see you back here next month for Stage 6!!
So You Want to Romance the Three Kingdoms?
Written by: Harold Harefoot (talk)
Hello, and welcome back to So You Want to Romance the Three Kingdoms?, The 'Shroom's best possible source for information on beating specifically scenario 1 189 A.D. Dong Zhuo Triumphs in Luo Yang (well, not anymore, he doesn't!) of the SNES classic (?) Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire as Lord Kong Rong. Last month, we successfully recaptured Luoyang (but not the emperor) from the tyrannical Dong Zhuo. This month, I don't know. Other stuff will happen!
Step 36: Luoyang is the Best
So you might be wondering why I wanted Luoyang so badly. Well, for story reasons, obviously taking the capital of China is great for the prestige! But the actual reason is obviously more gameplay-focused. You see, Luoyang is quite simply the best city to have in the entire game! By far the largest city, its population currently sits at 790,200 citizens. A single max recruitment from Luoyang is 88,000 soldiers! That's almost half the number of troops we currently have in Luoyang! Not only that, but because of its large population and good stats (because apparently even Dong Zhuo was smart enough to not burn and destroy Luoyang on his way out the door – presumably because he hopes to recapture it), we're currently projected to gain 8,271 gold at tax time. We're likewise projected to gain a startling 14,223 barrels of provisions from the harvest! And these aren't even peak stats!
While the economy is currently 131 and the farm is 147, both of those stats max out 200, so we're not even at maximum efficiency! Speaking of efficiency, we're going to be assigning officers in both farm and economy, with Xu Huang and Hua Xiong being given 2,000 gold to improve the harvest and Lord Kong Rong assigning himself and Dong Heng 1,500 gold to improve the economy.
The main downside of a city this big is that it takes a lot of resources to recover spirit because of how large the population is. A gift of 1,000 barrels of provisions simply doesn't mean as much to Luoyang, city of 790,200, as it does to Jin Yang, city of 58,400. For example, the spirit in Luoyang is currently 65. Apparently the reputation of Lord Kong Rong means little in the capital :(. Having Guan Yu, one of the most highly-regarded warriors in all of China with a charm level of 96, distribute 1,000 barrels of provisions only raised the spirit by 4 points to 69. Having somebody like Hua Xiong, who has a charm of only 44, give 1,000 barrels of provisions raises the spirit from 69 to 71. You can see that it's going to be a very slow effort to raise the spirit, so you really gotta watch that because of how long it's going to take to raise it. That goes especially when a full draft of 88,000 troops drops the spirit from 71 down to 60. That's why I would always recommend drafting in Luoyang after the big event months of January (when taxes come in), April (when spring happens), June (when the harvest comes in), and October (Halloween). Those are the only months the people can revolt from spirit being too low, so you want to give yourself as much time to rebuild your popularity as possible!
Luoyang is, like I said, the most important city you can take if you start near it. If you started as Wang Lang in Hui Ji or Sun Jian in Chang Sha, obviously it's going to be difficult to get to Luoyang simply because of how far you'd have to travel and how many cities you'd have to conquer. But you should always be thinking "how can I make a path to conquer Luoyang?" because of how valuable it is as a city and how many resources you can extract from it. It's the quickest path to creating a massive army because of how quickly you can just recruit, recruit, recruit. You're talking multiple months of being able to recruit 88,000 troops. Just remember that you're going to take a giant loss in training when you do so, so don't immediately try to go to war with those fresh troops of yours.
Step 37: Befriending the Nomads
The months of May and June go by quickly without much happening. In the city of Ye, Cai Yong manages to successfully recruit Fu Gan, which is good because Fun Gan has the ability to recruit. Also in Ye, to keep the soldiers strong, Zhang He and Zhang Fei are to begin a six-month training program. Governor Wu Anguo in Jin Yang runs out of money to improve the farmlands, so a successful attempt to bolster them with 2,000 gold from Bei Ping is organized by Feng Ji. Thanks to the rulership of Lord Kong Rong, all the bandits that once terrorized these streets have been run out of all territory under Lord Kong Rong's command! In Jin Yang, as a reward for working under the difficult conditions brought on by Dong Zhuo's destruction, all officers are rewarded with 100 gold. Additionally, Tian Feng and Huangfu Song are allocated 600 gold to regrow the destroyed crops. Yang Baio and Lu Zhi are given 1,000 gold to protect the honest merchants of Jin Yang and run out black market bandits!
Near the end of June, reports come in that Dong Zhuo and Sun Jian have formed an alliance. Terrible alliance! Those two aren't anywhere near each other, but whatever. Then, in more upsetting news, messengers interrupt the harvest with reports that Cao Cao in Chen Liu and Kong Zhou in Qiao have formed an alliance!
This is much more upsetting! Those two are right next to each other! They could actually send units to defend each other! Damn that Cao Cao! But don't worry Lord Kong Rong, that's a worry for a different day!
More importantly, the harvest has come in and we've had unsurprisingly zero rebellions! As if anyone would rebel under the wise and noble rule of Lord Kong Rong! With the harvest in, it's time to make some moves! Sadly, in Luoyang we can only recruit 75,000 troops because we rewarded our officers and had only 750 gold left. I know what you're asking. What are we supposed to do with only 75,000 troops!? But I guess it'll have to do! We're going to have Dong Heng recruit the soldiers. He only has 74 charm, which… I don't know exactly what charm does in this context? I imagine the higher the charm, the lower the drop in like soldier spirit? But, to be honest, I really don't know. It's probably something I should look into… Maybe I should read that strategy guide I bought, but for now we're going to have Dong Heng do it. While Guan Yu might have the highest charm, we need him for training. Speaking of the train stat, we dropped down to 65 train, so we're going to have Guan Yu and Hua Xiong start a seven-month training session. Our spirit dropped to 60, which is nonsense. A full 88,000 soldiers also lowered it to 60 and we drafted 13,000 less soldiers, yet we still got the same spirit drop? Ungrateful peasants! To address this, we're going to have Taishi Ci and Xu Huang each give 1,000 provisions to the people, raising the spirit to 65. See? Slow grind!
Elsewhere in the city of Ye, newly-recruited civil servant Fu Gan has been ordered to see the imprisoned Xun Yu and offer him the position as Lord Kong Rong's new advisor in Luoyang if he drops his foolishness and agrees to work for him. Xun Yu, who is not a fool (hence being offered the advisor job), accepts, seeing it as a great step up in prestige to be the advisor in Luoyang (as well as hoping to get out of the dungeons).
With that, all the prisoners in Ye have been successfully brought to our side. Because of this, Cai Yong has been commanded to come to Luoyang along with 4,000 barrels of provisions. He's been instructed to take along 5,000 soldiers to protect him and said provisions (the soldiers are just for flavor – you can't actually be robbed using the "move" command). Since Ye has a 78 spirit, Governor Zhang He has decided to give 1,000 barrels of provisions to the people to hopefully bring that up to 80. Unfortunately, as everyone is preoccupied this month, said provisions are left in the hands of Pan Feng, a gruff and stern military man with a charm of only 23! According to reports, Pan Feng complained loudly of how awful the peasants smelled and about how it was a waste to give provisions to undisciplined rabble. If the game could give you negative points for giving provisions, it probably would. It, however, can't, so we just barely make it to 80 with reports being that the people of Ye were happy for the food but not exactly happy with the person responsible for giving it out!
In the city of Ping Yuan, Governor Zhao Yun has been commanded to begin a draft now that the harvest has come in. Officer Jian Yong (charm 77) managed to recruit 57,000 fresh soldiers, bringing the army to 108,000 soldiers. Unfortunately, their training has fallen to an abysmal 49. In addition, the spirit of Ping Yuan has dropped to 68. Zhao Yun and Han Sui have taken matters into their own hands, beginning a three-month crash course for the new soldiers. Other than that, we don't do too much in the other cities outside of going around seeing if any of them have officers that can be recruited (they do not) or if they have spirit under 80 that can be boosted with our new harvest (only Nan Pi and Ping Yuan do).
With that, we can skip ahead to the month of August. The first thing we do in August is in Ye, where we move Xun Yu to Luoyang. There, he is appointed Lord Kong Rong's personal advisor (after me of course). Next we have Cai Yong attempt to recruit Zhang Ji, a pretty vanilla general, but, hey, a city as large as Luoyang needs a lot of administrators!
Now it's time for one of my favorite mechanics in the entire game! It's time to make contact with the nomads! Who are the nomads, you might ask? During this time period in Chinese history, there were three (and possibly even more) nomadic tribes that lived in different parts of China, each with a different relationship with the central government (they mostly tried to stab each other). The three tribes in this game are: the Qiang of the mountains, who inhabit the western mountain region under the control of Ma Teng and Dong Zhuo; the Niaowan of Northern China who inhabit the part of China we already have under control (Jin Yang, Dai Xian, Ping Yuan, Nan Pi, Bei Ping, and Xiang Ping); and finally the southern Shanyue tribe of the coast, who inhabit a number of southern cities to which we aren't even close.
For some reason, none of the tribes particularly like us, with the Shanyue tribe especially hating us with a 76 hostile rate. I don't know why; we're not even close to them! We'd have to take over two more cities to even be on the border of their historical terrain. Meanwhile, the Qiang and Niaowan tribes have a hostile rating of only 66 and 64, respectively. So why do these tribes matter, you might ask? There are two reasons, with the main one being that, if you have a low enough hostile rate, then you can get the tribes to attack your enemies. The tribes apparently have infinite members and are pretty easily bribable. In exchange for food or gold, they will inflect pain on your enemies. The cool thing is they can never conquer your enemies will whittle down your enemies' armies during every turn you sic the tribe on them. But watch out, because your enemies can also sic them on you. On my first-ever run of this game, when I was but a pea-brained idiot, Ma Teng paid off the Qiang tribe to attack me while I pursued him through the mountains, and they killed like half of my army. It completely killed that run!
Because of the advantages they offer, I always try to maintain good relationships with the tribes so that I can use them to my ends! But be warned, as no matter how good of a relationship you have with them, the tribes are fickle people. Even if you have a 0% hostile rate with them, they can still be persuaded to invade you. One odd thing is that they don't have, like, proper armies if they invade you, so you don't do a proper war. Instead, a simulated battle occurs. Alternatively, you can choose not to meet them in the field and they instead do major damage to your city, lowering your infrastructure and spirit while doing less damage to your army. One really cool thing is that you can actually capture officers from the tribes if you choose to fight them when they attack. I think it's random if you manage to capture them or not. I usually like to make them into governors of unimportant cities to show the rest of China how I've civilized the nomads!
Since we're so far away from any territory of the Shanyue, we're not going to be bothering with them. In addition, while the Niaowan roam much of our land, they only roam one active border (Ping Yuan), so I'm going to take my chances. Instead, we're going to get to work schmoozing the Qiang mountain tribe, because they can help us in our efforts against Dong Zhuo. To start, we're going to offer their king a gift! Gifts are one of the cornerstones of diplomacy found in the "foreign" tab. Giving a gift lowers the hostile rate of any city should the ruler chose to accept it (a lot of times they won't). Despite my reservations, Lord Kong Rong insisted on making first contact with the Qiang himself, arranging a meeting with the (fictional) Qiang King Midang to offer him a gift of 90 crossbows. You might be thinking "aren't those pretty useless?". Yeah, well, they're dumb and they don't know what good value is! It works; King Midang graciously accepts the crossbows, lowering the hostility from 66 to 54.
With first contact made and the danger having subsided, we order that snake Ju Shou to meet with the Qiang and offer them 4,500 barrels of provisions. While it sure would have been a shame if something happened to him, perhaps for the good of China, the meeting is a success, with hostility dropping to 44 and that Ju Shou earning himself even more prestige.
Just so you know, failed gifts actually raise the hostility between two nations, so make sure you don't offer any insulting gifts. A good rule of thumb is that you need to send more when the hostility is high. If you have an advisor or a civilian officer who warns you against sending such a meager gift, maybe don't send it. Although it was kind of funny, because I ended up sending the crossbows twice because I was running experiments. The first time, Xun Yu told me they'd of course accept such a generous offer, but the second time he was, like, "I doubt they'll accept such a meager gift". The 90 crossbows must have been right on the line of acceptable gifts. We're next going to have the loyal Xin Pi give the Qiang another 5,000 barrels of provisions, bringing the hostility down to 34!
Lastly this month, since we've got 18,000 barrels of provisions in Luoyang, anybody available is giving out provisions, bringing the spirit up from 65 to 73!
Step 38: Saving Qiao Mao From Himself!
As August turns to September and the weather begins to get colder, our attention this month will be again all on Luoyang, because there really isn't anything to do in the other cities. They're all either broke or knee-deep in training. For starters, we're going to have our advisor Xun Yu give 1,000 provisions to the people. Known as a wise and intelligent man still loyal to the Han system, Xun Yu is well-regarded throughout the nation and beloved by the people as an exceptional statesman. With his 1,000 provisions, the spirit rises to 76. We're also going to be doing some rearranging in city development, with Dong Heng being replaced with Cai Yong in economic development and both Xu Huang and Hua Xiong being replaced with Zhang Ji and Xun Yu in the farming sector. We attempt to bring fellow Han loyalist Dong Cheng into the fold by having Cai Yong offer him a place in our government, but Dong Cheng refuses, feeling that he already betrayed his emperor when he agreed to work for Han Fu and not wanting to commit another betrayal (he'll come around). Lastly, we have respected war heroes Dong Heng and Taishi Ci each give 1,000 provisions to the people, finally restoring Luoyang's spirit to 80.
Outside of Luoyang, in the city of Bei Ping, civil servant Feng Ji has been ordered to infiltrate another region while fellow Civil Servant Chen Zhen has been ordered to depart Dai Xian and spend six months spying on the Xu region. Lord Kong Rong has also decided on another meeting with the Qiang king, this time offering a gift of 7,000 barrels of provisions. The gracious king accepts them happily.
With fall, approaching it is quite difficult for the Qiang to acquire enough food for their people to survive the winter since the rocky mountainous terrain makes it difficult to farm and the hostile forces of Ma Teng and Dong Zhuo harass them when they try to hunt. This brings the hostile rate of the Qiang all the way down to 17. The nomadic Qiang now understand that Lord Kong Rong is the greatest friend they could ever have in China!
As the fall truly begins in October, rumors begin to spread in Bei Hai that Lord Kong Rong has abandoned the people of Bei Hai and that Lord Kong Rong saw Bei Hai as a mere stepping stone to true power. Luckily, few in Bei Hai believe these foul rumors. It was foolish to attempt to spread rumors in Bei Hai where the people knew Lord Kong Rong the best. A few of the rumormongers were captured, confessing under (light) torture that they were sent by officials from Tao Qian to spread trouble in Bei Hai. This is perhaps retaliation for our attempts to spy on the Xu region, but more likely than that, it was because Tao Qian was simply jealous of the virtuous and beloved Lord Kong Rong. Shortly after Xin Pi's soldiers extracted those confessions, news spread throughout the land that Tao Qian had died suddenly and without explanation. No doubt his death was the result of him being cursed for attempting to ruin the reputation of Lord Kong Rong and is further confirmation that Lord Kong Rong is the man chosen to save China from these chaotic times!
