This week, we’re not fooling around. The Camp is our main focus, and it’s the final piece to present before wrapping up the changes to the gameplay loop.
Across the lands, few places inspire as much fear as the Orc Camp. For the Orcs, that makes it the one place they can truly relax, secure in the knowledge that no enemy would dare interrupt their mud baths.
In Camp, you’ll be able to interact with your Orcs and help them grow. This includes crafting items, uncovering passions, and witnessing bonds of friendship (or rivalry) form between them. NPCs may also stop by to trade resources, provide station or decoration blueprints, or simply for a chat.
But before all that, we need to visit the Warlord at his throne.
As mentioned in Journal #1, your first duty as Warchief is to repair the Throne. This spot will be a central point in the Camp, as it’s where much of your story progression will take place.
"Once the player repairs the throne, the Warlord imparts a bit of knowledge onto his Warchief: Behind him lies the base of Orgon's Greatshield, an artifact fractured and lost to time, but one that the Warlord wishes to rebuild. The Greatshield is said to carry lost knowledge of the Orc civilization that could help them prosper once again. Your job is simple: scour the land and find the missing pieces of the Greatshield to bring glory to the Orcs."
Your Warlord is convinced that this artifact is key to the return of the Orc's glory days and only imparts this knowledge upon you when he deems you worthy. This moment marks the beginning of your quest through the history of the Orcs, as well as the land they inhabit. What secrets will you uncover, what kind of leader will you be?
Time holds the answer.
Orcs have a broad metric for calculating time, which they innovatively call: Orc Hours. In DKTA, most actions cost Orc Hours!
Here’s an example. At sunrise, you may begin the day with 8 Orc Hours. Cooking a meat skewer costs 2. Feel like raiding? That’ll take 4. Then you’ll have 2 to wrap up your day at camp, maybe by crafting a new station!
When all your Orc Hours are spent, it’s time to head to your tent and rest for the night.
Many factors can influence your Orc Hour consumption, like the passion of your Orc, station upgrades, or NPC actions. If you want to make the most out of every day, you’ll need to learn to juggle all these and create your own orcish production empire.
Raids are an essential part of the game, but some days you may just want to stay at camp, and that’s fine. The opposite is also true: if you have enough Orc Hours to raid twice in one day, go for it!
Now that we’ve covered how to use your time to grow your clan, let’s look at how stations turn Orc Hours into results.
"Orcs have their own temperament and behavior that dictate how they act. You’ll have to shape their Moods and Traits as well as enhance their Mindfulness to maximize their potential. This is achieved through Stations, which are structures that you and your Orcs can interact with to provide helpful bonuses during Raids."
Some stations work to enhance your Orcs in specific ways. You’ll choose a station recipe based on its effect and cost, select the participants who will benefit from it, and then your operator will create the recipe.
Put on a magic show for your Orcs to put them in a good mood before the upcoming encounter.
Heal an Orc’s rage by running them a nice mud bath.
Others may provide a piece of equipment or even an item. These don’t require participants; however, they may still need an operator and resources.
Make sure to upgrade your stations! More advanced stations give you access to greater recipes, only available to Orcs who are more advanced in their passions. You can also craft, discover, or purchase station blueprints.
One small thing: the Orcs wouldn’t be broke if stations were free to use!
Recipes and Stations cost resources and Orc hours, so when you’re short on materials but know what you want to do or build next, it’s time to raid again.
What’s a base-building strategy game without camp customization? We’ll never know, because we’ve got it!
"You'll want to feel at home and create a space that is truly yours. While decorating your Camp is entirely optional, if that's all you wish to do for an entire play session, you should be able to enjoy it to the fullest!"
Building is your gateway to bringing your camp to life. By creating and upgrading stations, you’ll shape the strength of your clan. You can even improve mandatory stations, like the Warchief’s tent or the Throne.
Through raids and other activities, you’ll also discover blueprints for purely cosmetic structures that you can place wherever you like.
Found a giant tooth that deserves to be shown off to the Orcs? Go ahead and display it!
You want paths made of enemy skulls? Weird flex, but ok…
Each construction has a cost, so manage your resources wisely!
And that’s it! It took 4 Warchief Journals, but we’ve completed a full pass on the gameplay loop of Don’t Kill Them All. Thanks for sticking with us this far! Next week’s journal will dive into Art Direction. After that, the Journals will shift to a monthly schedule, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath.
Remember: Don’t Kill Them All!