Dredged from the Depths: The Isola Experiment

[Kittyodoom]

Lo…the very name long forgotten in the annals of time; the records coated in dust thicker than the books themselves…

Until one fateful day, when a would-be leader, perhaps a descendant of the original mad cat herself, uncovered the title of the tome:

The Isola Experiment

“Why, yes…” Ms. Kitty mused, flipping through the pages despite the text being of a language long dead, glancing at the portraits of the poor doomed souls of an era gone by, “This is a promising concept. I bet I could improve on it…”

---

---

“I shall gather a hand-picked team for the expedition-”

“Ah, Hazumu; simple, but strong and brave. She will make a hard worker, and an excellent defender over time.”

“Hmm, Till…that one can be a handful, but as long as we keep him busy, his craft should be a great asset to the colony.”

“Kai isn’t good at dealing with other people; I bet I can have him chasing after the animals just fine, though!”

“Oh, Tonei…she may not be the most cheerful soul, but so long as we keep the strong stuff away from her, she’ll be an excellent craftsman again.”

“Ah, yes, Altros Xu and Joy the Fox; a formidable healing team, if a rather odd one.”

“Wonderful! Their son Soon-Shu is available to go as well! That boy has SUCH a knack with plants!”

“Ohhh, Lujang! He is an amazingly hard worker and artisan, even if he does insist on such an odd sculpting for his hair. He’s the perfect final choice!”

---

“Next, some basic supplies to go with them…”

“Ah, yes! With these, they will build me- I mean, themselves, a wonderful little town!”

---

“Now, where to sail out to…”

“Yes, this looks like a promising spot!”

“Oh, my! Look what we have here! I had heard they were rare in these parts; surely, this must be a sign!”

“Let us begin!!!”

[Kittyodoom]

Day 1:

Our “benefactor” insisted on a last minute donning of luxury pieces for all the women - these odd little bunny pendants. We’re not sure what that’s all about, but at least they’re pretty.

Altros also insisted on a new picture, as he said the one the benefactor had of him was very dated based on his lacking beard in it;

Once those silly bits were done, we set to work gathering up the nearby resources; stones, coconuts, palm wood, seaweed…

Oh! And one Captain Miranda appeared to offer assistance!

…but sadly, reality came to a grinding halt! D:

---

Hmm, my game has crashed, and yet;

Steam still thinks it’s running, AND I can still hear the music…

…way to live up to your reputation, Isola…

Time to prune my mods and try again…

[Kittyodoom]

Oh my LORD, I somehow had the old Candledark mod from last year in my Mods folder. How on earth?! I guess that last expedition was literally cursed. Well! Guess the Benefactor gets a second chance at this!

[epicdude312]

@Kittyodoom

I somehow had the old Candledark mod from last year in my Mods folder

Sounds like something I’d do. I’m clumsy with folders…

Well, I can’t wait to see what happens next! This thread is awesome

[Kittyodoom]

Take 2;
My second set of fo- er, volunteers!

“Let’s see…the Xu family made it back, excellent…Hazumu returned, though she looks a bit shaken up…Kai returned and seems to have some mental and emotional concerns…no sign of Till or Lujang, but I have Lana and Kat in reserve…this should be just fine.”

---

“Same supplies…sail off to those coordinates…with any lucky, our blessed good omen may still be there, overlooking our spot! Though I doubt any of the crew or original supplies that didn’t return are still there. Hrrmph. Oh, what is this yabbering on? The survivors don’t look pleased to be returning. A shame for them!”

---

“Ah! Especially when the Ancient One still awaits us! This is wonderful! Oh, stop sobbing, Kai. Get a move on!”

---

“Pendants assigned…coconuts and stones to be gathered…excellent!”

---

"Oh, thank goodness! That first one was just a false start. We’ve got the main area cleared;

(Well, mostly, anyways!)

Tonei and Kai assigned to crafting work, which starts with the resting benches-

(An inspirational view AND a dedicated storage area for the artisans; I know, I simply AM that amazing~)

The first steps on our super secret awesome tunneling project;

(No, I can’t simply explain what the tunnel is for; I did say it was a super SECRET awesome tunneling project!)

Why, yes, I do believe this little colony has great potential! Muahaha…I mean…ah…how nice.

[Alexander_Harvey]

I love the narrative style of your little…experiment. But for curiosity, since I don’t think I’ve seen this much, what mods do you have applied? Obviously the Archipelago Biome from the awesome Bruno Supremo, but what else? Does the Locks Of Many Hair apply at the initial team generation for you to get such wildly awesome hairstyles?

[Kittyodoom]

I have…quite a few mods, lol. Bit of a glutton for them;

Out of that crazy list, I’m obviously only using the one biome mod for this run, @BrunoSupremo’s amazing Archipelago Biome, but I do intend to try the others with other runs.
Also, currently, I am not using the following mods:

• Commemorative Items
• @Pawel_Malecki’s FineItems mod
• @GreatColtini’s Stonehearth Expanded
  Because they won’t turn on

Rather wish I’d noticed those sooner, so I could’ve addressed it BEFORE the start of this run, since it got off on a better foot than the first…eh, screw it, third try is the charm. Gonna reload my mods to make sure they’re the latest version, as I re-installed Stonehearth from a backup; will make a proper list in the next post, before Attempt #3 at this venture!

[BrunoSupremo]

@Kittyodoom

since it got off on a better foot than the first…eh, screw it, third try is the charm

Lol, and I thought we would not see new expeditions for a long time. Some things never change.

I’m tuning the statue spawns, and even got to skin it to the biome, 2 variants. I will test a little to see if it looks good.

[Kittyodoom]

Pffft, the Benefactor never learns.

[Kittyodoom]

…though the Benefactor is also now inclined to await your newest version. She really reveres those statues…

[BrunoSupremo]

Oh. But the mod is kinda broken with some half made features. Don’t wait for it, it will take time to finish it all. Sorry

If you want more statues, you can try modding the mod yourself. Add this:

"ruins" : {
	"density" : 1
}

To this file:
/archipelago_selected/scenarios/scenario_index.json
(The default was 0.2, so density 1 is around 5 times more statues)

[Kittyodoom]

@BrunoSupremo

Oh. But the mod is kinda broken with some half made features. Don’t wait for it, it will take time to finish it all. Sorry

Nuuuu, sad cats!

@BrunoSupremo

If you want more statues, you can try modding the mod yourself. Add this:

"ruins" : {
	"density" : 1
}

To this file:
/archipelago_selected/scenarios/scenario_index.json
(The default was 0.2, so density 1 is around 5 times more statues)

Yayyy, happier cats!

The Benefactor will remember your kindess, good sir!

[Kittyodoom]

The Cat Modpack:

• @Pawel_Malecki’s Fine Items and Plant Lore mods
  (watching for your release, Archmod!)

• @BrunoSupremo’s Archipelago Biome Mod
  Also his Swamp Biome, Canyon Biome, Rivers,
  And also his amazing Seasons Mod, if also likely for future runs (as I can’t imagine it does much in the Archipelago).

• @Wiese2007, @8BitCrab, @sheepasaurusrex, and @Kittyodoom’s LoMH
  Also 8BitCrab’s Rune Mod: V2.6

• @Drotten’s Hearthlings of Many Faces - because it turns out that LoMH’s luxury and accessory options for Female Hearthlings work with it, just not the roster screen; I also want to be able to customize people who join later into the Experi- er…Expedition.

• @Froggy’s Stonehearth Cafe (Cooking And Farming Expansion) 1.91

• @The_M’s Settlement Decor Mod and Roll for Need v0.32

• @stonemonkey’s Finery Mod 4.6

• @Kurohito’s BreweryMod (currently being maintained by Wiese)

• @nikosthefan’s ClearSky mod v1.1
  (the Benefactor does not approve of clouds for some reason…)

• @Shinsaka’s Better Stockpiles v0.22.0
  (with the three compatibilities for Cafe, Brewery, and Decor)

• @pingu’s Home sweet home (Version 2.1)

• @Cody_Thomas’s Corruption Biome, for a future run

• @Hamnisu’s Commemorative Items
  (I’m hoping it didn’t work before because I had an older version or such…not optimistic, but it would be nice, lol) Works fine now; either I had an old file, or I made it go wrong somewhere

• @GreatColtini’s Stonehearth Expanded - (V0.16)
  (Same as with the previous mod; not expecting it to work, but here’s hoping) Fixed! Was a naming issue when extracting it by the looks of it!

• @TomMartow’s EndPieces 1.09

• @groms’s Groms Food Mod

• @Chabonit’s Wealth and Leadership R15.04 …mostly for the jeweler. Don’t know much about the leader, but it also doesn’t terribly intrigue me at a glance.
  Also Fornjotr - Models mod

• @tim1’s Specialized loadouts - which is where the Architect Toolbox loadout that I used last night comes from

• @Yangzhoui’s Yang & co’s Decorations - because I absolutely love the paintings

• @MelOzone’s More lights from Mel - am a huge fan of Mel’s models

• @LePheel’s Sacred Grove, for a future run

• @Vargbane’s amazing Anórien Biome, which I also love greatly, and will very much be using in a future run. It was a coin flip between this one and Archipelago for my first run, actually.

• @jomaxro’s Stonehearth Doorways 2.0, which I think may have been one of the first mods I ever used, alongside the next one

• @Relyss’s Slabs with terrain colors

---

Honorable Mentions, for they were tempting but didn’t make it in:

• @wwtd’s Wizards 0.3.5
  -While I love the look of the combat classes, they weren’t enough to lure me in.
  -The Artificer crafting class almost got me, as I love Artificers, but was saddened to see that all it seems to do currently is craft their talismen.
  -Will be keeping an eye on this one for future updates, it might still lure me in yet.

• @SirAstrix’s Atlas Expedition
  -Love the glass. Just uncertain how well it’ll go with my designs.
  -Will be watching for future updates and additional content, may change my mind later with more things, or for a future run after I’ve tested my designs on the Charter Expedition group (who is on their third run…ehehehe…)

[Hamnisu]

First of all: my, oh my! Now, this will be interesting to follow
Can’t wait to find out more about the super secret awesome tunneling project.

Secondly: non-functional mods?!

@Kittyodoom

@Hamnisu’s Commemorative Items
(I’m hoping it didn’t work before because I had an older version or such…not optimistic, but it would be nice, lol)

As far as I know, all versions put on this forums are fully functional - no bugs have been reported so far.
The only thing I can think of that would make your mod not work, are described in the “Mod Compatibility” section:

@Hamnisu

This mod overrides the action memorialize_death_action; thus, it will not work with any other mod which edits this action, too.

There are mods out there which add new professions/jobs to Stonehearth - the generic tombstone will be used for any (dead) Hearthling whos’ profession does not have a custom tombstone model.
If you are the developer of such a mod and would like me to create custom tombstones based on your professions, please provide me a link to your mod and we’ll sort it out

There should be a dead give-away if your mod is working or not - and you don’t even have to have any Hearthlings die to find out I put a “Poyo Statue” in the Mason’s recipe list, just for this!

But seeing how I’m sometimes a pessimist, I’ll assume it’s not working for you May I ask what version you’re using and what issue you’re facing?

---

Edit: Ps. in case it’s not working for you, I wouldn’t mind to have a peek at your stonehearth.log with all text from starting Stonehearth up to the point after just booting up a game (new or saved does not matter to me).

[Kittyodoom]

It seems to be working this time! Originally it wouldn’t let me turn it on in the mod list; so best guess, I did indeed just have an older version or the file got renamed…something something.

Proof of purchase it working this time:

So, fortunately, error was on my end, not yours, for this one!
I do still have two non-functional mods due to Invalid Manifests, but they’re these two:
@GreatColtini’s Stonehearth Expanded - (V0.16)
@Pawel_Malecki’s Fine Items
Both of these are now online as well!

So, my apologies for the scare, @Hamnisu! Looks like your items will be part of Expedition #3!

-edit- I’m not sure which version I was using the first time that caused the issue, as I…kinda deleted my previous Mods folder in bulk. I had a few old ones, though (I mean, first one went kabloom because there was CANDLEDARK in there somehow…), and one or two that were clearly named incorrectly (one was an .smud …I don’t even know how I managed that). Thank you for the concerned reply, though, and I’ll keep an eye out for future trouble…including my own mistakes >.<

[Hamnisu]

@Kittyodoom

So, fortunately, error was on my end, not yours, for this one!
So, my apologies for the scare, @Hamnisu!

I’m both sorry and happy to hear this. There’s no reason to apologize; pleases, let me know if something is not working for you.
I’m hoping to release a newer version somewhat soon - I’d love to catch any possible bugs that are lying around, you know
(Lately, I’ve been focusing on helping out with @pingu’s Home sweet home mod - but soon™ I should go back to focus on Commemmorative Items )

@Kittyodoom

Looks like your items will be part of Expedition #3!

How long will I have to wait to find out the deal with the tunnel already! hahaha

[Pawel_Malecki]

@Kittyodoom

@Pawel_Malecki’s Fine Items

It won’t work because the file name is incorrect. It is finetems.smod, not fineitems.smod. Also, the mod name is Finetems as Fine and Items blend together quite nicely.

[Kittyodoom]

Ahhh, that would do it. I’ll update it and try again, thank you!

-edit- Double thank you, @Pawel_Malecki - since I had to fix that, I thought to check the other one that wasn’t working, and found a similar issue; I have all my mods working now! ^.^

[Kittyodoom]

@Kittyodoom

…including my own mistakes >.<

(speaking of mistakes, time to let the Benefactor out again!)

---

!!! ATTEMPT #3 !!!

---

“Well, now that we have all those silly little technical difficulties out of the way…who’s ready for another try at this?”

“Look at that adorable poster boy. Doesn’t he look excited? Why can’t you all be excited like he is, hmm?”

“Oh, don’t worry about having to be around other Hearthlings, sweetie; you’ll be chasing after animals in no time!”

“As long as you can hear when there’s trouble coming, Marc~”

“See, everyone, Ishi is excited! Why can’t you- what do you mean, “he’s always excited”?”

“Dr. Love! Excellent to see you joining- call you David? Alright, David! Pack your kit!”

“Why, Kai, you look quite different. Done something with your hair, perhaps? Oh you shapeshifters, I never can keep up!”*
*Kai is named and modeled (both male and female versions) after a shapeshifter I’m playing in an ongoing tabletop PnP campaign.

“Tigre, dear! Happy to have you join us, your craftsmanship is- why, how rude, walking away like that…”

“You can patrol all by yourself, Buddian, no worries so long as you alert everyone when there’s danger!”

“Is that everyone? Excellent! To your new home!”

---

“Oooo, now doesn’t this look like an interesting spot?”

“AH! Perfect! And there were a full three bunny statues spotted in the area! How wonderful!”

(Psst; it worked, @BrunoSupremo! Thank you!)

---

First orders:

• Coconuts
• Rock piles
• Shipwrecks

• Kai, start with the woodworking. And, uh…where did you get those shoulderpads…? I issued the pendants, but not…oh, whatever, get to work!
  

  

• And you, Ky Tenn, start putting out some traps!

• Last but certainly not least, can’t forget the super secret awesome tunneling project!

Alright! Off to work with all of you!

[Kittyodoom]

Yes, level that thin little cliff face all the way down to ground level! THE BUNNY WILL BE HAPPY.

Bring those trees down! THE BUNNY WILL BE HAPPY!

• Kai! Where is your carpenter bench?!

• Ky Tenn! WHERE ARE THOSE TRAPS?!
  …oh, right, you need a grassy area for that. Uh, let’s get you to one of those grassy ledges.

I suppose that is a bit of work for you all to do, uh…carry on?