I bought Frostpunk two days ago because a friend of mine told me that I would like the game. I've seen some gameplay of it while I was browsing on YouTube looking for tips and tricks for They Are Billions (another super hardcore RTS game).
I didn't give it much thought about whether to buy it or not, so I just got the game. On the first attempt, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Trying to figure out new game mechanics is always a pain, but once you know, you can turn that knowledge into easy decision making actions.
For those who don't know about Frostpunk, and enjoy RTS (real-time strategy) games, Frostpunk might be just the game for you to add to your collection. The reason why I say 'might', is mainly because it is not your average RTS game.
Main story: A new home
You and other survivors start in an ice-pit crater area. You will be leading the people to safety and have the assignment to secure and keep everyone safe during the storm. You start off with few resources and 80 people. You have three different classes. Workers, Engineers, and Children. The weather is -20 degrees Celcius, which seems to be very cold... but when the SuperNova Storm comes, you'll be in a place you never imagined would be possible. The temperature will drop occasionally, and on day 43 (if I recall correctly) the storm starts, lasting for 7 days, where you can't do absolutely anything (learned that the hard way :D).
Playing and having some fun
I must say, the graphics are very appealing. I like it a lot. They spend a lot of time to make it look awesome. The art during loading screens or whenever you have to do something is adding a good chunk of value to the experience.
Obviously, when I first started playing the game, I didn't know what was going to happen, or what events would occur before the storm would arrive. Heck, I didn't even know how much time I had to prepare...Exciting :)
The first attempt when I played this game, I just did what I usually do with building/RTS games. High speed and occasionally upgrade tech and apply new laws. Well... that didn't last long. My crew was in constant pain due to the cold and I couldn't figure out what mechanics would ease their pain. Many people died during the first few days, which can increase the difficulty of the game since you'll need people to obtain materials and treat the ill.
On my second attempt, I got a bit further in the game. I gave my people enough medics to treat the ill, without realizing it was possible to not have any ill people right off the bat. Still going strong on speed 3. And you know what they say... "More haste, less speed". Well, last speed was about to change into something like rapid pace, straight to hell.
The third attempt (Nov 1), I finally made it to the SuperNova Storm. With -a lot- of pain. People were dying within seconds (I didn't recall them and they would go to work unless I would tell them to stop (didn't know... I swear)). I made it to Day 47. Which is like... 3 days before Sunrise. I didn't make it, all my people were dissatisfied and they decided to throw me in the storm. They probably died not much longer... ungrateful bastards...
Learning curve
So, after three attempts, I gathered all the information I got from the game so I could get a better understanding of how the game mechanics work. I think I was lucky to last so long in the third attempt. While my maximum storage for other resources than the coal was 300, I received a task at the end where I had to gather at least 860 wood to give to my fellow survivors. I knew I had to expand some storage.
Time of action
As it is a real-time strategy game, actions you make, like assigning people or placing buildings, are crucial and in order of the time when you make such a decision. I decided to make more use of the pause button during important events such as work-shifts, finishing a technology, or enforcing a new law.
Placing
Every time when I had the opportunity to pause the game, I thought of a more planned grid to place my buildings. This way I could organize a bit better and have more control over how much coal I was using on a daily basis. Monitoring the income/outcome of material gathering as well as maximizing gains during the day.
Technology
Tech may be one of the most important things you want to maximize from the very beginning. From the very start, I placed two occupied workshops that would help me increase technology speed way faster. By doing this, I could sometimes get two techs done in one single day.
Thinking of what the order would be to research important tech, is pretty much crucial. At some point, you want to have researched almost everything from the tech-tree near the end. On day 18 I researched pretty much a lot of it already. I made a screenshot and showed my friend and he was like; wtf how did you do that so fast. I knew I was on the right track ^^.
Laws & Technology
Laws and technology is like I said a few times already, are the most important things to think about. You gotta stick with what you pick. There is a difference between the two. Whenever you enforce a law, you will have a cooldown. The law is active, right away, but you have to wait before you can enforce another one. Technologies are exactly the opposite. You will need 5 engineers per workshop that will be researching the technology you pick. It can only be researched during work-shifts. Once researched, it becomes active and you can start using your brand-new tech.
Heatmap
Checking out the heatmap occasionally will let you know how comfortable your people are. This is a great way to see if you're right on track or need to research some upgrades for your generator. Whereas, the better the upgrade, the more coal you'll need to gather.
The Londoners
This turn of events was kinda cool, but a real pain in the ass. At some point, your people are going to be very dissatisfied with you whenever they hear about some horrific news. It's your duty to turn the people who wanna leave, and increase the way how people currently live in these conditions. You can implement laws that will help you a bit, but you have to stick with it and think of them all through before you enforce one.
Preparations
Around day 30 it's about the end of mid-game and the beginning of end-game. At this point, you really want to make sure you have fully upgraded your generator to at least tech-level 4. This way you can calculate how much you're consuming and how much you will need to have in stock for at least a week + 1 day.
Oh no... the SuperNova Storm!
Play some dramatic music. It's time to get all the people inside and safe. While we started with -20 degrees Celcius, we currently sitting at -80 degrees Celcius. And it's falling rapidly for a week. At this point I have -way- too much coal, and maximized my hoarding due to the installations of Automaton's (BOTS that do the work for you). This way, I would know my people would probably die less fast, or get ill less fast than without having an up and running generator.
Yup, that's right... people will die in this game, and you have to make some harsh decisions during it. But in the end... if you make it that is, you'll be rewarded with one of the cities that will last in "New London". The only question is... was it all worth it?
There are most probably other important things that I missed in this post. But if you like what you see, I suggest you buy the game and find out for yourself. I finished the main story within about 10 hours of play-time. It was on medium mode (normal?), looks like I have two more difficulties to play the main story ^^. I hope you had fun reading this, and maybe... I'll see you when winter is coming.
Cheers,
Ruben