Overview

Activities define all actions the player can perform across daily life, exploration, and general lifesim. Most activities consume time, may alter player stats, and can influence NPC relationships, world states, or narrative flags. Activities are broadly grouped into several categories.

Daily Life Activities

Resting & Timeskips

Resting advances time and restores Energy depending on current exhaustion levels.

Resting

Resting can be performed at any of the following locations

• The player’s own proper bedding
• The player's own poor bedding
• Another NPC’s proper bedding if personal relationship is n or higher
• Another NPCs poor bedding if personal relationship is 1 or higher

Resting outcomes vary depending on the bedding quality and energy levels going into a rest.

• Poor Bedding (non-bed sleeping items)
  • Skips anywhere from 2-4 hours randomly
  • Restores 13% energy per hour of rest
  • Resting is not available when at 75% energy or higher
• Proper Bedding (Any actual bed entity)
  • Player chooses 1-8 hours to skip
  • Restores 30% energy per hour of rest
  • Resting is not available when at 75% energy or higher

Timeskip

Timeskip can be performed while sitting anywhere.

• Player chooses 1–4 hours to skip.
• Energy is consumed based on passive idling drain.
• NPC schedules, crafting queues, and world events advance as normal.

Upkeep

Upkeep tasks keep a characters overall wellbeing stable and weighs NPC decision making. Neglecting these needs as a player can cause negative effects while maintaining them gives positive effects. (See Stats & Skills)

Upkeep statuses can affect:

• Energy regeneration/decay
• Global reputation
• Bartering success
• Access to certain actions
• Social outcomes

Upkeep Activities

These are a few of the activity types that can be performed to maintain a characters wellbeing.

• Eating
  • Restores Satiation
• Resting
  • Restores Energy
• Washing
  • Restores Hygiene
• Socializing / performing hobby activities
  • Weighs mood statuses to maintain happiness and prevent boredom

Social Activities

Conversations

Talking to NPCs can trigger a range of events to occur.

• Relationships can progress or regress
• Clues or hints for ongoing storylines
• NPC routine influences or discovery
• Unlocking favors or quests

Gifting

NPCs accept multiple gifts daily, but only the first gift affects relationship values.

• Each NPC randomly generates a likes/dislikes table per save file
• A few canonically favored items consistent across saves
  • Juno always likes blueberry muffins
  • Adam always likes items from the metallic / industrial categories
  • Luca & Iris always dislike vegetable foodstuffs

Hanging Out

Players may perform activities with NPCs depending on:

• NPC schedule
• Relationship level
  • NPCs can follow the player, join in activities, or lead the player to one of their own.
  • Examples will be added as activities are developed.

Assisting / Volunteering

Players can assist with community tasks that appear seasonally or for special events.

Some rewards for contributing towards community events include:

• Global reputation
• Small relationship boosts
• Boost in happiness
• Opportunities to interact with other NPCs or protagonist NPCs

Exploration & Discovery Activities

Foraging

Foraging is a passive activity that occurs when in material dense locations as a way to collect trade material passively.

Loot tables depend on:

• Weather
• Region
• Time of day
• Season

Possible finds include:

• Natural resources
• plants
• scrap
• salvaged items
• trinkets

Landmarks

Malsburrow has several key landmark locations that the player can navigate to.

When visiting a landmark:

• The camera frames a scenic or informative view
• Contextual lore or community information is shown
• Some landmarks evolve as story arcs progress

Economic Activites

Jobs / Occupations

Jobs become available as the player interacts with NPCs or through story progression that allows the player to earn currency and global reputation.

Jobs unlock through:

• Meeting certain NPCs
• Meeting certain skill requirements
• Story progression
• Global reputation

Jobs vary in:

• Pay
• Energy cost
• Schedule
• Weather availability
• Failure penalties (arriving late, skipping shifts)

Crafting

Crafting is an activity that converts materials, time, and energy in exchange for other refined items that have other uses or can be sold. Some actions require a high Crafting Skill (see Stats & Skills)

Handcrafting (Passive)

The player queues items based on materials that they currently have in inventory and if they have a corresponding crafting recipe.

Handcrafting occurs automatically during:

• Timeskips
• Tram travel
• Sitting/idle actions

All handcrafting recipes take a set amount of time to complete. Anytime a player is in a timeskip (excluding resting), the length of the timeskip is added onto the progression. Finished items are automatically added to inventory.

Station Crafting (Active)

Station crafting is performed next to specialized crafting stations (ovens, workbenches, etc.). Active crafting costs time, energy, and materials.

When active crafting, players may encounter skill checks depending on the complexity of the crated item. Harder skill checks reduce the zone of success.

• Simple (Easy)
  • Success zone occupies 40% of the bar
  • Success increments progress by 25%
  • Failure regresses progress by 5%
• Intermediate (Medium)
  • Success zone occupies 25% of the bar
  • Success increments by 15%
  • Failure regresses progress by 10%
• Complex (Hard)
  • Success zone occupies 15% of the bar
  • Success increments progress by 10%
  • Failure regresses progress by 15%

NPCs can occasionally assist or request assistance depending on their or player skill levels and will also perform their own skill checks. NPC skill checks will not regress crafting progress when failed.

Skill Activities

Skill activities improve the player’s skillset and overall player level.
Each time the player performs a skill activity, they have a chance to increase a skill by one tier. Higher tier skills will have a lower chance to increase.

Examples:

• Hobby Skills
  • Playing Guitar
  • Photography
  • Tailoring
• Vital Skills
  • Walking
  • Eating
• Crafting Skills
  • Cooking
  • Handcrafting

Skill Books

Players can additionally earn skill points by reading skill books, either purchased from shops or read from the library. The library offers 1 free skill book every day. Skill books, like skill activities will also increase player level, with higher player levels requiring more skill books to be read before earning skill points.

When a skill point is earned, it may be added to any skillset chosen and is not locked to a specific set.

Hobby Activities

Hobbies are activities that characters can do to prevent boredom and to maintain happiness. Some hobbies will require a certain Hobby Skill level. (see Stats & Skills)

• Drawing
• Photography
• Guitar
• Exercise
• Tailoring
• Watching TV

Home Activities

Once the player gets a living space for themselves within the storyline, players will have a space they can go to and customize to fit their personality.

Players can customize:

• Room layout
• Furniture
• Seasonal decor
• Lighting
• General themes

Decorations

Decor affects Happiness and social interactions with other NPCs that are brought into a player's living space. Happiness is dependent on how cozy a room is considered in a living space.

Room coziness is based on:

• Number of decorations
• Number of furniture
• Room size
• Seasonal themes

Each room depending on size has a decor limit. When a room has too many decorations, it will become cluttered and lose its cozy bonus, but too little decorations will also not give any cozy bonuses to the players happiness.

Plant Decor

Plants are a type of decor item that offer greater happiness boosts than nonliving or seasonal decorations, but will require some general upkeep by the player to maintain their happiness.

Plants will have 3 states depending on how long they have gone without water. Standard plants will progress down a state when not watered for 3 days, while succulents take 9 days. Both plant types must be watered 2 days in a row to progress up a state.

• Healthy
  • Healthy plants will remain healthy when watered and will give 100% of their decor boosts.
• Wilting
  • Wilting plants will give 40% of their decor boosts and will return to healthy after being watered for 2 days.
• Dead
  • Dead plants give -100% of their decor boosts. Once dead, a plant must be removed.

Plants that are owned for 3 consecutive days without dying are given a random name by Noah.

Collectibles

Stickers, pins, postcards, trinkets, etc. These items have a small chance (usually <0.1%) to be earned anytime a player performs an action in any of the collectible categories. Any activity can cause them to be dropped and there are no restrictions.

Information about collectibles will be added later when more crucial systems are fleshed out more.