*Below is a summary and the detailed press release by Earth 2
Summary:-
Civilians are soon to be introduced as a feature which will allow players to automate certain raiding related actions. In future, civilians may also be able to perform additional tasks besides assisting in raiding. The civilians that will get initially released will be called 'First Edition Civilians' and will primarily focus on raiding.
Civilians will need 1 unit of Red Energy (RE) per week per civilian to sustain them
The Global balance of RE at an account level will be used to fund the civilian sustenance.
Once RE is exhausted the civilians will 'wander', or in other words stop working and look elsewhere for their food. The time and date the Civilians require their RE will determine the order in which they begin to wander.
For now, players can automatically lure back wandering civilians once enough RE is available; however in future other players may be able to poach these wandering civilians.
Ether is still life - Ether is still required to conjure civilians, and the future of sustaining Civilians inside Earth 2 will still rely on E-ther. For now, as an introductory system RE will help sustain First Edition civilians, and to avoid the need for Players to spend E-ther on these.
For more background on Civilians & Raiding - see here
Earth 2 is pleased to share details of the first sustenance system within Earth 2. Amongst other things, this article will also explain how Red Energy will be used specifically as the initial unit to sustain the First Edition Earth 2 Civilians.
First Edition Civilians will primarily be focused on helping Players to streamline and automate their Raiding operations. Players will be able to keep their Civilians happy, sustained, and focused on their tasks by feeding them Red Energy (a type of energy that can be gained via conflict-type activities such as executing successful raids on other Player’s properties).
“Following changes that were made to the game design team last year, we have been striving to build systems with completed game loops”, said Earth 2 Founder, Shane Isaac. “First Edition Civilians are part of the Raiding feature and although these various mechanics are being developed in steps, once Civilians are fully released we will see a full circle game loop, something we are dedicated to continue and replicate in other key aspects of Earth 2 moving forward.”
Shane went on to say, “We are also working on visually representing these game mechanics inside E2V1 in real time allowing Player initiated EcoSim type game play that immersive Players can not only see but be able to interact with in different ways while running around inside E2V1, for example, strategic Players on the EcoSim mixing their activity directives with hands on Players inside E2V1 with both being able to influence the experience of one another. We will start to see an amalgamation of different style Player activity converging into the same space, where you might have one Player executing directives for logistics from their mobile device and another trying to directly intercept that directive inside E2V1. It’s something I am personally really excited to develop over time.”
Details on How Red Energy Sustenance Works
Red Energy is instantly transferable via a Player’s Mentar network, meaning a Player can use their global Red Energy balance to sustain their Civilians on any of their properties around the world. This means that Red Energy earned in Africa can be used to sustain a Player’s Civilians in America, and vice versa.
If a Player does not have enough Red Energy to sustain their First Edition Civilians, then those Civilians who miss out on Red Energy will cease working and begin wandering in the wilderness, looking for food or another source to sustain them to stay alive. For now, a Player will have the ability to convince their wandering Civilians to return automatically to their property and tasks once they have enough Red Energy to lure them back.
First Edition Civilians will require one Red Energy unit per week to keep them loyal and happy. The unit of Red Energy is automatically distributed to each Civilian, once a week based on the day they received their first sustenance of Red Energy. For example, if you synthesise a Civilian on a Monday, you will need to replenish that Civilian with Red Energy every Monday. If a Civilian that was usually replenished on a Monday wandered into the wilderness and was lured back on a Wednesday, the new weekly sustenance cycle would occur on a Wednesday.
In addition to individual property data, an overview of the Civilian workforce and Red Energy Sustenance requirements will be featured under Civilian Management. The above UI example shows that:
This Player has a total of 843 active Civilians
In addition to the 843 Civilians, there are 54 non-active in a “Wandering” state
The Player provided 143 Red Energy units to sustain their active Civilians today
The Player also provided 8 extra Red Energy units to lure back 8 wandering Civilians.
Note: Red Energy from your balance is automatically used to lure back any wandering Civilians. If there are not enough Red Energy units, as there are Civilians to sustain, as many Civilians as possible will be fed using the remaining balance. In this UI example, all wandering Civilians would have been lured back because the Player has enough Red Energy in their Balance, but we altered the figures to include some wandering Civilians, to better demonstrate how this system will work.
157 Red Energy Units will be required tomorrow to keep currently active Civilians sustained
An extra 54 Red Energy Units will be required if the Player expects to lure back all wandering Civilians, however, if the Player only had 12 excess Red Energy Units, then only 12 Civilians would be lured back, leaving 42 still wandering.
The Player will also see a forecast for Days 3 to 7 displaying how much Red Energy they are going to need to sustain their current Civilian workforce.
Later, Players may be able to intentionally let Civilians go or sell them in the Bazaar, but for now, Civilians will begin wandering automatically if they are not given their Red Energy on time. The time and date the Civilians require their Red Energy will determine the order in which they begin to wander.
Is E-ther still Life?
E-ther will continue to represent life and the future of sustaining Civilians inside Earth 2 will still rely on E-ther. When agriculture and farming are introduced, Players will require some E-ther to initiate the process. However, after initiation, the production system will become sustainable via other means, such as work force, water, machinery and so forth.
From time-to-time Earth 2 may design for other non-conventional methods to accommodate a particular purpose, such as the case with Red Energy, something that is already tied to E-ther and conflict. To avoid the need for Players to spend E-ther in order to sustain their First Edition Civilians, the introductory sustenance system was designed using Red Energy as a direct gain from successful gameplay which in turn supports growth of the Player’s Civilian workforce and rewards the Player with a way to sustain their Civilians until farming and agriculture components of the EcoSim is introduced.
Future Plans
In the future, wandering Civilians will be vulnerable to other Players luring them away, meaning a Player could lose their Civilians to another Player if they are not properly taken care of. Additionally, Players who lose their Civilian regularly may see their Civilian leave the property all together, to roam around inside E2V1 until either another Player convinces them to join their workforce, or something else.