I came to Fallen London from Sunless Skies, and an enjoying the atmosphere and writing a great deal. However, I am drowning in options and information - which story lines have I started but not finished, which have I finished (not the stories that are presented as a ‘package’ but the bits and pieces of related tidbits you find around FL). Which areas have I explored, or need to return to, or are tied in to a story or area of character development that I should pursue (and which should I be pursuing?) Not to mention the 10,000 items I seem to be collecting, what are they for, what do I do with them? (And when I need more of one, why can’t I remember where I got it?).
In short - Everything.
I’m drowning in info and can’t see how it all relates to each other - unfortunately the limited number of actions aggravate this disjoined view of the game’s parts. I have spent a lot of time on the Wiki, and this sometimes helps but is clearly a work in progress and is too often vague.
So, I would like to know what others do to keep track of what is happening in the game, all the bits and pieces, your goals, and plans for developing your character and how you piece it together to get an understanding of FL as a whole.
To sum up - when I complete part or all of a story, or collect something, or meet someone, or decide on a goal - I all too often don’t know why it’s important, or how to track it. The vagueness is part of the game - and adds to the atmosphere - but by the time I find a clue to whatever I’m looking to understand, I’ve forgotten what I’ve already learned about it.
Thanks for taking the time - I’m looking forward to hearing what others do to manage this. edited by Owen Ramshackle on 1/25/2022
A very interesting question!
About 2 months ago, I returned to the game after a gap of 6 years! I might as well be starting anew, in fact I’ve created an alt to redo all the early part of the game. Like you, I am rather overwhelmed with the seemingly huge amount of information and details that I’m trying to get to grips with.
My approach has been old-school - pen and paper! I write notes of what I’ve done and what’s happened, of what I want to check up on. I print out info from the wiki - the Making Your Name guide has been helpful as that wasn’t in place 6 years ago as far as I can remember.
I think for me it helps to have these tangible things as I find my way through the game. And, as may be obvious, I’m an ex-teacher. The highlighter pen is my friend! This approach may work for others, or maybe not. And, like the OP, I’m interested to hear how other people manage this situation.
One tracking device is the Plans tab. From most storylets you can "Mark this choice as a plan" and it’ll appear in the tab until you remove it. Back in the day I used to do that for things I knew were running storylines, or a part of longer term goals. I also mark some options (like Confound the Constables) that have an item requirement I haven’t met or an Airs requirement as a plan so that I can quickly tab in and see if I can take that option yet.
But mostly I’ve just gotten used to being perpetually confused. edited by Shaerys on 1/25/2022
Thanks for the responses. I’ve played with the Plans tab in the past but wasn’t sure how to make best use of it - I’ll take a closer look now. Too many times I’ve come back to a story or event having forgotten many of the details - then it askes me to make some choices and I’m lost. After that happened a few times I reset my character and put everything with more than a paragraph in the Journal, not very efficient but at least I can reread what I missed.
Glorion - I taught HS for 3 years and taking written notes is my default mode - unfortunately life (and my house) fills up with notebooks. Maybe I should upgrade to a binder…
Seconding Shaerys on the Plans tab. I tend to mark the goal, wherever it is in the game (e.g. current lab experiment or where I was planning to go when I ran out of candle). That helps to identify elements or qualities I still need to acquire and works for raising quality levels as well.
I also sometimes revert to looking at the Myself tab to check things like currently level of lacre, whether I’ve upgraded my general, or what progress I have in certain activities.
Coordinating with the wiki helps to establish, e.g. which places I’ve discovered and which are still outstanding.
But I agree. Compared to just a year ago, the game has grown immensely and become a great deal more complex.
Focus. Choose one or two stories and pursue only them until you finish.
Speed and dedication. If you can, play as many actions per day, every day. Exceptional friendship might help, for a price.
(optional) Efficiency. Play optimally for even more speed. I believe it’s still possible to finish most of the free stories in FL in 6-8 months. It will be much more concentrated and easier to understand and remember, than if you play casually and slow, two years until POSI for example.
And if you like the "slow and casual" side - it’s possible to have a great time inefficiently, only playing a limited number of actions when you have time for it.
Waterpls’ point is still the most important - Focus! Pick an area, or a story, or a stat - and concentrate mostly on it as far as your time/actions allow. By the time you’ve accomplished something (or got bored), you’ve also gotten a hang of things in the vicinity, got to know the characters and lore, and will be more likely to remember it. Then move to the next one that seems interesting. There will probably be connections to what you already know. And so on. Rotate slowly, in larger chunks.
Next step from notebook is not a binder. It’s a text file! :) It’s always right here, on your comp/phone/tablet/cloud.
I think I started playing about 6 years ago, and this was what eventually put me off, maybe 3 years ago or so. I came back out of curiosity and there’s so much new material since that I haven’t been worrying too much about this, but I’m reaching the point where I may have to start making notes. It is a bit off-putting for a casual player. Thank goodness for all the people who upload guides and instructions!
I recommend a course of screwing around and getting lost, with occasional breaks to focus on building a stat or achieving a goal. Oh, and record everything in your journal at least once, and read through it every now and then when you’ve burned through your actions but aren’t quite ready to leave.
I find it helps to have a clear sense of who your game character is and where their interests lie, then follow those up and see where it takes you. For example, mine has always been allied to the bohemians and enjoys great game intrigues, exploration and academia. This influences everything from how she set up the railway - scientific charter, and the Dean of Xenotheology is on the board - to how much time she spends in the Khanate (a lot) when she could probably make far more progress and profit in London. I know I’ve missed or skated over a lot of content, and definitely sacrificed some rewards by playing in a character driven way, but it’s quite grounding when there is so much to do and it works for me.
I played for over a year and I am also swamped with things to do.
Three things stand out:
I still don’t really get the Bone Market, and I really want to get more Bessemer Steel Ingots - make railway tracks - make my first train station.
I would also like to unlock/explore more exotic offshore locations, I think you need a Screaming Map to do that.
Finally, I want to go to the Cave of the Nadir. Missionary or Firebrand, hmmm…
There’s also starting your own newspaper but that is less urgent for me.
Usually my routine is to do the following:
Do heists, keep Making Waves raised every week.
2 Collect Fourth-City echoes at the Blind Helmsman for potential purchases at the Rat Market.
Collect Favours of every faction, raise their Renown. Some areas require them to unlock, for example Wilmots End Beneath the Lady requires Great Game renown of 25.
This was my initial approach - and it is still my preference. The problem I run into here is that I didn’t know what the options are for interests and factions and such until I’ve played and explored a while - and end up making choices I really didn’t (and in many cases still don’t) understand.
I would also like to unlock/explore more exotic offshore locations, I think you need a Screaming Map to do that.
Finally, I want to go to the Cave of the Nadir. Missionary or Firebrand, hmmm…[/quote]
A lot of people don’t get or particularly like the bone market. I don’t think it’s been a major success. Making skeletons is just meh (speaking for myself here), though it’s okay for selling off certain items. You probably know of better ways to get steel (Parabola, for one).
The main thing you need to explore the zee is a ship – the screaming map is strictly for one location only (which has recently become less painful, as it happens).
The Nadir is great fun, and waiting for those cards can be a pain. But IIRC, progress in making your name on expeditions is also required.
I would also like to unlock/explore more exotic offshore locations, I think you need a Screaming Map to do that.
Finally, I want to go to the Cave of the Nadir. Missionary or Firebrand, hmmm…[/quote]
A lot of people don’t get or particularly like the bone market. I don’t think it’s been a major success. Making skeletons is just meh (speaking for myself here), though it’s okay for selling off certain items. You probably know of better ways to get steel (Parabola, for one).
The main thing you need to explore the zee is a ship – the screaming map is strictly for one location only (which has recently become less painful, as it happens).
The Nadir is great fun, and waiting for those cards can be a pain. But IIRC, progress in making your name on expeditions is also required.[/quote]
The Bone Market is the only way to get Bessemer Steel Ingots for the Railway, according to this Reddit post:
Which I intend to do since my Railway board members are getting bored with nothing to do.
Why wouldn’t you go brawling? You need Involved in a Railway Venture, but no level appears to be specified, so having the board would be enough. Was the Reddit post written before we got the Brawling option?
Maybe I’m misunderstanding, and you don’t have prerequisites for those options, in which case I apologise for being dense. edited by Meradine Heidenreich on 2/3/2022
I don’t like the Bone Market, so I’ve been mostly stealing from Mr Iron’s warehouse, with occasional excursions to Brawling if the numbers didn’t add up. Grinding Identities Uncovered is a bit of a pain, but less of a pain (to my taste) than juggling all that weird skeleton stuff. edited by phryne on 2/3/2022
The Reddit post in question is over a year old. Parabolan thefts (July 2020) and Brawlin’ (March 2021) both most likely did not exist at the time that post was written, and are generally favoured these days over the Bone Market.
While Fallen London used to be a game where two-year-old guides would still be relevant, these days you should vet guides for recency and relevance. If you don’t, you’ll be spending time painting plaster a different shade of light beige, when you could be going Abraham Lincoln on literally everyone at once.