Skills

Skills

Revised : 25 Oct 2021

Every settler has a variety of skills at his disposal and may acquire the following 20 skills at the beginning of or during the simulation :

Skill Types

Skills
Areology
Astronomy
Biology
Botany
Chemistry
Computing
Construction
Cooking
EVA Operations
Management
Materials Science
Mathematics
Mechanics
Medicine
Meteorology
Physics
Piloting
Psychology
Reporting
Trading

Skills can prove useful in various tasks while stationed, and can improve with exercise. Skill proficiency is measured in levels, where Level 0 is the beginning level.

1. Areology - the Martian equivalent of geology, areology is the study of the surface, crust, and interior of Mars.
2. Astronomy - like on Earth, astronomy is the study of celestial objects, the physics, chemistry, mathematics, and evolution of such objects.
3. Biology - the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. On the Mars settlement, this is mostly human focused.
4. Botany - a branch of biology, botany is the science of plant life.
5. Chemistry - the study of the composition, properties and behavior of matter.
6. Computing - the mastery of using devices to perform computation.
7. Construction - a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure.
8. Cooking - the art or practice of preparing food for consumption with the use of heat.
9. EVA Operations - EVA stands for Extra-vehicular Activity and covers all kinds of operations performed outside a habitat or vehicle.
10. Management - the administrative talent for managing the settlement.
11. Materials Science - is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering.
12. Mathematics - the abstract study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change.
13. Mechanics - the branch of science concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment.
14. Medicine - the field of applied science related to the art of healing by diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.
15. Meteorology - the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere.
16. Physics - the study of matter and its motion through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force.
17. Piloting - the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, such as drones, explorer rovers, transport rovers, cargo rovers, and light utility vehicles.
18. Psychology - the study of human psyche and the affinity to apply psychological insights in interpersonal relationship.
19. Reporting - writing reports, capturing the moments and putting together documentary/docudrama.
20. Trading - the transfer of the ownership of goods from one person or entity to another by getting something in exchange from the buyer.

The skill level affect the outcome of the task a person perform in terms of speed and efficiency.

Multiple Skills

Although each one of these skills corresponds to a specific Job, a person is not limited to have one and only skill. On the other hand, a person can be proficient in multiple areas and have multiple skills.

e.g. A person may be a Biologist and he may have a level 2 Biology skill, level 1 Mechanics skill, and level 3 Botany skill.

Experience Points

A person's skill may advance to the next level by repeatedly performing pertinent tasks to gain experiences so that his experience points may reach the next level threshold.

The formula for calculating the needed experience points for the next level is 25 * 2^ level.

Labor Time

Labor time is measured in millisols as experienced on Mars. It tracks how much time a settler spends in perform a task that makes use of a skill. At the beginning of a new simulation, the labor time of a skill in a settler always starts at zero. When arriving on Mars, a person may already have a level 3 biology skill to begin with, but his labor time counter starts out at 0.

Developing a Skill

Most of the time, a person will not be chosen to perform a certain task that he lacks the skill set to do so.

However, in some fringe cases, say if a person happens to be in a building that has a malfunction and he/she is NOT being scared away but helps out with the repair work, he/she will earn points in Mechanics skill.

Skills can also be taught. A mechanic can teach someone Mechanics skill if he has a good teaching attribute and is interested in using it to benefit others.

e.g. In Sol 30, she may have Botany skill level 3 and Mechanics skill level 2 and she can help out with some mechanical work part time.