Welcome back!

This week we are looking at the contracts and the business side of Courier - Repacked.

Contractor Work

Contracts are a core mechanic of Courier - Repacked, taking over for the Quests found in the original. Each contract is a working agreement with the faction that provided it. A contract is generated for a faction when the player is in a faction base or settlement location on the map. By comparing the current strength of the faction to the contracts table, a total number of available contracts are created. Newly generated contracts are added to the Contracts Tracking Table,  which tracks the current status of all contracts available in the game for the player. If a contract is taken, it is marked as "Started" until the package makes it to the destination. 

Contracts in Courier - Repacked are always about delivering cargo. Rewards will be offered in the form of Credits, multiplied by the total amount of cargo but in different denominations. You could have a contract for 2 cargo worth only 1 Credit each, or another contract worth 4 each! I like to think of the reward as high value items sometimes appearing for the wasteland, with the majority of cargo being everyday goods. 

If the player wants to remove contracts from the table for a faction, i.e. they might not have enough cargo space to take the delivery, they can choose to do  so at the cost of 1 reputation with the faction that provided it or wait until the contract age has reached above 3. The age of all none started contracts is increased by 1 whenever the player generates any new contracts. Removing a contract because it is aged-out does not cause a reputation loss for the player. This gives the option for the player to go out into the wasteland to explore if the contracts they have available are not worth the effort.

Business Minded

As the player completes contracts they will earn Credits. These credits can be put towards upgrades for the player, items, gear, or business investments! Business investments give bonuses to the player in the form of passive income, increased contract availability, and unique mechanics to make delivering across the wasteland easier.

For example: the player can purchase an Automatic Delivery System (ADS) to take small contracts for them. This little robot moves independently across the wasteland to the destination of the contract. Upon arriving, the ADS completes the contract and earns the player credits and reputation, in the same way the player would if they delivered it. This is a great tool to clean up small contracts for the player, like mentioned earlier, instead of waiting for them to age-out of the available contracts table.

Another upgrade for your courier business is Contract Cargo Catapult (CCC). This tool can be loaded with a contract's cargo and fired into the wasteland, safely. The player can then pick up the cargo when they have time and/or space to do so.  This activate a contract to keep it from aging-out and gives flexibility to deliver it when the player has time to do so.

The committed players in Courier can eventually choose to form a Binding Contract with a faction, meaning that the player must take all contracts for the faction they formed the Binding Contract with. A Binding Contract will provide additional benefits to the player as given for each faction. For example: a Binding Contract with the Independents could mean you will always have help in combat when attacked by Raiders or wildlife, or that you get a bonus amount of Credits no matter the size of the contract!

Wrap-Up

Players will start with little and soon be invested in their own business, creating contract runs across the wastes and exploring new routes as they reveal their own map. The new contract system will bring more options for the player and make planning of their next move much easier to do. I hope that the fun and weird business upgrades I've created (and borrowed from Death Stranding) will provide a sense of accomplishment and strategic planning for everyone.

As a final note, give Courier - Repacked a follow on Kickstarter! The project will be launch on February 4, 2024, as part of Zine Quest 2024. If the project reaches 200% funding I will be contracting additional art (in addition to the new art already in progress) for the project. Other stretch goals will come as the project advances toward completion.

Until next time,

- Cody