Progression Systems — Mouthwashing Guide

Understand Mouthwashing progression systems for navigating the derelict space freighter. Gather resources, repair systems, and build relationships.

In Mouthwashing, your journey through the derelict space freighter is marked by a series of interconnected progression systems. These systems are designed to reflect your growing competence in navigating the ship, understanding its plight, and influencing the fate of its surviving crew. Success hinges on your ability to gather resources, repair critical systems, and build relationships with the disparate factions aboard.

1. Ship Systems Repair and Access

The core of your progression revolves around restoring functionality to the crashed freighter. As you repair different sections and systems, you'll unlock new areas, gain access to vital information, and enable new gameplay mechanics.

Key Ship Systems:

• Life Support: Initial repairs are crucial for survival, providing breathable air and stable temperatures in key areas. Completing the "Atmospheric Recalibration" quest in the Crew Quarters grants access to the main habitation decks.
• Navigation Console: Restoring this system is essential for understanding the freighter's trajectory and potential escape routes. Finding the "Navigation Core Module" in the Bridge Sector allows you to access ship logs and plot courses.
• Communications Array: Repairing the comms is vital for contacting potential rescue or understanding the nature of the disaster. Completing the "Signal Boost" objective in the Communications Hub unlocks the ability to send and receive distress signals, potentially leading to new story branches.
• Cargo Bay Systems: Accessing the cargo bay can yield valuable resources, rare salvage, and potentially clues about the freighter's mission. Repairing the "Automated Loading Crane" in the Cargo Hold Alpha allows you to retrieve items from inaccessible containers.
• Engineering Core: The heart of the ship. Restoring power to the engineering core is a major progression milestone, enabling advanced repairs and potentially reactivating dormant ship functions. This often involves a multi-stage questline, culminating in the "Reactor Stabilization" event.

Progression Gates:

Many areas of the freighter are initially inaccessible due to system failures. Repairing specific systems acts as a key to unlock these zones. For example, restoring power to the Engineering Section might be required to open the blast doors leading to the advanced research labs.

2. Dialogue and Relationship Progression

The narrative of Mouthwashing unfolds through interactions with the surviving crew members and any other entities you encounter. Your dialogue choices and actions directly impact your relationships, unlocking new information, side quests, and influencing the ultimate outcome of the game.

Dialogue Mechanics:

• Information Gathering: Early dialogue options focus on understanding the immediate situation and the crew's immediate needs. Successful persuasion or empathetic responses can yield crucial clues about the crash and potential solutions.
• Trust and Rapport: Building trust with individual crew members is paramount. Completing personal quests for them, offering assistance, or making choices that align with their goals will increase your rapport. High rapport can unlock unique dialogue trees, revealing personal histories and hidden motives.
• Faction Alignment: The survivors are often divided into factions with competing interests. Your dialogue choices can lead you to align with one faction over another, impacting available quests, resources, and the ending you receive. For instance, siding with the "Engineering Guild" might grant you access to advanced repair schematics, while supporting the "Medical Staff" could lead to unique medical supplies.

Unlocking New Dialogue Options:

New dialogue options become available as you progress through the story, repair ship systems, or increase your standing with specific characters or factions. For example, after repairing the Communications Array, you might unlock dialogue options related to contacting the outside world or deciphering cryptic transmissions.

3. Resource Management and Crafting

Survival on a derelict freighter requires careful management of limited resources. You'll need to scavenge for materials, craft essential items, and make strategic decisions about what to prioritize.

Scavenging and Salvage:

• Material Types: Common materials include scrap metal, wiring, power cells, medical supplies, and food rations. Rarer materials might include specialized components, data chips, or intact technology.
• Salvage Locations: Key areas for scavenging include abandoned crew quarters, damaged cargo holds, maintenance tunnels, and the ship's bridge. Some areas may require specific tools or repaired systems to access.
• Resource Depletion: Certain areas may have finite resources, encouraging players to explore thoroughly and make efficient use of what they find.

Crafting System:

A robust crafting system allows you to turn salvaged materials into useful items, tools, and upgrades.

• Crafting Stations: Crafting can be done at designated "Fabrication Units" found throughout the ship. Some advanced crafting may require access to the ship's main engineering bay.
• Schematics and Blueprints: Finding schematics or blueprints is essential for unlocking new crafting recipes. These can be found in data logs, on deceased crew members, or obtained through quests.
• Key Craftable Items:
  • Repair Kits: Essential for patching up damaged ship systems and personal equipment.
  • Medkits: Restores health and can cure status effects.
  • Tools and Gadgets: Items like bypass tools, cutting torches, or diagnostic scanners that aid in exploration and puzzle-solving.
  • Weaponry/Defensive Gear: Basic improvised weapons or protective gear to fend off any hostile entities or environmental hazards.

4. Narrative Arcs and Branching Storylines

Mouthwashing features a branching narrative where player choices have significant consequences, leading to multiple possible endings and story resolutions.

Key Narrative Arcs:

• The Cause of the Crash: Investigating the events leading to the freighter's demise is a central arc. This involves piecing together ship logs, interviewing survivors, and exploring the wreckage for clues.
• Crew Survival and Faction Conflicts: Managing the needs and conflicts of the surviving crew members forms another major arc. mediate disputes, make difficult ethical choices, and decide who to trust.
• Escape or Reclamation: The ultimate goal often revolves around either finding a way to escape the freighter or attempting to repair it sufficiently to reclaim its mission. The path chosen will depend heavily on previous decisions and acquired resources.

Impact of Choices:

Every significant decision, from dialogue choices to resource allocation, can ripple through the narrative. For example, choosing to prioritize the repair of the Communications Array over the life support systems might lead to a quicker rescue but a higher risk of crew casualties due to environmental hazards.

5. Character Skill Development (Optional/Player-Driven)

While not a traditional RPG skill tree, You can develop their character's capabilities through gameplay and strategic choices.

Areas of Development:

• Technical Proficiency: Repeatedly repairing ship systems will naturally increase your efficiency and speed in future repairs.
• Survival Instincts: Successfully navigating hazardous environments and scavenging effectively will improve your resourcefulness.
• Interpersonal Skills: Engaging in dialogue and building relationships will unlock more nuanced communication options and better understanding of character motivations.

These "skills" are less about explicit points and more about the player's growing mastery of the game's mechanics and systems, reflecting their journey from a stranded survivor to a capable navigator of the disaster.