|
Incidentally, a comparison of the Narestans and Gnolams as far as money-making goes: Both Narestans and Gnolams get +1 BC per population, and so get equivalent bonuses to income from morale and money boosting improvements on their planets. Narestans have a 'Democratic' 'government', and Gnolams have Fantastic Traders. This means that Narestans get a net +1 BC per population unit relative to Gnolams, and get +50% to their trade treaty income, as compared to the +25% that Gnolams get. Where the Gnolams win out is in money from trade goods and surplus food. Narestans get the standard 1 BC per 2 production for Trade Goods, and 1 BC per 2 surplus food. Gnolams get 1 BC per production for Trade Goods, and 1 BC per surplus food for surplus food, so they earn twice as much as everybody else from those income sources.
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2017 23:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 8, 2024 04:04 |
|
|
Economic Technologies, Institutions, and Methodologies of the Known Galactic Region, YE 600 A combination of independent discoveries and diffusion of knowledge generated by different civilisations has led to strong development from conditions extant as of the dawn of the FTL era in the region. Members of Narestan civilisation have reliable information on a total of seven different civilisations, and vague reports on an eighth, which is believed to be generally more backwards than the first seven. The civilisations with the strongest overall technological position are, overall, those with the longest contact and association with Narestan civilisation.   The most productive economy overall in the region is that of Narestan civilisation, which also maintains profitable trade relations with the other six civilisations it is in contact with. Entrepreneurship and economic flexibility is excellent, which is only augmented by the unparalleled economic freedom of Narestan civilisation. Narestan aptitude at the sciences and systematic rational inquiry has made it the most scientifically and technologically innovative civilisation in known space. Productivity in commerce, heavy industry, research, and agriculture has been significantly bolstered by developments over the past two centuries, while waste processing technology has begun to cut down on the worst side-effects of industrial development. Most recently a series of process and equipment innovations in multiple sectors of the economy has bolstered productivity in a few of the more established worlds of the civilisation, with advanced methodologies and education spreading over time. Narestan civilisation is one of only two known that is not limited to communications probes for FTL communications, and is one of only three with modern genetic microbes. The antimatter energy storage techniques recently acquired from the Bulrathi have become universal amongst all known civilisations, while Narestan FTL drive technology for its shipping lies in the middle tier of known civilisations. It is believed that the modern commercial organisational methods now widespread amongst many civilisations were solely invented by the Narestans, and were not independently discovered elsewhere.  The Great Commonwealth of Gnol is, in many ways, the closest commercial peer to Narestan civilisation, although it lags noticeably in technological development. Basic precision industry and industrial robotics have been developed here, although the advanced industrial robotics developed in Narestan civilisation have not spread here. High-tech consumer computing has spread to the Great Commonwealth of Gnol, although domestic technology industries to support business and research applications have lagged. Agricultural technology is woefully inadequete, although there has been recent adoption of various advanced methodologies from Narestan space, yet to be fully implemented anywhere in the Great Commonwealth of Gnol. Industrial concentration is notably higher than in Narestan space, and the efficiency of Gnolam mass production of consumer and basic industrial goods is unsurpassed- the profits of Gnolam firms on large volumes helps make up for other weaknesses. Although the Gnolam economy is highly efficient and productive, it is nonetheless somewhat less free than the Narestan economy, and suffers certain inefficiencies thereby. Its trade and shipping is also hampered by the lack of effective cargo mass drivers and orbital port facilities, which leaves it dependent on the old heavy lift vehicle interface between planetary surfaces and orbit. Large-scale ecological engineering techniques have been adopted here, as they have been across all of known space. Gnolam drive technologies have greater power output and higher FTL speeds than Narestan drives, allowing for shorter voyages for freighters.  The Autarchy has enjoyed very extensive contact with the Narestan civilisation, and nearly matches it in technical advances. Although its economy is significantly less dynamic and efficient than either the Narestan or Gnolam economy, Meklar prowess at industrial tasks makes the output of Autarchy factories unmatched. Recent productivity improvements innovated in Narestan space have yet to spread here, and computing applications and instrumentation for research lag the Narestan standard. Otherwise, overall technological state essentially matches the Narestan standard, to the benefit of the Autarchy's citizens. Modern genetic medicine has helped to treat the rampant health issues inherent to the Meklar species, making it the second of three with access to this technology. Meklar drive technologies are comparable to Gnolam drives, and superior to Narestan drives.  The Interstellar Union of the Mrrshan has likewise had long and profitable contact with Narestan civilisation, and is nearly as technologically advanced in its civilian economy as the Autarchy, although the Mrrshan lack both Meklar cybernetics that bolster their industrial output and the most modern industrial robotics. The Interstellar Union's military logistics are incredibly efficient, and it can easily support sizeable military forces. Mrrshan FTL communications rely on tachyon communications installations, giving them higher bandwidth than any other civilisation than Narestan civilisation, and they are the last known civilisation with advanced microbiotic medicine. Mrrshan drive technologies are comparable to Narestan drives.  The New Orion Empire has relatively advanced agriculture, highly advanced waste processing technology, and basic industrial robotics, but otherwise is relatively backward and lagging in economic development. Its communications, medicine, and drive technologies are all crude by Narestan standards.  The United Empire of Bulra is relatively economically primitive, lacking many of the widespread technologies that have bolstered the region's prosperity, including modern commercial methods. Its basic industry is well-established, however, it has highly productive agriculture, and its port infrastructure to support interplanetary and interstellar shipping is up to modern standards. Its freighter shipping relies on low-power drives, slower than the Narestan standard.  The Coalition of Nations has a very poor institutional environment for research and economic development, and its economic technologies lag behind any other known civilisation. Its agriculture is relatively technically efficient, and the productivity of its agricultural labor force boosts yields further. Otherwise, it simply has access to basic industrial and waste processing technology, and crude and slow FTL drives for its shipping. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Mar 27, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 08:51
|
|
|
I hope people find this report, current as of just after the next main update, to be enlightening. I'm actually fairly happy to see a generally prosperous galaxy this time around. E: Also, now that we've met most of the neighbors, I'm curious what people make of all our neighbors, and the overall shape of interstellar society. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 09:18 on Jan 12, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 09:04
|
|
|
It seems like most of them are relatively stable economically and technologically. Seems like all of them are in good shape. Nice update!
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 09:24
|
|
|
The civilisations each known civilisation is in direct contact with: The Interstellar Union, representing the Mrrshan, is in contact with the Autarchy and Narestan civilisation. The Autarchy, representing the Meklars, is in contact with the Interstellar Union, the Great Commonwealth of Gnol, and Narestan civilisation. The United Empire of Bulra, representing the Bulrathi, is in contact with the New Orion Empire, the Coalition of Nations, and Narestan civilisation. The New Orion Empire, representing the Alkari, is in contact with the United Empire of Bulra, the Great Commonwealth of Gnol, the Coalition of Nations, and Narestan civilisation. The Great Commonwealth of Gnol, representing the Gnolams, is in contact with the New Orion Empire, the Autarchy, Narestan civilisation, and a mysterious, xenophobic, and isolationist civilisation that barely communicates with outsiders. The Coalition of Nations, representing the Sakkra, is in contact with the United Empire of Bulra, the New Orion Empire, Narestan civilisation, and the mysterious civilisation also contacted by the Gnolams. Given its wide contact with other alien civilisations, Narestan civilisation thus has the greatest alien trade volume by far of any known civilisation. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 10:21 on Jan 12, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 10:17
|
|
|
I guess sapient space bears hate benign space anarchist-capitalists less than they hate democratic humans.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 15:56
|
|
|
POOL IS CLOSED posted:I guess sapient space bears hate benign space anarchist-capitalists less than they hate democratic humans. What the gently caress is a human. Don't go making poo poo up.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 15:58
|
|
|
Freudian posted:What the gently caress is a human. Don't go making poo poo up. Erm, we've seen a Human Hero/Leader.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 16:22
|
|
|
IAmTheRad posted:Erm, we've seen a Human Hero/Leader. I'm disappointed in you for spreading tabloid gossip. That poor guy has a genetic disorder, and shouldn't be otherised like this. (I forgot about that guy)
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 16:24
|
|
|
Freudian posted:I'm disappointed in you for spreading tabloid gossip. That poor guy has a genetic disorder, and shouldn't be otherised like this. I'd love to see a tabloid cover from the Narestans. One day I will be less garbagey at photo manipulation.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 16:34
|
|
|
I tend to interpret leaders as not the random grab-bag of aliens, some of whom come from no known society, but rather a mix of home-grown talent and immigrants from other major societies once contact is established. Makes more sense to me that way.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 18:50
|
|
|
So basically the Gnolam's special trait lets them get twice as much money out of surplus food and production. Wouldn't that mean that their income takes a serious hit during times of war when it's way more important to turn production into warships and armies than money?
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 19:16
|
|
|
It also adds a 25% bonus to the revenue from trade treaties, but this is still less than the 50% bonus to trade treaties from Democratic government and the associated economic freedom. And yes, their income does take a hit when they can't afford to build trade goods, but they also have twice the population income of most races, and a bonus to trade income. Out of the races in this game (and Humans, for comparison), those that have advantages that can translate to increased cash income: Narestans earn a total of 3 BC per population unit without stock exchanges and spaceports, or up to 6 BC with them, and get a 50% bonus to trade treaty income. Gnolams earn a total of 2 BC per population unit without stock exchanges and spaceports, or up to 5 BC with them, get a 25% bonus to trade treaty income, and double trade goods/food income. Humans earn a total of 1.5 BC per population unit, or up to 3 with stock exchanges and spaceports, and get a 50% bonus to trade treaties. Meklars get the baseline 1 BC per population unit, up to 2.5 with stock exchanges and spaceports, and can earn somewhat more BC from trade goods because they have higher industrial productivity than anybody else. Sakkra are better at farming, so I guess they might more easily end up with more surplus food to sell? Deliberately earning money via surplus food isn't an awesome strategy, really, but if your productivity is high enough you might get a few BC from surpluses that don't round down.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 19:27
|
|
|
kaosdrachen posted:So basically the Gnolam's special trait lets them get twice as much money out of surplus food and production. Wouldn't that mean that their income takes a serious hit during times of war when it's way more important to turn production into warships and armies than money? This is exactly why, on paper in some situations, the Gnolams are better at making money, but in practice the Narestans will run rings around them: if you're making trade goods for money, you aren't making anything useful, like planet upgrades (or ships). A strategy guide that I read, which was admittedly meant more for multiplayer games where things are expected to be much faster and bloodier than they are here (it acknowledged that most multiplayer games forbid diplomacy for reasons I'll not get into here), stated that if you have any of your planets making trade goods, you hosed up real bad on your economy and you're going to lose. So the Gnolams have a higher cap on BC/turn, but they have to really work at it -- and if they're working at money, they're not working at war, and if you're not working at war, you're going to get your rear end conquered by the people who are.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2017 20:06
|
|
|
I kind of like that it seems you've found a way to trade pretty much everyone into prosperity and it's lined your own pockets most of all.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2017 00:51
|
|
|
MechaCrash posted:This is exactly why, on paper in some situations, the Gnolams are better at making money, but in practice the Narestans will run rings around them Thing is, being excellent at making money is only about half of the Narestan's strength- the other half is actually being excellent researchers (if having certain disadvantages relative to the Psilons because of lack of Creative). Although Psilons can get everything via research, Narestans are actually a bit better at boring rapidly into the tech tree to get critical economic technologies. The Narestans are basically built to ruthlessly exploit the strengths of strong money and science combined- there's a reason I said they're almost the mirror of the Klackons. The disadvantages of the Narestans are simply that they're terrible at fighting until they get the technology and economy to overcome their lousy base combat stats, and they have the intelligence security of a leaky sieve. Now, I think it's possible to overcome the drawbacks of getting some of your technology stolen from you, and I don't get too riled up at people trying to catch up to my technology, even if having it stolen is annoying. But, of necessity, they're playing a game where they need time before they're really ready to kick teeth in if they're forced to that pass- as contrast the Klackons who have the industrial strength out of the box for rapid expansion and buildup of military, but who can be crippled by not getting access to technologies they really want. The relationship with time the Narestans have is thus somewhat opposite to the relationship the Klackons have. Glazius posted:I kind of like that it seems you've found a way to trade pretty much everyone into prosperity and it's lined your own pockets most of all. Ultimately, if other empires will cooperate, I'm just as happy to see them do well in these sorts of games- you may have noticed that my long peaceful relations with other colonies in Alpha Centauri likewise ended up good for the colonies that were willing to accept my friendship. I'll confess that one of the things that always slightly saddened me about Master of Magic is that there's no way to win without burning your diplomatic bridges with everyone, although I still love the game. I suppose, ultimately, I've got rubbish psychology for a ruthless conquerer.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2017 09:28
|
|
|
The Guardian of Orion Late in 580, the Xenogovernmental Negotiations Consortium served as an intermediary for negotiations between Narestan energy industry companies and the United Empire of Bulra, helping arrange for the transfer of information needed for effective storage of antimatter as a power source. The energy density of antimatter meant that ships equipped with antimatter power storage had significantly greater endurance, while the antimatter needed was manufactured using the power output from industrial fusion. With existing ships upgraded, Narestan exploration ventures started anew, pressing further beyond the existing borders of Narestan civilisation.  By 586, this had led to the exploration of the Monstrum system, which was unremarkable, save for the dense ring of asteroids and debris surrounding the star. The system would be unsuitable for large-scale colonisation.    Meanwhile, espionage agents from the Autarchy penetrated the security of a number of Narestan biomedical firms, stealing information on modern genetically engineered medical microbes. The Consortium for Xenogovernmental Negotiations lodged a protest with the Autarchy, which gave assurances that such an incident would not happen again. This raised some suspicions of the Autarchy amongst many Narestans, but nonetheless there was little willingness to press the issue and endanger current good relations given the promises the Autarchy made. Ultimately, the issue was one resolved through negotiation.    A year later, in 587, the Consortium for Xenogovernmental Negotiations sought and acquired formal recognition of Narestan territory and law from the United Empire of Bulra, while the Sakkra's Coalition of Nations released a statement in the same year formally recognising the legitimacy of Narestan claims to their territory. With these agreements, the threat of war between Narestan civilisation and any of its neighbors was put to rest, helping instill confidence that a peaceful, prosperous order would continue to hold sway over the region.  The year also saw the first steps towards large-scale implementation of process improvements in multiple sectors and industries, incrementally improving methods and equipment. These process improvements demanded a continually more skilled and specialised workforce, and demand for educational services steadily rose throughout Narestan civilisation.        The years from 588 to 594 saw steady progress in the survey of new systems, with seven systems charted in as many years. Oculus, Marindi, and Lycaon seemed particularly promising for colonisation, while there was evidence of an existing technological civilisation on the surface of a planet in the Psi Gamma system, although any attempts to contact this settlement were curtailed by the presence of a massive elongated biometallic organism in orbit around the planet, granted formidable thrust by a series of plasma vents studded over its surface. Although this was an incredibly intriguing find, there is little that could done to exploit it as of yet. Space Eels are unique amongst space monsters in that they don't immediately attack ships in the same system. They do, however, blockade planets, and prevent colonisation unless destroyed. They are extremely fast, have high evasion, and powerful defenses against missiles and fighters, although their durability and weapons are not terribly impressive for space monsters.    In 595, however, the Venturer was lost with all its crew after arriving at the Orion system. Its last dispatches indicated that it had detected a planet with evidence of extensive ruins from an earlier era, while a massive, highly advanced warship was bearing down on the Venturer, signalling in unknown data formats and languages. Before the Venturer could escape, it was destroyed, with little evidence for analysts at home to study regarding the nature of the weapons of the ship that destroyed it.    The following year, the Intrepid arrived at the Celox system, discovering evidence of a large, semi-fluid mass with slow chemical jets propelling it about the system. The Intrepid, not risking further contact with this bizarre deep-space organism, jumped back into FTL and returned to Narestan space. Space Amoebas are slow and relatively short-ranged with their one attack, with no good defensive systems. They're probably the easiest space monster to deal with.   The system showed evidence of a number of lifeless worlds rich in metals and minerals, including one world with a highly corrosive atmosphere extremely rich in deposits of crystals with significant artistic value. The system could potentially be a valuable colonisation target, if it could be rendered safe for travel.   As the end of the sixth century YE approached, Narestan civilisation spread to two new worlds- Tesar, the second Narestan world in the Dunatis system, and Retel, a colony on a planet orbiting the outlying star of Sarti. Both worlds were small and lifeless, but nonetheless they both presented new frontiers for Narestan civilisation to exploit, and their settlers began their work with a will, and with heavy backing from investors in the more settled regions of Narestan space.  Meanwhile, continued competition in industries on Nares and Renar began to drive further improvements in productivity and efficiency on those planets. Productivity on Nares, already excellent, surged even further, while factories on Renar began to refit operations in anticipation of a future boom in shipbuilding. The previous leader we had on the Tel system with Nares was also a Financial/Industry/Farming leader, with a 20% bonus for all three areas. We hire this leader, more than double the leader bonus to our home system, and shift our previous leader on our home system to our planned shipbuilding center.     While Narestan civilisation extended to the Sarti system, Alkari colonisation reached the Marindi system. Shortly after the colonisation of the Marindi system, war broke out between the New Orion Empire leading the Alkari, and the Great Commonwealth of Gnol, a government uniting the Gnolam species beyond Alkari space, based on mutual accusations of espionage. The Great Commonwealth of Gnol landed invasion forces on the new Alkari colony planet of Preeweet in Marindi in 599, taking control of the planet and attempting to enforce order. With Preeweet under the control of the Great Commonwealth of Gnol, it had the range to send communications probes to Narestan space, opening communications with the Consortium for Xenogovernmental Negotiations. The Great Commonwealth of Gnol was very eager to establish mutually-beneficial commercial relationships between the Gnolam and Narestan species, and early discussions quickly led to establishment of commercial and scientific ties, along with the exchange of technology. The Gnolams are a short, gracile, omnivorous mammaloid species native to the Nares-like planet Val in the Gnol system, adapted for a low-gravity environment. The Gnolams enjoy fairly keen senses and flexible minds, and a strong current of hedonism has arisen in their cultures, supporting broad traditions of art, culture, and commerce. The Great Commonwealth of Gnol is a nominal republic ruled by a Chancellor, elected for life by a limited electorate drawn from the heads of several wealthy and prominent families. The Chancellor's powers are very broad and there is notable scope for corruption in the Great Commonwealth by Narestan standards; nonetheless the personal and economic freedom for most Gnolams is greater than that enjoyed by almost any other alien species. The Gnolam economy is, perhaps, not as flexible, responsive, and innovative as the Narestan economy, but competition within its economy keeps it highly efficient. The less flexible structure in the Gnolam economy has come with more concentrated industrial sectors, which have developed an impressive capacity for standardised mass production of consumer goods. Narestan Civilisation and Known Space as of 600  Significant process improvements and intensifying competition over the lucrative internal trade of Narestan civilisation have bolstered productivity on Nares even further, and the state of education on the planet is better than ever before. The agricultural sector here has shrunk significantly as agricultural production on Tenesal has risen, and Nares is no longer a net agricultural exporter.  The past two decades have seen Sedal go from a nearly airless, lifeless rock to a planet with a complex and established biosystem requiring no special protection for inhabitants on its surface, if one still sparse on water. Some of the productivity improvements seen on Nares have begun to be seen here, although it remains somewhat behind, and the population has once again started to grow significantly.  The storms that once wracked Sadesal have dissipated as its atmosphere has grown thicker and it has had more surface water introduced, and its population now exceeds six billion. Compared to Nares, it remains fairly backward in industrial and scientific methods, but the planet nonetheless is one of the primary economic centers of Narestan civilisation outside Nares itself.  Tanan has seen similar progress in its terraforming to Sadesal, now having a reasonably pleasant environment over much of its surface. The efficiency of its workforce, which now uses thoroughly modernised equipment and methods, is actually higher than Sadesal's, which is helping to bolster further terraforming efforts here.  Talesen's terraforming process has helped introduce the first water and breathable air to its environment, although the planet remains harsh and wracked by duststorms as it adjusts to the new atmosphere. The atmosphere is steadily growing along with hydrographic coverage, and weather patterns are anticipated to moderate within the next few years.  Renar's surface now hosts an arid life-supporting biosystem with reasonably moderate climate, which has enabled its population to grow to over four billion. Major process improvements have been made in local industry, already highly productive due to local resources, and several prominent commercial shipbuilding firms are in the process of relocating their headquarters here.  Tenesal's population exceeds five billion, approximately 250 million of which are employed in the single largest agricultural sector in Narestan space. Sophisticated methods and a large workforce ensure that over half of all the food consumed in Narestan space is produced on Tenesal, while the modest heavy industrial sector produces a steady stream of durable goods for export.  The population of Talabar has nearly doubled over the past two decades, now standing at just over four billion persons. Waste processing, process improvements, and improved education have bolstered the local economy, while the local environment has been adjusted to nearly Nares-like conditions. Trade volumes and innovation here have expanded dramatically, and an armed orbital shipyard is under construction here, by insistence of insurers.  Senet has significantly modernised industrial processes and education and introduced new entertainment products and luxuries even as its population has grown rapidly to just over 3 billion. The local environment has been adjusted to an arid sub-Nares environment, and the growth of its economy and population has rendered the planet significantly less dependent on outside investment.  Heavier industry has been established on Sedelet, its business methods have been steadily improved, and protective screens against the harsh radiation of Peren have been erected on the planet. The world contributes modest amounts to interplanetary trade even as terraforming firms steadily begin the work to introduce an atmosphere and water to its surface.  Talad has developed significantly over the past two decades, thanks largely to a steady stream of outside investment. The planet is protected from hazardous radiation, while improved luxury technologies for entertainment and recreation are being set up on the planet to help improve the lives of the people here.  Tesar is a relatively new colony planet, with the basics of its industry in place and an effective local hydroponic agriculture sector being established. There is still a great deal of work to bring the planet up to modern standards, and the radiation from Dunatis remains a concern here.  Retel stands in a similar position to Tesar, with the very basics of industry and agriculture established on its hostile surface and its inhabitants striving industriously to transform the planet into another prosperous world in Narestan civilisation.  There has been modest growth of trade volumes with the Autarchy, New Orion Empire, United Empire of Bulra, and Interstellar Union of Fieras over the past two decades, while the Coalition of Nations leading the Sakkra has blossomed into Narestan civilisation's largest trade partner by far. The Great Commonwealth of Gnol is expected to be a major trade partner itself, but for now trade routes are still being established and profits have yet to materialise. The outbreak of war between the New Orion Empire and Commonwealth of Gnol is a matter of some concern, as it has disrupted what has previously been a state of peaceful coexistence between Narestan civilisation's trade partners.  The Narestan economy has grown by leaps and bounds over the past two decades, both investment and innovation surging ahead. The total population of Narestan civilisation is over 55 billion, while the slow development of commerce and law over interstellar scales has begun to deliver freedom and justice more smoothly, reliably, and efficiently. Between Alkari, Bulrathi, and Narestan efforts, three more star systems have been colonised over the past decades, steadily helping civilise the region. Going from +132 BC/year to +256 BC/year over two decades? Very nice. Investment Proposals Technology Acquisition There are three different weapons technologies and one drive technology developed by alien species that could be acquired by Narestan firms, given sufficient inducement. The Sakkra have developed advanced designs for nuclear weapons with accelerated reaction in the warheads, study of which is anticipated to be useful in pushing forward overall understanding of chemistry and materials science by Narestan science. Mrrshan, Meklar, and Bulrathi governments and researchers have all indicated willingness to provide information on basic charged particle stream weapons that, although inferior to current Narestan weapons, are at least of some academic interest. Likewise, both the Gnolams and Meklars have the technology to harden hydrogen fusion bombs for orbital re-entry, likewise of some academic interest. Finally, Narestan process improvements and educational methods as applied to the economy are of interest to the Autarchy government, which has offered designs for the first drive systems to take proper advantage of the greater power output from antimatter energy storage. Please vote on what technologies to trade for, and, if you have a preference, who to acquire them from. The Sakkra will trade Merculite Missiles for our Atmospheric Renewers, which will allow us to skip a tier of Chemistry research. We can acquire Fusion Beams in exchange for a more or less random 250 RP technology traded to any of the Mrrshan, Meklar, or Bulrathi- I've seen Tachyon Communications, Battle Pods, and Class I Shields all come up. We can acquire Fusion Bombs from the Gnolams or Meklars, likewise for a 250 RP technology. Finally, we can get Ion Drives from the Meklars in exchange for Astro University. Research Priorities Several fields of research offer promising advances for Narestan science. Further study into biological sciences may well boost both agricultural productivity and allow for improvements and alternations to the Narestan genome, curing diseases and boosting the overall capabilities of the species. Study into chemistry and materials science may have notable industrial applications, as would study into engineering and manufacturing techniques. Development of computing technologies could have a very wide range of benefits for Narestan civilisation, and lay the foundation for future breakthroughs that could significantly bolster the economy as a whole. Finally, continued study into physics should allow for more sensitive instruments and the techniques to compensate for gravitational forces on a very wide scale, helping open up more worlds to Narestan colonisation. Please vote between biology, chemistry, manufacturing, computing, or physics research. If it looks like computing is winning, I'll run a secondary vote to determine some specifics. Colonisation Priorities Some reasonably promising planets for colonisation exist at the Oculus, Lycaon, and Ktynga systems, while there is some interest in establishing a permanent trading post in the Monstrum debris belt in order to ensure against loss of contact with the Great Commonwealth of Gnol in the event of the vagaries of war depriving them of the Marindi system. Which opportunities are pursued first remain up to colonists and investors. Please vote between first colonising a large, barren, poor planet (5 billion max) at Oculus, a medium, radiated, rich planet (4 billion max) at Lycaon, a medium, radiated, poor planet (4 billion max) at Ktynga, or setting up an outpost at Monstrum. The outpost is quicker and cheaper to establish, but only provides us with some extended range and a guarantee we don't lose contact with the Gnolams. Security Fleets Multiple security firms have plans to acquire their own combat-ready vessels to help secure Narestan space, and the shipyards at Renar shall soon be busy with security contracts. Feel free to propose a name for a security vessel, a size (chosen from destroyer or cruiser), and a role (as carrier or as line vessel). Please try to keep names reasonably serious. Each vessel shall represent a differing security outfit. If you are interested in getting into more detail about what ship systems to make use of, let me know when proposing a vessel, and I'll work with you on design. Within the limits of taste in names proposed, ship construction will be first come, first served. The past decades have brought unprecedented prosperity to Narestan civilisation, but the specter of war threatens to bring chaos and destruction to space beyond Narestan borders. It is to be hoped that the current prosperity endures into the future. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 07:08 on Jan 22, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2017 07:02
|
|
|
A brief primer on How Ships Work, as communicated in something that's a step above grunting: A ship's defenses consist of a few layers: Shields, Armor, and Internals/Systems. Shields are the first layer, obviously, and they regenerate in combat and have facings and junk. After that is Armor, and once you knock down (or bypass) shields, you have to get rid of all the armor, which doesn't have a facing or location, it's just a bar you have to drain. Once you knock down (or bypass) armor, then shots start hitting the guts. I'm not clear on the math of how it determines when systems (guns, shields, engines, that junk) are hit versus structure, but the important bit is that if you reduce a ship's Structure to zero, it explodes. If you blow up a ship's engines, it explodes and does a chunk of damage to everything around it. There's ways to weight the dice, but you can't really guarantee this result, which may be good or bad. I will not bother getting into the differences among all these, because ships automatically use the best armor and it's part of the hull. Same with engines. You can pick shields but why wouldn't you pick the best? Offensively, you've got a few categories. You have Shooty Guns, Launched Stuff, and Weird poo poo. I won't cover Weird poo poo because it's all spoilers, but I don't think we don't have any. Shooty Guns are what they sound like: click the target, dice are rolled, damage is (hopefully) applied. Note that Narestans suck at this. Launched Stuff has sub-categories: Missiles, Fighters, and Torpedoes. Missiles have finite ammo, and go to the target, and if they aren't intercepted, they will hit (barring ECM, which might be in play, or other shenanigans, which I am pretty sure are not). Missiles are all basically the same, all that changes is how much it hurts when they hit. Fighters have a few types, but they all function basically the same: go to the target, shoot it a few times, anything that isn't wrecked by point defense can return to the mothership to reload and do it again. Torpedoes are something we don't have so don't worry about those. Missile racks can have varying amounts of ammo, and how big a rack you should mount depends on what you want the ship to do. Two shot missile racks are "I'm going to dump a crapload of missiles and then retreat." Five shot racks are "this is a major weapon system but not my only trick, I will be in the fight for a while." Ten shot racks are "this is my primary weapon system, my job is to hang back and make sure that missiles are something they have to worry about constantly." Fifteen and twenty shot racks exist, but you can ignore them because the fight should be decided before you use up everything from the ten shot racks. And because of the way sizes work out, no, you can't fit in five 2-shot racks where a single 10-shot rack would go, so you have to decide if you want missiles throughout the fight or if you want to alpha strike and run away. Also, there's bombs. You can't use bombs against ships in combat. When attacking a planet in combat, beam damage is halved before any planetary shields are applied. Missiles do full damage. Bombs are useful in combat because they're cheap and compact and hard hitting, but they only work on planets and only if you're right next to them. When the fighting is over and it's time to bombard, you don't need bombs for that, but I think they help. There's also bioweapons, which the game treats as bombs, but nweismuller won't use them because of the whole "war crime and atrocity that makes everyone hate you" thing, but that doesn't matter because they're garbage and taking them means you aren't taking something actually useful. Anyway, as for what to do: Do get Merculites for Renewers, if someone already has better shields then trade Class I for Fusion Bombs but do not let go of the secret of Battle Pods (unless you're setting someone up so you can "acquire" another tech in that category later), and go ahead and trade for Ion Drive. For research priorities, more Manufacturing, and for colonization, I'd say Lycaon and if there's time and money, maybe an outpost at Monstrum (but who cares if you lose contact with the Gnolams). For a ship, I'd like to see a list of what we can stuff in there, but in lack of that I'm gonna be a giant nerd: the Itano class. Biggest we can do, battle pods, all the two-shot MIRVing nuclear missiles we can get split up evenly among the eight weapon hardpoints. The idea is to unload its massive volleys of nuclear doom and then, payload delivered, tuck its tail between its legs and run. The missiles are split up among the hardpoints because beams are smart and will fire only as many as needed to kill a target, but missiles are not and will all launch at once unless you manually divvy them up. You should only need one or two per fleet, depending on what you're tackling. It should probably be accompanied by ships designed by people who aren't making a joke (assuming you accept this monstrosity). v  v
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2017 08:34
|
|
|
To be clear, I'm not asking for ship classes, I'm asking for one-off ships. Standardisation will be... somewhat lacking in our fleet. I was actually inclining towards line ships with mass drivers without further input- at least we have battle scanners for those. As for what we can cram on... HULLS Both mount fusion drives, tritanium armor, class I shields, and electronic computers, and will be assumed to mount battle pods for high-quality vessels. Destroyer hull: 138 production cost, 83 free space, 20 structure, 20 armor, 10 shield per facing. Cruiser hull: 450 production cost, 167 free space, 60 structure, 60 armor, 15 shield per facing. WEAPONS SYSTEMS Anti-missile rockets: 1 cost, 10 space, knock down missiles. Mass driver, basic turret: 4 cost, 8 space, 6 damage, no range reduction for damage. Mass driver, armor-piercing turret: 6 cost, 11 space, 6 damage, ignores armor, no range reduction for damage. Mass driver, autofire turret: 6 cost, 11 space, 6 damage, attacks three times at an accuracy penalty, no range reduction for damage. Mass driver, armor-piercing autofire turret: 8 cost, 14 space, 6 damage, attacks three times at an accuracy penalty, ignores armor, no range reduction for damage. Heavy mass driver, basic turret: 9 cost, 16 space, 9 damage, significantly extended range, significantly reduced range penalties for accuracy, no range reduction for damage. Heavy mass driver, armor-piercing turret: 13 cost, 23 space, 9 damage, ignores armor, significantly extended range, significantly reduced range penalties for accuracy, no range reduction for damage. Heavy mass driver, autofire turret: 13 cost, 23 space, 9 damage, attacks three times at an accuracy penalty, significantly extended range, significantly reduced range penalties for accuracy, no range reduction for damage. Heavy mass driver, armor-piercing autofire turret: 17 cost, 29 space, ignores armor, attacks three times at an accuracy penalty, significantly extended range, significantly reduced range penalties for accuracy, no range reduction for damage. Point defense mass driver, standard version: 2 cost, 5 space, 3 damage, greatly reduced range, increased accuracy, automatically fires against incoming missiles and small craft. Point defense mass driver, autofire version: 3 cost, 7 space, 3 damage, greatly reduced range, very slightly increased accuracy, automatically fires against incoming missiles and small craft, attacks three times. Laser cannon: basically obsolete, although if you desperately want extra chance to hit, 'continuous' variant lasers are available- other modifications able to be stacked on are 'no range dissipation', 'armor piercing', and 'autofire'. Interceptor bay: 3 cost, 30 space, launches squadron of four interceptors armed with point defense mass drivers to attack enemies at point-blank range for four turns running before returning to rearm, can be targeted at missiles or small craft. Nuclear missile tube, standard: 7 cost, 8 space for magazine of 2, 15 cost, 16 space for magazine of 5, 22 cost, 24 space for magazine of 10. 8 damage, can be shot down or jammed. Nuclear missile tube, one modification: 9 cost, 10 space for magazine of 2, 18 cost, 20 space for magazine of 5, 27 cost, 30 space for magazine of 10. Available modifications are fast drives (increased travel speed and modestly reduced chance to be hit by point defense), ECCM (overcomes hostile ECM), and armor plating (increases durability against point defense). Nuclear missile tube, two modifications: 11 cost, 12 space for magazine of 2, 22 cost, 24 space for magazine of 5, 33 cost, 36 space for magazine of 10. Nuclear missile tube, three modifications: 12 cost, 14 space for magazine of 2, 26 cost, 28 space for magazine of 5, 39 cost, 42 space for magazine of 10. SPECIAL SYSTEMS Battle scanner: 7 cost, 18 space for destroyer, 12 cost, 30 space for cruiser, significantly increases direct-fire accuracy, increases strategic scanning range. ECM jammer: 3 cost, 11 space for destroyer, 6 cost, 18 space for cruiser, base 70% chance to baffle and harmlessly divert inbound missiles. Inertial stabiliser: 5 cost, 20 space for destroyer, 9 cost, 32 space for cruiser, increased evasion against all weapons, especially direct-fire, and reduced cost for turning. Reinforced hull: 2 cost, 15 space for destroyer, 3 cost, 25 space for cruiser, triples durability of both the internal structure and the drive system. Extended fuel tanks: too bulky for dedicated security vessels. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 07:08 on Jan 23, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2017 08:42
|
|
|
Well, a single Itano is fine too; again, assuming you're willing to throw my dumb joke ship in there. Heck, I'd say one is all you really need: it's a very gimmicky ship. If I didn't want to make the dumb anime joke, I'd go in for lots of mass drivers too.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2017 08:49
|
|
|
There, full list of what's available, if you want to play with design.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2017 09:19
|
|
|
Well, since you typed it up, I have two ships, you can decide which bad joke (if either) you want. The Itano missile cruiser is designed to let its crewmembers contribute to the fight with a minimum of actual risk to them. With four banks of triple nuclear missile launchers and four more banks of twin missile launchers, all with one reload each, they can fire on up to eight targets at once. Once that's done, they can promptly exit the battlefield, satisfied with a job well done and a massive payload delivered! As a bonus for the manufacturer, the lack of beam weapons on the ship means that the electronic computer can be omitted as a cost-cutting measure. Something that hasn't been brought up yet, but is relevant for the Itano, is that in combat you can click on individual weapons to control how they act. A weapon that's green will fire when you click a valid target (marked by turning bright green). A yellow weapon won't fire this time, but will turn green. A red weapon won't fire at all until you manually turn it back on, unless it's a point defense weapon, in which case it will automatically fire on missiles and fighters before they impact. The less dumb joke is the Glory of Profit luxury assault cruiser. Boasting the latest in scanning and resolution technology, long range fire is a breeze! With the cutting edge anti-inertics aboard, you'll be so comfortable you won't even notice the incoming fire, especially thanks to the strengthened hull which is there for your safety also insurance reasons, death benefits are expensive! And with two heavy autofiring, mass piercing mass drivers, space monsters will vanish in a flash just from the sheer volume of fire! And in case of any errant space debris, a triple bank of autofiring point-defense mass drivers will make sure you don't get monster guts on the brand new spaceship. It'll be such a joy to operate, people might pay you to serve on it! Or, to put it in pure mechanics terms: a Cruiser with Battle Scanner, Inertial Stabilizer, and Reinforced Hull, two Heavy Autofire Armor Piercing Mass Drivers, and since I had the space left three autofiring point defense mass drivers.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2017 15:03
|
|
|
I don't have strong opinions about what kind of ship it should be, but I nominate that it be named Reasonably Serious.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2017 16:52
|
|
|
With your permission, MechaCrash, I will implement the Etan missile cruiser as the next security ship in our fleet. Worth noting that even without direct-fire weapons, computers will still help initiative rating...
nweismuller fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Jan 22, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2017 19:57
|
|
|
Well, here's a gimmick designed by a moron, The Missile Aegis! A destroyer with an ECM jammer and 7 Anti-missile rockets, this ship is purpose built to try and somehow prevent your other ships from getting shot by missiles, and that's all it does. Recommended to be crewed by people with a martyr complex. Also, I see something that seems odd... nweismuller posted:Nuclear missile tube, standard: 7 cost, 8 space for magazine of 2, 15 cost, 16 space for magazine of 5, 22 cost, 24 space for magazine of 10. 8 damage, can be shot down or jammed. This makes it look like the one with 2 modifications takes up less space than the one with one modification, presumably this is a typo and the correct number is 36. I can have moments of... eccentricity and sometimes be quite curious about things. Please forgive me if I do something foolish or rude.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 00:19
|
|
|
nweismuller posted:With your permission, MechaCrash, I will implement the Etan missile cruiser as the next security ship in our fleet. Worth noting that even without direct-fire weapons, computers will still help initiative rating... Sure. Besides, filing down the Dumb Anime Joke so it sticks out less makes it better for the people who get it. As for the computer impacting initiative, that is something I had forgotten. I'd probably still cut it, myself, but if you want to leave it for the initiative then have at it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 02:26
|
|
|
Stephen9001 posted:Well, here's a gimmick designed by a moron, The Missile Aegis! Thanks for the catch. Error now fixed. I don't think I'll be using your gimmick ship, but I do appreciate your participation.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 07:08
|
|
|
I'm excited to see you playing this and getting into the shipbuilding aspect. Being able to design your own units is by far the biggest thing I remember about MOO2. If this counts for anything, my vote would be any trade or research that gets you to killing space monsters faster so the Narestan economy can start reaping the benefits of the worlds those monsters are guarding. It would be a tremendous loss for this galaxy's economic potential if one of the less enlightened races conquered those worlds first...
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 07:39
|
|
|
Siguy posted:I'm excited to see you playing this and getting into the shipbuilding aspect. Being able to design your own units is by far the biggest thing I remember about MOO2. Did you ever read my first Master of Orion 2 Let's Play? There was a certain amount of attention paid to shipbuilding there, as well.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 07:41
|
|
|
I did not! But I see it's in the archive...
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 07:43
|
|
|
Go ahead and take a look, and perhaps you'll enjoy it. I'd appreciate if you told me how you enjoy it, if you end up reading it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 07:46
|
|
|
Trade for everything. Research Physics. Colonise Oculus. Have a Cruiser Carrier named Payment is Due.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 10:35
|
|
|
AJ_Impy posted:Trade for everything. I'm giggling to myself about ships named Outstanding Balance and Unpaid Invoice now, thanks. The Compounding Interest escort is truly top of the line, though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 16:38
|
|
|
What's the Naretan system of measurement like, and has it changed since their industrial era? (I refuse to confirm or deny whether this has anything to do with the ships post I promised months ago).
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 22:07
|
|
|
Crazycryodude posted:What's the Naretan system of measurement like, and has it changed since their industrial era? (I refuse to confirm or deny whether this has anything to do with the ships post I promised months ago). The Narestan measurement system is based on their base 12 numeric system, and was standardised and rationalised shortly before their industrial era began. The standard unit of length, the sen, is 1/248,832nd of the equatorial radius of Nares, or about 2.262 meters. The standard unit of mass, the tosen, is the mass of one cubic twelfth-sen of water ice at its freezing point, or about 6.14 kilograms. The standard unit of time, the losot, is approximately two and a half seconds. E: Just a moment, one cubic sen of ice is a bit much. Going to do some calcs and get back to you. E again: OK, that's better. One cubic twelfth-sen is much more reasonable. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Jan 23, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 22:41
|
|
|
So what prefixes do they use? All the metric prefixes are related to a base 10 system, I dunno if you want to make up ones for a base 12 or just handwave it as the closest English translations being the metric ones. E: For clarity, I mean how do they describe things that are around the size of a few inches as opposed to meters. E2: Thanks Crazycryodude fucked around with this message at 00:06 on Jan 24, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 23:48
|
|
|
Crazycryodude posted:So what prefixes do they use? All the metric prefixes are related to a base 10 system, I dunno if you want to make up ones for a base 12 or just handwave it as the closest English translations being the metric ones. Use 'twelfth-', 'twelfth-squared-', 'twelfth-cubed-', and so forth for smaller units, and 'twelve-', 'twelve-squared-', 'twelve-cubed-', and so forth for larger units. For time, 'one day' is 20,736 losots, or about 14.4 hours. The most common time units used are 'days', 'twelfth-days', 'losots', and 'twelve-losots'. There's technically an intermediary unit between twelfth-days and twelve-losots, but it's not as commonly used. E: Please note I nudged the time value of the losot up from one second to 2.5 seconds. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Jan 24, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2017 23:53
|
|
|
I could use tiebreaker votes for research priorities and colonisation priorities- as things stand the votes on both are tied at one each.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2017 08:29
|
|
|
Voting for manufacturing and Outpost to keep in touch with the Gnolams
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2017 12:32
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 8, 2024 04:04 |
|
|
A teaser:
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2017 21:53
|
|