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1- Shields 2 Combine-wide mercantile exchange 2 antimatter 1 2- CSSF, modest 3- Freighters 5- Accept 6- Orthin Conference 8- Can we do something about all these tributes we're paying? 9- Extended Warranty, Means of Production, Interplanetary Rail Network.
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Jul 26, 2019 23:29
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Other shipyard names - Satisfaction Guaranteed, Wait There's More, Offer Expires (I'm not quite sure if using quotes from Billy Mays is the way to go)
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Jul 27, 2019 00:45
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It seems like the only people we'd feel comfortable, legally speaking at least, using the Arda Implants on are ones we don't actually want to befriend. Or enter into commerce with, which is much the same thing. With that in mind, is it possible that developing the technology would lead to other useful technology, like the ability to resist someone using similar technology on us?
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Jul 27, 2019 01:33
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terrenblade posted:8- Can we do something about all these tributes we're paying? I think that we should only be paying tribute to Okanin's Irregulars anymore, although I'm not in a position to confirm. As perpetual as the Gremak would hope the tribute arrangements to be, eventually they lapse unless they go to the trouble of extorting us again, and we've been working hard to make sure they won't get second chances.
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Jul 27, 2019 03:24
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1- Research: Battle Shields x2, Antimatter x2, and Psionic Implants x1 2- Military Industries: Expand the Expeditionary Forces. If ever there was an opportunity to create new markets and labor sources from whole cloth, it would be in the act of dismantling Gremak slaving rings. 3- Civilian Shipbuilding: Expand the frigate fleets. Why expand beyond what we can readily exploit? 4- The Senate of Sebarsk: The Loyalists are due their day. 5- Diplomacy: Accept the Orkin request. They have been exceedingly reasonable allies. We can and should be ready to tie our fates together, even if the Yorals might, shudder, relish the challenge. 6- Diplomacy: Alliances: Forge closer ties with the Orkin. 7- Diplomacy: Mercenaries: Work with Orkin manufacturing to help supplement the Expeditionary Forces. The sooner we can deal with Gremak slavers, the better off we will be as a collective. 8- Other Diplomatic Considerations: The Human High Command is distressingly hungry to consume Splendor! It will behoove us to prepare for if, or even perhaps when, they decide to take it by force. Shotaro fucked around with this message at 18:08 on Jul 28, 2019 |
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Jul 27, 2019 04:42
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Randomly, are defensive starbases a useful thing in this? Or they mostly logistics hubs and not really good for planetary defense beyond 'put some guns on it and hope for the best'? Edit: Also agree that we should strongly consider increasing the planetary defenses of Splendor/the local system defense as much as is reasonable.
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Jul 27, 2019 05:45
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Defensive starbases, due to their immobility and lack of heavy weapons, can be very vulnerable on their own. They are, however, quite durable and can mount a reasonable number of guns. Using a defensive starbase as a front line of defense for planet-based heavy weapons works much better- the starbase helps screen from long-range missile fire and productively adds to firepower if the enemy charges. The AI isn't great at using heavy weapons outside of the range of the planet itself to reduce the starbase, and then close on the planet, so the starbase and planet together are more resilient against a wider variety of threats than either on their own.
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Jul 27, 2019 06:25
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nweismuller posted:Defensive starbases, due to their immobility and lack of heavy weapons, can be very vulnerable on their own. They are, however, quite durable and can mount a reasonable number of guns. Using a defensive starbase as a front line of defense for planet-based heavy weapons works much better- the starbase helps screen from long-range missile fire and productively adds to firepower if the enemy charges. The AI isn't great at using heavy weapons outside of the range of the planet itself to reduce the starbase, and then close on the planet, so the starbase and planet together are more resilient against a wider variety of threats than either on their own. Consider me signing on to promoting the construction of a defensive starbase at Splendor then if viable with current constructino priorities.
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Jul 27, 2019 08:17
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terrenblade posted:1- Shields 2 Combine-wide mercantile exchange 2 antimatter 1 This plan gets my vote
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Jul 27, 2019 11:47
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nweismuller posted:I save the dumb mashups of nonsense syllables for planet names and personal names! I had been wondering what the deal with Onni and Mehu were  ("Happiness/luck" and "juice" respectively in Finnish)
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Jul 27, 2019 14:02
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1) Shields first, then get those Psionics (3x vote) going. Antimatter as the best possible battery after that, and beyond that I don't care much. 2) Focus fully on the Expeditionary Force! 3) Freighter focus, for once. 4) The Freemen surely have it right. 5) This is a difficult decision. I'll abstain and call everyone idiots or geniuses depending on what the result ends up being, yes. 6) If we're to ally someone, it should prooobably be the Orthin though. 7) No. We will not outsource war. 8) To hell with the Gremak, honestly. Also with the Tinkers. We ought to be friends with other pro-science societies. 9) I've no idea. Names are hard. 10) See #9. Lynneth fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Jul 27, 2019 |
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Jul 27, 2019 21:20
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Shotaro posted:5- Diplomacy: Accept the Orkin request... Not sure if autocorrect or typo but I love it. 
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Jul 28, 2019 06:52
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Some days you get a combination of syllables stuck in your head and it just doesn't go away. Edited to fix a bold tag but leaving the rest in for posterity's sake.
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Jul 28, 2019 18:10
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I have returned home, compiled votes, and corrected the image for Mehu on the planetary reports, so you can at long last actually see the status of the world. I'll start in on playing the update. E: Incidentally, I can now confirm Tarib produce no metal. And can also confirm that although the region seemed ready to plunge into a new Great War, everybody involved pulled themselves back from the brink before the devastation of a new Great War spread over the entire region- the damage was instead confined to a few border systems between the two great alliances of the region. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Jul 29, 2019 |
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Jul 29, 2019 00:10
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The Modern Ashdar Empire The Ashdar Empire, once one of the strongest states in the region during the Great War era, is a much-diminished remnant of its original self. During the collapse of the warp lanes, the Ashdar Empire was reduced to Ashdar Prime, a world long since converted to support massive arcology-cities such as the Phidi had discovered on Mehu. The loss of travel and communication plunged Ashdar Prime into a deep famine that nearly exterminated the Ashdar on its surface. Only the adaptation of the civic engineering infrastructure to support entire agricultural towers permitted a greatly-reduced population to survive in the ruins of the ancient cities. Although portions of the cities of Ashdar Prime still maintain a greater degree of ancient infrastructure than anywhere else in the region- having had near-continuous maintenance since the Great War- nonetheless the Ashdar of the ancient homeworld had badly regressed by the modern era, and much of the ancient infrastructure serves primarily as lessons to Ashdar researchers slowly rebuilding that which is lost. The Empire, despite a large and powerful navy that makes it a formidable enemy, is less populous than the new star nations of the Orthin Conference, Phidi Combine, or Yoral Khaganate- and in fact is less populous than either the Republican Union of Eshar or the Human High Command. The modern Ashdar Empire comprises three different species- the most numerous being the Ashdar Haduir, followed by the Ashdar Teros, and joined by the Humans of the garden world of Bounty which has been incorporated into the new Empire. The Empire's political structure is based around an Imperator confirmed by the Imperial Senate and thereafter ruling for life, using Imperial Governors appointed by the Imperator as civil executives within the government. The Imperial Senate is an aristocratic body with hereditary membership based within great families of ancient prominence amongst the Haduir, which serves the primary legislative function within the government. The ancient Ashdar Imperial traditions of ancestor-worship remain strong in the Ashdar Empire, as in the other Ashdar states of the region. Although the commoners have no direct representation within the Senate, there are elected Tribunes of the People who are empowered to bring pleas of relief for their commoner constituency to the Senate and to the Imperator. Although these Tribunes have little real power, they nonetheless serve as a relief valve for stresses within the Imperial system, and ensure that popular opinion is at least brought to the attention of the aristocracy and monarchy. Teros lack any position within the aristocracy, but are prominently featured in high military and civil positions appointed by the Senate or the Imperator- the current head of the Imperial Navy is in fact a Teros fleet admiral.
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Jul 29, 2019 02:42
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The Phidi believe that at this point they have encountered every major expansive power in the region accessible via the warp lanes. The extent to which other states have rewarded the initial Phidi expectations of friendship and mutual benefit from other species has... varied, as has the extent to which the internal organisation of these foreign states has appeared congenial to the Phidi mind. What citizen-clients of the Combine make of the various other states of the region may be an interesting question. (For that matter, if there are questions about foreign states, I may well be able to answer them.)
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Jul 29, 2019 11:21
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I don't think I'll have an update before this weekend, and will possibly take a few days longer. That said, I'd love to field questions, and can take requests for some lore writing.
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Jul 31, 2019 02:47
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I guess broadly what is the fleet doctrine for our spacefish? If you had to presume how the CSSF had theorized how to engage in conflict? I presume they're still making up how to do a planetary invasion.
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Jul 31, 2019 05:01
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wedgekree posted:I guess broadly what is the fleet doctrine for our spacefish? If you had to presume how the CSSF had theorized how to engage in conflict? The CSSF is currently operating on a theory that massed fire at extended range should be able to thin out opposing forces before they can effectively engage. CSSF kinetic weapons using superconductive coils effectively outrange beam weapons currently in use, while hostile use of guided weapons should be able to be stopped cold if the CSSF can muster a local advantage over the enemy. CSSF cruisers add additional firepower at longer ranges, and should help with forcing decisive battles, but are going to be less effective for tactics used by destroyers to accelerate to keep ranges open as long as possible so the enemy suffers losses over an extended time- tactics which are not available anyhow if there are civilian assets in place that need protection. What the CSSF anticipates will be its largest challenge is cases where the enemy is both heavily-reliant on long-range guided weapons and outmasses the CSSF on-site, in which case using CSSF point defense to clear out enemy fire while keeping fire on the enemy becomes much less viable. The Tinkers, who are anticipated to be able to maintain missile fire over extended engagements, rely heavily on missiles, and have a formidable industrial plant to put out new ships, are perhaps the foreign power that raises the greatest concerns in CSSF planners. In the event that an engagement looks unfavorable, the CSSF hopes that relying on defensive warfare to allow planet-based defenses to back up the fleet may help turn the tide.
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Jul 31, 2019 05:25
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So it sounds like the Tinkers have accepted the path is more Dakka. And gone the way of the Umiak from Outsider (The Webcomic). Where there's no missiles like more missiles.
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Jul 31, 2019 05:43
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I love Outsider. And I have to say, as a serial numbers filed off MoO2 fanfic, it's great. (I feel like I have some qualification commenting on 'good MoO2 fanfics', as the United Republic and its history might attest to.)
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Jul 31, 2019 06:22
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Arioch (Jim Francis), the artist who makes the webcomic Outsider, has also done the art for this game! https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider075.html
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Jul 31, 2019 06:43
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Arioch is one of the two (I think?) developers.
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Jul 31, 2019 13:43
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Yeah, it's all said quite prominently on the "about" page of the game's site. Outsider is what led to Arioch doing the art for the game. They've worked together for ten years, 2007 to 2017, to get the game to release. The joys of small-team game development.
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Jul 31, 2019 14:29
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I guess I know where my game money from my next paycheck is going towards.
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Jul 31, 2019 19:40
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AtomikKrab posted:
Heh, cool that I've sold another person on this game. I'm happy to introduce new people to it!
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Jul 31, 2019 20:36
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Have it, play it. Haven't gotten far, still learning it! Have fun messing in the early game. This thread is definitely teaching me things!
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Aug 1, 2019 04:24
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Well, if anybody ever has any questions about the game, feel free to ask me either in the thread or via PM. I feel as if I've learned a thing or two about how to play not entirely terribly in my time. Splitting time between the live version for the LP, and the test version, which has implemented some nice economic rebalancing.
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Aug 1, 2019 04:27
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I've played this game to death. I usually play as Orthin and artillery everything.
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Aug 1, 2019 05:41
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Small delay due to the release of Age of Wonders: Planetfall. I should have it out of my system and get a new update up next week.
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Aug 7, 2019 23:28
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I've just started my own Fishdi playthrough, and guess what happens a few turns after I scrapped my starting Tendao mine? Still makes more sense as a market planet, what with its Opil, so I'm not rebuilding that mine. (Couldn't they have given me the Rare Gems specials instead?)
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Aug 12, 2019 17:00
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Does this game have a non-standard win condition like how MOO2 had the antaran invasion? Or is it the usual 4x thing where you just sort every AI into the Punched or Allied bins.
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Aug 12, 2019 17:09
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At the moment it's only diplomatic victory or conquest. Diplomatic victory works like in the MOO series: you must have met all other space-faring empires, and you need to get 2/3 of the total votes, each empire having a number of vote equal to their population. Your allies vote for you. You can also annex them if they are much weaker than you (both in total population and in military strength) and they have a very favorable opinion of your empire. Special victory conditions are probably planned (all the stuff related to the Arda Seed makes me think that, long term, there'll be a victory condition for conquering all hyperspace anomalies) but in the current state of the game there's no such thing.
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Aug 12, 2019 19:29
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There's also the Alliance victory, where you win if every empire is allied with you at the same time. It's even more of a friendship victory than winning the election and then going "Right, which of you bastards didn't vote for me?"
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Aug 12, 2019 20:00
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inflatablefish posted:There's also the Alliance victory, where you win if every empire is allied with you at the same time. It's even more of a friendship victory than winning the election and then going "Right, which of you bastards didn't vote for me?" Normally what the Alliance victory actually means is that your coalition just won the new Great War. Alternately, it can be like the game I just played, where I was boxed in, juggled relations to remain neutral through everything, then eventually had enough influence and had enough other star nations wiped out I could befriend all the remaining squabbling powers. Brokering peace for our time!
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Aug 13, 2019 09:06
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nweismuller posted:Normally what the Alliance victory actually means is that your coalition just won the new Great War. Alternately, it can be like the game I just played, where I was boxed in, juggled relations to remain neutral through everything, then eventually had enough influence and had enough other star nations wiped out I could befriend all the remaining squabbling powers. Brokering peace for our time! Yeah, I managed a victory like that once - almost got the achievement for winning an Alliance victory without eliminating any empires (I destroyed the Humans early on, though I managed it with only one scout ship which is impressive in itself). It's a shame there's no mechanic for spending influence to persuade other empires to make peace with each other.
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Aug 13, 2019 10:44
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inflatablefish posted:Yeah, I managed a victory like that once - almost got the achievement for winning an Alliance victory without eliminating any empires (I destroyed the Humans early on, though I managed it with only one scout ship which is impressive in itself). It's a shame there's no mechanic for spending influence to persuade other empires to make peace with each other. Oh yes. I would absolutely love the option to use your diplomatic prowess to smooth over the conflicts of the region, much as I did as Morgan in the old SMAC LP.
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Aug 13, 2019 11:18
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In the development builds, annexation of friendly empires is really great: Yay all the cool sciences! It makes it about worth it for those stupid arthronerds picking a fight with the Yoral and making me join it while my main battle fleet was 10+ turns away. Of course it's this fight turning out badly for them that made them wish to fold in, as their military was destroyed and they've lost several worlds. Still, if they didn't drag me in, that would have put an end to the conflict... On the other   If the Yoral want to annihilate this planet's population through orbital bombing, then, I'm not going to complain too much. For people who don't have the game: the Viscids are a pure annoyance here only to make planets less good. Why there are only 2 or 3 pops of them at first, once the planet is colonized, they breed like rabbits, they produce absolutely nothing, they eat your food though they do not need it, so you can't starve them, they do not staff your buildings, you cannot move them away from the planet, but if your normal and useful population is reduced for some reason, they will fill the vacuum. The only way to get rid of them is through orbital bombardment (as always, nuking them from orbit is the only way to be sure) but the game doesn't let you bombard your own colonies, so you have to hope that an enemy will be helpful.  The game as a few annoying natives like this, but they generally still have some limited usefulness, they'll be good for science, or trade, or food... The Viscids are entirely useless.
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Aug 13, 2019 14:48
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I said I'd have an update out this week, but delay due to my sleep status being, in technical terms, 'a flaming bag of dog poo poo'. I'm slowly getting things wrestled back into something resembling a status where I get reasonable sleep, which is a good status for if I hope to get any writing done. Sorry about that.
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Aug 14, 2019 13:58
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So I fired this up myself after having not played it in a while... gently caress Tinkers.
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Aug 15, 2019 05:20
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