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A lot of these places are kind of buttso, but the hyperspace lane layout does at least carry some advantages. It'll be a good while before you have to worry about it, but Miract and Guad make excellent chokepoints. If you take those, then every system you've explored except Horne, Sarti, and Gularn become locked off unless someone can punch through those borders. Gularn would make a better point than Miract, of course, because then Horne and Sarti would be inside the border instead of outside it, but Gularn has no planets to colonize to support setting up various forts.
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Jun 5, 2020 16:59
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MechaCrash posted:A lot of these places are kind of buttso, but the hyperspace lane layout does at least carry some advantages. It'll be a good while before you have to worry about it, but Miract and Guad make excellent chokepoints. If you take those, then every system you've explored except Horne, Sarti, and Gularn become locked off unless someone can punch through those borders. Gularn would make a better point than Miract, of course, because then Horne and Sarti would be inside the border instead of outside it, but Gularn has no planets to colonize to support setting up various forts. Miract does not secure everything, until we can confirm what's going on in the yellow star linked to from Shimari and Guad.
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Jun 5, 2020 17:40
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Oh, whoops, didn't realize that oh right there's that unexplored star that could go to other stars. I saw the two lanes leading to it and no others and didn't think through "the reason we don't see any other stars is because it's unexplored." Presumably I wouldn't have made that mistake if I were playing it myself. I hope.  Well, worst case, the chokepoints would be Guad and Shimari, then.
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Jun 5, 2020 17:49
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MechaCrash posted:Well, worst case, the chokepoints would be Guad and Shimari, then. I made the point in an earlier post that any one of Taurio, Varinia, or Shimari would secure most of the spinward portion of our quadrant in conjunction with Guad. We may want to prioritise our first chokepoint of those three based on economic considerations, given that the value of Guad other than as a chokepoint is... limited. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Jan 17, 2021 |
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Jun 5, 2020 17:56
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Taurio, Shimari, Horne seems like a promising way to expand the empire, with additional defense colonies at Guad and Miract.
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Jun 5, 2020 18:23
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Cat Mattress posted:Taurio, Shimari, Horne seems like a promising way to expand the empire, with additional defense colonies at Guad and Miract. We don't even need a defensive point at Miract. Shimari and Horne, between the two of them, control all approaches to Miract.
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Jun 5, 2020 18:53
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Vindication  A refit of the Vindicator was carried out in early 1851, updating it to the recently-approved Enforcer pattern, improving its engine output and shifting its primary space-to-space armament to three launch tubes for guided nuclear missiles linked to magazine space for multiple launches. With these refits complete, the Vindicator set out from the Gnol system, heading first to establish a defensive position at the edge of the Kakari system.  This defensive position was needed because of the listening post that the Creator finished constructing in early 1852. Although minimally-staffed with a few sensor technicians and courier crew, simply abandoning this lonely outpost to destruction when a Naval commitment could save it was considered to be unnecessary.     In 1859, the pirate vessels bound for League space finally arrived, and the Vindicator was able to assess the construction of the pirate vessels at short enough range for a detailed study. A pair of high-powered chemical laser mounts made up the primary offensive firepower of each ship- bulky and crude compared to the solid-state lasers used by Naval vessels, but with enough power despite this to present at least a moderate threat to Naval armor. This was supplemented by a makeshift but ingenious refit of several of the forward manuever thrusters to attempt to channel superheated ejecta from the drive system into a more or less coherent beam at close range. The ships themselves, although not meaningfully smaller than the Vindicator, had a much thinner armor layer, barely sufficient for protection against cosmic radiation and the stresses of FTL travel. Pirate weapons are, to put it bluntly, crap, and their hulls appear to have fewer than half the hit points of the frigates they match in size. About the only genuine threat they pose is if you let them get up close enough to use their sustained beam weapon. They essentially can be outfought by just about any military design that bothers to make any efforts towards a space superiority role at all, but they'll cheerfully destroy unprotected infrastructure and ships if not stopped by warships.     The Vindicator immediately made efforts to minimise the ability of the pirates to develop firing solutions, using its superior maneuverability to swing around the flank of the pirate formation and release a volley of missiles at one pirate vessel at maximum range. Although one missile failed to make intercept, the other two were sufficient to melt breaches into the pirate vessel's hull, leading to catastrophic depressurisation and simultaneous incineration of the pirate crew. It was able to release another volley at the other pirate vessel, this one with all missiles on target. The third detonation was enough to break apart the mangled hulk left behind by the first two proximity detonations.   The first space battle in the history of the League was complete, and the Vindicator- and, by extension, the Navy- had performed flawlessly. The pirates had never been able to resolve a targeting solution, and the Vindicator was completely unscathed. With the listening post secure, the Vindicator made way for Guad, there to settle this pirate menace once and for all.    It was in 1867 that the Vindicator finally arrived at Guad, using its unguided nuclear warheads to perform demonstration strikes on the shipyard facilities and command centers to of the pirate warlord there.  It proved that, over the decades of exile, population growth had continued in the Guad system as it had in the Gnol system, and, with the pirate warlord dead, League authority was able to be exercised on the scattered settlers and miners of the asteroid belt, who by this time were largely quite disillusioned with the harsh rule the pirate warlord had exercised. Over the next years, first in a trickle and then in a flood, the exile population of Guad largely returned to Val, the last holdouts eventually surrendering to the collapse of the simple economy which had sustained life in Guad. Hundreds of millions of Gnolams arrived on the homeworld over the course of a decade, many of whom had never seen Val at all.  While the Vindicator had been ending the pirate threat, the civilian population of Val had not been idle, building up the homeworld and advancing knowledge. Late in the same year of 1867, a full plan for the starting equipment and expertise demanded by a colony mission had been drawn up. Effective early establishment of local surface agriculture on life-bearing worlds or sealed hydroponics on the most hostile worlds and rapid establishment of colony settlement prefabs could help ensure that colony populations would be securely established as quickly as possible, and lay the groundwork for future economic growth. Large-scale civilian shipping could, potentially, allow for major migrations between planets. The colony base structure, although relatively expensive in upkeep for producing only 1 food, is a critical boost to a newly-established colony and supplements overall agricultural yields in the future. It is automatically built at no cost when establishing a new colony, and cannot be built later if you don't have Deep-Space Exploration when first setting up the colony. I tend to view getting Deep-Space Exploration as fairly critical for colonisation efforts. Civil transports, for their part, are fairly cheap to build and carry a unit of population to resettle elsewhere, also potentially useful for speeding the development of new colonies.  While returning through the Biots system from its survey of the Parmag system in 1873, the Endeavor noted unusual sensor returns in the outer portions of the Biots system. Investigation eventually revealed another stray cargo container like the one discovered in the Gnol system, similarly dating back thousands of years and marked with what appeared to be the same language. Recovery of what proved to be another container of refined elemental metals was a windfall both to the crew of the Endeavor and the overall economy of the League. Known Space and the Universal Mercantile League as of 1875  The efforts of the Prospector and Endeavor have charted many new stars, and found more unstable hyperspace conduits blocking further exploration driftward from the Gularn system. It appears that a rough quadrant of the galaxy is accessible to Gnolam travel. It is believed that only a few stars on the hyperspace conduits accessible to Gnolams remain to be surveyed, and it may well be that all accessible space will have been surveyed within the next 25 years, allowing for a retirement of the Prospector and Endeavor after distinguished and valuable careers.  The Creator, under commission from the UML, has extended the chain of listening posts through the Baalbo and Taurio systems. The eyes and ears of the UML extend, if thinly, across multiple systems, hopefully to provide early warning if needed.    On Val, the population now exceeds 9 billion, with agriculture and industry having grown considerably over the past 25 years. Use of sealed-environment outposts has allowed for small research stations on the ocean floors, tallest mountains, and deep arctic, while use of sealed-environment domes to grow climate-sensitive specialty crops has joined with industrial-scale use of hydroponics to bolster agricultural yields even further. Food is perhaps even cheaper than it was 25 years ago, despite population growth. A major investment effort is under way, helping to ensure that the first Gnolam colony mission shall leave to Kakari within a year.  Work to formalise analytic tools, business methods, and institutional structures to minimise overhead costs and more effectively respond to customer demand is well under way. It seems likely that, as more sophisticated economic tools and business methods become available, the League's economy shall enjoy a great surge of growth. Proposals for the Universal Mercantile League Research Proposals With the strong background of economic growth expected to be available within the next 10 years, some corporate research proposals looking into effective scientific and industrial development for the future may begin to show their first fruit. Although these proposals will require extensive research funding and a great deal of time to complete, they may well help ensure the industrial viability of worlds with more marginal metals content and a strong culture of innovation into the future. More advanced study into the properties of electromagnetism is likely to come along with refinements to neutron cannon design and improved ship defenses, and may well allow for effective industrial-scale fusion, which would revolutionise Val's energy sector. Meanwhile, perfecting the design of electronics should help allow for valuable advances in computer sciences. Development of artificial organisms may be of some limited value on marginal-environment worlds, and lay the framework for further advances in biosciences. Finally, improved spaceframe engineering, as well as opening new options to the Navy, would lay the groundwork for improved chemical engineering and better drive systems. Please vote between Private Funding, Advanced Magnetism, Electronics, Biotechnology, and Engineering research. If you vote for Advanced Magnetism, also vote between basic shield systems and ECM systems to counter missile fire, which still remains the most dangerous threat to our ships at this tech level. If you vote for Electronics, please vote between targeting computers and survey sensor applications- but note that we've nearly completed surveying our quadrant of the galaxy by now. Private Funding is a tier 3 technology and costs 268 research compared to the 137 for the tier 2 technologies that make up most of our remaining alternatives, so bear in mind the increased expense if you choose that. Naval Appropriations The anticipated expansion in the size of the UML has the Navy eager to prepare for the staffing and logistics challenges it shall no doubt face in the future, as well as considering commissioning the Enforcer as a sister ship to the Vindicator, allowing for more flexibility of operations. The Assembly shall have to consider just how much of a budget the Navy shall get. Please vote on whether or not to complete a Star Base before starting on a second colony ship, and on whether or not to construct the Enforcer as a second naval vessel. Colonisation Priorities The Assembly has voted to approve subsidy funds to encourage the next colony mission after Kakari to settle the Taurio, Varinia, or Shimari systems. All three systems have enough value as colonisation targets to draw independent interest from civilian colony backers. Please vote between Taurio Prime, Varinia Prime, or Shimari Prime as our next colonisation target. The League stands on the very cusp of establishing its first true extragnolar colony. With this momentous development, the future seems bright indeed. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Jan 17, 2021 |
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Jun 5, 2020 20:52
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Nut-U, introductory seminar to fungal domestication posted:-ood example would be the common spotcap, which started out as an autumnal crop in Northern Val where it is endemic, where locals figured out to use it to bolster their diets due to the latitudes only really allowing for a single growth cycle of more fragile, photosynthesizing plants. Of course, most laypeople would not even recognize this prehistoric spotcap as the one we have today, -the slide changes, showing a comparison with the closest modern equivalent of the wild spotcap and a significantly plumper agricultural variant- since a thousand years of domestication have developed meatier, hardier and more nutritious all-year cultivars of the humble fungus, forming it into a staple that has been adopted worldwide during the past few centuries of globalization. Now, of course, these days we do not need to refine a food source for thousands of years to achieve these ends, since advances in Biotechnology have allowe- News All Day Network posted:-onsorship is still held for the second Enforcer as per the contractual obligations, but according to our sources the negotiations to extend this deal to a possible Star Base project later on have halted. When asked about this, our Nutris corporate liaison stated that 'Nutris is currently investing heavily in colonization efforts, and does not wish to stretch its capital too thin', referring us to an official corporate statement to be published later this we- A comment on Chekkit by user ate_a_Burger posted:No, it's because Shimari Prime is way out there. Do you even know how long it takes to bring supplies there? Fresh produce? Obviously these agrotech giants are slobbering all over a ball of sand and barren rocks way out in the rear end end of nowhere, what are the people going to eat other than their stuff? Edge out early competitors with a generous sponsorship deal with the colonization corps and boom, you get to work from an early position of near-monopoly. Stocks are bound to rise, so you'd be a fool to sell now. Advert jingle posted:*SNAP!* Goes the chip!
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Jun 5, 2020 21:59
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I see max population is still at 13 with biospheres, meaning that you didn't use the unofficial patch. (It changes the biosphere bonus to +2 max pop, like in MOO2.)Jedmol News Digest posted:
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Jun 5, 2020 22:39
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Cat Mattress posted:I see max population is still at 13 with biospheres, meaning that you didn't use the unofficial patch. (It changes the biosphere bonus to +2 max pop, like in MOO2.) That's right. Using the current official version, and happy enough with it.
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Jun 5, 2020 22:55
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Engineering for technology; we've made no real attempt to refine our starfaring capability since initially developing it, and with the scouting mission coming to a close this is a time to catch our breath and see what else can be done. After seeing what the Space Pirates couldn't do to an armed warship, but what it could do to undefended settlements, it seems imprudent to leave Gnol without some kind of permanent defenses. Finish the Starbase. Let's settle Taurio Prime; it's the only one of the options that has multiple sister worlds, and most of them are even pretty good.
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Jun 6, 2020 00:01
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WSI internal email posted:...the field of advanced magnetism looks promising, which could allow for testing those energy shield theories our research department has come up with. If it works, we can add another first to our trophy case. Profits will rise and we can give our engineers that pay raise they've wanted... IT'S ALMOST LIKE NEWS posted:SEE! THE EYEBALL TREES OF TAURIO PRIME! CAN THEY READ OUR MINDS?
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Jun 6, 2020 06:33
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Incidentally, I really appreciating the effort so many of you are putting into your participation! It's really rewarding for me to see others get into it and contribute to the world.
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Jun 6, 2020 06:54
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News All Day Network posted:... Bortis Shipping and Logistics began an ambitious program of upgrades to its corporate informational networks and data handling capacity... A vote for Private Funding. Nian Bortis, to the UML Assembly posted:In order to be ready for the future, I believe it is our duty as the League to be ready to provide for the physical security of the trade lanes. As such, investing in the orbital command for the Navy, the associated training and logistics programs, and the approval of the Enforcer, although it may be immediately painful, will pay off in the future. League News Network posted:... growing interest by some investors in the possibility of asteroid mining in the Shimari system... I'd appreciate a tiebreaker on our tech priority between Private Funding, Advanced Magnetism, and Biotechnology after we clear out Engineering. I'll even accept this from somebody who initially voted for Engineering. E: Actually, I'll also accept a vote for chemical engineering or improved drives for after Engineering, as well. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Apr 17, 2023 |
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Jun 6, 2020 13:36
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nweismuller posted:I'd appreciate a tiebreaker on our tech priority between Private Funding, Advanced Magnetism, and Biotechnology after we clear out Engineering. I'll even accept this from somebody who initially voted for Engineering. Private Funding is the most Gnolamy choice.
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Jun 6, 2020 13:45
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Cat Mattress posted:Private Funding is the most Gnolamy choice. Awesome, thanks. Proceeding, then. E: Engineering research abruptly sidelined by new development in-game. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Jun 6, 2020 |
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Jun 6, 2020 13:46
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 With the attempted defection of General Katie Jiang and her slow acquisition of at least limited ability to communicate in Levan, we have been able to determine that the spacefaring species based driftward and coreward from Gnolam space is known as 'Humanity'. She indicates that she is an 'exile of conscience' from the 'United Republic', and she seeks Gnolam aid in the complete destruction of the United Republic, which she claims is 'dominated by corrupt corporations and petty nation-states'. Interviewing her indicates that she was a prominent figure in the Communal Cooperative, a dissenting party within the Republic, organised as a party upon paramilitary, collectivist ideals. We almost hate to break the structure of the League to her. Please discuss what should be done with General Jiang.
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Jun 6, 2020 14:19
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I like her moxie. HIRE HER ON THE SPOT!
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Jun 6, 2020 14:49
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nweismuller posted:We almost hate to break the structure of the League to her. LOL Senator Obracc, in a speech posted:We met a so-called "humanity defector". Is it sincere? Is it truly a specimen who chose to betray its own species in the hope that alien (to them) people will wage war on its behalf? And if, what loyalty should we really expect of it? Or perhaps it is only pretending to be a rebel, but is really a spy? Do we want to give some strange alien creatures authority over our troops? Besides, if we actually believe its claim, this "humanity republic" they have seems like a potentially very lucrative trade partner. A "bloated and corrupted government" sounds like my favorite kind of customers. It's prudent, too: we still have only one warship, we don't know what they have; they may be militarily inconsequential or they may have the firepower to crush us all. So, no, we're not gonna indulge this specimen by starting an interstellar war for vague reasons, and it therefore has no reason to work for us, meaning we have no reason to hire it. Send it back to its fellows. (Mechanically the main reason I could see to hire her would be that she's apparently a boost to get other, more useful leaders. I'm not sure this actually works in the game, though. Hopefully we're not gonna need the ground troop bonus for a while.)
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Jun 6, 2020 16:12
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Commodore Nian Bortis posted:I have to confess to extreme misgivings about the Human defector. Insofar as we've been able to determine, her basic motive is ideological hostility to the basic political and economic system of the United Republic, which- stripping out the emotive language and value judgements and drilling down to what appear to be more neutral fact claims- might appear to be basically compatible with the systems of the UML. If she hates the Republic so, how much more will she hate the League, when given enough time to realise what it is? I can see the possibility of leveraging her hostility to have her as a defector without making any real foreign policy concessions to her agenda, and perhaps we might be able to keep that up for a time, but I'd frankly rather play it safe and ensure we maintain goodwill for when we are capable of opening effective communications with the United Republic. A new power on the astropolitical scene may present security challenges, but I think it also presents opportunity for the League, and I hope the League is in position to take advantage of these opportunities as soon as possible.
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Jun 6, 2020 18:03
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-excerpt from Accord chat discussion- posted:Sy$^m: She's pretty expensive, though, and the idea of her defecting to US of all people seems hilariously misplaced. I vote hire. Doing what I vote for is probably a terrible idea. But it's too funny to pass up for me. 
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Jun 6, 2020 18:12
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I like her moxie, but this isn't about what I like, it's about what makes sense for the Gnolam, and I can't imagine them hiring someone with her background in a trillion billion years. Reject.
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Jun 6, 2020 20:25
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My two big questions are "how many heroes can you have" and "how the hell did she get here?" The first will determine if I think we should keep her or not, and for how long. The answer to the second is probably some variation of "shut up."
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Jun 6, 2020 20:37
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MechaCrash posted:My two big questions are "how many heroes can you have" and "how the hell did she get here?" I can't check our limit on leaders at the moment, but I do think her 9 BC/annum upkeep is pretty damned steep given our current income, for what she does. How she got to us involves a stolen fast courier vessel with a doughty crew of Communal Cooperative cutthroats and the official courier crew tossed out airlocks. (I tend to assume the existence of fast couriers as a necessity of the gameplay.)
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Jun 6, 2020 20:42
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The only way she can justify costing 9 billion credits a year is if she's using that money to fund terrorism in Human space or trying to raise a private army or something. Not worth the trouble. Reject
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Jun 6, 2020 20:51
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Let's give her a shot. Hire.
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Jun 6, 2020 20:53
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Looks like a slight edge in favor of passing her up, and I'm tired of keeping MoO idling in the background on her recruit screen. Going to finish playing through the update.
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Jun 6, 2020 21:22
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The Humans and the United Republic, OER 1900/CE 2380 The Human species is the native sapient species of the planet Earth, naturally taller and with sturdier bones than the Gnolam norm, and adapted to heavier gravity. They are highly social and gregarious, even compared to Gnolam norms. Like Gnolams, they are mammalian in basic biology, warm-blooded and hair-covered, although Humans are notably nearly hairless over much of their body. The Human people are currently united under the United Republic, a federated democratic republic split between the Val-like planet of Earth in the Sol system and the wet sub-Valian planet of Terra Nova in the Butain system. The United Republic, although both more centralised and more powerful than the loose confederation that is the Universal Mercantile League, nonetheless appears to be marked by a strong commitment to the individual freedoms of its citizens and can tentatively be projected to seek to maintain an honorable and consistent attitude in foreign affairs. The United Republic was founded following a period of social and economic collapse and precipitous population declines, and views its position of protecting the freedoms of its citizenry as an idealistic commitment that will help avoid the errors of the past, which has helped encourage a general attitude of patriotism amongst most of its citizenry more intense than normal for League citizens. The United Republic's economy is primarily private and capitalist in structure, although less so than that of the UML, and it is anticipated that they will be strongly welcoming of outside trade relations. Although their population is roughly comparable to the League's, it is estimated that their economy is significantly smaller, with an estimated GDP less than two-thirds that of the League GDP. It seems highly likely that the United Republic can be a valuable and stable friend to the League and that any friendship can offer great commercial benefits. Humanity's abilities are Charismatic, Traders, Diplomats, and a -20% security penalty. As Charismatic creatures, Humans have an easier time of others accepting their proposals, and enjoy greater relations benefits from positive diplomatic actions and smaller penalties from negative diplomatic actions, easily making friends or mitigating circumstances that could make enemies. As Traders, they gain +25% income from trade treaties (matching our trade treaty bonus) and +25% income from trade goods (less than our +100%). They do not gain the base income bonus per population we do. As Diplomats, they get a +5% bonus to morale on all colonies, and gain the Government technology immediately upon researching Space Travel. Finally, their security penalty makes them more vulnerable to enemy espionage.
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Jun 6, 2020 22:13
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So, any reactions to the aliens that proved to be our first contact?
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Jun 6, 2020 22:22
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It's a little weird to find Mostly Beardless Gnolam as the first aliens we'd meet. It's like something out of a holovid. They've got a relatively similar social structure, and while we have the edge on them in trading capability, a lot of our social assumptions match up neatly. Hard to extrapolate much from two data points but a whole lot of those points are flat. Obviously, "Charismatic" is the baseline, right? Humans are normal diplomats.
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Jun 6, 2020 22:28
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ManxomeBromide posted:It's a little weird to find Mostly Beardless Gnolam as the first aliens we'd meet. It's like something out of a holovid. They've got a relatively similar social structure, and while we have the edge on them in trading capability, a lot of our social assumptions match up neatly. Gnolams aren't Charismatic, but from their perspective, Humans look 'just as likeable' as other Gnolams. They'll begin to be disabused of this as they start meeting other species who are... less likeable, no doubt.
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Jun 6, 2020 22:31
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Larsin Korb posted:Reverse Engineering of Xenotech Space Travel Technology: Some Early Conclusions ManxomeBromide fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Jun 7, 2020 |
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Jun 6, 2020 22:59
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ManxomeBromide's post linked as an official supplemental update. There's something important in there.
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Jun 6, 2020 23:07
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Extragnolar Survey Report, 1900 Over the past 25 years, four more systems have been fully surveyed and the final extent of the hyperspace conduit network in our galactic quadrant has been charted. Of these four systems, only two are even theoretically available for Gnolam colonisation, as the last two have been claimed and colonised by the United Republic, the central Human government. A last system, Talas, has only been delayed in being surveyed due to the loss of the Endeavor to Human pirates operating out of that system.  Furthest rimward, the Sarti system is an orange dwarf supporting two dry garden worlds with reasonably fertile biospheres and small seas. Sarti Prime, although very small and reasonably poor in most heavy metals, has some extensive gold and silver deposits that could be easily exploited and a comfortable level of gravity. Sarti II is closer to Val in size and abundance of industrial metals, but is unfortunely high-gravity. Sarti Prime is tiny, arid, poor, and low-G, with the gold (+2 BC) planetary special and a maximum population of 6. Sarti II is medium, arid, abundant, and normal-G, with a maximum population of 11.  Further corward, the blue star Saliba supports two potentially colonisable planets with extraordinary metals abundance and punishing gravity. Saliba Prime is a dry garden world with industrially-valuable dark quartz deposits on top of its other highly-abundant resources, but has a particularly brutal gravitational pull. Saliba II is a significantly smaller airless world, heavily bombarded with radiation by Saliba. Not all of the very extensive cratering on Saliba II is believed to be natural, and some traces of ancient city ruins can still be detected on the surface. Saliba Prime is medium, arid, ultra-rich, and high-G, with the dark quartz (+2 production) planetary special and a maximum population of 11. Saliba II is small, radiated, ultra-rich, and normal-G, with the artifacts (+2 research) special and a maximum population of 4.  The yellow dwarf Sol is the home system of the Human species. The Human homeworld, Earth, is very similar to Val in size, environmental conditions, and resource abundance, but suffers from more intense gravity. The gas giant Jupiter has not yet been industrially exploited by Humanity, to our knowledge, although that may change soon. Fortifications at the edge of the system secure the hyperspace conduits leading to Sol. Shhhh! It's a yellow star, not a white star! And Jupiter is outside Earth's orbit! I don't know what you're talking about! Earth is a medium, terran, abundant, and normal-G planet with a maximum population of 13.  The yellow dwarf Butain hosts Humanity's first colony world, Terra Nova, a garden world with intense precipitation and violent worldwide weather patterns forming a generally unpleasant living environment, although one that supports a very lush biosphere. Human industries on the surface are already processing the dark quartz found there into electronics, making use of its superb semiconductive properties. An unstable and untraversable hyperspace conduit leads out of the network of hyperspace conduits that forms the local 'quadrant'. Terra Nova is large, swamp, poor, and normal-G, with dark quartz (+2 production) as a planetary special and a maximum population that isn't displayed to us.
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Jun 7, 2020 00:25
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As I recall, the way the galaxy is set up is that it's broadly broken up into four chunks. Going from one chunk to the next requires you to be able to handle those nastier hyperspace conduits, and each chunk gets two empires in it. We got the Humans as neighbors in our little playpen, so we can start trading with them and making each other filthy loving rich (us more than them) in a jiffy.  If we wanted to get paranoid, I could say that securing Guad and Shimari will ensure they can't encroach on our borders without us knowing about it, and if I wanted to get belligerent I'd say taking Saliba and Guad would help box them in. But there's no need for that kind of talk yet, so let's not worry about that. I am torn between which Terra Nova to make an obscure reference to so choose your own.
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Jun 7, 2020 02:03
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Guad and Shimari are now going to be diplomatic issues. (The AI does not like when you settle a system that neighbors one of their own.) Fortunately, the planets in Guad suck, so it's unlikely to try expanding this direction. But they may go for Shimari. But even if we remain non-confrontational and only settle for settling Varinia and Biots, securing Baalbo, Taurio, Laan, Parmag, and Xanthus for the Gnolam (after getting rid of the space monsters, though, something we don't have the tech level to attempt for the moment), we would get boxed in. We will need to be uncourteous with at least one system. Now if we go for Shimari, we may end up getting boxed in again as they are highly likely to settle on Saliba (high G penalizes them as much as normal G penalizes the Gnolam, so the "ultra-rich" bonus more than offset the gravity discomfort penalty -- it'll still be a more productive planet than a merely rich one), turning Gularn into a new point of contention. Could we settle both Shimari and Gularn before they settle Saliba? Doubtful. I forgot if the AI can tell if you settle systems they haven't explored yet; but we have no way to know whether they've explored Shimari yet.
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Jun 7, 2020 07:44
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We can probably hold them off from settling these systems immediately by setting a picket to blockade the systems. And we definitely need the access to beyond our quadrant from Guad.
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Jun 7, 2020 14:02
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I will say that this LP has hot me installing and playing this game again, and I made the mistake of picking the Meklar. Not because they're not fun to play, or their aesthetic is bad,but because of their drat research assistant. A Winner Is You jokes in 2016 jesus. Game's good though, and I'll probably be stealing ship designs from this thread since I don't have a clue how military stuff works in this game.
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Jun 7, 2020 14:44
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At least you didn't pick the Alkari and get their assistant. Oh gods.
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Jun 7, 2020 15:13
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The Sakkra and Klackon advisors are also terrible, IIRC (it's been a while). Those that aren't trying to amp up the cringy comic relief are fine, though.
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Jun 7, 2020 16:39
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