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Omnicrom posted:The player characters in the game Warframe, which are basically people in biotech power armor. Not 100% the same, but still. Warframe storyline spoilers: Warframes are mostly mindless lumps of human/alien hybrid flesh encased in power armor. They are remotely controlled by the Operators, who are powerful psychics/space wizards. Some warframes retain parts of their old human personality, but that's extremely rare.
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Aug 26, 2019 12:53
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my dad posted:Warframe storyline spoilers: Warframes are mostly mindless lumps of human/alien hybrid flesh encased in power armor. They are remotely controlled by the Operators, who are powerful psychics/space wizards. Some warframes retain parts of their old human personality, but that's extremely rare. Alas, goons voted for the affinity where "cybernetically enhanced human/alien hybrids" is the order of the day for humanity. Hellions, the S/H t4 infantry, I've decided to flavor as non-sentient but disturbingly intelligent combat drones.
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Aug 26, 2019 18:05
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SSNeoman posted:You later find out that they were actually people who were infected with a special strain of Technocyte Infestation (basically the Dead Space biomass crap) that turned them into said techno-organic power suits. The people responsible for it, the Orokin, did this because they were facing a threat that could assimilate their technology. And because the Orokin were massive loving dicks Also, That threat that could assimilate their technology? Actually sentient terraforming robots they'd sent out to prepare the next system over for colonization, but the robots, having had several centuries to think it over, concluded that the Orokin were massive loving dicks and them actually showing up in the Tau system would be the worst possible outcome, so they went back to the Sol system in order to wipe them out first.. Oh, and The Technocyte infestation was also originally an Orokin-developed bioweapon that backfired and tried to consume the entire solar system. Most people would start noticing a trend, but the Orokin were too busy being massive loving dicks to everyone and everything else to do much introspection.
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Aug 26, 2019 21:35
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Okay, fine, I've talked about it enough. Synthesis State of Al Falah, turn 147  Ard  Farah  Aswat Adida  Midfa'a  Kishk had questions.  But those worries were dispelled by the completion of the ARADS, or 'Master Control' as people liked to call it. In less than a week, almost all of Al Falah's resource development, mining, and agriculture had been turned over to the supercomputer, and the results spoke for themselves. A massive fifty percent increase in efficiency for pioneer units, increasing the monthly growth of Al Falah by a significant factor. At the onlining ceremony, a reporter asked Kishk if she had any doubts about trusting Al Falah's survival to a machine. The Secretary-General replied that without machines, humanity would have never made it to Al-Jalidia in the first place. Master Control posted:Resource allocation decisions have long been a thorny issue for humanity, but were perhaps felt most acutely in the early stages of planetary development. With pack-in resources dwindling, and the rate of resource extraction still uncomfortably slow, the early colonists adopted a highly successful and supremely centralized form of resource allocation: The Master Control.       Whatever outside observers thought of the wisdom of Master Control, none denied the technological feat that the supercomputer represented.  Aswat Adida was chosen as a testing ground for the Defense Force's claim that explorer units could tame aliens in the field. The test was a complete success, though observations suggested that the technique was less applicable for the truly huge aliens like siege worms and kraken. So here's leashing. The explorer loses about 40% of their HP and you get the alien unit. By this point in the game, leashing is only useful as a way to get rid of aliens without attacking them, but it can be powerful if you get this early.  I've corralled the kraken! His name is Phil. I'm not actually attacking him and the aliens aren't hostile, so he'll just sit there pinned against the coast.  Survivors are found in the African Union settlement. Like the other colonies, the Union had experienced an enormous wave of mirror-touch synesthetes among the Jalidia-born. Unlike the other colonies, the Union believed that the synesthetes would be best off founding their own separate settlement. Suffice it to say that things did not go well, and the survivors were only too happy to leave for a colony that had chosen to embrace their gifts.   More than just a zoo, for many in Al Falah the preserves were a desperately needed bit of peace and quiet away from the bustle of the growing cities. As was typical of Al Falah, the Peoples' Assembly favored the Civil Administration over the Defense Force. The alternative gives some bonus healing every turn to military units. Eh.  The Defense Force found more opportunities in a very different direction instead. We've now maxed out all our traits! We can replace them later if we feel the need.   Despite the differences between the Alliance and Al Falah, relations warmed.  Another group of colonists petitioned the Civil Administration for permission to establish a new settlement, and were granted an ARK off the coast of the same island that housed Aswat Adida and Midfa'a, right in the center of Al Falah's territory but with access to plentiful resources. The settlers named their outpost Hajar, 'Stone,' in hopes of a lasting city. Hajar's founders were an eclectic bunch representing a cross-section of Al Falah's entire population. While the Arabic language was still the primary and official language of Al Falah, the original Earthly cultures of the colonists had begun to fade in favor of something new and home-grown. One growing movement among the native Jalidians was a strange form of the Japanese colonists' Shinto that saw the world and history as of less importance than a utopian future that all Al Falah belonged to. A large shrine archway, modified with the movement's own particular symbolism, was readily visible from Hajar's main passenger docking facility. See that alien nest? It's sitting on top of a huge firaxite deposit. I want that firaxite. I also want to be friends with the aliens. And I have a plan. Before anyone gets on my case about getting Shinto wrong if I did - I'm trying to come up with some future syncretic movements or divergences from Earth culture that might arise in Al Falah.  Ard's first terrascape is completed on schedule. While more popular with tourists from other colonies than with the Al Falah, the terraformed habitat was a useful resource and a model of an efficient closed system.  Capitalism may exist only in chains among the Al Falah, but ways are nevertheless found to exploit local resources further. This will be the last of our Industry virtues in all likelihood, grabbed for the synergy bonus of +10% production in all my cities because I'm a greedy bastard.  The so-called 'leashing' process worked on aquatic life, too.    Vision indeed. Every time explorers saw the Progenitors, they learned a little more. Except, curiously, about the Progenitors themselves. They were humanoid, of roughly human size and shape, but beyond that? Al Falah was beginning to genuinely understand their technology, but the beings themselves remained a thing of supposition and thin circumstantial evidence. All the same, Al Falah continued to hurl themselves into the unknown. Every time explorers came back with tales of their visions, the pace in Al Falah seemed to accelerate.  Prophet series fast attack vehicles enjoyed the same CAI networks as the other Al Falah military forces, and were down to a crew of only two: a driver/commander, and a gunner. Rumors abounded that even that much crew was simply a public relations concession and the tanks could operate just fine without human crew at all. The other bonus here can be interesting, a lot of Supremacy units get bonuses when attacking wounded units, but I prefer the flexibility of the adjacency bonus.  Whisper class submarines entirely dispensed with propellers as a means of underwater propulsion in favor of an internal flow induction thruster in addition to the usual automation, CAI, and other improvements that had become typical of the Al Falah fleet. Defense bonus on a submarine? Half the point of submarines is that they shouldn't be getting attacked.  Modifying organisms at the genetic level for survival in Al-Jalidia's harsh environment was one thing. Dissecting alien life, determining how it worked, and using genetic engineering to 'back-port' Jalidian biology and genetics onto Earth organisms was something else entirely. To the scientists and genegineers working on the project, though, their goals only made sense. If local life does something better than Earthly life, swap out the less efficient code and parts in favor of a superior model. Al Falah genetic engineering wasn't yet to the point of truly hybridizing Earth and Jalidian life, or creating organisms from scratch, but modifying organisms to the point that their base creature would be unrecognizable was now possible. And being done. Xeno swarms are a unique Harmony unit I didn't think to make one of to show off in this update and will try to remember for next time. We have a lot of work barges, so the extra food is welcome.  That really was how the people of Al Falah seemed to see what could have been an enormously thorny question. Organism, machine, is there really a difference? What counts is how well it works.  To that end, research began on fully integrated cybernetic and bionic implants. Artificial replacements for injury were well known to Al Falah, of course, and there had been minor cases of performance-increasing cybernetics. Making the experimental practical, and the expensive widespread, would be a significant effort. I'm researching mainly for fluff reasons, though it will be very useful later. Bionics unlocks another Supremacy-Purity unit that costs firaxite, a mostly pointless tile improvement, a useful Purity-exclusive health building that requires a bonus resource we don't have anywhere, and a building with a very powerful quest that I don't want to trigger just yet.  Is it really worth noting these anymore?  The identity of the last successful Seed lander was finally revealed when transmissions in Russian were detected. On Earth, the Slavic Federation had been humanity's leaders in deep space exploration and resource exploitation, and it was then-Colonel Vadim Kozlov in command of the Providence Discovery mission. Yet, the Slavic Federation hadn't committed half as many resources to the Seeding as the rest of the world had expected humanity's leaders in space to. The truth was, the Slavic Federation had begun to see space only as a source of resources to bring back to Earth, and that to abandon Earth was to admit defeat. Vadim Kozlov was one of the exceptions, a man who lived to explore the unknown. On the video screen, the man was brusque and matter-of-fact, dispensing with any but the most perfunctory pleasantries in favor of getting straight to work. Ship records indicated that Kozlov was not known for his diplomatic skills. He was chosen by the Slavic Federation for his ability to get the job done. Our last neighbor is one I'm kind of glad is on the other side of the planet from me. Kozlov is aggressive, he is expansionist, and he is territorial. The Slavic Federation itself is kind of interesting in that it tries to pay homage to the futurist side of the Soviet Union. They were huge pioneers in space flight, atomic energy, and all manner of other developments, and Kozlov lives to champion that forward-looking spirit of exploration and adventure.    The Federation's initial appraisal of Al Falah was mixed. Took this long to get an AI saying something snide about me.   One advantage to a heavily automated society, there's always something productive for automata to be doing when they're not needed elsewhere. Getting this only because it's a prereq to things I want. I don't need more energy.  Though the Treaty of Jeongsang held, there was no denying a chill in the air between Al Falah and Chungsu. Deciphering Chungsu's intentions were difficult, but there was a pattern in their diplomatic speech: Al Falah was in disharmony. Al Falah was missing the forest for the trees. Al Falah was too focused on looking forward rather than inward.  Large-scale cybernetic enhancement remained rare among the humans of Al Falah for the time being, but pilot programs with animals worked well. A small chip at the base of the brain made almost any livestock docile and predictable, among other feats. The program worked so well, in fact, that Al Falah's law enforcement preemptively declared forced implantation of any kind against a human being to be a capital crime.  Indeed. Why should they remain beholden to Earth ideas of what a human being is, many Al Falah wondered. A planet that few in Al Falah had ever seen, almost two hundred years in the distant past. Al Falah had been charged to never forget Earth, and they hadn't. But neither were they beholden to what Earth had been.  The Hellion project was unorthodox, even by Al Falah standards, but ultimately proved a remarkable success. Beginning with a stated goal of eliminating humans from direct combat situations in an infantry role, the Defense Force reached an exotic solution: what amounted to an organic drone unit, which was then enhanced with an extensive kit of bionics. Though hellions resembled humans when wearing their powered armor combat suits, the DNA of the organism inside had been modified extensively, and that was before the nervous system was mostly replaced by a bionic implant. Grown purely for combat, the combination of a specifically engineered and programmed brain with an integrated combat intelligence made hellions, though distinctly non-sentient, remarkably intelligent and flexible in the field. Dispensable drones though they were, hellions possessed all the initiative and flexibility of an organic creature while enjoying all the benefits of a networked combat-assist intelligence. To Al Falah, hellions were an elegant solution to an age-old problem of humans risking their lives in combat, synthesizing all the best attributes of living soldiers and automated combat drones. To the rest of the world, hellions were disturbing in the extreme. The first foreign film featuring an army of hellions rebelling against their Al Falah masters and going on a bloody spree across Al-Jalidia hit theaters less than a year later. Our first tier 4 unit! Neither of these upgrades are amazing, but them's the breaks.  The secret to the Vortex class was the organic source of the ship's intelligence: an alien sea dragon's, grown in a lab and modified extensively from the original sea dragon's neural matter. The mind of a Vortex was aggressive, but patient, and always looking for weakness. As the center of a sophisticated CAI system, a Vortex class frigate was not quite a machine and not quite an organism, but it was certainly alive. Vortices even healed like living creatures, thanks to an experimental semi-organic hull structure that could rapidly mend its own structure like a Jalidian life-form when exposed to the ship's internal reserve of artificial miasma. The crew of a Vortex was almost an afterthought, there mainly to give the ship direction and ensure the craft did as ordered. Sure, I'll take some extra longevity.  The next goal of Al Falah's scientists was nothing less than finally understanding how the human brain - far more complex than that of lesser organisms - worked. This is the tech we need for our Supremacy quest and comes with a useful Supremacy-exclusive science building, a culture building for everyone, a mediocre wonder, and a science-boosting tile improvement. Good stuff.  Any system, once sufficiently understood, could be optimized. A flat 50% increase to the output of terrascapes is handy if you're making them.  INTEGR remained characteristically polite but wary of Al Falah's progress.  A PAC fleet murdered Phil.   Just showing that I am setting up international trade routes in my cities as they continue to hit 10 population, which is when they can support a second route.  Hajar soon grew into a city in its own right, and like Midfa'a enjoyed immediate investment from the central government. Wheeeee.  "Al Falah scientists discover Secrets of the Human Brain! The discovery inspires a burst of research!" - The Morning Star, Ard's most popular newsnet Neurolabs are exclusive to Supremacy and boost science - we need one for a quest, but there are reasons why I'm going to hold off on building one. Holosuites are a culture building anyone can use. Guo Pu Yaolan is a culture wonder that requires a sea city, we might go for it at some point. Academies can be built by workers and give science.  Other colonies might have found Al Falah's breakneck speed of advancement and rapidly changing society disturbing. Certainly Chungsu did. But for the Al Falah, abstaining from anything that could improve oneself was simple cowardice. If cautious heads had prevailed on Earth, Al-Jalidia would still be an uninhabited ball of ice.  And Al Falah's eyes were fixated on what was less a dream than a sense of inevitability. I really should be going for Organics to do the Harmony quest or Gene Editing to segue into Transgenics or Alien Ethics, or Vertical Farming for the raw bonuses, but there's a couple techs I want now for fluff and story reasons. This is the big one. It's not particularly useful mechanically except as a prerequisite for other things, but I've been skirting around the development of fully fledged AI for a few updates now. With Al Falah now understanding how the human brain works, it's finally time.  Oh, and we have better artillery. The name amuses me. State of Al Falah, Turn 170 I'm pretty happy with how things are going. Since I'm playing on Sputnik I am of course running away with the game by a mile, but that's how I like it. I really like Beyond Earth as a quiet, easy game to relax and unwind with, not something to challenge myself with. It's not a style of gameplay everyone enjoys, but I play 4X games to build a pretty empire and CBE does that for me incredibly well.  Seriously, I think half of Ard's population is from refugee events. The ice and snow is slowly blossoming, and the city is starting work on Star Trek's favorite den of debauchery: the holodeck.  Farah  Aswat Adida  Midfa'a  Hajar. Getting access to that firaxite is going to take some doing, but there is a way to burn down that alien nest without pissing off the aliens - this won't stay a pacifist LP forever, though I will stay friendly with the aliens. Requires tech I don't have yet, though.
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Aug 26, 2019 22:40
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The other factions think we are foolish for investing so much of our trust in Master Control. They think we make humanity slaves to a machine. But even if that fear is valid -- if the gap between humanity and machine is too great for comfort -- the solution is not to bring down the machine, but to bring up humanity. Imagine if the human mind were enhanced to the level of our greatest computers. Imagine asking ARADS how it performs its miraculous calculations -- and having the capacity to understand its answer. Computers are not our masters, they are pioneers of the bright, endless mindspace we ourselves will one day inhabit. Let other factions remain unchanged, if they choose; subject to the same primitive fears bred into us a million years ago, leaping at the same shadows, simply because those fears are familiar and comforting to them. Our destiny lies higher. Also at some point we gotta stop calling these critters "aliens"; the new generation of Al Falah children probably finds siege worms less unfamiliar than, say, giraffes.
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Aug 26, 2019 23:56
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Can we get some intel reports on what the other factions are up to?
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Aug 27, 2019 00:32
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Do biofrigates have citizenship and the right to vote?
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Aug 27, 2019 00:45
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The Lone Badger posted:Do biofrigates have citizenship and the right to vote? Animals have neither. That's about the level of absolute intelligence Al Falah AI is capable of right now, and Vortexes are controlled by a vat-grown animal brain hooked up to a computer network. Even Master Control, smart and powerful as it is, is nothing near sentience. It's very smart and capable for what it's programmed to do, and is even capable of independent initiative and lying to its operators, but it's not self-aware and is never going to be. Only now is Al Falah actively researching anything resembling sentient artificial intelligence, and even then it will take the Synthetic Thought tech to get actual human-level sentience in a machine. Al Falah's hybrid biological-mechanical artificial intelligence doesn't help with that. Moon Slayer posted:Can we get some intel reports on what the other factions are up to? Here's what we know - I haven't been exploring as thoroughly as I probably should have and I am on the easiest difficulty, so I generally only know about two or three cities per faction. They probably have more I haven't spotted yet. Pan-Asian Cooperative   Our closest neighbor, and the AI hasn't handled their polar start anything like as well as we have. Daoming is completely neutral with everyone on the planet except us, who she's friends with. She's sitting evenly between Purity and Supremacy right now. Slavic Federation   We only just bumped into them this update, and they also got stuck with a chilly landing site. They're at war with INTEGR and hostile to but not yet shooting at Chungsu and the Protectorate. Kozlov seems to be going Harmony, possibly minoring in Purity. INTEGR   We've known about INTEGR for a surprisingly long time considering they're on the other side of the planet from us. They're at war with the Slavic Federation and have made peace with the African Union since the last time we looked. Lena is going Supremacy with a side of Purity. African Union   Also very far away from us, and also going for a mix of Supremacy and Purity. They've made peace with INTEGR but are hostile to the Protectorate. Kavithan Protectorate   Also distant from us, also Supremacy and Purity. Friendly to us, hostile to the African Union and Slavic Federation. North Sea Alliance   Yet another Supremacy and Purity colony (the RNG this game has been so weird...), but one we're actually close neighbors to! Friendly to us, neutral to everyone else. Chungsu   He says he likes us, but I doubt he means it. He's going Harmony and is friendly to us (for the moment) and hostile to the Slavic Federation. If anyone's going to pick a fight with us when we start going for a victory, he'd be my guess right now.
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Aug 27, 2019 01:32
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quote:
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Aug 27, 2019 03:30
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Wow you're really close to PAC and they didn't get pissed about that?
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Aug 27, 2019 04:42
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Unrelated to the LP, but this LP inspired me to play again and uh. I think that may be the worst place I have ever seen an AI land! PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Aug 27, 2019 |
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Aug 27, 2019 05:36
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SSNeoman posted:Wow you're really close to PAC and they didn't get pissed about that? I made sure to settle Farah and Aswat Adida before making contact with PAC and making them aware of me, so they didn't get annoyed at me for settling too close to them. Also, I went ahead and recorded the next update. Turns out there's a pretty good reason INTEGR's been a nonentity despite making contact with us early and being the same affinity. They've been getting their poo poo wrecked by the Slavic Federation. PoptartsNinja posted:Unrelated to the LP, but this LP inspired me to play again and uh. Oh, wow. I've seen people post screenshots of the AI doing that, but I've never actually seen it happen myself.
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Aug 27, 2019 12:13
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Cythereal posted:Oh, wow. I've seen people post screenshots of the AI doing that, but I've never actually seen it happen myself. They didn't do well. 
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Aug 27, 2019 17:45
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PoptartsNinja posted:They didn't do well. Park military units all around their borders, just taunt them forever.
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Aug 27, 2019 18:44
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I have been playing this, Looting aliens can be very... very profitable.
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Aug 27, 2019 22:54
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Stuff from this update. I've taken a few liberties with the civlopedia fluff to better fit the story.Alien Adaptation posted:Research in homeostasis – the manner in which biological systems regulate external variables to maintain optimum internal conditions – on this planet has focused primarily on the manner in which native flora regulate temperature and acidity-alkalinity balance in harsh conditions. Hopes are to genetically engineer Earth crops to adapt the homeostasis mechanics of native plants in order to reduce dependency on artificial means to increase yield. Meanwhile, scientists in some colonies have taken up the Gaia hypothesis offered by the Old Earth environmentalist James Lovelock, who posited that any planet with life operates as a vast homeostatic superorganism; understanding the systems in operation here could lead to methods for human beings to lessen their dependence on artificial means through direct adaptation to the planetary ecology. Xeno Swarm posted:The early colonial experience with Wolf Beetles left a marked impression on military scientists. This was the first time humanity had experienced a hive species whose soldier caste were a match for human soldiers. Research into the hives also revealed that these soldiers were relatively inexpensive for the hive to produce (in terms of absolute resources and opportunity costs). The prospect of a military unit made up of inexpensive, human-controlled swarms of biocrafted warrior creatures was too appealing to pass up. Bionics posted:Bionical creativity engineering (“bionics”) is the application of biological systems to the design of technology engineering, popularized on Old Earth during the 1970s. As noted by proponents of bionics, evolutionary pressure forces species in nature to become highly efficient to survive; they attempt to bring this same process to materials and mechanical design. In the realm of materials science, bionics includes the mimicry of natural substances and includes the likes of “Velcro” on Old Earth and resilin, cholesteric liquid crystal, neuromorphic chips, and silicon retinae on this planet. Recently, the most significant colonial research in bionics has been devoted to computer science, leading to the production of artificial neurons, artificial neural systems and a swarm mentality in network design. Bionics labs across the planet have increased, as scientists and engineers seek ever more applications. Bionics Lab posted:As the variety and unique qualities of life on this planet became ever more evident, colonists clamored for facilities dedicated to understanding the processes and discovering the uses of these qualities for the betterment of their lot. Even though bionics laboratories were a significant expense, a handful of settlements invested in establishing such labs. The result of that investment can be seen in adaptive resilin, cholesteric liquid crystal, neuromorphic chips, silicon retinae and a dozen other new technologies with endless applications. With the obvious advantages that these advances gave the investing colonies, other settlements followed suit in building bionic labs. Bionics labs not only contributed to the security and success of colonies, but gave rise to new academic disciplines: biomechatronics, biophysics, biogeology, biomimetric synthesis to name a handful. Recently, the most visible research in bionics labs has been devoted to computer science, leading to the production of artificial neurons, artificial neural systems and a swarm mentality in network design. A divergent development in bionics is the design of the so-called “internalnet,” a brain-computer interface that can link nanochondria, bionic implants and the mind, a step towards the creation of a true cybernetic organism, touted by some as the next stage in human evolution. While some view a bionics lab as the modern equivalent of Dr. Frankenstein’s workshop, others see it as Mankind’s best hope. Institute posted:Advances in neurolinguistics and computer sciences afforded researchers the chance to work together in ways never possible before, primarily due to releasing the restrictions that language imposed between the disciplines. Human-human and human-computer communications were simplified, and the resultant comprehension allowed research in all realms to increase in pace and efficiency. Across the planet, a number of institutes were established where scientists could gather to pursue research free of oversight and free of approbation, regardless of subject. Usually administered by inter-colony committees of leading scholars, these institutes were devoted to the propagation of scientific knowledge; many were involved in educational projects, publishing and the awarding of academic grants. As technology progressed, holo-lectures and neural implants have been offered by the institutes with the goal of increasing the sum of scientific knowledge. While some practical applications have been developed at the institutes, the most significant discoveries have been theoretical, as the interdisciplinary collaborations have engendered new ways of melding mathematics, the hard sciences, and the social sciences. Entire new branches of scientific inquiry have been launched at the institutes. Most recently, the scientists and analysis at several of the institutes have turned their attention to deciphering the “Signal,” with as yet unforeseen results. Autosled posted:As a Supremacy-Purity hybrid unit, the Autosled is a unit that uses robotics to assist and protect human soldiers. The unit is actually composed of 3 members: the gunner, the pilot, and the Autosled itself. This unit is representative of the cooperation between humans and robots that the Supremacy-Purity hybrid emphasizes. Cognition posted:The study of cognition, the mental processing of information and application of knowledge (whether natural or artificial), on this new world has followed two paths: neuroscience and cybernetics. Initially, most cognitive research focused on humans as “intelligent agents,” seeking ways to improve acquisition, retention and utility of knowledge. Many techniques and technologies resulted from the diverse approaches taken by colonial scientists. Of particular interest initially was the operation of “social cognition,” particularly the manner in which emotion and creativity functioned in shared thought processes. One of the first practical and popular developments in social cognition was the invention of the holosuite, useful for immersive, experiential learning … but also wildly successful as an entertainment venue. Guo Pu Yaolan posted:Sleek tunnels, the color of sunlight through a glacier, stretch along the shallow sea-bed and spill into spherical chambers. The gentle fragrance of incense drifts through these halls beneath the sea. A soft, rhythmic chant whispers through the walls. Here, everything is tranquil. This is the Guo Pu Yaolan, a temple complex offering all a serene environment for contemplation and worship. Neurolab posted:The neuro-laboratories offer networked brain-interfaces to scientists in all disciplines, freeing them from most of the more tedious and time-consuming chores of academic research. The networks – generally centered on a quantum supercomputer, outfitted with the latest communications equipment, able to access the planet’s data networks – rely on direct brain-computer interfaces of various types to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative theorizing. The internal artificial deep feedforward neural networks of these facilities have subroutines capable of pattern recognition, computational learning, and non-parametric statistics; thus the neurolabs can filter previous research, determine time series predictions, autonomously analyze potential practical applications, and even suggest new paths and applications for research projects. In some neurolabs, the brain-computer interface is established by non-invasive means, usually magnetoencephalography or functional magnetic resonance. However, these do not operate as efficiently as invasive interfaces such as cortical or neurochip implants; these devices can often be implanted on the neurolab’s premises by robotic surgeons. Most of the neurolabs have been created by institutions of higher education or research foundations, although some are the result of corporate or colonial investment. Each new lab represents a geometric increase in research on this planet, and many of the latest scientific advances can be attributed to work begun and/or completed in neurolabs. Holosuite posted:In the last decades before the Seeding, holography was being heavily promoted by several Old Earth entertainment corporations, notably in the American Reclamation Corporation and Franco-Iberia, as the “wave of the cultural future.” Advances in “rainbow transmission” holography, specular holography and volumetric display had made the once-crude images of complex objects more realistic, and lowered the costs significantly. All production at that time could be classified as amplitude or phase modulation holograms, thin versus thick holograms, and transmission versus reflection holograms. The reconstitution and viewing of three-dimensional holograms requires elaborate equipment. To replicate the image with fidelity the reconstructing references beams must be identical to the original beams; dedicated rooms, popularly referred to as “holosuites,” were able to offer all-around spatial resolution, and proved superior to all other forms of projection. While holography has significance in fine art, data storage, education and scientific research, most holosuites are dedicated to entertainment and popular culture. Such “frivolity” was a luxury for colonial settlements during their first generations; in time, however, several private firms were able to produce new holographic texts and construct holosuite arcades. This was aided by the inadvertent discovery that firaxite has the ability to produce superior detail when used as a holographic projector lens … albeit, of lesser significance than its other properties. Soon, public for-profit holosuites were offering everything from virtual tours of Old Earth museums to interactive holo-novellas.
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Aug 28, 2019 17:15
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You're doing a great job mixing narrative and mechanics in this LP.
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Aug 28, 2019 23:28
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Posting earlier than planned because there's a hurricane inbound possibly this weekend and I don't know when I'll next be able to work on a post. Feedback Loop State of Al Falah, Turn 170 Ard Farah Aswat Adida Midfa'a Hajar.  This is the last one I'll show in this game.   Another day, another defeat for the militarists in the Peoples' Assembly. Observatory quest. +5 city strength or +2 orbital coverage. Eh.  Part philosophy, part lifestyle, even part religion for some, the Eudaimonia movement was a steadily growing part of life in Al Falah. For many Al Falah, the further society's improvement in the material world advanced, the less important it became for the self. Even as bionic and genetic augmentations began to enter life in Al Falah, spiritual concerns of virtue began to return to prominence in public discourse.  Hajar's display of relics from Old Earth took the form of a 2d video theater, showcasing a set of truly ancient film reels from Earth brought to Al-Jalidia on the Hakudo Maru. That even in 1954, far-sighted visionaries were warning Earth of radiation and chemically induced mutation of marine ecosystems was a surprise to many Al Falah. Equally surprising was the film's willingness to end on a dark note: a drastic over-correction on the government's part seemed to solve the problem, but as the sequels showed, only lead to worse and worse. Truly, even now, Gojira was a classic work of eerily prescient fiction-at-the-time.  The latest generation Muses, military CAIs, and other smart software were still not truly sentient. They were intelligent, yes, at least as intelligent as a human child, with a far greater base of knowledge. Genuine human-level sapience and self-awareness, however, remained frustratingly elusive. For now. CEL Cradles are a Supremacy exclusive culture building with a neat idea that are irrelevant mechanically: they're localized artificial telepathy, linking peoples' thoughts and emotions together via their implants, specifically used by artists and other creative sorts - the Neurolabs from the last update are the same idea applied to scientific pursuits that also toss a computer database into the network. Surveillance Webs cap intrigue in a city at 3 - enough to prevent the Really Bad Stuff. Artificial Intelligence also grants +1 science to academies, which we don't have any of yet.  That goal more or less accomplished, Al Falah's attentions turned towards improving their metallurgy and industrial processes. I'm mainly researching this to get carriers before I get the affinity upgrade for them. There's also a production structure here, a defensive structure for sea cities, and a tile improvement I don't have much use for.  Fortunately, both the Slavic Federation and INTEGR ignored the Al Falah explorer in their midst. Turns out the reason why INTEGR's been a nonentity this LP is that the Slavic Federation has been beating the poo poo out of them. They're currently burning Eintracht to the ground, and my explorers later find at least two more former cities that were razed. Kozlov's a dick.  The game's not telling us who, but someone built the Ectogenesis Pod wonder! That's a shame, it's a wonder I like to get, but our path through the tech web has meant we still don't have access to it. Ectogenesis Pod posted:For centuries, the defining limit on population growth was that organic hosts were needed to incubate developing offspring. The Ectogenesis Pod removed that limit, allowing the creation of organisms without requiring developmental hosts.  Meanwhile, another ARK took shape in the polar waters further west. Miah Mortafi'a - 'High Waters' - was founded exclusively by native Jalidians. No great point, but another city is another city.  Contrary to the popular image of Al Falah in the other colonies, Al Falah were not in fact suicidally reckless neophiles chasing transhuman dreams. Nothing suicidal about it. Finished what I wanted in the Prosperity tree, so we finally start down the Knowledge tree.  Especially not when materials sciences catch up to all the fancy things Al Falah is doing with those materials. Carriers are boats that carry airplanes, surprisingly enough. Alloy foundries require a source of titanium in the city (or for a city to be trading with a city that has access to titanium) and improve production. Torpedo batteries increase the HP and city strength of aquatic cities. Domes are a tile improvement for culture and, in Rising Tide, bonus HP for the city. I might build a Dome just for show.  Wheeee.  Next on the agenda: finally solving the Subset Curse that had bedeviled Al Falah since planetfall. Substantial research into biochemistry on an industrial scale would be required, and was so ordered by the Office of Research and Development. Yeah, knocking out this quest at long last via a Harmony specific production structure here. They also grant a powerful Purity/Harmony unit that we probably won't use and some other random crap.   The notion of copyright survived in Al Falah. +2 culture per holosuite, or one free virtue immediately. Pretty simple short term vs long term choice.  The AFNDFS Muharar brought a tear to the eye of Al Falah's Sleepers. On Earth, aircraft carrier task forces had been the very definition of a major world power. Whether that was true or not on Al-Jalidia wasn't clear, but the Muharar was a potent symbol all the same. I don't actually expect to do anything with this carrier, but hey. Aircraft carrier.  Life consists of certain base elements. Organic chemistry no longer held much mystery for Al Falah's human scientists and their AI assistants. Biofactories require petroleum (or again, trading with a city with access to same) and are production structures - a Harmony specific and environmentally friendly use for oil! Mass digesters are mostly pointless and exist to make tundra tiles slightly less crappy - could have gone for this much earlier, really. Immortals are genetically engineered superhuman soldiers bred and trained exclusively for combat and are ten feet tall and etc etc anyone who says something about an Emperor will get launched into the sun. Oh, and this tech gives +1 energy to generators. Which I have built zero of this entire game.  Perhaps a reappraisal of Al Falah's relationship with Al-Jalidia and the native life was overdue in that respect. Native now, not alien. A Harmony culture building that will give us food once the quest fires, a building that helps the Harmony victory, and a wonder I have plans for.  Most in the Office of Foreign Affairs only noticed Han-Jae Moon's new tie. Arshia Kishk's bonded AI - the first of the so-called 'djinn' to be used outside a laboratory setting - noted eighteen points of divergence from human biology in Moon's appearance. Whatever Moon and Chungsu were intent on, Al Falah was clearly not alone in seeing the human form as something that could be improved upon. Our first appearance shift in an AI leader! Moon's one of the more subtle leaders with his appearance changes, but one thing that never changes is his sharp sense of fashion.  With the completion of Ard's biofactory, the Subset Curse was finally over. Now mirror-touch synesthesia, once a source of pain and alienation, would be a part of normal human functioning. At least in Al Falah.  Should Al Falah hobble themselves out of pride? Out of attachment to a world long ago and far away? No, they decided. The human spirit never cared what vessel it inhabited.  Wrath class cruisers were the size of an Old Earth aircraft carrier, and had a crew of six. The first military djinn - intelligent but not yet self-aware AI - bonded with a host of organic/synthetic symbionts to perform maintenance, repairs, and other tasks. The humans were simply there to give the vessel direction and add that particular human intuition and flexibility to the ship's control as needed. Free healing, wheee.  Fury battalions were cybernetic clones of a similar vein to hellion units, but married to a more sophisticated AI that could use their longer-ranged weapons intelligently. Indeed, the self-propelled, self-guided warheads of the Furies' heavy weapons were arguably smarter than the humanoid 'soldier' firing them. Sure, I'll take the same movement bonus as I took on the hellions.  Memes and cultural fads spread fast on Old Earth. On Al-Jalidia, in the intensely networked and augmented society of Al Falah, they were as bolts from the heavens.   Our CEL Cradle quest, and I have no idea what's supposed to be happening in it. Less creepy than the other fluff that can pop up for this choice, though!   Many in the Office of Economic Development began to regret the deal with Gravitas, but what would be, would be. Turns out I didn't need to postpone neurolabs after all. No, the manufactory I already built near Ard doesn't count, we need two new ones.   Medical care was not an issue in Al Falah. Food would always be a concern. +1 food or +1 culture from biofactories. I'll take the food.   Titanium was already prized for industrial uses. The latest alloys from Al Falah foundries were another leap forward in tensile strength. +2 production from titanium mines or +4 titanium resources. The latter can be handy if you're running out of titanium for units, but I'm not.  Miah Mortafi'a followed what was now the standard model of rapid government investment in new settlements for the purposes of exploiting local resources and supporting development.  Some would say Al Falah was playing with forces the colony did not understand and could not control. The Al Falah begged to differ. The Xenodrome is a subtly powerful wonder: it provides a hit of positive influence with the aliens on the entire map every turn. Once you build it, the aliens will soon like you. Like you enough that you can start killing them and burning down their nests while still being friends with them, as long as you don't kill too many at a time. Hint hint, Hajar. Xeno sanctuaries are a Harmony-specific culture building whose quest turns them into a food building as well, and they additionally help with the Harmony victory. Mind stems are only useful for the Harmony victory, along with xeno sanctuaries contributing to Harmony catering to players who go wide rather than tall.  Flesh, steel, DNA, computer code... a system that could be understood could be controlled, and a system that could be controlled could be improved. Man and machine, neither quite as they were. Indeed, they were better. We're now completely immune to miasma among other things.   Contrary to popular belief in the other colonies, Savage class hovertanks did in fact have a human pilot. More than just a human pilot, each Savage was custom-built/grown for its chosen pilot, producing a war craft as much mount and pet as it was simple armored fighting vehicle. Most of Al Falah's neighbors would have struggled to figure out where the pilot ended and the war machine began, but Savage pilots liked to boast that there is no difference, it's all war machine.  At this point, serious editation of the human genome was commonplace in the government and military. All making the art available to the public required was some refinement. We could have researched this a long time ago, but it didn't fit the story. Grants that Ectogenesis Pod wonder among other things.  Not the most glorious work of the Office of Research and Development, but useful all the same. The Ectogenesis Pod grants 1 food for every 4 citizens in a city. The gene garden requires a bit of Purity and gives health and science. Cloning plants require xenomass in the city radius or trade network and produce food.  The work did spur further research into applied biology. We don't have any fungus anywhere in the colony so Biology in and of itself doesn't do much of note. I'm here for the leaf tech.   The djinn of Al Falah's internal surveillance networks were quickly streamlined for defensive purposes. The other option gives your spies bonuses.  The Ibtisam al-San'ani Academy broke ground to the north of Ard, named for the Iranian astronomer who lead Al Falah's search for habitable worlds during the Seeding on Old Earth, ultimately identifying Barnard's Star Beta - Al-Jalidia - as Al Falah's target. Doctor al-San'ani, sadly, suffered from a pervasive cancer of the blood that prevented her from joining the Golden Shah's crew.   Kind of ignoring this one narratively, as it's a Purity structure we picked up enough incidental points for. Gaian wells are energy buildings, and this is +2 energy or +1 production. You know how I play by this point.   The Office of Agriculture remained a strong, if seldom prominent, part of the Civil Administration. +1 health from cloning plants, or carrying over some food between growth. The   Mass digesters give +1 food or +1 production. I like both, so I picked what seemed more in character for us.  Despite matching no use of the English language in Al Falah's databases, Kishk's djinn assured her the Alliance's leader was complimenting Al Falah's culture.  The ORD's efforts were not particularly impressive, but were promising as a stepping stone to something further. Growlabs are a Harmony food structure that requires fungus that we have none of anywhere and have a very powerful quest. Biofuel plants are an energy structure that requires a city to have algae. We have algae everywhere, but at least the quest will let me pick up +1 production from them. Paeans we'll see in the next update, they're a satellite you can launch for +1 health to every city under them. Beds are a tile improvement in Rising Tide for certain sea resources and this improves them.  A complete overhaul of Al Falah's agricultural practices had begun. Farming, too, was a system that could be optimized, and there was ample room for improvement. This is a tech I normally get long before this point. Vertical farming grants +1 food and +1 energy to all farms, forever, both on land and at sea. Yes, this doubles the food output of your farms and makes them give you energy to boot. You will build a lot of farms. This is good stuff, and we're going to make farms better still before this LP is done. State of Al Falah, Turn 200 For Al Falah, it was a time of breakneck advancement. Other colonies changed, warred, and suffered, but Al Falah remained inviolate and strong. No one on Al-Jalidia yet wished to challenge what was likely the most powerful - if untested - military force on the planet, precisely as the Asabiyyah Party wished. Al Falah's attentions were focused inwards on their rapidly changing society.  There was no doubt anymore, Ard was the largest and busiest city on Al-Jalidia, a thriving metropolis that against all odds had prospered in the bitter arctic latitudes of an already punishing world. Some of the city's growth was even immigration from other colonies, seeking a better life - if an undoubtedly stranger one. One of the most prominent was a very charming young man from the North Sea Alliance, a teacher who loved working with kids, who suffered the perpetual scowl of Secretary-General Arshia Kishk for the unforgivable crime of dating her eldest daughter. The Office of Labor, meanwhile, proudly announced the planned opening date for the Xenodrome, the largest artificial preserve of native Jalidian life on the planet.  Farah continued to grow, and was becoming a growing center of trade and contact with the Pan-Asian Cooperative to the east. The colonies and their peoples may not have understood each other, but a comfortable history of trade and cooperation transcended such divisions as what humanity should become.  Aswat Adida had become thoroughly settled and civilized, notable mainly for the persistent English loan words in the local parlance and the American and Dutch influence on Al Falah cuisine. Even Secretary-General Kishk was recorded occasionally enjoying a stroopwaffel when stressed out at her desk.  Midfa'a continued to grow quickly, though still lagged behind the old three cities.  Development of Hajar continued apace, though rumor had it that the Defense Force was planning some sort of operation near the city in the future.  On Earth, the Tlaloc Initiative had been founded to combat climate change and restore Earth. When the Initiative abandoned their mandate and build a Seeding ship of their own, they brought their charter with them as a reminder of their ultimate purpose. After a lively public debate and vote, Miah Mortafi'a moved to enshrine the Tlaloc Initiative character - and copies of important historical documents from Al Falah, the Amaterasu Foundation, the United States of America, and the Netherlands - in the center of a grand public library.
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Aug 29, 2019 02:00
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happy to know that space-arabia still has godzilla movies in the distant future on another planet
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Aug 29, 2019 02:14
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HannibalBarca posted:happy to know that space-arabia still has godzilla movies in the distant future on another planet They use a live-action Godzilla now is all.
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Aug 29, 2019 03:43
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Yeah INTEGR is hosed. That's some bad luck. I'm surprised how cordial the AI have been with their space tweets
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Aug 29, 2019 04:53
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SSNeoman posted:Yeah INTEGR is hosed. That's some bad luck. Well, after the Great Twitter Mistake...
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Aug 29, 2019 04:55
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The Lone Badger posted:They use a live-action Godzilla now is all. Unfortunately, the guy they got to resleeve into Godzilla is a goddamn method actor.
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Aug 29, 2019 12:04
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We're not supposed to make references to Emperors, but what about Golden Thrones or Evangelions?
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Aug 29, 2019 12:14
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SSNeoman posted:I'm surprised how cordial the AI have been with their space tweets This really has been an unusually smooth and quiet game, even for these settings. I was fully expecting PAC to declare war on me at some point, or Chungsu. Instead the only person who's said an unkind word is Kozlov who looks down on me for not fighting anyone. It will be interesting to see who the game picks as our arch-enemy when the thread picks a victory path - which it will probably be time for in two or three more updates. I'm now in the phase of picking up various other stuff I want before I start going to win the game.
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Aug 29, 2019 12:15
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Cythereal posted:This really has been an unusually smooth and quiet game, even for these settings. I was fully expecting PAC to declare war on me at some point, or Chungsu. Instead the only person who's said an unkind word is Kozlov who looks down on me for not fighting anyone. You made me reinstall and play this, and I got through everything without a single war declared on me. Even when I started the ending sequence, I got some angry messages but no war. I declared one just because I'd gotten an artifact result that improved my air force plus another that improved unit vision and wanted to take advantage of huge range plus quality spotting. Took me about three turns to wipe out the Brazilians so I guess that's why they didn't want to start it themselves. But pointless game anecdote aside, at easier difficulties this can be an extremely non-aggressive AI.
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Aug 29, 2019 12:19
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Akratic Method posted:You made me reinstall and play this, and I got through everything without a single war declared on me. Even when I started the ending sequence, I got some angry messages but no war. I declared one just because I'd gotten an artifact result that improved my air force plus another that improved unit vision and wanted to take advantage of huge range plus quality spotting. Took me about three turns to wipe out the Brazilians so I guess that's why they didn't want to start it themselves. But pointless game anecdote aside, at easier difficulties this can be an extremely non-aggressive AI. That's fair, and I should note that this is exactly how I like Beyond Earth. Like I said in the OP, I like 4X games as quiet, relaxing games I can unwind with and build a pretty empire, and CBE does that for me wonderfully.
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Aug 29, 2019 12:21
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I had not-Russia and not-Korea declare on me when I started the victory push on the middle difficulty. They got bodied because the AI doesn't seem to build air units, but at least they tried.
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Aug 29, 2019 15:57
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The cities' areas of influence are finally merging, is there any advantage to this?
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Aug 29, 2019 16:29
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It's interesting to compare with Alpha Centauri, I think. The AI there was probably much worse than in this game, but the game was designed in such a way that the AI could cope with it decently well and provide you a strong challenge. (While still having enough advanced mechanics that a human player can break the game over their knee if they want to. I've gotten all the secret projects with Zakharov on max difficulty, almost every single secret project built in my capitol in my ICS Yang game - missed one by 2 turns due to sloppy play, drowned the world in psiworms I farmed in a large fungus patch in a Deirdre game, and had some hilarious "sim city until these techs are researched then kill everything" games with Domai) That said, I had extremely peaceful, relaxed game there, too. My ideal chill civ game is kinda weird, and would probably be "max difficulty, but the AI isn't allowed to build wonders or do certain victory conditions"
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Aug 29, 2019 17:14
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nielsm posted:The cities' areas of influence are finally merging, is there any advantage to this? Not directly. Every city can work tiles within a 3 tile radius of the city, but culture output (and moving sea cities) can push your borders beyond that 3-tile ring. There are some things you can do to give your units combat bonuses in friendly territory (it's the particular gimmick of Supremacy's first unique unit that I've skipped to date because it's pointless and costs firaxite), and your units heal faster in friendly territory, but you don't get any direct benefit outside city working range. In this game's case, there's a slight overlap between the working radius of Ard and Farah, so in theory that limits their maximum productivity, but cities have to be pretty drat big for that to have a chance of mattering at the third ring. Edit: Wow someone's salty judging by my latest red text.
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Aug 29, 2019 17:27
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nielsm posted:The cities' areas of influence are finally merging, is there any advantage to this? Pretty borders.
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Aug 29, 2019 17:35
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AJ_Impy posted:Pretty borders.
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Aug 29, 2019 17:51
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Cythereal posted:Edit: Wow someone's salty judging by my latest red text. Who did you anger THIS time??
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Aug 29, 2019 18:12
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Cythereal posted:
But do you play WoW?
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Aug 29, 2019 18:43
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Add me to the list of folks who started playing this again because of the LP. I forgot how temperamental this game was though, it took me most of yesterday to get it working.
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Aug 29, 2019 20:44
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Siegkrow posted:Who did you anger THIS time?? Someone in the FF14 thread, I'd wager, after there was some talk about how the game handles homosexuality in its characters and I was critical of the game in that regard - but that I was nevertheless impressed for how openly it treated the subject for a game from Japan. Grizzwold posted:Add me to the list of folks who started playing this again because of the LP. I forgot how temperamental this game was though, it took me most of yesterday to get it working. Odd, I've never had a problem running the game.
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Aug 29, 2019 22:35
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my dad posted:It's interesting to compare with Alpha Centauri, I think. The AI there was probably much worse than in this game, but the game was designed in such a way that the AI could cope with it decently well and provide you a strong challenge. (While still having enough advanced mechanics that a human player can break the game over their knee if they want to. I've gotten all the secret projects with Zakharov on max difficulty, almost every single secret project built in my capitol in my ICS Yang game - missed one by 2 turns due to sloppy play, drowned the world in psiworms I farmed in a large fungus patch in a Deirdre game, and had some hilarious "sim city until these techs are researched then kill everything" games with Domai) As for Beyond Earth, I think the main problem with the AI is not its stupidity, but passivity. I remember one game I played where absolutely no one attacked me until I started to go for the victory condition.
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Aug 29, 2019 22:40
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Civlopedia rundown for this update.Artificial Intelligence posted:When colonial scientists approached the possibility of creating artificial intelligence, they needed to define the goals and nature of such. Although there was debate as to particulars, all agreed that true artificial intelligence will include memory storage, adaptive deduction and default reasoning, a sub-symbolic form of commonsense knowledge, perception filters, learning, natural language processing, and creativity. Those fearful of artificial intelligence insist any design must also include some form of social intelligence and a hierarchical control system. In terms of hardware, it is theorized that only a three-dimensional torus network of quantum supercomputers capable of one zettaFLOPS (floating-point operations per second) computing would approach artificial intelligence as defined by researchers, a possibility rumored to have been attained by at least one colony already. Fabrication posted:Fabrication is, in its simplest form, merely construction or production of materials from the micro- to the macro-level. Once the basic colonial industrial base was in place, scientists and engineers began to devise new procedures in microfabrication, composite fabrication, semiconductor device fabrication and solids freeform fabrication adapted to the environment and resources of this planet. Additive manufacturing and 3D printing methods in use on Old Earth before the Seeding were advanced and perfected to the point where virtually anything could be fabricated if the appropriate raw materials were available. It was, unfortunately, the ownership of certain scarce raw materials for these procedures that led to many of the clashes between new-founded colonies on this world. Organics posted:With rapid advances in medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, organometallic chemistry, and polymer chemistry, theoretical research in organics in the 21st Century far outstripped practical applications. Like their predecessors, for the first decades after planetfall colonial scientists did not have the luxury to explore or exploit these advances. But eventually some were able to investigate the possibilities of the organics found on this planet, with research in molecular weight alcohols, amines, molecular crystals, organic polymers, paraffinic solvents and other chemicals with many industrial applications. So great was the demand that manufacturing plants with innovative systems for producing specialized chemicals and materials were built in a number of the settlements, contributing significantly to the prosperity and growth of humanity on this world. Alien Ethics posted:As humans spread across the surface of this planet and became concerned about avoiding the ecological disasters that plagued their home planet before and after the Great Mistake, they adopted variations of the humanist ethical approach of eco-holistic bio-centrism. In some of the colonial philosophies, the anthropomorphism that characterizes most ethical systems gave way to an environmental pragmatism, centered on living in accord with the planetary biosphere. The latter led to new socio-cultural movements, as well as cults divergent from mainstream dogmas. The ontological beliefs of the latter were often displayed in small shrines, both sanctioned and unsanctioned by colonial administrations. The debate on alien ethics has been heated at times, and has reached every level of society, even the scientific fraternity. Genetic Design posted:By the time of the Seeding, scientists on Old Earth had perfected molecular and cell cloning, but the cloning of genetically tailored, viable full organisms was still in its infancy. When Hans Spemann developed the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer in 1928 AD to create animals that were genetically identical, it began the chain of research that would result in the ability to clone genetically modified organisms en masse now common on this world. Meanwhile, techniques for genetic engineering using Xenomass were pioneered by colonial scientists that were far beyond what had been possible before. Together, these advances meant that unique species could be custom created by geneticists, and then produced in sufficient numbers to benefit the settlements. Biology posted:In taming any planet, especially one so alien to human life, research in the natural sciences is crucial for survival. Perhaps none moreso, biology is one of the oldest means of understanding our surroundings. Shortly after planetfall, colonial biologists were seeking to make sense of the flora and fauna of this world in every discipline from epigenetics to paleontology. Among their million tasks was the effort to adapt Earth lifeforms to this new ecology, or at the least develop means whereby the familiar domesticated plants and animals could contribute to human health and well-being here. Hence, many settlements now have greenhouses, vivariums, botanical gardens, and specialized labs integrated into the civic landscape. Observatory posted:Among some of the first scientific installations constructed by the colonists were observatories, used not only for celestial mapping of their new Heavens but also for studies in meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology as they struggled to understand this new planet. Originally using a variety of devices to monitor the electromagnetic spectrum, the telescopes in the ground-based observatories eventually provided a composite map of the near- and far-space fields, as well as a complete track of the debris fields left in orbit from the several interstellar ships that brought humans here. Radio telescopes produced images from the heart of the galaxy far superior to those of any observatory on Old Earth, thanks to the somewhat thinner atmosphere of this world. X-ray, gamma-ray and high-energy particle telescopes were later incorporated into some colonial observatories; newer observatories now also include gravitational-wave detectors to locate and measure distortions of spacetime, and neutrino detectors used to map supernovas and other unique celestial phenomena. All of these observations are of great interest as some colonial administrations contemplate a return to space and reestablishing contact with the homeworld. CEL Cradle posted:One step towards true surrogacy was the evolution of the CEL cradle, a prototype distributed brain-computer interface that allows multiple individuals to share sensory input and interpretation. In a CEL (“Collective Emotional Link”), a quantum computer links individuals in a form of Durkheimian shared consciousness, whereby each can experience the emotions of others while viewing or hearing the same piece of work (art, music, media, literature, etc.). Unlike memes bringing groupthink, the CEL experience brings an appreciation of the aesthetics and epiphanies others feel upon engaging a cultural artifact while the individual retains their own. In a number of colonial settlements, CEL cradles became popular – first among creative artists working on collaborative projects (CEL has been termed the ultimate collaboration by reviewers), later by the general public seeking to engage artworks on a level never before available to them. In terms of creativity, these institutions were termed “cradles” for their propagation of new art forms and aesthetics. The process of a CEL is straightforward: each individual is linked to a server via a brain-interface implant; all then experience a piece of work simultaneously through their own senses. The emotive responses are downloaded to the quantum computer, where sophisticated software converts and merges these to be returned to all the members of the group. While the first CEL cradles were capable of handling small groups only, research in the process continues to increase this number. Surveillance Web posted:The synergistic acquisition of data proposed by colonial cyberneticists led directly to the establishment of dynamic and “learning” surveillance systems for both external and internal monitoring. With a network of quantum computers evaluating the petabytes of information gathered from direct surveillance equipment (optical, audio and electromagnetic), interception of communications traffic, and from satellite, biometric and human assets, colonial settlements could react to counter everything from disease outbreaks to enemy attacks of every sort. The exact dimensions and parameters of monitoring by the surveillance webs vary dramatically from settlement to settlement. Some incorporate data mining and profiling; others include social network analysis monitoring corporations and private organizations. The most pervasive surveillance webs include mandatory radio frequency identification tagging of machines, robots, animals and humans to track movements and actions; global positioning systems extend such monitoring planetwide for those originating from the colony. Most surveillance webs were made emergent, capable of learning from feedback, thus becoming ever more sophisticated in analysis of input and independent in response. Depending on the programming parameters, response by the web upon determining a threat might be as narrow as informing the operators, or as deep as having autonomous latitude to mobilize and direct security, military, medical or emergency assets. Finally, some surveillance webs incorporate counter-surveillance and inverse surveillance subroutines in their programming, reactive to threats to the web itself. Alloy Foundry posted:The discovery of plentiful deposits of rare or newfound minerals on this planet brought the development of a number of unique alloys. To create and work these, as well as produce better known, traditional alloys, most colonies built alloy foundries. Using common non-ferrous metals as the matrix, minerals extracted from firaxite, osmium, rhenium and yttrium ores serve as the solutes in binary alloys; a few ternary alloys are also produced on-planet, such as the nickel-titanium-firaxite blend that serves as the basis for most colonial smart grids. Most colonial foundries produce interstitial alloys rather than substitutional alloys as the common metals usually used as the matrix have a smaller atom than the solutes. A few of the foundries make use of titanium – common but useful – in precipitation hardening alloys that are resistant to most corrosives (notably miasma) found on this planet. With their induction or reverberatory furnaces, crucibles, degassing and degating equipment, and finishing machinery, alloy foundries are expensive operations, not to mention dangerous to workers. To counter this, colonial foundries are now being automated or staffed with robots. Although this has reduced costs and increased safety, human oversight remains critical in many of the alloy processes, as impurities and other issues arise on a regular basis. Biofactory posted:Colonial biofactories were established as the colonists began to grasp the potential of the lifeforms native to this planet. For thousands of years, Mankind has used biotechnology – the use of organisms to produce chemicals and materials – in agriculture and medicine. In the late 21st Century, faced with environmental concerns and dwindling resources, scientists on Old Earth applied new and traditional techniques to the industrial production of genomes, synthetics, metals, textiles, biorobotics and biofuels. After planetfall, vast expanses of coral, fungi and algae were surveyed and catalogued, but it was several generations before these could be exploited to their fullest. Biofactories now use coral deposits harvested from the seas of this planet to produce construction materials, filters, pharmaceuticals, rare minerals and of course jewelry. Although the primary use is as a biofuel base, algae are the source of most of the colonial production of agars, alginates, fertilizers, food concentrates and many pigments. And the biotech uses of the indigenous fungi, so plentiful and varied on this world, are virtually endless, with new ones being discovered annually. Notable among the latter are biofactories using native fungal species to make polyamide microfibers and thermal and nano-electrical insulations, vital in quantum computers and autonomous robots and mag-lev vehicles. Mass Digester posted:As the colonial settlements grew, several began to outstrip their available food supplies; whereas in history past this was a limit on population growth, research into the conversion of inorganic wastes into semi-organic, digestible foodstocks proved the solution to raising this limit dramatically on this planet. Simultaneously developed by several colonial institutes, a mix of nano-catalytic processes and genetically engineered anaerobic digesters recover select amino acids, which could be combined to form basic proteins through biosynthesis. The final step in the process is the addition of archaea proteases to trigger hydrolysis of the peptide bonds, producing as an end product a nutritious if relatively flavorless paste. Raw materials for the process include most plastics, rubber, organometallic compounds that contain organic ligands, alkene-derived polymers, and a number of other materials usually discarded after use. Prokaryotic archaea are fairly common on this planet and often found associated with xenomass concentrations. The rate from raw material to protein paste is moderately slow, due primarily to the biosynthesis step; research continues to streamline and speed the process. Industrial complexes that produced protein paste in this manner are termed “mass digesters,” for obvious reasons. While many colonists still prefer organically-grown foods, in many colonies the use of protein paste has become common and is even promoted by the various transhuman movements. Xeno Sanctuary posted:In time, as on Old Earth, the indigenous flora and fauna came under intense pressure from the expanding colonial settlements on this new world. Concerned about preserving the uniqueness of this planet’s lifeforms, several settlements began an effort to protect it in some manner. In places zoos were built containing both reconstituted species from Old Earth and specimens of the native “aliens.” In others, the approach was to create a xeno sanctuary, wildlife preserves of the sort that date back to the 3rd Century BC on the homeworld. In these sanctuaries, usually located on or near the settlement’s outskirts for ease of access by the populace, an area was surrounded by concentration fields able to contain the wildlife, fields that extended below the surface and above to form a high barrier. The area was extensive enough to allow a stable ecosystem within; if necessary, indigenous flora and fauna were transplanted into the sanctuary. A xeno sanctuary serves several purposes for the host settlement. It provides a field laboratory for colonial zoologists and ecologists; it heightens public awareness, knowledge and appreciation of this world; it serves as inspiration for artists and media productions; and it reminds new generations of humanity’s struggle to master this world far from Old Earth. Ironically, as the “wild outlands” have diminished, xeno sanctuaries have also become a mecca for those following the path of creeds that incorporate animism into their dogma; the profound impact of encountering nature for the first time on these pilgrims is not to be discounted in colonial society. Cloning Plant posted:On Old Earth between 1963 AD and the Seeding, scientists had successfully cloned over six dozen animal species ranging from carp to monkeys; in 1998 the first hybrid human clone was created using human DNA and a cow’s egg, followed in 2008 with the first successful creation of several mature human embryos using human skin DNA. By the Seeding, a number of cloning plants were mass producing embryos of livestock and endangered species. The equipment necessary for such was included in the cargo of some colony ships, and animal cloning plants were soon constructed on this planet. For many decades, most colonial settlements resisted the cloning of humans or human-hybrids, in some cases for ethical or religious reasons and in others economic and political. However, cloning technology progressed rapidly even as the movements towards modified humans took hold in some colonies. Somatic cell nuclear transfer meant that transhumans and adaptive humans could be reproduced in quantity. The continuous struggle to tame this world, and the growing conflicts between expanding colonies, put a premium on ever larger militaries. Since the birth rate in many settlements remained low, yet colony leaders still wished to claim new territories, a number of administrations built cloning plants to supplement their recruiting base through the mass creation of new types of soldiers that could be brought to maturity in short periods of time. Gene Garden posted:The first colonial “gene gardens” were created to craft and supply therapeutic DNA transgenes – whether integrated in the genome or as an external episome – for use in somatic and germline approaches. Using recombinant viruses or “naked” DNA, physicians were able to cure or limit a number of genetic diseases still prevalent in colonists from Old Earth, such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, lymphocytic leukemia, choroideremia, and several kinds of immunodeficiency, effectively eliminating these from the population. In a number of instances the gene gardens also became the site of research in genetic engineering and genomic cultivation, both fields gaining ever more importance in colonial efforts to adapt their citizenry to this planet. In time, the techniques developed in the gene gardens were used for adaptive human mutations, initially minor ones that involved metabolic adjustments permitting ingestion of native flora and lessening dependence on traditional agriculture. Eventually, the gene gardens became an essential component in the biotech infrastructure of many settlements, contributing to food production, biomedicine, biorobotics, recycling, and even biofuel production. But their role in combating illness remained significant, most recently in the realms of applied immunology, prenatal genetic diagnosis and pharmagenomics. Biofuel Plant posted:Early colonial biofuel plants used methods and plants (wheat, beets, corn, cane, etc.) traditional on Old Earth; indeed, pre-fab ethanol refineries were included as part of the cargo of many missions. Upon landing, colonial engineers assembled these even as colonial chemists began the search for new sources among this planet’s fauna. The first successes in this search were the algae and xenomass so prevalent; the bio-diesel, methanol and butanol that came from these had a higher octane rating than anything previous. A few of the fungi were found to provide – with processing – bioethers, syngas and solid biofuels. Currently, research is focused on the production of myco-diesel from cellulose, for several fungi have the unique ability to convert cellulose into medium-length hydrocarbon chains; a useful byproduct of this is methoxymethane, also capable of being used a gaseous fuel. In general, colonial biofuel plants are large operations covering several hectares with multiple buildings connected by pipes. The flow diagram of a typical one includes (but is not limited to) some sort of digester, atmospheric and/or vacuum distillation units, a catalytic reformer, fluid hydrolytic or hydro-cracker, a merox or alkylation unit (depending on the intended octane value), cooling towers and storage tanks. Specialty end products, such as lubricants or asphalts or coke, require further steps. As a result of safety and environmental concerns, most biofuel plants are located on the outskirts but within the defensive perimeter of settlements. Growlab posted:In colonial Growlabs across the planet, horticulturists and botanists use infusions of ferredoxin and quinone, coupled with genetic engineering, to accelerate the rate and efficiency of photosynthesis in a wide variety of fauna. From the initial trials on algae and cyanobacteria, which served to augment the colonial diet (nutritious, if bland), to the current efforts to induce pheophytins in the indigenous fungi, the Growlabs have been an important contributor to the survival of several settlements. Over the decades since planetfall, a number of “improved” crops have been created and the initial generations cloned in Growlabs: modified soybeans and maize offer improved edible oils; a vitamin-enriched corn derived from African varieties has high nutrients; altered native fungi similar to Old Earth shiitakes and enokitakes produce large amounts of faux meat mycoprotein. These, and most other Growlab-created crops, have been transferred from the labs to being grown by large-scale commercial operations. However, conditions on the surface of the planet have proved too harsh for extensive cultivation of some of the new species, and thus there are a number of Growlabs that serve as bioshelters rather than horticulture laboratories. Paean posted:The Paean is an incredible feat of technology with an admirable purpose. This satellite, designed to maintain the wellbeing of those in its vicinity, controls a swarm of small robots. These nano-bots filter the surrounding air of harmful pollutants and dangerous prokaryotic or viral organisms. This allows humans to safely work in the area without fear of infection. The swarm is also able to monitor the wellbeing of those in the area, and often detect illness long before it would otherwise be discovered by doctors.
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Aug 29, 2019 23:43
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Gantolandon posted:As for Beyond Earth, I think the main problem with the AI is not its stupidity, but passivity. I remember one game I played where absolutely no one attacked me until I started to go for the victory condition. From what I recall, it's passivity combined with the AI sending you threatening messages and demands every few turns (and not acting on any of them when you tell them to piss off for the 500th time). Honestly, I found BE to be one of the Civ games that's most improved by just declaring war on the AI as soon as you meet them, in order to cut out the diplomatic harassment.
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Aug 30, 2019 00:00
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