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My sweet, sweet profit margin  EDIT: Antaran Contact at the end of last page
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Jun 23, 2020 01:39
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Well that's rude. I take it the game mechanic is that these guys swoop in to punch down on the lead faction, and will keep doing so periodically until said faction is strong enough to fight them off? I guess that's one way to reduce the snowball effect in a 4X.
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Jun 23, 2020 02:12
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That's about the size of it. In Master of Orion 2, the Antaran attacks were largely bad for you, but if you could capture one of their ships, you could scrap it to acquire their super technology. Antaran ships technically broke the design rules, because they carried more stuff than a hull of their size could fit, but the designs were poo poo so who cares. Here, however, it's just a straight up "they are an equalizer that will come for whoever's strongest" mechanic. It's going to be a while before the best strategy for dealing with an Antaran attack is anything other than "evacuate as many people as you can and cross your fingers."
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Jun 23, 2020 05:29
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Drirlan Drevner, CEO of Drevner Mass Drivers posted posted:"You're telling me that we were just attacked by the worst enemy our species has ever faced, that has put fear for the future and concern for self defense front and center in the minds of every Gnolam in the entire league, and that we -don't have a gun that can kill them?!- That we're on the verge of the greatest potential market increase in history and that our company, which is entirely dedicated to having product to sell for exactly this sort of situation, has -NO RELEVANT PRODUCT TO SELL!?!?-"
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Jun 23, 2020 09:50
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Extragnolar Survey Report, 2025 With the development of new survey sensor suites, safe survey of the Xanthus and Laan systems without exposing the Vindicator to destruction by the deep-space organisms resident in these systems is now possible. Unfortunately, the ability to remove these organisms to clear the systems for colonisation remains beyond the League's abilities.  The Xanthus contains two hypothetically-colonisable bodies, dry garden worlds with small seas and extensive desert regions, both about the size of Val. Xanthus II is notable for extensive deposits of valuable gems and crystals, while the heavy metals deposits on Xanthus III are extraordinarily rich and extensive. The primary asteroid belt of the system retains remnants of high-technology wreckage of uncertain origin, but dating back to approximately the era from which ancient cargo pods and the ruins otherwise detected have originated from. Based on the statements from the Antarans, it is possible that the various ancient high-technology ruins discovered thus far date back to the era of war between the 'Orion Confederation' and the Antaran state. Xanthus II is medium, abundant, arid, and is normal-G, with the gems (+2 BC) planetary special and a maximum population of 11. Xanthus III is medium, ultra-rich, arid, and is high-G, with a maximum population of 11. The asteroid belt in Xanthus is... unusual, and warrants further study with dedicated asteroid lab facilities constructed there.  Laan contains three colonisable garden worlds and a more marginal mineral-poor world, along with some relatively well-preserved ruins from the tentatively-identified 'Orion Confederation' era. Laan Prime seems particularly promising- it is a garden world with vast oceans broken by island chains. Although somewhat smaller and more metal-poor than Val, it has a comfortable gravity, an excellent environment for sustaining life, and presumed Confederation-era ruins. Laan II is significantly less promising, with an extreme shortage of water and useful metals and a marginal biosphere that only barely generates a breathable atmosphere. Laan III is a truly massive world with extensive metals deposits and some resource-rich moons along with a fertile oceanic biosphere, but the extreme local gravity will likely render it a challenge for colonisation. Extensive gems deposits and resource rich moons offer some incentive to try, however. Laan IV, although smaller than Laan III, is still larger than Val, and possesses a garden biosphere marred by torrential precipitation over much of its surface and vast marshlands consuming its coastlines. Deposits of dark quartz on the planet could be of industrial use in semiconductor manufacture. Laan Prime is small, ocean, poor, and is low-G, with the artifacts (+2 RP) planetary special and a maximum population of 9. Laan II is small, desert, ultra-poor, and is low-G, with a maximum population of 7. Laan III is huge, ocen, rich, and is high-G, with the gems (+2 BC) planetary special and a maximum population of 17. Laan IV is large, swamp, poor, and is normal-G, with the dark quartz (+2 production) planetary special and a maximum population of 14.
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Jun 23, 2020 17:06
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Updated summary. Meklar systems not included as they have not been properly surveyed yet.
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Jun 23, 2020 18:20
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A Terror From the Past In 2001, a new generation of ship drives capable of taking advantage of the improved power draw from shipboard fusion plants was perfected. Although essentially no more expensive to manufacture than the old generation of ship power plants and drives, they nonetheless permitted significantly better accelerations and travel times, especially in conjunction with shipboard gravity generation to compensate for acceleration forces. Work to refit old ships began immediate both in the Navy and in civilian sectors, providing a new burst of work for aerospace contractors and shipyards. The refit cost of updating to fusion drives is all of 1 BC per ship for our current fleets, so is completely trivial. Each ship has gotten updated as it is able to arrive at a military base for the refit.  Not long after the development of the new generation of star drives, the Enforcer detected evidence that pirate forces had regrouped in the Miract system, this time predominantly Human and turning their attention coreward to the Human settlement in the Horne system. The Enforcer continued on its scouting mission despite its recovery, but was scheduled to engage in pirate suppression on its return to League space.   Naval forces on station in the Guad system observed something bizarre in 2002- sudden evidence of entry into hyperspace far off the known conduit network, with the disruption showing evidence of being created by a sizable fleet moving towards the Guad system. Alarmed, the League member states on Navok rapidly scrambled to assemble an orbital missle defense system in hopes that any potential hostile acts could be staved off as they waited for the arrival of this mysterious fleet.  The oceanic planet of Eydin in the Baalbo system was colonised shortly thereafter, in 2003. Work began to establish a solid economic base on this new world, while new immigrants began to arrive from overpopulated Stevas.  The League's efforts to establish strong relations with the United Repuublic showed dramatic proof of success in 2007, when the United Republic offered a significant foreign aid package intended to partially compensate the League for the expenses of the new defenses over Navok. This gift was accepted gratefully and factored into the League's budget, while League policymakers speculated what foreign policy objective the Republic was seeking to cement by this gift.  Electronic computing had reached the very limits that physics dictated for the technology within the League, which spurred attempts to develop functional optical computers, which could perform calculations more rapidly by relying on light rather than electrical current. By 2008, the first optical computer prototypes were ready for use, although their performance improvements over older electronic computers remained relatively limited. Nonetheless, they were sufficient to handling fire control calculations for relatively slow unguided projectiles at very long range in a useful timeframe for combat, as well as exploiting a recently discovered quirk of hyperspace physics- a hyperdrive could actually temporarily force entry to hyperspace even outside a conduit, although it would drop back into realspace almost instantly, travelling only a relatively trivial distance- and surviving the experience required careful calculations. We get a new weapon system mostly only useful against fixed fortifications, and a fairly gimmicky ship special system I don't anticipate making huge use of. Positron Physics is not the single most useful tech in the tech tree, in my opinion, but it leads to more useful techs. I choose to parse it as based on early optical computing because it works significantly better as a prereq for the next couple 'computing' techs, and 'positronics' in computing is still much farther in the future.  The mysterious fleet headed to Guad arrived in Navok orbit in 2009. It issued a statement in Levan- itself an unnerving development, given the complete lack of contact by Gnolams or Humans with this species- identifying itself as a fleet of the Antaran state. They were evidently an ancient political power, claimed to have been imprisoned outside of the universe by their rivals the Orion Confederation in the distant past, now returned to reclaim the galaxy for their state and for its 'Premier'. The Antaran fleet on deployment matched the entire mobile strength of the Navy's combat groups in displacement, with half that mobile strength far away in the Shimari system and unable to respond. The commanding Naval officer in Guad, Senn Tollis, ordered his task group to stand down and not intervene, judging that the task group could not prevent Navok's defenses from being overrun.    The battle in orbit was catastrophic. The Antaran fleet, itself armed with a heavy mass driver loadout more advanced than current League designs, easily overwhelmed the orbital missile defenses, suffering damage only to a single escort frigate in the fleet. Senn Tollis, in later testimony before the Assembly, swore than with stronger orbital defenses- with a full naval base supported by missile defenses- his fleet may have been sufficient to help turn the tide based on the data recovered from the battle, but as it was the Antarans were in control of Navok's orbit within a very short time.    Once in control of Navok's orbit, the Antaran fleet jettisoned a massive number of orbit to surface payload capsules designed to disperse spores for an incredibly virulent and lethal bioengineered disease. Half of Navok's population was dead within a matter of weeks, painfully killed as they essentially had the flesh rot off their bones while they were still alive. Entire League member states on Navok ceased to exist, their entire on-planet populations destroyed. Mercifully, the disease burned itself out very rapidly, its incredible lethality killing its hosts faster than they could infect new victims. With their payload spent, the Antarans sent a new transmission, mocking the League for its weakness and cowardice, before turning to leave the system. In the coming years, analysts studying Antaran statements and behavior speculated that their ability to provide logistic support for fleet operations in realspace was limited, and came to the general consensus that the Antarans were almost certainly organised as a totalitarian military state, based on internal evidence from within their transmitted statements. This remained speculation, however, with only a tiny body of Antaran statements to work from and no Antaran prisoners to question.   In 2018, work by LIIS led to a series of arrests of Republican spies on Navok, attempting to cultivate information sources on the planet. Subsequent negotiations with the United Republic led to the repatriation of the prisoners in exchange for sizable continuing indemnity payments from the United Republic. LIIS analysts warned that the United Republic had almost certainly succeeded in cultivating some information sources within the League already, although as of yet the severity of observed Human espionage was minimal.   With continued refinements in optical computing, more powerful and flexible robotics for military, industrial, and consumer applications began to be release by about the mind 2020s. Although the net impact on manufacturing output was so far minimal, further work on refining industrial automation could potentially lead to a revolution in the League's industrial might. Of more immediate note was the development of sophisticated repair drones by Apocrypha Engineering and plans for heavily-automated defensive platforms developed by Reliant Aerospace. With a new generation of mass drivers, these defensive platforms would likely prove a significantly greater threat against Antaran forces than old missile defenses- together with a dedicated naval base, they might almost be sufficient to secure League planets against estimated Antaran threats. Still, mass driver technology within the League remained somewhat immature. Known Space and the Universal Mercantile League as of 2025  With the deaths on Navok and with the contractions due to emigration on Val and Stevas, the League's economy has actually somewhat contracted over the past 25 years, although renewed population growth spread across new planets may help remedy this shortly. The Enforcer's scouting mission to Republican space has identified the new Human colonies beyond the Sol and Butain systems- in Saliba, the radiated, relics-rich world of Ozymandias and the heavy-G dry garden world of Samson, in Sarti, the dry garden world of New Babylon, and in Horne, the Val-like, gem-rich world of Glory. The General Oversight Combine has spread to a fourth system, while the colonisation of Eydin has brought the systems in League space with colonised worlds up to five.  The colonisation mission to the Biots system has arrived in the Guad system by now, and should shortly arrive at its destination. Naval border forts control all conduits leading out of League territory from Guad, although the Antaran attack proves that they can effortlessly bypass the conduit network and these border forts. The Naval task force remains on station here, hopefully to prove more useful the next time something threatens the Guad system.  The Enforcer shall begin bombardment of pirate settlements in Miract shortly. A pirate fleet has departed the Miract system, headed to assault the Human world of Glory. The Champion and Protector are on station in the Shimari system, helping to guard the borders.  A colony mission has just left Gnol, headed for the lush biosphere and abundant gold and platinum reserves of the Val-like world Tessin in the Kakari system. The old border forts in the Gnol and Kakari systems have been decommissioned, reducing the commitment of money and personnel by the Navy.  A series of isolated laboratory complexes have been constructed in the rich asteroid belt of Parmag, conducting some of the most secretive research by corporate and governmental interests in the League. Asteroid labs, unlike asteroid mines or gas giant refineries, don't need a colony in their system to support them, evidently.    Val's moon has developed several small cities entirely dedicated to the support of intensive research operations there, safely clear of Val's surface, while a missile defense platform much like the ill-fated platform over Navok has been constructed here. New colonisation missions have begun to outpace Val's population growth, and Val's population has dropped to below twelve billion once again.   Emigration from Stevas to Eydin has seen Stevas' population dip, although its industrial output has been bolstered by new industrial-scale fusion plants providing cheap power to consumers and industries.   Eglein's population now exceeds four billion, with significant agricultural and heavy industrial sectors supporting the world's future development. Work on its network of gravity generation facilities has proceeded slowly, with offworld investment largely focused in mustering new colony missions from Val over the past 25 years.   Although the physical damage caused by the genocidal Antaran bioweapons attack on Navok was minimal, and in fact its economy has grown to be somewhat more sophisticated, the fact remains that with its current population collapse, the economic health of Navok is marginal, forcing greater outside investment to support an infrastructure now significantly understaffed and undersupplied from local sources. The planet remains a valuable stop from trade both from Combine and Republic, but the population is deeply scarred by recent events.   Eydin supports a significant agricultural sector supporting its growing populace, with a small heavy industrial sector equipped with cutting-edge automation and supplied from carefully-selected mining sites helps develop the planetary infrastructure futher. Small research bases and sealed agricultural domes provide data for League scientists and an effective growing environment for delicate specialty crops, while industrial-scale hydroponics are under development to further bolster local agriculture.  A third field team has nearly completed its training for LIIS. LIIS analysts have some concerns about Republican espionage activities, although they take justified pride in their apprehension of Republican spies and the indemnities which now help pay their operating budget.  The recent Antaran attack has inspired new interest in military technologies, although there have been strong arguments that the League's economic base must be further secured before major military research programs make sense- building up the League's ability to more rapidly research new technologies may allow for less time spent on needed research programs. I soaked up one extra turn of research by tossing it into Macro Economics; this progress will be saved even while working on other technologies for whenever we research Macro Economics. Proposals for the Universal Mercantile League Research Proposals Major programs of both civilian and military research are currently available. Improved large-scale logistics and interstellar trade would prove quite useful for more efficiently launching new colony missions from Val, given the significant materials import costs involved in accelerating those construction programs, while work into advanced xenological research could have both security and diplomatic applications. Continued work into basic physics could ensure a new generation of mass drivers, as well as other valuable military applications based on generation and detection of faster-than-light tachyon particles. Further refining optical computing would have significant consumer and entertainment benefits than would likely be of use in ensuring future social stability, as well as improving targeting computers for direct-fire weapons. Work into genetic engineering and xenoecological studies could lead to significant medical benefits, and then later to higher average Gnolam intelligence and the ability to deliberately manipulate planetary environments to become more Val-like. Continued work on materials science and spaceframe engineering would likely be necessary for future programs of military upgrades, and allow for refinements of current advanced nuclear missile designs, better armor materials, and the ability to design even larger military ships. Please vote between Macro Economics, XENOLOGY, Tachyon Physics, Optronics, Genetic Engineering, GENETIC MUTATIONS, and Advanced Engineering. Voting for one of the options in all-caps also implicitly counts as a vote for its prerequisite- Military Tactics and Genetic Engineering respectively. Research Proposals- Tachyon Physics Preliminary work on manipulating tachyons has shown significant promise, although the primary focus on how to develop the technology could vary. Focusing on long-range omnidirectional tachyon transmission would probably have the greatest effects on Gnolam ability to gain accurate sensor data even at interstellar ranges, while focusing on focused point-to-point transmissions may well allow for more effective information encoding and better communications- doubtless a boon for effective interstellar military command and logistics. Finally, focusing on tightly-focused short-range tachyon sensor packages would essentially eliminate combat sensor lag if properly implemented, which could greatly improve firing accuracy of direct-fire weapons such as neutron burst cannon or mass drivers. Please vote between long-range sensors, communications, or short-range combat sensors as an application for when we get around to researching Tachyon Physics, to see where we get the most dramatic improvement from FTL sensors and transmissions. LIIS Appropriations and Policy With proof that at least limited covert action has been taken by the United Republic against the Universal Mercantile League, some voices have been calling to further reinforce LIIS- perhaps even to cultivate the League's own information sources in the Republic. Although the executive branch of the League government was able to handle the repatriation of the first captured Human spies, the Assembly now should consider future policy for dealing with apprehended spies. Please vote for somewhere between zero and four additional LIIS field teams. Please also vote yea or nay on an attempt to infiltrate the United Republic, and whether we should adopt a policy of free repatriation, extended detention, ransom, or execution for captured spies. Fortification Proposals The attack on Navok by the Antarans has shaken the League to the core. Some members of the Assembly have proposed the League immediately focus on properly fortifying all League worlds with orbital Naval bases supported by weapons platforms. Others argue that fortification can happen at a slower pace more easily supported by the League's economy, or even for more limited fortification on the smaller colony worlds that may take a longer time to complete full Naval bases. Please vote between full fortifications as an absolute first priority, as to be completed as is reasonable, or completing only missile bases and orbital batteries over smaller worlds, saving full star bases for more developed worlds. Colonisation Proposals The League's next colony worlds shall be Tessin in the Kakari system and Teziv in the Biots system, but yet another colony mission shall likely leave soon. Please vote between Hoshi II, Taurio Prime, Varinia Prime, or Parmag Prime as our next colonisation target. The arrival of the Antarans has been proof that the Gnolams cannot simply expect perpetual peace. One can only hope that the League shall be ready when they return. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Jan 18, 2021 |
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Jun 24, 2020 03:44
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I assume that the Automated Repair Unit was chosen over the Dauntless Guidance System because by the time fleets are big enough for it to be relevant, we won't be using missiles as the main armament of our ships anyway? For the voting, I am going with GENETIC MUTATIONS for research priority, because it sounds like that leads to more research, and more research is always great. VOTE CHANGE: Make it short range sensors because the new thing is a new system, not a computer, and eventually I want to go BEAMAGEDDON if we have enough space left over after all the "please don't get wrecked within thirty seconds of engagement" systems. For spy teams, I will vote four more teams as I always do, especially now that we know they're spying on us. Probably just harmless information gathering, but that can change uncomfortably fast. And since turnabout is fair play, yes we should spy on them. For their spies we catch, we should ransom them. Just handing them back seems a bit too much, and sitting on them for extended durations doesn't seem to me like it will help anything. Execution carries a diplomatic penalty, and let's not piss them off yet. Besides, "we caught your dude, but we'll sell him back to you" is the most  choice.For fortifications, at this time I think save the Star Base for developed worlds is the way to go for now. We'll eventually want to get that poo poo on lockdown in more places, because star bases serve uses other than just orbital defense platforms, but the smaller planets are going to have a rough time getting those things built. And the cold ugly part is that if it's small enough that putting a star base over it would be an issue, then it's small enough that you can restart it without losing too much if the Antarans bomb the poo poo out of it. For colonization, I say Varinia Prime, because it has a pretty good population capacity and a moon. MechaCrash fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Jun 24, 2020 |
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Jun 24, 2020 06:18
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Just checked relative production costs, and it's the orbital batteries that are most expensive, not the star bases, so assume I meant delaying orbital batteries most for early defenses. (Orbital batteries have a very steep production cost compared to many of our other available structures; 180 compared to 120 for star bases and 60 for missile bases. This is actually steeper than the 147 for a colony ship, although it obviously doesn't also cost the population a colony ship does.)
nweismuller fucked around with this message at 06:30 on Jun 24, 2020 |
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Jun 24, 2020 06:28
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News All Day Network posted:-likely sharing the results of their significant investments into the field of Xenology at a considerable discount due to the pressing need presented by the Antaran invasion, as per our Nutris corporate liaison- Also, voting for Communications Nutris Internal Memo posted:We are all aware of the exposed Republican spying activities within League space, and the risk this presents to Nutris intellectual property. 2 new LIIS teams, counter-espionage only Also, fortification to be completed as is reasonable. News All Day Network posted:-and Nutris is sponsoring the colonization of Parmag Prime, continuing their corporate policy of encouraging habitation on marginal worlds most in need of their advanced nutritional processing technologies- "Advert Jingle posted:Kelbits, Kelbits~
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Jun 24, 2020 08:29
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Regarding recent news about Lowtax: my continuing this LP here is not an ongoing revenue stream to Lowtax, and I have literally no idea where else I could as easily present my LPs to a community of readers. I don't intend to be heading anywhere, and I hope my readers will stick with me. If it becomes necessary to migrate the LP somehow, I'll certainly post its new home in the thread, but I do not currently anticipate the need. Thank you all for your continued reading of my work; I appreciate everyone who reads and participates in my LPs.
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Jun 24, 2020 11:49
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Research Proposals:quote:The Rainshield Corporation has launched the Andamir Project to acquire samples of the deadly Antaran bioweapon and tissue from its victims. They hope that their research teams, doing pioneering work in Genetic Engineering and experimenting with GENETIC MUTATIONS, will be able to find a way to immunize the populations against further Antaran attacks. Tachyon Physics: Communication seems to be the one thing with lasting benefits for a nation of traders, while short-range combat seems like the kind of things that will get obsoleted at the next research tier anyway. Long-range sensors is probably the most interesting thing as far as game mechanics are concerned, though, and with the surprise Antaran attack it'd also make sense to look for that, so in case of tie between sensors and combat, feel free to count my vote as one for sensors. LIIS Appropriations and Policy: Two more teams, and spies should be either ransomed immediately or held as bargaining chip to get more stuff. Definitely not execution, we're better than that, and definitely not free repatriation, we're greedier than that. Still vote nay on spying on our own, why spy when you can buy? We're honest merchants, everything we do is above the table. Fortification Proposals Missile bases should suffice for worlds with a population of less than 5 billions. Colonisation Proposals Hoshi II I mean we don't want a pirate base to suddenly appear in our backyard just because it hasn't been settled yet.
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Jun 24, 2020 14:01
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Cat Mattress posted:short-range combat seems like the kind of things that will get obsoleted at the next research tier anyway Not so! The short-range FTL sensors are a special system that's a permanent boost to directfire accuracy, rather than competing with newer fire control computers. (We just need to budget the space for the special system if we want it.) If anything, they're the application least subject to becoming obsolete of the the three. (Which isn't to say that we might not want other apps.) E: The next time you update your summary of surveyed systems, do note the gas giant in the Gnol system has been named- Evorak. Understandably easy to miss. New Babylon is Sarti II, Ozymandias is Saliba II, Samson is Saliba Prime, and Glory is Horne III. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 14:35 on Jun 24, 2020 |
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Jun 24, 2020 14:06
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So thinking about the defenses, here is my question: what, exactly, are they meant to stop? I assume you're getting them up now because the answer is a shrug, and since fixed defenses are automatically given the most up to date stuff, it's not like there's a huge loss in building them now. But I don't think there's anywhere for pirates to spawn inside our borders, and any pirates that spawn outside or borders are not getting past the fortifications on the node. Antarans can bypass all that and go for an actual planet, but I still have doubts about our ability to stop them (and if we do stop them, can we do it without losing so many ships that the Humans jump on us?). There could be problems if we get into a shooting war with a real power, but right now the only ones that can do that with us are the humans, and I do not foresee things go that bad with them any time soon. The thing about short range sensors means that I'm going to change my vote to that, because when the time comes for Beamageddon, I want all the beamy stuff. The post will be edited appropriately.
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Jun 24, 2020 15:02
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Nian Bortis, addressing the Assembly posted:Although, yes, the Antaran attack does force us to consider defenses against the Antarans, the cold fact is that it appears their logistics support for operations in our universe must be limited. Rather than overburden our population with the spending on new defenses before our planetary economies can support them, we should focus first on economic growth and then invest in new defenses as they can be afforded. Perhaps the situation shall change in the future, but for now immediate and heavy investment in new defenses is not supportable. Only missile bases on new colonies. LIIS Oath of Service posted:I do solemnly swear before God to faithfully execute my duties to protect the lives, freedoms, and properties of the citizens of all League states, to follow all lawful orders from my duly-constituted superiors, and to serve as the defense of the security of the League itself and its member states, not to be swayed from this oath by bribe, threat, or persuasion as God witness it. Two new LIIS teams approved for intelligence-gathering, with policy to ransom captured spies. News All Day Network posted:... a new surge of investment into Transcend Biogenetics advanced medical projects in response to the plague on Navok... Genetic Mutations. Also short-range targeting scanners and Hoshi II. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Jun 24, 2020 |
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Jun 24, 2020 22:05
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Drirlan Drevner, CEO of Drevner Mass Drivers posted:Obviously the league can't afford to build every form of defense over every colony. They need to focus on the most well rounded... the best crash for the credit defenses available. And that means Star Bases. Star Bases that can help us manufacture fleets, that can help us coordinate them, and can help us defend our colonies... with a generous armament of our mass drivers of course. Perhaps a few... other weapons, to pacify the other manufacturers. But I'm sure they'll want the main loadout to be the best we have available. You understand what I'm saying? Complete fortifications as reasonable, up to starbases. LIIS Encoded Communications posted:GR: "How's it look up there?" No new LIIS teams, unless we capture and ransom another spy. In which case 1 new LIIS team per ransomed enemy spy. League Security Briefing: Winter Contingency posted:"...but if that doesn't work, if we can't fight them off for the foreseeable future, then we're down to surviving the attack, and it'll come down to how much we're able to get out of harms way before they arrive, and how much what's left behind can endure until they leave. And in that scenario, early warning as soon as possible matters." Tachyon Physics with Long Range Sensors
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Jun 25, 2020 03:31
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MechaCrash posted:So thinking about the defenses, here is my question: what, exactly, are they meant to stop? The hope is that with an actual star base backed up with another defense platform, we might have a realistic chance to fend off an Antaran attack. (Especially once we get more orbital batteries up, and better military tech to improve armor and allow heavy mass drivers.) All this said, the industrial investment needed for that level of fortification is pretty heavy.
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Jun 25, 2020 04:22
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In the event that the forums do end up closing, please be aware my Discord account is nweismuller#9148. Anybody who wishes to contact me on that account may, and I'll figure out where I can continue doing LPs from there.
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Jun 25, 2020 05:04
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Apocrypha Engineering, Meeting at Golden Gem posted:<Comptroller> "...There you are. The CEO wants to meet with you. The Antarans came, and destroyed everything. They want something. Anything. They've heard your stories. The budgets you want, you can have, nobody has any id-" Star Base and Orbital Battery Defenses for critical worlds only; everything else is irrelevant. Apocrypha also continues pitching for Advanced Engineering, insisting that it's a lynchpin to pushing Gnolam technology forward. And the Antarans are just brutal; I've never had success even throwing big fleets at them. Technology in Review posted:"Strangely, Apocrypha Engineering has offered nothing to address the Antaran threat; we usually can count on some entertaining proposals from them, but this time they're silent! They're pushing out the new Mote-class automated drone fleets; brilliant little things, based on t he same principles as their space factories, but making use of magnetic decouplers to pull out damaged systems for repair even in hostile conditions. Very hostile; they're even meant to deploy mid-combat, and the networking between them is used to gain more data points in combat and track movements of ships..." Short-Range Combat Sensors are Apocrypha's vote. Apocrypha also continues to have no interest in more LIIS teams; but a policy of Ransom seems like the best way to get some value out of them. And since they started spying on us, why not go poke around Human worlds a little? Let's see if we can steal information on what the next big fashion trend will be and steal it. Apocrypha Engineering, PR posted:Introducing, our new MEGA-scale autofabbers! With the assiostance of our new best-in-class 'Mote' mini-fabbers, we've developed an interlock s ystem to work on a scale never seen before. With a wider array of specialized devices, and no need for integrated detail systems on our 'Hesiesh'-class forges, we can pack many multiples of potential manufacturing power into a colonizing ship. For when your dreams and planet are Huge. Our next goal - Hoshi II!
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Jun 25, 2020 14:42
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OK, I'm wrapping the vote up now and will play through the update. Let's hope this update goes better than the last! 
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Jun 25, 2020 17:09
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Spinward Quadrant Sapient Species With recent information exchanges with the General Oversight Combine, it has become apparent that the quadrant spinward of the local quadrant hosts a total of three sapient species- the Meklars, the Bulrathi, and the Nyunyu, with the Meklars and Bulrathi both supporting expansionary multistellar states, while the Nyunyu are an industrialised pre-hyperspace civilisation whose government currently operates as a Bulrathi client state. Information from the Meklars regarding the Bulrathi and Nyunyu is short on detail, but what information they have provided indicates that both Bulrathi and Nyunyu are mammaloid species. The Bulrathi are governed by the 'Great Empire', evidently a militaristic absolute monarchy supported by a state religion, while the Nyunyu are apparently governed by a republic which selects its officers by means of random selection from the adult citizen population. We shall endeavor to collect more information as we can.
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Jun 25, 2020 17:57
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Which look will you consider as canonical for the Nyunyu? The one in-game?  Or the one that matches their description?  For some reason the developers completely messed up the portraits for the minor civilizations.
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Jun 25, 2020 22:04
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The background for the first is more consistent with what the Nyunyu are, while the second has a background clearly fitting the fiction written for them. I'll just go with the first. (The architecture, clothing, and trappings match the description of the race they're meant to be very well; likewise the clothing, trappings, and architecture of the first fits the implied tech level of the Nyunyu nicely, better than the second.)
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Jun 26, 2020 00:23
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Survey Report: Meklar Systems Recent information transfers from the General Oversight Combine has revealed survey data on a vast arc of systems spinward of Universal Mercantile League space. The closest systems thus revealed are the four systems directly controlled by the General Oversight Combine.  Of the two hypothetically colonisable worlds in the Neptunus system, one- a lifeless world with an inert atmosphere and some remaining traces of Orion Confederation-era ruins- has been colonised, serving as the primary gateway for diplomacy and trade to the Universal Mercantile League. The high temperatures, massive vulncanism, and frequent earthquakes of the other potentially colonisable world renders it relatively unappealing for settlement, despite rich gold deposits. Major asteroid mining operations have been established in the system. The system is adjacent by hyperspace conduits both to the local Gnolam quadrant and to a system inaccessible farther coreward. Neptunus Prime is small, abundant, volcanic, and is normal-G, with the gold (+2 BC) planetary special and a maximum population of 4 billion. Neptunus 2 is huge, rich, barren, and is high-G, with the artifacts (+2 RP) planetary special and a maximum population that's not displayed to me since it's known to be colonised by another power. The asteroid mines here earn the Meklars 4 BC per turn.  Meklon, the home system of the Meklars, contains the Meklar homeworld Origin and significant gas giant refining operations. As with Neptunus, in has an unstable hyperspace conduit leading further coreward. Origin is medium, abundant, terran, and is normal-G, with a maximum population of 13 billion. It is essentially certain that the gas giant in Meklon has refining operations set up producing 5 BC per turn for the Meklars.  Both potentially-colonisable worlds in the Jordanus system are notable for their extremely large size and for their high gravity. Jordanus Prime, largely covered by extensive oceans and a fertile biosphere, has been colonised by the Meklars. The status of Jordanus II, a far more marginal life-bearing world, is more unclear. Jordanus Prime is huge, abundant, ocean, and is high-G, with a maximum population of 17 billion. Jordanus II is huge, abundant, desert, and is high-G, with a maximum population of 13 billion.  Of the three potentially-colonisable worlds in the Voxh system, Gnolam analysts believe only one- Voxh III- to be colonised, with extensive gold and silver mining doubtless already in progress on the world. The other two combine very small size with poor metals deposits and less hospitable environments than Voxh III, and would have uncomfortably low gravity for Meklars and limited resources. Voxh Prime is tiny, poor, toxic, and is low-G, with a maximum population of 3 billion. Voxh II is tiny, poor, tundra, and is low-G, with gold (+2 BC) as a planetary special and a maximum population of 5 billion. Voxh III is medium, poor, swamp, and is normal-G, with gold (+2 BC) as a planetary special and a maximum population of 12 billion. I'll accept reasonable/serious suggestions for names of Meklar colony worlds; I haven't been struck by great inspiration for their naming yet.
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Jun 26, 2020 12:53
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Foresight    The Enforcer began bombing operations against the latest pirate stronghold in Miract in 2026, eventually accurately striking their encampments from orbit by 2028. With the pirates eliminated, their equipment and plunder could be salvaged, providing a fresh infusion of supplies for the League's economy.  The steady growth of long-distance trade and increasing specialisation of the Gnolam economy helped drive continued economic growth within the League. In 2027, Axelsson Interstellar Trading posted record profits and began a program of diversification into domestic logistics and shipping- a move which saw success due to the increasing demand for domestic shipping in the League. When a leader with two or more bonuses levels up, you have to choose which bonus gets improved. I'm bolstering Axelsson's global credit bonus, even if the amount the bonus increases is relatively minor. A global credit bonus is very cool.   This increasing specialisation and growth in the economy saw more new ventures. Camile Ston, heiress to the Rainbow Optical company, led a surge of new specialist manufacturing businesses opening on Stevas when she moved to that planet to open Ston Precision Computing in 2029 in competition with her parents, funded by venture investors and a later IPO- judging that the domestic consumer base on Stevas had grown sufficiently to support this venture, and that Stevas' position along the trade lanes would make it more convenient than Val for manufacturers focused on foreign export. Ston Precision Computing grew rapidly, and became one of the premier optronics exporters to foreign markets in the League, alongside other export-oriented industries starting to grow on Stevas. Even as Camile Ston opened her new venture, the Val-like planet of Tessin was being colonised in the Kakari system and mining of its precious metals began. Between the new colony and the new export industries on Stevas, the economy of the Kakari system grew dramatically.  Only a year later, the world of Teziv was colonised in the Biots system, with Motherlode Mining and Metals immediately taking steps to begin construction of a massive mining operation on the planet. The rich supplies of industrial metals being exploited by the most modern mining facilities in the League provided an abundance of raw materials for local manufacturers, and economic development of Teziv began rapidly.   The United Republic once again attempted to raise the issue of free transit for Republican military forces and colony missions through the Universal Mercantile League in 2032, and, once again, were turned down by UML negotiations. Many planets within the UML's borders remained uncolonised and unexploited, and the League intended to reserve these worlds for future Gnolam expansion.   Medical and biogenetic researchers within the League, in an effort to provide new health services for the population and to protect against future attempts at biological warfare such as those that devastated Navok, released a series of innovations in genetic medicine over the 2030s. Perhaps the most novel of these was the 'microbiotic' cell, released in 2033. Microbiotic cells were tailor-fabricated organisms coded by an examining doctor to seek out and destroy tumors or infections with great precision while ignoring healthy cells- sometimes even designed to fabricate tiny doses of specific drugs within microbiotic cells for release into the body where they would be best needed. All microbiotic cells were designed to limit the number of reproductive generations they could make, ensuring that they would die out in the body before mutation or natural immune reaction rendered them a threat to the host they were intended to help. Cloning Centers are also nice, but over half the benefit of Cloning Centers without any needed manufacturing investment or upkeep cost applied automatically to all colonies seems even better to me. That said, if we can later trade for Cloning Centers, we definitely will.  Steadily increased supplies from the trade lanes allowed the economy of Val to continue to expand. All the wealth of the League, of the Republic, and of the Combine found its way to Val, the jewel of the trade lanes. Shippers and logistics firms headquartered on Val continued to grow, with Val's domestic product reaching a new record in 2034..   In 2035, communications from the General Oversight Combine proposed that they could share their basic astrographic charts in exchange for the Universal Mercantile League's astrographic charts. The exchange was rapidly agreed upon. Study of the new charts and discussion with Meklar negotiators began to make it clear than the Combine had charted most of its own 'quadrant', which it shared with two other sapient species- the Bulrathi and the Nyunyu. The Bulrathi, united under the Great Empire of Bulra, were a expansive and militaristic power ruled by a strong autocrat, while the Nyunyu were governed by a single-planet republic that operated as a client state of the Great Empire of Bulra.     The persistent pirate problem in the Miract system remained a thorn in the side of League and Republic and an obstacle to trade lanes. Operations by the Enforcer in 2038 eliminated the pirate operating base in Miract, helping clear the trade lanes and ease shipping to the Republic's rimward territories, while border forts in Shimari handily destroyed attacking pirate ships later in the year.  The Val-like world of Sluyen in the Hoshi system was colonised in 2040, marking the third new colony world for the League in only a bit more than a decade. The League's expansion continued apace.   Another attempt by Republican intelligence to cultivate intelligence sources on Navok was intercepted by LIIS in 2042, leading to a series of arrests and captures that wrapped up Republican spying operations in the system. Negotiations with the United Republic led to the repatriation of the captured spies in exchange for a very healthy series of indemnity payments to be made to the League over the following 25 years.  A number of the Meklar fixed intelligences who would normally handle the export trade with the League from the Combine had cashflow shortfalls in the 2040s, leading to some of the import/export firms they dealt with to offer a deal to supply the Meklars on credit in the immediate future in 2046, in exchange for reduced prices for Meklar exports over the next 25 years. With this financing plan in place, trade was able to continue smoothly, with the Gnolams eventually to claim a greater share of the profits as time passed. The Meklars lacked the cash on hand to renew our trade treaty, but given that it's possible to trade immediate payments for a 20-year tribute payment, you can effectively set up 'loans' to other players. The loan gets us a net profit of 10 BC over 20 turns, but more importantly, it ensures that we keep on getting the trade revenue from trading with the Meklars.   Steady work had continued on biogenetic research, geoengineering, and xenoecology all through the 2030s and 2040s, which led to a series of innovations revealed through 2047 and 2048. Plans to extend small-scale geoengineering projects to major terraforming endeavors were formulated- a theory of how atmospheric composition and water abundance could be altered, while new species were introduced to progressively improve planetary environments to a more Val-like state, hypothetically even from complete lifelessness to an entirely Val-like environment. Practical implementation of these plans- which would be massive industrial enterprises stretching over extended periods- remained in the future, however, and some were skeptical of the immediate value of such projects. What presented far more immediate value was a series of retroviral genetic therapies that increased adult neuroplasticity, helped adult brain structure reorganise for greater efficiency, and induced shifts in genome that allowed the subsequent increase in intelligence to be heritable. Not only did this lead to a notable increase in average Gnolam intelligence as these treatments spread through the population, a side effect of the intense study of brain function involved led to an entirely new understanding of the function of the Gnolam brain. What had long been assumed to simply be a better eye for subtle details amongst Gnolams relative to Humans was proved to be guided by information input not originating from any physical senses- the Gnolam species, as a whole, was subtly precognitive. Unconsciously warned by this precognitive sense that misfortune may await in the future, Gnolams would seek out detail to understand the situation better and plan a course of action, thereby frequently finding the physical clues that served as warnings of disaster, which they were then able to act on. This precognitive sense, on its own, was hardly a guarantee that disaster could necessarily be avoided, but combined with the proper knowledge to fix problems before they became too severe, it ensured that Gnolams were greatly insulated from many of the vagaries of fate. The actual means by which information was inserted into the brain without the mediation of physical senses remained entirely mysterious- the brain activity associated with gaining precognitive information seemed sourceless, and attempted inquiry was unable to find any hints of underlying mechanism. Known Space and the Universal Mercantile League as of 2050  Innovation and investment have grown notably over the past 25 years, and the League's population overall has seen growth as it has spread to three new worlds. Charts provided by the GOC have allowed the League to learn the hyperspace conduit layout of most of the spinward quadrant, and pinpointed the Bulrathi home system of Ursa and the Nyunyu home system of Nyu. The dense population of the Meklar systems has proven to be supported by multiple very large colonisable worlds in the systems immediately connected to the Meklon system. It is unclear precisely how far the Great Empire of Bulra stretches, but some analysts suspect it to be the most populous of known galactic powers.  Routine scouting by the Vindicator has confirmed extensive Human mining operations in the Butain asteroid belt, supplying an abundance of raw metals and minerals to Human markets.    Val's population is essentially the same as 25 years ago at somewhat over 11 billion, any population growth having been drawn off to new colonies, although growth of trade networks and economic specialisation, the effects of increased Gnolam intelligence, and expanded employment in the research sector up to about 200 million has led to both overall economic growth and a major increase in innovation on Val. Heavily-automated defensive platforms are under construction in Val orbit to support its existing Naval base and missile platforms, hopefully to allow it to resist potential Antaran incursion.   Manufacturing plants for the supplies needed to alter soil chemistry on Stevas for greater agricultural yields have led to a boom in crop yields, helping ensure secure food supplies on the planet for the future. As on Val, defensive batteries are under construction in orbit here, helping to secure the oldest and most developed Gnolam colony world. Growth of extensive export industries on Stevas have helped bolster the local economy.   Tessin has enjoyed major immigration on top of its initial wave of colonists, and now exceeds two billion persons in population, who have established agricultural and industrial sectors of reasonable size. Modern industrial automation supports local heavy industries while sealed-environment domes help with the growth of delicate specialty crops and the establishment of small research stations over the planetary surface. Specialty luxury industries focusing on using local precious metals as an input have begun to provide foreign exports from Tessin, while industrial-scale hydroponics are under construction here. Our colony leader Camile provides her income bonus to both colony worlds in her system.   The network of gravity generators on Eglein has finally finished construction, reducing felt gravity on the planet to a more comfortable level, greatly increasing the productivity of the local workforce. A significant ground military presence has been established by local League member states to help ensure internal and external security as populations on Eglein continue to grow, now exceeding five billion and with an expanded agricultural sector likely to support even further future population growth. Establishment of industrial-scale fusion plants to supply Eglein's growing demand for energy is underway.   Large-scale production of extremophilic fungi and molds now supplements Navok's food supply, while the remaining local states have improved organisation and systems of justice as they have had more time to cement their position. The planetary population still has not recovered from the Antaran attack, but construction of major research campuses on Navok's moon to support its already active research community has begun.   Eydin's population has grown very rapidly over the past twenty-five years, now exceeding four billion persons. Increased social stresses from increased population have driven efforts by local governments to better formalise systems of justice and legal systems, while industrial-scale hydroponics supplements the agricultural sector. A significantly expanded heavy industrial sector works frantically to further modernise the economy.   Teziv, much like Tessin, has seen notable immigration since its colonisation, and it too exceeds two billion persons in population. The rich metals content and extensive mining operations on Teziv have made raw materials for industries on Teziv extraordinarily cheap, helping fuel rapid development of the local economy. Modern factory equipment and automation is in wide use, while sealed domes for specialty crops and research stations are scattered over the planet, with the local agricultural industry investing in expanded hydroponics. It seems likely that Teziv will be a major center of heavy industry, given enough time and development.   Sluyen has seen a similar arc of development since its settlement to Tessin and Teziv, and has also exceeded two billion persons thanks to immigration. It lacks the rich precious metals of Tessin or great abundance of industrial metals of Teziv, but nonetheless remains a growing and thriving young colony world.  The growth of LIIS has allowed the service to keep up with the expanded territory to cover, but many analysts in LIIS believe that the League's internal security requires greater steps by local member states if the League is truly to be considered 'more secure'. Your empire has a total security rating, and each planet has a local security rating determined by local bonuses plus the empire security rating. The empire security rating is determined in steps by average local bonuses on your planets plus bonuses for spies on counterintelligence duty. Our increased staffing in LIIS has basically been just enough to keep up with the dilution of adding more planets with a local security bonus of 0- our only planet with any positive local security bonus is Val itself, with a +20% from having our capital and +20% from having our spy center. At the moment, no means to boost local security bonus on other worlds exists.  Continued progress in genetic engineering combined with advanced robotics has raised the potential of cybernetic control systems for robotics and vehicles, alongside continued refinement of advanced robotics for improved industrial automation. Other fields of research remain similar to those of 25 years previous. Proposals for the Universal Mercantile League Research Proposals Analysts in LIIS strongly recommend study into xenological sciences if the League's internal security is to be improved- developing effective security strategies that can be implemented at the local governmental level will be greatly eased by improved xenology. Improved studies into large-scale logistics could help bolster Val's ability to assemble new colony missions and provide tools to manage the anticipated issues of pollution on Teziv in the long term, studies into refinements of field physics and the behavior of FTL tachyon particles could have notable military benefit, further refinement of optronics would doubtless have great benefits for consumers and social stability, cybernetics and improved robotics would be a major boost to industrial productivity and have distinct military applications on the ground, and continued work in spaceframe engineering and materials science would be critical for any next generation of military vessels, as well as likely allowing refit of existing ships and defenses with significantly improved armor materials. Please vote between XENOLOGY, Macro Economics, Tachyon Physics, Optronics, Cybertechnics, or Advanced Engineering. Voting for Xenology is also an implicitvote for its prerequisite, Military Tactics. Research Proposals- Military Cybernetics Use of cybernetic control systems in military systems could, potentially, have major benefits. Some researchers propose focus on cybernetic control of body armor, allowing for the effective and graceful operation of heavier self-propelled infantry armor suits relying on onboard power sources and actuators to move them. Such an armor upgrade program could be rolled out incrementally with minimal added cost. Others have proposed focusing more heavily on cybernetic vehicle control allowing tanks and and aircraft operated essentially as an extension of the self supported by highly-sophisticated expendable drone vehicles. Reinforcing local defense forces with major drone swarms and top of the line vehicle forces would be significantly more of an investment, but would have notable defensive benefits. Please vote between Power Armor and Armor Barracks for whenever we get around to researching Cybertechnics. Investment Proposals The new colony worlds of the League remain relatively undeveloped, and great benefit could be achieved by helping further modernise their economic bases. On the other hand, a focused effort into investing in Eydin's economy, given its growing population, may help set Eydin up to join other well-established League worlds. Investing in a new round of cooperative research ventures with the United Republic, although likely to cost nearly two quadrillion credits between League and Republic, will have obvious long-term benefits both to science and to Republican relations. As usual, I'm glossing 'BC' as 'trillion credits' rather than 'billion credits', to fit with my treating a 'million' population as a billion. Current research treaty cost is 956 BC on each side. Please vote between modernising new colonies, investing heavily in Eydin, or setting up a new research treaty as a first priority for spending our money. Stevas Specialty Industries Future expansion of Stevas' specialty industries could focus on serving domestic Gnolam markets, or foreign export markets. Please vote between focusing future level-ups for Camile on bonuses to trade treaty revenue, or bonuses to the income on Stevas and Tessin. Colonisation Proposals Three systems within League space still lack large-scale Gnolam colonisation, and three planets are being considered for the next colony mission by a colonisation consortium. Taurio Prime, although it is very small and can only support a relatively limited population, has rich reserves of both industrial and precious metals to fuel its development and a dry garden world environment relatively welcoming to Gnolam life. Varinia Prime is much, much larger and can support a larger population in a similar environment, but has significantly poorer metals reserves- although properly prospecting the planet for promising mining sites should help mitigate that issue to some extent. Parmag Prime, although a lifeless world with an inert atmosphere, is large enough it could support a larger population than Taurio Prime, and it would provide an ideal base to support new refineries around a gas giant in the Parmag system, likely to be of significant economic benefit. Please vote between Taurio Prime, Varinia Prime, and Parmag Prime for our next colony world. The mysterious phenomenon of Gnolam precognition raises many questions, but grants a certain confidence to the Gnolam people. Growing innovation and an expanding economy have helped bring the League out of the slump of recent years. If the threat of the Antarans can be properly prepared against, perhaps the future will continue to be bright. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 12:29 on Jun 27, 2020 |
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Jun 27, 2020 05:15
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I've been waiting to drop this update on people for a while. Psionics are an established fact in the MoO setting, and here we become aware of this phenomenon...
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Jun 27, 2020 05:18
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For research, I say Advanced Engineering. Rebuilding ships that got blown up is expensive, and if we have tougher ships, that will reduce attrition, which will in turn reduce costs. Also, bigger ships, and bigger ships are lots more fun. However, the need for escorts will become ever more apparent as they get bigger, because unlike in MOO2, in nuMOO, "a small ship got in my blind spot and shot my rear end apart" is a very real threat. So when it's time to get bigger ships, that's something to keep in mind when determining fits and/or fleets. A couple of little buddies with missile launchers, which are natively 360, will help make sure nothing gets any ideas. It's a drat shame there aren't forward extended arcs in this game, they'd be really handy. But I am getting off topic. For Military Cybernetics, my vote hinges entirely on one question to which I'm pretty sure I know the answer: can tanks be used offensively or are they only good for repelling ground invasions? Since I'm pretty sure they're purely defensive, I will vote for Power Armor, and not just because power armor is super cool, but because ground invasions are costly, and we'll want every offensive edge we can get. While I'm at it, I take it that the narrative justification for getting this far down the tech tree without figuring out loving tanks is that we're already using tanks, it's just that now we can have significant enough numbers of drone tanks via direct nueral control that they can make up entire divisions by themselves? For investment proposals, I am going to go with new research treaty. Sucks to be those other guys, but bootstraps and all that, plus getting the science done faster will give us more of an edge in the long term. For colonizing, I vote Parmag Prime. Getting it up and running will be a pain in the rear end, but now that we have terraforming we can do something about it (eventually, slowly, and at great expense). The large population means that it's versatile, and can be used to produce science, sitizens, or stuff as we need it. Yes, I spelled citizens wrong on purpose, I'm doing a thing with it. This LP inspired me to pick the game back up, and a few scuffles with Antaran raiding parties have caused me to downgrade their threat level from OH gently caress  to "a dangerous foe that can be beaten if we adequately marshal our power." It might have made me shift my vote on defensive installations, as a missile base, star base, and proper fleet support could quite possibly fend off the Antarans (or at least kill whichever one of their ships is loaded with bioweapons), plus the star base provides command points. But that ship has sailed, so eh.
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Jun 27, 2020 09:07
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MechaCrash posted:For Military Cybernetics, my vote hinges entirely on one question to which I'm pretty sure I know the answer: can tanks be used offensively or are they only good for repelling ground invasions? Since I'm pretty sure they're purely defensive, I will vote for Power Armor, and not just because power armor is super cool, but because ground invasions are costly, and we'll want every offensive edge we can get. While I'm at it, I take it that the narrative justification for getting this far down the tech tree without figuring out loving tanks is that we're already using tanks, it's just that now we can have significant enough numbers of drone tanks via direct nueral control that they can make up entire divisions by themselves? First, correct, armor barracks are purely defensive. Second, pretty close. I'm assuming Armor Barracks represent a combination of drone swarms and really high grade cybernetically-piloted vehicles that you're tossing extra money into, of course standard ground units before this also contain appropriate armor support. E: Also, MechaCrash, I edited in a new vote category before you posted, but after I first posted the update. If you wanted to vote on that one, go ahead. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 12:16 on Jun 27, 2020 |
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Jun 27, 2020 11:26
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Research: Cybertechnics. We have gone very far in the biology side of things, and it's now time to catch up on the robotic side of things. Especially since now that we can terraform planets, we need ways to boost production to make these processes faster -- contrarily to most other projects, you can't make terraforming near instantaneous by massive investment -- it has to be achieved entirely by accumulated planetary production. So the optimal choice for terraforming a planet is to first build all the production-boosting structure you can (if you get a gravity penalty, gravity generators count) and then put as much of the population as possible on production while the project is going on. Military research: Power Armor. It seems like the kind of things the military thinkers of the Gnolam league would think about when contemplating interventions on alien worlds where, statistically, the likelihood of uncomfortable gravity is much larger than that of a gravity comparable to that of their homeworld. nweismuller posted:Investment Proposals Anyways, maintaining research treaties should remain a priority. Stevas Specialty Industries: trade focus. Colonisation Proposals: all three systems need to be colonized ASAP, and Miract probably should be so that pirates can finally stop appearing in there. But of the three given, priority should go to either Varinia or Taurio so that Shimari becomes less remote from the rest of the league. Cat Mattress fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Jun 27, 2020 |
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Jun 27, 2020 12:31
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News All Day Network posted:-ontinues its efforts to push outside Gnolam space, with Nut-U offering ever increasing amounts of Xenology courses, and investing heavily in foreign trade- Xenology, new Research Treaty and Trade Treaty Revenue for camile Overheard at the office tea dispense posted:"Yeah I know corporate has its bid on the Parmag Prime colony initiative to root Gellum on another planet, but if you'd grown up on Navok like me you'd know how cruel a fate it is to be raised thinking that is what fruit tastes like..." Nutris advert posted:A gnolam sits in a meditative pose in a room with blank with walls.
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Jun 27, 2020 12:40
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Cat Mattress posted:Colonisation Proposals: all three systems need to be colonized ASAP, and Miract probably should be so that pirates can finally stop appearing in there. But of the three given, priority should go to either Varinia or Taurio so that Shimari becomes less remote from the rest of the league. Should I take this as 'vote for either Varinia or Taurio, depending on what other people vote for'?
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Jun 27, 2020 13:46
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For the sneaky vote that got ninja'd in while I was babbling about other bullshit, I say credit boost. I suspect that the trade treaties will give better returns, but in order to give better returns, you must have them. You are always going to have colonies making money, though, so it's a much safer bet. Just because you don't want to start poo poo for the sake of starting poo poo doesn't mean everybody around you will be so agreeable, unfortunately. MechaCrash fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Jun 27, 2020 |
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Jun 27, 2020 14:03
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nweismuller posted:Should I take this as 'vote for either Varinia or Taurio, depending on what other people vote for'? Yeah.
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Jun 27, 2020 14:28
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nweismuller posted:I've been waiting to drop this update on people for a while. Psionics are an established fact in the MoO setting, and here we become aware of this phenomenon... It's definitely an interesting way of explaining "Luck" as an in-game fact. Incidentally, something I've noticed over time is that psionics and "luck is real" are two "magical" elements of stories that sometimes become a part of sci-fi settings without compromising the "scientific" premise. But "luck is real" is a less common (and has become less common over time) quasi-fantastical element in sci-fi for some reason, despite arguably just being an extrapolation of probability theory.
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Jun 27, 2020 14:58
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This is also, incidentally, what Manxome Bromide was working on with me when he did the earlier loreposts. He had a shrewd guess as to where I was going with Lucky, which I confirmed, and I gave him full permission to write some things canonically based on this. I'd like to thank him for his earlier fine work. So, at the moment, we have good information on Gnolams, Humans, and Meklar, and sketchier information on Bulrathi, Antarans, and Nyunyu. Any overall reactions to the known species? Any further questions about the Bulrathi or Nyunyu, that we might be able to get from secondhand sources, or about the races we have more knowledge about?
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Jun 27, 2020 15:26
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The Nyunyu are an interesting case. In the pre-warp era, many of our futurists thought that there was no reason for species to stay at any given level of development for long, and also no reason for FTL travel, should it be possible, to be on any kind of synchronized timescale. Their prediction is that should Gnolam make it into space, they would find beasts or gods, but not Gnolam. As we know, it didn't work out that way, for both tragedy and farce. As tragedy, the most advanced extant race we have encountered are the Antarans, who are incredibly deadly and vastly dangerous, but still clearly a Gnolam-like species that has merely had a modest head start. We have also seen the works of species whose abilities pass all comprehension—the creation of the Meklars, the sealing of the Antarans—but no evidence of the species themselves or their societies. We have no information on how Gnolam-like they might have been, or how recognizable their society might be, beyond that the operation of the Meklar suggest that they had some affinity for Val-like worlds where sugars could be regularly grown. As farce, well. Of the non-Gnolam races we've met, the very first one we met were the Humans, whose basic appearance and demeanor are among the most Gnolam-like of any other life form we have encountered throughout our arm of the Galaxy. The Nyunyu are an anomaly, though. They are the first intelligent species we have encountered that is not also starfaring, and even there, left to their own devices, it seems likely that they were not more than 200 years away from discovering space travel. That isn't even an eyeblink in cosmic time. So they're behind the Gnolam, but broadly speaking are still very clearly Gnolam-class in terms of sophistication. And they are the least advanced species we have word of that is still capable of metalworking! This is disquieting. The Humans had a concept they called the "Great Filter" which suggested that something in the universe destroyed starfaring civilizations before their existence became unmistakable to pre-warp civilizations. What we seem to have found is something that appears to destroy civilizations pre-industrialization. Given the behavior and the timescales, it's hard to shake the thought that what we've found are the Antarans. --- Regarding Luckiness, one of the ideas I was batting around but couldn't come up with a way to use was a Gnolam notion that wealth makes you foolish or careless. If you're sufficiently wealthy and stable, things can go much more seriously wrong before you'd actually face disaster, and you'd lose that (quite literal) sixth sense that would help you stave it off.
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Jun 27, 2020 19:52
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Interested in detail about the Nyunyu sortition system.
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Jun 27, 2020 19:59
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Fortunately, we have a reasonable description of the Nyunyu formal governmental structure from the Meklars. Any adult citizen in good standing can submit their name for consideration for the various executive committees that handle day to day governmental business; legislative business is handled by general referendum of the affected area (which makes republic-wide legislation for the Nyunyu somewhat unwieldy). Committee seats are held for nearly two Val years, staggered so that a third of each committee is rotated out every selection cycle. No citizen may serve more than once on any given committee, and citizens convicted of high crimes by a jury (likewise selected by sortition from the pool of volunteers, but not disqualifying the juror from future jury service) are disqualified from future service in any committee or jury post. Where committees require specialist assistance, they may hire professionals in various specialist fields, but all such civil servants and military officers serve at the sole discretion of the current committee. The net effect has, evidently, been very good at restraining corruption. It has been less good at ensuring governmental duties are executed competently. Still, the overall social stability of Nyunyu society is reportedly good, so evidently their system works well enough for them.
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Jun 27, 2020 20:45
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That about what you were looking for, GunnerJ?
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Jun 27, 2020 20:47
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nweismuller posted:That about what you were looking for, GunnerJ? Yeah that's cool!
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Jun 27, 2020 20:52
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