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What's with the falling political stability?
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Oct 18, 2020 08:39
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PurpleXVI posted:What's with the falling political stability? Capitalist lies. Or, you know, a bunch of disgruntled individuals unhappy about the local countryside glowing at night thanks to a few years of tactical nuclear weapon exchanges
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Oct 18, 2020 09:45
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What can we actually do, game-wise to help maintain political stability and the like?
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Oct 18, 2020 15:32
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PurpleXVI posted:What's with the falling political stability? While nothing ever got truly apocalyptic, the planet was still nuked a few hundred times, and the areas in which the heaviest fighting took place are still badly irradiated. Even in places where no nukes fell, war, civil unrest, and everything that came with it left few places on Earth truly unscathed. Fully rebuilding will take many years, and until then parts of the Earth will remain dangerously unstable. Part of the problem is that, while the Comintern officially has a peacekeeping force, in practice it draws its forces entirely from the member nations' militaries, who deploy troops on temporary assignment - and, with a few wars and active insurgencies still ongoing, and most of those countries still having rebuilding of their own to do, there's just not a ton to spare for humanitarian work. There is a shell of a professional Comintern military, but what little of it exists is currently dedicated entirely to maintaining the space program. NewMars posted:What can we actually do, game-wise to help maintain political stability and the like? Game-wise the only way to do it is by garrisoning the planet with ground troops, which is an option. I can also just arbitrarily reduce or remove the source of the unrest using game-master powers, if someone comes up with solutions that make sense in the fiction but don't work in-game. Even then you're probably going to require some sort of peacekeeping force, though. Note that radiation gradually dissipates on its own, so if you just do nothing things will eventually be fine, a solution which is sure to have no long-term political or diplomatic consequences whatsoever! ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ July 7, 1978 In a very closely contested referendum, the Solomon Islands vote against joining the Union of Australasian Workers' Republics, choosing to remain independent for the time being. July 28, 1978 Astronomers in the Kingdom of Hawaii, working in friendly collaboration with MOSA as part of the International Deep Sky Survey, announce the discovery of Sol's tenth and eleventh planets, and their temporary names for them.   Eris is a small, rocky world similar in size to Pluto. It orbits the Sun in an eccentric, highly inclined orbit with an aphelion of about 14.5 billion kilometers, and an orbital period of 559 years. It has a single tiny moon, Dysnomia.  Minerva is a very cold, very distant, very dim gas giant. The smallest yet discovered, it has a diameter slightly smaller than that of Neptune, and a density a little less than twice that of Saturn. Minerva masses a mere 9.36 Earth-masses, less than one-tenth that of Saturn. It orbits the Sun in a near-circular orbit with a distance of over 27 billion kilometers and an orbital period of 2,428 years. It has an extensive family of twenty-one moons, all currently unnamed. The largest of these, Moon #7, is enormous, the biggest moon in the Solar System by far, with a greater diameter than the planets Eris, Pluto, and Mercury. It is hypothesized that Minerva's gravitational influence has 'cleared the neighborhood' in its orbital path, and thus that it serves as a sort of boundary between the inner Kuiper Belt and the more distant objects beyond. Speaking of the Kuiper Belt, the International Deep Sky Survey, tasked with turning Trans-Newtonian sensor technology to deep space observation, has been busy.  While the existence of such a collection of objects had long been hypothesized, new telescopes and sensors have allowed them to finally be observed, and hundreds of Kuiper Belt objects have already been discovered, most of them as yet unnamed. A few of them are large enough that their discoverers have argued they should be considered planets. August 14, 1978 Members of the Nicaraguan counterrevolutionary guerrilla group known as the Contras raid a military encampment, killing several Nicaraguan soldiers and making off with large quantities of weaponry. Among the dead Contras are three American expatriates. The Sandanista government condemns the attack and promises a swift, decisive response. September 11, 1978 The five-year anniversary of Pinochet's failed coup in Chile is marked by commemorations in socialist states throughout the Americas. In the People's Republic of California, the celebrations are disrupted by refugees protesting conditions in the camps. The protests are peaceful and televised live, and generate a lot of public sympathy for the plight of war refugees. October 9, 1978 The Deep Sky Survey discovers Earth's first confirmed 'Trojan' asteroid, a tiny rock referred to as TK7. October 22, 1978 Construction of the new Ruhr Industrial Megaplex in Germany is completed. The enormous complex is state-of-the-art, and will serve as a model for future Trans-Newtonian industrial development. It is immediately put to work building more of itself. November 7, 1978 The sixty-first anniversary of the October Revolution, a national holiday throughout the Comintern. The highlight of the day's television broadcasts is a live feed of the Luna's bridge crew singing L'Internationale, with the moon looming in the window behind them. November 17, 1978 The first mission to the Moon ends, and the Luna makes a triumphant return to Earth orbit, having gathered invaluable data. Its crew are given a few days of shore leave and then quickly put to work loading outpost infrastructure. The first 250 pioneers, who have spent the last few months undergoing extensive training, begin final preparations for their journey to orbit. November 20, 1978  The Matveyev Design Bureau, as it has come to be known, presents a breakthrough in Trans-Newtonian electrical capacitors. On the same day, a skirmish between two groups of squatters in the ruins of Amiens, France escalates into an enormous city-wide gun battle as various other groups are pulled into the conflict. It takes the French Army several days to restore order, and estimates of the death toll are in the low hundreds. November 29, 1978 250 brave souls board the Tranquility, and the last outpost modules and supplies are secured aboard the Luna. The two ships assemble in orbit. The Luna will go several days in advance, to prepare the way. November 31, 1978  For the second time in history, a human walks on the Moon. Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, already a legend due to completing the world's first spacewalk in 1965, leaves his bootprints in the regolith. There were arguments over exactly which flag he should plant, with a few people arguing that the temporary flag design currently used by the Comintern is nearly identical to the Soviet flag and denouncing 'Russian dominance' over the program. In the end, what he unfurls and plants in the ground is a plain, unadorned red flag. "We come in peace, to build a better future for all," he says, after the flag is planted. He will spend a few hours on the surface alone, visually verifying the suitability of the outpost site, before finally calling down the rest of the landers. Dozens of cosmonauts land, and begin the difficult work of erecting the outpost informally named 'Lunagrad'. As soon as the first structures are assembled and the crew returns to orbit, the Luna turns around and heads right back to Earth, to load more. They will make this trip dozens of times over the coming days, and it will quickly become routine. After the first few trips, no one even bothers to report on it anymore. December 5, 1978 The First 250 arrive at Lunagrad. They are scientists, engineers, common laborers, from 38 different nations, some of which no longer exist. They are the first permanent residents of another world. The Tranquility immediately departs to pick up the next 250; like her sister ship, this journey will quickly become routine. The wait list is in the millions. Even with the thirty-minute travel time, and the few short hours spend loading and unloading each cycle, transporting them all like this would take decades. December 8, 1978 So, uh, we have to talk about the Kingdom of Hawaii.  The Kingdom is the most stable polity formed out of the collapse of the United States. Though not a socialist state or a member of the Comintern, Hawaii's status as a post-colonial state born in a revolution, and its commitment to neutrality, have resulted in it being on generally friendly terms with the Comintern. Moving against it would probably result in the various indigenous-led states and organizations in the Comintern raising hell and possibly lead to some secessions, so nobody dares even speak of the possibility. They've been allowed to chart an independent course, and have emerged as the de facto leader of the various independent island states scattered throughout the Pacific. When the Ministry for Outer Space Affairs was established, a provision was included allowing for the chartering of independent civilian space agencies, the idea being that such bodies could handle logistical tasks and free up the Ministry to focus on exploration. There was much debate over who should be issued the first charter; whether it should go to a nation, or a worker collective, or even a private enterprise (a few Comintern nations still maintain some vestiges of a market system). In the end, a compromise option was selected - a neutral country would receive the first charter, and be allowed to register and operate space vessels under their flag. This is how the newly reborn state of Hawaii got itself a manned space program. It has mostly contented itself with flights to low Earth orbit until now, performing support tasks for the shipyard stations and training flights. Today, however, things changed. Big time.  The Queen Lili'uokalani has been under construction in a sealed shipyard on the surface for nearly a year. Secrecy was strict, and analysts assumed it was an oceangoing ship, presumably some sort of new warship. Today, however, it was hoisted vertical, and, assisted by eight huge detachable rocket boosters, launched into orbit. The ship is impressive in its scale and sheer brute efficiency. It has no scientific instruments, no significant amenites, very little of anything at all, really. Humanity's third interplanetary spacecraft is a box, filled with seats, with rudimentary life support and six enormous engines strapped to its rear. It's big, too, really, really big, twice the size of the Tranquility. An official communique from the Kingdom, polite and tinged with just a hint of smugness, informs the Ministry that they are ready to fulfill the obligations of their spaceflight charter, and offer to begin loading the first fifty thousand people on the wait list for resettlement to Lunagrad. Note: I was really, really not expecting a civilian shipping line to launch a ship literally days after the colony was established, this kind of threw me for a loop. Delegates for the next session of the People's Congress were already beginning to assemble in Algiers, so it's pretty trivial to call an emergency session a couple weeks early. Information is prepared for the delegates to peruse. Planets  Earth continues to exist. Industrial conversion continues apace. There remains a lot of social unrest, and conflict still rages in some of the world's trouble spots.  Lunagrad, only a few days old, has nothing to speak of. Large-scale habitation was always the plan, and the pioneers currently there report that, with some improvisation, the structures currently present on the Moon's surface could be retrofitted to house and support a little over one hundred thousand people, in somewhat ramshackle hab modules. Any more than that will require additional infrastructure to be shipped from Earth, which fortunately the Luna is already doing. Shipyards  With no other work assigned, the shipyard stations are assigned to instead focus on expanding their capacity, allowing larger ships to be built. Research  Our investment in power and propulsion continues to pay dividends. Also close to a breakthrough is Dr. Vasilyev, who reports that he will have cyronic 'tubes' ready for mass production within weeks. This should allow for high-density passenger transport across very long distances. The next update will break down all currently-available research projects and what they do. Leaders We have ships to command, academies to staff, and outposts to govern now, so it's time to talk about leaders and the command and control heirarchy. This will also be covered in the next update. THE 1979 LEGISLATIVE SESSION IS NOW OPEN! a few weeks early There is no Urgent Business requiring an immediate vote. ORDER OF THE DAY: what, if anything, do we do about the Hawaiians? Under the charter we issued them, they have every right to do what they're doing, but it is enormously disruptive, and we're still not entirely sure how they built such a large spacecraft so quickly. Other issues worth considering include the ongoing unrest and instability, future research priorities and lab allocation, and applications for the fancy nuclear thermal engines we've developed. As a reminder, you may submit proposals on any subject. Deliberations will be open for approximately 48 hours before we move on to voting. Mister Bates fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Oct 18, 2020 |
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Oct 18, 2020 17:51
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As premier of the UAWR, I would like to state my support for the Solomon Islands. I understand their hesitancy and wish them well in charting their own future. Speaking of which. Hawaii. I just wish to congratulate them on their remarkable achievement! Space holds our future, life on earth lives on starlight, after all. So in the interests of supporting international cooperation and decreasing the chance of space becoming at all a point of conflict, rather than unity, I propose the treaty of reciprocation. In sort, the idea is that neutral parties such as hawaii will gain access to our space programs and their knowledge so long as they give us access to theirs. I would also like to propose the bilateral humanitarian aid endeavour. Simply put, the idea of this is that new TNE industry will be built first in those regions most economically devastated by the Great Revolutionary War, assuming that they allow workers the right of self-organization. (I have no idea if either of these have game effects or not.)
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Oct 18, 2020 18:27
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Well, we have been duped by the Hawaiians. Sadly, there's nothing we can do about it. Right now we can only accept the facts and keep a wary eye on them. Furthermore I propose the Socialist aid program: Currently we experience a nuclear winter, with the massive ecological and climatological consequences we witnessed earlier this year. On top of this there still exist the massive amounts of refugees as a consequence of The Great Revolutionary War. Instead of stooping down to the level of the capitalist opressors and supressing unrest with jackbooted troops, I propose the production of modular, prefabricated housing to ease the rampart homelessness and the resulting criminal activities. (in game-terms: Production of infrastructure, using the SM-function to delete the infrastructure and increasing our stability.)
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Oct 18, 2020 19:00
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Hawaii definitely has some outside aid. I can buy them having the technical knowhow needed to design that ship, but the sheer amount of materials and highly-skilled labor needed to build it, especially this quickly and secretly, is just too much for such a small nation. That said, until we know more, there's nothing to be gained from antagonizing them so we should just congratulate them and try to step up our timetables for the lunar outpost. And maybe just perhaps investigate how this happened through, ah, unofficial channels. I also have a few proposals of my own: Firstly, a project to design improved hydroponics facilities, with an emphasis on modularity and ease of manufacture and maintenance. We have some on the moon right now, but they're a bit ad hoc and mostly intended to supplement rather than entirely replace supply shipments. Once put into production, we can also sell them to non-affiliated nations who lack food security or want to join the space race themselves. Secondly, a proposal to raise a single security battalion(infantry with personal weapons) of the Comintern army as a test of the new army structures, and to stand guard around Ascension Island. In addition, we will also purchase a number of good, reliable trucks(vehicles with logistics modules), and build a quartermaster corps capable of supplying a small army, ostensibly for humanitarian aid missions. We could raise more soldiers, but I feel like that would raise tensions too much. Building up our supply infrastructure is less provoking, and will still allow us to ramp up training more quickly if need be.
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Oct 18, 2020 19:17
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The Hawaiians aren't harming anyone, unless they start being overtly and disgustingly capitalist and abusing their citizenry, I propose that we leave them alone. Though if they attempt any landgrabs in the solar system, that should be opposed. Space belongs to everyone, not a single nation, a single people or a single corporation. Also, I've been thinking about all this radiation lying around and getting people upset and I've come up with a genius solution to it! Step 1: Load all radioactive soil, water, air and objects into large metal drums. Step 2: Load all these drums on to a space rocket. Step 3: Fire this rocket into the Sun! In one smooth move, composed of three smooth sub-steps, we'll be rid of all the nasty radiation! It'll also demonstrate our resolve and technological superiority to all earth-bound and extraterrestrial observers. I encourage all members of the council to support my project!
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Oct 18, 2020 20:42
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After the disaster of a humanitarian relief effort to the North American north east, it is clear that while our future lies in the stars, our home is in need of care. We should establish a relief force, with a unit for providing aid and associated security forces. Congratulate Hawai'i on their successful deployment of a spacefaring vessel.
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Oct 18, 2020 23:06
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Mister Bates posted:Note: I was really, really not expecting a civilian shipping line to launch a ship literally days after the colony was established, this kind of threw me for a loop. This is weird since they're not supposed to be able to yet. Civilian passenger liners are supposed to need inhabited planets in two different systems and we don't have cryotransport tech for colony ships yet. What's actually in the design, nuclear thermal + a bunch of luxury passenger accommodations?
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Oct 19, 2020 00:54
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Foxfire_ posted:This is weird since they're not supposed to be able to yet. Civilian passenger liners are supposed to need inhabited planets in two different systems and we don't have cryotransport tech for colony ships yet. What's actually in the design, nuclear thermal + a bunch of luxury passenger accommodations? Mechanics-wise it's nuclear thermal plus a bunch of cryotransport modules they shouldn't be able to build because we don't have the technology for them yet. This ship getting built at all is a bug, albeit a minor one. I could have SM-deleted it since it shouldn't be able to exist yet, but I decided to just roll with it, and fluff it as instead being a bunch of people crammed end to end in a big pressurized chamber like an enormous airliner, since the trip to the Moon takes like eight minutes at those speeds so you really don't need cryo tech to achieve high passenger densities.
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Oct 19, 2020 01:11
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My fellow loyalists, we must not be reckless in these early years of the TN age. Our sacred duty is to the workers who make up our many nations, and it is to their benefit that we should be looking. I propose we we refocus our research to prioritize mining and industry. Perhaps once we have the ability to find these new minerals on objects in space, we can properly justify moving workers to them. Furthermore, I say that in the interest of unity and stability across the Earth, we raise an official ComIntern peacekeeping force. Organized gangs, rebels, and yes, even capitalists, continue to abuse workers the world over. We should look to their defense, as well as the defense of our fledgling government.
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Oct 19, 2020 04:23
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RESEARCH So I've been dreading this, but the good thing is I only have to do this once, and then I can just do tech write-ups one at a time as new ones come available. Here's every goddamn technology available for research right now. BIOLOGY/GENETICS Genome Sequence Research 5000 RP: A project to map all of the over three billion nucleotides in the human genome, which will require a large team of skilled biologists and a vast amount of computing power. Has far-reaching implications for medicine and bioscience. In game terms this currently does almost nothing, as the extensive genetic modification system from VB6 is not yet implemented in this version of Aurora. That having been said, if you do research it, there will be benefits to doing so. Terraforming Module 5000 RP: The alternate dimension known formally as Trans-Newtonian Space, or informally in some sources as the 'Aether', contains more than just Trans-Newtonian elements. All the conventional elements of the periodic table can be found drifting through the fluid of Trans-Newtonian spacetime. By modifying the techniques used for mining Trans-Newtonian elements, conventional elements can also be drawn from this dimension into our own, or siphoned out of real-space into Trans-Newtonian space. Doing this requires huge amounts of energy and is only practical with minute amounts of very light elements. Currently, performing this work will require huge surface facilities and massive workforces. This project will develop a miniaturized system that can be lofted into orbit on a space station or a ship, and perform the work with a fraction of the personnel. Terraforming Modules are exactly as effective as planet-bound Terraforming Installations, but require only 100 crew instead of 250,000 population, and are much more mobile. They're also cheaper. Once you've got these there's no reason to ever build planet-bound terraformers. Terraforming Rate 0.00032atm 3000 RP: Improved cross-dimensional boring techniques increase the rate at which gases can be siphoned out of, or pumped into, Trans-Newtonian space. CONSTRUCTION/PRODUCTION: Construction Rate 12 BP 3000 RP: At the moment, our 'Trans-Newtonian' factories are still basically using conventional tools, equipment, and production techniques, with TNEs substituted for conventional materials in a few places. This project will involve an extensive study of industrial processes and machinery, as well as experiments in materials science, engineering, and physics. The goal will be a radical transformation of heavy industry to take advantage of the extraordinary properties of TNEs. The new methods and materials should result in faster, safer, cleaner, and more efficient work. A straightforward incremental improvement of the Build Point output for Construction Factories and Construction Equipment. Fighter Production Rate 12 BP 3000 RP: The aerospace industry is another which has yet to really take proper advantage of TNEs. This project will encompass a series of experiments with the goal of integrating TNEs into aircraft design and developing a system of standards and practices for their use. The same as the last, but for Fighter Factories. Fuel Production 48,000 Litres 3000 RP: Refining Sorium into usable fuel is a difficult and energy-intensive process. The refining machinery we currently use is basically research equipment, and is not equipped to supply the needs of our growing Trans-Newtonian economy. We will develop practical industrial-scale refining technology. Same as the last, but for Fuel Refineries. Maintenance Production Rate 24 MSP 5000 RP: As our space fleet grows, so too will its hunger for spare parts, tools, and other maintenance supplies. We will optimize production and distribution of these critical resources. Same as the last, except for Maintenance Facility supply output. Maximum Orbital Mining Diameter 125 km 2000 RP: A theoretical improvement to the capabilities of an orbital mining module, a technology which does not yet exist. Increases the max size of bodies that can be mined from orbit. Since we can't mine anything from orbit right now, this technology does nothing. Mining Production 12 tons 3000 RP: Mining Trans-Newtonian Elements is a lot more complicated than just digging them out of the ground. These exotic materials don't exactly exist in our universe in their unrefined forms. They must be drawn across the boundary between universes, then stabilized. This involves boring a minute tunnel through the very fabric of spacetime, holding it open, and passing a great deal of energy through it, then mixing the resulting 'ore' with conventional materials to anchor it in realspace. The machines with which we do it now are slow, crude, and inefficient. We can do much better. Incremental improvement of the TNE production per Mine, Automated Mine, or Orbital Mining Module. Orbital Mining Module 5000 RP: A miniaturized, mobile Trans-Newtonian mining machine, capable of being mounted on a ship or space station. Because it operates from orbit, it cannot bore very deeply into a gravity well, and thus can only be used on very small bodies. Has the same output as a Mine, but requires a very small crew, is mobile, and can be used on uncolonized bodies. It can also only be used on very, very small objects. Shipbuilding Rate 560 BP 5000 RP: Developing purpose-built tools and heavy equipment for orbital shipbuilding, and a set of standards for using them, should significantly increase the speed with which we can build ships. You know the drill, incremental improvement, blah blah blah. Build ships faster. Shipyard Operations: 5% Time/Cost Saving 2500 RP: Establishing a professional organization of shipwrights, a technical college for educating them, and a formal administrative body to oversee them will be the first step in developing a proper orbital shipbuilding industry. Expand shipyard capacity faster and cheaper. Build new slipways faster and cheaper. You don't know it yet, but you want this technology very, very badly. Sorium Harvester 5000 RP: Sorium is the lightest of the known Trans-Newtonian elements, the one which 'floats' nearest to the top of gravity wells in TN space, and the easiest one to draw into realspace. As such, it is the only one which is practical to mine from gas giants - and based on our theoretical models, it should accumulate there in very large quantities. This device combines a trans-dimensional bore, a gas siphon, and a fuel refinery, and will be able to draw raw Sorium from a gas giant, then immediately refine it into usable fuel on site. A mining module and fuel refinery rolled into one, that can only be used on gas giants. Gas giants often have vast quantities of sorium, and this is the only way to get at it. Wealth Generation per Million TN Workers: 120 3000 RP: Our research into TNEs will be turned towards consumer goods and the service industry. New production techniques, new technologies, and new materials should allow us to produce more for less, not only increasing the average standard of living, but also reducing the amount of resources required to provide that standard of living. Wealth is used for everything. It is produced by population. This increases the amount of wealth produced by populations. DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS Alpha Shields 1000 RP: Experiments with corbomite have shown that a thin lattice of the material, when charged by a powerful electrical current, can project a powerful energy field. It should have many defensive applications. Shields are a sci fi cliche at this point, you know what shields are. Alpha Shields are the weakest, cheapest shields you can get. Cloaking Theory 10,000 RP: Invisibility is impossible, you can't actually cloak a ship visually. Fortunately, space is enormous, so we don't have to do that. This project is a study of practical stealth technology. Preliminary work indicates that a modification of the same corbomite-lattice approach used to produce energy shields could be used to build a device that would 'mask' most of a ship's mass, making it appear to mass much less than it actually did. A ship equipped with such a device would exercise much less gravitational influence over realspace, and would thus be much harder to detect using active gravitational sensors. Prerequisite technology for all the cloaking techs, which let you make ships that are very hard to detect with active sensors. Conventional Composite Armor 250 RP: At the moment our ships' outer hulls are constructed mostly of steel and aluminum. This project will replace most of them with high-strength composite materials. This doesn't necessarily make our armor stronger per se - what it does is reduces the mass of X amount of armor strength, allowing us to fit more armor into the same amount of mass - or keep the same amount of armor and free up that space for something else. Early game armor is extremely loving inefficient and our first ship designs waste a ton of space on heavy steel plating. Damage Control 5000 RP: If there's one constant in the universe, it's this: things break. As we spread to the stars, it is certain that eventually, somewhere, something mission-critical will break far away from any shipyard or maintenance facility, and it may need to be repaired very quickly if the ship and crew are to survive. We will develop tools and techniques for rapid emergency repairs in the field. Damage Control modules increase the speed at which a ship can repair parts that have been damaged or destroyed, usually in battle. Only works if the ship has enough maintenance supplies on hand to fix the damaged component. Maximum Shield Generator Size - 12 2000 RP: Build bigger shield generators that make stronger shields. Shield Regeneration Rate 1 1000 RP: The rate at which shields recharge. Early tech shields charge very slowly. Thermal Reduction: Signature 75% Normal 1500 RP: Engines give off an enormous amount of heat, which can be detectable from very long range. By developing a system of Trans-Newtonian 'baffles' which radiate part of the engine's thermal output across the dimensional boundary into TN space, we can reduce the effective thermal output of an engine, making it more difficult to detect. While cloaking makes a ship harder to detect with active sensors, thermal reduction makes it harder to detect with passive thermal sensors. Unlike cloaking, this isn't a separate module, it's just applied to the engine design. Baffled engines have exactly the same performance as an equivalent non-baffled engine, but they can be much more expensive, and are thus generally reserved for a few ship classes that can benefit from stealth. ENERGY WEAPONS 10cm Laser Focal Size 1000 RP: Lasers have been around for about eighteen years and have many scientific applications, but their military use has remained strictly theoretical until now - it was simply not practically possible to make a beam of sufficient intensity to use as a weapon. Corundium focusing lenses should be able to produce brilliant, powerful beams that output incredible energy at great ranges. Base technology for laser weapons; this is essentially the 'caliber' of the weapon, and is the main thing determining how much damage a laser does. 10cm Meson Focal Size 1000 RP: One of the more exotic energy weapon proposals, meson cannons fire packets of subatomic particles that should be able to pass through solid objects before explosively annihilating themselves. In theory, such a weapon should be able to bypass a target's armor and detonate inside a target. Same as lasers, but for meson cannons. All meson cannons do 1 point of damage, but they do it through shields, and have a pretty good chance of bypassing armor as well. Since they only ever do 1 damage, increasing the caliber basically just increases their range. 10cm Microwave Focal Size 1000 RP: A beam of high-powered microwaves has been proposed as an active electronic warfare system, disabling a target's sensors, fire controls, and other electronic systems. Such a weapon would probably do no direct damage to a spacecraft on its own, but still shows promise as a tactical weapon. Microwaves do no damage to hull or armor, but they absolutely rip through shields, and then bypass armor to do damage directly to ship systems. A well-applied microwave attack can leave an enemy ship blind, deaf, and defenseless, easy prey for a follow-up attack with a damaging weapon. 15cm Carronade 500 RP: The simplest and most immediately practical of the various energy weapon designs that have been proposed, the plasma cannon uses a ring of powerful TN electromagnets to shape a volume of superheated ionized gas into a coherent 'bolt', which is accelerated out of the device's bore at relativistic speeds. The weapon should be capable of delivering terrifying amounts of thermal and mechanical force on impact at close range, potentially melting clean through a target's armor. The downside is that there is nothing holding the projectile together except the electromagnets in the weapon's barrel, and the plasma will begin to dissipate almost immediately upon leaving the barrel. This will lead to short range and rapid damage falloff. Plasma carronades are very short range, very high damage weapons, basically space shotguns. Unlike all other energy weapons, they only require one tech to make instead of two or three, and they're relatively cheap RP-wise. This may lead you to think they're bad, and you'd be wrong. Used intelligently, they're brutally effective. Infrared Laser 500 RP: A laser emitter that outputs in the infrared wavelength. Wavelength is the main modifier on a laser weapon's range. Higher wavelength equals longer max range and less damage falloff with range. Meson Armour Retardation 50% 500 RP: Denser meson 'packets' should be able to penetrate deeper into a target before detonating. This is the percentage chance that a meson cannon shot will be blocked by a single layer of armor. If it is blocked, it does one damage to the armor instead of the components inside. Meson Focusing Technology 1 1000 RP: Elongating and narrowing the meson packet should result in a much longer effective range. Higher focus, longer range, pretty straightforward. Microwave Focusing Technology 1 1000 RP: A narrower, more focused, more intense beam should be effective at longer ranges. Ditto, fry shields and electronics from further away. Particle Beam Range 60,000 km 1000 RP: Before the Trans-Newtonian era, particle accelerators were enormous things, the size of buildings or even bigger, and required extensive power infrastructure. This novel proposal suggests a cyclotron particle accelerator that makes extensive use of TNEs to massively reduce its size and increase its power output, then directs the resulting beam of relativistic-speed charged particles out of an emitter as a weapon. The beam should hit a target with much force even at extreme range. Particle beams do less damage than lasers but suffer no damage fall-off at all, always doing their maximum possible damage no matter the range. Particle Beam Strength 2 2000 RP: More powerful particle accelerators should result in more damaging beams. Higher strength, more damage. Reduced-Size Laser 0.75 Size / 4x Recharge 5000 RP: Self-explanatory, smaller lasers that take longer to recharge. Spinal Mount 5000 RP: By integrating a laser emitter and its associated electronics into the central structural spine of a ship, we believe we can construct and operate much larger, more powerful lasers than we otherwise could. Spinal mounts work only with lasers. You can only have one on a ship, and it can be one size higher than your normal maximum size. Turret Tracking Speed (10% Gear) 2000 km/s 1000 RP: Integrating TNEs into our gear designs should allow them to handle incredible strain. Weapons can be mounted in turrets to increase the max speed at which they can accurately track a target. This technology increases the tracking speed of a turret dedicating 10% of its mass to rotational gears. You can always increase the tracking speed by increasing the percentage dedicated to gear, resulting in a larger turret. The higher this tech, the smaller a turret has to be to achieve a desired tracking speed. GROUND COMBAT Construction Equipment 5000 RP: Mobile Trans-Newtonian construction and engineering equipment, including earthmovers, cranes, and other heavy machinery. It's a Construction Factory, but it requires no population, and is mobile. Must be mounted on a ground vehicle. Desert Warfare Training, Jungle Warfare Training, Mountain Warfare Training, Rift Valley Warfare Training 5000 RP each: Specialized training regimens, tactics, and equipment for carrying out warfare in different environments. Makes a ground unit more effective in that terrain type. One unit can be given more than one. Extreme Pressure Capability, Extreme Temperature Capability, High Gravity Capability, Low Gravity Capability 5000 RP each: One day it is conceivable that our soldiers may have to do battle on worlds other than Earth, and they may face any number of extreme environments with their own unique challenges. We must develop weapons, equipment, and tactics for fighting in these environments. Same as previous. Fighter Air-to-Air Pod, Autocannon Pod, Bombardment Pod 5000 RP each: Enhancing our existing aircraft weapon technology with Trans-Newtonian materials. They're weapons you put on fighters, allowing direct fire against other airplanes, close air support, or bombing. For when you want to support your ground formations with fighters but don't want to bathe the enemy in nuclear fire. Geosurvey Equipment 5000 RP: A suite of scientific equipment for exploring and surveying planetary surfaces. Geological Survey Sensors, but on the ground. Allows ground surveys. Ground Formation Construction Rate - 320 2000 RP: Developing training manuals and curriculum for applying TNE-based equipment in combat should increase the rate at which we can train new ground troops. Incremental production speed increase tech, but for the rate at which ground forces are trained. Ground Unit Base Type - Heavy Vehicle 5000 RP: TNE-based materials and power plants should in theory allow us to make really, really big armored vehicles, encased in thick armor and bristling with weapons. It's a big-rear end heavy vehicle. You can put big guns on it, you can put construction equipment on it to make a heavy engineering vehicle, you can make a gigantic supply crawler or a mobile headquarters or an exploration rover. Heavy Anti-Air Weapons 6000 RP: Developing a TNE-based surface-to-air missile, and the search arrays and targeting systems required to use it, should revolutionize strategic-level anti-aircraft capability. Big, heavy, expensive backline support anti-air system, for when you absolutely, positively need every enemy fighter in a battlespace destroyed. Heavy Anti-Vehicle Weapon 5000 RP: As vehicles get bigger and armor gets stronger, we will need to keep pace with our weapon designs. Large-caliber, high-velocity guns, more effective shaped charges and penetrators, and larger, heavier anti-tank guided missiles will ensure we remain competitive no matter what a future enemy throws our way. Me like big gun. Me put big gun on armored chassis. Big gun make big tank go kaboom. Heavy Autocannon 8000 RP: The high strength, durability, and favorable thermal properties of TNEs allow for revolutionary autocannon designs, that rip into targets with an absolute deluge of high-caliber shells. Autocannons are equally effective against infantry and armored targets. This is a really big one. Heavy Bombardment Weapon 6000 RP: What's better than artillery? Bigger artillery. TNE-reinforced barrels, gun carriages, and projectile designs will let us make very large indirect-fire weapons. Artillery can engage in indirect fire from the back line, to support troops fighting on the front lines, or engage in counterbattery fire against enemy artillery. This one's bigger. Heavy Crew-Served Anti-Personnel 4000 RP: As an anonymous French revolutionary was quoted as saying during the Battle of Amiens, you don't need to be a better shot, you just need to fire more bullets. Regular crew-served anti-personnel weapons are very good at killing large numbers of infantry quickly. Heavy CSAP is that, but bigger and scarier. Heavy Static Armour 6000 RP: You would think stationary emplacements would be very easy to armor. You would be wrong - it's not as simple as just slapping more metal on the outside; you also need to engineer the structure in such a way that it doesn't fall down under all that additional weight. Armor makes things more difficult to kill. This lets you more heavily armor stationary emplacements such as bunkers and surface-to-orbit installations. Heavy Vehicle Armour 5000 RP: Armor, on a vehicle, which is heavy. Trans-Newtonian materials should allow for very thick, very dense armor without sacrificing a vehicle's speed or maneuverability. For people who derive satisfaction from the sound of the enemy's anti-tank shells ricocheting off their armor. Long Range Bombardment Weapon 6000 RP: Rocket artillery is nothing new, rocket artillery capable of this kind of accuracy at this kind of range certainly is new. It's a Medium Bombardment Weapon with the range of a Heavy Bombardment Weapon, for cheaper, lighter long-range support with a smaller logistical footprint. Powered Infantry Armour 2000 RP: A game-changing development in infantry combat, these powered, armored exoskeletons should increase a wearer's strength and speed while also massively increasing their durability against anti-infantry weapons. Makes infantry using it a lot harder to kill and a lot more expensive. Troop Transport Bay - Standard 4000 RP: A spacecraft module that can house ground troops and their equipment, and (slowly) deploy them on planetary surfaces. Not equipped for drops into hot LZs. It's a cargo hold but it carries ground units instead of cargo. Xenoarchaeology Equipment 5000 RP: Given that we already know extraterrestrial life exists, and that it was present in this very solar system, developing a suite of scientific equipment intended specifically for studying artificial structures on alien worlds seems prudent. If and when you find alien ruins, send in the xenoarchaeologists to unlock their secrets. you know what, gently caress it, it's extremely late and there's a billion of these, I'll edit in the rest tomorrow Logistics Boat Bay 1000 RP: The most difficult part of developing an enclosed hangar on a spacecraft is the outer door, which has to be very large, capable of opening directly to space, and also capable of sealing well enough to maintain a pressurized environment inside the hangar when closed. The pumps required to rapidly evacuate the atmosphere of the bay are also a major engineering challenge. Basically, the entire hangar has to be one giant airlock. Even so, we believe that small hangars should be relatively easy to design. Boat bays and hangar bays allow smaller craft to dock with and be carried inside larger ones. The mothership provides maintenance, fuel, and ordnance to the docked ship, and berths its crew, so the docked ship does not accrue deployment time. This early bay will allow us to dock up to 250 tons worth of craft per bay. Boat Bay - Small 500 RP: Very small internal docking bays should be trivially easy to develop. Same, but 125 tons, which is of questionable utility. You can make a fighter that small, but the reason you would do so is because you want to deploy a whole lot of them; I'm hard pressed to think of a use case for one by itself. Cargo Hold - Large 2500 RP: 'A bigger box' seems like it would be a simple proposition, but making a large empty void in a spacecraft structurally sound is actually a pretty difficult engineering challenge. As with most things, TNE-based materials should simplify the undertaking a great deal. Large cargo holds can transport 125000 units of cargo capacity each. For comparison, our Luna freighter's 5 Tiny-size cargo holds can transport a combined total of 2500. Colonization Cost Reduction 5% 10000 RP: Humans are not designed to survive anywhere except Earth, and, unless we find another planet with a similar environment, wherever we wish humans to survive, we'll have to bring a little piece of Earth there. At the moment, the equipment to do this is big, bulky, and inefficient. Habitat modules are low, squat things encased in heavy steel and dense radiation shielding, with little porthole windows. Merely maintaining basic life support functions will occupy much of our pioneers' labor. We can do better. Colony Cost is a multiplier which determines how much life support infrastructure it takes to support a human population on a planet, and what percentage of that population must dedicate their labor to basic survival. A 5% reduction may not seem like much, but it adds up on worlds with large populations or very harsh environments. Cryogenic Transport - Emergency 2000 RP: In addition to passenger transport, the Vasilyev Process shows great promise in the medical field, and one of the proposals on our desks is for a very small cryo module for use in emergency situations. A normal cryo module holds 10,000 people; this one holds 200. May seem useless, but when we're losing ships and need to pick up their lifeboats before the survivors all asphyxiate, a zippy little search and rescue shuttle with one of these in it is going to look mighty appealing. Cryogenic Transport - Small 1000 RP: A midpoint between the huge standard model and the miniaturized emergency model. Holds 1000 people, is mainly used on hospital ships. Fuel Storage - Large 1000 RP: Developing bigger fuel tanks is a similar engineering challenge to developing larger cargo bays, but has a few unique challenges of its own. Holds 250,000 liters of fuel. Improved Command and Control 5000 RP: It is conceivable that, one day, humanity may spread to the stars. If and when we do, carrying out governance on such a grand scale will require new forms of organization, new administrative techniques, and new technology. Allows the construction of Sector Command facilities, which will allow us to organize star systems into Sectors and assign civilian administrators to these sectors. Sector admins give bonuses to every settled world in their sector. Maintenance Module 5000 RP: At the moment, spacecraft maintenance is carried out by large, stationary facilities, and miniaturizing their functions into something that can be made mobile will take a lot of work - but it can be done. It's a Maintenance Facility, but it requires no workers and can be mounted on a ship or space station. Maintenance Support per Facility 1250 Tons 2000 RP: Maintaining and repairing a spaceship in orbit is a new field, and we are still novices. With a bit of work, and a bit of thought, we could become much more efficient at it. At the moment, each maintenance facility can provide maintenance support for up to 1000 tons of ship, meaning if our navy had a total of, say, 100,000 fleet tonnage we'd need 100 fully operational maintenance facilities to keep them all in top condition. This incremental technology reduces the number of maintenance facilities we'll need. Orbital Habitat Module 5000 RP: Every space station built by humanity to date has been a small, cramped thing composed of little cylindrical modules and skeletal struts. With TNEs, we believe we can build them bigger. Much, much bigger. Can only be mounted on space stations. Each module provides life support and living space for 50,000 people, and completely bypasses infrastructure requirements, surface gravity, and planet population capacity. On some particularly hostile planets, like Venus, orbital habs are the only realistic way to have a permanent population. Ordnance Transfer Hub 10000 RP: One day we may have a navy, and that navy may use missiles. In that case, it won't do for them to have to sail all the way back to Earth to replenish their magazines. A ship or station with one of these can reload the missile stores of multiple ships at once, provided it has missiles to reload them with, of course. Ordnance Transfer System: 48 MSP per Hour 2000 RP: Semi-automated systems that should make transferring missiles, probes, and buoys between ships faster. Load ships' magazines faster. Refuelling Hub 10000 RP: The further we range from Earth, the more important ready access to fuel will be. Like the Ordnance Transfer Hub, but for refueling. Refuelling System: 60,000 LPH 2000 RP: More efficient pumping systems will allow us to transfer fuel between ships more quickly. LPH is 'liters per hour'; a ship with this technology can refuel another ship's tanks at that rate. Salvage Module 500 5000 RP: Given that we have already discovered one wrecked alien ship, we must be prepared for the possibility we will find more. Lets a ship salvage shipwrecks to recover TNEs or technology. Ship to Ship Tractor Beam 5000 RP: A concentrated beam of gravitational force that can 'link' two ships together. Potential applications include tugs and rescue ships. Without these, the only way you're going to get to use space stations is if you assemble them on-site, and any ship that loses its engines might as well just scuttle itself. Trans-Newtonian Cargo Shuttles 5000 RP: The landers currently in use are modifications of craft developed for the old lunar program. They work, but they're slow and low-capacity. Developing new light spacecraft designed for short-range hops to and from low orbit will pay dividends in the long run. Freighters and passenger ships don't load or unload instantly, they need shuttles either on the ship or on the planet's surface and it takes time. The better the shuttles, the faster that happens. Underway Replenishment 20% Rate 2500 RP: At the moment any ships that wish to dock with each other to transfer crew or resources would have to slow to a stop. This project aims to develop the capability to carry out these transfers while under thrust. Lets ships refuel, rearm, and resupply while moving, at 20% the normal rate of transfer. MISSILES/KINETIC WEAPONS 10cm Railgun 1000 RP: An electrically-powered projectile weapon which uses two powerful electromagnetic rails to accelerate a ferromagnetic projectile to incredible speeds. People have been trying to design a practical railgun since World War 1 and the first design was patented in 1922, and technically feasible designs have been around since the 1940s. The limitations have always been the enormous power requirements and the extreme structural strain the rails are subjected to. TNEs make both of these problems look very solvable, and with a bit of work it should be easy to create a practical railgun. Railguns do less damage than lasers per projectile, but each individual railgun 'shot' is actually a burst of four projectiles. If all four shots hit, they do more total raw damage than an equivalent-caliber laser, but it's less concentrated and thus worse at piercing armor. Box Launcher Explosion Chance - 70% 1000 RP: Armoring our missile launch tubes should make them less likely to explode catastrophically when hit. Sometimes when missiles in box launchers are hit, they explode in the tube. This is very bad. This makes that less likely. Enhanced Radiation Warhead (50% Yield, 2x Rad) 1000 RP: It is theoretically possible for us to develop a nuclear warhead tuned for maximum radiation output and minimum explosive force, in order to kill as much of an enemy's civilian population as possible while minimizing damage to infrastructure. The mere suggestion of this proposal has generated a lot of controversy in the scientific community, and actually building one of these weapons is sure to infuriate a lot of people. Designed specifically for use against civilian populations, and of little use against warships or ground units, missiles with these warheads pump a lot of hard radiation into the target at the cost of sacrificing half of their direct damage. There will be severe political consequences for building these. Gauss Cannon Launch Velocity 10,000 500 RP: A coilgun is an electrically-powered projectile weapon which uses a series of coiled electromagnets to accelerate a projectile down a barrel. Much less powerful than a railgun, they're also much easier to build and power. Gauss cannons do exactly one damage per shot, no matter how advanced they get. They also require no reactor to power them, can be made extremely small with no additional miniaturization tech, and can be mounted in turrets. Higher launch velocity means longer range and better accuracy at range. An essential tech for CIWS. Gauss Cannon Rate of Fire 2 1500 RP: Better capacitors and a more advanced projectile loading system will allow a coilgun to fire a shot every 2.5 seconds. The rate of fire is per 5-second increment. High tech level gauss cannons are the fastest-firing weapons in the game and allow for unmatched volume of fire. Implosion Fission Warhead: Strength 3xMSP 2000 RP: TNE-based nuclear warheads should be much smaller and much more powerful than their counterparts made out of conventional materials. Warhead strength is how much damage a Size 1 missile warhead will do. You can of course make the warhead bigger to do more damage, but that will result in a bigger missile. Magazine Feed System Efficiency - 75% 1000 RP: At the moment, auto-loading systems are bulky and will take up a lot of the space in a magazine. The more efficient we can make them, the more space can be dedicated to missiles. Carry more missiles in the same amount of space, what's not to love? Magazine Neutralization System - 70% Chance 500 RP: Magazine explosions are bad news, and developing better fire suppression systems and a series of automated emergency bulkheads will make them less likely. Sometimes when missile magazines are hit they blow up, which is usually a death sentence. This technology makes that less likely. Missile Agility 32 per MSP 2000 RP: Better maneuvering thrusters and more advanced targeting computers will make our missiles more accurate against fast-moving targets. There are two ways to make a missile more accurate: make it faster, and make it more agile. This technology allows us to make more agile missiles. Missile Launcher Reload Rate 2 2000 RP: Faster auto-loaders will increase the rate of fire of our missile tubes. Reload rate is the size of launcher that can be reloaded in 30 seconds - so at rate 2, a size 2 launcher will take 30 seconds per shot, a size 1 launcher 15 seconds, a size 4 launcher 60 seconds, etc. Ordnance Production 12 BP 3000 RP: Streamlining the assembly lines will allow for faster missile production. Incremental build speed improvement for Ordnance Factories. Railgun Launch Velocity 10000 1000 RP: Faster railgun projectiles are more accurate and longer-ranged. POWER AND PROPULSION Capacitor Recharge Rate 3 4000 RP: We've already made some advances in TN electrical systems, and further research in this field should result in even greater rewards. The recharge rate is how much power we can feed into a weapon system in every 5-second increment, so at Recharge Rate 3 we could charge a weapon system requiring 3 power in 5 seconds, 6 power in 10 seconds, etc. Improved Pressurized Water Reactor 1200 RP: Having converted a conventional nuclear reactor to use TNEs, the logical next step is to design a reactor from the ground up to use them. While it is an iterative development, it's still an important one. A slightly better reactor, that is a precursor to a slightly better engine technology. Engine and power plant techs all work that way - each new power plant unlocks a new engine tech, and each new engine unlocks a new power plant tech. Jump Point Theory 5000 RP: The geometry of spacetime in Trans-Newtonian space is difficult to understand, but we know it differs substantially from realspace. A few of our scientists have hypothesized that, at certain points in TN space with very specific physical characteristics, a 'bridge' between two very distant points in realspace might be able to exist. If such a thing were to exist, and it could be stabilized enough to send objects through, it would allow for near-instant travel across interstellar distances. Prerequisite tech for all technology related to faster-than-light travel. Maximum Engine Size 40 2000 RP: Our current materials science places a hard upper limit on the size of an engine, but with a bit of work we could safely make them bigger. Bigger engines are more fuel-efficient but also easier to disable. Minimum Engine Power Modifier x0.4 1000 RP: Sometimes you just need a little less rocket. Lower power equals more fuel efficiency. Power Plant Boost 10% Explosion 7% 500 RP: By removing a few nonessential safety systems, we can achieve higher power outputs from our nuclear reactors, with only a slight increase in the risk of catastrophic explosions. More power from the same-size reactor, with a risk of the reactor exploding when hit by an enemy weapon. Mainly useful in fighters, which are generally dead if they get hit anyway. SENSORS AND CONTROL SYSTEMS Active Grav Sensor Strength 10 1000 RP: The potential for these devices was actually discovered by accident, a byproduct of Trans-Newtonian mining research. By modifying the machine used to open the trans-dimensional bore, and passing an extreme-voltage electrical current through it, a 'pulse' of gravity waves can be sent radiating out from that point through TN space in all directions; the scientists presenting the proposal liken it to the ripples produced when you drop a rock into a pond. These waves interact with physical objects of sufficient mass, and the resulting disturbances can be detected by a properly configured uridium antenna array. This is one half of the technology for active grav sensors, specifically the half that generates the output pulse. Grav sensors are basically active sonar in space - they send out a 'ping' and then listen for the echoes. The most reliable way to detect ships, and a vitally important component for warships, they're also not stealthy at all. Think of it like turning on a flashlight in a dark room - you can see, but now everyone can see you, too. Auxiliary Control 2000 RP: Redundancy is an important consideration in deep space missions. The Auxiliary Control is a smaller, secondary bridge, serving as a backup in case a ship's main bridge is destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperative. During emergencies or theoretical combat scenarios, the ship's first officer will be stationed here. A ship with an Auxiliary Control can assign an officer as Executive Officer, the second in command immediately below the captain. The Executive Officer's skill bonuses will be applied to the ship similar to the captain's. Beam Fire Control Range 32000 km 2000 RP: To aim direct-fire weapon systems at ranges in the hundreds of thousands of kilometers, specialized targeting systems are required. This is one half of that project, focusing on developing the ranging/targeting laser. Beam weapons cannot fire at a longer range than the maximum of the fire control. You can make beam FCs larger to increase their max range beyond the normal max allowed by your technology (or make them smaller at the cost of reduced range). 32,000 kilometers seems like a lot, but space is loving enormous, and that's just about knife fight range. Combat Information Centre 10000 RP: The most paranoid members of the Ministry of Outer Space Affairs' administrative committees speak of the possibility of a full-scale war with a hostile alien power, dozens of ships, hundreds of tactical options to keep track of, a vast deluge of mission-critical data that must be tracked and sorted through in an instant. They propose the development of an advanced tactical center capable of collecting and processing information from a battlespace, organizing it, and presenting it, in order to facilitate command and control in a combat situation. The computer systems that will need to be developed for this 'CIC' are...well, they're technically feasible, but making them a reality will take years. A ship with a CIC can assign an officer as Tactical Officer. The Tactical Officer applies skill bonuses to the ship's combat capabilities. Electronic Hardening Level 1 2500 RP: Sheathing sensitive parts of our shipboard electronics in protective materials should make them less vulnerable to disruption. Can be applied to sensors and a few other components in order to armor them against attack from high-powered microwaves. Electronic Intelligence and Analysis Module - Strength 5 2000 RP: The Cold War has taught us that, even in times of peace, it is sometimes essential to see what the other side does not want you to see. Intelligence-gathering module, for spy ships. Park it in enemy territory to listen in on their communications and steal their secrets. Usually used in combination with stealth technology and powerful passive sensors. Electronic Warfare 5000 RP: The arms race between designers of electronic counter-measures and counter-counter-measures, in the years before the Great Revolutionary War, reminds one of the dreadnought era's constant struggle between gun-makers and armor-makers. We expect the trend to continue in space warfare, and will develop a theoretical framework for applying TN tech to E-War. A precursor tech that does nothing on its own, but unlocks ECM and ECCM techs. EM Sensor Sensitivity 6 2000 RP: A uridium-based antenna can be configured to detect emissions across the electromagnetic spectrum. Large, stationary models are already in use for civilian astronomy, as radio telescopes. Smaller, ship-mounted ones could be configured to detect artificial EM emissions. This tech serves two purposes. It's the other half of active sensors, the 'listening' component. It also allows you to construct passive EM sensors, which detect various forms of EM emission, such as raised shields. Passive sensors don't transmit anything, they just listen, and as a result they cannot be detected by an opponent. Fire Control Speed Rating 2000 km/s 2000 RP: The other half of a direct-fire targeting control system, just as important as the sensor package, is the control computer. More powerful computers, with more advanced software, will allow our beam targeting systems to accurately track and fire at faster targets. Tracking speed acts as a modifier on accuracy - you can still fire at targets faster than your max tracking speed, but suffer penalties to accuracy for doing so. Very high tracking speed is essential for anti-missile and anti-fighter weapons. As with range, you can make the fire control system bigger to increase max tracking speed past the normal limitations of the tech. Flag Bridge 3000 RP: Coordinating an entire fleet of ships on maneuver requires a different skillset from commanding a single vessel, and access to different information, as well. The flag bridge will be a command center optimized for this function. Allows you to appoint a flag officer as a Fleet Commander, who will grant combat bonuses to every ship under their command. Main Engineering 5000 RP: While every ship has an engineering section, larger ships, or ships that will be deployed for a very long time, may need to dedicate more space to maintenance and repair. A Main Engineering module will include a small machine shop, limited light manufacturing facilities, a very wide selection of diagnostic equipment, and a central monitoring station from which every piece of information critical to the ship's continued functioning can be monitored. A chief engineer's dream. A ship with a Main Engineering module can appoint an officer as Chief Engineer, granting the ship a bonus to its maintenance and repair rates provided they have the appropriate skill. Max Tracking Time for Bonus vs. Missiles: 30 Seconds (6%) 1000 RP: Writing improved targeting software specific to anti-missile work will lead to more effective point defense. With this tech, the longer a beam fire control tracks a missile, the more accurate its shots on that missile will be. With this level of the tech, the bonus maxes out after 30 seconds of continuous tracking. Planetary Sensor Strength 300 3000 RP: Our planetary observatories and sensor arrays have already granted us a wealth of knowledge about our own solar system; we've even discovered planets we didn't know existed. Who knows what we'll be able to see if we make them bigger and more powerful. This is the passive sensor strength provided by each Deep Space Tracking Station on a planetary body. DSTS require minimal staffing and can be placed on otherwise-uninhabited worlds as stealthy listening posts, or they can be placed on inhabited bodies to provide early warning of incoming threats or simply track movement in the area. Primary Flight Control 10000 RP: As the Combat Information Centre will manage a warship, so will the Primary Flight Control facility manage a theoretical carrier ship's fighter squadrons. From this advanced facility, a command team can track dozens of small ships simultaneously, coordinate their actions, and alert them to incoming threats. Allows a ship with this module to assign an officer as Commander, Air Group. A CAG grants combat bonuses based on their skills to the ship's fighters. Science Department 5000 RP: A suite of laboratories, clean-rooms, and offices built around a state-of-the-art Trans-Newtonian supercomputer, a ship with a Science Department will be well-equipped to explore new worlds and seek out new knowledge. Allows a ship to assign a Science Officer, who grants bonuses to the ship's survey speed. Thermal Sensor Sensitivity 6 2000 RP: Heat is very difficult to hide in space, and building sensors specifically designed to detect and track infrared emissions should be both easy and useful. The other kind of passive sensor. Like EM passive sensors, they're completely undetectable. Unlike EM sensors, these detect thermal emissions - mostly engines, but also including waste heat from planetary settlements. Earth, with its billions of people, will light up like a beacon on thermal sensors, for example. Mister Bates fucked around with this message at 05:55 on Oct 20, 2020 |
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Oct 19, 2020 09:17
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I wish to propose that we focus research on wealth generation technology. Listen, the world is still a wreck. Rad-storms ravage the worst areas and places better off still face massive crop failures, brushfire wars and general collapse. If we are to make ourselves worthy of the stars, we have to fix our problems down here.
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Oct 19, 2020 10:38
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I am sad that we cannot have spinal carronades. If we could, I would vote for that 
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Oct 19, 2020 11:19
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NewMars posted:I wish to propose that we focus research on wealth generation technology. Listen, the world is still a wreck. Rad-storms ravage the worst areas and places better off still face massive crop failures, brushfire wars and general collapse. If we are to make ourselves worthy of the stars, we have to fix our problems down here. Wealth generation? Comrade, those are the words of a Capitalist, not a loyal member of the Revolution. I propose that we begin research on providing our ships and troops with more advanced armour. . It's a fundamental requirement, and we know that beings from other worlds have already visited us once. We must not allow the Revolution to be snuffed out as we look to turn the stars red.
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Oct 19, 2020 14:12
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Mister Bates posted:
The current industrial plan should leave us well supplied though. Given that we have geosensors under research and will probably want to launch a survey vessel soon, we should aim our research towards making those initial ships the best they can be. To that end: - Armor, to free up weight for additional sensors/speed/range/deployment time - Engines - Fuel efficiency - Some minimal sensor suite to keep an eye out for aliens are all good targets
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Oct 19, 2020 18:39
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If a survey ship needs armour, something has gone terribly wrong
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Oct 20, 2020 04:13
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Veloxyll posted:If a survey ship needs armour, something has gone terribly wrong Yeah, but let's be real, things are gonna go terribly wrong. You can make a case that they won't do that soon enough to need armor on this generation, but they will eventually.
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Oct 20, 2020 04:33
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Veloxyll posted:If a survey ship needs armour, something has gone terribly wrong Armor doubles as structure. All ships with engines need at least 1 layer of armor to not fall apart under thrust. Building it out of steel makes a 2000-tonish survey ship about 35% armor weight. A duranium one is about 9% armor weight and can use those 500 tons for stuff, or just making the whole ship smaller/faster/cheaper/longer ranged
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Oct 20, 2020 04:47
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Deliberations are closed! There's a lot of proposals up for discussion, some of which are similar enough that I'm going to merge them (if you're opposed to this, speak up, and I'll separate out your proposal again). NewMars posted:As premier of the UAWR, I would like to state my support for the Solomon Islands. I understand their hesitancy and wish them well in charting their own future. NM-08 suggests that we draft a 'Treaty of Reciprocation'. As I interpret it, this is a document that focuses on the Ministry of Outer Space Affairs' interactions with the world's remaining non-Comintern nations, and proposes that signatories to this treaty will freely share civilian spaceflight technology, pertinent technical knowledge and expertise, and new scientific discoveries between each other. Such signatories would function like 'associate members' of the Ministry, reaping fewer rewards from the Comintern's space program than full members do, but also having fewer responsibilities. It could be a way to bring fence-sitting neutral nations into the fold and gently urge them to join the socialist project. It could also be a way for the world's remaining capitalists and reactionaries to steal a bunch of valuable data and use it for nefarious purposes. NM-09 proposes that we make the world's most war-torn regions the focus of our grand TNE industrial development project. There is some wisdom in this - the economies of North America, much of Western and Central Europe, and a few other regions are still in utter ruins - but it is also a bit less efficient than building everything where the intact factories and infrastructure are already located. in game terms, if this passes, I'll permanently lock Conventional Industry conversion processes at a maximum of 95% construction capacity, instead of the current max of 100%; effectively a 5% speed reduction. It will also have political and social effects. Kodos666 posted:Well, we have been duped by the Hawaiians. Sadly, there's nothing we can do about it. Right now we can only accept the facts and keep a wary eye on them. K-10, the Socialist Aid Project, proposes dedicating some of our newly-converted Trans-Newtonian industry to mass production of prefabricated housing, in an attempt to combat homelessness and overcrowding in the world's remaining refugee camps. If passed, a small amount of industrial capacity will be re-allocated from the industrialization project to this end, until such time as this body votes to end the Aid Project. Boksi posted:Hawaii definitely has some outside aid. I can buy them having the technical knowhow needed to design that ship, but the sheer amount of materials and highly-skilled labor needed to build it, especially this quickly and secretly, is just too much for such a small nation. That said, until we know more, there's nothing to be gained from antagonizing them so we should just congratulate them and try to step up our timetables for the lunar outpost. And maybe just perhaps investigate how this happened through, ah, unofficial channels. B-11 proposes that we queue up a research project for improved hydroponics facilities, which I'm interpreting ingame as colonization cost reduction tech (if you had something else in mind let me know). As this is proposing a specific project and not a change to our broader research priorities, if it passes, we will otherwise conduct research according to the priorities set by this body. After the day's deliberations, a nondescript person in civilian clothing visits delegate Boksi at their hotel room and promises to keep them informed of the results of inquiries through 'unofficial channels'. Veloxyll posted:After the disaster of a humanitarian relief effort to the North American north east, it is clear that while our future lies in the stars, our home is in need of care. We should establish a relief force, with a unit for providing aid and associated security forces. I ride bikes all day posted:My fellow loyalists, we must not be reckless in these early years of the TN age. Our sacred duty is to the workers who make up our many nations, and it is to their benefit that we should be looking. I propose we we refocus our research to prioritize mining and industry. Perhaps once we have the ability to find these new minerals on objects in space, we can properly justify moving workers to them. NewMars posted:I wish to propose that we focus research on wealth generation technology. Listen, the world is still a wreck. Rad-storms ravage the worst areas and places better off still face massive crop failures, brushfire wars and general collapse. If we are to make ourselves worthy of the stars, we have to fix our problems down here. JR-12 (short for Joint Resolution) is a combination of NewMars' and I ride bikes all days' research proposals, suggesting that we focus our labs primarily on internal development - mining, industry, consumer goods. It will override last year's research priorities if passed, although existing research projects will not be cancelled. JR-13 is a combination of Boksi's, Veloxyll's, and I ride bikes all day's proposals to establish a standing, professional security force. A basic organizational structure will be developed, arms, equipment, and vehicles will be procured, and a few units will be raised. We will first prioritize the training of security forces to guard Ascension Island and a few other critical facilities, a quartermaster corps equipped with heavy-duty trucks to assist in relief efforts (and, not coincidentally, military logistics, should we need it later), and such troops as are necessary to guard aid convoys, in that order. ganthony posted:Wealth generation? Comrade, those are the words of a Capitalist, not a loyal member of the Revolution. I propose that we begin research on providing our ships and troops with more advanced armour. . It's a fundamental requirement, and we know that beings from other worlds have already visited us once. We must not allow the Revolution to be snuffed out as we look to turn the stars red. Foxfire_ posted:The current industrial plan should leave us well supplied though. Given that we have geosensors under research and will probably want to launch a survey vessel soon, we should aim our research towards making those initial ships the best they can be. JR-14 is a combination of ganthony's and Foxfire's proposals. It suggests that we reprioritize our research to focus on armor, engine/power plant technology, fuel efficiency tech, and basic sensor technology, with the goal being to develop all the necessary tech for a practical deep-space exploration vessel. It will override last year's research priorities, although existing research projects will not be cancelled. IN SUMMARY A nonbinding resolution congratulating the Kingdom of Hawaii on their launch of a spacefaring vessel passes unanimously. In addition, 6 proposals are up for vote. Research: vote either A, Status Quo (Power/Propulsion, Construction/Production, Logistics), B, JR-12 (Construction/Production with a specific focus on improving resource output and the civilian economy), or C, JR-14 (Power/Propulsion, Sensors/Control, and a little bit of Defensive Systems, with a specific focus on developing necessary techs for a survey ship). Vote by ranked list. NM-08, draft the Treaty of Reciprocation: vote Yes or No NM-09, focus our industrial might on rebuilding the world's war-torn regions: vote Yes or No B-11, allocate some of our research laboratories to improved hydroponics, to assist in space colonization and combat food insecurity here at home: vote Yes or No K-10, dedicate some industry to the Socialist Aid Program: vote Yes or No JR-13, begin raising the rudimentary skeleton of a professional army loyal to the Comintern rather than the member nations: vote Yes or No Voting is now open, and will remain open for about 48 hours! also I finally finished writing out short descriptions for every single research project, and while they need an editing pass to cut down on the repetitive purple prose I tend to fall into when tired, they're at least readable; thank gently caress that's done Mister Bates fucked around with this message at 07:16 on Oct 20, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 06:52
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UAWR delegates have chosen the following: Research: 1. B 2. C. 3. A I mean, we proposed this one? Internal development is the cornerstone of external development. All the guns in the universe will not protect you from famine, instability and mistrust. NM-09: Yes There is nothing in life without risk. I think it's better to show trust in others, rather than fall back into the bordered tyranny of the old world. B-11: Yes It furthers our reach to the stars and helps to fix the growing food insecurity issues we face, what's not to love? K-10: Yes The Socialist Aid Program is a commendable initiative and has our full support! Our world is in ruins and we must act swiftly to rebuild, lest we be buried beneath the ash. JR-13: Yes While I am most hesitant about this one, a unified peacekeeping force will, I think, be for the better.
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Oct 20, 2020 07:10
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Research: JR-14, Status Quo, JR-12 NM-08: Yes NM-09: Yes K-10: Yes B-11: Abstain JR-13: Yes
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Oct 20, 2020 08:25
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Research: C, A, B NM-08: Yes NM-09: Yes K-10: Yes B-11: No(It's an expensive tech, this early) JR-13: Yes
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Oct 20, 2020 14:35
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Research:B, A, C NM-08: Yes NM-09: No B-11: No K-10: Yes JR-13: No Servetus fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Oct 20, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 18:34
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Research: B-A-C We must currently put our focus on implementing the benefits of TNE-technology closely at home. We might modernize our industrial base wit a few select pieces of TNEs right now, but this is a far cry from the potential which modernized communications, tools and materials could reap all across the board. NM-08: Yes International cooperation is one of thecornerstones of socialism. NM-09: Yes & K-10: Yes We must do our utmost to fulfill our mission towards the victims of capitalist agression. B-11: No While tempting, Comrade ganthony summed it up perfectly: to expensive. We would need years to develop this technology to a point where it could compete with current farming and housing techniques. JR-13: No We will not turn our guns against our own population, as the imperialists did. While having some cadres ready to expand into a proper planetary defence force would be advantageous in the long run, a military buildup aimed against civilians would hardly be prudent in the current political climate.
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Oct 20, 2020 18:58
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Research: C > A > B NM-08: No The Hawaiian ship is an impressive industrial achievement, but not a research one. And there's no fundamental theoretical difference between a civilian TN reactor/engine and a military one, so we'd be sharing military technology with outside nations. If Hawaii wants to play, they're welcome to join like any other member nation, but building a ship shouldn't get them special treatment. NM-09: Yes B-11: No K-10: Yes JR-13: Yes Presumably there are already member state military forces guarding Ascension. Drawing those down and replacing them with soldiers raised from across the Comintern nations makes sense and will also be a symbol that the movement isn't just an appendage of the USSR/China. Foxfire_ fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Oct 21, 2020 |
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Oct 21, 2020 00:10
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Potentially relevant: https://twitter.com/SudafedCokeGrit/status/1318564085106094085
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Oct 21, 2020 00:19
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Research:B, A, C NM-08: No NM-09: Yes B-11: Yes K-10: Yes JR-13: Yes
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Oct 21, 2020 06:00
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NM-08: No NM-09: No B-11: No K-10: Yes JR-13: Yes Research: B, A, C
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Oct 21, 2020 06:24
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NM-08: No NM-09: Yes B-11: Yes K-10: Yes JR-13: Yes Research: C, A, B As an aside, I don't doubt that the Hawaiians are very much on guard right now, so it might be better to investigate the polities connected to the kingdom rather than trying to go straight in. Also, I forgot to propose expanding the space docks. We'll definitely have to do that sooner or later.
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Oct 21, 2020 06:53
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Voting is closed! RESULTS Research: Option B, Joint Resolution 12, passes by a margin of one vote. For the next year we will focus on incremental improvements to production capabilities. NM-08: an exact 50-50 tie, which I resolve by flipping a coin. According to Senor Peso, NM-08 fails, and MOSA's relationship with the non-member nations will not change at this time. NM-09: Passes B-11: Passes K-10: Passes JR-13: Passes So the original plan was to make my next mechanics explainer post about leaders, officers, and how admin commands and academies work, but since JR-13 will require us to design some ground units, it's going to be about that instead. As with ships, for all future proposals, you'll design our techs and units yourselves. Also as with ships, it's extremely early in the game and this is a basic unit design, so I'm going to design this one myself, both to keep things moving along and also to serve as a tutorial for the design process. You can alter, disband, or rename this formation later as you please.  This is the Ground Forces window. It's currently on the Order of Battle tab, which is empty because we don't have anything in the OOB.  This is the Formation Templates tab. Formations are the basic organizational building block of our ground forces. They can be organized into command hierarchies, and are built out of individual troops and equipment. Every formation we've organized will be listed here, along with the TO&E for that formation, which we can modify.  And here is the Class Design screen, where we make the troops and equipment we fill those out with. Top left we have the Base Type. These are pretty self-explanatory - infantry are foot-mobiles, light vehicles are things like buggies, trucks, and armored cars, medium vehicles are your APCs, IFVs, and light tanks, and static are fortified emplacements. Top center is the armor, which right now is limited to basic light armor for our ground-pounders. To the right of that is where we add any special training or capabilities the unit gets, like boarding, mountain warfare, or low-gravity combat. Since we have none to choose from right now, making a choice is pretty easy. Bottom left is where you determine what the unit actually does. Let's make a basic unit, an infantry soldier with a personal weapon and light armor. That looks like this:  An infantry unit with personal weapons represents one soldier, everything else in Infantry represents a small team. The 5 tons of transport capacity represents the soldier, all their gear, and the food, ammunition, medical supplies, clothing, and other sundries that you need to keep that soldier alive and fighting in the field.  Let's design a couple other units to fill out our security battalion: a crew-served machine gun...  ...a light anti-tank weapon...  ...and a MANPADS.  Last, the headquarters. There's some argument in the community over whether it's best to have the lowest independent unit of organization in your army be the company or the battalion; I generally prefer battalions for everything except marines and expensive specialist troops, and the vote specified a battalion. That means we'll need to set the headquarters size appropriately. I like to do 2500-ton battalions and 500-ton companies, so this HQ team will need to be able to command 2500 tons' worth of troops. You can adjust it with that number up there.  We'll need some supply trucks, too. These are soft, unarmed units, so we set them as non-combat. They will avoid contact with the enemy unless forced to engage, which generally means things are going very bad. Now, at such low tech levels, ground troops take absurdly few RP to research....  ...so I'm just going to give them to you using SM powers, instead of reassigning a lab for the couple of ingame hours it'll take to generate 5 RP. That gives us a formation design screen that looks like this.  Let's create a unit.  It's just an empty shell now, and defaults to being commanded by a Major (we can change that, and in fact we could change our rank structure quite dramatically if we wanted to; more on that when we cover Leaders). Let's give it some stuff.  D'oh, 2499 tons. I could have made it more tonnage-efficient by giving it footmobile supply teams instead of supply trucks but whatever. Ideally you'd have battalions dedicated entirely to combat troops and then have all the supply trucks elsewhere in the unit's command hierarchy, but at least at first these units will be acting independently. We can always update their TO&E later. To summarize, this unit has 402 riflemen, 2 HQ sections (in case one is destroyed), 4 supply trucks, 4 anti-air teams, 6 crew-served anti-personnel weapons, and 4 anti-air teams. It's very fragile and not much use on offense, you shouldn't be dropping these guys from orbit - but for defending fixed positions, or doing policing duty, they'll do just fine. Since we have one ground forces training facility, we can train one unit at a time. This battalion will take about three months to be trained and deployed. We also voted to design some supply-heavy HQ units, so let's do that.  We'll start by designing a command unit. HQ capacity does not stack, so you need an HQ unit capable of commanding everything you expect to be under it in the hierarchy. I want this to be able to command four battalions plus itself. We also give it medium armor and a mounted machine gun. This one you'll actually have to research, although because you voted to design these units, voting to research the tech is implicit. It'll be queued up when a slot becomes available. For the moment all these cadres will have is supply trucks and the command vehicles, with room to spare in the unit for you to add brigade-level support units if and when you vote to expand these into a full-on army. Actual update coming.
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Oct 22, 2020 04:38
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Please Dwarf me as a Naval Officer. (I've added myself to the spreadsheet.) Looking forward to glorious rebirth, comrades!
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Oct 22, 2020 04:51
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iirc you also want your HQ units to be set to non-combat to help keep them alive
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Oct 22, 2020 05:06
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whoops, I straight-up forgot to do that, didn't I? fixed now!
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Oct 22, 2020 05:07
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I know that i'm late, but, uh- As a representative for the People's Republic of New Afrika, I believe that we should prioritize the development of an advanced version of Luna and Tranquility intended to explore the solar system: this ship should be intended for long range travel and be equipped with Geological Survey Systems so that we can identify TNE's on other celestial bodies, most notably Luna, Mars, the other inner planets, and the Jovian System. It is the opinion of my nation that we cannot have enough Trans Newtonian Elements, and that outposts and colonies throughout the solar system would be most helpful in developing space industry. We would also propose that, in future colonization efforts, especially in extra-solar colonization, the initial colonists should be drawn from a different continent's Internationale members. Fivemarks fucked around with this message at 08:20 on Oct 22, 2020 |
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Oct 22, 2020 08:16
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After much
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Oct 22, 2020 21:15
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Has anyone considered that the new developments in cryonics might provide a solution to the "a lot of places people used to live are currently irradiated rubble" problem? Simply put the people we currently don't have the capacity to adequately feed or house into cryonic suspension, then defrost them as the radiation fades and the wreckage is replaced by new construction.
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Oct 23, 2020 03:14
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The Sandman posted:Has anyone considered that the new developments in cryonics might provide a solution to the "a lot of places people used to live are currently irradiated rubble" problem? Simply put the people we currently don't have the capacity to adequately feed or house into cryonic suspension, then defrost them as the radiation fades and the wreckage is replaced by new construction. This would take more time, effort and space than actually feeding them.
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Oct 23, 2020 03:44
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 12:42 |
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the lower georgia united workers' front looks forward to our participation in these proceedings
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Oct 23, 2020 06:13
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