Sirius Business - a C# Aurora forum game. v2.5

[blue emu]

When you are basing a fleet in Deep Space (ie: at a DSP instead of a planet or moon), there are a number of considerations you need to keep in mind.

In order to actually BASE a fleet there (as opposed to just stationing it there temporarily) you will need:

(1) Continual daily maintenance for a fleet of that tonnage, to prevent their mission clock from advancing. At a DSP, that means maintenance ships or bases.
(2) The ability to conduct full overhauls for a fleet of that tonnage. Again, at a DSP, maintenance ships or bases are the only option.
(3) Maintenance stores (spare parts) sufficient for your daily usage. These must be imported and stockpiled, since they cannot be manufactured on-site.
(4) Fuel. Again, this must be imported and stockpiled unless the DSP orbits a Sorium gas giant.
(5) Replacement ordnance (missiles). Again, imported and stockpiled.
(6) Population, in the hundreds of thousands, to provide Shore Leave for the crews. This keeps the mission clock reset.

 

[blue emu]

Gawquon3's team is making progress on Bugeyes in the AX Microscopii system. Two of the ten sites have been opened, and both contained something useful.

The "alien artifacts" are collector's items, for trade.

EDIT:

Lots of mildly useful stuff. I say "mildly useful" because one mine would take decades to produce enough ore to be worth picking up. Earth had around 2,000 mines.

The fuel is very useful. The Sorium ditto.

EDIT:

The Fuel continues to be useful. More than 21 million liters of space-fuel recovered so far.

---

The Civvies have been launching new ships and have replaced about half of the losses suffered in the last Pirate raid. Space traffic is increasing.

 

[blue emu]

So what do you people think?

DSPs are being established on the trade routes, with enough Gadgets (maintenance stations) to support a defense force for the DSP itself (Sentry, Sauron, Airfield with Fighters), enough population to offer shore leave to the crews, and also to base a high-speed (8,200 kps) reaction force of half a dozen or so Pirate Chasers.

These Pirate Chasers are economy models, only 1/5th to 1/7th the price of a warship.

Is this a reasonable step to take to protect our commerce?

 

[Iche_Bins]

Yeah, let's get back to expansion.

 

[blue emu]

Yeah, let's get back to expansion.

I agree.

I'm going to do it methodically, though, since the Jerx have raided us twice whenever we expose a weakness.

Step 1 - Consolidate the defenses of our existing trade routes. Nearly done. The two reaction flotillas are still under-strength (only four ships each) but growing.
Step 2 - Set up defenses for a trade route to Luyten's Star. Then set up a major fleet base on the planet there (now that the shipping will be protected).
Step 3 - Use that base to explore the nearby jump points.
Step 4 - Set up defenses extending the trade route to AX Microscopii. Then colonizze and defend a planet there, and start exploiting the minerals.
Step 5 - Same thing again, extending our control in the opposite direction (Tau Ceti). Then explore THOSE jump points.

 

[Gawquon3]

Woohoo! We struck oil sorium fuel on the frontier. I'm going to call that first ruin site on Bugeyes Tulsa.

Let's find some more.

 

[blue emu]

Woohoo! We struck oil sorium fuel on the frontier. I'm going to call that first ruin site on Bugeyes Tulsa.

Let's find some more.

Yeah, to put that fuel into perspective...

IIRC each ton of Sorium gets converted into 1,000 liters of space fuel. So the finds recently made on the frontier are the equivalent of 21,000 tons of mined, refined and converted Sorium. Earth began the game with about ten times that much (total) in unmined reserves. So 21,000 tons is a very significant amount, equivalent to several year's worth of mining production from a home-world.

 

[blue emu]

We've been over-spending by a lot, in order to make some use out of that nearly-quarter-of-a-million Schmuckers in the bank. It has gradually dropped to about 130,000 bucks, so we're trying to stabilize it here and try to rebuild our bank account.

EDIT:

And that's it for the Ruins on Bugeyes.

That was quite successful for a Destroyed Outpost. They are typically almost worthless. That one had all sorts of minor goodies, and it's right where we were planning to build a colony anyway.

With the Ruins fully exploited and finished, we can withdraw the four Engineer teams back to Earth... and perhaps replace that brigade of Space Marines with a brigade of Garrisons, in preparation for colonizing the planet later.

 

[Wagonlitz]

First, we'll designate a Deep Space Population location, on the trade route between Sol and Alpha Centauri.

Well need another dsp in Alpha centauri, right? As in one on the trade route towards lyutens from Nessus. And perhaps also one on the route from Earth, if it deviates a lot from Nessus.

because one mine would take decades to produce enough ore to be worth picking up.

Can't we just ship out the mine?

Is this a reasonable step to take to protect our commerce?

Sounds good.

 

[blue emu]

Well need another dsp in Alpha centauri, right? As in one on the trade route towards lyutens from Nessus. And perhaps also one on the route from Earth, if it deviates a lot from Nessus. - Correct. We'll need at least one more in Alpha Centauri, and at least one in Luyten's Star.

Can't we just ship out the mine? - Yes. But we're planning to settle that planet anyway. We'll be shipping mines IN, not OUT.

Sounds good.

 

[blue emu]

The Fat Man makes the jump to Alpha Centauri, towing an Ark carrying 200,000 people. When added to the growing agglomeration of modules at the Alpha Centauri Trade Route DSP , this will allow the crews of the military ships to take shore leave without going to the nearest planet.

 

[Wagonlitz]

> Can't we just ship out the mine? - Yes. But we're planning to settle that planet anyway. We'll be shipping mines IN, not OUT.
Ah. And it's not the high grav planet, right?

The Fat Man makes the jump to Alpha Centauri, towing an Ark carrying 200,000 people. When added to the growing agglomeration of modules at the Alpha Centauri Trade Route DSP , this will allow the crews of the military ships to take shore leave without going to the nearest planet.

Is shore leave actually part of the game?

Also, how large a percentage of our income does the civvies make up atm?

 

[blue emu]

> Can't we just ship out the mine? - Yes. But we're planning to settle that planet anyway. We'll be shipping mines IN, not OUT.
Ah. And it's not the high grav planet, right? - Correct. It's the next planet inward.

Is shore leave actually part of the game? - Yes indeed. Only military ships are tracked for shore leave... civilian ships presumably have unions?

Also, how large a percentage of our income does the civvies make up atm? - 34.6%

 

[Nikolai II]

What is the actual cost and risk of creating a high-G strain of humanity?

 

[blue emu]

What is the actual cost and risk of creating a high-G strain of humanity?

First we research Genetic Engineering itself. Then research the particular variation we want (in this case, +g's). Probably research a few levels of an incremental tech in order to get a worthwhile seperation from the root Human stock. Then DESIGN and research a New Species tech.

After that we would need to build and then operate (with Pops) a bunch of Genetic Research Centers. Not sure how many. They cost minerals and money, and the pops that operate them cannot perform other tasks. Then use the Genetic Research Centers to gradually create a second population on Earth, composed only of modified X-Humans.

 

[Nikolai II]

First we research Genetic Engineering itself. Then research the particular variation we want (in this case, +g's). Probably research a few levels of an incremental tech in order to get a worthwhile seperation from the root Human stock. Then DESIGN and research a New Species tech.

After that we would need to build and then operate (with Pops) a bunch of Genetic Research Centers. Not sure how many. They cost minerals and money, and the pops that operate them cannot perform other tasks. Then use the Genetic Research Centers to gradually create a second population on Earth, composed only of modified X-Humans.

So to get a "minimum 2G" species, you'd have to first research on earth a "minimum 1G" species (or something in that direction) and then finalize the research on the target 2G planet, since a "minimum 2G" species couldn't live on Earth? In that case it does sound like a lot of work and something that can be saved until we get stuck again. (Possibly start out with the cheap things - the basic research, but no rush)

 

[Wagonlitz]

First we research Genetic Engineering itself. Then research the particular variation we want (in this case, +g's). Probably research a few levels of an incremental tech in order to get a worthwhile seperation from the root Human stock. Then DESIGN and research a New Species tech.

After that we would need to build and then operate (with Pops) a bunch of Genetic Research Centers. Not sure how many. They cost minerals and money, and the pops that operate them cannot perform other tasks. Then use the Genetic Research Centers to gradually create a second population on Earth, composed only of modified X-Humans.

In other words yet another reason we wont' do it.
We have automines for planest with too high g. We're gonna keep humanity united. We won't create an enslaved underrace.

 

[blue emu]

So to get a "minimum 2G" species, you'd have to first research on earth a "minimum 1G" species (or something in that direction) and then finalize the research on the target 2G planet, since a "minimum 2G" species couldn't live on Earth? In that case it does sound like a lot of work and something that can be saved until we get stuck again. (Possibly start out with the cheap things - the basic research, but no rush)

There is a turn-key tech called Genetic Engineering that you need to research in order to "open the door" to any form of genetic customization.

After that, Gravity Tolerance is measured by two parameters... median and acceptable divergence. Humans start with a median of 1g and an acceptable divergence of +/- 0.9 ... so any gravity from 0.1g to 1.9g is acceptable to Humans.

Genetic research could be used to create a sub-race that had a median of 1.4g and an acceptable divergence from 0.5 to 2.3g (because it's +/- 0.9). So they could live on that high-g Ocean planet or on Earth, but not on Mars or Luna. Ordinary Humans could live on Earth, or Mars, or Luna... but not on that Ocean planet.

But I'd rather not do the Genetic Engineering thing at this point.

 

[Wagonlitz]

But I'd rather not do the Genetic Engineering thing at this point.

I say we don't ever do it.

 

[blue emu]

Perhaps I should point out - while the Jerx are still off somewhere, hiding - that it is essentially impossible to protect civvie shipping in the Alpha Centauri system.

The Sol jump point is five billion km from the base on Nessus. The jump to Luyten's Star is another billion km away. Our best AWACS has a RADAR range (against 5000-ton targets) of 200 million km. Even if the enemy stealth is disregarded, it would take literally dozens of DSPs to cover the trade routes from end to end.

The system is simply too BIG to guard effectively. We must settle for having enough force there to make the Jerx think twice.