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

[Wagonlitz]

What does production updates mean?

How wide is the map? Like, is it only barely over 15 pc, if that's where we can expect to meet the opponents?

Oh, thoguht clankers was the generated name. What were they called orignally?


Also, I really hope they aren't actually clowns....

 

[blue emu]

What does production updates mean? - Whenever you build stuff... space ships, ground troops, factories, research labs, anything at all... the updates happen every five days. The game is DISCRETE, Wagonlitz, not CONTINUOUS. Everything is done in turns, like Chess. The turns for building stuff are five days long each.

How wide is the map? Like, is it only barely over 15 pc, if that's where we can expect to meet the opponents? - There are 750 stars in this sector of the galaxy. We've barely explored 1% of that.

Oh, thoguht clankers was the generated name. What were they called orignally? - Struve 2398 Aliens #572

Also, I really hope they aren't actually clowns.... - A chilling thought.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Yeah, I know there's 750 stars. It was more how wide the cluster of stars is. And hence hw far away they at most can be.

 

[blue emu]

Yeah, I know there's 750 stars. It was more how wide the cluster of stars is. And hence hw far away they at most can be.

The systems are procedurally generated as we (or the opponent) explore. In a very real sense, there ISN'T any map until we look at it.

Very Heisenburgian. Think: Schroedinger's space-cat.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Ah. Got ya.
Also, Heisenburgian. As in, there's also the uncertainty principle at play? (Even thoug that is QM, not astronomy, but could be fun if there was some kind of variant of it in play as that could lead to quite a lot of randomness in genration, I think.)

 

[blue emu]

Speaking of Schroedinger's Cat...

 

[blue emu]

OK... so what measures are we taking to meet this unexpected appearance of aliens on our front door-step?

1) Building and sending infrastructure to establish a colony in Luhman 16, to validate our claim to the system.

2) Building and sending Deep Space Tracking Stations to Luhman 16, to watch for and monitor any aliens.

3) Researching weapon and sensor techs, in preparation for building warships and ground troops.

4) Finishing off the expansion of our shipyards, in preparation for building warships.

5) Building more research labs, to try and catch up a bit in tech. Naturally, this requires more money-making enterprises to pay maintenance on the labs.

 

[blue emu]

At the moment, I'm calling the icy outpost in the Luhman 16 system by its military code-name "Claymore".

The Alpha Centauri system is named after a mythical centaur, so I'm calling the planet "Nessus" and the mineral-rich comet "Baedecker".

 

[blue emu]

Several of the star systems to rimward of us are just bare red dwarf stars, accompanied only by a scattering of comets (dark centers with 10 white dots).

We will call this galactic feature "The Rimward Waste". Very likely, there will be some more interesting star systems beyond it.

Note that the Sol => 61 Hydrae => EZ Aquarii jump path dead-ends there... so whoever controls Sol also controls 61 Hydrae and EZ Aquarii.

 

[blue emu]

We now have 200,000 people on Claymore, in the disputed Luhman 16 system!

... more than half of them have to work in Life Support, against the -236 degree cold.

We are steadily enlarging the base, and a Garrison Brigade (HQ + four Battalions) is being readied for transport to the outpost.

 

[blue emu]

The ESNS Charles Darwin comes out of overhaul, and Commander Happycat takes it up and out... this time headed in the opposite direction from the Galapa-Goons.

Happycat and crew will explore for jump points in Luyten's Star, off to spinward beyond our growing mining colonies in Alpha Centauri.

 

[blue emu]

Mineral reserves are beginning to run out on Earth. Some of our TN-mineral reserves are down to the low thousands, and the concentrations are dropping as the ore-bodies run out.

Fortunately we still have millions of tons of ore in stockpile, and 26 Grinders already deployed with five more building.

 

[Culise]

At the moment, I'm calling the icy outpost in the Luhman 16 system by its military code-name "Claymore".

The Alpha Centauri system is named after a mythical centaur, so I'm calling the planet "Nessus" and the mineral-rich comet "Baedecker".

Not Chiron, famed scholar and healer, and thus the original Centaur for Disease Control?

(Apologies, I simply couldn't resist the excuse for the pun.)

 

[Wagonlitz]

Building and sending Deep Space Tracking Stations to Luhman 16, to watch for and monitor any aliens.

Will that station have sensors for all sizes of crafts, from missiles to battleships?

Researching weapon and sensor techs, in preparation for building warships and ground troops.

Without the alien menace, then we'd not have researched weapons yet, right?

Building more research labs, to try and catch up a bit in tech. Naturally, this requires more money-making enterprises to pay maintenance on the labs.

How can we ever catch up, though, unless we have more labs than they have?

Note that the Sol => 61 Hydrae => EZ Aquarii jump path dead-ends there... so whoever controls Sol also controls 61 Hydrae and EZ Aquarii.

So even with super advanced FTL it won't be possible to ever reach those without going through Earth?

Anyway valuable there?

more than half of them have to work in Life Support, against the -236 degree cold.

Will we eventually terraform the planet?

26 Grinders already deployed with five more building.

Grinders are our orbital mining stations, right?

 

[Deleted user]

Will that station have sensors for all sizes of crafts, from missiles to battleships?

Emu said deep space tracking stations are just big passive sensors. Only our active sensors need to have a certain resolution to pick things up.

How can we ever catch up, though, unless we have more labs than they have?

I mean to fully catch up and surpass we would need more labs and/or better scientists, but assuming tech costs increase for more advanced tech we can still catch up to a fighting chance. Quick and dirty example:
If the engine techs are like this:
Our current engines
Upgraded Engine 1 costs 10,000 research points (RP)
Upgraded Engine 2 costs 20,000 RP
Upgraded Engine 3 costs 40,000 RP (let's say this is what the aliens have)
Upgraded Engine 4 costs 80,000 RP
Then if we can generate the same amount of research towards engines as them, we can research upgraded engines 1, 2, and 3 in the time they research upgraded engines 4. If we had to fight them they'd still be able to move faster than us, but hopefully not 4x faster as they currently are.

So even with super advanced FTL it won't be possible to ever reach those without going through Earth?

My understanding of the in universe FTL is that two systems have to have a jump point between them to go between them. Think of something like the hyperlanes in Stellaris. I'm guessing 61 Hydrae only has jump points to Sol and EZ Aquarii and EZ Aquarii only has a jump point to 61 Hydrae.

 

[Wagonlitz]

mean to fully catch up and surpass we would need more labs and/or better scientists, but assuming tech costs increase for more advanced tech we can still catch up to a fighting chance. Quick and dirty example:
If the engine techs are like this:
Our current engines
Upgraded Engine 1 costs 10,000 research points (RP)
Upgraded Engine 2 costs 20,000 RP
Upgraded Engine 3 costs 40,000 RP (let's say this is what the aliens have)
Upgraded Engine 4 costs 80,000 RP
Then if we can generate the same amount of research towards engines as them, we can research upgraded engines 1, 2, and 3 in the time they research upgraded engines 4. If we had to fight them they'd still be able to move faster than us, but hopefully not 4x faster as they currently are.

Yeah I get that. But who says it'd be like that?
Like, tech normally doesn't work that way. Let's take Earth. The only reason the colonies were able to catch up in tech was because they were traded with and given access to the various techs, either fully or partially. Tech progression as such doesn't slow down as it advances.

 

[Deleted user]

Yeah I get that. But who says it'd be like that?
Like, tech normally doesn't work that way. Let's take Earth. The only reason the colonies were able to catch up in tech was because they were traded with and given access to the various techs, either fully or partially. Tech progression as such doesn't slow down as it advances.

Because this is ultimately a game and representing how tech actually spreads is difficult so it's easier to make the early techs cost less allowing a less advanced side catch up quickly and the later techs cost more to slow down the more advanced sides instead of making it contingent on all the things that it is dependent on in the real world. For what it's worth, I looked up a wiki and it lists the tech costs and most do increase as you get to the more advanced tech:

List of Research Costs - AuroraWiki

aurorawiki.pentarch.org

Worth noting that it looks fairly incomplete and not up to date though.

 

[Nikolai II]

Whenever you build stuff... space ships, ground troops, factories, research labs, anything at all... the updates happen every five days. The game is DISCRETE, Wagonlitz, not CONTINUOUS. Everything is done in turns, like Chess. The turns for building stuff are five days long each.

But it's overlapping turns (like Europa Universalis) down to a 5 second scale so they could be forgiven for thinking that builds last X time from when you started them (instead of "being fed every 5 days", which is more like Victoria III construction)

 

[blue emu]

But it's overlapping turns (like Europa Universalis) down to a 5 second scale so they could be forgiven for thinking that builds last X time from when you started them (instead of "being fed every 5 days", which is more like Victoria III construction)

But the five-day build cycles are independant of when a project started. If you start the game on January 1st, then there will be a build cycle on the 6th , the 11th, the 16th, etc... regardless of whether you started a build project on the 1st or waited a day.

 

[blue emu]

Will that station have sensors for all sizes of crafts, from missiles to battleships? - Passives. Only Active Sensors (and fire control computers) have a specific resolution.

Without the alien menace, then we'd not have researched weapons yet, right? - No.

How can we ever catch up, though, unless we have more labs than they have? - Like Happycat said. Tech costs roughly double per level. That's because your research capability is assumed to be steadily increasing, so the cost of techs needs to increase or you snowball too easily. The game designer is trying to address the issue that once any player gets ahead, that lead just gets bigger and bigger. That might be realistic but it's not FUN.

So even with super advanced FTL it won't be possible to ever reach those without going through Earth? - There are different types of FTL. Invaders just open a rift directly to the destination system. There are also "hidden" jump points, which can only be found by searching from the far end.

Anyway valuable there? - Some minerals. A colony site.

Will we eventually terraform the planet? - Somewhat. It's probably beyond our ability to make it Earth-like,

Grinders are our orbital mining stations, right? - Yes