SysNES 1: A Murky Pool of Light

The Akresians should have only 2 missile ships. They had a budget of 61e, with each ship costing 26, they would only have 9 left over. You instead made the ships cost 16, thus allowing to build 3 and have 13e left over.

OOC: A status update, it turns out that I'll be staying in HK until the 23rd with my seminar and my internship at a real estate firm. I'm still alive, but don't expect orders or any feedback from me (unless I get extremly angry/irritated over something I read) until I return to the States on the 24th!

I might post a random story or two to better cover my backstory, but that'll be all until then. Mitzu is up for his second re-election this year dis, make it good

Gardener orders are still absent...

I was going to say, you picked the themes pretty well, though I didn't really get what was going on with the Soulon; I expected theirs to be grittier/more militaristic.

The Turanic Raiders music applies well to the Liberes also, along with most nations I play.

"Primary jump coordinates locked."

"Aye, confirmed, standby to deploy drive apparatus."

"Ey, Espenson must be horsehockyting himself in the heat sinks right now, ahahaha."

"BAHAH! Poor sod."

"Nacelles deployed. Cut the merde, or you'll be chaff in 5."

"Hyperspace always smells like almonds to me. You all?"

"Tastes like the color of death."

"We got us a poet boys. 'Dear Diary, I wrote a haiku about the luminiferous aether and it made me saaaad.'"

"What the hell are YOU doing on this channel, Anton?"

"Gotta keep the com-links warm or they get out of practice."

"I want all of you horsehockyhead cocksucking ers off this channel NOW, or I will rip out your liver, make it into ING pate and feed it to my tankshark."

"Aye, Vazeq."

"Sure thing Bloodhair."

"So THAT'S where the pate comes from..."

"..."

"Who said that?"

Flag of the Republic of Ik



Insignia of the National Ik Military (NIM)

There is very little point to coloured flags in space what with the distance and the lack of light, thus you'll have monotone radar reflective symbols on your ships to aid identification, and something very simple you can broadcast in black and white (since the respondent might not know what colour scheme your data is meant to be in unless you pack a lot of extra metadata with it - something expensive with the Pearls limited bandwidth).

Circle and the star on its own is fine, if dull .

I liked the symbols Dis put up personally; look pretty awesome!

Of course you did, I'm fantastic (also - brownnose). The only one I might change would be cleaning up the Lantian one, and some of the Aliens ones.


Update 19 – How soft your fields so green...

Even as Kaus space was becoming increasingly peaceful, the nations of Errai seemed to be ratcheting up for hostilities such had not been seen since the 'Al genocides. The continued political good fortune of the Sajara and the decreasingly likelihood of some sort of attack occurring at Arrakis combined to give strong support for an IP defence fleet in Errai Space. Despite their economic and scientific strength the Ik were at something of a disadvantage strategically, scrambling to provide sufficient cover for their clutch of worlds against the Akresian assaults their fevered minds were concocting. To this end two IP small ship designs were developed and moved to production – a lithe little missile boat and a heavily armoured gunship, two answers to the questions the Akresian fleet construction was raising. Whither they would pass the exam or fail remains to be seen, all ships old and new remaining highly strung and constantly monitoring the Akresian fleet. This construction did take a lot of resources however, meaning that the Ik government only had little to spare this year for the colonists on Arrakis II (now apparently renamed Zoe), in their construction of a new city further south from the original landing site. The colonists, used to having every need lavishly provided by the Ik government and its Colonist party, were irked by this perceived neglect – did those back on Taik not know that they were doing Alla's will?

The Akresians weren't idle either, doubling the size of their fleet of Fission Busters of the course of the year. However they were still appearing much more relaxed than the Ik that had been so prideful earlier and were now so worried, and still stated that their new fleet was for defensive purposes only. They also made several breakthroughs that appeared to put them well on the way to becoming a technologically advanced culture, and were indeed only a few technological steps away from being able to build a copy of the Explorer class ship that had brought them to this system. On the domestic front the Akresians have once again reached the ceiling of their food production, though in rather more convivial circumstances than the food crises of the past as they now had the technical capability to deal with the problem. Construction of another orbital farm would reach the limits of their management capacities to keep all their junk in the sky, but it would easily provided the food for further growth. Beyond that however would necessitate going to another world in the Errai system, and although some were promised them by treaty long ago, it is uncertain if the Ik will respect that in the present day. It remains to be seen which amongst the Errai cultures will blink first.

The Lantian departments on Ningbao were rather busy this year as a great number of tasks needed to be done, shipping and trading and politicking worth of some pre-Tumult hub, rather than the ruined backwaters of the Hydra Tuft. The Soulon had returned to the negotiating table, and this time had managed to convince the Lantians of a reasonable deal; two Junks built and dispatched to Kaus with the Hiel Corvette as escort. Their agreements with the 'Al stipulated that a trade route and repayments schedule would be set up in this year; another Junk and an existing ship assigned and shipments begun. The ongoing bribe to the pirates was to be paid this year, with the resources assembled and two of the powerful Sunsin ships on hand to provide security. The practical and efficient Lantians of course got this all done easily...only to be let down by circumstance. The pirates never showed up to collect, and the circumstances of the 'Al made it impossible to begin the payments, with only the efforts with the Soulon going even remotely smoothly. Of their own projects things went well, the continual transfer of population from Gemstar to Horn proceeding apace – hollowing out the intellectual and commercial life of the capital world and leaving it a grim industrial park. Of course what the colonists found in Horn terrified them, and shook the government to the core, facing extensive criticism for keeping all the defence fleet at Gemstar...

Shadows swirling, darkness descending, terror in the night. All these things were on the Esani public conciousness as the Government went fully public with the information of the events in the Black Forest. Naturally the proposed responses ran a spectrum from nuking the moon into oblivion to running and hiding from these terrifying artifacts that can somehow rip a man apart and then put him back together without the soul. The eventual government response was somewhere in between – a full lock down at the research centre and isolating the Forest from visitors (though the scientists continued to study the trinkets they had already brought to the labs), whilst at the same time ordering a massive construction effort on the first moon of Heze VI. This would provide a fall back position and guard station, as well as fit into the ongoing plans for full resource exploitation throughout the Heze system. There was significant trouble finding people willing to work in these new mines and forts, with the grim ruins being visible in the sky, but the Magisterium offered numerous...incentives. However this effort fed into the other big Esani problem – managing their diverse collection of worlds. The tremendous economic expansion effort of the past decade now see them being the greatest industrial producer in the whole Trailing Lobe (the Kations are a hair behind, and that is with the resources of two systems at work), but the efficiency costs eats up nearly a quarter of their intellectual energies, and many corrupt bureaucrats siphon off resources for non-mandated expenditures. Despite these many insystem problems, the first indication that the Esani were having outsystem plans since the Vazan opened contact came when the Esani quickly finished off the mathematics needed for Burst jumps, and began to work on a cargo shell.

Another round of redundancy-via-removal-of-oxygen-privileges occurs in the Soulon league this year, as the harried technocrats who had made mistakes with the food production were removed, and new and very temporary farming complexes were established on the smaller habitats of the Outer Worlds. Temporary for the Soulon league had now settled on a date for departure – early next year. This would be accomplished with self reliance (tm) rather than by importing technologies, the Soulon league currently half-way through the design work on a bare-bones fleet supply ship. The one concession to the fact that the Soulon might not be able to do this all themselves was a pair of the reliable and spacious Laoniu Junks acquired from the Lantians in exchange for an Ansibyl Pearl (the Lantians now having the largest stock of the artifacts by quite a margin), which transferred to the system in the mid part of the year, accompanied by a Corvette to pick up the Pearl. On all other fronts the Soulon worked feverishly to complete their demanding schedule, large portions of the army being returned to the work force to speed things along (and allay Gardener suspicions). Another thing done to quiet the Gardeners was the promise of one of the Soulons remaining Pearls , to be transferred at the end of the year, though since the Gardeners seemed to forget about this detail of their agreements, the Soulon merely kept mum and didn't hand one over. It is rumoured that the remaining elements of the Soulon hierarchy are still negotiating with distant powers, this time with the objective to smooth their travel into the Spinward Lobe.

Despite their talk of suspicion, the Gardeners seemed to actually believe that the Soulon were going to follow through with their planned departure, and continued their own stand down, shutting down various war making facilities and demobilising their armed forces. They chose not to invest the habitants on Thoth, preferring to have a period of mourning for the planets soul before beginning anew. To this end they focused on a civilian development for what seemed the first time in decades, opening a new research centre into the biological arts on Kadesh, with the intent to restore and regenerate Thoth in the coming decades. After all, the Soulon leaving the system they will be able to take over the shells of their habitats and mining operations, to serve a more holy cause.

The hot forges of war production are burning on both Kation and Vazan worlds at Zavi this year, but surprisingly their diplomacy and common communications seem to indicate that they are not planning to attack each other, but having something rather different in mind. The Vazan had simply constructed another Basilisk, and soon its lumpen weapon pocked profile joined its sister ship already in orbit of Krige. The Kations on the other hand had designed a new ship type, that wasn't so much an independent starship as it was meant to be weapons wielded by their command carrier. Each Aconite consisted of thin layer of spacecraft and fusion drives wrapped around a single huge laser cannon (the largest yet built in the post-Tumult era, not that the Kations are compensating for anything of course!) with the intention that it would operate in a flock backed up by the Hellebore's processing power and missiles to overcome each individual ships lack of flexibility. This construction was the only Kation activity of note in the Zavi system this year, the rest of the population restively looking at the latest transmissions from Minkar with jealousy, each wishing it would be they who was out there testing themselves against the raw power of new worlds rather than rotting in cubicles in Aranahara arcologies. Perhaps its for the best that the Kations don't have much plan for a trade route connecting the systems, for they might see a less than desirable outflow. In Minkar space the Kations ramped up development in the same efficient manner they had ruthlessly exploited Zavi space, with new cities and mining complexes across the worlds and a spread of earth-plant farms amidst the Wormforests. However more haste can lead to less speed, for the idea to cut corners on intersystem shuttles by using the main IS transport fleet tied up those ships for the whole year, much to the annoyance of planners back on Aranahara who wanted that fleet back here yesterday! The Vazan built their first city on the surface of Minkar III, its sprawling industrial delights annoying Kation ramblers who wander by, and a wing of transports brought new material for the construction of farms and further habitats in the following year. Or possibly a spaceport, for unlike the Kations the Vazan seemed to not want to bother with the hassle of moving things back and forth by fleet, or maybe a biotech research centre, to compliment the institutions of Zavi space - the Vazan are not short on ideas for their first interstellar settlement! However the urgent recall of the Phoenix Passenger ship left the initial colonists in something of bind as regard to supplies, unless they successfully manage to beg food from the Kation farms they might end up starving in the following year. The Vazan home life on the Zavi is similarly as dull beyond the building of war and cargo ships. A new extortion by certain executive factions for greater reproduction rates is met with with widespread hostility from the collected forums of the Cyberdemarchy; females detest the idea of becoming baby factories, and the enormous effort involved in raising a child from birth to a productive member of society makes even those with plenty of children angry at the calls to produce more, much less those who enjoy their free life of work and play. They also point out that since this is pretty much a command economy already and the executive is the direct will of the demos 'tax deductions' make very little sense.

Those who might have thought conflict gone from the Tuft with the ending of the Kausian conflicts were proved sadly wrong by events in Horn space this year. The Lantians built another of their floating cities in the oceans of Horn III, this one becoming fully operational within the year. The 'Al had expanded their hives on the second moon of Cascade from a tiny outpost into a proper settlement. They were certain in their safety this year for the Pirates would surely be going to Gemstar to pick up their bribe...they were wrong. Screaming into the system came most of the Libere fleet carrying the majority of the Liberes army, shedding curses and ill-kempt ion trails. The Lantians panicked, thinking that the Liberes would be angry by the small amount of resources they have in stock and simply kill them in their brutish anger, though the chance to being carried away as slaves seemed unlikely since the Liberes didn't have the transports for population movements. However fear turned to confusion when it became apparent that the pirates were not heading for Horn III, but rather had set a course for that silky green orb in the middle of the system – Cascade, and the 'Al settlements. The single armed defender, a recommissioned Lantian Corvette with 'Al systems and crew stood in the way of the oncoming fleet, a fleet that had ten times the destructive capability. Surprisingly cautious for them, the Liberes elected for a long range bombardment with no chances being taken. Much to their consternation the Corvette, in a display of 'Al piloting that even the ship-mad pirates wouldn't have been able to match, dodged the initial waves and, using the Raven Scouts as expendable distractions, managed to close with the Libere fleet faster than they could evade. However an Aphrodite managed to get on the Corvettes incoming vector, and although the defenders lasers raked the winged Cruiser mercilessly, its armour shrugged off enough energy that the Aphrodite survived as a functional warship...something that could not be said for the Corvette as the hail of missiles finally found their mark. With its quixotic defenders dispatched, the waiting 'Al capital world was spread out beneath the Pirates guns. After a brief and unpleasant example was made of the habitat on Cascade B, the Libere marines descended, and marched into the metallic hives of the 'Al, their inhabitants looking on blankly from behind their dark and ragged robes. Positioning the garrison at all important points and planting several fusion explosives in the life support machinery (the initial plan of just taking over the habitat control systems was abandoned when it was pointed out the far superior skills the 'Al had with software would mean they'd easily extract themselves from such a problem), the Captain in charge of this little bit of opportunism announced that the 'Al were now the property of his Grandiosely Gracious Majesty , Apollinaire IV, and that all future economic output of the 'Al habitats would be immediately dispatched to Avarice so that his Majesty could inspect the quality of their work. To exemplify the point the little resources the 'Al had lying around were immediately taken up to the ships. The 'Al still seemed stunned at their misfortune and the psychic pain of the deaths on IV b, and it remains to be seen what they'll do in the following years...mass suicide is something they are quite familiar with after all. One thing they did do was send urgent messages to the Lantians, demanding that they fulfil their end of the defensive agreement that had been negotiated earlier – after all the Lantians were the ones who added the Liberes to the list of foes to defend against! For their part the Lantian government seemed as stunned as the 'Al, and with all their military assets in other systems a response wouldn't be quick even if they wanted to...

'Al losses: 1 Hiel Corvette, 2 Raven Scouts, Horn V b
Pirate losses: 1 Cruiser damaged.​

Back on Avarice the pirates toasted the success of their assault and the inevitably expanding dominions of his majesty and the continued righteousness of their doing whatever the heck they liked. Naturally such success needs to be properly recorded by historians and stuff, so they also commissioned the construction of a university system to produce the required biographers and court artists. Those guys could probably do some teaching and research on the side as well...

Random Events
A transshipment gets lost at an Esani processing centre: -16 stored e.
Angry Akresians activate ancient archives about artillery: +10s weapons.

Random Stats
Greatest time spent on one Vazan disco rave dance move: 3.8 megaseconds
Recommended total meditation time a Gardener acolyte must experience before receiving his first trowel: Six hundred and thirty three thousand breaths.
Hours per year an average Kation spends time admiring their own face in a mirror display: 1056 hours.
Average length of political show trials in the Soulon courts: 44 days

Karmically Blessed Nations
I was going to put the winner of the symbolism competition here, but I guess you all suck

Notes
Added a base level management costs to the Net s calculation, now even empty habitats take effort to keep running (though much less than an inhabited one).

Datalinks: Ship Designer for Update 17.

So whats the base for the new s spread eqn? (I am getting screwed by that now!)

And have you applied my maths s bonus? I seem to have a discrepancy somewhere and I'm trying to track it down.

I do have a question related to something that is currently making me face-fault: how can the Gardeners and the AI have more NET s than GROSS s?

Haha, you really shouldn't have pointed that out, when applying the maths bonuses I accidently gave yours to the Ik and the Ik's to you. Your s output is now decreased appropriately, luckily rounding means you still have 63 s net.

@Kentharu: sorry about that - you have 77s net s (2 extra).

The new base level maintainence is 0.15 (so that before 0 pop > 0, 1 pop -> 1, two pop -> 1.19, now 0 -> 0.15, 1-> 1.15, 2->1.34)

@Milarqui: if you have low population and spread corruption your tech bonuses can be awesome enough to actually produce synergy and excellence in your researchers, leading to a net bonus rather than cost. You've to ask if being limited to a single world/tiny pop is worth that though .

Disenfrancised said:

Haha, you really shouldn't have pointed that out, when applying the maths bonuses I accidently gave yours to the Ik and the Ik's to you. Your s output is now decreased appropriately, luckily rounding means you still have 63 s net.

Click to expand...

Mhmm well I'll have to keep looking then, I've got a few s disappearing on my side :/

Disenfrancised said:

@Milarqui: if you have low population and spread corruption your tech bonuses can be awesome enough to actually produce synergy and excellence in your researchers, leading to a net bonus rather than cost. You've to ask if being limited to a single world/tiny pop is worth that though .

Click to expand...

Ahhhhmmm, OK, I was really freaked out by the fact that they were gaining more than what they should.

Kal'thzar said:

Mhmm well I'll have to keep looking then, I've got a few s disappearing on my side :/

Click to expand...

At what point are you rounding? You should round once to produce the Gross s, the get the Net from that via NET_S=ROUND(GROSS_S*(1+((TECHCUBE.COMP+TECHCUBE.MATHS+TECHCUBE.SOCIAL)/50)-((POPULATION^1.05)/2000)-((Σ(POPULATION_SPREAD)/75)))), where POPULATION_SPREAD is each habitats population ^0.25 and plus 0.15.

I'm rich! Good Update!

Yaaaarr! That is all.

Since we all suck, dis, can YOU give us all of the symbolism explanations for posterity's sake?

So, Kentharu, are your spaceships called National Ik Military Remote Orbital Devices (NIMRODs)?

Now that I don't care what other people are doing, again, I can send in early orders.

Production from the Energy RC seems off, as 14 pop at 200% should be 28, not 24.

Question, could an increased number of Ansibyl Pearls dedicated to inter-world communication (rather than on a fleet or whatever) help prevent the spread costs of a far flung civilization? Or can a remote Ansibyl Pearl naturally interact with planet-bound devices already?

I was just curious as to whether worlds strung out across a system communicate using FTL or sub-light means. I also feel like mechanics wise, there should be more bonuses to having a greater number of pearls beyond being able to send out X number of fleets.