J.K. Stockholme
Right Opposition
Next Order Deadline: Wednesday evening, 10 PM PST, September 24th. EXTENDED: Thursday 10 PM PST.
Updates:
Hello to you, and welcome to StockNES, a country NES about the post-collapse world of the 23rd century, which has finally found its grip in a wholly new global scenario than it started over a hundred years previous. Before I proceed, I’d like to credit EQandcivfanatic and TheLizardKing for various ideas of theirs I’ve brutally robbed. I’m sure I inadvertently owe gratitude to other NESers for ideas I’ve taken as well, so thanks in advance to them too.
For players totally new to NESing, send me a message either in-thread or by PM, or read this fabulous introduction to NESing.
The type of government a country possess relies on two primary attributes, functional mechanisms and structure. Functional mechanisms are specific aspects of government which require ongoing tracking, such as elections in republics, hereditary succession in monarchies, or power struggles within one party states. The dominant institutions of government, whether the military, academia or civilian legislatures, and the overall administrative system describes the structure. Combined, these two attributes have a large effect on how internal dissent and stability are modelled within countries, however, the leadership of a country, regardless of the form of government, determines the in-character diplomacy and goals they choose. Players are encouraged to develop unique ideologies, and to detail their countries’ leaders, create party names and what not, which I can add to the stats.
Arranged by structural type and then by functions, the government types:
The exception to the above categories are strongly federal systems (countries which are technically federations, but have a strong central government won't be recognized as such), which have domestic caveats that make categorizing them less simple. In such cases, whatever the country's dominant structure is will be combined with the term Federation. This is the most flexible government type, as there are separate powers for different internal actors. You'll have to consult me or the player in question about the specific functions each country has, as the above titles won't fully convey all of the domestic drama of these countries.
Industrial points are used up in the construction of military units and are an indicator of the amount of modern industrial equipment in a country. It can be viewed as similar in function to manpower for other NESes. Unlike in former eras, unless you adequately equip your soldiers with modern equipment, they can’t perform basic military actions against even nomads. This means countries with massive populations are entirely defenceless without industrial points, despite having plenty of able bodied men ready to fight. Also, unlike in the past century when ability to recruit troops was the limiting factor of most armies, now it’s the ability to arm those troops. In this way, Industrial Points can be thought of as a combination of manpower to machine-power. Whereas Economic Points represent underlying economic and commercial activity, Industrial Points are far more tangible and are therefore affected by any movement of human or physical capital. Migrations, plagues, sudden capital flights or natural disasters will directly remove banked IP, and usually diminish IP per turn or EP per turn, so it’s inadvisable you spend all of your banked IP in a single turn.
IP that is banked, because it’s not in use by the military, contributes to your EP per turn and general commercial competitiveness. When you’re not equipping soldiers or making war vehicles IP is used in production and commercial ventures. Countries are allowed to send IP to one another on a whim, though remember that, unless an immediate security threat warrants the rapid export of your equipment stockpiles, investors and domestic producers will be displeased that the government is moving out useful productive capital.
Economic Points act as they do in any other nation-NES, they are used to do just about everything, from construction projects, to creating armies, to social policies. They represent economic output, commercial activity (especially trade) and productivity, and are not derived from taxation, though domestic policies, including tax policies, may factor into overall economic, commercial and productive activity, and thereby EP per turn. EPs are subject to all the forces of the economy: resources, human and physical capital, and technology. The control of particular resources, like oil, can have geopolitical impact, and I will allow players to threaten to cut off supplies to particular nations. Remember though that this world has, in a pinch, the ability to create just about anything synthetically, so even if a country is embargoed by every petroleum producing country on the planet they can still produce vehicles and aircraft, though at an expense to their EP or IP per turn or with a combat inhibition.
Projects in this NES should also be familiar to most NESers; they are specific ideas, from huge development plans to individual buildings to government programs, which I can provide a specific cost and tailored benefits for countries that undertake them. EP cannot purchase IP directly, however projects that require or result in the production of new capital may create IP or IP per turn, as I wish to encourage creative projects.
This NES will feature an experimental market for loanable funds, into which each country can put EP that it isn’t using and wishes to see returns on. For each geographic region the sum of EP that lender countries choose to loan out will be the pool from which potential debtor countries can borrow from at the interest rate assigned to their country. The interest rate will be based on the risk of the investment, so stability and financial history. The interest rate will be 6 (the starting number) plus every stability point your country is away from 10, plus every stability point (positive or negative) your country is away from 6, finally modified by other factors I can personally explain given the country.
A typical turn’s financial transactions might happen like follows: some countries wish to be lenders in a given geographic market, and each order a specific sum of EP to be put on the market for that turn. Several other countries wish to borrow and are from that same geographic market, and each request a specific sum of EP for that turn. The borrowers will receive as much as the lenders are willing to provide, with EP being distributed based on how the countries in the market desired to invest. Players should indicate the risk they are willing to undertake, or the countries they wish to invest in. The update will then display which countries have investments where in a financial report, and the debtor countries will have that much EP added to their Banked EP and their Debt.
Debtor countries are expected to pay the interest accrued on all their loans at the beginning and in the middle of every decade (every 5 years) or face default, however the principal needn’t ever be paid back (though it’s advisable to do so eventually). The precise value of the interest accrued will be fractional, but when making a payment the number will be rounded up to the nearest full number, and the difference will be recorded in the update's financial report. It will be deducted from the subsequent payment if it will reduce the payment by 1 EP.
Similarly, for lender countries, their payments will likely be received as fractions, and each lender will only receive full EP, with the remainder listed in the financial report as a return in waiting.
All countries begin with the default credit rating that is computed by the calculation without additional changes – so if you see a discrepancy it isn’t because of hidden additional information. All additions to the cost of borrowing will be listed publicly in updates so people know when and why things went up or down.
All transactions of EP through loans must take place after an update; do not make purchases based on expected loans, nor from expected returns on investments.
Stability is ranked from 0-10, each level being relatively self-evident. At a stability of 10, we are talking about largely peaceful countries with healthy populations that are satisfied enough not to disrespect the government. Rallies, calls to action, and intellectual debates may still rage, but no one will question your authority except the most fringe elements.
Beginning at stability 9 protests will become possible though they will be largely peaceful affairs. At 8 you reach the level where riots are a possibility, and protests are also more likely. Unlike a protest, a riot can get out of hand, and may, within the course of a single turn, devolve a country to a lower stability level and then cause a lower level event.
At stability 6 you have the possibility of coups, which could lead to factionalized conflict. Local revolts are also possible around level 6, and if not controlled by the military, could develop into a playable faction, essentially meaning a civil war. At 5 or lower, people begin to question seriously the very mode of government on a large scale. This means that protests, revolts, and coups which change the government type (and not merely who is in power) of a country will be more likely to happen. At 4 or lower the government is openly disrespected, and nation-wide rebellion becomes distinctly possible – people are now seriously questioning if your nation should exist at all (regardless of government type). Rebel groups will probably be too common or too expansive to fully eliminate, and limited sectarian or factionalized violence will be daily business.
Level 2 or lower means the government is crumbling and violence is very common, and at level 0, the state ceases to exist. Reaching a stability of 0 in effect is therefore one of the only two ways for a player to lose the game (the other being annexation by another country), as that whole country no longer exists as it once was, with various factions, whether ideological or secessionist, taking over the now open territory.
There will be no tech tree. I do not want to handle one and I’d much rather generalize about the technological and scientific state of the world. That said, specific technological developments can be proposed by PM to me, and I might give the go ahead for a secret project - particularly futuristic WMD ideas. These could turn into new technologies which change the course of a war, be mild benefits, or turn into utter duds. I may also give you a project if I think your scientists would be demanding state funds for it, though again, it may be nothing, so don’t assume because I provided a project it means it’ll be useful or successful.
For informational purposes, the technological level (though not the infrastructural level) of this world is about that of perhaps roughly the twenty-oughts. The consumer, industrial and military hardware and software of about that level is what the upper classes of advanced societies would be fairly familiar with, but the existing amount of such technologies starts out extremely limited. Cell phones, the internet, and satellite technology are known and understood among the scientific community, but as of 2200, none of the above currently exist except as relics or schematics. As time goes on, I might allow more speculative technologies to be developed outside of WMDs.
For the purposes of this game nuclear weapons are a relic of the past. If there is one thing which everyone in this world agrees on - especially the scientific community - it’s that nuclear weapons should never be built again. I won’t stop a player if they are hell-bent on building them, but it will cost you, and the news will probably make a lot of your people and your neighbours very mad. The reason is I’d prefer players be creative with their weapons, using other ideas instead, so that we have a more interesting experience - and because nukes are kind of a game breaker when actually used. I’m not currently sure how I will record WMD stockpiles, but we’ll handle that when players start creating them through secret projects detailed in the Technology section. Be creative, be a little speculative, and expect me to be a little pseudo-scientific.
Satellites are understood by the scientific community, and manned missions aren’t too far beyond reach. If players want a cool space program, I’ve several pre-determined costs for such adventures, just remember this NES is not focused on space, so your benefits will mostly be felt by people on the ground in the form of prestige and pride. Satellites will be the only real tangibly beneficial space-related expenses, as they can provide imagery of foreign territory, telecommunications coverage and other nice things. Below is a list of basic costs for such hardware:
Rovers, Space Stations and other stuff will be negotiated later. Costs will go down globally as more countries conduct space missions.
Updates:
Spoiler :
Introduction
Hello to you, and welcome to StockNES, a country NES about the post-collapse world of the 23rd century, which has finally found its grip in a wholly new global scenario than it started over a hundred years previous. Before I proceed, I’d like to credit EQandcivfanatic and TheLizardKing for various ideas of theirs I’ve brutally robbed. I’m sure I inadvertently owe gratitude to other NESers for ideas I’ve taken as well, so thanks in advance to them too.
For players totally new to NESing, send me a message either in-thread or by PM, or read this fabulous introduction to NESing.
Typical Stats
Country Name (Player Name): Capital
Government Type: Leadership (Ideology)
Industrial Points: IP Banked (IP per turn)
Economic Points: EP Banked/Debt/Principal Accrued (EP per turn)
Credit Rating: #%
Stability: 0 - 10
Army: [various units]
Navy: [various units]
Air Force: [various units]
Military Grade: #/#/#
Projects: Project Name (EP Invested/EP Needed)
Government Type: Leadership (Ideology)
Industrial Points: IP Banked (IP per turn)
Economic Points: EP Banked/Debt/Principal Accrued (EP per turn)
Credit Rating: #%
Stability: 0 - 10
Army: [various units]
Navy: [various units]
Air Force: [various units]
Military Grade: #/#/#
Projects: Project Name (EP Invested/EP Needed)
Setting
Spoiler :
The new century dawns with a new age, the Second Modern Era, a time in history that bears many features in common with different parts of the past. This world has recovered from industrial and agricultural devastation, with a global population of about two billion people, and growing international trade bringing food to even isolated locations. Economies are being incorporated into regional trading systems, while some governments have sanctioned efforts to take trade around entire continents and across whole oceans - feats considered too difficult not long ago. The urban population of the world lives largely in the kind of poverty and inequity that was last experienced in the industrial revolution, with many sprawling industrial centres possessing semi-class conscious proletariat - though the cheaper technologies of the later twentieth century partially mute the discomfort, such as television, radio, and so forth. For the upper classes life can be positively modern, with most of the consumer conveniences of the past, sans those which necessitate specialized infrastructure, such as the internet and cellular telecommunications.
In rural life things become substantially less modernized, with the more distant regions of many countries still without even basic or partial electricity and plumbing. There farming has become less labour intensive, and a slow migration towards the cities has been a common theme across the planet again, producing unemployment and slums. Governments, despite persistent effort over the past century, still have work ahead of them to fully centralize themselves, as for example rural communities tend to see the central administration of their state as their protector to which they owe taxation, not as having the responsibility to bring about economic growth or improve general welfare. The military is the primary object of the state, and though fledgling administrations in some countries begin to toy with large development projects and social programs, they are few and remain experimental.
Economic and industrial development itself is fairly advanced, with synthetic production of a great many highly advanced products being possible, though the basics - steel, vehicles, cement, and other building blocks of nations - are the primary products of manufacturing. Much of the world relies on the dirty fuels of the past, oil, coal and natural gas, though more remote places use expensive renewable sources to fund their industries. Logging has pushed back the forests which the last hundred years saw expansively grow, fishing has yet to deplete immediate coastlines but is increasing coastal traffic, while other natural resource extraction operations are happening mostly by private actors in the market, though more left-leaning governments are directly planning the extraction of resources for their economies.
Finally, what do the people of the twenty-third century think and believe? Far too many things, would be the appropriate answer. Various projects of modernity, modernisms of all kinds, proliferate the planet, from liberal and socialist democracies to communist, fascist or military states, to countries run by the academia, to countries run by a corporate board of directors. And besides all of these various visions of society, there then stand the counter-modernists, whom reject all of these projections of ideology in favour of a sustainable societies - whether that is based on tradition or reformist organicism or green environmentalism what have you.
It’s a dangerous and uncertain world out there, one which will struggle with all those problems of the past modern era; militarism, arms races, culture wars, revolution, ethnic, religious and ideological conflict; as well as experience the past’s trends, industrialization, development, international finance, and the changing role of the state. And beyond all of this, there are also new horizons within grasp, as outer space is re-explored, new technologies open up new avenues for cultural and technical development, or new weapons of mass destruction.
In rural life things become substantially less modernized, with the more distant regions of many countries still without even basic or partial electricity and plumbing. There farming has become less labour intensive, and a slow migration towards the cities has been a common theme across the planet again, producing unemployment and slums. Governments, despite persistent effort over the past century, still have work ahead of them to fully centralize themselves, as for example rural communities tend to see the central administration of their state as their protector to which they owe taxation, not as having the responsibility to bring about economic growth or improve general welfare. The military is the primary object of the state, and though fledgling administrations in some countries begin to toy with large development projects and social programs, they are few and remain experimental.
Economic and industrial development itself is fairly advanced, with synthetic production of a great many highly advanced products being possible, though the basics - steel, vehicles, cement, and other building blocks of nations - are the primary products of manufacturing. Much of the world relies on the dirty fuels of the past, oil, coal and natural gas, though more remote places use expensive renewable sources to fund their industries. Logging has pushed back the forests which the last hundred years saw expansively grow, fishing has yet to deplete immediate coastlines but is increasing coastal traffic, while other natural resource extraction operations are happening mostly by private actors in the market, though more left-leaning governments are directly planning the extraction of resources for their economies.
Finally, what do the people of the twenty-third century think and believe? Far too many things, would be the appropriate answer. Various projects of modernity, modernisms of all kinds, proliferate the planet, from liberal and socialist democracies to communist, fascist or military states, to countries run by the academia, to countries run by a corporate board of directors. And besides all of these various visions of society, there then stand the counter-modernists, whom reject all of these projections of ideology in favour of a sustainable societies - whether that is based on tradition or reformist organicism or green environmentalism what have you.
It’s a dangerous and uncertain world out there, one which will struggle with all those problems of the past modern era; militarism, arms races, culture wars, revolution, ethnic, religious and ideological conflict; as well as experience the past’s trends, industrialization, development, international finance, and the changing role of the state. And beyond all of this, there are also new horizons within grasp, as outer space is re-explored, new technologies open up new avenues for cultural and technical development, or new weapons of mass destruction.
Governments
The type of government a country possess relies on two primary attributes, functional mechanisms and structure. Functional mechanisms are specific aspects of government which require ongoing tracking, such as elections in republics, hereditary succession in monarchies, or power struggles within one party states. The dominant institutions of government, whether the military, academia or civilian legislatures, and the overall administrative system describes the structure. Combined, these two attributes have a large effect on how internal dissent and stability are modelled within countries, however, the leadership of a country, regardless of the form of government, determines the in-character diplomacy and goals they choose. Players are encouraged to develop unique ideologies, and to detail their countries’ leaders, create party names and what not, which I can add to the stats.
Arranged by structural type and then by functions, the government types:
Spoiler :
Absolute Monarchy, the monarch inherits the country by dynastic succession, and can administer it however they desire, from enlightened despotism to regal tyranny.
Constitutional Monarchy, publicly upheld and defined limits are put on the monarch, which can range from the election of a minimally empowered parliament, to effectively a republic, with the monarch as a figurehead.
Liberal Republic, a democratic-capitalist system which adheres to conceptually liberal principles, with regular elections mandated by the constitution.
Socialist Republic, a democratic system which runs an explicitly socialist economy, usually tolerating only low economic freedom, with regular elections mandated by the constitution.
Theocratic Republic, for the most part, a theocracy, but there are pseudo-democratic elections of pre-approved candidates, where representation can range from meaningless to substantial.
Corporate Republic, usually this means effectively a cartel of companies running largely pre-determined elections, though it can include broader democratic possibilities within a corporate government structure.
Military Dictatorship, generals run the country, sometimes formally as a presidential republic in a permanent state of emergency, though public participation in government is minor.
Corporate Dictatorship, a corporation or a collection of corporations run the country, and even if there are election processes among the elite, the public must follow the central board of directors.
Technocratic Dictatorship, the academia organize government, with a heavy emphasis on meritocratic systems for the appointment of leaders and scientific administration.
Communist Dictatorship, a dictatorship of the proletariat, this is a one party state run like those of the twentieth century.
Fascist Dictatorship, a great leader, appealing to the universality of the state, runs the country, and all functions of government are directed towards internal and external militarism.
Liberal Dictatorship, the military doesn’t run the country, an unofficial dynastic plutocracy dictates the future of these countries.
Theocratic Dictatorship, the clerical caste runs the government, and society is structured around religious organizational principles and tenets.
Constitutional Monarchy, publicly upheld and defined limits are put on the monarch, which can range from the election of a minimally empowered parliament, to effectively a republic, with the monarch as a figurehead.
Liberal Republic, a democratic-capitalist system which adheres to conceptually liberal principles, with regular elections mandated by the constitution.
Socialist Republic, a democratic system which runs an explicitly socialist economy, usually tolerating only low economic freedom, with regular elections mandated by the constitution.
Theocratic Republic, for the most part, a theocracy, but there are pseudo-democratic elections of pre-approved candidates, where representation can range from meaningless to substantial.
Corporate Republic, usually this means effectively a cartel of companies running largely pre-determined elections, though it can include broader democratic possibilities within a corporate government structure.
Military Dictatorship, generals run the country, sometimes formally as a presidential republic in a permanent state of emergency, though public participation in government is minor.
Corporate Dictatorship, a corporation or a collection of corporations run the country, and even if there are election processes among the elite, the public must follow the central board of directors.
Technocratic Dictatorship, the academia organize government, with a heavy emphasis on meritocratic systems for the appointment of leaders and scientific administration.
Communist Dictatorship, a dictatorship of the proletariat, this is a one party state run like those of the twentieth century.
Fascist Dictatorship, a great leader, appealing to the universality of the state, runs the country, and all functions of government are directed towards internal and external militarism.
Liberal Dictatorship, the military doesn’t run the country, an unofficial dynastic plutocracy dictates the future of these countries.
Theocratic Dictatorship, the clerical caste runs the government, and society is structured around religious organizational principles and tenets.
The exception to the above categories are strongly federal systems (countries which are technically federations, but have a strong central government won't be recognized as such), which have domestic caveats that make categorizing them less simple. In such cases, whatever the country's dominant structure is will be combined with the term Federation. This is the most flexible government type, as there are separate powers for different internal actors. You'll have to consult me or the player in question about the specific functions each country has, as the above titles won't fully convey all of the domestic drama of these countries.
Industrial Points and Population
Industrial points are used up in the construction of military units and are an indicator of the amount of modern industrial equipment in a country. It can be viewed as similar in function to manpower for other NESes. Unlike in former eras, unless you adequately equip your soldiers with modern equipment, they can’t perform basic military actions against even nomads. This means countries with massive populations are entirely defenceless without industrial points, despite having plenty of able bodied men ready to fight. Also, unlike in the past century when ability to recruit troops was the limiting factor of most armies, now it’s the ability to arm those troops. In this way, Industrial Points can be thought of as a combination of manpower to machine-power. Whereas Economic Points represent underlying economic and commercial activity, Industrial Points are far more tangible and are therefore affected by any movement of human or physical capital. Migrations, plagues, sudden capital flights or natural disasters will directly remove banked IP, and usually diminish IP per turn or EP per turn, so it’s inadvisable you spend all of your banked IP in a single turn.
IP that is banked, because it’s not in use by the military, contributes to your EP per turn and general commercial competitiveness. When you’re not equipping soldiers or making war vehicles IP is used in production and commercial ventures. Countries are allowed to send IP to one another on a whim, though remember that, unless an immediate security threat warrants the rapid export of your equipment stockpiles, investors and domestic producers will be displeased that the government is moving out useful productive capital.
Economy and Projects
Economic Points act as they do in any other nation-NES, they are used to do just about everything, from construction projects, to creating armies, to social policies. They represent economic output, commercial activity (especially trade) and productivity, and are not derived from taxation, though domestic policies, including tax policies, may factor into overall economic, commercial and productive activity, and thereby EP per turn. EPs are subject to all the forces of the economy: resources, human and physical capital, and technology. The control of particular resources, like oil, can have geopolitical impact, and I will allow players to threaten to cut off supplies to particular nations. Remember though that this world has, in a pinch, the ability to create just about anything synthetically, so even if a country is embargoed by every petroleum producing country on the planet they can still produce vehicles and aircraft, though at an expense to their EP or IP per turn or with a combat inhibition.
Projects in this NES should also be familiar to most NESers; they are specific ideas, from huge development plans to individual buildings to government programs, which I can provide a specific cost and tailored benefits for countries that undertake them. EP cannot purchase IP directly, however projects that require or result in the production of new capital may create IP or IP per turn, as I wish to encourage creative projects.
Credit
This NES will feature an experimental market for loanable funds, into which each country can put EP that it isn’t using and wishes to see returns on. For each geographic region the sum of EP that lender countries choose to loan out will be the pool from which potential debtor countries can borrow from at the interest rate assigned to their country. The interest rate will be based on the risk of the investment, so stability and financial history. The interest rate will be 6 (the starting number) plus every stability point your country is away from 10, plus every stability point (positive or negative) your country is away from 6, finally modified by other factors I can personally explain given the country.
6 + (10 - stability) + (6 - stability) + other modifiers
A typical turn’s financial transactions might happen like follows: some countries wish to be lenders in a given geographic market, and each order a specific sum of EP to be put on the market for that turn. Several other countries wish to borrow and are from that same geographic market, and each request a specific sum of EP for that turn. The borrowers will receive as much as the lenders are willing to provide, with EP being distributed based on how the countries in the market desired to invest. Players should indicate the risk they are willing to undertake, or the countries they wish to invest in. The update will then display which countries have investments where in a financial report, and the debtor countries will have that much EP added to their Banked EP and their Debt.
Debtor countries are expected to pay the interest accrued on all their loans at the beginning and in the middle of every decade (every 5 years) or face default, however the principal needn’t ever be paid back (though it’s advisable to do so eventually). The precise value of the interest accrued will be fractional, but when making a payment the number will be rounded up to the nearest full number, and the difference will be recorded in the update's financial report. It will be deducted from the subsequent payment if it will reduce the payment by 1 EP.
Similarly, for lender countries, their payments will likely be received as fractions, and each lender will only receive full EP, with the remainder listed in the financial report as a return in waiting.
All countries begin with the default credit rating that is computed by the calculation without additional changes – so if you see a discrepancy it isn’t because of hidden additional information. All additions to the cost of borrowing will be listed publicly in updates so people know when and why things went up or down.
All transactions of EP through loans must take place after an update; do not make purchases based on expected loans, nor from expected returns on investments.
Stability
Stability is ranked from 0-10, each level being relatively self-evident. At a stability of 10, we are talking about largely peaceful countries with healthy populations that are satisfied enough not to disrespect the government. Rallies, calls to action, and intellectual debates may still rage, but no one will question your authority except the most fringe elements.
Beginning at stability 9 protests will become possible though they will be largely peaceful affairs. At 8 you reach the level where riots are a possibility, and protests are also more likely. Unlike a protest, a riot can get out of hand, and may, within the course of a single turn, devolve a country to a lower stability level and then cause a lower level event.
At stability 6 you have the possibility of coups, which could lead to factionalized conflict. Local revolts are also possible around level 6, and if not controlled by the military, could develop into a playable faction, essentially meaning a civil war. At 5 or lower, people begin to question seriously the very mode of government on a large scale. This means that protests, revolts, and coups which change the government type (and not merely who is in power) of a country will be more likely to happen. At 4 or lower the government is openly disrespected, and nation-wide rebellion becomes distinctly possible – people are now seriously questioning if your nation should exist at all (regardless of government type). Rebel groups will probably be too common or too expansive to fully eliminate, and limited sectarian or factionalized violence will be daily business.
Level 2 or lower means the government is crumbling and violence is very common, and at level 0, the state ceases to exist. Reaching a stability of 0 in effect is therefore one of the only two ways for a player to lose the game (the other being annexation by another country), as that whole country no longer exists as it once was, with various factions, whether ideological or secessionist, taking over the now open territory.
Technology
There will be no tech tree. I do not want to handle one and I’d much rather generalize about the technological and scientific state of the world. That said, specific technological developments can be proposed by PM to me, and I might give the go ahead for a secret project - particularly futuristic WMD ideas. These could turn into new technologies which change the course of a war, be mild benefits, or turn into utter duds. I may also give you a project if I think your scientists would be demanding state funds for it, though again, it may be nothing, so don’t assume because I provided a project it means it’ll be useful or successful.
For informational purposes, the technological level (though not the infrastructural level) of this world is about that of perhaps roughly the twenty-oughts. The consumer, industrial and military hardware and software of about that level is what the upper classes of advanced societies would be fairly familiar with, but the existing amount of such technologies starts out extremely limited. Cell phones, the internet, and satellite technology are known and understood among the scientific community, but as of 2200, none of the above currently exist except as relics or schematics. As time goes on, I might allow more speculative technologies to be developed outside of WMDs.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
For the purposes of this game nuclear weapons are a relic of the past. If there is one thing which everyone in this world agrees on - especially the scientific community - it’s that nuclear weapons should never be built again. I won’t stop a player if they are hell-bent on building them, but it will cost you, and the news will probably make a lot of your people and your neighbours very mad. The reason is I’d prefer players be creative with their weapons, using other ideas instead, so that we have a more interesting experience - and because nukes are kind of a game breaker when actually used. I’m not currently sure how I will record WMD stockpiles, but we’ll handle that when players start creating them through secret projects detailed in the Technology section. Be creative, be a little speculative, and expect me to be a little pseudo-scientific.
Outer Space
Satellites are understood by the scientific community, and manned missions aren’t too far beyond reach. If players want a cool space program, I’ve several pre-determined costs for such adventures, just remember this NES is not focused on space, so your benefits will mostly be felt by people on the ground in the form of prestige and pride. Satellites will be the only real tangibly beneficial space-related expenses, as they can provide imagery of foreign territory, telecommunications coverage and other nice things. Below is a list of basic costs for such hardware:
Founding a Space Agency - 20 EP at least, but more EP means a better agency.
Satellites - 5 EP per hunk of metal, with extra cost based on satellite’s purpose. Requires a Space Agency.
Manned Vessel - 30 EP for the ship, 1 extra EP for each crew member; extra costs based on purpose. Requires having launched a satellite.
Moon-Landing Vessel - 50 EP, plus 2 EP for each crew member. Requires having done a manned mission previously.
Satellites - 5 EP per hunk of metal, with extra cost based on satellite’s purpose. Requires a Space Agency.
Manned Vessel - 30 EP for the ship, 1 extra EP for each crew member; extra costs based on purpose. Requires having launched a satellite.
Moon-Landing Vessel - 50 EP, plus 2 EP for each crew member. Requires having done a manned mission previously.
Rovers, Space Stations and other stuff will be negotiated later. Costs will go down globally as more countries conduct space missions.