I'm trying to keep this main thread fairly free of clutter. Much discussion and haranguing and clarification of obscure points is in the Discussion Thread. Feel free to ask spammy questions there.

When the Egyptian god Thoth invented the art of writing, the god Amon rebuked him, saying:
"This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific you have discovered is not an aid to memory. It serves only to make men weak and I will have no part of it."

It has been so with every development in human history. When the first Space Elevator was built at the start of third millennium, similar doomsayers warned that the abundant resources would only lead to yet more overconsumption. And when habitable planets began to be colonized at the end of the twenty-first century, the fear was overpopulation of yet more worlds. At the end of the twenty-second century, when the JEU laid the first unapproved claim to a planet, people thought that all of space might be claimed by the well-off and Earth would become the slum of the galaxy.

Perhaps the fears have come true now. All advanced technology has been swept away in the blink of an eye. There is no AI. Cyborgs are gone, leaving a few with simple prosthetics. Those who cloned themselves and replicated their memories have disappeared too. The common factor, perhaps, is that independent non-human thought is simply no more.

Most of the spaceships are gone, too. The Imperial Republic that ruled humanity, inefficient though it was, has been swept away like dust in a flood.

Now, you must lead one of the few remaining groups of humans who maintain a functioning, albeit small, society. You look out over the empty shell that is your world, and you realize how little of it is available to you. Above you, the stars shine through the sphere of unobtainium which, together with the handwavium gates, allow interstellar travel in a reasonable space of time.

Template removed as NES is closed to new factions. Instead update listing.


Update 1

FACTION LIST

PLAYERS

Yet Another Alexian Faction, Recognizable By The Fact That It Is A China Ripoff (YAAFRBTFTIIACR)
Leader: Emperor Dian (Dian Di) /alex994
Home system: Tian (2 handwavium gates)

Commonwealth of Interstellar Domains (CID)
Leader: President Franklin Sheridan / Symphony D.
Home System: Sol (4 Handwavium Gates)

NPCs

The Army Of Clones

You start with a world of 40 Production (possibly more depending on traits), 1000 infantry, and a small fleet. This has a bunch of ramifications. Ramifications are like consequences.

Production is spent on constructing ships, re-researching technology, training and equipping your army, not to mention increasing production either by building up your local system or claiming worlds in other systems.
1 point of production buys you 100 infantry, 30 tanks or 10 Fighter ships.
2 points of production buys you a Scout ship.
3 points of production invested into an inhabited system increases that system's Production score by 1.
4 points of production buys you a Cruiser ship.
5 points of production buys you an orbital shipyard if you have the appropriate technology. Shipyards are required for more advanced ships. The "appropriate technology" gives you a free shipyard in your home system when researched.
6 points of production get you various combinations of the above.
7 points of production buys a Carrier ship, which can transport 80 fighters or 300 tanks or 1200 infantry. (Or any combination, such as 40 fighters and 600 infantry.)
10 points gets you a new system, see below.

Communication through handwavium gates is effectively instant, as is transport of raw materials, but someone must be stationed at each end. You can choose to block communication through systems you control. It's possible to order ships to move to a system where you can't communicate with them, but they may be destroyed without warning.
Travel through the gates is limited at the start to 1 per turn (year). It will speed up as various techs are researched. Ships can travel on the turn they are built if they are built from a shipyard.

Research, or R&D
There are five main fields of research: Biotech, ship armament, ship defense, societal rediscovery, technological recovery and unit redevelopment.
A description of grouped research areas is available here. When you begin a project, choose a name for it and invest any amount of points in it. For example, state that you wish to begin work on salvaging and reactivating old ships, and that this activity will be named Modern Archaeology. Then you can begin drawing a tech tree, in this case from Technological Recovery to Modern Archaeology. Whenever you discover a technology, spare production points will be returned and your advisors will inform you about the next areas of research.
You can also demand more info from your advisors (me) about a field of research.
If enough people demand it, I'll draw up a tech tree with standardized names, but that's boring.

Expansion
When you come across a neutral system bordering one of your systems, you can attempt to claim it. This costs 10 PP and requires that you have a capital ship (anything but scouts and fighters) in the system to jump-start the colony. Plague-ravaged worlds, rioting cyberpenguins let loose from their cages or various other factors may inhibit your expansion, preventing you from placing a system under your control.
A system successfully placed under your control this way starts out with 10 Production.

One random reserved post because I'll probably need to add more stuff

Aquarious Agricultural Corperation
Elective Thorne/TerrisH
Aquarious (2)
Creative: Ability to work around minor problems the ocasianly spring up. (I.E. things I didn't cover in my orders)
Industrious (Bonus Production Points and Planet Development)
Compeditive: (Natural distrust of other nations and slightly higher natural unrest level)
Stability: 60%
Production: 40
Trade: None
Travel speed: 1 gate/turn
Known systems: Name of home system
Army and Fleet: 950 infantry, 4 St-03b scouts, 60 F-92 fighters and (rolling, 4) 1 Ca-03a Carrier
Researched technologies: None
Description: the Aquarious Combine Was a small, backwater planet, Out of the way of the central Systems. Overall, it was one of the harder hit Systems in the Vanishing, having a much smaller population then most systems pre-vanishng. but this did not Diture them. the few that were left Quickly banded together, and after a Breif scuffle between the dozen factions that sprung up, they were off once more. United under the Leadership of Elective Thoren. still, others are watching him closely, waiting for him to slip up...

The Jagannatha Concordance
Leader: Speaker Rhamadath Nemes/Dis
Home system: Telcias (2 Handwavium Gates)
Attributes: Affinity: Nanobiotechnology (Easier research of appropriate techs, planetary production grows slowly over time) Swarming (Adapted for high population densities and collective living, Research and stability bonus form efficient information transfer) Susceptibility (Social and physically closeness and connection cause informational (cults, viruses) and biological replicators (viruses) to spread and develop very rapidly in the population)
Stability: 60%
Production: 40 (40 from Telcias) 0 banked
Trade: None
Travel speed: 1 gate/turn
Known systems:
Telcias (home system) producing 40/turn, maximum capacity

2 unknowns bordering Telcias

Army and Fleet deployment:
Telcias: 1000 infantry, 3 Rahu class Scouts, 70 Raktavija class Fighters, 1 Gajasura class Cruiser

Description: The engineered humans of the alien world of Jagannatha have survived the vanishing of their former masters and Devas and escaped the servitude the strange Neurochemical industry had required of them. After enduring incredible hardships they have managed to restore some measure of industry and organization to the floating citadels of the slurry planet, and now are expanding outward, and seeking to restore the glories of the time of the Devas, and enjoy their own time in the sun.

Sorry Erik I've decided not to join...I figured I wouldnt have time for it. Plus I would be just ripping of something to make a faction. But I will be watching.

Alexian present

alex994 said:

Alexian present

Click to expand...

Confirmed as the YAAFRBTFTIIACR? (I was expecting you to be annoyed and tell me a proper name, complete with background history and the significance of the Chinese characters making up the name. )

For the record, you have 1 gate pointing "starmap north" and one pointing "starmap south", but all of this and more will be told in the preliminary Update 0, where I answer questions that players are sure to have, and give another version of the introduction.

Can I have an easier to remember faction name?

Does this mean World of Magic 2 is put in stasis again? Writing faction template...

Mobius Roverius ( The Timeless )
Leader: Lord Nishikawa / Silver Steak
Home system: Sanctuary <Blank> Handwavium Gates
Attributes: Progressive (Bonus to Biotech R&D), Class Society (Individuals go through a period of experimentation to decide future class and career), Xenophobic (Highly suspicious of outsiders. Intolerant of dissenters)

Stability: 60%
Production: 40 (40 from Sanctuary), 0 banked
Trade: None
Travel speed: 1 gate/turn
Known systems:

Sanctuary (Sanctuary producing 40/turn, maximum capacity <Blank>)
<Blank> unknowns bordering Sanctuary

Army and Fleet deployment:
Sanctuary: 1000 infantry, 5 "Ocular"-class Scouts, 50 "Vatic"-class Fighters, 1 "Ascendence"-class Cruiser

Mobius Roverius is a society developed from a school of thought developed by a man by the same name. The Timeless strive to become perfect beings of mind and machine, flesh and graftings. Prior to the Great Disappearance, they were widely regarded as terrorists due to their activity to harass, disrupt or inflict damage on the conservatives and purists. They settled Sanctuary, and entered a stage of complete isolation, giving up their dream to change the world. Now, the Great Disappearance has swept away the world that disdained them, allowing the Timeless to make their own paradise.

Trans-Planetary Unified Coalition of Viginti Venti ( Viginti Venti )
Leaders: Lord Speaker Bari Zhigo and Constitutioner Jaojoi Zaojiu / foolish icarus
Home system: Viginti Venti (2 Handwavium Gates)
Attributes: Egalitarian ( Prosperity tends to be widespread across society ); Academic ( Population knowledgeable in many esoteric fields ); Robot Dependent ( Without widespread automation, economy and production suffer and social tensions rise )
Stability: 60%
Production: 40 (40 from Viginti Venti), 0 banked
Trade: None
Travel speed: 1 gate/turn
Known systems:Army and Fleet deployment:

Researched technologies:
Description:

The Viginti Venti System had a diverse society and many different cultural elements, but one of the few things all had in common was the extensive and successful use of robotic automation. With legions of mechanical factories, 3 planets were terraformed, and moons, asteroids, and gas giants were mined to provide for the needs of the human settlers.
Hanabor, a barren, desert world, was settled for its proximity to a vast store of mineral-rich nearby planetoids.
Hymbaline, a planet of shallow seas and low lying landforms was the easiest to terraform but offered little in the way of easily accessible vital raw materials. Its moon, Dignity, is spiderwebbed with warrens and underground cities.
Hurin, planet of mountains, canyons, and ice, is volcanically active, and its hotspots offered both a chance for settlement and easy access to heavy minerals pushed up from the mantle.

With Robot mining, harvesting, and service operations of every sort cheap and and plentiful, any person could own a share in the vast productive industries of the system and partake in the wealth they created. Few humans needed to work at any sort of menial labor they didn't want to, and were free to busy themselves with managing their capital, inventing new businesses and devices to address needs and wants from the practical to the bizarre, or devoting themselves to cultural, artistic, or scientific ends.

Human civilization in Viginti Venti nearly ended immediately when the beating heart of their societies, robotic automation, was torn away. No one wanted to go into the dangerous mines or work the clumsy bellows or stoop to clean the urinals, but it had to be done. Without the careful monitoring efforts of the AI, no one today even knows how much longer the terraforming will last before the settled planets' environments begin to decay.
Large scale efforts had to be organized and mounted by hand to rescue the freezing populations of the outer system.

Greed and exploitation and poverty crept in where there had once been generosity and dignity and prosperity. An old, old man, a silent artist and object of some myth, who remembered life without the ubiquitous robots, helped to create a constitution more suited to the present circumstances, and small time would-be leaders got their chance to form a new government.

Some say the loss of the robots was a magnificent blessing for the human race; others decry it as the worst tragedy to occur in the history of Viginti Venti. It is not yet known whether the Ventese people will attempt to return to their old ways or find a new method of survival.


The Viginti Venti System:

V.V. I “Fury” No habitation except a dark side observer station.

V.V. II “Hanabor” Settled. One Major Moon, “Versatility” with mining operations. Several Minor Moons.

Planetoids with major mining or settlement operations in this region include “Crensey”, “Challenge”, “Lantead” (Suspended), “Task” (Suspended).

V.V. III “Hymbaline” Settled. One Major Moon, “Dignity” sparsely inhabited.

V.V. IV “Hurin” Settled. Two Major Moons, “Valour” one large settlement. “Honour”, uninhabited. Several Minor Moons.

V.V. V “Magnanimity” Gas Planet. Major Moons include:
“Eiffel” Mining Operations.
“Styx” One large settlement, abandoned.
“Mettle” One large settlement.
“Pitch” Observatory outpost only.

V.V. VI “Restless” Gas Planet. Major Moons include:
“St. Armory” Observatory outpost only.
“Havlell” Mining Operation, suspended.
“Zollverein” Observatory and prospecting outposts.

V.V. VII “Brazen” Gas Planet. Major Moons, include:
“Mercy” Observatory outposts only.
“Shureve” Uninhabited.

Interstellar Centre for Advanced Research and Development (ICARD)
Head Professor Arwin Edler/Niklas
Ceryl (3) (just because everyone else says 2 or 4 )
Faction Trait 1: Academic ((small) Bonus to all research)
Faction Trait 2: Tinkering (Start with simple computer tech, small bonus to Tech Rediscovery)
Faction Drawback: Not-All-That-Beefy-Really (ground troops have some minuses compared to the norm)
Stability: 60%
Production: 40
Trade: None
Travel speed: 1 gate/turn
Known systems: Ceryl
Army and Fleet: 1000 infantry, 5 scouts ("Probe" class), 50 fighters ("Surgeon" class) and 1 Ship of the Line (what's that anyway?)
Researched technologies: Duck Tape Computers
Description: ICARD was perhaps the most cutting-edge research center in all of the Empire, constantly pushing development the borders of AI capabilities, FTL travel, social sciences, you name it. Really bright people were drawn there by the incredibly intellectual atmosphere and luxorious research facitilies, not to mention the pay was rather good too. Needless to say, the researchers at the centre themselves enjoyed the most cutting-edge technology in all imaginable forms. Thus when the disaster struck, almost the entire faculty was gone, along with a good deal of the facilities themselves. Left behind were a few old-fashioned goons who still conducted their research "the old way", not too seldom in social sciences, and a large number of promising young adepts and interns, highly intelligent but also very inexperienced. Most of the low-level staff is still around too, as well as some of the guards.
Being naturally inquisitive it didn't take long for the young would-be researchers to start salvaging what could be salvaged, tinkering, investigating, and just generally thinking hard. Now they are re-organised, new temporary low-level re-search facilities are being re-created, and it's time to re-discover the galaxy!

Update 0

"So, how do you like GalSim?" Sven asked.
"I like it very much indeed," his brother Svein answered. "But it's a bit annoying that most of the advanced civilizations tend towards corruption and disintegration after a few hundred years."
"Heh. You have much to learn yet about setting useful parameters and random events. This game looks somewhat lost, shall I show you something fun?"
"Sure."
"First, save and exit. Then, open it with GSHack, and remove the information age technology. Scroll time a few months forward and look at the results."
"Oooh! Neat! That's like, what, most of their bonuses disappeared and they kept some infrastructure?"
"Yes. Not to mention that you'll have a host of mini-governments setting themselves up on disconnected worlds. Watch them and see which ones are less corrupt. Maybe you'll learn something."
"Thanks. Let's see... here on the homeworld, we have seem to have survivors..."
Svein was soon calling up information on each of the factions rising from the ashes of his previously corrupted mega-region.

"They're listed as a rebel group - wait, I had rebellion brewing? Crap. Anyway, they're working on redeveloping prerequisites to neato technology. Nice. Looks like it'll cost about one quarter of their yearly budget surplus."

(OOC: Most starting techs cost 8-12 Production to research and develop, with one exception, medicinal biotech, which is cheaper. Exact research cost is hidden. If you invest over cost, extra points will be banked.)

"Hehe. Typical of rebels to be situated on the homeworld. Anyway, here we've got some self-grafting metallic people, rather like in The Legend of Mirrodin. Where did I put that book? Anyway, they look xenophobic, which means I can watch them setting up a unique governing structure. Fun. And they screen people for optimal jobs from a very early age. Last time I tried setting that, I had five stars revolting. What else have we got?"

"Okay, a corporate entity government, name of Aquarious. Highly competitive. Should do fairly well, not quite the form I wanted, but it's honest. What do you mean, 'unspecified'? Dangit."

"Chinese culture? I have a culture clump? Cool! Hey, that explains why they never appeared at anything like the rate in the manual, they got on the same planet as other groups and I didn't see them in the overview. Hmm... silk, cool stuff. Rule by emperor, with moral objections. This should be good. I wonder if they'll influence other governments much."

"...aaand - clones? We have a planet run by clones and religious people? That's just crazy. Lord Bob, indeed! Bah. More interesting with the scientists here at ICARD. Whoah, they have Computers already! That means they can make ship functions autonomous. Typical nerds, losing to anyone in a fair fight, but the way they're going, they should be able to let robots do their fighting for them."

"Viginti isn't quite as nerdy. They were letting robots do everything for them, though, which means they were somewhat crippled. They've got a clue on most Info Age technology, but I'm not sure what they'll head for."

"Looks like a few other factions developing over here... one odd biotech-based one, susceptible to diseases of the body and mind, they'll probably catch something RSN. This one looks a lot like it's from another game. I suppose that happens, though. Couple of more surviving worlds, nothing interesting from them yet."


(stats adjusted for traits in next post)

PLAYERS

Long Di Guo (previously YAAFRBTFTIIACR)
Leader: Emperor Dian (Dian Di) /alex994
Home system: Tian (2 handwavium gates)

Commonwealth of Interstellar Domains (CID)
Leader: President Franklin Sheridan / Symphony D.
Home System: Sol (4 Handwavium Gates)

Aquarious Agricultural Corperation
Leader: Elective Thorne/TerrisH
Home System: Aquarious (2 Handwavium Gates)


Mobius Roverius ( The Timeless )
Leader: Lord Nishikawa / Silver Steak
Home system: Sanctuary (4 Handwavium Gates)

Trans-Planetary Unified Coalition of Viginti Venti ( Viginti Venti )
Leaders: Lord Speaker Bari Zhigo and Constitutioner Jaojoi Zaojiu / foolish icarus
Home system: Viginti Venti (2 Handwavium Gates)

Interstellar Centre for Advanced Research and Development (ICARD)
Head Professor Arwin Edler/Niklas
Home system: Ceryl (3 Handwavium Gates)

Nits welcome. Those of you listed, feel free to send orders. Those of you who fill in the template after this should talk to me about getting your attributes tweaked and seeing the map of your system, but you can say "2 Handwavium Gates, send 3 scouts to the northernmost one, send 2 and the Cruiser to the other" as a conditional.

Iyanden (Eldar)
Leader: Farseer Anaris / Kal'thzar
Home system: Miria 3 Handwavium Gates
Attributes: Scientific; Biotech(robots): Specific research Boost to this Tech Type. Begins with Bio-Tech research. (Counts as 2 Good traits)Arrogance: Sees contact with other races something that should not be persued. Generally felt that outsiders could not realise their vision. Cannot trade for Techs. Will not help someone unless it is vastly to the advantage of Iyanden.
Stability: 60&#37;
Production: 40 (40 from Miria), 0 banked
Trade: None
Travel speed: 1 gate/turn
Known systems:

Miria (home system) producing 40/turn, maximum capacity {90}
3 unknowns bordering Miria

Army and Fleet deployment:
Miria: 1000 infantry, 5 'Void Walker' Scouts, 50 'Aconite' Fighters, 1 'Shadow' Cruiser
Note: As you have no Carriers, neither your infantry nor your Fighters can travel to other systems.

Researched technologies: Bio-Improvement I, Study of Simple Biological structures I
Description: The Peoples of Iyanden were left with a legacy, they saw the Biological as the perfect form of life. AI, Robots, all mere tools to help improve that which is biological. Their ultimate Goal, is to seek perfection in Biology. This is their focus, everything else, merely a Crutch, to help them along the path until they have reached this final stage.

Orders sent. Okay, Tiem to try for a story.