StarNES: Interplanetary Intrigue

[Crezth]

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. It doesn't seem like there is much interest in this, though.

You'd be surprised. Build it, and they will come.

 

[Justo]

People will join the NES. Worst case do a few updates on the NES then they will come.

I think colonization should be a big part of this NES(its the best part about space NES's ). IMO this NES should be occurring at a stage where humanity has only just developed cheap reliable spaceflight(thanks to the discovery of dust). Planets have only just started interacting with each other.(some may be very backwards) Initial space faring planets discovered each other and found that humans existed throughout parts of the solar system. These planets initally traded technology with each other which has helped even the scales in this area and this is where we start.(Some planets may be more advanced in certain areas still) Some habitable planets, moons etc are still available and haven't been touched by humanity.

I don't think 1 population should automatically equal 1 industry otherwise we might as remove one of them. Population should be the cap of industry with technology being able to increase this in time. 1 population should represent 100M people as well since 1 Billion population growth in 1 star year is quite excessive. As technology grows worlds will be able to fit more people per planet size.

I think it would also be better that sustainability be produced rather than planet related. Otherwise Industrial rich planets will not have much to trade for resources unless resources etc require ships to transport everything. 1 Cargo ship has room for 5 of something. This will force Industry poor worlds to hire Industrial worlds to perform their trade although it could get quite complicated if done this way.

 

[Starlife]

I don't think 1 population should automatically equal 1 industry otherwise we might as remove one of them. Population should be the cap of industry with technology being able to increase this in time. 1 population should represent 100M people as well since 1 Billion population growth in 1 star year is quite excessive. As technology grows worlds will be able to fit more people per planet size.

I agree with this. I think for example in the beginning that 1 Population point will be able to produce .25 Industry point (so 4 Population points = 1 Industry point). Then tech will make it more efficient.

I think it would also be better that sustainability be produced rather than planet related. Otherwise Industrial rich planets will not have much to trade for resources unless resources etc require ships to transport everything. 1 Cargo ship has room for 5 of something. This will force Industry poor worlds to hire Industrial worlds to perform their trade although it could get quite complicated if done this way.

Actually, I have it that Sustainability is produced - in addition to Industry. The only set stats for each planet in the beginning are Resources and Planet Size. Resources cannot be changed because it is literally the amount of Dust your planet has in its core. Planet Size cannot be changed for obvious reasons. But Population, Industry, and Sustainability can all be altered throughout the game, from technology innovations to yearly Industry point expenditures. You can spend 1 Industry point for 1 point of Sustainability. So if you have a surplus of 3 Industry, you can use that to increase your population, or to at least sustain it.

Resources and Planet Size are randomly decided by me, but then you must fit the other stats into 100-X (X being Resources and Planet Size).

So you could get a Resource level of 10, and a Planet Size of 7. That adds up to 17. Your planet is small - 7,000km in diameter - and you can only have 10 Resources, meaning a cap of 5 Industry points. So that means you could say that on this planet, you have 70 sustainability, and 13 population. Your population can grow, and so your total amount of Industry can grow - you just need more Dust, because that is what you lack. However, you have an abundance of Sustainability. Your rivers and lakes contain fresh water and you have some special foodstuffs that are valuable for trade.

Then another planet might be the opposite: A ton of Dust, but very little Sustainability, representing an Industrial planet that does not have a lot of food and water for its people. A good trade/economic alliance could be forged by these two planets.

I am also thinking that Sustainability points and Industry points in excess can be used for different purposes and different technologies. I haven't decided yet, though. Like Sustainability points left-over could be used to research genetically modified crops. Industry points could be used to research cleaner factories or military techs. Again, I haven't decided though.

I think colonization should be a big part of this NES(its the best part about space NES's ). IMO this NES should be occurring at a stage where humanity has only just developed cheap reliable spaceflight(thanks to the discovery of dust). Planets have only just started interacting with each other.(some may be very backwards) Initial space faring planets discovered each other and found that humans existed throughout parts of the solar system. These planets initally traded technology with each other which has helped even the scales in this area and this is where we start.(Some planets may be more advanced in certain areas still) Some habitable planets, moons etc are still available and haven't been touched by humanity.

Your points are well-taken. However, I wanted more intrigue and trading than easy colonization. I think colonization will be possible, but it will be incredibly difficult to get anything valuable from it unless you spend a lot of time and money on it. I want to encourage political maneuvering in this solar system. That means getting moons to join your side, swaying corporations, bribing pirates, and forging trading alliances with other players. Military operations will also be possible. I don't really want to start that planets are all just now discovering space travel - I want it to have been a possibility for some time. By some time, I don't mean hundreds of years, but maybe one hundred or so. Enough to where we all know of the existence of each other, and we are definitely all knowledgeable about our solar system (as we even are now in real-life Earth). All planets have known that the others exist for some time, but they have only known that life is on them or met them in person for maybe 50 years.

I would like to stick with this back-story. I think on the grand scale of things, 50 years knowing that other humans exist on planets is actually not a lot. Each planet has had time to establish relations with each other, meet each other, and do some initial diplomacy/trading, which is where we start off. We start off at the point where planets are deciding how to react to each other and are learning more about each other (what do they like to eat? What is their art like? Are they warmongers? etc.). Maybe radio/communications signals were exchanged a while back, but contact took a while (because we needed to make technology sophisticated enough to reach the other stellar bodies outside of moons). In terms of education, I would think that a lot of planets knew that there was advanced life on other planets (from satellites, probes, and other such devices), and that it was only a matter of time before contact was actually made. By the way, the backstory for this is something like a long, long time ago there was a huge exodus from another place in the galaxy, they came to this system and settled on a ton of planets, and destroyed all of their past technology (thousands of years ago). But no one knows this.

And because space travel from planet to planet has been easily done now because of Dust, it will have been so for a long time for moons. Moons are easy to access for planets, and I'm thinking that habitable moons could have been settled for up to 200-300 years. Regardless, a lot of the Moons will be in an interesting position. Some will just be mining settlements, and not unlike our moon now (you can't breathe on it). Others will be little paradises. Some will have pirate enclaves, others will have powerful corporations with a small military. Terraforming will not be possible in this NES, at least in the beginning.

So empty moons will be rare, as will empty planets. There will definitely be empty planets that have tons of Dust, and I will allow players to set up mining stations at those planets. But they will be desolate and unable to feature full-fledged colonization for a long time (as more tech becomes available). Asteroid mining will be a definite possibility at the beginning of the game, though. Settled Moons will usually not be under the jurisdiction of a player's planet. They could be if they are small enough mining stations, but some Moons will have a population that is unique from the planet (in fact, some Moons may have developed humanity themselves and be little paradises - or maybe some have vicious dinosaur-like creatures but massive amounts of Dust - etc.). Moons will be completely decided by me, though - a lot of it will be random.

 

[Starlife]

Another change I am making is that population limits will be determined by both Physical Size and technology. At the beginning, you will be limited to a population that is only x2 of your Physical Size, but this number can grow with research into certain techs.

As for technology, I am still debating leaving it open-ended (something that is researched in certain fields, and the results of which are decided by players) or something more concrete (specific technologies). I like the former idea because I like the idea that each planet comes up with different solutions for its problems, rather than having one all-inclusive tech-tree. What I mean is that one planet could research something vague like "Efficient Population Growth". Such a tech would not have specific science or meaning behind it - that fluff would be up to the players - but it would have a specific result from its research.

 

[Starlife]

Technology Ideas

Listed here are some technology ideas. They will be divided into a few categories:

- Mining Procedures
- Industrial Efficiency
- Population Growth
- Maintenance
- Military

We are not limited to this, but these are the areas I have ideas for.

Mining Procedures
These technologies will effect what types of stellar bodies you can mine, and how efficient this mining is. This includes asteroids, moons, and other planets that might not be habitable, but can still be mined for Dust.

Industrial Efficiency
These technologies will effect how many Dust cubits (Resource points) you require to produce 1 load of Industry (which converts to 1 economic point used for purchasing/maintaining military and investing in other techs). The game begins with 2 Resource points being required to utilize 1 Industry point. I am still thinking about whether or not to make this even higher, such as 3 Resource points needed to produce 1 Industry point, but I haven't decided yet.

Population Growth
At the beginning of the game, your planet can only have a population x2 of your size. This figure can increase, though, by researching these technologies. You will be able to more efficiently support large populations. Each population point will equal 100 million.

Maintenance
These technologies will effect what your people need to support themselves and how your planet remains sustainable. That means these techs will mostly effect the Sustainability stat. As you research more tech, less Sustainability points will be needed to maintain your people, as your people will learn more innovative and independent ways that do not leave large "footprints".

Military
Obviously, these techs will be all about researching new ways to attack others and defend your own planet.

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Anyone have any ideas for a map? There are several solar system maps on google images, but they are all in different styles. What style does everyone prefer? The sun at the corner, with planets reaching outward towards the opposite corner, or the sun in the middle with rings around it? We also need to figure out ways spacefleets will move.