IOT Developmental Thread

[Sonereal]

ahhhh so Lancaster is Hoofington from F:OE Project Horizons :^)

I've never actually read that. It is largely based on OTL New York City, Akira's Neo-Tokyo, and Psycho Pass's Tokyo.

 

[CivOasis]

Why Lancaster? It can't even pull off 60k residents today IOTL.

 

[Sonereal]

Lancaster is just alt New York.

 

[JohannaK]

Which is funny because Wars of the Roses.

 

[CivOasis]

Wait what

I assumed it would actually be, you know, Lancaster...

 

[Sonereal]

The same way Batman is set in Gotham, Wisconsin.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Actually, Gotham is Newark.

 

[Sonereal]

Rule Changes

1. I wiped out the Pay system, and therefore the upkeep system. For the scale of the game, it didn't feel quite right. From a player standpoint, it didn't add a lot of nuance.

2. Character loyalty has been adjusted to compensate.

3. Increasing character loyalty now uses the same training system of SUM(x number of D3 rolls). Loyalty can also increase and decrease, like all other stats, through roleplay and events.

 

[Civ'ed]

the same way metro city takes place in Metropolis takes place in New York.

 

[Arrow Gamer]

Here's an example of an organization's stats in my upcoming superhero game. Note that a lot of this would not be public, and only available to the player.

Name: Amaterasu
Fame: -3
Total Cash: $110,000

Spoiler Income :

Total: $90,000
-$35,000 (Illegal Business)
-$50,000 (Contracts)
-$5,000 (Legal Business)

Expenses:

Spoiler :

-$30,000 (Squads)
-$15,000 (Safe houses and offices)
-$1,500 (Vehicles)

Squads: 4 foot soldiers, 2 elite squads
Equipment:

Spoiler :

10 assault rifles
6 snipers
20 handguns

Vehicles:

Spoiler :

-3 armored SUVs

Supers:

Spoiler Mr. Johnson :

Name: ???
Alias: Mr. Jonhson
Age: 40-45
Affiliation: Amaterasu
Might: 7
Control: 5
Powers:
-Sword Proficiency: Wielding a katana strengthened with titanium, he has masterful reflexes and speed--but only when using a sword. He has been known, at the full extent of his power, to dodge bullets fired at him from 30 feet, but such displays are rare.
-Synchronization: Can work together supernaturally well with Mr. George.
Fame: 0
Health: Healthy
Pay Desired: $8,000-10,000
Backstory: Mr. Johnson appeared to Amaterasu with his partner Mr. George in the midst of a firefight with the police. The two dispatched the law enforcement with ease before kneeling before the Elders and offering their swords and their service to them. He is a secretive man and likes to be left alone when not on duty.

Spoiler Mr. George :

Name: ???
Alias: Mr. George
Age: 35-40
Affiliation: Amaterasu
Might: 8
Control: 3
Powers:
-Sword Proficiency: Like his partner Mr. Jonhson, Mr. George wields a sword exceptionally well. However, instead of the grace of the katana, Mr. George opts for the savagery of the claidheamh-mòr. When using the sword, Mr. George gains a minor healing factor (enough to regrow a bullet hole in ten minutes or a finger over the course of a day) and pain resistance, as well as the strength to lift a man over his head without straining.
-Synchronization: Can work together supernaturally well with Mr. Johnson.
Fame: 0
Health: Healthy
Pay Desired: $8,000-10,000
Backstory: Mr. George appeared to Amaterasu with his partner Mr. Johnson in the midst of a firefight with the police. The two dispatched the law enforcement with ease before kneeling before the Elders and offering their swords and their service to them. He is a secretive man and likes to be left alone when not on duty.

Safe Houses and Offices:

Spoiler :

The Docks: 3 safe houses and 1 office
Southside: 1 safe house

Influence:

Spoiler :

The Docks: 45
Southside: 33
Chinatown: 28
Midtown: 23
The Strip: 5

Backstory: Born out of the struggling Japanese immigrant community, Amaterasu is a Japanese crime syndicate that dominates the south-east side of town, especially the docks. They believe they have a destiny to take over the city for the Japanese emperor.

 

[Thorvald of Lym]

So while the jury is still out on the Civ Project, there seems to be support for a Civ2-based game so I figure I can run a mini-IOT as proof of concept. Bearing in mind there's a seven-player cap before I start getting creative in workarounds, what sort of setting would interest people?

Given Balkanize Me! was the original intended proof-of-concept for Project Marmot, there's an existing Yugoslav Wars scenario I can use as a base. Alternatively to court Tolni, I came across a hypothetical Bulgarian Civil War.

 

[SouthernKing]

Venant en Frimaire

 

[Double A]

sure I could go for some salami

 

[SouthernKing]

eww salami is disgusting

 

[JohannaK]

*force-feeds salami to snek*

 

[Shadowbound]

Behold, critique, prepare. My ancient thread in the NESing forum has been necro'd, and I stir from my slumber.

With a SPACE GAME.

I am particularly interested in 1) comprehensibility and 2) balance. If you feel that you do not understand the rules, or that there is an apparent dominant strategy, that would be a concern.

A Tale of Sound and Fury

At the dawn of the 24th century, Earth and Mars are on a collision course. After a system-wide political collapse a century ago, both civilizations have clawed their way back into interplanetary travel. They've established mining and research colonies across the Solar System, but this has bred a bitter economic and political competition. Escalating tensions, fueled by domestic strife at home, have led to an arms race between the two planets.

In this game, you control a military officer of the Martian Federation or the United Nations of Earth on the eve of war between the two interplanetary powers. You will command fleets, a ship, or just a single fighter in a ruthless, player-driven struggle for control of the Solar System.

To the victor go the spoils.

United Nations of Earth

Spoiler :

The fragile balance between the Great Powers collapsed spectacularly at the end of the 22nd century. Rising sea levels, changing climate patterns, and diminishing natural resources upended social and international order. Nuclear exchanges between China, India, Europe, and America would ultimately lead to the formation of a new, global government focused on equitable distribution of resources.

Terran society is vast and diverse, with a population five times that of Mars. It is also highly corrupt, as the lines between government, corporation, and criminal enterprise blur into nonexistence in many regions. The gulf between the poor, subsisting off basic incomes and riddled with mutation and disease in the underbelly of great megacities, and the mega-wealthy who live in glittering cities in low orbit is astronomical. It is amazing that it has succeeded in rebuilding the planet after the Great War, but the resilience of Terran society, and people, was more than capable.

Martian Federation

Spoiler :

Mars is a union of the colonies, called Poleis (sing. Polis), founded by Terran nations during the 22nd century. As environmental and economic conditions deteriorated on Earth, Mars served as a hub for Terran mining and colonization efforts. When Terran civilization, and its interplanetary efforts, collapsed, Mars was left on its own to build a new civilization on the Red Planet. A century of struggle has given way to a powerful, disciplined civilization with interplanetary ambitions.

Martian society views itself as more egalitarian, and civilized, than its Terran counterpart. Nearly all of the original colonists had advanced degrees, and the current population has an average decade more education than the Terran population. Crime is virtually non-existent in the cramped corridors of the Martian city. But at the same time, social and political control reach levels unimaginable except in the worst of historical Terran societies: the individual is subservient to the needs of the community. Social mobility is nearly non-existent, as the Polis identifies early on its needs and expectations from its members. This strict, Spartan society was a necessity in the early days after Independence, when human survival seemed uncertain without support from Earth.

Factions

Spoiler :

Players

Each faction will possess three commanders (Admirals for Earth, Strategoi for Mars) responsible for spending and strategic planning. These six players will be selected by application. They serve as the leaders of their faction.

The commanders will then be responsible for recruiting junior officers to fill out their fleet’s ranks: these are the rest of the players. Every ship and parasite squadron can have its own officer, and may possess multiple if desired. They are also responsible for the Military Spending Spree. In the event of disagreement between Commanders, the majority wins.

Characters have simple stats, consisting only of name, rank, their faction, and a brief list of accomplishments. Their success or failure is determined only by the quality of stories and orders.

Military Spending Spree

The initial allocation of military and economic resources for both factions. Both Earth and Mars have the equivalent of 400 IC of spending at the beginning of the game on ships and facilities that can be deployed anywhere in the Solar System (except for the opposing planet).

Research

Both factions possess a top secret deep space research facility somewhere in the Solar System, which is working on war-winning technological advantages. Every turn it has an (increasing) chance to complete its research, opening up a new advantage to that faction. This advantage will never materialize if it is destroyed.

Advantages

Each faction may select two advantages, reflecting years of military innovation and doctrinal development. These advantages will remain secret until the start of the war.

Compact Power Plants – Superior missile and fighter engines
Sophisticated Guidance – Superior point defense and missile accuracy
Rugged Design – Superior survivability and repair
Impulse Warheads – Superior railgun and missile munitions
Iron Discipline – Superior command and control
Independent Initiative – Superior fleet officers
Top Gun – Superior parasite pilots

Civilian Control

Both militaries answer to civilian authorities on their homeworlds: the General Assembly and Secretary-General for Earth, and the Senate and Hegemon for Mars. The governments have the power to remove and replace commanders, and will issue political directives that should be followed. If the war is going poorly, they will also ask for terms.

The War Economy

Spoiler :

In the game's economy, the most critical component is Industrial Capacity, which allows the construction of ships and bases. It is the combined orbital shipyards of each world, and must be fed with raw resources, Minerals. Ships are a series of Modules, which are selected when it is built. They run on Volatiles, which are chemically reactive substances collected from liquid bodies or gas giants.

Resources

Industrial Capacity – Reflects orbital industry, produces new ships and structures. Requires 1 mineral a turn to function.
Minerals – Reflects raw resources needed for construction.
Volatiles – Reflects hydrogens and other energy-rich materials used as fuel for space ships.

Ships

Parasites – 1 module, 2 IC, available turn of production
Corvette – 2 modules, 5 IC, available turn of production
Frigate – 5 modules, 10 IC, available turn after production
Destroyer- 8 modules, 15 IC over two turns, available turn after production
Cruiser – 16 modules, 30 IC over two turns, available turn after production
Platform – 8 modules, 10 IC, available turn after production, cannot move
Industrial Capacity – 10 IC, available turn after production

Modules

Point Defense – A suite of guided munitions, lasers, and chaff designed to engage and disable incoming smallcraft and missiles. Can be used to protect the ship itself or other ships in the fleet.
Railgun – Semi-guided munitions launched at high speeds from magnetic railguns. Capable of disabling enemy craft at short range, where point defense is ineffective.
Missile – Long-range guided munitions, armed with nuclear warheads designed to engage at all ranges.
Grazer – Gamma Ray lasers designed to engage larger ships. Point defense is useless, but they are difficult to accurately target at long-ranges against moving targets and require considerably more energy than kinetic munitions. Greater volatile expenditure.
Engine- Stronger and more numerous thrusters across the hull of the ship give it greater acceleration and mobility, letting it quickly close the range and dodge fire, though at considerable fuel costs. Greater volatile expenditure.
Armor- Additional layers of diamond hull and redundant internal systems and honey-combing makes a ship difficult to disable in combat, prolonging how long it can remain effective under enemy punishment.
Parasite- External mounts and resupply facilities allow a craft to carry a squadron of small ships, capable of short-range independent operations.
Repair – Internal manufacturing and repair facilities allow a ship to conduct vital salvage and recovery operations away from shipyards.
Transport – External and internal cargo capacity allows transport of 10 minerals, 5 volatiles, 5 IC, or a single platform. Everything except the volatiles is carried externally, significantly reducing a craft's maneuverability.
Mining – Onboard refineries allow the production of X minerals and Y volatiles (depending on the planet) every turn.
Sensor - Active and passive sensor systems allow improved detected of objects at long range and precise tracking of targets at short range.

Fuel

Every turn in which a craft engages in combat, or maneuvers between sub-systems, it expends 1 volatile as fuel. Use of grazers or additional engine modules increase this by 1 each. Craft can be loaded with 1 volatile without any additional modules (sufficient for a round of combat or travel). Additional volatiles must be stored in transport modules or other ships.

The Solar System

Spoiler :

Planets

Inner System (1):
*Mercury (1M)
*Venus (1V)

Habitable Zone (no mining possible, resources generated automatically) (2):
*Earth: 120 IC, 40 minerals, 10 volatiles
*Mars: 100 IC, 60 minerals

Asteroid Belt (3) (5M, 1V):
*Ceres: 4M, 3V

Jupiter (4):
*Io: 4M
*Europa: 5V
*Ganymede: 1M, 3V
*Callisto: 3M, 3V

Saturn (5):
*Enceladus: 5V
*Titan: 5V
*Tethys: 4M, 1V
*Dione: 3M, 1V

Neptune (6) (1M, 4V)

Uranus (7) (1M, 3V)

Pluto (8) (-)

Mining

Mining is performed by mining modules, which are attached to ships or platforms. Resources in the Solar System are practically infinite, so there is no concern about exhausting them. There are, however, diminishing returns from deploying multiple mining modules to the same moon or asteroid. An asteroid can only support a single mining module at a time, and is exhausted after a single turn. A moon produces 1 less of each resource for each mining module (so Enceladus would prove 5 volatiles for the first module, and 4 for the second module). The number of resources extracted, per module, cannot fall below 1. Planets do not experience diminishing returns.

Travel

Movement between different subsystems takes a number of turns equal to the difference between the number next to the name. A ship travelling from Earth to the Asteroid Belt would arrive the turn after it departed, while a ship traveling from Mars to Jupiter would take two turns.. Movement within sub-systems occurs on the same turn: A ship travelling from Earth to Mars, or Venus to Mercury, or between different Moons of Jupiter, would arrive the same turn.

Orders

Orders should be sent in the following format: [Turn #][Faction][Rank][Character]. Orders in improper format will be ignored at my discretion. Confusing orders will be ignored at my discretion. No more than 1 PM will be accepted.

Game Length

It is entirely possible that the game will end on turn 2. I do not expect it to last beyond turn 10. This game is meant to be a test for the ruleset. It will be brutal and I will kill people off very easily.

How to Join

Fill out the following template.

(Name) / (Player)
(Faction)
Bio: (Brief Biography of your character)

Players who wish to apply for a Commander position should submit, in spoilers, an analysis of some aspect of the game. This could be the economy, the strategic situation vis-a-vis the planets, combat between ships, etc. The important thing is you demonstrate that you have some understanding of the rules and that you workable ideas for running the fleet.

 

[SouthernKing]

We never really see much of anything in the intermediary stage between the near future and FTL, so this should be interesting

 

[Ailedhoo]

All rise for the new dawn as Mars will be free!

 

[JohannaK]

Colour me very interested.

 

[Tyo]

most of my games have been futile attempts at something different

so i figure why stop now

I wanna ressurect my idea of a fantasy game where players interract with the world rather than have direct control of its borders. The idea for this new concept is players control parties of individuals that can go around on adventures or enlist as mercenaries and influence the events of the world.

It would be similar to my old concepts in the respect that player characters will start the game as relatively famous people - being above the average joe in terms of respect and ability. A single player party could sway the result of a major military engagement or influence the political atmosphere of a whole country.

in addition to controlling the party - which is for all intents and purposes what keeps a player in the game, the party leader can have assets in the world - I will even allow people to climb the political ladder and control countries eventually.

how does this concept sound?