MarsNES (set-up)

[Symphony D.]

Any suggestions on a backstory would also be valuable. Though, I am not looking to rip off sci-fi books involving colonization of Mars, and their political climates. Rather, to create something that players can form their colonies within, an environment that would support the unique identities of their colonies. I am hoping for these colonies to be unique indeed, and not just puppets of Earth governments or rip-offs from Robinson's trilogy. A certain level of autonomy would be best.

Realistically, colonization of Mars will occur in the mid-to-late 21st or early 22nd Century. It will be spearheaded by America, China, and Russia, with the possibility of eventual Brazilian, Indian, Japanese, and European involvement. It will probably be conducted under international cooperation, since the cost is prohibitive. Odds are it will look sort of like Antarctica: each will have their own research station. Earth politics will probably tend to look about the same with some occasional disruptions.

Realistically speaking, colonies would after a certain point probably come to be regarded along the lines of what the US calls an "Unorganized Territory." Earth will be there, and it will be important, but it will not usually have a direct controlling hand.

Finally, when replying to me, please keep in mind that the NES I am envisioning is one that will not take up that much time, is relatively "broad" in a certain sense of the word, and is designed to be that way - however any way we can put more details in, but keep it streamlined, then that is always a plus.

Then that is all the reason that is necessary to strip out the facility enhancements and what not. That system isn't streamlined, and neither is a points-based game. If you want it to run smoothly, allocate each colony a population, an infrastructure statistic, a manufacturing statistic, and a research statistic. That's it, really. Tiers for these can be pulled from any number of NES rules. Focusing in on whether a given colony has a gym or a community pool or whatever is the needlessly excessive detail you say you're trying to avoid.

Terraforming is going to take, realistically, between 100 and 1000 years to produce notable results--you can basically ignore it except to have players doing something in the intervening time period. Let them figure out how to do it: industrial-scale production of CFCs, importing atmospheric fixers, genetically engineered plans, thermal boreholes, nuclear aquifer melters, solar lenses, or whatever. The material exists. The more they coordinate their efforts (or compete constructively) the quicker things will happen, but you won't see anything for dozens of turns.

The one area that will be tricky to run under this kind of system would be research. It should probably be done informally if you want a rapid pace, just be sure to keep track of it somewhere private and keep it consistent.

Where did you find the map that you posted? If you made it, then I am very impressed.

The graphic is MOLA elevation data. The topographic lines are also from MOLA, at 1:25m scale, in three different files (one Mercator, two Polar Stereographic; effectively Sheet Two but in a vector format). I overlaid them onto the elevation data in ArcGIS, locked all three down, changed the projection to Winkel-Tripel, and set the scale to 1:35m. It's not done because ideally the background would be that seen in Sheet Two for easy coloration; the MOLA Graphic is artificially colored and was just used for positioning.

Short way around, yes, I made it myself.

 

[kkmo]

Realistically, colonization of Mars will occur in the mid-to-late 21st or early 22nd Century. It will be spearheaded by America, China, and Russia, with the possibility of eventual Brazilian, Indian, Japanese, and European involvement. It will probably be conducted under international cooperation, since the cost is prohibitive. Odds are it will look sort of like Antarctica: each will have their own research station. Earth politics will probably tend to look about the same with some occasional disruptions.

Realistically speaking, colonies would after a certain point probably come to be regarded along the lines of what the US calls an "Unorganized Territory." Earth will be there, and it will be important, but it will not usually have a direct controlling hand.

So research stations. I want to go well into the future. I am a pessimist, I will again say, and I don't think we will even have research facilities on Mars by the 22nd century. Still, they are just research stations, and what we want to create are colonies. So perhaps players can start out where research stations once were, and that would be a plausible reason why they chose that location to further build up their colony.

I know all those nations you mentioned would have stakes in Mars, and would need to cooperate, which is why the world is at relative peace. Cooperating constructively is good, but I think adding an espionage element might also be nice.

Then that is all the reason that is necessary to strip out the facility enhancements and what not. That system isn't streamlined, and neither is a points-based game. If you want it to run smoothly, allocate each colony a population, an infrastructure statistic, a manufacturing statistic, and a research statistic. That's it, really. Tiers for these can be pulled from any number of NES rules. Focusing in on whether a given colony has a gym or a community pool or whatever is the needlessly excessive detail you say you're trying to avoid.

My definition of a streamlined ruleset is a bit different. I wanted this NES to be a building NES, so sort of like a forum version of SimCity. I wanted the detail to be placed on individual types of structures (I could list under those more detailed uses), so that colonies can distinguish themselves from one another. I do think starting colonies out with more people is a good idea, though. Worrying about fitness facilities, farms, factories, etc. - this is the type of stuff that would make this NES interesting and different from others.

The streamlined part of it comes in that no one has to worry about posting anything other than their nation profile. After that, they PM me their orders, I post Updates, its as simple as that.

To create the example orders, it took me around 5 minutes. Later stages in the game, maybe 15 minutes. Once you do the first one, it is so incredibly easy to update.

Terraforming is going to take, realistically, between 100 and 1000 years to produce notable results--you can basically ignore it except to have players doing something in the intervening time period. Let them figure out how to do it: industrial-scale production of CFCs, importing atmospheric fixers, genetically engineered plans, thermal boreholes, nuclear aquifer melters, solar lenses, or whatever. The material exists. The more they coordinate their efforts (or compete constructively) the quicker things will happen, but you won't see anything for dozens of turns.

The speed of terraforming is the drawback, I know. That is partly the reason I started in 2501. It is because starting that far ahead gives us tons of room to contemplate technology. Maybe we have tech at that point that can terraform at a quicker pace, for example. Maybe starting in 2301 would be more appropriate by your terms (again, when it comes to this stuff, I am incredibly pessimistic... I think our visions of Martian colonies are much like Back to the Future's visions of flying cars).

So I am thinking that what we can do here, to go into more detail for Terraforming, is simply label each Level of Terraforming in the rules. For example, Level 1 could be CFCs (keep those rockets firing into the atmosphere to create those greenhouse gases). That makes sense, because all countries would be participating in this event over the course of some time. As the Levels in Terraforming progress, they can become more colony-specific, as to who has the infrastructure to implement these plants, and so on.

The one area that will be tricky to run under this kind of system would be research. It should probably be done informally if you want a rapid pace, just be sure to keep track of it somewhere private and keep it consistent.

I'm still thinking, at this point in the game, there would be absolutely zero research, and that the game would focus on improving infrastructure by building colony improvements. The reason for this is that the colonies themselves, at this stage in the colonial process, conduct very little research. All the research has been done before, by the pre-existing research facilities and by scientists back on Earth. The goal is creating a colony that has the infrastructure to maintain this research and implement it accordingly.

I've seen that map before... but... never... so... big. *drool* Awesome. All good suggestions, by the way, but still I have some problems making this a non-improvements-based NES, and turning it into something more free-form. The simple orders system, me posting Updates, and people seeing results with what they are putting their money into - I think that is the type of system that would make this interesting. Once I introduce the espionage element and maybe some political rules as well, it might be a bit better.

 

[kkmo]

I just discovered something interesting. Look at this map I have constructed:

Spoiler :

I placed the topographical map (flat) ontop of the first map I created for this NES. The first map I created was a terrain map of Mars taken from NASA. I standardized the colors and created some icons.

A couple interesting things. First off, the maps more or less match in terms of elevation. There are some errors, though. Second, I thought it was very convenient that both neverwon and Charles Li's claims fit perfectly into the topographical map (as in, you guys are not on top of ice, and you are in decent locations for a colony).

I am glad I could scale it this way, because now we have a "political" map (the first map I posted) and a topographical map, where you can see mountains/dormant volcanoes and other geographical features (as per Daftpanzer's suggestions).

Players Thus Far
Gelion
Charles Li
neverwonagame3
rhawn

 

[Symphony D.]

A couple interesting things. First off, the maps more or less match in terms of elevation.

Actually they don't, they're offset by about 90 degrees. The large lowland area that's bottom-right on terrain corresponds to Hellas Planitia on the topographic map, which is bottom-left.

Anyway, it's better when there's that to correspond with, I suppose.

 

[Gelion]

Having read most of the thread I want to say a few things.

I have a feeling that Symphony and you kkmo are talking about two different games.
Symphony has a more realistic portrayal of Mars colonization by Earthers with their cultural, historical and political baggage.
Kkmo you talk about a colonization of a virgin planet by corporative humanity. The current ruleset and spirit of the game matches that more than anything else.

I have only a few comments about the actual rules.

Growth Rate
1% growth rate is extremely low. A colony would double its population only with 80+ updates. Thus the main source of population growth would be from immigration that makes growth rate negligible.

Buildings and Facilities
Look good but unfinished, there's no emphasis on production nor Terraforming (actual projects)

Some form of transportation system might be necessary if trade is to be an important factor.

What of research?
After 500 years we'd still strive for knowledge and I hope at least some research and development centers would be established at least to monitor the weather.

Lastly in a human world some form of either military authority or police or simply armed colonists should be present. In a world where a laser or a simple stick can be used as a weapon, you need a man in charge with a bigger stick.

My final suggestion is either a complete re-working of all the rules emphasizing (already well developed) facilities, research, terraforming and social structures of colonies OR

transferring the whole setup into a futuristic format where a corporate humanity colonizes a virgin planet aka, for example, Project Entropia

 

[Yui108]

EDIT: I claim 6J

Leader/Player: Luke Mathew Johnsen/Yui108
Nationality: Mostly of northern European and British descent, yet they have all lived in America for hundreds of hundreds of years.
Organization: His Holy Church of Christ, and The Chicago Farming Association.
Religion: Protestant, their branch is New Christ Church which adheres to a Pope-Like figure, but lacking in ultimate authority. They also adhere sharply to the teachings of Martin Luther.
Economy: Corn, beans, cherries, wheat, and grapes. We manufacture iron, steel, aluminium and lime. All of these products are things our citizens have experience with in their midwestern economy and situations. We are a group comprised largely of farmers.
Background: The New Christ Church was established after the revoloutions of 2112, and quickly becoming the largest Protestant denomination in North America. While we have of late experienced a decline in power and prosperity, we seek to reverse this with a sucsessful Martian Colony to spread His Word. Our first authority is the High Minister, Calvin King our 20th such offical. Our second is our leader Rev. Luke Johnsen, and our second highest authority is the ecclastical counsel. The Chicago Farming Corporation also helped us along in our efforts, due to the fact we are close friends and associates with a great deal of their union members, and it is wa way for them to establish a stronghold into a new market. Obviously, we are a strong Christian People, we left our planet to reclaim our former power as the top religious authority in the land, and we recieve most of our funding from The Church of Christ, which is received by them in turn from donations. There is also a minor part of us which is funded by the Chicago Farming Corporation.
Our Flag

 

[Gelion]

I played around a bit and here's a rough timeline for Mars colonization

Timeline
2008
2012 second manned moon mission
Earth-2 transfer station
2020 – permanent Moon base
2040-50 moon colonies grow (100 of people)
Moon-serving network is formed
2050 Mars mission (joint RSA, NASA and other agencies)
2055 Second Mars Mission (colony prospects)
Mars-2 transfer station
2050-60 Moon colonies grow (1000’s of people)
Mars orbiting stations formed
2060 – First permanent Mars bases (10 to 100 people)
2070 Venus Manned Mission
2060-80 – Mars exploration, Moon colonies reach peak population (10000’s people working in mining, research, tourism) Commercial flights to Moon
2090 – first commercial flights to Mars (corporate), 2090 Mars (government) colonization begins
2100 – first civil colonies on Mars (engineers, miners, rich earthers and farmers) – 100’s of people per colony
2110 – Mars colonization becomes a buzz with companies and countries rushing to discover natural resources and put their people in place

 

[kkmo]

I have a feeling that Symphony and you kkmo are talking about two different games.
Symphony has a more realistic portrayal of Mars colonization by Earthers with their cultural, historical and political baggage.
Kkmo you talk about a colonization of a virgin planet by corporative humanity. The current ruleset and spirit of the game matches that more than anything else.

I have only a few comments about the actual rules.

Growth Rate
1% growth rate is extremely low. A colony would double its population only with 80+ updates. Thus the main source of population growth would be from immigration that makes growth rate negligible.

Buildings and Facilities
Look good but unfinished, there's no emphasis on production nor Terraforming (actual projects)

Some form of transportation system might be necessary if trade is to be an important factor.

What of research?
After 500 years we'd still strive for knowledge and I hope at least some research and development centers would be established at least to monitor the weather.

Lastly in a human world some form of either military authority or police or simply armed colonists should be present. In a world where a laser or a simple stick can be used as a weapon, you need a man in charge with a bigger stick.

My final suggestion is either a complete re-working of all the rules emphasizing (already well developed) facilities, research, terraforming and social structures of colonies OR

transferring the whole setup into a futuristic format where a corporate humanity colonizes a virgin planet aka, for example, Project Entropia

All good points. A few notes: Growth Rate actually begins at 0%. The way the growth of your colony happens is that each Update, more people are given to you (that you will have to figure out a way to house, also with help of your government). You can up your growth rate by using the Farming improvement, which requires Terraforming, which requires Power Supply.

Actually, another way of colonial growth as I see it, over time, is frozen embryos.

I have an updated ruleset I will not post just yet, because I am liking these discussions and I hope we can make something come to fruition here. I am glad people are getting interested.

As for having colonial militias and the like: I think this would be possible, but not after we are fairly far into the NES. Running around with laser guns on a planet as inhospitable as Mars, especially amidst terraforming, might not be wise.

I actually want the baggage of humanity - I think that would be interesting. I am just less inclined to get into specifics as to the minute details of more than a hundred years of fake history. Creating that sort of backdrop is limiting, and it is more satisfying if players create it. For example, in Yui's profile, he mentions revolutions of 2112. This was left vague enough, but implies a number of things. That is a good way to do backhistory, in my opinion.

And actually, while each colony does have a host organization, I am not meaning to make it necessarily corporation-centered. Organizations can be religious and cultural, as well, not just corporative.

What I wanted with this NES was a somewhat campy version of Martian colonization. I did not want one that is read straight out of other science fiction novels or scientific accounts, but what that is am amalgamation of all of these things. Mars is the perfect place for my game because it already has defined features and maps, it demands terraforming, and it is close to Earth.

Thanks for the input, Gelion. That timeline is just far too optimistic for me. Again, I think our belief that we will colonize Mars within a century is pure science fiction, something akin to our belief in the 70s and 80s that we would have hover cars by 2010. Though, if that does produce a trilogy of Michael J. Fox movies, no one's complaining.

Despite that, I will use bits of your timeline, and Yui's profile, to create a backhistory. What I am wanting to do, is allow all players of this NES to post a little something, and I will add bits of it into the backstory.

I guess this was a misunderstanding - to see where I am coming from. I want a game that has Martian colonization that is funded by nations and Earth, and has connection with them, but the actual colonists are from a certain organization, religious group, cultural group, to provide interesting autonomy and reasons for their acceptance of the mission. I mean, think about it. NASA is funded by the government. It would be just as easy if another type of organization, with a ton of money and the means, started their own research into the subject, and was equally funded by the government. I want this to be fun.

I will be posting re-worked rules later today. I am still wanting to stick to Mars, and profiles that have been made thus far are good. Again, if you are playing, feel free to give backstory suggestions.

 

[The Loser]

Gaian Force
Leader/Player: Miss Luna
Location: Near a deep crater somewhere around the equater.

Background:

The Gaian Force is an extremist group that will do anithing to protect thier vision on nature and it's evolution.
They were banned form earth and are now ready to settle Mars.

 

[Yui108]

Actually, another way of colonial growth as I see it, over time, is frozen embryos.

No way my colony will accept this lol....

 

[kkmo]

Gaian Force
Leader/Player: Miss Luna
Location: Near a deep crater somewhere around the equater.

Background:

The Gaian Force is an extremist group that will do anithing to protect thier vision on nature and it's evolution.
They were banned form earth and are now ready to settle Mars.

The problem is that if you were banned from Earth, it would be nearly impossible to get funded. What might be more interesting is if you are secretly this "Gaian Force", but you are under the guise of some corporation.

 

[Terrance888]

The last remains of Taiwan after China invaded it. They live fore 20 years in fear the some of the children left for training. A generation later the U.S sponsored a colonizing ship. Just weeks later the launching area is bombed.

More stuff soon.

 

[Abaddon]

Are you running 3 NES now?

 

[kkmo]

Are you running 3 NES now?

Just one.

This one is not at the right stage yet to start. Not even close. And when it does, which I suspect will not be for some time, it is meant to be a laid-back NES based on hard stats and fast-paced orders. It will not be anywhere close to the scope and magnitude, of, say, Sekai NES.

Yeah, give the newish guy trouble. Exaggerate how many NES I am running. But to multiply it by 3? Somewhat ridiculous.

 

[Abaddon]

Faction Name: Ascadian Mafia
Leader: Aiken Drumn
Home Base: Ascadia
Quirk: A society generated from Criminals and scientists
Trait: Corruption (lower production). Criminal understanding (+ espionage). Inquisitive mindset (+ science).
Description - the extreme Australia. Chock full of criminals with a few scientists thrown in for good measure. A society with the slant that anyone would assume if it were comprised of criminals; some hard-core nut jobs, others petty thieves. Having formed a heirachial system of control, who knows how this new nation will develop

----------------------------------------------

They're just a bunch of bloody Criminals!

​

Aiken gazed upon the cowering scientists, he sneered. No longer was he the unspoken class in society, cast aside due to his more dubious business arrangements. “Lost in the system” He was the hardcore criminal, something modern society had tried to stamp out. Aik’s brutal killings, the prostitution rackets and the money laundering all designated as “undesirable”. His gang had ruled in Birmingham, nothing happened there unless Aik said so. The local council and police force had been in the palm of is hand, everyone as crooked as the next. They had finally caught him, a government spy had worked his way up through Aik’s network for years, gathering details that would bring the whole sordid business to a head.

An so Aik had been shipped off, along with many criminals, the big and the small. It was all a big government plot; it was Clockwork Orange all over again. Laws had slid through that allowed for criminals designated as “degenerative to society” to lose even the most basic human rights, and the scientists had been given total access. They were merely bodies, bodies to experiment with.

But all that had changed now. For the jump to the new system had failed. Away from earth, away from the rules the scientists would have been free to practice their macabre games, not now. For when the jump failed, many other systems collapsed upon the seed ship. The cells had sprung open yet the alarms were quiet. The mob had armed themselves with anything they could, a chair leg, a bedspring, a belt. The guards were out numbered. The systems had been designed to keep the “patients” sedated at all times, with many placed in a virtual stasis. There were only a handful of guards online when the jump occurred. The mob quite literally ripped them apart. The scene had been horrific, the evil that persisted in these freed men, and their hatred towards the guards and scientist knew no bounds.

It was only though Aiken’s intervention that the scientists were still alive. He was well aware that out here, lost in space the mob could not survive long, and these eggheads were their only routes to survival. With all the guards disposed of, replaced with men loyal to Aik the ship was back on track. Its autopilot which fritz in the jump had been disengaged and was now being piloted towards what looked like a hospitable planet. Once it landed Aik had every plan to work the scientists to the bone, hour upon hour until we regain some kind of contact with the other ships that had been traveling to Tau Ceti.

The ship landed, it was a world luckily not unlike earth, except the gravity was considerably less. Some of the men relished a hunt and off they set into the wilderness, they bloodlust satiated they returned with several xenoc carcasses. Other men had been carving out their own plots of land and individual houses were springing up around the Seed Ship. It would remain the Town center for a good while yet, and the center of development on this planet, but mans effect was rapidly rolling out across the virgin lands.

Aiken styled himself as the overall leader, and few complained. The criminal mindset needed a boss, someone giving the orders as the results were good. Aiken lusted after the power Al Capone had during the prohibition era back on earth. He styled himself and his close compatriots as the Ascadian Mafia, a nod to the past, and a recognition of the planet they were on now, which had been given the name Ascadia. How society would develop from these interesting beginnings was unknown, but for now Aik was the author of this nations history, and he liked it that way.

.

 

[Abaddon]

Just one.

This one is not at the right stage yet to start. Not even close. And when it does, which I suspect will not be for some time, it is meant to be a laid-back NES based on hard stats and fast-paced orders. It will not be anywhere close to the scope and magnitude, of, say, Sekai NES.

Yeah, give the newish guy trouble. Exaggerate how many NES I am running. But to multiply it by 3? Somewhat ridiculous.

Bah, don't expect me to have actually read your threads, I just noted this is the third "NESthread" with your name against it

Why did you assume I meant any "trouble" by it anyway?

 

[kkmo]

At first I was sort of confused by your initial profile. Home system? Colonized systems? Then I read your first sentence. Sweet.

 

[Abaddon]

----------------------------------------------
Bloody Organised Criminals!

​

James looked out across the fields of charred earth, a solemn figure. He was upset and frustrated by the destruction he had caused. There had been a great forest here only 6 years ago, full of lush purples and reds, mountainous tree analogs that stretched into the skies, the strangest of 6-legged inverts, as well as a small creature very akin to the earth’s flying squirrel.


That was all lost now, Aiken’s lust for growth and power had put and end to all that. The land have been harvested, its biomass pulped and manufactured, everything was used and now the land was being converted for arable crops. Across Arcadia xenoc species never before seen to man before were being wiped out as fast as they were discovered.


James McTavis, one of the few scientists that had landed on this planet, was overlooking this work due to his background on earth at a agrochemical factory in his early research. Of the few scientists that had arrived on this planet, few were very practical, but James fitted the bill closest. James’ presence on the ship had been of course for very different reasons than agriculture.


While he quietly admitted the experiments he had planned were, some would say, unethical - He persisted they needed to be done for the benefit of all man kind. Is it not worth ones suffering in order to benefit the society on a whole? Regardless, that was in the past now, well almost. Aiken had been astute enough not to stop it entirely. But James knew little more than rumor about this.


What worried him now was the planets ecosystem. For James was a environmentalist at heart, the wanton destruction that Aiken was demanding left James drained. He knew it had to be done, he knew there were vast forests across the globe, but seeing such rapid destruction, on such a scale... had man learnt nothing from earth?


Earth; a barren planet now, the few Great Cities cowering from the Armada - Vast electrical storms that had become supercharged as the earth warmed up through mans industry. Their path whipped around the globe, destroying all in their path but algaes and some persistent moss, All man could do was huddle together as the storms lashed the cities protective domes. While Ascadia's climate was still stable, but James could very well see exactly the same cycle occurring, and with humanities more rapid growth, only a few generations off.


He sniffed it up and walked back to the patrol jeep. Nothing to report, everything present and correct. Aiken Drumn would be proud. James McTavis promised himself he would demand better environmental care next board meeting, regardless what effect it would have, he had to make this opinion heard.

 

[kkmo]

Coming later, perhaps.

 

[The Loser]

Gaian Force
Leader/Player: Miss Luna
Location: Near a deep crater somewhere around the equater.

Background:

The Gaian Force is an extremist group that will do anithing to protect thier vision on nature and it's evolution.
The leaders left earth to create an utopia on Mars, they are supported by many followers who want to travel to the utopia. They are sponsored by a puppet corporation: Enviprobe, they conduct genetic experiments and are nr 1 polution fighters.
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