SLYNES - Swirly Lights Yonder, a Never Ending Story
- Thread starter Bil
- Start date
Megaman_zx
Dark Lord of the Sith
Here's my story, this one is longer.
Spoiler Nhroaat Sskraed :
@Bil:
As for changing the economy rules, you're the mod and since this is a pretty flexible NES as it is, I see no problem with you changing rules on the go to make gameplay better. This is your baby, you gotta help it grow, and playing with the ruleset is a perfect way to do that.
As for changing the economy rules, you're the mod and since this is a pretty flexible NES as it is, I see no problem with you changing rules on the go to make gameplay better. This is your baby, you gotta help it grow, and playing with the ruleset is a perfect way to do that.
Anonymoose
KING OF MEESE
Bil: If you think it'll improve the NES, then go ahead. If things turn sour because of any changes, you can change it back. I'm sticking with this until we have the galactic senate and everything, Lol.
Bil
Prince of Space
Daft, I have to say, I really love the fact that the Satellians have all the trouble in the galaxy keeping their ships in working order! I'll get a response story up as soon as I can.
Okay, so that's five votes more or less "yes" already, so I'll be changing that with the next update. To those that have already benefited from a heightened economy pre-change, consider it a sudden boom in progress. From now on, everyone keep in mind that when submitting your orders, one of your options is to spend 2e to expand the economy of a given colony by 0.5e/turn. You could, potentially, spend 4e to increase it be 1e/turn, 6e to increase by 1.5e/turn, etc.
Keep up the great work, everyone! This is really coming along very nicely!
Okay, so that's five votes more or less "yes" already, so I'll be changing that with the next update. To those that have already benefited from a heightened economy pre-change, consider it a sudden boom in progress. From now on, everyone keep in mind that when submitting your orders, one of your options is to spend 2e to expand the economy of a given colony by 0.5e/turn. You could, potentially, spend 4e to increase it be 1e/turn, 6e to increase by 1.5e/turn, etc.
Keep up the great work, everyone! This is really coming along very nicely!
Bil
Prince of Space
Warden Kelethletel consulted the other Wardens, each agreeing that they could begin to sense the feelings of these aliens. The input was strong and unwelcome, the weight of these slow, methodical emotions nearly unbearable. It was agreed that exertion was to accompany the first attempt at contact, and the fleet wardens began centering themselves.
Kelethletel closed her eyes and felt the current of the tank slowly move about her. She could feel the other Wardens nearby, tuning them out. She felt the hundreds of Culud surrounding her in this ship, and tuned them out. All that was left was the alien minds, heavy and burdensome across the vastness of space. She felt them, slowed her thought, and pushed...
...submit...
...unwelcome...
...serve...
...unwelcome...
...fear...
She snapped out of it, displeased with herself until she realized that the thought was not her own. Another Warden was slipping her exertion, giving in to feelings felt around her, likely by the Culud, or herself. She had to press on with her work, as the others were doing.
...submit...
...serve...
...belong...
...unwelcome...
...unwelcome...submit...submit...serve...
...become with us...
...belong...
...submit...
...serve...
This went on, and on, for many long seconds, turning into minutes, the exertion continuing to attempt to overwhelm the Satellian psyche, unlikely though it may be, but also serving to reflect the Conclave's desires that these aliens serve the Lelinthians or leave.
Particle weapons targeted on the central regions of the alien vessels, conflict control systems being carefully watched by nervous Culud. They could feel the efforts of their masters passing beyond them, only partially understanding what was going on, but knowing that it would be an incredible failing to do anything, at all, without command.
Kelethletel closed her eyes and felt the current of the tank slowly move about her. She could feel the other Wardens nearby, tuning them out. She felt the hundreds of Culud surrounding her in this ship, and tuned them out. All that was left was the alien minds, heavy and burdensome across the vastness of space. She felt them, slowed her thought, and pushed...
...submit...
...unwelcome...
...serve...
...unwelcome...
...fear...
She snapped out of it, displeased with herself until she realized that the thought was not her own. Another Warden was slipping her exertion, giving in to feelings felt around her, likely by the Culud, or herself. She had to press on with her work, as the others were doing.
...submit...
...serve...
...belong...
...unwelcome...
...unwelcome...submit...submit...serve...
...become with us...
...belong...
...submit...
...serve...
This went on, and on, for many long seconds, turning into minutes, the exertion continuing to attempt to overwhelm the Satellian psyche, unlikely though it may be, but also serving to reflect the Conclave's desires that these aliens serve the Lelinthians or leave.
Particle weapons targeted on the central regions of the alien vessels, conflict control systems being carefully watched by nervous Culud. They could feel the efforts of their masters passing beyond them, only partially understanding what was going on, but knowing that it would be an incredible failing to do anything, at all, without command.
Fuschia
A Little Odd
"For it is in ignorance that people place faith. To have faith in something that is quantifiable, that is understandable, is literally impossible. You may surround it with the trappings of faith, the ceremonies, the mysticism, the organization and structure, but ultimately you are doing little more than deceiving yourself and your followers.
"Ultimately, ignorance itself is the source of all worship. That which cannot be known is revered, turned into something useful for society.
"We are the final representation of faith itself. Of all those who have come before us, only we realize from whence faith springs. And only we will discover the limits of the unknowable, that portion of knowledge within the universe which cannot be determined by ourselves.
"Some may call worship of ignorance ridiculous, but this is simply because we make no interpretations. Knowledge of the unknowable is impossible and, thus, we can give no promises, grant no grand illusions of an afterlife or supreme being. We worship the source of faith itself, and it is from this that we draw our strength.
"I have a plan, now, one that will ensure that our faith continues in perpetuity. We shall go, find a planet for ourselves, and leave our fellow Kants to those that are already populated. I have chosen a system on the edge of the galaxy for this particular position; the existence of a habitable planet is currently unknown, but we shall go forth in ignorance, as all do eventually. Have no fear in it. Success can be measured in many ways."
"Ultimately, ignorance itself is the source of all worship. That which cannot be known is revered, turned into something useful for society.
"We are the final representation of faith itself. Of all those who have come before us, only we realize from whence faith springs. And only we will discover the limits of the unknowable, that portion of knowledge within the universe which cannot be determined by ourselves.
"Some may call worship of ignorance ridiculous, but this is simply because we make no interpretations. Knowledge of the unknowable is impossible and, thus, we can give no promises, grant no grand illusions of an afterlife or supreme being. We worship the source of faith itself, and it is from this that we draw our strength.
"I have a plan, now, one that will ensure that our faith continues in perpetuity. We shall go, find a planet for ourselves, and leave our fellow Kants to those that are already populated. I have chosen a system on the edge of the galaxy for this particular position; the existence of a habitable planet is currently unknown, but we shall go forth in ignorance, as all do eventually. Have no fear in it. Success can be measured in many ways."
Megaman_zx
Dark Lord of the Sith
Here's another story.
Spoiler Kraitaan's musings :
Bil
Prince of Space
I'm just going to set the deadline for orders/stories as next Sunday (Oct. 25) at midnight EST, just to give everyone plenty of time to get their things in order. I'll be posting this on the first post as well, to give a reminder. Any new players are still welcome, of course.
Bil
Prince of Space
I've decided to re-post the rules section, in order to link directly to it from the original post, and also so that I may add in rules without worrying about the character cap present in Update Zero. Sure, I should have had a reserved post when I first made this thread, but mistakes were made and no reserves existed. So, I'll continue to appear disorganized and make up for it somewhat now.
RULES:
While playing this game, the most important thing to remember is that this is a story-driven NES, and thus, the stories that you write will have a considerable weight resting on the future of your civilization. Purely for the sake of balance and control, every civilization carries with it a simple set of stats that will guide you toward creating plans of expansion, trade, domination, diplomacy, and whatever else you might want to do. These stats only exist to show you a generalized status of your civilization, and to offer a rough guideline of what is acceptable for your people to do every turn. A brief, conceptual description of every stat follows:
ECONOMY: The foundation of every civilization is centered on some form of economy, regardless of their outlook on money or wealth in general; you can't build starships without material resources, you can't have material resources without miners and fabricators, and you can't have miners and fabricators without food, which you can't have without farmers. Even if nobody is getting paid, and they're all doing it because they just want to help out or they're controlled by some sort of over-mind, they have to have some sort of economic structure in place as far as how the materials are procured, supplied, modified, fabricated, grown, built, operated, etc. Your economy is what controls your growth and development. What you start with is what your homeworld is capable of producing at the start of the game, and the only ways to increase the available economy is by settling/capturing new worlds, trading with other civilizations, and possibly through sheer luck (though this is rare). I want to note that every race you trade with will grant you +1e (for both sides involved) to use for whatever you want starting the next turn. Be aware that I know full and well that this will not be as beneficial as conquering planets; war is costly, anyway, and you're not really gaining as much through a few merchant ships as you would through controlling all of their planets (that is to say, if you invaded another race, you could gain much, much more from conquering each planet, but it would also cost you a lot; if you traded with them, you won't gain nearly as much, but it's steady income nonetheless and isn't costing you anything).
TECHNOLOGY: Most species start at Level 1 (barring a certain mucky species), which represents a level of development capable of producing vehicles that may operate safely in space, as well as the circumventing of the laws of relatively. This point is free for every race (including that certain mucky species, should they ever want to develop the technology), but any further advancement will cost 'e' or 'economy points'. To reach Level 2, a civilization must spend a total of 2e (which can be spent in pieces, i.e. one per turn, if needed), to reach Level 3 they must spend an additional 3e, and so forth. While there might not be an immediately obvious benefit of technology, it actually does serve several meaningful purposes. Firstly, it will represent your advancement in interstellar technology, meaning that when you decide to move a fleet from one location to another, depending on the distance and your technology level, you might not reach it in one turn. For the most part, this will not come up a lot, and there is no numerical scale at which this functions (it's based on my judgment, and as I said, won't come up often). A more important aspect of technology will involve war (in both space and ground battles), and more specifically, how much of an advantage you will have over your opponent if your technology level is higher than theirs (again, no specific scale, but rather based on my judgment, so please trust me!). Upon completion of every tech level, you will receive an increase of +0.5e/turn to your income, representing an increase in productivity thanks to new developments. Finally, and perhaps the most exciting aspect of technology, will only happen every so often and at specific levels; you will get some special options for things that your civilization can achieve. I also want to note that it is possible to sell, trade, or bestow technology on other civilizations that you might be friendly with, and that it will be possible (though not entirely common) for an invading force to salvage some of your left behind technology for their own benefit (if you're higher in level than they are). If you want to give a tech level to a friend, it will cost you 1e per tech level (and, of course, your tech level will not decrease, though theirs, of course, will increase) to represent the fact that you must not only provide the basic principles of that tech level, but your civilization must also provide a considerable amount of resources and technical expertise in order for the receiving race to be able to incorporate alien technology into their own usage. You can request compensation, however much you wish, and in whatever form you wish; this all falls to diplomacy, and is entirely up to you as to what goes on in this transaction, if anything.
STABILITY: Your stability is a measurement of how well your civilization is holding together. It can range from zero to ten, with zero being utter chaos (beyond civil war; think riots in every city on every planet, and the cops can't keep on top of any of it for the time being) and ten being perfect harmony. This stat is a little more arbitrary to start, because I guessed it out of your own description of your race (and will give a more detailed explanation of why your stability is what it is in your initial stat update). Also based on your species' disposition (as you described it to me), there will be a chance that your civilization might spontaneously stabilize or destabilize on its own. Otherwise, it costs money to force stability, and anything from war (if you're peaceful, or if you're losing) to peace (if you're warlike) to ignoring an ally (if you're loyal) to having close ties with another civilization at all (if you're isolationist) to random events and so forth. Stability mostly exists to keep things interesting, so that your civilization isn't always just moving forward (every empire, no matter how powerful, has to collapse some day, doesn't it? Prove me wrong!
). If you want to improve your stability, you can either start doing things your people like, or you can basically pay to keep them in line (through propaganda, strict law enforcement, etc.) by sacrificing 2e (as a one-shot cost, not a turn-by-turn price) to improve it by one point. Stability, if very low, will increase the chances of colonies rebelling (or even a rebellion to overthrow the home government) and will also have a chance of decreasing your economy for that turn (determined randomly). If very high, you won't have any problems, but it might get expensive to keep this up depending on circumstances.
FLEETS: Fleets are incredibly important to expanding your civilization, even if you don't technically have them ([cough]Fuschia[/cough]). Most people start with one (or even two, depending on the nature of your civilization), but some don't have any (again, depending on your civilization). Before I get into the meat of explaining how fleets work, I want to explain to you what "fleets" means: Having zero fleets does not mean your people don't have ships, it just means that they haven't spent the effort to organize those ships into an effective unit for the goal of interacting with the galaxy at large; alternatively, having even one fleet might not necessarily mean you have any ships at all, or maybe just one very, very large one, or an asteroid converted into a massive colony ship, or whatever you want it to be; point is, "fleets" just represents your ability to interact with the galaxy in a significant way. You need a fleet to explore a system (while, yes, a single ship could do this just fine, I'd rather not get into the complication of having too much variety in these stats, because it will take away from the story), after which point you can then use that fleet to settle a colony there (at the cost of 2e; alternatively, you can sacrifice that fleet to build the colony for free). The other function of fleets is to engage in war with other civilizations, primarily using your fleets to defeat their fleets, but also using them to attack planets themselves by bombarding from orbit and/or launching a ground invasion (fleets can carry one unit of military each, either to move them between your own planets or to invade an enemy planet). If you bombard a planet from orbit, it will basically be (in behind-the-scenes activity only, mind you) a single shot at a given target (populace or military; or you could leave it up to chance!) that will either work or it won't (factoring in a minor advantage/disadvantage system based on technology, as well as random chance) and might end up damaging/destroying a unit of the military or destroying that planet's income for the turn (as you blow up their homes and factories). If there is a military presence on the planet, they will have an opportunity (based on the same principals used in bombardment) to fire back, possibly damaging (or even destroying, if their tech is high enough over yours) your fleet instead of or in addition to themselves being hurt. It isn't all as cut-and-dry as it sounds, though, for this aspect is just the behind-the-scenes stuff. In reality, what you do to the enemy fleets and planets is up to you to write and me to interpret and apply to the update. Fleets cost .5e (that is, half a point) to maintain every turn (automatically deducted from your available economy points at every update).
MILITARY: Military is a representation of your ground forces, the army-types that protect your planets and invade the planets of your enemies. One 'unit' of military (which you can call whatever you want: 'an army', 'a battalion', 'a phalanx', whatever at all) costs 1e to build and .5e (that is, half a point) to maintain each turn. What military units can do is defend planets against invasion (by fighting back against the invading military unit) and bombardment (by shooting back at the fleet attacking the planet the unit is on), or invading enemy planets (to which they must be carried by fleets). In extreme situations, a unit of military may also enforce stability on a planet on a turn-by-turn basis (if you pick them up from an unstable planet in a fleet and move them somewhere else, that planet will become unstable again), meaning you won't lose productivity or risk insurrection on that planet while the military unit is present (though this might also further destabilize your civilization; not everyone will be okay with martial law!).
COLONIES: While colonies are not a stat, they are nonetheless extremely important. When a new system is explored by any race, I randomly determine its rough properties and then create the details as I write the update it is being discovered in. The economic value of that system is private, however, only known to those who have explored it, or those who may have purchased/traded/received the information from a civilization that has explored it. Each system has an available value of between 0.5e/turn to 3.5e/turn, and upon colonization (for a cost of 2e), the system will produce 0.5e/turn to the controlling power. It starts this low as a reflection of the lack of infrastructure and population present on the new colony. In order to expand this income value, one must invest another 2e into the colony to raise its income by 0.5e/turn, up to the maximum value that the system can produce. If your stability drops too low, your colonies (particularly more out-lying colonies, away from the homeworld) might lose income (at least for that turn) until stability is restored. If a hostile fleet is occupying one of your systems, and there is no friendly fleet presence, the system is considered blockaded and any income gained from that colony is not available until the blockading fleet is removed (by whatever means). A hostile fleet may also bombard a colony, which (if infrastructure is targeted) can damage the provided income of that colony until repaired. Each bombardment will reduce income by 0.5e/turn, and if reduced to 0e/turn, the colony is considered destroyed. If the hostile fleet is removed from the system, the civ in control of the colony must re-invest 2e to restore (fully) the income lost from that colony. So, even if the colony was only reduced by 0.5e/turn or as much as 3e/turn, an expenditure of 2e will restore it completely to its previous income development.
Again, I want to state that these stats are only here to keep things orderly, organized and fluid as the game progresses from turn to turn. The most important aspect of this game, again, is story! Every turn, after reading the update I have created to reflect the status of the galaxy, you should PM me your orders in as complete a way as possible and include any behind-the-scenes story bits that you want to write up that aren't for other players' eyes. After that, write up stories on the thread itself about the lives of your people, and go into as much detail as you please. If you want to write about a farmer on some colony of yours, do so! If you want to write about a military commander as he prepares to further his campaign against your enemy, do so! If you want to write about a wandering merchant as he works the markets of a dozen planets, do so! Write about anything you want, anything at all, pertaining to your civilization! The one thing you can't write about is the results of any significant action within another civilization (that's not to say you can't write about a member of your species acting in that civilization, or that you can't say they are attempting to affect that civilization, you just can't write the outcome) or any significant result that affects your empire (unless you already know it's going to happen, which should be obvious by what you've done in your orders or anything I've told you is going to happen). I want stories, stories, stories! I want this galaxy to be vibrant and alive! Always keep in mind that if you don't have time to write a story, or you don't have anything to write about, you won't be penalized; you just won't get the option of a special bonus relating to your story (which doesn't always happen, of course). Even if you never write a single story, your race's stats and orders will still carry them through the game, but they might end up at a disadvantage compared to someone who writes very beneficial stories. I also want to say that, while I won't be judging the benefit of these stories on grammar, spelling, or form, I do still prefer that you do your best. Please, try to refine your writing to be fluid and easily read, or else I might not have any idea what's going on and you might miss out on a potential bonus! Again, I want to reiterate, poor spelling and grammar won't necessarily take away from a benefit, but if it's unreadable, you probably won't get one.
COSTS:
Fleet: 1e (0.5e/turn maintenance) - Can spend additional 0.5e with build cost to use it as soon as it is built.
Repair Fleet: 0.5e (can only be done in friendly systems)
Army: 1e (0.5e/turn maintenance) - Can spend additional 0.5e with build cost to use it as soon as it is built.
Repair Army: 0.5e (can only be done in friendly systems)
Build Colony: 2e (or the dismantling of 1 fleet already in orbit or recently arrived in-system)
Expand Colony: 2e
Expand Economy: 2e (granting +0.5e/turn in home world income)
Stability: 1e per 1 point
Technology: 2e for Tech 2, 3e for Tech 3, 4e for Tech 4, and so on.
Trade Route: 1e start-up cost for one half of it, generally the other trading partner paying 1e for the other half (though you may establish both ends, for whatever reason, if you wish).
RULES:
While playing this game, the most important thing to remember is that this is a story-driven NES, and thus, the stories that you write will have a considerable weight resting on the future of your civilization. Purely for the sake of balance and control, every civilization carries with it a simple set of stats that will guide you toward creating plans of expansion, trade, domination, diplomacy, and whatever else you might want to do. These stats only exist to show you a generalized status of your civilization, and to offer a rough guideline of what is acceptable for your people to do every turn. A brief, conceptual description of every stat follows:
ECONOMY: The foundation of every civilization is centered on some form of economy, regardless of their outlook on money or wealth in general; you can't build starships without material resources, you can't have material resources without miners and fabricators, and you can't have miners and fabricators without food, which you can't have without farmers. Even if nobody is getting paid, and they're all doing it because they just want to help out or they're controlled by some sort of over-mind, they have to have some sort of economic structure in place as far as how the materials are procured, supplied, modified, fabricated, grown, built, operated, etc. Your economy is what controls your growth and development. What you start with is what your homeworld is capable of producing at the start of the game, and the only ways to increase the available economy is by settling/capturing new worlds, trading with other civilizations, and possibly through sheer luck (though this is rare). I want to note that every race you trade with will grant you +1e (for both sides involved) to use for whatever you want starting the next turn. Be aware that I know full and well that this will not be as beneficial as conquering planets; war is costly, anyway, and you're not really gaining as much through a few merchant ships as you would through controlling all of their planets (that is to say, if you invaded another race, you could gain much, much more from conquering each planet, but it would also cost you a lot; if you traded with them, you won't gain nearly as much, but it's steady income nonetheless and isn't costing you anything).
TECHNOLOGY: Most species start at Level 1 (barring a certain mucky species), which represents a level of development capable of producing vehicles that may operate safely in space, as well as the circumventing of the laws of relatively. This point is free for every race (including that certain mucky species, should they ever want to develop the technology), but any further advancement will cost 'e' or 'economy points'. To reach Level 2, a civilization must spend a total of 2e (which can be spent in pieces, i.e. one per turn, if needed), to reach Level 3 they must spend an additional 3e, and so forth. While there might not be an immediately obvious benefit of technology, it actually does serve several meaningful purposes. Firstly, it will represent your advancement in interstellar technology, meaning that when you decide to move a fleet from one location to another, depending on the distance and your technology level, you might not reach it in one turn. For the most part, this will not come up a lot, and there is no numerical scale at which this functions (it's based on my judgment, and as I said, won't come up often). A more important aspect of technology will involve war (in both space and ground battles), and more specifically, how much of an advantage you will have over your opponent if your technology level is higher than theirs (again, no specific scale, but rather based on my judgment, so please trust me!). Upon completion of every tech level, you will receive an increase of +0.5e/turn to your income, representing an increase in productivity thanks to new developments. Finally, and perhaps the most exciting aspect of technology, will only happen every so often and at specific levels; you will get some special options for things that your civilization can achieve. I also want to note that it is possible to sell, trade, or bestow technology on other civilizations that you might be friendly with, and that it will be possible (though not entirely common) for an invading force to salvage some of your left behind technology for their own benefit (if you're higher in level than they are). If you want to give a tech level to a friend, it will cost you 1e per tech level (and, of course, your tech level will not decrease, though theirs, of course, will increase) to represent the fact that you must not only provide the basic principles of that tech level, but your civilization must also provide a considerable amount of resources and technical expertise in order for the receiving race to be able to incorporate alien technology into their own usage. You can request compensation, however much you wish, and in whatever form you wish; this all falls to diplomacy, and is entirely up to you as to what goes on in this transaction, if anything.
STABILITY: Your stability is a measurement of how well your civilization is holding together. It can range from zero to ten, with zero being utter chaos (beyond civil war; think riots in every city on every planet, and the cops can't keep on top of any of it for the time being) and ten being perfect harmony. This stat is a little more arbitrary to start, because I guessed it out of your own description of your race (and will give a more detailed explanation of why your stability is what it is in your initial stat update). Also based on your species' disposition (as you described it to me), there will be a chance that your civilization might spontaneously stabilize or destabilize on its own. Otherwise, it costs money to force stability, and anything from war (if you're peaceful, or if you're losing) to peace (if you're warlike) to ignoring an ally (if you're loyal) to having close ties with another civilization at all (if you're isolationist) to random events and so forth. Stability mostly exists to keep things interesting, so that your civilization isn't always just moving forward (every empire, no matter how powerful, has to collapse some day, doesn't it? Prove me wrong!
). If you want to improve your stability, you can either start doing things your people like, or you can basically pay to keep them in line (through propaganda, strict law enforcement, etc.) by sacrificing 2e (as a one-shot cost, not a turn-by-turn price) to improve it by one point. Stability, if very low, will increase the chances of colonies rebelling (or even a rebellion to overthrow the home government) and will also have a chance of decreasing your economy for that turn (determined randomly). If very high, you won't have any problems, but it might get expensive to keep this up depending on circumstances.FLEETS: Fleets are incredibly important to expanding your civilization, even if you don't technically have them ([cough]Fuschia[/cough]). Most people start with one (or even two, depending on the nature of your civilization), but some don't have any (again, depending on your civilization). Before I get into the meat of explaining how fleets work, I want to explain to you what "fleets" means: Having zero fleets does not mean your people don't have ships, it just means that they haven't spent the effort to organize those ships into an effective unit for the goal of interacting with the galaxy at large; alternatively, having even one fleet might not necessarily mean you have any ships at all, or maybe just one very, very large one, or an asteroid converted into a massive colony ship, or whatever you want it to be; point is, "fleets" just represents your ability to interact with the galaxy in a significant way. You need a fleet to explore a system (while, yes, a single ship could do this just fine, I'd rather not get into the complication of having too much variety in these stats, because it will take away from the story), after which point you can then use that fleet to settle a colony there (at the cost of 2e; alternatively, you can sacrifice that fleet to build the colony for free). The other function of fleets is to engage in war with other civilizations, primarily using your fleets to defeat their fleets, but also using them to attack planets themselves by bombarding from orbit and/or launching a ground invasion (fleets can carry one unit of military each, either to move them between your own planets or to invade an enemy planet). If you bombard a planet from orbit, it will basically be (in behind-the-scenes activity only, mind you) a single shot at a given target (populace or military; or you could leave it up to chance!) that will either work or it won't (factoring in a minor advantage/disadvantage system based on technology, as well as random chance) and might end up damaging/destroying a unit of the military or destroying that planet's income for the turn (as you blow up their homes and factories). If there is a military presence on the planet, they will have an opportunity (based on the same principals used in bombardment) to fire back, possibly damaging (or even destroying, if their tech is high enough over yours) your fleet instead of or in addition to themselves being hurt. It isn't all as cut-and-dry as it sounds, though, for this aspect is just the behind-the-scenes stuff. In reality, what you do to the enemy fleets and planets is up to you to write and me to interpret and apply to the update. Fleets cost .5e (that is, half a point) to maintain every turn (automatically deducted from your available economy points at every update).
MILITARY: Military is a representation of your ground forces, the army-types that protect your planets and invade the planets of your enemies. One 'unit' of military (which you can call whatever you want: 'an army', 'a battalion', 'a phalanx', whatever at all) costs 1e to build and .5e (that is, half a point) to maintain each turn. What military units can do is defend planets against invasion (by fighting back against the invading military unit) and bombardment (by shooting back at the fleet attacking the planet the unit is on), or invading enemy planets (to which they must be carried by fleets). In extreme situations, a unit of military may also enforce stability on a planet on a turn-by-turn basis (if you pick them up from an unstable planet in a fleet and move them somewhere else, that planet will become unstable again), meaning you won't lose productivity or risk insurrection on that planet while the military unit is present (though this might also further destabilize your civilization; not everyone will be okay with martial law!).
COLONIES: While colonies are not a stat, they are nonetheless extremely important. When a new system is explored by any race, I randomly determine its rough properties and then create the details as I write the update it is being discovered in. The economic value of that system is private, however, only known to those who have explored it, or those who may have purchased/traded/received the information from a civilization that has explored it. Each system has an available value of between 0.5e/turn to 3.5e/turn, and upon colonization (for a cost of 2e), the system will produce 0.5e/turn to the controlling power. It starts this low as a reflection of the lack of infrastructure and population present on the new colony. In order to expand this income value, one must invest another 2e into the colony to raise its income by 0.5e/turn, up to the maximum value that the system can produce. If your stability drops too low, your colonies (particularly more out-lying colonies, away from the homeworld) might lose income (at least for that turn) until stability is restored. If a hostile fleet is occupying one of your systems, and there is no friendly fleet presence, the system is considered blockaded and any income gained from that colony is not available until the blockading fleet is removed (by whatever means). A hostile fleet may also bombard a colony, which (if infrastructure is targeted) can damage the provided income of that colony until repaired. Each bombardment will reduce income by 0.5e/turn, and if reduced to 0e/turn, the colony is considered destroyed. If the hostile fleet is removed from the system, the civ in control of the colony must re-invest 2e to restore (fully) the income lost from that colony. So, even if the colony was only reduced by 0.5e/turn or as much as 3e/turn, an expenditure of 2e will restore it completely to its previous income development.
Again, I want to state that these stats are only here to keep things orderly, organized and fluid as the game progresses from turn to turn. The most important aspect of this game, again, is story! Every turn, after reading the update I have created to reflect the status of the galaxy, you should PM me your orders in as complete a way as possible and include any behind-the-scenes story bits that you want to write up that aren't for other players' eyes. After that, write up stories on the thread itself about the lives of your people, and go into as much detail as you please. If you want to write about a farmer on some colony of yours, do so! If you want to write about a military commander as he prepares to further his campaign against your enemy, do so! If you want to write about a wandering merchant as he works the markets of a dozen planets, do so! Write about anything you want, anything at all, pertaining to your civilization! The one thing you can't write about is the results of any significant action within another civilization (that's not to say you can't write about a member of your species acting in that civilization, or that you can't say they are attempting to affect that civilization, you just can't write the outcome) or any significant result that affects your empire (unless you already know it's going to happen, which should be obvious by what you've done in your orders or anything I've told you is going to happen). I want stories, stories, stories! I want this galaxy to be vibrant and alive! Always keep in mind that if you don't have time to write a story, or you don't have anything to write about, you won't be penalized; you just won't get the option of a special bonus relating to your story (which doesn't always happen, of course). Even if you never write a single story, your race's stats and orders will still carry them through the game, but they might end up at a disadvantage compared to someone who writes very beneficial stories. I also want to say that, while I won't be judging the benefit of these stories on grammar, spelling, or form, I do still prefer that you do your best. Please, try to refine your writing to be fluid and easily read, or else I might not have any idea what's going on and you might miss out on a potential bonus! Again, I want to reiterate, poor spelling and grammar won't necessarily take away from a benefit, but if it's unreadable, you probably won't get one.
COSTS:
Fleet: 1e (0.5e/turn maintenance) - Can spend additional 0.5e with build cost to use it as soon as it is built.
Repair Fleet: 0.5e (can only be done in friendly systems)
Army: 1e (0.5e/turn maintenance) - Can spend additional 0.5e with build cost to use it as soon as it is built.
Repair Army: 0.5e (can only be done in friendly systems)
Build Colony: 2e (or the dismantling of 1 fleet already in orbit or recently arrived in-system)
Expand Colony: 2e
Expand Economy: 2e (granting +0.5e/turn in home world income)
Stability: 1e per 1 point
Technology: 2e for Tech 2, 3e for Tech 3, 4e for Tech 4, and so on.
Trade Route: 1e start-up cost for one half of it, generally the other trading partner paying 1e for the other half (though you may establish both ends, for whatever reason, if you wish).
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
Looks cool Bil, I'll give the rules a proper read later on. I should have another story by Sunday.
Bil
Prince of Space
Not much new, just re-iteration and an addition of the new colony rules (as well as some more details about colonies). I'll probably periodically tack stuff in there, if anything new comes up, though at this point I can't really see much new being of use to this game, unless someone brings up a good idea or we run into a fair problem. Anyway, take your time, guys, 'cause we've got almost another week until the deadline.
@Daft: I'm feeling like my second Lelinthian-Satellian contact story is a bit weak, so I'm sorry if you find it so. I feel like we should be able to wrap it up before Sunday, though, without rushing it, really.
@Daft: I'm feeling like my second Lelinthian-Satellian contact story is a bit weak, so I'm sorry if you find it so. I feel like we should be able to wrap it up before Sunday, though, without rushing it, really.
Megaman_zx
Dark Lord of the Sith
when's the update supposed to take place?
Bil
Prince of Space
Deadline will be posted on the original post from now on, for future reference.
Sunday, October 25th, 11:59 PM! I'll start the update that Monday and probably either have it up that night or Tuesday night.
Sunday, October 25th, 11:59 PM! I'll start the update that Monday and probably either have it up that night or Tuesday night.
kill fire
Enormous Midget
I thought the 24th was a Saturday. 
Bil
Prince of Space
I thought the 24th was a Saturday.
Typo! Fixed!
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
@Bil I don't think your story was weak at all, I'm worried about all the different ships I ended up writing about... I also want some focus on my homeworld, and on the newly discovered planet, so I'm trying to think of a way to tie it all up
Bil
Prince of Space
@Bil I don't think your story was weak at all, I'm worried about all the different ships I ended up writing about... I also want some focus on my homeworld, and on the newly discovered planet, so I'm trying to think of a way to tie it all up
Well, you should be all right. There are a fair few days yet to get it all sorted out
Don't feel bad about posting multiple things, if you need to split it up in any way. I don't mind some extra stuff posted separately.
kill fire
Enormous Midget
2:00 PM
New System Year 20, Day 147
Home of Jayka Raknas
Jayka Ragnas, leader of the Space Colonization Project, sat in meditation in his living room. He was shaking slightly. He had been preparing for this day for a long while now. How could he still feel so nervous? He knew the answer. No matter how prepared you are you can never look calmly at the face of death. His heart was beating very fast. The anticipation was torturing him. And then the door opened.
Nugi Aritsamugi, Jaykas assistant, walked through the door. Hello Jayka said Nugi today is your last chance. Are you going to cut the project or not? Jayka was sweating. He was extremely tempted to say yes. Only the thought of how much his people needed this kept him going. No said Jayka its too important. We need to expand to another system if were going to survive. He was trying to sound brave but was barely able to keep his voice stable. Nugi sighed. Why wont you see reason? If we go through with this they wont need us anymore. Well just go back to our crappy lives! Jayka was more scared than he had ever been in his life, but he wasnt about to change his mind now. This is more important than you and me Nugi, this is about the survival of our species. Nugi pulled the gun out of his coat. Then you leave me no choice. He raised the pistol and pointed it at Jaykas chest. Jayka was shaking out of control. His mind was racing, his heart was thumping against his chest as if it wanted to burst out of his chest, He closed his eyes and waited. Then through his eyelids he saw a flash.
Jayka tightened his eyelids. Was he dead? He opened one eye. What he saw wasnt at all what he was expecting. He saw Nugi face down on the floor in a puddle of his own blood, with Kakaguri Gansaki, his best friend, standing over Nugis body, pistol in hand. Jayka was shocked beyond words. He had to be the luckiest man in the system! I thought it was strange how often Nugi was coming by here. What the hell was going on? said Kakaguri. Ill tell you after we go get a drink somewhere. said Jayka. You should take a shower first said Kakaguri you smell like crap.
8:00 PM
New System Year 20, day 161
Launch site of the Hekegai
Jayka sat in his chair looking out the window at the Hekegai and the massive crowd that had gathered to see its launch. He smiled. Today was the day. You boys ready? Jayka said to the crew through his Vid Comm. screen. Good to go the pilot replied. Alright Jayka yelled do it! The proper steps were quickly taken. The ship took off with a loud boom, and it sped off, gaining speed, into the night sky.
11:00 PM
New System year 20, day 161
Second quarters, inside the Hekegai
Segimaru Gekise, crewman of the Hekegai, lay awake in his bed. His black eyes stared up at the bunk above him. What if we go to this system, and something else is already inhabiting it? Something that wouldnt be too happy to find strangers claiming their planets. Something violent. Something strong. Segimaru thought to himself. He took a deep breath. Nah, youre just being paranoid. You saw the people running this thing check the system a hundred freakin times! Theres no way they missed something like that. He creased his forehead again. But weve missed obvious things before. Whos to say we didnt this time? Again he took a deep breath and relaxed. You would think life civilized enough to be inhabiting a whole system, or even just a planet, would have been noticed by now. You always worry yourself over nothing. Besides, lets just say, just to humor you, that something IS there. We can easily handle it. Most likely we can diplomatically solve any problem we run into, and even if it comes to force, were powerful and intelligent enough to win a struggle with some alien race. Stop worrying yourself and go to sleep. Segimaru yawned and closed his eyes. He fell asleep as the ship sped off towards its destination.
Im still really busy so this is all Im gunna be able to post for right now. I might add more to it later. Basically to sum up what happened, a ship called the Hekegai was sent to inhabit the bottom right of C,C.
New System Year 20, Day 147
Home of Jayka Raknas
Jayka Ragnas, leader of the Space Colonization Project, sat in meditation in his living room. He was shaking slightly. He had been preparing for this day for a long while now. How could he still feel so nervous? He knew the answer. No matter how prepared you are you can never look calmly at the face of death. His heart was beating very fast. The anticipation was torturing him. And then the door opened.
Nugi Aritsamugi, Jaykas assistant, walked through the door. Hello Jayka said Nugi today is your last chance. Are you going to cut the project or not? Jayka was sweating. He was extremely tempted to say yes. Only the thought of how much his people needed this kept him going. No said Jayka its too important. We need to expand to another system if were going to survive. He was trying to sound brave but was barely able to keep his voice stable. Nugi sighed. Why wont you see reason? If we go through with this they wont need us anymore. Well just go back to our crappy lives! Jayka was more scared than he had ever been in his life, but he wasnt about to change his mind now. This is more important than you and me Nugi, this is about the survival of our species. Nugi pulled the gun out of his coat. Then you leave me no choice. He raised the pistol and pointed it at Jaykas chest. Jayka was shaking out of control. His mind was racing, his heart was thumping against his chest as if it wanted to burst out of his chest, He closed his eyes and waited. Then through his eyelids he saw a flash.
Jayka tightened his eyelids. Was he dead? He opened one eye. What he saw wasnt at all what he was expecting. He saw Nugi face down on the floor in a puddle of his own blood, with Kakaguri Gansaki, his best friend, standing over Nugis body, pistol in hand. Jayka was shocked beyond words. He had to be the luckiest man in the system! I thought it was strange how often Nugi was coming by here. What the hell was going on? said Kakaguri. Ill tell you after we go get a drink somewhere. said Jayka. You should take a shower first said Kakaguri you smell like crap.
8:00 PM
New System Year 20, day 161
Launch site of the Hekegai
Jayka sat in his chair looking out the window at the Hekegai and the massive crowd that had gathered to see its launch. He smiled. Today was the day. You boys ready? Jayka said to the crew through his Vid Comm. screen. Good to go the pilot replied. Alright Jayka yelled do it! The proper steps were quickly taken. The ship took off with a loud boom, and it sped off, gaining speed, into the night sky.
11:00 PM
New System year 20, day 161
Second quarters, inside the Hekegai
Segimaru Gekise, crewman of the Hekegai, lay awake in his bed. His black eyes stared up at the bunk above him. What if we go to this system, and something else is already inhabiting it? Something that wouldnt be too happy to find strangers claiming their planets. Something violent. Something strong. Segimaru thought to himself. He took a deep breath. Nah, youre just being paranoid. You saw the people running this thing check the system a hundred freakin times! Theres no way they missed something like that. He creased his forehead again. But weve missed obvious things before. Whos to say we didnt this time? Again he took a deep breath and relaxed. You would think life civilized enough to be inhabiting a whole system, or even just a planet, would have been noticed by now. You always worry yourself over nothing. Besides, lets just say, just to humor you, that something IS there. We can easily handle it. Most likely we can diplomatically solve any problem we run into, and even if it comes to force, were powerful and intelligent enough to win a struggle with some alien race. Stop worrying yourself and go to sleep. Segimaru yawned and closed his eyes. He fell asleep as the ship sped off towards its destination.
Im still really busy so this is all Im gunna be able to post for right now. I might add more to it later. Basically to sum up what happened, a ship called the Hekegai was sent to inhabit the bottom right of C,C.
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