MSN : 30/09/2003 "Kody´s past / educating a stupid drone"

[Micha]

PART ONE

{Kody sends the new simulator turn}
Micha says:
hi
Kody says:
hello
Kody says:
got to love how that transfer bar jumps backwards anf forwards
Micha says:
lol
Micha says:
how do I load this simulator? Single Player?
Kody says:
yep
Micha says:
gotta love the faction dominance
Kody says:
heh
Kody says:
In the simulator I haven't botheorange to build up the factions I have very little knowledge about
Micha says:
isn´t it a bit risky to have a base left undefended with 5 tiles of xenofunghus around?
Micha says:
well, four
Kody says:
that base is going to be rebuilt in 3 turns
Kody says:
after 500 simulator reloads I've never seen a mindworm pop up
Kody says:
Mindworms have a very low chance of popping up in base radius
Kody says:
they have an even lower chance of popping up in fungus in a square next to a base
Kody says:
mindworms generally only pop up in fugus outside of base radius
Kody says:
and then move in through the fungus
Micha says:
well, I experienced that on a lower difficulty lever several times...
Kody says:
we've had a few mindworm attacks in the simulator from fungus squares 2 squares away
Micha says:
it just would be bad to have a second "tragedy" to announce in PRAVDA, this time a real one
Micha says:
hm, ok
Micha says:
And Rokossovkygrad is going to grow in 5 turns to size four, which will cause major drone riots, won´t it?
Kody says:
network node is going to be placed in rokossovky
Kody says:
and a hive colony pod will be moved in and added to rokossovky's population
Kody says:
then specialists made
Micha says:
(actually, it is growing in 4 turns)
Kody says:
network node + police unit+HGP = 4
Micha says:
ok, sounds good
Kody says:
then add 1
Kody says:
but the colony pod pushes it to 5
Kody says:
but then we convert 5th citizen to a specialist
Kody says:
so we only have to quell 4 drones
Micha says:
hm.. I´m pretty sure you´ve tested it
Kody says:
the recycling tank is so we don't run out of food
Kody says:
4 citizens and 1 specialist need the recycling tanks
Micha says:
yep
Micha says:
or a crawler
Kody says:
yeah but crawler takes up valuable land
Kody says:
well terraformed land
Micha says:
true
Micha says:
btw, when is the Jamski peninsula going to be colonized?
Micha says:
Or are you planning to use it as a crawler park?
Kody says:
Let me check
Kody says:
if you notice crawlers are already on their way roading up I think
Kody says:
I mean formers
Kody says:
Jamski Clove 2nd colony pod will be heading up there
Micha says:
good
Kody says:
The first colony pod from Jamski heads to that sensor site close by
Kody says:
oh the sensor isn't quite finished yet
Kody says:
but you can see the terraformers working on it
Micha says:
you mean south of kommie city?
Kody says:
nope
Kody says:
from Jamski go 1 square south-west, then 1 square west
Micha says:
yeah, saw it now
Micha says:
but why there?
Micha says:
isn´t it too close to the other base sites?
Kody says:
because it fits in with our tight base spacing
Micha says:
and what happens to the old base site?
Kody says:
at Jamski?
Kody says:
it gets moved 1 south
Kody says:
have you seen the baseplan?
Micha says:
but then we are losing a harbour
Micha says:
no, where?
Kody says:
true
Kody says:
let me find it
Kody says:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=97418

Kody says:

http://apolyton.net/upload/files/Kody/LandPlanning.jpg

Kody says:
this link
Kody says:
The reason why we decided to move it
Kody says:
was because that nut bonus would be useful to condensor and crawl
Kody says:
under a base it's only 4 nutrients
Kody says:
with a condensor you get 7 nutrients, (1 extra nutrient)
Kody says:
and with a soil enricher even more
Micha says:
hm.. I have no complaints against moving it, but we will need shipwrights, that means harbours
Micha says:
we can´t have just one base building all our ships
Kody says:
soil enricher gives you 10
Kody says:
We do have several bases for ships
Micha says:
St.Octaviansburg and HongHu KongHu
Micha says:
the Hive will be busy I guess
Kody says:
6 bases on the north side
Kody says:
The hive becomes a land base
Kody says:
later
Kody says:
7 bases on the south side
Micha says:
then you are planning very far into the future....
Kody says:
out for 31 bases planned so far in total
Kody says:
also Buster seems to be planning for air power rather than sea power
Kody says:
I don't think we're going to be able to match the pirates on the sea.
Micha says:
who knows...
Kody says:
One of the reasons why we're closing off an inland sea.
Kody says:
We would need initative
Micha says:
a combined force can brake the greatest powers of a single faction
Kody says:
and if the pirates don't get initative then they're going for air power
Kody says:
air power beats sea power from what everyone else says
Micha says:
I don´t like sea power as well, but looking at our location it will be inevitable
Kody says:
Am I correct in saying that the pirates can't take over land bases with ships?
Micha says:
at least transports, escorts for them, Sea crawlers, probe foils
Micha says:
nope
Kody says:
you mean we have alot of sea to contend with?
Kody says:
sea crawlers for the inland sea
Micha says:
no, but we are trapped on a small continent, together with a faction we are allied with
Kody says:
probe foils yes, but they don't require support
Kody says:
drop troops
Micha says:
why not?
Kody says:
the land discoveorange by the drones is within drop troop range
Micha says:
@ support
Kody says:
probe foils don't require support
Kody says:
*shrug*
Micha says:
in general?
Kody says:
probes don't require support at all
Kody says:
in general
Micha says:
this is quite enlightening...
Kody says:
have you read the ambassador thread?
Micha says:
not recently
Micha says:
I have read about ten threads in the embassy
Kody says:
the drones have put their maps there
Micha says:
hm..
Kody says:

http://www.civgaming.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3454&goto=lastpost

Kody says:

http://www.civgaming.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3454&perpage=10&pagenumber=7

Kody says:
that rather
Kody says:
you should read all the official threads
Kody says:
and the question - strategy if you want to keep up the actual ingame
Kody says:
"question -strategy"
Micha says:
"official" threads not including polls suggerate something like "the constitution" thread... the mob.. excuse me, we drones are instantly scaorange away...
Kody says:
heh
Kody says:
well it's about as detailed much of what I say
Micha says:
yeah... not bad... Interesting.... Why did Buster say: "New West area exploorange - still not fully clear if we have a land bridge but starts looking like not:" ?
Micha says:
The map clearly shows a land bridge
Kody says:
land bridge to somewhere else
Kody says:
you see we're been using the elevation maps
Kody says:
we know that south of the drones' terriority is more land
Kody says:
to the west is ocean I think
Micha says:
I see...
Micha says:
What is ICS?
Kody says:
hrmm
Kody says:
Infinite city crawl
Kody says:
basically the really tight base packing we're doing
Micha says:
S=crawl? well, ok...
Kody says:
hrmm
Kody says:
sprawl
Kody says:
rather
Micha says:
hehe, sounds better
Micha says:
What do you think of including links (PRAVDA, important threads, posts etc.) in the history file?
Kody says:
sure
Kody says:
that could work
Micha says:
And, should we paste a copy of it into the embassy forum? Hm... without the links of course...
Kody says:
well I don't think the drones are interested in the past
Kody says:
they're running with a skeleton crew I think
Kody says:
notice that the drones rarely interact with us on a roleplay level
Kody says:
However, having the links etc will be useful for new members.
Micha says:
hehe... true... Just for roleplay issues... I thought "The Recall" could become the "Bible of the Hive"..
Kody says:
we can point them to the history thread
Micha says:
yeah...
Micha says:
ok, I´ll start on it now
Kody says:
someone really ought to the the drone's introduction
Kody says:
not that we need to curry favour
Kody says:
but I don't think they're ever going to write an introduction
Kody says:
maybe I could get achmed to do it
Micha says:
would be great!
Micha says:
What other factions have started on (or completed) it?
Kody says:
apparently Hercules has completed his
Kody says:
it's just awaiting approval
Kody says:
cycon and university said they planned on doing it
Micha says:
okay... hehe, I´m really looking forward to the Pirate´s intro...
Kody says:
actually that does sound like fun
Kody says:
Hrmm sometimes these days I think I concentrate too much on getting things done.
Kody says:
I had to quit my last hobby from over obession too.
Micha says:
lol
Micha says:
what was it?
Kody says:
do you know what a mud is?
Kody says:
Multi-User-Domain
Kody says:
do you remember those choose your own adventure books?
Micha says:
yes
Kody says:
actually it's kindof like an online nethack
Kody says:
you have a character you make it more powerful etc
Micha says:
lol
Kody says:
you attack things get experience gather items
Kody says:
lets just say within a rather short time I had 4 maxxed level characters, with a 5th on it's way.
Micha says:
yay, I know nethack... was fun to play... So you created an online game on your own? AS A HOBBY???
Kody says:
nope there was one around
Kody says:
that I joined
Micha says:
ooooh
Micha says:
hehe
Kody says:
anyway I had 4 legend character (basically level 127)
Kody says:
the next most powerful player had 2
Micha says:
so you played a loooooooooot
Kody says:
and had been playing a couple more years than me
Micha says:

Kody says:
also I managed to know most items
Kody says:
and know almost all the areas
Kody says:
so people would often ask me where things were etc, or ask for advice on how to do things
Kody says:
I had played a couple of classes that were called "impossible"
Kody says:
and managed to legend them too
Micha says:
lol ...
Kody says:
and a legend character usually took the experienced players a year or two.
Micha says:
you really put your entire energy in one thing, don´t you?
Kody says:
the "impossible" legends classes were eventually done (after I had already done it) by other people but they had taken 5 years doing it.
Kody says:
anyway I probably was 3rd place in the knowledge department
Kody says:
and 1st place in high level character department with a lead of double.
Micha says:

Kody says:
also I had written computer programs to calculate reloads etc
Kody says:
and to gain faster reaction times, by making my character part cyborg
Kody says:
not in the actual game
Kody says:
but programs that would do certain things to save my life way faster than a human could.
Kody says:
anyway I knew it was really eating away at my time, but the final straw was when I started snapping at some of my friends there.
Kody says:
basically I was getting annoyed at them for slowing the hunting party down
Kody says:
that's sort of when I decided I was going down the track of very bad obessive
Micha says:
yep...
Kody says:
so I said my goodbyes and quit
Micha says:
and then you have been made an immortal legend by the remaining players?
Kody says:
nah
Kody says:
and "immortal" was another name for an administrator
Kody says:
and I kindof try to avoid lording over other people so I stayed clear
Micha says:
hehe
Micha says:
I thought those people still tell the newbies about the legendary hero who managed to achieve what noone before him could achieve
Kody says:
*chuckle*
Kody says:
people have short memories
Kody says:
they probably mention it, but they'll more often talk about people that are still around
Kody says:
In retrospec one funny thing
Kody says:
one of the veteran players was trying very hard to kill my first character off.
Kody says:
back when I was a newbie
Kody says:
after I asked him why
Kody says:
he claimed that I must be an old player in disguise
Micha says:
lol
Kody says:
probably one of those old players that left because of gaining and anti-social reputation or something.
Kody says:
He didn't believe I had managed to learn all the ins and outs so fast.
Kody says:
you see it usually took at least a year or more before players started getting good.
Kody says:
and I was already getting powerful in my first few months
Kody says:
anyway enough polishing of my old memories
Micha says:
I can imagine that
Micha says:
hehe
Micha says:
how long did you play SMAC before joining this demo game?
Kody says:
1 week
Micha says:

Micha says:
you´re kidding
Kody says:
Vev gave me the CD like in March, but we played AOM for a while.
Kody says:
then I got curious about what vev was spending all his time on in the office
Kody says:
that's when I got intrested in cracking the cycon's code
Micha says:
I remember...
Kody says:
after that I gave up, and had a look at the SMAC cd
Kody says:
played that for a week, then vev started his IC story
Kody says:
I'm kindof into ametuar writing
Kody says:
so I decided to join the hive to particpate in that
Micha says:
so you wanted to become an IC spammer...
Kody says:
so it was 1 week before I joined the demo game that I first started playing SMAC
Kody says:
nah I wanted to write stories
Kody says:
and I was interested in doing a joint story thing with my friend
Micha says:
like I said...
Kody says:
there's a difference between IC spammer and a writer
Micha says:
so you don´t really see SMAX as a game, more as a fuction that needs to be optimized.... do you?
Micha says:
of course...
Kody says:
it's like the difference between an artist and someone that likes painting walls
Micha says:
lol
Kody says:
although I'm amateur
Kody says:
well SMAX is a game, but I'm kindof of a perfectionist
Micha says:
I see...
Kody says:
I'm the kind of person that can play an RPG
Kody says:
and have the levels roll over back to 0
Kody says:
because the programmers didn't think anyone would sit there getting exp for that long without finishing the game
Micha says:
it´s just that I played SMAC for three years, had about 50 games and didn´t get half the insider knowledge you now have
Kody says:
I've only played 2 single player games past the first 40 years to tell the truth.
Micha says:

Micha says:
that´s exactly what I mean...
Kody says:
what I do is just come up with ideas and test them in the editor
Kody says:
or read most of the posts in the help/strategy forum
Micha says:
hm...
Micha says:
reasonable...
Kody says:
I think it also helps being able to program
Kody says:
Like I helped a friend work on a game he was building.
Kody says:
That kind of stuff helps you figure out some of the details, with dodgy games.
Micha says:
yeah... you know HOW things are usually calculated which we call "luck" or "random"
Kody says:
SMAC is a dodgily programmed
Kody says:
with a well programmed game you can't tell how it was programmed
Kody says:
just how it works
Micha says:
hehe
Micha says:
but this is why we all love Sid´s games
Kody says:
that luck and random thing, is just about noticing certain patterns
Micha says:
almost everyone can edit them
Kody says:
or thinking of a mistake I might have made
Kody says:
if I was programming it
Kody says:
it crashes nicely too if you edit it too much
Micha says:
lol

[Micha]

PART TWO

Kody says:
hrmm I wonder if the cycon tried building the ME
Micha says:
I don´t think so... there are more valuable projects to concentrate on
Kody says:
there aren't any other projects
Kody says:
unless they're far advanced in techs
Kody says:
but they only got IA like 10 turns ago at best
Kody says:
so they couldn't have gotten that many techs
Micha says:
oh you meant if they changed from VW to ME
Kody says:
there's basically planetary energy grid and CN
Kody says:
I can't think of anything else
Kody says:
not this early anyway
Micha says:
Well, I bet they changed from VW to ME, since it´s been their best chance not to lose all those minerals
Micha says:
bad luck for them
Kody says:
thing is Drones had already started it
Kody says:
so they might have suspected
Micha says:
but it was a chance
Micha says:
if only to stockpile more minerals for a real effort, like building a future project pretty fast
Kody says:
hrmm
Kody says:
even then it'll be a while for them to get that far
Kody says:
although they do have the bonus tech rate
Kody says:
we've got more citizens
Kody says:
so we're probably on even tech rate
Kody says:
so that's 7 turns per tech
Kody says:
also it depends on what techs they already have
Micha says:
+2 science / +1 growth...?
Kody says:
if they have flexibility
Micha says:
well, ok, we have PTS
Kody says:
then they could go initiative
Kody says:
or if they have progetinor pysch
Kody says:
they could go energy grid
Kody says:
but if they don't have either
Kody says:
they're pretty screwed
Micha says:
they don´t. I thought Honghu was observing the other factions in matters of tech
Kody says:
there's limits to how much you can find out
Kody says:
like we know that applied physics hasn't been given to the pirates
Kody says:
but pirates aren't willing to trade for it
Kody says:
so I assume they can get it from the cycon
Kody says:
we don't know if the cycon have techs that we don't have
Kody says:
we which techs they do have of ours, or don't have of ours
Micha says:
oh I see
Kody says:
Teams Haves Have Nots Votes

Univ BioGen, IN, CE, PN, IE, IA AP, Loyalty 12

CC BioGen, IN, CE, PN, IE, IA, AP Loyalty 14

PEACE IN, CE, PN, IE, IA BioGen, AP, Loyalty 15
Kody says:
that's what honghu wrote in her last report
Kody says:
she hasn't written a report recently hrmmm
Kody says:
she's skipped 2137 and 2138
Kody says:
oh well
Micha says:

Micha says:
I propose nervestapling...
Kody says:
then again I said it might be alright I think
Kody says:
can't remember
Kody says:
I think the reason she stopped was because she realised I checked most of the information myself anyway.
Kody says:
and I admited I did
Micha says:

Kody says:
maybe I should tell her to keep doing that
Kody says:
it's just I couldn't think of a good reason for her to continue
Micha says:
and promise you won´t do it
Kody says:
you see I check most of the information myself, so it's really just for other team members
Kody says:
and other team members didn't seem to care
Micha says:
to make her job become important, better "crucial"
Kody says:
the crucial part isn't every turn
Kody says:
you see most of the time the information is useless
Kody says:
and I check over buster's bases to learn new things from him mainly.
Kody says:
but that requires someone willing to think about what they've seen
Kody says:
which takes a bit of time
Kody says:
otherwise it would be honghu copying loads of information down, which is time consuming
Kody says:
It's hard asking people to do things you know won't be that useful.
Micha says:
yep... so you´ll have to assign more important tasks to her
Kody says:
what I could do is ask for inital turn planning
Micha says:
like that roleplay thing
Kody says:
the problem is important tasks take time
Kody says:
and I don't want to push more responsibilities than what someone can handle
Kody says:
so I just suggest most of the time
Micha says:
hm...
Micha says:
do you know what "RASPHH" does actually mean?
Kody says:
sorry don't know
Micha says:
shame
Micha says:
Rokossovky calls our rovers that
Micha says:
and I´d like to explain in my history thread
Micha says:
but I don´t know either
Kody says:
I missed when he said that
Micha says:
hm... it was before your time... he used it quite often, and I referorange to it in "the recall", so I just wanted to add an explaination...

any idea when he´s going to come online again?
Kody says:
not sure
Kody says:
usually during the day
Kody says:
when you're sleeping
Micha says:
lol.. so you say I´m sleeping during the day?
Kody says:
my day
Micha says:
hehe
Micha says:
could you ask him for me, please?
Micha says:

Kody says:
he doesn't really talk to us anymore
Kody says:
If I remember I'll ask
Kody says:
you could always email that MSN address
Micha says:
usually people don´t use their non-spam e-Mail addresses for msn...
Kody says:
yeah I guess
Kody says:
anyway I'm going to bed
Kody says:
if there's anything useful that we've talked about you can post it
Micha says:
ok
Micha says:
good night
Kody says:
cya
Micha says:
sleep long and well

[Vev]

Making the program understandable could be a design decision to make it modable.