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Initial Nuclear War Thoughts
Version 1.24 December 2003
Introduction
I saw the success of the game Nuclear War right here, at 'Poly, and thought that it might make a kick-ass computer game. I found that a game does not necessarily need to be complex in order to be fun. Take Arrgh! The Pirate Game or Samurai for example. The rules of these games are very simple, but the emerging patterns in game play are varied and numerous, and fun! Thus, I thought I'd write down some rules for a computer version of Nuclear War game, and see how it looks. 
Here they are.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Table of Contents
- Gameplay Overview
- Diplomatic Relations Overview
- Order System Overview
- Available Orders
- Order Costs
- Turn Resolution Order
- Revision History
Gameplay Overview
Nuclear War is a turn-based strategy game, in which the player assumes the role of a leader of a country, which has a certain nuclear arsenal. The world as a whole is on the brink of a World War, and all of the computer opponents of the player (or human opponents in Multiplayer) also have control of a nuclear arsenal. The basic goal of the game then is to be the only country remaining on the face of the planet. The main means of competition in the world is the nuclear arsenal, which can be used to reduce the opponents' cities to rubble.
The goal of the game is to provide fairly simple, but entertaining gameplay. It isn't meant to offer the player strategic depth, such as that of, say Civilization, but instead tries to provide simple gameplay. One game could potentially be completed somewhere between thirty minutes and one hour.
The player controls a nation. Every country in the game is highly absdtracted to keep gameplay simple. The nations are represented in the game world [?probably on a two-dimensional tile-based map?] by the cities that they are comprised of. There would normally be few cities belonging to one country - somewhere between two and ten - during the course of the game. The only other aspect of the nation that the player can control directly is the type of government, which can potentially be changed during the course of the game, but that is not really encouraged. The player can then employ a set of basic orders at every turn to gain the edge over other countries and ultimately be the only survivor on the planet. The main tool of warfare, as stated above, is the nuclear warhead, which can be launched at other players' cities, but there are also other options available, which allow the player to protect his existing cities, erect new ones, or conduct secret warfare through propaganda.
Diplomatic Relations Overview
The game will include diplomatic relations between countries. There are two diplomatic states available between any two countries: war and peace. All the nations start out at peace with each other except for the "enemy governments". Enemy governments are those with precisely opposite philosophies. They always start out at war with each other.
Nuclear War is a war of gentlemen: one cannot send a nuke towards any country without formally declaring war on them. There are, however, other ways of taking one's cities: such that don't break official peace treaties. Also, certain governments are peaceful and aren't allowed to declare war on others.
[? What should the state of war entail? Maybe: Any two countries that are at war with each other have to send at least one nuke each other's way every turn. ?]
Order System Overview
Each player has a certain selection of orders available to them at every turn, as defined in the next section. The player has a pool of action points available to them, and at each turn the number of points available is reset back to the maximum. The maximum amount of action points is determined by the number of cities the player has: each city produces enough action points for as many nuke launches as the player is able to produce every turn. So, if the player has only one city, for instance, there is no use stockpiling the nukes. Also, if at the end of a turn, the player has action points left over, these are not carried over to the next turn. However, if the player chooses to stockpile action points, then the next turn, he will have double the maximum points available.
Available Orders
Military Orders
- Launch Nukes - the player can launch nukes one by one as long as he has enough action points to do so and enough nukes to launch. When this order is made, the player must choose a city to target with the nuke. If the city is hit, it will be destroyed. The player, however, can only launch nukes towards cities belonging to the nations with which he is at war.
- Deflect Nukes - the player can choose to put up a missile shield in which case the incoming nukes are deflected at the rate pre-determined by the government type (normally, 50% of incoming nukes are deflected). When the missile shield is used, a target enemy must be pointed out by the player. All of the nukes deflected by the shield will then be redirected to this target player. This, however, cannot work in an infinite circle. Suppose some player A chooses to deflect nukes to player B; player B chooses to deflect nukes to player A; player C sends four stockpiled nukes towards player A. Some nukes will be deflected by A's shield towards player B; some of those will be deflected right back at player A. Those, however, are no longer subject to deflection and hit player A's cities, despite the deflector shield.
- Hide in Bunker - when the player chooses to hide in a bunker, none of the nukes hit his cities. However, the missiles are not deflected to any other player. They just "disappear". Another constraint is that unlike the deflector shield, the player only has a limited number of bunker hide orders available, and the available number is determined by the form of government the player is currently using.
Diplomatic Orders
- Perform Propaganda - if the player chooses to perform propaganda, he must also select one or more target cities (the specific number of cities converted by propaganda is determined by the type of government the player has). If propaganda is successful, the player will gain control of those cities. The player cannot perform propaganda on countries with the same type of government as his or hers. Also, propaganda cannot be performed against countries that have either attacked the player or been attacked by the player, both directly or indirectly. Note that propaganda is a covert operation and does not result in immediate declaration of war between the two parties involved.
- Perform Counterpropaganda - if the player chooses to perform counterpropaganda, any propaganda targeted at the player will fail at some rate determined by the form of government of the attacker.
- Declare War - before applying nuclear weapons to some other country, the player must officially declare war on it. No nuking can take place until the turn after war has officially been declared by either of the sides involved.
- Ask for Armistice - the player can ask another country for peace. It will not necessarily be granted, however. Similarly, if the player is asked for peace, he can choose to accept or decline it.
Spy Missions
Each player starts out with a certain number of spies. The normal number is one, but certain government types may get more (and others - less). The spies can then perform different missions, during which they are likely to die. In case a spy dies, another one or two need to be trained in order to perform more spy missions. Spy missions cannot be cancelled by sabotage.
- Sabotage - when the player chooses to sabotage, he must also select the target nation. Then, the orders made by that country during that turn will be cancelled. Note that the spies usually have to sabotage very important governmental projects. Thus, there is no way for the spy escape after such an insult to the security systems of the targetted nation: he will be found and will use the cyanide pill. Thus, the spy always dies during this mission, although the country responsible for the act of sabotage is not discovered, and thus, no war is declared.
- Gather Intelligence - the spy gathering intelligence will return the next turn's orders to the player. If during the turn when the spy reports orders the target country is nuked, the spy dies. Otherwise, he returns to homeland safe.
- Secret Police - the spy will search for other nations' spies in the player's country. If a spy on a sabotage or intelligence mission is found, he is killed. If two enemy spies are found, the one with a more deadly mission is killed (sabotage wins over intelligence gathering; if missions are the same, a random spy is killed). If three or more spies are found, the two with the more deadly missions are killed, but the player's spy perishes as well. Also, if a spy from a nation in peace with the player is found, the player gets the option of declaring war immediately, and nuking can begin during the same turn - no need to wait one turn as with the official declaration of war. Of course, the converse is also true: if the player's spy is discovered in a nation at peace with him, war can be declared.
Domestic Orders
- Stockpile Nukes - the player can choose to not do anything but stockpile the nukes. In that case, the available nukes are carried over to the next turn and are then available for use, unless the maximum stockpiling period, determined by the government type, is exceeded.
- Mobilize - if the player chooses to mobilize for war, he will have double the regular action points during the next turn.
- Train Spy - A new spy is created the next turn.
- Build City - A new city is created the next turn.
Order Costs
Military Orders:
Launch Nukes - 2
Deflect Nukes - ?
Hide in Bunker - If the player has three or less cities, all of the points. Otherwise, three cities' worth of points.
Diplomatic Orders:
Perform Propaganda - ?
Perform Counterpropaganda - ?
Declare War - ?
Ask for Armistice - ?
Spy Missions:
Sabotage - ?
Gather Intelligence - ?
Secret Police - ?
Domestic Orders:
Stockpile Nukes - ?
Mobilize - The maximum available points.
Train Spy - ?
Build City - If the player has two or less cities - all of the points. Otherwise, two cities' worth of points.
Turn Resolution Order
- Spy Missions
- Secret Police
- Gather Intelligence Sabotage
- Domestic Orders
- Build City
- Train Spy
- Mobilize
- Stockpile Nukes
- Diplomatic Orders
- Perform Counterpropaganda
- Perform Propaganda
- Ask for Armistice
- Declare War
- Military Orders
- Hide in Bunker
- Deflect Nukes
- Launch Nukes
Revision History
- Version 1.2
4 December 2003 - Added the Gameplay Overview section
- Version 1.1
3 December 2003 - Revised the Launch Nuke order phrasing as per Comrade Tassadar's suggestion.
Which is why I posted the inital thoughts here for your critique. 
You mean, like the consequences of not accepting peace? Ask for peace with gingerbread in one hand and whip in the other?
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