Could there just be one star system?

[Kuciwalker]

I had an idea: could there just be a single star system, and you're fighting the other factions for control?

The game starts out on Earth. Whatever calamity is going to happen will happen soon( This disaster will wipe out the entire solar system, so you can't just move to Mars.), so you need to finish construction on your flagship. There would be different strategies even now; you could spend time building the largest ship you can, so you can take as much stuff with you as possible, or you can quickly build a small, fast ship, so that you get first dibs on the land in the new star system. You can even go to war on Earth while you are building your colony ship, trying to slow down or halt construction on theirs, or maybe even trying to destroy them. Finally, you load as much as you can onto your flagship (you can move troops, equipment, resources, and civilians, in whatever proportions you desire) and take off in your ship for the new star system.

This journey only takes a few turns, depending on the speed of your flagship. This allows people to keep playing on Earth after you've left. In fact, until the calamity, Earth continues to be simulated.

Finally, you reach the star system. You now set your ship on course for one of the planets and land wherever you want. You use your civilians to found a city or two, and begin on the new planet.

[Michiel]

You mean two game-parts? One part that only takes a few turns, the other part that takes the rest of the game?

I don't agree. Such a beginning could give one of the factions an amazingly fast advantage over the others. I think each faction should have a certain time in the beginning of the game without contact with others, so they can peacefully build up a basic civilization. Also, if there are gonna be aliens in the game, even player-controlled aliens, where do they come from? If you start in earths solar system, there can only be humans, right?

[Blake]

That would definitely be a possible scenerio, start all the factions on earth with lots of cities and stuff, and script an event to blow up the earth...

I'm not sure if multi-planet systems are a good idea or not... they can be crudely simulated by putting planets close together (good if the scenerio is centered in a single system), having true multi-planet systems make the interface a lot more difficult to design, because basically you need a whole different interface for choosing which planet...

[Kuciwalker]

A multi-planet system would be easy to simulate in this case, because there would just be one system. There wouldn't be travel to other systems. There would be the star, planets, moons, and asteroids. Everything except the star would be in motion. Planets would have an orbit, a rotation, everything. You could even have combat on the night side operate differently (the night side would move, of course). Ships could move into different orbits around the planet; when in orbit, they would be above a specific tile on the planet. The planets would be three-dimensional, so the tiles wouldn't be square.

If the first part on Earth would be too unbalancing, then just have people start off with their flagship somewhere at the edge of the system, and let them choose which planet to start out on. If you want aliens, make one of the planets inhabited by a race of aliens with twentieth or twenty-first century technology, somewhat behind the humans (to explain why they don't have everything the humans do). They would not be united, of course; there would be seperate nations of them. It would be wonderful.

[targon]

In fact, such game exists (or more precise, existed). It's called Malkari or something equally silly. In short: it's boring. If you want some story in the game, it must be epic story, not just a struggle for survival, there is to much of this in "real life". Or game may be completely plot-less, just multiplayer skirmish with some "historical" and technological outline.

[Kuciwalker]

The first part of the game is short, and not hard to survive through. It could even be a tutorial. It's not the focus of my idea. What I really think would be good would be a single star system. There are several planets in it, and you have to destroy everyone (there could be alternative wins, of course). You don't leave the star system because you can't travel faster than light.

[Jeremy Buloch]

In gateways story there is, I think more than one star System. So it would have to be able to fit his story.
-J.B.-

[targon]

Maybe, but even largest solar system can't include more that single really habitable planet, and most of planets _must_ be simple junk (Jupiter and Saturns, for example, are impressive things to watch, but how useful they are?).

[Mark123jansen]

first of all targon this is a SCIEMCE FICTION game, if we want a single solar system with 20 planets of wicht 10 are inhabiteble then thats what we will program.
(besides, you don't know whats out there, NASA hasn't seen all stars yet)

Second, I like the start on earth idea, but instead of having it take a few turns, make it part of the game setup screen, so you can cumtom design your ship, maybe take that extra scout patrol or a power satalite, or some extra databanks. larger ships=late arrival but stronger factions, hard to balance.

[Mark123jansen]

pardon my spelling, I was in a hurry when I wrote that

[targon]

SCIENCE FICTION, that is. Science is an keyword. We humans are designed to fit nicely into Earth conditions (most warm climates), and our civilization is also designed to work under the same condions (electonics in fact works only under "comfortable" conditions, so even unmanned spacecrafts are pressured and climatized), let alone agreculture. 10 habitable planets are simply unreal.

[Mark123jansen]

well I was exaggerating of course, but 2 or 3 planets out of 20 could be done, if we gave them similar ecosystems that would be even more scientific (asteroid with spores theorie) since life origination on 3 planets in the same solar system is indeed very unlikely.

[targon]

At last, you see, single solar system is a subtype of multi-system case. It may be implemented as game mod(e), e.g. "Skirmish"
I'm wondering why some people are so unwelcome to space travel. I know it's somewhat not realistic, but most games handle it and still appears to be playable.

[Kuciwalker]

We could have domed settlements and such. Besides, I'm only imagining 10 planets TOTAL, of which three are habitable (and of those, the really earthlike one is inhabited by the aliens). There should also be some habitable moons around a few of the gas giants (for the fun of it), and the rest are just dead, airless rocks - great for mining and small outposts, but little else.

This would allow for great strategizing at the system level, whereas if we have more than one system it would be minimized or eliminated completely.

[Jeremy Buloch]

Ok if Gateway sees this thread. Maybe good old Gateway could post his story. The unfinished or finished one. Its actually the "exodus". He has been busy so thats why there is none. I forgot to make a copy from the old "freeAC" site.
-J.B.- zzzzz....