A space 4X game with a twist

[GePap]

Originally posted by Sandman


GePap's idea for a solar system future history simulator is also interesting; would I be right in thinking that it would be played in pausable real-time, like EU? Watching the planets going round would be very cool. Although it would be even more radically different from standard space strategy than what I'm suggesting.

Well, I don't know about the graphics. One of the thing about Space games is that a lot of times they can be graphic intensive.

Given the time frame space movements would not really be that dramatic.

Some ideas:

Like in EU, the map is made of provinces, not tiles. You can make certain improvements to the provinces as you go.

One big question has to be why waste resources in space, when you could always try a simple conquest of the home planet to win outright. That could be stopped by having WMD capability form day one- trying to conquer the Earth is not possible since it will simply mean final destruction. Out in Soace though you can get rich and try to find new resources to fuel the siotuation at home.

[Sandman]

One big question has to be why waste resources in space, when you could always try a simple conquest of the home planet to win outright.

I agree that is a big question. There's very little in space that we can't also get on Earth.

This is why I suggest an interstellar scale, rather than an interplanetary one. There's just not enough in the immediate solar system to justify trade.

Tradeable goods would include things like rare-earth minerals, technological goods, anti-matter and expensive planet-specific luxuries.

The rare-earth minerals would be a source of ready cash for fledgling worlds of all sorts, especially there was plot device making such elements important or necessary for a strong economy. For example, maybe you need them to make effective superconductors or wormholes.

Technological goods would be another source of income; particularly for Earth. If a colony world wanted to get on the technological goods race, it would have to secure patent rights to protect itself. If you ignore the UN, you'll not get any, and scientists on the homeworld will reverse-engineer any tech you produce. Although by ignoring the UN, you can behave in this way yourself.

Anti-matter would be super-rocket fuel. It would super-charge your economy and especially your military power. To begin with, Earth would have a total monopoly, and building your own manufacturing facility would be extremely expensive. Unless, of course, you find a natural source.

Luxuries would be where the real money lies, like tea and chinaware in colonial times. Colonies would have a chance of developing their own, distinct luxury, which would fetch a pretty penny back on Earth. If a planet had native life, it would get even more luxuries to sell. If you were lucky, your luxury would embedded in the culture back on Earth, like coffee and chocolate. If you were unlucky, it would simply be a passing fashion, never truly gaining acceptance. Or someone might come along with a better product that trumps yours. Or create an inferior, but cheaper copy.

Another aspect would be the distinction between legal and illegal products. The UN would try to prevent you selling highly addictive drugs or pirated technological products. Trade in anti-matter would also be controlled.

[Sandman]

Note that I've pinched a lot of these ideas from Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy.

[GePap]

All the things you mentioned might as well come from the solar system by itself. Rare earth minerals, well, that is simpoly a function of the creation ofr whatever planetoid or planet at hand, and you can probably find that in this very solar system.

As for anti-matter- if we are talking about manufacturing it at a safe distance from the home planet, well, that still is OK within the system.

As for alien life- well, we can always even have that in the solar system- we caqn always make Europa have life (it very well might), or race and new bacteria on Titan that live in methane atmospheres.

[joncha]

There's a group working on an idea similar to GePap's for a total conversion mod for EV-Nova called the Sephil Saga.

They've been working on it for about a year now, but I have no idea when they expect to get it finished.

They're taking a pretty strong "hard sci-fi" approach, with a realistic approach to weapons, technology and habitation. It's all set in the Solar System, and they've mapped out all the planetary movement and so forth.

[Urban Ranger]

*bump*

[:) Smiley]

Hey, I'm gonna try making this a forum game. Post suggestions.

[Urban Ranger]

You could always try it along the lines of a pbem game, so turns can have a 48 hour turnaround time, etc. Use the forum for discussions etc., use PM or e-mail for final orders.

[Kassiopeia]

Originally posted by General Ludd


There is a mod for Space Empire IV that does this.

What might its name be and where can I get it, please? I looked through here, and the only mod that might be close to what you described is Proportions, but the description on the site is rather ambiguous.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Kassiopeia


What might its name be and where can I get it, please? I looked through here, and the only mod that might be close to what you described is Proportions, but the description on the site is rather ambiguous.

Yeah, Proportions. That's it.


I helped test it in some multiplayer games with PvK when he first started working on it.

I don't know how it's progressed since then, though.

[Pax]

I've got it as a project to design a boardgame using the solar system as the map. The players all control a portion of the earth and can colonize different section of the solar system. Most planets will have multiple zones more than one player will be able to colonize those planets/moons.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Smiley
Hey, I'm gonna try making this a forum game. Post suggestions.

Whoa. Ok.

A simple economy model:

Each starting nation on the homeworld has a basic economy value of 10.

Each colonised planet has a economic value of 1 to 5.

You get a bonus to your economic value for each colonised planet, representing trade. It applies to all of your worlds. It can either be the mean, median or mode of the economic values of your colonised worlds. Which one it is depends on your government. It is always the lower value, and it is always rounded down, if there is confusion.

It's not exactly intuitive; there may be instances where it's not worth colonising poor worlds.

Suppose you colonise a 1, 4, and a 5 class planet. The 'government' which nets the most is the median. All these planets (and your homeworld holdings) will get +4 to their economy.

If you get a new 1 class planet, it makes sense to change to the mean 'government', since the new (always lowest) median is 1. Even then, you've still lost out by 3 economy points overall, if the mean is always rounded down. If the mean is rounded up (it's 2.75), then you've still gained nothing.

There are several potential strategies available; targeting vulnerable systems to cause serious disruption to the enemy economy, limiting your colonisation to good planets, trying to create a balance between good and bad, or just colonising loads of bad planets.

You can even colonise class 0 planets profitably if you're set up for it.

[Hueij]

We should get Jamski in here

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Sandman
Suppose you colonise a 1, 4, and a 5 class planet. The 'government' which nets the most is the median. All these planets (and your homeworld holdings) will get +4 to their economy.

If you get a new 1 class planet, it makes sense to change to the mean 'government', since the new (always lowest) median is 1. Even then, you've still lost out by 3 economy points overall, if the mean is always rounded down. If the mean is rounded up (it's 2.75), then you've still gained nothing.

Um. The median should be 2.5 [(1+4)/2], the mode is 1, and the mean (mathematical average) is 2.75.

[Sandman]

You're right, of course. I was just selecting the lower value, rather than the average of the two. Makes it simpler and more different.