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Offline praguepride (OP)

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Exodus 2.0
« on: July 12, 2016, 09:13:26 AM »
Real quick this was inspired by Steve's old Exodus campaign where the sun has begun to heat up and various nations on Earth need to establish new homes and flee the solar system before the sun cooks everyone! 4 Player controlled empires, 1 NPR, star swarms/invaders/precursors active. Otherwise a pretty conventional start.


Background
The Hoffmeyer Burp
In 2015 a graduate student at the University of Copenhagen made an interesting discovery that the Sun, due to a build up of internal pressures would 'belch' out jets of higher then normal radiation. This would cause a minor increase in global temperatures (estimated at about .08°C over a period of 10 years. His findings were noted and that was almost the end of it until a series of climate change denialists latched onto the report as 'proof' that increasing global temperatures were just a natural phenomenon. Within months the paper was pushed to the forefront of climate change debates and the 'Hoffmeyer Burp' as it was mockingly called on both sides became a talking point in the media.

Renowned astrophysicist (and ardent climate change activist) Arnulfo Woolf entered the mix to try and debunk the report. He found that not only was the basic science correct and accurate, but that Hoffmeyer had used some outdated sources for his calculations which had resulted in several order of magnitude errors within the math. Not only was the expected temperature change much higher, predicted to average out at an 80°C increase, but also the length of time would be tens of thousands of years. As more minds were brought to bear more horrific discoveries were made. While it was possible the Hoffmeyer Burp would just expel the pressure at a fairly constant rate, it was also possible for the underlying 'ball of gas' (for lack of a better layman term) to expel all the energy at once, blasting the entire solar system with a deadly burst of energy that would fry the inner solar system. Within twenty years the Earth would no longer be suited for humans and within 50 years the average temperature would be above 100°C, assuming the Hoffmeyer Burp didn't burst.

Forming the GSA
By 2016 the news of the impending apocalypse echoed around the world and even the most ardent skeptics were unable to deny the math or the observations. Panic set in and the world was plunged into anarchy. While the leaders of world governments began frantic plans and emergency councils, the administrators and scientists behind the world's leading space agencies: NASA, ESA, RFSA, JAXA and CNSA announced that for the benefit of mankind they would fully collaborate to present mankind's best chance at survival. The 5 agencies announced, independent of their governments, that they were now part of the Global Space Administration and their goal would be to move as many people as possible to a Mars Colony. For several months the media and governments broadcast messages of hope as unprecedented amounts of funding and international collaboration was achieved. Other government space agencies likewise followed suit, namely India's ISRO, Brazil's BSA, and South Korea's KARI. The technology already existed for a Mars colony and given 20 years for testing, supply launches and all the resources of the entire world at their disposal, it looked like GSA would be the answer to the apocalypse, at least for a couple of months.

The Beijing Schism
Towards the end of 2016 it was leaked to the public that even the most optimistic GSA calculations could only save a tiny fraction of the world's population, less then 0.1%. Panic and rioting once again swept the globe. Although the nations of the world had rallied behind GSA, GSA was only able to provide raw numbers and passed it back to the government leaders to decide how to divvy up the slots available. China pushed heavily for a 'weighted' number, so that countries with higher populations would be favored while the rest of GSA thought an even distribution across all the nations in the world would be better. China's gigantic resource stockpile and manufacturing sector were accounting for nearly half of GSA's needs yet they were given the smallest proportional part of the pie. Negotiations broke down and the Chinese government forcibly withdrew CNSA from the GSA initiative. The rest of GSA was too busy trying to put plans in place to oppose them as the leaders knew armed conflict was extremely counterproductive. Without China the Mars colonization could still continue, estimates were cut in half and work continued.

Meanwhile China started exerting considerable pressure on surrounding nations, namely members of the ASEAN to contribute towards the PRC instead of the GSA and over the course of the following year country by country pledged to the PRC's initiative until most of Asia east of India was pledged to the PRC. Only Japan and S. Korea remained in the GSA and in 2018 S. Korea and N. Korea unified and pledged to the PRC following a military coup in S. Korea.

The Indo-Arab League Religious Movement
In 2018 GSA began plans to begin launching their 'seeder' ships that would prepare the planned 350 landing sites for habitation. During this period of time global economies saw complete collapses and revolutions/coups/rioting were erupting all over the globe however there were some unexpected positives that came out of the chaos. In India, a Muslim woman named Deva Sidhu had been gathering a following with her impassioned speeches for peace and unification and by 2018 the regional media had dubbed her 'Gandhi reborn'. She became internationally known when she was able to broker a lasting peace and unification between Pakistan and India in 2017. Her messages of hope and peace rippled through the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East, and North Africa and the "Sidhu Movement" was born. As more grim numbers started coming out of GSA, Devan began spreading the word that instead of fleeing the Earth they should bunker down. Instead of sacrificing 99.9% of the population they should try and use that technology to shield the Earth instead. In mid-2018 she was able to mend the schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims and by late 2018 India (along with Nepal) joined the Arab League, unifying the Muslim communities across Asia, Africa, and Europe into the Indo-Arab League (IAL). The IAL respectfully withdrew from the GSA as they planned to try and save far more then 0.1% of the world's population. Once again the GSA was too busy with their Mars colonization plans to care and so they adjusted their numbers for the removal of India's ISRO and continued with their launches.

The Aztec Revolution
The optimal launch window for Mars came early in 2019. The GSA would have only one shot to prepare the planned landing sites as manned colony ships would need to start launching in 2021, the next Mars window. Across the globe, every launch facility part of the GSA worked day and night to launch nearly 6,000 payloads at Mars. With launch controls trying to track multiple targets and overworked command crews, several launches resulted in catastrophic failures. 291 payloads failed to reach Mars. Most had faulty launches and either exploded or lost control in the upper atmosphere but 80 payloads had to be scrubbed when off-season Hurricane Arlene hit Brazil's Alcantara Launch Center. Due to the complete failure of Brazil's launches (and other bad launches), 20 of the 350 Mars colony sites had to be cut and the potential rescued population dropped and 200,000 potential survivors were wiped from the lists. As tensions increased as other failures were reported, in a shocking move the GSA voted to reduce each country's available survivor slots weighted by the success rates of their launches. As Brazil was the only South/Central American country capable of rocket launches, all of Latin America was reduced to just 33,000 people, less then 39,000 slots available to Luxembourg, a country with 1/1000 the population. Outrage swept Latin America and the Caribbeans and a militant group rose to power in Mexico through violent revolutions. Led by Liliana Vazquez, she gathered support by urging Latin America to reject it's European oppression and restore itself back to it's native glory. First the Aztec movement secured power in Mexico and then swept through Central and South America which by the end of 2019 had re-branded itself the Aztec Nations (AZN). The Aztec Nations quickly became a military dictatorship under Toteoteccatl Vasquez and withdrew from the GSA without announcing any alternative plans.

Trans-Newtonian Salvation

In December of 2019, things were looking very grim. While GSA had nearly 5,700 seeder ships en route and China had somehow managed to launch another 4,000 on its own, the final numbers were still very bleak.  General John Nixson Sr., attached to a U.S. DARPA branch, killed himself in a cheap hotel room. In his suicide note he claimed to be responsible for the breakdown of society by not disobeying orders earlier. Shortly afterwards, media outlets around the globe received packets of highly classified information detailing the DARPA's "Trans-Newtonian" experiments. Since the 1970's the U.S. Department of Defense had begun research on exotic materials like Tritanium and Corbomite but had eventually been buried under mountains of red tape and political maneuverings and was forgotten about. Experts from the GSA, PRC, IAL and AZN realized that the strength to weight ratio of materials like Duranium and the energy potential of Sorium would allow spacecraft of enormous potential. Researchers around the world turned to Trans-Newtonian materials as the miracle that might just save humanity after all.
 

Offline praguepride (OP)

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Re: Exodus 2.0
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2016, 10:57:36 AM »
Initial Setup

NOTE: To determine starting numbers for population/industry/research labs I went through the top 170 countries in the world, listed out their populations and HDI scores. I then 'drafted' them into the different factions to establish their populations and using a weighted average of HDI came up with their wealth/industry %. I know HDI isn't the best and perhaps I should have used GDP but the results ended up in line with my thoughts and I didn't feel like recalculating :P. For Research Labs I used the Aurora recommended values based upon population, industry, and government and then awarded 'bonus' labs based upon the number and depth of each nations space program. China, USA, and Russia received 5 bonus labs for having manned flight capabilities, countries like India and Germany and France received 3 bonus labs for having extraterrestrial probes, countries like Iran and N/S Korea received 1 bonus lab for being launch capable and countries like Brazil received .5 for having been involved with the ISS.

Also note that at this time, no nations know about jump points so their initial plans are all centered on salvation within Sol for the initial development.



GSA (Global State Alliance)
By 2020 the GSA had become a permanent alliance of nations built around their space programs. Although originally GSA stood for something else, it was adopted and 'backronym'd' to the Global State Alliance, although everyone just calls it the GSA because the new name is terrible. GSA, despite setbacks over the 4 years since its founding is still by far in the best position of any nation.

Stats:
Population: 1375 m
Industry: 2750 CI
Wealth: 100%
Labs: 40 (14 by population, +26 bonus).
Primary Nation: USA
Secondary Nations: Russia, Japan, Germany, France

The member nations are a merging of NATO, the EU, Russia, and ANZUS. A combination of very high industry and research compared to the second lowest population gives the GSA the best shot at saving their entire population. Before Trans-Newtonian elements their plan was to colonize Mars however with their new potential capabilities, they're looking instead at Titan as whichever way the Hoffmeyer Burp ends up going, Titan will be safe either way.

Government: Representative Democracy.
The GSA is struggling to organize itself but as long as R&D continues nobody really cares how things shake out. The GSA is heading towards a Representative Democracy with a tiered approach similar to the old European Union. Every GSA citizen elects local, national, and GSA representatives. The executive branches of each nation nominate and vote on a President of the GSA.  The first GSA president, Jake Sweany, a US politician, stepped down after 2 years establishing a precedent of 2 year terms. There is no limit on overall terms, but no GSA President will serve consecutive terms. The recent nominations put Italian Giuditta Maglio into power.

Military: The GSA has no military of itself, instead the GSA just has a command structure (under the authority of the GSA President subject to GSA Legislative approval for war declarations) but instead the GSA has authority over local national military resources and commands them as necessary. The Naval command has so far been drafted not from the military but from space agencies as the new focus of the GSA Navy is spacecraft. Currently an American, Commodore India Manganiello has been put into command. She was previously a NASA administrator although she was a Lieutenant in the Air Force for a couple of years thanks to ROTC training. Manganiello is struggling in her position and her indecisiveness (and poor background) are causes of concern for the GSA but as long as the funding and research flows, nobody is going to risk causing disruptions.

For ground forces, the GSA has about 40 mixed units of armour and infantry at its disposal, the rest are all deployed as peacekeepers to help curtail riots and violence in their member nations. Brigadier General Major Finkel is in chief command although like Manganiello is in over his head and only a lack of need for ground combat is keeping him in GSA command.

Science: The GSA has been able to assemble five Trans-Newtonian teams to command their 40 research labs. Dr. Haywood Bumstead, an English materials expert (Construction & Production) is commanding 25 of those labs to study Trans-Newtonian elements as quickly as possible for the other teams.

Dr. Russell Accetta (Logistics) is commanding 5 labs to maximize fuel storage, Dr. Junior Verdin (Missiles) has 7 labs studying minimum engine power and biologist Dr. Wilma Slavens is using the remaining to study biology and genetics (although that will most likely be interrupted in August to free labs for post-Trans-Newtonian research).

Remaining is one more team unassigned at the moment that specializes in Sensor systems.

PRC (People's Republic of China and Asia)
Although technically an alliance of 15 asian countries, China dominates the PRC to the point that the 'official' acronym drops off the "and Asia" entirely. A unified Korea has considerable sway, and to a lesser extent Thailand and Indonesia have decision making abilities but effectively the PRC is the PRC. Although they start with half the research capabilities, they have nearly twice the industry and population (for good or bad) as the GSA. The PRC and the GSA are the two major global powers.

Stats:
Population: 2325 m
Industry: 4350 CI
Wealth: 85%
Labs: 20 (10 by population, +10 bonus).
Primary Nation: China
Secondary Nations: Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines

The PRC's initial goal is to race to Mars to stake out the best places. It knows that GSA is planning on bypassing Mars for Titan and so Mars is 'up for grabs' from their perspective. To hedge their bets they are also planning on keeping an eye on Jupiter's moons in case the Hoffmeyer Burp goes badly. Despite being aggressive and stand-offish they are not actually eager for a fight against the GSA. With a far larger military and industrial capability the PRC is confident it could win, but it would be a Pyrrhic victory and potentially catastrophically delay their Exodus. The GSA has launch capabilities and industry spread across the entire globe while the PRC is far more concentrated with the bulk of their population/industry/research concentrated in small regions in China and Korea so a nuclear strike could permanently cripple the PRC in its current state.

Government: China's Unitary State dominates politics. The PRC and China are functionally synonymous while the members states are basically puppets. The current head of the PRC is Chien Ju, a notoriously conservative hold-over from the Cold War era. His policies frequently promote "the greater good" and China's launch capability was expanded by 300% over the course of 4 years, however the media is completely silent as to just how that was accomplished.

Military: The PRC has consolidated its entire military under Chinese command. The naval forces are under the command of Da Xiao He Jie, a notoriously ruthless and efficient commander. It is rumored that he has practically enslaved the CNSA and R&D teams in order to meet their goals.

The ground forces are likewise unified under Da Xiao Yu Song Yi who while just as effective as He Jie, is known to be much more respectful towards those under his command.

Science: The PRC has 8 science teams, (2 Defensive Systems, 3 Sensors, 1 Logistics, 1 Power, 1 Missile)  and currently all 20 labs are under the command of Dr. Gao De who expects a breakthrough in Trans-Newtonian elements by next year.



IAL (Indo-Arab League)

The Indo-Arab League starts in a poor position. It has a large population comparable to the PRC, but it's research and industry are half that. In the future if they fall behind and leadership changes they may become more violent but right now the IAL is spreading a message of peace and stability from the Sidhu movement and of all the global powers, it seems the most concerned with the fate of the Non-Aligned Nations.

Stats:
Population: 2200 m
Industry: 2150 CI
Wealth: 75%
Labs: 10 (6 by population, +4 bonus).
Primary Nation: India/Pakistan
Secondary Nations: Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia

The IAL plans to split its efforts between two paths. Its primary goal is to delay or stop entirely the warming effects of the sun so it plans to rush to produce anti-greenhouse gasses to delay the need for Exodus. The second effort is to set up colonies on Mars and begin transitioning to their new home. The IAL is aware of GSA's plans for Titan and PRC's focus on Mars and is covertly preparing its military for potential conflict with the PRC.

Government: The IAL is the loosest alliance of the global powers however its member states are the most aligned so currently a loose, informal IAL government structure is needed. India, through ISRO and Deva Sidhu provide the direction and the other members do what they can to help. Deva Sidhu attempted to reject any grand title but the IAL bestowed upon her the title of High Prophet. Deva is quick to call for majority votes and has stressed the foundations of a democracy for when she is not around and the IAL is slowly putting together a formal government structure along similar lines of the GSA however most of its member states were authoritarian or single-party states so democracy is slow to spread.

Military: Similar to the GSA, the IAL has put forward space agency personnel as their chief naval commanders, and Captain Amma Gite, a retired astronaut, is running the IAL space program. She is known for being quite candid and blunt as well as cautious in taking extreme risks.

Brigadier General Patahk is in charge of the IAL's 66 division of armour and infantry. These were mostly drafted from India and Pakistan as both countries demilitarized following their unification. The rest of the Arab League has contributed forces as well however most of the rest of their forces are being used to reduce civil unrest.

Science: The lack of a strong space program foundation is very telling in the IAL's research as only a single lab team under the leadership of biologist Dr. Adya Shekhawat is capable of performing the Trans-Newtonian research necessary to save the IAL. The IAL is optimistic that not only will Dr. Shekhawat succeed but that a new emphasis on education will result in more scientific teams being developed.

AZN (Aztec Nation)
Without a question the global power in the worst position, it almost seems like AZN was founded out of spite for the rest of the world rather then any real hope. Their bloody rise to power has been marked with sharp focus on military rather then research and the rest of the nations are eyeing AZN warily. It is widely believed that the plan of AZN is to wait for other nations to develop the technology and infrastructure to make the exodus and then seize it by force.

Stats:
Population: 630m
Industry: 1100 CI
Wealth: 90%
Labs: 5 (3 by population, +2 bonus).
Primary Nation: Brazil
Secondary Nations: Mexico, Colombia, Argentina

The rest of the nations are absolutely correct. The AZN leadership knows it probably doesn't have the infrastructure or research capabilities to make exodus however the other global powers, especially the GSA and IAL are forgoing military focus for technology to help colonize other planets and the AZN is hoping to use that blindspot to make exodus by force.

Government: The Aztec Nation is a unified state, not a federation of alliance like the other global powers. After Liliana 'the Beast' Vazquez seized control over Mexico, her revolution swept South like wildfire and country after country was annexed after their populous revolted against whatever government was previously in place. With the full might of the Aztec military behind her, she rules AZN with a bloody, iron fist. The AZN population is encouraged by this thinking a strong focused leadership is necessary to save the population.

Military: The AZN military has embraced the Aztec nomenclature that has taken its grip on Latin America and so the leader of their space program is Tlacteccatl (General) Claudio Betancourt, a man known throughout AZN for being instrumental in bringing Brazil into the fold. He is known as being a highly disciplined and resourceful commander but is also quite charming and personable making him a very effective leader in both conquest and command.

For the ground forces, like other global powers the majority of their troops are being used to quell civil unrest and resistance fighters who opposed the Aztec revolution. The AZN only has about 20 divisions of armour and infantry free under the command of Tlacteccatl Venus "Eagle Warrior" Sisneros. Sisneros is known for being aggressive and emotionless and during the conquest of Argentina she became known globally from the way she brutally punished any sign of resistance. Unlike other global powers, the AZN has already started to increase it's ground force capability although they have a long way to go to match the capabilities of the other 3 global powers.

Science: AZN only has three science teams (1 biology, 1 energy, 1 missiles) and so the 5 labs are under the command of physicist Dr. Alana Alcaraz however such a slow pace of research will put AZN nearly 4 years behind GSA and PRC.


NAN (Non-Aligned Nations)
Unfortunately for a variety of reasons many nations around the globe, primarily in Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa were unable to exert real influence to join one of the four major global powers. Supposedly these nations are aligned with one power or another but none of them were made full members and do not offer the resources or personnel to entice any of the other powers to reach out to them. As such nearly a billion people are being left to fall through the cracks and without a stabilizing global force most of these regions descend into pure anarchy with violent coups installing warlords into power or just having their governments dissolve into lawless regions. The people are neglected, ignored, and desperate for any aid. Presumably if another global power is able to establish a colony they could find any number of volunteers willing to brave the harshest of environments for the slim chance of survival for them and their families.

Neutral Population: 900m
« Last Edit: July 12, 2016, 12:34:04 PM by praguepride »
 

Offline praguepride (OP)

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Re: Exodus 2.0
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2016, 02:40:58 PM »
2020 Update
January 1st 2020:
Base Earth Temperature: -12.09c
Actual Surface Temperature: 14c
Earth Population: 7.33 billion (GSA: 1375m, PRC: 2325m, IAL: 2200m, AZN: 630m, NAN: 900m)


Over the course of the year all four global powers poured as much energy into Trans-Newtonian research as possible. Dr. Haywood Bumstead of the GSA was the first to crack its secrets and the GSA wasted little time beginning to convert its industry to use Trans-Newtonian technology as well as diversifying its labs across a variety of topics hoping to develop the technology necessary for practical TN spacecraft.

None of the other global powers crack TN tech this year, although IAL did get a new Energy focused science team. Meanwhile the industries have not been idle. GSA upgraded it's maintenance capabilities: The PRC expanded its military academies (and the AZN is halfway through their expansion). Both the PRC and the IAL began putting an emphasis on building out infrastructure in preparation for future colonies (or weathering the storm on Earth). Much to the dismay of the other nations, AZN has begun aggressively training additional ground units to close the gap between their ground forces and the other global powers. A lot of the AZN military was lost while they 'revolutionized' South America as countries like Brazil and Argentina put up a lengthy fight before being annexed.

For comparison, here are the various ground force distributions by nation:
GSA: 13 LT Armour Divisions, 27 LT Infantry Divisions
PRC: 23 LT Armour Divisions, 46 LT Infantry Divisions
IAL: 21 LT Armour Divisions, 45 LT Infantry Divisions
AZN: 7 LT Armour Divisions, 12 LT Infantry Divisions.


With the GSA's late-summer discovery and the swift pace of their technology revolution, the GSA officially announced that it was abandoning the incredibly risky plan to colonize Mars with conventional technology and not going forward with the early Spring colonization launches of 2021. The PRC followed suit later in the winter of 2020. Neither the IAL or AZN had made any obvious movement towards Mars since their creation so an announcement wasn't made although the other global powers assumed that those two would follow as well.

This did mean that billions of dollars of GSA equipment was being abandoned on Mars however as this was pre-Trans-Newtonian technology its utility going forward was of very limited value and the GSA administration decided to just write off the equipment as lost for now and if it could be recovered at a later time that would be nice.

[NOTE: I will represent this at a later time by using SM to add a few hundred 'bonus' infrastructure to the first empire to get a colony ship or cargo ship to Mars.]
 

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Re: Exodus 2.0
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2016, 05:25:34 PM »
2021 Update
January 1st 2021:
Base Earth Temperature: -10.78c (+1.31c)
Actual Surface Temperature: 15.44 (+1.44c)
Earth Population: 7.56 billion (GSA: 1398.28m, PRC: 2360.4m, IAL: 2233.68m, AZN: 644.33m, NAN: 918.9m)

In January, the PRC announces it too has become a Trans-Newtonian society and has begun converting existing industry and resources over to TN technology. Although the GSA had a 5 month head start, it is expected that the massive amount of PRC industry will be able to close that gap in little time and once again become the most industrious global power by a wide margin.

Around the beginning of April, GSA President Maglio issued a statement where she said that spies, most likely from Aztec Nation, were apprehended trying to infiltrate a GSA research facility. Aztec Tlatoani Vazquez denounced any activity in the area and condemned the GSA for trying to vilify the AZN. The spies were relocated to a prison in Russia to await interrogation and trial.

Later in the year the AZN rolls out yet another armoured division. The other global powers continued to eye AZN warily but they still did not have the ground forces for a full scale invasion.

In November the Indo-Arab League announces that it too has unlocked Trans-Newtonian technology and sparks a technology revolution in the Islamic world. A week later, the GSA announces its design for the new Trans-Newtonian spacecraft: the Armstrong-Class Geosurvey Vessal. A crew of 49 would be able to travel at nearly 4.6 million miles per hour and could fly out to Pluto and back on a single tank of Sorium gas. The first vessel, the GSN Neil Armstrong would be constructed via the Gantz Shipbuilding Orbital Platform that had been launched 2 years earlier and would be built by the end of 2022. Hearing the newfound capabilities of the ship brought hope and relief to not just the GSA but the rest of the world. If this was possible after just a couple of years, then perhaps the world wasn't doomed after all.

Code: [Select]
Armstrong class Geological Survey Vessel    1,800 tons     49 Crew     317.5 BP      TCS 36  TH 75  EM 0
2083 km/s     Armour 1-13     Shields 0-0     Sensors 12/1/0/2     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.84 Years     MSP 110    AFR 25%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 12    5YR 176    Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 3   

TsSKB-Progress 75 EP Nuclear Thermal Engine (1)    Power 75    Fuel Use 76.5%    Signature 75    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 13.1 billion km   (72 days at full power)

Yamhata-Takecare Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km
Geological Survey Sensors (2)   2 Survey Points Per Hour



NOTE: Some random thoughts about temperature increases:
A temperature increase of 10*C is enough to turn the entire world tropical, melt all permanent ice, and raise ocean levels by 200m.
A temperature of 58*C would be sufficient to wipe out most unprotected crops and animals.
A temperature of 70*C would be sufficient to cause a runaway effect that would cause the oceans to vaporize.

 

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Re: Exodus 2.0
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2016, 08:33:00 PM »
2022 Update
January 1st 2022:
Base Earth Temperature: -9.47c (+2.62c)
Actual Surface Temperature: 16.88 (+2.88c)
Earth Population: 7.68 billion (GSA: 1423.2m, PRC: 2394.57m, IAL: 2268.5m, AZN: 659.1m, NAN: 937.92m)


At the beginning of the year, GSA President Maglio ended her two-year term and turned the GSA Presidency over to former president Jake Sweany. After announcing he would re-enter to run for office the rest of his competition shriveled up. If the same happens with Maglio it could be the GSA Presidency continues to alternate between the American and Italian politicians.

The IAL meanwhile held an election where High Prophet Deva Sidhu won yet again with 98% of the vote and she continued to stay the course of promoting peace and prosperity.

Note: Deva Sidhu is one of those 'uber'-governors. As of 2022 here are her stats:
Admin Rating: 5
Political Reliability: 5%
Shipbuilding: 10%
Factory Production: 5%
Wealth Creation: 5%
Mining: 10%
Population Growth: 5%

While none of those bonuses are gigantic, the sheer number of them make her the best overall administrator.



Meanwhile in AZN, production nears completion of their military academy expansion and half of their industry shifts to a top secret project. None of the other global powers are able to get eyes into the secret project and thus the AZN are able to maintain their secrecy. The Aztecs are building a series of Tezatlipoca-Class Nuclear ICBM PDCs. Currently 2 are scheduled with another 2 more after that. Although hardly a threat to a true TN-society, while most of the world remains Earthbound the 192 nuclear ICBMs in each PDC would be a potent defensive measure, or a powerful offensive weapon considering most of the world had disarmed their ICBMs during the early days of the GSA when they were gathering as much rocket fuel as possible for the initial Mars colonization gambit. The GSA, PRC, and IAL all have nuclear warheads lying around however they have little ability to launch them anymore giving the AZN a potent advantage as long as they can keep their silos a secret.

In March, a firefight broke out around a GSA data center and a team of spies from PRC were killed in a violent shoot out. Like the AZN, the PRC denied any responsibility and relations soured between the two major powers.

On May the PRC announced it was going to launch two scientific Zhang He-class survey vessels. The Zhang He and Xuan Zhang were 500 tons smaller and considerably faster then the Neil Armstrong, as well as having more range at the expense of only half the scientific equipment.

Code: [Select]
Zheng He class Geological Survey Vessel    1,500 tons     33 Crew     211.875 BP      TCS 30  TH 68  EM 0
2266 km/s     Armour 1-11     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/1     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.76 Years     MSP 88    AFR 18%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 6    5YR 96    Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 1   

CALT 67.5 EP Nuclear Thermal Engine (1)    Power 67.5    Fuel Use 65.31%    Signature 67.5    Exp 9%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range 36.7 billion km   (187 days at full power)

Geological Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour

In July the first Aztec PDC completed installation and shortly afterwards GSA, PRC, and IAL satellites picked up the large complex. AZN claimed it was to help launch satellites but the uptick in AZN manufacturing weapons-grade radioactive material was a clear indicator of possible hostile intent. In response, the PRC formulated a diplomatic team under the command of Tang Shan to reach out to the GSA in an informal alliance. The GSA, IAL and PRC leadership all made public statements about the importance of working together in these dire times but such cries seemed to fall on deaf Aztec ears.

Meanwhile all was not good within the Aztec nation. Due to political infighting 'The Beast' Vazquez stepped down as their head-of-state in favor of Rigoberto Barreto. While 'The Beast' was a formidable guerrilla fighter and a charismatic leader she had no real head for running a country as complicated as the Aztecs had become whereas Barreto was a career politician who had thrown early support towards the Aztecs and had secured seat near the top of the hierarchy. Vazquez promised the people she would remain close to Barreto as a top advisor.

Note: I will detail up Barreto later on but he is another uber-governor and with AZN falling so far behind they can't afford to let something like a ruthless dictator stand between them and all those sweet sweet leadership bonuses.

August saw the GSA announce a second ship, the GSN Yuri Gagarin to be completed in the fall of 2023. Meanwhile the AZN finished training an infantry division, continuing to expand their ground forces.

In response to increased AZN aggression, and the deployment of two unknown facilities with probable nuclear capabilities, the GSA split away some research efforts to begin military efforts. Maintaining a peaceful intent they started redeploying troops as garrisons with new, highly effective trans-newtonian weaponry. After some combat tests they determined that at 1/10 the size a Trans-Newtonian garrison was four times as effective as standard infantry and even a partial conversion of forces would be sufficient to resist anything the AZN could launch. In addition, the GSA decided to update the various member state SDI systems and began researching a new missile interception system based around TN materials, eventually coming up with the RIM-1A Sentry AMM. The Sentry was a crude first stab however it was more then sufficient to intercept an ICBM even with a late launch period. With a missile prepared the GSA started researching the best launch platform for such a device, be it a PDC or a spacecraft or something else.

Code: [Select]
Missile Size: 1 MSP  (0.05 HS)     Warhead: 1    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Speed: 8100 km/s    Engine Endurance: 21 minutes   Range: 10.0m km
Cost Per Missile: 0.3516
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 81%   3k km/s 20%   5k km/s 16.2%   10k km/s 8.1%
Materials Required:    0.25x Tritanium   0.1016x Gallicite   Fuel x25

In November the other global powers satellites noted a second AZN installation matching the first being deployed. Rigoberto Barreto gave a press conference assuring the rest of the global powers taht the Aztec Nation was only hostile towards its enemies. This had little reassurance and the GSA began full scale construction of RIM-1A Sentry AMMs, ordering a thousand to be built even though they still didn't have a launcher or platform for them. Dr. Junior Verdin, the GSA missile expert was continuing to research some fundamental technologies before the AMM was ready to be deployed.

December provided a much brighter prospect for the GSA as the completed GSN Neil Armstrong rolled out of the Gantz Orbital Shipyards. Commander Henrik Pfeiffer was selected to command the ship. Immediately the ship was launched to survey the inner solar system both as a systems test as well as to scout for trans-newtonian elements on other planets, a growing concern for GSA (and other global powers) that the Earth might be depleted before a full exodus could be made. Meanwhile yet another Armstrong-class ship was comissioned: the GSN Valentina Tereshkova.

The GSN Neil Armstrong completed the journey to the Moon in a matter of hours and reached Venus, a trip normally taking nearly 7 months. At the close of the year it was still surveying Venus but looked to make short work of the inner solar system within a single month.


NOTE: I've never really used PDCs before. Anyone know how to get them to fire? The wiki has a section on how to build them but I can't seem to find anything about actually using them, especially when they're located on the same planet they might be attacking. No spoilers or anything but would be better to know sooner rather then later...
:D
 

Offline Kytuzian

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Re: Exodus 2.0
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2016, 06:53:42 AM »
You control a PDC's the same way as any other ships, it's all in the same screen. Also I'm enjoying the story so far, good work.
 

Offline Garfunkel

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Re: Exodus 2.0
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2016, 10:43:15 AM »
Very demanding start! Earth will not stay habitable for long, that's for sure. Kytuzian is correct about PDCs. Note that there is an in-built 15 min delay with ICBMs, to simulate the low speed of conventional engines and their need to fly around the curvature of Earth, something that Aurora doesn't really model as every planet is just a dot.
 

Offline praguepride (OP)

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Re: Exodus 2.0
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2016, 11:26:25 AM »
2023 Update

January 1st 2023:
Base Earth Temprature: -8.15c (+3.94c)
Actual Surface Temperature: 18.33 (+4.33c)
Earth Population: 7.81 billion (GSA: 1448.34m, PRC: 2429.77m, IAL: 2303.74m, AZN: 674.43m, NAN: 957.24m)


By 2023 global temperatures were soaring past even climate scientists worst models. At +4*C the ice caps were starting to melt causing a release of greenhouse gases to be released in the atmosphere but from the greater public perception it didn't really matter. If the sun stopped warming now, humanity would have decades to worry about rising ocean levels but with the sun continuing to increase in luminosity the global population were looking at decades of life on Earth, period.

By this point the IAL, AZN and PRC were all sitting on several years worth of advanced infrastructure that had been stockpiled in preparation for post-Hoffmeyer survival. Only the GSA hadn't begun preparation which cost it dearly during the 2022 typhoon season when storms rocked the East coast of USA and devastated Japan. The GSA President declared a state of emergency and began shifting production towards infrastructure to contend with rising seas and worsening global storms however despite calls that it was a high priority, in actually only 5% of the GSA's industry was focused on it, with 50% being focused on producing Civilian shipyards for colony ships and freighters to leave the planet.

The IAL meanwhile had begun production of terraforming installations. With the advances made in Trans-Newtonian elements researchers had invented an anti-greenhouse gas to try and delay the temperature increase and prolong the time period for exodus.

In early January the GSN Neil Armstrong finished surveying the near-Earth neighboring planets. Venus and the Moon had turned up devoid of useful materials but significant stockpiles of five materials had shown up on Mercury.

Code: [Select]
Mercury Deposits
Corbomite: 1,259,782 (1)
Boronide: 38,103 (0.1)
Sorium: 2,143,296 (0.5)
Uridum: 5,835,124 (0.3)
Corundium: 2,381 (0.1)

To the GSA's dismay, Commander Pfeiffer reported no TN materials on Mars or either of its moons. This would put considerable pressure on any future colonies there and as the PRC had made their intentions towards Mars well known, the knowledge that Mars was barren might put pressure on other parts of the solar system. The GSA decided to kept his information top secret and ordered Commander Pfeiffer onwards to Jupiter and its moons.

In late January the 41st Garrison Battalion was formed out of the 11th industry. With their considerable defensive power deployed along the US-AZN border, the GSA high command was reassured that they had sufficient ground forces to prevent aggression from other global powers. A second Garrison unit was commissioned for the Russia-PRC border.

Meanwhile the Aztec Nation trained yet another infantry division. Early February had Commander Pfeiffer report in that large deposits of Duranium and Corbomite were found on Europa. GSA High Command earmarked Europa for further study as a possible colony location. Depending on its orientation if the Hoffmeyer Burp burst, Jupiter could shield it from the worst effects of the blast. A few days later more large deposits of Corbomite were found on Ganymede.

Late Feburary had the PRC launch its two Tài Wei survey ships: the Tài Wei and the Lingtai were launched. The Tai Wei, under command of Zhong Xiao Yuan Kang, headed towards the inner solar system as well before focusing on the Mars-Jupiter asteroid belt. The Lingtai meanwhile made a beeline towards Jupiter's moons to scout out potential colony sites. In addition, the Chinese launched the first commercial shipyard, the Chung Graving Dockyards. Although the Chinese didn't have any designs at the moment for colony ships or freighters, the fact that they had launched before the GSA had completed theirs showed how much further along the Chinese and Asian industrial sector was compared to the Western power.

As the Chinese surveyors left orbit GSA high command became concerned that although smaller in tonnage, the Chinese ships could be armed. As one of them was making a direct course for the Jupiter moons this could present a complicated problem however thankfully while en route the GSN Neil Armstrong and had left the Jupiter systems heading for Saturn long before the Chinese ship was planned to arrive.

Mid-March came more bad news for the GSA. Commander Pfeiffer had completed her survey of Titan and the results showed no traces of Trans-Newtonian elements. This meant that in the entire solar system, the only colony sites with easy access to TN materials were Mercury, whose temperature was rising fast due to proximity to the sun, Europa and Ganymede. Of the three, only Europa had access to Duranium. If the GSA wanted to claim the Jupiter moons then they had to move fast.GSA leadership unanimously put the highest priority in getting their commercial shipyard deployed and a light freighter design laid out as quickly as possible. So far there had been no indication that the PRC was in any rush as they were instead working on increasing the tonnage capacity for their commercial shipyard rather then rushing straight to construction.

Early April had thermal sensors around the world lighting up as the Tai Wei swung back near Earth on its way to suveying the asteroid belt. It seemed like the Chinese weren't as concerned about identifying minerals on Mars, or perhaps it had already been written off in favor of the safer Jupiter moons. By this point however the PRC had completed its survey of Titan and so the GSA and PRC both knew that the race for Europa was on.

By July both the PRC and the GSA had laid down plans for light freighters. Unfortunately for the GSA it looked like the PRC would beat them to launch by a month with their smaller, faster Xingma. Both were set to launch in early 2024.

In September the GSN Yuri Gagarin launched to assist the Neil Armstrong in finishing Surveying Neptune and Uranus' moons before moving onto the asteroid belts. Later on in September the PRC completed adding a new slipway to their Qin & Chien shipyards and laid down three more Xingma surveyors, the Langjian, the Huben and the Changchen, continuing their tradition of naming ships after star constellations.

As 2023 came to a close, tensions were rising with the growing temperature as each of the four global powers continued their plans for survival.

GSA Plan:
The GSA was greatly disappointed with the lack of TN materials on Titan however the rest of Saturn and outer system moons were showing decent amounts of Duranium and Sorium. If the Chinese exert complete control over the Jupiter systems then the GSA was planning a back up plan where they would still evacuate to Titan and use the Kuiper belt and other outer moons to ship materials to the GSA colony. Mass drivers were being scheduled to be built to ease the burden of materials transfer to Titan. Surveying was focused on the outer system as the GSA acknowledged that if the Hoffmeyer Burp burst, any installations in the Mars-Jupiter asteroid belt would likely be destroyed. From a military standpoint the GSA was converting half a dozen low-tech infantry into TN-tech Garrison divisions. In addition plans were underway under code-name: Sentinel to create a real defensive solution for possible conflicts with either AZN or the PRC.

PRC Plan:
The PRC was devoting all its resources on the race for Jupiter's moons. Surveying was focusing on the wide number of comets in the solar system as although many were close to the sun now, if/when the Hoffmeyer Burp burst they would be safely beyond the Jupiter orbit and their high access to many vital TN materials was making them likely targets for PRC mining operations. From a military standpoint the PRC command was relying on their vast number of ground forces and stand-offish behavior but reality was that they were in a much weaker position then their industry and space fleet let on. They were researching various military technologies, including the ability to upgrade their low-tech infantry to TN-mobile infantry however this was proceeding slowly as anything not focused on getting to Europa first was given low priority.

IAL Plan:
The IAL was in a tough position as it did not have the research yet to launch a surveyor let alone developing cargo or colony ships to evacuate anywhere. If the PRC take over the Jupiter moons and the GSA takes over Saturn there really weren't a lot of safe places left in the solar system. Currently they were devoting their industry to the production of terraforming installations and infrastructure to ride out the temperature increase. Within the IAL there was the emergency plan of building a lunar colony and with the right calculations it would be on the dark side of the moon with the Earth shielding from a Hoffmeyer Burst but as the exact date of a burst (if it happens) wasn't known the likelihood of survival was nearly 0%, but at least there was a chance compared to guaranteed destruction if they tried to stay on the Earth.

AZN Plan:
The AZN was in the worst shape as 3 years in and it still wasn't a TN society. In addition it had started with the smallest military and without the ability to build more training facilities it would take years for it to build up sufficient forces to use its military. Their only chance at a military solution lay with rebuilding and restocking ICBM silos. Like the IAL, they were also building up infrastructure as the AZN would likely be the last ones to leave Earth.


to be continued....

Note: For those curious, the Hoffmeyer burp is a fun event to look forward to. When the time comes I will flip a coin to determine the fate of the solar system. Heads means that the temperature rising is over and I disable the "sun warming"  disaster. Tails means that the bubble bursts and instead I delete all installations/populations/ships etc. that are closer then the Jupiter orbit. Anything in Jupiter will viewed at through the system map. If Jupiter is between the Sun and the moon then it is fine, else it too gets deleted. Saturn and beyond are unaffected. This won't occur for at least another 10 years so there is plenty of time however losing everything in the inner solar system should be quite the disaster no matter when it actually happens.

Note 2: So if you don't start with PDCs (which with the population and industry sizes are a nightmare to look at :P, then it is seemingly impossible for a non-TN society to produce ICBMs. I feel like conventional industry should provide a bit of manufacturing to ALL sectors (ordinance and fighter production). Someone should tell Steve...