Author Topic: National Updates Comment Thread  (Read 56416 times)

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Offline Jakalo

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #45 on: September 22, 2015, 07:04:58 AM »
Can system this huge even form in a natural way without its star becoming a black hole?
 

Offline MarcAFK

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #46 on: September 22, 2015, 08:02:19 AM »
I believe the energy of fusion prevents collapse until the star begins to burn out, at 10 or more stellar masses you'll probably get a black hole when it does.
" Why is this godforsaken hellhole worth dying for? "
". . .  We know nothing about them, their language, their history or what they look like.  But we can assume this.  They stand for everything we don't stand for.  Also they told me you guys look like dorks. "
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Offline xeryon

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #47 on: September 22, 2015, 08:16:32 AM »
Long ago after discovering an O class monstrosity in Aurora myself I did a little Wikipedia homework on them.  As far as I can tell that system shouldn't have any planets.  Either the solar wind from a star that large and intense is supposed to be strong enough to blow much of the planet building materials from the local neighborhood.  Not only from it's own immediate system but it is supposedly enough to disrupt or stop planet formation in neighboring star systems as well.  I guess it can be really complicated though as an O classification is usually just a transitional phase.  It's what happens very early on in some supergiant formation (where planet formations wouldn't have happened yet) or at the tail end of some stellar lifespans (the planets that might have formed at a different spectral level would be destroyed by the solar fluctuations.

I'm not educated in this.  I just find it very fascinating.  Anyone with more knowledge should correct me.
 

Offline Mel Vixen

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #48 on: September 22, 2015, 01:13:31 PM »
Well you could get some plantes from smaller stars passing or from the occasional planet drifting by. Heh let the french do the Math and conclude that this system is impossible.

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Quick question, we do see quite a bit of diplomacy, will there be actual diplomatic options (like trading minerals) ?
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Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #49 on: September 22, 2015, 03:03:08 PM »
Quick question, we do see quite a bit of diplomacy, will there be actual diplomatic options (like trading minerals) ?

Possibly. I have been considering that in a couple of situations. Perhaps even selling older ships to other powers once newer designs are available.
 

Offline Sematary

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #50 on: September 23, 2015, 02:19:06 AM »
There is a really interesting diplomatic situation developing between Argentina, Centauri, Japan, Manchuria, and Russia. Argentina is friendly with Japan and Manchuria while they are looking hostilely at Centauri. Manchuria is looking at Centauri the same way and is friends with Argentina but they are being squeezed by Japan and Russia. Japan is looking warily at Centauri expecting hostilities eventually with that power so is in a friendly spot with Argentina but with the carving out of space between them and Russia leaving Manchuria pretty high and dry a tripartite pact between Argentina, Japan, and Manchuria is starting to look pretty unlikely.

In fact Japan may rather have Centauri stay in place rather than having Manchuria boarding them in two spots. This might actually work to the favor of the Centauri, especially if Japan somehow learns about the Argentina-Manchuria pact. Japan may side with their almost enemy in order to deny Manchuria a planet in Alpha Centauri, even if it would hurt Argentina.
 

Offline MarcAFK

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #51 on: September 23, 2015, 03:57:06 AM »
I'm playing through a similar scenario at the moment, however the 5 other nations are all being run as NPRs, as a result I have absolutely no information about the status of the other powers relationships with each other. I have no idea of the population, production, research strengths and weaknesses or fleet strengths, no idea even how far they have explored, but I see a chinese gate builder wandering around sometimes.
In one way it's disappointing as I lose out on all the political and diplomatic interaction that I've grown accustomed to, but on the other hand it's good because I'm virtually in the dark about my potential adversaries. Except for all the intelligence I have gathered about the swarm of ships rushing through the solar system, the knowledge is very rudimentary and I don't even see most of them on sensors most of the time, greater investment on sensors will help with that, but I do appear to be outnumbered and the truce timer runs out in 5 years.
I'm wondering if a future version could allow more information to be gathered on NPRs as a result of spies, or even minor intelligence just from having good relations and trading. Specifically economic information, knowledge of research they have (not stealing the tech itself) and maybe information on exploration, colony location etc, and some indication of how NPRs are interacting with each other.
" Why is this godforsaken hellhole worth dying for? "
". . .  We know nothing about them, their language, their history or what they look like.  But we can assume this.  They stand for everything we don't stand for.  Also they told me you guys look like dorks. "
"Stop exploding, you cowards.  "
 

Offline alex_brunius

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #52 on: September 23, 2015, 05:52:34 AM »
I'm wondering if a future version could allow more information to be gathered on NPRs as a result of spies, or even minor intelligence just from having good relations and trading. Specifically economic information, knowledge of research they have (not stealing the tech itself) and maybe information on exploration, colony location etc, and some indication of how NPRs are interacting with each other.

Yeah, just trading should give you loads of information since it involves frequent and numerous interactions. Sharing colonies on the same planet with aliens should mean you know almost everything about the aliens via rumors, especially with some spies gathering intel.

And it would be very minor for an intel organization to hide trackers in tradegoods or simply shadow an alien trade-ship with smaller undetectable shuttle crafts to find out any destination they are going to and gather IR and EM signatures of colony and even some warships running actives via passives.
 

Offline MarcAFK

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #53 on: September 23, 2015, 08:13:25 AM »
Most 4x games do give some level of information about your opponents, usually that's on a loser system like a single planet though. I think sharing a planet should be fairly good fir gathering intelligence and also improving relations. There is the risk of course that an incident will cause relations to get worse as a result of the shared planet.
" Why is this godforsaken hellhole worth dying for? "
". . .  We know nothing about them, their language, their history or what they look like.  But we can assume this.  They stand for everything we don't stand for.  Also they told me you guys look like dorks. "
"Stop exploding, you cowards.  "
 

Offline Bremen

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #54 on: September 23, 2015, 10:23:57 AM »
In fact Japan may rather have Centauri stay in place rather than having Manchuria boarding them in two spots. This might actually work to the favor of the Centauri, especially if Japan somehow learns about the Argentina-Manchuria pact. Japan may side with their almost enemy in order to deny Manchuria a planet in Alpha Centauri, even if it would hurt Argentina.

As long as Japan has its shipyards in transit, I doubt they'll intervene on either side. They're just too vulnerable to risk, and while they have some tension with both Manchuria and Centauri, they also have plentiful room of their own to expand, unlike Brazil and the Caliphate.

Once they move most of their stuff to Edo, though, they'll probably be much more free to act, but the question remains about whether they will or just focus on peaceful expansion.
 

Offline Jakalo

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #55 on: September 23, 2015, 01:33:51 PM »
As long as Japan has its shipyards in transit, I doubt they'll intervene on either side. They're just too vulnerable to risk, and while they have some tension with both Manchuria and Centauri, they also have plentiful room of their own to expand, unlike Brazil and the Caliphate.

Once they move most of their stuff to Edo, though, they'll probably be much more free to act, but the question remains about whether they will or just focus on peaceful expansion.

The fact that their shipyards are in transit in the area might be the very same fact that gives some hope to Centaurans. I don't doubt Japan will find it alarming that both Caliphate and Brasil are concentrating their fleets so close to its shipyards (and accompanying fleet).On the other hand Japan might just as well decide to participate in the partition of Centaurans and grab one of the major planets.

In any case it seems like a tall order for The Centauri Federation. On the other hand land grabs by minor powers usually earn retribution from major powers unwilling to see their ranks swell with a new contender.
 

Offline Shinanygnz

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #56 on: September 23, 2015, 01:46:49 PM »
Sounds like something went a little crazy in the system generation algorithm  ;D

France's update was cool. Them discovering shield tech and prototypes in a ruin and then developing their own is a nice flavorful development; I hope it works out well for them.

Sorry, but had to smite you for suggesting such nonsense ;-) :D
 

Offline Bremen

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #57 on: September 23, 2015, 05:10:16 PM »
Sorry, but had to smite you for suggesting such nonsense ;-) :D

Which, that Aurora produced unanticipated results or that France might succeed at something?  :P
 

Offline Bremen

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #58 on: September 26, 2015, 03:25:51 PM »
*waves "Go Russia" flag*

Russia hasn't progressed much, but has a lot of potential if they manage to exploit their finds. Of course, with how far they are from Earth and how many jump point connections the Epsilon Eridani area has, I wouldn't be surprised if some other power stumbles onto it sooner rather than later. Luckily the leadership seems to be playing it smart and trying to grab them ASAP.

Great to see a bunch of updates today. There's a lot to follow between all the nations' updates.
 

Offline Haji

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Re: National Updates Comment Thread
« Reply #59 on: September 27, 2015, 11:29:44 AM »
I've noticed that many of your campaigns (including this one) seems to have one problem, namely the way you role play information flow.
Back in the NATO vs Soviets (your best campaign still in my opinion) you stated that both sides were keeping their encounters with aliens a secret from other nations. However a few years later, when the Eridani Republic was being considered, you stated that one of the reasons for it's creation was to push NATO's problem with aliens into someone else - and you never stated whether it was unofficial reason, or if the aliens have become public knowledge and so on.
Something similar is happening here in the case of the aliens in this campaign. You never said that their existence is a classified material and the fact that US is going to establish a colony on their planet (and even modify it's atmosphere) would argue that their existence cannot be a secret. Yet it is treated as a very big one, so big a relatively friendly government (UK) has no idea the new race even exists, much less where.
It is of course a rather minor quibble, and otherwise the campaign is a great read, but I think it's something you could improve on.