Here is another devlog on extortion and pirates :Most "pirate" organizations will have legal activities alongside less legal ones. One of them is extortion, a form of proto-taxation system.
ControlI am tracking the control level of each organization in a stellar system's sphere of influence, it is determined by the presence of powerful spaceships or space stations and their visibility (sensor profile).
A faction ostensibly patrolling a system will therefore create more control over this system. An organization uses this control to police the area or counter the policing effort of another faction. An organization will usually police a system if it has established space stations or colonies in it. Multiple organizations can share this role at the same time.
Temple and Eridani are the main factions here.Control is also used for strategic decision-making alongside a threat "heatmap" but that's another subject.
extortionOn the other side, some organizations will prey on undefended systems and demand protection money to established stations or ambush other spacecraft for a toll. The offended party can call the local police for help and will usually do so if the latter has a strong presence in the system. However, the captain's traits have a great influence on his decisions.
This spacecraft is trying to ambush us, or any other viable target. Its active sensors and engines are off, with no transponder, it would be almost undetectable without the cheat code I have just used..
This active extortion system isn't abstracted and the player can be confronted with such extortion attempts or witness one in action.After the extortion, the mission isn't over and the pirate will go back to his home base to do the necessary "paint job" and turn clean in the eyes of the police. This option is also available to the player, for a price.
TurmoilWar and piracy are usually not a great signal for prosperous trade, now each system tracks the current turmoil which is increased by ship destruction and pirate's interaction.
A high level of turmoil will discourage any trade run to this system's trade nodes and the construction of new private space stations. It is therefore important to invest in maintaining order in the administered part of the galaxy.
Perceived turmoil will diminish over time.
To conclude...That's another heavy work on the AI which adds even more life in the galaxy, and another stone until the private alpha.
To support the piracy and police addition a lot of fundamental AI behaviors were added which further expands the number of building blocks of the AI.
The next devlog will probably talk more about cities, territories, and planet's surface, but also the improved (historical) generation of native civilisations.
