What to read when waiting for Aurora

[vonduus (OP)]

Recently my life has changed. For long periods of time, I find myself sitting, waiting for Aurora to calculate what happens to my world. I have played for some 150 game years, so a 5 second turn can easily last 5 minutes. I guess 10% of the time I spend with Aurora is spent actually playing the game, the rest of the time is waiting.

A lot of this waiting time I use to contemplate what to do next, or I am reading the forum to try to figure out what I do not currently understand. I also check my email, read the news and make another cup of coffee.

But as I am addicted to this game, I am bound to end up having a lot of unused time on my hands. For a time I did some aimless surfing around on the net, but then I found this site:

http://www.naval-review.co.uk/pastiss.asp

I can heartily recommend The Naval Review to any Aurora player, who finds naval stuff interesting. Written by officers of the Royal Navy, it deals with all kinds of issues relating to naval warfare. Some of it is rather boring, but some of it is highly exciting. To me this is the perfect blend for something to read, when I wait for Aurora, the boring stuff kills time (and probably makes me a little bit wiser), while the exciting stuff is, well, very exciting. So much that I sometimes forget that I am playing Aurora and just keeps reading.

So this is what I read when playing Aurora. What do you read?

[Jacob/Lee]

I browse the plethora of internet forums I inhabit. If that gets old, grab a book off the shelf (Day of the Triffids, Fahrenheit 451, Nineteen Eighty-Four, books like that) and read. I usually end up losing interest in the game before I reach the point where single increments take several minutes to process.

[Marski]

I spend the time imagining what aurora would be like if Steve made it support multicore.

[Traveler]

I read through a thread about Aurora II, but it all seemed to be dated in 2011.

[Marski]

I read through a thread about Aurora II, but it all seemed to be dated in 2011.

That place is mostly abandoned, the newest update to the progress of newtonian aurora can be read here

[Steve Walmsley]

Aurora II and Newtonian Aurora are both works in progress. Aurora II was the initial stages of an attempt to recode in C#. Newtonian Aurora is VB6 Aurora but using newtonian mechanics and hyperspace instead of JPs. That is much further along but I've taken a break from it to get back to normal Aurora for a while. I was programming a lot and not playing much

Steve

[Marski]

Aurora II and Newtonian Aurora are both works in progress. Aurora II was the initial stages of an attempt to recode in C#. Newtonian Aurora is VB6 Aurora but using newtonian mechanics and hyperspace instead of JPs. That is much further along but I've taken a break from it to get back to normal Aurora for a while. I was programming a lot and not playing much

Steve

Oh golly, how's the progress with Aurora II? Have you managed to create somewhat playable alpha yet?

[Theodidactus]

I draw floorplans for my spaceships sometimes, but I too have a 100+ year game, so I usually need something to really occupy my time...

I'm in grad school though, so I mostly do homework.

[Kurt]

I have been reading about the exploits of Sam Starfall, Helix the robot, and Florence Ambrose, a genetically engineered Bowman's Wolf at this link:

http://freefall.purrsia.com/ffdex.htm

Nearly ten years of comic strips!  Sam is awesome.  Every world needs a Sam.  Probably not two, though.  That would just be asking for trouble. 

Kurt

[Maharava]

I like to re-read The Order of the Stick, a fantasy Dungeons and Dragons stick-figure parody. Six against the Stars is usually pretty close too, a slightly satirical look at sci-fi

[Karmag]

I like to re-read The Order of the Stick, a fantasy Dungeons and Dragons stick-figure parody.  Six against the Stars is usually pretty close too, a slightly satirical look at sci-fi

Yup, OotS is definitely a good way to spend one's time.  (I just wish it were longer, or rather that posts were more often. ) If you're looking for other good webcomics to read whilst Aurora processes time, try www. schlockmercenary. com - it's a webcomic about a mercenary outfit - IN SPACE!

[Steve Walmsley]

Recently I discovered the usefulness of Kindle for PC. I can read books on one screen while waiting for the event log to update on another.

Currently reading the Red Gambit series (Opening Moves, Breakthrough, Stalemate). Its a detailed account of a Soviet Union vs Western Allies war starting in August 1945. The Russians also ally with the Japanese instead of attacking them.

[chrislocke2000]

I quite often stick a let's play of some old game such as terror from the deep or similar and just look over whilst I'm waiting. If I get too involved I quite often find that a turn has completed without me noticing which means my turns take a little longer than expected at times.