Return to Sol: Multiplayer Aurora - Setup

[sublight (OP)]

Return to Sol is a sequel to Children of Sol, my first multiplayer game. It eventually suffered a heat death and died. Probably the new limits on civilian shipping would have been enough to allow an even longer game with the original setup, but I've taken the added step of splitting the starting factions into their own systems.

Return to Sol: Multiplayer Aurora 6.2 Coming Soon

The Setup:
The players each start in their own star system 1 jump away from Sol. (In theory this minimizes sensor checks and make the SM turns go faster.)

400 million accelerated conventional start.
> All conventional industry preconverted
> +50% starting research labs (6 total)
> +1 free commercial shipyard
> 2x Naval shipyard expansion (choice of double size or double slipway)
> 20,000 starting RP
> 6x Missile Complexes*

A 0RP Trans-Newtonian start is 40,500 RP ahead of a conventional start, so these conditions add up to, roughly, 1/2 of a TN start. The following are the base T-N starting techs. You may spend your initial techpoints from that list with 1 restriction: all races must start with all theoretical knowledge needed for at least one fully functional beam weapon system.

Code: [Select]

Tran-Newtonian 5000 Mobile Infantry 2500
Nuclear Thermal 2500 Crogenic Emerg 2000
Particle Beam 2 2000 Presurized Water 1500
10cm Laser 1000 10cm Meson 1000
10cm Microwave 1000 10cm rail 1000
15cm carronade 1000 Active Scanner 10 1000
Beam FireCon 10k 1000 Maint. Storage 1000
Alpha Shield 1000 Shield Regen 1 1000
Cargo Handling 1000 Cryogenic Small 1000
Cryogenic Stand 1000 Flag Bridge 1000
Garrison Battalion 1000 Gauss Velocity 1 1000
Gauss Rate 1 1000 Geological Sensor 1000
Mag Efficancy 75% 1000 Meson Focus 1 1000
Microwave Focus 1 1000 Particle Beam 60k 1000
Railgun Velocity 1 1000 Duranium Armor 500
Infared Laser 500 Mag Ejection 70% 500
Replacement Bttl 500
All beam weapon systems require Active Sensor 10, Beam Fire Control 10k, and Trans-Newtonian. Further, I'll bet that every player picks Geosurvey Sensors, Pressurized Water Reactors, and Nuclear Thermal Engines. After paying for all that stuff each player will have about 8,000 RP remaining for hopefully unique technology. *Anyone using a portion of their starting RP on PDC compatible racial component tech may chose to replace the default Missile Complexes with customized PDCs worth up to 2200 build points.


House Rules
Technology trading: I felt there this was a little too advantageous last time around. So:
- If tech is traded any prerequisite tech is leaked to every player race.

Communication
Ship communication is near instantaneous and works across systems. Traditionally in AAR reported games there are self imposed limits that can lead to lost ships and unreported dangers, but handling this in a multiplayer setup was rather awkward last time around. If players want this and can agree on a rule set easy to adhere to I'll reconsider, but for now <insert technobable> allows survey ships to send automated black-box reports from across light years.


Both players and spectators are free to add comments to this thread.

[Conscript Gary]

How frequent is turn turnover? If that spot's still free I'd like to join up, should be interesting

[sublight (OP)]

We try for 3-day turns. Three days for players to upload orders, followed by up to three days for the SM to advance time. Turn extensions are available as needed on request. Total turn turnaround can be as fast as every 4 days if I have time and none ask for an extension.

Early game turns are 1-year long (possibly 2 for the first decade if everyone wants to accelerate the early years)
Late game turns will be 6-months long.

[Conscript Gary]

That sounds doable. Sign me up! PMs preferred for contact

[niflheimr]

I'm in as well if you have a spare slot.

[sublight (OP)]

Niflheimr: Sorry, fresh out of slots. To create more slots I could set up an additional game, but we'd have to find someone else to be the SM for it.


Players: when you have a chance please drop me a PM on:
a) starting tech.
b) how you want the starting 800 conventional industry converted.

Game starts after I get PMs from everyone, or after 3 days when I make random starting tech/industry assignments for the undecided.

[Ektoras]

I prefer instant ship communication.
I believe communication and diplomacy between factions should be possible after they meet in space?

[sublight (OP)]

I believe communication and diplomacy between factions should be possible after they meet in space?

Yes.

I'll create a diplomacy thread once factions start to meet.
I'll create an AAR thread to replace last game's spy reports once the game hit's the 10 year mark. Same 10-year time release lag.

Anyone wishing to write inspired short fiction or who wishes to write their own time-delayed AAR faction report is welcome to create threads for that.

Backstory Cannon coming with the AAR thread. For now know that the Invaders came, smashed sol, destroyed terrafroming efforts, poisoned home world atmosphere, and left to destroy intligent life wherever it could be found. They also destabilized the jump gate network. That was hundreds of years ago. Recently Deep space tracking stations have picked up the background resonance traces of interstellar communication. Apparently someone else in the local neighborhood has discovered TN technology. Thanks to relaxed population and industry control standards in the last century or two the surviving colonies are now too big and two 'noisy' to hide if anyone comes in system. That leaves you one option: Pick back up the TN tech of your ancestors and grow big.

Suggested Game Objectives:
Victory path A) Reclaim Sol to form the heart of a new Solarian Empire
Victory path B) Diaspora! Claim and colonize more systems than any other.

About Sol: There may be ruins and/or xenophobic survivors to claim in Sol. Since Mars/Earth/Venus were strip-mined of TN minerals last game, any survivors will probably be in an conventional existence at best.

Conscript Gray will be playing one of the former aliens the rest of you met in the last game.


Hmm... what else...
Oh yah, each of you named your starting system after yourself by default. For example, the Martians call their home system 'Martians' ... feel free to rename your home system.

If anyone has further questions and concerns, just ask.

Other than that... Game On!
Are 1-year turns acceptable for the start, or would people prefer a longer time-steps until inter-faction contact is made?

[Panopticon]

I'd go with 2 years at first, nothing major should be happening during the initial build up.

[Jikor]

Yea. 2 years is fine with me. Seems most games the first few years are just cycling 30 day increments waiting on tech to finish.

[Ektoras]

i am fine with the 2 years

[Conscript Gary]

And with me that's unanimous for 2 years for now

[sublight (OP)]

Since I was a little slow getting the last SM turn out and had time I went ahead and took the SM turn early once all the orders were in. Year 2031 is waiting in the dropbox.

I'll start posting the AAR commentary once 2035 hits, unless people prefer I wait until the longer of 10 turns or 10 years.

[Conscript Gary]

On the one hand I'm deathly curious what everybody's been up to, but on the other hand it doesn't make much sense to know just yet. Well, in-character at least. If it's more an external AAR instead of the spy justification of the old game then fire away, and I can start relating what I've been up to in all those years 

[sublight (OP)]

I'll publish the AAR as if it was a Historical account of known events 100 years in the past rather than as a 'spy' report.

Anyway, I'm going to slow the game down to 5-day turns for the next three weeks. Next week is going to be rather busy for me, and I still haven't gotten orders in for the Mars and Venus exiles for this current turn.

I'll next advance time this Wednesday (about 48 hours after this post), work in another time advance somewhere Tues-Thurs next week, and then again somewhere Wed-Fri after the New Year. After that I should be able to resume support for the normal update rate. First AAR publication will occur with the first SM turn taken in January, whatever that might be.