Inactive AURORA: The Great Game - Gauging interest

[GarfunkeL]

Current mineral situation on Earth, as of 27th July 2017:

 

[GarfunkeL]

SENSORS AND YOU - WHAT ARE THEY USED FOR AND HOW?

There are several types of sensors:

• Active Gravitational
• Passive Electro-Magnetic
• Passive Thermal
• Geological survey
• Gravitational survey

The first three are useful in combat, while the latter two are tantamount for future expansion.
In addition, all sensors can be classed as either:

• Passive
• Active
• Fire Control (Missile / Beam)

Let's go through all of them in order and see what they require.

1. Active Sensors
   • Need to be turned on to be useful
   • Required to create proper contacts for Fire Controls
   • Requires Active Grav Sensor Strength
   • Requires EM Sensor Sensitivity
   • Can vary in size from 0.1 HS (50 tons) to 50 HS (2500 tons)
   • Minimum resolution can be defined, from Resolution 50 (0.1 HS) to 25,000 (500 HS)
   • Can be hardened against electric damage
   • The size and resolution define how far the sensor can "see"
   • Targets smaller than the optimal resolution size will not be seen at the maximal range
   • Will show up in EM sensors
   • The information of any Active Sensor in-system will be shared with all ships and PDCs in that system - thus a giant AS on Earth means that ships could theoretically run "silent"
2. Missile Fire Control
   • Exactly identical to Active Sensors
   • Required to create proper firing solutions for Missile Launchers
   • Multiple launchers can be assigned to a single MFC
   • Unless the missiles have on-board sensors, the loss of the MFC will mean immediate self-destruction for the missiles
   • Will show up in EM sensors
3. Beam Fire Control
   • Need to be turned on to be useful
   • Required to create proper firing solutions for all Beam weapons
   • Requires Beam Fire Control Range
   • Requires Fire Control Speed Rating
   • Enlargeable to improve both range and tracking speed (1.5x, 2x, 3x and 4x)
   • Can be sized down if extra range or tracking speed is not necessary (50%, 34% and 25%)
   • Can be hardened against electric damage
   • Designed in two varieties: ship-based or PDC-based
   • Multiple beam weapons (or turrets) can be assigned to a single BFC
   • Will show up in EM sensors
4. Passive EM Detection Sensors
   • Always on, undetectable
   • Requires EM Sensor Sensitivity
   • Can vary in size from 0.1 HS (50 tons) to 50 HS (2500 tons)
   • Can be hardened against electric damage
   • Can see colonies (EM output), shields, active sensors and fire controls
5. Passive Thermal Sensors
   • Always on, undetectable
   • Requires Thermal Sensor Sensitivity
   • Can vary in size from 0.1 HS (50 tons) to 50 HS (2500 tons)
   • Can be hardened against electric damage
   • Can see colonies (TH output), engines
6. Geological Survey Sensors
   • Always on
   • Requires Geological Survey Sensors
   • Necessary for finding TN minerals in stellar objects and the location of alien ruins
7. Gravitational Survey Sensors
   • Always on
   • Requires Gravitational Survey Sensors
   • Necessary for surveying gravitational anomalies for jump points

 

[GarfunkeL]

This has also been asked quite a bit, so I thought I'd put up a little guide on

GETTING STUFF AND FOLKS INTO SPACE FOR DUMMIES

There's two things you need before you can create a space navy: infrastructure and technology.

Let's tackle infrastructure first:

1. Build a Mass Driver
2. Build a Commercial Space Port
3. Build a Naval Shipyard
   • Now you can build one vessel, up-to 1,000 tons, at a time, that can be either a military or commercial design
4. Build a Commercial Shipyard
   • Now you can build one vessel, up-to 10,000 tons, at a time, that must be a commercial design
5. Fly around the Solar system and call yourself Captain Kirk

Then technology. This is a little bit trickier because it depends on what you want to do and how well.

1. Research Engine
   • All nations started the game with the possibility of designing and then utilizing Conventional Engines. These are basically modern day chemical rockets. Very inefficient but they will get you around the inner solar system. Ships using these will be very small - definitely under 1,000 tons - and most likely slow as hell (as in under 100 km/sec) but only require ~50RP of research and the infrastructure to build one, as all nations start with the knowledge of Crew Quarters, Fuel Storage and Bridge.
   • If you want better engines, you need to research suitable power plants first. The first TN-generation is Pressurised Water Reactor, 1,500 RP. That will be followed by the actual engine tech, Nuclear Thermal Engine, 2,500 RP.
2. Design a specific engine
   1. Having the general engine tech is not enough, for now you have to design a specific engine, capabilities of which depends on other research you might or might not have done. This project must then be researched normally. These racial specific designs cannot be shared between players, as I'm LARPing that the RP cost here is also to tool industry to build it and so on.
3. Research the necessary technology for the ships primary purpose
   • If the ship is going to be a cargo ship, researching Cargo Handling System, 1,000 RP, is a really good idea, though not strictly necessary - ships can be loaded/unloaded without it, albeit very slowly.
   • If the ship is going to be a colony ship, researching Cryogenic Transport, 1,000 RP, is also a really good idea, as otherwise the colonists are awake and require food during transport, meaning that ships can only carry few hundred instead of the 10,000 colonists that deep freeze allows.
   • If the ship is going to be a mining ship, researching Asteroid Mining Module, 5,000 RP, is a must. Having a separate cargo ship to carry the mined minerals back home would be highly useful as well.
   • If the ship is going to be a fuel harvester, researching Sorium Harvester, 5,000 RP, is a must. Handy tip is to not build any engines in these ships, instead designating them as Fuel Harvesting Bases and using tugs to haul them into a suitably Sorium-rich location. Engines are a waste if you stay still for years and years.
   • If the ship is going to be a terraformer, researching Terraforming Module, 5,000 RP, is a must.
4. Build the ship at the Commercial Shipyard

FUCK THAT! I WANT BATTLECRUISERS THAT GO PEW-PEW!!!

1. Research engine
2. Design a specific engine
3. Decide whether beam or missile armed or a mix of both
4. Research suitable weapons technology (check my earlier post about different weapons for details)
5. Design suitable weapons
6. Research suitable sensor technology (check my earlier post about sensors for details)
7. Design suitable sensors (note that seeing farther than you can shoot is nice but not really necessary, depends on overall fleet doctrine)
8. Name ship class, decide on CO rank and naming convention (optional)
9. Build ship at Naval Shipyard
10. Name the ship Enterprise and call yourself Captain Kirk as you fly towards Green Space Babes blasting space bugs left and right!

 

[Phelot]

Garfunkel, do you know of any other LP's like this that have completed? It would be nice to take a look at.

 

[Cassidy]

1. • If the ship is going to be a cargo ship, researching Cargo Handling System, 1,000 RP, is a really good idea, though not strictly necessary - ships can be loaded/unloaded without it, albeit very slowly.
   • If the ship is going to be a colony ship, researching Cryogenic Transport, 1,000 RP, is also a really good idea, as otherwise the colonists are awake and require food during transport, meaning that ships can only carry few hundred instead of the 10,000 colonists that deep freeze allows.

Typical... cramming the opressed proletariat into a freezer like cattle while the bourgeois fly around in luxury space cruisers.

The free workers of the Libertadores on the other hand, they will leave Earth in great style. Luxury passenger accommodations for everyone!

 

[Curufinwe]

I just had an idea to liven up the diplomatic aspect of the game and take it out of PMs only (which will remain of course) and make it more interesting for us and readers alike: let's use the United Nations.

I'll explain. It would work like this: anyone can write a 'United Nations' post where he will sponsor a proposal (for example: forbid use of nuclear weapons on Earth). After that, it will just be a majority vote, which will be possible since there's 10 of us.

In my example, the East Asian Federation writes a 'United Nations' post where the foreign minister asks for a ban on nuclear weapons on Earth. Then we have a time period (it can be RL or in game time) to vote. After the time period passes, we count the votes and if 6 out of 10 agree nuclear weapons will be banned on Earth. Of course none of these proposals, like in RL politics, will be REALLY binding for anyone, but violating them would give an obvious reputation penalty with the other nations (players).

To avoid easily foreseeable abuse, I think we better avoid crap like sanctions with real in game effects, but stuff like 'Censor the USA because they suck' would still be possible (we can decide if any of those ad-personam proposals would have any consequences later).

What do you think?

 

[GarfunkeL]

Good idea with the UN, definitely. I was planning to LARP the role of General Secretary myself after the game progresses bit further but naturally nothing prevents players from utilizing the UN already.

Phelot There are some good LP's that Steve has done, though there he has played all the factions himself. They are both outdated, one horribly so, but should give you nice ideas:

Firstly there is the really old one, called Trans-Newtonian Campaign. The game plays through several iterations of Aurora, so don't rely on it for technical details but the principles are mostly correct:
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/board,16.0.html
You can download the whole thing as a Word document. The best bit is that there are quite a few factions in the beginning, so I think it is the closest resemblance to our game.

Secondly there's the somewhat newer one, though still bit out-dated one, called Nato vs Soviet Union Campaign, that also includes China. It's only 3 factions but Steve plays all three very differently from each other and as it's a more modern version of Aurora, the technical details are more correct.
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/board,112.0.html
Again, you can download the while thing as a Word document.

I haven't found anything that would exactly mirror our game, in that it's a community game with 11 players each running their own faction.

 

[Computer Gamer Refugee]

This game appears to make dwarf fortress look simple.

I am both intrigued and concerned.


This is also a post to let you know that others are rather enjoying lurking on this topic

 

[Cassidy]

It would be more fun to have an independently ruled and politically neutral space station in a strategically unimportant system instead of banal shit boring and useless straight UN-like.

To be like the epitome of MULTIKULT having its own culturally and ethnically diverse population with some limited expansion capabilities, besides serving as a diplomatic meeting zone.

Like a space Switzerland South Sweden.

 

[Kalin]

 

[Hellraiser]

It would be more fun to have an independently ruled and politically neutral space station in a strategically unimportant system instead of banal shit boring and useless straight UN-like.

To be like the epitome of MULTIKULT having its own culturally and ethnically diverse population with some limited expansion capabilities, besides serving as a diplomatic meeting zone.

Like a space Switzerland South Sweden.

I have a name fitting the epitome of MULTIKULT you are talking about.You could call it...

... the babylon project*.



*In before the first four stations get blown up.

 

[GarfunkeL]

JagreenLern check your PMs, please.

 

[Curufinwe]

Many thanks to Kalin for giving me the 'how-to' to post newspapers

 

[GarfunkeL]

Global News Network
Industrial News
12th December 2017

EUROPEAN ORBITAL SHIPYARD DECLARED READY FOR BUSINESS!

In a ceremony, that was curiously held planet-side, EU officials toasted the European spirit and engineering skill as the first European orbital shipyard complex, named Schichau, was officially declared to be "in business". GNN was not permitted entrance to the actual shipyard but our sources could reveal that it floats completely in space, anchored on what is known as a Geo-synchronous orbit, above Europe. This is to facilitate easier movement of materials from the European mass driver.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Notice to players:
Each SY can do a single complex task in addition to build ships on its slipways. Currently there is 10,000 tons of capacity and 1 slipway - meaning that you can build a single ship at a time, up to size 10,000. If the ship design is smaller, it will be built faster.
The possible complex activities are:

• Add extra slipway - $240, 120 Duranium, 120 Neutronium
• Add 500 ton capacity per slipway - $12, 6 Duranium, 6 Neutronium per slipway
• Add 1,000 ton capacity per slipway - $24, 12 Duranium, 12 Neutronium per slipway
• Add 2,000 ton capacity per slipway - $48, 24 Duranium, 24 Neutronium per slipway
• Add 5,000 ton capacity per slipway - $120, 60 Duranium, 60 Neutronium per slipway
• Add 10,000 ton capacity per slipway - $240, 120 Duranium, 120 Neutronium per slipway
• Retool for Selected class - depends on class
• Continual Capacity Expansion - always increasing the size of the SY, can easily eat away minerals, can be cancelled at any time without penalties - if you cancel of the other projects, all work will be lost

 

[Cassidy]

Playing with UK is really easy when it comes to posting news itt:

http://charlieharvey.org.uk/daily_mail.pl

Example:

IS THE LABOUR PARTY KILLING BRITISH SOVEREIGNTY?

Now boffins have discovered that gangs of children, some still in their prams can cause cancer as well as being, frankly, distasteful.

Docktawh Gillian Keith, speaking from her underground nutrition dome said, "Ever since The deputy commisioner of the Metropolitan Police told me about it, I have been trying to cure setting fire to libraries with a powerful mix of micronutrients, goji berries and spirulina."

She added "As it turns out setting fire to libraries is almost completely identical to cancer, in how it affects the balance of our chakras. And everybody knows that setting fire to libraries is mostly caused by gangs of children, some still in their prams, who are known to promote a negative orgone balance in the red layer of the energy rainbow."

Of course liberal-minded multiculturalists will no doubt assume that comparing gangs of children, some still in their prams to carcinogens is "racist", but they can't deny the simple facts of the case. And the Mail is happy to back Gillian's words; she gave us a fresh insight into Broken Britain by saying, "These dole-scrounging n'er-do-wells must be eliminated at all costs.".

 

[GarfunkeL]

It is now 2nd January 2018. Annual status reports are incoming.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Reports sent. As there is nothing urgent required from players, the game will continue.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Game stopped on 28th January 2018, waiting for critical input.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Game stopped on 8th May 2018, waiting for critical input.

Also, thanks to all the players who have sent me their industrial production and research queues. Makes running the game faster. Especially useful now that it looks like that 5.70 version of Aurora won't appear shortly after all, so there's time to play few more years before the Big Shift will happen.

 

[Curufinwe]

8th May, 2018
U.S.-E.A.F. scientific symposium wraps up its workings in Cambridge, MA.

After weeks of debates and professorial expositions the first U.S.-E.A.F. scientific symposium announces the end of its proceedings. Tuan Conclasure, professor hemeritus of Engineering Sciences at Harvard, interviewed by Fox News, expressed his satisfaction at 'the free-flowing exchange of ideas and brain-teasing theories that emerged from the collaboration between two of the foremost scientific communities in the known world'.
Although part of the meeting was held behind closed doors, an anonymous source in the American entourage said that 'he hopes similar events will be held again in the future, what we learned in the last few weeks will surely kick-start again our research program which was becoming... stale.'

U.S. secretary of State Lance Gheen, prodded by our reporter, denied any governmental interest in the proceedings except 'a little collaboration in removing some of the beaurocratic red-tape invariably associated with these meetings. America will always help the free-flow of ideas, that hasn't changed in this new, space-faring era we are entering in'.

 

[Hellraiser]

Kwa is technological thridworldia and needs the Asian ubermensch to help them with their sciencemagificks

 

[GarfunkeL]

Game stopped on 28th July 2018, waiting for critical input.

DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuu.....

 

[Phelot]

What is this ominous music I hear?

 

[Cassidy]

What is this ominous music I hear?

ULTIMATE DOOM EXPANSION SET FOR EARTH. NEXT 30 DAYS. WATCH AND SEE