Reach For The Stars - a C# Aurora 2.1.0 Forum Game - Hosted by Blue Emu

[blue emu]

Lots of gameplay changes in the new version of C# Aurora (v2.1.0):

- An improved financial reporting and budgeting system
- A new alien hazard type : Aether Raiders
- A new colony type : Deep Space Populations and Ark modules
- Elliptical orbits for planets, asteroids and comets
- Many other, more minor changes.

We will join my test game, already in progress. Begun as a Conventional Start game in 1960, it is now in 1966 and we are just beginning to explore the Solar System.

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Game parameters (except that I changed my mind and turned on the Aether Raiders):

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Our game starts in 1960, with a world population of 2.5 billion. Earth's minerals were re-rolled until we got at least 100,000 tons of each. We start with only real-world conventional tech, and with no points to purchase any techs, armies or space ships. We'll have to bootstrap our way up into the Space Age.

 

[hyme]

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Edit:
How strong are the Aether Raiders? No more undefended supply routes?

 

[blue emu]

The Sol system:

Our initial research, with a strong focus on getting the early Ground Unit techs sorted out so that we can start building Garrison units.

Our early construction queue, with a focus on getting a primitive survey vessel launched so that we can start locating ore deposits and planning our early-game strategy. Note that we are using Factory pre-builds to speed up the assembly of our first Geo-Survey Vessel. Also a couple of new shipyards.

The first month or so is spent pre-building ship components and researching the weapons and equipment needed to field Garrison units, to help guard our planet.

 

[hyme]

I always thought this was stuff for the AI and doesn't do anything for the player. Is that right?

 

[blue emu]

I always thought this was stuff for the AI and doesn't do anything for the player. Is that right?

View attachment 872898

Some of that affects the rate of increase (or decrease) of opinion when confronting an alien race. If the opinion gets too low (-150?), they go hostile.

 

[blue emu]

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Edit:
How strong are the Aether Raiders? No more undefended supply routes?

Pretty sure they can smash any undefended civilian ships (freighters or colony ships) and even raid undefended planets.

Navies will now have to include Trade Protection and Convoy Escort among their duties, and we'll need to design and build escort vessels for that purpose.

 

[blue emu]

Ground unit design, early tech Garrison battalion. These units are basically for crowd control, not for defense against aliens.

Our ground unit build queue in late 1960:

The new financial reporting makes it much easier to spot fiscal trends.

 

[blue emu]

By early 1965, we had enough tech progress accumulated to design and build a few crude space ships. Two primitive Geo-Survey Vessels were assembled, and a few early model Freighters as well. 400 units of life support infrastructure (enough to support roughly 2 million colonists) was constructed, and then shipped to the Moon in preparation for setting up a Lunar colony. We are still one tech short of designing a primitive Colony Ship to transfer the colonists to the Moon.

Our survey vessel has found a few deposits of ore, with the atmosphere of Jupiter and the mineralized deposits on Europa and the Comet Tempel-1 being the most signifigant finds.

The search for minerals in the Sol system continues. Only 18% of the Sol system has so far been explored.

 

[blue emu]

By the spring of 1966, our initial two minimal-sized shipyards - one 1,000-ton Naval yard and one 10,000-ton Commercial yard - had expanded to five yards with a sixth yard under construction:

 

[blue emu]

August 1966. Our first primitive Colony Ship is launched. We can now start our Lunar colony, which in turn might jump-start the Civilian shipping lines.

 

[hyme]

What start did you pick?

 

[blue emu]

What start did you pick?

From post #1:

"... my test game, already in progress. Begun as a Conventional Start game in 1960, it is now in 1966 and we are just beginning to explore the Solar System."

 

[blue emu]

By January 1967, we now have three Freighters, one Colony Ship and two Geosurvey Craft launched. All are rather primitive, with weak engines and poor sensors.

 

[jacob-Lundgren]

Forward move into our destiny! Think of all the 'space islands' waiting to be claimed with flags!

 

[blue emu]

A civilian company has established a mining settlement on one of the Earth-grazing asteroids, Apophis.

... not sure quite how, since they don't have any ships.

 

[jacob-Lundgren]

Mafia scam, be careful of what they offer.

 

[blue emu]

Our factories have been very busy... busier than our Navy, in fact.

We started the game with 4000 old-style, pre-TN factories, which each produce 1 point of mining, 1 point of construction, 1 point of fighter assembly, 1 point of missile assembly and 1 point of space-fuel synthesis.

In addition to a whole list of important early-game tasks... pre-building space-ship components to speed up ship assembly, building life-support infrastructure to enable us to create a Lunar colony, building financial centers to pay for our Navy and our construction projects, building deep space tracking systems so that we can keep a watchful eye on the inner solar system... we have also been gradually converting those 4000 pre-TN factories into specialized modern factories, which each produce 10 points of a single resource instead of 1 point each of five different resources. So far 1800 factories have been converted, tripling both our mining rate and our construction rate.

Our colony on the Moon has expanded to 1.66 million people. Since the Moon only contains marginally exploitable minerals, I've got the Lunar colonists running financial centers.

 

[Avernite]

Our factories have been very busy... busier than our Navy, in fact.

We started the game with 4000 old-style, pre-TN factories, which each produce 1 point of mining, 1 point of construction, 1 point of fighter assembly, 1 point of missile assembly and 1 point of space-fuel synthesis.

In addition to a whole list of important early-game tasks... pre-building space-ship components to speed up ship assembly, building life-support infrastructure to enable us to create a Lunar colony, building financial centers to pay for our Navy and our construction projects, building deep space tracking systems so that we can keep a watchful eye on the inner solar system... we have also been gradually converting those 4000 pre-TN factories into specialized modern factories, which each produce 10 points of a single resource instead of 1 point each of five different resources. So far 1800 factories have been converted, tripling both our mining rate and our construction rate.

Our colony on the Moon has expanded to 1.66 million people. Since the Moon only contains marginally exploitable minerals, I've got the Lunar colonists running financial centers.

Weird thought, but - why not put 1 mine on the moon, just so you eventually get those resources?

Or are mines at such a premium compared to just getting some financial centers that it's not a good plan? I just feel wasting such a near-earth deposit is a pity.

(also: nice you got us a new story again )

 

[blue emu]

Weird thought, but - why not put 1 mine on the moon, just so you eventually get those resources?

Since each mine deployed to the Moon is a mine that ISN'T being deployed on Earth, we would only gain minerals on the margin:

Mineral gain = (Total Ore concentrations on the Moon) -minus- (total Ore concentrations on Earth)

... and at the moment that number is strongly negative, not positive. Once Earth starts running out of minerals, that balance will shift.

 

[Culise]

I haven't been able to try the new version yet, so I definitely look forward to seeing what the raiders throw at you.