Ad Astra! ... an Aurora Forum Game, run by blue emu

[blue emu]

Three to seven years is a long time. Would it be worth having one basic troop transport (perhaps with another role?) at game start for situations like this, so that you could leave shipyards geared for warships, scouts and freighters etc, or would it take too many research and build points needed elsewhere?

It would have been a good idea, yes. Unfortunately, at game start I had no researcher at all in two of the Tech fields, and had to spend about two-thirds of my points covering those bases... so I was really tight for research points.

You can only tool a shipyard for a ship design that has been created and you can only design ship if you have all of the techs researched. Those techs are not going to be researched very early by anyone unless they are "cheating".

I expect that it could be done if you were willing to focus the points on it... but I wasn't in a position to do that.

 

[Capt. Kiwi]

It would have been a good idea, yes. Unfortunately, at game start I had no researcher at all in two of the Tech fields, and had to spend about two-thirds of my points covering those bases... so I was really tight for research points.



I expect that it could be done if you were willing to focus the points on it... but I wasn't in a position to do that.

Fair enough, I'd forgotten you had no construction or missile experts, and they are more important.

A troop transport bay takes what, 2000 RP? Double that to allow for component design, use propulsion etc from other designs, and sacrifice one starting ship and you can have one if your scientists are more favourable.

Actually, is it possible to adapt an existing design you already have tooled to include a troop transport bay, in such a way that it's similar enough not to have to retool?

 

[blue emu]

Actually, is it possible to adapt an existing design you already have tooled to include a troop transport bay, in such a way that it's similar enough not to have to retool?

I'll certainly check, when I get the tech done. It will be finished in late December of this year.

I thought they're not the Grooms anymore. They're the Charlies.

In my heart, they'll always be "Goons".

 

[Capt. Kiwi]

I don't know whether it would actually work in practise, but the idea would be to have something like your "Astronomer", "Geologist" and "General" (my name suggestion ) class ships share the same hull, so you can rapidly switch production. I'd guess a transport bay is a darn sight bigger than a couple of sensors though, so you'd probably do it with another class. I have no idea what a troop transport needs to know whether it should be based on scouts, destroyers, cruisers, freighters...

 

[blue emu]

I don't know whether it would actually work in practise, but the idea would be to have something like your "Astronomer", "Geologist" and "General" (my name suggestion ) class ships share the same hull, so you can rapidly switch production. I'd guess a transport bay is a darn sight bigger than a couple of sensors though, so you'd probably do it with another class. I have no idea what a troop transport needs to know whether it should be based on scouts, destroyers, cruisers, freighters...

Unfortunately, it's not that easy. My Geologist and my Astronomer are identical designs, except that one has two Geo sensors and the other has two Grav sensors. The designs are considered "too different" for a shipyard to switch between them without retooling.

I was planning to try my Colony ship, with the Suspended Animation Tanks replaced by Troop Transport Bays, and if that didn't work, try the Freighter. To be honest, I don't expect either attempt to work.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Wow, so much progress during the last hours. Congrats to the Diplo-/Xeno-teams. Let`s build up friendly relations with them.

 

[billy bob]

Boss, I would also like to say that I am willing to chart the new system along with Commander Rackham. Let us lead the first wave of humanity in establishing our control on this new Haven.

 

[blue emu]

November 15th 2026. It has been months since my last entry. To say that I've been too busy to write would be an understatement. I've been too busy to think... to eat or sleep. It's been just one damned thing after another.

First there was the discovery of three habitable planets in the Groombridge 34 system. Three!... and one of them nearly Earth-like! That discovery set off a flurry in Fleet Ops that almost amounted to a stampede. In a series of exhausting Council sessions, I managed to convince them that we must exploit this opportunity even if it meant spending money that we didn't have... money that didn't even exist. Of course, this meant abandoning our efforts to bring the budget under control... and of course, I was accused of breaking my promise. Damn it... the budget was under control! I had promised to balance it within twelve months, and after nine of those twelve months had passed, we had reduced the deficit by more than 75%. We were exactly on schedule to reach zero deficit by the end of the year. I didn't invent the God-damned planets... but since they're there, the opportunity must be exploited. It would have been criminal of us to let this chance slip out of our grasp.

And then... Contact. Aliens in the Groombridge system. It's almost enough to drive me mad. We finally find the opportunity of the century... and someone else has found it too. Now the colonization plans have to be put on hold, while we deal with the question of these Aliens. Question? Dear God, I wish it were that simple. There are hundreds of questions... and no answers. Who are these Aliens? Where do they come from? Groombridge? Or further away? How much further away?

... and what do they want? Earth? Are they hostile? Warriors or businessmen? Angels or devils? And can we negotiate with them?... or are their modes of thought simply too different from ours to reach any common understanding?

No answers... but we must prepare for the worst. Thank God I was able to talk the Council into starting the Missile Factories up again back in April, before any of this came up... if we had left them shut down until now, it would be next May before any new armaments reached the Navy. What a fiasco.

The Diplomatic Corps has managed to establish a measure of communication with the Grooms, but I'm told that they're being evasive on just about every important point. After weeks of communication, they've still told us nothing about where they come from, or what they want, or even whether Groombridge is part of their Empire. Stalling. They must be stalling for time. Just like we are.

We need the time desperately. Our new warships won't be ready for more than a year. Our new designs are even further in the future. We still have no way to deploy troops off-Earth. No way to move our defense complexes. No way to guard the jump entry-points to Sol except by risking our fleet. Our fleet of three ships.

I suppose there are a few bright spots in the picture. Our Xeno-archeology team on Procyon VII... or perhaps I should say, on Dravar XV... made a wonderful breakthrough, obtaining locus information on nine probable artifact sites. Now all we need is some way to get Engineers to the spot, to dig up the booty. And Marines to protect them, of course. These old records mentioned Guardians... whether they would still be active, hundreds or perhaps thousands of years later, is an open question.

I guess we'll find out.

 

[ForzaA]

... starting to make a bit of progress...

Is this Josh Myers a forum character?

If not, could mr. Myers have an unfortunate incident, after which he is replaced by Henry D'Aazrof, who has an uncanny resemblance to mr. Myers?

Otherwise, put me in the queue for either the engineers or whichever new scientist comes along.

 

[blue emu]

Is this Josh Myers a forum character?

If not, could mr. Myers have an unfortunate incident, after which he is replaced by Henry D'Aazrof, who has an uncanny resemblance to mr. Myers?

Otherwise, put me in the queue for either the engineers or whichever new scientist comes along.

Josh Myers is a non-Player Character, and he's about to be replaced by Henry D'Aazrof.

He (Henry D'Aazrof) is an expert in Defensive Systems (Force Fields etc), with a +35% bonus in his area of expertise. He can coordinate the activity of up to ten Labs toward his project's goal, and he is decisive and somewhat dogmatic... he doesn't accept change easily.

 

[unmerged(21821)]

We must begin preparations for a defensive invasion!

 

[Taklagarn]

Oh, I'm starting to like my comet more and more, while you get extinct by the Grooms/Charlies, I will be super safe up here with my puppy! And with my cookies and cakes since noone have picked them up...

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Oh, I'm starting to like my comet more and more, while you get extinct by the Grooms/Charlies, I will be super safe up here with my puppy! And with my cookies and cakes since noone have picked them up...

Don`t get me wrong, but you desperately need a vacancy to see some people.

 

[Coinneach]

Well things are certainly better than they could be - a thus-far non-hostile alien race and some shiny new toys from the Precursors in a few years. And I've got a second medal, which makes all our other woes seem inconsequential!

 

[Lurken]

Wow! I go to sleep, and one night later the team have established contact with a friendly alien race. Nice!

 

[dublish]

Fascinating stuff, I'll have to start a game of my own. Requesting a character, preferably captain of some useful ship. Or a fighter.

 

[blue emu]

Fascinating stuff, I'll have to start a game of my own. Requesting a character, preferably captain of some useful ship. Or a fighter.

For ships... we have a few Geological scout-ships, two Colony Transports, a Tanker or two, a few Freighters, and over a dozen Fighters.

 

[Lord Blekinge]

damn, you are out of contact for a couple of days and we meet Grooms, discover a new waypoint. I guess the good old Thor is still just going along

 

[blue emu]

damn, you are out of contact for a couple of days and we meet Grooms, discover a new waypoint. I guess the good old Thor is still just going along

Thor is still in action, yes. All of our ships are. I'm still astonished that Schwuermann survived that encounter with the Grooms... as mentioned before, every other alien race I've ever met has been bat-shit homicidal crazy.

 

[FelisSilvestris]

Schuermann most certainly deserves a medal for his luck and calmness during the first contact.