Lamentations of the Damned: Playing Far Horizons for the very first time

[Ramblurr]

So, what was the source of this particular bug or error? When my turn orders arrive (I send them the same way, each turn), are they in text format? Or do they arrive in HTML format?

I answered this in a reply to your email, but I'll include it here (with some edits) for the edification of others:

Email, in 2011, is much, much more complicated, and vastly different than it was in the 90s and early 00s. For this game (GA) I've been working on making the email processing robustly handle all the types of email players are sending me.

The orders you send from Outlook actually has two messages embedded in it. One is HTML and the other is plain text. My program has to specifically look for the plain text portion, and ignore the HTML portion. Thankfully it seems like Outlook Express does this as its default behavior. Some clients send HTML only.

Is the bug in question in the Far Horizons code? Or is it in third-party software that you are using to fetch all of our turn orders from your e-mail in-box?

Yes. No.

There is no 3rd party software involved in FH. The bug was simply a regression from an earlier bug fix. Technical details follow (and stringy code)
This was the offending commit that broke the orders fetcher.
This is the commit that fixed the regression. Turns out there was one case where decoding the payload was not a good idea: when the top most payload is not a message-part but in fact contains child payloads.

[GrimFinger]

ENTRY FIFTEEN

Time travel is possible, it seems, if one is a game moderator. We are back to the future, or back to the past, or back to the present. I am not sure which, exactly. Regardless, the previous turn results were rendered a nullity, and consequently, void. They never happened.

Things proceed apace, as planned. Our large space fleet now plies the heavens, revealing world after world - soon to be ours. Soon to be MINE!!

Of course, it would help if we actually understood how to colonize these worlds. We have mastered the art of exploration, it seems. The stars have become as mere trinkets, and we move between them at a leisurely pace. But, colonization evades us. The techno-runes are cursed!! Executions have been ordered.

A new starship, a vessel built for war, now awaits its opportunity to do my bidding. Our enemies suspect nothing. The element of surprise is ours!

Where is that fool, Desaad?

[GrimFinger]

ENTRY SIXTEEN

The one constant of the universe is that confusion reigns.

Another turn has passed. The fog of confusion associated with playing this game increases several fold. Due to a death in my family, no turn orders were issued for this turn. Yet, what should appear? A man with a sleigh pulled by tiny reindeer.

No. Wait! That wasn't my turn results for this game. Now, where are they? Oh, here they are. Right in the folder on my computer's hard driver that I downloaded them to.

The turn results start off well enough, with a note from the game's moderator. Likely, it's a canned note, one routine for any empire that misses issuing turn orders for a given turn. Why this is more important news than encountering another space faring species is anybody's guess, though. This is a rather subdued way to announce close encounters of this kind.

The SP Tilkata, they call themselves. A race of space-faring fish, no doubt. Perhaps they come in peace. Or, perhaps they are Consortium spies. It matters little. They are clearly a warlike species. At the moment, I have bigger fish to fry.

[GrimFinger]

ENTRY SEVENTEEN

While admiring the new behemoth of a warship recently constructed, expanding the empire's war fleet capabilities significantly, word arrived from the depths of cold, dark space.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Aliens at x = 31, y = 19, z = 30:
Colony planet PL OfflineCache (pl #3) SP Consortium
(Economic base is approximately 6.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Offline Cache, eh? How very fitting, for in light of their threats and acts of sabotage, this world would find itself offline soon enough, indeed. A message from this species arrived shortly thereafter:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bold Minions of Darkseid!
I see you have stumbled across one of our outlying
colonies. Please move on. This system is has restricted
access. There will be no further warnings.
If, by chance, you wish to open communications, set your
signal beacons to this frequency: ***.*******@*****.***
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Insignificant fools!! I will take their entire species offline, for their puny threats. Long have the Consortium and their allies been behind sabotage and attempted infiltration of my empire. They seek to warn us - they seek to warn ME?! It is they, who should be warned, for they have sealed their own doom.

Minions, the need for sacrifice on your part is all the greater now. There can be no rest, for these interlopers seek to rape worlds that do not belong to them. They are driven by greed.

Dispatch war fleets to their worlds. Their destiny has arrived. Their destruction is at hand!

For I.....am.....DARKSEID!!

[GrimFinger]

ENTRY EIGHTEEN

Damned fools!!

What do you mean that you overlooked reporting an alien homeworld to me, several years ago?? Who are they, these insignificant insects that crave to be exterminated??

The Consortium?!

<Darkseid vaporizes his messenger with a bolt of Omega Beams that burst unexpectedly from his eyes.>

There are no oversights in intergalactic war, you fools! I command your obedience. Give to me a full report!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Aliens at x = 32, y = 19, z = 34:
Home planet PL Ancient Temple (pl #3) SP Consortium
(Economic base is approximately 190.)
Colony planet PL InfoMine (pl #4) SP Consortium
(Economic base is approximately 7.)
TR1 DEEP SCOUT 05 (A5,D) SP Tilkata
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ah, so that is where these space worms hide. Their presence could not long evade my senses, as was to be expected.

Desaad, they are to be destroyed! I command you - annihilate them!! Lay waste to their empire, and exterminate these vermin.

WHAT?!

Their allies? Do not trouble me with such trivial details, Desaad! You have your orders. See to it that you carry them out - to the letter.

Or it is you, Desaad, that shall taste my fury unleashed!

Do not fail me, Desaad. Do.....not.....fail.....ME!!

[GrimFinger]

ENTRY NINETEEN

Granny Goodness had arrived in sector. She had been dispatched by Darkseid as Ambassador to the Consortium - an ambassador of war!

Long had this galaxy basked in relative peace. This Harmony of the Ages was about to be abruptly ended. How very fitting, then, that the author of its destruction would be Darkseid.

A long chain of events had long since been set into motion, the ripple effect of which would eventually span the length and breadth of the entire galaxy. This was not the result of chance or mere happenstance. Rather, this was a culmination of cold calculation.

Intercepts of transmissions along entire communication spectrums had been occurring for years on end. The entire mass of space in this galaxy had been seeded at Darkseid's direction. It was beyond question that there was method to his madness, but to what end? What grand purpose motivated him escaped even Desaad's cunning mind.

The war forges of the empire were churning out warships with ever-increasing size and regularity. The early scouting efforts had paid off. Entire worlds now fell under Darkseid's sway with systematic precision. The rape and plunder of these worlds fueled an explosion in new Apokoliptian technologies.

Granny Goodness was the vanguard of the invasion force. The peace-loving fools of the Consortium had severely miscalculated. There was a reason that proper implements of war were hideously expensive. It all just depends upon how much that a given species values their survival and their freedom.

Granny Goodness locked her weapons on target. For a moment, time, itself, seemed to pause, and the priesthood of peace stood ready to be sacrificed upon the altar of one who calls himself........DARKSEID!!

[GrimFinger]

ENTRY TWENTY

ACK!! The attack of the ISP has foiled our plans. Bastards!!

The Consortium, acting in league with my Internet Service Provider (ISP), disrupted all communications grids within my empire. As a consequence of this treacherous act, no orders could be issued to my empire's forces. Confound these intergalactic heathen!

Finally getting back online, last night, I was too tired to try and sort through the hieroglyphics that have been passed off on us players as a rulebook for this game. So, I went to bed, and it felt good. It may well have been the best decision of my rule, to date.

The turn results, having not been run this morning, by the time that I roused from my overdue slumber, meant that I could try to slip some orders past the game moderator, before the processing clock struck the witching hour.

The Consortium player, rumored to be a Tibetan monk on crack, maintains a news blackout. That fool!! Does he not realize that such only serves the interests of the Boredom Empire?

Current starship sensor scans reveal the following:

Aliens at x = 31, y = 19, z = 30:
Colony planet PL OfflineCache (pl #3) SP Consortium
(Economic base is approximately 6.)
ES AntiVirus (A2,O3) SP Consortium

The ISP's treachery allowed these Consortium fools to dispatch an escort ship to counter the recent arrival of Granny Goodness into the contested sector.

My Worldforges continue to churn out implements of war, as my main warfleets continue to amass their strength, in preparation of the Consortium's annihilation-to-come. Assuming, of course, that I don't die of boredom in the meantime.

From my perspective as a player, this game is dreadful, insofar as the sense of dread that consumes me, if I am faced with the prospect of trying to issue turn orders quickly.

Most players in this game of Far Horizons have seen fit to not even bother to post in the forum, here. For all practical purposes, they are irrelevant to me, as a new player to this game. Their self-induced silence only serves as a continuous motivation for me to drop the game. Playing mind games with the Consortium player is the brightest star in the constellation of game players in Far Horizons for me, to date. Of the multiple other alien space empires that my empire has encountered in the game to date, my empire has maintained a wall of silence, as far as direct player-to-player communications is concerned.

How much of an impact my play of my empire, thus far, has had on the other players in this game to date remains largely a mystery. The Consortium player has, it seems, altered his empire's decisions to some degree, based upon my own in-game actions and forum postings.

My choice of playing my empire has not been with an eye towards the survival of my species. That seemed a rather drab choice, so I opted for something else. Namely, the destruction of the Consortium.

Why? Because I can, that's why.

Eventually, other players in the game will seek my empire's destruction. There are more than enough of them to pull that off, I'm certain - particularly since I don't understand the full mechanics of the rune that is the game manual.

The real question, though, is not that, but rather, what will be the eventual fate of the Consortium?

Humorously, their fate is death. Their homeworld's location long since revealed to other players in this game that also read these forums, they are a sitting duck. Consequently, they must undertake accelerated military preparations - and heightened communications with other players, lest the Consortium fall into a state of galactic ruin, sooner rather than later.

If other players do not seek out and engage the Consortium militarily, then they will build a formidable alliance with their early space contacts. The longer that they are given to build up, the harder that they will be to overcome over the long term - especially since they already have at least one ally in the game.

More than once, thus far, I have contemplated dropping out of this game. If I did, what then?

Well, I suspect that the game would be largely played out in relative silence, save for player-to-player communications via e-mail, once more empires come into contact with one another over the course of game play. In this sense, the game would be much like the game of old, I suspect.

[GrimFinger]

ENTRY TWENTY-ONE

Combat log:

Battle orders were received for sector 31, 19, 30. The following species
are present:

SP Consortium is mobilized and ready for combat.
SP Minions of Darkseid does not appear to be ready for combat.
But no one was willing to throw the first punch!

End of battle in sector 31, 19, 30.

And, of course, a direct communication from the Consortium slime.

You received the following message from SP Consortium:

Foul Minions of Darkseid!
You have sent a warship into one of our many peaceful
colony systems, after having scanned it with your
treacherous scout ship! While your ship is rather puny
and not much of a threat to Consortium interests, we can
not avoid the conclusion that you are asking us for a
right solid beat-down. We hope to accommadate you as
soon as possible.

*** End of Message ***

All in all, a dreadfully boring turn.

[GrimFinger]

ENTRY TWENTY-TWO

"Sire," Desaad began. "Conflict has been initiated."

"About time," Darkseid responded. "For years, you fools have piddled around, with nothing to show for your efforts."

"These things take time, sire," Desaad replied, a growing sense of uneasiness causing his heart to beat faster. "I have good news to report, sire."

"Then, out with it, you fool!" the evil one replied, even as he turned his back to Desaad, in order to gaze out across the view afforded him from where he stood in the compound.

"As you well know, sire, the Consortium..."

"Damn the Consortium!" Darkseid bellowed. "They are a race of fools led by fools!"

"Yes, sire," Desaad continued, the sense of dread within him starting to build. He always hated those times when he was the messenger, for Darkseid's unpredictable nature sometimes bode ill for messengers, regardless of whether the news was good or bad. "The Consortium ship opened fire, first, and..."

"WHAT?!" the evil overlord raged. "What do you mean that they fired first, Desaad?"

Desaad quivered.

"You were given explicit orders, Desaad," Darkseid barked gruffly in the direction of his servant and adviser.

"But, sire, the enemy has been destroyed," Desaad quickly responded. "Our Apokoliptian technology was much too advanced for the Consortium to deal with."

"Our Apokoliptian technology?? What do you mean, OUR Apokoliptian technology, Desaad," quizzed Darkseid, his eyes beginning to glow a dark crimson.

"Infinite apologies," Desaad replied, as he stepped back a bit, as Darkseid's eyes began to glow. "YOUR Apokoliptian technology, sire. It was too much for the enemy to handle."

"Of course it was, you fool!"

Desaad continued, "M'Lord, the Consortium war vessel, an antique quaintly named AntiVirus, must have been crewed by green recuits. They opened fire on Granny Goodness."

The evil Desaad went on to detail the report of the exchange of fire between the two species' warships. The AntiVirus, perhaps seeking the element of surprise, launched a salvo against Granny Goodness. The Apokoliptian ship was prepared, however, and the AntiVirus hit only empty space. Apokoliptian electronic counter-measures had prevailed.

Instantaneous retaliation followed.

The AntiVirus was struck, the impact causing multiple deaths and injuries throughout the ship's crew. The Consortium's captain ordered his ship to fire again, which they did, only to once again miss the intended target.

Granny Goodness, well outside of visible range of the AntiVirus, maintained its status of locked weapons on its adversary. An Ambassador of War, Granny Goodness responded to the second missed salvo fired by the AntiVirus.

The impact of weapons fire caused a series of bright explosions across the AntiVirus' bow, followed almost immediately by a huge explosion. Then, the AntiVirus was no more.

Just as the Apokoliptian starship prepared to target the Consortium planet in-sector, a large vessel warped in. It was quickly identified as the Consortium vessel, SystemBus, a large TR8 class of space freighter.

Shortly thereafter, another vessel warped into the sector. This, however, was no Consortium vessel. This was the Tilkatan starship, Colony Prime. The crew of Granny Goodness duly reported back these new findings.

In Darkseid's mind, there could be only one explanation.

CONSPIRACY!!

Elsewhere in the galaxy, Kalibak had encountered yet another space-faring species - The Neohumans.

What would this new species portend for the galaxy?

[GrimFinger]

ENTRY TWENTY-THREE

What is good in life? To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.

Or, so it has been said.

As the Consortium player laments the loss of half his navy (yet another Consortium lie!), perhaps Ixnay will learn from the error of his ways. For one thing, a species centered around the concept of technology should know better than to not keep their AntiVirus protection up to date. And for another thing, the Consortium is not well served by mistaking Darkseid for a virus.

It wasn't so very long ago that Ixnay declared the conflict with Darkseid to be a phony war. Prior to that, he had declared Darkseid's scout to be the remnant of some ancient civilization, long since gone from the Consortium's star cluster.

More recently, he had declared Granny Goodness to be puny, and not much of a threat to Consortium interests.

With the arrival of two rather sizable transports in the contested sector, this turn, this star system has now become a target rich environment for Granny Goodness - the loss of either of which, individually, poses the potential for the loss of greater economic investment than the recently destroyed Consortium warship, AntiVirus.

The enemy will want revenge, of course. They always want revenge. It doesn't matter what the particular species is. All species always want revenge, it seems.

The Consortium, failing to understand its enemy, pays the price, accordingly, for basking in ignorance. Ignorance, of course, is the antitheses of an information-based society. And the Consortium's government wonders why many of the Consortium's citizens have criticized their government's handling of interstellar relations. Because the Consortium's government has proven itself to be utterly incompetent, that's why!

All propaganda and intentions aside, the evidence is clear - the Consortium fired first!

Combat log:

Battle orders were received for sector 31, 19, 30. The following species
are present:

SP Minions of Darkseid is mobilized and ready for combat.
SP Consortium is mobilized and ready for combat.

The battle begins in deep space, outside the range of planetary
defenses...

Units present:
SP Minions of Darkseid: ES Granny Goodness (A3,D)
SP Consortium: ES AntiVirus (A3,D)

Now doing round 1:
ES AntiVirus fires on ES Granny Goodness and misses!
ES Granny Goodness fires on ES AntiVirus and hits!
Now doing round 2:
ES AntiVirus fires on ES Granny Goodness and misses!
ES Granny Goodness fires on ES AntiVirus and hits!
ES AntiVirus was destroyed.

End of battle in sector 31, 19, 30.

The responsibility for the galactic conflagration that follows, then, lies properly at the Consortium's feet.

It was no mere coincidence that the large Tilkatan transport arrived in-sector in the very same disputed star system on the very same turn as the large Consortium transport. The Tilkatans' intention is crystal clear - to provide aid and comfort to the enemy.

As both the Consortium and the Tilkata now begin to transition to more of a proper war footing, in order to better deal with the threat posed by the alien species that faces them, these Minions of the entity known now as Darkseid, communication and coordination between those species will now take place at an accelerated rate.

None of which will, of course, help either of them next turn.

There is a lot about this game that I don't yet understand. I do understand, however, how to destroy the vessels of their respective star fleets.

While both species now make military preparations for full scale space warfare, and while both species now pray to their respective gods, neither of them have demonstrated themselves to be competent in the art of inter-species communication.

All evidence to date is that neither of these two space faring empires crave peace between themselves and Darkseid and his Minions. Accordingly, then, it comes as no real surprise that both empires stand at the brink of an abyss of conflict with Darkseid. Peace is not a priority of either empire, their internal and external propaganda notwithstanding.

Peace is not a concept taken seriously by either species. Neither is survival, apparently. Else, how does one explain the nearly non-existent effort that the two species, combined, have put into communicating effectively with the alien adversary that now looms large in their respective trains of thought?

After token efforts at communicating, failure ensues. How very unsurprising, when one pauses and takes time to reflect upon such meager efforts.

The Consortium plots and schemes to conquer outer-lying worlds, in order to plunder and rape them of their natural resources. They do so in order to ensure that their empire can deal with any potential military threats, over the long term.

The universe is large - incredibly large. But, the galaxy is relatively small, compared to the vast expanse of the entire universe.

Did the Consortium really and truly believe that its scheme to ravage worlds - to exploit them for ill-conceived Consortium gain, would go unnoticed by the powers that be scattered across the galactic rim?

The fate of the AntiVirus and its crew is a testimony to the failure of the Consortium government's thinking. That species' government has chosen to willfully, deliberately, and consciously ignore repeated warnings, and it was even so utterly foolish as to communicate a direct threat to Darkseid via the in-game communication system. And all of this was done in the interests of.....peace?? That seems rather unlikely, and quite illogical.

The Consortium's flaunting of its friendship with the Tilkatans does that species precious little good, looking at things from Darkseid's perspective. In earnest truth, why shouldn't Darkseid now target the Tilkatans for military retaliation?

Very soon, the combined Tilkatan and Consortium star fleets should arrive on scene to deal with the threat posed by Darkseid's war machine. Accordingly, the arrival of such is unlikely to catch Darkseid by surprise. Indeed, Darkseid may well be counting on it.

Of course, what do I know, though? The mechanics of this game largely remain a mystery to me. War, however, I am no stranger to.