FH - game log of another noob

[Ramblurr]

First Contact! Huzzah!

[ixnay]

We have set our plans in motion for the next five year plan.

First, of course, we will attempt to get Scout 3 back on track. It misjumped by a fair distance, so the jump to its target is still risky. But it's too far to traverse by normal space.

Second, we are preparing a message of peace for the alien species discovered in Sector 12. Hopefully they are peaceful as well. In any case, they do not appear to have significant armament, so our scout should be safe.

We have decided to keep Scouts 1 and 2 on station. Our long range plan is to maintain a presence in every system and keep scanners turned on throughout the game, to maximize the flow of vital, delicious information.

We have put out-system colonization on the back-burner momentarily. We wanted to address the gap in our mining capabilities. Hopefully we will bring MI up to the level of MA in one turn. It's taking a big bite, but if it works we will bump our productive output by a significant margin.

We have also discovered that we do not NEED a transport to build a colony in the same system as our home colony! In-system transportation is assumed to be available via local shuttles and freighters, and requires no special arrangements! So we are attempting to populate InfoMine with a starting set of colonists, using the all-powerful "DEVELOP" command. We shall see if it works. If it doesn't, the extra economic output will just drop into our liquid assets pool and we'll apply them elsewhere next turn.

So if all goes well, we will finish this turn with an efficient economic engine, a new in-system colony, a fresh scan of our 3 neighboring systems, and some form of contact from our mysterious visitors.

How long until SUNDAY???

[ixnay]

First Contact has been achieved!

We have confirmed contact with an intelligent life form. They have graciously provided secure communication frequencies, and we will begin what will hopefully be a long series of productive exchanges of information, technology, and diplomatic missions.

Space Pioneer scout 3 has arrived safely at her destination! The crew is safe, and the hull is intact, if abit bruised from its rocky passage through hyperspace. The new system is fairly bland - only one planet, and not a very usable one at that - but we are glad to know about it, and long term plans for its orderly development are now being drawn.

Our Mining sector received the bulk of our energies this past turn, and our scientists have reported better-than-expected progress! Our mines are now churning out even more in the way of raw materials than our already-highly-efficient factories can process. We are actually in a position to stockpile raw materials, or turn them over to the commercial sector via "recycling". While this is a happy problem to have, we are still looking into the possibility of bumping up manufacturing once again to bring our economy back into balance.

However, this might be hampered by our colonial aspirations! First, we now have a colony! We have laid the foundation on DataMine - our in-system planet that is just barely habitable. The equipment and colonists have all been deployed. All that is left is to "install" the mines and factories and we can begin producing "things". Of course, for the forseeable future, the DataMine colony will focus directly on developing itself. The fact that we face a deadly battle against the planet's harsh surface conditions every day means that most of our productive capacity will remain tied up with mere survival. But over time that will change.

Secondly, we now have the capacity to build a TR-8 class star freighter. Yes, you read that right. Not just the technical ability, but the economic capacity. We can potentially build the largest freighter ever conceived AND stock it full with colonists and equipment. We already have a system/planet in mind. We have not yet decided whether to build this all in one turn, or spread it over multiple turns in order to continue developing our economy. But the fact that our first out-system colony is merely a few turns away is exciting news indeed!

[ixnay]

The lights came on to a disaster area that was once the hallowed situation room, the central command post of the Second Order of the Consortium. Party streamers lay strewn across the three bodies of government - Dewey, Lester, and Earnestine. They were the clerks that had, up until the party started, handled most of the daily business of running the hyper-efficient socio-economic empire known as the Consortium. Thanks to their ceaseless labors, the planet enjoyed some of the most impressive economic growth statistics in the galaxy.

Until the party started.

After the launch of the colony on InfoMine, it was decided that it was high time to celebrate the birth of a new interstellar empire. Meticulous planning went into every detail. Except for one. All three of these super-clerks were invited to join the festivities at the same time.

In true Consortium style, they became quickly inebriated, and to put it simply - all government functions came to a halt. Automated robotic systems continued to run, so the mines produced ore, the factories produced goods, and the, er, party supplies continued to be refilled. For five years.

The only thing that stopped the party was a short in the BeerTender 3000 software control panel. As sobriety crept slowly back into the brains of our three bodies of government, the scope of the damage dawned on them. "NoOOoooooooOOooOOOooOoooo!!!!"

* * *
Yes, I missed a turn. Sorry, oh benevolent moderator! Sorry, game-log fans! And sorry to the game designer, for having slagged the rules. Turns out, letting an empire go rogue in this game is actually fairly harmless under standard rules. Your economic output just gets dumped into Economic Units, which can be used as production next turn. There are some issues and restrictions, but by and large this has not doomed me to game hell just yet. It probably would later in the game, if there are evil invaders flying about. But not yet.

I got a turn in just in time early Sunday morning, without using full production, so I have a bunch piled up this turn.

On the PLUS side, my scientists have once against showed their excellence by propelling manufacturing tech ahead faster than expected. So now they will have to redouble their efforts to bring Mining tech up to snuff.

We finished our giant TR8 class freighter and loaded it with colonists and equipment for that nearby system. We will send it out next turn and see how it goes.

InfoMine, our in-system colony, is advancing slowly. It is a viable colony, though still greatly hampered by the harsh environment. One point I should make - letting my empire go "rogue" another turn WOULD have been problematic, because the default order set that was going to run would have dumped all homeworld production into developing InfoMine. Not a disaster, but definitely not the biggest bang for my interstellar credit.

On the MINUS side, we lost Scout 3. All the scouts went rogue (ie: followed their default jump orders, rather than stay on-station), and one of them has vanished into the aether. The other 2 have discovered new systems, though none with habitable planets. It will take a few turns to get our scouting program back in order and re-establish info dominance in our sector of the galaxy.

I have a day to think about things. Right now I am leaning towards a tech surge. Perhaps more Manufacturing/Mining, perhaps some Life Support to improve off-world performance. I should probably beef up some defense forces. We made contact with another species, but I have not yet fired off an email. Stupid real life has been keeping me busy! Perhaps a diplomatic surge is in order this turn as well...

* * *

"Sir, we've lost contact with Space Pioneers #3."

"Yes, I know that already you impudent fool. Why do you come to me with this again? Please, enlighten me before I assign you to KP duty for the rest of the cycle."

"Sir! Please, anything but that! It's just that, well, there was something else in the data. We ran a gravitics test pattern around the failed jump-target. We found the expected hyper-haloes, but there was something else as well."

"Out with it, dishwasher boy!"

"There was an anomaly in the background radiation. Something we haven't seen before. It was hard to translate, but we think it was an image - meant for us to find and decipher."

"Oh? And what would that be, kitchen help?"

"A finger. A grim finger. At least that's the way I would describe it. Here, take a look."

"Hmm, well, it *is* grim..."

"Our best guess is that this is a message - a warning from a starfaring species we have not yet encountered. They are out there, sir, and they are definitely evil. Or at least ill-tempered."

"Can we send them a reply? A response in the local background radiation?"

"Not yet, sir. Not without risking another Space Pioneer."

"Hmm, pity. I thought we might share with them an image of our famous Consortium 'moon'. Ah well, we'll handle that another day. Now off to the mess hall, boy, and fetch me some coffee!"

[ixnay]

Our tireless work continues. We have re-assumed control over our fleets and planetary sectors. Our scouts are holding station for the moment, in their remote systems. Our giant colonization freighter is taking off for the nearest barely-habitable world (newly named OfflineCache). And our scientists have embarked on the most ambitious program of economic development ever. We are combining the resources from last years "party" with this years bounty to produce a technological surge to make Edison proud. With luck, our mining and manufacturing sectors will at last achieve parity at a much higher plateau, and thus provide a firm foundation for the trials ahead.

Our in-system colony is getting a small shot-in-the-arm. We can only develop it at a certain speed, so we are proceeding at that pace. We could, of course, send more from the home planet -- quite easily in fact -- but our priority at the moment is still the development of economic capacity. The colony can wait.

But for how long? How long until that invisible presence plaguing our star cluster moves into Consortium territory? We have dispatched a diplomatic team to establish friendly relations with our nearest neighbor, but we have yet to detect the malevolent presence our psychics have sensed, lurking in the interstellar shadows...

[ixnay]

G.A.P.H EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM ALERT

THIS IS NOT A TEST!

At approximately 3:14am universal time today, a heretofore unknown alien species has entered the home system of the Consortium. No contact has yet been established with the vessel. It appears to be a small scout ship, but our planetary defense forces will consider it armed and extremely dangerous until we have more information.

There is no link at this time between this alien vessel and the previously reported rumors of an "evil" presence on the other side of the star cluster. That "grim finger" presence is not, repeat NOT, confirmed to be tied to this invading space fleet. Not yet, anyway.

However, we have ALSO detected one of the Tilkata scouts has penetrated all the way through to our home system as well. The Tilkatians have been friendly, so far, and there is no indication that they are in contact with this new invading species. But we are still racing to learn more about both alien species.

Citizens are advised to stock up on toilet paper.

* * *

Gaaaaah! Invaders! In our HOME SYSTEM!!! We will race to establish communication, of course, but this is highly alarming. Especially now that the Tilkatians have discovered our home system as well. It was inevitable, and not necessarily bad, but we find it highly curious that WE - the masters of information - have not yet detected anyone ELSE's home systems.

Maybe it is time to goose our nascent Space Pioneer forces. And it is DEFINITELY time to pop up some more impenetrable planetary defenses.

Which ties in to our other main story from this turn. We now have the ability to construct star bases. Turns out our scientists have, once again, boosted our technological capabilities far beyond what was planned! And once again, our Manufacturing sector has pulled ahead of our Mining sector, so there will be some rebalancing to do next turn. But this is a happy problem to have.

Research will most likely have to be put on the back-burner in light of these highly disturbing events. We don't need another transport, either -- the one we have is sufficient for now, since we have not yet discovered another easily-colonized world. So we will be building at least a couple of ships this turn to bolster the Space Pioneers and recover some situational awareness. We got caught with our pants down, and it better not happen again!

The InfoMine colony is doing well enough, with its base economic output up 20% over last turn. Still very small, but encouraging.

Our giant colonizer arrived at the neighboring system safely, thanks to our earlier push into Gravitics. We will have boots on the ground in that system asap. Now that security is an emerging issue, we will need to lay plans for defense of that colony. It will be too small to build its own defense base for quite some time, and we do not yet have the technology to build remote base modules. At some point we are going to have to start a (purely defensive) military-class star fleet.

The Game Is On.

[ixnay]

quick pre-turn update. STOP.

Orders sent in. New colony in nearby system set up, colonizer ship sent back home. STOP.

Alien intruders warned. Allies contacted. STOP.

Purely defensive military tech bumped. First military ships constructed for defensive of 2 systems. Planetary defenses of home world expanded. STOP.

Those invaders had better STOP.

[JonO]

{grin}

[ixnay]

G.A.P.H. news update ---

The Minister of Science and Technology has been sacked. Actually, he has chosen to retire early, to spend more time with his family. No, actually he has been sacked.

After many cycles of outstanding performance, our technological efforts have fallen flat this cycle, and at the worst possible time. In spite of a large investment of planetary output, our mining capabilities have not improved at all in the last 5 years. Our economy is still out of balance. Worse, a hefty emergency injection of cash into the defense technology sector failed to hit the target! We are still able to build ships scarcely larger than a picket boat.

Also, our Minister of Manufacturing has been sacked. We attempted to build 2 powerful new warships to begin holding a defensive perimeter around our 2 systems, but for some reason the factory orders were bungled. Our shipyards sat idle, and our workers left with nothing to do but play bridge and sip tea.

Oh, and our Minister of Colonization has been sacked. Our out-system colony is up and running, but it is badly out of balance -- our mining sector on that planet is less than half the strength it should have been to keep the local factories humming.

The secretary of state has also been sacked, due to the utter lack of progress in establishing diplomatic ties with our 2 neighboring species. The president is quoted as saying "My ping pong table could do a better job of contacting those space bugs than you!"

Finally, the human resources administrator of the Second Order has been sacked, for having failed to sack all of the aforementioned government executives BEFORE they had caused such extensive damage to our nascent interstellar empire.

No word yet on whether a Third Order is in the works...

End of G.A.P.H.


AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our empire had been growing by leaps and bounds until now! Success upon success had propelled us ahead of schedule - and ahead of our competitors - into the milky void. But now our luck has turned.

We still have a day to think about it, but our first order of business will probably be to build those two Corvettes. Haven't figured out what went wrong with the orders, yet. Luckily, the only aliens buzzing around are tiny scouts. We might need to appropriate the Colonizer to ferry some planetary defense base equipment over to the out-system colony.

We will also need to redouble our efforts to boost military tech and bring mining up to par. Now that I read the materials, I see that I don't need military tech to build larger warships -- I need manufacturing tech. Which I have in abundance. But still, I can't afford to fall behind. Turns out I could build Frigates, but armed with pea-shooters. I did bump the home planet defenses, but InfoMine is still naked as a jaybird.

Economic development will probably have to go on the back-burner until we get basic system security in place and establish some sort of understanding with the space creeps flitting about.

[JonO]

Economic development will probably have to go on the back-burner until we get basic system security in place and establish some sort of understanding with the space creeps flitting about.

Not to mention the space flits creeping about.