Bay 12 Games Forum

Pure Epicness

WANT. PLEASE.

In response to Basque

The Swarm, if anything, are over-specialized. No bonuses to research or whatever, but their weapons are stronger and they breed like rabbits. They'd be a tough fight, but nothing we humans can't handle.

Soldiering bonus does not apply to ships, but to ground troops (both offensive and defensive). I assume that it's an empire-wide bonus, since troops can come from anywhere.

While I didn't document it, I have been building influence-boosting structures, mostly in the areas bordering Krynn and any other tiles that have bonuses. Remember Amber, the research world? It now has a technological capital (damn, I should add that to the update. It's hard to remember what you forget to screenshot!). I've been building a few labs, mostly just in places where there's a bonus.

Taxes seem to be wonky in terms of approval. Sometimes approval will remain steady for a few tax percentage points before fluctuating wildly. Good tax management seems to be more of an art than a science, and I suck at art 

Mars, despite not having any bonus tiles, will probably be a starship building world. The Krynn had already built a starport and were working on advanced factories when it revolted. Add in the three terraformable tiles that I can see so far, and it will be a major supplier for any war effort (praise the Omnissiah!)

I've been finding asteroids here and there. I don't document them because all they do is increase production in a single nearby world (the closer the world, the bigger the effect). Useful, but they hardly make for interesting updates.

If you really want to colonize that many worlds, I recommend setting your sights a little lower. Most of the 10+ quality worlds nearby have been taken, leaving mostly 4-6 quality planets.

I'm so glad that people are having fun. So far my first LP seems to be a success!

2228

On advice from the Council, MAX POWER! declared a month-long vacation for the entire empire. Production ground to a halt as the populace partied for a glorious, tax-free month, though government officials were worried by the great loss in funds every week:

Also, for reasons known only to him, the planet with the unpronounceable name was renamed Boatmurdered. Critics accused MAX POWER! of satanism and inciting violence, but most citizens did not care.

The IronyOwl class of freighter was designed. With all shipbuilding on hold, it was still just a blueprint:

Just before bankruptcy, the holiday was declared mostly over. Taxes were reintroduced, though production was still halted. For the first time, the Alliance was actually earning money:

On the world of Saba V, colonists made a shocking discovery. A group of interstellar criminals had built a weapons lab on the planet, using it to produce horrific weapons known as disintegration rifles:
Rationalizing that nothing would be gained by simply destroying the lab, government officials re-purposed the lab to build more conventional weapons.

Thanks to the lab and the existence of precursor artifacts, Saba V looked to become a promising research world:

A new alien race was encountered. This hive-mind race, using an individual known only as Speaker, called themselves the Star Swarm:
((This I was not expecting. The Star Swarm are a custom race I used in one campaign. I had no idea they could become NPCs for other campaigns!))

RIOTING!!!
After the home team, the Terran Great Apes, managed to lose the championship match of the Intergalactic Spaceball League, riots broke out all over Earth's surface:
Showing firm resolve, MAX POWER! chose to devote a large amount of police and military units to crack down on the rioters. Though 30bc were spent, far fewer lives were lost than otherwise would have happened.

All over the galaxy, people suddenly became far more interested in exploring other worlds. Tourism in the Alliance jumped ten-fold, pouring vast numbers of credits into the economy. Sadly, the natives were not too pleased by the influx, dropping the average approval rating to around 63%.

Flush with income, production resumed all over the empire:

In an odd bit of intel, a mining base near the edge of Terran space picked up a Krynn colony ship, heading towards the heart of the Terran's influence:

The good times kept rolling. Reports indicated that species all over the galaxy were expressing an interest in Terran culture, improving the Alliance's influence:

Perhaps jealous of our sudden prosperity, the Thalans called to taunt us:

We'll soon show them. Space Militarization has been perfected!

A new world: Aldra III, was colonized:
Lots of possibilities with this one.

Another new species has been encountered, The Iconian Refuge:
Who are these "Yor" they refer to?

The Seeker Swarm sent us a message today, demanding tribute:
We told them to stick it where the sun don't shine.
((This is when I first realized that the Swarm were a major race rather than I minor race like I originally thought. Minor races don't demand tribute!))

Interestingly, diplomats reported that the Swarm were also demanding tribute from the Snathi, who were paying. Perhaps a future partner?

The period of increased influence came to an end, bringing back to pre-boost levels.

The impulse drive was perfected, blowing ion drives out of the water in terms of effectiveness.

The Krynn became the butt of many a light-night joke when reports indicated that the colony ship spotted earlier in the year had finally reached it's destination...
((The skull-and-crossbones indicates the planet is about ready to revolt due to overwhelming foreign influence))

Now that some of the older colonies had hit their population cap, the invention of Xeno Farms came as a huge relief for governors who wanted more tax money:

After the crypic hints left by the Iconians, it was something of a relief when we finally met the Yor:
A number of citizens had been comparing the Yor to a classic science-fiction machine race known as "Reapers". MAX POWER! was secretly relieved that this was not the case.

The first IronyOwl managed to locate a major Krynn world and make contact. The trade route would bring in anywhere from 9 to 20bc every week.
Sadly, the other planned trading partner, the Arcean Empire, had no worlds within the IronyOwl's range. Production on the freighter line ceased in favor of more Basques.

Pithra IV, a world close by Earth but somehow missed by early explorers, was colonized:
The manufacturing bonus makes this a likely candidate for a ship-building world.

Space Weapons have finally been perfected!
Eager to get a space navy, production was signed off on the Phoenix class of heavy fighter:
Ymir I, the only world with a starport aside from Earth, was assigned to mass-produce Phoenixes and send them to various colonies as basic protection.

Not liking the fact that the Alliance now had space-borne weapons, the Krynn attempted to extort humanity for "protection money":
They were told the same thing as the Swarm, though slightly more politely.

Flush with cash and eager to show off to the Krynn worlds pushing in on humanity's borders, MAX POWER! sank over 6,000bc on purchasing The Restaurant of Eternity on Embor I, the paradise world:

Thanks to the continued tourism market, the Alliance finally had enough income to push production levels up to 100%. Things were gonna get DONE.

As if to underline the above point, Missile Weapon Theory and Stingers were researched in rapid succession:

The Krynn inhabitants of Mars, tired of being made fun of, revolted and joined the Alliance. For the first time, the Alliance was a multi-species empire.

Antares I was the next planet colonized:
It's high class and manufacturing/farm bonus make it an ideal shipbuilding/economy world, should Colonial Affairs choose to use it that way.

Finally, the latest United Planet assembly. Terrans, while not the biggest voting block, are not the smallest either:
The Thalans and Swarm, perhaps drawn to each other's insectile appearance, took nearly half the votes. The rest were split amongst the other races, and thus could not stand up to their combined might. Still, things are looking up:

A new year dawns.

((Man, I want to join in. Just gotta wait for the gue'la commander to accept me  ))

I actually just use X-Fire's screenshot function. Takes nice pics and uploads them for you! Only downside is that I can't really edit them 

I'm thinking that you should have default vertical gravity, along with a small amount of horizontal gravity. Just say that there's a strong wind 

The "average" planets that I have found but not yet colonized are in the 9-12 range. What really sucks is that there are plenty more habitable planets, but many of them have qualities as low as 4! That's why there are gaps in our influence.

I had zoomed in on the mini map to better show our influence, but in general, the Arceans are around 7 o' clock, a few sectors away (outside the Basque's default range). The Thalans, on the other hand, are roughly halfway across the galaxy around 11 o' clock, with the Drath roughly halfway between us and them.

We may have 700bc in our treasury, but we're still losing about 20 every week. With the year lasting 48 weeks, we'll be in the negatives before the end of the year unless the situation improves. While going negative isn't an instant game over, it's something we'll want to avoid.