Zeta 2 game starting!

[AMF]

A new SEIV Gold PBW game has just been created. I wanted to make all those who are in this game aware of it, in case you were looking for another game to join. I?m going to be the host. Information and backstory are below, and the game is located at the ?Zeta Quadrant? game on PBW (seiv.pbw.cc)

Thanks,

Alarik



Zeta Quadrant Game

The genesis of this game was the ?Galactic Sterilisation Hypothesis? thread, where the topic (based on some astronomical observations) of periodic sterilisations of the Galaxy was bandied about. This PBW game is based on that premise.

-------------
Backstory for Zeta Quadrant Game:

Your people expanded into your galaxy for over a hundred years, and created an interstellar empire. In that time, your archaeologists and scientists occasionally found ruins of some long extinct ancient and powerful civilization. Some of these sites dated from billions of years ago, some as ?recent? as a few hundred thousand years old. And some of the sites were guarded with Machine Entities left behind by the ancients, as protectors.

As your race expanded into the galaxy, your scientists made an alarming and incontrovertible discovery: the galaxy is doomed. Your space telescopes confirmed that giant black holes were forming at the center of your galaxy. These doomed your civilization, for just before their formation, these black holes released a huge shockwave of Gamma radiation that overwhelmed the galaxy in so much energy that no life in your empire escaped. Your scientists also discovered evidence that indicated that this has been occurring almost regularly every billion years or so.

But, it was clear that at least one race survived this tragedy in the past: the Ancients. Your scientists speculated that only through the creation of a giant sphereworld (to provide a safe haven behind millions of miles of dense armour shielding) could any race survive these periodic galactic sterilizations. That must be how the Ancients did it.

That became the Last best hope of your people: to find a Sphereworld of the Ancients in which you could obtain a haven inside to survive the radiation shockwave. And, over the years, as the shockwave approached, your space telescopes and instruments did detect, in a far off and isolated quadrant of the galaxy, readings that can only be indicative of just such a sphereworld.

A massive expedition was launched under your command, in which giant colony ships carried billions of your people to the distant Zeta quadrant. The trip took hundreds of years, as there were no warp points to the quadrant. But the survival of the race was your goal, and cryo chambers are wonderful things. Behind you, the advancing shockwave destroyed all those left behind. The Galaxy was laid waste and the shockwave continues to expand, and will soon encompass the Zeta Quadrant as well. Time is not your ally.

As your colony ships approached the Zeta Quadrant, your frozen crew members were awoken, and massive colonies were established to begin the detailed search for the Sphereworld and your race?s survival. The advancing shockwave from the core of the Galaxy will reach the Zeta Quadrant in about 45 years, lending a keen sense of urgency to your efforts.

The strange properties of the Zeta quadrant that prevented warp holes to connect to it, also tragically prevent your current deep space arrays from zeroing in on the exact location of the Sphereworld you seek. But, your ships? recording systems did notice a danger: you are not alone. Other races have come to the same conclusion and also arrived in the Zeta Quadrant. Furthermore, there is evidence that your arrival in the Zeta Quadrant has awoken some of the Ancient?s Machine Entities, doubtless to protect the Sphereworld.

The Zeta Quadrant, the Last remaining habitable portion of the Galaxy, will be sterilized in 50 years. The only ones who will survive will be those in the Sphereworld...which is somewhere in Zeta Quadrant.

Settings

Game ends on turn 500, unless there is an agreed upon end before that. The only winners (maximum of two empires) will be those living in the Sphereworld at that time. This Sphereworld is located somewhere in the map. There may or may not be other weird things going on in this map, for it is an anomalous section of the galaxy. Lastly, there is the Machine Entity Race. They are the product of seedings by the Ancients, left behind to grow and evolve and dedicated to protecting Ancient sites. Your scientists are familiar with previous discovered Version of the Machine Gaurdians, and so I will provide public details on them on the game site. The Machine Entities are the Protectors of the Sphereworld. This means that, while they will not enter the Sphereworld, they will do everything possible to defend it and destroy invaders. And they are gifted with knowledge of the Zeta Quadrant, unlike yourselves, who are all new to it.

House Rules

Communication should be limited to in-game methods to represent the difficulty inherent in communicating with aliens as well as to simulate time delays and their effect in coordination also.

Role Playing is not essential, but it is appreciated.

Game Settings: The peculiar characteristics of the Zeta Quadrant lead to the following settings:

· Only one partner at a time.
· No mines, fighters, or satellites (as the background energies and radiations make smaller craft such as these non-viable ? Drones are allowed, since they are essentially just guided ships and hence large enough to be shielded and made operational)
· No Ancient Race Characteristic (you?re all new here!) The ONLY semi-exception to this is the Machine Entities, which will have knowledge of the general layout of the map (although they may not have the formal ?ancient race? trait per se..this is because, I, the game host, will be playing these guys, since I want to play in this game, but I made the map, so I need to account for the fact that I will know the basic layout of the map)
· No Stellar Manipulation (the Zeta quadrant?s background energies and the effects of Ancient technologies prevent such technologies from having any effect)
· Starting tech: Medium, tech cost: high
· No surrender (Hey, the fate of your race is at stake!)
· No tech trades, but ship trading is allowed.
· Intel will be OFF (since this is a fight for the total survival of your race, your people are far too wary and patriotic to consider selling secrets or letting aliens sabotage their race)
· Map is Large, and Unique. Starting planets will be medium value.
· Max of 20 players.
· Turns will be Automatic every 52 hours
· Standard SEIV Gold (1.84)
· Races: 2000 points. (no Ancient Race trait allowed)

Game information
Owner: alarikf
Turn number: Not Started
Players/max: 1/20
Last turn:
Next turn:
Turn duration: 52 hours
Turn automation: Fully automatic turns (key)
SE4 Version: Stock v1.84 (Gold Patch 3

[ March 22, 2004, 13:15: Message edited by: alarikf ]

[Ruatha]

Map is Large, and Unique. Starting planets will be medium value.


Is it a standard Large map (how many systems does a standard large map have? 100 systems??) or a Huge 250 systems Map?

It will effect my empire construction.

[ February 19, 2004, 20:03: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[AMF]

"huge" I would say. I haven't counted them, but the base which I made it with was as "large" with data settings.txt "max number of systems" set to 255. It looks like it's over 200, but, again, I haven't counted. I could do that. I'll try and get to that tonight to give you a rough guesstimate at the very least.

thanks,

Alarik


Originally posted by Ruatha:
Map is Large, and Unique. Starting planets will be medium value.


Is it a standard Large map (how many systems does a standard large map have? 100 systems??) or a Huge 250 systems Map?

It will effect my empire construction. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by alarikf:
"huge" I would say. I haven't counted them, but the base which I made it with was as "large" with data settings.txt "max number of systems" set to 255. It looks like it's over 200, but, again, I haven't counted. I could do that. I'll try and get to that tonight to give you a rough guesstimate at the very least.

thanks,

Alarik


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Ruatha:
Map is Large, and Unique. Starting planets will be medium value.


Is it a standard Large map (how many systems does a standard large map have? 100 systems??) or a Huge 250 systems Map?

It will effect my empire construction. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana"></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Oh, no.
Please don't count them.
This answer is good enough for me, thanks. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[AMF]

We still need 8 more players...come on people!

<bumpity bump bump>

[Sabin]

Would a rather amatuer player be welcome? I don't think my ability at playing Space Empires IV Gold is decent yet, and I am not sure if I can meet the expectations of the other players. Also, this may be my first attempt at a Play By Web game.

[Intimidator]

Maybe you are a amateur player? But now I saw your Space empires stories, I know you are at least a SERIOUS player.

So if I got something to tell about it (which I've got NOT) I would say you are in, but as I said Alarikf is the boss not me......... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Intimidator,

[AMF]

Absolutely! I suspect there are few players in the game who would call themselves "expert" ...and I call myself an Amateur, so, please, jump right in!

I'm waiting...

Alarik


Originally posted by Sabin:
Would a rather amatuer player be welcome? I don't think my ability at playing Space Empires IV Gold is decent yet, and I am not sure if I can meet the expectations of the other players. Also, this may be my first attempt at a Play By Web game. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[AMF]

"boss"? Me? Huh? I'm not a "boss" I'm just a dude with an idea for a PBW SEIV game, that I decided to throw out there and host. And, frankly, I don;t expect to Last too long as "the machines," for a variety of reasons, one primary one is that I positively SUCK at optimizing ships or production...so, really, I am just gonna be the host...ugh...just realized I'm babbling...thats what I get for mixing wine and SEIV...

thanks,

Alarik


Originally posted by Intimidator:
Maybe you are a amateur player? But now I saw your Space empires stories, I know you are at least a SERIOUS player.

So if I got something to tell about it (which I've got NOT) I would say you are in, but as I said Alarikf is the boss not me......... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Intimidator, <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[AMF]

Oh, but there is also one "gamey" thing that I want to disallow unless there is a great outcry:

"No multi moon training"!

I JUST heard about this a few weeks ago, and I think it is pretty gamey. As far as I understand it, it is the practice of playing many ships training facilities in a single sector, using moons and planets as the locations of the training facs. This has the practical effect of rapidly training ships in the sector, right? Much more rapidly than would otherwise (and realistically, IMHO) be possible....so, I';d like to disallow that for the Zeta quadrant game.

Comments?

thanks,

Alarik

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by alarikf:
Oh, but there is also one "gamey" thing that I want to disallow unless there is a great outcry:

"No multi moon training"!

I JUST heard about this a few weeks ago, and I think it is pretty gamey. As far as I understand it, it is the practice of playing many ships training facilities in a single sector, using moons and planets as the locations of the training facs. This has the practical effect of rapidly training ships in the sector, right? Much more rapidly than would otherwise (and realistically, IMHO) be possible....so, I';d like to disallow that for the Zeta quadrant game.

Comments?

thanks,

Alarik <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">For me it doesn't matter.
But it's one of those things that are too hard to control, so I usually allows it in my games.
But it's up to you, I'll play either way.

(I don't think multi-moon training is gamey, and as seen by an earlier thread here, neither does the majority of players.
There are several rationalitations as to why it could be realistic.

Thread 1 (http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=007677;p=8)

Thread 2 (http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=007848;p=10)

[ February 22, 2004, 06:16: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Ruatha]

Zeta Knights Prelude (1-1)

In an ancient battle a tribe that was loosing the fight suddenly found a banner, a flag that had been dropped from the sky.
Seeing this as a divine sign, the battle turned and the tribe was victorious.
Some recent historians has claimed that the flag really was the torn cape of the enemy warchief, and seeing their warchiefs cape being raised as a banner by the tribe, the enemy soldiers belived the fight lost and fled.
Hovewer it may be with this, ever since, the tribe has been known as the Knights, following their banner in belief that there is a divine meaning with their existance.
The golden cross on the blue background, for the knights is a symbol of the search for their Purpose and their Reason.
What Purpose is there for the Knights existance, and what is the Reason for this Purpose?

The Knights conquered every other tribe on their planet, searching out every part of it for a clue to their Purpose and Reason, but found none.

Since the banner came to the Knights no battle had been lost, this had made the Knights reckless but fearless fighters. They never backed down from a fight, no matter how bad the situation looked. On their planet this became known and all enemies that saw a Knight fled before fighting.
But in the future this could prove fatal, so far though their tactic had been successful.

In modern days the Knights had turned their quest towards the sky, where once the banner had come from.
For several years the big radio telescopes had searched the sky for any hint of the Purpose or the Reason. They had learned a lot, but not of the Purpose or the Reason.

This day however that was about to change.....

[Ruatha]

Zeta knights Prelude (1-2)

The high convent was gathered, Knight Templar Ruatha was heading the discussions.
It mostly was about distribution of resources, some law changes that would make tax declarations easier, the question wheather heretic teachings should be allowed to be discussed in the schools and that kind of affairs.
Nothing exciting that would take that haunting yawn away from the delegats minds, but important enough that most would show up for the discussions.

Knight Templar Ruatha concluded the current discussion and started on the next;
- And so we have the usual report on the quest for the Purpose and the Reason.
All that have any leads, speak now!
As usual when this point in the day was reached a sad silence spread in the room and the delegats started looking at the floor... When suddenly another voice was heard.
All the delegats looked up in shock, for another one to speak before the Knight Templar had closed the point and moved on the the next was unheard of, shocking, heretic.. to interrupt this moment of contemplance for the Purpose and the Reason.
None could even in their most farfetched imagination belive that someone actually had a lead on the Purpose or the Reason!

-If it pleases the Convent, the Sky Search has perhaps found a lead on the purpose, but so far not of the reason.
The head Bishop of the Sky Search had raised and walked into the center of the floor. Becoming illuminated by the soft light seeking it's way through the windows far above in the basilica and resilient enough to traverse the dusty atmosphere in the room to finally strike upon the bishops purple robes as he continued speaking in the center of the dome.
-As we have stated in numerous published articles we have found objects in space called wormholes. Apart from constantly searching the sky we have been monitoring all known wormholes for 67 years now. And until today they have always been the same; emitting a weak fluctuating radio pulse frequancy, but nothing showing any signs of intelligence.
This have changed.
The impact this had upon the delegats could be seen, the dust particles in the air took a sudden leap towards the gathering as they made a deep collective inhale.
The Bishop continued:
The Last three days we have through the wormholes received signals from no less than three different alien species, and after heavy work we have been able to decipher and translate the signals for two of them.
And the main subject in most of the both races communications are the same.... they have a Purpose.
The delegats slowly raised in their benches and leaned towards the floor where the bishop stood, in order to hear better what he was saying, needless of course as the acustic properties of the dome made his voice carry to everyone there.

-They all speak of a quest, such as we do.
They search for an ancient artifact called the Sphere.
And these aliens aren't created here in our part of the universe! They have come here in search of their purpose, and both races seems convinced it's located here, close to us!
We in the Sky Search belive they have been sent here to guide us towards our Purpose.

Now the crowd was staring to chatter amongst themself and the Knight Templar Ruatha would have to call for silence before the discussion could continue.
And continue it did... food was brought in after some time and the discussion carried on for almost two consecutive days and nights before the delegats returned to their cells and fell into a long wanted deep sleep.
But decisions where made, and plans where set into motion...

The Knights where going to the Sky.

[Sabin]

My application has been sent in.

[AMF]

Yeah, I accepted your join Last night I think...
thanks,

alarik

Originally posted by Sabin:
My application has been sent in. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Ed Kolis]

I'd like to create my .emp file but I'm still waiting on word whether it's cheating to take -50 to cunning since intel is turned off... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

[Sabin]

EDIT: Accidental posting.

[ February 23, 2004, 01:38: Message edited by: Sabin ]

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
I'd like to create my .emp file but I'm still waiting on word whether it's cheating to take -50 to cunning since intel is turned off... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">It doesn't say so anywhere in the rules, so I guess not.
I did it!

As a general rule when I host games I say that anything not stated in the rules is allowed, except outright cheating ofcourse; but tampering with datafiles and playing several empires simultaneusly is so obviously Banned that I usually don't even mention it.. perhaps I should?

[AMF]

Come on people...this game is like an SEIV Version of MOOII...sort of...at least in storyline....and we only need 5 more people to get it started!

Hop to it!

Thanks,

Alarik

[Ed Kolis]

High Regent Ch'rel of the Chozo Dominion
Personal diary, stardate 2439.7
---

The Chozo are doomed.
The Space Pirates have finally defeated us.
Perhaps the Hunter can save the other races of this sector.
But the Chozo are no more.
The pirates have pillaged our sacred temples and stripped them of all our icons and relics.
Even the Hall of the Elders is defaced.
There are few of us surviving, with the Pestilence the pirates have released.
Many of our people have turned to corrupted Ghosts.
And then the news comes of the Great Void that will swallow the galaxy.
But wait!
There is a great Sphere foretold of in legend!
A sphere which is so great it swallows the light of the sun!
The Zeta Sphere!
Perhaps we Chozo can find a new home on the Zeta Sphere...
But it is so far away...
And the stars cannot guide us...

[Paul1980au]

We are doomeded who will save us - the hunters maybe.

[Sabin]

Grand Master Sabin looked on as the wave of energy consumed Earth, and bid his world farewell. Then, the screen changed from that of Earth to that of a swirling vortex. It soon changed again, to a image of a wormhole that abruptly collasped, due to the wormhole destabilizer.

He mentally thanked the scientists of what was formerly Earth, which now just an depopulated rock floating in space.

He turned, and summoned his disciples. There is much to be done...

[Renegade 13]

All right, I couldn't resist any longer! Can I join? (I guess my other 8 games just weren't enough.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif )

Renegade 13

[AMF]

Ed,

Sorry, didn't realize I was holding this up. I'm assuming people will take -50 to cunning since there is no intelin the game.

thanks,

Alarik

Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
I'd like to create my .emp file but I'm still waiting on word whether it's cheating to take -50 to cunning since intel is turned off... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[AMF]

yeppers

Originally posted by Renegade 13:
All right, I couldn't resist any longer! Can I join? (I guess my other 8 games just weren't enough.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif )

Renegade 13 <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[AMF]

but you gotta apply first...


<waiting>...

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif


Originally posted by Renegade 13:
All right, I couldn't resist any longer! Can I join? (I guess my other 8 games just weren't enough.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif )

Renegade 13 <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Baron Grazic]

thEEE EEEvil EEEmpire will makEEE an appEEEarancEEE in thEEE zEEEta quadrant...

and wEEE will not stop until all sphrEEErEEE worlds arEEE controllEEEd by us...

only onEEE thing can stop our complEEEtEEE victory...
alarikf not approving mEEE... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

EEEmpEEEror Grazic
EEEvil EEEmpirEEE

[AMF]

FrEEEaky


Originally posted by Baron Grazic:
thEEE EEEvil EEEmpire will makEEE an appEEEarancEEE in thEEE zEEEta quadrant...

and wEEE will not stop until all sphrEEErEEE worlds arEEE controllEEEd by us...

only onEEE thing can stop our complEEEtEEE victory...
alarikf not approving mEEE... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

EEEmpEEEror Grazic
EEEvil EEEmpirEEE <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Joachim]

OK, cant resist any longer...

That sphereworld is mine! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Sabin]

Grand Master Sabin stared at the planet from his small shuttle. The planet's name was Terranigma, the new home of his people. They had come to this place in order to escape the destruction he had witnessed many hours ago.

Why they came here was over a flimsy hope they could find the source of the strange energy signature that permeated this part of the universe. After all, there was no other obvious place for the human race to escape to, so they created a wormhole that led here.

Hopefully, their escape won't be in vain, but Sabin felt that it was oddly enough, unlikely for the human race to survive...

Though, they have been recieving odd audio signatures, that seemed otherworldly, and irritating: EEE...perhaps, the human race's chances to survive are not that bad.

[Baron Grazic]

I may not have come up with the idea of the EEEvil EEEmpire, but I must say I enjoy Roll-playing them.

All thanks should be directed to Deathstalker for the EEEvil EEEmpire idea. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Come on people just a couple more spots left, and then the game can commence.

[Ed Kolis]

Going to switch to the new Version? From what I've read in the "Post 1.84 Beta History" thread, that won't be possible once the game starts, and this could be a LONG one http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
Going to switch to the new Version? From what I've read in the "Post 1.84 Beta History" thread, that won't be possible once the game starts, and this could be a LONG one http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">That is incorrect. Games can be switched to the new Version after the game starts.

But if you want to start on the new Version, I'll have it up on PBW this evening.

[AMF]

Agl! New Patch!

OK, so, since we haven't yet started the Zeta Game, I guess we should use the new patch, eh...I guess this means I'll have to download it et al...

hmmm...is it possible to update to the new patch in a new mod folder, so I don;t have to switch over other games?

Hmm...

thanks,

Alarik


Originally posted by geoschmo:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
Going to switch to the new Version? From what I've read in the "Post 1.84 Beta History" thread, that won't be possible once the game starts, and this could be a LONG one http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">That is incorrect. Games can be switched to the new Version after the game starts.

But if you want to start on the new Version, I'll have it up on PBW this evening. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by alarikf:
hmmm...is it possible to update to the new patch in a new mod folder, so I don;t have to switch over other games?
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">[/QB][/QUOTE]
No, you will need a separate install of SE4 entirely.

[AMF]

OK, all you players and potential joiners for the Zeta Quadrant game. I am tempted to switch it over to the new patch that was just released. Since the game hasn?t yet started, this won?t be a major issue for this game in and of itself. But I wanted to ask all those involved what they thought. Switch over? Not? (at the bottom of this message I have cut and pasted the changes that will occur to those games that are Version 1.84 currently. You can get the patch and more details at: http://www.shrapnelgames.com/malfador/SEIVGold/6.htm)

However, if you?re anything like me, you?re in a few other games. Because some, none, or all of those games may or may not switch over to the new patch, then an upgrade to Version 1.91 will have to be done in an entirely separate install of SEIV so as to not overwrite the earlier Version (probably 1.84) that you use for other games. Just letting you know.

So, let me know how you feel about going with the new patch.

Thanks,

Alarik


Version History for Space Empires IV (since 1.84)

Version 1.91: 1. Changed - Revised title screen bitmap to make the buttons more visible. 2. Fixed - Upgrading just 1 facility would incorrectly upgrade them all. 3. Fixed - Bug from Last Version resulted in huge spikes in intel and research points. 4. Note - Spaceyards will not work on cloaked planets or ships. 5. Fixed - Cloaked planets were allowing you to add multiple spaceyards to them. 6. Fixed - A planet that was damaged and lost its cloaking facility would not decloak. 7. Fixed - A planet that scrapped its cloaking facility would not decloak. 8. Added - You can now use an override field for Vehicle Type in Components.txt which will allow you to use a list instead of a hard-coded value. Another field is used for the description used in the Components Report. 9. Added - You can now use an override field for Weapon Target in Components.txt which will allow you to use a list instead of a hard-coded value. Another field is used for the description used in the Components Report.

Version 1.90: 1. Fixed - Descriptions for the Facilities changed in the Last Version were still old. 2. Changed - New title screen bitmap courtesy of David Gervais. 3. Changed - Added black drop shadow to "Version" and "Loading" text on main screen. 4. Changed - You can now save/load your turn in the middle when playing a simultaneous multiplayer game. 5. Added - "Generate Points" abilities which will generate points for an empire each turn. These abilities are independent of a planet and will generate an unlimited number of points. These abilities can be used on a facility, component, ship, or anything else. 6. Added - "Order By Name" and "Order By Class" buttons to the Scrap window. 7. Fixed - The View Orders window would show the name of unexplored systems. 8. Fixed - Attempting to colonize in an unexplored system would sometimes show the planets in the sector. 9. Fixed - Rare Access Violation bug during Movement Log Replay.

Version 1.89: 1. Changed - The Create and Destroy Storm components are now destroyed on use. 2. Changed - Mineral Scanner I, II, III have had their modifiers increased to 15%, 30%, 45%. 3. Changed - Hybrid Eco - Farms I, II, III have had their modifiers increased to 15%, 30%, 45%. 4. Changed - Radioactives Collider I, II, III have had their modifiers increased to 15%, 30%, 45%. 5. Changed - System Mineral Scanner I, II, III have had their modifiers increased to 15%, 30%, 45%. 6. Changed - System Eco - Farms I, II, III have had their modifiers increased to 15%, 30%, 45%. 7. Changed - System Radioactives Collider I, II, III have had their modifiers increased to 15%, 30%, 45%. 8. Fixed - The owner of a minefield would not get a log message if the minefield was completely sweeped. 9. Added - Added "Race Directory" to the Empire/Race Report. 10. Fixed - When you replied to a demand for a gift or tribute, you were unable to view the package of the gift or tribute that was demanded. 11. Fixed - Range Check Error upon loading a turn where massive numbers of units were launched the previous turn.

Version 1.88: 1. Changed - Added in Imperator Fyron's smoothed population modifiers. 2. Fixed - A ship would clear its remaining orders if it tried to load cargo and it had no cargo space available. 3. Fixed - A colonizer ship will still be counted as available for colonization even if it has low supplies (but not if it has zero supplies). 4. Fixed - Sometimes an attack force would invade an ally's planet if it was in the same sector as an enemy planet. 5. Fixed - Occasional Access Violation or Range Check Error from the Combat Replay. 6. Fixed - Component mounts were not being used in retrofit change comparisons. 7. Changed - You must have movement remaining on your ship to create a storm. 8. Fixed - "Remove All" in the Fleet Transfer window would break up other player's fleets.

Version 1.87: 1. Added - "Move Hundred" to Cargo Transfer window. 2. Fixed - In Simultaneous games, scanned enemy ship designs would not be saved. 3. Fixed - "Max Positive Anger Change" and "Max Negative Anger Change" were being used as percents instead of tenth of percents. 4. Fixed - Ships were not receiving experience for kills made with seekers. 5. Fixed - Increased the population amount for the storehouse in combat simulations. 6. Fixed - The Small Graviton Beam is now under the Gravitational Weapons tech area. 7. Fixed - Mothballing would not generate a log message in simultaneous games and would show a messagebox instead. 8. Fixed - Unmothballing would not generate a log message in simultaneous games. 9. Fixed - Converting resources would not generate a log message in simultaneous games. 10. Fixed - The Abandon Planet order would not generate a log message in simultaneous games. 11. Fixed - Intelligence reports on planets were not showing the cargo they contained. 12. Fixed - In Computer Versus Human games, the AI's would get negative happiness modifiers on treaties (Partnership) they were forced to have. 13. Fixed - AI's would continue to propose the existing treaty in a Computer Versus Humans game. 14. Fixed - In the Combat Simulator, any player that has a base or a planet will start in the center of the combat map. 15. Fixed - The Fleet Report window's list will now respond to the Mousewheel. 16. Fixed - The component list in the Tactical Combat window will now repsond to the Mousewheel. 17. Fixed - The Add Design window's components available list will now respond to the Mousewheel.

Version 1.86: 1. Added - "AI Tag ##" abilities for use in getting AIs to use specific components. 2. Fixed - Improved Empire placement using the "Evenly distributed through the quadrant" option. 3. Fixed - AI would purchase ships even if it had no resources available. 4. Fixed - Cloaked unit Groups would not show a dotted circle around them. 5. Added - Empire style directory label to the Empire setup window. 6. Fixed - AI would still try to launch units when its maximum units in space had been reached. 7. Fixed - The name of the current item under construction should show how many as well. 8. Fixed - Drones were not inflicting special damage types. 9. Fixed - Decreased seeker damage factor required to move to next target. 10. Fixed - You could build designs which had mounts of higher technology than your empire. 11. Fixed - AI would build all of the same colonizer type in a given turn. 12. Added - Mousewheel support to lists.

Version 1.85: 1. Fixed - AI players were giving away technology too easily. 2. Fixed - There was a limit of 5 neutral players in a game. Now the amount of neutral players is based on the values in the Settings file. 3. Added - 4 more neutral races. 4. Fixed - AI was not taking into account bonus resources for scrapping. 5. Fixed - Changed Population Transport minister so that it takes population to lowest populated planet regardless of distance and also taking into account if a pop transport is already heading to the planet. 6. Fixed - Problem with AI checking its existing ship's orders. 7. Fixed - The race setup screen no longer errors if an empire ship picture is not present. 8. Fixed - "Change Bad Event Chance - System" ability was not working right. 9. Fixed - "Change Bad Intelligence Chance - System" ability was not working right. 10. Fixed - Planets would not recalculate their sight values when a new facility was built (this would make planets with cloaking abilities not light up cloak button). 11. Fixed - A cloaked planet would still show its name for the option "Show Planet Names". 12. Fixed - Rebelling planets would double their population. 13. Fixed - Simultaneous different machine multiplayer games now require that a game master password be provided. 14. Fixed - In the Select Package screen, clicking in the package list would not reduce the resources by the x10000 or x100000 amount selected. 15. Fixed - Integer Overflow if a finite resource planet had too large a value.

--------

[Ed Kolis]

Yes, let's upgrade! I can always spare another gig on my hard drive for a separate SE4 install + mods! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

(Heck, I still have SE4 Classic for that old P&N on PBW game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif ... boy do I miss the multi-add!)

[Baron Grazic]

3 more players - come on...

I'm all for patching since I've encountered a couple of issues that have been fixed.

[AMF]

Come on people...just a few more slots so we can start...


Originally posted by Baron Grazic:
I may not have come up with the idea of the EEEvil EEEmpire, but I must say I enjoy Roll-playing them.

All thanks should be directed to Deathstalker for the EEEvil EEEmpire idea. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Come on people just a couple more spots left, and then the game can commence. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Sabin]

Since the game may Last for quite a bit of time, upgrading is probably the best choice, since it may reduce the amount of trouble that is not caused by the players themselves.

[Ruatha]

Patch it.

Time to start thinking of AI:s ??

[ February 26, 2004, 06:14: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Ed Kolis]

I'm not much for AI's in PBW games, but if you really want to you can... 17 is close enough to 20. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[AMF]

I concur. Unless someone wants 3 AIs in the game, let's just go with all human players...

as soon as I can get home I'll send in my EMPire and, then we're just waiting on any others who have yet to do the same...

thanks,

alarik

Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
I'm not much for AI's in PBW games, but if you really want to you can... 17 is close enough to 20. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Ruatha]

I don't want Ai's either.
Just thought the map might be created with 19+1 defined starting positions, making 16+1 players unbalancing it.

But if you can keep them out, as it seems, I'm happy! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Ruatha]

Ooops, seems I scared away one player in the game forum!
I mixed up this forum with the NGC4 one, was using multiple browser tabs...

Really sorry, I'll mail him and explain!

[AMF]

Hey, you're scary, eh?

Anyways, just one small question to put out there for someone to step up to the plate to confirm: people have made their EMPires under 1.84. The game is gonna be 1.91 now. I am assuming that this won;t be a problem. Worst case scenario, I'll keep the game as 1.84 until the first turn is run, then switch it to 1.91.

Like I said...we start as soon as everyone gets their EMPires in!

Tonight!!?

Thanks,

Alarik


Originally posted by Ruatha:
Ooops, seems I scared away one player in the game forum!
I mixed up this forum with the NGC4 one, was using multiple browser tabs...

Really sorry, I'll mail him and explain! <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by alarikf:
Hey, you're scary, eh?
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Look at my avatar... I'm a dragoon! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/blush.gif

[AMF]

A Dragoon or a Dragon?

I suppose if I came across either one in a dark alley, I'd pee my pants...


Originally posted by Ruatha:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by alarikf:
Hey, you're scary, eh?
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Look at my avatar... I'm a dragoon! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/blush.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Originally posted by alarikf:
A Dragoon or a Dragon?

I suppose if I came across either one in a dark alley, I'd pee my pants...


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Ruatha:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by alarikf:
Hey, you're scary, eh?
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Look at my avatar... I'm a dragoon! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/blush.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana"></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">a dragoon might not be to bad, but if it's a dragon, i wouldn't waste time peeing my pants. i'd simply do my absolute best to break the lightspeed barrier. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Ruatha]

Well, it's both a dragon, and a dragoon. A kind of cavalry, not sure how it's spelled in english though.
Now the Swedish Dragoons are mechanized.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

as far as i know, dragoon calvery is spelled dragoon in english. unless you mean tanks, in which case it's tank.

[Sabin]

Dragoons are a type of soldier that are trained and armed to fight on foot or while mounted.

A dragon is a mythical beast that usually has the appearance of a lizard. Dragons may include many features, like wings, the distinct ability to breath fire. Occaisionally, a dragon's breath may be different from what is considered the regular Version, in that their breath may generate a great amount of ice, poison, or lighting. It is said that some dragons possess a great amount of intelligence, enough so to conduct deals with other creatures.

[AMF]

Patching it, already sent a message to GeoSchmo asking him to set it to 1.91....

I'll start the game tonight or tomorrow. 17 players should be fine, no?

Do y'all want me to throw in AIs to fill up the Last few spots?

thanks,

Alarik

Originally posted by Ruatha:
Patch it.

Time to start thinking of AI:s ?? <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Roanon]

What is the tech cost - high or medium? I scanned the setup, but couldn't find it. I am considering to join, although I'm already in NGC4 - but I will be kicked soon there as the somewhat strange map setup was not what was announced, and my race now totally sucks.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Originally posted by Sabin:
Dragoons are a type of soldier that are trained and armed to fight on foot or while mounted.

A dragon is a mythical beast that usually has the appearance of a lizard. Dragons may include many features, like wings, the distinct ability to breath fire. Occaisionally, a dragon's breath may be different from what is considered the regular Version, in that their breath may generate a great amount of ice, poison, or lighting. It is said that some dragons possess a great amount of intelligence, enough so to conduct deals with other creatures. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">the dragons that don't breath fire are what i consider 'dragonlance' or 'Margarat Weis and Tracy Hickman' dragons as as far as i know, they were the ones to invent them.

[Roanon]

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
the dragons that don't breath fire are what i consider 'dragonlance' or 'Margarat Weis and Tracy Hickman' dragons as as far as i know, they were the ones to invent them. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">"Dragonlance dragons" are AD&D dragons, "invented" long before the series. The books are based on the game modules. And yes, they breathe fire - the red ones only, of course.

Roanon aka Raistlin (rtd.) http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[narf poit chez BOOM]

well, my first encounter with them was dragonlance.

but let's not derail this thread. i've been known to instigate that sometimes and i really shouldn't do that unless the thread has already served it's purpose. or a few other good reasons.

[AMF]

Tech cost is high, starting tech is medium, map is large, with no stellar manip. Join now! I say that not just because I'll immediately approve the join but we're starting tonight ..so join, throw an EMPire file together, and we're off!

thanks,

Alarik

Originally posted by Ruatha:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Roanon:
What is the tech cost - high or medium? I scanned the setup, but couldn't find it. I am considering to join, although I'm already in NGC4 - but I will be kicked soon there as the somewhat strange map setup was not what was announced, and my race now totally sucks. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I've checked the map and I think it's what Tesco said... </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[AMF]

Last chance, only a few more slots left. If you can get your empire in in the next few hours, then you're in...otherwise, we start tonight!

thanks,

Alarik

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by Roanon:
What is the tech cost - high or medium? I scanned the setup, but couldn't find it. I am considering to join, although I'm already in NGC4 - but I will be kicked soon there as the somewhat strange map setup was not what was announced, and my race now totally sucks. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I've checked the map and I think it's what Tesco said...

[Roanon]

Sorry, better start without me then, I have little to no time until monday. I hope I did not delay you.

[Ruatha]

Prelude Parts 1 & 2 (http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=011008;p=4)

Zeta Knights Beginnings (2-1) Stardate 2400.0

The Knight Templar Ruatha had decided upon a contact protocol that was going to be used when aliens where discovered.
They would be granted a trade and research treaty, and if they accepted they would join together in their searches of their Purpose and Reason, but if they didn't agree, there would be war.
So in the construction yards, the military would have a priority in constructing the main fleet, after all, the Purpose and Reason came before all else.
First of all though, the space yard was ordered to build a colony ship for the glory of the Knights.

[ March 01, 2004, 07:39: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Baron Grazic]

EEEmperor Grazic of thEEE EEEvil EEEmpirEEE now knows hEEE is insanEEE...

wEEE could havEEE sworn that its bEEEn star datEEE 2400.0 thrEEE timEEEs alrEEEady...

wEEE also sEEEm to rEEEmEEEmbEEEr having a couplEEE of diffEEEnt homEEE worlds...
EEEach onEEE bEEEing worsEEE than the onEEE bEEEforEEE...

wEEE know what wEEE will do...
wEEE will go to rEEEst...
and thEEE nEEExt timEEE wEEE awakEEEn...
our planEEEt will bEEE diffEEErEEEnt again...

[Sabin]

Stardate: 2400.00
Location: Terranigma.

Sabin took to his bed in haste, for it has been a busy day for him. Directing the construction of colony ships, examining the research department and giving the staff who man those facilities orders, and so on. He knew this was the easy part, and felt uneasy because of it.

He knew that by taking an course that would largely keep the Space Empire within the bounds of his system would be a dangerous proposition, but he felt that staying away from the power that radiated in the area may be also be wise.

After all, the Space Empire has been quite weak, not having the resources from Earth available, and being unfamiliar with the area. Hopefully, he can fortify the system his people took up residence in.

[Ruatha]

Prelude part 1 & 2 (http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=011008;p=4)

Zeta Knights Beginning (2-2) Stardate 2400.1

The proud colony ship "Klippan Snål 0001" took to the sky with a roar from it's two huge Ion Engines, clouding the view for miles around.
The ship couldn't be seen but through the dark cloud a new sun was shining brightly, and the thunderous roar shook all spectators.

The Knights stood proud. Knight Templar Ruatha made the cruciform sign across his torso while recanting:
-"My Life for The Purpose, My Soul for the Meaning", tears where drippling down his cheeks.

A new dawn had begun in the Search.

[ March 01, 2004, 07:41: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Ed Kolis]

Personal diary of High Regent Ch'rel of the Chozo Dominion
Stardate 2400.1

Our fuel supply nearly ran out, so we were forced to land on the nearest planet.
We had three billion colonists on the ark.
The planet could only bearably hold two billion without disrupting its fragile ecosystem.
Much as it saddens my heart, the remaining one billion colonists have been left on the colony ship, parked in permanent orbit of this world, which we call New Tallon.
Soon their fuel will run out and they will freeze to death in the cold of space...
An eternal reminder of the galaxy from whence we came.
Mercifully they have been left in cryogenic storage, so that they will never know what we have been forced to do to them.
May the new Tree of Life we have planted grow tall enough to reach and embrace them as they pass on into the next world.

[AMF]

grrrr...

Emperor Grazic is a sm*rtass...

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif


Originally posted by Baron Grazic:
EEEmperor Grazic of thEEE EEEvil EEEmpirEEE now knows hEEE is insanEEE...

wEEE could havEEE sworn that its bEEEn star datEEE 2400.0 thrEEE timEEEs alrEEEady...

wEEE also sEEEm to rEEEmEEEmbEEEr having a couplEEE of diffEEEnt homEEE worlds...
EEEach onEEE bEEEing worsEEE than the onEEE bEEEforEEE...

wEEE know what wEEE will do...
wEEE will go to rEEEst...
and thEEE nEEExt timEEE wEEE awakEEEn...
our planEEEt will bEEE diffEEErEEEnt again... <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Baron Grazic]

Originally posted by alarikf:
grrrr...

Emperor Grazic is a sm*rtass...

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Very possibly and probibly.
But we are also the leader of the insane EEEvil EEEmpire, where only the most insane leaders rise to power, so it seemed appropiate, that I post it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Edit - Alarikf, it might be time to change the title of the thread. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ March 01, 2004, 01:40: Message edited by: Baron Grazic ]

[AMF]

Done!


Originally posted by Baron Grazic:
Edit - Alarikf, it might be time to change the title of the thread. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Ed Kolis]

So, do we get the robot and the annoying music from MOO2 to go with the name change? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[AMF]

Only if someone can dig up the old MOO2 files for me....

but, really, Zeta is not supposed to be a copy of MOO2...it's got it's *own* storyline...at least, it does in my head...even if we never get there...

Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
So, do we get the robot and the annoying music from MOO2 to go with the name change? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Ruatha]

Zeta Knights Beginnings (2-3) Stardate 2400.2

The first Scout ship, the powerful "Searcher" rised up on a plume of fire and smoke. It was much faster than the slow colony ship and it was armed with the newest weapon designs, much more powerful than the swords and bows that the police force was using.
It was stunning to see these beam weapons in use, disentigrating objects far away.
The technology had been known for a long time but there hadn't been any need to implement it until now.
But in space bows wouldn't be of much use, so the beam weapons where constructed and fitted to the scout ship.
This ship alone could burn the entire homeplanet to ashes, so the captain was carefully selected, still Knight Templar Ruatha felt some fear deep inside for what he had been involved in letting loose in the universe.
But as always, the Purpose and the Meaning came above all else.

The glow in sky started to fade as the "Searcher" immediatly headed for the nearest wormhole, what would it find on the other side? New territories to colonize? The Purpose? The Meaning? Aliens?
Soon the answer would come, but the months ahead until the wormhole jump, would be nervebristling anticipation to say the least.

[ March 01, 2004, 07:50: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Sabin]

Within the confines of a temple, one equipped with the latest technology, a mass of people occupied a large room. The inhabitants of the room were working at a great pace, trying to make the progress of the launch of the new colony ship suceed. They did, for it began it's journey after loading the precious cargo of civilians.

Grand Master Sabin was also at work on a different project already. He felt in his heart that it was critical to create ships meant for war. He knew that insufficient defense can be the downfall of his people, so he worked through many nights. The design was complete for the Escort MK.I. It featured weaponry that was based upon primarily on beam weapons. However, it also had a Capital Missle Launcher, which gave it extra firepower over anything it encountered.

The rub was, however, that it seemed to lack any defensive power. If it ever got hit by an enemy attack, it's fragile frame would be crushed, even under the weakest of starship weapons.

This would be rectified, but only after some research has been made for economic and scientific matters...

[AMF]

The first scattering of dust settled over the world. As the invisible particles hit the cratered and pitted surface of the planet, they immediately activated. Within hours, the initial building blocks and structures of millions of drones had taken shape. Within a day, the first was activated. In this incarnation, it took the form of a humanoid female, but gray, metallic, and exuding a *purpose* no human could fathom. The drone opened it's "eyes" and looked out upon the Throne World, and saw the Structure in the distance. And, directly above, there lay the other Five and, in all it's glory, the Nexus. If the Drone could think of *itself* and if time had meaning to it, it would marvel at the fact that, after all these Millennia, the Plan was finally set in motion...

[Intimidator]

Stardate 2400.1

The automated door opened of the prefab colony module, and first council adviser Yeeliaa entered the room.

Mother I've got the daily report for you, It wasn't really her biological mother but THE MOTHER, High Priestess of the council of Nine.

How many deaths today she asked softly.
Since their landing on this planet, people died every day in shuttle accidents because of the hard winds in the upper atmosphere, with an average of 240 kph and an top speed of 360 kphs.
So sad enough the death account was starting to get ussual bussines everyday

128 was the direct answer of Yeeliaa, factual and punctual as always.
21 children, 58 women of which 17 pregnant the rest men.

Thanks, please go away now, I'll see you in an hour at the briefing, was the only thing the Priestess could say and she went for a look out of the window, up in the deadly atmosphere.
And she shivered, and itwasn't of cold.

[Ruatha]

/OOC/
Darned.
The first system I enter has alien presence.
Statisticly this means there are over 200 players in this game!!!
I have a frigate with armour, point defence and level 3 weapons, he seems to have nothing!
Should I glass him or not?
Direct contact isn't allowed, can't talk by mail.

I'll write up a story later and decide what to do, but I'm a bit disappointed at the proximity of players!

[Narrew]

if deeply religous, glass, hehe J/K

[Baron Grazic]

dEEEath...
dEEEstruction...
EEEradication...

just bEEE surEEE to broadcast thEEE rEEEsults...
so that wEEE all can EEEnjoy...

OOC - Always a hard call. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[Intimidator]

Stardate 2400.4

4 months now, the live on this planet for 4 months Xerieel, the High Priestess thought.
She was looking down on the planet from the 'New Hope'. This shipyard was orbitting the planet for 2 years now, it was transported and constructed earlier prior to their arrivel, but only in service for 4 months now.
As soon as they arrived they started the production of another, but smaller, Colony ship.

Xerieel looked to her right and she could still see the 'Rebirth' accelerate into space. It was heading to the second planet of this system, which was also an gas planet with an oxygen atmosphere.

She turned around to go back to her shuttle and Home, because despite of all the deaths the Last few months. The planet below was home now, their Last Hope and home...........

[Joachim]

Originally posted by Ruatha:
/OOC/
Darned.
The first system I enter has alien presence.
Statisticly this means there are over 200 players in this game!!!
I have a frigate with armour, point defence and level 3 weapons, he seems to have nothing!
Should I glass him or not?
Direct contact isn't allowed, can't talk by mail.

I'll write up a story later and decide what to do, but I'm a bit disappointed at the proximity of players! <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">If it is me lets be friends! Someone else - kill 'em! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Sabin]

Sabin was still jittery from the shock that another race was encountered, especially so soon. Too soon, for his liking. He knew if the Escort MK.I was not finished by the end of the month, the Space Empire may very well be destroyed. However, his intentions were not for war.

He and his staff considered the options, and sent a brief message of peace. Hopefully, the creatures they were trying to work with would accept the offer...Or his race may very well be doomed from the start.

[Ruatha]

Zeta Knights First Encounter (3-1) Stardate 2400.4

Knight Captain Alta of the "Searcher" was faicng the hardest task in his life.
He had as ordered traversed the warp point, and exited alive and well. No damage to the ship.
But to his surprise the scanner displays highlighted the instant they came out through the warp point.
At first it was thought they was malfunctioning due to the transition but very quickly it becam appearant that they where working quite wll.

There where aliens in this system.
The Zeta Knights scientists had counted more than 200 systems in this part of the universe, if there where aliens in all of them there would be more than 200 species to meet, the thought was stunning.

But now Knight Captain Alta had more immediate problems, what to do?
He had the recording from Knight Templar Ruatha that they where supposed to send out to any aliens encountered, but no one had expected that encounter to happen this soon!
Should he send the message? It would take a month to reach the aliens and another month for their answer to reach him.
He couldn't communicate with the homeplanet through the wormhole and get an answer back in reasonable time either.
Should he waste two months while the aliens constructed weapons and fell upon him? He was the only thing standing between them and the Home planet!
There was no sign of any capital ship in the system.
The "Searcher" was a powerful ship; it had several anit proton beams of the latest class, able to deliver 20 gigawatts of power 4 sectors away. It had armour for defence and point defence cannons to shield against anything getting to close to her.
If Alta decided to he copuld propably glass that planet and then take out the remaining smaller colonies without much resistance.... but then he would have to act now.. in two months it might be too late!

"-Take us closer to that main planet", he said to his second in command and retired to his quarter to ponder the issue further before making this decision.
A decision that might mean life or death for all the Knights, the responsibility weighted heavily upon his shoulders.

[Sabin]

Sabin and his staff sent another message of peace in response to the Zeta Knight's communications:

"We accept your offer. In helping you find Reason and Purpose, we may find a Savior from the calamity that pursues both of our races."

He knew what was to follow this communication if it suceeded: Many meetings with this strange race and many cultural schisms. Hopefully, their respective peoples would not wish to go to war.

The planets of the Space Empire were already producing the next Escort MK.I, though it was only half-way through the construction phase. Sabin authorised for at least two vessels to guard each planet.

Another emergency measure was taken in light of the recent events. This particular one was to send a colonization ship into another system, hopefully away from hostile forces and into a preferable system.

[Baron Grazic]

Originally posted by Sabin:
... and into a preferable system. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">You mean such systems exists in this galaxy? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif
We have been in 3 systems so far, and have found only 2 non-breatherable Tiny Worlds that we can colonise. At this rate the EEEvil EEEmpirEEE will be out of all resources before we find another planet to colonise. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[Sabin]

Well, the Space Empire hopes there is such a thing.

[ March 05, 2004, 01:32: Message edited by: Sabin ]

[AMF]

OOC:

Hm. That's trange. Right next door you say? All players were supposed to be evenly distributed, so I don't think that shoul have happened...


Originally posted by Joachim:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Ruatha:
/OOC/
Darned.
The first system I enter has alien presence.
Statisticly this means there are over 200 players in this game!!!
I have a frigate with armour, point defence and level 3 weapons, he seems to have nothing!
Should I glass him or not?
Direct contact isn't allowed, can't talk by mail.

I'll write up a story later and decide what to do, but I'm a bit disappointed at the proximity of players! <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">If it is me lets be friends! Someone else - kill 'em! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[AMF]

OOC:

Well, the "in-game comms" idea is a House Rule, and un-enforceable at that, so I would suggest you do what you feel is right in this regard...But I am very perplexed by if they were placed in a system RIGHT next to you. That is definitely weird. Can we talk more about this offline (to protect the guilty) so I can try to figure this out?

thanks,

Alarik


Originally posted by alarikf:
OOC:

Hm. That's trange. Right next door you say? All players were supposed to be evenly distributed, so I don't think that shoul have happened...


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Joachim:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Ruatha:
/OOC/
Darned.
The first system I enter has alien presence.
Statisticly this means there are over 200 players in this game!!!
I have a frigate with armour, point defence and level 3 weapons, he seems to have nothing!
Should I glass him or not?
Direct contact isn't allowed, can't talk by mail.

I'll write up a story later and decide what to do, but I'm a bit disappointed at the proximity of players! <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">If it is me lets be friends! Someone else - kill 'em! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana"></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[AMF]

Well, I remember that when I made the map I made sure that there were at least an average number of systems with planets...it's not a "sparse" quadrant...maybe you just got unlucky?


Originally posted by Baron Grazic:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Sabin:
... and into a preferable system. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">You mean such systems exists in this galaxy? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif
We have been in 3 systems so far, and have found only 2 non-breatherable Tiny Worlds that we can colonise. At this rate the EEEvil EEEmpirEEE will be out of all resources before we find another planet to colonise. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Sabin]

Stardate 2400.07
Sabin was pleased to find that the Zeta Knights were willing to give the Kokomas to the Space Empire, in return for rights to have control over the Improbable system. He and his council made a request however, that the map of this system to be sent so no accidents may occur.

Perhaps he and the council should have also asked for maps of other systems that have been explored so far, but the time to ask has already passed.

In any case, it was a priority that the technology department is to be improved, it seemed that research was going too slowly. It would soon cost the Space Empire in the technological race if new engines and computer technology.

[Ed Kolis]

Personal log of High Regent Ch'rel of the Chozo Dominion
Stardate 2400.8

There are Fledglings in this quadrant.
Or are they other Wise Ones from some other quadrant who have also detected the disaster befalling the galaxy?
We will extend our wing in friendship; how will they respond?
Will they try to attack?
That would be foolish.
The Chozo have suffered much and know well how to defend themselves.
Or will they take the wise course and befriend us?
We await their reply.

[Sabin]

2400.08
Our request for a map of the system the Zeta Knights wish to keep appears to have been denied. While disappointing, the Space Empire still hold the Zeta Knights as reasonable creatures. In any case, expansion projects are taking place in the scientific sector, so that research may be accelerated.

[Ruatha]

/OOC/ Sabib - you need to send that request in-game... the Zeta Knights don't read this forum...
/IC

[Sabin]

I did send it in-game. However, your ship left the sight of my units, so perhaps the message was lost? By the way, would the fact that your ships and race pictures change every turn affect the Messages I send?

[Ruatha]

Hi.
No - sight of line does not matter.
But you must remember the time delay.
Turn 1: you send a message. (The turn before this).
Turn 2: I receive your message, read it and respond. (This turn).
Turn 3: You get my reply. (Next turn)

tHAT MY SHIPS CHANGE IS BECOURSE YOU HAVEN'T DOWNLOADED THE SHIPSET THAT i'M USING, SO THE GAME PICKS ONE AT (Darn, I hate that caps lock key) random instead.
On the Zeta Quadrant game page at PBW click on the link that is under my empire name, download that shipset and unpack it to your pictures/races directory in you SEIV game directory. It should then unpack itself in an own directory called Sweden or something like that. Then you'll see my ships in the full glory that they are meant to be seen.
There are many custom shipsets used in this game.

So, concerning the in-game message, it might just be very propable that I'm sitting here at my computer right now reading it... so You might look for an answer next turn.

Se Ya
Ruatha

[ March 08, 2004, 12:15: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Intimidator]

Stardate 2401.0

The airlock hissed open and she stepped out of the small shuttle, finaly home again she thought.
She visited 'Hydoria' the latest colony which the Order colonized lately.

There was a Hoovercabin waiting for her to bring her to her apartment, but she refused. No, Walks are better on such a perfect day she said to herself. And she started thinking about the preparations for the Great Search.

She walked in the direction of the park when far above her the newest frigate from the 'Gods Way' Class ignited her engines and disapeared out of sight in only seconds.

[Ed Kolis]

Stardate 2401.0

Sorel Tel'ix, captain of the first Chozo colony ship to leave New Tallon, squawked at his monitor. Chozo were not normally known to squawk.

"The Fledglings want me to do WHAT?!?"

"It is a simple request; they want you to participate in a cultural exchange program," said the Elder he was speaking to.

The captain's eyes narrowed to slits. "Cultural exchange program? As in, interrogate and then dissect me and every other Chozo aboard this ship in order to gain vital secrets that would let them destroy what little foothold we have left in the universe?"

"No, Captain," the Elder explained calmly, "this is a cultural exchange program. Nothing more."

"With all due respect, Elder Telron, I won't have anything to do with it," said the captain, and he cut off the communication channel.

The Elder sighed... when would those impetuous young starship captains learn the Way of Peace?

But then, maybe those captains were just more knowledgeable in the devious Ways of the Fledglings...

The Elder began writing a letter to High Regent Ch'rel:

"No starship captains are willing to give up their ships, even in exchange for untold cultural and technical wealth... It is most unfortunate, then, that....."

It was not quite the truth... but those were the Ways of the Fledglings.

[Ruatha]

Zeta Knights The Mourning (4-1) Stardate 2401.0

The catastrophy struck fast, the colony ship "Snål lång 002" was travelling under standard exploration protocol.
Head for the nearest unexplored worm-hole, jump through and head for the middle of the system.
This had saved alot of time in the recent past, instead of just jumping through to take a look and powering down the engines, loosing many weeks of travel time, the ships had kept up speed all the time.
But this time it had proved fatal.
The ship had been close to the wormhole when it jumped, it exited on the other side and the engines continued roaring heading for the center of the system.
When the crew realized that this was not an ordinary system but a black hole, it was all too late.
The engines where shut down but in a matter of days the ship was sucked into the hole and crushed.
All hands lost.
The Zeta Knights exploration protocol had to be changed, new plans revised. This would set back the colonization surge by several weeks, if not months.

[ March 11, 2004, 06:11: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

eh...it's one black hole. unless it's an ancient quadrent, it's not like space is littered with these things.

but it does sound like your roleplaying.

[Baron Grazic]

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
eh...it's one black hole. unless it's an ancient quadrent, it's not like space is littered with these things.

but it does sound like your roleplaying. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The map certinaly looks like an ancient quadrant, with damaging warp points & asteroids everywhere and only a small number of colonisable planets, so space could be littered with them. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[ March 11, 2004, 21:36: Message edited by: Baron Grazic ]

[Baron Grazic]

Minutes of the EEEvil EEEmpire Overview Meeting... Star Date 2401.0

EEEmperor Grazic - givEEE mEEE a construction updatEEE...
SpaceStation Minister - spaceball 0001 is building a "big ship"... spaceball 0002 is building a "EEEvil ship"...
Home World Minister - homEEE world is building a "big gun"...
Planet Minister - {mumble... mumble...}
EEEmperor Grazic - planEEEt ministEEEr... what was that about thEEE spacEEEyards on thosEEE nEEEw coloniEEEs???

Planet Minister - you rEEEmEEEmbEEEr thEEE Last mEEEting??? thEEE EEEconomy ministEEEr spokEEE to you...
EEEmperor Grazic - which onEEE of you is thEEE EEEconomy ministEEEr???
EEEconomy Minister - mEEE EEEmperor... Last mEEEting wEEE spokEEE about having almost no minEEErals to build with...
Planet Minister - and wEEE put thEEE nEEEw spacEEEyards on hold...
EEEmperor Grazic - thEEEn go and colonisEEE a minEEEral planEEEt and lEEEavEEE mEEE alonEEE...

Colony Minister - yEEEs your most worthy lEEEadEEEr... but wEEE havEEE a small problEEEm thEEErEEE...
EEEmperor Grazic - what??? {the gun turret sitting above EEEmperor Grazic comes to life}
EEEconomy Minister - ahEEEm... wEEE now also havEEE thEEE problEEEm of no organics to build morEEE coloniEEEs ships with...
EEEmperor Grazic - thEEEn go and gEEEt somEEE morEEE!!!

Colony Minister - ammm. wEEE havEEE found no morEEE planEEEts... lots of astEEEroids to convEEErt into planEEEts...
EEEmperor Grazic - good!!! how is thEEE stEEEar manipulation rEEEsEEEarch going???
Research Minister - not good... stEEEllar manipluation doEEEsn't work in thEEE zEEETa quadrant...
EEEmperor Grazic - WHAT!!! {the gun turret swivels and locks onto the Research Minister}

EEEmperor Grazic - thEEEn build anothEEEr ship to scout thosEEE othEEEr systEEEms...
EEEconomy Minister - wEEEll... wEEE also havEEE no radioactivEEEs to build ship EEEnginEEEs with...
EEEmperor Grazic - do wEEE havEEE to tEEEll you to do EEEvEEErything... go and colonisEEE anothEEEr rad planEEEt thEEEn...
Colony Minister - ammm. but wEEE just told you...
EEEmperor Grazic - what??? {the gun turret swivels and locks onto the Colony Minister}

Colony Minister - nothing... I will go and givEEE thEEE ordEEEr...

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Grazic, the flavor is nice, but the reading is difficult. perhaps only the first few sentences could be EEEized?

[Baron Grazic]

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
Grazic, the flavor is nice, but the reading is difficult. perhaps only the first few sentences could be EEEized? <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Sorry, I didn't even think of that. I've been roll-playing the EEEvil EEEmpire in a couple of games now, that I actually don't even notice anymore. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Originally posted by Baron Grazic:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
Grazic, the flavor is nice, but the reading is difficult. perhaps only the first few sentences could be EEEized? <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Sorry, I didn't even think of that. I've been roll-playing the EEEvil EEEmpire in a couple of games now, that I actually don't even notice anymore. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The EEE are taking over Grazic's brain!

Are the EEE the new borg?

News at 11!

Newsflash: Borg sueing EEE over copyright infringement!

Newsflash: EEE countersue borg for defamation of character!

[ March 12, 2004, 23:04: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[AMF]

This is the first Zeta Quadrant game. It is my intention that the Zeta Quadrant game be part of an epic storyline (whether I succeed in this or not, of course, depends on whether people have fun playing the games!)

The background to this storyline will become more and more apparent as the game goes on. While the background won?t matter for game play per se, it is my intention that the ?shape? and ?feel? and special effects of each successive Zeta Quadrant game be partly affected by the actions of the players in the previous game.

With that in mind, I?ll post various tidbits on the background of the Zeta Quadrant universe as I get them down on paper. And, although the larger story and metaphysics of the Zeta Quadrant game are known (at least to me) and have shaped this - the first Zeta Quadrant game - the future of the storyline is not fixed, and is to a certain extent determined by the players.

Having said that, below is the first of a two-part background document. Sometime in the next week I hope to get the second part of it on paper and I?ll post it then. (if there isn?t enough interest, I?ll just shut up and play?)

-------------------------------------

Summary of the Proceedings on the Ancients and their Machine Guardians, circa 2350. (from before the Exodus to the Zeta Quadrant)

In the year 2350, the Galactic Geospatial Society, a foundation for the study of ancient cultures and galactic phenomenon, held a ten week conference to summarize and present the accumulated knowledge of the species of the galaxy regarding the Ancients and their Machine Guardians. Below are some of the more notable excerpts from those meetings.

Over the past two hundred years, the various species of the galaxy have observed, discovered and dealt with a wide variety of Ancient phenomenon as well as the Machine Guardians that are ever-present at said sites. There are some constants in these observations and discoveries that might be relevant as many of the Galactic species now attempt to overcome the threat of Galactic Sterilisation facing them.

This discussion is organized into the following parts:

I. Definitions & General Discussion: what is an Ancient site? What are the Ancients? What are the Machine Guardians? Etc.
II. Some of the more notable Ancient sites, their characteristics, and their impact on some of the species of the Galaxy (this part to follow)

Part One: Definitions & General Discussion

First, we must define the terms we are discussing here. Over the past hundreds of years, a consensus has largely been reached by the Cooperative races on definitions of Ancient sites and related issues. It must be notes at the outset that this is a consensus more on what we do not know rather than what we do know. The study of the Ancients is the study, largely, of unknowns and hypotheses, not hard facts.

So, what are ?Ancient Sites?? First and foremost, they are not ancient artifacts or ruins. The galaxy is old, and before we came along there were clearly a wide variety of other star faring races. These prior races left behind remnants of their technology and civilizations, and these sites have yielded up much archaeological and technological knowledge over the millennia. Such sites are typically ancient cities, underground ruins, derelict star craft, and other similar manufactured items. And, they are from at least, by Last count, over a hundred different long-dead races.

Ancient Sites, per se, are instead something very different. First and foremost they have never been mechanical or decrepit in nature. There have never been found ?Ancient? cities, star craft, or the like. Sites of the ?Ancients? are, instead of a qualitatively different nature. They are sites at which the very stuff of the universe appears to have been ?molded? or changed in some way on a scale unimaginable. For example, the Stellar Clouds of Hyperion, the Rifts, the Abyss, The Ten Sisters, and the Last Man are all undeniable examples of Ancient Sites. The most well known hypothesized Ancient site is, of course, the Great Sign. We do not yet have proof that the Great Sign is an Ancient Site, due to the fact that it is, of course, unreachable with our star craft. However, the data from observations and readings of the Great Sign correlate with other Ancient sites and display the same unique energy signatures. And, while of great topical interest, we have not yet proven to ourselves that the Sphereworld that we believe lies in the Zeta Quadrant is an Ancient Site. We will discuss these in greater detail below.

In each of these cases, what sets them apart from other stellar phenomenon is that they are stellar manipulation on a vast scale. The Clouds of Hyperion, for example, stretch across tens of parsecs and in a manner that is clearly not natural. The Great Sign is the most stunning example. We won?t get into the religious debates that surround the Sign, but suffice it to say that the power and ability required to actually mold and shape multiple galaxies together, so that the Sign is observable across the entire measured universe, is beyond our fathoming.

There are a few other characteristics of Ancient Sites that bear mentioning here.

All Ancient sites have the same unique energy readings. And no known measurement device has been able to effectively tell us what matter or energy yields up those readings. For example, the first human contact with Ancient Sites occurred (luckily for the human race) at a rather minor site at what is known as the Painting of the Gods. In this case, observations from many light years away showed what we are all familiar with: an extremely beautiful and enthralling, almost hypnotic, arrangement of stars and planets in ways that astrophysics could not explain. Gravity dictated that such an arrangement could not exist; yet it appeared to be stable. When human vessels came close their scanners detected a source of energy in the center of the planets and stars that they could not identify with any available means (spectroscopy or otherwise). To date, even after numerous Ancient Sites have been explored, this energy source has remained both constant and totally unexplained.

And, of course, Ancient Sites are characterized by one other constant: the spontaneous presence of ?machine entities.? In contrast to the Ancient Sites themselves, the Machine entities have very different characteristics and are, largely, much less mysterious. At the same time they are quite deadly.

The Machine Entities are unexplained in at least one aspect however: we still, after countless investigations and efforts by multiple civilizations to understand the Machines so as to survive their onslaughts, we still do not know how they appear spontaneously at Ancient Sites.

The general pattern is this: a vessel will arrive at an Ancient Site. If by accident, then they are probably doomed. If they arrived intentionally, then they will be prepared for combat, as most races have learned by now to send well armed task forces when exploring Ancient Sites. Soon after the arrival of the vessels into the vicinity of the Ancient Site, machine entities will coalesce around whatever matter is present and take the form of the race that discovered the Ancient Site. The Machine entities will then begin a process of rapidly evolving taking as a starting point the technological and knowledge base of the race that they are patterned after.

One of the most puzzling and intriguing aspects of all this become known when the Aether government recently de-classified the report of one of its exploration vessels and made the results open to public study. In brief, the story is this: an Aether task force approached the Ancient Site known as The Lords of the Stars. One ship, due to the failure of it propulsion systems, had to make an emergency planet fall on of the planets surrounding the phenomenon. As it?s crew secured the vessels perimeter, some of them noticed a strange coalescing of dust in the air. Acting quickly, the Aether ship tractored and then put into stasis the dust motes that had already begun to form into the shape of a standard Aether male. The ship successfully escaped the area with the proto-machine entity in an isolated stasis box. After years of study in an undisclosed location (during which every scan known to the Cooperative races was employed) the Aether Lords scientists came to the unmistakable conclusion that all they had was dust. Standard, unimpressive, silicate dust. This point bears repeating: the dust that was coalescing into a machine entity was nothing more than that: dust. This means that either something external was making the dust coalesce into some form of machine entity which would somehow become a single minded guardian of the Ancient site OR our sensors have no way of understanding how the dust was different. Current thinking leans toward the latter explanation, but it remains unsolved to this day.

There are four more important aspects of the machine entities that deserve mentioning: First, as mentioned above, there has never been an Ancient Site that has not had Machine Entities guarding it. Second, the machine entities ?play by the same rules? ? they emerge after the discovery of the Ancient Site, they begin their existence at a roughly equivalent technological level as those that discovered them, and they evolve from that point. Third, the Machine Entities are geospatially limited ? they do not travel beyond a certain, unknown, distance from the Ancient Site. This appears to be due to some inherent characteristic of theirs. Such a conclusion is based on the logs of the Kor Task Force 62 five years ago in which they came under attack by a Machine Entity craft, and successfully disabled its maneuver thrusters as they were fleeing it. The Machine Entity craft, unable to turn around, did something very peculiar as it drifted farther and farther from the Ancient Site: it slowly dissolved from metal components into dust until it was just another part of the stellar gasses. The vessel, which had been a mass of particle beams, missile launchers, and machine drones, became, literally, nothing more than stellar gas. Lastly, the Machine Guardians stand in stark contrast to the Ancient Sites in one other way: while it is hard to classify the Ancient sites along any pattern or predictability, the Machine entities are the opposite: they are orderly, regimented, and patterned despite. Their vessels are usually composed of interlocking geometric shapes, their battle formations are highly ordered, and their cities and planets are molded and crafted by them in highly organized ways. They do evolved and grow, but they do so in almost predictable ways.

All of these characteristics of the Machine Guardians have meant that, by and large, most races in the galaxy have long ago stopped exploring Ancient sites since it is known that the Machine Entities will be there to fight them off.

So, what is NOT characteristic of Ancient Sites? Age for one thing. In those cases where the stellar age of Ancient Sites have been measured, there is no pattern nor is there any definable age. Some ancient sites appear to be, literally, as old as the universe itself. Some are only a few hundred thousand years old. Elementary level Astrophysics tells us that the Great Sign must be as old as the Big Bang that created the Universe itself. Yet, the Deep Space array spectroscopy scans indicate it is much younger. We cannot explain this. Most believe such anomalies are related somehow to the mysterious and un-measurable energy source present in all Ancient Sites.

And we feel obliged to mention another aspect of Ancient sites around which consensus is admittedly lacking: their ?usefulness.? There has NEVER been a major technological discovery based on Ancient Sites. In the early days of space travel for most races, one of the primary goals was to investigate a ?nearby? Ancient site. For some species, the hope was that they could plumb the secrets of a long gone race of god-like beings that could manipulate the very stars to do their bidding. It is almost universally agreed that while Ancient sites display amazing powers of stellar manipulation on a grand scale, and are incredibly beautiful and enthralling, they have yet to yield up any secrets to those who plumb their depths.


End part One of the Summary of the Proceedings on the Ancients and their Machine Guardians, circa 2350.

[Sabin]

Grand Master Sabin stood in his bedroom, thinking as "Live from the Yggdrasil" played in the background. He and his staff have recently come to a decision about attempting to make more deals with the Zeta Knights Society, or known as the ZKS in short. Hopefully the ZKS would not be offended by the shorthand term.

The deals, more specifically, had to do with conducting a trade operation based on that the ZKS would send ships loaded with technology to the Space Empire, in exchange for resources. There were also two other agendas, one of which concerned about allowing the proto-type Escort E-Type free passage through ZKS space. The other proposition was an extreamely dangerous topic: Forming a protectorate treaty with the ZKS, as the protected party. T

here were advantages, no doubt, but it may send the wrong message to the ZKS. More specifically, that the Space Empire is so weak, that it can be conquered easily by the ZKS. Which seemed to be true. The Space Empire wished to form such a protectorate, so that it may be under the protection of the ZKS if any hostile races were found, and to cement the relationship of the two empires, possibly making the passage of the technology proposal undeniable.

The discussion of the protectorate treaty was placed on hold for now, however. The Grand Master felt that the measure can be delayed so that the situation can be more clear.

A message about the first two proposals have been already sent. The following is the message:

"The Space Empire wishes to know if the Zeta Knights Society is willing to give ships to the Space Empire in exchange for the following goods: Minerals, Organics, and Gases. If the ZKS is interested, please make a price for the ships. What is desired in the ship composition is primarily examples of technology, that the Space Empire can examine freely."

"Also, permission is requested that a new vessel that the Space Empire recently commisioned, the Escort E-Type, is being constructed. This vessel is unarmed, and is meant for exploring the universe. However, it may need to move through ZKS territorys. The Space Empire is willing to give information about other systems. The Space Empire thanks the ZKS for lending a ear to the proposal."

[Intimidator]

Stardate 2401.1

........ke up, Mother wake up quick.
Were the first words she heard, still overcome with sleep she tried to open her eyes.
She came up right and pressed the small grey button on the comlink. What's the problem Yeeliaa, she asked.

You better come to command at once Mother, we have contact !!!!!!

[Baron Grazic]

### Announcement to the Population of the EEEvil EEEmpire Home World... ###

thEEE EEEmperor Grazic...
wishEEEs to announcEEE a holiday...
to all EEEvil beings...

Last month an EEEvil "big ship" dEEEcted anothEEEr ship...
this month the "big ship" dEEEstroyed it...

dEEEath... dEEEstruction... and EEEradication...
arEEE ours...

thEEE EEEmperor Grazic also wishEEEs to announcEEE that thEEE timEEE of holiday is now ovEEEr...
so gEEEt back to work!!!

[Sabin]

Due to unforseen circumstances, I am forced to be removed from the game. Apologies to all players about this. This can't be altered, since computer use would be unavailable for at least one week.

[AMF]

Sabin,

I can put the game on hold for a week if that's all it is. In fact, I just got asked by another player to put it to ALPU for a week since they are having computer access issues also. Why don't you stay - others might complain, but, well, everyone should get at least one pass, no? And if it is for just a week, that won't kill anyone, eh?

thanks,

alarik

Originally posted by Sabin:
Due to unforseen circumstances, I am forced to be removed from the game. Apologies to all players about this. This can't be altered, since computer use would be unavailable for at least one week. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Renegade 13]

I don't mind going on hold for a week.

[Ruatha]

Ok by me.

[Ed Kolis]

I wouldn't mind either; better than than ruin the RP atmosphere http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Intimidator]

Agree with the one week off.

[AMF]

The Zeta Quadrant game, the first in a series of games (wherein each subsequent game is affected by the results of the previous one, and there is a complex backstory, but role playing is not necessary) has an opening due to one of the players having real life issues. The game just started, it's on turn 13, and the Zragoon empire needs a player! Someone, jump on in!

thanks,

Alarik

[Baron Grazic]

Bump.

[Sabin]

I have returned. For a short while, I believed that my computer's information was destroyed. However, a minor miracle has prevented such.

I am ready to resume playing.

[AMF]

Yep, I already put the game back on AutoRun...let's get back in business!!

Originally posted by Sabin:
I have returned. For a short while, I believed that my computer's information was destroyed. However, a minor miracle has prevented such.

I am ready to resume playing. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[Sabin]

[ March 28, 2004, 21:14: Message edited by: Sabin ]

[Sabin]

Stardate: 2401.6

The Radical Dreamer, a prototype Escort E-Type was launched Last month, to explore the galaxy for new life and civilizations...and salvation. It may take many years for it to complete it's mission, but it should greatly aid the Space Empire.

The Zeta Knights also offered an exchange of technology. The Space Empire begun work on the prototype TechShip. This vessel would be equipped with many different technologies, and will be the vessel for exchanging technology with the Zeta Knights. The Space Empire has also been trying to improve the deal, due to that the ship is using a technology that has been exclusively used only by the Radical Dreamer-until now.

[Ruatha]

The Zeta knights again rubbed their heads, most of the Messages received from the Space Empire seemed to be incomplete and mysterious.
Not much was understood of their intention or for that way, what they actually meaned by their references.
The brightest of the young knights was sat to the task of trying to understand these alien minds to find out what their Messages really meant.
It seemed that they where talking to the Zeta knights and where having an on-going conversation, even answering questions?? But the problem was that there was noone from the Zeta knights who knew what the conversation was about...

Strange alien minds indeed!

[Baron Grazic]

### Announcement to the Population of the EEEvil EEEmpire Home World... ###

thEEE EEEmperor Grazic...
wishEEEs to announcEEE anothEEEr holiday...
to all EEEvil beings...

not only do wEEE now havEEE...
3 alliEEEs who bow bEEEfore our insanity...
but Last month an EEEvil "big ship"...
attackEEEd our EEEnemy's homEEE world...

all EEEvil bEEEings should cEEEllebrate...
as thEEEir EEEntire homEEE world was dEEEstroyed...

dEEEath... dEEEstruction... and EEEradication...
arEEE ours...

lEEEt thEEE fun bEEEgin...

### Transmission Ends ###


OOC - Well perhaps the Home World wasn't destroyed, but I'm not letting my insane EEEvil subjects know that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Ruatha]

Sabin > Remember that any reference you make to a message that reaches you will reach me two turns after I sent that message, in some cases 104 hours, more than 4 days after I sent that message. I play several games and I won't remember what you say when you say something like, "We can do that but it will require some changes." (bad memory and bad documentation discipline http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif )
I won't have any clue as to what you are talking about. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif
In PBW one needs to be very clear in conversations, like "The proposed trade of ships with advanced technology is to our liking, but the Polaron Phased beams level 5 we already have and we would rather appreciate APB level 12 instead".
That I'll understand! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Se Ya

[Intimidator]

Stardate 2401.8

> Hi Yeeliaa, come in. What do you have for me.
> Please Mother, take a look at this images. Path-4 just send them to command.
> ............She is beautiful, isn't she ?
> oh yes she is Mother, she is !!

[Sabin]

Stardate: 24XX

The Radical Dreamer has traveled far beyond what the Space Empire has designed it for. Hopes were high for those who managed the project, since they felt they were getting closer to finding Salvation.

Elsewhere, a culture exchange program has begun. The terms between the Space Empire and the Zeta Knights are that they exchange 10 million civilians. The colony ship and the TechShip were launched. The former has been placed under Zeta Knights contol, while the latter is waiting for their confirmation.

The research program of the Space Empire has been quite weak, but it appears to be changing, since more research facilities are under construction.

[Sabin]

Stardate: 24XX

The Radical Dreamer has encountered two new races. Their abilities are currently unknown. It has not yet been determined if they are hostile, and whether or not they are at war with each other remains to be seen.

The report has been promptly sent to the Zeta Knights Society, which is still an somewhat unknown factor to the Space Empire.

[Sabin]

Stardate: 24XX

The Space Empire has successfully established peaceful relations with the encountered races, and the Radical Dreamer has continued it's journey, though it would have to stop momentarily to refuel.

The "Freespace" has been launched. It is a Escort E-Type and would start a second exploration mission. The "Grand Space Empire" a vessel containing 10 million ZKS civilians, is going to soon arrive at Kokomo Prime. Kokomo Prime is also starting to appear to be a worthy investment, since it's research facilities are quickly surpassing the quality of the labs available on Terranigma.

[Ruatha]

The Zeta Knights

Resource prduction is always an hindering issue.
Many systems have ben explored but no suitable mining colony has been found.
Currently mining operations are at development at several planets with a mineral rate of barely above 50%, a vaste of precious land, but the space yards are crying out for minerals.
Several yards have had to halt their production in anticipation of resources.
The expansion that has been successful so far needs more resources if it is to proceed, where can they be found??

[ April 09, 2004, 09:22: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Renegade 13]

The Xiati empire had always believed itself to be unique in the galaxy. That fact, which had been undisputed for millenia, was now proven, quite obviously, to be wrong.

(Minister in charge of space exploration) "Sir, we have sketchy reports that our first exploration class vessel has encountered ANOTHER RACE!"
(Emperor Tax-Renath) "WHAT! That's impossible! The Xiati are the only intelligent race in the galaxy!"
"Nevertheless sir, we have had contact with their vessel, which appears to be their equivalent of a colony ship. What action should we take?"
"Ok ok....lets send them a general welcoming message, see what response we get, then, if we discover that they actually ARE intelligent, I will inform you of your further orders later. Go find your communications officer and have him send this message...."

[Ruatha]

Received in_game message:


Message from the EEEvil EEEmpirEEE:
"dEEEal...

{in a low mumbled tone}
suckEEErs...
don't thEEEy know that...
thEEE nEEExus is to thEEE north of zanalgûr...
and now thEEEy arEEE bound by thEEEir trEEEaty...
and must concEEEdEEE that this is our systEEEm...

...what do you mEEEan...
i havEEE to push thEEE rEEEd button...
to EEEnd communications???"


*LOL*

[ June 12, 2004, 08:18: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Joachim]

So Alarikf, how is the next Zeta coming along?

[AMF]

Yeah, I know I need to get this out. Sorry. I'm under the gun for my comprehensive exams. Lately I'm only getting to SE4 after midnight - by which time my brain is too fried to do anything other than turns...

HOWEVER, enough whinging! My wife is gone this weekend. I will try and get to this then - but I make no guarentees...

Thanks for pestering though. I probably needed the kick in the pants.

Alarik


Joachim said:
So Alarikf, how is the next Zeta coming along?

[Joachim]

Not pestering, do it when you can. I just like the scenario and want to see where you take it next - kinda like waiting for the next Honor Harrington book http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[AMF]

Wow, that's high praise!


Joachim said:
Not pestering, do it when you can. I just like the scenario and want to see where you take it next - kinda like waiting for the next Honor Harrington book http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif



Just to letcha know, I spent a lot of time this weekend figuring out how things work in certain data files, getting the maps together, and I am now in the process of finishing up the maps. That's a non-trivial effort - for reasons that will probably become apparent after the game starts - but I am pretty pleased with how things are looking so far. After finishing this first map, I want to test it with an "AI Deathmatch" to ensure that no specific geographic starting point is favored. I think I know how things will go, but I thought that Last time as well, and was wrong.

In any case, after this comes the fun part...so...watch this space.

Thanks,

Alarik

[Joachim]

alarikf said:


... I think I know how things will go, but I thought that Last time as well, and was wrong.

In any case, after this comes the fun part...so...watch this space.

Thanks,

Alarik



What did you think Last time?

[AMF]

I sort of expected less cooperation. I also expected that I (the Machines) would do better - but I have come to realize, especially given my performance in the SEV race game that, compared to the 'big boys' I ain't even in the running.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

In any case, I won't be in the next games except as a host, so it won't be a problem...


Joachim said:
What did you think Last time?

[AMF]

The second game in the Zeta series is beginning!

Looking for 20 players...

The game is listed under "Zeta 2: The Great Sign" on PBW. The background information and settings are posted there and replicated below:


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things you should know up front about this game:

* No fighters or mines (satellites allowed however)
* No Stellar Manipulation
* No ancient race characteristic allowed
* No religious race characteristic allowed.
* No temporal race characteristic allowed.
* No Intelligence. This is a no-intel game.
* Unique map

Empires will be created using PvK's Balance Mod using with 2000 point empires. This means they are "stock" empires but with adjusted point costs for the various characteristics that are more balance. As PvK says, PvK Balance mod changes the point costs for abilities when an empire is created, to be more balanced. It makes no other changes to the basic game.

The Balance Mod can be obtained here (http://g2.latibulum.com/pvk/pvkbalance)

Since that site is lately experiencing problems,
you can also download it from the SE4 PBW site
here (http://seiv.pbw.cc/Download/filelib/942/PvKBalance1.1.zip)

As a third alternative, email me at alarikf@hotmail.com and I will send it to you.

Finally, as part of the set-up, I would like to get a copy of your race characteristics and a description -- especially as they pertain to the society from which it came. There are some things I will specifically be looking for, and they affect starting positions. Don't worry: no starting position will be disadvantaged (I am going to test the map with a number of AI deathmatches before the game starts) but there are just some determinants about where races start based on their societies.

NOTE:
I intend to start this game in a few weeks, shooting for around Feb 12th. The delay is because I want to finish and test the map for balance and I would really like to get 20 players for the game.

Also, I understand that many people might be reluctant to use a mod, even one that makes no changes to the basic game. If interest in this game is too low, I may consider going with the straight stock game. But for balance purposes, Id really rather not.

Lastly, I may make slight changes to the background or setting of the game, as I go back over my notes and find things I forgot to put in.

If there are any questions, feel free to email me at alarikf@hotmail.com
Thanks,
Alarik
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Background

It is unclear to your people what has happened. Fifty years ago your society exerted all its energies into building a fleet that would travel to the distant Zeta Quadrant in order to find and, if possible, settle the Sphereworld there. That Sphereworld, was some sort of Ancient object, and presented your race with the only possible haven from an approaching wave of deadly radiation from the center of the Galaxy. This radiation was, inevitably, so powerful that all life in the galaxy was going to be extinguished.

(The background above is from the Zeta 1 game, the full text of which is posted as an attachement to a post down below)

So, your people watched their expedition set sail for the Zeta quadrant carrying with it the Last hope for your people and their entire civilization, and awaited the coming of the bLast that would destroy those left behind.

Or so you thought...

...and, indeed, the Last thing you remember is watching the bright flash of the radiation as it entered the atmosphere of your homeworld...

...and then waking up on a strange land, with many other members of your race. The "Awakening" as many began to call it, was a time of wonder and chaos. Many starved, or went mad, but hundreds of millions did not. Partly this was due to the extreme wealth of resources, and the ideal conditions on this new world. As your people reveled in, somehow, surviving certain death, many turned to religion to explain this occurrence. But all set about trying to understand where they were and rebuild their society given this second chance.

Not all members of your race survived. Your civilization spanned many planets, and many billions of people. There appeared to be no discernible pattern as to why some were "reborn" and others were not. Families were broken up, and planetary populations were mixed up apparently randomly.

The planet your people found themselves on was extremely rich in resources, giving them a fighting chance to rebuild their civilization. But that's not all. Everywhere on the planet were the countless signs and ruins of other, prior civilizations. And not just one, but many built upon the ruins of the former. When your archaeologists and miners dig into the planet, they find unending layers upon layers of ancient ruins, each totally different from the one upon which it was built, and some dating from as far back as the postulated beginning of the universe. Some of these extinct civilizations had flourishing cultures with high forms of art and beauty, others were rigidly ordered societies, and so on...but none, apparently, survived. A sobering thought for your people on this new world, lending an air of Ozymandias-ness to your rebuilding efforts.

Furthermore, the remains of this planet's prior inhabitants were none you had encountered before. Your race spanned many systems, and had an advanced knowledge of the Galaxy and its history. But the remains you have found have never exactly resembled any race your people have ever been familiar with or even heard of. Some are similar to races your people have known, but many exhibit, in fact, characteristics that are not only completely alien but also completely incompatible with the planet you are now on. For example, you might have found the remains of fragile, winged creatures, but the atmosphere and gravity of the planet you are on would crush such life. Other life forms found are often incompatible with the planet in other ways: giant creatures that clearly resided in the atmosphere of gas giants, but your world is rocky - and your instruments indicate that it has always been so.

The mysteries beneath your tentacles are matched by the mysteries above: the sky from your planet is brightened by the glow of a great nebula above...and no more than a hundred or so stars. For some of you, the sky is filled with stars that shift, and move, and orbit each other in a constant dance of intricacy and hypnotic allure. For others, the sky is rigid and unchanging, and the stars are arranged in a patter of like distance from each other in grid like fashion.

In both cases, your conventional understanding of physics informed your people that the sky above was impossible given the laws of physics. This mystery, and the absence of the rest of the stars in the galaxy, eventually led your people to the inevitable conclusion that they now resided in that portion of the galaxy known as The Great Sign.

Before the "awakening" your people had observed the Great Sign from afar. At that time it had great significance for your people, in some cases extremely religious significance. The Great Sign itself appeared to lie at the edge of the observable universe, looking, like two clusters of stars separated from each other by a strange, radiating nebula. One of the clusters is globular, and the stars orbit and shift patterns in no discernible pattern. The second cluster is, for lack of a better word, cubic: a stable collection of hundreds of stars, unchanging in their positions relative to each other, and arranged, simply as points in a grid across a three dimensional cube. Between these two clusters is what some call the Singularity - a stellar phenomenon emitting bizarre radiations equivalent to the output of the entire galactic core at one single point. Seen from the inhabited galaxy, the Great Sign appears to be a grand globe and a cube, both composed of stars and between them a bright outflowing of energy.

The Great Sign has played a critical, and often religious, role in the development of many star faring. This significance might have been simply interesting were it not for the Faith Effect that developed in those races that adopted the Great Sign as an integral part of their beliefs. The Faith Effect was a verifiable and reproducible effect that the religious races have achieved: it is the ability of the most pious and best trained of these races to meditate upon the Great Sign and, in so doing, unerringly achieve some physical goal of theirs. The most common manifestation of the Faith Effect is that of the weapons crews of religious races starships. The most typical way they achieve this onboard their starships is through intense trance-like meditations within temple-like chambers on their starships (these rooms are colloquially called Talisman rooms, but the exact description varies greatly by race). When certain members, usually of priest-castes, reach the highest level of trance during their meditations on the Great Sign, they can somehow channel their concentrations into the ships systems - resulting in unerring success by those systems. For example, in so doing, they can focus the weapon targeting systems of their ships to hit their targets - all the time, every time. It goes without saying this is an astonishing feat.

Because of this faith effect, the religious races adopted their primordial religions to accommodate the Great Sign as a center of their faith.

Now, on this alien world, the Faith Effect is no longer evident. This has had, as expected, cataclysmic repercussions for those religious races...and theories abound as to why it has happened. None has been proven yet.

There are other differences between here and "before." It is unclear why, but the Great Sign appears to be either "outside" of time, or perhaps at the beginning or end of time. The experiments and engineering of temporal researchers have not 'worked' since being recovered. No temporal-based technologies have had any measure of success. The nature of time itself appears to have changed here.

One final point of interest is that, on this new world, your people have had occasional sightings of the phenomenon known "The Last Man."

This is the name given to a phenomenon that has appeared to many a wide variety of starship crews over the centuries, seemingly at random and always in out-of-the-way and desolate locales. In the past the Last Man has been a rock structure with a stationary statue-like member of the observing race. If a human crew, this "Last man" will appear as an old decrepit human male, if it is a Drushocka, it will appear as a older Dru, and so forth. Generally, it appears as an older male representative of their race, but for some races it is an older female. Multi-racial crews see their own individual race represented. Often, but not always, on the rock structures surrounding the Last man are an intricate series of inscriptions and hieroglyphic type writings. None of these have ever been successfully translated, and they have something in common with *all* known Languages.

While in the past the Last Man has appeared to be an immobile statue of simple stone, now, on this world, your people have seen "visions" of it, accompanied by intricate and vast images of strange Languages filling the sky and etched into the ground. Many of your people who have seen the Last man have the undeniable belief that it is trying to communicate in some way.

Because of these puzzles, as your race rebuilt, it explored the ruins beneath its pseudopod, it examined the skies, and theorized and researched at great length - but found no answers to these mysteries.

Your people, over the years since awakening on this world have rebuilt much of their prior civilizations. It took over a hundred years, but the prior knowledge of your people remained from before, allowing a rapid reclamation of what was lost. Further assisted by the great resources on the world, your people have fundamentally rebuilt their civilization on this world.

Now, as your people have once again forged the governments, arts, cities, universities, and industries that help comprise their civilization, they are ready to look once again towards the stars and explore the their surroundings...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game settings:

Starting resources: 100000
Starting planets: 1
Home planet value: Very Good
Score display: Allied
Technology level: Medium
Racial points: 2000 - Empires created with Pvk Balance Mod
Quadrant type: The Great Sign ("unique")
Quadrant size: Large/Unique - approximately 255 systems
Event frequency: Low
Event severity: Catastrophic
Technology cost: High
Victory conditions: By general agreement, and player determined based on in-game discoveries. One, two or many empire victories possible.
Maximum units: maximum (but no fighters or mines)
Maximum ships: maximum
Computer players: none
Computer difficulty: High
Computer player bonus: No AIs at start, otherwise High
Neutral empires: No
Other game settings:

Due to the unique energies in the Great Sign and their effects, there are a few changes to the stock settings:

* Smaller craft or devices such as fighters and mines are not viable. Satellites are viable however (I can't turn them off anyways...&lt;g&gt;)
* Stellar Manipulation is disallowed ("turned off")

There are other effects of the origin and nature of the Great Sign:
* No ancient race characteristic allowed
* No religious race characteristic allowed.
* No temporal race characteristic allowed.
* Intelligence is disallowed. This is a no-intel game.

A note to players of the Zeta 1 game: this game will be "higher-powered" than that one, and will have a much more even and richer spread of resources. In that one, there were some systems that were, apparently, pretty darn resource poor. That is not the case in this game. So to speak. Heh.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes on playmanship:

I try to be pretty relaxed about players in PBW games, and endeavor to make playing the game as easy and hassle-free as possible. I have set the turnaround time to 52 hours. I believe this is a good time because it allows people who work full time and return home late to have two chances to do their turns after work. Fact of life is, every now and then, something comes up and someone can't do their turn. This turnaround time gets around that problem I believe.

Having said that, I am convinced that the game will go as quick as players wish it to. Especially in the beginning, it should go fast: so get those orders in as fast as you can. Your fellow players will thank you for it.

Missed turns: If you are going to miss a turn let me know in advance. I intend to be very lenient in putting the game on ALPU, unless widespread complaints from other players arise. However, I won't let players abuse this - so please, don't ask for the game to be put on ALPU for any reason other than you are just not able to have access to your computer due to a trip, vacation, etc... the reason I fell ok in saying this is because with a 52 hour turnaround, people shouldn't be too rushed to get their turns in.

Furthermore, I, and everyone who plays PBW, hates it when players stop turning in orders and thereby extend the game to the longest possible turnaround time. Therefore, if a player misses three turns without making prior arrangements or notifying me beforehand I will kick them out unless they have a good excuse to tell me.

Really, all I am asking is that you keep me informed if you're going to miss a turn so that we can work something out.
--------------
(note: Zeta 1 Backstory has been moved to an attachment in a later post...to avoid scaring people off...)

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[AMF]

Bumpity bump bump...buh bump bump

[Joachim]

Boink....

This will be a really good game. Dont be put off by the history and background - that just makes it even better!

As for the balance mod to create empires - it is easy to use and balances out the points really well, making for a better game.

The best reason to join is that Alarikf is an excellent host who ensures a great map and set up as well as keeping the game moving.

JOIN...Join!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[AMF]

I guess I should clarify so people aren't scared off by the (long) backstory:

This is a regular game just like any other. That's it. The backstory, honestly, is probably just an excuse for me to make funky maps but it has no other game effect (FYI: it just comes from the cosmology of my role playing universe when I used to GM RPGs many many years ago...)

Other than the map and the settings, this game is just like any other: there is no need to play "in-character" if you don't want to, there is no concrete link to the other Zeta game, players in that former game have NO advatange here at all...And the victory conditions are up to player consensus.

(oh, and the Balance Mod is really just my way of making sure that players don't HAVE to use the min-max strategies just to be competetive - that always struck me as lame)

That's it. So, ignore the backstory, and look forward to playing a standard game with these settings:

* No fighters or mines (satellites allowed however)
* No Stellar Manipulation
* No ancient race characteristic allowed
* No religious race characteristic allowed.
* No temporal race characteristic allowed.
* No Intelligence. This is a no-intel game.
* Unique map

Thanks,

Alarik

[AMF]

The backstroy for the first Zeta game is an attachment to this post so as to not clutter up this thread...

Thanks,

Alarik