Zero Resource Production game idea

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by Jmenschenfresser:
You could use a modified map with starting positions and a few added planets named 30 Points or 60 Points, etc.

I like this idea. You could even do it with a random map. Have a quadrant with three different system types, red star, blue star, white star. And give x number of points for people controlling each color star. You'd need to have a definition of "control" then. Your planet idea could be done as well. Simply add a special planet description to the sector types. "This planet is worth X points" or whatever. You wouldn't know till the game started how many total points are up for grabs. Every so often you have the players post how many ponts they control, and then when someone has enough to "declare victory" you simply have someone look at their turn and verify it.

Prety cool idea. Wouldn't even have to be done with the no resource production games. Any game could do this.

[Jmenschenfresser]

If you are talking planets, I would say you get the points if you have a colony on the planet....blockaded or not, enemy troops or not.

I wouldn't suggest stars because there are too many possibilites for swindle there--cloaking, mines, Last minute moves by allies, etc.

I was thinking the planets would have to be modded because it is first off possible that all point planets are within one hex of one player. Or they might all be gas or something like that. You could designate that all players take rock as their planet type, but limit it so that no one takes, say the None atmosphere type. Then make the Victory Planets rock/none.

[geoschmo]

With a small number of victory point planets you are probably better off making a map. What I was thinking of was a little larger in scale. You would have enough vicroty point planets so that the randomization of the game would scatter them around pretty good. Someone might get lucky and have a couple in their home system or close by or something. But those wouldn't be enough to declare victory.

In the case where the planet is the wrong type, the player would either have to accquire that colony tech. Or you could allow a player to have the points for that planet without a colony as long as they keep ships there and prevent anyone else from colonizing it or having ships in the sector.

Geoschmo

[ October 10, 2002, 15:39: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[geoschmo]

One thing that just occured to me with the fixed income game. Since Resource production would be indepenadant of your planets, your empire wouldn't be hamstrung by unhappy populations anymore. As long as you keep them from going totally rioting on you they will keep building stuff. And your bases can build even if all your planets are rioting.

In this kind of game you could play a true Pirate or Nomadic race with no planets at all, without any extra modifications to the data files and have a viable chance at winning.

A bunch of bases hidden in a nebulae could support your fleet. At least until the other guys came along and removed the nebulae.

This is more intersting the more I think about it.

Geoschmo

[geoschmo]

And a variation on the Fixed Income game. Make the minimum empire generation a smaller number, like the equivalent to a single homeworld or three in a standard game. Just enough to get a start. Then change the "remote mineing decreases asteroid value" to false, and now you have changed the economic model completely. For an empire to become large and support a lot of ships you have to build remote mining bases over planets and asteroids. Or plant colonies to generate research. It's a trade off. Remote mining gets added to your minimum empire generation, instead of replacing it as planetary mining does. And you don't need space ports.

If I did this I would probably separate the remote mining comps and make two kinds. The standard ones for bases and ships and a lower a smaller size lower resource generation one for the early satelites.

Geoschmo

[Jmenschenfresser]

Your second idea is a fun one to do against the AI to make the game more challenging.

I've played one game against the AI that way, giving myself 30 turns before scrapping all of my resource generating facilities, not building new ones and living off of what I could mine. You can actually Last for a really long time that way. You have to micromanage a large fleet of miners and you have to run straight for baseships to get the most pership. A maintenance reduction helps.

I have been thinking about producing a series of maps for team play. I might use the VP system just mentioned in them.

And another idea in addition to that is a sort of liberation theme...possibly better for a pre-made scenario....of having neutrals in a system with only one planet. One side has all the neutral worlds close to its own starting position while the other side is systems and systems away. Each neutral HW has a point value and they must be taken intact for the points to count. So after some turns one side is trying to take the neutral worlds from the other....or something to that effect.

But I might use the neutrals as VPs but higher ones. Who knows.

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by Jmenschenfresser:
And another idea in addition to that is a sort of liberation theme...possibly better for a pre-made scenario....of having neutrals in a system with only one planet. One side has all the neutral worlds close to its own starting position while the other side is systems and systems away. Each neutral HW has a point value and they must be taken intact for the points to count. So after some turns one side is trying to take the neutral worlds from the other....or something to that effect.

But I might use the neutrals as VPs but higher ones. Who knows.

Ooo, I like that idea too. To really protect the neutrals you are going to want to have ships in their system, and they may not like that. So you might end up fighting them in small skirmishes, while your actual goal is to protect them. That sounds interesting.

Have some neutrals on both sides. The players would play like superpowers. Cool.

Geoschmo