Thomas spake thusly upon matters weighty:
> senior members of the list who don't mind being neutral - to keep
The UN is only partially neutral. The UN could actually be involved in some of
these conflicts...
> we'd use a big map / astrographic database, using Nyrath the Entirely
Nearly? No nearly in my books.
the grand admirals would move fleets about in space
> and use some sort of campaign system (must be quite simple), and
Or over netspace via something like what Jon D used for some PBEM.
> obviously, we couldn't use a fixed mapping of admirals to players - if
> willing to pay the air fares :-).
Plus we'd have to decide he'd meet the minimum requirements.
Canada Customs: "Do you have anything to declare?" Schoon: "Yes, the entire
Eurasian Solar Union 4th Solar War Battlefleet." Canada Customs: "That'll be
$3,200,000 Canadian in duty. Plus we'll require safety inspections worth
another $1,800,000. However, as you are a foreigner, we will allow you to pay
in foreign currency. That will be about $20.00 US please. Have a nice day, and
enjoy your stay in the Great White North. Next!"
> basically, there would always be a list of actions which have to be
That would be fun. Run a turn a month. Then say a month had passed in the
wars.
> the whole shebang would depend entirely on electronic communications,
Sensible.
> the business case is pretty robust - if players know that their
Sure.
> it would certainly take some work to set up - agreeing some campaign
And, add to which, you'd want to make sure you were overstaffed with players
to cover dropouts and people who can't make a particular event.
> we could always rotate people - if a grand admiral can't commit the
Now that is interesting. And the minor powers could even put in brief
appearances in scenarios.
> i think that's a bit excessive - too much would be dependent on the
Sure. But there are always focal points where you get the "TSN Turning Point"
to steal a sports idea.
> why would it never happen? my way, which would inevitably end up with
He's mad! Oh, wait. That's redundant. He's a Tom.
/************************************************
> On Tue, 19 Jan 1999, Thomas Barclay wrote:
i thought that in a free-for-all like SW4, they'd just sit tight in the
core systems and try to keep at least half the human population alive.
> > we'd use a big map / astrographic database, using Nyrath the
did i say nearly? the man's a hero.
> > the grand admirals would move fleets about in space
sure, PBEM/PBIRC/PBwebRPG could all be included, but i think physical
battles would be best - they're somehow more concrete. also, we can get
photos: i'm thinking of Los's Op Sawmill report.
> Canada Customs: "Do you have anything to declare?"
it's easier than the other way round; most of australasia is a
nuclear-free zone:
HM Australian Customs: "... looks ok, mr barclay. oh, and one more thing,
cobber: are you carrying any nuclear power plants or weapons?" Barclay:
"Ummmmm... how can i put this..."
> And the minor powers could even put in brief
i was thinking the minor powers would be in it anyway - SW4 should be a
totally random beamfest, with the nac, esu, nsl and fse providing the rhythm
and the rh, if, ni, ou, dutch, scandinavians, pau, llar, ic and even the nre
dancing to the beat. the bavarians would, of course, be filling in the dance
cards.
> > i think that's a bit excessive - too much would be dependent on the
sure - that's good space opera. the only problem is that if grand
admiral
los consistently outwits grand admiral bell, the projected five-year
story arc could all be over in a couple of episodes.
oh, and there's another idea - keep good records and sell the rights for
the tv series...
Tom
> Thomas Anderson wrote:
> > And the minor powers could even put in brief
The NRE? The NRE would be going on the most massive stand-by alert
humanly possible, and waiting. If the FSE starts getting slagged badly, they
grab Garibaldi as the NSL Final Offensive gets into high gear. If the IF gets
slagged badly, they grab the rest of New Mesopotamia and New Armenia, in
coordination with Saeed Kaliphate and New Israel and anyone else interested in
cleaning the IF out completely. Otherwise, they patrol and slag anyone who
butts into their systems without proper clearance. They do NOT have any
interest into getting into a slogging match with the ESU, NAC, NSL, or even
FSE unless they are REALLY distracted. When giants start fighting in the
sandbox, everyone else gets the hell out of the way or gets stepped on. Maybe
they'd grab for
New Sicily as well--that's a nice planet.
> Thomas Anderson wrote:
<blush>
Well, I guess I'll have to get a astrographic
By the way, if you want to risk life and limb on a buggy program I am in the
process of writing, go to
http://www.clark.net/pub/nyrath/smapx.html
The software can rotate a 3-d map for you.
And show it in true 3-D if you have red-blue glasses
or can cross your eyes.
I used this software to lay out the empires. ( using the 10 parsec limit
database)
I warn you again the program is buggy. It works *much* better with the smaller
databases (try the 3 parsec one for starters)
----Original Message Follows----
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 18:50:08 -0500
From: "John M. Atkinson" <john.m.atkinson@erols.com>
To: gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Re: the Great game was Re: A new power to deal with, The New
Con
Reply-To: gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
> Thomas Anderson wrote:
distracted. When giants start fighting in the sandbox, everyone else gets the
hell out of the way or gets stepped on. Maybe they'd grab for
New Sicily as well--that's a nice planet.
> On Tue, 19 Jan 1999, John M. Atkinson wrote:
oh, absolutely. for about four months, until someone invades, someone
backs an invasion, or (this seems the most NRE-like to me :-) some
neighbouring power has deployed its forces away from roman borders enough that
it becomes just too tempting a target.
> If the FSE starts getting slagged badly,
exactly.
anyway, your call. i just wouldn't want you to miss the biggest war of the
millenium - how would that look on your cv :-)?
Tom
> Thomas Anderson wrote:
> oh, absolutely. for about four months, until someone invades, someone
Right... But in those four months, how many capital ships will the other
powers loose or get put in fleet dock for major repairs?
> anyway, your call. i just wouldn't want you to miss the biggest war of
Wouldn't want to get slammed into a wall repeatedly, either. Nope--like
any good Roman, husband those capital ship resources.