see below, posted twice

This reminds me of when Odo said: Tell me, do they still sing song of the Great Tribble hunt?

I think it should require more than that (like maybe 8 OB +Shields, and an outpost/starbase could stop it) less than that would only weaken it.

The problem with ships is those with less power wouldnt be able to do much compared to a galaxy or soverign. You would need many small ships, or just one or a few powerful ships.

The only way I can think of programming it is to give each of those different defenses a point value. Say a meteror has 1,600 points total. Starbase has 700, OB has 100, you'd need 1 starbase. and 9 ob. Something like that

AHH! not only did Matress post at the same time i did, but he phrased my idea much better too.

Matress said you should be able to know at least 2-10 turns ahead. I have an opposite view. You should always be prepared!
If you want your system comet-free keep some orbital defences on-line at all time (or starships stationed in the system).

I realize, and it pains me, this is not consistent with Trek, but it would add pressure to the game, don't you think?

I just think either planetary shield or any amount of orbitals would be sufficient. It seems ridiculous to me that phasers, photns and quantums, as well as tractor systems would be ineffective. I'd say the only colonies which can be affected by such things are small underedeveloped colonies with no defences. (this also saves a lot of crap for the programmer). Very few colonies will have constantly powered up defences, just the major ones.

I attempted to attack Matress with pain sticks for his instant trust of yet another piece of fan speculation, but his cloak is perfect...

From a Trek perspective meteors are a dumb concept!
They don't move the speed of light, so starships acan intercept them. We know a starship can stop a meteor, or at least divert its' course so the entire random event of a meteor strike is non-Trekish!

We are all debating which one of these wrongs is less wrong. And the reason we mostly disagree is the fact that in Star Trek this would be practicaly impossible!

So what do we do?

Just leave out metor strikes?

I was going to say that, but I feared not only your pain sticks , but aslo Matresses' RCDS (for reference see the general chat, BotF-caused conditions).

We can simply have the earthquakes do the same things meteors did.
Thank God we don't know anything about how the Federation perdicts earthquakes or there'd be another discussion.

We don't know that, RIGHT?

Well in theory the planetary weather control system would surpress them, but there has to be some negaitive randoms!

How exactly can a weather control system prevent quakes?

Please do not use pain sticks , I only ask.

This works fine for me. Leave out the ridiclous random of the meteror strike, but leve in the earthquakes, and planet type changes.

I felt the same way about meterors that CVN does, (about 4 posts back), but I just assumed they would be in the game, since they were in the first one. Thats why if they were going to be in, I wanted a way to either prvent them, or to atleast lessen the damage from them.

But just leaving them out seems to solve everyones problems.

Don't lie Rigel! You were affraid SOM would pain-skick you if you said anything! (:wink:)

You will forgive me, I hope, but quakes are not something to try to prevent. They are something to make happen more often and, therefor, with less power. The forces of plate techtonics, what ever its engine of movement may be (it's not really known) are likely to exist on a living planet. If they are blocked, they will simply build until the blockage can not hold back the movement of the plate and it lets go... with far greater energy than would normally have been. You must lubricate the fault lines, letting them move more freely, creating small quakes instead of one disasterous one....

AW CRAP!!! I've gone and given a lecture again!!! I gotta stop being a know-it-all!!!

Not a lecture ZDarby, you just can't contol Mother Nature forever!

Can anyone remember any bad random events that would effect planets?

I thought of this one; a weather system breakdown!
You know, hurricanes, tsunamis,bla-bla-bla

Ooh, now I like that idea! You could have a major electrical storm, that fries all of your power systems, or you could have a hurricane destroy your aquaculture center, or you could...

If Earthquakes are going to be in, what about Volcanoes...sorry if this is gonna be another headache of an idea, but perhaps a Volcanic eruption could be another mechanism for planetary change, because of the gases...blah, blah, blah...no sunlight...blah, blah, blah...plants die...blah, blah, blah...different planet type. (Sorry, but i'm getting afraid of my long posts glitching. It seems the longer your posts are, the more likely they will glitch.)

I don't mind volcanos, but some, myself included, might wonder if it's possible the Federation is retrarded (don't answer that) and can't prevent, or at least minimize the results, of such a calamatiy?

I still like volcanos , and the after effects of a weather system failure you posted!
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What about interstellar phenomena such as ion storms? I watched an episode of Voyager yesterday, and those seemed like some mean mother f**k-ers (pardon the language).
I remember it was discussed, so what's the verdict?
I'd definitely like them in!

Ion storms are real mean <French words> trust me, you don't want them to occur near any of your ships and stations, but you would be all to pleased for one to head towards an enemy!

The federation does have the ability (Barely) to avert these sorts of problems - just look at the Atlantis project that Picard was meant to be supervising just after Nemesis! (It wasn't mentioned in the film, and I can't remember where exactly it is from, but Picard was asked if he would like the honour of supervising the 'building' of a new continent in the middle of the Pacific ocean on Earth!)

Surely if they are able to cause the volcanic eruptions neccesary (And get rid of the volcanic gases without them causing damage to the atmosphere) then they would be able to 'ease' the teconic stresses that lead to Earthquakes and volcanoes?

Well perhaps you are right, CVN-65, the Feds may be retarded if they couldn't sort that out. When were Earthquakes ever mentioned in trek though? It seems like Earth has become tectonically inactive for the most part by the 24th century. 8O

(:wink: )

It was proposed to Picard when he came back to Earth to visit his brother and nephew, I think.
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And complete planetary inactivity, STILL wouldn't be the biggest screw-up in trek!

Do you realise how your post reads if you don't see the smilies? (Coz I didn't see them, I just saw you saying the feds might be retarded, then me also saying they could be, then you saying it was proposed when Picard returned!)

I like reading things wrong, I do!

(Thinking of that, yvan eht noiJ!)

I almost choked on my snack...

---------------------------------------
The Simpsons?

yvan eht noiJ?

yob snospmis, strohs ym taE!

Ahh...I see i'm not the only one!
!eno ylno eht ton m'i ees I...hha

Get it CVN-65?

Oh, and when you realise what it says, it isn't an order!

!ybraDZ uoy ot abmuraC eyA

Right...

Ok, to change tracks from backward spelling...

I have a question about randoms. What will be the frequencies of these randoms? Also, will there be more positive than negative randoms, or the same ammount?

Maybe at a higher difficulity there should be more negative randoms than postive ones? What do you all think?

*Edit : - This is the longest post I have done yet!*

Most definitely, Rigel!

This one time that I was in BOTF, I had THREE negative planetary shifts, an Asteroid impact, and an Earthquake within ten turns of each other! 8O

I thought the game was programmed to only have like one bad event every fifty turns of so?! (Well that's what it usually seems like)

When set to easy, there should be one bad event every 250-500 turns, and a good one every 10-100 turns. In comparison, there should be one bad event every 10-100 turns, and one good event every 250-500 turns on hard/impossible mode.

Planetary shifts (Either good or bad) should be quite rare either way, and Asteroid impacts should only be common in 'new' colonies (As discussed) Earthquakes should be based on the planet types (Like Volcanic planets should have them very often, while Barren planets should have them rarely)

Strange phenomena affecting Warp travel should be based on difficulty as well, although they are jus annoying, rather than being 'bad' (Unless you have a colony that has a medical emergency etc. These should also affect your trade routes while they occur. However, there should be a slight increase in trade for a turn or so, after the phenomena occurs, because people have been 'deprived' of traded goods.

Plagues/Diseases (If they are going to be in) should be extrememly common in new colonies, if their development is fast (Since there are so many people going there, that diseases would be brought in easily) They will also be good methods of sabotage for your intelligence agencies.

Stars going Supernova should only occur if the star is a Gas giant, and in these cases, you should get a warning message many turns previous (Because your ships/stations would notice the changes in the star)

Ion storms should be a fairly common event, and their strength should obviously be based on the difficulty setting. They should have similar effects as say a solar flare, but they would be able to strike in any sector of space, not just solar systems. Of course they would be near lethal to early ships, while later ships would either be able to 'resist' them better, or simply outrun them.

Stacius trade guild strikes should occur more frequently in games with a lot of trade routes, regardless of difficulty setting. If you have a lot of trade routes, then you are going to be hit a lot harder by strikes, than if there were few (Since you wouldn't be relying on tradeing so much) This would also mean that as time goes on, and your empire grows, the risk of a strike increases. Empire morale would have a massive effect on the chances of this happening.

The chances of wealthy people dying and leaving money to your empire would be high in easy games, and low in impossible games, and the amounts of money left should also be affected. Empire morale should have a large effect on this random occuring.

Embezzlement should be affected by difficulty settings, and the amounts emezzeled should also be affected. The chances of this occuring could also be based on the amounts of minors that have joined you, the number of trade routes that you have etc. As these things increase, it should also get 'easier' for people to embezzle money, since there will be more banks, businesses etc. Empire morale should have a slight effect on this as well.

Defection of research teams should be based on empire morale, and possibly on the relative differences in tech levels of the empires (Ie. if you are the Federation, and have a higher level of tech than the Dominion, it would be unlikely that your research teams would want to defect to the Dominion, because the Dominion wouldn't be perceived as having better equipment)

Strange anomalies that give you a science bonus should be very common in easy games. The chances that something goes wrong (Like a study on the Omega particle going wrong) would also be high on the impossible setting.

Borg/8472 invasions would be extremely likely in impossible games, and their appearance would be based on your tech level. (As in the better your tech, the higher the chances that they appear) When they first arrive, they will also send weaker ships, but over time the ships they send will increase in power (As in start off with a Borg Sphere, and end up with a Cube on your hands) 8O

Changes in other empires' Governments could affect trading ability, as well as their friendliness to your empire. Romulan Governments would be more prone to these changes, than say, the Dominion. (Since the Romulans elect, while the Changelings rule)

Well I think that's everything...

Nice, Matress.

I have a suggestion to one point!
If the goverment of the Empire changes REALY bad, like from totalitary right wing to totalitary left wing, all diplomatic relations should be terminated (by them, of course), but with no moral reprecussions.

"The Goverment of the Dominion has changed! The new leader is Weoyun-25"

You werent kidding.

Those frequencies seem about right for the differnt difficulty settings.



Hey, dont forget my big list of randoms. Back in the middle of page five. While I havent got a specific answer on which of those I suggested would be in, gavin seemed to like most of them, so expect them to pop up in the new game.

I thought up of a few more randoms. Just variations on the same theme, excuses to gain/loose research data.

Domestic terrorists overrode security protocols for the Sol Subspace Transmitter array. They altered several parts of a diplomatic transmission to the -Empire-. The message was distorted to appear extremely hostile to the -Empire-. (Relations with -Empire- have suffered)

A shuttle survey team crash landed while charting a remote asteroid field. While exploring the sorounding cave structure they discovered curious prehistoric fosills and DNA. Adittional data was colected by the rescue ship (xx tetrequads of biology research data gained)

Our -Technology- researchers were transmitting their research data to to Sol, for processing. Upon reciving confermation the data was transmitted, the researchers followed standard Security procedure and wiped the files. The files did not reach Sol. We have assertained the reason is was a subspace phenomena in one of the transit sectors. (xx tetraquads of research data lost)

The strenghtning of a party in the -Empire-, opposing contact with our empire has forced the thier goverment to publicly critisise ceurtain Federation dignitaries and mutual treaties. Relations have been damaged.

During a standard sensor sweep, a Federation starship triggered a rare subspace reaction of a magnitude unreachable to Federation simulation systems. The sensor logs from the starship have provided invaluable data to our energy researchers. (xx tetraquads of research data gained)


I know they're not too good, but its all been chewed up and spat out already, so...

Don't worry, I didn't forget your ideas for randoms Rigel, I was just using the ideas from BOTF1 (With tweaks)

Anyway, my post would have been even longer if they had been in as well! Do you really want that?

I like the ideas CVN-65. Once we have come up with as many ideas as possible, we can put them up in one big list, and the best ones can be added to the TWAAO thread. (Chances are that someone else will have to do it, since my posts are never that long...)