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Hvy Plastic 3 — Explosive Material
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Markus Armbruster
Jun 24, 2012, 2:52:10 PM6/24/12
to
Hvy Plastic 3 started today. Eleven nations are competing: Bunnyland,
Hopeless, Germany, Pathfinder, Wales, BigFish, Dune, Rustasia,
Aquitaine, Eponia, and Cronus. Rustasia was first to break sanctuary.
Even though player registration is closed, we may well need replacement
players or co-rulers; if you're game for either, let me know. You
should be able to reply by e-mail to this post; if not, address your
message to <arm...@pond.sub.org> and put "Hvy Plastic" in the subject.
If you don't hear from me within a few days, check your SPAM filters for
misconfiguration, then try again, or cry for help on r.g.e.
For more information on the game, check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Hopeless, Germany, Pathfinder, Wales, BigFish, Dune, Rustasia,
Aquitaine, Eponia, and Cronus. Rustasia was first to break sanctuary.
Even though player registration is closed, we may well need replacement
players or co-rulers; if you're game for either, let me know. You
should be able to reply by e-mail to this post; if not, address your
message to <arm...@pond.sub.org> and put "Hvy Plastic" in the subject.
If you don't hear from me within a few days, check your SPAM filters for
misconfiguration, then try again, or cry for help on r.g.e.
For more information on the game, check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Markus Armbruster
Jul 8, 2012, 1:58:49 PM7/8/12
to
Hvy Plastic 3 has completed its first six updates.
All players broke sanctuary, Rustasia first, Cronus last. In fact,
Cronus was generous enough to give the competition a one-update start.
Wales secured the first beachhead, and won the first skirmish, repelling
German sailors. Hopeless has proven hopeless at avoiding navigational
hazards: hopeless frigates have been bumping into wilderness even more
often than the competition's.
For now, relative calm prevails.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Jul 6 17:01:08 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 75 57% 21K 950 0 0 0 2.4K 1.2K 200 0 20 0 398
Aquitaine 65 48% 22K 650 0 0 0 3.6K 1.1K 650 0 10 0 15K
Rustasia 80 60% 22K 650 0 0 0 2.7K 1.3K 100 0 20 0 10K
Hopeless 90 37% 21K 1.1K 0 0 0 3.3K 1.1K 350 0 20 0 10K
Pathfinde 65 67% 22K 750 0 0 0 2.7K 1.1K 300 0 20 0 20K
Dune 55 80% 22K 600 0 0 0 1.8K 800 150 0 10 0 30K
Germany 75 54% 22K 700 0 0 0 3.2K 1.2K 50 0 20 0 10K
Eponia 55 77% 18K 300 0 0 0 1.9K 1.4K 700 0 3 1 1.5K
Wales 70 60% 22K 400 0 0 0 3.5K 2.3K 750 0 10 0 20K
Cronus 55 33% 14K 100 0 0 0 1.1K 1.8K 0 0 0 0 35K
Bunnyland 55 45% 8.1K 100 0 0 0 2.5K 400 900 0 0 0 20K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 745 56% 214K 6.3K 0 0 0 29K 14K 4.2K 0 150 1 175K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Announcements since Sun Jun 24 17:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sun Jun 24 17:45:19 2012
Since this game is so heavily customized, here are a few hints. If
you're a veteran, it may well be all old news for you. Or not, who
knows.
In case you played the blitz, be warned that a few details could have
changed.
For those of you who played Hvy Plastic 1 or 2: yes, this game is
quite similar. And all Hvy Plastic games share quite a few traits
with the Hvy Metal games.
Read info Hvy-Plastic. Then read these hints, slowly. If you don't
understand something, ask the deities. We're not going to play the
game for you, but we're happy to explain its rules.
You start with quite a few people. You want to put all your people to
work on something immediately useful. Your mobility should suffice to
do that, if you use it wisely. It takes an efficient sector 40 mob to
move 1000c to an adjacent 0% sector. An inefficient sector (<60%)
takes ten times as much mobility for moving civilians. It's quite
easy to get a big pile of people stuck in an awkward place.
Think about the merits of just-in-time production, and how to apply it
to Empire.
Because tech yield is highly non-linear in investment, you really want
to make it steadily, starting as early as possible. Figure out what
you need for that, and how to produce it.
Non-renewable resources (gold, oil, uran) are not nearly as scarce as
you might think. Each point of gold represents five times as much
dust as usual. 2.5 times for ocontents, and 4/7 times for uranium.
Your start island is good for a bit less than 7500o. Keep that in
mind when gearing up your economy. You might find more oil out there.
There is some free land out there. To grab it, you have to get there
before your neighbor. Frigates are good early explorers.
Having military costs you a fortune. Not having military costs you a
kingdom. Adapt expense to the threat. Military reserves are your
friend. Military payroll savings recoup demobilization expense in
just one update.
If your enemy brings fireworks to the party, and you don't, you die.
Watch the power report. If everybody except you got something, think
about why that might be so, and whether it's a good thing.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jun 25 14:16:20 2012
And so it begins...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jun 25 14:44:49 2012
On behalf of Rustasia, I extend greetings to our fellow conquistadors, dictators and other benevolent despots as we are about to commence this round of aggression.
Allow me to share a little brief about Rustasia.
Rustasia, is a relatively young nation that has been blessed with some of the finest and breath-taking beaches in Hvy-Plastic 3 and our reefs host some incredible flora and fauna. In addition, our country boasts beautiful and fertile landscapes, not just our women - but our valleys, plains and mountains!
While I do appreciate that some of you may feel this is definitely worth a look and may be planning a visit, my dear friend, Francois Duplait from our Ministry of Tourism has shared that we have reached our visitors quota for this year and will not be accepting any further applications.
We, Rustasians, are generally a conservative bunch; who enjoy their evening tea and sports and historically do not take kindly to visitors.
We wish you well and believe and hope that you treasure your freedom and sovereignty as much as we do.
Armand Hammer
Secretary, Ministry of Worldly Affairs
Under Secretary, Goodwill Relations
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Mon Jun 25 14:55:13 2012
We're hoppin' late, but still hoppin' high!
Salute to the cute vegetarians!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jun 25 15:09:06 2012
Hey BunnyLand,
Be them bunnies, the naturally cute type or them the playboy kind ... enquring minds wanna know ???
If the former, whats with bringing vegans to a slaughter? If the latter, that's "Hvy Plastc"! (touche)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Mon Jun 25 15:36:10 2012
They are truly innocent and pristine. But hey, even mogwais (not the original ones) are like this. And we all know, what what happend to them... Got your answer?
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jun 25 16:29:18 2012
Just curious ... how many return players from Hvy Plastic 2 Wales? Acquitaine? others?
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Mon Jun 25 17:09:24 2012
Bloody hell...Hanuman, next time time you'n'Escher are doing tequila body shots
off your bevy of strappin' young lads, tell him that "capital" and "capitol"
have different connotations, according to Noah !^&^$@# Webster.
You see? You see what a liberal arts degree outta Toadstool, Kentucky is worth?
- Anonmymous (It's the hormones - I get emotional.)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Mon Jun 25 17:55:18 2012
"Hopeless"? Your country name is "Hopeless"?
Aw, geez...I can see it now (well, not really, since it hasn't happened yet.
I'm kind of extrapolating you see, just IMAGINING what will...forget it.)
Anyway, "Hopeless shock troops overrun Bumf*ck's bar mitzvah..."
Or even, "Hopeless gunners bombard Bunnyland in futile attempt at losing virginity..."
- Me (It was funny until YOU read it.)
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Mon Jun 25 18:29:02 2012
:)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jun 26 03:53:00 2012
Why do I now have the urge to change my name to "Hopeful" to just make the headlines even more interesting . . . .
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jun 26 08:10:48 2012
The symmetry appeals...bur the innate neo-contradictarian tension
presents a discordant inner turmoil which Jung (Consciousness : 1935, Harper and Row, pg 137-139)
would argue makes your feet stink, and your sister's a slut.
- mostly harmless (she gotta phone number?)
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Jun 26 13:35:38 2012
I gotta ask: Is Dune the latest incarnation of Arrakis?
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Tue Jun 26 14:06:07 2012
Note for any novice players: this game has some twists where
resources are limited and Just-In-Time production is key.
The old post archived on Google from Pat is still useful
but you must adjust for the quirks of this game:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.empire/browse_frm/thread/6dccde5104acc968/acc18a5a14299afd?q=update+clowns&rnum=2
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jun 26 15:04:58 2012
There's a piece of my island that floated away.
Help!
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Jun 26 19:37:20 2012
You usually need big nukes to have that happen... or an unhappy deity. :)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jun 26 19:52:52 2012
Right now this deity is happy enough, as all players managed to log in
at least once, and the customary frantic hunt for replacement players
hasn't started, yet.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jun 26 19:56:37 2012
All except #9...I guess I'll just have to accept #9's land
as just compensation for the land that I've lost.
Thank you Hanuman.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jun 27 04:15:00 2012
Who set the damn system clock on this server?
According to my trusty abacus and sextant (I didn't know
what one was 'til it arrived in the mail. Imagine my disappointment)
this server's located in Iceland, or West Africa.
If it's in Africa, I'm in contact with a Nigerian prince
who needs some help laundering funds. Email for details.
- Trust Me (My ex-wife did.)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Jun 27 05:45:01 2012
Your trusty abacus and sextant are obviously advanced models, because
they correct for daylight savings time. The damn system clock isn't,
and doesn't. It runs in UTC.
Glad your your Nigerian prince is so interested in our modest server.
When he next travels to London to shop for a new set of shades, send
him to <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGO>.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jun 27 06:28:01 2012
God's blood...do not, REPEAT - DO NOT - look up "UTC" in Wikipedia.
My head still friggin' hurts.
But I get it. This reeks of Great Britain's Royal Society, circa 1700,
Newton and Hooke were probably involved, another example of Rich White Men
stomping on the will of the privelegely-challenged, imposing their arbritray
standards of temporal metrics on starving orphans and weeping widows.
I'm here to help. Donations accepted via PayPal. For the children.
- What!? (...and maybe the younger widows.)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jun 28 09:28:34 2012
Fine! I spelled 'arbitary' wrong! <again> I get it! <hardly>
I get 47 emails! <right, like...ever> A friggin' PHONE CALL! <unrelated>
The President is flying in! Just to slap me! Again!
<...what's up with that? It's annoying. And it hurts.>
"STOP JUDGING ME!"
- US (I've self-diagnosed split-personality. We're working on it. <HAH!>)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jun 28 09:42:45 2012
It'd be easier if you use different case, like small case for
personality 1, all caps for personality 2, etc.
When you run out of styles, change color of the text.
(We can't change text color yet, nincompoop!)
ARGH! It's spreading!!!! (No, it was always there, just sleeping.)
Now, I'm losing my land and my mind! What's next???
(Change your name to Mindless, give Hopeless a chance!)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Thu Jun 28 18:19:18 2012
Dear fellow state leaders,
Now that everybody has arrived and we are starting, allow me to introduce our
great nation as well.
Eponia doesn't have the tradition or beauty of Rustasia, nor the beautiful wo-
men of Bunnyland, nor the abundant drinks and young widows of Dune, nor the
punctuality of Great Britain. Actually, it hasn't got much to provide for the
seasoned tourist - the coasts are too steep for beach sports, the sailing ships
are as of yet lacking, and the only mountain we have has been converted to an
industrial nightmare by a well-known mining company. Not much here to photo-
graph, and probably our military would forbid that anyway, since most of the
rest is restricted territory. Did I mention the poor natural resources, other
than in that abused mountain? And for some reason, nothing at all grows on our
plains.
So, be mind- and hopeful and don't attack us. Nothing to see here, but that no-
thing is protected fiercely.
Hoping for a good game!
John Doe
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jun 28 21:55:44 2012
Did he just call us a drunk?
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jun 28 22:20:52 2012
I think Wales should take exception to Eponia. Wales is NOT
Great Britain.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jun 28 23:36:07 2012
...but they produced Catherine Zeta-Jones, so we forgive them.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jun 29 02:26:16 2012
This GUI is amazing...Hanuman?
Can you tell Escher that I love him?
- Thanks (are they seeing someone?)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jun 29 05:59:06 2012
Cronus! You've joined us!
<Okay, here's the deal - the others are all bad.>
- I checked (Well, I assumed. Same thing.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jun 29 06:16:14 2012
Given that Cronus is god of time and all, maybe he'll turn back the clock to before the update and join then?
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jun 29 06:41:04 2012
Dear friends,
A few facts from the propaganda department, to make our great country's welcome
message as transparent as possible:
First, Cronus, thanks for joining us. As the name already suggests, there's one
brave soul standing out against the self-imposed power of the UTC.
Second, Dune, we certainly didn't call you a drunk. That is among the number of
things never we'd never directly claim in a diplomatic communique. But our
sources report that there is almost no trace of water on Dune -- our assumption
was that people still must be drinking something there.
Third, Wales, please accept our humble apology. Our statement to Great Britain
was basically caused by the fact that our dear Hanuman imposes that nation's
time system upon most of the known world (no offence, Cronus).
And finally, we'd like to distance our humble selves from the latest announce-
ment from Dune. We're the good guys! Alliances, anyone?
S.F. Bushwa
Head of the Propaganda Department
Nation of Eponia
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Jun 29 11:53:48 2012
***Global Weather Broadcasting Service***
The service-stations across bunnyland deliver information about prolonging heavy hail-storms. Every Hopper is adviced to immediately take shelter to minimize chances of getting soaked in mud or hailed to death!
Don't let your ears don't, emergency buck-squads are underway to treat victims with special care.
*End Of Broadcast (EOB)*
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Jun 29 11:59:20 2012
Please add carriage return characters to your posts when using clients like
WinACE to post your annos. They are too difficult to read.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 12:14:28 2012
You know, the bad guys never really come
out and say hey, we're the bad guys.
Their first statement is always "We were misquoted"
and their second statement is "We're the good guys"
Even Hansel and Gretel can see the pattern here...
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Jun 29 13:34:08 2012
You forgot "Trust me, I'm here to help you."
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 13:45:39 2012
They always appear to be humble and apologetic, but are quick to
point out that theirs is a restricted zone harbouring abused areas.
Kinda makes you think, if the folks aren't playing sports,
aren't out on the seas, don't drink, don't have young and/or beautiful
women, how 'good' can they really be?
BTW, if you didn't catch it, they've already stretched out the
red carpet to Hopeless. (Watch your behind, unless you like it abused ;)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 13:52:02 2012
Do bunnies know how to swim?
> Announcement from PNN, (#15) dated Fri Jun 29 13:54:15 2012
5
4
3
2
1
<tone and bars>
This is a test of the PNN satellite network.
This is only a test.
If this had been an actual announcement
you would have been instructed on where to
tune to in your realm to find detailed info
pages on how to fortify your forces in the
event of an actual announcement
This concludes the test of the PNN satellite
network.
<tone and bars>
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 13:56:02 2012
Had to do *something*. There had been no news for so long I
thought the damn machine was dead.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Fri Jun 29 13:57:46 2012
*Creak*
*cough* *cough*
Damn dust. Got to get out of the crypt more often.
news
What? No fighting yet? What a bunch of slackers.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 15:38:35 2012
bah ...that Germany! Loses a game and goes ballistic on the Natives!
Apparently walking softly with a big stick is not their foreign diplomacy diktat.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Jun 29 16:33:57 2012
Don'r care, whether buns swim or not. The point is hail makes them
dead, so not an option. Being muddy denies their natural cuteness,
their appeal to bucks, and general well-being. The buck-squads will
rely on muddieness, in terms of camoflage. But not untill some
not-a-bun is found to mess with. Anyone to volunteer for that
purpose? Feedback apreciated!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jun 29 16:59:37 2012
Well now,
It seems I need to rectify some messages from the wimps in our MoPR. Here we
go.
The hardships of this country serve the purpose of toughening our guys up. Ask
Dune, he should know that concept well.
And: we're not the good guys. As soon as we built some rafts, we'll be coming
over to kick everybody's ass! Understood?
So, join the side of evil while you still can!
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defence
Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 17:25:34 2012
As long as I won't be assimilated...joining is an option?
but I've always been partial to bunnies...(wink wink)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 17:32:29 2012
What are the odds that the General got ship #0?
I give the abusing general 10:1 odds.
maybe I'm being too kind...
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jun 29 20:05:17 2012
My dear friends,
Please forgive our dear General Tack for his unkind words. It's a pity, but he
never really learned to communicate. Says he doesn't need that...
Anyway, of course we are not going to attack anybody -- at least not without a
full U.N. resolution in place.
Well, we do need to have some military for those U.N. missions, and what would
we do without them whenever a natural catastrophy occurs. Those people like
shouting, and that's really all about it.
S.F. Bushwa
Head of the Propaganda Department
Nation of Eponia
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jun 29 20:05:52 2012
To: Mr. S.F. Bushwa
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dear Mr. Bushwa, dear Gen. Tack,
Please, do behave!
John Doe
President
Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 20:38:35 2012
Ata boy Johnny. Put the General on the mat.
Give me 10 finger ups!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 21:16:37 2012
Anyone have any user docs (URI) on the build projection tool in WinACE?
Tried google, but ...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 22:46:38 2012
And this week's recipient of the "Grow some balls" telegram goes to ...
...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 22:50:49 2012
grrr.. forgot . closes the anno
Anyway ..
And this week's recipient of the "Grow some balls" telegram goes to
~
~
~
~
(suspense++)
Eponia!
All Hail POGO!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 23:06:03 2012
Is it just me, or was the Hulk talking to Eponia when he said
"Puny human!"?
- sigh, back to your regular program ...
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jun 30 06:35:49 2012
POGO??
Wrong game buddy!
Nobody here by that name...
All hail Hanuman!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jun 30 08:01:20 2012
My dear friends,
And yet another valuable international prize has been won by our great nation of
Eponia. We humbly accept the trophy in the spirit in which it has been given.
It will always be honoured as a valuable reminder of the goals we have -- truth,
justice, and rightousness.
Humbly yours,
S.F. Bushwa
Head of the Propaganda Department
Nationa of Eponia
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jun 30 08:05:41 2012
Hmmpf.
Can't really understand my colleagues -- talking, talking, talking. And the on-
ly work they ever do is handing over orders and production quotas. And where do
these land? Right. At my desk.
And at the first hint that the quotas set are a bit -- well, impossible -- the
general pulls out his whip.
Is that the red phone ringing? One moment, I'll be right back...
Yes, general. Of course, general. I'm already back to work. No, it'll not
happen again. What, another FIVE ships? And at the very NEXT update? You can
only be joking! Of course we do everything we can, but where do you suppose
that workforce will come from? And you know as well as I do that building ships
requires lcm and hcm, and for producing both iron needs to be mined in advance!
Announce that three updates before you need them! (Click) (Sigh)
Didn't sleep for days, and what do we get for it? "Grow some balls", great.
You'll pardon me, I have work to do...
U.W. Steed
Ministry of Labour
Eponia
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jun 30 08:05:59 2012
To: Mr. U.W. Steed
Make that six.
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sat Jun 30 08:15:10 2012
Not really Hans!
No doubt Hanuman is Divine. POGO is the empire singularity (or until the code gets tweaked ;))
Bless us Hanuman!
All Hail POGO!
- there - now, my karma is set ... i think
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jun 30 08:38:41 2012
A player inquired on how to predict ship building.
Let's consider building frigates.. "show ship b" shows us:
lcm hcm avail tech $
frg frigate 30 30 110 0 $600
Ships get built at 20%, so a build command costs $120 and uses up 6l
6h 22 avail in the harbor, per frigate.
Say you have 60 avail in the habor. You can build at most two
frigates (using 44 avail, leaving 16), no matter how much money and
cms you have.
You now have two 20% frigates sitting in the harbor. Completing them
costs 2 * 80% of the full frigate cost: 48l 48h 176 avail and $960.
Unfortunately, we lack a command that tells you nicely what the update
is going to do to your ships. But you can get indirect information
from budget. Say it shows:
Sector Type Production Cost
Ship building 2 ships 900
Cost is low: $900 instead of $960. That's the cost of 150% instead of
the 160% you expected. The first frigate will get the 80% it needs,
the second only 70%. Something's missing.
Unless budget tells you that you'll be broke, it can't be money. So
it must be cms or workers. Cms are easy: check the harbor has at
least 48l 48h. If it has, but budget still shows less cost than
expected, it must be workers.
Simply move in workers until budget is happy. Watch out if you're
tight on BTUs, both budget and move use one.
Beware: if you got just enough workers in a harbor to complete ships,
you'll have *zero* avail there next turn, and won't be able to build
anything.
Checking expected budget can become rather complicated when you're
building ships in several harbors. You can simplify things by
stopping all ship builds (stop sh *) except in one harbor (start sh
8,0). Remember to start your ships again when you're done.
Some clients provide tools that simulate the update's ship building.
Perhaps a seasoned WinACE user has some advice.
The budget technique can only tell you about ships you already built.
This isn't enough when you're planning ahead. Predicting materials
and and money needs shouldn't be hard, but predicting workers requires
a bit of mental gymnastics.
Example: got 60% harbor with 200c 10m 60 avail, want to build a pair
of frigates next turn, and complete them at the following update. You
need to have enough workers in the harbor now to have at least 44
avail after the update. Next turn, you need enough to complete the
ships.
Avail (short for "available work") after the update is old work + new
work - work used.
Let's start with work used. Work is used for building up and tearing
down sectors, producing stuff, and building up ships, planes and land
units, in this order (info Update-sequence).
Building up and tearing down sectors can use at most half of the
available work.
Harbors do not produce stuff, so we can skip this step.
Example: since the harbor is 60% efficient, half of the avail up to 40
will be used to build it up. Since you want 44 avail to build
frigates, you want to have at least 84.
Old work is pre-update avail "rolling over". According to version, up
to 100 avail "roll over", the rest is lost.
Example: 60 avail roll over, nothing's lost. You're still 24 short,
which need to come from new work.
New work is done by your people. info Update-sequence tells us the
order is eat, procreate, work. No food in this game, so we go
straight to procreation. In this game, civilians grow 30% and uws
grow 15% per update, rounded randomly (see version). They then make
floor((civ*work/100 + uw + mil * 0.4) * etu / 100)
Unfortunately, the only documentation for the work formula is
notoriously unreliable info Innards. etu is 60 in this game. work is
the work percentage, 100 unless you got problems (see info Citizens
and info census).
Example: Population grows to 260c 10m, and produces 158 new work
(assuming work percentage is 100%). More than necessary. To make
just the 24 you need, 28c 10m should suffice according to the work
formula. No margin for error, though; you might want to employ a few
more guys. Remember, up to 100 avail roll over in this game, so it
takes quite a few excess workers for work going to waste.
Now deduct 44 avail for the build command and repeat the calculation
for next update, aiming for 176 avail before ship builds, plus
whatever avail you want for new builds afterwards.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jun 30 08:53:17 2012
RE : WinACE.
If one has a 0% harbor and chunks a buncha guys in it,
WinACE's production listing - 2nd column, fourth line -
shows the expected avail. The avail to be, or not to be.
At least it better...or I'm gonna grab my neighbor's cat
and smash it in the head with a hammer.
- Again (guys got a lotta cats)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jun 30 09:23:31 2012
Ach! Warning! Last post was one of them blatant assumptions we make
that have previously left me with 47,000 guys stuck on a reef
saying, "Uh, de boss said this would be de harbor, right? Gotta smoke?"
- De Boss (It's okay, they were all Democrats.)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sat Jun 30 09:37:55 2012
Re: WinACE
Thanks Dune for the heads-up. I figured it out for 1 ship, but my query was more targeted at building multiple ones at the same harbor.
Hanuman divination was timely, relevant and useful.
I think we really do need a "newavail *" or a "newavail-estimated *" kind of command or at the least Hanuman's post should be posted at r.g.e or maybe the empire website. It would be helpful. I'd guess this same issue would be raised in most games as the info is not that easily discoverable (at least for me). Why re-invent the wheel each time?
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jun 30 09:59:47 2012
Agreed, and archived. I doubt such insight (oh, get over it)
has ever been flat figured out and posted somewhere.
- Wow (You figger Hanuman's some kind AI?)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 04:52:14 2012
FYI -
The build projection is pretty nifty when used with the build queue. Just be *very* careful about using the "Done" button.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 06:24:42 2012
Ask Gen Tack, he's been there, "done" that.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 07:50:45 2012
To the leaders of Rustasia and Germany,
Well, I myself only give orders -- our MoL has to carry them out. I sometimes
wonder how they manage, but it's amazing what wonders forced labour can do...
Anyway, now that it's too late to catch up, there can be no harm in disclosing
our solution to that problem. Eponia has several harbours, so ships can be
built in parallel, i.e. by different work teams. This also gives us a nice
means of expanding in all compass directions directions at once, without sailing
around the whole coastline of Eponia first. We'll wait for you there!
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defence
Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 08:59:24 2012
Oh! So that's the trick!!! Multiple harbors!
The secret is out!!!
And here we were stuck, trying to force 3 ships
out of one harbor??!! Should've applied Ohm's law! After all, he's German!!!!
We will quickly build 8 harbours, 1 for each compass direction and 4 for circling the island.
But if we are circling the island, where shall we be able to meet?
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 09:34:39 2012
Well, children,
There seems to be some need to repeat the directions of the compass today. Pay
attention! We will start with the big picture, which is called the compass
rose. Do use a monospace font for reviewing this diagram at home!
Y U
\ /
G --H-- J
/ \
B N
The names of the six main compass directions are, starting from top left:
Y - Yorth
U - Unwise
J - Jest
N - Nouth
B - Beewise
G - Guest
And finally, not really a direction:
H - Here I am, here I remain
The historical background of the name "unwise" lies in a very tragic decision in
a battle of the past. The first to name that battle gets a sticker! "Beewise",
of course, is caused by the structure of our world maps.
So, don't forget to do your homework, children!
Mrs. Tamara Chair
Ministery of Education
Eponia
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 09:37:59 2012
Dear Germans,
Well, if you insist on circling Germany with your ships, of course we are going
to meet in Germany!
Best regards,
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defence
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sun Jul 1 10:00:41 2012
A sticker?! Ooh! Ooh!
I lost my last one - got stuck in somebody somewhere.
Anyway, I'm gonna go with - Agincourt! Battle of Agincourt.
- OR (Technology and Tactics Trump Testosterone.)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 10:08:32 2012
Hey Taky,
Multiple harbors? We dont need no stinkin multiple harbors!
Just built one and stacked it with Viagra-coated lcm and hcm.
Both our work eff (not to mention pop and happiness) went through the roof.
Go figure!
P.S.
Our scientists are working on doing the same with the gold dust.
Needless to say, we are getting lots of private equity-backed interest.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 10:24:30 2012
Umm ... I thought the party was at Taky's home.
If you are heading out and we come knocking your way ...
umm ... you are gonna need a carpenter when you return. At the least.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 12:25:40 2012
I hope you are not referring to the Battle
of Stalingrad?!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 17:04:03 2012
Sorry folks,
Our guys refuse to hold the party anywhere other than that harbour Rustasia
was talking about. Say, tomorrow, 17:05 UTC?
Ah yes, another thing. Our dear old Mrs. Chair unfortunately hasn't the slight-
est idea about military history, so she just hoped that a good answer would turn
up. Since Stalingrad would be a bit hard on Germany, I'll suggest to her to
send that sticker to Dune.
See you!
Gen. A.T.Tack
Dept. of Defense
Eponia
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 17:51:44 2012
Sounds like Eponia is trying to be a weenie and wimp out of his party.
Sorry buddy. Party stays at Tak's! I vote for a toga kegger ... just hope we dont get RickRoll'd. Order the grub and stoke up the grill.
Arrange for some entertainment.
Damn! Now I cant get that tune outta my head ...
"Never gonna give u up, never gonna let u go ..."
(might as well keg++)
"Never gonna give u up, never gonna let u go ..."
and make sure its NOT lite beer ...
"Never gonna give u up, never gonna let u go ..."
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 1 18:16:57 2012
So who's going to provide directions to the party? ;)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 18:28:46 2012
To reach Tak, everyone knows all you need to do is
keep to the East of the Star of Pony.
You can't miss it!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 19:16:22 2012
To: Rustasia
Well, starting from the location of your current captial, the party would take
place at 65:-47. What did Germany mean with "east"?... Anyway, the beer is
cooled, the grill hot, the fireworks for the show at midnight are set up too.
Gen. Tack, Eponia
--
Sent from my MBC-12 mobile battlefield communicator
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 19:35:16 2012
E - Ponia
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 19:52:27 2012
Frumpy Taky. Bad Tak. Bad.
Now either be a good boy and share your bmap
or
just wait ... we'll come to ya. Let us get some mobility first.
Lets see, BigFish is 3 ... need one more and we can do a campfire.
2 more - and we can "find the compass with Tammy" wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know-what-I-mean.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 20:05:33 2012
zdone y
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Mon Jul 2 13:19:14 2012
PEI had a good ship building estimator.
The WinACE implementation is based on it.
Of course, both were written before Budget Priorities were
removed from the game. Ron patched WinACE to now produce
Avail before building ships. This tool is very useful!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 2 14:42:08 2012
To: Dune
Great, you knew the right answer! Here comes your sticker, right in time for
the party!
.sssssssss.
.sssssssssssssssssss
sssssssssssssssssssssssss
ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
@@sssssssssssssssssssssss@ss
|s@@@@sssssssssssssss@@@@s|s
_______|sssss@@@@@sssss@@@@@sssss|s
/ sssssssss@sssss@sssssssss|s
/ .------+.ssssssss@sssss@ssssssss.|
/ / |...sssssss@sss@sssssss...|
| | |.......sss@sss@ssss......|
| | |..........s@ss@sss.......|
| | |...........@ss@..........|
\ \ |............ss@..........|
\ '------+...........ss@...........|
\________ .........................|
|.........................|
/...........................\
|.............................|
|.......................|
|...............|
Mrs. Tamara Chair, Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jul 2 14:58:29 2012
A guy with long hair and one large ear is the sticker???
Must be something specific to Eponia I guess!! ;-)
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Tue Jul 3 00:32:59 2012
next on ETV, Cable Channel 666 -> Metallica in the Kitchen
Today's special taste testing guest is our old friend Crackhouse
M: So Mr. C, what do you think of my special omlette?
C: Uhhh, well, it's different. There is a taste I just can't identify though.
M: Ah, that would be the secret ingredient for today.
C: You going to tell me or do I have to beat it out of you.
M: The look on your face will be better if I tell you. It's semen.
<scene covered up while Crackhouse vomits like a frat boy on spring break>
C: What the Hell! You wanked off into my food? You perverted ass...
M: No, I didn't honest.
C: Well, I feel a bit better
M: I had Barsoom blow my St. Bernard
18 times
Would not have been so bad on the poor mutt but Barsoom
swallowed the first 4 times.
Poor ole pooch has lost 32 pounds and has a seizure every time he
hears somebody breathing in hard.
<and now we cut to the credits as they roll on the
scene over the PETA protesters.>
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 3 01:58:32 2012
Well, hell...look who made bail!
Ohio's got them touchy-feely judges.
- Call Me (...lost your email during the psychotic break)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 3 03:19:47 2012
To: Dune
CC: Germany, Rustasia
Never seen a glass of beer before, huh? Speaking of it, you really missed some-
thing yesterday. 'Xcept for the colossal headache today. Well, guess I'm gonna
take a few days off...
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defense
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 3 06:08:47 2012
Appreciated!
Typically prefer it 3-dimensional, tepid, and served by a
Reubenesque post-doc wearing a smile and her Hooter's tee.
- Duh (...in my living room.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 3 14:44:31 2012
Almost 50 ships and only 1 finds land!!
Need more of your beer, Eponia!
Sailing sober doesn't work! Everyone knows
the Welsh are drunk all their waking hours!
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 3 16:35:20 2012
I think, technically, I'm drunk half my sleeping hours, too.
> Announcement from Cronus, (#11) dated Tue Jul 3 16:53:59 2012
::tap tap::
Is this thing on? Wait...what happened?
-=Cr=-
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 3 17:03:45 2012
Oopsie?
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 3 17:14:16 2012
*** Attention ***
There is no update tomorrow (July 4th). The next update is on Thursday.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 3 17:19:02 2012
Not even if I send you a glass of beer????
maybe a kegger will do the trick :-)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 3 17:29:44 2012
I'll pitch in for that kegger! I was hoping for an update - maybe we can vote? ;)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Tue Jul 3 20:05:43 2012
zdone y
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Tue Jul 3 20:11:58 2012
kegger++
update tomorrow: vote++
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 4 01:47:09 2012
Dune officially abstains. Because -
1) Hanuman ain't gonna cave. Not him's style.
2) I really don't want one, got other committment(s).
2b) I is American, and tomorrow's a big USA holiday.
That said, I don't want to be a joy killer, 'cause missing
the update wouldn't hurt me a bit...so why do I care?
<boring irrevelancy this way comes, skip it if you have a life.>
My audio system died awhile back, and I finally got pissed off
enough to huff the amp into my lab and spent half the *(&&^ night
tracking down a shorted rectifier diode (actually, that was quick, but
it took out the transformer and I had to go into The Basement and dig
around in my pile'o'crap to find a suitable replacement, and there's
SPIDERS down there that look suspiciously like brown recluse. I've bombed, but...)
Anyway, so this morning I'm sipping damn good coffee, smokin',
got Rodney Crowell just SHAKING the place, while waiting a few
for an Empire update.
And I wanna do it again. Nyah.
- And again (who wouldn't?)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 4 13:04:56 2012
Supe, now vacancy is over, eeeekkkkssss :-((
But good news: no more over-boobed beauties, stealing my precious time
uhhh, okay, wanna have some of them back again ;-)
anyway, now hoping to get the twist! Someone please turn off 'power'!
It's a shame, I admit :-/
Btw. anyone else using the native CLI client??
Happy hopping!
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 4 13:27:00 2012
Don't feel lonely Bunny...I'm keeping you company down there too!!!
Think of the bunnies!!!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 14:25:50 2012
Power doesn't mean that much, so early in the game.
Unless you're a certain "pony" ;)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 14:36:43 2012
Yo Bunny
Try some of the WinACE honey
Its sweet to the tummy
'cept the colors are a bit funny
:-\
F Duddy
former CLI advocate
and the guy to flame for this rhyme/poem/whatever
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Wed Jul 4 15:04:21 2012
}Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 4 13:04:56 2012
}Btw. anyone else using the native CLI client??
You mean players use anything else?
What a bunch of pansies.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 15:54:10 2012
Now if only somene would JSON'fy the raw dump .... CLI-life would/could be so much more fun.
Dont get wrong, nothing beats attacking via CLI ...
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 4 16:05:03 2012
What? You have trouble deciphering the raw dump?
Guess you haven't seen Matrix, huh?!
Just call Operator!!!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 16:17:38 2012
What IS the Matrix?
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 16:26:20 2012
Q. What do you get if you mix the Trinty of the Matrix,
S&M, a 80s german group, and Bunnyland?
A. Dominatrix Bunnies singing "Whip it! Whip it good."
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Jul 4 17:27:59 2012
Your enthusiasm for another update warms my heart. But as you
noticed, I'm not into changing update schedules.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Jul 4 18:04:11 2012
xdump is simple, JSON is simple, and converting from one to the other
is simple, too. Here's a start:
awk '/^XDUMP meta/ { t=$3; nf[t]=0; meta=1; next } /^XDUMP/ { print "{"; t=$2; dump=1; next } /^\// { if (dump) print "}"; meta=0; dump=0 } meta { f[t,++nf[t]] = $1 } dump { for (i=1; i<=nf[t]; i++) print f[t,i] ":" $i (i==nf[t] ? "" : ",") }'
Arrays and schema left as an exercise for the reader.
xdump is much more compact than JSON.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 18:47:35 2012
I wasnt referring to complexity. My intent was towards standardizaton.
Once things are using "standard" interfaces - more things are possible. Simplicity is a functon of understanding.
Thanks for the start. Maybe Bunny can wrap it up - now that his vacancy is over...
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 4 20:46:06 2012
Rusty, the last wonderful weeks, were full of the aforesaid boobs
and stripping down "obstacles" on the way to paradise...
ATM there's no intention to wrap things up again, really not!!!
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jul 5 07:37:01 2012
Geezuz...and you guys thought _I_ was a drunk.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jul 5 07:42:18 2012
"Simplicity is a function of understanding."
...is beautiful, and something Feynman might've said,
if he wasn't all like, dead and rotting in a coffin.
- Sigh (I'd dig him up, but he'd be all stinky.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jul 5 09:47:13 2012
Simply is what simply does.
To understand him is to know him.
To know him, one must know oneself.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Cardinal Seigfreid
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 6 07:49:59 2012
So did Simons really get nada but, "gee, thanks"
for developing WinACE?
If so, we should take up a collection before he thinks
of putting in pop-up ads.
- Seriously (...unless it involves sheep, in negligee.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 6 08:57:11 2012
Or we could take turns in giving him a wedgie!
Whatever works!
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 6 09:22:38 2012
Uh, that would involve putting my hands in his pants.
I'd rather cough up a C-note. Run with scissors. Watch MTV.
Move to Portugal. Exercise. Go on the wagon. Quit smoking.
Stop lying to women. Get a real job. Go to jail again.
Buy a Mac. Eat shit. Have sex with my ex-wife. Get another cat.
Drive a Yugo. Vote. Write poetry. Read poetry. Sniff my armpit.
- nuff said (...maybe too much)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 11:06:16 2012
hmm...
idea!
so if I dev an html5 variant of this ...
me get some $$ too? huh? huh?
like how much?
and extra blessings from Hanuman?
and a smile from POGO?
and what about an iPad version?
Android-tablets?
...
...
huh?
what?
<rubs eyes and sits up>
<streteches arms and yawns>
wacky dreams again ...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 11:21:54 2012
All quiet on the Epony-front!?
GF/Wife catch him talking about Tammy?
"So, who's Tammy?"
heh heh ...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 11:26:46 2012
hrmphh!
My 'b' key seems about to die.
So, I guess I'll have to stop bullsh*t-ing ...
sigh
Ull Crapper
ex-Bull-sh*ter
(this message is been cleaned and is 'Safe For All')
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 14:24:27 2012
Hey Pony / BigFish,
U got ur tech center "on the cloud"? :)
Using EC2 or S3?
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 6 14:52:28 2012
I can't disclose any secrets about our tech . . . .
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 6 14:57:48 2012
Eponia,
I built the harbors, like you said.
I built the ships, like you said.
Ships are sailing around the island, like you said.
Where you at??? Don't let me down!!
The captains are complaining of dizziness with all the
circling.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 15:04:42 2012
Wow that NDA sure has u wrapped up nice n tight.
Are u allowed to smile for the camera? hee hee
U sure u dont work for a celeb?
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 15:08:48 2012
Hey Hanuman,
Now that the 'goddamn particle' has
been found - in layman terms - u starting
to get worried? ;)
Or are u a proponent of the Strings theory?
Or just a pantheist?
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 15:10:48 2012
oops ... forgot to add..
Bless us Hanuman! All hail POGO!
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 6 15:14:23 2012
Man Rusty,
You sure got lots of spare BTUs!
I'm down to my last few.
Eponia said he bring a refill pack for me,
but he's not shown up.
Don't make so many announcements, else I'll run outta
BTU's before the update and not complete my moves.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 6 16:23:15 2012
Yeah, now that we've found the Higgs, we should catch the damn thing
and put it to work, baby.
Inertial dampening! Massless transportation! Free Playboy Channel!
I give it 500 years, max.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 16:24:05 2012
Hans - u with the BTU police or
the announcement quota committee?
U Germans like policing stuff a little too much?
U got a small clipped mustache vit ur uniform?
But if must know,, I dumped all -
lke 999 civs and 300 uws in my cap
and parks.
Got a massive eff and BTU boost.
Try it...now that my secret is out.
Brigidier BiTtU.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 16:31:40 2012
Technically its not a confirmed Higgs.
Its something. Not sure what ...
So its just a Standard model supporter
-- but degree has yet to be determined.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 6 16:36:44 2012
It's definitely a 3rd degree...probably green
They got it from Higgs himself.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jul 6 16:42:23 2012
To: Germany
Yes, the captains getting dizzy is definitely part of the strategy. Can't let
you in on the details yet, but be patient...
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defense
Eponia
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 16:43:18 2012
U sure its green?
If its was red ... all the climate freaks
would come out and say its been responsible
for global warming!
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 6 17:16:17 2012
Me? Worried about a goddamn particle?
It takes several billion bucks and a small army of really bright &
hardworking people to find a godamn particle (or rather enough of its
godamn echos to be pretty sure it can't be anything we already know,
although not yet enough to be sure it couldn't be some other goddamn
particle).
That's the stupidest plan for scaring me I ever saw. You need to try
much harder.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 6 17:23:33 2012
Marylin Manson's dating your daughter.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jul 7 02:25:02 2012
I made that up.
All players broke sanctuary, Rustasia first, Cronus last. In fact,
Cronus was generous enough to give the competition a one-update start.
Wales secured the first beachhead, and won the first skirmish, repelling
German sailors. Hopeless has proven hopeless at avoiding navigational
hazards: hopeless frigates have been bumping into wilderness even more
often than the competition's.
For now, relative calm prevails.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Jul 6 17:01:08 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 75 57% 21K 950 0 0 0 2.4K 1.2K 200 0 20 0 398
Aquitaine 65 48% 22K 650 0 0 0 3.6K 1.1K 650 0 10 0 15K
Rustasia 80 60% 22K 650 0 0 0 2.7K 1.3K 100 0 20 0 10K
Hopeless 90 37% 21K 1.1K 0 0 0 3.3K 1.1K 350 0 20 0 10K
Pathfinde 65 67% 22K 750 0 0 0 2.7K 1.1K 300 0 20 0 20K
Dune 55 80% 22K 600 0 0 0 1.8K 800 150 0 10 0 30K
Germany 75 54% 22K 700 0 0 0 3.2K 1.2K 50 0 20 0 10K
Eponia 55 77% 18K 300 0 0 0 1.9K 1.4K 700 0 3 1 1.5K
Wales 70 60% 22K 400 0 0 0 3.5K 2.3K 750 0 10 0 20K
Cronus 55 33% 14K 100 0 0 0 1.1K 1.8K 0 0 0 0 35K
Bunnyland 55 45% 8.1K 100 0 0 0 2.5K 400 900 0 0 0 20K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 745 56% 214K 6.3K 0 0 0 29K 14K 4.2K 0 150 1 175K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Announcements since Sun Jun 24 17:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sun Jun 24 17:45:19 2012
Since this game is so heavily customized, here are a few hints. If
you're a veteran, it may well be all old news for you. Or not, who
knows.
In case you played the blitz, be warned that a few details could have
changed.
For those of you who played Hvy Plastic 1 or 2: yes, this game is
quite similar. And all Hvy Plastic games share quite a few traits
with the Hvy Metal games.
Read info Hvy-Plastic. Then read these hints, slowly. If you don't
understand something, ask the deities. We're not going to play the
game for you, but we're happy to explain its rules.
You start with quite a few people. You want to put all your people to
work on something immediately useful. Your mobility should suffice to
do that, if you use it wisely. It takes an efficient sector 40 mob to
move 1000c to an adjacent 0% sector. An inefficient sector (<60%)
takes ten times as much mobility for moving civilians. It's quite
easy to get a big pile of people stuck in an awkward place.
Think about the merits of just-in-time production, and how to apply it
to Empire.
Because tech yield is highly non-linear in investment, you really want
to make it steadily, starting as early as possible. Figure out what
you need for that, and how to produce it.
Non-renewable resources (gold, oil, uran) are not nearly as scarce as
you might think. Each point of gold represents five times as much
dust as usual. 2.5 times for ocontents, and 4/7 times for uranium.
Your start island is good for a bit less than 7500o. Keep that in
mind when gearing up your economy. You might find more oil out there.
There is some free land out there. To grab it, you have to get there
before your neighbor. Frigates are good early explorers.
Having military costs you a fortune. Not having military costs you a
kingdom. Adapt expense to the threat. Military reserves are your
friend. Military payroll savings recoup demobilization expense in
just one update.
If your enemy brings fireworks to the party, and you don't, you die.
Watch the power report. If everybody except you got something, think
about why that might be so, and whether it's a good thing.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jun 25 14:16:20 2012
And so it begins...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jun 25 14:44:49 2012
On behalf of Rustasia, I extend greetings to our fellow conquistadors, dictators and other benevolent despots as we are about to commence this round of aggression.
Allow me to share a little brief about Rustasia.
Rustasia, is a relatively young nation that has been blessed with some of the finest and breath-taking beaches in Hvy-Plastic 3 and our reefs host some incredible flora and fauna. In addition, our country boasts beautiful and fertile landscapes, not just our women - but our valleys, plains and mountains!
While I do appreciate that some of you may feel this is definitely worth a look and may be planning a visit, my dear friend, Francois Duplait from our Ministry of Tourism has shared that we have reached our visitors quota for this year and will not be accepting any further applications.
We, Rustasians, are generally a conservative bunch; who enjoy their evening tea and sports and historically do not take kindly to visitors.
We wish you well and believe and hope that you treasure your freedom and sovereignty as much as we do.
Armand Hammer
Secretary, Ministry of Worldly Affairs
Under Secretary, Goodwill Relations
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Mon Jun 25 14:55:13 2012
We're hoppin' late, but still hoppin' high!
Salute to the cute vegetarians!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jun 25 15:09:06 2012
Hey BunnyLand,
Be them bunnies, the naturally cute type or them the playboy kind ... enquring minds wanna know ???
If the former, whats with bringing vegans to a slaughter? If the latter, that's "Hvy Plastc"! (touche)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Mon Jun 25 15:36:10 2012
They are truly innocent and pristine. But hey, even mogwais (not the original ones) are like this. And we all know, what what happend to them... Got your answer?
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jun 25 16:29:18 2012
Just curious ... how many return players from Hvy Plastic 2 Wales? Acquitaine? others?
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Mon Jun 25 17:09:24 2012
Bloody hell...Hanuman, next time time you'n'Escher are doing tequila body shots
off your bevy of strappin' young lads, tell him that "capital" and "capitol"
have different connotations, according to Noah !^&^$@# Webster.
You see? You see what a liberal arts degree outta Toadstool, Kentucky is worth?
- Anonmymous (It's the hormones - I get emotional.)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Mon Jun 25 17:55:18 2012
"Hopeless"? Your country name is "Hopeless"?
Aw, geez...I can see it now (well, not really, since it hasn't happened yet.
I'm kind of extrapolating you see, just IMAGINING what will...forget it.)
Anyway, "Hopeless shock troops overrun Bumf*ck's bar mitzvah..."
Or even, "Hopeless gunners bombard Bunnyland in futile attempt at losing virginity..."
- Me (It was funny until YOU read it.)
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Mon Jun 25 18:29:02 2012
:)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jun 26 03:53:00 2012
Why do I now have the urge to change my name to "Hopeful" to just make the headlines even more interesting . . . .
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jun 26 08:10:48 2012
The symmetry appeals...bur the innate neo-contradictarian tension
presents a discordant inner turmoil which Jung (Consciousness : 1935, Harper and Row, pg 137-139)
would argue makes your feet stink, and your sister's a slut.
- mostly harmless (she gotta phone number?)
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Jun 26 13:35:38 2012
I gotta ask: Is Dune the latest incarnation of Arrakis?
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Tue Jun 26 14:06:07 2012
Note for any novice players: this game has some twists where
resources are limited and Just-In-Time production is key.
The old post archived on Google from Pat is still useful
but you must adjust for the quirks of this game:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.empire/browse_frm/thread/6dccde5104acc968/acc18a5a14299afd?q=update+clowns&rnum=2
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jun 26 15:04:58 2012
There's a piece of my island that floated away.
Help!
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Jun 26 19:37:20 2012
You usually need big nukes to have that happen... or an unhappy deity. :)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jun 26 19:52:52 2012
Right now this deity is happy enough, as all players managed to log in
at least once, and the customary frantic hunt for replacement players
hasn't started, yet.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jun 26 19:56:37 2012
All except #9...I guess I'll just have to accept #9's land
as just compensation for the land that I've lost.
Thank you Hanuman.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jun 27 04:15:00 2012
Who set the damn system clock on this server?
According to my trusty abacus and sextant (I didn't know
what one was 'til it arrived in the mail. Imagine my disappointment)
this server's located in Iceland, or West Africa.
If it's in Africa, I'm in contact with a Nigerian prince
who needs some help laundering funds. Email for details.
- Trust Me (My ex-wife did.)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Jun 27 05:45:01 2012
Your trusty abacus and sextant are obviously advanced models, because
they correct for daylight savings time. The damn system clock isn't,
and doesn't. It runs in UTC.
Glad your your Nigerian prince is so interested in our modest server.
When he next travels to London to shop for a new set of shades, send
him to <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGO>.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jun 27 06:28:01 2012
God's blood...do not, REPEAT - DO NOT - look up "UTC" in Wikipedia.
My head still friggin' hurts.
But I get it. This reeks of Great Britain's Royal Society, circa 1700,
Newton and Hooke were probably involved, another example of Rich White Men
stomping on the will of the privelegely-challenged, imposing their arbritray
standards of temporal metrics on starving orphans and weeping widows.
I'm here to help. Donations accepted via PayPal. For the children.
- What!? (...and maybe the younger widows.)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jun 28 09:28:34 2012
Fine! I spelled 'arbitary' wrong! <again> I get it! <hardly>
I get 47 emails! <right, like...ever> A friggin' PHONE CALL! <unrelated>
The President is flying in! Just to slap me! Again!
<...what's up with that? It's annoying. And it hurts.>
"STOP JUDGING ME!"
- US (I've self-diagnosed split-personality. We're working on it. <HAH!>)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jun 28 09:42:45 2012
It'd be easier if you use different case, like small case for
personality 1, all caps for personality 2, etc.
When you run out of styles, change color of the text.
(We can't change text color yet, nincompoop!)
ARGH! It's spreading!!!! (No, it was always there, just sleeping.)
Now, I'm losing my land and my mind! What's next???
(Change your name to Mindless, give Hopeless a chance!)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Thu Jun 28 18:19:18 2012
Dear fellow state leaders,
Now that everybody has arrived and we are starting, allow me to introduce our
great nation as well.
Eponia doesn't have the tradition or beauty of Rustasia, nor the beautiful wo-
men of Bunnyland, nor the abundant drinks and young widows of Dune, nor the
punctuality of Great Britain. Actually, it hasn't got much to provide for the
seasoned tourist - the coasts are too steep for beach sports, the sailing ships
are as of yet lacking, and the only mountain we have has been converted to an
industrial nightmare by a well-known mining company. Not much here to photo-
graph, and probably our military would forbid that anyway, since most of the
rest is restricted territory. Did I mention the poor natural resources, other
than in that abused mountain? And for some reason, nothing at all grows on our
plains.
So, be mind- and hopeful and don't attack us. Nothing to see here, but that no-
thing is protected fiercely.
Hoping for a good game!
John Doe
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jun 28 21:55:44 2012
Did he just call us a drunk?
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jun 28 22:20:52 2012
I think Wales should take exception to Eponia. Wales is NOT
Great Britain.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jun 28 23:36:07 2012
...but they produced Catherine Zeta-Jones, so we forgive them.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jun 29 02:26:16 2012
This GUI is amazing...Hanuman?
Can you tell Escher that I love him?
- Thanks (are they seeing someone?)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jun 29 05:59:06 2012
Cronus! You've joined us!
<Okay, here's the deal - the others are all bad.>
- I checked (Well, I assumed. Same thing.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jun 29 06:16:14 2012
Given that Cronus is god of time and all, maybe he'll turn back the clock to before the update and join then?
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jun 29 06:41:04 2012
Dear friends,
A few facts from the propaganda department, to make our great country's welcome
message as transparent as possible:
First, Cronus, thanks for joining us. As the name already suggests, there's one
brave soul standing out against the self-imposed power of the UTC.
Second, Dune, we certainly didn't call you a drunk. That is among the number of
things never we'd never directly claim in a diplomatic communique. But our
sources report that there is almost no trace of water on Dune -- our assumption
was that people still must be drinking something there.
Third, Wales, please accept our humble apology. Our statement to Great Britain
was basically caused by the fact that our dear Hanuman imposes that nation's
time system upon most of the known world (no offence, Cronus).
And finally, we'd like to distance our humble selves from the latest announce-
ment from Dune. We're the good guys! Alliances, anyone?
S.F. Bushwa
Head of the Propaganda Department
Nation of Eponia
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Jun 29 11:53:48 2012
***Global Weather Broadcasting Service***
The service-stations across bunnyland deliver information about prolonging heavy hail-storms. Every Hopper is adviced to immediately take shelter to minimize chances of getting soaked in mud or hailed to death!
Don't let your ears don't, emergency buck-squads are underway to treat victims with special care.
*End Of Broadcast (EOB)*
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Jun 29 11:59:20 2012
Please add carriage return characters to your posts when using clients like
WinACE to post your annos. They are too difficult to read.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 12:14:28 2012
You know, the bad guys never really come
out and say hey, we're the bad guys.
Their first statement is always "We were misquoted"
and their second statement is "We're the good guys"
Even Hansel and Gretel can see the pattern here...
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Jun 29 13:34:08 2012
You forgot "Trust me, I'm here to help you."
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 13:45:39 2012
They always appear to be humble and apologetic, but are quick to
point out that theirs is a restricted zone harbouring abused areas.
Kinda makes you think, if the folks aren't playing sports,
aren't out on the seas, don't drink, don't have young and/or beautiful
women, how 'good' can they really be?
BTW, if you didn't catch it, they've already stretched out the
red carpet to Hopeless. (Watch your behind, unless you like it abused ;)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 13:52:02 2012
Do bunnies know how to swim?
> Announcement from PNN, (#15) dated Fri Jun 29 13:54:15 2012
5
4
3
2
1
<tone and bars>
This is a test of the PNN satellite network.
This is only a test.
If this had been an actual announcement
you would have been instructed on where to
tune to in your realm to find detailed info
pages on how to fortify your forces in the
event of an actual announcement
This concludes the test of the PNN satellite
network.
<tone and bars>
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 13:56:02 2012
Had to do *something*. There had been no news for so long I
thought the damn machine was dead.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Fri Jun 29 13:57:46 2012
*Creak*
*cough* *cough*
Damn dust. Got to get out of the crypt more often.
news
What? No fighting yet? What a bunch of slackers.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 15:38:35 2012
bah ...that Germany! Loses a game and goes ballistic on the Natives!
Apparently walking softly with a big stick is not their foreign diplomacy diktat.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Jun 29 16:33:57 2012
Don'r care, whether buns swim or not. The point is hail makes them
dead, so not an option. Being muddy denies their natural cuteness,
their appeal to bucks, and general well-being. The buck-squads will
rely on muddieness, in terms of camoflage. But not untill some
not-a-bun is found to mess with. Anyone to volunteer for that
purpose? Feedback apreciated!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jun 29 16:59:37 2012
Well now,
It seems I need to rectify some messages from the wimps in our MoPR. Here we
go.
The hardships of this country serve the purpose of toughening our guys up. Ask
Dune, he should know that concept well.
And: we're not the good guys. As soon as we built some rafts, we'll be coming
over to kick everybody's ass! Understood?
So, join the side of evil while you still can!
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defence
Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 17:25:34 2012
As long as I won't be assimilated...joining is an option?
but I've always been partial to bunnies...(wink wink)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 17:32:29 2012
What are the odds that the General got ship #0?
I give the abusing general 10:1 odds.
maybe I'm being too kind...
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jun 29 20:05:17 2012
My dear friends,
Please forgive our dear General Tack for his unkind words. It's a pity, but he
never really learned to communicate. Says he doesn't need that...
Anyway, of course we are not going to attack anybody -- at least not without a
full U.N. resolution in place.
Well, we do need to have some military for those U.N. missions, and what would
we do without them whenever a natural catastrophy occurs. Those people like
shouting, and that's really all about it.
S.F. Bushwa
Head of the Propaganda Department
Nation of Eponia
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jun 29 20:05:52 2012
To: Mr. S.F. Bushwa
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dear Mr. Bushwa, dear Gen. Tack,
Please, do behave!
John Doe
President
Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jun 29 20:38:35 2012
Ata boy Johnny. Put the General on the mat.
Give me 10 finger ups!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 21:16:37 2012
Anyone have any user docs (URI) on the build projection tool in WinACE?
Tried google, but ...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 22:46:38 2012
And this week's recipient of the "Grow some balls" telegram goes to ...
...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 22:50:49 2012
grrr.. forgot . closes the anno
Anyway ..
And this week's recipient of the "Grow some balls" telegram goes to
~
~
~
~
(suspense++)
Eponia!
All Hail POGO!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jun 29 23:06:03 2012
Is it just me, or was the Hulk talking to Eponia when he said
"Puny human!"?
- sigh, back to your regular program ...
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jun 30 06:35:49 2012
POGO??
Wrong game buddy!
Nobody here by that name...
All hail Hanuman!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jun 30 08:01:20 2012
My dear friends,
And yet another valuable international prize has been won by our great nation of
Eponia. We humbly accept the trophy in the spirit in which it has been given.
It will always be honoured as a valuable reminder of the goals we have -- truth,
justice, and rightousness.
Humbly yours,
S.F. Bushwa
Head of the Propaganda Department
Nationa of Eponia
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jun 30 08:05:41 2012
Hmmpf.
Can't really understand my colleagues -- talking, talking, talking. And the on-
ly work they ever do is handing over orders and production quotas. And where do
these land? Right. At my desk.
And at the first hint that the quotas set are a bit -- well, impossible -- the
general pulls out his whip.
Is that the red phone ringing? One moment, I'll be right back...
Yes, general. Of course, general. I'm already back to work. No, it'll not
happen again. What, another FIVE ships? And at the very NEXT update? You can
only be joking! Of course we do everything we can, but where do you suppose
that workforce will come from? And you know as well as I do that building ships
requires lcm and hcm, and for producing both iron needs to be mined in advance!
Announce that three updates before you need them! (Click) (Sigh)
Didn't sleep for days, and what do we get for it? "Grow some balls", great.
You'll pardon me, I have work to do...
U.W. Steed
Ministry of Labour
Eponia
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jun 30 08:05:59 2012
To: Mr. U.W. Steed
Make that six.
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sat Jun 30 08:15:10 2012
Not really Hans!
No doubt Hanuman is Divine. POGO is the empire singularity (or until the code gets tweaked ;))
Bless us Hanuman!
All Hail POGO!
- there - now, my karma is set ... i think
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jun 30 08:38:41 2012
A player inquired on how to predict ship building.
Let's consider building frigates.. "show ship b" shows us:
lcm hcm avail tech $
frg frigate 30 30 110 0 $600
Ships get built at 20%, so a build command costs $120 and uses up 6l
6h 22 avail in the harbor, per frigate.
Say you have 60 avail in the habor. You can build at most two
frigates (using 44 avail, leaving 16), no matter how much money and
cms you have.
You now have two 20% frigates sitting in the harbor. Completing them
costs 2 * 80% of the full frigate cost: 48l 48h 176 avail and $960.
Unfortunately, we lack a command that tells you nicely what the update
is going to do to your ships. But you can get indirect information
from budget. Say it shows:
Sector Type Production Cost
Ship building 2 ships 900
Cost is low: $900 instead of $960. That's the cost of 150% instead of
the 160% you expected. The first frigate will get the 80% it needs,
the second only 70%. Something's missing.
Unless budget tells you that you'll be broke, it can't be money. So
it must be cms or workers. Cms are easy: check the harbor has at
least 48l 48h. If it has, but budget still shows less cost than
expected, it must be workers.
Simply move in workers until budget is happy. Watch out if you're
tight on BTUs, both budget and move use one.
Beware: if you got just enough workers in a harbor to complete ships,
you'll have *zero* avail there next turn, and won't be able to build
anything.
Checking expected budget can become rather complicated when you're
building ships in several harbors. You can simplify things by
stopping all ship builds (stop sh *) except in one harbor (start sh
8,0). Remember to start your ships again when you're done.
Some clients provide tools that simulate the update's ship building.
Perhaps a seasoned WinACE user has some advice.
The budget technique can only tell you about ships you already built.
This isn't enough when you're planning ahead. Predicting materials
and and money needs shouldn't be hard, but predicting workers requires
a bit of mental gymnastics.
Example: got 60% harbor with 200c 10m 60 avail, want to build a pair
of frigates next turn, and complete them at the following update. You
need to have enough workers in the harbor now to have at least 44
avail after the update. Next turn, you need enough to complete the
ships.
Avail (short for "available work") after the update is old work + new
work - work used.
Let's start with work used. Work is used for building up and tearing
down sectors, producing stuff, and building up ships, planes and land
units, in this order (info Update-sequence).
Building up and tearing down sectors can use at most half of the
available work.
Harbors do not produce stuff, so we can skip this step.
Example: since the harbor is 60% efficient, half of the avail up to 40
will be used to build it up. Since you want 44 avail to build
frigates, you want to have at least 84.
Old work is pre-update avail "rolling over". According to version, up
to 100 avail "roll over", the rest is lost.
Example: 60 avail roll over, nothing's lost. You're still 24 short,
which need to come from new work.
New work is done by your people. info Update-sequence tells us the
order is eat, procreate, work. No food in this game, so we go
straight to procreation. In this game, civilians grow 30% and uws
grow 15% per update, rounded randomly (see version). They then make
floor((civ*work/100 + uw + mil * 0.4) * etu / 100)
Unfortunately, the only documentation for the work formula is
notoriously unreliable info Innards. etu is 60 in this game. work is
the work percentage, 100 unless you got problems (see info Citizens
and info census).
Example: Population grows to 260c 10m, and produces 158 new work
(assuming work percentage is 100%). More than necessary. To make
just the 24 you need, 28c 10m should suffice according to the work
formula. No margin for error, though; you might want to employ a few
more guys. Remember, up to 100 avail roll over in this game, so it
takes quite a few excess workers for work going to waste.
Now deduct 44 avail for the build command and repeat the calculation
for next update, aiming for 176 avail before ship builds, plus
whatever avail you want for new builds afterwards.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jun 30 08:53:17 2012
RE : WinACE.
If one has a 0% harbor and chunks a buncha guys in it,
WinACE's production listing - 2nd column, fourth line -
shows the expected avail. The avail to be, or not to be.
At least it better...or I'm gonna grab my neighbor's cat
and smash it in the head with a hammer.
- Again (guys got a lotta cats)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jun 30 09:23:31 2012
Ach! Warning! Last post was one of them blatant assumptions we make
that have previously left me with 47,000 guys stuck on a reef
saying, "Uh, de boss said this would be de harbor, right? Gotta smoke?"
- De Boss (It's okay, they were all Democrats.)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sat Jun 30 09:37:55 2012
Re: WinACE
Thanks Dune for the heads-up. I figured it out for 1 ship, but my query was more targeted at building multiple ones at the same harbor.
Hanuman divination was timely, relevant and useful.
I think we really do need a "newavail *" or a "newavail-estimated *" kind of command or at the least Hanuman's post should be posted at r.g.e or maybe the empire website. It would be helpful. I'd guess this same issue would be raised in most games as the info is not that easily discoverable (at least for me). Why re-invent the wheel each time?
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jun 30 09:59:47 2012
Agreed, and archived. I doubt such insight (oh, get over it)
has ever been flat figured out and posted somewhere.
- Wow (You figger Hanuman's some kind AI?)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 04:52:14 2012
FYI -
The build projection is pretty nifty when used with the build queue. Just be *very* careful about using the "Done" button.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 06:24:42 2012
Ask Gen Tack, he's been there, "done" that.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 07:50:45 2012
To the leaders of Rustasia and Germany,
Well, I myself only give orders -- our MoL has to carry them out. I sometimes
wonder how they manage, but it's amazing what wonders forced labour can do...
Anyway, now that it's too late to catch up, there can be no harm in disclosing
our solution to that problem. Eponia has several harbours, so ships can be
built in parallel, i.e. by different work teams. This also gives us a nice
means of expanding in all compass directions directions at once, without sailing
around the whole coastline of Eponia first. We'll wait for you there!
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defence
Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 08:59:24 2012
Oh! So that's the trick!!! Multiple harbors!
The secret is out!!!
And here we were stuck, trying to force 3 ships
out of one harbor??!! Should've applied Ohm's law! After all, he's German!!!!
We will quickly build 8 harbours, 1 for each compass direction and 4 for circling the island.
But if we are circling the island, where shall we be able to meet?
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 09:34:39 2012
Well, children,
There seems to be some need to repeat the directions of the compass today. Pay
attention! We will start with the big picture, which is called the compass
rose. Do use a monospace font for reviewing this diagram at home!
Y U
\ /
G --H-- J
/ \
B N
The names of the six main compass directions are, starting from top left:
Y - Yorth
U - Unwise
J - Jest
N - Nouth
B - Beewise
G - Guest
And finally, not really a direction:
H - Here I am, here I remain
The historical background of the name "unwise" lies in a very tragic decision in
a battle of the past. The first to name that battle gets a sticker! "Beewise",
of course, is caused by the structure of our world maps.
So, don't forget to do your homework, children!
Mrs. Tamara Chair
Ministery of Education
Eponia
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 09:37:59 2012
Dear Germans,
Well, if you insist on circling Germany with your ships, of course we are going
to meet in Germany!
Best regards,
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defence
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sun Jul 1 10:00:41 2012
A sticker?! Ooh! Ooh!
I lost my last one - got stuck in somebody somewhere.
Anyway, I'm gonna go with - Agincourt! Battle of Agincourt.
- OR (Technology and Tactics Trump Testosterone.)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 10:08:32 2012
Hey Taky,
Multiple harbors? We dont need no stinkin multiple harbors!
Just built one and stacked it with Viagra-coated lcm and hcm.
Both our work eff (not to mention pop and happiness) went through the roof.
Go figure!
P.S.
Our scientists are working on doing the same with the gold dust.
Needless to say, we are getting lots of private equity-backed interest.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 10:24:30 2012
Umm ... I thought the party was at Taky's home.
If you are heading out and we come knocking your way ...
umm ... you are gonna need a carpenter when you return. At the least.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 12:25:40 2012
I hope you are not referring to the Battle
of Stalingrad?!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 17:04:03 2012
Sorry folks,
Our guys refuse to hold the party anywhere other than that harbour Rustasia
was talking about. Say, tomorrow, 17:05 UTC?
Ah yes, another thing. Our dear old Mrs. Chair unfortunately hasn't the slight-
est idea about military history, so she just hoped that a good answer would turn
up. Since Stalingrad would be a bit hard on Germany, I'll suggest to her to
send that sticker to Dune.
See you!
Gen. A.T.Tack
Dept. of Defense
Eponia
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 17:51:44 2012
Sounds like Eponia is trying to be a weenie and wimp out of his party.
Sorry buddy. Party stays at Tak's! I vote for a toga kegger ... just hope we dont get RickRoll'd. Order the grub and stoke up the grill.
Arrange for some entertainment.
Damn! Now I cant get that tune outta my head ...
"Never gonna give u up, never gonna let u go ..."
(might as well keg++)
"Never gonna give u up, never gonna let u go ..."
and make sure its NOT lite beer ...
"Never gonna give u up, never gonna let u go ..."
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 1 18:16:57 2012
So who's going to provide directions to the party? ;)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 18:28:46 2012
To reach Tak, everyone knows all you need to do is
keep to the East of the Star of Pony.
You can't miss it!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 1 19:16:22 2012
To: Rustasia
Well, starting from the location of your current captial, the party would take
place at 65:-47. What did Germany mean with "east"?... Anyway, the beer is
cooled, the grill hot, the fireworks for the show at midnight are set up too.
Gen. Tack, Eponia
--
Sent from my MBC-12 mobile battlefield communicator
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 19:35:16 2012
E - Ponia
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sun Jul 1 19:52:27 2012
Frumpy Taky. Bad Tak. Bad.
Now either be a good boy and share your bmap
or
just wait ... we'll come to ya. Let us get some mobility first.
Lets see, BigFish is 3 ... need one more and we can do a campfire.
2 more - and we can "find the compass with Tammy" wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know-what-I-mean.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 1 20:05:33 2012
zdone y
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Mon Jul 2 13:19:14 2012
PEI had a good ship building estimator.
The WinACE implementation is based on it.
Of course, both were written before Budget Priorities were
removed from the game. Ron patched WinACE to now produce
Avail before building ships. This tool is very useful!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 2 14:42:08 2012
To: Dune
Great, you knew the right answer! Here comes your sticker, right in time for
the party!
.sssssssss.
.sssssssssssssssssss
sssssssssssssssssssssssss
ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
@@sssssssssssssssssssssss@ss
|s@@@@sssssssssssssss@@@@s|s
_______|sssss@@@@@sssss@@@@@sssss|s
/ sssssssss@sssss@sssssssss|s
/ .------+.ssssssss@sssss@ssssssss.|
/ / |...sssssss@sss@sssssss...|
| | |.......sss@sss@ssss......|
| | |..........s@ss@sss.......|
| | |...........@ss@..........|
\ \ |............ss@..........|
\ '------+...........ss@...........|
\________ .........................|
|.........................|
/...........................\
|.............................|
|.......................|
|...............|
Mrs. Tamara Chair, Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jul 2 14:58:29 2012
A guy with long hair and one large ear is the sticker???
Must be something specific to Eponia I guess!! ;-)
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Tue Jul 3 00:32:59 2012
next on ETV, Cable Channel 666 -> Metallica in the Kitchen
Today's special taste testing guest is our old friend Crackhouse
M: So Mr. C, what do you think of my special omlette?
C: Uhhh, well, it's different. There is a taste I just can't identify though.
M: Ah, that would be the secret ingredient for today.
C: You going to tell me or do I have to beat it out of you.
M: The look on your face will be better if I tell you. It's semen.
<scene covered up while Crackhouse vomits like a frat boy on spring break>
C: What the Hell! You wanked off into my food? You perverted ass...
M: No, I didn't honest.
C: Well, I feel a bit better
M: I had Barsoom blow my St. Bernard
18 times
Would not have been so bad on the poor mutt but Barsoom
swallowed the first 4 times.
Poor ole pooch has lost 32 pounds and has a seizure every time he
hears somebody breathing in hard.
<and now we cut to the credits as they roll on the
scene over the PETA protesters.>
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 3 01:58:32 2012
Well, hell...look who made bail!
Ohio's got them touchy-feely judges.
- Call Me (...lost your email during the psychotic break)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 3 03:19:47 2012
To: Dune
CC: Germany, Rustasia
Never seen a glass of beer before, huh? Speaking of it, you really missed some-
thing yesterday. 'Xcept for the colossal headache today. Well, guess I'm gonna
take a few days off...
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defense
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 3 06:08:47 2012
Appreciated!
Typically prefer it 3-dimensional, tepid, and served by a
Reubenesque post-doc wearing a smile and her Hooter's tee.
- Duh (...in my living room.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 3 14:44:31 2012
Almost 50 ships and only 1 finds land!!
Need more of your beer, Eponia!
Sailing sober doesn't work! Everyone knows
the Welsh are drunk all their waking hours!
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 3 16:35:20 2012
I think, technically, I'm drunk half my sleeping hours, too.
> Announcement from Cronus, (#11) dated Tue Jul 3 16:53:59 2012
::tap tap::
Is this thing on? Wait...what happened?
-=Cr=-
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 3 17:03:45 2012
Oopsie?
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 3 17:14:16 2012
*** Attention ***
There is no update tomorrow (July 4th). The next update is on Thursday.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 3 17:19:02 2012
Not even if I send you a glass of beer????
maybe a kegger will do the trick :-)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 3 17:29:44 2012
I'll pitch in for that kegger! I was hoping for an update - maybe we can vote? ;)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Tue Jul 3 20:05:43 2012
zdone y
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Tue Jul 3 20:11:58 2012
kegger++
update tomorrow: vote++
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 4 01:47:09 2012
Dune officially abstains. Because -
1) Hanuman ain't gonna cave. Not him's style.
2) I really don't want one, got other committment(s).
2b) I is American, and tomorrow's a big USA holiday.
That said, I don't want to be a joy killer, 'cause missing
the update wouldn't hurt me a bit...so why do I care?
<boring irrevelancy this way comes, skip it if you have a life.>
My audio system died awhile back, and I finally got pissed off
enough to huff the amp into my lab and spent half the *(&&^ night
tracking down a shorted rectifier diode (actually, that was quick, but
it took out the transformer and I had to go into The Basement and dig
around in my pile'o'crap to find a suitable replacement, and there's
SPIDERS down there that look suspiciously like brown recluse. I've bombed, but...)
Anyway, so this morning I'm sipping damn good coffee, smokin',
got Rodney Crowell just SHAKING the place, while waiting a few
for an Empire update.
And I wanna do it again. Nyah.
- And again (who wouldn't?)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 4 13:04:56 2012
Supe, now vacancy is over, eeeekkkkssss :-((
But good news: no more over-boobed beauties, stealing my precious time
uhhh, okay, wanna have some of them back again ;-)
anyway, now hoping to get the twist! Someone please turn off 'power'!
It's a shame, I admit :-/
Btw. anyone else using the native CLI client??
Happy hopping!
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 4 13:27:00 2012
Don't feel lonely Bunny...I'm keeping you company down there too!!!
Think of the bunnies!!!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 14:25:50 2012
Power doesn't mean that much, so early in the game.
Unless you're a certain "pony" ;)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 14:36:43 2012
Yo Bunny
Try some of the WinACE honey
Its sweet to the tummy
'cept the colors are a bit funny
:-\
F Duddy
former CLI advocate
and the guy to flame for this rhyme/poem/whatever
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Wed Jul 4 15:04:21 2012
}Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 4 13:04:56 2012
}Btw. anyone else using the native CLI client??
You mean players use anything else?
What a bunch of pansies.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 15:54:10 2012
Now if only somene would JSON'fy the raw dump .... CLI-life would/could be so much more fun.
Dont get wrong, nothing beats attacking via CLI ...
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 4 16:05:03 2012
What? You have trouble deciphering the raw dump?
Guess you haven't seen Matrix, huh?!
Just call Operator!!!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 16:17:38 2012
What IS the Matrix?
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 16:26:20 2012
Q. What do you get if you mix the Trinty of the Matrix,
S&M, a 80s german group, and Bunnyland?
A. Dominatrix Bunnies singing "Whip it! Whip it good."
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Jul 4 17:27:59 2012
Your enthusiasm for another update warms my heart. But as you
noticed, I'm not into changing update schedules.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Jul 4 18:04:11 2012
xdump is simple, JSON is simple, and converting from one to the other
is simple, too. Here's a start:
awk '/^XDUMP meta/ { t=$3; nf[t]=0; meta=1; next } /^XDUMP/ { print "{"; t=$2; dump=1; next } /^\// { if (dump) print "}"; meta=0; dump=0 } meta { f[t,++nf[t]] = $1 } dump { for (i=1; i<=nf[t]; i++) print f[t,i] ":" $i (i==nf[t] ? "" : ",") }'
Arrays and schema left as an exercise for the reader.
xdump is much more compact than JSON.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Wed Jul 4 18:47:35 2012
I wasnt referring to complexity. My intent was towards standardizaton.
Once things are using "standard" interfaces - more things are possible. Simplicity is a functon of understanding.
Thanks for the start. Maybe Bunny can wrap it up - now that his vacancy is over...
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 4 20:46:06 2012
Rusty, the last wonderful weeks, were full of the aforesaid boobs
and stripping down "obstacles" on the way to paradise...
ATM there's no intention to wrap things up again, really not!!!
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jul 5 07:37:01 2012
Geezuz...and you guys thought _I_ was a drunk.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Thu Jul 5 07:42:18 2012
"Simplicity is a function of understanding."
...is beautiful, and something Feynman might've said,
if he wasn't all like, dead and rotting in a coffin.
- Sigh (I'd dig him up, but he'd be all stinky.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jul 5 09:47:13 2012
Simply is what simply does.
To understand him is to know him.
To know him, one must know oneself.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Cardinal Seigfreid
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 6 07:49:59 2012
So did Simons really get nada but, "gee, thanks"
for developing WinACE?
If so, we should take up a collection before he thinks
of putting in pop-up ads.
- Seriously (...unless it involves sheep, in negligee.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 6 08:57:11 2012
Or we could take turns in giving him a wedgie!
Whatever works!
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 6 09:22:38 2012
Uh, that would involve putting my hands in his pants.
I'd rather cough up a C-note. Run with scissors. Watch MTV.
Move to Portugal. Exercise. Go on the wagon. Quit smoking.
Stop lying to women. Get a real job. Go to jail again.
Buy a Mac. Eat shit. Have sex with my ex-wife. Get another cat.
Drive a Yugo. Vote. Write poetry. Read poetry. Sniff my armpit.
- nuff said (...maybe too much)
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 11:06:16 2012
hmm...
idea!
so if I dev an html5 variant of this ...
me get some $$ too? huh? huh?
like how much?
and extra blessings from Hanuman?
and a smile from POGO?
and what about an iPad version?
Android-tablets?
...
...
huh?
what?
<rubs eyes and sits up>
<streteches arms and yawns>
wacky dreams again ...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 11:21:54 2012
All quiet on the Epony-front!?
GF/Wife catch him talking about Tammy?
"So, who's Tammy?"
heh heh ...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 11:26:46 2012
hrmphh!
My 'b' key seems about to die.
So, I guess I'll have to stop bullsh*t-ing ...
sigh
Ull Crapper
ex-Bull-sh*ter
(this message is been cleaned and is 'Safe For All')
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 14:24:27 2012
Hey Pony / BigFish,
U got ur tech center "on the cloud"? :)
Using EC2 or S3?
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 6 14:52:28 2012
I can't disclose any secrets about our tech . . . .
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 6 14:57:48 2012
Eponia,
I built the harbors, like you said.
I built the ships, like you said.
Ships are sailing around the island, like you said.
Where you at??? Don't let me down!!
The captains are complaining of dizziness with all the
circling.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 15:04:42 2012
Wow that NDA sure has u wrapped up nice n tight.
Are u allowed to smile for the camera? hee hee
U sure u dont work for a celeb?
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 15:08:48 2012
Hey Hanuman,
Now that the 'goddamn particle' has
been found - in layman terms - u starting
to get worried? ;)
Or are u a proponent of the Strings theory?
Or just a pantheist?
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 15:10:48 2012
oops ... forgot to add..
Bless us Hanuman! All hail POGO!
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 6 15:14:23 2012
Man Rusty,
You sure got lots of spare BTUs!
I'm down to my last few.
Eponia said he bring a refill pack for me,
but he's not shown up.
Don't make so many announcements, else I'll run outta
BTU's before the update and not complete my moves.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 6 16:23:15 2012
Yeah, now that we've found the Higgs, we should catch the damn thing
and put it to work, baby.
Inertial dampening! Massless transportation! Free Playboy Channel!
I give it 500 years, max.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 16:24:05 2012
Hans - u with the BTU police or
the announcement quota committee?
U Germans like policing stuff a little too much?
U got a small clipped mustache vit ur uniform?
But if must know,, I dumped all -
lke 999 civs and 300 uws in my cap
and parks.
Got a massive eff and BTU boost.
Try it...now that my secret is out.
Brigidier BiTtU.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 16:31:40 2012
Technically its not a confirmed Higgs.
Its something. Not sure what ...
So its just a Standard model supporter
-- but degree has yet to be determined.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 6 16:36:44 2012
It's definitely a 3rd degree...probably green
They got it from Higgs himself.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jul 6 16:42:23 2012
To: Germany
Yes, the captains getting dizzy is definitely part of the strategy. Can't let
you in on the details yet, but be patient...
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defense
Eponia
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 6 16:43:18 2012
U sure its green?
If its was red ... all the climate freaks
would come out and say its been responsible
for global warming!
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 6 17:16:17 2012
Me? Worried about a goddamn particle?
It takes several billion bucks and a small army of really bright &
hardworking people to find a godamn particle (or rather enough of its
godamn echos to be pretty sure it can't be anything we already know,
although not yet enough to be sure it couldn't be some other goddamn
particle).
That's the stupidest plan for scaring me I ever saw. You need to try
much harder.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 6 17:23:33 2012
Marylin Manson's dating your daughter.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jul 7 02:25:02 2012
I made that up.
Markus Armbruster
Jul 15, 2012, 2:31:07 AM7/15/12
to
We're now ten updates into Hvy Plastic 2, and tensions are rising. The
Empire News reported skirmishes between Wales and Pathfinder, Dune and
BigFish, Eponia and Hopeless, Rustasia and Wales, Rustasia and Dune,
Germany and Wales, Rustasia and Cronus, Hopeless and BigFish. Germany
was first to confiscate a ship, from Wales. Nine more ships have
changed hand at sea since. Wales has tried out these newfangled shell
things, and Rustasia reports they work just fine. In other news,
Bunnyland went Syrian and started to massacre defenseless Bunnyland
workers. The telegram wires have been heating up, and suspicions are
bound to follow. Stay tuned!
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Jul 13 17:01:19 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Hopeless 120 59% 59K 1.4K 0 0 0 3.5K 550 1.9K 0 50 0 10K
Dune 90 64% 58K 1.1K 50 10 0 2.9K 250 1.4K 0 20 1 75K
BigFish 135 53% 57K 1.6K 13 5 0 3.6K 200 1.1K 0 60 0 15K
Rustasia 115 50% 58K 1.8K 0 0 0 4.4K 250 350 0 60 0 5.0K
Pathfinde 105 56% 54K 2.1K 25 5 0 3.9K 250 1.1K 0 60 0 40K
Germany 140 45% 57K 1.8K 0 0 0 3.6K 750 750 0 60 2 10K
Aquitaine 80 75% 58K 1.5K 400 40 0 3.8K 250 2.9K 0 20 0 30K
Wales 105 57% 59K 1.4K 50 10 0 3.5K 1.1K 1.2K 0 40 0 25K
Eponia 70 85% 44K 450 150 20 0 3.0K 3.0K 2.8K 0 20 5 20K
Cronus 55 40% 17K 100 0 0 0 1.6K 4.1K 0 0 0 0 65K
Bunnyland 55 57% 19K 450 0 0 0 5.8K 1.7K 2.2K 0 5 0 25K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Announcements since Sun Jul 8 00:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Jul 9 16:45:30 2012
*** Attention ***
The pre-announced switch to Mon-Wed-Fri updates will happen after
update 9. This means we'll have four updates this week (Mon, Tue,
Wed, Fri), and three updates from then on.
Use "show updates" to see the update schedule.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 10 03:14:43 2012
It's awfully qwiet out there...is it wabbit season or something?
I hereby promise, that if I stumble across <ouch!> Bunnyland
(or maybe Cronus - talk to my attorney for detais, bring ID and your
sister) that I Will Not Attack (WNA - pat pend., copyright filed with ASCAP,
July, 2012 - Underwriter's Laboratories consulted and ignored.) until I can.
- There (...now you all owe me.)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 10 05:30:50 2012
Qui-et, un-nat-u-ral:
---------------------
[...] In the Empire context, this mostly means that when you have a feeling of
unnatural quiet which the other parties don't share, somebody (or even several
parties at once) is preparing a devastating attack on you. This may include a
large fleet in the early game, or a nuclear warhead later on. [...]
Cf. "Quiet before the storm"
-- Eponia dictionary of colloquial expressions,
by Mrs. T. Chair
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 10 06:39:11 2012
A player inquired whether a bank still pays intereset the update it
becomes something else.
"info Update-sequence" has the answer: bank interest is paid in step
1.f, sector construction is step 2.e.f. Since the sector is still a
bank in step 1.f, it pays interest.
Another way to get the answer is comparing the number of bars shown by
commodity to the number shown by budget.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Jul 10 13:14:44 2012
@Dune: ouch???
I hereby demand, that if you stumble across our great hopping nation, that you WILL attack (!WA!), until you can or as long as you can not!
(FYI: Lawsuit filed against Dune at International Court of Justice
in Den Hopp due to violating international law by preemptive threat-of-attack
against helpless vegan cuteness!
Dune is expected to be sentenced to lifelong veggie diet...)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 10 13:21:48 2012
Been there, Dune that.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 07:19:41 2012
How does one know when one's becoming uh, okay - "over-involved"?
Well, when one buys a NEW MONITOR for a FREAKIN' GAME.
But hey, it's...bigger. And the colors are...more colorful.
And it was on sale, and I'll use it for other things,
and it uses less energy, and it's much lighter, and it's
got a good beat, and I can dance to it (you don't wanna see that),
and it's an INVESTMENT, and I helped the tech sector economy,
which makes me a PATRIOT.
- So There (...traitors)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 10:03:17 2012
Bunnyland tripped, fell on his keyboard and accidently produced -
}Dune is expected to be sentenced to lifelong veggie diet...)
Pardon me?
I'm constantly explaining to waiters (except the ones who know me
and survived) "Yes, RAW. Not rare. Not singed. Grab a New York steak,
well-marbled or I'll kill you, and place it here, then go away."
And - "No, I don't need your pansy-ass silverware. This Kbar <gasp!>
has blood channels and the gamma-gobulin dribbling through my beard
reminds me of prom night. And Tuesdays."
- Jack the Ripper (...was a pussy)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 11 10:44:33 2012
With the 5 rings coming up, some late-breaking news:
The President of Mexico has announced that Mexico will
not participate in the upcoming Olympic games.
He stated: "Casi cada uno que puede funcionar, saltar,
ola nadada ha salido ya del pams."
Translation: "Pretty much everyone who can run, jump, or
swim has already left the country."
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 11:22:50 2012
Jesus. Next time he should just say it in English.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 11 11:26:12 2012
Or German
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 11:37:59 2012
"So zeimlech jeder , der laufen, springen oder schwimmen
kann hat das land bereits verlassen."
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 11 11:46:08 2012
Did the translator come with new monitor?
or did you just google it?
waka waka waka
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 11:59:26 2012
Google, baby. Ain't the Information Age wunnerful?
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Jul 11 15:42:26 2012
A player noticed the "Military Payroll" line in budget is inaccurate,
and wonders why.
Rounding errors, that's why.
Like the update, budget tallies payroll, not the number of military.
Each term of the sum is rounded towards zero to full dollars. Yes,
that's pretty schlocky.
The number of reserves shown by budget is accurate. The number of mil
isn't: it's calculated from the payroll. The server deducts the
reserve cost from the payroll, then divides by the cost per mil, and
rounds down. Yes, that's even schlockier.
Example: payroll is $3404, and we got 246 reserves. How many mil?
$3404 - (246 * 60 * $0.083333)
------------------------------ = 656.2
60 * $0.833333
Sure enough, budget prints
Military payroll656 mil, 246 res 3404
TL;DR: the inaccurate part is "656 mil". The $3404 is accurate.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Thu Jul 12 06:28:44 2012
} Wed Jul 11 17:28
} Bunnyland firing squads massacre defenseless Bunnyland workers
Shooting innocent bunnies! Now, if that doesn't mean war...
Or was it lemmings, not bunnies?
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jul 12 11:48:02 2012
Was probably shooting all the ugly ducklings, errr
bunnies.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Thu Jul 12 18:45:30 2012
Have a lot of fun, too! :-P
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 13 08:19:24 2012
Aw shucks, I shouldn't even have to say this, but...
Accidently bumping into my coast(s) is unavoidable,
spirit of exploration, all that, yada yada yada.
But - politely as possible here - blatantly mapping my
coast(s) will result in a sharp decrease in ship efficiency.
Wouldn't have mentioned it, but my friggin' 'coastwatch'
looks like that "Tall Ship Parade" they run off New York.
- Sheesh ( There IS NO FREE BEER here.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 13 10:09:19 2012
Dune: Can't you feel the (bunny) luv??
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 13 10:55:39 2012
"It ain't paranioa if they really are out to get you."
...and the gun's loaded, and you've been staring at that convenience store
for an hour, the rent's due, disconnect notice on the electric, wrote a bad
check for the gas bill, child support payments are cruel and unusual,
don't even like the kid. Driving with no insurance, selling stuff you inherited,
drinking bad beer, returning the cable TV box, plotting the landlord's death.
- Just Itchin' (...for a reason.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 13 11:51:35 2012
Seems to me you could really use a cold one right now.
I hear Eponia keeps his fridge fully stocked.
Maybe that's why he's sitting smugly watching my ships running in
circles.
He knows that the heat spell aint gonna finish so soon...
Either that, or he was a buddy of Maddoff.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jul 13 13:32:41 2012
Gentlemen,
The rumours are true that our fridge is well-stocked. Actually, we've just ex-
panded the fridge -- the ocean around Eponia is cold enough, so that's where we
put our excess beer. Beer production is also on the rise:
BEER PRODUCTION SIMULATION
sect des eff avail make p.e. cost use1 use2 use3 max1 max2 max3 max
#,# b 100% 604 604b 4.00 $0 604w 302h 151m 604w 302h 151m 604
Do tell me before you visit to take some, though. There are several quite large
icebergs close to our cost, and with the mists that like to rise around here,
ships can crash into them very easily. Some of the icebergs have even been
reported to explode on occasion, so better stay away or at least tell us if you
have business here! We have most of them tracked and charted by now, so that
our ships can safely come and go.
Cheers,
Gen. Tack
[ Yes, the meaning is about the same as in Dune's earlier telegram (08:19 to-
day). Just in prettier words... ;-) ]
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 13 16:09:48 2012
Since its Ok if we hit you coast
(Dune did say it was unavoidable and you concur'd)
why all the blah blah blah.
Bah humbug!
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Fri Jul 13 17:27:50 2012
[] Mary Ann
[] Ginger
[] Both
[] At the same time
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Fri Jul 13 18:43:27 2012
[x] Mary Ann
[x] Mary Ann
[x] Both
[x] At the same time
[x] Three times per day
[x] Whether I need to or not
So there.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 13 20:00:56 2012
Heh...what happened to Ginger???
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jul 13 20:14:21 2012
Well,
It's OK to hit my coast -- as long as you don't circle it, like those crazy Ger-
mans seem to to all the time. 'Cause then, we're gonna arrest you and send you
right to our asylums. And they're the worst (shudder).
Just don't be surprised when trying to hit our coast if you hit something else
first. Say, one of the exploding icebergs I'm currently placing there.
Enough on that topic.
Gen. A.T. Tack
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 13 20:25:56 2012
To answer your question Germany, Plunderia has a myopic
condition that does not allow him to see buxom red heads. they
just escape his vision. It's not a problem if you
live in Scandanavia. But he's really missing
out when he goes to Dublin.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 14 07:41:04 2012
A player wondered why sometimes his BTUs get replenished on login, and
sometimes not.
You receive BTUs on login and at the update. How many depends on the
state of your capital, and how much Empire time elapsed since the last
time you got BTUs.
Empire time is measured in ETUs. There's always the same number of
ETUs between updates, 60 in this game. So, if the next update is
scheduled 48 hours after the previous one, one ETU is 48 minutes.
If you don't get new BTUs when you log in, either your capital is not
producing, or not enough Empire time has passed.
See "info BTU" and "info Time" for details.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 07:47:58 2012
Either that, or you're not spending enough time
with Mary Ann & Ginger.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 08:09:39 2012
... Or you're not keeping them little bureaucrats busy enough. E.g. by circling
the capital with ships. Movement without any obvious meaning, that's something
they positively enjoy!
U.W. Steed
Ministry of Labour
Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 09:11:47 2012
Eponia:
Talking about icebergs...is the temperature that cold where
you are at?
It's pleasant out here. C'mon down!!!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 10:20:17 2012
To: Germany
Well, at least they LOOK like icebergs.
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defense
Eponia
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 11:32:32 2012
Ok then...I'll make sure to bring my Icebreakers with me.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 11:33:16 2012
Or atleast they LOOK like Icebreakers...
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 14 12:34:13 2012
A player observed that redesignating a 3% efficient harbor turns it
into 0% efficient new designation immediately.
Yes, that's what happens when the sector is below 5%. For better or
worse, designate has always worked that way.
It's a really easy way to land-lock your ships.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sat Jul 14 13:08:18 2012
Hey Eponia,
Hope them there iceberg weren't sourced from E-China.
Cuz i've heard the warranty gets invalidated in lower temperatures.
Just so you know.
Incidentally, am just wondering what you do - if someone follows your ship to your harbor and places a few cold ones there?
Think there is a hole in your plan -- or maybe its just an iceberg.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 14 14:14:25 2012
Please don't hesistate to report "weird" behavior. I'm happy to
explain correctly weird behavior. I'm even happier to debug and fix
incorrectly weird behavior. Don't be shy!
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 14:48:40 2012
Well, now that you mention it, I've noticed that when
I check for news, or power in WinAce the
window size doesn't show up correctly. If I try to resize
the window, the window minimizes and
when I bring up the window again, it's the appropriate size
It didn't work like that in the earlier version, so
to me this is definitely weird behavior.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 14:56:28 2012
To: Rustasia
No holes at all. We also keep some ice-breakers in the harbour, to prevent it
from freezing up. Also, icebergs are known to float around a bit every now and
then.
The rest of our strategy really should be well-known by now. To repeat: Multi-
ple harbours and a high-speed railway network connecting them. You mine one
harbour, we pull all ships there out of the water, put them on the train, and in
the exact moment you think you made it to safety, we're closing in on you from
another direction! ;-)
See you there!
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 15:09:00 2012
To: Rustasia
We don't trust imported ice -- even though China does offer that 24/7-hotline to
call if something doesn't detonate, or if something detonates too soon...
Best,
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 18:05:57 2012
So, I'm new to this hotline concept with icebergs...
seems a bit oxymoronic to have a hotline for iceberg, BUT,
when you call on this line of yours...
does the other person speak in English, Chinese, Scandanavian??
or what?
and how do you claim for warranty on the icebergs?
do you bring a swimming pool and say, this used to be
an iceberg! I want my money back????
Boy, I'm gonna learn a lot in this game !!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sat Jul 14 19:29:27 2012
Yo Gen Tak,
If I was gonna go to the trouble of putting some cold ones - why would I waste my time and just plug 1 harbor?
Ya think?!
It'd be just like, Siberia, sans the vodka.
P.S. Pass on over whatever you're smokin -- cuz - DAMN! its good!
P.P.S. they still commie out there ... cuz we got this whole
democratic movement going ... and we share - cuz we care.
(This message was sponsored by Halib*rton)
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Sat Jul 14 19:40:02 2012
i must be missing something here. Shouldn't we
be moving the icebergs over to Dune?
Either that or just think how many mojitos you
could make with even a small iceberg. Seriously, if
you show up on my front door with a few hundred
cubic meters of ice, a U-haul filled with rum, 1/2 an
acre of mint plants, and enough simple syrup to kill
off every diabetic* in Santa Fe New Mexico, well son,
you can have my whole country. Like every true
American, I have a price and I can be bought.
*Note - My sincere apologies if you are a diabetic in Santa Fe New Mexico.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 19:41:15 2012
To: Germany
Well, we seem to have disgressed a bit from the original don't-map-my-coast-or-
you're-gonna-regret-it, but anyhow:
As I already said, we don't have much trust in that Chinese "hotline". That's
why we produce our "icebergs" ourselves. The manual we supply is brief, but
clear enough. I'll drop you a copy shortly.
Gen. Tack
PS to Rustasia: Just a little closer... You're gonna find 'em!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 19:42:41 2012
+----------------------------------+
| |
| Eponia Iceberg 1.0 User Manual |
| |
| Before use (blue colour): |
| o |
| \ | / |
| \ --- / |
| ----Y + Y---- |
| |+ + | |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| In use (bright yellow colour): |
| . | . |
| . \ / . |
| \ ^ / |
| \ ((^)) / |
| . ((/ \)) . |
| --- ((( O ))) --- |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| After use (blue colour): |
| |
| |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
+----------------------------------+
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 19:45:05 2012
To: Visitor
Sorry to disappoint you, but in order to sell a country, you must have one
first...
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Sat Jul 14 19:46:05 2012
Dammit, I forgot to include the lime juice. You better
bring that too.
Empire News reported skirmishes between Wales and Pathfinder, Dune and
BigFish, Eponia and Hopeless, Rustasia and Wales, Rustasia and Dune,
Germany and Wales, Rustasia and Cronus, Hopeless and BigFish. Germany
was first to confiscate a ship, from Wales. Nine more ships have
changed hand at sea since. Wales has tried out these newfangled shell
things, and Rustasia reports they work just fine. In other news,
Bunnyland went Syrian and started to massacre defenseless Bunnyland
workers. The telegram wires have been heating up, and suspicions are
bound to follow. Stay tuned!
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Dune 90 64% 58K 1.1K 50 10 0 2.9K 250 1.4K 0 20 1 75K
BigFish 135 53% 57K 1.6K 13 5 0 3.6K 200 1.1K 0 60 0 15K
Rustasia 115 50% 58K 1.8K 0 0 0 4.4K 250 350 0 60 0 5.0K
Pathfinde 105 56% 54K 2.1K 25 5 0 3.9K 250 1.1K 0 60 0 40K
Germany 140 45% 57K 1.8K 0 0 0 3.6K 750 750 0 60 2 10K
Aquitaine 80 75% 58K 1.5K 400 40 0 3.8K 250 2.9K 0 20 0 30K
Wales 105 57% 59K 1.4K 50 10 0 3.5K 1.1K 1.2K 0 40 0 25K
Eponia 70 85% 44K 450 150 20 0 3.0K 3.0K 2.8K 0 20 5 20K
Cronus 55 40% 17K 100 0 0 0 1.6K 4.1K 0 0 0 0 65K
Bunnyland 55 57% 19K 450 0 0 0 5.8K 1.7K 2.2K 0 5 0 25K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 57% 542K 14K 700 90 0 40K 12K 16K 0 400 8 325K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Jul 9 16:45:30 2012
*** Attention ***
The pre-announced switch to Mon-Wed-Fri updates will happen after
update 9. This means we'll have four updates this week (Mon, Tue,
Wed, Fri), and three updates from then on.
Use "show updates" to see the update schedule.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 10 03:14:43 2012
It's awfully qwiet out there...is it wabbit season or something?
I hereby promise, that if I stumble across <ouch!> Bunnyland
(or maybe Cronus - talk to my attorney for detais, bring ID and your
sister) that I Will Not Attack (WNA - pat pend., copyright filed with ASCAP,
July, 2012 - Underwriter's Laboratories consulted and ignored.) until I can.
- There (...now you all owe me.)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 10 05:30:50 2012
Qui-et, un-nat-u-ral:
---------------------
[...] In the Empire context, this mostly means that when you have a feeling of
unnatural quiet which the other parties don't share, somebody (or even several
parties at once) is preparing a devastating attack on you. This may include a
large fleet in the early game, or a nuclear warhead later on. [...]
Cf. "Quiet before the storm"
-- Eponia dictionary of colloquial expressions,
by Mrs. T. Chair
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 10 06:39:11 2012
A player inquired whether a bank still pays intereset the update it
becomes something else.
"info Update-sequence" has the answer: bank interest is paid in step
1.f, sector construction is step 2.e.f. Since the sector is still a
bank in step 1.f, it pays interest.
Another way to get the answer is comparing the number of bars shown by
commodity to the number shown by budget.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Jul 10 13:14:44 2012
@Dune: ouch???
I hereby demand, that if you stumble across our great hopping nation, that you WILL attack (!WA!), until you can or as long as you can not!
(FYI: Lawsuit filed against Dune at International Court of Justice
in Den Hopp due to violating international law by preemptive threat-of-attack
against helpless vegan cuteness!
Dune is expected to be sentenced to lifelong veggie diet...)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 10 13:21:48 2012
Been there, Dune that.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 07:19:41 2012
How does one know when one's becoming uh, okay - "over-involved"?
Well, when one buys a NEW MONITOR for a FREAKIN' GAME.
But hey, it's...bigger. And the colors are...more colorful.
And it was on sale, and I'll use it for other things,
and it uses less energy, and it's much lighter, and it's
got a good beat, and I can dance to it (you don't wanna see that),
and it's an INVESTMENT, and I helped the tech sector economy,
which makes me a PATRIOT.
- So There (...traitors)
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 10:03:17 2012
Bunnyland tripped, fell on his keyboard and accidently produced -
}Dune is expected to be sentenced to lifelong veggie diet...)
Pardon me?
I'm constantly explaining to waiters (except the ones who know me
and survived) "Yes, RAW. Not rare. Not singed. Grab a New York steak,
well-marbled or I'll kill you, and place it here, then go away."
And - "No, I don't need your pansy-ass silverware. This Kbar <gasp!>
has blood channels and the gamma-gobulin dribbling through my beard
reminds me of prom night. And Tuesdays."
- Jack the Ripper (...was a pussy)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 11 10:44:33 2012
With the 5 rings coming up, some late-breaking news:
The President of Mexico has announced that Mexico will
not participate in the upcoming Olympic games.
He stated: "Casi cada uno que puede funcionar, saltar,
ola nadada ha salido ya del pams."
Translation: "Pretty much everyone who can run, jump, or
swim has already left the country."
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 11:22:50 2012
Jesus. Next time he should just say it in English.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 11 11:26:12 2012
Or German
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 11:37:59 2012
"So zeimlech jeder , der laufen, springen oder schwimmen
kann hat das land bereits verlassen."
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Wed Jul 11 11:46:08 2012
Did the translator come with new monitor?
or did you just google it?
waka waka waka
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 11 11:59:26 2012
Google, baby. Ain't the Information Age wunnerful?
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Jul 11 15:42:26 2012
A player noticed the "Military Payroll" line in budget is inaccurate,
and wonders why.
Rounding errors, that's why.
Like the update, budget tallies payroll, not the number of military.
Each term of the sum is rounded towards zero to full dollars. Yes,
that's pretty schlocky.
The number of reserves shown by budget is accurate. The number of mil
isn't: it's calculated from the payroll. The server deducts the
reserve cost from the payroll, then divides by the cost per mil, and
rounds down. Yes, that's even schlockier.
Example: payroll is $3404, and we got 246 reserves. How many mil?
$3404 - (246 * 60 * $0.083333)
------------------------------ = 656.2
60 * $0.833333
Sure enough, budget prints
Military payroll656 mil, 246 res 3404
TL;DR: the inaccurate part is "656 mil". The $3404 is accurate.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Thu Jul 12 06:28:44 2012
} Wed Jul 11 17:28
} Bunnyland firing squads massacre defenseless Bunnyland workers
Shooting innocent bunnies! Now, if that doesn't mean war...
Or was it lemmings, not bunnies?
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jul 12 11:48:02 2012
Was probably shooting all the ugly ducklings, errr
bunnies.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Thu Jul 12 18:45:30 2012
Have a lot of fun, too! :-P
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 13 08:19:24 2012
Aw shucks, I shouldn't even have to say this, but...
Accidently bumping into my coast(s) is unavoidable,
spirit of exploration, all that, yada yada yada.
But - politely as possible here - blatantly mapping my
coast(s) will result in a sharp decrease in ship efficiency.
Wouldn't have mentioned it, but my friggin' 'coastwatch'
looks like that "Tall Ship Parade" they run off New York.
- Sheesh ( There IS NO FREE BEER here.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 13 10:09:19 2012
Dune: Can't you feel the (bunny) luv??
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 13 10:55:39 2012
"It ain't paranioa if they really are out to get you."
...and the gun's loaded, and you've been staring at that convenience store
for an hour, the rent's due, disconnect notice on the electric, wrote a bad
check for the gas bill, child support payments are cruel and unusual,
don't even like the kid. Driving with no insurance, selling stuff you inherited,
drinking bad beer, returning the cable TV box, plotting the landlord's death.
- Just Itchin' (...for a reason.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 13 11:51:35 2012
Seems to me you could really use a cold one right now.
I hear Eponia keeps his fridge fully stocked.
Maybe that's why he's sitting smugly watching my ships running in
circles.
He knows that the heat spell aint gonna finish so soon...
Either that, or he was a buddy of Maddoff.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jul 13 13:32:41 2012
Gentlemen,
The rumours are true that our fridge is well-stocked. Actually, we've just ex-
panded the fridge -- the ocean around Eponia is cold enough, so that's where we
put our excess beer. Beer production is also on the rise:
BEER PRODUCTION SIMULATION
sect des eff avail make p.e. cost use1 use2 use3 max1 max2 max3 max
#,# b 100% 604 604b 4.00 $0 604w 302h 151m 604w 302h 151m 604
Do tell me before you visit to take some, though. There are several quite large
icebergs close to our cost, and with the mists that like to rise around here,
ships can crash into them very easily. Some of the icebergs have even been
reported to explode on occasion, so better stay away or at least tell us if you
have business here! We have most of them tracked and charted by now, so that
our ships can safely come and go.
Cheers,
Gen. Tack
[ Yes, the meaning is about the same as in Dune's earlier telegram (08:19 to-
day). Just in prettier words... ;-) ]
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Fri Jul 13 16:09:48 2012
Since its Ok if we hit you coast
(Dune did say it was unavoidable and you concur'd)
why all the blah blah blah.
Bah humbug!
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Fri Jul 13 17:27:50 2012
[] Mary Ann
[] Ginger
[] Both
[] At the same time
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Fri Jul 13 18:43:27 2012
[x] Mary Ann
[x] Mary Ann
[x] Both
[x] At the same time
[x] Three times per day
[x] Whether I need to or not
So there.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Fri Jul 13 20:00:56 2012
Heh...what happened to Ginger???
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Jul 13 20:14:21 2012
Well,
It's OK to hit my coast -- as long as you don't circle it, like those crazy Ger-
mans seem to to all the time. 'Cause then, we're gonna arrest you and send you
right to our asylums. And they're the worst (shudder).
Just don't be surprised when trying to hit our coast if you hit something else
first. Say, one of the exploding icebergs I'm currently placing there.
Enough on that topic.
Gen. A.T. Tack
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 13 20:25:56 2012
To answer your question Germany, Plunderia has a myopic
condition that does not allow him to see buxom red heads. they
just escape his vision. It's not a problem if you
live in Scandanavia. But he's really missing
out when he goes to Dublin.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 14 07:41:04 2012
A player wondered why sometimes his BTUs get replenished on login, and
sometimes not.
You receive BTUs on login and at the update. How many depends on the
state of your capital, and how much Empire time elapsed since the last
time you got BTUs.
Empire time is measured in ETUs. There's always the same number of
ETUs between updates, 60 in this game. So, if the next update is
scheduled 48 hours after the previous one, one ETU is 48 minutes.
If you don't get new BTUs when you log in, either your capital is not
producing, or not enough Empire time has passed.
See "info BTU" and "info Time" for details.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 07:47:58 2012
Either that, or you're not spending enough time
with Mary Ann & Ginger.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 08:09:39 2012
... Or you're not keeping them little bureaucrats busy enough. E.g. by circling
the capital with ships. Movement without any obvious meaning, that's something
they positively enjoy!
U.W. Steed
Ministry of Labour
Eponia
Eponia:
Talking about icebergs...is the temperature that cold where
you are at?
It's pleasant out here. C'mon down!!!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 10:20:17 2012
To: Germany
Well, at least they LOOK like icebergs.
Gen. A.T. Tack
Dept. of Defense
Eponia
Ok then...I'll make sure to bring my Icebreakers with me.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 11:33:16 2012
Or atleast they LOOK like Icebreakers...
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 14 12:34:13 2012
A player observed that redesignating a 3% efficient harbor turns it
into 0% efficient new designation immediately.
Yes, that's what happens when the sector is below 5%. For better or
worse, designate has always worked that way.
It's a really easy way to land-lock your ships.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sat Jul 14 13:08:18 2012
Hey Eponia,
Hope them there iceberg weren't sourced from E-China.
Cuz i've heard the warranty gets invalidated in lower temperatures.
Just so you know.
Incidentally, am just wondering what you do - if someone follows your ship to your harbor and places a few cold ones there?
Think there is a hole in your plan -- or maybe its just an iceberg.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 14 14:14:25 2012
Please don't hesistate to report "weird" behavior. I'm happy to
explain correctly weird behavior. I'm even happier to debug and fix
incorrectly weird behavior. Don't be shy!
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 14:48:40 2012
Well, now that you mention it, I've noticed that when
I check for news, or power in WinAce the
window size doesn't show up correctly. If I try to resize
the window, the window minimizes and
when I bring up the window again, it's the appropriate size
It didn't work like that in the earlier version, so
to me this is definitely weird behavior.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 14:56:28 2012
To: Rustasia
No holes at all. We also keep some ice-breakers in the harbour, to prevent it
from freezing up. Also, icebergs are known to float around a bit every now and
then.
The rest of our strategy really should be well-known by now. To repeat: Multi-
ple harbours and a high-speed railway network connecting them. You mine one
harbour, we pull all ships there out of the water, put them on the train, and in
the exact moment you think you made it to safety, we're closing in on you from
another direction! ;-)
See you there!
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 15:09:00 2012
To: Rustasia
We don't trust imported ice -- even though China does offer that 24/7-hotline to
call if something doesn't detonate, or if something detonates too soon...
Best,
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 14 18:05:57 2012
So, I'm new to this hotline concept with icebergs...
seems a bit oxymoronic to have a hotline for iceberg, BUT,
when you call on this line of yours...
does the other person speak in English, Chinese, Scandanavian??
or what?
and how do you claim for warranty on the icebergs?
do you bring a swimming pool and say, this used to be
an iceberg! I want my money back????
Boy, I'm gonna learn a lot in this game !!
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Sat Jul 14 19:29:27 2012
Yo Gen Tak,
If I was gonna go to the trouble of putting some cold ones - why would I waste my time and just plug 1 harbor?
Ya think?!
It'd be just like, Siberia, sans the vodka.
P.S. Pass on over whatever you're smokin -- cuz - DAMN! its good!
P.P.S. they still commie out there ... cuz we got this whole
democratic movement going ... and we share - cuz we care.
(This message was sponsored by Halib*rton)
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Sat Jul 14 19:40:02 2012
i must be missing something here. Shouldn't we
be moving the icebergs over to Dune?
Either that or just think how many mojitos you
could make with even a small iceberg. Seriously, if
you show up on my front door with a few hundred
cubic meters of ice, a U-haul filled with rum, 1/2 an
acre of mint plants, and enough simple syrup to kill
off every diabetic* in Santa Fe New Mexico, well son,
you can have my whole country. Like every true
American, I have a price and I can be bought.
*Note - My sincere apologies if you are a diabetic in Santa Fe New Mexico.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 19:41:15 2012
To: Germany
Well, we seem to have disgressed a bit from the original don't-map-my-coast-or-
you're-gonna-regret-it, but anyhow:
As I already said, we don't have much trust in that Chinese "hotline". That's
why we produce our "icebergs" ourselves. The manual we supply is brief, but
clear enough. I'll drop you a copy shortly.
Gen. Tack
PS to Rustasia: Just a little closer... You're gonna find 'em!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 19:42:41 2012
+----------------------------------+
| |
| Eponia Iceberg 1.0 User Manual |
| |
| Before use (blue colour): |
| o |
| \ | / |
| \ --- / |
| ----Y + Y---- |
| |+ + | |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| In use (bright yellow colour): |
| . | . |
| . \ / . |
| \ ^ / |
| \ ((^)) / |
| . ((/ \)) . |
| --- ((( O ))) --- |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| After use (blue colour): |
| |
| |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
+----------------------------------+
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 14 19:45:05 2012
To: Visitor
Sorry to disappoint you, but in order to sell a country, you must have one
first...
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Sat Jul 14 19:46:05 2012
Dammit, I forgot to include the lime juice. You better
bring that too.
Markus Armbruster
Jul 22, 2012, 2:03:13 AM7/22/12
to
Carnage wrought by BigFish on Bunnyland! We just had our 13th update,
and the first capital sack. BigFish's first wave landed right before
Friday's update, met no active resistance, and secured eighteen sectors.
Reinforced by a massive second wave, the invaders overran most of
Bunnyland in short order, including the capital.
Meanwhile, the Rustasia - Cronus skirmish turned into an invasion of
Cronus. Heavy firestorms, steady advance. Inexplicably, Cronus high
command has done nothing against it all week. Rustasia and Germany
declared their alliance, and Germany opened a second front in Cronus.
The Pathfinder / Germany, Germany / Wales and Wales / Rustasia
skirmishes continue. Marauding torpedo boats feature prominently in
newsreels.
BigFish earned the dubious honor of hitting the first seamine.
Eponia invented the aeroplane, and Hopeless, Dune and Pathfinder quickly
copied it.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Jul 20 17:03:53 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 155 77% 108K 5.2K 100 20 0 4.6K 50 1.9K 0 110 40 30K
Hopeless 125 85% 87K 2.0K 400 35 200 3.7K 300 3.2K 8 70 20 50K
Rustasia 125 84% 89K 2.8K 350 55 0 4.5K 550 1.1K 0 90 20 15K
Pathfinde 115 88% 80K 4.0K 350 55 0 4.5K 50 1.7K 5 80 10 70K
Germany 155 66% 79K 3.0K 175 45 0 4.0K 300 2.1K 0 80 20 20K
Dune 95 74% 60K 1.5K 375 55 0 4.2K 250 1.7K 6 40 6 130K
Aquitaine 80 99% 63K 2.4K 825 125 0 3.1K 1.4K 3.4K 0 20 20 70K
Wales 105 85% 73K 4.2K 550 50 0 4.2K 100 1.6K 0 50 6 40K
Eponia 70 97% 61K 1.5K 400 75 600 3.8K 2.2K 3.2K 5 30 10 60K
Bunnyland 40 89% 29K 600 6 0 0 8.8K 3.4K 3.4K 0 5 0 30K
Cronus 45 72% 22K 150 25 0 0 3.3K 1.6K 1.8K 0 8 0 55K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Announcements since Sun Jul 15 00:00:00 2012
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 15:15:29 2012
so a new Spiderman movie is racking in the big bucks
and a new Batman movie is coing out soon. In light of
these superhero themes, I present to you a list
Hvy Plastic Heros. Honest, you can find them at the
nearest Comic-Con.
Hopeless as Dr. Depression. He arrives on the scene and
convinces everybody that their lives, plans, and dreams are all under a
pile of composting sheep crap
Sandman (AKA Dune) You really admire this guy. He comes from a
land where the average woman hasn't bathed since, well
since she was born. Probably doesn't know what a razor is either.
BigFish is really 12InchGuy. he turned down a $12 million per endorsement from
Enzyte. the women love him. The men aspire to be like him.
The criminal respect him (except for that lesbian gang in Oakland)
Remember IronMan. Cool dude. His dad was also a superhero,
just not as well know. IronMan Sr. is known around here as Rustasia. His suit
could us a bit of polish. and his joints squeek. anybody got some oil?
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 15:23:26 2012
Well, pathfinder was a hard one to do. Seriously, I
pulled a blank one here soe we are just going to go with CrackWhore.
We will all get on board with the concept of cheap, loose women
running around who will do ANYTHING for $5. Later on
you can dump their bodies in back of the Seven-11 so nobody
can prove anything, including those pesky divorce lawyers*
The biggest name in German superhere legend is of course
Blucher (NEIGHHHHHHH). The smart cut of uniform, his legend, all the
accomplishments build up the strike of fear whenever
anybody hears the name Blucher (NEIGHHHHH)
Late at night (well, not too late) Aquitaine slips on the funny tights
and the mask (you would wear a mask too if you were in
those tights!) and slinks around western France as
Monsieur Frog. (Okay, google Aquitane or read a book) but like
every typical frenchman, he really does not do too much.
Short skirt, bad teeth, curly brunette locks. Could be none other
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 15:33:20 2012
that CrumpetGirl. Yes, that's you Wales. the fact that
CrumpetGirl is 63 years old and in severe need of a total
body lift has not stopped her from posing on every amature
exhibitionist web site in Great Briton (and some in Canada)
Still, it keeps her off the streets (and they are a dangerous place)
Eponia's General Tack sits in his warroom and ponders the
important points that he must ponder: Should his alter ego,
General Nuisance wear the green cape with the black spots
or should a superhero wear a smart double breasted
blazer in the summer? He ponders a lot.
Cronus has long been know as PuddMan. Seriously dude, get
your hands out of your pants and do something!!!!
Finally, there is the official national hero of Bunnyland.
TastesLikeChickenMan had been preventing holdups and acts of
violence at all the KFCs around the countryside. Except, of course,
when he is shedding.
*Note - My sincere apologies if you own a Seven-11 store
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 15:34:21 2012
and people have been dumping dead crack whore behind your tastefully
modern facilities.
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Sun Jul 15 16:30:57 2012
BF..you had everything right but my age...I am only 60...but I do look more like 59.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 15 17:43:36 2012
To: BigFish
Well, you've obviously left one nation out, BigFish. Weaving his nets in the
background, pulling on his threads, sitting there in the middle as if nothing
could harm him -- I guess we're back at SpiderMan.
You'll excuse me, I have to go to my war room and ponder a bit on your opinion
about our great nation. I'll let you know...
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 15 17:49:37 2012
General-ly speaking, if you spend less time in the war room
and more time reading the annos, you'd know that he didn't
leave Mr1/2Inch out.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 15 18:00:55 2012
True. My fault. I'll ponder it...
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 19:21:41 2012
Thanks for sticking up for me Blucher (NEIGHHHHHH). But have your
metric and english unit conversions mixed up.
A small* oversite on you part I am sure.
*Note - My sincere apologies if you are "small". But there is
nothing I can do about that. Go stand next to an asian man*
*Note 2 - My sincere apologies to asian men. But like I
said, there is nothing I can do about that.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Jul 16 05:12:57 2012
A player inquired about obscure details of ship construction. Details
are in "info build", here's a summary.
In a harbor, efficiency gain is limited by materials in the sector.
Elsewhere, materials don't limit.
Everywhere, repairs are limited by workers.
Ship crew work first, then work is taken from sector.
Little-known trick: if sector work limits bite, try loading some crew
onto your incomplete ships.
Materials are consumed. If the sector doesn't have enough, conjure up
what's missing, and proceed (can't happen in harbor, because there
materials limit prevents it).
If not in harbor, efficiency gain is limited to not raise efficiency
beyond 80%.
Repair cost is charged.
Note: an 80% ship in a non-harbor can eat materials every update without
ever getting better. At least it doesn't cost money.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Mon Jul 16 08:33:06 2012
Okay, <woof> I wrote three annos in a row and deleted them all (~q).
For that (deleting them unposted) I figger I deserve something.
I'm thinking you could all chip in and get me a redhead. A real one.
- 'Cause I'm Gonna Check (Several Times)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 16 11:34:29 2012
Hey SandMan, I just talked to my pimp, err, "Talent" agent and asked
him what we got for redheads. Good news is we got three of
them and he is sending them over. Bad
news is they are Carrot Top, Clay Aiken, and Rossie O'donnel in a
cheap wig.
You don't have to thank me, just pay the bill. Oh, and go easy on
Clay's larynx. He used to be a singer.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 16 13:16:08 2012
To: Hanuman
Speaking of annos deserving something in return: Didn't you promise us up to 5
gold bars for making you laugh? Our great nation has, up to now, authored 30
announcements full of wit, sharp edges, and great humour. Hey, we've counted on
those 150b! We're way behind our production schedule, and all because of you!
U.W. Steed
Ministry of Labour
Eponia
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 16 14:09:24 2012
Eponia, I think those bars are only for actually succeeding in making him laugh - just trying, getting close, etc. doesn't count. This ain't horseshoes.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 16 15:12:33 2012
}Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 16 13:16:08 2012
}...
}gold bars for making you laugh?
We are unamused.
-----------------------
un?a?mused
Adjective: Not responding in a positive way to something intended
to be amusing; feeling somewhat annoyed or disapproving.
-----------------------
Pray it is not the latter.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jul 16 15:16:06 2012
Ah...so now the secret is out!
Now we know why you had us circling our ships for so long
You intended to mock us. For sooth, captains don't take
kindly to your mockery!
We will not any redheads to you!!!!
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jul 16 15:19:36 2012
Last sentence should read,
We will not send any redheads to you!!!
Hrmphhh!!!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 16 15:33:15 2012
To: Germany
NO, don't stop that circling! Don't know if it has reached you already, but our
scientists all agree that the rotational velocity of our world is changing
quickly. The only thing that can prevent that from happening is introducing
sufficiently large masses rotating in the other direction. (You did go count-
er-clockwise, did you...?) Else, your wall clock will show something very dif-
ferent from the sun outside -- you don't want to have an update in the middle of
your sleep period, do you? So, think twice before stopping these ships.
Mrs. Tamara Chair
Ministry of Education
Eponia
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Jul 16 16:09:41 2012
A player experimented with using ship crews to help construct ships,
and asked me to confirm his findings.
Civilians and military on a ship work roughly half as hard as in a
sector.
Except on a warship (can fire guns), military work roughly 5/4 as much
as in a sector, but civilians don't work at all.
Uncompensated workers on ships never work.
Ship construction takes three times more work when the ship isn't in a
harbor.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 16 18:03:14 2012
Building ships to 20%, crewing them, and sending them
out to sea can have *interesting* effects in empire.
Most notiable is the ships SINK really easily, move
really slow, and strangely, the crew is terribly
motivated to work on patching them up despite the
apparent lack of materials.
I liked to think they were using freshly clubbed seals
to patch the holes...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jul 16 19:18:16 2012
And the torp'd target off the week goes to ... Rustasia.
We have a statement they would like to share with us ...
"Thank you. We would be glad to come and accept the recognition
- sadly our delegation is busy coughing up water ..."
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Tue Jul 17 03:13:36 2012
Rustasia, we will be sending you a bill for the
shells that you destroyed by putting your frg's
in their path. :)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 17 06:20:23 2012
To: Gen. A.T. Tack
Dear General,
Once again, I must say that I am sorry for the delay caused by the somewhat un-
ruly hardware platform. It certainly isn't not our fault that it is impossible
to get a stack trace after an event!
Well, what can I say, the beta test phase is over and we can assure you that the
software will indeed work as intended. Luckily, a captain of a BigFish ship who
wants to remain anonymous agreed to help us with beta testing. The results were
quite satisfactory!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call the free 24/7 hotline we pro-
vide for our premium customers.
D. Bug
Hot Software, Inc.
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 17 06:25:45 2012
...you provide a seperate number for dickhead customers?
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 17 06:28:27 2012
To: Dune
Well... I wouldn't actually put it this way... But... Well, YES.
D. Bug
Hot Software, Inc.
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 17 06:51:53 2012
...I'll need both numbers. I'm moody.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 17 07:28:34 2012
To: Dune
You want us to ship some of our latest products to your harbours, then?
D. Bug
Hot Software, Inc.
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 17 08:19:02 2012
Well...uh, sure. And please, meet my attorney, Dick.
"Any and all maritime traffic within a discretionary
area as determined by said moods, whims and alcoholism
must be devoid of hazmat as defined by some eco-freak
we'll dig up if need be - and pursuant to DUNElaw:911,
which blathers on some sh*t about artificial reefs.
- I think (...who reads that stuff?)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 17 08:52:30 2012
A player observed that scuttling a land-locked ship kills its crew.
The scuttle command ignores the sector type completely.
If scuttling in your own sector, embarked planes land units get
dropped into the sector. Even when you couldn't unload them normally.
Other cargo gets destroyed. Even when you could unload it normally.
Doesn't make much sense, but has always been that way.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 17 09:04:14 2012
To: Dune
That's the good thing about our software, coupled with the MoD's hardware: It
takes care of both eco-freaks AND lawyers. ;-)
D. Bug
Hot Software, Inc.
Eponia
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 17 13:51:18 2012
The captain of the ship used to beta-test reports the results were indeed satisfactory - they woke him up from his nap at least.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 17 13:56:05 2012
All I gotta say is that Blucher was nowhere near that area
when it happened...
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Jul 18 08:56:10 2012
EMPIRE WEATHER REPORT
Wed Jul 18 08:56:00 2012
After a stormy night, with heavy clouds coming from Rustasia and thunderstorms
over Cronus, the weather will remain cloudy. Additional thunderstorms are ex-
pected in the evening, starting around 5 p.m., in Cronus and possibly some other
countries. Dune and BigFish have the best chance for some sunshine today, after
the strong winds of late last evening. Expect heavy waves on all coast.
Swimming in the sea is not recommended.
The outlook: The weather is not expected to clear up soon. Expect heavy storms
and thunder until the weekend at least.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 18 09:44:22 2012
I love the news. News junkie. And the NY Times crossword. Don't even
bother 'til Wednesday. (Monday and Tuesday are for pussies.)
Live for Friday and Saturday. Rex Parker's very good, but...
Anyway, BigFish and I adjusted some oilfields on shared islands.
And a harbor. And a radar site I used to watch his ship hit a mine.
Which made me giggle like a little girl. Since I watched those
mines being laid. But I'm basically a sh*thead without cable TV,
and entertainment ain't usually so damn cheap.
- I'm sorry (Really, really...okay, not really.)
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Wed Jul 18 17:19:49 2012
KILL KILL KILL!
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 18 18:36:36 2012
Hmmm, wondering who Cronus is, and what he's up to, otherwise of
playing worse than me on purpose... :/
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Wed Jul 18 20:11:01 2012
Why would anyone purpose that Bunny ?
It requires hard work.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 18 20:45:41 2012
Don't know, but what's hard in doing less than me???
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 20 13:32:24 2012
}Rustasia / Germany alliance declared
Shit, can they just do that? Doesn't there have to be some kind of foreplay first?
Meet the parents? See if the step-kids get along, buy a mini-van...
Double-shit, now I'm surrounded by people ignoring my telegrams, which has been
a Bad Thing since, well...since Amelia Earhart ignored the tele her plane
hadn't been fully refueled. Custer ignored the tele that the Sioux and Cheyenne
had joined forces. John F. Kennedy ignored the tele "Don't Do Dallas. Stop."
- I made some of those up (...okay, all of 'em.)
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Fri Jul 20 17:22:22 2012
--Fri Jul 20 17:18 BigFish captures and pillages Bunnyland's capital
for performing the first capital sack of the game, BugFish wins a
Jeanna Jamison Bobble Head Doll.
Use your imagination...
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 20 17:24:00 2012
I've always wanted one of those :)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Jul 20 18:31:58 2012
Arghh...!!! Bloody Hare!
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Fri Jul 20 20:09:20 2012
sour grape alert!!
Why do my neighbours always have to be in
an alliance and always above me in the power charts??
end sour grape alert!!
If it were not for bad luck I would have no luck at all...
I think I will forgo going to the casino for the distant future.
Aside, from all that this is still more fun than watching the
Riders lose. :(
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 20 20:11:58 2012
But it is not nearly as much fun as playing with your
Jeanna Jamison Bobble Head Doll.
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Fri Jul 20 20:28:10 2012
SO B.F....let me sack your capital and take your doll
so I can verify the truth of your statement! :)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 20 20:44:05 2012
Sack my cap AND take my JJBHD!
Sounds like such a
a violation.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 20 22:32:40 2012
}Dune announces an alliance with Bunnyland
Geezuz, I'm a nice guy. I'm gonna let Bunny use my harbors as safe(r) havens
for his ships, so he can stick around awhile. Hell, I'll even give him a cap.
That is, unless some asshole(s) sink his ships before they get there.
- Can't We All Just Get Along?! (...sure, but why should we?)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 21 07:20:57 2012
A player inquired how exactly bombing works, and whether he needs to
load bombs somehow.
There's a clue in "info bomb":
Only planes with a bomb bay and sufficient mobility, based in a
sector stocked with petrol and shells, will be successfully
selected for the mission.
If you think this suggests loading is automatic, you're right.
Commands to fly planes first select planes, then equip them, then take
off. Looks like this:
range to target is 12
zep Zeppelin #28 standing by <-- select
zep Zeppelin #28 equipped <-- equip
flying over harbor at -5,-1 <-- it took off
To successfully select, the plane must be efficient, have sufficient
range, be in a suitable base (sector or ship), and so forth.
To successfully equip, the plane must be able to get petrol and its
load from its base. For a bombing run, the load is shells.
There is one exception: you need to load nukes manually, with the arm
command.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 12:33:17 2012
The evil, vile, vicious, foul tempered and good looking Generalissimo
Carp stepped off the flag ship and into the occupied harbor. He had already surveyed the
Land of Bunny. It was his task, his job, his passion, to turn this lazy cove of rodents into a
productive warren of exemplary citizens. Some of Carp?s orders were already being carried out.
The older women were sent to the kitchens to bake pies and roast wild game. Carp liked pies
and roast wild game. And old women are good for that. He gave special orders to post guards
around the kitchens though. He knew that the agents of Rustasia had a thing for old women.
All the men were sent down into the mines. Strong backs were needed. There was a lot of
heavy ore that needed to be lifted out. It always amazed the Generalissimo how much gold
the locals left in the ground. Carp also had guards posted around the mines too. He knew the
culture of Wales favored sweaty men that worked in mines. He never could figure out the Welsh.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 12:34:57 2012
The older men, who were past their prime, were sent to the old capital. There they would whittle
statues from wood into the likeness of the Generalissimo. All the old men everywhere knew how
to whittle. Carp had a Bob Evans restaurant built so the old men knew where to go. They brought
their own knives and always showed up, without being told, right at 4:00 every afternoon. The
hostess had orders to turn away any customers from Dune. Intelligence reports from Dune
indicated they had a thing for old men. Perhaps if he built a Cracker Barrel, Carp could distract them.
The young boys and girls went to school. They had to be taught. They had not spent decades of
their lives being stupid yet. They still had a chance. Part of their education was learning how to
write thank you letters to Generalissimo Carp. Carp made sure that nobody from Germany was
allowed in or near the schools, especially since all those Germans went to Penn State.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 12:36:34 2012
That left only the young women. Carp had those that were size 6 and smaller sent to the park
where they would frolic and dance around the carved wooden statues. In the warmer months
of the year they would be naked. And there were no cold months at this latitude. And yes,
Generalissimo Carp had a thing for young women that were size 6 or smaller. You have a problem
with that?
Those that were size 8 to 14 were sent to the lcm factories. Their stay there would be brief.
Generalissimo Carp would not feed these women. Eventually, they would become size 6s also
and join the others in the park. Those that were size 16 and larger were sent to the hcm
factories. Guards were posted at all these institutions because it is well documented that
those from Pathfinder (men and women) had a thing for ?Rubanesque? women.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 12:37:15 2012
The dogs, cats, and smaller livestock were all gathered up and sent to the farms. But Hopeless
asked us not to co make ANY comments about this. And the Generalissimo would never be able
to figure out what to do with the rare hermaphrodites in Bunnyland. Maybe he could pull some
favors and get them a spot on American Idol.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jul 21 15:28:21 2012
Could you repeat that?
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 16:51:22 2012
Zee oolder mee, vhu vere-a pest zeeur preeme-a, vere-a sent tu zee oold cepeetel. Zeere-a zeey vuoold vheettle-a
stetooes frum vuud intu zee leekeness ooff zee Genereleessimu. Ell zee oold mee iferyvhere-a knoo hoo
tu vheettle-a. Cerp hed a Bub Ifuns restoorunt booeelt su zee oold mee knoo vhere-a tu gu. Zeey bruooght
zeeur oovn kneefes und elveys shooed up, veethuoot beeeng tuld, reeght et 4:00 ifery effternuun. Zee
hustess hed oorders tu toorn evey uny coostumers frum Doone-a. Intelleegence-a repurts frum Doone-a
indeeceted zeey hed a theeng fur oold mee. Perheps iff he-a booeelt a Crecker Berrel, Cerp cuoold deestrect zeem.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 21 16:57:12 2012
To: Gen. Carp, BigFish
Wow -- could you pass me that stuff you're smoking...?
All in all, Bunnyland seems to be the place to be. We'll be joining you ASAP!
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 17:14:49 2012
To: Gen. Tack, Eponia
I think the last anno was perfectly clear - just repeating as Dune asked . . with an accent.
And sorry, but all the bunnies, old men, young men, old women, boys and girls, livestock, and especially young women are already spoken for, so there is nothing here for you - and your icebergs would melt.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 21 18:16:30 2012
To: Gen. Carp, BigFish
Which means that the stuff was helium? ;-)
Gen. Tack, Eponia
and the first capital sack. BigFish's first wave landed right before
Friday's update, met no active resistance, and secured eighteen sectors.
Reinforced by a massive second wave, the invaders overran most of
Bunnyland in short order, including the capital.
Meanwhile, the Rustasia - Cronus skirmish turned into an invasion of
Cronus. Heavy firestorms, steady advance. Inexplicably, Cronus high
command has done nothing against it all week. Rustasia and Germany
declared their alliance, and Germany opened a second front in Cronus.
The Pathfinder / Germany, Germany / Wales and Wales / Rustasia
skirmishes continue. Marauding torpedo boats feature prominently in
newsreels.
BigFish earned the dubious honor of hitting the first seamine.
Eponia invented the aeroplane, and Hopeless, Dune and Pathfinder quickly
copied it.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Hopeless 125 85% 87K 2.0K 400 35 200 3.7K 300 3.2K 8 70 20 50K
Rustasia 125 84% 89K 2.8K 350 55 0 4.5K 550 1.1K 0 90 20 15K
Pathfinde 115 88% 80K 4.0K 350 55 0 4.5K 50 1.7K 5 80 10 70K
Germany 155 66% 79K 3.0K 175 45 0 4.0K 300 2.1K 0 80 20 20K
Dune 95 74% 60K 1.5K 375 55 0 4.2K 250 1.7K 6 40 6 130K
Aquitaine 80 99% 63K 2.4K 825 125 0 3.1K 1.4K 3.4K 0 20 20 70K
Wales 105 85% 73K 4.2K 550 50 0 4.2K 100 1.6K 0 50 6 40K
Eponia 70 97% 61K 1.5K 400 75 600 3.8K 2.2K 3.2K 5 30 10 60K
Bunnyland 40 89% 29K 600 6 0 0 8.8K 3.4K 3.4K 0 5 0 30K
Cronus 45 72% 22K 150 25 0 0 3.3K 1.6K 1.8K 0 8 0 55K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 82% 751K 27K 3.6K 520 800 49K 10K 25K 20 570 140 570K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 15:15:29 2012
so a new Spiderman movie is racking in the big bucks
and a new Batman movie is coing out soon. In light of
these superhero themes, I present to you a list
Hvy Plastic Heros. Honest, you can find them at the
nearest Comic-Con.
Hopeless as Dr. Depression. He arrives on the scene and
convinces everybody that their lives, plans, and dreams are all under a
pile of composting sheep crap
Sandman (AKA Dune) You really admire this guy. He comes from a
land where the average woman hasn't bathed since, well
since she was born. Probably doesn't know what a razor is either.
BigFish is really 12InchGuy. he turned down a $12 million per endorsement from
Enzyte. the women love him. The men aspire to be like him.
The criminal respect him (except for that lesbian gang in Oakland)
Remember IronMan. Cool dude. His dad was also a superhero,
just not as well know. IronMan Sr. is known around here as Rustasia. His suit
could us a bit of polish. and his joints squeek. anybody got some oil?
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 15:23:26 2012
Well, pathfinder was a hard one to do. Seriously, I
pulled a blank one here soe we are just going to go with CrackWhore.
We will all get on board with the concept of cheap, loose women
running around who will do ANYTHING for $5. Later on
you can dump their bodies in back of the Seven-11 so nobody
can prove anything, including those pesky divorce lawyers*
The biggest name in German superhere legend is of course
Blucher (NEIGHHHHHHH). The smart cut of uniform, his legend, all the
accomplishments build up the strike of fear whenever
anybody hears the name Blucher (NEIGHHHHH)
Late at night (well, not too late) Aquitaine slips on the funny tights
and the mask (you would wear a mask too if you were in
those tights!) and slinks around western France as
Monsieur Frog. (Okay, google Aquitane or read a book) but like
every typical frenchman, he really does not do too much.
Short skirt, bad teeth, curly brunette locks. Could be none other
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 15:33:20 2012
that CrumpetGirl. Yes, that's you Wales. the fact that
CrumpetGirl is 63 years old and in severe need of a total
body lift has not stopped her from posing on every amature
exhibitionist web site in Great Briton (and some in Canada)
Still, it keeps her off the streets (and they are a dangerous place)
Eponia's General Tack sits in his warroom and ponders the
important points that he must ponder: Should his alter ego,
General Nuisance wear the green cape with the black spots
or should a superhero wear a smart double breasted
blazer in the summer? He ponders a lot.
Cronus has long been know as PuddMan. Seriously dude, get
your hands out of your pants and do something!!!!
Finally, there is the official national hero of Bunnyland.
TastesLikeChickenMan had been preventing holdups and acts of
violence at all the KFCs around the countryside. Except, of course,
when he is shedding.
*Note - My sincere apologies if you own a Seven-11 store
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 15:34:21 2012
and people have been dumping dead crack whore behind your tastefully
modern facilities.
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Sun Jul 15 16:30:57 2012
BF..you had everything right but my age...I am only 60...but I do look more like 59.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 15 17:43:36 2012
To: BigFish
Well, you've obviously left one nation out, BigFish. Weaving his nets in the
background, pulling on his threads, sitting there in the middle as if nothing
could harm him -- I guess we're back at SpiderMan.
You'll excuse me, I have to go to my war room and ponder a bit on your opinion
about our great nation. I'll let you know...
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sun Jul 15 17:49:37 2012
General-ly speaking, if you spend less time in the war room
and more time reading the annos, you'd know that he didn't
leave Mr1/2Inch out.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Jul 15 18:00:55 2012
True. My fault. I'll ponder it...
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Jul 15 19:21:41 2012
Thanks for sticking up for me Blucher (NEIGHHHHHH). But have your
metric and english unit conversions mixed up.
A small* oversite on you part I am sure.
*Note - My sincere apologies if you are "small". But there is
nothing I can do about that. Go stand next to an asian man*
*Note 2 - My sincere apologies to asian men. But like I
said, there is nothing I can do about that.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Jul 16 05:12:57 2012
A player inquired about obscure details of ship construction. Details
are in "info build", here's a summary.
In a harbor, efficiency gain is limited by materials in the sector.
Elsewhere, materials don't limit.
Everywhere, repairs are limited by workers.
Ship crew work first, then work is taken from sector.
Little-known trick: if sector work limits bite, try loading some crew
onto your incomplete ships.
Materials are consumed. If the sector doesn't have enough, conjure up
what's missing, and proceed (can't happen in harbor, because there
materials limit prevents it).
If not in harbor, efficiency gain is limited to not raise efficiency
beyond 80%.
Repair cost is charged.
Note: an 80% ship in a non-harbor can eat materials every update without
ever getting better. At least it doesn't cost money.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Mon Jul 16 08:33:06 2012
Okay, <woof> I wrote three annos in a row and deleted them all (~q).
For that (deleting them unposted) I figger I deserve something.
I'm thinking you could all chip in and get me a redhead. A real one.
- 'Cause I'm Gonna Check (Several Times)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 16 11:34:29 2012
Hey SandMan, I just talked to my pimp, err, "Talent" agent and asked
him what we got for redheads. Good news is we got three of
them and he is sending them over. Bad
news is they are Carrot Top, Clay Aiken, and Rossie O'donnel in a
cheap wig.
You don't have to thank me, just pay the bill. Oh, and go easy on
Clay's larynx. He used to be a singer.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 16 13:16:08 2012
To: Hanuman
Speaking of annos deserving something in return: Didn't you promise us up to 5
gold bars for making you laugh? Our great nation has, up to now, authored 30
announcements full of wit, sharp edges, and great humour. Hey, we've counted on
those 150b! We're way behind our production schedule, and all because of you!
U.W. Steed
Ministry of Labour
Eponia
Eponia, I think those bars are only for actually succeeding in making him laugh - just trying, getting close, etc. doesn't count. This ain't horseshoes.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 16 15:12:33 2012
}Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 16 13:16:08 2012
}...
}gold bars for making you laugh?
We are unamused.
-----------------------
un?a?mused
Adjective: Not responding in a positive way to something intended
to be amusing; feeling somewhat annoyed or disapproving.
-----------------------
Pray it is not the latter.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jul 16 15:16:06 2012
Ah...so now the secret is out!
Now we know why you had us circling our ships for so long
You intended to mock us. For sooth, captains don't take
kindly to your mockery!
We will not any redheads to you!!!!
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jul 16 15:19:36 2012
Last sentence should read,
We will not send any redheads to you!!!
Hrmphhh!!!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 16 15:33:15 2012
To: Germany
NO, don't stop that circling! Don't know if it has reached you already, but our
scientists all agree that the rotational velocity of our world is changing
quickly. The only thing that can prevent that from happening is introducing
sufficiently large masses rotating in the other direction. (You did go count-
er-clockwise, did you...?) Else, your wall clock will show something very dif-
ferent from the sun outside -- you don't want to have an update in the middle of
your sleep period, do you? So, think twice before stopping these ships.
Mrs. Tamara Chair
Ministry of Education
Eponia
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Jul 16 16:09:41 2012
A player experimented with using ship crews to help construct ships,
and asked me to confirm his findings.
Civilians and military on a ship work roughly half as hard as in a
sector.
Except on a warship (can fire guns), military work roughly 5/4 as much
as in a sector, but civilians don't work at all.
Uncompensated workers on ships never work.
Ship construction takes three times more work when the ship isn't in a
harbor.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 16 18:03:14 2012
Building ships to 20%, crewing them, and sending them
out to sea can have *interesting* effects in empire.
Most notiable is the ships SINK really easily, move
really slow, and strangely, the crew is terribly
motivated to work on patching them up despite the
apparent lack of materials.
I liked to think they were using freshly clubbed seals
to patch the holes...
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jul 16 19:18:16 2012
And the torp'd target off the week goes to ... Rustasia.
We have a statement they would like to share with us ...
"Thank you. We would be glad to come and accept the recognition
- sadly our delegation is busy coughing up water ..."
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Tue Jul 17 03:13:36 2012
Rustasia, we will be sending you a bill for the
shells that you destroyed by putting your frg's
in their path. :)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 17 06:20:23 2012
To: Gen. A.T. Tack
Dear General,
Once again, I must say that I am sorry for the delay caused by the somewhat un-
ruly hardware platform. It certainly isn't not our fault that it is impossible
to get a stack trace after an event!
Well, what can I say, the beta test phase is over and we can assure you that the
software will indeed work as intended. Luckily, a captain of a BigFish ship who
wants to remain anonymous agreed to help us with beta testing. The results were
quite satisfactory!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call the free 24/7 hotline we pro-
vide for our premium customers.
D. Bug
Hot Software, Inc.
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 17 06:25:45 2012
...you provide a seperate number for dickhead customers?
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 17 06:28:27 2012
To: Dune
Well... I wouldn't actually put it this way... But... Well, YES.
D. Bug
Hot Software, Inc.
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 17 06:51:53 2012
...I'll need both numbers. I'm moody.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 17 07:28:34 2012
To: Dune
You want us to ship some of our latest products to your harbours, then?
D. Bug
Hot Software, Inc.
Eponia
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Tue Jul 17 08:19:02 2012
Well...uh, sure. And please, meet my attorney, Dick.
"Any and all maritime traffic within a discretionary
area as determined by said moods, whims and alcoholism
must be devoid of hazmat as defined by some eco-freak
we'll dig up if need be - and pursuant to DUNElaw:911,
which blathers on some sh*t about artificial reefs.
- I think (...who reads that stuff?)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 17 08:52:30 2012
A player observed that scuttling a land-locked ship kills its crew.
The scuttle command ignores the sector type completely.
If scuttling in your own sector, embarked planes land units get
dropped into the sector. Even when you couldn't unload them normally.
Other cargo gets destroyed. Even when you could unload it normally.
Doesn't make much sense, but has always been that way.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Jul 17 09:04:14 2012
To: Dune
That's the good thing about our software, coupled with the MoD's hardware: It
takes care of both eco-freaks AND lawyers. ;-)
D. Bug
Hot Software, Inc.
Eponia
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 17 13:51:18 2012
The captain of the ship used to beta-test reports the results were indeed satisfactory - they woke him up from his nap at least.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 17 13:56:05 2012
All I gotta say is that Blucher was nowhere near that area
when it happened...
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Jul 18 08:56:10 2012
EMPIRE WEATHER REPORT
Wed Jul 18 08:56:00 2012
After a stormy night, with heavy clouds coming from Rustasia and thunderstorms
over Cronus, the weather will remain cloudy. Additional thunderstorms are ex-
pected in the evening, starting around 5 p.m., in Cronus and possibly some other
countries. Dune and BigFish have the best chance for some sunshine today, after
the strong winds of late last evening. Expect heavy waves on all coast.
Swimming in the sea is not recommended.
The outlook: The weather is not expected to clear up soon. Expect heavy storms
and thunder until the weekend at least.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Wed Jul 18 09:44:22 2012
I love the news. News junkie. And the NY Times crossword. Don't even
bother 'til Wednesday. (Monday and Tuesday are for pussies.)
Live for Friday and Saturday. Rex Parker's very good, but...
Anyway, BigFish and I adjusted some oilfields on shared islands.
And a harbor. And a radar site I used to watch his ship hit a mine.
Which made me giggle like a little girl. Since I watched those
mines being laid. But I'm basically a sh*thead without cable TV,
and entertainment ain't usually so damn cheap.
- I'm sorry (Really, really...okay, not really.)
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Wed Jul 18 17:19:49 2012
KILL KILL KILL!
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 18 18:36:36 2012
Hmmm, wondering who Cronus is, and what he's up to, otherwise of
playing worse than me on purpose... :/
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Wed Jul 18 20:11:01 2012
Why would anyone purpose that Bunny ?
It requires hard work.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Wed Jul 18 20:45:41 2012
Don't know, but what's hard in doing less than me???
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 20 13:32:24 2012
}Rustasia / Germany alliance declared
Shit, can they just do that? Doesn't there have to be some kind of foreplay first?
Meet the parents? See if the step-kids get along, buy a mini-van...
Double-shit, now I'm surrounded by people ignoring my telegrams, which has been
a Bad Thing since, well...since Amelia Earhart ignored the tele her plane
hadn't been fully refueled. Custer ignored the tele that the Sioux and Cheyenne
had joined forces. John F. Kennedy ignored the tele "Don't Do Dallas. Stop."
- I made some of those up (...okay, all of 'em.)
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Fri Jul 20 17:22:22 2012
--Fri Jul 20 17:18 BigFish captures and pillages Bunnyland's capital
for performing the first capital sack of the game, BugFish wins a
Jeanna Jamison Bobble Head Doll.
Use your imagination...
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 20 17:24:00 2012
I've always wanted one of those :)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Jul 20 18:31:58 2012
Arghh...!!! Bloody Hare!
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Fri Jul 20 20:09:20 2012
sour grape alert!!
Why do my neighbours always have to be in
an alliance and always above me in the power charts??
end sour grape alert!!
If it were not for bad luck I would have no luck at all...
I think I will forgo going to the casino for the distant future.
Aside, from all that this is still more fun than watching the
Riders lose. :(
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 20 20:11:58 2012
But it is not nearly as much fun as playing with your
Jeanna Jamison Bobble Head Doll.
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Fri Jul 20 20:28:10 2012
SO B.F....let me sack your capital and take your doll
so I can verify the truth of your statement! :)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Jul 20 20:44:05 2012
Sack my cap AND take my JJBHD!
Sounds like such a
a violation.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Fri Jul 20 22:32:40 2012
}Dune announces an alliance with Bunnyland
Geezuz, I'm a nice guy. I'm gonna let Bunny use my harbors as safe(r) havens
for his ships, so he can stick around awhile. Hell, I'll even give him a cap.
That is, unless some asshole(s) sink his ships before they get there.
- Can't We All Just Get Along?! (...sure, but why should we?)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 21 07:20:57 2012
A player inquired how exactly bombing works, and whether he needs to
load bombs somehow.
There's a clue in "info bomb":
Only planes with a bomb bay and sufficient mobility, based in a
sector stocked with petrol and shells, will be successfully
selected for the mission.
If you think this suggests loading is automatic, you're right.
Commands to fly planes first select planes, then equip them, then take
off. Looks like this:
range to target is 12
zep Zeppelin #28 standing by <-- select
zep Zeppelin #28 equipped <-- equip
flying over harbor at -5,-1 <-- it took off
To successfully select, the plane must be efficient, have sufficient
range, be in a suitable base (sector or ship), and so forth.
To successfully equip, the plane must be able to get petrol and its
load from its base. For a bombing run, the load is shells.
There is one exception: you need to load nukes manually, with the arm
command.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 12:33:17 2012
The evil, vile, vicious, foul tempered and good looking Generalissimo
Carp stepped off the flag ship and into the occupied harbor. He had already surveyed the
Land of Bunny. It was his task, his job, his passion, to turn this lazy cove of rodents into a
productive warren of exemplary citizens. Some of Carp?s orders were already being carried out.
The older women were sent to the kitchens to bake pies and roast wild game. Carp liked pies
and roast wild game. And old women are good for that. He gave special orders to post guards
around the kitchens though. He knew that the agents of Rustasia had a thing for old women.
All the men were sent down into the mines. Strong backs were needed. There was a lot of
heavy ore that needed to be lifted out. It always amazed the Generalissimo how much gold
the locals left in the ground. Carp also had guards posted around the mines too. He knew the
culture of Wales favored sweaty men that worked in mines. He never could figure out the Welsh.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 12:34:57 2012
The older men, who were past their prime, were sent to the old capital. There they would whittle
statues from wood into the likeness of the Generalissimo. All the old men everywhere knew how
to whittle. Carp had a Bob Evans restaurant built so the old men knew where to go. They brought
their own knives and always showed up, without being told, right at 4:00 every afternoon. The
hostess had orders to turn away any customers from Dune. Intelligence reports from Dune
indicated they had a thing for old men. Perhaps if he built a Cracker Barrel, Carp could distract them.
The young boys and girls went to school. They had to be taught. They had not spent decades of
their lives being stupid yet. They still had a chance. Part of their education was learning how to
write thank you letters to Generalissimo Carp. Carp made sure that nobody from Germany was
allowed in or near the schools, especially since all those Germans went to Penn State.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 12:36:34 2012
That left only the young women. Carp had those that were size 6 and smaller sent to the park
where they would frolic and dance around the carved wooden statues. In the warmer months
of the year they would be naked. And there were no cold months at this latitude. And yes,
Generalissimo Carp had a thing for young women that were size 6 or smaller. You have a problem
with that?
Those that were size 8 to 14 were sent to the lcm factories. Their stay there would be brief.
Generalissimo Carp would not feed these women. Eventually, they would become size 6s also
and join the others in the park. Those that were size 16 and larger were sent to the hcm
factories. Guards were posted at all these institutions because it is well documented that
those from Pathfinder (men and women) had a thing for ?Rubanesque? women.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 12:37:15 2012
The dogs, cats, and smaller livestock were all gathered up and sent to the farms. But Hopeless
asked us not to co make ANY comments about this. And the Generalissimo would never be able
to figure out what to do with the rare hermaphrodites in Bunnyland. Maybe he could pull some
favors and get them a spot on American Idol.
> Announcement from Dune, (#7) dated Sat Jul 21 15:28:21 2012
Could you repeat that?
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 16:51:22 2012
Zee oolder mee, vhu vere-a pest zeeur preeme-a, vere-a sent tu zee oold cepeetel. Zeere-a zeey vuoold vheettle-a
stetooes frum vuud intu zee leekeness ooff zee Genereleessimu. Ell zee oold mee iferyvhere-a knoo hoo
tu vheettle-a. Cerp hed a Bub Ifuns restoorunt booeelt su zee oold mee knoo vhere-a tu gu. Zeey bruooght
zeeur oovn kneefes und elveys shooed up, veethuoot beeeng tuld, reeght et 4:00 ifery effternuun. Zee
hustess hed oorders tu toorn evey uny coostumers frum Doone-a. Intelleegence-a repurts frum Doone-a
indeeceted zeey hed a theeng fur oold mee. Perheps iff he-a booeelt a Crecker Berrel, Cerp cuoold deestrect zeem.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 21 16:57:12 2012
To: Gen. Carp, BigFish
Wow -- could you pass me that stuff you're smoking...?
All in all, Bunnyland seems to be the place to be. We'll be joining you ASAP!
Gen. Tack
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Jul 21 17:14:49 2012
To: Gen. Tack, Eponia
I think the last anno was perfectly clear - just repeating as Dune asked . . with an accent.
And sorry, but all the bunnies, old men, young men, old women, boys and girls, livestock, and especially young women are already spoken for, so there is nothing here for you - and your icebergs would melt.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Jul 21 18:16:30 2012
To: Gen. Carp, BigFish
Which means that the stuff was helium? ;-)
Gen. Tack, Eponia
Markus Armbruster
Jul 29, 2012, 6:52:15 AM7/29/12
to
This week saw updates #14-16 and capital #2-3: Germany pillaged
Cronus's, and BigFish pillaged Bunnyland's once more. But the real news
is that BigFish and Arrakis (formerly known as Dune) went to war after
Friday's update. So far, BigFish appears to have the upper hand.
The conflict between Wales and the Germany / Rustasia alliance
continues. Wales has lost a bit of ground, and won the not-partiularly
coveted prize of first one to be torpedoed by a submarine.
BigFish pioneered the use of bombing aircraft. Must be unusually
difficult for aquatic pilots: took them 56 training missions on own
sectors to pull off three bombing runs on POGO.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Jul 27 17:04:12 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 195 95% 169K 6.6K 525 95 700 16K 3.0K 5.8K 40 150 40 35K
Rustasia 145 94% 124K 5.2K 900 125 0 8.8K 650 4.8K 0 110 20 20K
Germany 185 86% 119K 5.8K 350 115 350 6.3K 200 4.1K 20 110 30 55K
Hopeless 125 97% 113K 3.6K 925 85 400 4.9K 200 4.0K 20 110 20 105K
Pathfinde 115 100% 106K 5.8K 875 130 500 5.0K 100 2.1K 20 90 30 95K
Arrakis 95 88% 71K 3.6K 825 120 600 5.3K 100 1.7K 30 40 20 110K
Wales 95 97% 89K 5.9K 725 70 650 4.8K 38 2.3K 0 50 10 45K
Aquitaine 80 99% 71K 4.3K 1.1K 220 650 3.1K 450 3.5K 0 20 30 105K
Eponia 70 99% 66K 3.2K 725 130 1.4K 4.3K 500 3.2K 7 40 10 95K
Cronus 5 90% 2.1K 100 25 0 0 0 25 0 0 6 0 35K
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 10K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Announcements since Sun Jul 22 00:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 24 02:05:00 2012
"%Here comes Peter Cottontail!% %Hoppin' down the bunny tr%<BLAM!>"
"Pete? Speak to me, Pete. Squeeze my...no, not that. <slap> Pete?"
- RIP (...you furry freak :)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 24 03:09:19 2012
Good god that's better...it's like I couldn't THINK straight.
- Arrakis (Shut up...I can think straight, if need be.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 24 23:29:23 2012
Oh give me a mine
With some iron to find
Dug out, in the old fashioned way
---
Turned into heavies and lights
then shells & guns for the fights
You have several new telegrams today
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 24 23:33:38 2012
Actually, there was the time I set the motd to
have the last two lines as
"You have several new telegrams" and
:You lost your capitol...."
I had 40+ really pissed off players.
Years later they got over it and saw the humor.
I hope.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 24 23:37:27 2012
No. No, they didn't.
Remember your cat, Fluffy? Well, so do I.
- Arrakis (Yeow!)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 24 23:47:30 2012
Speaking of cats, it is true what they say about them.
There is more than one way to skin them.
And yes, the cat skinning club I belong to has
And yes, the cat skinning club I belong too has test data
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Jul 25 04:24:50 2012
Oh, speaking of Fish
that maritime dish
rotting down in the hold
ugly, stupid and old
and while most say it stinks
goes much better with drinks
and most would not eat it
til after I've beat it
a lesson in bold, so I'm told
- Arrakis (I made that up cold)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Jul 25 06:12:22 2012
Oh Orpheus grant me, your mercy, your peace
I ask not for myself but for that of the beast
It stalks hours awaking, it stalks hours asleep
Pray slay the vile demon free men know as beep.
It chose not to appear - some say fear, some say hate
Some say Marilyn Manson may yet have a date
Shush your shivering daughters, show your shuddering wives
A picture, an icon, of the beast still alive
Yes we all may revile, oh yes strong men may weep
Thank whatever gods bless you, we don't deal with beep
If by chance the beast reads this in his slithery lair
It's a fuck you from Arrakis, come play if you dare
- Arrakis (...ahh, finally. Now my head's on straight :)
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Wed Jul 25 17:21:47 2012
ROTFL - I think that one is worth the 5 bars!
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Jul 26 08:52:54 2012
}BigFish stole one sector from Arrakis
Nope. Not a violation of the NA; that was his sector originally,
and in a gentlemen's agreement I've returned it.
- Arrakis (...after I peed all over it.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jul 26 20:34:50 2012
A fish that doesn't drink?? Now that's a first!!
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 27 11:29:39 2012
A player observed that acts of violence sometimes make the victim go
hostile, and sometimes not. He inquired how the victim can control
this.
He can't.
Each action that makes the news is associated with a "goodwill"
number. For instance, a violent sector takeover has goodwill -4. An
action with negative goodwill has a -goodwill / 20 chance to downgrade
to hostile.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 27 11:32:13 2012
A player inquired how to disable artillery support when attacking a
sector.
Both attack and assault let you control support with four optional
"yes/no" arguments, one each for forts, ships, land units and planes.
"info attack" shows them, but leaves explaining them to "info
Attacking". Which explains support, but not the arguments.
Try "attack 4,2 n n n n".
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 27 12:16:20 2012
The player further asked for ways to disable *defensive* support.
Easy for planes, because they support only while on a suitable
mission.
For the rest, the only way I know is to remove something required for
firing: military, guns or shells. Automatic supply may defeat
removing shells.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Fri Jul 27 14:32:32 2012
} Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 27 12:16:20 2012
}The player further asked for ways to disable *defensive* support.
I have found that destorying all the forts, arty, warships,
and planes in range of the target area *nicely*
disables *their* defensive support.
Defeat in detail and all that.
:)
Hidden message in the silliness above,
"Do unto others..."
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 28 04:49:49 2012
A player observed his dd doesn't shoot when it reports surfacing
noises (which means a submarine looked around), and wondered whether
the submarine must be non-hostile.
No. Surfacing noises never trigger fire.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 28 07:57:01 2012
Detected surfacing noises....that's probably me
practicing...gonna get that Phelps dude!!!!
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 28 16:54:08 2012
A player inquired whether he can be sure that a submarine that slipped
through interdiction can't be hostile.
You can't. "info mission":
Note that only ships with sonar and ASW planes can interdict subs.
Also, the units may or may not detect the subs, so it's kind of
random.
Beware, the next sentence is bogus:
The sub also has a chance of escaping the damage, depending on the
visibility of the sub.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 28 17:01:47 2012
A player read "info torp" closely and noticed that it requires just
one gun. He wonders whether additional guns really don't matter for
launching torpedoes.
That is correct. Additional guns only matter for firing shells /
dropping depth charges.
Nevertheless, you might want more than one for the same reason as for
crew.
Cronus's, and BigFish pillaged Bunnyland's once more. But the real news
is that BigFish and Arrakis (formerly known as Dune) went to war after
Friday's update. So far, BigFish appears to have the upper hand.
The conflict between Wales and the Germany / Rustasia alliance
continues. Wales has lost a bit of ground, and won the not-partiularly
coveted prize of first one to be torpedoed by a submarine.
BigFish pioneered the use of bombing aircraft. Must be unusually
difficult for aquatic pilots: took them 56 training missions on own
sectors to pull off three bombing runs on POGO.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Rustasia 145 94% 124K 5.2K 900 125 0 8.8K 650 4.8K 0 110 20 20K
Germany 185 86% 119K 5.8K 350 115 350 6.3K 200 4.1K 20 110 30 55K
Hopeless 125 97% 113K 3.6K 925 85 400 4.9K 200 4.0K 20 110 20 105K
Pathfinde 115 100% 106K 5.8K 875 130 500 5.0K 100 2.1K 20 90 30 95K
Arrakis 95 88% 71K 3.6K 825 120 600 5.3K 100 1.7K 30 40 20 110K
Wales 95 97% 89K 5.9K 725 70 650 4.8K 38 2.3K 0 50 10 45K
Aquitaine 80 99% 71K 4.3K 1.1K 220 650 3.1K 450 3.5K 0 20 30 105K
Eponia 70 99% 66K 3.2K 725 130 1.4K 4.3K 500 3.2K 7 40 10 95K
Cronus 5 90% 2.1K 100 25 0 0 0 25 0 0 6 0 35K
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 10K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 94% 930K 44K 6.9K 1.1K 5.2K 58K 5.2K 32K 140 750 220 710K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 24 02:05:00 2012
"%Here comes Peter Cottontail!% %Hoppin' down the bunny tr%<BLAM!>"
"Pete? Speak to me, Pete. Squeeze my...no, not that. <slap> Pete?"
- RIP (...you furry freak :)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 24 03:09:19 2012
Good god that's better...it's like I couldn't THINK straight.
- Arrakis (Shut up...I can think straight, if need be.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 24 23:29:23 2012
Oh give me a mine
With some iron to find
Dug out, in the old fashioned way
---
Turned into heavies and lights
then shells & guns for the fights
You have several new telegrams today
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 24 23:33:38 2012
Actually, there was the time I set the motd to
have the last two lines as
"You have several new telegrams" and
:You lost your capitol...."
I had 40+ really pissed off players.
Years later they got over it and saw the humor.
I hope.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 24 23:37:27 2012
No. No, they didn't.
Remember your cat, Fluffy? Well, so do I.
- Arrakis (Yeow!)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 24 23:47:30 2012
Speaking of cats, it is true what they say about them.
There is more than one way to skin them.
And yes, the cat skinning club I belong to has
And yes, the cat skinning club I belong too has test data
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Jul 25 04:24:50 2012
Oh, speaking of Fish
that maritime dish
rotting down in the hold
ugly, stupid and old
and while most say it stinks
goes much better with drinks
and most would not eat it
til after I've beat it
a lesson in bold, so I'm told
- Arrakis (I made that up cold)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Jul 25 06:12:22 2012
Oh Orpheus grant me, your mercy, your peace
I ask not for myself but for that of the beast
It stalks hours awaking, it stalks hours asleep
Pray slay the vile demon free men know as beep.
It chose not to appear - some say fear, some say hate
Some say Marilyn Manson may yet have a date
Shush your shivering daughters, show your shuddering wives
A picture, an icon, of the beast still alive
Yes we all may revile, oh yes strong men may weep
Thank whatever gods bless you, we don't deal with beep
If by chance the beast reads this in his slithery lair
It's a fuck you from Arrakis, come play if you dare
- Arrakis (...ahh, finally. Now my head's on straight :)
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Wed Jul 25 17:21:47 2012
ROTFL - I think that one is worth the 5 bars!
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Jul 26 08:52:54 2012
}BigFish stole one sector from Arrakis
Nope. Not a violation of the NA; that was his sector originally,
and in a gentlemen's agreement I've returned it.
- Arrakis (...after I peed all over it.)
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Thu Jul 26 20:34:50 2012
A fish that doesn't drink?? Now that's a first!!
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 27 11:29:39 2012
A player observed that acts of violence sometimes make the victim go
hostile, and sometimes not. He inquired how the victim can control
this.
He can't.
Each action that makes the news is associated with a "goodwill"
number. For instance, a violent sector takeover has goodwill -4. An
action with negative goodwill has a -goodwill / 20 chance to downgrade
to hostile.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 27 11:32:13 2012
A player inquired how to disable artillery support when attacking a
sector.
Both attack and assault let you control support with four optional
"yes/no" arguments, one each for forts, ships, land units and planes.
"info attack" shows them, but leaves explaining them to "info
Attacking". Which explains support, but not the arguments.
Try "attack 4,2 n n n n".
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 27 12:16:20 2012
The player further asked for ways to disable *defensive* support.
Easy for planes, because they support only while on a suitable
mission.
For the rest, the only way I know is to remove something required for
firing: military, guns or shells. Automatic supply may defeat
removing shells.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Fri Jul 27 14:32:32 2012
} Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Jul 27 12:16:20 2012
}The player further asked for ways to disable *defensive* support.
I have found that destorying all the forts, arty, warships,
and planes in range of the target area *nicely*
disables *their* defensive support.
Defeat in detail and all that.
:)
Hidden message in the silliness above,
"Do unto others..."
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 28 04:49:49 2012
A player observed his dd doesn't shoot when it reports surfacing
noises (which means a submarine looked around), and wondered whether
the submarine must be non-hostile.
No. Surfacing noises never trigger fire.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Sat Jul 28 07:57:01 2012
Detected surfacing noises....that's probably me
practicing...gonna get that Phelps dude!!!!
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 28 16:54:08 2012
A player inquired whether he can be sure that a submarine that slipped
through interdiction can't be hostile.
You can't. "info mission":
Note that only ships with sonar and ASW planes can interdict subs.
Also, the units may or may not detect the subs, so it's kind of
random.
Beware, the next sentence is bogus:
The sub also has a chance of escaping the damage, depending on the
visibility of the sub.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Jul 28 17:01:47 2012
A player read "info torp" closely and noticed that it requires just
one gun. He wonders whether additional guns really don't matter for
launching torpedoes.
That is correct. Additional guns only matter for firing shells /
dropping depth charges.
Nevertheless, you might want more than one for the same reason as for
crew.
Markus Armbruster
Aug 5, 2012, 7:49:40 AM8/5/12
to
We had the 19th update, explosive growth of air forces, and two new
wars.
Eponia jumped Hopeless last Sunday. That front has been ominously quiet
since. Pathfinder opened hostilities with Germany on Thursday.
Germany's ally Rustasia engaged Wales some more. Meanwhile, BigFish
continued to advance slowly but steadily against Arrakis.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Aug 3 17:02:32 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 215 98% 194K 7.0K 1.1K 285 1.6K 17K 150 5.8K 110 180 50 4.5K
Rustasia 150 99% 150K 6.0K 2.0K 225 3.5K 9.1K 2.1K 4.7K 60 120 30 35K
Germany 185 94% 149K 7.2K 675 180 950 7.0K 150 5.2K 80 130 40 50K
Hopeless 120 100% 117K 6.0K 1.4K 165 1.4K 7.2K 100 3.8K 90 130 40 100K
Pathfinde 120 98% 116K 6.9K 1.1K 190 2.3K 5.4K 100 2.0K 80 100 40 70K
Wales 95 98% 96K 5.9K 1.0K 95 950 4.7K 500 3.0K 50 50 20 15K
Aquitaine 80 100% 76K 5.0K 1.7K 320 1.7K 4.5K 100 3.2K 0 20 30 135K
Arrakis 70 98% 68K 4.3K 875 155 1.2K 5.2K 38 1.0K 100 50 30 65K
Eponia 75 100% 72K 4.2K 1.2K 205 2.9K 4.5K 200 2.4K 50 60 30 40K
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 35K
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 4.6K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Announcements since Sun Jul 29 00:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jul 30 15:32:19 2012
Hmm.. all quiet ...
guess anno postings are inversely proportional to the tension ..
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jul 30 15:44:41 2012
I don't have BTUs to post annos.
They were hit by something that I'm told
looked like one of Eponia's icebergs.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 15:47:56 2012
I'm too busy shooting rabbits in the country side to post annos.
Then how did I have time to post this anno?
I hate it when I start talking to myself.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jul 30 16:04:25 2012
bunny shoots and BTU munching 'bergs ...
that's the state of Empire now-a-days!
sigh ...
`> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 16:22:07 2012
Beats chasing sheep and goats in the less populated sectors.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 30 16:23:26 2012
Seems you've roused the hornets' nest at last!
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 16:44:07 2012
Hey, if Resvon was here, he would be showing us pictures of what happens
when you catch those sheep and goats.
That's why we don;t invite him to many games anymore!
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 30 17:26:45 2012
} Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 16:22:07 2012
} Beats chasing sheep and goats in the less populated sectors.
Or seal clubbing in one of those ICE world games.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 17:30:57 2012
You know those bumber stickers that say things like "I heart my dog" or "I heart New York"
Well I got one that said "I clubbed my seal puppy"
My neighbor got one that said "I spade my dog"
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 30 17:42:31 2012
Ever type "info sheep" when you intended to type "info ship"?
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Jul 30 17:56:06 2012
My ISP went down for 12 ^&* HOURS this weekend.
Now that all their technicians have been killed by some machete
weilding wacko screaming obsceneties, I feel a lot better.
- Arrakis (...uh, I don't nuthin' 'bout nuthin'.)
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 30 18:36:06 2012
} Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Jul 30 17:56:06 2012
} My ISP went down for 12 ^&* HOURS this weekend.
Must be something in the copper.
My local telco has fouled my DSL up again.
First time they mismatched the provisioning
Next they just went off line and claimed nothing was wrong
for 2 days....
Then when "nothing was wrong" was fixed they left
this little hissing in the phone & dsl lines.
DSL not like hissing. Hissing make DSL mad!
DSL Mad! DSL smash packets randomly!
Waiting on their callback to fix this one.
I bet they try to blame the inside wiring.
Will be funny since I tested this against
the service port OUTSIDE. :)
Yes, I even drug the splitters and DSL filters
out there and hooked it all up to the outside
port to test.
Things like this make me smile more when I see
a local farmers running over phone line boxes
with the bush-hogs.
Ok I lied there, it makes me smile A LOT!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 30 19:13:01 2012
To: Plundaria
So your local farmers beat me to those 5 gold bars... :-/
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 31 05:15:12 2012
?Hey, if Resvon was here,
Which reminds me, he and I still have a who-can-drink-who
under the table challenge to resolve.
Hell, I'm sittin' at a table right now. Call him up.
- Arrakis (...does Leavenworth accept incoming calls?)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 31 05:23:06 2012
I think you may have to go there in person - and don't worry, I'll take really good care of your country while you're gone . . . .
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 31 05:32:42 2012
Oh good. 'cause I would've been worried.
Keys are under the ugly f*ckin' plant by the door,
beers are in the fridge, snacks in the freezer,
emergency number by the phone, bombs are scattered...
- Arrakis ( ...did I say bombs? No, uh...boobs. Typo.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 31 05:36:24 2012
Oh but I don't want to impose too much - I can bring my own beer. Or boobs. Or both. And I wouldn't dream of bringing bombs.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 31 06:24:14 2012
A player inquired whether civilians in a 100% wilderness pay taxes.
Yes, they do. The taxman doesn't care for sector type, only for
efficiency and population.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 31 10:04:14 2012
A player observed in other games that torpedoes could hit ships in
harbors. He wonders whether that has been removed from the game in
general, or from this particular game.
Short answer: you can launch torpedoes into harbors. It's been that
way for years, possibly forever.
Long answer: you need a clear path (sea or bridge span) from attacking
to victim ship. Start and end sector do not count. Even a
land-locked pt boat can torpedo just fine. I'm not pretending this
makes sense.
All special rules for this game are documented in "info Hvy Plastic".
All game rule changes of the Wolfpack era are documented in "info
Empire4". But that has probably more than you ever wanted to know (or
can read without falling asleep). Perhaps your client lets you search
it for "torp". For a quick search of all info pages, try "apropos
torp".
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 31 20:33:48 2012
I'd like to refinance my name change. Now that I have
less money, it'd cost less - percentage-wise.
And any kind, benevolent, handsome and dashing diety
would certainly agree.
- Arrakis (...thanks in advance.)
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Tue Jul 31 20:37:28 2012
Plundaria: root = plunder, Danish language circa 1200
to rape, pillage, steal and destroy for ones
pleasure.
I don't think benevolence fits him
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 31 20:39:59 2012
Maybe you get triple jackpot if your dashing!!
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 31 22:56:44 2012
} BigFish planes divebomb one of BigFish's sectors way too many times
Didn't your mama tell you you'd go blind doing that?
- Arrakis (...typed on my Braille keyboard.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 1 15:55:14 2012
The Roo Roo Joke
Arrakis, Resvon, and Barsoom were flying in a plane over the jungle when the
engine fails and they crash. When they come to they realize that they are
the only survivors and that they have been taken prisoner by the local native
tribe. Tied to posts in the center of a ring of dancing warroirs, they look
at the big cauldron on the fire, large enough to cook all of them.
then the drums stop and the natives are silent. the chief steps up to the
three of them and addresses Resvon. "You got-um 2 choices - death or
roo roo. Not knowing what roo roo is, but know that it has to be better
than dying, Mr. Ed says "I'll take roo roo". At that, the natives all jump
up and down, scream wilding, strip off their loin clothes and each one
proceeds to sodomize Resvon. Afterwards, true to his word, the chief lets
Mr Ed go and he crawls into the jungle to freedom.
The the chief looks at Barsoom and askes "Death or roo roo?" Barsoom
replies "Are you joking? It's like a slow Saturday night here where I
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 1 15:59:42 2012
come from. I'll take the roo roo." At that the natives jump up and down
again, scream even louder, and strip off their loin clothes.
Later, as Barsoom is skipping into the jungle, he makes sure he has all the
Facebook names of the tribesmen he thought were worth remembering.
Finnally, the chief says to Arrakis "And you, what is your choice?"
Arrakis replies "I'll have none of your sodomistic ways. I'm prepared to
meet my maker. I choose death, you f'n bastards."
At that point the natives jump up and down even higher and scream and whoop
even louder. and chief waves a hand to silence them. he looks at a stern faced
Arrakis and says "Very well. Death by roo roo."
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 1 16:06:14 2012
...I was in a plane with Barsoom?
And didn't throw him out?
- Arrakis (now, that just doesn't make sense.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 1 16:13:04 2012
You didn't know because he was up in first class and you were back in steerage.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 1 16:17:55 2012
Now that was just mean.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 1 16:21:48 2012
Ahh, my two favorite Arrakis quotes (He won;t remember them due to the Bicardi)
"If I had a beer for each time I jerked off, I'd jerk off a lot more often."
--and--
"I don't know how many gay men their are in Lakewood, Ohio, but if you lined
them up end to end, they would probably like it."
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 1 16:26:14 2012
Those aren't jokes.
- Arrakis (...those are facts.)
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Wed Aug 1 17:02:02 2012
And remember. You may be a high school drop out and live in a rusty trailer
at the edge of town. But if you can still lick your own eye brows, you will
always have a line of women outside your door.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Wed Aug 1 18:48:53 2012
} Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Tue Jul 31 20:37:28 2012
} Plundaria: root = plunder, Danish language circa 1200
} to rape, pillage, steal and destroy for ones
} pleasure.
}
}I don't think benevolence fits him
Someone is finally getting it.
:)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 1 19:10:51 2012
A player inquired whether ships need to have mobility to interdict.
"info mission" has:
When a unit is given a mission, it costs no mobility. When a unit
performs its mission, it uses the normal mobility costs that it
would use to perform that mission if done by the player.
Surface ships interdict with their guns. They neither require nor use
mobility, just like the fire command[*]. Same for land units.
Submarines interdict with torpedoes. They need to have mobility, and
use mobility just like the torpedo command.
The player then theorized on how interdiction at fractional range
works: he proposed that a ship with firing range 2.25 can interdict at
range 3 with a 25% chance.
Close, but no cigar.
Missions trigger only within their "op-area". The mission command
defines the op-sector and radius, up to a limit that depends on the
mission and the unit. A sector is in the op-area if it's no more than
radius sectors from the op-sector, and no more than the maximum
radius from the unit.
For interdiction, the maximum radius is the *rounded* firing range.
Thus, a ship with firing range 2.25 cannot interdict beyond range 2.
If interdiction triggers, the effective firing range is computed as
usual: frac(range)% chance to fire range+1, else range. If the
effective range is insufficient, the unit doesn't interdict.
Thus, a ship with firing range 2.5 can interdict at range 3 with a 50%
chance.
"info mission" explains this, less those details that don't make much
sense.
Additionally, the player believes to remember ships with insufficient
crew doing less damage with their guns, and would like to know whether
that's the case, and how it works.
Yes, it is the case: ships can fire at most ceiling(m/2) guns, where m
is the number of military on board. Unfortunately, "info fire" only
documents it needs military, but not how many.
Ships need at least one military to drop depth charges or launch
torpedoes. Documented in "info fire", but not in "info torpedo".
Land units need at least one military to fire guns. Documented in
"info fire".
Forts need at least five military to fire guns. Documented in "info
fire".
Also, the player is a rather inquisitive pest.
[*] If NOMOBCOST is disabled (not in this game), the fire command uses
mobility, but the other ways to fire guns don't. In this particular
case, "info mission" lies. It may make more sense to change the code.
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Wed Aug 1 19:13:49 2012
Hanuman - you make my head hurt.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 1 19:22:18 2012
You're welcome :)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 1 19:25:17 2012
A player observed some captured sectors transferring their allegiance
to him at the update (old owner flips to owner). He now wonders
whether that happens before or after the sector's taxes are collected.
Relevant, because conquered populace pay less.
It happens in "info Update-sequence"'s step 1.d) if there are no civs
or mil in the sector, it reverts to the deity. That's right before
taxes are collected. Congratulations!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Thu Aug 2 08:43:43 2012
} Eponia ship severly damaged in mine field way too many times
Just shifting them around a bit every now and them. Keeps 'em happy. Damn hard
to handle, by the way...
Gen. Tack, EponiaaaAAAAAH! *BOOM*
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 16:13:24 2012
To answer a player's incredulous question: yes, Virginia, if your bb
can fire 8 guns, it needs to carry at least 15 military (2 * guns - 1)
to do full damage.
Command sst shows how many guns a ship can fire, in column "fir".
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 16:18:53 2012
Next incredulous question: yes, a lone military suffices to drop depth
charges, whether it's a fire command, mission, or return fire.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 16:22:17 2012
A player forced his hurting head to absorb the treatise on
interdiction ranges, and came up with the next incredulous question:
does that mean that a ship with a range of 2.49 will interdict three
sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
time?
Yes, it does mean that.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 16:26:55 2012
The final follow-up question: do land units require extra mil to fire
their guns?
Nope, one's enough.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Thu Aug 2 18:00:58 2012
?does that mean that a ship with a range of 2.49 will interdict three
?sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
?time?
?Yes, it does mean that.
Please explain that again. I did not get that out of the previous anno.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 18:10:03 2012
A ship with a range of 2.49 will fire 3 sectors 49% of the time.
A ship with a range of 2.51 will fire 3 sectors 51% of the time.
Forts work in a similar fashion, tech dependent.
Hanuman probably has the mathmatical formula memorized.
- Arrakis (...I just fire off a test shot once in a while:)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 18:17:49 2012
Geezuz, remember those update-script battles from TM3?
The game with the gay, ugly, stupid, stinky diety?
I had those ranges calculated to 3 decimal places,
# of expected hits to take a fort to <60%, then
shift forward one hex, repeat....you were a real pain :)
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 18:23:43 2012
Oh, crap. You were talking missions. Not just firing percentages.
Sorry. I don't think a ship with a 2.49 range will EVER mission
to a range of 3. Unless I'm wrong. I'll try it several hundred
times and get back to you. Here, hold my beer.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Thu Aug 2 19:09:43 2012
--The game with the gay, ugly, stupid, stinky diety?
I can live with the ugly, stupid, and stinky part. But I wish to
quash any rumors on that "gay" part. Yes sir, straight as an arrow.
and unlike Arrakis, I am not even attracked to cross dressers.
Oppps, did I let out one of his secrets.
- Pat (Not too ugly, not stupid, and I had a shower last week)
(BTW, remind me. what was the TM3 setup?)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 19:18:34 2012
} Please explain that again. I did not get that out of the previous anno.
Here's the key paragraph:
For interdiction, the maximum radius is the *rounded* firing
range. Thus, a ship with firing range 2.25 cannot interdict
beyond range 2.
Likewise, a ship with firing range 2.49 cannot interdict beyond range
2.
But a ship with firing range 2.51 *can* interdict at range 3. With a
51% chance, because of:
If interdiction triggers, the effective firing range is computed
as usual: frac(range)% chance to fire range+1, else range. If the
effective range is insufficient, the unit doesn't interdict.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 19:58:34 2012
I actually may be thinking of TM2, but it was the game
where the sick, twisted, morally bankrupt diety
developed a grid of single sectors, each surrounded by water
so you had to build a gazillion bridges.
Which basically forced an eventual strategy of : 'Pound his forts
down 100 milliseconds before the update, splash his bridges so
nothing dists back in, move forward one sector post-update. Repeat.
It worked because forts only returned fire WHEN HIT. And then might
have a 50% chance of returning fire. So your fort would get a hit
and only MAYBE get hit in return. Done deal.
- Arrakis (...Vegas runs on those kinda odds.)
..
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Thu Aug 2 20:22:30 2012
Oh, now I remember. Do you have any idea how long it took me set that world up?
that's why TMIII was a flatland game with all the sectors the same resources.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Thu Aug 2 20:33:06 2012
Yes, TM3 was the game with the single islands and the bridges.
It was back before the 'update window' so all of the shelling started
2 minutes before the update and was over 2 minutes after the update.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Thu Aug 2 20:37:45 2012
?does that mean that a ship with a range of 2.49 will interdict three
?sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
?time?
?Yes, it does mean that.
OK, so the original post copied above has a typo. I guess it should say:
A ship with a range of 2.49 will NEVER interdict three
sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
time.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 20:57:59 2012
Correct. I was too polite to mention that to our fascinating,
brilliant, helpful, dazzling and most competent diety.
- Arrakis (...running low on bars, here.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Thu Aug 2 21:32:12 2012
Hey, no fair. He is asking the deity for free bars. Can he do that?
Smoozing the deity! You ougth be ashamed of yourself. Markus is much to
mature and intellectual to fall for that lube job you so thinly veiled.
You don;t have to bother thanking me for sticking up for you Markus. Us deities
have to stick together. (But if you did have some spare mineral resources
you wanted to throw my way, I've got a couple of hundred sectors that could
use the upgrade.)
Pat, AKA Overlord (Yes, we have a couple of hundred sectors and you don't!!)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 21:36:16 2012
Yeah, but your's are all icky and sticky.
- Arrakis (we don't wanna know why.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 21:59:47 2012
You know, Bunnyland isn't turning out to be the game changer
I thought he would be, when I allied with him.
Granted, he only had one shell. But he could've put it
in Pat's pants or something. At least there'd be a bulge.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Thu Aug 2 22:36:42 2012
Not enough room. the ladies at the gun range already want to "see my 40 mm round".
And I only "bulge" at the appropriate times. Airport security used to
complain about all the groupies waiting for me. Arrakis has a hard time
relating to that. His only fans are the bottlers of Mad Dog 20/20 and TJ Swan.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 06:21:37 2012
A player read in "info build" that "Planes will also gain efficiency
in non-airport sectors, but at only 1/3rd the normal rate." He now
wonders what exactly that means.
Increasing plane efficiency uses up work, materials, and costs money.
Work and materials are used the same everywhere, but the resulting
efficiency gain is divided by three in non-airport sectors. You pay
money only for the actual gain.
Example: 50% hb. Increase to 100% requires 10l 3h, 26 avail, $550.
If the sector has the required materials and work, they're used up.
If it's an airport, efficiency increases by 50%, and you're charged
$550. Else, efficiency increases by 16%, and you're charged $176.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 10:50:20 2012
} OK, so the original post copied above has a typo. I guess it should say:
} A ship with a range of 2.49 will NEVER interdict three
} sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
} time.
Yes. Thanks for the correction!
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 11:14:38 2012
A player theorized that when you use the fire command to shoot with
multiple ships, each ship fires in turn, and firing stops when the
target is destroyed.
This is correct. Only the ships that actually fire use shells.
The player then inquired which ships exactly are subject to return
fire.
Only the ships that actually fire are.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 11:26:59 2012
The player then inquired whether ship interdiction stops similarly
when the interdicted ships are all sunk.
Not really.
First, all forts fire. If ships survive, all interdiction missions
trigger, except for missiles. Finally, missiles interdict any
surviving "valuable" ships, one missile after the other.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 3 12:59:20 2012
?Example: 50% hb. Increase to 100% requires 10l 3h, 26 avail, $550.
?If the sector has the required materials and work, they're used up.
?If it's an airport, efficiency increases by 50%, and you're charged
?$550. Else, efficiency increases by 16%, and you're charged $176.
I thought that you were still charged the 10l, 3h, 26 avail and $550
but only got the 16% efficiency gain. Is it 10l, 3h, 26 avail and $176?
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 3 13:17:49 2012
And in other world financial news, the Greek, Spanish, and Portugeese economies
received a huge boost today as investors in Arrakis pulled all their funds out
and put them into the three bankrupt Euro economies. Said one major fund
manager "Greece's future looks so much better than the Arraki future. You would
have to be insane to not cut your losses and run. Seriously, nobody sees much
hope there."
In related world news, Arraki spokesman confirmed the loss of yet anotehr island.
"Yes, we lost another island," stated press secretary Richard Small. "But we
think we can win it back at the Craps table later tonight."
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 14:12:47 2012
} I thought that you were still charged the 10l, 3h, 26 avail and $550
} but only got the 16% efficiency gain. Is it 10l, 3h, 26 avail and $176?
Definitely the latter. Plust 1m for crew I forgot to mention.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 07:30:18 2012
A player inquired whether interceptors without mission on a carrier
intercept hostile planes overflying your ships.
Yes, they do. See "info Interception".
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 07:38:05 2012
A player inquired whether ship flak "saturates" at a limit.
Yes, it does, and the limit is 14 guns. "info Flak" has the details.
Except it neglects to mention that a ship's number of guns is scaled
by its efficiency.
Use commands "show ship s" and "sst" to find out how many guns a ship
can fire.
Example: a pair of 100% tech 100 bb can fire up to eight guns each.
If both have that many guns loaded, they fire 16, but saturation cuts
it to 14.
Example: Say one of them gets bombed down to 50%, reducing its gun
cargo to 5g. It can still fire up to eight guns, but it now has only
five. Scaling by efficiency yields 2.5.
To get the number of flak guns, the total number of guns after
saturation is multiplied by twice the average tech factor. Once
again, see "info Flak".
Example: twice the average tech factor of our pair of bb is 1.0,
because tech factor is 0.5 at tech 100. We get 14 flak guns before
bomb damage, and 10.5 randomly rounded to either 10 or 11 afterwards.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 07:45:29 2012
Almost missed this part of the player's question: yes, flak works
exactly the same for missions and for bomb commands.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 07:54:03 2012
The player then asked whether interdicted ships get to fire
anti-pin-bombing flak (item 4 in "info Flak"'s list of flak).
No, they don't. Missions are not considered pinpoint bombing runs.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 08:01:13 2012
Continuing on his self-improvement course, the player then found in
"info Hitchance" that a plane's chance to hit a ship depends on the
ship's 'hardtarget', and that the 'hardtarget of a fleet is the
hardtarget if the "easiest" target in the fleet.' He wonders whether
that applies to interdiction missions.
Yes, it does. Unlike pinpoint bombing, interdiction doesn't target
individual ships, but a group of ships. The ship easiest to hit
determines the hit chance.
The player then wonders whether that's the only difference between
pinpoint bombing and interdiction.
Beats me.
Perusing "info Hitchance" some more, the player found that ships are
harder to hit at sea than in harbors, fast ships in particular. He
wonders whether that's correct.
Yes, it is.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 14:48:24 2012
A player observed that production is limited to 999 items. Some
sector types can hit that limit with uw. He now wonders how much a
gold mine that hits the limit depletes its gold resource.
Resource depletion is tied to actual production.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Aug 4 15:37:09 2012
And in other headline news, after loosing yet another island, the leader of
Arrakis was rescued while at sea, atempting to flee the invasion and using only
the oars to move the boat home. the task was made all that much more difficult
due to the 438 pound prostitute in the boat with the Dear Leader. When
enquired about his prospects of getting the boat and professional to shore
he replied "I'll admit, this was a particularly difficult ho to row."
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Aug 4 16:20:03 2012
Reminds me of the game "Monkey Island"... There, you would win a fight if you
only knew to insult better than your opponent. Didn't know it was that way with
Empire, as well.
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Aug 4 16:59:44 2012
No matter how many games you have won
No matter how many capitols you have sacked
No matter how many nukes you have dropped on innocent civvies
You are not a good Empire player until you can post an anno that makes your
most bitter enemy laugh so hard he spews beer on his monitor and key board.
That being said I do know that Arrakis likes his women big
-
and his men bigger
wars.
Eponia jumped Hopeless last Sunday. That front has been ominously quiet
since. Pathfinder opened hostilities with Germany on Thursday.
Germany's ally Rustasia engaged Wales some more. Meanwhile, BigFish
continued to advance slowly but steadily against Arrakis.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Rustasia 150 99% 150K 6.0K 2.0K 225 3.5K 9.1K 2.1K 4.7K 60 120 30 35K
Germany 185 94% 149K 7.2K 675 180 950 7.0K 150 5.2K 80 130 40 50K
Hopeless 120 100% 117K 6.0K 1.4K 165 1.4K 7.2K 100 3.8K 90 130 40 100K
Pathfinde 120 98% 116K 6.9K 1.1K 190 2.3K 5.4K 100 2.0K 80 100 40 70K
Wales 95 98% 96K 5.9K 1.0K 95 950 4.7K 500 3.0K 50 50 20 15K
Aquitaine 80 100% 76K 5.0K 1.7K 320 1.7K 4.5K 100 3.2K 0 20 30 135K
Arrakis 70 98% 68K 4.3K 875 155 1.2K 5.2K 38 1.0K 100 50 30 65K
Eponia 75 100% 72K 4.2K 1.2K 205 2.9K 4.5K 200 2.4K 50 60 30 40K
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 35K
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 4.6K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 98% 1.0M 53K 11K 1.8K 16K 65K 3.4K 31K 620 850 290 555K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jul 30 15:32:19 2012
Hmm.. all quiet ...
guess anno postings are inversely proportional to the tension ..
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Mon Jul 30 15:44:41 2012
I don't have BTUs to post annos.
They were hit by something that I'm told
looked like one of Eponia's icebergs.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 15:47:56 2012
I'm too busy shooting rabbits in the country side to post annos.
Then how did I have time to post this anno?
I hate it when I start talking to myself.
> Announcement from Rustasia, (#8) dated Mon Jul 30 16:04:25 2012
bunny shoots and BTU munching 'bergs ...
that's the state of Empire now-a-days!
sigh ...
`> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 16:22:07 2012
Beats chasing sheep and goats in the less populated sectors.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 30 16:23:26 2012
Seems you've roused the hornets' nest at last!
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 16:44:07 2012
Hey, if Resvon was here, he would be showing us pictures of what happens
when you catch those sheep and goats.
That's why we don;t invite him to many games anymore!
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 30 17:26:45 2012
} Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 16:22:07 2012
} Beats chasing sheep and goats in the less populated sectors.
Or seal clubbing in one of those ICE world games.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Jul 30 17:30:57 2012
You know those bumber stickers that say things like "I heart my dog" or "I heart New York"
Well I got one that said "I clubbed my seal puppy"
My neighbor got one that said "I spade my dog"
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 30 17:42:31 2012
Ever type "info sheep" when you intended to type "info ship"?
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Jul 30 17:56:06 2012
My ISP went down for 12 ^&* HOURS this weekend.
Now that all their technicians have been killed by some machete
weilding wacko screaming obsceneties, I feel a lot better.
- Arrakis (...uh, I don't nuthin' 'bout nuthin'.)
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Mon Jul 30 18:36:06 2012
} Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Jul 30 17:56:06 2012
} My ISP went down for 12 ^&* HOURS this weekend.
Must be something in the copper.
My local telco has fouled my DSL up again.
First time they mismatched the provisioning
Next they just went off line and claimed nothing was wrong
for 2 days....
Then when "nothing was wrong" was fixed they left
this little hissing in the phone & dsl lines.
DSL not like hissing. Hissing make DSL mad!
DSL Mad! DSL smash packets randomly!
Waiting on their callback to fix this one.
I bet they try to blame the inside wiring.
Will be funny since I tested this against
the service port OUTSIDE. :)
Yes, I even drug the splitters and DSL filters
out there and hooked it all up to the outside
port to test.
Things like this make me smile more when I see
a local farmers running over phone line boxes
with the bush-hogs.
Ok I lied there, it makes me smile A LOT!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Mon Jul 30 19:13:01 2012
To: Plundaria
So your local farmers beat me to those 5 gold bars... :-/
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 31 05:15:12 2012
?Hey, if Resvon was here,
Which reminds me, he and I still have a who-can-drink-who
under the table challenge to resolve.
Hell, I'm sittin' at a table right now. Call him up.
- Arrakis (...does Leavenworth accept incoming calls?)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 31 05:23:06 2012
I think you may have to go there in person - and don't worry, I'll take really good care of your country while you're gone . . . .
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 31 05:32:42 2012
Oh good. 'cause I would've been worried.
Keys are under the ugly f*ckin' plant by the door,
beers are in the fridge, snacks in the freezer,
emergency number by the phone, bombs are scattered...
- Arrakis ( ...did I say bombs? No, uh...boobs. Typo.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Jul 31 05:36:24 2012
Oh but I don't want to impose too much - I can bring my own beer. Or boobs. Or both. And I wouldn't dream of bringing bombs.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 31 06:24:14 2012
A player inquired whether civilians in a 100% wilderness pay taxes.
Yes, they do. The taxman doesn't care for sector type, only for
efficiency and population.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Jul 31 10:04:14 2012
A player observed in other games that torpedoes could hit ships in
harbors. He wonders whether that has been removed from the game in
general, or from this particular game.
Short answer: you can launch torpedoes into harbors. It's been that
way for years, possibly forever.
Long answer: you need a clear path (sea or bridge span) from attacking
to victim ship. Start and end sector do not count. Even a
land-locked pt boat can torpedo just fine. I'm not pretending this
makes sense.
All special rules for this game are documented in "info Hvy Plastic".
All game rule changes of the Wolfpack era are documented in "info
Empire4". But that has probably more than you ever wanted to know (or
can read without falling asleep). Perhaps your client lets you search
it for "torp". For a quick search of all info pages, try "apropos
torp".
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 31 20:33:48 2012
I'd like to refinance my name change. Now that I have
less money, it'd cost less - percentage-wise.
And any kind, benevolent, handsome and dashing diety
would certainly agree.
- Arrakis (...thanks in advance.)
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Tue Jul 31 20:37:28 2012
Plundaria: root = plunder, Danish language circa 1200
to rape, pillage, steal and destroy for ones
pleasure.
I don't think benevolence fits him
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Jul 31 20:39:59 2012
Maybe you get triple jackpot if your dashing!!
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Jul 31 22:56:44 2012
} BigFish planes divebomb one of BigFish's sectors way too many times
Didn't your mama tell you you'd go blind doing that?
- Arrakis (...typed on my Braille keyboard.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 1 15:55:14 2012
The Roo Roo Joke
Arrakis, Resvon, and Barsoom were flying in a plane over the jungle when the
engine fails and they crash. When they come to they realize that they are
the only survivors and that they have been taken prisoner by the local native
tribe. Tied to posts in the center of a ring of dancing warroirs, they look
at the big cauldron on the fire, large enough to cook all of them.
then the drums stop and the natives are silent. the chief steps up to the
three of them and addresses Resvon. "You got-um 2 choices - death or
roo roo. Not knowing what roo roo is, but know that it has to be better
than dying, Mr. Ed says "I'll take roo roo". At that, the natives all jump
up and down, scream wilding, strip off their loin clothes and each one
proceeds to sodomize Resvon. Afterwards, true to his word, the chief lets
Mr Ed go and he crawls into the jungle to freedom.
The the chief looks at Barsoom and askes "Death or roo roo?" Barsoom
replies "Are you joking? It's like a slow Saturday night here where I
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 1 15:59:42 2012
come from. I'll take the roo roo." At that the natives jump up and down
again, scream even louder, and strip off their loin clothes.
Later, as Barsoom is skipping into the jungle, he makes sure he has all the
Facebook names of the tribesmen he thought were worth remembering.
Finnally, the chief says to Arrakis "And you, what is your choice?"
Arrakis replies "I'll have none of your sodomistic ways. I'm prepared to
meet my maker. I choose death, you f'n bastards."
At that point the natives jump up and down even higher and scream and whoop
even louder. and chief waves a hand to silence them. he looks at a stern faced
Arrakis and says "Very well. Death by roo roo."
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 1 16:06:14 2012
...I was in a plane with Barsoom?
And didn't throw him out?
- Arrakis (now, that just doesn't make sense.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 1 16:13:04 2012
You didn't know because he was up in first class and you were back in steerage.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 1 16:17:55 2012
Now that was just mean.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 1 16:21:48 2012
Ahh, my two favorite Arrakis quotes (He won;t remember them due to the Bicardi)
"If I had a beer for each time I jerked off, I'd jerk off a lot more often."
--and--
"I don't know how many gay men their are in Lakewood, Ohio, but if you lined
them up end to end, they would probably like it."
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 1 16:26:14 2012
Those aren't jokes.
- Arrakis (...those are facts.)
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Wed Aug 1 17:02:02 2012
And remember. You may be a high school drop out and live in a rusty trailer
at the edge of town. But if you can still lick your own eye brows, you will
always have a line of women outside your door.
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Wed Aug 1 18:48:53 2012
} Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Tue Jul 31 20:37:28 2012
} Plundaria: root = plunder, Danish language circa 1200
} to rape, pillage, steal and destroy for ones
} pleasure.
}
}I don't think benevolence fits him
Someone is finally getting it.
:)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 1 19:10:51 2012
A player inquired whether ships need to have mobility to interdict.
"info mission" has:
When a unit is given a mission, it costs no mobility. When a unit
performs its mission, it uses the normal mobility costs that it
would use to perform that mission if done by the player.
Surface ships interdict with their guns. They neither require nor use
mobility, just like the fire command[*]. Same for land units.
Submarines interdict with torpedoes. They need to have mobility, and
use mobility just like the torpedo command.
The player then theorized on how interdiction at fractional range
works: he proposed that a ship with firing range 2.25 can interdict at
range 3 with a 25% chance.
Close, but no cigar.
Missions trigger only within their "op-area". The mission command
defines the op-sector and radius, up to a limit that depends on the
mission and the unit. A sector is in the op-area if it's no more than
radius sectors from the op-sector, and no more than the maximum
radius from the unit.
For interdiction, the maximum radius is the *rounded* firing range.
Thus, a ship with firing range 2.25 cannot interdict beyond range 2.
If interdiction triggers, the effective firing range is computed as
usual: frac(range)% chance to fire range+1, else range. If the
effective range is insufficient, the unit doesn't interdict.
Thus, a ship with firing range 2.5 can interdict at range 3 with a 50%
chance.
"info mission" explains this, less those details that don't make much
sense.
Additionally, the player believes to remember ships with insufficient
crew doing less damage with their guns, and would like to know whether
that's the case, and how it works.
Yes, it is the case: ships can fire at most ceiling(m/2) guns, where m
is the number of military on board. Unfortunately, "info fire" only
documents it needs military, but not how many.
Ships need at least one military to drop depth charges or launch
torpedoes. Documented in "info fire", but not in "info torpedo".
Land units need at least one military to fire guns. Documented in
"info fire".
Forts need at least five military to fire guns. Documented in "info
fire".
Also, the player is a rather inquisitive pest.
[*] If NOMOBCOST is disabled (not in this game), the fire command uses
mobility, but the other ways to fire guns don't. In this particular
case, "info mission" lies. It may make more sense to change the code.
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Wed Aug 1 19:13:49 2012
Hanuman - you make my head hurt.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 1 19:22:18 2012
You're welcome :)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 1 19:25:17 2012
A player observed some captured sectors transferring their allegiance
to him at the update (old owner flips to owner). He now wonders
whether that happens before or after the sector's taxes are collected.
Relevant, because conquered populace pay less.
It happens in "info Update-sequence"'s step 1.d) if there are no civs
or mil in the sector, it reverts to the deity. That's right before
taxes are collected. Congratulations!
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Thu Aug 2 08:43:43 2012
} Eponia ship severly damaged in mine field way too many times
Just shifting them around a bit every now and them. Keeps 'em happy. Damn hard
to handle, by the way...
Gen. Tack, EponiaaaAAAAAH! *BOOM*
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 16:13:24 2012
To answer a player's incredulous question: yes, Virginia, if your bb
can fire 8 guns, it needs to carry at least 15 military (2 * guns - 1)
to do full damage.
Command sst shows how many guns a ship can fire, in column "fir".
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 16:18:53 2012
Next incredulous question: yes, a lone military suffices to drop depth
charges, whether it's a fire command, mission, or return fire.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 16:22:17 2012
A player forced his hurting head to absorb the treatise on
interdiction ranges, and came up with the next incredulous question:
does that mean that a ship with a range of 2.49 will interdict three
sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
time?
Yes, it does mean that.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 16:26:55 2012
The final follow-up question: do land units require extra mil to fire
their guns?
Nope, one's enough.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Thu Aug 2 18:00:58 2012
?does that mean that a ship with a range of 2.49 will interdict three
?sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
?time?
?Yes, it does mean that.
Please explain that again. I did not get that out of the previous anno.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 18:10:03 2012
A ship with a range of 2.49 will fire 3 sectors 49% of the time.
A ship with a range of 2.51 will fire 3 sectors 51% of the time.
Forts work in a similar fashion, tech dependent.
Hanuman probably has the mathmatical formula memorized.
- Arrakis (...I just fire off a test shot once in a while:)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 18:17:49 2012
Geezuz, remember those update-script battles from TM3?
The game with the gay, ugly, stupid, stinky diety?
I had those ranges calculated to 3 decimal places,
# of expected hits to take a fort to <60%, then
shift forward one hex, repeat....you were a real pain :)
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 18:23:43 2012
Oh, crap. You were talking missions. Not just firing percentages.
Sorry. I don't think a ship with a 2.49 range will EVER mission
to a range of 3. Unless I'm wrong. I'll try it several hundred
times and get back to you. Here, hold my beer.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Thu Aug 2 19:09:43 2012
--The game with the gay, ugly, stupid, stinky diety?
I can live with the ugly, stupid, and stinky part. But I wish to
quash any rumors on that "gay" part. Yes sir, straight as an arrow.
and unlike Arrakis, I am not even attracked to cross dressers.
Oppps, did I let out one of his secrets.
- Pat (Not too ugly, not stupid, and I had a shower last week)
(BTW, remind me. what was the TM3 setup?)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 2 19:18:34 2012
} Please explain that again. I did not get that out of the previous anno.
Here's the key paragraph:
For interdiction, the maximum radius is the *rounded* firing
range. Thus, a ship with firing range 2.25 cannot interdict
beyond range 2.
Likewise, a ship with firing range 2.49 cannot interdict beyond range
2.
But a ship with firing range 2.51 *can* interdict at range 3. With a
51% chance, because of:
If interdiction triggers, the effective firing range is computed
as usual: frac(range)% chance to fire range+1, else range. If the
effective range is insufficient, the unit doesn't interdict.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 19:58:34 2012
I actually may be thinking of TM2, but it was the game
where the sick, twisted, morally bankrupt diety
developed a grid of single sectors, each surrounded by water
so you had to build a gazillion bridges.
Which basically forced an eventual strategy of : 'Pound his forts
down 100 milliseconds before the update, splash his bridges so
nothing dists back in, move forward one sector post-update. Repeat.
It worked because forts only returned fire WHEN HIT. And then might
have a 50% chance of returning fire. So your fort would get a hit
and only MAYBE get hit in return. Done deal.
- Arrakis (...Vegas runs on those kinda odds.)
..
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Thu Aug 2 20:22:30 2012
Oh, now I remember. Do you have any idea how long it took me set that world up?
that's why TMIII was a flatland game with all the sectors the same resources.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Thu Aug 2 20:33:06 2012
Yes, TM3 was the game with the single islands and the bridges.
It was back before the 'update window' so all of the shelling started
2 minutes before the update and was over 2 minutes after the update.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Thu Aug 2 20:37:45 2012
?does that mean that a ship with a range of 2.49 will interdict three
?sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
?time?
?Yes, it does mean that.
OK, so the original post copied above has a typo. I guess it should say:
A ship with a range of 2.49 will NEVER interdict three
sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
time.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 20:57:59 2012
Correct. I was too polite to mention that to our fascinating,
brilliant, helpful, dazzling and most competent diety.
- Arrakis (...running low on bars, here.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Thu Aug 2 21:32:12 2012
Hey, no fair. He is asking the deity for free bars. Can he do that?
Smoozing the deity! You ougth be ashamed of yourself. Markus is much to
mature and intellectual to fall for that lube job you so thinly veiled.
You don;t have to bother thanking me for sticking up for you Markus. Us deities
have to stick together. (But if you did have some spare mineral resources
you wanted to throw my way, I've got a couple of hundred sectors that could
use the upgrade.)
Pat, AKA Overlord (Yes, we have a couple of hundred sectors and you don't!!)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 21:36:16 2012
Yeah, but your's are all icky and sticky.
- Arrakis (we don't wanna know why.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Thu Aug 2 21:59:47 2012
You know, Bunnyland isn't turning out to be the game changer
I thought he would be, when I allied with him.
Granted, he only had one shell. But he could've put it
in Pat's pants or something. At least there'd be a bulge.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Thu Aug 2 22:36:42 2012
Not enough room. the ladies at the gun range already want to "see my 40 mm round".
And I only "bulge" at the appropriate times. Airport security used to
complain about all the groupies waiting for me. Arrakis has a hard time
relating to that. His only fans are the bottlers of Mad Dog 20/20 and TJ Swan.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 06:21:37 2012
A player read in "info build" that "Planes will also gain efficiency
in non-airport sectors, but at only 1/3rd the normal rate." He now
wonders what exactly that means.
Increasing plane efficiency uses up work, materials, and costs money.
Work and materials are used the same everywhere, but the resulting
efficiency gain is divided by three in non-airport sectors. You pay
money only for the actual gain.
Example: 50% hb. Increase to 100% requires 10l 3h, 26 avail, $550.
If the sector has the required materials and work, they're used up.
If it's an airport, efficiency increases by 50%, and you're charged
$550. Else, efficiency increases by 16%, and you're charged $176.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 10:50:20 2012
} OK, so the original post copied above has a typo. I guess it should say:
} A ship with a range of 2.49 will NEVER interdict three
} sectors away, whereas one with a range of 2.51 will do so 51% of the
} time.
Yes. Thanks for the correction!
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 11:14:38 2012
A player theorized that when you use the fire command to shoot with
multiple ships, each ship fires in turn, and firing stops when the
target is destroyed.
This is correct. Only the ships that actually fire use shells.
The player then inquired which ships exactly are subject to return
fire.
Only the ships that actually fire are.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 11:26:59 2012
The player then inquired whether ship interdiction stops similarly
when the interdicted ships are all sunk.
Not really.
First, all forts fire. If ships survive, all interdiction missions
trigger, except for missiles. Finally, missiles interdict any
surviving "valuable" ships, one missile after the other.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 3 12:59:20 2012
?Example: 50% hb. Increase to 100% requires 10l 3h, 26 avail, $550.
?If the sector has the required materials and work, they're used up.
?If it's an airport, efficiency increases by 50%, and you're charged
?$550. Else, efficiency increases by 16%, and you're charged $176.
I thought that you were still charged the 10l, 3h, 26 avail and $550
but only got the 16% efficiency gain. Is it 10l, 3h, 26 avail and $176?
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 3 13:17:49 2012
And in other world financial news, the Greek, Spanish, and Portugeese economies
received a huge boost today as investors in Arrakis pulled all their funds out
and put them into the three bankrupt Euro economies. Said one major fund
manager "Greece's future looks so much better than the Arraki future. You would
have to be insane to not cut your losses and run. Seriously, nobody sees much
hope there."
In related world news, Arraki spokesman confirmed the loss of yet anotehr island.
"Yes, we lost another island," stated press secretary Richard Small. "But we
think we can win it back at the Craps table later tonight."
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 3 14:12:47 2012
} I thought that you were still charged the 10l, 3h, 26 avail and $550
} but only got the 16% efficiency gain. Is it 10l, 3h, 26 avail and $176?
Definitely the latter. Plust 1m for crew I forgot to mention.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 07:30:18 2012
A player inquired whether interceptors without mission on a carrier
intercept hostile planes overflying your ships.
Yes, they do. See "info Interception".
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 07:38:05 2012
A player inquired whether ship flak "saturates" at a limit.
Yes, it does, and the limit is 14 guns. "info Flak" has the details.
Except it neglects to mention that a ship's number of guns is scaled
by its efficiency.
Use commands "show ship s" and "sst" to find out how many guns a ship
can fire.
Example: a pair of 100% tech 100 bb can fire up to eight guns each.
If both have that many guns loaded, they fire 16, but saturation cuts
it to 14.
Example: Say one of them gets bombed down to 50%, reducing its gun
cargo to 5g. It can still fire up to eight guns, but it now has only
five. Scaling by efficiency yields 2.5.
To get the number of flak guns, the total number of guns after
saturation is multiplied by twice the average tech factor. Once
again, see "info Flak".
Example: twice the average tech factor of our pair of bb is 1.0,
because tech factor is 0.5 at tech 100. We get 14 flak guns before
bomb damage, and 10.5 randomly rounded to either 10 or 11 afterwards.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 07:45:29 2012
Almost missed this part of the player's question: yes, flak works
exactly the same for missions and for bomb commands.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 07:54:03 2012
The player then asked whether interdicted ships get to fire
anti-pin-bombing flak (item 4 in "info Flak"'s list of flak).
No, they don't. Missions are not considered pinpoint bombing runs.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 08:01:13 2012
Continuing on his self-improvement course, the player then found in
"info Hitchance" that a plane's chance to hit a ship depends on the
ship's 'hardtarget', and that the 'hardtarget of a fleet is the
hardtarget if the "easiest" target in the fleet.' He wonders whether
that applies to interdiction missions.
Yes, it does. Unlike pinpoint bombing, interdiction doesn't target
individual ships, but a group of ships. The ship easiest to hit
determines the hit chance.
The player then wonders whether that's the only difference between
pinpoint bombing and interdiction.
Beats me.
Perusing "info Hitchance" some more, the player found that ships are
harder to hit at sea than in harbors, fast ships in particular. He
wonders whether that's correct.
Yes, it is.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 4 14:48:24 2012
A player observed that production is limited to 999 items. Some
sector types can hit that limit with uw. He now wonders how much a
gold mine that hits the limit depletes its gold resource.
Resource depletion is tied to actual production.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Aug 4 15:37:09 2012
And in other headline news, after loosing yet another island, the leader of
Arrakis was rescued while at sea, atempting to flee the invasion and using only
the oars to move the boat home. the task was made all that much more difficult
due to the 438 pound prostitute in the boat with the Dear Leader. When
enquired about his prospects of getting the boat and professional to shore
he replied "I'll admit, this was a particularly difficult ho to row."
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sat Aug 4 16:20:03 2012
Reminds me of the game "Monkey Island"... There, you would win a fight if you
only knew to insult better than your opponent. Didn't know it was that way with
Empire, as well.
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Aug 4 16:59:44 2012
No matter how many games you have won
No matter how many capitols you have sacked
No matter how many nukes you have dropped on innocent civvies
You are not a good Empire player until you can post an anno that makes your
most bitter enemy laugh so hard he spews beer on his monitor and key board.
That being said I do know that Arrakis likes his women big
-
and his men bigger
Markus Armbruster
Aug 12, 2012, 4:42:27 AM8/12/12
to
We just completed week seven and update 22. The world's cash reserves
have been shrinking fast for two weeks running.
BigFish and Arrakis have wrought plenty of carnage on each other, but
the end of the road for Arrakis seems to be near now.
Hopeless ignored Eponia's plucky provocations, and went to war with
Rustasia instead.
The conflict between Pathfinder and Germany continues at low intensity.
Same for the Germany / Rustasia alliance's war on Wales.
A few physicists claim their "nuclear fission" plaything could produce
huge amounts of energy, with military applications. But everybody knows
these are just wacko eggheads trying to siphon some grant money off the
war effort.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Aug 10 17:03:29 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 230 95% 208K 7.1K 2.1K 510 3.5K 14K 850 5.0K 170 170 40 315
Germany 180 98% 174K 8.2K 1.4K 295 2.6K 9.6K 50 5.2K 160 140 40 30K
Rustasia 130 95% 136K 5.1K 2.1K 210 4.9K 6.0K 1.1K 2.4K 110 120 30 25K
Hopeless 135 93% 117K 6.5K 1.7K 280 2.4K 10K 100 3.0K 120 130 50 55K
Pathfinde 125 98% 119K 7.2K 1.7K 230 2.0K 6.5K 100 2.3K 110 100 40 50K
Aquitaine 80 100% 77K 5.5K 2.5K 425 2.8K 5.0K 100 2.8K 0 20 40 165K
Wales 95 99% 93K 5.2K 925 130 700 5.0K 300 2.6K 60 50 20 15K
Eponia 80 100% 77K 4.3K 1.7K 280 3.0K 5.6K 100 2.2K 60 70 40 10K
Arrakis 60 71% 39K 2.0K 125 75 1.1K 4.7K 29 950 60 20 20 10K
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35K
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1.0K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Announcements since Sun Aug 5 00:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sun Aug 5 04:36:56 2012
A player observed that BigFish's new co-ruler is a dork.
Yes, yes he is.
But we love him anyway. Why, I suggest we take turns loving him.
- Arrakis (I'll bring the broom handle.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Aug 6 10:45:56 2012
Expect less than mercy
Expect only pain
Expect to die lonely
Only you in the rain
If the gods beg to query
Was your heart in the fight
Pray answer with honor
Admit then your fright
Deny the lightning
That seared thru your brain
Deny the anger
Keep rage on its chain
If Others continue
To question your right
Tell 'em to f*ck off
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Aug 6 17:59:16 2012
A player asked how to calculate sonar detection ranges.
Unfortunately, "info sonar" is silent on the topic.
Only ships within spy * tech factor sectors (rounded down) can be
detected, and can detect the sonar ping.
Example: dd have spy 4. dd below tech 100 have tech factor less than
0.5, so their maximum ship detection range is 1. From tech 100 until
400, it's 2.
The effective detection range scales linearly in sonar efficiency and
target visibility. 100% efficient sonar detects visibility >=20 at
maximum range, visibility 10 at half maximum range. Visibility below
10 is detected like 10.
Example: subs generally have visibility below 10. Efficient dd
detects them one sector away from tech 100 on.
Ships within the maximum range can detect the sonar ping at twice the
effective range, scaled by efficiency. Yes, that means a highly
visible ship is better at passive sonar. Yes, that's absurd.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Aug 6 18:06:07 2012
I think there should be a special provision
for countries whose names start with "Arrakis".
I also think it's unfair that I get blamed for the things I do.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Mon Aug 6 19:24:12 2012
You've got the spice. What more do you want?
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Aug 7 08:17:56 2012
As we plunge deeper into our (unavoidable) study of asymmetrical warfare,
it occurs to us that we're making far too much work of this.
We choose to bypass the tedious and dated procedures of shelling,
bombing and slaughter - amusing as they are - and declare victory.
Now, the silent assent is recognized by all First World courts,
and if that is incorrect we choose to ignore the facts.
We now wait the proscribed time allotment of 0 seconds
and sign the documents with the bloody stump provided
as a courtesy and subtle warning. There.
- Arrakis (I win)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Aug 7 08:22:42 2012
Nice try, Arrakis! But AFAIK, a victory statement needs to stand undisputed for
at least 60 ETUs (maybe Hanuman can correct me if I'm wrong here). And of
course, we dispute it right within the same ETU!
(Unless you include Eponia in the victory declaration, maybe...)
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Aug 7 08:26:42 2012
I ceremoniously hand the bloody stump to Eponia as co-winner.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Aug 7 08:30:28 2012
I guess we have to hand the bloody stump on to several other parties, in order
to avoid other bloody things from happening.
So, what about a joint Aquitaine-Arrakis-BigFish-Eponia-Germany-Hopeless-
Pathfinder-Rustasia-Wales victory over the evil alliance of Bunnyland-Cronus?
OK, doesn't exactly sound impressive. Guess we just have to fight on.
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Aug 7 08:40:54 2012
Dang.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 7 08:54:10 2012
Another round of answers to incredulous questions:
Yes, submarine sonar works exactly like surface ship sonar. In
particular, sb and dd sport the same equipment (both have spy 4).
Yes, a tech 100 sb sonar can detect a highly visible surface ship (vis
?= 20) at range 2, but a tech 99 one can detect it only at range 1.
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Tue Aug 7 19:49:32 2012
BigFish is using a peashooter.
Tue Aug 7 19:30 BigFish shells a ship owned by Arrakis ninety-one times
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Tue Aug 7 21:12:38 2012
The Barrel Joke (Stop me if you have heard it)
During the 1780s, our hero finds himself coming to after a night of binge
drinking. He realizes he is really sick because of bad rum and the fact that
he is on a ship way out at sea. He has been impressed into the navy.
the ship's 3rd mate is showing him around - where to sleep, where to eat, what
his duties are, etc. then the guy asks "What about women? What do we do when
we get in the mood?"
The 3rd mate says to follow him and goes down to the lowest hold in the ship.
There he is shown a standard wooden barrel with a 2" hole in about knee high.
He is told picture the barrel as a hooker and use his imagination. Then the
3rd mate leaves him alone with the order to perform
<<Interlude>>
Back on deck the guy re-appears and the 3rd mate asks "How was it?" The guy
is surprised and "actaully it was pretty good. How often can I use the barrel?"
"As often as you like, except on Thursdays"
"Why not Thursday?"
"Thursday is your turn in the barrel."
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Aug 8 07:31:38 2012
Tut, tut, tut -- guys, can't you behave...?
Mrs. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 8 07:39:37 2012
Christ, next thing you I'd go back to school, get a job,
cut my hair, swear off drugs'sex'rock'n'roll...
...or maybe just drugs, and buy a minivan.
- Arrakis (got an Aerostar for sale. No title.)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Aug 8 07:43:40 2012
On the insistance of my wife, a joke somewhat less dirty:
A: Hello, Hopeless here?
B: Hopeless -- is that really your name? Sounds quite strange...
A: Yes, that is my name. Sorry if you don't like it.
B: No Problem. I'm calling you with regard to your credit card, there's been a
problem...
A: Which one of my credit cards?
B: The one you last paid with yesterday in the brothel "Bunnyland", Mr.
Hopeless.
A: Mrs. Hopeless.
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 8 07:45:48 2012
Your wife? Is she single?
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Aug 8 07:46:04 2012
To: Arrakis
WHAT -- long hair!?
Well, that explains your recent losses.
Gen. Tack, Eponia (you're in the army now)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Aug 8 07:47:40 2012
To: Arrakis
Not yet.
Gen. Tack, Eponia (that mine didn't finish the job)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 8 07:48:59 2012
Strategic retreats.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 8 16:40:07 2012
Weeeeeell a Scotsman clad in kilt left a bar one evenin fair
--
No sense in typing that one all out since we all know how it goes.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 9 11:02:53 2012
A player inquired how much work a ship's crew can contribute to
repairs.
For civilian ships, it's (civ/2 + mil/5) per ETU.
For warships (can fire a gun), it's mil/2 per ETU.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 04:58:14 2012
?Your wife? Is she single?
It's pithy. It's an original. I made MYSELF giggle.
- Arrakis (That's worth a bar per word, right there.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 07:53:30 2012
Wow. Nukes in 2 updates, serious nukes in 4 updates.
Kinda spendy though. If I dist my bars to the highways
and grind it down, the dust will fit on 6 ore ships.
I'll send 'em to the first person to sink a BigFish carrier.
And no, dummy, sinking your own ship doesn't count.
- Arrakis (Imminent death is so...liberating, as to options.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 16:58:20 2012
In Neil Stephenson's novel "Reamde" <sic>
he asserts that serious gamers place a bucket
by their chair so they don't have to leave
the room to pee.
Which is just silly, when the cat litter box
is right under the table.
- Arrakis (It clumps.)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Aug 10 17:01:12 2012
Yeah, especially those "within 300 seconds after" can be quite unnerving...
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 17:25:15 2012
Got a disconnect notice from the ISP.
BigFish, bud, can I borrow $300? TIA.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 10 17:31:51 2012
Sure, that still leaves me with $15 . . . .
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 10 17:58:01 2012
A player inquired whether crippled airfield can still repair planes
effectively.
Airfields are better at repairing planes than other sectors,
regardless of efficiency. The crippled airfield will repair planes as
well as any other airfield.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 18:07:18 2012
Crap! My budget said otherwise.
(I live by trial'n'error. Some call it stumbling around.)
Maybe 'cause it was a recaptured airfield?
Besmirched by stenchy LittleFishies?
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 18:15:50 2012
...also, I sank the 1st Guppy carrier. My dust.
- Arrakis (Sorry)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 19:05:27 2012
Time out!
Gotta change the cat litter box.
- Arrakis (I have standards.)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Aug 10 19:21:18 2012
Poor cat...
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 19:23:49 2012
Neglected pussy.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 10 23:05:26 2012
Dear Mr. ^H^H^H Dr. Hanuman,
I wish to lodge the first formal complain of the game. Specifically, this
has to do with water. There is just too damn much of it in this game. Now
I am all for irrigation for the crops, even in games with no food. And I sure
do not complain about well tended beaches, especially the ones with the
European dress codes. (Side note - do NOT ask Gen. Tack if Mrs. Tack conforms
to those standards. Repeat - do not ask!) Anyway, back to the subject at hand -
Water. Because of the amount of water in this game, several sectors are
actually below said water. We could be putting these sectors to very good use.
Civilians and grad students, er, I mean uncompensated workers could be paying
taxes in these sectors and opening up Starbucks kiosks. Additionally, with
judicious removal of water at specific locations, land bridges between our
cozy neighbors can be realized. This gives rise to one of Empire's greatest
axioms - Good bridges make good neighbors.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 11 14:59:33 2012
*** Bug alert ***
bomb, drop, fly, paradrop, recon and sweep fail when given a
destination sector equal to the assembly point. Broken in 4.3.27.
This will be fixed in the next release. I will *not* patch this game.
Workaround: use path "h".
Hopeless receives five bars of gold for reporting the bug.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Aug 11 21:11:03 2012
General Carp looked at his tie rack. Finest silk, all of them. "I'll wear the
read one," he said to himself. "Red is a good color for conquest."
Earleir in the day he got the message that he knew was going to come sooner
rather than later. "Settlement of Bunnyland Complete. Head to Arrakis now."
Being the world recognized leader in turning occupied lands into productive
territories, General Carp knew he was going to get another big bonus. Hopefully
there would be something left for him to work with. He had heard rumors and
stories that the ship gunners and bomber pilots where placing side bets on who
took out the most Arraki's. 5 points for a mil, 3 poits for a civ, 1 for uw.
And the Mexican's did not count at all. the over and under was supposed to be
"somewhere around all of them" according to his aids.
General Carp made sure he had plenty of copies of his latest publication -
Get Shot or Convert. It's your choice. The Civilian's Guide to Occupation.
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Aug 11 21:16:28 2012
He knew it would be a best seller among the Arraki populace.
Dressed to kill, he left his chambers and headed to the docks. His flag ship
awaited. the Svelt Vixen was the pride of his personnel fleet, so was the all
Female buxom crew. "Fortunately," he thought "we do not have to sail at flank
speed. that will give the crew time for extra training."
General Carp was one of those impressive men that believed in the saying
"Do what you love and love what you do."
have been shrinking fast for two weeks running.
BigFish and Arrakis have wrought plenty of carnage on each other, but
the end of the road for Arrakis seems to be near now.
Hopeless ignored Eponia's plucky provocations, and went to war with
Rustasia instead.
The conflict between Pathfinder and Germany continues at low intensity.
Same for the Germany / Rustasia alliance's war on Wales.
A few physicists claim their "nuclear fission" plaything could produce
huge amounts of energy, with military applications. But everybody knows
these are just wacko eggheads trying to siphon some grant money off the
war effort.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Germany 180 98% 174K 8.2K 1.4K 295 2.6K 9.6K 50 5.2K 160 140 40 30K
Rustasia 130 95% 136K 5.1K 2.1K 210 4.9K 6.0K 1.1K 2.4K 110 120 30 25K
Hopeless 135 93% 117K 6.5K 1.7K 280 2.4K 10K 100 3.0K 120 130 50 55K
Pathfinde 125 98% 119K 7.2K 1.7K 230 2.0K 6.5K 100 2.3K 110 100 40 50K
Aquitaine 80 100% 77K 5.5K 2.5K 425 2.8K 5.0K 100 2.8K 0 20 40 165K
Wales 95 99% 93K 5.2K 925 130 700 5.0K 300 2.6K 60 50 20 15K
Eponia 80 100% 77K 4.3K 1.7K 280 3.0K 5.6K 100 2.2K 60 70 40 10K
Arrakis 60 71% 39K 2.0K 125 75 1.1K 4.7K 29 950 60 20 20 10K
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35K
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1.0K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 95% 1.0M 51K 14K 2.4K 23K 66K 2.8K 26K 850 830 310 395K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sun Aug 5 04:36:56 2012
A player observed that BigFish's new co-ruler is a dork.
Yes, yes he is.
But we love him anyway. Why, I suggest we take turns loving him.
- Arrakis (I'll bring the broom handle.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Aug 6 10:45:56 2012
Expect less than mercy
Expect only pain
Expect to die lonely
Only you in the rain
If the gods beg to query
Was your heart in the fight
Pray answer with honor
Admit then your fright
Deny the lightning
That seared thru your brain
Deny the anger
Keep rage on its chain
If Others continue
To question your right
Tell 'em to f*ck off
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Aug 6 17:59:16 2012
A player asked how to calculate sonar detection ranges.
Unfortunately, "info sonar" is silent on the topic.
Only ships within spy * tech factor sectors (rounded down) can be
detected, and can detect the sonar ping.
Example: dd have spy 4. dd below tech 100 have tech factor less than
0.5, so their maximum ship detection range is 1. From tech 100 until
400, it's 2.
The effective detection range scales linearly in sonar efficiency and
target visibility. 100% efficient sonar detects visibility >=20 at
maximum range, visibility 10 at half maximum range. Visibility below
10 is detected like 10.
Example: subs generally have visibility below 10. Efficient dd
detects them one sector away from tech 100 on.
Ships within the maximum range can detect the sonar ping at twice the
effective range, scaled by efficiency. Yes, that means a highly
visible ship is better at passive sonar. Yes, that's absurd.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Aug 6 18:06:07 2012
I think there should be a special provision
for countries whose names start with "Arrakis".
I also think it's unfair that I get blamed for the things I do.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Mon Aug 6 19:24:12 2012
You've got the spice. What more do you want?
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Aug 7 08:17:56 2012
As we plunge deeper into our (unavoidable) study of asymmetrical warfare,
it occurs to us that we're making far too much work of this.
We choose to bypass the tedious and dated procedures of shelling,
bombing and slaughter - amusing as they are - and declare victory.
Now, the silent assent is recognized by all First World courts,
and if that is incorrect we choose to ignore the facts.
We now wait the proscribed time allotment of 0 seconds
and sign the documents with the bloody stump provided
as a courtesy and subtle warning. There.
- Arrakis (I win)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Aug 7 08:22:42 2012
Nice try, Arrakis! But AFAIK, a victory statement needs to stand undisputed for
at least 60 ETUs (maybe Hanuman can correct me if I'm wrong here). And of
course, we dispute it right within the same ETU!
(Unless you include Eponia in the victory declaration, maybe...)
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Aug 7 08:26:42 2012
I ceremoniously hand the bloody stump to Eponia as co-winner.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Aug 7 08:30:28 2012
I guess we have to hand the bloody stump on to several other parties, in order
to avoid other bloody things from happening.
So, what about a joint Aquitaine-Arrakis-BigFish-Eponia-Germany-Hopeless-
Pathfinder-Rustasia-Wales victory over the evil alliance of Bunnyland-Cronus?
OK, doesn't exactly sound impressive. Guess we just have to fight on.
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Aug 7 08:40:54 2012
Dang.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 7 08:54:10 2012
Another round of answers to incredulous questions:
Yes, submarine sonar works exactly like surface ship sonar. In
particular, sb and dd sport the same equipment (both have spy 4).
Yes, a tech 100 sb sonar can detect a highly visible surface ship (vis
?= 20) at range 2, but a tech 99 one can detect it only at range 1.
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Tue Aug 7 19:49:32 2012
BigFish is using a peashooter.
Tue Aug 7 19:30 BigFish shells a ship owned by Arrakis ninety-one times
> Announcement from visitor, (#12) dated Tue Aug 7 21:12:38 2012
The Barrel Joke (Stop me if you have heard it)
During the 1780s, our hero finds himself coming to after a night of binge
drinking. He realizes he is really sick because of bad rum and the fact that
he is on a ship way out at sea. He has been impressed into the navy.
the ship's 3rd mate is showing him around - where to sleep, where to eat, what
his duties are, etc. then the guy asks "What about women? What do we do when
we get in the mood?"
The 3rd mate says to follow him and goes down to the lowest hold in the ship.
There he is shown a standard wooden barrel with a 2" hole in about knee high.
He is told picture the barrel as a hooker and use his imagination. Then the
3rd mate leaves him alone with the order to perform
<<Interlude>>
Back on deck the guy re-appears and the 3rd mate asks "How was it?" The guy
is surprised and "actaully it was pretty good. How often can I use the barrel?"
"As often as you like, except on Thursdays"
"Why not Thursday?"
"Thursday is your turn in the barrel."
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Aug 8 07:31:38 2012
Tut, tut, tut -- guys, can't you behave...?
Mrs. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 8 07:39:37 2012
Christ, next thing you I'd go back to school, get a job,
cut my hair, swear off drugs'sex'rock'n'roll...
...or maybe just drugs, and buy a minivan.
- Arrakis (got an Aerostar for sale. No title.)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Aug 8 07:43:40 2012
On the insistance of my wife, a joke somewhat less dirty:
A: Hello, Hopeless here?
B: Hopeless -- is that really your name? Sounds quite strange...
A: Yes, that is my name. Sorry if you don't like it.
B: No Problem. I'm calling you with regard to your credit card, there's been a
problem...
A: Which one of my credit cards?
B: The one you last paid with yesterday in the brothel "Bunnyland", Mr.
Hopeless.
A: Mrs. Hopeless.
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 8 07:45:48 2012
Your wife? Is she single?
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Aug 8 07:46:04 2012
To: Arrakis
WHAT -- long hair!?
Well, that explains your recent losses.
Gen. Tack, Eponia (you're in the army now)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Wed Aug 8 07:47:40 2012
To: Arrakis
Not yet.
Gen. Tack, Eponia (that mine didn't finish the job)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Wed Aug 8 07:48:59 2012
Strategic retreats.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 8 16:40:07 2012
Weeeeeell a Scotsman clad in kilt left a bar one evenin fair
--
No sense in typing that one all out since we all know how it goes.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Thu Aug 9 11:02:53 2012
A player inquired how much work a ship's crew can contribute to
repairs.
For civilian ships, it's (civ/2 + mil/5) per ETU.
For warships (can fire a gun), it's mil/2 per ETU.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 04:58:14 2012
?Your wife? Is she single?
It's pithy. It's an original. I made MYSELF giggle.
- Arrakis (That's worth a bar per word, right there.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 07:53:30 2012
Wow. Nukes in 2 updates, serious nukes in 4 updates.
Kinda spendy though. If I dist my bars to the highways
and grind it down, the dust will fit on 6 ore ships.
I'll send 'em to the first person to sink a BigFish carrier.
And no, dummy, sinking your own ship doesn't count.
- Arrakis (Imminent death is so...liberating, as to options.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 16:58:20 2012
In Neil Stephenson's novel "Reamde" <sic>
he asserts that serious gamers place a bucket
by their chair so they don't have to leave
the room to pee.
Which is just silly, when the cat litter box
is right under the table.
- Arrakis (It clumps.)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Aug 10 17:01:12 2012
Yeah, especially those "within 300 seconds after" can be quite unnerving...
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 17:25:15 2012
Got a disconnect notice from the ISP.
BigFish, bud, can I borrow $300? TIA.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 10 17:31:51 2012
Sure, that still leaves me with $15 . . . .
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 10 17:58:01 2012
A player inquired whether crippled airfield can still repair planes
effectively.
Airfields are better at repairing planes than other sectors,
regardless of efficiency. The crippled airfield will repair planes as
well as any other airfield.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 18:07:18 2012
Crap! My budget said otherwise.
(I live by trial'n'error. Some call it stumbling around.)
Maybe 'cause it was a recaptured airfield?
Besmirched by stenchy LittleFishies?
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 18:15:50 2012
...also, I sank the 1st Guppy carrier. My dust.
- Arrakis (Sorry)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 19:05:27 2012
Time out!
Gotta change the cat litter box.
- Arrakis (I have standards.)
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Fri Aug 10 19:21:18 2012
Poor cat...
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Fri Aug 10 19:23:49 2012
Neglected pussy.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 10 23:05:26 2012
Dear Mr. ^H^H^H Dr. Hanuman,
I wish to lodge the first formal complain of the game. Specifically, this
has to do with water. There is just too damn much of it in this game. Now
I am all for irrigation for the crops, even in games with no food. And I sure
do not complain about well tended beaches, especially the ones with the
European dress codes. (Side note - do NOT ask Gen. Tack if Mrs. Tack conforms
to those standards. Repeat - do not ask!) Anyway, back to the subject at hand -
Water. Because of the amount of water in this game, several sectors are
actually below said water. We could be putting these sectors to very good use.
Civilians and grad students, er, I mean uncompensated workers could be paying
taxes in these sectors and opening up Starbucks kiosks. Additionally, with
judicious removal of water at specific locations, land bridges between our
cozy neighbors can be realized. This gives rise to one of Empire's greatest
axioms - Good bridges make good neighbors.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Aug 11 14:59:33 2012
*** Bug alert ***
bomb, drop, fly, paradrop, recon and sweep fail when given a
destination sector equal to the assembly point. Broken in 4.3.27.
This will be fixed in the next release. I will *not* patch this game.
Workaround: use path "h".
Hopeless receives five bars of gold for reporting the bug.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Aug 11 21:11:03 2012
General Carp looked at his tie rack. Finest silk, all of them. "I'll wear the
read one," he said to himself. "Red is a good color for conquest."
Earleir in the day he got the message that he knew was going to come sooner
rather than later. "Settlement of Bunnyland Complete. Head to Arrakis now."
Being the world recognized leader in turning occupied lands into productive
territories, General Carp knew he was going to get another big bonus. Hopefully
there would be something left for him to work with. He had heard rumors and
stories that the ship gunners and bomber pilots where placing side bets on who
took out the most Arraki's. 5 points for a mil, 3 poits for a civ, 1 for uw.
And the Mexican's did not count at all. the over and under was supposed to be
"somewhere around all of them" according to his aids.
General Carp made sure he had plenty of copies of his latest publication -
Get Shot or Convert. It's your choice. The Civilian's Guide to Occupation.
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Aug 11 21:16:28 2012
He knew it would be a best seller among the Arraki populace.
Dressed to kill, he left his chambers and headed to the docks. His flag ship
awaited. the Svelt Vixen was the pride of his personnel fleet, so was the all
Female buxom crew. "Fortunately," he thought "we do not have to sail at flank
speed. that will give the crew time for extra training."
General Carp was one of those impressive men that believed in the saying
"Do what you love and love what you do."
Markus Armbruster
Aug 12, 2012, 4:44:09 AM8/12/12
to
We just completed week seven and update 22. The world's cash reserves
have been shrinking fast for two weeks running.
BigFish and Arrakis have wrought plenty of carnage on each other, but
the end of the road for Arrakis seems to be near now.
Hopeless ignored Eponia's plucky provocations, and went to war with
Rustasia instead.
The conflict between Pathfinder and Germany continues at low intensity.
Same for the Germany / Rustasia alliance's war on Wales.
A few physicists claim their "nuclear fission" plaything could produce
huge amounts of energy, with military applications. But everybody knows
these are just wacko eggheads trying to siphon some grant money off the
war effort.
have been shrinking fast for two weeks running.
BigFish and Arrakis have wrought plenty of carnage on each other, but
the end of the road for Arrakis seems to be near now.
Hopeless ignored Eponia's plucky provocations, and went to war with
Rustasia instead.
The conflict between Pathfinder and Germany continues at low intensity.
Same for the Germany / Rustasia alliance's war on Wales.
A few physicists claim their "nuclear fission" plaything could produce
huge amounts of energy, with military applications. But everybody knows
these are just wacko eggheads trying to siphon some grant money off the
war effort.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Aug 10 17:03:29 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 230 95% 208K 7.1K 2.1K 510 3.5K 14K 850 5.0K 170 170 40 315
Germany 180 98% 174K 8.2K 1.4K 295 2.6K 9.6K 50 5.2K 160 140 40 30K
Rustasia 130 95% 136K 5.1K 2.1K 210 4.9K 6.0K 1.1K 2.4K 110 120 30 25K
Hopeless 135 93% 117K 6.5K 1.7K 280 2.4K 10K 100 3.0K 120 130 50 55K
Pathfinde 125 98% 119K 7.2K 1.7K 230 2.0K 6.5K 100 2.3K 110 100 40 50K
Aquitaine 80 100% 77K 5.5K 2.5K 425 2.8K 5.0K 100 2.8K 0 20 40 165K
Wales 95 99% 93K 5.2K 925 130 700 5.0K 300 2.6K 60 50 20 15K
Eponia 80 100% 77K 4.3K 1.7K 280 3.0K 5.6K 100 2.2K 60 70 40 10K
Arrakis 60 71% 39K 2.0K 125 75 1.1K 4.7K 29 950 60 20 20 10K
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35K
Germany 180 98% 174K 8.2K 1.4K 295 2.6K 9.6K 50 5.2K 160 140 40 30K
Rustasia 130 95% 136K 5.1K 2.1K 210 4.9K 6.0K 1.1K 2.4K 110 120 30 25K
Hopeless 135 93% 117K 6.5K 1.7K 280 2.4K 10K 100 3.0K 120 130 50 55K
Pathfinde 125 98% 119K 7.2K 1.7K 230 2.0K 6.5K 100 2.3K 110 100 40 50K
Aquitaine 80 100% 77K 5.5K 2.5K 425 2.8K 5.0K 100 2.8K 0 20 40 165K
Wales 95 99% 93K 5.2K 925 130 700 5.0K 300 2.6K 60 50 20 15K
Eponia 80 100% 77K 4.3K 1.7K 280 3.0K 5.6K 100 2.2K 60 70 40 10K
Arrakis 60 71% 39K 2.0K 125 75 1.1K 4.7K 29 950 60 20 20 10K
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1.0K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 95% 1.0M 51K 14K 2.4K 23K 66K 2.8K 26K 850 830 310 395K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Aug 7 08:26:42 2012
I ceremoniously hand the bloody stump to Eponia as co-winner.
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Tue Aug 7 08:30:28 2012
I guess we have to hand the bloody stump on to several other parties, in order
to avoid other bloody things from happening.
So, what about a joint Aquitaine-Arrakis-BigFish-Eponia-Germany-Hopeless-
Pathfinder-Rustasia-Wales victory over the evil alliance of Bunnyland-Cronus?
OK, doesn't exactly sound impressive. Guess we just have to fight on.
Markus Armbruster
Aug 19, 2012, 3:48:31 AM8/19/12
to
Another week passed, and BigFish continued to roll. Arrakis finally
fell on Monday, and Tuesday saw BigFish invading Rustasia already.
Meanwhile, Hopeless took more of Rustasia, only to lose much of to
Rustasia's ally Germany. Wales managed to liberate some of the land
previously lost to Rustasia. The conflict between Pathfinder and
Germany still continues at low intensity.
Economists confidently forecast that Aquitaine will soon own all the
world's money, and BigFish all the world's land.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Aug 17 17:03:45 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 315 89% 243K 11K 3.7K 635 6.5K 16K 150 5.0K 210 220 70 150
Germany 195 90% 174K 8.5K 2.2K 360 2.5K 9.9K 100 5.0K 180 140 50 35K
Hopeless 135 93% 119K 6.5K 2.0K 390 2.0K 7.8K 100 2.2K 90 130 60 15K
Pathfinde 120 100% 120K 7.5K 2.6K 275 2.5K 6.5K 100 1.7K 140 110 40 15K
Rustasia 85 100% 92K 3.2K 2.5K 145 2.8K 6.2K 100 550 70 80 10 50K
Wales 95 98% 94K 5.6K 900 185 1.6K 5.2K 250 2.0K 80 50 30 10K
Aquitaine 80 100% 78K 5.5K 3.5K 530 3.9K 9.2K 100 2.1K 70 20 50 120K
Eponia 80 100% 76K 4.5K 2.1K 295 3.0K 6.5K 100 1.8K 70 60 50 1.8K
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 -1.8K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Announcements since Sun Aug 12 00:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Aug 13 19:08:28 2012
After only seven weeks, a player noticed that I put a broken link in
the MOTD. Fixed now.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 14 11:01:02 2012
A player shelled a sector to deity, then explored in. He wonders why
this didn't capture or destroy the planes owned by the former sector
owner there.
Sector takeover captures planes owned by the guy you take the sector
from. It doesn't do anything to planes owned by somebody else.
Shelling to deity changed the sector owner to POGO. The planes got
damaged in the process, but still belonged to the former sector owner.
Therefore, the sector takeover didn't touch them.
Not exactly intuitive behavior. Before 4.2.2, sector takeover
captured all planes. No idea why it was changed.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Aug 14 12:39:50 2012
see info pboard
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 14 12:41:57 2012
Son of a.....
I've been plating this game for months.
make that years.
And decades
And I never knew that command existed.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Aug 14 12:44:39 2012
Also note that if you make that sector an airfield
and add 'cms, the planes will repair and consume
resources. I guess POGO pays the money for it.
Then depending on relations those planes can fly.
There was a game some year back where a deity country
like the Natives in this game had planes. Since there were
no civs in the Natives airfield, the planes would not
be taken over and they would repair and keep interdicting
your ships.
That is why we now have the pboard command.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 14 12:46:57 2012
the game was "South Pacific I". and not only did they repair, but I scripts
running right before the update that dumped replacement mil and cms into sectors.
Boy did that piss off people.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 14 20:21:23 2012
General Carp was having a good day. No, not that mild. He was having a great
day. As always, he knew what was about to happen. His aid had just departed
his new Arraki occupation office. To call this place an office was a stretch.
After the way the battleships and B-17s had treated the countryside, you would
have had an easier time finding an intact porceline shop in Berlin on April, 45
than you would finding an outhouse in Arraki. Nothing was left standing. The
General's staff had improvised though and built his new headquarters out of
emptied cases of Jack Daniel. Such was the current state of missery among the
Arraki's.
After the aid left, the representative from the BigFish High Council entered.
Carp knew he had bad news. If it had been good news, the Council themselves
would have made the trip. With shaking hands, and utter fear in his eyes,
he simply handed the piece of paper over to the General.
Carp didn't even need to read the note. He knew what it said. But he read
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 14 20:34:58 2012
it aloud, in his most intimidating voice. (He hated poloticos, and their
lackies.) "Make quick work of Arraki settlement. Will need you soon in Rustasia."
General Carp had been monitoring the news. It wasn;t looking good for Rusty.
His front with Hopeless was collapsing faster than a two man ponzi scheme.
The Welsh were revolting. And aside from their lack of personal hygene, they
too were starting to attack Rustasia out posts.
Adding to the backdrop was the well know situation on Arrakis. "All Quiet on
the Arraki Front" meant the army, navy, air force, marines, and water boarders
needed a new target. Everybody knew that. Earlier in the day, as the General
was making his initial walk of the streets, an Arraki 3rd grader came up to
him and asked "where's yall army gunst to go now thet ya dun fucked us o'r?"
Naturally Carp did not answer and instead had the 18 year old sent to the iron
mines.
Yes General Carp knew before the first shell was fired that he was going to
Rustyland.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 15 07:14:04 2012
A player found the production efficiency of uranium mines as shown by
the production command in column p.e. much lower than he expected, and
asked me to explain.
The value in column p.e. is product's level p.e. times sector's p.e.
Level p.e. of rads can be found in "show product":
product cost raw materials reso dep level p.e.
rad r $2 uran 5 (tech-40)/(tech-30)
At tech 150, it's 0.916. This is what the player expected.
Sector p.e. is in "show sect c":
sector type product p.e.
u uranium mine rad 25%
Yields a production efficiency of 0.229.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 17 06:04:43 2012
A player made a suicidal attack. He got several "SHIP takes DAMAGE"
lines, and the combined damage exceeded efficiency. Yet the boat
still floated. How come?
When a ship takes DAMAGE, it's efficiency loss isn't DAMAGE, it's eff
* DAMAGE/100, rounded randomly.
Example: 100% ship takes 50 three times in a row. First time drops it
to 50%, second to 25%, third sinks it.
fell on Monday, and Tuesday saw BigFish invading Rustasia already.
Meanwhile, Hopeless took more of Rustasia, only to lose much of to
Rustasia's ally Germany. Wales managed to liberate some of the land
previously lost to Rustasia. The conflict between Pathfinder and
Germany still continues at low intensity.
Economists confidently forecast that Aquitaine will soon own all the
world's money, and BigFish all the world's land.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Germany 195 90% 174K 8.5K 2.2K 360 2.5K 9.9K 100 5.0K 180 140 50 35K
Hopeless 135 93% 119K 6.5K 2.0K 390 2.0K 7.8K 100 2.2K 90 130 60 15K
Pathfinde 120 100% 120K 7.5K 2.6K 275 2.5K 6.5K 100 1.7K 140 110 40 15K
Rustasia 85 100% 92K 3.2K 2.5K 145 2.8K 6.2K 100 550 70 80 10 50K
Wales 95 98% 94K 5.6K 900 185 1.6K 5.2K 250 2.0K 80 50 30 10K
Aquitaine 80 100% 78K 5.5K 3.5K 530 3.9K 9.2K 100 2.1K 70 20 50 120K
Eponia 80 100% 76K 4.5K 2.1K 295 3.0K 6.5K 100 1.8K 70 60 50 1.8K
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35K
Arrakis 0 0% 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 2 0 10K
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 -1.8K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 94% 996K 53K 20K 2.8K 25K 68K 1.0K 20K 920 820 360 295K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Mon Aug 13 19:08:28 2012
After only seven weeks, a player noticed that I put a broken link in
the MOTD. Fixed now.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 14 11:01:02 2012
A player shelled a sector to deity, then explored in. He wonders why
this didn't capture or destroy the planes owned by the former sector
owner there.
Sector takeover captures planes owned by the guy you take the sector
from. It doesn't do anything to planes owned by somebody else.
Shelling to deity changed the sector owner to POGO. The planes got
damaged in the process, but still belonged to the former sector owner.
Therefore, the sector takeover didn't touch them.
Not exactly intuitive behavior. Before 4.2.2, sector takeover
captured all planes. No idea why it was changed.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Aug 14 12:39:50 2012
see info pboard
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 14 12:41:57 2012
Son of a.....
I've been plating this game for months.
make that years.
And decades
And I never knew that command existed.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Aug 14 12:44:39 2012
Also note that if you make that sector an airfield
and add 'cms, the planes will repair and consume
resources. I guess POGO pays the money for it.
Then depending on relations those planes can fly.
There was a game some year back where a deity country
like the Natives in this game had planes. Since there were
no civs in the Natives airfield, the planes would not
be taken over and they would repair and keep interdicting
your ships.
That is why we now have the pboard command.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 14 12:46:57 2012
the game was "South Pacific I". and not only did they repair, but I scripts
running right before the update that dumped replacement mil and cms into sectors.
Boy did that piss off people.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 14 20:21:23 2012
General Carp was having a good day. No, not that mild. He was having a great
day. As always, he knew what was about to happen. His aid had just departed
his new Arraki occupation office. To call this place an office was a stretch.
After the way the battleships and B-17s had treated the countryside, you would
have had an easier time finding an intact porceline shop in Berlin on April, 45
than you would finding an outhouse in Arraki. Nothing was left standing. The
General's staff had improvised though and built his new headquarters out of
emptied cases of Jack Daniel. Such was the current state of missery among the
Arraki's.
After the aid left, the representative from the BigFish High Council entered.
Carp knew he had bad news. If it had been good news, the Council themselves
would have made the trip. With shaking hands, and utter fear in his eyes,
he simply handed the piece of paper over to the General.
Carp didn't even need to read the note. He knew what it said. But he read
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 14 20:34:58 2012
it aloud, in his most intimidating voice. (He hated poloticos, and their
lackies.) "Make quick work of Arraki settlement. Will need you soon in Rustasia."
General Carp had been monitoring the news. It wasn;t looking good for Rusty.
His front with Hopeless was collapsing faster than a two man ponzi scheme.
The Welsh were revolting. And aside from their lack of personal hygene, they
too were starting to attack Rustasia out posts.
Adding to the backdrop was the well know situation on Arrakis. "All Quiet on
the Arraki Front" meant the army, navy, air force, marines, and water boarders
needed a new target. Everybody knew that. Earlier in the day, as the General
was making his initial walk of the streets, an Arraki 3rd grader came up to
him and asked "where's yall army gunst to go now thet ya dun fucked us o'r?"
Naturally Carp did not answer and instead had the 18 year old sent to the iron
mines.
Yes General Carp knew before the first shell was fired that he was going to
Rustyland.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 15 07:14:04 2012
A player found the production efficiency of uranium mines as shown by
the production command in column p.e. much lower than he expected, and
asked me to explain.
The value in column p.e. is product's level p.e. times sector's p.e.
Level p.e. of rads can be found in "show product":
product cost raw materials reso dep level p.e.
rad r $2 uran 5 (tech-40)/(tech-30)
At tech 150, it's 0.916. This is what the player expected.
Sector p.e. is in "show sect c":
sector type product p.e.
u uranium mine rad 25%
Yields a production efficiency of 0.229.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 17 06:04:43 2012
A player made a suicidal attack. He got several "SHIP takes DAMAGE"
lines, and the combined damage exceeded efficiency. Yet the boat
still floated. How come?
When a ship takes DAMAGE, it's efficiency loss isn't DAMAGE, it's eff
* DAMAGE/100, rounded randomly.
Example: 100% ship takes 50 three times in a row. First time drops it
to 50%, second to 25%, third sinks it.
Markus Armbruster
Aug 27, 2012, 1:02:08 PM8/27/12
to
This week, BigFish annihilated Eponia (capital sack #4), and conquered
Rustasia (sack #5). Hopeless retook everything previously lost to
Eponia, plus interest, advanced a bit on Rustasia, and had to retreat a
bit from Germany. Germany announced game over, but no fat lady willing
to sing could be found for now. Wales pushed Germany back close to the
starting line of their conflict. Pathfinder increased the pressure on
Germany further, and won some ground.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Aug 24 17:02:57 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 435 89% 336K 11K 7.3K 870 10K 31K 300 7.8K 340 270 110 35K
Germany 205 93% 179K 8.2K 2.7K 425 4.0K 11K 100 4.0K 190 130 50 20K
Hopeless 150 97% 143K 5.2K 3.5K 380 4.0K 7.4K 100 1.5K 100 130 40 5.0K
Pathfinde 125 100% 123K 7.8K 3.9K 345 2.8K 7.4K 100 2.1K 140 110 50 4.5K
Wales 105 95% 97K 6.0K 1.5K 180 1.6K 6.3K 200 1.8K 90 50 20 10K
Aquitaine 80 100% 77K 6.6K 4.0K 615 4.7K 14K 100 1.6K 100 30 50 55K
Rustasia 15 100% 21K 1.1K 350 40 1.2K 0 0 100 30 60 3 30K
Eponia 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
Announcements since Sun Aug 19 00:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Aug 19 14:17:20 2012
Hit by the one weapon that does more damage than shells, bombs, torpedos, and
nukes together: treason.
Not by BigFish, actually. I knew from the very start he'd turn against me
sooner or later. But that was no more than cleaning up after the achieved fact.
Since the strike was deadly, we've dismantled what remained of our armed forces.
I don't trust anyone, and we're leaving as little as possible of value behind.
Well, I guess I'll finally settle down. Somewhere peaceful.
Maybe as a monk...
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sun Aug 19 15:14:36 2012
A player wonders why his infantries use so much mobility when
attacking.
The root cause is the high cost of marching into the target sector.
"show sect s" shows mobility cost of sector types. They varies from
0.0 (100% highway) to 2.4 (0% mountain), but for "normal" sectors,
it's between 0.2 and 0.4, depending on efficiency. Let's call it M.
Land units are charged max(M, 0.02). Except when marching into a
newly taken sector (approximated by "out of mob and old own != own")
or when attacking a sector old-owned by somebody else, they're charged
M + 0.2. This is to limit penetration depth with land units.
When you attack a sector, all attacking land units pay the sector's
mobility cost. If you win, land units that move in pay it *again*.
On top of that, infantry are *slow* in Hvy Plastic/Metal games. It
takes a tech 100 inf 20 mob to enter a sector with mobility cost 0.2.
Thus, it pays 2 mob for zipping along a friendly 100% highway, but
attacking and moving into a 100% highway costs a whopping 40 mob just
for moving, not counting combat. Attacking a 0% mine costs 120.
Note that liberating sectors you still old-own is cheaper.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 19:07:28 2012
**ATTENSHIONI ATTENSHIONI**
The High Council of BigFish is giving official notification that we are
cancelling our non-aggression agreement with Germany.
As is standard practice, we will allow Germany Three (3) updates to put
his affairs in order and to make peace with his creator.
may God have mercy on his sectors.
The rest of you may go back to your Italian Lessons.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 21:18:35 2012
Carp sat back on the fine Epanonian leather Settee. His parlor collection now
included a Arraki ottoman, a fur lined recliner from Bunnyland, and now this
highly crafter sofa. Still, Carp was not happy. Across from him sat the lowest
of all breeds - an actual member of the High Council.
It was a necessary evil to work with these men. At least Carp knew that he was
much more in control of his destiny than most others. All others, actually.
Carp studied the Council member. Despite the fact that the man wielded a tremendous
amount of power, Carp thought that there was great irony in his gaunt, weak looking
frame. Still, one does not take over the universe by working out in the gym.
and when it came down to money or muscles, women always choose the man with the
money. Always.
but that was enough dissection. Carp grew impatient. And Carp alone did not
have to put up with Butt kissing pleasantries. "You did not come all the way
from the Home island to sample my tea collection. Why are you here?"
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 21:28:50 2012
"The Council wishes to reward you, General Carp."
"It is Field Marshall Carp, now."
"Really? I didn't know. When did that promotion come through?"
"About 5 minutes before you got here. I filed the paperwork myself and approved
it myself. Nobody seemed to object."
"Nor should they. You have reached production levels on Arrakis higher than the
Arraki's achieved. And you did it in record time."
Carp was waiting for the weezing bureaucrat to get to the punch line. It always
took them a long time. It made them feel important.
"What is the nature of this reward?" In his travels and accomplishments Carp
had managed to gain every measure of wealth a human could collect. Expensive
wines, fine clothes, three breasted women, and more money than he could count - or spend.
The snivelly little man looked quite jolly as he replied "We are going to allow
you to retire."
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 21:37:19 2012
Later in the evening, as Carp watched the High Council member's yacht leave the
harbor for the Home island, he reviewed the note he sent with the Council member
in his mind. He of course did not wish to retire. That was not in his personallity.
But was his response worded too gently? would it get to the point without
being to terse and offensive? Was he clear enough in his wishes to stay on in
his current role? Sometimes the written word can be so deceiving.
Perhaps the fact that the returning High Council Member was holding the note, for
all to read, in both hands outstreteched, while entombed in 4 feet of clear
plexiglass would make his intentions clear.
And perhaps the Capitol Clowns would not stop bothering him. After all there
were unruley civilians to bomb, che to be executed in the town squares, and
slaves to be sent to the mines.
Field Marshll Carp loved his job and his life too much to retire.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 23:17:11 2012
$&#*$(^$ typoes.
"And perhaps the Capitol Clowns would **NOW** stop bothering him."
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Aug 20 05:06:26 2012
}"And perhaps the Capitol Clowns would **NOW** stop bothering him."
Good luck with that.
And that Arraki Ottoman you've been enjoying?
- Arrakis (He has herpes.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Aug 20 17:00:58 2012
Quiet-assed update today
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Mon Aug 20 21:42:39 2012
You speak for yourself - shells and bombs exploding
continuously on Cronus homeland!
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Mon Aug 20 22:15:40 2012
What this game needs are tugboats.
Something that will tow that 25% efficient ship
into a harbour 2 sectors away, rather than have
to wait another update before it can get repaired!
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Tue Aug 21 00:23:42 2012
}Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Mon Aug 20 22:15:40 2012
}What this game needs are tugboats.
}into a harbour 2 sectors away, rather than have
}to wait another update before it can get repaired!
Hard to implement without creating a range extender
abuse for shipping. Sail tugs out ahead of the other ship,
place it at limit of the other ships 127 mobility reach.
Next update the ship sails to the tug, exhausting it's mobility.
tug then gets it and moves it x extra sectors, thats bad.
Other abuses possible, chain of tug boats moving ships
completely around the globe in one update, etc...
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 21 05:40:21 2012
A player wondered why the game has trains even though infrastructure
is disabled.
Check out "info Railroad". Option RAILWAYS is enabled in this game.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Aug 21 20:43:39 2012
Won the battle, but lost the war!
Good game folks!
I pledge all my bars to Hanuman for setting up the game and running it so smoothly!
Look forward to playing again!!
Cheers!
Rustasia (sack #5). Hopeless retook everything previously lost to
Eponia, plus interest, advanced a bit on Rustasia, and had to retreat a
bit from Germany. Germany announced game over, but no fat lady willing
to sing could be found for now. Wales pushed Germany back close to the
starting line of their conflict. Pathfinder increased the pressure on
Germany further, and won some ground.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
Germany 205 93% 179K 8.2K 2.7K 425 4.0K 11K 100 4.0K 190 130 50 20K
Hopeless 150 97% 143K 5.2K 3.5K 380 4.0K 7.4K 100 1.5K 100 130 40 5.0K
Pathfinde 125 100% 123K 7.8K 3.9K 345 2.8K 7.4K 100 2.1K 140 110 50 4.5K
Wales 105 95% 97K 6.0K 1.5K 180 1.6K 6.3K 200 1.8K 90 50 20 10K
Aquitaine 80 100% 77K 6.6K 4.0K 615 4.7K 14K 100 1.6K 100 30 50 55K
Rustasia 15 100% 21K 1.1K 350 40 1.2K 0 0 100 30 60 3 30K
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35K
Arrakis 0 0% 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 10K
Eponia 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10K
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 93% 975K 46K 23K 2.9K 28K 77K 850 19K 990 790 310 215K
Hvy Plastic is 3 running at empire.pond.sub.org, port 6665. Check out
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
> Announcement from Eponia, (#10) dated Sun Aug 19 14:17:20 2012
Hit by the one weapon that does more damage than shells, bombs, torpedos, and
nukes together: treason.
Not by BigFish, actually. I knew from the very start he'd turn against me
sooner or later. But that was no more than cleaning up after the achieved fact.
Since the strike was deadly, we've dismantled what remained of our armed forces.
I don't trust anyone, and we're leaving as little as possible of value behind.
Well, I guess I'll finally settle down. Somewhere peaceful.
Maybe as a monk...
Gen. Tack, Eponia
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sun Aug 19 15:14:36 2012
A player wonders why his infantries use so much mobility when
attacking.
The root cause is the high cost of marching into the target sector.
"show sect s" shows mobility cost of sector types. They varies from
0.0 (100% highway) to 2.4 (0% mountain), but for "normal" sectors,
it's between 0.2 and 0.4, depending on efficiency. Let's call it M.
Land units are charged max(M, 0.02). Except when marching into a
newly taken sector (approximated by "out of mob and old own != own")
or when attacking a sector old-owned by somebody else, they're charged
M + 0.2. This is to limit penetration depth with land units.
When you attack a sector, all attacking land units pay the sector's
mobility cost. If you win, land units that move in pay it *again*.
On top of that, infantry are *slow* in Hvy Plastic/Metal games. It
takes a tech 100 inf 20 mob to enter a sector with mobility cost 0.2.
Thus, it pays 2 mob for zipping along a friendly 100% highway, but
attacking and moving into a 100% highway costs a whopping 40 mob just
for moving, not counting combat. Attacking a 0% mine costs 120.
Note that liberating sectors you still old-own is cheaper.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 19:07:28 2012
**ATTENSHIONI ATTENSHIONI**
The High Council of BigFish is giving official notification that we are
cancelling our non-aggression agreement with Germany.
As is standard practice, we will allow Germany Three (3) updates to put
his affairs in order and to make peace with his creator.
may God have mercy on his sectors.
The rest of you may go back to your Italian Lessons.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 21:18:35 2012
Carp sat back on the fine Epanonian leather Settee. His parlor collection now
included a Arraki ottoman, a fur lined recliner from Bunnyland, and now this
highly crafter sofa. Still, Carp was not happy. Across from him sat the lowest
of all breeds - an actual member of the High Council.
It was a necessary evil to work with these men. At least Carp knew that he was
much more in control of his destiny than most others. All others, actually.
Carp studied the Council member. Despite the fact that the man wielded a tremendous
amount of power, Carp thought that there was great irony in his gaunt, weak looking
frame. Still, one does not take over the universe by working out in the gym.
and when it came down to money or muscles, women always choose the man with the
money. Always.
but that was enough dissection. Carp grew impatient. And Carp alone did not
have to put up with Butt kissing pleasantries. "You did not come all the way
from the Home island to sample my tea collection. Why are you here?"
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 21:28:50 2012
"The Council wishes to reward you, General Carp."
"It is Field Marshall Carp, now."
"Really? I didn't know. When did that promotion come through?"
"About 5 minutes before you got here. I filed the paperwork myself and approved
it myself. Nobody seemed to object."
"Nor should they. You have reached production levels on Arrakis higher than the
Arraki's achieved. And you did it in record time."
Carp was waiting for the weezing bureaucrat to get to the punch line. It always
took them a long time. It made them feel important.
"What is the nature of this reward?" In his travels and accomplishments Carp
had managed to gain every measure of wealth a human could collect. Expensive
wines, fine clothes, three breasted women, and more money than he could count - or spend.
The snivelly little man looked quite jolly as he replied "We are going to allow
you to retire."
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 21:37:19 2012
Later in the evening, as Carp watched the High Council member's yacht leave the
harbor for the Home island, he reviewed the note he sent with the Council member
in his mind. He of course did not wish to retire. That was not in his personallity.
But was his response worded too gently? would it get to the point without
being to terse and offensive? Was he clear enough in his wishes to stay on in
his current role? Sometimes the written word can be so deceiving.
Perhaps the fact that the returning High Council Member was holding the note, for
all to read, in both hands outstreteched, while entombed in 4 feet of clear
plexiglass would make his intentions clear.
And perhaps the Capitol Clowns would not stop bothering him. After all there
were unruley civilians to bomb, che to be executed in the town squares, and
slaves to be sent to the mines.
Field Marshll Carp loved his job and his life too much to retire.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sun Aug 19 23:17:11 2012
$&#*$(^$ typoes.
"And perhaps the Capitol Clowns would **NOW** stop bothering him."
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Mon Aug 20 05:06:26 2012
}"And perhaps the Capitol Clowns would **NOW** stop bothering him."
Good luck with that.
And that Arraki Ottoman you've been enjoying?
- Arrakis (He has herpes.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Aug 20 17:00:58 2012
Quiet-assed update today
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Mon Aug 20 21:42:39 2012
You speak for yourself - shells and bombs exploding
continuously on Cronus homeland!
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Mon Aug 20 22:15:40 2012
What this game needs are tugboats.
Something that will tow that 25% efficient ship
into a harbour 2 sectors away, rather than have
to wait another update before it can get repaired!
> Announcement from Plundaria, (#14) dated Tue Aug 21 00:23:42 2012
}Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Mon Aug 20 22:15:40 2012
}What this game needs are tugboats.
}into a harbour 2 sectors away, rather than have
}to wait another update before it can get repaired!
Hard to implement without creating a range extender
abuse for shipping. Sail tugs out ahead of the other ship,
place it at limit of the other ships 127 mobility reach.
Next update the ship sails to the tug, exhausting it's mobility.
tug then gets it and moves it x extra sectors, thats bad.
Other abuses possible, chain of tug boats moving ships
completely around the globe in one update, etc...
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 21 05:40:21 2012
A player wondered why the game has trains even though infrastructure
is disabled.
Check out "info Railroad". Option RAILWAYS is enabled in this game.
> Announcement from Germany, (#3) dated Tue Aug 21 20:43:39 2012
Won the battle, but lost the war!
Good game folks!
I pledge all my bars to Hanuman for setting up the game and running it so smoothly!
Look forward to playing again!!
Cheers!
Markus Armbruster
Sep 5, 2012, 12:24:17 PM9/5/12
to
Hvy Plastic 3 is over, BigFish, Hopeless and Pathfinder won.
Congratulations!
Active German resistance ceased the previous week already, with an
announcement conceding defeat. Folks still had fun throwing stuff at
his passive defenses, culminating in a Hopeless megaton KABOOM!
The game's web site[1] has maps[2] and graphs[3] for your enjoyment.
Thanks for playing, thanks for kibitzing, hope to see you again in
another game!
[1] http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
[2] http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/maps.html
[3] http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/graphs.html
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Aug 31 17:03:35 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 522 93% 409K 13K 11K 1.2K 11K 43K 1.2K 7.6K 350 286 107 76K
27049.08
Hopeless 188 86% 157K 6.5K 5.2K 411 5.1K 6.3K 72 1.8K 118 128 46 9.1K
9941.54
Pathfinde 154 96% 145K 7.8K 3.7K 408 3.3K 7.3K 31 2.1K 111 111 43 8.9K
9126.90
Wales 118 93% 105K 5.8K 2.4K 257 2.5K 6.2K 144 1.6K 89 63 24 8.4K
6162.40
Aquitaine 78 100% 77K 7.8K 4.8K 687 5.4K 16K 120 2.9K 104 34 48 52K
5552.89
Germany 47 28% 34K 1.4K 278 57 1.2K 1.8K 8 960 0 48 13 29K
1880.32
Rustasia 0 0% 4.2K 208 133 18 0 0 0 0 0 30 0 17K
339.53
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36K
54.07
Arrakis 0 0% 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 9.2K
35.38
Eponia 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.8K
28.20
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 140 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 -6.0K
-5.27
See the appended announcements for the final tech levels, deity awards,
and more.
Announcements since Sun Aug 26 00:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 28 06:53:45 2012
A player inquired whether happiness affects how fast occupied
civilians assimilate, i.e. you become its old owner.
Yes, it does, indirectly through "loyalty".
You become the old owner of a sector when its loyalty maxes out at the
update.
"info Citizens" has a paragraph on loyalty, but neglects to mention
assimilation. It explains "loyalty changes during the update by
happiness or lack thereof".
"info Happiness" hints at the required level of happiness depending on
tech and education.
"info nation" has a bit more:
If you have at least the happiness mentioned in the last line [of
nation's output], your sector's loyalty won't have a chance to go
down. Otherwise, each update, the chance is the number above -
your happiness / 5.0.
Not mentioned, but important: if loyalty isn't perfect after the
loyalty change for happiness, there's a random loyalty change. The
expected delta of both changes together is positive even when your
happiness is insufficient. Without that, occupied civilians would
never assimilate when happiness is insufficient.
Command apropos lets you search the info pages. "apropos loyalty"
shows all of the pages quoted above.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Aug 28 10:09:44 2012
eyyhhh, where the hell is my powerchart entry??? I still have more
ships and mil than Cronus/Arrakis/Eponia! *schnueffs*
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 28 10:55:28 2012
Try "pow c 1".
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Aug 28 13:09:22 2012
yes, already got this, but why am I dropped off?
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Aug 28 13:51:11 2012
You drop off the power chart when you calculated 'power' is nagative.
Your negative cash balance cancels out the assumed power value of your
ships and mil.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 28 14:34:49 2012
And we made sure to keep your frigates around with all your mil so you would
go broke and (eventually) drop off the power chart.
Just a little partintg gift :)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Aug 28 18:47:27 2012
:-P
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 28 20:18:54 2012
A player observed small attacks using up large amounts of sector
mobility. How come?
This puzzled me. But I figured it out.
"info Attacking" lists 15 combat steps. The following four of them
deal with sector mobility:
(2) Ask the aggressor further details about the offensive force.
Calculate mobility cost to move attacking military into the
target sector. Mobility is to be charged in step 12.
(6) Fight.
Calculate mobility cost for casualties. Mobility is to be
charged in step 12.
(12) Remove mobility from the aggressor's sectors/ship.
Charge mobility calculated in steps (2) and (6).
(13) Possibly ask the aggressor for mil and units to move into the target.
Charge mobility for the move.
The cost of moving a few military is small, and can't explain the
large mobility use the player observed. That leaves casualty mobility
cost.
Turns out the formula to compute that is silly: sector mob *
casualties / total sector military. So, if you attack with 1 of 2
military, and the guy dies, half of your mobility evaporates.
I don't yet know when this silly rule was added, but I'm going to find
out. And I'll seriously consider changing it.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 29 12:04:35 2012
Shakespeare in Dixie
Soliloquy for an Adversary: Act IV - A Win Declared
--
Sir Lawrence Olivier as BigFish
Alan Rickman as Hopeless
Larry the Cable Guy as Pathfinder
Robert Reid as Rustasia
Patrick Stewart as Germany
Carrot Top as Wales
Chuck Barris as Aquitaine
--
The curtain raises, with BigFish (BF), Hopeless (HL), and Pathfinder (PF) standing over the
bodies of Rustasia and Germany, both of whom have been brutally murdered.
--
(BF) Forsooth, their demise were predicted by the Oracle of Carver County
(HL) Howeth did-in she have the cap-a-bilty to cipher such a pridiction?
(BF) For she be-it a medium.
(PF) She keeps eatin at the Chicken Shack like that and sheal be a large
real soon. (I don't care where you come from, that's funny)
(HL) Dus no one have a kind werd for these two rubes?
(PF) The gud lord will shurtly find their just ree-ward. Perhaps for a few copper
coins Wails will dig them each a grave and roll dem into their pits.
(Cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 29 12:08:45 2012
(BF) Yeah, lest the buzzards and jackals cheweth on thy bones
(PF) And they then smell worser than when my dog eats him all the cheese
and dumpeth in my spittoon.
(HL) Or when the cooling system dyeth on a hot summer ev-nin at the
(HL) Or when the cooling system dyeth on a hot summer ev-nin at the
cat house - on dallar night
(BF) That be-it enough examples, good men.
(PF) Why oh so does we lament the dyin of these here men and their passin on tuh the next world?
(HL) Why, so for when we come to the same fate, we also will be remembered,
as happens ta alls of us.
(BF) Nay, we stand here tuh gloat and boast, ta beat our chests, and shaketh
our extra large members. Like the killin of the wild hog or the taken of the
vur-gin right a-for her weddin day, we carve a nuther notch in our clients.
Let the dyd bury themselves.
(PF) They just be one more spect to ponder now, as night closet on this scene
(HL) Shirley you speak of the rape of Aquitaine, who mayeth finally cry in audible silence
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 29 12:09:51 2012
(BF) Or do we lower the drapes of this scene and findeth us each a cold beer and a warm woman?
(PF) Ar, but who be-ith Shirley?
--
As the flies gather on the two corpses, the curtain lowers.
End of Act IV.
End of Soliloquy for an Adversary
End of Heavy Plastic
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 29 16:00:55 2012
*** Attention, please ***
A joint victory declaration by BigFish / Hopeless / Pathfinder is
pending.
Viable countries (Aquitaine, Germany, Wales), please announce
acceptance or opposition until Thursday, 17:00 UTC (halfway between
updates 30 and 31).
Non-viable countries are welcome to announce, but their opposition
doesn't count.
If the victory declaration stands, then the game state right before
update 31 will be final. I'll leave updates enabled for some post
game fun.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Wed Aug 29 17:32:03 2012
Soooooo satisfying...
Command: launch 89
srbm Atlas #89 at 32,12; range 12, eff 100%
Target sector?49,19
Preparing to launch srbm Atlas #89 at Germany sector 49,19
Launching from 32,12
SHWOOOOOSH! Missile launched!
Arming nuclear warheads...
Releasing RV's for airburst detonation...
K A B O O O O O O O O O O O O M ! in 49,19
did 12% damage in 44,14
did 12% damage in 46,14
did 12% damage in 48,14
did 12% damage in 50,14
did 12% damage in 52,14
did 12% damage in 54,14
did 12% damage in 43,15
did 32% damage in 45,15
did 32% damage in 47,15
did 32% damage in 49,15
did 32% damage in 51,15
did 32% damage in 53,15
did 12% damage in 55,15
did 12% damage in 42,16
did 32% damage in 44,16
did 52% damage in 46,16
did 52% damage in 48,16
did 52% damage in 50,16
did 52% damage in 52,16
did 32% damage in 54,16
did 12% damage in 56,16
did 12% damage in 41,17
did 32% damage in 43,17
did 52% damage in 45,17
did 72% damage in 47,17
did 72% damage in 49,17
did 72% damage in 51,17
did 52% damage in 53,17
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Wed Aug 29 17:39:54 2012
did 32% damage in 55,17
did 12% damage in 57,17
did 12% damage in 40,18
did 32% damage in 42,18
did 52% damage in 44,18
did 72% damage in 46,18
did 92% damage in 48,18
did 92% damage in 50,18
did 72% damage in 52,18
did 52% damage in 54,18
did 32% damage in 56,18
did 12% damage in 58,18
did 12% damage in 39,19
did 32% damage in 41,19
did 52% damage in 43,19
did 72% damage in 45,19
did 92% damage in 47,19
turned 49,19 into a radioactive wasteland
did 92% damage in 51,19
did 72% damage in 53,19
did 52% damage in 55,19
did 32% damage in 57,19
did 12% damage in 59,19
did 12% damage in 40,20
did 32% damage in 42,20
did 52% damage in 44,20
did 72% damage in 46,20
did 92% damage in 48,20
did 92% damage in 50,20
did 72% damage in 52,20
did 52% damage in 54,20
did 32% damage in 56,20
did 12% damage in 58,20
did 12% damage in 41,21
did 32% damage in 43,21
did 52% damage in 45,21
did 72% damage in 47,21
did 72% damage in 49,21
did 72% damage in 51,21
did 52% damage in 53,21
did 32% damage in 55,21
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Wed Aug 29 17:40:19 2012
did 12% damage in 57,21
did 12% damage in 42,22
did 32% damage in 44,22
did 52% damage in 46,22
did 52% damage in 48,22
did 52% damage in 50,22
did 52% damage in 52,22
did 32% damage in 54,22
did 12% damage in 56,22
did 12% damage in 43,23
did 32% damage in 45,23
did 32% damage in 47,23
did 32% damage in 49,23
did 32% damage in 51,23
did 32% damage in 53,23
did 12% damage in 55,23
did 12% damage in 44,24
did 12% damage in 46,24
did 12% damage in 48,24
did 12% damage in 50,24
did 12% damage in 52,24
did 12% damage in 54,24
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 29 21:16:54 2012
Well, if we officially pretend the game is over, then we can dump some the secret stats:
Bars - 7299 + 196 being made this update
Tech = 188.7
total Income - $306K
uws - 232K
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Wed Aug 29 22:48:00 2012
I was going to agree to the declaration grudgingly...then I noticed that
updates will continue so my sole grudge has been dispelled.
I want to kick my opponents (Rustasia and Germany)while they are
down...since I could not do it while they were still playing. :)
Complete acceptance of the declaration given.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 31 13:05:14 2012
A few comments on the setup:
I understand the limit on oil and iron to make these
commodities valuable. However, I spent a lot of this game
pushing arround tankers and cargo ships and it was annoying.
I think I prefer a game where cash is the limiting factor.
The amount of water definately gave rise to large navies
since the f2s could only reach your opponents from carriers.
Charging maintenance for forts is a good idea. Perhaps it
should be even higher to make one really consider the cost.
Perhaps the natives should have some civs and some other defense
to make them a little harder to overrun.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 31 14:16:44 2012
I also did not like the neutering of infs. You need them
to get large quantities of mil at the beachhead. However,
they only attack 1 sector and then they are done. This basicly
limits them to defense. Offense against an active player
then must be won in the air since there is no way to establish
a large enough beachhead. Fortfire will smash any beachhead that
is only 2 sectors deep.
By the time faster units that could penetrate we available,
so were transports and jets that meant penetration was from the air.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 31 14:24:08 2012
I very much appreciate comments on the game setup! Your chance
to influence future games. Bring 'em on!
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 31 15:11:27 2012
Oh goody, to comment phase.
1 - I hate the power chart like this. Basically, less information is available.
and that benfits the better players. Of course that assumes that the lesser
skilled players know what to do with the information.
2 - Agree with Hopeless on the inf units. You can't take away all the offensive
tools early on and expect people to go on the offensive.
3 - Limiting the iron was in interestng exercise. But I think it failed. Once
again, limiting resources only favors the better players.
4 - 999 production limit? Why and who?
5 - Limited oil did not really limit us that much. And we really didn't have
many tankers. But then again we did have a few more start islands than every
one else.
6 - The 5X dust and oil per resource point - Can't stand this one either. Takes
way too long to empty a sector. Might as well just enable go_renew.
7 - I do like the mountian renew though.
8 - 80 mob max for units. I have yet to understand why people want to limit
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 31 15:22:58 2012
the effectivinesses of the offensive forces. The fun part of the game is not
derived from logging on, finding three dozen telegrams, and figuring out that
your defenses held. Generally, this game is played by pro-active megalomaniacs.
9 - I liked the earlier introduction of the nuclear weapons, not that we needed
to utilize them though. But had the game had more players and gone longer,
our stratagy would have been different. We would have pushed tech harder and
used the nukes as defense cripplers.
10 - With the limited iron and the large oceans, it would have been interesting
to see what people would have done with trade ships. though money was not a
huge driver in this game.
11 - It's a big world, but I wouldn't want to paint it.
12 - Would like to see a game that is not island dominated, maybe 3-5 players per
start continent. Of course you need a few more players to make that happen.
If I think of anything else, I will let you know.
Pat, AKA Overlord (BigFish can add his own comments!)
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Fri Aug 31 16:33:06 2012
I have to say that I liked this game. I tend to be
defensive in my development, which means that I lose out
to the better players who have good offensive development.
One thing that I enjoyed is that this was not just a
cookie cutter game from a standard description.
Having to think about the development in different way
than usual is, IMHO, a good thing. Yes there were limitations
that caused me to have to modify my approach...again, it
made me think more before acting...and I like that.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 31 17:07:14 2012
*** Hvy Plastic 3 "Explosive Materials" is over ***
Congratulations to the winners BigFish, Hopeless and Pathfinder!
I'll leave updates enabled for a while at players' request.
Stay tuned for Deity Awards. A final game report will be posted to
rec.games.empire. It will also appear on the game's web page along
with pretty maps and graphs for my fellow data junkies.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
as of Fri Aug 31 17:03:35 2012
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
BigFish 522 93% 409K 13K 11K 1.2K 11K 43K 1.2K 7.6K 350 286 107 76K
27049.08
Hopeless 188 86% 157K 6.5K 5.2K 411 5.1K 6.3K 72 1.8K 118 128 46 9.1K
9941.54
Pathfinde 154 96% 145K 7.8K 3.7K 408 3.3K 7.3K 31 2.1K 111 111 43 8.9K
9126.90
Wales 118 93% 105K 5.8K 2.4K 257 2.5K 6.2K 144 1.6K 89 63 24 8.4K
6162.40
Aquitaine 78 100% 77K 7.8K 4.8K 687 5.4K 16K 120 2.9K 104 34 48 52K
5552.89
Germany 47 28% 34K 1.4K 278 57 1.2K 1.8K 8 960 0 48 13 29K
1880.32
Rustasia 0 0% 4.2K 208 133 18 0 0 0 0 0 30 0 17K
339.53
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36K
54.07
Arrakis 0 0% 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 9.2K
35.38
Eponia 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.8K
28.20
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 140 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 -6.0K
-5.27
Fri Aug 31 17:03:35 2012
# name tech research education happiness capital
1 Bunnyland 73.28 0.00 0.20 0.00 -64,52
2 Hopeless 194.74 0.00 27.30 2.83 -6,36
3 Germany 184.44 0.00 25.88 0.23 104,-38
4 Pathfinder 191.06 0.00 17.90 5.23 105,3
5 Wales 182.13 0.00 25.30 12.50 48,-18
6 BigFish 188.70 0.00 19.98 11.48 -61,17
7 Arrakis 150.64 0.00 2.02 0.00 -65,-19
8 Rustasia 169.80 0.00 13.15 0.28 -9,-37
9 Aquitaine 178.93 0.00 22.75 0.00 54,24
10 Eponia 160.34 0.00 8.33 0.26 9,15
11 Cronus 75.32 0.00 0.18 0.00 46,-56
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 31 18:04:03 2012
So I managed to be tech leader the whole game? I knew I
had a great start but since I kept it throttled to save
oil I assumed I lost the lead.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 31 18:24:32 2012
See you all next game...
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 31 19:12:00 2012
Thanks all for the great game, esp. Hanuman for running a rock-solid game. And thanks to Overlord for joining me a few updates in as co-ruler. A few comments of my own:
1) I thought the changes in the game were interesting, and I like keeping things "different". might be interesting to do an even further depature with totally new units, etc. to mix things up.
2) As Hopeless mentioned, moving all the CSes took a bit of time. Also, having start islands be the only ones with iron/dust made capturing additional start islands even more key. It could be interesting to still hav elimited resources but spreak them out more so outlying islands had some, but just not as much as usual.
3) As Overlord mentioned, the various limits can be frustrating, but Iunderstand why they were in place and I wasn't that bothered by most of them. 4) The BTU usage seems potentially un-necessary, as the vast majority of time it doesn't matter, and when it does it seems like more of a mild annoyance
5) Would love to see more players, and particuarly more active, skilled players. Also was a bit bummed about some players dropping out.
6) When's the next game? Already can't wait . . . .
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Aug 31 19:22:55 2012
Just in case, anyone cares... I watched the whole thing, also being
shredded fairly early. Enjoyed it so far an will surely be back!
Hoppahopp! ;-)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Aug 31 19:25:26 2012
Oppps: replace 'also' with 'even though'! Thx...
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 07:21:58 2012
"...so, if you attack with 1 of 2 military, and the guy dies,
half of your mobility evaporates."
To prevent, or at least mitigate, the tactic of draining the defender's
units of mob by attacking sectors with zip mil within their response range.
Probably put in my somebody who got their clock cleaned by said tactic.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 07:31:12 2012
...which (now that I have a cold beer and my feet up) means
it's defeatable by having sufficient mil in the attacking sector.
So you're right, it's silly and people should be killed.
- Arrakis (Yes, I have a list.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Sep 1 14:01:18 2012
Bunny - glad you'll be back!
What do other people think of the delayed/frozen power chart (AUTO_POWER) vs. the real-time power chart? I'm with Overlord that I like the more real-time power chart - more info adds another dimension to the game. I guess one downside is that it can expose coutnries that have gaping holes (e.g. no guns/shells and you know they haven't just made some) more easily, but apart from that it can give more feedback about what is happening.
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Sat Sep 1 15:53:19 2012
The delayed Power chart and the weakened inf units are designed to
help the new inexperienced player to stay alive longer.
They still have to fight back though.
Oil: I still had a full 100 oil sector left at end, this was not a
factor in my game.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 18:14:10 2012
Re delayed power chart (option AUTO_POWER, default off): this is to
defeat tactical use of "power new". For instance, "power new" right
before and after the update gives you a pretty good idea of the
competition's production and builds. You can also use it to get an
idea how many planes that carrier had you just sank. Experienced
players know these gamey tricks.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 18:33:02 2012
Re slow infantry: in the stock game, the defender needs a lot of depth
to have a chance once the attacker can put boots on the shore. Common
start island sizes are pretty much impossible to defend.
You're free to consider that a feature, and you're very welcome to run
games configured that way.
In the Hvy Metal mod, we're trying to find a different balance between
attack and defense. Still sufficiently biased towards attack to avoid
boring trench warfare. We're not there, yet. I suspect disabling
NO_FORT_FIRE doesn't work in this mod without further modifications.
I find it next to impossible to get land unit speeds customized to my
liking, because of the way speed increases with tech. Exploring
further will need coding, not just customization.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 18:39:40 2012
Clever sh&theads with money to burn can/did abuse the current
power chart by demobing truckloads of mil just before update,
enlisting post-update, therefore disguising true mil numbers.
- Arrakis (Mean People Suck.)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 19:05:55 2012
Re scarcity of iron: fairland maps have so much iron that you can put
every single sector to work on processing iron. Thus, every sector
you use for anything else costs you iron products. Which means
highways are a luxury you cannot afford. I hate that. Maximizing
production is static and boring. Lines of communications are much
more interesting.
Perhaps we made iron too scarce. One thing I'd like to try is double
the iron and remove uws.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 19:09:07 2012
Re slow depletion: no, you can't just as well enable GO_RENEW.
With normal depletion and fairland resources, you get to dig up almost
every single sector for gold. Redesignate much of your country each
turn for several turns. I hate that.
GO_RENEW solves the problem, but creates a new one. Say you have
sector that can make 100d per update, every update. Alice starts
mining it on the first update. Bob starts mining it on the second.
Alice now has 20 bars more than Bob, which pay $300 per update, for
the rest of the game. Over a 30 update game such as this one, Bob's
little tardiness costs him $9000.
With slow depletion, Bob gets his bars one update later than Alice.
The delay costs him $300.
Combining GO_RENEW with flat resources is especially pernicious.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 19:22:47 2012
RE : double iron and no uws.
yes. Yes. YES.
Of course, I'm somewhat biased 'cause those were my biggest headaches.
But you gotta admit, it's a weird Empire game when right out
of the block everybody's priority is to set up 'uw factories'
with their neighbors. I mean, you have to tailor strategy to necessity,
and I'd hate to see 'uw factories' become an absolute neccessity.
- Arrakis (...unless the uws are really hot.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 19:46:29 2012
You know, almost nobody gets the "Alice'n'Bob" thing, even when
you explain it to 'em, so I think we should all just pretend
it never came up.
- Arrakis (...you're feeling SLEEPY...)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 20:24:56 2012
Re resources on expansion islands: fairland is bad at placing
expansion islands fairly, and the problem gets worse as expansion
island size increases. We bypass the problem by keeping the islands
small, and giving them only trivial resources. It's a cheap plastic
game after all.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Sat Sep 1 21:52:55 2012
uw factories???
oh babe, it seems, i'd rather missed a big big thing :-/
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sun Sep 2 07:21:55 2012
Oh no, Bunny. You WERE a uw factory :)
Okay, I'll stop yakking after this one; lurk, listen and learn
from demonstradedly more successful players. Here's my last 2 cents.
I liked this setup, and Hanuman did an outstanding job, in every respect.
That said...I like almost every setup; as long as it's a level playing
field I don't really give a rat's ass - deal with it. Which is why I
ALWAYS tried to sign up for Pat's games. They were so off-the-wall
that each was a challenge on multiple levels.
This was my first real game in almost a decade, and I sucked,
and I expected to, and I don't apologize, and I'll be back.
I went with Alice's strategy (had 636 bars the 3rd update) which meant
I needed luck on early exploration (fewer ships), and I had incredibly
bad luck <shrug>.
And I REALLY sucked at diplomacy, and I was far too rusty to competently
attack somebody like Pat when he's 2 or 3 times my size, so I went for a
delaying strategy until help could arrive...which I now know was never
coming.
- Mark
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sun Sep 2 07:25:52 2012
Okay, I lied. One last comment...in RGE BigFish's cap-sacking count
is slightly off.
Arrakis has never had a capital sacked.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sun Sep 2 09:12:04 2012
Maps and graphs are now available at
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/maps.html
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/graphs.html
Technical trivia: we had 30 updates, no server crashes, oopses or
patches (that's a first), more than 650,000 player commands,
generating some 1.6GiB log files (uncompressed).
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sun Sep 2 09:30:04 2012
} So I managed to be tech leader the whole game? I knew I
} had a great start but since I kept it throttled to save
} oil I assumed I lost the lead.
Actually, first tech leader was Eponia, for three turns. Then BigFish
lead for one, followed by you (Hopeless) for three. Arrakis overtook
you at the 12th update, and lead by more than two points when his tech
center shut down. Rustasia took the lead briefly, until his
unattended tech center ran out of stuff. The lead reverted to you,
and you kept it until the end.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Sep 3 14:36:13 2012
First of all, again great game - any comments are just my $.02 and don't take away from the smooth operation and fun. Already can't wait for the next one (in whatever configuration . . . )
Re: power chart - totally understood on the ways to use it. It's a part of why I like it - another tool. :)
Re: infantry - seemed reasonable given the goal - obviously a key difference with the game. Another big change was INFs not being light, so CSes needed to be brought along (and they are more fragile - maybe making them even more so would further stunt attacks)
Re: tech/edu - are the actual numbers (vs. the graphs I saw up) available? The tech graphs can be a bit har to make out
Re: iron - interesting thought on more iron and fewer uws. I personally thought uws were a key strategy and also encouraged cooperation among neighbors, at least initially (even if Arrakis didn't like them :P). However, they did favor the experienced player, but then the cooperation could help out the less experienced players, esp. if it evolved further. Would be interesting to see a game without uws, but does take away a dimension.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Sep 4 17:31:42 2012
Raw tech data is available on request. BigFish's copy is in the mail.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Sep 4 17:39:16 2012
Deity Awards
The "Show me the Money" Award
GOLD BigFish for sacking three nations' capital (one twice)
Silver Germany for sacking one capital
The "Special Order 191" Award
GOLD Arrakis for telexing plans to the enemy instead of allies
The "Talkative Tyrant" Award
GOLD Arrakis for making 81 out of 340 player announcements[*]
Silver BigFish for 66
Bronze Germany, Eponia for 52 and 51
The "Henry Morton Stanley" Medal
GOLD Germany for killing 480 natives
Silver BigFish for 414
Bronze Hopeless for 350
The "Plundarian TweeterTwit" Award
GOLD BigFish for 2006 shellings in all forms
Silver Germany for 1947
Bronze Hopeless for 729
The "Lawnmower" Award
GOLD Thistle for 554 violent sector takeovers
Silver Hopeless for 239
Bronze Germany for 234
The "Silent Hunter" Award
GOLD Wales for firing 108 submarine torpedos
Silver Germany for 100
Bronze Hopeless for 50
The "Damn the Torpedoes" Award
GOLD BigFish for sweeping 84 seamines the painful way
Silver Wales for 29
Bronze Germany for 19
The "Jolly Roger" Award
GOLD Wales for boarding 18 ships
Silver Germany, BigFish for 17
The "Top Gun" Award
GOLD BigFish for 687 aerial victories and bombing runs
Silver Pathfinder for 220
Bronze Hopeless for 200
The "Armageddon" Award
TRITIUM Hopeless for delivering a nuclear device, onto Germany
The "Bug Hunter" Award
DDT Hopeless for reporting a server bug, and for numerous
interesting observations
Lindane Arrakis, Wales for reporting a WinACE bug
Borax Bunnyland for reporting a small info page bug
Germany for reporting a minor glitch in the game setup
Pathfinder for reporting the broken link in MOTD,
and for other interesting observations
[*] Including funnies that clearly deserved bars from heaven the lazy
gods neglected to drop.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Sep 4 18:18:15 2012
"...for telexing plans to the enemy instead of allies."
Now hold on, that was a brilliant and highly original disinformation
campaign that, uh...didn't work. BUT.
What's funny is that I got the idea from a time when I DID
mistakenly send a brutally personal insult to the person
THAT I WAS INSULTING, instead of my ally. Oops...
Now, guess who I did that to. Who's the worst possible person,
in all of Empire history. Yes, you got it. I did it to
Tom Tedrick - aka Afrika Korps.
I slept with a nightlight for two weeks, clutching a baseball bat.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Tue Sep 4 18:52:31 2012
I am surprised you were even able to think of something
insulting for Tom Tedrick.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Sep 4 20:28:49 2012
Why Borax, for my home-made SlimeTM??
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Sep 5 11:37:08 2012
You are perfectly safe insulting Tom for multiple reasons.
Mainly he has a phobia about going out in any public situation. so he will
get down to the gun shop, then the bus terminal, and up to Anchorage.
Oh, he also probably doens't know when he has been insulted.
and I still hate him for throwing 6000 mil into the mountian sectors. That's
why we now have limits on mil production in every sector (and I will never run
a game with free mil)
--
and I always sleep with a nightlight. That way in the middle of the night I know
who the naked woman is next to me. Most of the time it is my wife.
--
Okay, all the time it is my wife. I'm boring. Sue me.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Sep 5 16:18:19 2012
I'm about to post the final game status update to r.g.e.
Thanks to y'all for playing, it was a real pleasure for me. Hope to
see you again in another game!
Congratulations!
Active German resistance ceased the previous week already, with an
announcement conceding defeat. Folks still had fun throwing stuff at
his passive defenses, culminating in a Hopeless megaton KABOOM!
The game's web site[1] has maps[2] and graphs[3] for your enjoyment.
Thanks for playing, thanks for kibitzing, hope to see you again in
another game!
[1] http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/
[2] http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/maps.html
[3] http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/graphs.html
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
27049.08
Hopeless 188 86% 157K 6.5K 5.2K 411 5.1K 6.3K 72 1.8K 118 128 46 9.1K
9941.54
Pathfinde 154 96% 145K 7.8K 3.7K 408 3.3K 7.3K 31 2.1K 111 111 43 8.9K
9126.90
Wales 118 93% 105K 5.8K 2.4K 257 2.5K 6.2K 144 1.6K 89 63 24 8.4K
6162.40
Aquitaine 78 100% 77K 7.8K 4.8K 687 5.4K 16K 120 2.9K 104 34 48 52K
5552.89
Germany 47 28% 34K 1.4K 278 57 1.2K 1.8K 8 960 0 48 13 29K
1880.32
Rustasia 0 0% 4.2K 208 133 18 0 0 0 0 0 30 0 17K
339.53
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36K
54.07
Arrakis 0 0% 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 9.2K
35.38
Eponia 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.8K
28.20
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 140 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 -6.0K
-5.27
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 90% 930K 43K 27K 3.1K 28K 82K 1.6K 17K 772 706 281 248K
See the appended announcements for the final tech levels, deity awards,
and more.
Announcements since Sun Aug 26 00:00:00 2012
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 28 06:53:45 2012
A player inquired whether happiness affects how fast occupied
civilians assimilate, i.e. you become its old owner.
Yes, it does, indirectly through "loyalty".
You become the old owner of a sector when its loyalty maxes out at the
update.
"info Citizens" has a paragraph on loyalty, but neglects to mention
assimilation. It explains "loyalty changes during the update by
happiness or lack thereof".
"info Happiness" hints at the required level of happiness depending on
tech and education.
"info nation" has a bit more:
If you have at least the happiness mentioned in the last line [of
nation's output], your sector's loyalty won't have a chance to go
down. Otherwise, each update, the chance is the number above -
your happiness / 5.0.
Not mentioned, but important: if loyalty isn't perfect after the
loyalty change for happiness, there's a random loyalty change. The
expected delta of both changes together is positive even when your
happiness is insufficient. Without that, occupied civilians would
never assimilate when happiness is insufficient.
Command apropos lets you search the info pages. "apropos loyalty"
shows all of the pages quoted above.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Aug 28 10:09:44 2012
eyyhhh, where the hell is my powerchart entry??? I still have more
ships and mil than Cronus/Arrakis/Eponia! *schnueffs*
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 28 10:55:28 2012
Try "pow c 1".
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Aug 28 13:09:22 2012
yes, already got this, but why am I dropped off?
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Tue Aug 28 13:51:11 2012
You drop off the power chart when you calculated 'power' is nagative.
Your negative cash balance cancels out the assumed power value of your
ships and mil.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Tue Aug 28 14:34:49 2012
And we made sure to keep your frigates around with all your mil so you would
go broke and (eventually) drop off the power chart.
Just a little partintg gift :)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Aug 28 18:47:27 2012
:-P
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Aug 28 20:18:54 2012
A player observed small attacks using up large amounts of sector
mobility. How come?
This puzzled me. But I figured it out.
"info Attacking" lists 15 combat steps. The following four of them
deal with sector mobility:
(2) Ask the aggressor further details about the offensive force.
Calculate mobility cost to move attacking military into the
target sector. Mobility is to be charged in step 12.
(6) Fight.
Calculate mobility cost for casualties. Mobility is to be
charged in step 12.
(12) Remove mobility from the aggressor's sectors/ship.
Charge mobility calculated in steps (2) and (6).
(13) Possibly ask the aggressor for mil and units to move into the target.
Charge mobility for the move.
The cost of moving a few military is small, and can't explain the
large mobility use the player observed. That leaves casualty mobility
cost.
Turns out the formula to compute that is silly: sector mob *
casualties / total sector military. So, if you attack with 1 of 2
military, and the guy dies, half of your mobility evaporates.
I don't yet know when this silly rule was added, but I'm going to find
out. And I'll seriously consider changing it.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 29 12:04:35 2012
Shakespeare in Dixie
Soliloquy for an Adversary: Act IV - A Win Declared
--
Sir Lawrence Olivier as BigFish
Alan Rickman as Hopeless
Larry the Cable Guy as Pathfinder
Robert Reid as Rustasia
Patrick Stewart as Germany
Carrot Top as Wales
Chuck Barris as Aquitaine
--
The curtain raises, with BigFish (BF), Hopeless (HL), and Pathfinder (PF) standing over the
bodies of Rustasia and Germany, both of whom have been brutally murdered.
--
(BF) Forsooth, their demise were predicted by the Oracle of Carver County
(HL) Howeth did-in she have the cap-a-bilty to cipher such a pridiction?
(BF) For she be-it a medium.
(PF) She keeps eatin at the Chicken Shack like that and sheal be a large
real soon. (I don't care where you come from, that's funny)
(HL) Dus no one have a kind werd for these two rubes?
(PF) The gud lord will shurtly find their just ree-ward. Perhaps for a few copper
coins Wails will dig them each a grave and roll dem into their pits.
(Cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 29 12:08:45 2012
(BF) Yeah, lest the buzzards and jackals cheweth on thy bones
(PF) And they then smell worser than when my dog eats him all the cheese
and dumpeth in my spittoon.
(HL) Or when the cooling system dyeth on a hot summer ev-nin at the
(HL) Or when the cooling system dyeth on a hot summer ev-nin at the
cat house - on dallar night
(BF) That be-it enough examples, good men.
(PF) Why oh so does we lament the dyin of these here men and their passin on tuh the next world?
(HL) Why, so for when we come to the same fate, we also will be remembered,
as happens ta alls of us.
(BF) Nay, we stand here tuh gloat and boast, ta beat our chests, and shaketh
our extra large members. Like the killin of the wild hog or the taken of the
vur-gin right a-for her weddin day, we carve a nuther notch in our clients.
Let the dyd bury themselves.
(PF) They just be one more spect to ponder now, as night closet on this scene
(HL) Shirley you speak of the rape of Aquitaine, who mayeth finally cry in audible silence
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 29 12:09:51 2012
(BF) Or do we lower the drapes of this scene and findeth us each a cold beer and a warm woman?
(PF) Ar, but who be-ith Shirley?
--
As the flies gather on the two corpses, the curtain lowers.
End of Act IV.
End of Soliloquy for an Adversary
End of Heavy Plastic
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Aug 29 16:00:55 2012
*** Attention, please ***
A joint victory declaration by BigFish / Hopeless / Pathfinder is
pending.
Viable countries (Aquitaine, Germany, Wales), please announce
acceptance or opposition until Thursday, 17:00 UTC (halfway between
updates 30 and 31).
Non-viable countries are welcome to announce, but their opposition
doesn't count.
If the victory declaration stands, then the game state right before
update 31 will be final. I'll leave updates enabled for some post
game fun.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Wed Aug 29 17:32:03 2012
Soooooo satisfying...
Command: launch 89
srbm Atlas #89 at 32,12; range 12, eff 100%
Target sector?49,19
Preparing to launch srbm Atlas #89 at Germany sector 49,19
Launching from 32,12
SHWOOOOOSH! Missile launched!
Arming nuclear warheads...
Releasing RV's for airburst detonation...
K A B O O O O O O O O O O O O M ! in 49,19
did 12% damage in 44,14
did 12% damage in 46,14
did 12% damage in 48,14
did 12% damage in 50,14
did 12% damage in 52,14
did 12% damage in 54,14
did 12% damage in 43,15
did 32% damage in 45,15
did 32% damage in 47,15
did 32% damage in 49,15
did 32% damage in 51,15
did 32% damage in 53,15
did 12% damage in 55,15
did 12% damage in 42,16
did 32% damage in 44,16
did 52% damage in 46,16
did 52% damage in 48,16
did 52% damage in 50,16
did 52% damage in 52,16
did 32% damage in 54,16
did 12% damage in 56,16
did 12% damage in 41,17
did 32% damage in 43,17
did 52% damage in 45,17
did 72% damage in 47,17
did 72% damage in 49,17
did 72% damage in 51,17
did 52% damage in 53,17
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Wed Aug 29 17:39:54 2012
did 32% damage in 55,17
did 12% damage in 57,17
did 12% damage in 40,18
did 32% damage in 42,18
did 52% damage in 44,18
did 72% damage in 46,18
did 92% damage in 48,18
did 92% damage in 50,18
did 72% damage in 52,18
did 52% damage in 54,18
did 32% damage in 56,18
did 12% damage in 58,18
did 12% damage in 39,19
did 32% damage in 41,19
did 52% damage in 43,19
did 72% damage in 45,19
did 92% damage in 47,19
turned 49,19 into a radioactive wasteland
did 92% damage in 51,19
did 72% damage in 53,19
did 52% damage in 55,19
did 32% damage in 57,19
did 12% damage in 59,19
did 12% damage in 40,20
did 32% damage in 42,20
did 52% damage in 44,20
did 72% damage in 46,20
did 92% damage in 48,20
did 92% damage in 50,20
did 72% damage in 52,20
did 52% damage in 54,20
did 32% damage in 56,20
did 12% damage in 58,20
did 12% damage in 41,21
did 32% damage in 43,21
did 52% damage in 45,21
did 72% damage in 47,21
did 72% damage in 49,21
did 72% damage in 51,21
did 52% damage in 53,21
did 32% damage in 55,21
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Wed Aug 29 17:40:19 2012
did 12% damage in 57,21
did 12% damage in 42,22
did 32% damage in 44,22
did 52% damage in 46,22
did 52% damage in 48,22
did 52% damage in 50,22
did 52% damage in 52,22
did 32% damage in 54,22
did 12% damage in 56,22
did 12% damage in 43,23
did 32% damage in 45,23
did 32% damage in 47,23
did 32% damage in 49,23
did 32% damage in 51,23
did 32% damage in 53,23
did 12% damage in 55,23
did 12% damage in 44,24
did 12% damage in 46,24
did 12% damage in 48,24
did 12% damage in 50,24
did 12% damage in 52,24
did 12% damage in 54,24
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Aug 29 21:16:54 2012
Well, if we officially pretend the game is over, then we can dump some the secret stats:
Bars - 7299 + 196 being made this update
Tech = 188.7
total Income - $306K
uws - 232K
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Wed Aug 29 22:48:00 2012
I was going to agree to the declaration grudgingly...then I noticed that
updates will continue so my sole grudge has been dispelled.
I want to kick my opponents (Rustasia and Germany)while they are
down...since I could not do it while they were still playing. :)
Complete acceptance of the declaration given.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 31 13:05:14 2012
A few comments on the setup:
I understand the limit on oil and iron to make these
commodities valuable. However, I spent a lot of this game
pushing arround tankers and cargo ships and it was annoying.
I think I prefer a game where cash is the limiting factor.
The amount of water definately gave rise to large navies
since the f2s could only reach your opponents from carriers.
Charging maintenance for forts is a good idea. Perhaps it
should be even higher to make one really consider the cost.
Perhaps the natives should have some civs and some other defense
to make them a little harder to overrun.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 31 14:16:44 2012
I also did not like the neutering of infs. You need them
to get large quantities of mil at the beachhead. However,
they only attack 1 sector and then they are done. This basicly
limits them to defense. Offense against an active player
then must be won in the air since there is no way to establish
a large enough beachhead. Fortfire will smash any beachhead that
is only 2 sectors deep.
By the time faster units that could penetrate we available,
so were transports and jets that meant penetration was from the air.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 31 14:24:08 2012
I very much appreciate comments on the game setup! Your chance
to influence future games. Bring 'em on!
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 31 15:11:27 2012
Oh goody, to comment phase.
1 - I hate the power chart like this. Basically, less information is available.
and that benfits the better players. Of course that assumes that the lesser
skilled players know what to do with the information.
2 - Agree with Hopeless on the inf units. You can't take away all the offensive
tools early on and expect people to go on the offensive.
3 - Limiting the iron was in interestng exercise. But I think it failed. Once
again, limiting resources only favors the better players.
4 - 999 production limit? Why and who?
5 - Limited oil did not really limit us that much. And we really didn't have
many tankers. But then again we did have a few more start islands than every
one else.
6 - The 5X dust and oil per resource point - Can't stand this one either. Takes
way too long to empty a sector. Might as well just enable go_renew.
7 - I do like the mountian renew though.
8 - 80 mob max for units. I have yet to understand why people want to limit
(cont)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 31 15:22:58 2012
the effectivinesses of the offensive forces. The fun part of the game is not
derived from logging on, finding three dozen telegrams, and figuring out that
your defenses held. Generally, this game is played by pro-active megalomaniacs.
9 - I liked the earlier introduction of the nuclear weapons, not that we needed
to utilize them though. But had the game had more players and gone longer,
our stratagy would have been different. We would have pushed tech harder and
used the nukes as defense cripplers.
10 - With the limited iron and the large oceans, it would have been interesting
to see what people would have done with trade ships. though money was not a
huge driver in this game.
11 - It's a big world, but I wouldn't want to paint it.
12 - Would like to see a game that is not island dominated, maybe 3-5 players per
start continent. Of course you need a few more players to make that happen.
If I think of anything else, I will let you know.
Pat, AKA Overlord (BigFish can add his own comments!)
> Announcement from Wales, (#5) dated Fri Aug 31 16:33:06 2012
I have to say that I liked this game. I tend to be
defensive in my development, which means that I lose out
to the better players who have good offensive development.
One thing that I enjoyed is that this was not just a
cookie cutter game from a standard description.
Having to think about the development in different way
than usual is, IMHO, a good thing. Yes there were limitations
that caused me to have to modify my approach...again, it
made me think more before acting...and I like that.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Fri Aug 31 17:07:14 2012
*** Hvy Plastic 3 "Explosive Materials" is over ***
Congratulations to the winners BigFish, Hopeless and Pathfinder!
I'll leave updates enabled for a while at players' request.
Stay tuned for Deity Awards. A final game report will be posted to
rec.games.empire. It will also appear on the game's web page along
with pretty maps and graphs for my fellow data junkies.
- = [ Empire Power Report ] = -
sects eff civ mil shell gun pet iron dust oil pln ship unit money
27049.08
Hopeless 188 86% 157K 6.5K 5.2K 411 5.1K 6.3K 72 1.8K 118 128 46 9.1K
9941.54
Pathfinde 154 96% 145K 7.8K 3.7K 408 3.3K 7.3K 31 2.1K 111 111 43 8.9K
9126.90
Wales 118 93% 105K 5.8K 2.4K 257 2.5K 6.2K 144 1.6K 89 63 24 8.4K
6162.40
Aquitaine 78 100% 77K 7.8K 4.8K 687 5.4K 16K 120 2.9K 104 34 48 52K
5552.89
Germany 47 28% 34K 1.4K 278 57 1.2K 1.8K 8 960 0 48 13 29K
1880.32
Rustasia 0 0% 4.2K 208 133 18 0 0 0 0 0 30 0 17K
339.53
Cronus 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36K
54.07
Arrakis 0 0% 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 9.2K
35.38
Eponia 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.8K
28.20
Bunnyland 0 0% 0 140 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 -6.0K
-5.27
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
worldwide 1.1K 90% 930K 43K 27K 3.1K 28K 82K 1.6K 17K 772 706 281 248K
Fri Aug 31 17:03:35 2012
1 Bunnyland 73.28 0.00 0.20 0.00 -64,52
2 Hopeless 194.74 0.00 27.30 2.83 -6,36
3 Germany 184.44 0.00 25.88 0.23 104,-38
4 Pathfinder 191.06 0.00 17.90 5.23 105,3
5 Wales 182.13 0.00 25.30 12.50 48,-18
6 BigFish 188.70 0.00 19.98 11.48 -61,17
7 Arrakis 150.64 0.00 2.02 0.00 -65,-19
8 Rustasia 169.80 0.00 13.15 0.28 -9,-37
9 Aquitaine 178.93 0.00 22.75 0.00 54,24
10 Eponia 160.34 0.00 8.33 0.26 9,15
11 Cronus 75.32 0.00 0.18 0.00 46,-56
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 31 18:04:03 2012
So I managed to be tech leader the whole game? I knew I
had a great start but since I kept it throttled to save
oil I assumed I lost the lead.
> Announcement from Hopeless, (#2) dated Fri Aug 31 18:24:32 2012
See you all next game...
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Fri Aug 31 19:12:00 2012
Thanks all for the great game, esp. Hanuman for running a rock-solid game. And thanks to Overlord for joining me a few updates in as co-ruler. A few comments of my own:
1) I thought the changes in the game were interesting, and I like keeping things "different". might be interesting to do an even further depature with totally new units, etc. to mix things up.
2) As Hopeless mentioned, moving all the CSes took a bit of time. Also, having start islands be the only ones with iron/dust made capturing additional start islands even more key. It could be interesting to still hav elimited resources but spreak them out more so outlying islands had some, but just not as much as usual.
3) As Overlord mentioned, the various limits can be frustrating, but Iunderstand why they were in place and I wasn't that bothered by most of them. 4) The BTU usage seems potentially un-necessary, as the vast majority of time it doesn't matter, and when it does it seems like more of a mild annoyance
5) Would love to see more players, and particuarly more active, skilled players. Also was a bit bummed about some players dropping out.
6) When's the next game? Already can't wait . . . .
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Aug 31 19:22:55 2012
Just in case, anyone cares... I watched the whole thing, also being
shredded fairly early. Enjoyed it so far an will surely be back!
Hoppahopp! ;-)
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Fri Aug 31 19:25:26 2012
Oppps: replace 'also' with 'even though'! Thx...
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 07:21:58 2012
"...so, if you attack with 1 of 2 military, and the guy dies,
half of your mobility evaporates."
To prevent, or at least mitigate, the tactic of draining the defender's
units of mob by attacking sectors with zip mil within their response range.
Probably put in my somebody who got their clock cleaned by said tactic.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 07:31:12 2012
...which (now that I have a cold beer and my feet up) means
it's defeatable by having sufficient mil in the attacking sector.
So you're right, it's silly and people should be killed.
- Arrakis (Yes, I have a list.)
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Sat Sep 1 14:01:18 2012
Bunny - glad you'll be back!
What do other people think of the delayed/frozen power chart (AUTO_POWER) vs. the real-time power chart? I'm with Overlord that I like the more real-time power chart - more info adds another dimension to the game. I guess one downside is that it can expose coutnries that have gaping holes (e.g. no guns/shells and you know they haven't just made some) more easily, but apart from that it can give more feedback about what is happening.
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Sat Sep 1 15:53:19 2012
The delayed Power chart and the weakened inf units are designed to
help the new inexperienced player to stay alive longer.
They still have to fight back though.
Oil: I still had a full 100 oil sector left at end, this was not a
factor in my game.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 18:14:10 2012
Re delayed power chart (option AUTO_POWER, default off): this is to
defeat tactical use of "power new". For instance, "power new" right
before and after the update gives you a pretty good idea of the
competition's production and builds. You can also use it to get an
idea how many planes that carrier had you just sank. Experienced
players know these gamey tricks.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 18:33:02 2012
Re slow infantry: in the stock game, the defender needs a lot of depth
to have a chance once the attacker can put boots on the shore. Common
start island sizes are pretty much impossible to defend.
You're free to consider that a feature, and you're very welcome to run
games configured that way.
In the Hvy Metal mod, we're trying to find a different balance between
attack and defense. Still sufficiently biased towards attack to avoid
boring trench warfare. We're not there, yet. I suspect disabling
NO_FORT_FIRE doesn't work in this mod without further modifications.
I find it next to impossible to get land unit speeds customized to my
liking, because of the way speed increases with tech. Exploring
further will need coding, not just customization.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 18:39:40 2012
Clever sh&theads with money to burn can/did abuse the current
power chart by demobing truckloads of mil just before update,
enlisting post-update, therefore disguising true mil numbers.
- Arrakis (Mean People Suck.)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 19:05:55 2012
Re scarcity of iron: fairland maps have so much iron that you can put
every single sector to work on processing iron. Thus, every sector
you use for anything else costs you iron products. Which means
highways are a luxury you cannot afford. I hate that. Maximizing
production is static and boring. Lines of communications are much
more interesting.
Perhaps we made iron too scarce. One thing I'd like to try is double
the iron and remove uws.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 19:09:07 2012
Re slow depletion: no, you can't just as well enable GO_RENEW.
With normal depletion and fairland resources, you get to dig up almost
every single sector for gold. Redesignate much of your country each
turn for several turns. I hate that.
GO_RENEW solves the problem, but creates a new one. Say you have
sector that can make 100d per update, every update. Alice starts
mining it on the first update. Bob starts mining it on the second.
Alice now has 20 bars more than Bob, which pay $300 per update, for
the rest of the game. Over a 30 update game such as this one, Bob's
little tardiness costs him $9000.
With slow depletion, Bob gets his bars one update later than Alice.
The delay costs him $300.
Combining GO_RENEW with flat resources is especially pernicious.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 19:22:47 2012
RE : double iron and no uws.
yes. Yes. YES.
Of course, I'm somewhat biased 'cause those were my biggest headaches.
But you gotta admit, it's a weird Empire game when right out
of the block everybody's priority is to set up 'uw factories'
with their neighbors. I mean, you have to tailor strategy to necessity,
and I'd hate to see 'uw factories' become an absolute neccessity.
- Arrakis (...unless the uws are really hot.)
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sat Sep 1 19:46:29 2012
You know, almost nobody gets the "Alice'n'Bob" thing, even when
you explain it to 'em, so I think we should all just pretend
it never came up.
- Arrakis (...you're feeling SLEEPY...)
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sat Sep 1 20:24:56 2012
Re resources on expansion islands: fairland is bad at placing
expansion islands fairly, and the problem gets worse as expansion
island size increases. We bypass the problem by keeping the islands
small, and giving them only trivial resources. It's a cheap plastic
game after all.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Sat Sep 1 21:52:55 2012
uw factories???
oh babe, it seems, i'd rather missed a big big thing :-/
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sun Sep 2 07:21:55 2012
Oh no, Bunny. You WERE a uw factory :)
Okay, I'll stop yakking after this one; lurk, listen and learn
from demonstradedly more successful players. Here's my last 2 cents.
I liked this setup, and Hanuman did an outstanding job, in every respect.
That said...I like almost every setup; as long as it's a level playing
field I don't really give a rat's ass - deal with it. Which is why I
ALWAYS tried to sign up for Pat's games. They were so off-the-wall
that each was a challenge on multiple levels.
This was my first real game in almost a decade, and I sucked,
and I expected to, and I don't apologize, and I'll be back.
I went with Alice's strategy (had 636 bars the 3rd update) which meant
I needed luck on early exploration (fewer ships), and I had incredibly
bad luck <shrug>.
And I REALLY sucked at diplomacy, and I was far too rusty to competently
attack somebody like Pat when he's 2 or 3 times my size, so I went for a
delaying strategy until help could arrive...which I now know was never
coming.
- Mark
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Sun Sep 2 07:25:52 2012
Okay, I lied. One last comment...in RGE BigFish's cap-sacking count
is slightly off.
Arrakis has never had a capital sacked.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sun Sep 2 09:12:04 2012
Maps and graphs are now available at
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/maps.html
http://www.pond.sub.org/~armbru/empire/hvy-plastic-3/graphs.html
Technical trivia: we had 30 updates, no server crashes, oopses or
patches (that's a first), more than 650,000 player commands,
generating some 1.6GiB log files (uncompressed).
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Sun Sep 2 09:30:04 2012
} So I managed to be tech leader the whole game? I knew I
} had a great start but since I kept it throttled to save
} oil I assumed I lost the lead.
Actually, first tech leader was Eponia, for three turns. Then BigFish
lead for one, followed by you (Hopeless) for three. Arrakis overtook
you at the 12th update, and lead by more than two points when his tech
center shut down. Rustasia took the lead briefly, until his
unattended tech center ran out of stuff. The lead reverted to you,
and you kept it until the end.
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Mon Sep 3 14:36:13 2012
First of all, again great game - any comments are just my $.02 and don't take away from the smooth operation and fun. Already can't wait for the next one (in whatever configuration . . . )
Re: power chart - totally understood on the ways to use it. It's a part of why I like it - another tool. :)
Re: infantry - seemed reasonable given the goal - obviously a key difference with the game. Another big change was INFs not being light, so CSes needed to be brought along (and they are more fragile - maybe making them even more so would further stunt attacks)
Re: tech/edu - are the actual numbers (vs. the graphs I saw up) available? The tech graphs can be a bit har to make out
Re: iron - interesting thought on more iron and fewer uws. I personally thought uws were a key strategy and also encouraged cooperation among neighbors, at least initially (even if Arrakis didn't like them :P). However, they did favor the experienced player, but then the cooperation could help out the less experienced players, esp. if it evolved further. Would be interesting to see a game without uws, but does take away a dimension.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Sep 4 17:31:42 2012
Raw tech data is available on request. BigFish's copy is in the mail.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Tue Sep 4 17:39:16 2012
Deity Awards
The "Show me the Money" Award
GOLD BigFish for sacking three nations' capital (one twice)
Silver Germany for sacking one capital
The "Special Order 191" Award
GOLD Arrakis for telexing plans to the enemy instead of allies
The "Talkative Tyrant" Award
GOLD Arrakis for making 81 out of 340 player announcements[*]
Silver BigFish for 66
Bronze Germany, Eponia for 52 and 51
The "Henry Morton Stanley" Medal
GOLD Germany for killing 480 natives
Silver BigFish for 414
Bronze Hopeless for 350
The "Plundarian TweeterTwit" Award
GOLD BigFish for 2006 shellings in all forms
Silver Germany for 1947
Bronze Hopeless for 729
The "Lawnmower" Award
GOLD Thistle for 554 violent sector takeovers
Silver Hopeless for 239
Bronze Germany for 234
The "Silent Hunter" Award
GOLD Wales for firing 108 submarine torpedos
Silver Germany for 100
Bronze Hopeless for 50
The "Damn the Torpedoes" Award
GOLD BigFish for sweeping 84 seamines the painful way
Silver Wales for 29
Bronze Germany for 19
The "Jolly Roger" Award
GOLD Wales for boarding 18 ships
Silver Germany, BigFish for 17
The "Top Gun" Award
GOLD BigFish for 687 aerial victories and bombing runs
Silver Pathfinder for 220
Bronze Hopeless for 200
The "Armageddon" Award
TRITIUM Hopeless for delivering a nuclear device, onto Germany
The "Bug Hunter" Award
DDT Hopeless for reporting a server bug, and for numerous
interesting observations
Lindane Arrakis, Wales for reporting a WinACE bug
Borax Bunnyland for reporting a small info page bug
Germany for reporting a minor glitch in the game setup
Pathfinder for reporting the broken link in MOTD,
and for other interesting observations
[*] Including funnies that clearly deserved bars from heaven the lazy
gods neglected to drop.
> Announcement from Arrakis, (#7) dated Tue Sep 4 18:18:15 2012
"...for telexing plans to the enemy instead of allies."
Now hold on, that was a brilliant and highly original disinformation
campaign that, uh...didn't work. BUT.
What's funny is that I got the idea from a time when I DID
mistakenly send a brutally personal insult to the person
THAT I WAS INSULTING, instead of my ally. Oops...
Now, guess who I did that to. Who's the worst possible person,
in all of Empire history. Yes, you got it. I did it to
Tom Tedrick - aka Afrika Korps.
I slept with a nightlight for two weeks, clutching a baseball bat.
- Arrakis
> Announcement from Pathfinder, (#4) dated Tue Sep 4 18:52:31 2012
I am surprised you were even able to think of something
insulting for Tom Tedrick.
> Announcement from Bunnyland, (#1) dated Tue Sep 4 20:28:49 2012
Why Borax, for my home-made SlimeTM??
> Announcement from BigFish, (#6) dated Wed Sep 5 11:37:08 2012
You are perfectly safe insulting Tom for multiple reasons.
Mainly he has a phobia about going out in any public situation. so he will
get down to the gun shop, then the bus terminal, and up to Anchorage.
Oh, he also probably doens't know when he has been insulted.
and I still hate him for throwing 6000 mil into the mountian sectors. That's
why we now have limits on mil production in every sector (and I will never run
a game with free mil)
--
and I always sleep with a nightlight. That way in the middle of the night I know
who the naked woman is next to me. Most of the time it is my wife.
--
Okay, all the time it is my wife. I'm boring. Sue me.
> Announcement from Hanuman, (#13) dated Wed Sep 5 16:18:19 2012
I'm about to post the final game status update to r.g.e.
Thanks to y'all for playing, it was a real pleasure for me. Hope to
see you again in another game!
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