StarDestroyer.Net BBS

So I finally quit yapping about my 3 ship size idea and made a mod to do it. It's a fairly simple mod in terms of number of actual changes from the Balance Mod, but those changes should result in very different gameplay. Here are the biggies:

• 1. Got rid of all ship sizes other than Destroyer, Cruiser, Battleship. Each ship has a different role to play in a fleet, and they all get bigger as large scale construction is researched.
  
  2. Troops made to be more like ships and less like fighters. They use ship sized weapons and components, and are much larger. This should cut way down on bugginess involving too many troops and reverse the dominance of fighters in ground combat. Weapon platforms can now duke it out with troops.
  
  3. Implemented large sized components and facilities. For instance, there is a sensor array that will increase sensor range, but takes up more space for scout ships. There are also large and collossal shipyards that take up 3 and 10 facility slots respectively, but can turn a planet into a construction juggernaught.

I haven't tried a game with AI, but I'm fairly sure the AI will be completely non-functional and may even throw errors, so this one will be a multiplayer only mod.

All that's left to do now is balance the thing, which is why I'll need some volunteers. The mod should be error and bug free, and fully playable. I'm thinking of doing a quick ~4 player game on small map with medium starting tech, no RP or complicated diplomacy or anything.

Hopefully we can kick it off around next weekend. Who's up for it?

I'm game. Sounds like a good opportunity to learn the ins and outs of multiplayer combat, too.

If you are serious about doing it, sure. I assume the point is to get it tested as quickly as possible. I wonder if with four players we can book an afternoon or two on a weekend to play dozens of turns at once. You don't want to wait half a year for the results after all. We could use the javascript notifier, and an IM program and get turns in with a timer of say... 5 minutes? Then it'd be 12 turns an hour, and in two sessions of three hours each maximum we'd know whether the mod was half decent or not.

Sounds like a plan. Next Sunday, perhaps?

I should be free.

Let me check. No hookers, no parties, no plans for world conquest or time travel. I'm free. My summer class doesn't start until next week so this whole week is free.

So we're doing it the fast way right? I don't want to wait six months for it, or play it every day. I'd rather use IM and upload every 5 minutes. What kind of IM programs do you guys use? I don't have anything installed right now. Even some kind of lame chat room would do. Or wait... does the TCP/IP work?

Last I tried with 1.13, no, but it might have been fixed. For my money, the fastest way to communicate is voice chat. Something like Ventrilio, but everyone would need a mic and a fast connection.

I got vent. What do you use it for, fps, mmorpg? Didn't know you were into that.

Only problem is a server for vent. A lot of free places are anal, and I can't get my guild's chat server for randoms, not high enough on the food chain.

I'm on a dialup, unfortunately, which is part of the reason why I like Space Empires. As for IM programs, I don't have any installed.

no plans for... time travel

That's the great thing about time travel, Brian -- you can always fit it into your schedule.

Depending on how fast your dial-up is it could be a serious crim in the idea of doing 12 turns an hour. If it turns out to take 10 minutes to upload a turn, five turns an hour blows. Might as well make it a day after day thing then.

I can do a turn in 30 seconds to two minutes now with all the shortcuts. If it takes half an hour for people to do turns, the real-time thing's off.

I like the idea of huge space yards. I've never been a fan of maintainence hogging orbital space yards. One space yard that can make ten ships cuts down on micro and that's always good. My only fear is nobody will make them, or it won't be worth making them, because large or medium planets are a premium for breathing space. The yard had better be the best fucking yard ever with 20x the construction rate of BSY, or it's better for 10 research facilities or 10 miners. Instead of a hugeass yard, you could make a yard that uses 1 slot that takes 20 turns to make on a non-breather world rather than 5. Then I could use my normal strategy of using red shitass worlds for yards and not waste a large planet's space that's more useful for point production.

It's all about tradeoffs. A super yard can pump out expensive ships a lot faster than a normal one for emergencies. It's not supposed to compete with normal sized yards on a build rate for kT basis.

Anyway, a .plr file is only 10-50k. You'd have to have the world's shittiest connection for that to take 10 mins.

Oh, by the way, here is the link to the mod.

Sweet. I'll have it downloaded tomorrow, since I've got a T3 at work. I shouldn't have any trouble making turns happen in five minutes, even on a dialup, and I'm go for Sunday. What chat program will we use, if any? I don't suppose either of you are on Gmail, are you?

Also, what time did you guys want to get this thing done, on Sunday? I'm open pretty much all day.

Gmail chat is fine. I know brian also has a gmail account because we sent about 10,000 messages back and forth in the B5 game. Timing might be a little tricky, as I'm going out of town to visit my mom on Saturday and I don't know exactly when I'll be free on Sunday, but we should definitely be able to play, I just don't know exactly when on Sunday yet. Will update in a couple of days.

Does 2 PM PDT work for everyone this Sunday?

Yep, couldn't be better. That'll be 3 pm my time, which is just great... That's the hottest part of the day, and my computer desk is parked directly above the cooler vent.

So, say, 2 pm - 5 pm, PDT?

It's on like Donkey Kong! Assuming Brian can make that time, of course.

Just to make sure there are no time conflicts, you should both check the internet to see what time it is right now in California and see how far ahead you are. Daylight savings being used in some places and not in others, subtracting instead of adding, etc. can make memory unreliable.

Well, I'm all set. What are you guys' gmails?

Last chance for anybody who wants to join the pickup game. It'll last for three hours, starting now, with maybe 5-10 minute turns, and starting in 20 minutes. All you need is Tuxedo's Mod. Anybody is welcome, pm me.

arthurtuxedo AT gmail DOT com. I'm on right now.

Google talk or google chat?

I'm on right now too, don't see you on at all.

I'm on, too. donald.j.orr AT gmail DOT com.

Tuxedo you got to accept my invitation.

Wow google chat is lame.