Space Tycoon Roleplay

[Coalition]

I am thinking about starting a Space Tycoon Roleplay game, where people play the CEO of a space corporation, and use actual numbers to design stuff, equip an assembly line, and build them, to be launched in space.

Goal will vary depending on how the game is going, and what the players prefer. Ideally, I would like to have ~10 players in the game, to cover a variety of areas (LEO cargo launch, GEO cargo launch, Space Tourism, Orbital research, etc).

I also fully expect groups to form to compete with each other to keep prices low, backstabbing, etc.

If anyone is interested, I'll post the actual rocket/spaceplane/Space Vehicle/Space station design rules.

As an example, here is a turn:

DH-1 Industries
Designs:
Flex-launch Rocket (20 tons to LEO capacity) ($4 Billion Design Cost)
Osiris Solar Satellite (20 tons mass, 150 MW production capacity) ($14 B Design cost)

Budget:
Treasury: $12 Billion
Income: $5B income from suckers shareholders * 75% Happiness = $3.75 B
Total: $15.75 B

Expenses:
Maintain Assembly Line #1 for Rockets ($.4 B)
Produce 4 Flex-Launch Rockets ($.5 B + $.55 B + $.605 B + $.666 B) = $2.321 B
Equip Assembly Line #2 with Osiris Solar Satellite Design ($7B)
Produce 2 Osiris Solar Satellites ($1.75 + 1.925 B) = $3.675 B
Research: Smaller Solar Power Control Modules (2 tons vs 5, total research cost is $15B): $2B / $15B
Total: $15.398 B

Net: $ .354 B

Industry:
Assembly Line #1 (Georgia, USA) (Equipped for Flex-Launch Rockets): Produce 4 Flex-Launch Rockets
Assembly Line #2 (Houston Texas) (Equip for Osiris Solar Satellites): Produce 2 Osiris Solar Satellites

Prior Assets:
(None at this time)

Launch Operations:
Launch 2 Osiris Solar Satellites to LEO using 2 Flex-Launch Rockets

Inter-corporate Relations:
Deliver 2 Flex-launch Rockets to Orbitrans Industries, in exchange for their Orbital transfer vehicle moving the Osiris Solar Satellites to GEO

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

i build a death star in six days crewed by droids thanks to my unlimited manufacturing power then hyperspace it directly to everybody's base

gg

[Stofsk]

well i am sorry bro-cap but i invested in a handful of snubfighters crewed by young farmboys with magic powers

gee

gee

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

that's fine since all my crews are just billions of droids produced by my totally limitless (and dynamic) industrial capacity so i can just build even more death stars crewed by even more droids in like no time flat

or i could just hyperspace my death star to avoid the snub fighters, hyperdrive is obviously capable of that too

2ez, this game sux

[Stofsk]

my snubfighters have hyperdrive too :V

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

oh shi-

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

my model enterprise comes in like VRAAAAA-ROOOOM

and its phasers are all like

pew pew

pew pew

and the photon torpedos are all like

wachow.... KABURRSSHPROAAAOOOOW-

(space is silent)

(and the final frontier)

[Purple]

I am thinking about starting a Space Tycoon Roleplay game, where people play the CEO of a space corporation, and use actual numbers to design stuff, equip an assembly line, and build them, to be launched in space.

Goal will vary depending on how the game is going, and what the players prefer. Ideally, I would like to have ~10 players in the game, to cover a variety of areas (LEO cargo launch, GEO cargo launch, Space Tourism, Orbital research, etc).

I also fully expect groups to form to compete with each other to keep prices low, backstabbing, etc.

If anyone is interested, I'll post the actual rocket/spaceplane/Space Vehicle/Space station design rules.

I am interested. Althou if you want to be taken seriously you will most likely have to move it into the games section.

[Stofsk]

Yeah I can move this thread there if you like, or better to just make a new thread over there.

[Coalition]

I am thinking about starting a Space Tycoon Roleplay game, where people play the CEO of a space corporation, and use actual numbers to design stuff, equip an assembly line, and build them, to be launched in space.

Goal will vary depending on how the game is going, and what the players prefer. Ideally, I would like to have ~10 players in the game, to cover a variety of areas (LEO cargo launch, GEO cargo launch, Space Tourism, Orbital research, etc).

I also fully expect groups to form to compete with each other to keep prices low, backstabbing, etc.

If anyone is interested, I'll post the actual rocket/spaceplane/Space Vehicle/Space station design rules.

I am interested. Althou if you want to be taken seriously you will most likely have to move it into the games section.

I noticed. I posted it in testing in case there was no interest, that way it would get flushed automatically. But if Stofsk wants to, that would be appreciated.

Still, here are the basic vehicle Design Rules. The way it works, is you design a unit with the Design Rules, that gives you the cost to research it. You then have to Equip a Production Line, which is half the Design Cost. The first item produced on that line in a turn (year) costs 1/8 the Design Cost. The second and subsequent item costs 10% more than the prior one.

Ground Stuff:
Assembly Line: A generic factory setup that can be equipped to produce one type of item per turn/year. Cost is $5B. Used to build everything in the game.

Stuff that moves:
Rocket - Used for reaching orbit above Earth; 0.2 Billion/Ton to LEO; 0.25 Billion/Ton to GTO; 0.30 Billion/Ton to TLI; 0.5 Billion/Ton to TMI; 0.5 Billion/Ton to TVI; Double the cost per Person carried.

Space Plane - Used for reaching orbit above Earth; 2.0 Billion/Crewmember Capacity (Min 1); 1.0 Billion/Ton Capacity, only delivers to LEO; Reusable

(Only have completely reuseable and non; a Shuttle Equivalent does not exist in this game.)

Space Vehicle - Used for transferring between bodies in a planetary system, and from planet to orbit and back via rocket assist; 1 Ton/Crew Member, Max Crew of 8; +6 Tons for Lander(Earth) Trait (Note Maximum of Two Lander Traits); + 8 Tons for Lander(Moon) Trait; + 10 Tons for Lander (Mars) Trait; + 8 Tons for Lander(Asteroid) Trait; +1 ton for extra trip; +3 Tons for Reusable Trait (Cannot be a Earth Lander, Can only have a single lander trait.); 2 Ton/Ton Cargo Space; 0.2 Billion/Ton
* Lander(Earth) Trait means it can be recovered on Earth, not that it can launch from Earth

Lander(Moon) - Used for landing/takeoff on the Moon of Earth; 1 Ton/Crew Member; 2 Tons/Ton Cargo Space; +1 ton for extra trip, +3 Tons for Reusable Trait; 0.3 Billion/Ton

Lander(Asteroid) - Used for landing/takeoff on Asteroids; 1 Ton/Crew Member; 1 Ton/Ton Cargo Space; +1 ton for extra trip, +2 Tons for Reusable Trait; 0.2 Billion/Ton

Lander(Mars) - Used for landing/takeoff on Mars; 1.5 Tons/Crew Member; 3 Tons/Ton Cargo Space; +2 tons for extra trip, +5 Tons for Reusable Trait; 0.4 Billion/Ton

Launch costs:
Launch Rocket - Launch a rocket; 0.01 Billion/Ton Capacity to LEO; 0.02 Billion/Ton Capacity to GTO; 0.04 Billion/Ton Capacity to TLI; 0.06 Billion/Ton to TMI; 0.06 Billion Capacity to TVI

Launch Spaceplane - Launch a Spaceplane; 0.01 Billion/Ton Capacity to LEO; 0.01 Billion/Passenger Capacity to LEO

(Ton Capacity means that if you have a 30-ton capacity rocket, and you only launch it with 25 tons of stuff, you still pay the full 30 tons launch price. This is to encourage people to avoid super-rockets for everything)

[Rabid]

I am interested.

[Rabid]

Rocket - Used for reaching orbit above Earth; 0.2 Billion/Ton to LEO; 0.25 Billion/Ton to GTO; 0.30 Billion/Ton to TLI; 0.5 Billion/Ton to TMI; 0.5 Billion/Ton to TVI; Double the cost per Person carried.

Space Plane - Used for reaching orbit above Earth; 2.0 Billion/Crewmember Capacity (Min 1); 1.0 Billion/Ton Capacity, only delivers to LEO; Reusable

This is the cost to design the things, yes ? It will cost less than that to produce, yes ?

[Rabid]

Also, what are the rules for assembling things in space ?

[Rabid]

Also, going to the Moon or to Mars to do... what exactly ? What are the rules about starting space colonies, or building space habitats ?

[Rabid]

What are the rules for :

- Launching a 20 tonnes satellite to LEO with a spaceplane, and using a space-tow to then tow it to GEO ?
- If I have a rocket that can launch 20 tonnes to LEO, how many tonnes can it launch to GEO ? What is the formula ?
- Building an LEO fuel depot for space-tows ?

[Purple]

Rocket - Used for reaching orbit above Earth; 0.2 Billion/Ton to LEO; 0.25 Billion/Ton to GTO; 0.30 Billion/Ton to TLI; 0.5 Billion/Ton to TMI; 0.5 Billion/Ton to TVI; Double the cost per Person carried.

Care explaining what is what here? I know about LEO but nothing else.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I think I can translate:

GTO = Geostationary Tranfer Orbit, the orbit you place things in to get up to 36,000 km.
TLI = Trans-Lunar Injection, the manuvre used to reach the Moon.
TMI = Presumably Trans-Mars Injection.
TVI = Presumably Trans-Venis Injection.

[Purple]

I think I can translate:

GTO = Geostationary Tranfer Orbit, the orbit you place things in to get up to 36,000 km.
TLI = Trans-Lunar Injection, the manuvre used to reach the Moon.
TMI = Presumably Trans-Mars Injection.
TVI = Presumably Trans-Venis Injection.

Thanks. English is not my first language so I tend to suck when it comes to acronyms.

[Eternal_Freedom]

No worries, acronyms are a bastard but NASAese is worse than most. Lots of technical terms in acronyms.

[Narkis]

I'm interested,, though I got a couple questions: How are we gonna compete with each other if equivalent designs cost the same and have the same quality? How will this thing work, with specific contracts that we bid on? Will we be able to build stuff other than rockets and spaceplanes and landers? What do earth landers do better than, say, a reusable lunar lander?

And, most importantly, can I design and launch a probe to Uranus?

[Simon_Jester]

[Contemplates playing this game]

[Sees the question the Greek just asked]

...I think I'll stay out.

But one question- what about launch megastructures? A launch loop comes to mind...

[Eternal_Freedom]

And, most importantly, can I design and launch a probe to Uranus?

Only if you secure private funding and sponsorship from Astroglide and KY.

[Rabid]

I eagerly await the confirmation of the existence of spaaaaaace!-tow-ships (unmanned shuttles towing a payload from LEO to GEO and beyond) and their characteristics.

[Coalition]

Rocket - Used for reaching orbit above Earth; 0.2 Billion/Ton to LEO; 0.25 Billion/Ton to GTO; 0.30 Billion/Ton to TLI; 0.5 Billion/Ton to TMI; 0.5 Billion/Ton to TVI; Double the cost per Person carried.

Space Plane - Used for reaching orbit above Earth; 2.0 Billion/Crewmember Capacity (Min 1); 1.0 Billion/Ton Capacity, only delivers to LEO; Reusable

This is the cost to design the things, yes ? It will cost less than that to produce, yes ?

Yes. The above are Design Costs. Equipping an Assembly Line is half the Design Cost. Building the first item on an Assembly Line is 1/8 the Design price.

I.e. The Rabid class Spaceplane carrying 20 tons to LEO:
1 pilot (mandatory)
20 tons capacity
Total Design cost: $2 B + $20 B = $22 B Design Cost
Equipping an Assembly Line to produce the Rabid Spaceplane: $11 B
First Spaceplane: $2.75 B
Subsequent Spaceplanes cost 10% more than the previous, rounding up to the nearest million. So #2 produced that turn costs $3.025 B, the third costs $3.328 B, etc. The Rabid Spaceplane will cost $ .21 B to launch.

The problem is Spaceplanes are expensive, so your up-front price will be much higher. A rocket delivering 20 tons to LEO will cost $4B to Design, $2 B to Equip a line, and $ .5 B for the first produced. The rockets will cost $ .2 B each to launch.

So you'd use the above Spaceplane to launch a 20-ton payload to LEO. You'd then need a Space Vehicle capable of moving 20 tons to get it to GTO. Assuming you want it reuseable (smart idea), the basic design will mass a total of 43 tons, and cost $8.6 B to Design. Equipping the line will cost $ 4.3 B, and the first one will cost $1.075 B. The nice part is since it is reuseable, you can launch cargo to LEO, and deliver to GTO using this.

Developing better Cargo storage technology will allow for smaller Space Vehicles, so they are cheaper to Design, and use less Supply to travel between planetary orbits.

I am planning on providing a few existing rockets. You do not need to set up an Assembly Line, you just pay the cash, and they deliver to the destination orbit. The rough rockets are:
30-ton rocket to LEO S: 2.5B (larger capacity allows larger units without needing assembly, only 3-4 avail per turn)
10-ton rocket to LEO S: .75B
5-ton rocket to GEO S: .5B
2-ton rocket to TLI S: .31B
1-ton rocket to TMI S: .25B
1-ton rocket to TVI S: .25B
2 person Spaceplane (1 IASA pilot that only sits in the Spaceplane, 1 passenger or ton to LEO), Rent for .05B-.07B per turn (.04+1d3*.01)
Rockets can lose 2 tons capacity to carry 1 person, max of 8 people, only deliver to destination, does not return them

Eternal_Freedom, you are correct on the names.

Narkis & Simon_Jester:
There will be tech advances possible, so someone could get better MW/ton for Solar Power, while another person could go for a smaller Solar Module base tonnage. A third person could use their money to design a much larger Solar Satellite that delivers more MW/ton.

Money will be made in the following ways:
Selling solar power (if there are 'interruptions' on Earth, the price paid per MW will go up)
Selling orbital research (or using that orbital research to fund their own research)
Space tourism (over here you can see total blackness with dots of light, over there more darkness with spots, and behind you are three more people who paid $60M each to see the same thing)
Servicing the hydra headed IASA contracts (every 5 turns, I change their goal to reflect political changes).

Launch Megastructures will eventually be proposed, including Startram and a Space Elevator.

Changing LEO to GTO has no current fuel costs (original game didn't either, but the Space Vehicle will only get to be used once per turn initially.)

For a LEO Rocket to put something to GTO, currently you'll need a Space Vehicle to transfer it properly. I.e. You have a rocket that can launch 30 tons to LEO. You put a 20-ton Space Vehicle in, that has 10 tons cargo capacity. The Rocket launches to LEO, the Space Vehicle goes to GTO, and delivers a 10-ton satellite. The Space Vehicle becomes orbital garbage.

Goal for the Moon: Mine Helium-3
Goal for Mars: Tours, Cydonia base, set up refueling station for Jovian missions

Ultimate goal - pay back the suckers investors who pumped money into your company.

To make a LEO fuel depot, you'll need the following components from the Space Station Component list (below):
1 Port Module
Airlock
Storage Modules
Manipulator (to add more than one storage module to the station per turn)

For Space Station components, here they are:
Port Module - The base of any multi-purpose space station. Stations need Ports for additional modules to dock at. (Note, one port is consumed from each port module when two connect to facilitate larger station expansion); 2 Tons/Port; 2 Tons/Crew; 0.4 Billion/Ton

Storage Module - Required for the storage of materials and supplies. (For example, the ISS with 12 storage can store enough supplies to service twelve crew members for a year, or 6 crew members for two years).; Base 2 Tons + 1 Ton/2 Storage Capacity; 0.5 Billion/Ton

Airlock - Operated; Used for spacewalks, and is essential for larger-scale station construction, and the management of cargo passing through the station. Required for a station to expand beyond a single port module.; 3 Tons/Additional Module Serviced; 0.8 Billion/Ton;

Multi-Power Docking Module - Required in order for multiple powers to dock with a station. NOTE: If multiple powers are using identical spacecraft from a single power's designs, this is not required. This design must be shared by all utilizing powers; 4 Tons; 0.8 Billion/Ton

Manipulator - Operated; Used to assist in the assembling stations and for handling cargo. Required in order to expand a station beyond a single port module. Until a manipulator is attached, only a single module can be attached each year, a manipulator increases this by one. Only one manipulator is permitted.; 2 Tons; 1.0 Billion/Ton

Research Module - Operated; The real meat and bones of the operation. (albeit not that great), and may assist space related breakthroughs *cough*, also accomplishing something other than just something pretty in space may affect your happiness.; Base 5 Tons + 1 Tons/Research; 0.7 Billion/Ton

Manipulator Operations Module - Operated; Required to increase the amount of manipulators to an amount greater than zero; 2 Tons/Additional Manipulator; 1.6 Billion/Ton

Life Support Module - Required for the habitation of your station by crew.; Base 3 Tons + 4 Tons/Crew; 0.4 Billion/Ton

Habitation Module - Provides a large scale habitation area for multiple crew. NOTE: Crew in a Habitation module doesn't need to be replaced, meaning, its a permanent residence thing; 5 Tons Base + 2 Tons/Crew and Life support Unit; 0.7 Billion/Ton

Solar Power Module - A module designed specifically to produce Solar Power. Base 5 Tons; 1 Ton/10MW Power; 0.7 Billion/Ton (NOTE: Solar Power is only half as effective in LEO as it is in GTO. Numbers listed here are for GTO).

[Rabid]

So you'd use the above Spaceplane to launch a 20-ton payload to LEO. You'd then need a Space Vehicle capable of moving 20 tons to get it to GTO. Assuming you want it reuseable (smart idea), the basic design will mass a total of 43 tons, and cost $8.6 B to Design. Equipping the line will cost $ 4.3 B, and the first one will cost $1.075 B. The nice part is since it is reuseable, you can launch cargo to LEO, and deliver to GTO using this.

Can I have the above Space Vehicle sent up there in multiple parts and have it assembled by people in my hypothetical shipyard space station ? How many time can a space vehicle shuttle from LEO-to-GEO-and-back per turn/year ?

How many time can I launch the same Spaceplane to orbit per turn/year ? How do you calculate equipment reliability/failure modes ?

Can I rent my assembly lines/orbital assembly capabilities to other ? Can I be contracted by others to use my personnels and assets to maintain their own orbital assets ?