"Stellar Realms" - online gaming, with a twist.

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 12:22 pm

perhaps we could ask for an all SPCR galaxy?

Zyzzyx · Post by **Zyzzyx** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 2:07 pm

Martok:

We're only 52 years into a 300 year round right now. With one month every 20 minutes, that works out to 6 years/day. That gives us just over 40 days left for this round. I would suggest that if you're interested, sign up and check it out; maybe even towards the end of the round. Then you'll have a bit of an idea what its like for the following round.

Dryfire:

That's an idea, but that would be far down the line when the number of players is far more than we have now. Currently at ~55 planets, this is one of the larger rounds we've had recently. I think the current setup could easily support well over 100 planets, or maybe far more. Just makes interactions and alliances that much more complex.

Straker · Post by **Straker** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 3:15 pm

one major problem with this game is that research and building take future months, and not turns, ie if you have 300 turns saved and build something that takes 18 months, you still need to wait 6 RL hours for it to finish (and then login again at that time so as to not waste any time).

fairly nice other than that.

Post by **Rusty075** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 4:20 pm

Yeah, the whole stockpiling "turns" issue is a bit odd. It's setup the way it is to prevent people from stockpiling big numbers of turns and then cashing them all in at once to crank through research topics with blazing speed. The reasoning for it is that the dev's want to subtly encourage and support players who check in more often, and that having the research take future turns forces you to preplan you strategy more carefully. (you can't, for instance, wait until you decide to attack someone and then blast through all the Offense research topics in a single turn right before your fleet lands)

Personally, I think having the "turns" be used for just the random missions is a bit silly. I think it'd make more sense if you have to use a "turn" for doing something, like starting a research, building a building, sending a fleet, etc. So if you wanted to do all three of those things at a single point in time you would have had to have saved up at least three of your previous turns beforehand.

Well, we're now 58 years into the round, how's everyone doing? Tibors and I have slipped from the very top, although he's slipped a lot less than I have.

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 5:35 pm

Missions aside, it works just like any other game of this type I've played. You could easily get rid of the turns altogether and have people check in every hour to perform a mission, but then some people lose out when away from the computer (solution - 'Reload Every' extension in firefox

) and people like me wouldn't be able to stockpile missions for when they needed it.

(What's your planet, Rusty?)

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 6:45 pm

I've come into a bit boring fase now.

I've flushed out all the really irritating spies. You know, the ones that actually try to steal or sabotage. There might be some left that are dormant or gathering information, but then they are so good I can't find them.

The buildings in the catagory "must absolutely have ASAP" are all erected.

I'm not rich and confident enough to go out on a rampage yet

So I am researching and researching and researching, which I am quite good at as a Moavar. I had to start a new research in the 02:20 round this night. I was busy doing other things and suddenly it was 03:15

Luckilly I didn't really mis three rounds. Summertime started.

Post by **Rusty075** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 7:26 pm

Having played this game for a while now there's definitely a pattern to the action:

It starts off very quiet, as everyone is concerned with the goings on on their own planet, frantically researching and building away. Then once the Intel immunity comes off, there's a flurry of activity, usually accompanied by forum whining and skirmishes. Then it'll get quiet again, as alliances are cemented and larger fleets are built. It's really the last 50 or 100 years that really get active.

(and I'm keeping my planet name secret, at least for now.

)

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 9:08 pm

yeah I"ve noticed very little activity aswell. The rounds are pretty long though; 100 days is a long time. What if a month was reduced to 10 minutes? Definatly move things along MUCH faster. Seeing as I don't always have 100 days of straight internet acess and I'm kinda addicted to this game.

Zyzzyx- Are you saying that all people playing in this round are all the people playing the game?

I never went to the forums before guess i shall pay them a visit more often.

Zyzzyx · Post by **Zyzzyx** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 11:16 pm

DryFire wrote:yeah I"ve noticed very little activity aswell. The rounds are pretty long though; 100 days is a long time. What if a month was reduced to 10 minutes? Definatly move things along MUCH faster. Seeing as I don't always have 100 days of straight internet acess and I'm kinda addicted to this game.

Zyzzyx- Are you saying that all people playing in this round are all the people playing the game?

I never went to the forums before guess i shall pay them a visit more often.

I think they've found a good balance with the 20 minute months. Any faster than that would put too much reward to the folks who are constantly at the computer *cough*rusty*cough*. And a full round is 300 years game time, 50 days RL, not 100 days. Once you're hooked, its not the 50 days that are annoying, its the week or two between rounds as they tweak game code.

And yes, the planets shown in the 'Galaxy Overview' are all of the folks playing this game. Did I not mention that it is far from a corporate entity? Its small, real small. Overall the game is still a 'beta' in a sense. This is the 9th round. The first rounds were fairly limited to who was playing, but its opened up a bit more recently as the game code settles out.

If you know other folks that you think would enjoy the game, introduce them to it and have 'em start up a planet in the current round. Awhile back I started quite late into a round, yet ended up being quite the troublemaker.

And being that the game is conflict oriented, the in-character forums can be quite useful for creating and defusing conflict. Check 'em out. Definitely adds a necessary dimension to the game.

rbrodka · Post by **rbrodka** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:45 am

Zyzzyx wrote:... And a full round is 300 years game time, 50 days RL...

Somewhere, I got the idea in my head that a round is 400 years game time, or 66 actual days. Did the round length change?

I'm having a great time playing, but as the research periods get longer, I find there is not very much to do at the moment. My building phase has slowed to what my income stream can support and still maintain a healthy positive cash flow. I suspect things will begin to heat up soon though.

I would like to see something different for the rounds. Performing missions is like pulling the slot machine handle; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. For me, I seem to still be losing more than I win. Perhaps a scheme where you can redeem turns for a bonus in a category of your choosing. For example, in exchange for 300 turns, you would get a 1% research bonus. Just an idea off the top of my head.

EDIT: My perception is that I lose more than I gain by performing missions, but in actuality, I think the gains from missions is what has propelled me higher in the planetary rankings. It’s just soooo devastating to lose a whole lot of prestige in one pull of the slot machine lever and perform a mission that goes terribly wrong.

Prince Volvo

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 11:03 am

O i thought a full round was 600 years.

I really like the idea of cashing in turns for something more then a gamble.

rbrodka · Post by **rbrodka** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 12:09 pm

Rusty075 wrote:...Well, we're now 58 years into the round, how's everyone doing?...

I started out in 45th position and have moved up to 40th, where I will stay for a while. I am slowly gaining on neighboring planets, and am content to not move up too quickly. Its probably good to stay off everyone's radar screen until I have built up some decent defense capability.

I'm learning as I go, and having great fun!

Straker · Post by **Straker** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 12:56 pm

heh. i'm near the bottom, but surprisingly i'm still far from last despite only remembering to login 3 or 4 times.

and yeah, missions are silly - net change from spending 250-300 turns on missions = ~10K prestige and a few thousand population.

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 1:36 pm

Ha, I got some action:

Date: 3/27/2005 4:03:00 PM
From: Bornea
To: Bornea
Subject: Combat Report
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A fleet of vessels from an unknown source attempted to reconnoiter structures at Bornea.
The attacking force was detected before entering the system.
The attacking force consisted of 1 bundle of black filaments(s).
The defending force consisted of <<snip>>.
In the opening volley, Bornea <<snip>> fired at an unknown source bundle of black filaments 1 and hit it for 1 damage, destroying it!
Attackers losses were 1 bundle of black filaments(s) and 0 personnel.
Defender lost no units.
Defender lost no structures.
Attacker lost 1 prestige.
Defender gained 1 prestige.

rbrodka · Post by **rbrodka** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 2:09 pm

So what is your take on these black filaments? Sounds like another element of game play. I thought the conflict would be just between the planets, but I'm seeing nuances that we may also have to battle another entity. I’ve seen several references to the Q’ozsh, and they don’t seem to be too pleasant.

Prince Volvo

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 4:27 pm

It certainly makes it more interesting, doesn't it?

*tools up with battleships and carriers* - oh, I'm selling these by the way, not using them. And then attacking the people who I sold them to because they started fighting, just like real life.

rbrodka · Post by **rbrodka** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 5:07 pm

StarfishChris wrote:It certainly makes it more interesting, doesn't it?...

Yes, and just when game play seemed to be dragging a bit. Clever game developers!

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 7:04 pm

I've got a lot of resources at my disposal but I don't have the reasearch to keep up with me.

and my latest intelligence endeavours are not suceeding.

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 8:58 pm

It is nor a bad thing to have many unused resources. For every 6k or so materials and for every 100k credits you have, you get an extra prestige point per turn.

But if you are really swamped in materials, then you'd better knock some mines down. That saves you some cash each turn. Stockpiling cash costs nothing, but for stockpiling materials you need warehouses.

Zyzzyx · Post by **Zyzzyx** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 10:43 pm

I've gotta comment that I'm glad you folks are playing. We kinda needed some new blood and some fresh ideas for the game. Tibors, thanks for making your latest batch of suggestion posts in the Tech Forum there.

rbrodka: Don't be shy about posting ideas as such in the Tech Forum there. I like your idea of using accumulated turns for something other than just missions; don't think I've heard it mentioned like that before.

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 2:48 pm

Tibors wrote:But if you are really swamped in materials, then you'd better knock some mines down. That saves you some cash each turn. Stockpiling cash costs nothing, but for stockpiling materials you need warehouses.

well i built my first warehouse yesterday and have been building them since. Once i have the ability to produce a fleet of decent ships I"ll churn them out en mass.

Also having to create my first habitat.

rbrodka · Post by **rbrodka** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 9:46 am

56 Planets - the game is going well.... Conflicts seem to be on the rise....

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 10:23 am

yeah It looks like it I could use a skirmish as fleet maintinece is starting to kill me.

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 4:33 pm

Why do you build ships, if you know you can't maintain them? I mean it is pretty straight forward to calculate that in advance.

Another way is to get rid of them is selling them to people who need them. From the messages and the scores it seems Tin Palace and The Doomed Planet won't mind buying ships if the price is right. Zoltrix (btw Is that you Zyzzyx?) has been attacked twice now too.

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 4:57 pm

Yep, sell your ships to the Doomed Planet! After all, Tin Palace has mainly materials and we have mainly credits...

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 5:52 pm

Tibors - I can easily withstand the coasts for my standard ships it's the specail prillep ship that is killing me as is costs as much as or more then the rest of my ships.

Starfish how many ships do you want?

Edit: again: someone bought the cruisers.

Edit: Looks as if someone shall be taking me up on teh material offer.

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:24 am

This prestige generation bit has me a bit stumped though. I've got a bank accound and a population waaaay better than my prestige ranking.
Do I really HAVE to go out and kick b**t to gain "respect?"

Post by **Rusty075** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 6:09 am

Prestige generation is a complicated thing. You can lead the galaxy in one department, but still end up in last place. Take me for example; I'm 2nd in pop, 6th in credits, yet I'm waaay back in the middle of the prestige pack.

Given enough time, being really good at something, be it reproduction, wealth, research, fighting, etc, will move you up in the ranks.

Attacking people is a risky way to gain prestige. Sure, a successful attack may gain you 20K points in single turn, but it could cost you that many as well.

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:14 am

You gain prestige for everything don't you? Materials, structures, population ships etc...

Post by **Rusty075** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 8:35 am

Exactly. For some items you can do the math pretty easily: 1 prestige for every 10K pop, every 100K credits, and every 10K materials. The prestige amounts for other items like research, ships and structures is harder to calculate, but you can see the breakdown tally on your Planet Overview.