Set-Up Guide
What are the different cell colors mean?
Red: Player Input. You manipulate these to control your Empire
Yellow: GM Input. I manage these values to progress your Empire
Grey: Calculated. These use the inputs from the player and GM to calculate the correct values for your empire
Green: These are just a reprint of information found elsewhere on the sheet for the Master Economics Program.
Other: These cells are either used for spacing or have secondary, unimportant calculations running through them.
Empire Control Tab
I recommend everyone start here. The decisions you make about your empire will affect a lot of things on the sheet and so it will be important for these to get filled in before you start manipulating other components of the sheet.
The set up process is simple enough, simply select an option from the drop down menu to set your state’s policy/regulations concerning the fields given.
Economics Tab
Set-up here is as simple as selecting a tax and tariff rate for your empire.
Systems Tab
There should be virtually no set up on this sheet except for inputting the work rate for your resource production. All players will start with pre-determined major systems.
Starships Tab
There are no Player Inputs here
Army Tab
The only thing here is to choose weather you want a volunteer based army or conscriptions.
Deployment Tab
Here you must deploy your fleet/army. All ships and forces will start out as deployable; however, after the first turn all non-deployed ships get mothballed.
Construction Tab
Set your initial rates of production for the various classes.
R&D Tab
No Set Up required.
Beta 2.0 Rules
Moderator: Lt. Staplic
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: Somewhere Among the Stars
- Contact:
Beta 2.0 Rules
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: Somewhere Among the Stars
- Contact:
Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
General Purpose
What is the date?
Beta will start in 2150. Pre Federation. I will state it right here and now: I will be violating some canon – ESPECIALLY Enterprise – for this SIM. If you think I’m just overlooking something that I shouldn’t, feel free to let me know, but it could be that I’ve considered it and gotten rid of it for game purposes.
What are the objectives?
The object of the game is the same. What ever you define it to be. Along the way there are goals to achieve that will be crafted based off the evolution of your power.
Why is the spreadsheet different from Beta 1?
The Spreadsheet changed for several reasons. There were various upgrades that were included into the design from the start. These updates were ones introduced while B1 was still going, for Alpha 2, and a few more. Additionally since I made the sheet from scratch rather than reusing an old one, things changed to fit my preference for doing things.
Are there Cloaks?
For now I am planning on keeping Cloaks in the game; HOWEVER, THERE WILL BE NO CLOAKING IN COMBAT. All ships that are cloaked when the fleet enters combat will NOT be allowed to decloak during combat.
I will also be adding a “cloaking fee.” I will assume that for any cloak capable race they have technology 1 year ahead of the current sensor technology; however, you must continually pay to maintain that advantage. If a player fails to pay they will loose cloaking tech and have to research it as a new technology.
NO race starts with cloaking technology. Additionally I must receive a pitch to build this technology. See R&D for more info.
Is there Exploration?
Yes. Exploration will be a vital component to this sim which will allow empires to grow and the map to become one coherent whole. There will also be a difference between dedicated explorers and the old generation of ships put out for one more missions before they’re retired. Exploration will work by having every exploring ship assigned a randomly generated number between 1 and 100. Those ships that get a 100 will proceed to the next round. It will be assumed the ratio of explorers to total ships will remain approximately the same. These ships will then have another random number generated for them, but it will be clear before the number is assigned which type of ship it is. Dedicated explorers will need to roll a 60+ to find something, old ships will need to roll a 90+. Any ships that make a find will have a random roll done for them which will generate their find from a list of random events. Some events are more probable than others and will therefore be seen much more often.
What are the Colonization Rules?
Unlike previous SIM’s not all habitable planets you find will be devoid of intelligent life. Before you can colonize a world the inhabitants must be dealt with. You can try and make contact and bring them into your state as citizens, leave them alone to develop and not make a colony there, or send in troops to conquer and enslave them. Once you’ve subdued the inhabitants you can establish a colony that will progress much the same as earlier colonies.
Minor Worlds will now labeled by code. What exactly the code is will be discovered soon enough I’m sure, but to start out at least I’d like to prevent people from being able to tell all they want about your new world by looking at the name. The code will contain the planet number followed by a hyphen and then a string of numbers which will be determined by random roll. These numbers will indicate things about the natural resources and population of the planet.
How is Diplomacy Conducted?
This is still done through the forum. There will be an IC thread for public matters and private communications go through PM’s. THE GM MUST BE COPIED ON ALL IC COMMUNICATIONS.
What are the Playable Races?
As this is Pre-Federation the Races are somewhat different, but generally the same:
The Coalition: A pre Federation Body that represents the founding 5 worlds.
The Klingon Empire: A Clan System Empire
The Romulan Star Empire: An Imperial Senate
The Cardassian State: Player Choice Government
The Breen State: Player Choice Government
The Gorn State: Player Choice Government
The Tholian State: Player Choice Government
The Ferangi State: Player Choice Government
Can I play as the Dominion or the Borg?
Not yet. The Borg will never be a playable race in Beta 2. The Dominion is another story. If a wormhole is discovered – and I stress the IF, don’t think you can find Bajor and tell me to search the Denorios Belt and poof have a wormhole – then the dominion could be brought in and we could re-fight the Dominion War with what ever changes are made by you in the time between.
Can I create-a-race?
Not at present. Reason: This is still at its core a Star Trek SIM. While I’m (hopefully) opening it up in a way to allow it to become very different from Star Trek I’m not to the point where we just let everyone create all new races from scratch. That said, in Alpha1, Alpha2, and Beta created races have come into play and I think that having created races in this setting could be very exciting. IF all playable races fill up and we have left-over players, we can create new races.
What kinds of Governments are there?
The total number of government types is expanding for this SIM. While in general the total variations will remain the same there will be some differences. I will address the general mood of each government:
Transitional Government: Temporary Body
Democratic Republic: Representative form of democracy
Collective Democracy: Everyone Votes on Everything
Mercantile Republic: Make more money
Imperial Senate: Democracy for a few, Empire for the rest
Oligarchy: Few in Power Rule Absolutely over all others
Clan System: Council of Clan Chiefs rules the Empire
Military Dictatorship: He who leads the military, leads the state.
A note on governments and empire controls: since there appears to be an uncertainty about the issue I will clear it up. The more open your government and media the less secretes you will have. Seems obvious but by this I mean: military installation locations. If the people and press are free, all it takes is for a reporter to look in the sky on every world and figure out where your major systems are, and what kind of defenses they have. Hence this will be open information to anyone who asks.
There was a brief appearance of the Orion Syndicate in Beta 1, anything like that happening again?
There are rules for crime rings to form. Under certain conditions and in certain areas they can spring up. How the players react will determine if these crime rings are going to be minor nuisances, or turn into vast networks crossing borders and helping to smuggle goods from one nation to another.
How do “Warp Highways/Speedtraps” work?
This was something that was added by the players during set up and here’s how this will work. I have placed warp highways on the map to facilitate certain routs that will allow controlled interactions to create the opportunity for Trek like relations between all powers.
The basic rule I have for warp highways as of now, and I have no doubt this will change is to half the travel time along a warp highway and double it in a speed trap.
The Highway networks is NOT stable. I want this to be known from the start, if at any point I feel that a certain highway isn’t needed, or if I feel like the game would be better off without it, it will be gone. I will try and give people as much notice as possible concerning this; however, I fear that events that cause highways to be removed will be things noticed while turns are being rolled over or shortly there before or after and therefore there may be very little notice at all.
Additionally, as highways close and the map changes, new highways will be “found” allowing exploration in new areas. As the SIM progresses the number of “found” highways will decrease until we get to a point (around the time SIM average is Warp 7-8) where the warp highways will be removed altogether.
How does Intelligence Work?
The mathematical construct to run intelligence is going to change slightly. The first major change is that at the beginning of an intel op a random number will be generated that will indicate your skill in the information extraction. The higher the number the more complete and more reliable the information is that you will eventually extract. You will not know this number.
Another change is in counter intel. Each turn a random number between 1 and 10 will be generated. This number will multiply by your counter intel level and will resist any information extraction that turn.
The final change is that once the information has been received, the intel operation will end, and if you want to get another update on what-ever-topic that is, it will require a new Intelligence Operation. I will assume that after a report is fed to you (be it honest intel or counter-intel) the player will decide weather they want to continue the op and if it shows up I will keep running it regardless of if it requires the start of a new op or not.
Information will be found when you get above a critical number, this number will vary from topic to topic and from power to power. For example, it’ll be easier to get the GDP information for a democracy that it will be to get the Fleet Deployment information out of a dictatorship.
What about counter-intelligence and disinformation?
Your ability to feed lies to your enemies hasn’t gone away. This no longer requires a full burn to use however. Spreading disinformation is as easy as telling me what it is you want to spread. Following that anyone doing intel on you in an area that concerns what it is your saying will receive that in their intel reports with speculation as to it’s reliability (i.e. if it’s year 1 they’re going to be skeptical they got in already, and if they’re almost there they’ll have enough of an idea to recognize a lie.)
What if I want to plant a spy to oversee enemy activities for the next 20 years?
No. If you want to observe enemy activities for the next 20 years, use the intelligence system for the next 20 years.
What is the date?
Beta will start in 2150. Pre Federation. I will state it right here and now: I will be violating some canon – ESPECIALLY Enterprise – for this SIM. If you think I’m just overlooking something that I shouldn’t, feel free to let me know, but it could be that I’ve considered it and gotten rid of it for game purposes.
What are the objectives?
The object of the game is the same. What ever you define it to be. Along the way there are goals to achieve that will be crafted based off the evolution of your power.
Why is the spreadsheet different from Beta 1?
The Spreadsheet changed for several reasons. There were various upgrades that were included into the design from the start. These updates were ones introduced while B1 was still going, for Alpha 2, and a few more. Additionally since I made the sheet from scratch rather than reusing an old one, things changed to fit my preference for doing things.
Are there Cloaks?
For now I am planning on keeping Cloaks in the game; HOWEVER, THERE WILL BE NO CLOAKING IN COMBAT. All ships that are cloaked when the fleet enters combat will NOT be allowed to decloak during combat.
I will also be adding a “cloaking fee.” I will assume that for any cloak capable race they have technology 1 year ahead of the current sensor technology; however, you must continually pay to maintain that advantage. If a player fails to pay they will loose cloaking tech and have to research it as a new technology.
NO race starts with cloaking technology. Additionally I must receive a pitch to build this technology. See R&D for more info.
Is there Exploration?
Yes. Exploration will be a vital component to this sim which will allow empires to grow and the map to become one coherent whole. There will also be a difference between dedicated explorers and the old generation of ships put out for one more missions before they’re retired. Exploration will work by having every exploring ship assigned a randomly generated number between 1 and 100. Those ships that get a 100 will proceed to the next round. It will be assumed the ratio of explorers to total ships will remain approximately the same. These ships will then have another random number generated for them, but it will be clear before the number is assigned which type of ship it is. Dedicated explorers will need to roll a 60+ to find something, old ships will need to roll a 90+. Any ships that make a find will have a random roll done for them which will generate their find from a list of random events. Some events are more probable than others and will therefore be seen much more often.
What are the Colonization Rules?
Unlike previous SIM’s not all habitable planets you find will be devoid of intelligent life. Before you can colonize a world the inhabitants must be dealt with. You can try and make contact and bring them into your state as citizens, leave them alone to develop and not make a colony there, or send in troops to conquer and enslave them. Once you’ve subdued the inhabitants you can establish a colony that will progress much the same as earlier colonies.
Minor Worlds will now labeled by code. What exactly the code is will be discovered soon enough I’m sure, but to start out at least I’d like to prevent people from being able to tell all they want about your new world by looking at the name. The code will contain the planet number followed by a hyphen and then a string of numbers which will be determined by random roll. These numbers will indicate things about the natural resources and population of the planet.
How is Diplomacy Conducted?
This is still done through the forum. There will be an IC thread for public matters and private communications go through PM’s. THE GM MUST BE COPIED ON ALL IC COMMUNICATIONS.
What are the Playable Races?
As this is Pre-Federation the Races are somewhat different, but generally the same:
The Coalition: A pre Federation Body that represents the founding 5 worlds.
The Klingon Empire: A Clan System Empire
The Romulan Star Empire: An Imperial Senate
The Cardassian State: Player Choice Government
The Breen State: Player Choice Government
The Gorn State: Player Choice Government
The Tholian State: Player Choice Government
The Ferangi State: Player Choice Government
Can I play as the Dominion or the Borg?
Not yet. The Borg will never be a playable race in Beta 2. The Dominion is another story. If a wormhole is discovered – and I stress the IF, don’t think you can find Bajor and tell me to search the Denorios Belt and poof have a wormhole – then the dominion could be brought in and we could re-fight the Dominion War with what ever changes are made by you in the time between.
Can I create-a-race?
Not at present. Reason: This is still at its core a Star Trek SIM. While I’m (hopefully) opening it up in a way to allow it to become very different from Star Trek I’m not to the point where we just let everyone create all new races from scratch. That said, in Alpha1, Alpha2, and Beta created races have come into play and I think that having created races in this setting could be very exciting. IF all playable races fill up and we have left-over players, we can create new races.
What kinds of Governments are there?
The total number of government types is expanding for this SIM. While in general the total variations will remain the same there will be some differences. I will address the general mood of each government:
Transitional Government: Temporary Body
Democratic Republic: Representative form of democracy
Collective Democracy: Everyone Votes on Everything
Mercantile Republic: Make more money
Imperial Senate: Democracy for a few, Empire for the rest
Oligarchy: Few in Power Rule Absolutely over all others
Clan System: Council of Clan Chiefs rules the Empire
Military Dictatorship: He who leads the military, leads the state.
A note on governments and empire controls: since there appears to be an uncertainty about the issue I will clear it up. The more open your government and media the less secretes you will have. Seems obvious but by this I mean: military installation locations. If the people and press are free, all it takes is for a reporter to look in the sky on every world and figure out where your major systems are, and what kind of defenses they have. Hence this will be open information to anyone who asks.
There was a brief appearance of the Orion Syndicate in Beta 1, anything like that happening again?
There are rules for crime rings to form. Under certain conditions and in certain areas they can spring up. How the players react will determine if these crime rings are going to be minor nuisances, or turn into vast networks crossing borders and helping to smuggle goods from one nation to another.
How do “Warp Highways/Speedtraps” work?
This was something that was added by the players during set up and here’s how this will work. I have placed warp highways on the map to facilitate certain routs that will allow controlled interactions to create the opportunity for Trek like relations between all powers.
The basic rule I have for warp highways as of now, and I have no doubt this will change is to half the travel time along a warp highway and double it in a speed trap.
The Highway networks is NOT stable. I want this to be known from the start, if at any point I feel that a certain highway isn’t needed, or if I feel like the game would be better off without it, it will be gone. I will try and give people as much notice as possible concerning this; however, I fear that events that cause highways to be removed will be things noticed while turns are being rolled over or shortly there before or after and therefore there may be very little notice at all.
Additionally, as highways close and the map changes, new highways will be “found” allowing exploration in new areas. As the SIM progresses the number of “found” highways will decrease until we get to a point (around the time SIM average is Warp 7-8) where the warp highways will be removed altogether.
How does Intelligence Work?
The mathematical construct to run intelligence is going to change slightly. The first major change is that at the beginning of an intel op a random number will be generated that will indicate your skill in the information extraction. The higher the number the more complete and more reliable the information is that you will eventually extract. You will not know this number.
Another change is in counter intel. Each turn a random number between 1 and 10 will be generated. This number will multiply by your counter intel level and will resist any information extraction that turn.
The final change is that once the information has been received, the intel operation will end, and if you want to get another update on what-ever-topic that is, it will require a new Intelligence Operation. I will assume that after a report is fed to you (be it honest intel or counter-intel) the player will decide weather they want to continue the op and if it shows up I will keep running it regardless of if it requires the start of a new op or not.
Information will be found when you get above a critical number, this number will vary from topic to topic and from power to power. For example, it’ll be easier to get the GDP information for a democracy that it will be to get the Fleet Deployment information out of a dictatorship.
What about counter-intelligence and disinformation?
Your ability to feed lies to your enemies hasn’t gone away. This no longer requires a full burn to use however. Spreading disinformation is as easy as telling me what it is you want to spread. Following that anyone doing intel on you in an area that concerns what it is your saying will receive that in their intel reports with speculation as to it’s reliability (i.e. if it’s year 1 they’re going to be skeptical they got in already, and if they’re almost there they’ll have enough of an idea to recognize a lie.)
What if I want to plant a spy to oversee enemy activities for the next 20 years?
No. If you want to observe enemy activities for the next 20 years, use the intelligence system for the next 20 years.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: Somewhere Among the Stars
- Contact:
Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Economics
Is there money?
Yes. The earlier time set makes the somewhat questionable Federation stance on money irrelevant. Credits will be used as in game currency.
How does the Economy Work?
The B2.0 Economy will work very similarly to how the Alpha 2.0 economy works. A master control sheet will integrate the economies of all related powers. This will control things like trade, antimatter prices, ore prices, and dilithium prices.
This SIM will also incorporate the possibility for short term and long term economic recessions that can hinder states based on the policy choices you make for your empire and a little bit of chance.
What are the Internal Expenditures?
Internal Security is a concept in A2 that was taken from the SW sheets and basically is the fee you must pay to protect your citizens from themselves as well as yourself from the citizens. The higher your tax rate and less democratic your rule the higher this will climb.
On the other hand Public Spending is something new that will cover public work projects that the government would spend on the people. It is based off of your choice of how good public works in your Empire will be, but as a rule, the more free your society the higher this number will be.
Is there money?
Yes. The earlier time set makes the somewhat questionable Federation stance on money irrelevant. Credits will be used as in game currency.
How does the Economy Work?
The B2.0 Economy will work very similarly to how the Alpha 2.0 economy works. A master control sheet will integrate the economies of all related powers. This will control things like trade, antimatter prices, ore prices, and dilithium prices.
This SIM will also incorporate the possibility for short term and long term economic recessions that can hinder states based on the policy choices you make for your empire and a little bit of chance.
What are the Internal Expenditures?
Internal Security is a concept in A2 that was taken from the SW sheets and basically is the fee you must pay to protect your citizens from themselves as well as yourself from the citizens. The higher your tax rate and less democratic your rule the higher this will climb.
On the other hand Public Spending is something new that will cover public work projects that the government would spend on the people. It is based off of your choice of how good public works in your Empire will be, but as a rule, the more free your society the higher this number will be.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: Somewhere Among the Stars
- Contact:
Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Systems
What’s the difference between the different system types?
I’ve received a lot of questions about this so I’m going to clarify here.
Major System: These are the “big cities” of your Empire: New York, Chicago, Liverpool, Marseille, etc. These are big because of one of a few reasons: key trade processing area, planet/system rich in resources, or strategic military point for defending/invading.
Capital: This is the origin of your race, and serves as the capital of your empire. This is where you will have the highest per planet population.
Secondary Homeworld: Have more than one Race, you’ll have more than one homeworld. Secondary Homeworlds have increased per planet populations, but not as much as your capital system has.
Major Resource System: These types of systems became major worlds because they have a high concentration of resources that you could harvest.
Major Trade System: This captures all other major system types. Weather they be major ports for trade, or military strategic locations.
Minor System: These are like all the other little cities/towns/villages of your empire. They don’t seem that important, but in reality this is where the majority of state’s revenues come from.
Territory: A bit more developed than a colony. These have mostly been set up and will provide a nice boom for your population growth, but you still have to pay in to their economy to keep them afloat.
Colony: the newest populated world you have. These will increase your population growth, but will require significant investment to upgrade from a little rock orbiting a star to a productive planet in your Empire.
What’s the difference between the Base Growth Rate, Modified Growth Rate, and the Real Growth Rate?
The Base Growth Rate and Modified Growth Rate are both familiar from the old sheets. The Base growth rate basically controls the speed populations will grow in the SIM and will be pretty much the same for all powers, it may change over time as populations move and is basically my master control switch for controlling how fast populations changes.
The Modified Growth rate is the projected rate of growth for your empire after all modifiers are added in. In the old sheets, which was based on x’= rx growth models this was the rate by which the population increased.
This sheet uses a x’= rx(1-(x/K)) growth model, which introduces a limiting factor to the growth. Essentially your population won’t grow past the K value, and if it does it’ll start to decrease. This K-value is the maximum population a single world can support multiplied by the number of worlds you have, with certain world types being able to support more population. As the population begins to approach K the growth will slow down, so the Real Growth Rate models just how rapidly you’re actually growing, and can be used to decide when to create colonies.
How do Planetary Shields Work?
You can construct Planetary Shields over your major systems to protect them. For every credit you spend on them 2TJ in shield strength can be created. Systems that have planetary shields cannot be bombarded from orbit or have troops landed while the shields are up. Systems cannot be starved out as they are presumed to be self sufficient.
To destroy a shield an attacking fleet must siege the system. They must have clear, uninterrupted supply lines back to their logistical base. The Ratio of the fleet’s firepower to the shield will be taken and rounded down to an integer. This is the destructive ratio of your fleet. The size of the shield divided by 1 million times the destructive ratio of your fleet will give you the amount of time, in weeks, to destroy the shield.
If the bombardment is stopped for any reason: leaving system, supply lines cut off, etc; the shield will regenerate to full power and you will have to start over.
What are the Starbase Rules?
There are 4 types of Starbases: All purpose, Fleet Logistics, Fleet Staging, and Resource Processing, these would equate to the 74, Space dock, 375, and DS9 from older SIMS (although the DS9/375 are arguably interchangeable).
For Refit and Redesign Rules, see R&D
The bases can be used for different things, mostly as given by their name. An All Purpose or Fleet Logistics base is large enough to support entire fleets and their administrative and logistical personnel. A fleet staging base is large enough to hold and operate fleets, but doesn’t have the space for administrative persons. And a Resource Processing can host a fleet, but couldn’t do any refits or other maintenance due to inadequate facilities which are geared toward a higher throughput of resources from the system.
It will be up to the players to design and deploy the best system of Starbases to meet their financial, resource, and military needs.
What’s the difference between the different system types?
I’ve received a lot of questions about this so I’m going to clarify here.
Major System: These are the “big cities” of your Empire: New York, Chicago, Liverpool, Marseille, etc. These are big because of one of a few reasons: key trade processing area, planet/system rich in resources, or strategic military point for defending/invading.
Capital: This is the origin of your race, and serves as the capital of your empire. This is where you will have the highest per planet population.
Secondary Homeworld: Have more than one Race, you’ll have more than one homeworld. Secondary Homeworlds have increased per planet populations, but not as much as your capital system has.
Major Resource System: These types of systems became major worlds because they have a high concentration of resources that you could harvest.
Major Trade System: This captures all other major system types. Weather they be major ports for trade, or military strategic locations.
Minor System: These are like all the other little cities/towns/villages of your empire. They don’t seem that important, but in reality this is where the majority of state’s revenues come from.
Territory: A bit more developed than a colony. These have mostly been set up and will provide a nice boom for your population growth, but you still have to pay in to their economy to keep them afloat.
Colony: the newest populated world you have. These will increase your population growth, but will require significant investment to upgrade from a little rock orbiting a star to a productive planet in your Empire.
What’s the difference between the Base Growth Rate, Modified Growth Rate, and the Real Growth Rate?
The Base Growth Rate and Modified Growth Rate are both familiar from the old sheets. The Base growth rate basically controls the speed populations will grow in the SIM and will be pretty much the same for all powers, it may change over time as populations move and is basically my master control switch for controlling how fast populations changes.
The Modified Growth rate is the projected rate of growth for your empire after all modifiers are added in. In the old sheets, which was based on x’= rx growth models this was the rate by which the population increased.
This sheet uses a x’= rx(1-(x/K)) growth model, which introduces a limiting factor to the growth. Essentially your population won’t grow past the K value, and if it does it’ll start to decrease. This K-value is the maximum population a single world can support multiplied by the number of worlds you have, with certain world types being able to support more population. As the population begins to approach K the growth will slow down, so the Real Growth Rate models just how rapidly you’re actually growing, and can be used to decide when to create colonies.
How do Planetary Shields Work?
You can construct Planetary Shields over your major systems to protect them. For every credit you spend on them 2TJ in shield strength can be created. Systems that have planetary shields cannot be bombarded from orbit or have troops landed while the shields are up. Systems cannot be starved out as they are presumed to be self sufficient.
To destroy a shield an attacking fleet must siege the system. They must have clear, uninterrupted supply lines back to their logistical base. The Ratio of the fleet’s firepower to the shield will be taken and rounded down to an integer. This is the destructive ratio of your fleet. The size of the shield divided by 1 million times the destructive ratio of your fleet will give you the amount of time, in weeks, to destroy the shield.
If the bombardment is stopped for any reason: leaving system, supply lines cut off, etc; the shield will regenerate to full power and you will have to start over.
What are the Starbase Rules?
There are 4 types of Starbases: All purpose, Fleet Logistics, Fleet Staging, and Resource Processing, these would equate to the 74, Space dock, 375, and DS9 from older SIMS (although the DS9/375 are arguably interchangeable).
For Refit and Redesign Rules, see R&D
The bases can be used for different things, mostly as given by their name. An All Purpose or Fleet Logistics base is large enough to support entire fleets and their administrative and logistical personnel. A fleet staging base is large enough to hold and operate fleets, but doesn’t have the space for administrative persons. And a Resource Processing can host a fleet, but couldn’t do any refits or other maintenance due to inadequate facilities which are geared toward a higher throughput of resources from the system.
It will be up to the players to design and deploy the best system of Starbases to meet their financial, resource, and military needs.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: Somewhere Among the Stars
- Contact:
Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Empire Control
Who decides my objectives?
In short, the GM; however, the objectives will be chosen to overall coincide with the direction the player is going. So players can and do play a role in determining their own objectives. If you have an idea for a future goal, I encourage you to be a part of the process. Even if the goal doesn’t come out in the exact form you would have wished exchanging ideas with the GM is a good way to make sure they don’t run out of creative new concepts for the game to progress.
What happens if I accomplish all of my objectives?
Objectives that get accomplished, or that are failed will get replaced with new ones to pursue.
What are the input fields for?
The Input fields help you to control your Empire. Education controls whom can get educated in your society. Media controls the freedom of the press, or lack their of. Property Ownership determines the involvement of the state in the economics of your state. Trade Policy determines how your state will interact on an economic level with others in terms of trade flow, while external investment policy will do the same in terms of finances. Shipyard ownership is simply, who owns and controls the state’s shipyards, and the same with Heavy Industry.
The next three are new to Beta2. Public Works is the level of public services and spending your state does. As a general rule, the more democratic you are the higher this must be. The level you choose plays a role in how much Public Spending your State has. Suffrage is simply a gauge of how democratic you are. For things like Monarchy or Democratic Republic these values are already pretty much known; however, for things like Oligarchy, or Imperial Senate it will depend on the ratio of Empire to Republic. Lastly Military Comfort basically details how well your military personnel live. The options play an important role in the maintenance cost and the endurance of your fleets. Higher comfort means lower endurance; however you don’t have to offer such high wages to get people to join either so maintenance is lower.
Who decides my objectives?
In short, the GM; however, the objectives will be chosen to overall coincide with the direction the player is going. So players can and do play a role in determining their own objectives. If you have an idea for a future goal, I encourage you to be a part of the process. Even if the goal doesn’t come out in the exact form you would have wished exchanging ideas with the GM is a good way to make sure they don’t run out of creative new concepts for the game to progress.
What happens if I accomplish all of my objectives?
Objectives that get accomplished, or that are failed will get replaced with new ones to pursue.
What are the input fields for?
The Input fields help you to control your Empire. Education controls whom can get educated in your society. Media controls the freedom of the press, or lack their of. Property Ownership determines the involvement of the state in the economics of your state. Trade Policy determines how your state will interact on an economic level with others in terms of trade flow, while external investment policy will do the same in terms of finances. Shipyard ownership is simply, who owns and controls the state’s shipyards, and the same with Heavy Industry.
The next three are new to Beta2. Public Works is the level of public services and spending your state does. As a general rule, the more democratic you are the higher this must be. The level you choose plays a role in how much Public Spending your State has. Suffrage is simply a gauge of how democratic you are. For things like Monarchy or Democratic Republic these values are already pretty much known; however, for things like Oligarchy, or Imperial Senate it will depend on the ratio of Empire to Republic. Lastly Military Comfort basically details how well your military personnel live. The options play an important role in the maintenance cost and the endurance of your fleets. Higher comfort means lower endurance; however you don’t have to offer such high wages to get people to join either so maintenance is lower.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
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Lt. Staplic
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- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
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Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Starships
How are Starships managed?
Starships are managed through three tabs, with this one being the summery. It displays what you have, where it’s deployed, how much of what is building, and the cost to run it all.
Can I have carriers?
This question has been around for A1, A2, and B1 with the same answer, but this time it’s a yes.
What is Fleet Endurance and how does it relate to Supply Lines?
This is something that has needed further clarification. Fleet Endurance is the length of time your fleet can go without supplies. After the endurance expires it runs out of antimatter and basically becomes defenseless. Supply lines do not change this. Supply lines bring torpedoes, replicator material, and other needed supplies to your fleet to let them keep fighting, but there is no supply chain for antimatter.
Therefore a Fleet can operate only as far out as it can travel in the allotted endurance time. If it goes beyond this, it will be unable to refuel.
If you loose a supply line what that means is: you can no longer replenish your supplies and so after every battle you loose 10% of your combat power to lack of supplies. You also cannot send damaged ships back for repairs, thus damaged ships are considered destroyed at the end of a battle.
Can I refit my current Starships?
Yes. See R&D
What is SCR?
As most of you know CR was the shorthand that became used for “Combat Rating” of a ship, specifically the DITL Overall Rating that was generated for any ship. SCR is the same thing, except rather than using the DITL calculator; I built the calculator into the sheet. Due to the slight differences in how we calculate points and the overall CR of the ship I have called it the SCR for “SIM Combat Rating”
Due to where the reference point is for the SCR scale it is, as a rule, larger than the CR value for a ship; however it works in the same manner.
A list of common reference points for everyone:
Ship class CR SCR
Miranda Class - Basic 120 201
Constitution Class – Basic 155 278
Excelsior – Enterprise B 414 778
Intrepid 591 625
Ambassador 723 1244
Galaxy 1000 1859
Prometheus 1340 2780
Defiant 1551 2701
Sovereign 3084 4916
Something to note, both for the Defiant and the Intrepid Class their DITL Calculated Combat Rating is greater than the preceding ship; however it’s SCR is less than the same preceding ship. While in most cases this doesn’t happen, there is one difference that does allow this to happen: speed. The warp speed of a ship is not calculated into the SCR. In the case of the intrepid, the E-B’s actual combat stats are very close to the Intrepids, out doing it in weapons range, shield capacity, and beam firepower; however the much greater warp speed of the Intrepid lead to it having a larger CR than the E-B. In the SCR which neglects the speed, it is clearly visible that in a fight between the two ships, the E-B has the advantage. For the Defiant-Prometheus it’s the same situation, except that instead of the Defiant being much faster, the lack of a top speed for the Prometheus has it’s CR calculated with speed = 0.
How is Maintenance Calculated?
Part of this has to do with how you distribute and deploy your forces. For more on this see the Deployment section. The base maintenance though is a value that is calculated for the class as a whole, and is based on the mass of the ship, the SCR of the ship, and the age of the line. All ships will have two rolls done when they are introduced to service, that determine the length of three phases in a ships life: introduction, main, obsolete. During the introductory phase maintenance costs will be higher as crews are learning how to best maintain the ships. After a few years (8-12 on average) these kinks will have been worked out and your ship will enter into it’s main life duty which will last for some time (50-150 years depending on design). After this time the ship’s maintenance will begin to increase again as the parts used become obsolete parts keep breaking and having to be replaced.
The main objective of this is to a) create a more realistic approach to maintenance b) create idea’s of “good” and “bad” designs through randomized rolls, better designs will have shorter introduction phases, and c) give refit’s an added benefit.
A refit will essentially recycle an older design and give it a new life. A refit design will usually go through a much shorter introductory phase (2-5 years), but it’s life span will also be shorter, usually about half the original life span. This is done to make refit’s valuable for good designs, but also reflect that the same design can only be refit and reused so many times before the essentials of the design just are out of date and worn out.
How are Starships managed?
Starships are managed through three tabs, with this one being the summery. It displays what you have, where it’s deployed, how much of what is building, and the cost to run it all.
Can I have carriers?
This question has been around for A1, A2, and B1 with the same answer, but this time it’s a yes.
What is Fleet Endurance and how does it relate to Supply Lines?
This is something that has needed further clarification. Fleet Endurance is the length of time your fleet can go without supplies. After the endurance expires it runs out of antimatter and basically becomes defenseless. Supply lines do not change this. Supply lines bring torpedoes, replicator material, and other needed supplies to your fleet to let them keep fighting, but there is no supply chain for antimatter.
Therefore a Fleet can operate only as far out as it can travel in the allotted endurance time. If it goes beyond this, it will be unable to refuel.
If you loose a supply line what that means is: you can no longer replenish your supplies and so after every battle you loose 10% of your combat power to lack of supplies. You also cannot send damaged ships back for repairs, thus damaged ships are considered destroyed at the end of a battle.
Can I refit my current Starships?
Yes. See R&D
What is SCR?
As most of you know CR was the shorthand that became used for “Combat Rating” of a ship, specifically the DITL Overall Rating that was generated for any ship. SCR is the same thing, except rather than using the DITL calculator; I built the calculator into the sheet. Due to the slight differences in how we calculate points and the overall CR of the ship I have called it the SCR for “SIM Combat Rating”
Due to where the reference point is for the SCR scale it is, as a rule, larger than the CR value for a ship; however it works in the same manner.
A list of common reference points for everyone:
Ship class CR SCR
Miranda Class - Basic 120 201
Constitution Class – Basic 155 278
Excelsior – Enterprise B 414 778
Intrepid 591 625
Ambassador 723 1244
Galaxy 1000 1859
Prometheus 1340 2780
Defiant 1551 2701
Sovereign 3084 4916
Something to note, both for the Defiant and the Intrepid Class their DITL Calculated Combat Rating is greater than the preceding ship; however it’s SCR is less than the same preceding ship. While in most cases this doesn’t happen, there is one difference that does allow this to happen: speed. The warp speed of a ship is not calculated into the SCR. In the case of the intrepid, the E-B’s actual combat stats are very close to the Intrepids, out doing it in weapons range, shield capacity, and beam firepower; however the much greater warp speed of the Intrepid lead to it having a larger CR than the E-B. In the SCR which neglects the speed, it is clearly visible that in a fight between the two ships, the E-B has the advantage. For the Defiant-Prometheus it’s the same situation, except that instead of the Defiant being much faster, the lack of a top speed for the Prometheus has it’s CR calculated with speed = 0.
How is Maintenance Calculated?
Part of this has to do with how you distribute and deploy your forces. For more on this see the Deployment section. The base maintenance though is a value that is calculated for the class as a whole, and is based on the mass of the ship, the SCR of the ship, and the age of the line. All ships will have two rolls done when they are introduced to service, that determine the length of three phases in a ships life: introduction, main, obsolete. During the introductory phase maintenance costs will be higher as crews are learning how to best maintain the ships. After a few years (8-12 on average) these kinks will have been worked out and your ship will enter into it’s main life duty which will last for some time (50-150 years depending on design). After this time the ship’s maintenance will begin to increase again as the parts used become obsolete parts keep breaking and having to be replaced.
The main objective of this is to a) create a more realistic approach to maintenance b) create idea’s of “good” and “bad” designs through randomized rolls, better designs will have shorter introduction phases, and c) give refit’s an added benefit.
A refit will essentially recycle an older design and give it a new life. A refit design will usually go through a much shorter introductory phase (2-5 years), but it’s life span will also be shorter, usually about half the original life span. This is done to make refit’s valuable for good designs, but also reflect that the same design can only be refit and reused so many times before the essentials of the design just are out of date and worn out.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
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Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Army
How do I deploy my Armies?
On the deployment page. Army deployment works in a similar manner to starship deployment now. If your have your forces in reserve they are assumed to be mostly living off base with family and only coming in for bi-monthly drill training. If you want to use your troops, they must be “deployed” even if your keeping them on the major world their based on.
What is the “Marine”, “Special” and “Civilian” Training Options?
These are special training programs you can use to give your troops different attributes. Special Operations would be good for any troops you deploying ahead of your armies to destabilize worlds and defenses. Marine Training is used for invading worlds without suffering a penalty. And Civilian Training is good for any troops used as occupying soldiers or for domestic crowd control.
What are Military Special Operations?
Military Special Operations are actions undertaken semi-publicly and by the military that aren’t part of conventional warfare. Things such as: capturing/killing/assassinating targets during warfare, or destabilizing/sabotaging planets before the main army’s arrival.
These Operations are undertaken by army forces with Special Operations Training.
How do I deploy my Armies?
On the deployment page. Army deployment works in a similar manner to starship deployment now. If your have your forces in reserve they are assumed to be mostly living off base with family and only coming in for bi-monthly drill training. If you want to use your troops, they must be “deployed” even if your keeping them on the major world their based on.
What is the “Marine”, “Special” and “Civilian” Training Options?
These are special training programs you can use to give your troops different attributes. Special Operations would be good for any troops you deploying ahead of your armies to destabilize worlds and defenses. Marine Training is used for invading worlds without suffering a penalty. And Civilian Training is good for any troops used as occupying soldiers or for domestic crowd control.
What are Military Special Operations?
Military Special Operations are actions undertaken semi-publicly and by the military that aren’t part of conventional warfare. Things such as: capturing/killing/assassinating targets during warfare, or destabilizing/sabotaging planets before the main army’s arrival.
These Operations are undertaken by army forces with Special Operations Training.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: Somewhere Among the Stars
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Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Military Construction
Why is this more complex than earlier Sheets?
Due to the expanded use of the armies the Construction sheet was expanded to allow more refined control over Army recruitment.
What can I build?
At any one time you may be constructing up to 10 different classes of ship and training troops that you have (every one has, light and heavy infantry and light armor). Troop training is handled in the Army Construction side, while Naval Construction handles ship classes.
You man NOT exceed 10 classes under construction at any one time this includes fighter classes.
Why is this more complex than earlier Sheets?
Due to the expanded use of the armies the Construction sheet was expanded to allow more refined control over Army recruitment.
What can I build?
At any one time you may be constructing up to 10 different classes of ship and training troops that you have (every one has, light and heavy infantry and light armor). Troop training is handled in the Army Construction side, while Naval Construction handles ship classes.
You man NOT exceed 10 classes under construction at any one time this includes fighter classes.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: Somewhere Among the Stars
- Contact:
Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Deployment
Why is this more complex than earlier Sheets?
Again the expansion of the Armies along with the addition of carriers has required a slightly more complex version of the sheet to be used.
What’s the difference between all of the different deployment statuses?
Deployed forces are what you have to use today. These cost full maintenance. Reserve are forces kept at a semi-ready status and thus cost 40% of their maintenance and will take 3 months from the time the order is given to make them battle ready. Forces under repair are damaged ships that are being fixed up before being redeployed. They take 1 year from the time they were damaged to be redeployed and cost 25% of normal maintenance. Finally Mothballed are ships that are one step away from the junk yard. These ships cost only 10% normal maintenance which is enough to keep the dust off of them. It takes a year from the time the order is given to reactivate any mothballed ships. Deployable is a new feature added toward the end of Beta 1 and shows ships that haven’t been assigned, either new construction, or ships freshly activated. All ships that are deployable will be put into mothballs at the end of the turn.
What’s up with the ‘Commanders’?
This is a new feature to the SIM. The Commanders feature is a joint RP piece, allowing commanders to grow in prestige and importance, as well as a game feature that allows an experienced commander to overcome a tactical mismatch.
Winning battles increases prestige, loosing battles decreases it. If your flagship gets destroyed your Commander dies and will have to be replaced. They will also have to be replaced if they get old enough, or if you fire/kill them for lack of performance. However; you only have a certain number of Commanders in reserve at any given time and once you use one it will take 5 years to train another. If you run out of Commanders for your fleets, penalties will be incurred on the prestige of the fleet leader.
Why is this more complex than earlier Sheets?
Again the expansion of the Armies along with the addition of carriers has required a slightly more complex version of the sheet to be used.
What’s the difference between all of the different deployment statuses?
Deployed forces are what you have to use today. These cost full maintenance. Reserve are forces kept at a semi-ready status and thus cost 40% of their maintenance and will take 3 months from the time the order is given to make them battle ready. Forces under repair are damaged ships that are being fixed up before being redeployed. They take 1 year from the time they were damaged to be redeployed and cost 25% of normal maintenance. Finally Mothballed are ships that are one step away from the junk yard. These ships cost only 10% normal maintenance which is enough to keep the dust off of them. It takes a year from the time the order is given to reactivate any mothballed ships. Deployable is a new feature added toward the end of Beta 1 and shows ships that haven’t been assigned, either new construction, or ships freshly activated. All ships that are deployable will be put into mothballs at the end of the turn.
What’s up with the ‘Commanders’?
This is a new feature to the SIM. The Commanders feature is a joint RP piece, allowing commanders to grow in prestige and importance, as well as a game feature that allows an experienced commander to overcome a tactical mismatch.
Winning battles increases prestige, loosing battles decreases it. If your flagship gets destroyed your Commander dies and will have to be replaced. They will also have to be replaced if they get old enough, or if you fire/kill them for lack of performance. However; you only have a certain number of Commanders in reserve at any given time and once you use one it will take 5 years to train another. If you run out of Commanders for your fleets, penalties will be incurred on the prestige of the fleet leader.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
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Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
R&D
Can I design my own ships?
Yes. Simply design it in the correct designer on this sheet.
What else can I design?
In addition to the regular Starship Designer, this sheet incorporates a fighter designer, a Starbase designer, and an Armored Infantry Designer.
Can I refit my current ships?
Yes. To refit a class you must redesign the ship in the starship designer. Once you have done this, ALL ships of the class must be put into mothballs (excepting those in repair). The calculated time for delivery of the refit will be the required time to refit all vessels of the class. The larger the refit, the more time it will take per ship. Additionally the cost for these refits annually will be the total cost of the design. This will make major refits a long and expensive process, while little updates should be fairly simple to carry out.
What are the Refit/Redesign Rules for Starbases?
At least for the first century IC when you wish to change the Starbase stats for a given Type you may either refit the current design, or create a new design for that role. Each has it’s own rules.
For a refit, the base cannot add any new emitters or torpedo launchers. You also cannot increase the stats beyond the given maximums by the Starbase Calculator. The mass must stay the same which makes the max ship hosting stay the same. Once the refit has been designed, you must refit all bases of that class that year. The GM will quote an exact price, but on average refitting the Starbase will cost about half of the annual cost of building a new one.
A redesign removes the limitations on the Starbase designer, allowing you to build it however you want; however. The type of station that you are redesigning will be demolished; any systems that have that base type will loose their Starbase, and will thus have to close down any extra mines and refineries that can no longer be processed. A new Starbase will have to be built in it the system and all mines and refineries will have to be paid for again.
Can I transfer my technology to someone else?
As a general rule, if it’s in the tech locker, you may, if it isn’t then no. Final approval for any tech transfer must be approved by the GM beforehand and there may be items in the tech locker that will not be allowed to be transferred.
Why does the Ship designer look different?
I changed it because of the two main upgrades to the R&D system: a tech-max calculator that works on a by mass system, and the inclusion of the SCR calculator.
Why are there so many designers?
In order to allow the flexibility in this game that I wanted: allowing fighers and carriers, allowing Starbase designs unique to each race, etc. it was necessary that I create designers for each as the input fields and values are not entirely the same for any of them.
Can I have Phasers/Ablative Armor?
I know this question is coming, and the answer is yes, in time. We’re starting early so everyone knows what tech is in the future and will want to have it, but there is a reason Quantum Torpedoes weren’t being fired at the Klingons on the E-nil. As a rule I will just say no if you try to go too far to fast, or simply skip a few tech generations for something introduced later. However, if people choose to be persistent, I will not spend this SIM arguing, I will simply do a random roll, between the estimated time that people should start looking at the tech, and twice that time, that will get you the tech. In addition to the potentially extended research time, the price will also be inflated above what would have been paid if you had waited.
For example, if the Tholians want to research Ablative Armor for their attack craft in 2200, this is something that I could see people starting to research after the Borg show up, and probably getting around to in 2370, so the roll for ablative armor will be anywhere from 170 years to 340 years, potentially not getting you ablative armor until 2540. The normal price for ablative armor will most likely be ~5,000,000 (GM reserves the right to change this), the Tholians will most likely pay between 7 and 12 million a year for it. On average then, this project will cost the tholians 2,422,500,000 credits, and they’ll get their armor in 2455. At best they’ll get their armor a decade before everyone else, but will have paid 1,190,000,000 credits.
The other fact is that if you decide to start this early, and get a bad roll, you will not be allowed to cancel the project and try again in 5, 10, or 15 years. If you try and start early that first roll will be your roll.
This could turn out to be a bit harsh, but more than likely wont change, I want it to be very risky to try and jump the gun on technologies so that we don’t wind up with 2400 era technology in 2210.
What are Armor Types?
Rather than make everyone progress through the different armor and hull metals, I melded them into Armor Types.
Why should I increase from my current tech level?
There is no definitive answer for this. You can take the traditionally Trek route which is to increase your tech level and go from nuclear to photon to quantum torpedoes as well as advances in other technologies, or you can go the Star Wars Route, which is to simply go bigger and better with what you have.
Increasing tech level will give you the benefit of more power in smaller weapons systems, but simply going bigger means you’ll never have to start at the beginning of the learning curve.
What about Shields?
No players start off having shield technology, and getting it isn’t as simple as just putting down a shield capacity on your new ship. Before you can put shields on a ship, you’ll have to R&D them.
How do I get shields/cloaks/advanced torpedoes/etc?
To get these techs you will have to make a pitch for the tech to the GM. There’s a reason that some races never developed cloaking technology, and that quantum torpedoes weren’t created until after contact with the Borg. You have to have the technological ability and the motivation. The motivation comes from there being a bigger benefit than cost to develop and maintain.
Therefore you must make a pitch to convince your council/Senate/assistants/scientists that the project is worth it. This is not something that you can have made easier by becoming a supreme ruler. The pitch is your one opportunity to sway me into agreeing to let you build what ever it is when I normally would not.
Can I design my own ships?
Yes. Simply design it in the correct designer on this sheet.
What else can I design?
In addition to the regular Starship Designer, this sheet incorporates a fighter designer, a Starbase designer, and an Armored Infantry Designer.
Can I refit my current ships?
Yes. To refit a class you must redesign the ship in the starship designer. Once you have done this, ALL ships of the class must be put into mothballs (excepting those in repair). The calculated time for delivery of the refit will be the required time to refit all vessels of the class. The larger the refit, the more time it will take per ship. Additionally the cost for these refits annually will be the total cost of the design. This will make major refits a long and expensive process, while little updates should be fairly simple to carry out.
What are the Refit/Redesign Rules for Starbases?
At least for the first century IC when you wish to change the Starbase stats for a given Type you may either refit the current design, or create a new design for that role. Each has it’s own rules.
For a refit, the base cannot add any new emitters or torpedo launchers. You also cannot increase the stats beyond the given maximums by the Starbase Calculator. The mass must stay the same which makes the max ship hosting stay the same. Once the refit has been designed, you must refit all bases of that class that year. The GM will quote an exact price, but on average refitting the Starbase will cost about half of the annual cost of building a new one.
A redesign removes the limitations on the Starbase designer, allowing you to build it however you want; however. The type of station that you are redesigning will be demolished; any systems that have that base type will loose their Starbase, and will thus have to close down any extra mines and refineries that can no longer be processed. A new Starbase will have to be built in it the system and all mines and refineries will have to be paid for again.
Can I transfer my technology to someone else?
As a general rule, if it’s in the tech locker, you may, if it isn’t then no. Final approval for any tech transfer must be approved by the GM beforehand and there may be items in the tech locker that will not be allowed to be transferred.
Why does the Ship designer look different?
I changed it because of the two main upgrades to the R&D system: a tech-max calculator that works on a by mass system, and the inclusion of the SCR calculator.
Why are there so many designers?
In order to allow the flexibility in this game that I wanted: allowing fighers and carriers, allowing Starbase designs unique to each race, etc. it was necessary that I create designers for each as the input fields and values are not entirely the same for any of them.
Can I have Phasers/Ablative Armor?
I know this question is coming, and the answer is yes, in time. We’re starting early so everyone knows what tech is in the future and will want to have it, but there is a reason Quantum Torpedoes weren’t being fired at the Klingons on the E-nil. As a rule I will just say no if you try to go too far to fast, or simply skip a few tech generations for something introduced later. However, if people choose to be persistent, I will not spend this SIM arguing, I will simply do a random roll, between the estimated time that people should start looking at the tech, and twice that time, that will get you the tech. In addition to the potentially extended research time, the price will also be inflated above what would have been paid if you had waited.
For example, if the Tholians want to research Ablative Armor for their attack craft in 2200, this is something that I could see people starting to research after the Borg show up, and probably getting around to in 2370, so the roll for ablative armor will be anywhere from 170 years to 340 years, potentially not getting you ablative armor until 2540. The normal price for ablative armor will most likely be ~5,000,000 (GM reserves the right to change this), the Tholians will most likely pay between 7 and 12 million a year for it. On average then, this project will cost the tholians 2,422,500,000 credits, and they’ll get their armor in 2455. At best they’ll get their armor a decade before everyone else, but will have paid 1,190,000,000 credits.
The other fact is that if you decide to start this early, and get a bad roll, you will not be allowed to cancel the project and try again in 5, 10, or 15 years. If you try and start early that first roll will be your roll.
This could turn out to be a bit harsh, but more than likely wont change, I want it to be very risky to try and jump the gun on technologies so that we don’t wind up with 2400 era technology in 2210.
What are Armor Types?
Rather than make everyone progress through the different armor and hull metals, I melded them into Armor Types.
Why should I increase from my current tech level?
There is no definitive answer for this. You can take the traditionally Trek route which is to increase your tech level and go from nuclear to photon to quantum torpedoes as well as advances in other technologies, or you can go the Star Wars Route, which is to simply go bigger and better with what you have.
Increasing tech level will give you the benefit of more power in smaller weapons systems, but simply going bigger means you’ll never have to start at the beginning of the learning curve.
What about Shields?
No players start off having shield technology, and getting it isn’t as simple as just putting down a shield capacity on your new ship. Before you can put shields on a ship, you’ll have to R&D them.
How do I get shields/cloaks/advanced torpedoes/etc?
To get these techs you will have to make a pitch for the tech to the GM. There’s a reason that some races never developed cloaking technology, and that quantum torpedoes weren’t created until after contact with the Borg. You have to have the technological ability and the motivation. The motivation comes from there being a bigger benefit than cost to develop and maintain.
Therefore you must make a pitch to convince your council/Senate/assistants/scientists that the project is worth it. This is not something that you can have made easier by becoming a supreme ruler. The pitch is your one opportunity to sway me into agreeing to let you build what ever it is when I normally would not.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
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Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
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- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
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Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Tactical Combat Rules
Can I issue orders to my fleets during battle?
Yes. After Beta1.0, the general consensus from people was that they would prefer a tactical combat system instead of the quick version that had been used. So I have developed a new system to facilitate this.
How does Tactical Combat Work?
Tactical Combat works in two phases: movement and combat. The movement phase is split into two impulses. Ships will be assigned a speed of either 3,5, or 7. In the first impulse all ships will move 3 spaces, once this has been done players with 5 and 7 speed groups can re-evaluate movements and order modifications to those groups’ movements. The second impulse will have ships moving either 2 or 4 spaces depending on their movement speed.
Tactical Orders for all units must be given during the last impulse of the movement phase. Once the movement is finished the combat calculations will immediately commence. Combat will work slightly different than it did in B1.0 or Alpha:
The distance between the combatant groups will be entered into the calculator as well as the fire control value for each group. A value, called sigma, is then calculated and is the number of ranges you are away from the target. This sigma value will be used in determining just how powerful your attack is.
Chance will still play a roll in this, by having a random roll between 1 and 100 being your “accuracy.” The Real Accuracy is then calculated by taking the accuracy divided by sigma*, so the further outside your range, the harder it is to hit them. The torpedo firepower of the group will be multiplied by the accuracy to give the amount of torpedo firepower that actually damages the enemy. Beam firepower is divided by sigma squared drastically reducing the effect of these weapons at long range.
The total attack is then calculated by taking the sum of the beam and torpedo fire powers and multiplying it by any tactical modifiers the group has, such as by flanking, rear attack, superior commander, or techno-advancement.
The total attack of your fleet is divided by the opponents per ship defense value to give the ideal situation kills, because firepower isn’t distributed as efficiently its value is halved for the number of kills and the remaining half is doubled and counted as damaged (so the number damaged in any round will be roughly twice the number destroyed).
Unlike the earlier form where ships damaged in the second round would be counted as kills as long as there were enough damaged ships from the first round to cover them. Here damaged ships have half their torpedo and beam output. So after every round the total damaged will be added to your damaged ships and the total destroyed added to the destroyed. Once all active ships have been destroyed or damaged, both the number killed and number damaged will be considered kills.
Most of this is an automated process, and as always anyone that would like to see the sheet need only ask.
Special Note: Similar to the Alpha SIM’s there are a few rules concerning the Subgroups. You may have no more than 15 groups, and each group can host only 1 ship class. No Exceptions.
Note: Although sigma can be less than 1 the Real Accuracy will never be greater than 100%, nor will your beam firepower ever be greater than 100% it’s real value. The benefit of closing is that it lowers the effects of chance in favor of your tactical ability.
Can I issue orders to my fleets during battle?
Yes. After Beta1.0, the general consensus from people was that they would prefer a tactical combat system instead of the quick version that had been used. So I have developed a new system to facilitate this.
How does Tactical Combat Work?
Tactical Combat works in two phases: movement and combat. The movement phase is split into two impulses. Ships will be assigned a speed of either 3,5, or 7. In the first impulse all ships will move 3 spaces, once this has been done players with 5 and 7 speed groups can re-evaluate movements and order modifications to those groups’ movements. The second impulse will have ships moving either 2 or 4 spaces depending on their movement speed.
Tactical Orders for all units must be given during the last impulse of the movement phase. Once the movement is finished the combat calculations will immediately commence. Combat will work slightly different than it did in B1.0 or Alpha:
The distance between the combatant groups will be entered into the calculator as well as the fire control value for each group. A value, called sigma, is then calculated and is the number of ranges you are away from the target. This sigma value will be used in determining just how powerful your attack is.
Chance will still play a roll in this, by having a random roll between 1 and 100 being your “accuracy.” The Real Accuracy is then calculated by taking the accuracy divided by sigma*, so the further outside your range, the harder it is to hit them. The torpedo firepower of the group will be multiplied by the accuracy to give the amount of torpedo firepower that actually damages the enemy. Beam firepower is divided by sigma squared drastically reducing the effect of these weapons at long range.
The total attack is then calculated by taking the sum of the beam and torpedo fire powers and multiplying it by any tactical modifiers the group has, such as by flanking, rear attack, superior commander, or techno-advancement.
The total attack of your fleet is divided by the opponents per ship defense value to give the ideal situation kills, because firepower isn’t distributed as efficiently its value is halved for the number of kills and the remaining half is doubled and counted as damaged (so the number damaged in any round will be roughly twice the number destroyed).
Unlike the earlier form where ships damaged in the second round would be counted as kills as long as there were enough damaged ships from the first round to cover them. Here damaged ships have half their torpedo and beam output. So after every round the total damaged will be added to your damaged ships and the total destroyed added to the destroyed. Once all active ships have been destroyed or damaged, both the number killed and number damaged will be considered kills.
Most of this is an automated process, and as always anyone that would like to see the sheet need only ask.
Special Note: Similar to the Alpha SIM’s there are a few rules concerning the Subgroups. You may have no more than 15 groups, and each group can host only 1 ship class. No Exceptions.
Note: Although sigma can be less than 1 the Real Accuracy will never be greater than 100%, nor will your beam firepower ever be greater than 100% it’s real value. The benefit of closing is that it lowers the effects of chance in favor of your tactical ability.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: Somewhere Among the Stars
- Contact:
Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Ground Combat Rules
Ground Campaigns will not be as heavily controlled as space based combat is. However, some additional control has been created and if the need arises a more controlled system may be able to be created. Ground Combat will be split into two phases: Orbital Engagements and then Invasion.
Orbital Engagement occurs after all planetary defenses have been defeated including, defending fleets, Starbases and shields. Once this is done before landing on the planet the invader has the option to bombard the planet. Their options are: Glass, Full Bombardment, Limited Bombardment, or Tactical Strike.
Glassing a planet will result in the entire surface being pummeled to oblivion. All life will be destroyed as will all planetary resources and infrastructure. The planet will be reduced to little more than a chunk of rock in space and will never again support life.
A Full Bombardment, Limited Bombardment and Tactical Strike will all give the attacker a GM controlled number of hexes to bombard that they can then use to target specific areas. For Full Bombardment all available hexes must be used and ships will continue firing until everything in that area has been destroyed. Limited Bombardment has fewer hexes, but does not require all are used. Limited will also allow the user to specify one type of structure to spare (mining, manufacturing, or urban) all others will be destroyed with some minor damage to the shielded one. Tactical provides the fewest hexes but allow control to take out the only structure type that is desired.
If there is anything left of the planet when the Orbital Engagement phase is completed the Invasion will commence.
To successfully conquer a planet a successful invasion must be launched. Based on the orbital bombardment used, type of planet, and troops landed the player will be quoted a general timeline for the invasion. Over this time the invading force will have to be resupplied and will continue to systematically move through the terrain as ordered by the player destroying any remaining enemy resistance.
All battles will be run using a battle calculator similar to the space based combat simulator.
Ground Campaigns will not be as heavily controlled as space based combat is. However, some additional control has been created and if the need arises a more controlled system may be able to be created. Ground Combat will be split into two phases: Orbital Engagements and then Invasion.
Orbital Engagement occurs after all planetary defenses have been defeated including, defending fleets, Starbases and shields. Once this is done before landing on the planet the invader has the option to bombard the planet. Their options are: Glass, Full Bombardment, Limited Bombardment, or Tactical Strike.
Glassing a planet will result in the entire surface being pummeled to oblivion. All life will be destroyed as will all planetary resources and infrastructure. The planet will be reduced to little more than a chunk of rock in space and will never again support life.
A Full Bombardment, Limited Bombardment and Tactical Strike will all give the attacker a GM controlled number of hexes to bombard that they can then use to target specific areas. For Full Bombardment all available hexes must be used and ships will continue firing until everything in that area has been destroyed. Limited Bombardment has fewer hexes, but does not require all are used. Limited will also allow the user to specify one type of structure to spare (mining, manufacturing, or urban) all others will be destroyed with some minor damage to the shielded one. Tactical provides the fewest hexes but allow control to take out the only structure type that is desired.
If there is anything left of the planet when the Orbital Engagement phase is completed the Invasion will commence.
To successfully conquer a planet a successful invasion must be launched. Based on the orbital bombardment used, type of planet, and troops landed the player will be quoted a general timeline for the invasion. Over this time the invading force will have to be resupplied and will continue to systematically move through the terrain as ordered by the player destroying any remaining enemy resistance.
All battles will be run using a battle calculator similar to the space based combat simulator.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
-
Lt. Staplic
- 2 Star Admiral
- Posts: 8094
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:25 am
- Commendations: Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: Somewhere Among the Stars
- Contact:
Re: Beta 2.0 Rules
Outpsots
What are Outposts?
Outposts are space stations designed for deployment in deepspace or around worlds incapable of supporting a full orbital facility.
What’s the difference between an Outpost and a Starbase?
Starbases can only be built over major worlds, and are capable of serving as logistical ports for military and trade. Outposts can be built in a wider variety of locations with a more limited mission profile.
Where can I build Outposts?
Virtually anywhere on the map, with one exception. Each class of outpost (you are allowed 5) will have a post-supply endurance value. This is the max time the outpost can last without resupply from a major world. Thus the outpost must be reachable by a ship within that time.
Can I have 2 Outposts in the same place for extra security?
No. Nor can you build an outpost over a major world for additional security. Outposts are still starbases, and the 1 base per system rule still applies.
How do I design and Build them?
You can design your outposts on the Starbase Designer just like you would design any other form of starbase. Construction of designed models takes place on the Outpost sheet.
How do I resupply ships from an Outpost?
The way this works is this: each starbase has an endurance value calculated for it just like a class of ship. The difference is that with each class of outpost you can designate how much of it’s endurance will be set aside for resupply. The more you set a side the more ships can be resupplied; but the less the post-supply endurance will be limiting the distance from a major system the base can be located.
The Supply Endurance will be months of supplies ready to be offloaded, and is the maximum amount allowed per turn. Ships can still only carry their endurance level of supplies however.
Example: If you assign a supply endurance of 100, the stations endurance will be 100 points less than it was before, and thus be 100 months travel at max warp closer to the nearest major system. This also allows you to refuel 100 months worth of endurance from ships so if you have Class A, B, and C ships which have endurance, 10,5,1 respectively, you can refuel 10 A’s, 20B’s, or 100 C’s, or some combination of the three such that the total does not exceed 100.
How do I assign fighters?
Simply assign them on the Outposts Page. Only special “Starbase Fighters” can be deployed to Outposts.
What are Outposts?
Outposts are space stations designed for deployment in deepspace or around worlds incapable of supporting a full orbital facility.
What’s the difference between an Outpost and a Starbase?
Starbases can only be built over major worlds, and are capable of serving as logistical ports for military and trade. Outposts can be built in a wider variety of locations with a more limited mission profile.
Where can I build Outposts?
Virtually anywhere on the map, with one exception. Each class of outpost (you are allowed 5) will have a post-supply endurance value. This is the max time the outpost can last without resupply from a major world. Thus the outpost must be reachable by a ship within that time.
Can I have 2 Outposts in the same place for extra security?
No. Nor can you build an outpost over a major world for additional security. Outposts are still starbases, and the 1 base per system rule still applies.
How do I design and Build them?
You can design your outposts on the Starbase Designer just like you would design any other form of starbase. Construction of designed models takes place on the Outpost sheet.
How do I resupply ships from an Outpost?
The way this works is this: each starbase has an endurance value calculated for it just like a class of ship. The difference is that with each class of outpost you can designate how much of it’s endurance will be set aside for resupply. The more you set a side the more ships can be resupplied; but the less the post-supply endurance will be limiting the distance from a major system the base can be located.
The Supply Endurance will be months of supplies ready to be offloaded, and is the maximum amount allowed per turn. Ships can still only carry their endurance level of supplies however.
Example: If you assign a supply endurance of 100, the stations endurance will be 100 points less than it was before, and thus be 100 months travel at max warp closer to the nearest major system. This also allows you to refuel 100 months worth of endurance from ships so if you have Class A, B, and C ships which have endurance, 10,5,1 respectively, you can refuel 10 A’s, 20B’s, or 100 C’s, or some combination of the three such that the total does not exceed 100.
How do I assign fighters?
Simply assign them on the Outposts Page. Only special “Starbase Fighters” can be deployed to Outposts.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.