Topic: Terraforming: Suggestion Game (Read 362874 times)

Descan · « **Reply #1095 on:** April 14, 2012, 01:16:46 pm »

Also, send them a toned down shuttle, just enough to get to the meeting zone, with instructions on how to use it.

That should surprise them (

), and get our neutral location.

racnor · « **Reply #1096 on:** April 15, 2012, 06:59:53 am »

Enough to get to the meeting zone and back. we don't want to make them feel trapped

Xvareon · « **Reply #1097 on:** April 15, 2012, 09:36:32 pm »

Yo guys, back from my vacation, went to Tennessee and saw Grand Smoky Mtns. National Park and lots of other places, so that was fun.

Back now and it seems some stuff has been happening while I was gone... About the moonies.

We can't send them a shuttle yet, we have no idea what their biological requirements are like or even if they are carbon or silicon based lifeforms (or lifeforms at all to begin with). If we held back it could be taken that we don't trust them, which could have consequences. Still, you are right, if they are indeed malicious and just baiting us they could learn our guys genetic code and if their tech is far enough mindrip them and learn the secrets of our technology to boot (doesn't help we have an AI uplink and the shuttle itself either). The implications on either course are quite severe; we risk a terrible diplomatic faux pas if we don't go, and we risk them learning everything about our race and quite a bit about our tech if we do. In the end it's your call, but I really don't like the idea of running headlong into the arms of an alien race that we don't even know the level of their tech let alone their intentions. I favor the neutral location because that would keep our two races on level standing as regards one another, but if they can't make the trip, that's a definite problem... Our two main concerns then would be A. We try to give them a shuttle but it is either not properly equipped for their systems or the shuttle life support systems fail killing their envoy giving them the perfect excuse to start an incident, or B. Asking them about their biological systems, while it may seem reasonable for the purposes of gathering an appropriate transport, could easily be taken the wrong way. If we're lucky they will understand, but...

We need more information. Ask them what their problem is exactly first, and if there is a way we can assist. I find it very hard to believe they cannot make the journey if they have proper inter-planetary travel systems.

Maldevious · « **Reply #1098 on:** April 17, 2012, 06:18:33 am »

Anything else? You've talked about the robots and the moonies, but not much else. I'll probably post a turn this evening. As of now, it'll be a short update.

Watsst · « **Reply #1099 on:** April 17, 2012, 06:40:54 am »

Well, since its needed -

- Pull back the group heading to the moonies, send a response saying we need more time to prepare given the location change (refueling, food blah blah, lies). Ask for their atmosphere data so our group can safetly arrive and operate when they arrive.
- Begin construction of a ship-yard above Aries, may take some time but needed.
- Examine the other facilities on Gaia with probes, see if they are all working/openable/have robots.
- Research into effiecient power storage in batteries. For future use in plasma weapons, ships and shield tech... plus telsa coils... everywhere...

Anything to add for maven and avian study? Its been a quiet week

EDIT:
- Study/teach avians ability with numbers

zomara0292 · « **Reply #1100 on:** April 17, 2012, 07:38:02 am »

I would like to examine the avians skills at math, but there isnt much else that i can think of.

Xvareon · « **Reply #1101 on:** April 17, 2012, 08:38:51 am »

I think we need to start thinking about practical applications for the Mavens now that we've managed to curb the brain-killer from before. Doesn't make sense to keep researching it if we have no idea how to use it. I'd like to see if there's a way we can train one of our Mavens to be a cybernetic doctor; that would help immensely because we still lack a skilled doctor on our team and robots tend to lack the dexterity needed for complex operations. We can fit him with a cybernetic multi-tool in his arm that would have tools like a scalpel, syringe, sutures, small surgical laser for polyps and tumors (the fact that he generates his own electricity is a boon for this part), forceps and other necessary small devices. He could even have his own defibrillator. Might be a tad difficult for him to adjust to it because humans are used to using their hands, not even sure how it would work I doubt we'd want to completely replace a hand, maybe just add a glove with such tools laid across the back of the hand so they can stick out when necessary. Or we could just give him the electric tools and provide him with the rest for hand use, it'd be alot simpler that way. As long as I'm on the subject of medicine I should probably point out that the fact that we have a fully-functioning cloning center means several of our colonists are going to be practically immortal now -- there will likely be zero deaths from organ or limb failure as we can just clone them from the subjects DNA and replace them with ease. No rejection. Place small limb replacement centers near dangerous work areas (mining springs to mind) to cut down on accidental death and dismemberment.

We've yet to find a military application for these guys, but I'm sure it's coming. They would make outstanding soldier-spies due to their ability to send messages to each other in an instant, and could be fitted with a variety of cybernetic augmentations. Again though I caution against making anyone a supersoldier until we can be damned sure we have them under control, so we'll need to make sure we have killswitches installed.

I agree about the shipyard, though I thought we had one already -- you know, I haven't actually heard that much about our 'defensive fleet'. I've heard it mentioned in the report a few times but I'd like details. We don't have manned craft yet, I know that, still on basic combat drones, which is arguably better than human pilots in some situations (you don't needlessly risk their lives by putting them in fighters either). Depends on which way we want to go I guess, we could easily have armed and armored frigates with mass drivers, lasers and lightning emitters with all the mining operations we've got going on. Begin construction of a modular orbital dry-dock around Aries, I doubt we need to involve humans in the process since we are superior builders so can probably forgo life support for now. The dry-dock should be able to field ships of at least frigate-class (roughly 30 meters in length), and we should be able to add more parts on it as things move on to bigger and better ships. We'll need freighters or a space elevator to get enough resources for it to produce at a steady rate, but with all our advances in tech so far that shouldn't be a problem. In addition we should try looking into nuclear fusion to provide superior drives and power generation for our new ships, if we don't already have it. We can use our AI ship as the command vessel for now, but we won't want it to get close to any scraps.

I think that should do it for now.

Maldevious · « **Reply #1102 on:** April 17, 2012, 09:17:35 am »

The defensive fleet is just a small array of drones without the speed or endurance to travel outside the near-planet area. Their weapons are unremarkable (basic ballistic), as are their shielding and armor. You also have those simple drones with a few missiles and a kamikaze order when they run out of ammo.

Watsst · « **Reply #1103 on:** April 17, 2012, 10:26:40 am »

Going along your lines Xvareon, for the next update what about working on downloadable modules that allow for them to assume different positions? So a maven can be imprinted with medical, warfare, worker type knowledge quickly to suit the need. Kinda matrixy, but cool. And we have two nano-factories, one inside our only ship... not sure where the other is (assume its on aries) but we cant huge ships from them from what I gather. Modular would be nice, maybe make it into a space-port once its up and running.

Quote from: zomara0292 on April 17, 2012, 07:38:02 am

I would like to examine the avians skills at math, but there isnt much else that i can think of.

Alrighty. Reminds me of a show that talked about tribes, and one tribes language had only 4 numbers. 1,2,3 and more than 3. It was pretty random.

Not for this update but given the work arounds the avians, I think some fun should be in order. Something like the algae incident... breed them smarter? Gene-splice one with a human? Something fun, and somewhat twisted.

zomara0292 · « **Reply #1104 on:** April 17, 2012, 10:29:59 am »

New concept for fleets. So we can include the human portion of ingenuity without risking the lives, why not have (warning, stolen completely from Enders Game by Orson Scott Card) fighters remotely, with limited number of retries, of course. We don't want them wasting our materials just because their lives aren't immediately at risk. Now, to make communication and control easier, we have a large, command vessel that they all reside in. Thats as far as I have gotten.

Quote from: Watsst on April 17, 2012, 10:26:40 am

Quote from: zomara0292 on April 17, 2012, 07:38:02 am
I would like to examine the avians skills at math, but there isnt much else that i can think of.

Alrighty. Reminds me of a show that talked about tribes, and one tribes language had only 4 numbers. 1,2,3 and more than 3. It was pretty random.

Not for this update but given the work arounds the avians, I think some fun should be in order. Something like the algae incident... breed them smarter? Gene-splice one with a human? Something fun, and somewhat twisted.

actually, that reminds me of a book. And, if I remember correctly, they counted by the number of limbs they had.

Xvareon · « **Reply #1105 on:** April 17, 2012, 12:13:41 pm »

I would say we definitely need to update our defensive fleet then. That should be a top priority right now if all we have is a few fighter drones, it'd also give us another option to deal with any more asteroids/comets that might come our way. We need to get a dry-dock set up first though (preferably equipped with a fighter bay for small craft) before we can start making any real ships, and that's going to take a lot of time and resources, so all this is just preliminary stuff right now. We're gonna have to think up designs for our vessels soon, though; interestingly enough, we do have the potential to make quite complicated and powerful weaponry already, just by us investing so much time and effort into strong magnetic fields -- we could develop energy torpedoes with that, to say nothing of advanced mass drivers and shields.

If we feel like investigating the matter I would suggest dispatching a research team to Gaia, mission is to collect plant/animal samples from the ecosystem and deliver them back to the ship for analysis. Given the curious fact that Gaia seems to be perfectly suited to us I want to see if there are any parallels or DNA matches between our flora and fauna and theirs. Also want to find out what is causing the local wildlife to be so damned lethargic -- the glaring lack of competition among them seems a bit off to me. We wouldn't want whatever is in the air or plants to affect our colonists, so we should do some looking in that direction, it'd also help pave the way for full-scale colonization. Of course the Moonies might feel a little intimidated since they asked us to stay in our general area around Aries & Aquarius, but we'll deal with that when the time comes. We have a golden opportunity for a strong presence here, but we'll need to make sure it's safe first.

@Watsst - it's definitely a bit Matrixy, but I see no reason why we couldn't imprint knowledge into a Maven's brain since we have neuro-implants in them already and everything. Still, we can't teach them something we don't know, since we don't have a doctor and have no advanced medical knowledge yet. Need to have the first one before we can have scions. If we can develop individuals who are superior at specific tasks then we'll have a considerable edge in almost any field; not to mention the fact that we can also give them advanced tools that will never leave their side. Starting off with cybernetic doctors will also support our arguments greatly if the issue of equality or anything like that is ever brought into question. Remember, most people really don't like the idea of cybernetic super-soldiers hanging around under the direct control of the government, we need to keep the people on our side or we risk being seen as oppressors. Unless, of course, that's what we want. xD

10ebbor10 · « **Reply #1106 on:** April 17, 2012, 12:27:08 pm »

I propose drones for the plant retrieval mission rather then humans. The moonies only asked us to stay inside the inner system.

Still I'm proposing to build an orbital shipyard around Aries, which we can upgrade with a spaceelevator later. Much better then a ground based one.( If needed we can build inflatable pressure domes to allow work in non vacuum)

Maldevious · « **Reply #1107 on:** April 17, 2012, 10:33:47 pm »

GM Note: Your rolls were awful this turn. Sorry.

On Gaia, several robotic drones are sent to investigate other terraforming facilities. Unfortunately, none are able to gain entrance into the structures; in fact, it seems as if the entryways to the buildings no longer even exist. Upon examining the location where the entrances should be, there is nothing but smooth metal, even at the original location. Ultrasound scans reveal that the metal is as thick at the former entrances as anywhere else on the facilities. The facility would have to be heavily assaulted to crack it open. It appears that whatever was inside of these buildings doesn't want any further disturbances.

Off in space, the order is sent to the diplomatic team to pull back, and a dialogue is opened with the Moonies. They do not respond to the message, despite repeated attempts. The Grand Parliament is quite concerned, but there is nothing to be done about it now.

On Aries, a number of transformations are attempted, with limited success. Despite an industrial-scale effort, few of the pine trees take in the harsh soil. The terraformers think that new bacteria, insects, and microorganisms will need to be introduced before trees catch on in any significant way on the planet.

Fortunately, several more solar lenses are created in orbit, continuing to raise the temperature on the planet. A few begin to focus on the oceans, melting ice and releasing moisture and some gasses into the atmosphere. On a similar note, a few gas fields are tapped, further improving the mix of gasses in the air. Levels are getting more favorable by the month.

On Aquarius, attempts to teach the Avians math are met with no success. They seem to have no concept of counting or numbers, and grow frustrated when the researchers begin to introduce the concepts. The tribe that had been growing close with the researchers even moves away from the station for several weeks, only returning briefly for food and rarely interacting via sign language.

A rudimentary space port, supported by the commercial interests in the system, begins to take shape over Aries. It is grafted together with the small drone production facility already in orbit, and plans are laid down for an expanded "dry dock" that will allow for the construction of craft up to 100 feet in length that are capable of supporting a human crew. It should be operational within the next few months. Research into carbon nanofibers is greatly aided by archives on the ship, and a space elevator would easily be within the reach of the colony.

An unexpected development begins to show itself in the Maven program. It seems that the Mavens are beginning to develop what the lead researcher terms "Personality Bleeding." As programs to augment skills and knowledge are introduced and downloaded into the Mavens (a process that goes thankfully well), the researchers note that the knowledge quickly percolates throughout all of the Mavens, even though it was only "given" directly to one. The Mavens begin to drift closer together in terms of behavior, outlook, and actions. The effect is still barely perceptible, but it is definitely something to keep an eye on.

The colony otherwise continues to grow steadily and uneventfully, with new citizens being cloned and born every month.

Time lapsed in system: 2 years, 10 months

Spoiler: Mission Status (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Technology (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Resources (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Mavens (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: System Info (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Info about the Avians (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Info about the Moonies (click to show/hide)

Xvareon · « **Reply #1108 on:** April 17, 2012, 11:57:30 pm »

Hmmm... well, fudge. we can't grow trees, we can't teach a bird to count to 3, and now we've got the beginnings of lemming supersoldiers who'd all jump off a cliff if one thought it was a good idea. FML. Well, lets take a crack at this one...

The Mavens... Oooh. this is a touchy one. Personality bleeding... it's a double-edged sword. If we get a lucky roll we could have all our Mavens suddenly become benign angels, or the entire lot could become psychopathic killing machines. There isn't much we can do about it unless we forgo the neuro-implants, which would put them on the level of common humans making them pretty much useless as specialist agents or supersoldiers. I get the feeling we're not supposed to do anything about it since this offers a golden opportunity for a roll, though. Damn it all to hell why did I not see this coming... I should have known things were going too smoothly. Nice twist, Mal. I did completely expect the whole knowledge percolating thing due to the implants, but... personality is a different matter. I want them to retain their singularity and uniqueness, not become Borg... But for now we must live with it. Observe them to see if they are all copying the personality of one individual or if their personalities are blending together and 'leveling off' at some point. Continue to develop cybernetic tools but don't give them weapons just yet until we know how this is going to work.

Continue construction on the space port and dry-dock. We need those ships now. I have a feeling we're about to get an unpleasant surprise. Send probes to investigate what's going on; enough to say we are concerned that something has happened but not enough to look like we are expecting/preparing an attack. I'm actually starting to believe the Moonies are harmless, they're probably way more scared of us than we are of them; still, surprises of any sort are to be avoided when you have the fate of a colony to worry about.

So basically these things on Gaia know we're here and don't want us disturbing them? I say leave them alone; we can't crack the terraformers open yet anyway, not without armored battlesuits, tanks or other heavy weapons. Proceed with the plant and animal sample collection for now.

Keep things simple with the Avians; they are just starting to understand how to make spears, how do you expect them to figure out math in a reasonable amount of time? Primitive creatures are elemental, they think in terms of food/mates/shelter and other physical needs rather than anything intellectual. What they need is tools; they need to learn more effective ways to hunt and gather, to survive and to thrive. Things they can understand.

Urist McDwarfFortress · « **Reply #1109 on:** April 18, 2012, 02:36:38 am »

Hmm... we tried to make SPARTANs and we ended up making the Borg.

Anyway... continue Maven project anyway! Give them muscle implants and power armor. Theres no way this could go badly.

Also, have we tried to signal the terraforming outposts on Gaia?

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Author Topic: Terraforming: Suggestion Game (Read 362874 times)

Descan

Re: Terraforming: Suggestion Game

racnor

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Xvareon

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Maldevious

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Watsst

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zomara0292

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Xvareon

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Maldevious

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Watsst

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zomara0292

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Xvareon

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10ebbor10

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Maldevious

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Xvareon

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Urist McDwarfFortress

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