Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

n/a

0 (0%)

n/a

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 0

[Aqizzar]

I'll be done with my turn shortly, but I'm wondering if you guys would know anything about this.  Research in this game is making no sense to me.

I get that you need Research Points to maintain existing technology (although I forget what happens if you don't have enough).  I also took Despotism as a trait, which causes me to lose Research Points.  Two things I'm having problems with.  One is that the amount of Research Points I'm losing is increasing, by about ten points a turn, even though I'm not building any labs.

The other is that one of my labs can't seem to make up its mind on how many research points it has to spend.  Some turns it starts off saying it has nothing, which I assume to mean that between maintenance and despotism I'm losing more than one lab's worth of points.  Except I noticed this turn that it had 82 points left and was researching Nothing.  I switched to a tech being researched that had 101 points to go.  It gave a warning that as the only lab researching what it was, I assume that being "Nothing", I would lose all research on that.  Fine.  The technology it switched to then resets back to its full value left to go.

What the Hell is going on here?  My labs certainly aren't running out of money or anything like that.  So what the crap.

[mainiac]

Despotism shouldn't affect research, it should affect food productions (-10%).  The in game text is inaccurate.

Your labs have different amounts of research because the rollover amount is different.  At the start of your turn you are finishing a technology with some tech points left over.  The lab tells you how much research you have left in the current turn.  It's possible to even finish a technology within the current turn and use it immediately if you have enough left over research.

[Aqizzar]

Despotism shouldn't affect research, it should affect food productions (-10%).  The in game text is inaccurate.

Okay, that's a load off my mind.

But what's with the issue of assigning a lab researching Nothing with free points to a technology, and that technology goes back to it's starting cost?

[mainiac]

That's probably one of the million bugs in the game.

[Aqizzar]

Man, why are we playing this game again anyway?


Meanwhile, upon departing from the alien travelers, vessels of three flags meet in the skies upon Bannockburn.

"Well... This is awkward."

[Margrave]

Turn sent.

Upon arriving at Bannockburn, the Captain of the ASND Mullah was shocked at the bristling power displayed before them as the ships of three different Houses cautiously stood apart.

After receiving the hail from the Hawkwood starship the Captain, knowing the situation to be tense tried one of his (in)famous jokes to break the ice:

"How do you organize a party in space? ... You plan-et!"
After a few moment of awkward silence the Hawkwood vessel promptly left through the nearest Gate.
"Captain I do believe the Hazat cruiser is charging its forward weapon array..."
"Ah, yes, well. Lets continue our patrol that's anywhere but here."

[mainiac]

Sent.

Bonnuckburn seems like a rather curious place for fleets to meet.  How did you guys end up so far from home?

[Il Palazzo]

Turn sent.

"But moooom, why can't I shoot the bad guys off the sky?" The young Eduardo Maria Jose Enrico Gamboulputty daSilva, despite tender age, already displayed the proper martial zeal of a true Hazat.
"Uncle Lazarus said no shooting other houses dear." "Not yet at least" Mercedes of Ulm, Lady Lucinda's second cousin, thrice removed, added under her breath.
"Then the League-men. Can I shoot them? I want to shoot them!" Eduardo insisted.
"I want to shoot them too, little one, but it'll have to wait until we don't need their services." Even as she was saying so, Mercedes wondered what kind of navigators serve on the Guid ships, plotting their routes through Bannockburn space - one of the worlds most removed from the regular shipping lanes.
"Here, shoot some peasants instead" offered the gentle mother, pointing at the planet below.
"Again? I did that at home, what's the point of space ships if I can't play with them?" poor Eduardo was close to tears.
"Now, now, young master" the ship's commander stepped in to save the crew the humilating sight of crying nobility. "This is a neutron cannon we sport here, and it's nothing like your regular fusion beams at home. It makes things explode rather elegantly, I'd say."
"Yay!" the boy ran to the control panel where a huge, pulsating, red button was just asking to be pressed. The mighty ship rocked as the terrible energies rushed to escape the elongated bosom of the cannon array. Everybody watched the beam descend towards the surface, like a fiery lance thrust by an angry pagan god.
"Did they a'splode? Did they a'splode?" Inquired the future statesman.
"No sir, they did not. We missed. But not to worry, we'll try again tomorrow. Hide as they might, they are bound to end up shredded to pieces, and by your own hand, too, oh noble son of the Hazat."
"Hurray!" The boy has completely forgotten about the ships in orbit, some of which were already leaving via the local jumpgate. "I'm going to tell Umarthiel all about this!" Said he and run off to his quarters.
Umarthiel was Eduardo's half-imaginary friend. Where most people saw a decaying corpse of his once-pet lynx, he saw a winged monstrosity whose tentacles tenderly caressed his young body, and whispered songs of glory and warning to his ears as he slept.
Everybody agreed that such little peculiarities of character indicated his strong connection to the true Hazat bloodline.

what's with the issue of assigning a lab researching Nothing with free points to a technology, and that technology goes back to it's starting cost?

I recommend reading this section of the Nova webpage:
http://website.lineone.net/~rwein/nova/truth.htm#research
And all the other sections as well, for that matter. Does wonders to one's peace of mind, as instead of thinking "what did I do wrong?" you begin to think "ah, so that's how I navigate these dire, bug-ridden straits!"

[mainiac]

Does this mean you initiated hostilities?

[Il Palazzo]

Why, no. I bombed some rebels.

[Margrave]

Only if you consider that really awful joke as the first volley in an interstellar war.
_{Please don't consider my joke as the opening shot for interstellar war.}

[mainiac]

War on taste

[Aqizzar]

The vessel bearing the flag of Hawkwood turns its stellar rudder towards home

"Let's get the Hades out of here before somebody makes a 'launch' pun."


Turn sent.  I really shouldn't bother conquering planet "cities" where the palace and shield and shit are, but the thing is within anti-space range of a factory, and they're kinda, so y'know I gotta do this shit.

[Margrave]

Turns out.

Many al-Malik like to speak in what is called the Graceful Tongue: flowery language and poetic verse instead of ordinary conversation. But lacking such elegant faculties I do one better.


I make phun with puns. Now I just need to figure out how to weaponize it.

[mainiac]

Turn sent, elections next turn.

I found the prophets signet.  It's useless in game but from a roleplaying perspective it's cool.