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[Madman198237]

That took a while. You guys are now, formally, the Network, based on the Hub in the Asus System. I wish you guys to know that I DESPISE MoP and his ship names, they're going to make this very hard and I will give ZERO guarantees that the numeric designators you've forced upon me will be rendered accurately into the reports.

The first ships are assembled in orbit around the Hub, five ITCs and three Logos-class fast attack vessels. The Logos deploy to C and find an interestingly icy world. Scans predict that chemicals useful for continued operation may lie underneath the ice layer, accessible if the Network is willing to send some troops to secure the place before moving units in to begin mining.

ITC-01000001 deploys to Alpha, discovering that it really is a rather barren world with a mineral-rich crust and no atmosphere to impede the construction and launch to orbit of spacecraft components. Nothing remarkable occurs, though the occasional impact of an asteroid does require buildings to be built rather durably, in addition to the requirements of retaining atmosphere. Terrain secured: 4/10

ITC-01000010 deploys a BMU to Bravo. Conditions are as expected, and a few dozen units are lost to temperature-related malfunctions and incidents on the less-stable parts of the surface before execution directives are modified for unit preservation. One shuttle is badly damaged when the operating intelligence mistakenly flew too close to a volcano. Unit has been reconditioned. Terrain secured: 4/10

ITC-01000011 and two full BMUs of militarized units push to Charlie, pushing across the ice and discovering new and various hazards to be avoided via future protocol updates. Some combat engineering units deploy testing and sensor gear, confirming predictions of usable materials and the value of this planet, while general forces advance across the wastes to locate sites for industrial equipment delivery and assembly of rocket launch platforms and construction facilities. Terrain secured: 4/10

ITC-01000100 and ITC-01000101 deploy to Charlie's orbit, catching up with the FASS Mk.1s already deployed there near the end of the season. Their units are primed and ready with basic equipment, presently in storage awaiting deployment to what commanders hope will be the first contact with our "neighbors", who can only be described as the most inefficient and unoptimized beings in this entire galaxy.

It is now the Turn Two Design Phase. You have one design, please spend wisely, and also don't fail or you're going to be recycled into trash compactor units.

Spoiler: Side One Tech (click to show/hide)

Ships
ITC (Interplanetary Transport Craft): A less-than-stellar spacecraft, the ITC is a version of the ships landed on your planet when you first colonized it. It is prone to malfunction, slow, and generally unpleasant. The rocket shuttles used to get equipment from the ITC to the ground have a limited capacity, meaning that with the exception of troops and things that can be broken into much smaller parts, the ITC cannot carry any equipment of a size greater than 1TC. It has 4TC capacity in total and uses chemical engines for propulsion. It has no armor or armaments.
Cost: 2 SPP

FASS Mk1. Logos: A reasonably quick, reasonably agile, fairly effective light ship of about 45 meters long with Light armor and three R-4 railguns for weapons complement.
Cost: 2 SPP

Units
Basic Military Unit: (you may rename this if you so wish) A capable group of soldiers trained to operate any equipment you can give them. Field training allows them to keep up to date on the best way to operate the newest deathtraps and self-destructing gizmos you send them even after they’re deployed.
Cost: 2GPP

Ground Weapons
Printed Pistol: Issued to security guards on the colony ships, the only real weapon both colonies have. They are 3D-printed out of plastic, a process which is not entirely reliable, meaning the gun has a tendency to break after prolonged use... or any use, really.
Cost: Cheap

Trephine Magnetic Sabot Rifle: A very effective weapon for Medium- to Long-ranged engagements, the Trephine is a 12mm APFSDS weapon with a 10mm projectile, capable of firing with damage roughly equivalent to a high-caliber rifle or, at maximum power, a light cannon. The projectile tends to fragment on piercing Light armor, doing even more damage than usual to the underlying target. Fireworks displays included with every order of 1000 or more.
Cost: 1 GPP

Ground Equipment
Basic Space Suit: A civilian space suit, totally unarmored and cumbersome to walk in. At least it works well enough, and has a self-sealing lining meaning a single shot isn't an immediate death sentence... most of the time. Necessary for deployment to worlds without breathable atmospheres.
Cost: Cheap OBSOLETE

MultiEnvironment Armored Tactical Suit: A slight improvement to the Basic Space Suit in every way, METAS is a hair less cumbersome, has magnetic boots and some armor so it won't (usually) explode the minute somebody looks at the oxygen tank funny. That usually happens the second minute that somebody remains looking at the tank funny.
Cost: Cheap

Command Radio: Essentially just a very big radio set, capable of reliable communication between planets, ships, and/or other planets. Currently only useful for taunting your enemy. The transmitter dish comes in a single piece and cannot fit in an ITC shuttle.
Cost: 2GPP
Weight: 1TC (requires 2 shuttle TC)

Spacecraft Components
Tokamak-Powered Plasma Drive: A matched set of self-melting components, the TPPD is generally regarded as having been a bad idea.
Cost: A large amount of expensive alloys and electromagnets we're willing to throw away, all of High Command's good will.

Plasma Engine: A Speed 2 interplanetary drive, capable of producing fairly acceptable changes to velocity in combat conditions. Very power hungry at combat-use sizes.

R-4 Railgun Turret: An amazing weapons system, the R-4 is an externally mounted 50mm railgun loaded with 20 round drums capable of firing a three-round burst on a single capacitor charge, while a loading arm loads the drums into the weapon from the storage bay in the ship proper. The turret is lightly armored for protection. Requires a ship to mount it on.

Infrastructure
Colony Defense Grid: The reason you can't instantly invade the enemy homeworld. A series of surface-to-orbit missile launchers, the only real concession to defense the planners of the colony made. How they work is a mystery now, and no one wants to risk taking them apart to find out.

Semi-Autonomous Industrial Facilities: A network of interlinked incredibly well-connected modern factories capable of production of unparalleled efficiency and scale. Provides 2 GPP.

Spoiler: Side One Logistics (click to show/hide)

Ship Production Points: 16
  16 points: 5x ITC, 3x Logos.

Ground Production Points: 22
  21 points: 7x BMU with 7x Trephine.
  1 point: Unassigned
 
Units
BMU-1
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Alpha
BMU-2
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Bravo
BMU-3
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Charlie
BMU-4
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Charlie
BMU-5
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Orbit of Charlie
BMU-6
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Orbit of Charlie
BMU-7
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Orbit of Charlie

Ships
ITC-01000001
  -  Location: Alpha
  -  Contents: Empty
ITC-01000010
  -  Location: Bravo
  -  Contents: Empty
ITC-01000011
  -  Location: Charlie
  -  Contents: Empty
ITC-01000100
  -  Location: Charlie
  -  Contents: BMU-4, BMU-5
ITC-01000101
  -  Location: Charlie
  -  Contents: BMU-6, BMU-7

Squadron 1:
  -  3x FASS Mk.1 'Logos'
  -  Location: Charlie

Spoiler: Credits (click to show/hide)

1x Research Credit (finished combat spacecraft)

[Carefulrogue]

Compact Communication Kit

This is a ground to interplanetary radio kit,  with emphasis on reducing overall mass.  The specs of the design call for a collapsible dish of wires spaced for the frequency used, to facilitate ease of repair and transportation.  The connecting machinery to generate the signal will rely on miniaturization optimizations to shrink down the requirements.




And as a side note, we will be switching to hexadecimal for numeric designations of ships.  So the first 16 will be:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
00A
00B
00C
00D
00E
00F

If someone wants to add a standard sort of line for the ships stick it out in front, we have space for 4k ships of unique designation now.  Which you'll agree Madman, is too many.

[Rockeater]

ITC-2.0

A new transport for ground equipment using the gained knowladge from developing past projects on engine and ship design, this new ITC is larger and containing larger rockets for transporting equipment (hopefully 2 3TC ones), the way those larger rockets are capebale to to preform their job is with a much smaller vesel inside the ITC-2.0 which pull them to position to enter the atmosphere in enterence and when the rocket exist it posstions in orbit to pull it back to the ITC-2.0 when the rocket is out of the gravity well.

ITC-2.0:(1) Rockeater

[Failbird105]

So I don't have discord access right now, but I just want to bring up the idea: Should we perhaps look into the development of specialized Mechanica bodies for combat?

[Rockeater]

Could be useful, having armour while saving on space, but I would still vote now for increased size of the pods.

[Carefulrogue]

Process ID: 51681074

Status: paused

cat PID(51681074)

HUB-class Cargo Vessel
Designed to be a replacement vessel for the ITC.  Without cargo the craft's center of mass is heavily weighted towards the back, where the engines, fuel tanks, and command modules have been placed in the specifications.  The cargo it will be hauling will instead be anchored to the spine reaching out in front, allowing large and bulky cargo, provided they can be anchored down and not be sheared off by the forces in the void.  Machine support modules could be connected in chains near the head to leech excess power from the reactor and engines for it's system sustainment.  Theoretically there should be no limit to the bulk of the craft, only the strength of the connections limiting the net mass to the sheer strength.  Parasite ships could also be docked either as passenger or utility vessels.

[Carefulrogue]

Large Item Flight Transport (LIFT)
Before we can consider larger freighters, greater utilization of the space aboard our current ships is necessary.  PID 43289922 has been working on the shuttle craft used in association with the ITC.  Simplicity is considered the best option.  Reduce the weight of systems, cutting anything unnecessary, and increase the size of the engines, to compensate for 4 times the capacity. 

EDIT:

ORIGINS:
Designs
LIFT: (1) Carefulrogue
ITC-2.0: (1) Rockeater
HUB Cargo Vessel: (0)

[Rockeater]

ORIGINS:
Designs
LIFT: (2) Carefulrogue, Rockeater
ITC-2.0: (0)
HUB Cargo Vessel: (0)

[Madman198237]

Large Item Flight Transport (LIFT)
Before we can consider larger freighters, greater utilization of the space aboard our current ships is necessary.  PID 43289922 has been working on the shuttle craft used in association with the ITC.  Simplicity is considered the best option.  Reduce the weight of systems, cutting anything unnecessary, and increase the size of the engines, to compensate for 4 times the capacity.

Large Item Flight Transport (LIFT)
Difficulty: Easy
Roll: 1 + 2 + 1 = 4 Below Average

Sometimes, simplicity really is the best of options. LIFT has been a reasonable success despite chronic underperformance in literally every unit assigned to the project. The project has produced a shuttlecraft capable of moving 4TC objects, though admittedly the extreme increases in size have reduced the speed of the shuttles, the number of times they can deploy to and from a planetary surface (limiting their use as transport craft for troops on planets), and also reducing the number of shuttles provided to each ITC. However, this is obviously more than compensated for by the fact that troops and equipment now arrive in more concentrated formations----scattered deployments in small shuttles are a thing of the past for our combat units.

It is a good thing that combat units don't need amenities much, though, as the new shuttles have almost none. This does result in mechanical issues being present in some less-critical systems, but in general the craft is capable of getting down to the surface and back to orbit without problems. Being engaged in combat, however, would be a bad idea, as the loss of one shuttle represents a rather larger loss of equipment and combat units, and also reduces the mother ship's transport capacity significantly.

LIFT shuttles do raise the cost of an ITC by 1, representing their larger size and the greater complexity of their engines.

It is now the Turn Two Revision Phase. You have one revision. Luck was with you this turn---had you designed anything more complicated that 3 might've hurt. But since you're all chronically lazy, you got away fine.

Spoiler: Side One Tech (click to show/hide)

Ships
ITC (Interplanetary Transport Craft): A less-than-stellar spacecraft, the ITC is a version of the ships landed on your planet when you first colonized it. It is prone to malfunction, slow, and generally unpleasant. The rocket shuttles used to get equipment from the ITC to the ground have a limited capacity, meaning that with the exception of troops and things that can be broken into much smaller parts, the ITC cannot carry any equipment of a size greater than 1TC. It has 4TC capacity in total and uses chemical engines for propulsion. It has no armor or armaments.
Cost: 2 SPP

FASS Mk1. Logos: A reasonably quick, reasonably agile, fairly effective light ship of about 45 meters long with Light armor and three R-4 railguns for weapons complement.
Cost: 2 SPP

Units
Basic Military Unit: (you may rename this if you so wish) A capable group of soldiers trained to operate any equipment you can give them. Field training allows them to keep up to date on the best way to operate the newest deathtraps and self-destructing gizmos you send them even after they’re deployed.
Cost: 2GPP

Ground Weapons
Printed Pistol: Issued to security guards on the colony ships, the only real weapon both colonies have. They are 3D-printed out of plastic, a process which is not entirely reliable, meaning the gun has a tendency to break after prolonged use... or any use, really.
Cost: Cheap

Trephine Magnetic Sabot Rifle: A very effective weapon for Medium- to Long-ranged engagements, the Trephine is a 12mm APFSDS weapon with a 10mm projectile, capable of firing with damage roughly equivalent to a high-caliber rifle or, at maximum power, a light cannon. The projectile tends to fragment on piercing Light armor, doing even more damage than usual to the underlying target. Fireworks displays included with every order of 1000 or more.
Cost: 1 GPP

Ground Equipment
Basic Space Suit: A civilian space suit, totally unarmored and cumbersome to walk in. At least it works well enough, and has a self-sealing lining meaning a single shot isn't an immediate death sentence... most of the time. Necessary for deployment to worlds without breathable atmospheres.
Cost: Cheap OBSOLETE

MultiEnvironment Armored Tactical Suit: A slight improvement to the Basic Space Suit in every way, METAS is a hair less cumbersome, has magnetic boots and some armor so it won't (usually) explode the minute somebody looks at the oxygen tank funny. That usually happens the second minute that somebody remains looking at the tank funny.
Cost: Cheap

Command Radio: Essentially just a very big radio set, capable of reliable communication between planets, ships, and/or other planets. Currently only useful for taunting your enemy. The transmitter dish comes in a single piece and cannot fit in an ITC shuttle.
Cost: 2GPP
Weight: 1TC (requires 2 shuttle TC)

Spacecraft Components
Tokamak-Powered Plasma Drive: A matched set of self-melting components, the TPPD is generally regarded as having been a bad idea.
Cost: A large amount of expensive alloys and electromagnets we're willing to throw away, all of High Command's good will.

Plasma Engine: A Speed 2 interplanetary drive, capable of producing fairly acceptable changes to velocity in combat conditions. Very power hungry at combat-use sizes.

R-4 Railgun Turret: An amazing weapons system, the R-4 is an externally mounted 50mm railgun loaded with 20 round drums capable of firing a three-round burst on a single capacitor charge, while a loading arm loads the drums into the weapon from the storage bay in the ship proper. The turret is lightly armored for protection. Requires a ship to mount it on.

Large Item Flight Transport (LIFT): An upgrade to the ITC's basic shuttles, capable of moving 4 TC objects to and from orbit. Has advantages and disadvantages, minor mechanical issues, but primarily is something of an "all your eggs, one basket" situation when deploying into combat conditions. Raise the cost of an ITC when attached.
Cost: 1 SPP (equips an ITC with a full set of LIFT shuttles)

Infrastructure
Colony Defense Grid: The reason you can't instantly invade the enemy homeworld. A series of surface-to-orbit missile launchers, the only real concession to defense the planners of the colony made. How they work is a mystery now, and no one wants to risk taking them apart to find out.

Semi-Autonomous Industrial Facilities: A network of interlinked incredibly well-connected modern factories capable of production of unparalleled efficiency and scale. Provides 2 GPP.

Spoiler: Side One Logistics (click to show/hide)

Ship Production Points: 16
  16 points: 5x ITC, 3x Logos.

Ground Production Points: 22
  21 points: 7x BMU with 7x Trephine.
  1 point: Unassigned
 
Units
BMU-1
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Alpha
BMU-2
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Bravo
BMU-3
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Charlie
BMU-4
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Charlie
BMU-5
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Orbit of Charlie
BMU-6
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Orbit of Charlie
BMU-7
  -  Trephine
  -  Location: Orbit of Charlie

Ships
ITC-01000001
  -  Location: Alpha
  -  Contents: Empty
ITC-01000010
  -  Location: Bravo
  -  Contents: Empty
ITC-01000011
  -  Location: Charlie
  -  Contents: Empty
ITC-01000100
  -  Location: Charlie
  -  Contents: BMU-4, BMU-5
ITC-01000101
  -  Location: Charlie
  -  Contents: BMU-6, BMU-7

Squadron 1:
  -  3x FASS Mk.1 'Logos'
  -  Location: Charlie

Spoiler: Credits (click to show/hide)

1x Research Credit (finished combat spacecraft)

[Doomblade187]

Plasma Magnetic Bottling Algorithms

The standard issue plasma engine suffers from high power consumption rates. By learning from our own nature and using our hard-coded knack for algorithms and programmatic improvement, we hope to better focus the plasma jet and improve plasma chamber efficiency by optimizing the electromagnetic fields utilized for containment.

[Rockeater]

Plasma Magnetic Bottling Algorithms:(1) Rockeater

[Carefulrogue]

Plasma Magnetic Bottling Algorithms:(2) Rockeater, Carefulrogue

[Failbird105]

Plasma Magnetic Bottling Algorithms:(3) Rockeater, Carefulrogue, Failbird

[Man of Paper]

So while the plasma engine upgrade is not a bad idea, it won't fix any issues with our shuttle upgrade that notably runs on chemical engines. The revision increased size, not type, so here's an option for that. I'm also a proponent of seeing how our current engine and craft fare against our opponent, since the ship itself seems like it doesn't need much of an upgrade yet. Then again, we got nothing to compare it to. I'd just like to imagine it's a solid ship.


Proposal: Intraplanetary Plasma Engine
The IPE is a more power-efficient Plasma Engine than the one we currently field, capable of providing more thrust than it's interplanetary cousin. It is designed to be used in-atmosphere on shuttles and whatever aircraft we may decide to construct. Standardizing the type of equipment we use across our military should make logistics and mechanical care less of a hassle.

The ultimate goal of the IPE project is to provide our LIFTs with stronger engines that take up less space, allowing for more rapid redeployment as well as some of the basic amenities for our combat units.

----------------

I'm half-tempted to mention the uniformity of equipment across our vessels making dealing with mechanical issues easier in the shuttle, but that seems like more a revision dedicated to the lift itself. It might be viable to tack that on as a side-effect of the engine upgrade, but eh, who knows?

Plasma Magnetic Bottling Algorithms:(3) Rockeater, Carefulrogue, Failbird
Intraplanetary Plasma Engine:(1) MoP

[Carefulrogue]

I'm half-tempted to mention the uniformity of equipment across our vessels making dealing with mechanical issues easier in the shuttle, but that seems like more a revision dedicated to the lift itself. It might be viable to tack that on as a side-effect of the engine upgrade, but eh, who knows?

Maybe.  I kinda think at this point a lot of our equipment is fairly standardized across models, unless there is something not mentioned.  We will probably become our own worst agent in this regard.

otherwise, It looks good.  Usually the term I've seen in regards to engines though is "thrust to weight ratio", though "power-to-weight ratio" also exists as a term.  We want more power relative to the weight of the engine.

Plasma Magnetic Bottling Algorithms:(2) Rockeater, Failbird
Intraplanetary Plasma Engine:(2 MoP, Carefulrogue