In continuing my theme of failing to learn from the mistakes of others, I would like to present...Risky Ventures: Interstellar Mercantilism
AKA that game that died after like, 3 turns
High above the surface of our planet, the riches of the stars have long tempted those who dreamed of bottling and selling those sparkles to the people below. "If only I could pluck out those glimmers," merchants would lament, "package them with cellophane and sell them for ^199.95 each, I'd rise above the rest. But alas, above they remain, and here I stay. If only, if only, if only."
For decades, the R&D divisions of numerous corporations have collapsed in on themselves in the search for superluminal travel. Trillions of credits have been poured into this pursuit. Lives have been utterly
wasted in this search, and scientists driven
mad as they attempt to comprehend paradoxical equations of the most complicated mathematics ever conceived. All of these trials are for naught, however: it was only after an extra-solar conglomerate of derelict alien machinery popped into our orbit were we able to make the leap to faster-than-light travel. Corporations scrambled like mad to claim their piece of this abandoned alien craft, and with the type of precision that can only come from predatory capitalism did we tear it apart and claim the secrets within.
Dubbed the "Scavenger Incident", the secrets of superluminal travel have been discovered and revealed to the world. Corporations restructured overnight to turn their attention to the stars, and within a mere year of the incident was the first terrestrial superluminal craft built. The second appeared a month later, and a dozen more proof-of-concepts popped up within the next week. Hungry hands worked tirelessly in their pursuit to harvest the universe now laid bare to them.
You are such a corporation, given freely the invention of superluminal travel. The goal of this game is to invest, build, buy, sell, expand, and eventually run your competitors out of business until only you remain, and your monopoly on the stars now firmly cemented.
Players start with ^500 credits each and a Small Warehouse containing 10 Space. At the start of the game players will be required to bid on shares of superluminal ships as they come available from the shipyards, which will then be loaded with goods to sell to distant colonies. Eventually, players will be able to produce ships from private dockyards, manufacture refined goods, and play the ever-changing markets to widen their profit margins. As the world of interstellar commerce is still brand-new, there are currently no regulations or taxes cutting into those profit margins. As the game progresses, increasing regulations will require players to engage in riskier shipping in order to stay afloat and ahead of their competition. Distant shipping is profitable, but the danger increases the further from home you travel - the survival of a single merchant ship can make or break a struggling corporation! The markets are not guaranteed either - prices vary, and what may have originally been a profitable investment may later turn out to be far slimmer as the value of goods shifts one direction or another. Players must navigate the markets to make a profit, or they might soon find themselves going bankrupt.
After all....
Interstellar Mercantilism is a
Risky Venture.
Players may join any time within the first 12 turns, after which registration is closed. Players interested in joining should declare their interest as shown below:
Company: Hard Light Solutions Inc.
Stock Symbol: HLSI
Credits: ^500
Influence: !0
Assets: Small Warehouse#1 (10 Space) (1/1 shares owned)
The role of the GM in this game is to manage the markets, process the turns, and enforce contracts between players. I will attempt to keep track of money, shares, and transfers, but due to the inherit nature of the game errors will occur and it is on the player to check for discrepancies. Similarly, players are trusted to honor contracts between themselves and to keep track of the various agreements and conglomerates they form. Should a disagreement occur, the GM may be petitioned to arbitrate, in which I will hand down an official ruling based on the wording of the agreed upon contract
(these types of games are quite hard to run, so please try to keep the additional work required of me to a minimum).
Quick-Start Guide:- Make a company. This can be done by copy-pasting the quotebox above and changing the Company name and Stock Symbol (a stock symbol is three or four letters that abbreviate your company name).
- Buy shares of a ship. You can do this by buying shares at an auction (see “Auctions” for more details) or by buying directly from other players willing to sell. You’ll also need a Captain to go on your ship.
- Buy Goods to put in the ship. Check the Markets tab located in the latest turn post and pick a Good that is more expensive at a different Market. You’ll buy theses Goods at the Home Market.
- Load your ship. Put those Goods on your Ship, as well as some extra money so they can buy stuff wherever they’re going.
- Send the ship off. Pick a Market and a type of Good, and the Ship will sail away. They’ll sell all the Goods in their hold and use the money to buy whatever Goods you specified. They’ll then return Home.
- Sell the Goods your ship brings back. Use the money to pay for your Ships Upkeep, then repeat the process all over again.
Official RulesOrders and Order of OperationsIn order to submit an order, please have ALL of your orders in one post and in bold and begin the orders with [X] "Stock Symbol" (this is for automation purposes). I will only take the orders from the latest post submitted by a player which contains orders - so if you want to change your orders, either copy your old orders into a newer post or edit your old post to include new orders.
An example of valid orders would be something like:
Buy 5 Common Metal Goods from Home market.
Load 5 Common Metal Goods and ^100 on MerchantShip#4
Send MerchantShip#4 to Mun to purchase Rare Metal Goods.
Sign Contract "Babies 4 Profit (Revision 4.1)"
HLSI is proud to support mobilizing the hereforto untapped sector of the economy: babies. No further questions, please.
It is also encouraged that you keep track of your income, assets, and influence each turn, as errors may accrue in the GM's bookkeeping. An example of your private bookkeeping might be something you include in each post, like:
HLSI Assets:
Credits: ^455
Influence: !8
Assets:
Small Warehouse#1 (10 Space) (100/100 shares owned)
MerchantShip#4 (Liftmax) (25/100 shares owned)
Captain James J. Jameson (Aboard MerchantShip#4, lvl 2, exp 7)
Contracts:
"Babies 4 Profit Court Settlement"
"Reverse Mortgage MerchantShip#4"
The order of operations matters mostly for GM purposes; from a player’s perspective, all of these events happen more-or-less simultaneously. The exact order in which each turn is processed is as follows:
- Contracts are signed
- Goods are sold
- Goods are machined
- Goods are bought
- Contract payments, fees, etc
- Debt check
- Ships are built
- Installations are built
- Ships are loaded with goods, credits, and Upkeep
- Ships depart to destinations
- Disaster die roll for traveling ships
- Ships arrive
- Markets fluctuate
- Influence change
- Turn gets posted
- Auctions
A "Good" is any object which can be bought and sold at a Market. All Goods have a Size, which takes up space in ship cargoholds and in Installations such as your Small Warehouse. Goods can be purchased and sold at any Market, though prices vary from Market to Market and turn to turn. The primary method of generating income in this game is by purchasing specific Goods for cheap at one Market, shipping them to distant Markets, and selling them at a higher price. As the game progresses, players may be able to process Raw Goods into more valuable Refined Goods.
Because ships take time traveling from place to place and Market prices vary, you may arrive to find out the Good you've ordered your ship's Captain to purchase is slightly cheaper or more expensive than you planned. Markets vary semi-randomly, staying within certain ranges and attempting to keep trends of increasing, decreasing, or steady prices. Markets update each turn and display their changed prices: RED values indicate the price is higher than the past 3-turn average, whereas GREEN values indicate the price is lower than the past 3-turn average.
Failure to pay Upkeep on Ships or Installations will result in all Goods stored there to be lost at the end of the turn. Any Goods owned at the end of a turn which do not have a place to store them (such as aboard a Ship or in a Warehouse) will likewise be lost. Ships may only hold ONE type of cargo while travelling, but at Home their cargo space may be used freely to store Goods. Storage space is tallied up and compared against the total space required by your owned Goods (i.e. tetris is not required to store Goods).
As the game progresses, more Goods and Markets may appear.
Players may enter into contracts with one another. These contracts may stipulate shares of a ship, executive powers, transfer of credits, or anything else players are capable of conceiving. Players are trusted to honor contracts between themselves, but should the need arise the GM may be asked to arbitrate and enforce contractual obligations. The GM will attempt to keep track of valid and ongoing contracts as well as automating monetary transfers, but this bookkeeping should be treated as a quick-reference rather than absolute truth. It is on the players involved to point out any discrepancy in the bookkeeping, as well as maintaining their own records.
In order for a contract to be valid (from a GM’s perspective), it must have:
- A unique title.
- Some action or agreement.
- The signature of all parties involved.
An example of a valid contract would be as follows:
Reverse Mortgage of HLSI's Shares of MerchantVessel#329 to VIM
Starting on turn 4, HLSI will transfer 1 share of MerchantVessel#329 to VIM at the start of each turn.
Starting on turn 4, VIM will transfer ^100 credits to HLSI for each 1 share of MerchantVessel#329 VIM receives.
Until the termination of this contract, HLSI may not otherwise voluntarily gain or lose any shares of MerchantVessel#329.
This contract terminates under any of the following conditions:
- HLSI possesses no further shares of MerchantVessel#329.
- MerchantVessel#329 has been officially declared Lost at Space.
- Both HLSI and VIM mutually agree to terminate this agreement.
---
Signed:
> (HLSI) Hard Light Solutions Inc.
> (VIM) Versatile Industry Machines Co.
Corporations that no longer exist (see: Bankruptcy) are not beholden to any contractual obligations AFTER the turn they go bankrupt and forfeit any remaining non-tangible assets.
Corporations may go bankrupt in two different ways.
- Voluntary: A player either no longer wishes to play or is aware of their impending involuntary bankruptcy, and declares their only action that turn as "I declare bankruptcy".
- Involuntary: Either a player owes a debt they cannot pay to the Home Market (the GM), owes a debt they cannot pay to another player and cannot reconcile their agreement, or has gone afk for more than 3 turns.
In the event of a player going Bankrupt, all of their remaining assets are seized and Auctioned off to the remaining players the following turn (see: Auctions). The funds generated from the Auction are then used to pay off as much of their remaining debt as possible, divided equally among any and all debtors and paying out to a maximum of the amount owed amount to each.
Players may find themselves in debt to another player(s), yet unable to pay the owed amount. Players may work out a deal among themselves involving a method to reconcile the debt. Alternatively, a player may DEMAND the amount they are owed, forcing the debtor to either privately sell off their assets or declare Bankruptcy - thus eliminating them from the game. In the event of a forced Bankruptcy, the Auction proceeds as normal. The NPC’s will always DEMAND payment when it is due – no amount of !influence or deal-making will prevent this.
"Kingmaking" is the process by which a losing player throws their support to another player, thus giving them an advantage over their opponents. Players attempting to "give away" their assets before declaring Bankruptcy in order to avoid paying their debts will be caught by the Securities and Exchange Commission, have those transactions rendered null, and go through standard Bankruptcy and Auction normally. There's no hard-and-fast rule for triggering the Kingmaking rule: it's obvious when Kingmaking is happening, so I’ll be quite unhappy if you give me more work to do.
Ships are the main method by which players will generate income throughout the game. Each Ship will require a Captain (see: Captains) to man it, whose contract can be purchased separately for ^50.
There are six different classes of cargoship:
| ShipClass | CargoSpace | Upkeep | ConstructionTime | Description |
| Handysize | 40 | ^10 | 1 turn | Smallest superluminal-capable cargo ship available. Good for corporations on a budget. |
| Liftmax | 100 | ^22 | 2 turns | Largest ship which can lift off the surface of Home under its own power without causing collateral damage. |
| Assemblysize | 160 | ^34 | 2 turns | Ships of this class must be assembled in orbit from larger chunks ferried from the surface. Very modular! |
| Dockmade | 225 | ^46 | 3 turns | Ships of this class are so large they must be fabricated in specialized orbital dockyards over long periods of time. |
| Spaceborn | 285 | ^58 | 3 turns | Due to the sheer quantity of resources required, ships of this size are actually sourced entirely from extra-terrestrial resources. |
| Superluminalmax | 350 | ^70 | 4 turns | The largest class of ship we can actually get up to FTL. This is the bleeding edge of our technological capability.
|
Cargoships all travel at the same speed, but carry differing amounts of cargo and require differing amounts of Upkeep. Eventually players may be able to produce their own Ships independently (see: Installations), but at the start of the game will be required to bid on ships as they come out of NPC Dockyards.
Upkeep is a per-turn cost required to keep a ship running. It covers the cost of fuel, salaries, and general maintenance. Failure to pay Upkeep results in a Ship being rendered unusable the turn a payment is missed. Ships become usable the turn
after payment on Upkeep is resumed. Players are required to pay the projected total Upkeep for a Ship prior to leaving for a cargo run. Should a Ship run behind schedule, the deficit Upkeep will be added to the next payment.
For example: a Handysize Cargoship has ^10 Upkeep per turn. The Handysize Cargoship is leaving to visit the Mun, which is a round-trip of 2 turns. The owner(s) would be required to pay ^10 for the current turn (when it leaves), and an additional ^20 Upkeep up-front to cover the two turns it is away. All Upkeep is generally done automatically, so it’s not required to specify – unless you wish to halt Upkeep, in which case Upkeep will be postponed indefinitely until specified otherwise.
Cargoships can be loaded with Goods and/or Credits prior to leaving on their voyage. Upon arriving at the foreign Market, the Ship's Captain will sell all Goods in the Cargohold, add the sum to the Ship's internal bank, then attempt to purchase the maximum amount whatever Good they were instructed to buy before they left. In order to simplify orders and bookkeeping, Ships may only carry 1 type of Good while travelling. Ships arrive at foreign Markets half-way through the length of the route's round-trip (rounded up) and make all purchases/sales then.
Players may rename Ships from the default name
once, so choose carefully!
Space travel is a dangerous prospect, but a potentially lucrative one. Accidents happen, and often with disastrous outcomes. Nearby Markets such as the Mun are relatively safe to travel, with a slim chance of Disaster striking. As Cargoships extend their routes to more distant Markets, the chance for Disaster becomes more and more common. Each turn every Ship enroute will roll a hidden die, determining whether Disaster strikes. Experienced Captains (see: Captains) can reduce the lethality of these events, if they happen.
There are four different levels of Disaster. Each level of Disaster includes the effects from the previous levels. They are as follows:
- Light: Some minor failure causes a delay in the ships travel, postponing a jump and putting them behind schedule.
- Medium: A failure has caused some portion of the ships cargo to be lost, either jettisoned to save the ship or lost as the ship takes damage. Lost cargo can be anywhere from 0-100%.
- Heavy: The ship has taken damage. Something has gone horribly wrong, likely with loss of life in addition to lost cargo and time. This will require repairs once back at Home. Damage can be anywhere from 0-99%.
- Fatal: The ship has been lost. All cargo, credits, and crew are permanently gone, and the ship is stricken from the registry.
Captains are the fine leaders of Ships put to space. They are entrusted by major corporations to cautiously go where others have gone before, and to make a profit doing so.
Captains gain experience each turn they spend travelling. As they Rank Up, they become more adept at putting out fires and recovering from Disasters. Experience gained is completely uniform: the class of Ship and route do not make a difference. Unlike Ships, which are controlled by shares and are often owned by multiple corporations at once, Captains are each beholden to one specific corporation. The Captain's contract can be traded between different players, but they will only "belong" to one specific player at a time.
New Captains can have their contracts purchased for ^50 each, starting out at Rank 0. Captains may also be transferred between Ships, in which case their experience is cut in half, rounding down.
Captains Rank Up for every 5 turns they spend travelling, to a maximum of Rank 7. Note that a Captains Rank lessens the effect of Disasters, but not the chance that a Disaster might occur.
"Credits aren't everything, but whoever has the most when they die, wins."
-Popular Home Idiom
Credits (denoted by the prefix "^") are a cryptocurrency monetary system through which the vast majority of Home's transactions occur. The pursuit of "more" has led to levels of atrocity and moral degradation that outweigh even the most dystopian sci-fi capitalist fantasy, but those who object to this system often don't have enough Credits or Influence to make a difference. Credits are generated primarily through the intricate process of "buying low" and "selling high". Players will export Goods from Home to sell at foreign Markets, then import different Goods from foreign Markets to sell at Home. As the game progresses, margins get tighter and tighter as regulations crack down. Players lose when they declare Bankruptcy (see: Bankruptcy). Credits may not be split and must remain whole integers. In the event a credit
would be split (such as by paying out 100 credits between 3 players), the remaining credits will be split as evenly as possible among the players with the highest Influence. In the event of tied Influence, the credits will go to whichever players joined the game the earliest.
Influence (denoted by the prefix "!") is an intangible system of clout which represents a corporation’s ability to meddle in things they otherwise shouldn't. In addition to settling disputes over single left-over credits, it may be used to negotiate loans from the Home Banks (the GM), gain knowledge about impending regulations (or even influence them), and perhaps even more. Unlike Credits, Influence cannot be traded between players. By default, each player will gain !1 Influence per turn, and various events may lead to the opportunity to gain more.
Installations are physical locations owned by players at the Home Market.
Players start with a single Installation: a single Small Warehouse. Installations can be used to store Goods (such as with a warehouse), to construct Ships (such as with a dockyard), or to manufacture goods (such as with a factory).
Warehouse: A place to store Goods that a player does not wish to sell yet, or requires for manufacture or ship construction. Warehouse space can be sold to other players. Players will lose stored goods if the Warehouse Upkeep is not paid.
Dockyard: A place which can construct ships. Dockyards can construct ships of any size equal to or less than the Dockyards size. Dockyards can construct only 1 ship at a time, requires up-front payment for the ship, and will take multiple turns to construct.
Factory: Rare Installations which can process more-common types of Goods into certain unique Goods.
Like Ships, Installations feature an Upkeep. Upkeep is a per-turn fee required to keep the Installation operational. Should a player choose not to pay their Upkeep, the Installation will shut down at the start of the turn their Upkeep is not paid. Installations boot up again the turn AFTER their Upkeep is paid. The starting Small Warehouse does not feature an Upkeep.
Various Installations will become available as the orbital belt around Home becomes more developed. Currently, only the space station holding players starting Small Warehouses exists.
At the start of the game, the only method which players may acquire Ships is through Auction. NPC's will occasionally put Ships or Installations up for Auction, in which they will post relevant details pertaining to the ship, the number of shares available for purchase, and the minimum starting bid.
In order to Auction, players will post the AMOUNT they are willing to purchase and the PRICE they will pay per each unit. The HIGHEST PRICE posted in an
unedited post will receive first pass at the available shares, followed by the NEXT HIGHEST and so on. EDITED POSTS are INVALID for posting bids. In the event of two equally priced bids, priority will go to whoever posted the bid earlier. Players may only ever have 1 active bid on a specific auction item at a time, which will always be their highest priced bid – with secondary priority on the share amount. Players may have multiple bids on different items at once.
Deliberately removing/editing bids in order to win, force other players to pay more, or otherwise manipulating the auction is considered abusing the system. Do not do it. If I catch you, you will be removed from the game.
An example of an Auction is as follows:
For Auction:
MerchantVessel#444.
LiftMax size (100 Cargo Space)
100 shares available.
Minimum bid is ^5 per share.
DMAI bids ^6 for 100 shares (^600 total)
HLSI bids ^7 for 80 shares (^560 total)
VIM bids ^8 for 29 shares (^232 total)
HCI bids ^12 for 50 shares (^600 total)
CRC bids ^10 for 20 shares (^200 total)
DMAI bids ^7 for 100 shares (^700 total)
---
Result:
HCI bid the highest price at ^12 per share and gains 50 shares.
CRC bid the next highest price at ^10 per share and gains 20 shares.
VIM bid the next highest price at ^8 per share and gains 29 shares.
HLSI and DMAI eventually bid equal prices, but HLSI bid first. Only 1 share is remaining, however, so HLSI purchases it at ^7 and gains 1 share.
DMAI does not gain anything from the bid, as there are no shares remaining and they were out-bid by HLSI.
FAQHow often is this going to update?
Once a week or sooner, if everyone has their actions in and I have the time. I’ll usually give a warning before I update. Depending on how busy I am the turns might be later, but I’ll try to keep players informed if the turn is running late.
Are you using a program to run this game?
Yep.
Where did you get it?
I made it.
Can I use it for my game?
No. Well, maybe. Depends on how well this game goes.
I looked at your code and it is not very good.
Haha yeah.
I feel like a certain aspect of this game is unfair and/or unbalanced.
Feel free to bring it up and I’ll take a look at it. Keep in mind, though, this game is competitive and designed to bankrupt all the players except one. There will be losers. Official rulings are Official, so please don’t continue to harp on it after I make one.
What are the chances of a ship having a disaster on XYZ route?
Chances are deliberately left vague to keep the number-crunchers at bay. Each route has a definitive non-zero chance of disaster, though, and that chance may change as the game evolves. Currently it’s weighted to keep the game balanced.
I want to do this weird thing with my !influence. Can I do it?
Maybe. Depends on what it is. Ask me (privately or publicly) and I’ll make a decision then.
Your post says I have X amount of money/shares/etc but I actually have Y!
Mention it and I’ll amend the post, and I’ll try to catch it if it happens again. I will generally rule discrepancies in favor of the player, but not in a way that gives an unfair advantage.
I am confused about a specific rule.
First, re-read the sections pertaining to that rule. Then, if you’re still confused, ask in thread and I’ll clarify.
Can I make a ship wait at a foreign market? Can I send my ship to explore? Can I have my ship full from its Upkeep to buy more Goods, then intercept it as it’s traveling back with another ship to repay those missing funds? What about this other weird thing that would break the game mechanics?
Probably not. You’re always welcome to ask, but if the result would break how the game works then the answer will likely be “no.”
How do I knock other players out of the game?
Out-last them as regulations crack down. Or give them a loan you know they can’t repay. Or don’t give them a loan when they’re about to go bankrupt. Or make a deal with some fine print that heavily favors you. Player interaction is key to the demise of others, so embrace it.
Help! All the other players have teamed up into one super-conglomerate and they’re running rough-shod all over me!
Sounds like you’re still early game with no government regulations. I’d recommend teaming up with another player or cutting a deal with the super-conglomerate. If you can’t get shares of a ship, then maybe just play the fluctuations of the Home market until something changes?
How come we know market changes instantaneously, but we don’t get updates from our ships as they’re travelling?
The sheer size and power requirements of superluminal communication equipment are prohibitive enough, but using it during travel result in relativity-barriers, which akin to the sound barrier causes a disruptive wave of super-luminary radiation which would instantly result in the destruction of any device which attempts such a thing. And because I said so. Fuck you.
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Topic: Risky Ventures - Turn 1: Load Up and Sail Out (Read 7946 times)