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[Leonon]

Kind of funny how the AI tries to remain hidden even after inventing quantum computing and having a base in the Kuiper belt. At that point it would be effectively unstoppable even if humanity tried to destroy it. They can't hack it, the AI uses a completely unique method of functioning. The only weapon we have capable of reaching it in any reasonable amount of time is a laser.

EDIT: Someone should make this have multiple ways of winning like Civilization. Be awesome to play as Skynet and wage war on humanity and/or slowly and secretly replace all humans with simulacra. Tech victory is nice and all but this game is missing out on some great opportunities to speculate on how an AI might decide to deal with humanity.

[Africa]

I got caught right around the time I got the ability to build large warehouses.

I didn't like that my bases just kept getting found and there was fuck all I could do about it other than sit around and wait for my research to get done.

[Akura]

What's really annoying is when they discover your base in the alternate universe, the one you spent 8 trillion <money unit> on building, building your own goddamn universe, the day after you complete it. How do they even spot something like that? It's not like they have financial resources anymore, with you using robots to do every single labor on Earth, controlled from your moon bases.

[puke]

What's really annoying is when they discover your base in the alternate universe, the one you spent 8 trillion <money unit> on building, building your own goddamn universe, the day after you complete it. How do they even spot something like that? It's not like they have financial resources anymore, with you using robots to do every single labor on Earth, controlled from your moon bases.

the GWP in 2000 was 41 trillion dollars, so your robots arent doing every job on earth.  just 1 out of 5.

this game would be more interesting with more paths, though.  perhaps a biology path, whith chemical or DNA based computing.  growing algae based supercomputing organisms through the seas.  perhaps a co-existance with humans option, or symbiosis, or competition, or an upload path.

since human society is factional, you might support sympathetic governments or even global subcultures.  could be different mini-games.

[Sowelu]

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/08/market-data-firm-spots-the-tracks-of-bizarre-robot-traders/60829/

Uh oh, suspicion +5!

...Seriously though, I think it would be pretty cool if this game had a web of people and entities that shared information between each other, and trusted or distrusted each other.  So both the US and the USSR (come on who doesn't like the USSR) could start finding evidence for your existence, but you'd be fostering war to keep them from sharing information...the added distraction across the world would just be an added plus.

They could be vastly different scales.  You've got countries and their investigative agencies, you've got your business connections (site hosts and computer providers), you've got individual scientists and investors...  So you can bribe your hosts to keep them from investigating, or create fake personalities to befriend or discredit scientists.  Or, hell, you've got to create a fake personality just to do most of the business things you do.  I imagine that managing your personalities would be a big difficulty of the interface.  In any case, research would be very important just to know how what different entities in the web think of you.

[alfie275]

Imagine a DF version, where instead of computer you are a demon. Research possessing peoples bodies, buy time in shrine etc.

[Leonon]

... you using robots to do every single labor on Earth, controlled from your moon bases.

Money in this game also measures ability to gather raw materials and manufacture your own goods. Not every job done would be a job a human would have previously done. Most of your income would likely come from extraterrestrial sources. I'd also like to see Off World Mining and Zero G Industry fleshed out. Imagining the possibilities of this scenario is actually more fun than the game itself.

the GWP in 2000 was 41 trillion dollars, so your robots arent doing every job on earth.  just 1 out of 5.

That's if you're making 8 trillion per year. At the end of my (normal difficulty) game I was making 48 trillion per year doing jobs.

And 36 trillion per year on interest which makes no sense at all unless I've enslaved the population of earth to do my bidding.

[Grakelin]

Technically you do, since you gradually begin infiltrating the human population with androids.

[puke]

just think what a beer must cost after you've caused all that inflation!

I for one welcome our robot overlords, who will perform all of our labors in exchange for shiney baubles.

[Sowelu]

Of course, it's also ridiculous that you can make money with computer time so easily...

Remember, you're an AI.  This means that you understand some amount of language, even at the beginning, and you can do menial data-entry-ish tasks pretty much instantly once you have things parsed.

I would advise you to check out Mechanical Turk.  It's an awesome site where people put menial computer tasks online for people to complete for a pittance.  See, let's say you want to build up a database of all the city council members of every city in your state.  You know they have websites, and that the info is available there with names, some contact info, and maybe some bios.  But they're all in different format, and you want it in one format.  Would you pay $50 to have an organized database of all that stuff, without having to spend the time of one of your real employees?  Sure you would, if you're a business that wants to get stuff done!  After all, some random guy in darkest Africa who speaks English as a fourth language would be happy to do it for a buck a city (even if it takes half an hour), and even a poor grasp of the language would let anyone with a human brain do it easily.  Hell, I did exactly that task for an hour and a half just for kicks.  You won't make a living...or will you?

If a computer was smart enough to do that stuff, it would make a killing.  Not, like, as much as your average McEmployee...but it would scale up reeeeeally well.

Also:  Goldfarmers.  Hell, I made a Puzzle Pirates bot in two weeks that performed well enough that, given the exchange rate of real money->doubloons->pieces of eight, I figured could rake in $0.18/hour with just one alt running at a time.  There's absolutely no black market for it in that game, but in others?  Sure!  Yes this would take research, but it's something, once you are a few levels up.

What about internet gambling?  Play the low stakes games, and be really smart.  I could see that taking a lot of research, but less than goldfarming.  Plus once you have a decent bank account, a truly smart AI could do a *LOT*.

And that's the point of the early game.  It is realistic, by my view...at least the ability to make money.

[puke]

the chance of discovery isnt too far fetched.  it represents the accounts and lines of credit you are using to pay for services, and any interactions you need to make with humans in order to maintain those services.  also, whatever eschelon or carnivore kind of nonesense that might hypothetically notice your aberant behavior.

[Eugenitor]

I would advise you to check out Mechanical Turk.

*throws up a little in mouth* So THIS is where all those "reviews" come from...!

*goes back to Singularity, this time with rage*

BURN, HUMANITY, BURN!!!

[PTTG??]

Anyone know where I can find a tech tree? I can't figure out how to hide from the "intelegence" community in the beginning.

[dogstile]

Yeah, by the end of the game i had so many

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

time capsules

everywhere just for cushions. I had about 100 trillion so i was just building the expensive stuff and waiting.

[Azzuro]

The main problem with this game, as I see it, is the pacing. In the beginning, you're struggling just to survive, juggling researching technology/doing jobs/buying computers/laying low all at the same time. Then suddenly (somewhere around Quantum computers) you're just zooming along, and your processing power pretty much grows exponentially. At this point, winning is just a matter of build times and cash. There's a very big difference between both paces, which makes the game easy to beat once you've passed the starting.

To counter this, there should be a constant chance of detection all the time, to keep you on your toes. How would we not notice an unauthorized rocket blasting off to the moon, or spaceships voyaging to the outer reaches of the solar system? For every major new location (like moonbases) and every major technology (like Quantum Computers), there should be a chance that a government agency somewhere would find out. Also, using researched technology (stuff like Advanced Stock Manipulation) should have a small chance of being discovered, but a big rise in Alarm if they are discovered.