Second Sphere Suggestion Box

Put any and all your random suggestions here. Please try to avoid one-sentence suggestions unless they're pretty self-evident. A short description of the idea would be nice. Also, please sign the suggestion so I know who to get back to in case I need clarification or expansion.

Possibilities could include

Technologies

NPC worlds

Rules for anything

Fluff (I'll contact you to hash it out in greater detail)

Plot hooks

Political events

Histories

Art

General suggestions

Things to keep in mind

Criticisms or pitfalls

Keep it constructive!

Remember that chances are I can't use everything, so don't be discouraged if your suggestion doesn't get used. I appreciate the help.

Economy Suggestions
Tech and Transhumanism

Sign your suggestions

I mean it. :p

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Sentient AI

Given the processing and efficiency constraints on sentient AI, battlefield deployable sentient AI may be rare to nonexistent-a nonsentient tactical savant will do just as well without the morality questions and expense of making and growing your own sentient mind. Furthermore, given the primary use of AI technology is to reduce overall losses, AI technology should be generally used to make expendable troops more morally acceptable or as assistance to human piloting-low cost, low-capability units given AI governance to allow them to be spent like munitions or systems designed to improve the situational awareness and reaction speed of a (trans)human pilot. More advanced AI systems, capable of matching a skilled pilot or soldier, should be a rarer, more expensive, and difficult to produce (high CIP cost) option. This is only for battlefield designs-large-scale civilian networks can be made sentient for cheaper, as they rarely suffer the same space and hardening constraints-and when you have a planet's mass to play with hardening isn't hard. --MJ12 Commando 03:44, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Prestige Projects

By MJ12
Or: Because everyone likes one-upmanship.

Prestige projects are high-profile projects that stretch the limits of human science and technology, impressive constructs that are spoken of in awe. These are projects like the Apollo Launch, the construction of the Empire State Building, building the LHC-projects that of themselves have little benefit, but in the end are beneficial because of how they advance one's technical base.

In effect, a Prestige Project is a method to trade PIP and CIP for morale and RP-by demanding that this must be built, one creates a pull for technology in a specific field, which often makes significant breakthroughs trying to supply the resources needed to construct something of this magnitude, and by finishing it your nation has something its people can be proud of, a legacy to remember for centuries to come.

Prestige Projects are not to be taken lightly, and are a significant investment, but their rewards can be worth it. A Major prestige project, like the Large Hadron Collider, Panama Canal, or Hoover Dam, often instantly grants a free advancement in a related technical field as well as a morale booster-building a hypercollider that spans the planet's diameter may increase one's expertise in the field of particle weapons, while building a powerful AI control system might increase expertise in the field of artificial intelligence, or something such as a massive kilometers-high megascraper might translate into improved structural engineering technology. Furthermore Major projects grant a significant morale boost. In some cases, prestige projects may have significant other effects, like terraforming a continent from a patch of sand and sun into a verdant garden world.

Minor prestige projects are smaller and more commonl, but still expensive undertakings. These often simply add RP to certain fields, making further research into them somewhat cheaper. An example may be attempting to break the speed record for a powered vehicle, which could translate into advancements in aerospace or mecha technology, or a massive public transport array might translate into improved prosperity (RP put into economic development.) Minor prestige projects grant morale boosts but they are proportionally less extreme than the ones from major prestige projects, owing to their smaller scale.

Fun stuff from OmegaPaladin

Moved here

ZOCU

Given ZOCU gets both starting debts and treaty of Sirus, you might want to consider what they get in return in order to make the game a bit fair, especially given the ZOCU alliance as a whole seems to be less powerful than the Core.

Speaking of the Treaty, is it safe to say that ZOCU players will start with the same limits as before (i.e., 5 cruisers or 3 cruisers and one battleship; no carriers and no stealth ships)? -Lokar

PL's suggestions

History Paths

Accumulated - penalties beyond 0, for things that a player might have no interest in or ability to buy anyway such as theta or transhumanism, should assess a penalty of some kind. -transgene should apply a penalty to diplomacy with Those Freaks. I have no idea what -theta might mean but almost every Core world would have it.

NPC worlds

Mandala (PACT)

Early PACT subsidised augmentation colony. Uncovered dust, then active machinery. Eschatonic taliban were about during breakdown which led to some bad things (sometimes involving said active machinery) not seen since the Crazy Times. PACT came back in force once contact was reestablished, but there remains no stable government. However despite the enormous expense they will not withdraw, as Mandala remains their only stable source of the precious theta dust.

Pierson's World (League)

Garden world colonised by generic pioneer types during the longshot period. Sucked up immigrants during the transgene exodus and Breakdown refugee crisis, and also produced lots of children from wombs and vats. Currently building up its industrual and financial base from this large potential. Sees itself as a potential 'second earth' far from the Core and likes to compare itself to Industrial America and Information China. Current problems include placating the myriad ethnic and interest groups, and maintaining the immigrant flow. Founding and major member of the Expanse League.
Longshot/garden/boom/migration/quiet/broken/refugees/independence/fie/regional hub/ [pending league options]

Extend (Rim)

Home of the Dust Engineers, who live in a series of diamondoid kilostructures and constantly war with defence drones over access to crucial fabricators and delta fountains. Explorers who brave the space perimeter find eager traders whose technology is dust-laden but generations out of date and whose bodies have been altered by persistent exposure to posthuman nanotechnology.

Rosa (EU)

Called 'Europe's unluckiest colony'. In March 210X, the EU arrived on their garden world to build a model society. In August, the asteroid hit. Forty years of choked skies, flailing climate and fascinating extinction science later, the breakdown occured, shortly before their catapult was due to arrive. The swift application of martial law by the in-system commanders prevented collapse, and careful rationing saw them through the lean times.
With utopian plans in tatters, advanced EU investment has long since been elsewhere, leaving the grim planet to develop a large basic industry and build ships for the merchant and military fleets. However during the ZOCU war experience with heavy mining loaders and a vast waiting industry made Rosa the epicentre of the 'gundam counterattack', attracting a degree of fame which the canny colonial governor has transformed into increased investment.
Early/terraformable/failure/crisis/get help/quiet/broken down/martial law/EU/bureaucracy/regulated/gundam

Wellspring (Indie)

Wellspring is a system with a hot jupiter, and the resultant water-rich inner planets, including one in the goldilocks zone. The aquatic inhabitants have constant arguments with the HEC over their cut of its vast operations on the irradiated gas giant, which has led to some violent attacks by extremist groups both in space and on the glacier-based spaceports.

Chaotic Events

Rather than have a preset list of events deemed suitably chaotic, just let everyone exchange 1 +x for 1 -y after history path.M.M. 03:00, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

"Realistic" Weapons Techs and Dust Based Handwaving

By Dacis2,

Unless we're using Handwavium technologies, particle beams (unless they all fired neutrally charge particles) would have considerably worse range than lasers due to electrostatic blooming, or around the range of a short ranged laser.

Suggestion: All particle/pulse weapons will have - range (beams and ZOCU Mega-beams) to -- range (pulses), but they'll all have the + energy + armour piercing traits, with beam capable Pulse/Particle weapons being limited to a certain mount size (say large cruiser or battleship) or above, while Mega-Particles don't suffer from the same problem. At the same time, lasers should have the +energy, + to ++ range, + accuracy, and - to -- penetration traits. (Assuming we're using UV range lasers.)

To balance this, railguns, which are already superior in certain circumstances due to the preponderance of anti-energy weapon defenses, should be treated as 1. special guided weaponry (++ accuracy), since unguided railgun projectiles would be rather useless unless the railguns are firing them at relativistic velocities or at point blank range, 2. having no ranged damage modifiers, since we're not taking closing vectors into account, and 3. they should be able to be engaged by point defense, thus the "firing modes" outlined in the Technologies entry would still work, and would simulate the firing of lighter but more numerous projectiles, or larger but fewer projectiles.

Oh right, I forgot. Energy weapons should be a negative trait, not a positive one, due to their relative inefficiency (for lasers) and the fact that they're subjected to the Inverse Square law (both lasers and PBs) or worse (PBs), hence my suggestion for railgun projectiles being

I guess you could handwave (thanks Screw!) electrostatic blooming using Dust to build neutron/neutral particle accelerators. And that thought has got me thinking about handwaving away other things related to cinematic space combat.

1. Stealth In Space

We all know that stealth in space is impossible, based on our current understanding of science, but Dust opens a whole new level of handwavium capability. The first would be a coating on the surface of the ship that prevented any IR emissions from escaping. This, combined with the cold gas propulsion drives and stealth cladding in the Technologies entry will finally make stealth viable in space again.

2. Thermodynamics in Space

No one wants to fool around with the intricacies of radiators, heat sinks and the like during combat, so a Dust based heat sink that radiates the heat in the form of neutrinos (like Star Destroyers IIRC) would eliminate the problem of waste heat.

I assume that all particle beams are neutral types, though ones for use in atmosphere might be charged particles instead so they can use a solenoid tunnel between them and their target. Likewise, railguns already have their general paradigm established with open/closed sheaf. Ranged modifiers are unlikely to be implemented, because they're a pain in the ass to deal with outside of a detailed wargame.

Heat dissipation is generally done by delta-dust entropy sinks, which essentially push thermal energy into the vaccum energy. This same technology enables passive stealth. --Shrike 20:38, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Okay, fair enough, but if its like this, then lasers should have no appreciable accuracy bonus over particle beams or guided railgun projectiles since ranges are low enough for non-relativistic railgun projectiles to be used effectively, that is to say, cinematic ranges. Perhaps powerful lasers could be used for long ranged combat, since at cinematic ranges their power will have yet to be attenuated by the inverse-square law, unless you were planning on using missiles for long ranged combat already. If so, then lasers could be relatively low tech weapons (we can build them now after all) which are buildable by everyone.

I did have another thought about how to differentiate them from the other weapons. How 'bout leaving the lasing component of the laser deep within the hull, with mirrors leading the beams to the turret mounts. This has the benefit of having a considerably more powerful laser than if one were to build a separate lasing engine into every turret mount, and its also more resilient, since taking out turrets won't reduce the firepower of the laser as a whole at all. Of course, it is a little more vulnerable in that a critical hit would take out all of the lasers.
--Dacis2 09:16, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Megaprojects

Megaprojects are big things you can spend time and effort on for some bonus. Here are some concepts.

Space Elevator (+trade)

Solar Power Array (+industry)

Mass Augmentation (+transgene)

Advanced Transport Network (+industry, troop mobility)

The Space Internet (+RP, +morale, +CIP)

Giant Science Machine (+RP, +prestige)

See also Prestige Projects above, they would be a subset of megaprojects providing less tangible bonuses.

Technical Essays

Infantry Scale Technology --MJ12 Commando 16:07, 20 July 2009 (UTC)