W3C - Space Functions and other future developments

A new update today (Tuesday May 31) improved the painting of the Galaxy window and increased the updating frequency. Shuttles now move in smaller steps and more frequently. Internally, the processing is much faster and allows us to have larger volumes, a larger galaxy and more objects.

The galaxy window does not try to show all the cargo shuttles. There are currently close to 2000. Instead, it shows the shuttles that are now on a mission, the ones that just arrived in the past minutes and all your own shuttles. We will tweak the timing a little more to solve some minor issues but it seems smooth for now.

We have now seen that in nearly all cases, it does not make sense to use more than 20 cargo shuttles for a single mission. There is always a delay between shuttle launches of about 40 seconds and if 20 are used, they will launch within 800 seconds (13 minutes) and by then, the first ones might already be back.

If you have many more that 20 cargo shuttles, these could be used in multiple sessions. Running multiple sessions is possible even if you have a much smaller number of cargo shuttles but in such a case, they will be assigned according to priorities that depend on how many shuttle flights are needed for the completion of each mission.

Setting the max number to 20 will take place in the next update, next week.

We are currently completing several more space functions:

The galaxy will be extended by a factor of 4 and a new zoom level will be introduced that will show the entire galaxy with smaller pictures for all objects and smaller shuttle pictures. The worlds will be just a little further from each other.

Different pictures will be introduced for each zoom level and there will be space to add asteroids.

Trading cargo shuttles will become a little easier with a feature that will allow you to sell multiple shuttles with one offer on the direct trading market.

Future developments of the space game will include:

The addition of asteroids where players can land their cargo shuttles and mine for natural resources.
Details on the types of resources, quality levels and quantities that can be mined each time will be published later.

The addition of space war functions that will include weapons that can be used in space.
Both attack weapons, and defense weapons will be, including space fighters, defense shields and others. The idea here is to allow players to attack shuttles while in transport, to attack the defense spacecrafts defending the cargo shuttles, trying to block access to specific locations like asteroids, space stations etc.

By the time war functions are introduced, the galaxy will become much larger and include space forts and ships where space craft can be based, maintained and supplied.

Before we go that way, we will concentrate on improving the current functions and the trading in all our markets. As some players mailed us, we will need to understand the space trading, the pricing issues when moving products around and find out which products make sense in this new environment and which ones should just stay where they are.

There are strategic issues that have to do with availability of products when markets fail and these will go beyond pricing. If there are (new) severe consequences to lack of food in your country or shortages on the market you might decide to build strategic reserves in space. The same is true for ammunition, critical upgrading products etc.

We will wait for these aspects to materialize and will then continue with the introduction of new features.

The next update will also complete the ground work for the addition of products to the direct market.

Some products, mainly services and large objects, cannot be traded in space. This includes services of various types, but also ships of all types and military bases, hospitals etc.

These resources or products will be "moved" virtually to the players account and offered on the direct trading market.

When completed in June, direct trading, together with the space trading will offer and complete channel for trading of all products and services outside your own world.

The choice of products that are traded on space stations only will be made in a way that will not force any player to participate in the space game. Some products may remain out of reach but they will be able to run a successful economy.

Other planned developments

We are aware of the fact that many functions in Simcountry can be improved, made simpler, better documented and completed. There are many voted items that remain undone while some represent excellent ideas. We will spend more time doing so.

Our documentation is being improved and more results will show in the coming weeks and months.

A new tutorial will be developed to help new players.
We have introduced many measures in the past years to make Simcountry easier for beginners. Long time players know that the current beginners help is better than it was in the past but we are not happy with the results and are convinced that much more should be done.

Next to the previously mentioned plans, this tutorial will become a very high priority.

thank you

"There are strategic issues that have to do with availability of products when markets fail and these will go beyond pricing. If there are (new) severe consequences to lack of food in your country or shortages on the market you might decide to build strategic reserves in space. The same is true for ammunition, critical upgrading products etc."

And that right there potentially shuts me up on that other thread. Hopefully it'll be phased in gradually so people can adjust.

And you may groan when I ask this but two strange questions on this potential space war.

How fast in comparison to the speed of light are the space vehicles assumed to move? Are we talking 0.01C or closer to say 0.5C. With C of course being the speed of light at 299,792,458 metres per second.

The second one is the shielding, is this to be inferred as some form of physical shielding attached to the vehicle or more along the lines of a nebulous electromagnetic shield, produced by internal power generation from the engines?

The answers to both will actually determine any further commentary I might have.

Well it would depend upon what medium the space ship would be travelling through as light travels at different speeds so that question would require a lot of computation of atmospheric densities etc.

Seems to me a good time to start considering another index, a technology index. Maybe reliant on education, age of empire, and finance. Then superior shielding could be developed by an R&D department as could better propulsion etc.

Come to think of it, this index could also allow for development of alternative power sources, nuclear, wind, solar, geo-thermic etc etc...

And Hey! How about mag-lev trains

Well, I'm not so concerned about when a freighter or fighter is in motion within a planetary atmosphere. Since personally, if you're trying to push a shuttle with 100,000 tons of material up to a significant fraction of C in an atmosphere, you're probably looking to die in a fireball.

Therefore, we'll assume the almost empty glories of space.

But yes, I've got to have more trains!

Make the shuttle thing a little more interesting.

Make quality an issue when determining the life of the shuttle.

Higher quality = longer life

1) How will space wars work? On a planet, you have country versus country. In space will it be shuttle versus shuttle, base versus base, what? And will there be, say, boarding forces? Fighters in space similar to atmospheric fighters, and boarding forces like planetary land forces?
2) Will war levels be present in space? And if they are, will it be the same as the country that the ship/base launched from/is owned by?
3) With the enlargement of the galaxy, will there be more planets added? And will it take longer to get from planet to planet, station to station, etc.?
3) Will there be something similar to the war protection in space?
4) Can space stations, asteroids, etc. be blockaded so that ships can't get to them? And if so, then players should be able to pay money or GC in order to get past them?
That's all I can think of for now, c ya later!

very good questions bbjbs, although i think that #4 was answered in tom's post

"The addition of space war functions that will include weapons that can be used in space.
Both attack weapons, and defense weapons will be, including space fighters, defense shields and others. The idea here is to allow players to attack shuttles while in transport, to attack the defense spacecrafts defending the cargo shuttles, trying to block access to specific locations like asteroids, space stations etc. " -Tom, above

i'm eager to here to the answers to those questions. but its all still a long ways away

Maestro, please read what we published before on the shuttles.
quality 200 will have a double life span. This should be there already but I will check.

Good questions Billy..........

Wars will be player versus player and they will use resources in their countries in all worlds.

weapons will be fighters, missiles, lasers, defense shield...
we did not think of any war levels yet. we think that defense should be possible to a very strong level at a price. This could replace protection by war levels.

The space game is independent of any country or enterprise. You could purchase everything you need in space and play a trade game or a war game.

when the Galaxy becomes larger, we will add more objects but planets are worlds and we have now 5.
other objects will be asteroids, and space command centers which are similar to space stations but will have military supply and maintenance functions.

Distances between the worlds will change a little but other objects will be placed further away. Distance will become an important factor in the space war game. Localization will make it more interesting.

A blockade will be possible if you place a strong force at some location, and shoot at anything that tries to approach.

We are quite far in the design and implementation of some weapons and ammunition.
we have already looked into the war engine and how it can function in this environment.

The space war is not imminent but not very far away. when we have dates we will publish.

Thanks Tom...Missed that line

So you're essentially creating a new world, which can be reached by and reach to any of the existing worlds without having to launch a space shuttle and travel through space, but with an economy that depends completely on the planets.

I realy like your suggestion. A few problems. You want all these toys for space... realy making a big push for space.. great.. awsome even. But... I cant even build a space center, on immediate order for 3 real days now, in 2 different countries. Cant buy a space shuttle.. none for sale. Why? cause its so damned hard to make a shuttle due to shortages of parts and the time it takes to make them, and the shuttle your going to make.. well your gonna keep it.. why? cause they age and you need it.. so no more offers in direct trade. Realy like your goals for space.. but, if theres no centers to launch from or go to and no shuttles beacuse they're like 200 years old, rusting and falling apart then no more space. In one hand your saying.. go space go!! in the other your smashing it to bits.

Yeah, I've been trying ever since I got membership to get a space shuttle.

What about satellites? Could there be a place in the game for them? Space faring countries could offer to launch them for others. More concerned about their implications on earth. Split them into military and commercial use.

I wish I had known my shuttle would just sit there loaded up and ready to go for an hour without doing a thing before I bought it and before I rented a docking station.

There are shortages and there are complaints that we are adding products out of nowhere into the market.

here you are saying that there should be more product because you cannot get it. should we add products?

producing a space shuttle is difficult but you can make a lot of money doing so.

Space shuttles is a special case because there are suddenly more players who want them and the industry is not capable of produce them.

There is an upgrade tomorrow that will enable the offering of multiple cargo shuttles in one transaction and we will indeed, following the upgrade, offer some cargo shuttles on the market.

however, as with previous interventions, we will not add enough and will not turn a shortage into a surplus.

The shuttles industry has a great future.
Shuttles age when they are used and there will be a constant need for more. setting up corporations that produce them makes sense.

Make a lot of money? A gold coin trades for 265 Billion if you are lucky. A shuttle sells for 2.5 gold coins. Thats 662.5 Billion. If a shuttle is exactly quality 100 it sells for 493 Billion. The last one I bought from my enterprise, I have not been able to get a shuttle produced in a company in over two weeks. Cost me over 800 Billion. I don't see how it can be a money maker. Maybe I am missing something?

I own a docking station, but my ship won't fly to it. After going two weeks without being able to build a shuttle, company will not produce, closed it, new comapny will not produce. I deleted my extra planet countries. Why spend 30 gold coins a month, err 60, when the space program is broken and I can not get it to work? (or maybe I am the only player that it doesn't work for) So I am on one planet and have one docking station, but my ship won't fly from my space center to my docking station, I click and click and nothing happens?

Personaly i'm all for high demand and no intervension with the exception of 'new-free' products aquired by C3 resets such as Defense weapons and ammo. Theese corps don't stand much chance of ever seeing demand.
I agree that we arn't quite ready for independance with shuttles.

edit: Shuttle prices will likely increase

The whole gold coin argument is based off players. The amount a GC is worth is player determined, and if everyone wants to sell it for less, then it is worth less.

Get rid of the 2.5 GC price ceiling on shuttles.

I've been looking to buy a docking station on Carina, but it doesn't offer to sell, and only on that one. The Gamemaster has plenty of stations, WTF?

Could you please make all journeys equate to one mission off the shuttle's life?

Certain journeys between worlds take one mission off a shuttle's life, while others take two. This favours WG players who are in the middle and is therefore unfair.

OMG Kitsume.. you read my mind.. definitly get rid of the 2.5 ceiling. Especialy if your producing high Q shuttles. If your willing to pay 2.5GC's for a low Q shuttle that can go what? 1000 trips? then your willing to pay 7 for one that can go 3000 trips, either way even 2,5 is way to low for all the hastle to set up and maintain the inventory.