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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Grazic, the flavor is nice, but the reading is difficult. perhaps only the first few sentences could be EEEized?
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
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Are the EEE the new borg? News at 11! Newsflash: Borg sueing EEE over copyright infringement! Newsflash: EEE countersue borg for defamation of character! [ March 12, 2004, 23:04: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ] |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
This is the first Zeta Quadrant game. It is my intention that the Zeta Quadrant game be part of an epic storyline (whether I succeed in this or not, of course, depends on whether people have fun playing the games!)
The background to this storyline will become more and more apparent as the game goes on. While the background won?t matter for game play per se, it is my intention that the ?shape? and ?feel? and special effects of each successive Zeta Quadrant game be partly affected by the actions of the players in the previous game. With that in mind, I?ll post various tidbits on the background of the Zeta Quadrant universe as I get them down on paper. And, although the larger story and metaphysics of the Zeta Quadrant game are known (at least to me) and have shaped this - the first Zeta Quadrant game - the future of the storyline is not fixed, and is to a certain extent determined by the players. Having said that, below is the first of a two-part background document. Sometime in the next week I hope to get the second part of it on paper and I?ll post it then. (if there isn?t enough interest, I?ll just shut up and play?) ------------------------------------- Summary of the Proceedings on the Ancients and their Machine Guardians, circa 2350. (from before the Exodus to the Zeta Quadrant) In the year 2350, the Galactic Geospatial Society, a foundation for the study of ancient cultures and galactic phenomenon, held a ten week conference to summarize and present the accumulated knowledge of the species of the galaxy regarding the Ancients and their Machine Guardians. Below are some of the more notable excerpts from those meetings. Over the past two hundred years, the various species of the galaxy have observed, discovered and dealt with a wide variety of Ancient phenomenon as well as the Machine Guardians that are ever-present at said sites. There are some constants in these observations and discoveries that might be relevant as many of the Galactic species now attempt to overcome the threat of Galactic Sterilisation facing them. This discussion is organized into the following parts: I. Definitions & General Discussion: what is an Ancient site? What are the Ancients? What are the Machine Guardians? Etc. II. Some of the more notable Ancient sites, their characteristics, and their impact on some of the species of the Galaxy (this part to follow) Part One: Definitions & General Discussion First, we must define the terms we are discussing here. Over the past hundreds of years, a consensus has largely been reached by the Cooperative races on definitions of Ancient sites and related issues. It must be notes at the outset that this is a consensus more on what we do not know rather than what we do know. The study of the Ancients is the study, largely, of unknowns and hypotheses, not hard facts. So, what are ?Ancient Sites?? First and foremost, they are not ancient artifacts or ruins. The galaxy is old, and before we came along there were clearly a wide variety of other star faring races. These prior races left behind remnants of their technology and civilizations, and these sites have yielded up much archaeological and technological knowledge over the millennia. Such sites are typically ancient cities, underground ruins, derelict star craft, and other similar manufactured items. And, they are from at least, by Last count, over a hundred different long-dead races. Ancient Sites, per se, are instead something very different. First and foremost they have never been mechanical or decrepit in nature. There have never been found ?Ancient? cities, star craft, or the like. Sites of the ?Ancients? are, instead of a qualitatively different nature. They are sites at which the very stuff of the universe appears to have been ?molded? or changed in some way on a scale unimaginable. For example, the Stellar Clouds of Hyperion, the Rifts, the Abyss, The Ten Sisters, and the Last Man are all undeniable examples of Ancient Sites. The most well known hypothesized Ancient site is, of course, the Great Sign. We do not yet have proof that the Great Sign is an Ancient Site, due to the fact that it is, of course, unreachable with our star craft. However, the data from observations and readings of the Great Sign correlate with other Ancient sites and display the same unique energy signatures. And, while of great topical interest, we have not yet proven to ourselves that the Sphereworld that we believe lies in the Zeta Quadrant is an Ancient Site. We will discuss these in greater detail below. In each of these cases, what sets them apart from other stellar phenomenon is that they are stellar manipulation on a vast scale. The Clouds of Hyperion, for example, stretch across tens of parsecs and in a manner that is clearly not natural. The Great Sign is the most stunning example. We won?t get into the religious debates that surround the Sign, but suffice it to say that the power and ability required to actually mold and shape multiple galaxies together, so that the Sign is observable across the entire measured universe, is beyond our fathoming. There are a few other characteristics of Ancient Sites that bear mentioning here. All Ancient sites have the same unique energy readings. And no known measurement device has been able to effectively tell us what matter or energy yields up those readings. For example, the first human contact with Ancient Sites occurred (luckily for the human race) at a rather minor site at what is known as the Painting of the Gods. In this case, observations from many light years away showed what we are all familiar with: an extremely beautiful and enthralling, almost hypnotic, arrangement of stars and planets in ways that astrophysics could not explain. Gravity dictated that such an arrangement could not exist; yet it appeared to be stable. When human vessels came close their scanners detected a source of energy in the center of the planets and stars that they could not identify with any available means (spectroscopy or otherwise). To date, even after numerous Ancient Sites have been explored, this energy source has remained both constant and totally unexplained. And, of course, Ancient Sites are characterized by one other constant: the spontaneous presence of ?machine entities.? In contrast to the Ancient Sites themselves, the Machine entities have very different characteristics and are, largely, much less mysterious. At the same time they are quite deadly. The Machine Entities are unexplained in at least one aspect however: we still, after countless investigations and efforts by multiple civilizations to understand the Machines so as to survive their onslaughts, we still do not know how they appear spontaneously at Ancient Sites. The general pattern is this: a vessel will arrive at an Ancient Site. If by accident, then they are probably doomed. If they arrived intentionally, then they will be prepared for combat, as most races have learned by now to send well armed task forces when exploring Ancient Sites. Soon after the arrival of the vessels into the vicinity of the Ancient Site, machine entities will coalesce around whatever matter is present and take the form of the race that discovered the Ancient Site. The Machine entities will then begin a process of rapidly evolving taking as a starting point the technological and knowledge base of the race that they are patterned after. One of the most puzzling and intriguing aspects of all this become known when the Aether government recently de-classified the report of one of its exploration vessels and made the results open to public study. In brief, the story is this: an Aether task force approached the Ancient Site known as The Lords of the Stars. One ship, due to the failure of it propulsion systems, had to make an emergency planet fall on of the planets surrounding the phenomenon. As it?s crew secured the vessels perimeter, some of them noticed a strange coalescing of dust in the air. Acting quickly, the Aether ship tractored and then put into stasis the dust motes that had already begun to form into the shape of a standard Aether male. The ship successfully escaped the area with the proto-machine entity in an isolated stasis box. After years of study in an undisclosed location (during which every scan known to the Cooperative races was employed) the Aether Lords scientists came to the unmistakable conclusion that all they had was dust. Standard, unimpressive, silicate dust. This point bears repeating: the dust that was coalescing into a machine entity was nothing more than that: dust. This means that either something external was making the dust coalesce into some form of machine entity which would somehow become a single minded guardian of the Ancient site OR our sensors have no way of understanding how the dust was different. Current thinking leans toward the latter explanation, but it remains unsolved to this day. There are four more important aspects of the machine entities that deserve mentioning: First, as mentioned above, there has never been an Ancient Site that has not had Machine Entities guarding it. Second, the machine entities ?play by the same rules? ? they emerge after the discovery of the Ancient Site, they begin their existence at a roughly equivalent technological level as those that discovered them, and they evolve from that point. Third, the Machine Entities are geospatially limited ? they do not travel beyond a certain, unknown, distance from the Ancient Site. This appears to be due to some inherent characteristic of theirs. Such a conclusion is based on the logs of the Kor Task Force 62 five years ago in which they came under attack by a Machine Entity craft, and successfully disabled its maneuver thrusters as they were fleeing it. The Machine Entity craft, unable to turn around, did something very peculiar as it drifted farther and farther from the Ancient Site: it slowly dissolved from metal components into dust until it was just another part of the stellar gasses. The vessel, which had been a mass of particle beams, missile launchers, and machine drones, became, literally, nothing more than stellar gas. Lastly, the Machine Guardians stand in stark contrast to the Ancient Sites in one other way: while it is hard to classify the Ancient sites along any pattern or predictability, the Machine entities are the opposite: they are orderly, regimented, and patterned despite. Their vessels are usually composed of interlocking geometric shapes, their battle formations are highly ordered, and their cities and planets are molded and crafted by them in highly organized ways. They do evolved and grow, but they do so in almost predictable ways. All of these characteristics of the Machine Guardians have meant that, by and large, most races in the galaxy have long ago stopped exploring Ancient sites since it is known that the Machine Entities will be there to fight them off. So, what is NOT characteristic of Ancient Sites? Age for one thing. In those cases where the stellar age of Ancient Sites have been measured, there is no pattern nor is there any definable age. Some ancient sites appear to be, literally, as old as the universe itself. Some are only a few hundred thousand years old. Elementary level Astrophysics tells us that the Great Sign must be as old as the Big Bang that created the Universe itself. Yet, the Deep Space array spectroscopy scans indicate it is much younger. We cannot explain this. Most believe such anomalies are related somehow to the mysterious and un-measurable energy source present in all Ancient Sites. And we feel obliged to mention another aspect of Ancient sites around which consensus is admittedly lacking: their ?usefulness.? There has NEVER been a major technological discovery based on Ancient Sites. In the early days of space travel for most races, one of the primary goals was to investigate a ?nearby? Ancient site. For some species, the hope was that they could plumb the secrets of a long gone race of god-like beings that could manipulate the very stars to do their bidding. It is almost universally agreed that while Ancient sites display amazing powers of stellar manipulation on a grand scale, and are incredibly beautiful and enthralling, they have yet to yield up any secrets to those who plumb their depths. End part One of the Summary of the Proceedings on the Ancients and their Machine Guardians, circa 2350. |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Grand Master Sabin stood in his bedroom, thinking as "Live from the Yggdrasil" played in the background. He and his staff have recently come to a decision about attempting to make more deals with the Zeta Knights Society, or known as the ZKS in short. Hopefully the ZKS would not be offended by the shorthand term.
The deals, more specifically, had to do with conducting a trade operation based on that the ZKS would send ships loaded with technology to the Space Empire, in exchange for resources. There were also two other agendas, one of which concerned about allowing the proto-type Escort E-Type free passage through ZKS space. The other proposition was an extreamely dangerous topic: Forming a protectorate treaty with the ZKS, as the protected party. T here were advantages, no doubt, but it may send the wrong message to the ZKS. More specifically, that the Space Empire is so weak, that it can be conquered easily by the ZKS. Which seemed to be true. The Space Empire wished to form such a protectorate, so that it may be under the protection of the ZKS if any hostile races were found, and to cement the relationship of the two empires, possibly making the passage of the technology proposal undeniable. The discussion of the protectorate treaty was placed on hold for now, however. The Grand Master felt that the measure can be delayed so that the situation can be more clear. A message about the first two proposals have been already sent. The following is the message: "The Space Empire wishes to know if the Zeta Knights Society is willing to give ships to the Space Empire in exchange for the following goods: Minerals, Organics, and Gases. If the ZKS is interested, please make a price for the ships. What is desired in the ship composition is primarily examples of technology, that the Space Empire can examine freely." "Also, permission is requested that a new vessel that the Space Empire recently commisioned, the Escort E-Type, is being constructed. This vessel is unarmed, and is meant for exploring the universe. However, it may need to move through ZKS territorys. The Space Empire is willing to give information about other systems. The Space Empire thanks the ZKS for lending a ear to the proposal." |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Stardate 2401.1
........ke up, Mother wake up quick. Were the first words she heard, still overcome with sleep she tried to open her eyes. She came up right and pressed the small grey button on the comlink. What's the problem Yeeliaa, she asked. You better come to command at once Mother, we have contact !!!!!! |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
### Announcement to the Population of the EEEvil EEEmpire Home World... ###
thEEE EEEmperor Grazic... wishEEEs to announcEEE a holiday... to all EEEvil beings... Last month an EEEvil "big ship" dEEEcted anothEEEr ship... this month the "big ship" dEEEstroyed it... dEEEath... dEEEstruction... and EEEradication... arEEE ours... thEEE EEEmperor Grazic also wishEEEs to announcEEE that thEEE timEEE of holiday is now ovEEEr... so gEEEt back to work!!! |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Due to unforseen circumstances, I am forced to be removed from the game. Apologies to all players about this. This can't be altered, since computer use would be unavailable for at least one week.
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Sabin,
I can put the game on hold for a week if that's all it is. In fact, I just got asked by another player to put it to ALPU for a week since they are having computer access issues also. Why don't you stay - others might complain, but, well, everyone should get at least one pass, no? And if it is for just a week, that won't kill anyone, eh? thanks, alarik Quote:
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
I don't mind going on hold for a week.
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Ok by me.
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
I wouldn't mind either; better than than ruin the RP atmosphere http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Agree with the one week off.
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
The Zeta Quadrant game, the first in a series of games (wherein each subsequent game is affected by the results of the previous one, and there is a complex backstory, but role playing is not necessary) has an opening due to one of the players having real life issues. The game just started, it's on turn 13, and the Zragoon empire needs a player! Someone, jump on in!
thanks, Alarik |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Bump.
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
I have returned. For a short while, I believed that my computer's information was destroyed. However, a minor miracle has prevented such.
I am ready to resume playing. |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Yep, I already put the game back on AutoRun...let's get back in business!!
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
[ March 28, 2004, 21:14: Message edited by: Sabin ] |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Stardate: 2401.6
The Radical Dreamer, a prototype Escort E-Type was launched Last month, to explore the galaxy for new life and civilizations...and salvation. It may take many years for it to complete it's mission, but it should greatly aid the Space Empire. The Zeta Knights also offered an exchange of technology. The Space Empire begun work on the prototype TechShip. This vessel would be equipped with many different technologies, and will be the vessel for exchanging technology with the Zeta Knights. The Space Empire has also been trying to improve the deal, due to that the ship is using a technology that has been exclusively used only by the Radical Dreamer-until now. |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
The Zeta knights again rubbed their heads, most of the Messages received from the Space Empire seemed to be incomplete and mysterious.
Not much was understood of their intention or for that way, what they actually meaned by their references. The brightest of the young knights was sat to the task of trying to understand these alien minds to find out what their Messages really meant. It seemed that they where talking to the Zeta knights and where having an on-going conversation, even answering questions?? But the problem was that there was noone from the Zeta knights who knew what the conversation was about... Strange alien minds indeed! |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
### Announcement to the Population of the EEEvil EEEmpire Home World... ###
thEEE EEEmperor Grazic... wishEEEs to announcEEE anothEEEr holiday... to all EEEvil beings... not only do wEEE now havEEE... 3 alliEEEs who bow bEEEfore our insanity... but Last month an EEEvil "big ship"... attackEEEd our EEEnemy's homEEE world... all EEEvil bEEEings should cEEEllebrate... as thEEEir EEEntire homEEE world was dEEEstroyed... dEEEath... dEEEstruction... and EEEradication... arEEE ours... lEEEt thEEE fun bEEEgin... ### Transmission Ends ### OOC - Well perhaps the Home World wasn't destroyed, but I'm not letting my insane EEEvil subjects know that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Sabin > Remember that any reference you make to a message that reaches you will reach me two turns after I sent that message, in some cases 104 hours, more than 4 days after I sent that message. I play several games and I won't remember what you say when you say something like, "We can do that but it will require some changes." (bad memory and bad documentation discipline http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif )
I won't have any clue as to what you are talking about. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif In PBW one needs to be very clear in conversations, like "The proposed trade of ships with advanced technology is to our liking, but the Polaron Phased beams level 5 we already have and we would rather appreciate APB level 12 instead". That I'll understand! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Se Ya |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Stardate 2401.8
> Hi Yeeliaa, come in. What do you have for me. > Please Mother, take a look at this images. Path-4 just send them to command. > ............She is beautiful, isn't she ? > oh yes she is Mother, she is !! |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Stardate: 24XX
The Radical Dreamer has traveled far beyond what the Space Empire has designed it for. Hopes were high for those who managed the project, since they felt they were getting closer to finding Salvation. Elsewhere, a culture exchange program has begun. The terms between the Space Empire and the Zeta Knights are that they exchange 10 million civilians. The colony ship and the TechShip were launched. The former has been placed under Zeta Knights contol, while the latter is waiting for their confirmation. The research program of the Space Empire has been quite weak, but it appears to be changing, since more research facilities are under construction. |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Stardate: 24XX
The Radical Dreamer has encountered two new races. Their abilities are currently unknown. It has not yet been determined if they are hostile, and whether or not they are at war with each other remains to be seen. The report has been promptly sent to the Zeta Knights Society, which is still an somewhat unknown factor to the Space Empire. |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Stardate: 24XX
The Space Empire has successfully established peaceful relations with the encountered races, and the Radical Dreamer has continued it's journey, though it would have to stop momentarily to refuel. The "Freespace" has been launched. It is a Escort E-Type and would start a second exploration mission. The "Grand Space Empire" a vessel containing 10 million ZKS civilians, is going to soon arrive at Kokomo Prime. Kokomo Prime is also starting to appear to be a worthy investment, since it's research facilities are quickly surpassing the quality of the labs available on Terranigma. |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
The Zeta Knights
Resource prduction is always an hindering issue. Many systems have ben explored but no suitable mining colony has been found. Currently mining operations are at development at several planets with a mineral rate of barely above 50%, a vaste of precious land, but the space yards are crying out for minerals. Several yards have had to halt their production in anticipation of resources. The expansion that has been successful so far needs more resources if it is to proceed, where can they be found?? [ April 09, 2004, 09:22: Message edited by: Ruatha ] |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
The Xiati empire had always believed itself to be unique in the galaxy. That fact, which had been undisputed for millenia, was now proven, quite obviously, to be wrong.
(Minister in charge of space exploration) "Sir, we have sketchy reports that our first exploration class vessel has encountered ANOTHER RACE!" (Emperor Tax-Renath) "WHAT! That's impossible! The Xiati are the only intelligent race in the galaxy!" "Nevertheless sir, we have had contact with their vessel, which appears to be their equivalent of a colony ship. What action should we take?" "Ok ok....lets send them a general welcoming message, see what response we get, then, if we discover that they actually ARE intelligent, I will inform you of your further orders later. Go find your communications officer and have him send this message...." |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network) - Replacement Player needed
Received in_game message:
Message from the EEEvil EEEmpirEEE: "dEEEal... {in a low mumbled tone} suckEEErs... don't thEEEy know that... thEEE nEEExus is to thEEE north of zanalgūr... and now thEEEy arEEE bound by thEEEir trEEEaty... and must concEEEdEEE that this is our systEEEm... ...what do you mEEEan... i havEEE to push thEEE rEEEd button... to EEEnd communications???" *LOL* [ June 12, 2004, 08:18: Message edited by: Ruatha ] |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
So Alarikf, how is the next Zeta coming along?
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
Yeah, I know I need to get this out. Sorry. I'm under the gun for my comprehensive exams. Lately I'm only getting to SE4 after midnight - by which time my brain is too fried to do anything other than turns...
HOWEVER, enough whinging! My wife is gone this weekend. I will try and get to this then - but I make no guarentees... Thanks for pestering though. I probably needed the kick in the pants. Alarik Quote:
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
Not pestering, do it when you can. I just like the scenario and want to see where you take it next - kinda like waiting for the next Honor Harrington book http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
Wow, that's high praise!
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In any case, after this comes the fun part...so...watch this space. Thanks, Alarik |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
I sort of expected less cooperation. I also expected that I (the Machines) would do better - but I have come to realize, especially given my performance in the SEV race game that, compared to the 'big boys' I ain't even in the running.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif In any case, I won't be in the next games except as a host, so it won't be a problem... Quote:
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
The second game in the Zeta series is beginning!
Looking for 20 players... The game is listed under "Zeta 2: The Great Sign" on PBW. The background information and settings are posted there and replicated below: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things you should know up front about this game: * No fighters or mines (satellites allowed however) * No Stellar Manipulation * No ancient race characteristic allowed * No religious race characteristic allowed. * No temporal race characteristic allowed. * No Intelligence. This is a no-intel game. * Unique map Empires will be created using PvK's Balance Mod using with 2000 point empires. This means they are "stock" empires but with adjusted point costs for the various characteristics that are more balance. As PvK says, PvK Balance mod changes the point costs for abilities when an empire is created, to be more balanced. It makes no other changes to the basic game. The Balance Mod can be obtained here Since that site is lately experiencing problems, you can also download it from the SE4 PBW site here As a third alternative, email me at alarikf@hotmail.com and I will send it to you. Finally, as part of the set-up, I would like to get a copy of your race characteristics and a description -- especially as they pertain to the society from which it came. There are some things I will specifically be looking for, and they affect starting positions. Don't worry: no starting position will be disadvantaged (I am going to test the map with a number of AI deathmatches before the game starts) but there are just some determinants about where races start based on their societies. NOTE: I intend to start this game in a few weeks, shooting for around Feb 12th. The delay is because I want to finish and test the map for balance and I would really like to get 20 players for the game. Also, I understand that many people might be reluctant to use a mod, even one that makes no changes to the basic game. If interest in this game is too low, I may consider going with the straight stock game. But for balance purposes, Id really rather not. Lastly, I may make slight changes to the background or setting of the game, as I go back over my notes and find things I forgot to put in. If there are any questions, feel free to email me at alarikf@hotmail.com Thanks, Alarik ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Background It is unclear to your people what has happened. Fifty years ago your society exerted all its energies into building a fleet that would travel to the distant Zeta Quadrant in order to find and, if possible, settle the Sphereworld there. That Sphereworld, was some sort of Ancient object, and presented your race with the only possible haven from an approaching wave of deadly radiation from the center of the Galaxy. This radiation was, inevitably, so powerful that all life in the galaxy was going to be extinguished. (The background above is from the Zeta 1 game, the full text of which is posted as an attachement to a post down below) So, your people watched their expedition set sail for the Zeta quadrant carrying with it the Last hope for your people and their entire civilization, and awaited the coming of the bLast that would destroy those left behind. Or so you thought... ...and, indeed, the Last thing you remember is watching the bright flash of the radiation as it entered the atmosphere of your homeworld... ...and then waking up on a strange land, with many other members of your race. The "Awakening" as many began to call it, was a time of wonder and chaos. Many starved, or went mad, but hundreds of millions did not. Partly this was due to the extreme wealth of resources, and the ideal conditions on this new world. As your people reveled in, somehow, surviving certain death, many turned to religion to explain this occurrence. But all set about trying to understand where they were and rebuild their society given this second chance. Not all members of your race survived. Your civilization spanned many planets, and many billions of people. There appeared to be no discernible pattern as to why some were "reborn" and others were not. Families were broken up, and planetary populations were mixed up apparently randomly. The planet your people found themselves on was extremely rich in resources, giving them a fighting chance to rebuild their civilization. But that's not all. Everywhere on the planet were the countless signs and ruins of other, prior civilizations. And not just one, but many built upon the ruins of the former. When your archaeologists and miners dig into the planet, they find unending layers upon layers of ancient ruins, each totally different from the one upon which it was built, and some dating from as far back as the postulated beginning of the universe. Some of these extinct civilizations had flourishing cultures with high forms of art and beauty, others were rigidly ordered societies, and so on...but none, apparently, survived. A sobering thought for your people on this new world, lending an air of Ozymandias-ness to your rebuilding efforts. Furthermore, the remains of this planet's prior inhabitants were none you had encountered before. Your race spanned many systems, and had an advanced knowledge of the Galaxy and its history. But the remains you have found have never exactly resembled any race your people have ever been familiar with or even heard of. Some are similar to races your people have known, but many exhibit, in fact, characteristics that are not only completely alien but also completely incompatible with the planet you are now on. For example, you might have found the remains of fragile, winged creatures, but the atmosphere and gravity of the planet you are on would crush such life. Other life forms found are often incompatible with the planet in other ways: giant creatures that clearly resided in the atmosphere of gas giants, but your world is rocky - and your instruments indicate that it has always been so. The mysteries beneath your tentacles are matched by the mysteries above: the sky from your planet is brightened by the glow of a great nebula above...and no more than a hundred or so stars. For some of you, the sky is filled with stars that shift, and move, and orbit each other in a constant dance of intricacy and hypnotic allure. For others, the sky is rigid and unchanging, and the stars are arranged in a patter of like distance from each other in grid like fashion. In both cases, your conventional understanding of physics informed your people that the sky above was impossible given the laws of physics. This mystery, and the absence of the rest of the stars in the galaxy, eventually led your people to the inevitable conclusion that they now resided in that portion of the galaxy known as The Great Sign. Before the "awakening" your people had observed the Great Sign from afar. At that time it had great significance for your people, in some cases extremely religious significance. The Great Sign itself appeared to lie at the edge of the observable universe, looking, like two clusters of stars separated from each other by a strange, radiating nebula. One of the clusters is globular, and the stars orbit and shift patterns in no discernible pattern. The second cluster is, for lack of a better word, cubic: a stable collection of hundreds of stars, unchanging in their positions relative to each other, and arranged, simply as points in a grid across a three dimensional cube. Between these two clusters is what some call the Singularity - a stellar phenomenon emitting bizarre radiations equivalent to the output of the entire galactic core at one single point. Seen from the inhabited galaxy, the Great Sign appears to be a grand globe and a cube, both composed of stars and between them a bright outflowing of energy. The Great Sign has played a critical, and often religious, role in the development of many star faring. This significance might have been simply interesting were it not for the Faith Effect that developed in those races that adopted the Great Sign as an integral part of their beliefs. The Faith Effect was a verifiable and reproducible effect that the religious races have achieved: it is the ability of the most pious and best trained of these races to meditate upon the Great Sign and, in so doing, unerringly achieve some physical goal of theirs. The most common manifestation of the Faith Effect is that of the weapons crews of religious races starships. The most typical way they achieve this onboard their starships is through intense trance-like meditations within temple-like chambers on their starships (these rooms are colloquially called Talisman rooms, but the exact description varies greatly by race). When certain members, usually of priest-castes, reach the highest level of trance during their meditations on the Great Sign, they can somehow channel their concentrations into the ships systems - resulting in unerring success by those systems. For example, in so doing, they can focus the weapon targeting systems of their ships to hit their targets - all the time, every time. It goes without saying this is an astonishing feat. Because of this faith effect, the religious races adopted their primordial religions to accommodate the Great Sign as a center of their faith. Now, on this alien world, the Faith Effect is no longer evident. This has had, as expected, cataclysmic repercussions for those religious races...and theories abound as to why it has happened. None has been proven yet. There are other differences between here and "before." It is unclear why, but the Great Sign appears to be either "outside" of time, or perhaps at the beginning or end of time. The experiments and engineering of temporal researchers have not 'worked' since being recovered. No temporal-based technologies have had any measure of success. The nature of time itself appears to have changed here. One final point of interest is that, on this new world, your people have had occasional sightings of the phenomenon known "The Last Man." This is the name given to a phenomenon that has appeared to many a wide variety of starship crews over the centuries, seemingly at random and always in out-of-the-way and desolate locales. In the past the Last Man has been a rock structure with a stationary statue-like member of the observing race. If a human crew, this "Last man" will appear as an old decrepit human male, if it is a Drushocka, it will appear as a older Dru, and so forth. Generally, it appears as an older male representative of their race, but for some races it is an older female. Multi-racial crews see their own individual race represented. Often, but not always, on the rock structures surrounding the Last man are an intricate series of inscriptions and hieroglyphic type writings. None of these have ever been successfully translated, and they have something in common with *all* known Languages. While in the past the Last Man has appeared to be an immobile statue of simple stone, now, on this world, your people have seen "visions" of it, accompanied by intricate and vast images of strange Languages filling the sky and etched into the ground. Many of your people who have seen the Last man have the undeniable belief that it is trying to communicate in some way. Because of these puzzles, as your race rebuilt, it explored the ruins beneath its pseudopod, it examined the skies, and theorized and researched at great length - but found no answers to these mysteries. Your people, over the years since awakening on this world have rebuilt much of their prior civilizations. It took over a hundred years, but the prior knowledge of your people remained from before, allowing a rapid reclamation of what was lost. Further assisted by the great resources on the world, your people have fundamentally rebuilt their civilization on this world. Now, as your people have once again forged the governments, arts, cities, universities, and industries that help comprise their civilization, they are ready to look once again towards the stars and explore the their surroundings... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Game settings: Starting resources: 100000 Starting planets: 1 Home planet value: Very Good Score display: Allied Technology level: Medium Racial points: 2000 - Empires created with Pvk Balance Mod Quadrant type: The Great Sign ("unique") Quadrant size: Large/Unique - approximately 255 systems Event frequency: Low Event severity: Catastrophic Technology cost: High Victory conditions: By general agreement, and player determined based on in-game discoveries. One, two or many empire victories possible. Maximum units: maximum (but no fighters or mines) Maximum ships: maximum Computer players: none Computer difficulty: High Computer player bonus: No AIs at start, otherwise High Neutral empires: No Other game settings: Due to the unique energies in the Great Sign and their effects, there are a few changes to the stock settings: * Smaller craft or devices such as fighters and mines are not viable. Satellites are viable however (I can't turn them off anyways...<g>) * Stellar Manipulation is disallowed ("turned off") There are other effects of the origin and nature of the Great Sign: * No ancient race characteristic allowed * No religious race characteristic allowed. * No temporal race characteristic allowed. * Intelligence is disallowed. This is a no-intel game. A note to players of the Zeta 1 game: this game will be "higher-powered" than that one, and will have a much more even and richer spread of resources. In that one, there were some systems that were, apparently, pretty darn resource poor. That is not the case in this game. So to speak. Heh. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes on playmanship: I try to be pretty relaxed about players in PBW games, and endeavor to make playing the game as easy and hassle-free as possible. I have set the turnaround time to 52 hours. I believe this is a good time because it allows people who work full time and return home late to have two chances to do their turns after work. Fact of life is, every now and then, something comes up and someone can't do their turn. This turnaround time gets around that problem I believe. Having said that, I am convinced that the game will go as quick as players wish it to. Especially in the beginning, it should go fast: so get those orders in as fast as you can. Your fellow players will thank you for it. Missed turns: If you are going to miss a turn let me know in advance. I intend to be very lenient in putting the game on ALPU, unless widespread complaints from other players arise. However, I won't let players abuse this - so please, don't ask for the game to be put on ALPU for any reason other than you are just not able to have access to your computer due to a trip, vacation, etc... the reason I fell ok in saying this is because with a 52 hour turnaround, people shouldn't be too rushed to get their turns in. Furthermore, I, and everyone who plays PBW, hates it when players stop turning in orders and thereby extend the game to the longest possible turnaround time. Therefore, if a player misses three turns without making prior arrangements or notifying me beforehand I will kick them out unless they have a good excuse to tell me. Really, all I am asking is that you keep me informed if you're going to miss a turn so that we can work something out. -------------- (note: Zeta 1 Backstory has been moved to an attachment in a later post...to avoid scaring people off...) http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
Bumpity bump bump...buh bump bump
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Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
Boink....
This will be a really good game. Dont be put off by the history and background - that just makes it even better! As for the balance mod to create empires - it is easy to use and balances out the points really well, making for a better game. The best reason to join is that Alarikf is an excellent host who ensures a great map and set up as well as keeping the game moving. JOIN...Join!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
I guess I should clarify so people aren't scared off by the (long) backstory:
This is a regular game just like any other. That's it. The backstory, honestly, is probably just an excuse for me to make funky maps but it has no other game effect (FYI: it just comes from the cosmology of my role playing universe when I used to GM RPGs many many years ago...) Other than the map and the settings, this game is just like any other: there is no need to play "in-character" if you don't want to, there is no concrete link to the other Zeta game, players in that former game have NO advatange here at all...And the victory conditions are up to player consensus. (oh, and the Balance Mod is really just my way of making sure that players don't HAVE to use the min-max strategies just to be competetive - that always struck me as lame) That's it. So, ignore the backstory, and look forward to playing a standard game with these settings: * No fighters or mines (satellites allowed however) * No Stellar Manipulation * No ancient race characteristic allowed * No religious race characteristic allowed. * No temporal race characteristic allowed. * No Intelligence. This is a no-intel game. * Unique map Thanks, Alarik |
Re: ZQNN (Zeta Quadrant News Network)
1 Attachment(s)
The backstroy for the first Zeta game is an attachment to this post so as to not clutter up this thread...
Thanks, Alarik |
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