netcolony-design — Design of the NetColony game

[Netcolony-design] Update

[Robb M. <rm...@is...>]

Just to let everyone know.  I have started working on NetColony 
again.  I've been working on the GUI, and I plan to test the 
client/server over the internet soon.


--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] Rocket Science -- Part III

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

Space stations and tugs:

Consider the 2300 AD stutterwarp drive, which can't operate in a 
gravity field in excess of 0.1 g.  For Earth, that places the limit at 
an altitude (above the surface) of a little less than 14000 km.  Just 
for fun, we'll use the same limit for NetColony.

This is way higher than LEO, which has a lower limit of 185 km but 
more normally 200 km.  However, it's under geosynchronous orbit, 
which is about 36000 km of altitude.  

The 0.1 g limit is above the inner Van Allen radiation belts, but just 
barely inside the outer one.  The intensity of the inner belt 
maximizes at about 5000 km, and produces radiation levels of ~ 5 
rad/day.  The intensity of the outer belt maximizes at 19500 km on 
average, producing radiation levels of less than 0.1 rad/day.  During 
solar flares, one will experience around 500 rad/hour in the upper 
belt and 200 rad/hour in the lower one.  For comparision, annual 
exposure on Earth from background radiation is about 0.2 - 0.3 rad.

Basically, no one stays in the lower belt any longer than they 
absolutely have to and long term exposure on an unshielded 
station in a high orbit is very dangerous.  250 - 300 rad is lethal in 
50 % of cases in thirty days, so storm shelters from flares are an 
absolute necessity for stations above the inner belt.

The altitude of the radiation belts for other planets should scale 
linearly with magnetic field strength.  The Earth has a magnetic 
field of about 4E-4 Tesla.

The other issue is that it's not efficient for interface craft to go that 
high -- carrying re-entry and landing gear to that altitude is simply 
waste.  From this we come to the conclusion that we need another 
form of transport to ferry cargo from interface shuttles to starships: 
the space tug, or more formally an Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV).  

OTVs can be largely autonomous (so can interface shuttles, but 
that's another issue) and use drive technologies that only work in a 
vacuum or are environmently unfriendly, such as electrostatic (ion) 
propulsion and nuclear rockets respectively.

Generally speaking, I think there will be two forms of planetary 
stations: ports, which will interface with starships, placed at the 0.1 
g limit, and stations, which are functional factories or such and 
placed in low or medium orbit where they can be directly serviced 
by interface craft.  

The general idea is that interface craft will drop off or pick up 
standardized cargo containers in LEO, which OTVs will shuttle to 
higher altitudes.

So, how high do interface craft go?  They have to be in a stable 
orbit, so let's consider it to be 200 km for Earth.  For other 
atmospheres, the necessary altitude will be dependant on the 
scale height of the atmosphere (discussed in part I).

a = 200 km * ln( H / 8.2 km )

where a is altitude in km, and H is scale atmospheric height.

Energy consumption for OTVs will be more or less equal to the 
theorectical energy difference between orbits.  Fusion drives can 
have exhaust velocities around 1 300 000 m/s so they don't require 
much reaction mass.
--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] Rocket Science -- Part II

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

In this part, I'll derive a general formula for the energy use per ton 
lofted into orbit for planets with different surface gravity and 
atmosphere than Earth.

Gravity losses are based on time of flight, and so will scale roughly 
linearly with surface gravity.  We'll guess most vehicles lose 600 
m/s to gravity, which gives a time of flight of around 160 - 180 s.

Thus:

V_gloss = 600 m/s * g

where g is the acceleration due to gravity at the surface, in Earth 
equivalents.

Drag isn't quite as simple.  Drag varies linearly with air density, so 
well use the scale height of the atmosphere to represent it's 
thickness and density.  

The scale altitude of the Earth's atmosphere is, IIRC, 8.2 km.  To 
within an order of magnitude, most SSTO vehicles will lose 500 
m/s to drag losses.  

H = kT / mg

where k is Boltzmann's constant, T is the temperature of the 
atmosphere (that is, what it emits to space), m is the mean 
atmospheric molecular mass, and g is the surface gravity in m/s^2.

For the most part, we can assume T is equal to the mean surface 
temperature.

Thus:

V_dloss = 500 m/s * H / 8200 m

which leads to the general solution

deltaV = 0.5 Sqrt(g R^2 [ 1 / R - 1 / (R+a) ] + 0.5 mu\ / a)
	+ V_gloss
	+ V_dloss

deltaV then goes into the mass fraction equation given in part I 
which can then be used directly to calculate the cargo capacity of 
an interface craft.

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A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] Unit Sizes

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

In NetColony, a standard unit will have 400 people, of which 100 
will be workers and 300 dependants.  

This is better than 500 people to a unit as 10 % of a 500 person 
unit has 12.5 workers.  In other words, the fractions work better.

The exception is units which will carry the tital specialist.  These 
units are made up of 100 people.  Examples are Scientists, 
Deviants, Pirates, and Nuclear Demolition Engineers.

--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] (Fwd) Pathalos Special Planetary Survey -- 1st Edition

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:           	Robb McLeod <rm...@uv...>
To:             	Pi3...@ya...
Subject:        	Pathalos Special Planetary Survey -- 1st Edition
Send reply to:  	rm...@uv...
Date sent:      	Sun, 8 Jul 2001 17:14:20 -0700

Biosphere Survey of Pathalos by SSV MacKenzie (under lease to 
Czechoslovakia from Canada):

Topology:

The poles are covered by thick ice caps.  In the winter, they retreat
to the size of Antarctica. 

There is a wide expanse of ocean between the caps and 
recognizable landforms.  This is thought to be due to ice flows 
crushing small, forming islands.

Land appears to be generated from the collision of tectonic plates
and/or volcanic activity.  Tectonic activity produces long, narrow
landmasses or chain archipelagoes.  Volcanic islands are usually
higher and wider.

There are also two ring archipelagoes in the Southern hemisphere. 
These appear to be formed by meteor impacts.  Mineralogical asseys
seem to confirm this hypothesis.

Overall, the island chains of Pathalos are reminisant of the 
Falkland Islands on Earth.  They tend to alternate between rock 
fields, tundra, and bogs.  Erosion effects are very strong on 
Pathalos.  This appears to be due to tidal erosion, rainfall, and
collisions between landforms and ice flows.

Hydrosphere:

The salinity of Pathalos' oceans are less than that of Earth, but
contain a wider variety of salts.  The ocean is rarely more than a
kilometer deep.  There are numerous reefs scattered over the planet,
although they are gradually ground down by ice flows.

The tides of Pathalos are greater than Earth on average and much more
complicated.  When Pathalos' moons are in alignment, tides can become
extreme and cause extensive flooding of landmasses.

One of the more unique features of the hydrosphere is the mass 
migrations of icebergs from the poles during the summer.  This 
presents an obvious threat to not only marine platforms but small
islands as well.

Meterology:

It rains a lot.  It snows a lot.  Weather tends to cycle with the days
& nights.  The hydrosphere acts as a moderater, so air tends to flow
from the night side and winter pole to the summer pole and dayside. 
There it is heated, rises, and cylces back.  As such, at the surface,
there tends to be a stiff breeze at dawn and dusk.  At higher
altitudes the wind is stronger and the cross-winds can be wicked.

Maintenance of the atmosphere in its current state is important to
habitation on Pathalos.  If the planet heats up too much, the polar
cap melt could increase and flood the entire planet.  If it cools, the
native lifeforms could die, resulting in an ice age.

Biology:

Proteins are levo-based and hence compatible with Earth life forms. 
 Overall, the lifeforms of Pathalos are retarded compared to those of
Earth.  As such, caution must be exercised when introducing Earth
lifeforms to the native ecosystem, as the more competitive Earth life
may drive out the native life.

The dominant lifeform appears to be a form of sea lichen -- a 
symbiosis between algae and fungus.  It grows on ocean shelfs, 
reefs, and in bogs.  It is the primary carbon dioxide producer on the
planet.

Higher order plant life is relatively rare and found mostly in the
bogs.  They are short, woody plants.  They are often hollow, in which
some animal species can be found living.  In the rocky areas -- which
resemble alpine meadows -- lichens and short grasses are relatively
common

The survey teams have yet to find animal life more advanced than
insects but they would be difficult to locate in the camoflague of sea
lichen.  At least one insect is efficient at converting cellulose to
methane.

Mineralogy:

Initial asseys suggest concentrations of aluminium, titanium, and
magnesium.  Heavier elements are much less common and radioactives are
practically absent.  

The presence of fossil fuels is unknown at this time.  At the very
least, we expect there to be large amounts of peat in the boggy areas.

Suitable Colony Sites:

Equatorial Island Chain: The most temperate area, but it is low 
lying and hence vulnerable to flooding.

Volcanic Island: The vulcan islands are higher than tectonic island
chains.  However, due to the erosive forces, any existing vulcan
island is almost certainly active.  Geothermal power may be plentiful.

Crater Ring Islands: They are not ideally located in terms of climate
but the remnant asteroid material is probaby the only source of
refractory metals on the planet.

Conclusion:

Pathalos faces heavy competition from Stalo in manufacturing and
mineral explotation.  However, Pathalos is generally more fertile than
Stalo.  More importantly, the small gravity well will reduce interface
costs considerably.  It will be economically feasible to use simple
chemical propellants (H2/O2 or CH4/O2) to boost payloads to orbit
rather than resorting to exotic and expensive propellants.  This may
make agricultural and raw material exports economical.

Extensive biological and engineering research will be necessary to
establish safe and productive colonies.

The potential for aquaculture appears strong.  Some of the native
lifeforms, although unpalitable to humans, may serve as high- protein
lifestock feed.  Rice farming appears to be the most likely form of
agriculture in the marshy lowlands, athough the salinity may cause
problems.  At least one native lifeform appears efficient at
converting cellulose to methane, providing a potential cheap fuel
source. We're still not sure how we're going to produce vodka.

------- End of forwarded message -------
--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] (Fwd) Chi Orionis Initial System Survey

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:           	Robb McLeod <rm...@uv...>
To:             	Pi3...@ya...
Subject:        	Chi Orionis Initial System Survey
Send reply to:  	rm...@uv...
Date sent:      	Sun, 8 Jul 2001 13:44:53 -0700

Survey of Chi Orionis by ISV Cook (under lease to Poland from 
Canada):

Chi Orionis Data:
1.248 Sol luminosity
5920 K surface temperature
1.073 Sol radius
1.057 Sol mass

Orbital Data:
Chi Orionis-I: 0.223 AU -- 13000 km rockball, density 0.83 Earth
Chi Orionis-II: 0.524 AU -- 2300 km rockball, density 0.76 Earth
Chi Orionis-III: 0.938 AU -- 3700 km greenhouse, density 0.84 Earth
Chi Orionis-IV: 1.320 AU -- 6046 km oceananic, density 0.69 Earth 
Chi
Orionis-V: 2.21 AU -- Asteroid belt Chi Orionis-VI: 2.97 AU -- 5700 km
failed core, density 1.17 Earth Chi Orionis-VII: 5.5 AU -- Asteroid
belt Chi Orionis-VIII: 7.2 AU -- gas giant (unsurveyed) Chi
Orionis-IX: 10.9 AU -- gas giant (unsurveyed) Chi Orionis-X: 20.8 AU
-- gas giant (unsurveyed) Chi Orionis-XI: 40 AU -- gas giant
(unsurveyed) Chi Orionis-XII: 63 AU -- gas giant (unsurveyed) Chi
Orionis-XIII: 83 AU -- gas giant (unsurveyed) Chi Orionis-XIV: 132 AU
-- gas giant (unsurveyed)

Chi Orionis is a G0V main sequence star, making it very similar to
Alpha Centauri.  Compared to Sol, it is hotter and brighter.  The star
system has an approximate age of seven billion years, making it the
same age as most other main sequence stars in the area.  It appears to
be more stable than Sol.  Chi Orionis has a very well developed
planetary system, with no less than twelve planets and two asteroid
belts.  

There are five planets and an asteroid belt within the inner system.
Planets I & II are both hot rockballs of relatively high density.
Planet-I is a superterresteroid, with a radius almost twice that of
Earth.

Two planets, Chi Orionis-III and IV lie within the life zone. However,
the Chi Orionis-III seems to had its oceans boiled off and it is now a
greenhouse planet like Venus.  Chi Orionis-IV is cooler and smaller
than Earth, but has a very extensive hydrosphere and appears to be
capable of sustaining life.  It is considered a class AAA candidate
for colonization at this time.

The fifth and seventh orbits are asteroid belts that bracket what
appears to be a failed core with a trace hydrocarbon atmosphere.

The remaining orbits are occupied by small and medium size gas 
giants.  They have not yet been surveyed.

We have concentrated our survey on Chi Orionis-IV, named 
Panthalos, although Chi Orionis-VI may have some future 
commercial use.

Panthalos (Chi Orionis-IV) Data:

Orbital Data:
Orbital radius (mean): 1.320 AU
Orbital period: 408 Earth days
Orbital Eccentricity: 0.045 (very small)
Orbital Inclination: 1.2 degrees

Basic Data:
Equatorial Radius: 6046 km
Density: 3800 kg/m^3 (0.69 Earth)
Mass: 3.51E24 kg (0.587 Earth)
Gravity: 0.653 g
Escape Velocity: 8800 m/s

Geophysical Data:
Axial Tilt: 31.7 degrees
Rotational Period: 56.2 hours
Hydrosphere: 96 %
Base Temperature: 235 K (from insolation)
Mean Temperature: 272 K (+2 ^C)
Magnetic Field (mean): 1.7E-4 T (0.44 Earth)
Albedo: 40 %

Atmospheric Composition:
Surface Pressure: 0.94 atm
Nitrogen: 82 %
Oxygen: 16.1 %
Neon: 1.0 %
Argon: 0.6 %
Carbon Dioxide: 540 ppm 
Methane: 5.8 ppm
Water: variable

Lunar Objects:
Panthalos-A
Orbital Radius: 154 000 km
Lunar Radius: 1471 km
Lunar Mass: 4.02E22 kg

trace atmosphere, minor volcanic activity

Panthalos-B
Orbital Radius: 365 000 km
Lunar Radius: 570 km
Lunar Mass: 2.4E21 kg

no points of note

Panthalos-C 
Orbital Radius: 784 000 km
Lunar Radius: 121 km
Lunar Mass: 2.7E19 kg

highly inclined orbit indicates captured body

Surveyor Comments:

Insolation is less than that of Earth and of a slightly shorter 
wavelength.  Its magnetic field is weaker, though sustained by 
geological activity, meaning that during solar events colonists 
chould take shelter.  Panthalos has warmed up recently as a result of
its star's advancing age and luminosity.  As such its life forms may
not be highly evolved. However, we know life must be extensive due to
the CH4 content of the atmosphere.

Panthalos has three moons, all of which are significant although the
outer one appears to be a captured asteroid.  The three moons produce
significant tidal stress on Panthalos, keeping the small core
relatively hot and molten.  Hence volcanic and tectonic activity is
expected to be relatively high.  The complex tides have also likely
contributed heavily to the erosion of Panthalos' land masses; the
oceans of Panthalos are relatively shallow compared to those of Earth.

Panthalos has suffered a number of recent impact events, probably due
to interaction with the asteroid belts outside its orbits.  These
impacts have contributed to the topology of Panthalos, creating some
ring-shaped archipelagoes.  These have also likely contributed to the
geological activity of the planet.

The high axial tilt creates large seasons on Panthalos.  The size of
the large polar ice caps changes significantly with the seasons, and
as a result large ice flows will break free of the caps each summer
and float towards the equator.  The long day contributes to extensive
atmospheric convection, so combined with the extensive hydrosphere
means windstorms are common and rainfall & snowfall heavy.  Cold air
flows along the surface from the poles to the equator.

The atmosphere dense for the planet's size and is heavy in 
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water, 
which help counteract the low albedo of the oceans and keep the 
mean temperature above the freezing point of salt water.  The 
partial pressure of oxygen is somewhat lower than optimum, and is
equivalent to roughly 2.25 - 2.5 km altitude on Earth.

The equator appears to be the most habital region.  Although the mean
temperature is not much higher than the poles (~ 277 K), it is much
more stable.  There is not much snowfall at the equator. The orbit is
nearly circular, which keeps total insolation nearly constant.  Thus
seasonal variation at the equator is almost nil.
------- End of forwarded message -------
--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] Capitalism Plus

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

A good game to check out for its economic modeling, even if it is 
not set in a science ficton setting, is Capitalism Plus.

It's available for download on the Underdogs Abandonware website.

http://www.theunderdogs.org/game.php?name=Capitalism+Plus

--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

Re: [Netcolony-design] Propositions in NetColony (was: Unit Activities)

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

On 5 Jul 2001, at 14:38, Lev...@ao... wrote:
> I think you were right about your hardest part being the proposition
> system.  without the props, though, its no longer a political
> simulation, just an economic or strategic simulation.
> 
> I have an idea.  there are really just a few basic kinds of
> proposition.  If you can make a rigid structure, and count on player
> self-policing to ostracize those who do not follow propositions, it
> can work.  for instance, the bulk of propositions are of the nature: 
> "Interest A shall be awarded X dollars on turn N, Y dollars on turn
> N+1, etc, to perform this task."  there is no way (as far as i know)
> the computer can understand all the possible tasks, but it does not
> have to.  If the player does not perform the task of the proposition,
> or meet its other stipulations, the others will know.

Yes, I can implement that, but I doubt if players will ostracize 
others -- they tend to look after their own self-interests.  If the 
Fringe passed a prop forcing TRM to withdraw from the colony 
(ha!), and TRM refused, most people probably wouldn't care.  
Moreover, if TRM had a cabal of supporters, it wouldn't matter.

Then again, perhaps that is closer to reality.

> So, there are really only a few basic common propositions.
> 
> Grant money.
> Take money.
> set restriction or requirement on one or more players.
>
> there are many other propositions, but most of them affect only
> players, not the mathematical structure of the game, so the computer
> needn't worry.  For example, the proposition that set up Tawantinsuyo
> and Texan settlement rights was very complex, but had no effect at all
> on the mechanics of the game.  It only affected what players could do.
> 
> So maybe propositions isn't so rough a mechanic for the computer.

What about a perfectly legitimate proposition such as the TRM 
conscription?  Do we try and predict likely legislation type 
propositions?

Also, consider that Pi3Orionis only reflected an immature colony, 
where the home government provided the money.  What other 
situations will occur that didn't in Pi3Orionis?

I'm not trying to decry your ideas, I just can't think of an elegant 
solution.  One thing is pretty clear: as a political simulation, we 
have to outdo all the other strategy games in that sector.
--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] The Bid Paradigm

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

The public bid paradigm is designed to help reduce the workload on 
the players in negotiating for Commodities.

Basically, the Interest will post, through a special feature in the 
software, a notice that they are soliticiting bids for a given quantity 
of a given Commodity.  Other Interests will then be allowed to 
submit a blind bid. In addition, if it has the capacity, the Market will 
submit a bid of its own.  After the soliticitation period has expired, 
the software will automatically select the best bid as the winner.  
Market pressures will tend to drive the price around to the correct 
value, unless someone is trying to monopolize the market.

This is better than submitting bids in turn reports because it 
insures that Interests will know if they have the Commodities they 
need or not.

Interests will still be able to wheel and deal more complex 
arrangements outside the bid system.  These sort of negotiations 
are suitable for long-term contracts but not if Tourism just wants to 
build a Hotel.  Also, if one of the players likes to quibble over tiny 
sums of Livre, the bid system lets the other Interests to ignore that 
annoying personality trait.
 
--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] Re: New Commodity: Services

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

On 4 Jul 2001, at 13:11, Lev...@ao... wrote:
> Services are as slippery as an eel, and hard to pin down, but a very
> important part of an economy for several distinct reasons.  First, the
> easy one, they do free people up to concentrate on what it is they do.
>  Businesses hire payroll firms to write their paychecks because they
> find it easier and less costly than wastign their own time on it.  
> 
> Here is the harder one:  Services are a desired end item in their own
> right, and are purchased in many cases not for efficiency but for
> their value.
> 
> SOme time ago, I've tried, and failed, to concvince Bryn that
> "services" really are a part of the production of a nation.  He sees
> only "tangible goods" as wealth.  The kicker, though, is that we buy
> tangible goods because of the services they perform.
> 
> Case in point- the dishwasher.  Supposing you had a "Dishwashing
> budget" of $1000.00- would it matter to you (economically) if you
> bought a dishwashing machine for that price or bought the same service
> from "Bob and Doug's Home Dishwashing" in human labor, if they
> produced the same output?  At the output side, Services are
> economically indistinguishable from goods that perform services.
> 
> Now, supposing you did not have a dishwashing budget at all- nothing
> to spend, but you  HAD to do your dishes.  You would do them anyway,
> and it would eat into your leisure time.  It would most likely NOT
> interfere with your work.  (Might enhance it- maybe you would be
> realxed by dishwashing, and it would inspire some new bit of computer
> code).    So, the sole reason you buy the dishwasher, or hire Bob and
> Doug, is to enhance your life.  That is the sole reason you buy
> anything.  I bought a house because prefer it to living in a tent, and
> I want a place to keep my stuff.
> 
> So, there are two components of the colony market.  There are Needs,
> like food, medicine, and the goods needed to perform economically,
> such as the Factory's Input, and their are Wants- everythign else. 
> Services, and Exotic commodity tends to be in the latter.  So, a
> Service, although it may be an "efficiency multiplier" may also jsut
> be somethign somebody wants.

I don't think I'll account for Services as an efficiency multiplier.  It 
will be subject to supply and demand like any Commodity.  If the 
colony wide demand for Services outstrips the supply, the price per 
unit will increase and it will have a colony wide negative effect on 
Morale.  Morale and efficiency are the same, so it will have the 
desired effect.  The main difference is that Merchant Shipping won't 
be able to ship in Services in the same manner as Goods, and 
Food.

> In the Unit Descriptions for Pi 3 you will note that Workers, like
> Quarks, come in flavors, in this case three.  There are three- the
> Corporate Worker adds efficiency to other units belonging to the
> Interest, the Service Worker just sells services to the market, and
> the Business Service Worker enhances ANY unit, with its enhancements
> being based on the available Infrastructure.  The better the
> infrastructure, the more the BSW can do.  

Which I have dumped.

> I understand how you've broken down the Service commodity, but I don't
> think the term "inferior" fits quite right.  Maybe "general" or
> "basic" or some such.  You will also find that its hard to break up a
> Service unit to such detail without ungodly complications.  If you
> have a unit of restaurant owners, how many waitress units should there
> be?   You'll kill yourself.  

I'm not about to worry about that level of detail.  Services are a 
Commodity, and they are bought and sold by the unit.  An abstract 
commodity, but one nonetheless.

As a piece of software, we have to rationalize and categorize.  
Otherwise I can't implement it.  Hence, we sometimes have to stuff 
a round peg into a square hole.

> I had three units that were basically service oriented:  The Deviant,
> although not necessarily devoted to the task, sells services because
> they do what they must to survive.  
> 
> The Artist is the high end of the scale, and represents any worker
> whose skill and reputation make others seek him out for services
> despite their high cost.  This can include taxis- for example, the
> very high end limo companies- and restaurants.  Could cover
> programmers, in that some programmers might shine above the rest.  

How much are limo drivers paid?

> I hate to break it to you, but around my area, a plumber is paid more
> than a programmer.  And electricians, carpenters, even some masons... 
> Yeah, the programmers had it during the Dot-Communist Era, but with
> the laying of thuosands of them in NY and NJ, great herds of them mill
> about the coffee shops reading job listings, while the Wall Street
> Journal's cover story describes how "toolhandy" people are in more
> demand than ever.

This is somewhat off topic, but mediocre programmers are a dime 
a dozen.  However, there are many, many advertisements for 
senior level personnel out there.  In software engineering, the good 
people can out-produce the mediocre by a significant margin.  
That's why corporations go to such lengths to retain their good 
people.

> Who knows where the pendulum would swing by 2300?


--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] Unit Activities

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

In Pi3Orionis, units could do many things per turn.  They will not be 
so flexible in NetColony.

Each Unit will be permitted one Primary Activity per turn.  
Depending on the Primary Activity, they may also be permitted a 
Secondary Activity.

So, for example, consider the case where a Unit is moving from a 
Facility in one city to a new one elsewhere.  To do so, the player 
must make the Unit's primary Activity "Move".  The Unit cannot do 
anything else -- the Move activity requires the entire turn.  So for 
Units that arrive via starship sometime in the course of a turn, they 
will not produce any output until the following turn.

For a primary-secondary example, consider the Public Works 
Engineer.  It's typically primary Activity is the maintenance of 
Infrastructure.  For now, we'll call this activity 
"Maintain_Infrastructure".  Optionally, the unit can also produce a 
couple of Bricks for specialize use -- we might call this secondary 
Activity "Build_InferiorBrick".  More likely, there would be a specific 
economic pathway for this unit to use.

In this manner, through the parser concept, Activities can be 
seperated from unit types thus reducing the number of hard-coded 
unit abilities in the game.

This degree of focus is a simplification, but very necessary for a 
computer implementation.
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[Netcolony-design] Unit Activities

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

In Pi3Orionis, units could do many things per turn.  They will not be
so flexible in NetColony.

Each Unit will be permitted one Primary Activity per turn.  
Depending on the Primary Activity, they may also be permitted a 
Secondary Activity.

So, for example, consider the case where a Unit is moving from a
Facility in one city to a new one elsewhere.  To do so, the player
must make the Unit's primary Activity "Move".  The Unit cannot do
anything else -- the Move activity requires the entire turn.  So for
Units that arrive via starship sometime in the course of a turn, they
will not produce any output until the following turn.

For a primary-secondary example, consider the Public Works 
Engineer.  It's typically primary Activity is the maintenance of
Infrastructure.  For now, we'll call this activity
"Maintain_Infrastructure".  Optionally, the unit can also produce a
couple of Bricks for specialize use -- we might call this secondary
Activity "Build_InferiorBrick".  More likely, there would be a
specific economic pathway for this unit to use.

In this manner, through the parser concept, Activities can be 
seperated from unit types thus reducing the number of hard-coded 
unit
abilities in the game.

This degree of focus is a simplification, but very necessary for a
computer implementation.

--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] Re: New Commodity: Services

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

On 4 Jul 2001, at 13:11, Lev...@ao... wrote:
> Services are as slippery as an eel, and hard to pin down, but a very
> important part of an economy for several distinct reasons.  First,
> the easy one, they do free people up to concentrate on what it is
> they do.
>  Businesses hire payroll firms to write their paychecks because they
> find it easier and less costly than wastign their own time on it.  
> 
> Here is the harder one:  Services are a desired end item in their
> own right, and are purchased in many cases not for efficiency but
> for their value.
> 
> SOme time ago, I've tried, and failed, to concvince Bryn that
> "services" really are a part of the production of a nation.  He sees
> only "tangible goods" as wealth.  The kicker, though, is that we buy
> tangible goods because of the services they perform.
> 
> Case in point- the dishwasher.  Supposing you had a "Dishwashing
> budget" of $1000.00- would it matter to you (economically) if you
> bought a dishwashing machine for that price or bought the same
> service from "Bob and Doug's Home Dishwashing" in human labor, if
> they produced the same output?  At the output side, Services are
> economically indistinguishable from goods that perform services.
> 
> Now, supposing you did not have a dishwashing budget at all- nothing
> to spend, but you  HAD to do your dishes.  You would do them anyway,
> and it would eat into your leisure time.  It would most likely NOT
> interfere with your work.  (Might enhance it- maybe you would be
> realxed by dishwashing, and it would inspire some new bit of
> computer code).    So, the sole reason you buy the dishwasher, or
> hire Bob and Doug, is to enhance your life.  That is the sole reason
> you buy anything.  I bought a house because prefer it to living in a
> tent, and I want a place to keep my stuff.
> 
> So, there are two components of the colony market.  There are Needs,
> like food, medicine, and the goods needed to perform economically,
> such as the Factory's Input, and their are Wants- everythign else.
> Services, and Exotic commodity tends to be in the latter.  So, a
> Service, although it may be an "efficiency multiplier" may also jsut
> be somethign somebody wants.

I don't think I'll account for Services as an efficiency multiplier. 
It will be subject to supply and demand like any Commodity.  If the
colony wide demand for Services outstrips the supply, the price per
unit will increase and it will have a colony wide negative effect on
Morale.  Morale and efficiency are the same, so it will have the
desired effect.  The main difference is that Merchant Shipping won't
be able to ship in Services in the same manner as Goods, and 
Food.

> In the Unit Descriptions for Pi 3 you will note that Workers, like
> Quarks, come in flavors, in this case three.  There are three- the
> Corporate Worker adds efficiency to other units belonging to the
> Interest, the Service Worker just sells services to the market, and
> the Business Service Worker enhances ANY unit, with its enhancements
> being based on the available Infrastructure.  The better the
> infrastructure, the more the BSW can do.  

Which I have dumped.

> I understand how you've broken down the Service commodity, but I
> don't think the term "inferior" fits quite right.  Maybe "general"
> or "basic" or some such.  You will also find that its hard to break
> up a Service unit to such detail without ungodly complications.  If
> you have a unit of restaurant owners, how many waitress units should
> there be?   You'll kill yourself.  

I'm not about to worry about that level of detail.  Services are a
Commodity, and they are bought and sold by the unit.  An abstract
commodity, but one nonetheless.

As a piece of software, we have to rationalize and categorize.  
Otherwise I can't implement it.  Hence, we sometimes have to stuff 
a
round peg into a square hole.

> I had three units that were basically service oriented:  The
> Deviant, although not necessarily devoted to the task, sells
> services because they do what they must to survive.  
> 
> The Artist is the high end of the scale, and represents any worker
> whose skill and reputation make others seek him out for services
> despite their high cost.  This can include taxis- for example, the
> very high end limo companies- and restaurants.  Could cover
> programmers, in that some programmers might shine above the rest.  

How much are limo drivers paid?

> I hate to break it to you, but around my area, a plumber is paid
> more than a programmer.  And electricians, carpenters, even some
> masons... Yeah, the programmers had it during the Dot-Communist Era,
> but with the laying of thuosands of them in NY and NJ, great herds
> of them mill about the coffee shops reading job listings, while the
> Wall Street Journal's cover story describes how "toolhandy" people
> are in more demand than ever.

This is somewhat off topic, but mediocre programmers are a dime 
a dozen.  However, there are many, many advertisements for 
senior level personnel out there.  In software engineering, the good
people can out-produce the mediocre by a significant margin.  
That's
why corporations go to such lengths to retain their good people.

> Who knows where the pendulum would swing by 2300?

--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...

[Netcolony-design] (Fwd) Re: New Commodity: Services

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

This is a repost of Ben's response to my Services discussion.

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:           	Lev...@ao...
Date sent:      	Wed, 4 Jul 2001 13:11:40 EDT
Subject:        	Re: New Commodity: Services
To:             	rm...@uv...

Robb,

Services are as slippery as an eel, and hard to pin down, but a very
important part of an economy for several distinct reasons.  First, the
easy one, they do free people up to concentrate on what it is they 
do.
 Businesses hire payroll firms to write their paychecks because 
they
find it easier and less costly than wastign their own time on it.  

Here is the harder one:  Services are a desired end item in their own
right, and are purchased in many cases not for efficiency but for
their value.

SOme time ago, I've tried, and failed, to concvince Bryn that
"services" really are a part of the production of a nation.  He sees
only "tangible goods" as wealth.  The kicker, though, is that we buy
tangible goods because of the services they perform.

Case in point- the dishwasher.  Supposing you had a "Dishwashing
budget" of $1000.00- would it matter to you (economically) if you
bought a dishwashing machine for that price or bought the same 
service
from "Bob and Doug's Home Dishwashing" in human labor, if they
produced the same output?  At the output side, Services are
economically indistinguishable from goods that perform services.

Now, supposing you did not have a dishwashing budget at all- 
nothing
to spend, but you  HAD to do your dishes.  You would do them 
anyway,
and it would eat into your leisure time.  It would most likely NOT
interfere with your work.  (Might enhance it- maybe you would be
realxed by dishwashing, and it would inspire some new bit of 
computer
code).    So, the sole reason you buy the dishwasher, or hire Bob 
and
Doug, is to enhance your life.  That is the sole reason you buy
anything.  I bought a house because prefer it to living in a tent, and
I want a place to keep my stuff.

So, there are two components of the colony market.  There are 
Needs,
like food, medicine, and the goods needed to perform economically,
such as the Factory's Input, and their are Wants- everythign else. 
Services, and Exotic commodity tends to be in the latter.  So, a
Service, although it may be an "efficiency multiplier" may also jsut
be somethign somebody wants.

In the Unit Descriptions for Pi 3 you will note that Workers, like
Quarks, come in flavors, in this case three.  There are three- the
Corporate Worker adds efficiency to other units belonging to the
Interest, the Service Worker just sells services to the market, and
the Business Service Worker enhances ANY unit, with its 
enhancements
being based on the available Infrastructure.  The better the
infrastructure, the more the BSW can do.  

I understand how you've broken down the Service commodity, but I 
don't
think the term "inferior" fits quite right.  Maybe "general" or
"basic" or some such.  You will also find that its hard to break up a
Service unit to such detail without ungodly complications.  If you
have a unit of restaurant owners, how many waitress units should 
there
be?   You'll kill yourself.  

I had three units that were basically service oriented:  The Deviant,
although not necessarily devoted to the task, sells services 
because
they do what they must to survive.  

The Artist is the high end of the scale, and represents any worker
whose skill and reputation make others seek him out for services
despite their high cost.  This can include taxis- for example, the
very high end limo companies- and restaurants.  Could cover
programmers, in that some programmers might shine above the 
rest.  

I hate to break it to you, but around my area, a plumber is paid 
more
than a programmer.  And electricians, carpenters, even some 
masons... 
Yeah, the programmers had it during the Dot-Communist Era, but 
with
the laying of thuosands of them in NY and NJ, great herds of them 
mill
about the coffee shops reading job listings, while the Wall Street
Journal's cover story describes how "toolhandy" people are in more
demand than ever.

Who knows where the pendulum would swing by 2300?

Ben


------- End of forwarded message -------
--
A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is 
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[Netcolony-design] Rocket Science -- Part I

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

In NetColony, interface craft will use a monopropellent: metastable 
crystalline nitrogen slurried in liquid nitrogen.  This stuff has been 
synthesized in small quantities and it is stable above the 
temperature of liquid nitrogen.  It's a superior fuel even compared to 
metallic hydrogen because it's more energy efficient -- energy 
consumption scales with the square of exhaust velocity but mass 
fraction decreases exponentially.  For Earth, the optimum exhaust 
velocity is around 5500 m/s for power per unit of mass lofted.  In 
economic terms, we expect a higher value to be the optimum point 
due to infrastructure and overhead concerns.  

Exhaust velocity is probably around 7500 m/s, and the propellent 
density somewhere around 1500 kg/m^3.  The fuel density is high, 
so gravity losses (due to high thrust to weight ratio) and drag 
losses (due to tank volume) are minimized.

For comparision, a liquid hydrogen/ liquid oxygen (LH2/LOX) 
propelled vehicle with an exhaust velocity of around 4300 m/s and a 
bulk density of 400 kg/m^3 requires a deltaV of 9300 m/s to get 
into LEO.  

In comparision, because of the higher density, Kerosene/LOX 
requires about 8900 m/s with an exhaust velocity of 3400 m/s and 
bulk density of 1050 kg/m^3.  So for an Earth-like planet, we guess 
a crystalline nitrogen powered craft would need a deltaV of about 
8700 m/s.  The theoretical (or ideal) deltaV is about 7600 m/s.  
That implies our gravity and drag losses are on the order of 1100 
m/s for a nitrogen powered vehicle in 1 g.

That's not to say that the mass ratios are the same -- they aren't.  
For a single-stage to-orbit vehicle,

Mf = 1 - exp( - v_o / v_e )

where 

Mf = fuel proportion
v_o = deltaV to orbit
v_e = propellant exhaust velocity

For LH2/LOX, Mf is 0.885.  This means, of the gross lift-off mass 
(GLOM), 88.5 % is propellant and 11.5 % is vehicle.  That might 
mean that 1 % of GLOM is payload, on a good day.  For crystalline 
nitrogen, Mf turns out to be 0.687.  So, if we include ullage, orbital 
manuever and reaction control, and powered landing, somewhere 
around 70 % of the vehicle's mass will be propellant.  A dense 
monopropellant vehicle would be easy to build, so 10 % structural 
mass seems robust.  That leaves 20 % payload fraction -- a 20x 
improvement over LH2/LOX.

For our purposes, we want to know the relation between fuel and 
payload.  In this case, it's easy and computes to 3.5:1.

On a per ton of Cargo basis, we need 3.5 tons of Special Fuel.  3.5 
tons of Special Fuel has about 100 Gigajoules of energy.  To 
translate that to NetColony MW units, we note that 

1 MW => 1.6E13 J => 160 tons cargo.

There you go.  Now we have a good number for the amount of 
energy needed to put something into orbit, so the Special Fuel 
pathway has some numbers.  If medium-sized shuttle -- like a 
Comet -- can launch 40 tons into orbit, 150 times a turn, then it 
has a per turn capacity of 6000 tons.  This ideally requires 37.5 
MW, or for a 75 % efficient industrial process, 50 MW.

The next step is to adapt to extra-Terran planets.

We can compute ideal deltaV for any orbit and any gravity:

E/m = g R^2 [ 1 / R - 1 / (R+a) ] + 0.5 mu\ / a

where

E/m = energy per unit mass, J/kg
g = surface gravity, m/s^2
R = planetary radius (asume spherical), m
a = orbital altitude above surface, m
mu\ = gravitational mass factor, m^3/s^2 (sometimes written GM, 
where G is gravitational constant and M is planetary mass)

as E/m = 2 v^2, we can then solve for a deltaV.  This allows us to 
project the necessary deltaV for planets with Earth's atmosphere 
but different gravities.

For drag losses, we need to account for the scale height of the 
atmosphere.  We would also like  to consider what happens when 
you launch from high altitude (i.e. mountain or tower launch) or at 
some initial velocity (i.e. catapult).  I'll talk about that later.

The other thing I have to talk about later is orbital transfer vehicles.  
Since we're only talking about injecting cargo into 200 km orbits, 
we need OTVs to ferry the cargo to higher altitudes where the 
starships can go.  Also, things can go down more cheaply than up 
so I was planning on adding Mayfly gliders.
--
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[Netcolony-design] Leaders

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

Here's an idea for the Pi3Orionis game system: Leaders.

Leaders would be relatively rare, and attached to individual Units or, 
more rarely, entire interests.  They would effect the production of 
units, or even provide special powers (or limitations).  I'm looking at 
games like Master of Orion 2, Rebellion, or the Koei series for 
ideas.

Locating and recruiting leaders could then become part of the 
game mechanics.

Most especially important is the idea that leaders improve with 
experience like characters do in most RPGs: by the referee 
rewarding good role-playing.  While the Influence mechanism can 
keep players within their Agenda, improving Leaders would be a 
way of rewarding role-playing.

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[Netcolony-design] Pre-pre-pre-alpha Client/Server Release

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

Okay, I know Evan is moving, but Tyge, say something!

I wrote a really early version of the client/server and posted it to the 
files section.  Try it out and tell me if it works on your computer.  
You'll need to download JRE.  I'll post instructions in the Help 
forum.

Next step is to evolve the client/server by adding security, 
robustness, and features. I also have to figure out my internal 
model for the parser.

Then I'll start a GUI to allow proposition introduction, voting, vote 
resolution, etc.
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[Netcolony-design] Parser Rules

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

Some design rules for the parser:

* Fields seperated by the comma ',' or carriage return (ASCII #16)
* Sections terminated by the semi-colon ';'
* '#' character used for comments.  Anything following a # on a line 
is ignored.  No multi-line commenting for now
* Whitespace is trimed on either side of a seperator.
* Case senstive
* A-Z, a-z, 0-9, _ and . are valid characters to be interpreted.

Commands (to the parser) will typically be in CAPS, while data 
fields are mixed case.

So, unless anyone has some comments, I'll get started.


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[Netcolony-design] Design Files Released

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

Ver 0.1 of the NetColony design has been released.  It's in the files 
section on SourceForge.

There's a lot of work to be done but I get tired of typing and I need 
some input.
--
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Re: [Netcolony-design] Program Model

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

Developers Anonymous:

On 6 Jun 2001, at 23:25, Even S=F8rgjerd wrote:
> (I'm no programing authority by any standards, so I might be a bit off
> here.) Wouldn't the whole game mechanics and program itself be
> independent on how you input the information to it? Wheter you submit
> your orders through a web page or as a text file should not have any
> effect on what the program does to those orders.
> 
> What I am getting at here is basically that I feel the start might be
> a bit in the wrong end. Wouldn't it be better to make at least a
> framework before we start designing how its implementation should
> look? If the core of the game is good enough it should not matter
> where it got it's input from, TCP/IP, web or file based.
> 
> Personally I only have experience with file based input, and that
> would be the preference for me. As the actual work most likely will be
> done by others, I'll leave that decision to you.

Yes I see your point.  Input/output is likely to be primarily text 
based so that it's highly portable.  Some binary files will be 
necessary for data intensive items, like maps.  Most of the security 
onus has to be on the server side anyway, especially in an 
opensource environment where players can modify their client 
software.

That tends to imply that the first thing I should implement is a 
parser.  Java has string tokenizers and such so that's not 
particularly difficult.

A lot of the game configuration should naturally be loaded from text 
files so it is easy to edit.  I look at commercial games like Alpha 
Centauri and Emperor of the Rising Suns in this regard.  For 
example, the entire unit database can be in a text format.

The trick with developing a protocol for text orders is not to screw 
up from the start.  Otherwise you end up with legacy problems 
when you have to change something.  

E.g.

UNITNAME, ACTION, {DATA1, DATA2, ...}, SPECIAL

You get the idea.
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Re: [Netcolony-design] Great Game Vision

[<so...@tc...>]

Hi

A problem would be the great difference in the scale of the Earth and =
the colonies. This game system will most likely be based on a single =
initial colony, much like in Pi3. This will initially be totally dwarfed =
by the Earth sphere. Trying to model the Earth on the same basis as the =
colonies would most likely not work. THe small initial would also have a =
very minor importance even when compared to most of the nations that are =
not represented in the game.

But it is a very interesting idea. As GGII most likely never will leave =
the planning stage, a upscaled version of NetColony might work for that =
purpose.

Cheers
Even

> My final vision for NetColony is to run the Great Game in=20
> NetColony format.
>=20
> The game would start in Sol with the discovery of FTL travel.  There=20
> would be five major alliances of nations.  Each alliance would have=20
> three interests, and then there would be Academia et al (more as=20
> lobby groups than bean counters).  Everyone then has free reign to=20
> expand at will, as best they are able, to whatever planets they can=20
> discover. =20
>=20
> Anything goes.
>=20
> A neat idea, don't you think?
> --
> A bus station is where a bus stops.  A train station is=20
> where a train stops.  On my desk I have a work station...
>=20
> _______________________________________________
> Netcolony-design mailing list
> Net...@li...
> http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/netcolony-design
>=20

Re: [Netcolony-design] Program Model

[<so...@tc...>]

Hei

> So, the first decision to make is to determine the basic format for=20
> data communication among the players.  I've thought of three=20
> potential formats:

(I'm no programing authority by any standards, so I might be a bit off =
here.)
Wouldn't the whole game mechanics and program itself be independent on =
how you input the information to it? Wheter you submit your orders =
through a web page or as a text file should not have any effect on what =
the program does to those orders.

What I am getting at here is basically that I feel the start might be a =
bit in the wrong end. Wouldn't it be better to make at least a framework =
before we start designing how its implementation should look? If the =
core of the game is good enough it should not matter where it got it's =
input from, TCP/IP, web or file based.

Personally I only have experience with file based input, and that would =
be the preference for me. As the actual work most likely will be done by =
others, I'll leave that decision to you.

Cheers
Even

[Netcolony-design] Great Game Vision

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

My final vision for NetColony is to run the Great Game in 
NetColony format.

The game would start in Sol with the discovery of FTL travel.  There 
would be five major alliances of nations.  Each alliance would have 
three interests, and then there would be Academia et al (more as 
lobby groups than bean counters).  Everyone then has free reign to 
expand at will, as best they are able, to whatever planets they can 
discover.  

Anything goes.

A neat idea, don't you think?
--
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[Netcolony-design] Re: Pi3Orionis goes digital

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

On 6 Jun 2001, at 20:08, Even S=F8rgjerd wrote:
> It is clear that the game as it is now is not very suitable for making
> a general computer run game. The question then is in what direction
> the game should be changed. I and my my brother has made quite a few
> thoughts on the issue of what is good and bad about the current game,
> but I would like to know what ideas you had for it. The most important
> is of course what part of the game should be emphasized. Economy,
> politcs, war etc.

Social

Politic

Economic

These are the three operational drivers in the game.  I want to 
expand on the other aspects of the Pi3Orionis game like war, but 
it's not a priority.  There's already too many 4X (eXplore, eXpand, 
eXploit, eXterminate) games out there.

Obviously the game overall will have to be better defined.  The 
Proposition system, in particular, is too valuable a concept to throw 
out but will also be tricky to implement.  On the other hand, 
Pathways are likely to disappear for awhile in favour of a more 
abstract economy.

I would like to write game features in concrete steps.  The first step 
is to write the client/server framework, and then we can move onto 
GUI stuff from there.  The first GUI might be, for example, a feature 
to automate making propositions and voting on them.  The final 
program might look like a bunch of utilities all stuck together on a 
common interface.  Note that some of these features may find their 
way into Pi3Orionis as Ben is enthused about the project.

> Another thing is to what extent you had planned this to be based on
> 2300AD. If it is meant to be a more genrel concept, some form of
> technology parameters would be useful.

At least officially, 2300AD is to be removed from the game.  This is 
not to say that there might not be remarkable simularities between 
a NetColony universe and the 2300AD world.  E.g. Tantalum -> 
Unobtainium.

In terms of technology, I was going to make it fairly stagnant 
initially.  Later in the game, technology would probably be based 
on a technology level methodology.

I would like the game engine to be very versatile and capable of 
handling different game universes.  At the same time, for the 
purposes of testing and reducing the blandness of a generic game, 
I want to develop a specific universe based on the colonization of 
the Chi Orionis system.
--
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[Netcolony-design] Past Games of Note

[Robb M. <rm...@uv...>]

I'd like to compose a list of past games that are in at least a similar 
genre and might give developers ideas beyond Pi3Orionis.

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Imperialism & Imperialism II
Emperor of the Fading Suns
Alien Legacy
Outpost (ugh)
Master of Orion I & II
Anacreon: Reconstruction
Space Empires III & IV
Stars!
VGAPlanets
Star Wars Rebellion (particularly the special unit operations)

These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Most 
of these are the conquer and destroy type games but they might 
have the occassional brain-wave in them.
--
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