Advanced Save Game Six Empires Huge Map and Minor Races

[UesugiKenshin]

It sucks all around to do a ground invasions against minor race civilians who are just protecting their homesector. Surrendering or entering into treaties is so much better. Ever wonder why so many soldiers had PTSD and commit suicide? It's crazy stuff like that where civilians get hurt.

You expect some percentage of Heyoun to defend their colonies, but they have zero chance of success.

Watch Generation Kill to get some idea how insane urban warfare is.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v3GkHcZHQrY

[UesugiKenshin]

The minor races are effectively the 7th AI empire and so there is no way to have minor race troops unless you made a generic group of levels. So the AI doesn't seem to defend them with actual troops, thus every minor race invasion is against civilians. It is barbaric and only a few have specialized defensive buildings other than bunkers, and the AI is often broke and so has trouble with basic infrastructure.

I want to change these things so they actually have powered up bunkers and some building representing some kind of army. Otherwise it's stomping on minor race civilians everytime and the antithesis of Star Trek.

[UesugiKenshin]

One way is to find a way to have strong minor race defenses in orbit and on the ground. The other way is to divvy out all minor races among the major races, and then put troops on every sector with sabotage happening very late. I like both ideas or a combination. I really would like to see specialized minor race troops. Some have a very serious military tradition.

[UesugiKenshin]

The irony is extremely strong minor races start with fleets and give them to weak major races at the start in the first 100-200 turns so then are totally vulnerable. That is the absurdity of war.

With a modder, that person could set up all major races and not invade or enter into treaties with minor races. Then after turn #300 see what happens when the players actually play. The minor races then have gotten stronger too an maybe they don't have treaties.

With an editor, I would just make all the minor and major races strong with troops and ships. That seems so much better. Then you actually fight or the minor races have a chance to be independent.

[UesugiKenshin]

I really like the idea of mediors where they have 3 or 4 sectors and are a force to be reckoned with until the players get stronger. In Medieval 2 Kingdoms, you can play as the "Barbarians" so someone might enjoy playing as all the minor races. That sounds fun.

Minor race commander "Let's start with the Terrans and eliminate them as they are so smug and think they are noble and doing us a favor. I hate that crap."

[UesugiKenshin]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fcKaW8uo8JQ
This is a fine scientifically based video on elements of space combat, but done in a concise manner, and explaining lots of things like the harmful effects of velocity and acceleration, the inability to brake in space, mass drivers, railguns, point defenses, etc.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=waG8YYTwpAQ
The full clip from the Expanse showing the issues of rapid acceleration or deceleration is the same: the crew ends up turning to bloody jelly. It isn't the velocity but starting and stopping and the limitations of the human body. It might be that somehow astronauts are protected in a fluid medium and the ship is piloted by computers.

The opthalmic artery is so small and lack of pumped oxygen means first you go blind then pass out from hypoxia besides blacking out and redding out as fighter pilots already experience and why special suits are needed to control their blood pressure.

[UesugiKenshin]

Turn #511
The second wave of transports are done and filled with veteran troops. 4 straggler ships will be done next turn. There is no rush as the Heyoun have zero ships and seem to lack a total capacity to make any.

It's risky to send in your soldiers without escorts, but in such a massive invasion, some are going to die. At most one minor or the Heyoun might muster a single ship. If so, then 6 x level 6 troops would die, so 36 million soldiers by my reckoning. Technically when just outside those sectors to be invaded, I should be cautious and delay any actual invasion until solitary enemy ships are dealt with.

The Omega have 588 inhabited sectors and 49 minor race memberships. More come in each turn with that or lesser treaties. Besides gifts, in the regions under Heyoun patronage, I am offering bribes as some are not altering their acceptance rate no matter how much I offer as gifts. The Omega in testing are unlikely to get a bribe to work such that it leads to membership. Typically if they accept it, which is rare, then they end up rejoining. It is just money as I have so much that it's worth trying a single time. I am not hopeful.

With those minor races, to give them a shot, I can attack the Heyoun and finish all those invasions, then when the Heyoun disintegrate as an empire, then the minor race members will abandon them. At that time, maybe diplomatic negotiations can begin.

The alternative is bloody. The Omega can take every single inhabited sector now with ease. I'm just trying to save civilian lives. There are 122 minor races, so I have 49 members plus some lesser treaties, so diplomatically I have to close some deals with 73 minor races. Every deal saves at least 6 billion lives. 5000 credits is nothing compared to that.

One might end up offering as much as 50,000 if they totally loathe you.

[UesugiKenshin]

The Heyoun hate me, but have zero working military capacity , so likely cannot declare war. This means since I have an alliance, I can send em masse transports against every inhabited sector other than my own, wait in orbit, and when every single soldier is ready, do a total strike in a single turn. It is a bold play. You declare war, end the turn, the enemy gets to move, then pounce and attack every single Heyoun inhabited sector.

Obviously real war is not like that but there is no surrender feature nor vassalage nor client kingdom available in BotE. All three would be useful in a patch.

It's ugly but I might bombard the Epirel to smithereens as if I absorb them, I lose a LOT of intel points, not that it matters as every major and minor race will have fallen with just a few sectors to terraform and colonize.

Why eradicate when there is a possibility of capitulation?

[UesugiKenshin]

The ethical quandary is at what point do you think you won, and really at turn #400, victory was assured. If BotE had stories and missions, then there really is no need to conquer. You would either quit or keep playing in a sandbox mode.

Ideally with such overwhelming power, the AI is equally strong and gangs up on the human player plus have a finale with the interdimensionals launching an invasion. Then BotE would be thrilling and one could make no blunders or you would lose.

Wars don't suddenly end, but there is occupation, and a return to normalcy, and whoever was conquered gets political power back to determine their future. So you might have a galactic confederacy. All those species would be under the Omega but have very different government systems.

Likely rebellions break out again. It would be interesting if then all races had a capacity to develop or use spaceflight and see if they attack each other.

BotE is so complex that there is no reason for it to end with mere conquering. Intrigue could go on for hundreds of turns as well as acceptance of a new galactic order.

[UesugiKenshin]

In Dune, the emperor is in a precarious situation as the Haroken are monsters who control the spice which is crazy as that is a bottleneck to all space travel. Then the Atreides are good people, but if Paul gets in control, what happens then?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(novel)
It is not good to be the emperor as someone is always tying to pull you down. Being emperor is not an enviable position.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VSV9S2Ol3bc
The Emperor is afraid of many powers and houses and of the Guild Navigator.

[UesugiKenshin]

Say you conquer every single major and minor race. As morale is artificially locked at 200, what ends up happening in my advanced turn#700 game is morale starts lowering as I was not conquering. There is an expectation to conquer and if you don't as the Omega, minor races may get out of control.

I think at advanced tech levels, one would be doing all kinds of wonder buildings to placate the people and so the morale should be capped at 300. You still manage the people, but they realize that utopias do not exist, and are never satisfied...even when things are 100 times better. The people are fickle and start thinking, "Once we ruled ourselves. Why not now?"

Likely there would be a galactic congress so there is political representation and sharing of tax revenue. You would have galactic projects.

Strangely enough, as lunatics are in control of Star Wars now, a case can be made that the Rebel Alliance and the Jedi are actually evil.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Zj-hMEL-k

[UesugiKenshin]

Look at the origin of the Federation. Does it stand up to scrutiny?

The Terrans have two starships. That is all they have ready while the Tellarites, Vulcans, and Andorians all have vastly better ships and fleets. Does it make sense that those three powerful species would enfold their starships and fleets into Federation authority? Not really. What ends up happening is the Terrans are primarily in control, yet they have the least experience as they largely blundered over and over again.

The humans pay a lot of lip service to shared power, but when it came right down to the practical aspects, it did not happen that way. Not only that, but the Prime Directive is so problematic that it was constantly broken as captains realized it was wrong.

[UesugiKenshin]

AIs are written to compete and always end up malevolent, thus helping the AI major and minor races is actually going to bite you in the ass as you are being naive. I have yet to see a benevolent AI and I have been around computer games since they were invented.

What a long strange trip it's been.
Grateful Dead (1977)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pafY6sZt0FE

[UesugiKenshin]

Space gaming or really all strategy games are no win situations that are unethical.

If you help a weaker species, they will end up hostile and a competitor.

If you don't help, it is irresponsible and cruel.

An argument here in this link, and there are many like this, illustrates why the Prime Directive is evil. It was written from the perspective of white man's guilt for colonialism, thus it becomes an unsolvable conundrum. http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/200 ... id_13.html

[UesugiKenshin]

A superior AI would score actions and not necessarily compete with the human players as the goal now is not simplistic conquering to win. Benevolent actions accumulating could be winning. Not invading but being an isolationist could be winning.
Demographic scoring of your civilization might e winning as you removed societal ills like disease and hunger and improving literacy and property ownership.

Gaming in the postmodern era is about satisfaction, not winning. It is about having a quasi-social experience as you can't find a human opponent.