Welcome to The Kushana Initiative, a play-by-council game. As I play, I'll be posting regular reports and leaving the direction of the game up to those who have chosen to join the council. The planning topic for all discussion leading up to this game and continuing out-of-character discussion can be found here: Play by committee? (Kushana Initiative Planning and Discussion)
Of particular interest is the post detailing the back story for the whole game: Back Story
A summary of gameplay:
- Regular council sessions to take place every game quarter. I'll be posting each quarterly report and any pertinent information, including the UP vote every year, at which time the council will decide the course of action. Essentially, I'll be playing in 12 turn blocks and coming back for direction.
- Between sessions councilors are free to request additional info and entertain any discussion. This includes calling votes and modifying directions.
- The council is comprised of those who took part in the planning discussion. Others may request to join the council, but please read the background material and post a request before joining in. Requests to join should be posted in the planning and discussion thread linked above.
- This topic is for quarterly reports and in-character discussion only. Off topic and out-of-character discussion should be posted in the planning and discussion thread.
The Current Council:
- qrtxian
- NikolaiOmega
- noctilucus
- Talonschild
Inactive Councilors
- LordCarlos
- TMS2224
- -__- (May be addressed as SarcFa)
- Mambaman
Rules of Voting:
1) The ballot should list the issues and have a place for councilors to sign either FOR or AGAINST a measure. (the council or balloteer can decide the exact terms)
2) Councilors should copy the ballot from the last person who voted and add their signatures. No need to rewrite the ballot and no chance for it to be changed in transcription.
3) Make your arguments in a separate space. Don't break up the ballot with comments after each item.
4) Once a vote is cast, it is cast. No changing votes or editing the ballot. Listen to arguments before voting and consider your decisions wisely.
5) To get an issue on the ballot, it should be proposed and seconded. The exact wording/nature of the issue should then be established.
6) Amendments/Addenda - I see these as separate sub-issues. Maybe list them under the main issue and vote separately?
Galaxy Conditions:
Our Competition:
A good mix of opponents. I purposely left out the Terrans and Altarians. Not only am I kinda sick of them, but they would mess up the story. I see the Tolmekians as more neutral, so theres 3 good, 3 evil, and 2 other neutrals. Also note the difficulty - the AI has a 20% economics bonus. Not only that, but I customized each opponent and made sensible ability and politics choices rather than let the computer randomize it. I expect some stiff competition.
Custom Race - The Kushana Initiative:
You'll see that I swapped the PQ bonus for 20% morale. Given the conditions, I want our people happy and making us money! I also did my best to spice up the ships, but that's pretty much it.
That should be it for the start. Now to get into it!
Commander, Dr. Malar, fellow councilors,
It would seem that most of the truly interesting planets are impaired by physical characteristics such as a barren surface, extreme gravity conditions or other phenomena that will require our colonists to adapt significantly before setting foot on any of these planets. Seeing that our surveys are close to hitting our current boundaries in several directions, it might be useful to colonize a few of the better quality planets in the corridor systems, thus expanding our reach due north?
Specifically for Dr. Malar, it first of all greatly pleases me to see your teams have finished researching Planetary Improvements in such relatively short time. I fully support your decision to improve our ships' speed as speed is the key to colonize planets before any other race reaches them.As to further research efforts, I can only agree once again to choose Xeno Economics as our next technology to look into, as this will further reduce the deficit we are currently running, especially considering that this deficit will grow significantly as soon as we decide to colonize any planets. After that, Xeno Research would have my preference over sensors unless our surveying colony ships have voiced concerns over their limited sensor range.
Again repeating that speed is of the utmost importance, I agree to the building of a Navigation Center though we have to keep in mind that our available building space is getting increasingly limited. After adding our Economic Capital (glad to see my suggestion will be followed) I would strongly suggest to reserve the last remaining building site for an entertainment network - or after future developments a Political Capital or likewise structure that would greatly enhance our population's approval.
Speaking of approval, if I recall correctly, studies have shown that 76% approval is the threshold we'd like to be at, rather than 75%. The minor decrease in taxes to achieve 1 additional approval point in the polls would be quickly offset by an increase in population growth, for reasons previously explained.
Viceroy Gunray, I thank you in advance for keeping a close eye on our spending and more specifically forecasting how many weeks we can continue at the current rate before going in the red. While I do agree that trade ships will be important to improve our relations with neighbouring civilizations, you are right in saying that at this point in time it's not our priority yet.In summary I am very pleased with the latest developments though the starmap seems to indicate that most if not all of the other civilizations have started expanding their foothold and colonized other planets. We should not fall behind hoping for planets of excellent quality while foregoing those of decent enough quality that can serve our purpose just fine.
Sincerely,
Councilor Noctilucus
Commander, all other councilors, Dr. Malar, and Mr. Gunray, I am pleased with your work and support the Doctor's decision to deviate from the research plan.
Now, on to proposals.
I still support TMS2224's Research Deviation Proposal
I would like to propose an ammendum to said proposal, before begining my proposal we research Universal Translator-Ammendment to TMS2224's R.D.P.
My next two comments are on colonization---
I propose an Ammendment to Comander Mekoides Colonization Plan, we would go with his plan, but first we would colonize Leto(PQ8) and turn it into an industrial facility(for the production of ships) with a starport. Then, we would colonize Vizzard(PQ7) and turn it into a research planet without a starport. After that we continue with the plan proposed, but leave the planets undeveloped until our economy can support major construction.
Do we need someone to second our proposals? I'm still kind of fuzzy on this.
[Just in case] I second TMS's proposals. I also [just in case] second Noctilucus's proposals. I want both to be on the ballot so that we have more voting option diversity.
Since most of the highest quality planets have qualities that make it so we cannot colonize them, I believe we should lower the planet quality we are looking for to 8 and above, so we can get at least one colony before scouts and other colony from other races arrive. I say this because I couldn't help but notice some other races influence has grown, which signifies that they have snatched a few colonies, which may increase their range to a point where they could reach us and snatch a few of our possible colony planets.
For Dr. Malar, Although I am pleased with the results of your research I would request you to not deviate from the planned research path again unless ultimately required, or upon finishing the planned research path. As for our next technologies I suggest Xeno Economics to help our economy and then Xeno Research to help with our research, and if possible some form of entertainment tech since Gunray is trying to keep the approval a certain level. I also suggest researching Universal Translator as soon as possible. As for weapons technologies I currently feel absolutely no need for them since we have not met any other races, and also since we want to have favorable relations with or closest neighbors.
For economics, I suggest that we finish our current colony ship in production, and then send the Military Rate to 0% to help with buildings and research. I suggest this for we will have enough colony ships to satisfy our current colonizing goals, also by lowering the Military Rate we speed up our research and building projects.
For planetside developement, I suggest we build the Economic Capital immediatly to help with our economy, and with my above mentioned suggestion, the construction of the Economic Capital will be considerably sped up. After the Economic Capital is built, build whatever is considered necessary.
Onward and upward,
Councilor SarcFa.
P.S.: I like the new report format, much easier to read.
Thanks for your attention and your time.
Councilor Carlos Lord.
EDIT:Changed this(we do not need to create an industrial world to improve our ship production since it seems that the current rate of production should be enough to finish colonizing our closes) Made no freaking sense.
I have little to add to this matter. I am in agreement with Councilor LordCarlos on each matter. I will, however, remind the council that the development of a planet must be delayed until a sufficient population is reached, in case some councilors are unaware of this.
I don't want to sound like Captain Obvious or a condescending jerk, but I just want to make sure everyone knows that.
Building on Councilor NikolaiOmega's point, I would nuance his statement a little: from an economical point of view the development of a planet should only be undertaken once a sufficient population is reached. However in case of urgent need for additional production or research capacity, nothing keeps us from developing a planet as long as our economy can bear this additional cost.
Thanks for bringing this up NikolaiOmega! I'm sure that comments like this will either teach us something new or at least remind us of things we've forgotten. Not to side-track too much but some people modify their colony ships to hold twice the population, to be able to develop planets sooner especially if the colonists come from planets that reached their population cap.
This is what I do, i think that we should do this for this game because:
A)This would make people happier by lowering the owercrowding of planets(+++ aproval)
B)As he said, this would make planets develop faster
***INCOMING TRANSMISSION - SECURITY LEVEL ALPHA***
***FROM: COMMANDER MEKOIDES, EXTERRA COMMAND***
***TO: INITIATIVE COUNCILORS AND ROYALTY, TOLMEKIA PRIME***
***JULY 01, 2227 - SUPPLEMENTAL***
Cmdr Mekoides
It seems we have an additional perspective, councilors. Allow me to introduce Kylerean Andimus, Minister of Colonization and Development.
Kylerean Andimus
I would like to support Councilors NikolaiOmega and Noctilucus in their assertion that our limiting factor is colonial population. Though I share Viceroy Gunray's concern for our economic capabilities, I disagree with his focus. I have three proposals to bolster our population growth and further our expansion.
1) After consulting with Dr. Malar, I think our research should focus on boosting our population growth. I propose that we finish research on War Rooms, then proceed in order to Xeno Research->Xeno Biology->Xeno Medicine. A diagram of proposed research will follow.
2) I've had our shipbuilders design a colony ship that can transport 500M colonists - twice our current capacity. They had to remove two of the three life support units, but assure me that the new ship will be able to reach currently known planets. Each ship would take an extra two weeks to build, but the overall benefits justify the extra time.
3) While I support the building of a Navigation Center on Exterra, I propose that the increased social spending be drawn entirely from our research spending rather than military. Research would be slowed a bit, but our shipbuilding is critical to our colonization efforts. We're barely capable of producing two colony ships per quarter, if that, and reduced spending here would be unacceptable in my estimation. I propose 50% Military, 20% Social, 30% Research.
The proposed research plan. Research time is given at our current rate. My proposed spending plan would add a few weeks to the total.
By focusing on population growth and ship production, we can best position ourselves for the future.
Thank you Councilors.
***END TRANSMISSION***
Well, learn a new thing everyday. I think I remember reading about modified colony ships, but I've never done it myself. It seems to make sense for our situation, though. Since all discussion was out of character, I thought it would work to have the Minister propose it. I already planned for him to propose his research plan and complain about the spending.
Also, I'll be removing A Scherer from the list of councilors. Nothing personal, just that he hasn't joined the game. Should he be willing and able to rejoin, I wouldn't be against it.
Minister Andimus, your research plan is an excellent idea. It would only take few weeks, and the benefits would be useful. It would also allow Stellar Cartography to be researched, which would help our exploration. We should carry this out. Would any other councilors care to add to this matter?
If the commander agrees that we need more ships to keep colonizing further i will not vote against the proposal. I agree with the research plan also, although i still belive Xeno Economics should come first, and than follow that up with Sensors I, Xeno Industrial theory and Universal translators.
Nothing more to say on this Front.
*Sigh* Okay I agree with Kylerean Andimus' proposal, but only as long as Xeno economics is researched.
Just a note to soothe your worries - I'm aware of the 76% threshold and made sure approval was at 76% every turn. The screenshot with 75% is misleading because I took screenshots at the end of quarter 2 without adjusting anything, so the approval was still down due to population growth from the last turn.
Where is councilor qrtxian with the ballot?
Was the councilor given vacation time? if so we should appoint a new ballotier(temoparily)
My apologies, councilors. I've recently fallen ill, but I'll put up the ballot shortly.
I was holding out until today to comment. Was thinking maybe people were burning out already. There's quite a bit of material to synthesize into a ballot this time around.
Looking forward to a vote and another quarter to play. I'm getting anxious . . .
And get better, qrtxian!
Cmdr Mekoides: To address Councilor LordCarlos's comments, I would say that I support shipbuilding at this time. Our research program seems to be far enough ahead that it could handle a temporary slowdown. Dr. Malar may disagree, but I think practical concerns outweigh the desire for discovery. We should keep in mind that any newly established colonies will contribute to our research efforts, mitigating the reduction in funds.
The ballot has been assembled, councilors. Due to the large number of proposals created during this session, I have split it into two sections. Each proposal includes a brief summary in italics. The research section will be added later today.
If you vote on this first section before I add the research ballot, please go back and edit it into your previous post rather then creating a new one. It should be much simpler that way to add up the votes
Production
Gunray Plan (Production to be divided at 30% military, 20% social, and 50% research)
FOR: qrtxian
AGAINST:
SarcFa Plan (Complete construction of current colony ship, then set military production to 0%)
FOR:
AGAINST: qrtxian
Andimus Plan (Production to be divided at 50% military, 20% social, and 30% research)
Colonization
Mekoides Plan (Current colony ships continue their exploration while follow-up colony ships claim the highest PQ planets discovered)
TMS2224 Amendment (Vizzard and Leto to be colonized and developed as research and industrial worlds, respectively)
Noctilicus Plan (Colonization of corridor worlds)
SarcFa Plan (Lower desired PQ to 8 - this is not mutually exclusive with other proposals)
Development of ExTerra
Noctilicus Plan (Construction of a Navigation Center then Economic Capital on ExTerra while reserving the last space for an entertainment structure)
SarcFa Plan (Build the Economic Capital on ExTerra before anything else)
Andimus Plan (Construction of a Navigation Center alone)
Colony Ship Upgrade Proposal (Development of a colony ship capable of carrying 500 million people)
Edit:
I've finished the other section of the ballot, on research. Please add your votes on these plans to your previous ballots, councilors, as mentioned above. Thanks for all your good wishes. I'm feeling fine now.
Research
Malar Plan (Xeno Economics -> Xeno Research -> Sensors I)
Andimus Plan (Xeno Research -> Xeno Biology -> Xeno Medicine)
Lord Carlos Amendment (Research Xeno Economics before Xeno Research)
TMS2224 Research Deviation Proposal (Research weapons up to Stinger I, then use Dr. Malar's Plan)
TMS2224 Amendment (Research Universal Translator before researching weapons)
I hope you're feeling fine in the meantime qrtxian!
Fellow Councilors, I have added my vote to the ballots. Two comments to explain my votes:
For me the colonization of corridor worlds could be done as part of Commander Mekoides' colonization plan, in other words as part of the exploration. Regarding the development of ExTerra I am equally fine with building the Economic capital first, unless construction of the Navigation center has already been started and is close to completion.
ProductionGunray Plan (Production to be divided at 30% military, 20% social, and 50% research)FOR: qrtxianAGAINST: NoctilucusSarcFa Plan (Complete construction of current colony ship, then set military production to 0%)FOR:AGAINST: qrtxian, NoctilucusAndimus Plan (Production to be divided at 50% military, 20% social, and 30% research)FOR: NoctilucusAGAINST: qrtxianColonizationMekoides Plan (Current colony ships continue their exploration while follow-up colony ships claim the highest PQ planets discovered)FOR: NoctilucusAGAINST: qrtxianTMS2224 Amendment (Vizzard and Leto to be colonized and developed as research and industrial worlds, respectively)FOR:AGAINST: qrtxian, NoctilucusNoctilucus Plan (Colonization of corridor worlds)FOR: qrtxian, NoctilucusAGAINST:SarcFa Plan (Lower desired PQ to 8 - this is not mutually exclusive with other proposals)FOR: qrtxian, NoctilucusAGAINST:Development of ExTerraNoctilucus Plan (Construction of a Navigation Center then Economic Capital on ExTerra while reserving the last space for an entertainment structure) FOR: NoctilucusAGAINST: qrtxianSarcFa Plan (Build the Economic Capital on ExTerra before anything else)FOR: qrtxianAGAINST: NoctilucusAndimus Plan (Construction of a Navigation Center alone)FOR:AGAINST: qrtxian, NoctilucusColony Ship Upgrade Proposal (Development of a colony ship capable of carrying 500 million people)FOR: qrtxian, NoctilucusAGAINST:
Here are my votes. Things I am neither for or against I have not voted on.
Edit: My research votes with LordCarlos' format. Thanks for the new format LordCarlos.
____________________________________________________________________________
-Gunray Plan (Production to be divided at 30% military, 20% social, and 50% research)
FOR: qrtxian, SarcFa, TMS2224
AGAINST: Noctilucus, NikolaiOmega, LordCarlos
___________________________________________________________________________
-SarcFa Plan (Complete construction of current colony ship, then set military production to 0%)
AGAINST: qrtxian, Noctilucus, LordCarlos
-Andimus Plan (Production to be divided at 50% military, 20% social, and 30% research)
FOR: Noctilucus, NikolaiOmega, LordCarlos
AGAINST: qrtxian, SarcFa, TMS2224
-Mekoides Plan (Current colony ships continue their exploration while follow-up colony ships claim the highest PQ planets discovered)
FOR: Noctilucus, TMS2224, NikolaiOmega, LordCarlos
AGAINST: qrtxian, SarcFa
-TMS2224 Amendment (Vizzard and Leto to be colonized and developed as research and industrial worlds, respectively)
FOR:TMS2224
AGAINST: qrtxian, Noctilucus, NikolaiOmega, LordCarlos
-Noctilucus Plan (Colonization of corridor worlds)
FOR: qrtxian, Noctilucus, TMS2224, NikolaiOmega, LordCarlos
-SarcFa Plan (Lower desired PQ to 8 - this is not mutually exclusive with other proposals)
FOR: qrtxian, Noctilucus, SarcFa, TMS2224, NikolaiOmega, LordCarlos
-Noctilucus Plan (Construction of a Navigation Center then Economic Capital on ExTerra while reserving the last space for an entertainment structure)
-SarcFa Plan (Build the Economic Capital on ExTerra before anything else)
FOR: qrtxian, SarcFa
AGAINST: Noctilucus, TMS2224, NikolaiOmega, LordCarlos
-Andimus Plan (Construction of a Navigation Center alone)
AGAINST: qrtxian, Noctilucus, SarcFa, TMS2224, NikolaiOmega, LordCarlos
-Colony Ship Upgrade Proposal (Development of a colony ship capable of carrying 500 million people)
-Malar Plan (Xeno Economics -> Xeno Research -> Sensors I)
FOR: qrtxian, LordCarlos, SarcFa, NikolaiOmega
-Andimus Plan (Xeno Research -> Xeno Biology -> Xeno Medicine)
AGAINST: qrtxian, LordCarlos, SarcFa, NikolaiOmega
*Lord Carlos Amendment (Research Xeno Economics before Xeno Research)[I Retract i think my original intent was los in translation]
-TMS2224 Research Deviation Proposal (Research weapons up to Stinger I, then use Dr. Malar's Plan)
*TMS2224 Amendment (Research Universal Translator before researching weapons)
Here are my votes, councilors. Hope you fell better soon qrtxian!
ProductionGunray Plan (Production to be divided at 30% military, 20% social, and 50% research)FOR: qrtxian, SarcFa, TMS2224AGAINST: Noctilucus
AGAINST: qrtxian, Noctilucus
Andimus Plan (Production to be divided at 50% military, 20% social, and 30% research)FOR: NoctilucusAGAINST: qrtxian, SarcFa, TMS2224ColonizationMekoides Plan (Current colony ships continue their exploration while follow-up colony ships claim the highest PQ planets discovered)FOR: Noctilucus, TMS2224AGAINST: qrtxian, SarcFa
TMS2224 Amendment (Vizzard and Leto to be colonized and developed as research and industrial worlds, respectively)FOR:TMS2224AGAINST: qrtxian, Noctilucus
Noctilucus Plan (Colonization of corridor worlds)FOR: qrtxian, Noctilucus, TMS2224AGAINST:
SarcFa Plan (Lower desired PQ to 8 - this is not mutually exclusive with other proposals)FOR: qrtxian, Noctilucus, SarcFa, TMS2224AGAINST:Development of ExTerraNoctilucus Plan (Construction of a Navigation Center then Economic Capital on ExTerra while reserving the last space for an entertainment structure) FOR: NoctilucusAGAINST: qrtxian, SarcFa, TMS2224
SarcFa Plan (Build the Economic Capital on ExTerra before anything else)FOR: qrtxian, SarcFaAGAINST: Noctilucus, TMS2224
Andimus Plan (Construction of a Navigation Center alone)FOR:AGAINST: qrtxian, Noctilucus, SarcFa, TMS2224
Colony Ship Upgrade Proposal (Development of a colony ship capable of carrying 500 million people)FOR: qrtxian, Noctilucus, TMS2224AGAINST:
I submit my ballot, councilors. Get well soon, qrtxian.
Edit: Updated.
FOR: qrtxian, LordCarlos, NikolaiOmega
AGAINST: qrtxian, LordCarlos, NikolaiOmega
*Lord Carlos Amendment (Research Xeno Economics before Xeno Research)[I Retract i think my original intent was lost in translation]
I would like to propose a new layout. (It looks really diferent than the one on word but i think it's close enough)
FOR: qrtxian, LordCarlos
AGAINST: qrtxian,LordCarlos
AGAINST: qrtxian, LordCarlos
I think thats all, i belive we have to find a more compact way of doing this though . Later on things are going to be way more hectic.
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