Advanced Save Game Six Empires Huge Map and Minor Races

[UesugiKenshin]

To wildly succeed at BotE, you need to be cunning and be making a tremendous amount of calculations. That is why the Omega are so powerful in these turn #300 (page 8 ) and turn #400 (page 17) save games. These are the results of dogged intense focus for a month.

But life is spontaneous and full of joy and diversions. A galaxy of 1600 sectors comprised of 20 light years each (32,000 light years! ) and having 156 diverse sentient species would be a delightful place with rare cruelty. It is vast and all so completely different, though largely focused on sentient beings with bilateral symmetry. This may not be the case whatsoever and may be unique to Earth's ecosystems.

Think of it. The Earth has 8.7 million species alone. It is unfathomable how many species would be in such a galaxy. It is likely that it would largely depart from Linneaus' pioneering classifications of taxonomy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnaean_taxonomy

[UesugiKenshin]

In the seventies, there was concern because slash and burn agriculture in the rainforests might be destroying incredibly important plants with rare phytochemicals that could be potent medicinals and cure diseases and treat infections.

So imagine a vast galaxy where certain plants or animals or minerals might be as valuable or even precious. Besides all their accumulated study of medicine or really any other science as with so much knowledge, it is likely someone already found the answers.

That is something optimistic to look forward to rather than the foolish arguments of petty human beings.

[UesugiKenshin]

In a galaxy with 1600 sectors x 90% being populated by a star and having 3 planets, that is 4,320 planets and let's suppose 8 million species. That is 3.456E10 species in the galaxy. We're going to need a lot of PhD level scientists in biology, botany, and zoology.

[UesugiKenshin]

I had planned on watching Ad Astra today, but I doubt I do it. Spoiler: the ending is depressing.

There is a theory about sentient species in the galaxy. It may be that the transition versus disasters and disease and war and famine and serious changes to climate and even sabotage like the discovery of nuclear weapons, may in fact cause extinction to be common.

And if that is so, then many extraterrestrials and interdimensionals might have died out. A serious setback might then get so low that it inhibits the ability to perpetuate that sentient species. Say it's a genetic disorder and the survivors then all interbreed and that proves fatal as it so weakens them.

Humans actually had this happen.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory
It happened around 70,000 BC.

Maybe someone is watching out for us? Nothing whatsoever cannot create everything in the universe. Paintings don't paint themselves.

Anyway, it might be that humans are the Sumerians and ain't nobody else home at the present. That would be depressing.

[UesugiKenshin]

https://futurism.com/what-do-extraterre ... to-science

You might enjoy this article. Honestly I doubt that sentient species will look anything at all like us.

[UesugiKenshin]

In our own history, as various groups came to America to do business or to emigrate to this nation, they brought species either on purpose or accidentally.

Immigrants had no idea what the land was like or seasons or what would grow or act as medicinals. So they brought species, and in agriculture, they selectively bred species that might serve as fodder for livestock, or that they consumed as food, and so introduced nonnative sometimes invasive species.

For example, the French brought chichory as that root when roasted is mixed with coffee and makes a delicious beverage. So that grows wild everywhere.

Honeysuckle was introduced by botanists, no less who should know better, and for the purposes of preventing soil erosion, and that spread everywhere. Yet few use it though it a vital Chinese medicinal and excellent for making baskets, but and it has no species that consumes it, and it propagates everywhere. Kudzu is worse as even though eaten in Japan, nobody harvests it here, and it is a horrendous problem as a nuisance plant.

Common plantain is a vital medicinal in history that soldier's used to treat wounds. It has alatonin in it which is a remarkable cellular regenerator. It grows in every meadow and a child can identify it, and can even be eaten, but few use it.

When ships came from Russia and Ukraine, those ships we contaminated with zebra mussels and those creatures spread all over the US waterways and clog myriad powerplants water intake systems. It's expensive to deal with them.

Asian carp are the same and are prolific and compete with game fish, but lack their flavor, so are disdained, but now are so numerous that if one merely steers a watercraft through that is motorized, hundred will leap and fall into boat. I am totally serious.

Why am I discussing this? When extraterrestrials or interdimensionals travel to planets, they will inevitably do the same thing to those worlds.

You see, even if not meaning too, mold and fungi are terrible issues in space and even mutate and adapt on space stations. There actually is a kind of bacteria that has been documented that uses the nuclear fuel in nuclear power plants. And besides that, human beings actually are comprised of bacteria who have colonized us, plus we spread viruses. Mites live in our eyelashes and we ignore them.

The second some alien merely uses the restroom, new bacteria will be introduced on a planet.

Even when we extensively decontaminate, unless we use molecular transporter technology, then all sentient beings will end up contaminating planets either intentionally or unintentionally. And nobody knows the ramifications of doing so as those planets will likely have no competitors to these species.

And we know that indigenous people on those worlds will have issues as our immune systems have adapted to various pathogens, but those indigenous life forms have not, so sentient species might use that as a weapon, intentionally or unintentionally, and it may cause widespread contagions.

That may start wars.

[UesugiKenshin]

It was fairly common during the colonial period through the homestead period to free range pigs. They will eat acorns and so can be cheaply raised for meat. And they are hardy and can get strong enough that they can defend themselves from coyotes.

And some got loose and now in 35 out of 50 states, despite no restrictions on hunting these feral hogs, they cause immense agricultural damage. And they get quite large and they are smart enough that they can evade hunters.

Such creatures might easily displace beneficial native species on a terraformed world. It will undoubtedly happen.

Foolish people introduced Africanized honeybees to Brazil in 1956 and they have slowly made them way to North America and are nearly impossible to manage. So this will affect every possible aspect of living organisms in extremely complex interacting ways.

[UesugiKenshin]

These kinds of genuine scientific issues could easily be random events in BotE. These kinds of historical phenomena will be hurdles to overcome as early colonization, no matter how well organized and executed, will be problematic based on the scant available information and managerial decisions.

I can imagine that these first scientists would have genetic samples of maybe millions of species and have to pick which ones the AI thinks would interact well, but not fully understanding the new terraformed or not planets.

We won't know how safe it will be to consume various species on those planets that occur naturally or are fostered by terraforming. Those species may contain molecular components that interact in harmful ways with our biochemistry and physiology. Toxins may build up. Our bodies may not produce the correct enzymes to digest them. Or may form peculiar byproducts.

Just planting a black walnut tree could destroy an entire ecosystem as those roots produce jugalone which results in walnut being an antagonist species as opposed to companion planting. That jugalone inhibits most other species, and any crops introduced may have similar effects on a new planet.
https://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/ ... e%20plants.

[UesugiKenshin]

If you read the BotE wiki, it is replete with goofy issues were one species made decisions and then those decisions caused cascading failures. Just because species are sentient does not mean they are wise. It just means they can try to cope with those errors in judgement made by their ancestors.

Some minor species have superior buildings and starships, but the AI just sees them as competitors and has no problem ERADICATING them by bombardment. They can easily trigger an extinction level event (ELE) and you have to intervene because otherwise something marvelous might not get constructed. That might be a critical weapon system.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_event

Some event like at Fukushima which as yet has not been remediated, could introduce so many radioactive isotopes that it poisons the food chain and accumulates them and be our extinction level event in our future.

[UesugiKenshin]

Games like BotE require intelligent critical thinkers, and hopefully stimulate young minds. We want as many people to study math and the sciences so we have the best and brightest making wise decisions in the space programs. Not lying politicians.

[UesugiKenshin]

Watch some film like the French Czechoslovakian animated film Fantastic Planet, or the independent sci-fi film Europa Report, or the homage to the Twilight Zone in the style of the late fifties black and white independent film The Vast of Night. Those films challenge our ideas about extraterrestrials and interdimensionals sentient beings outside of conventional norms.

Whatever the species are like in the galaxy, they will be far stranger than what most imagine.

[UesugiKenshin]

Let's say I use the beta version of BotE for Android multiplayer, and then play as all six empires. It's my belief that if I played normally, there is no way that anyone but the Cartare would win, using my commodities manipulation system, as they would have an enormous amount of accrued espionage and sabotage points, and would not hesitate to use them.

I could specifically not build any intelligence buildings to turn #300, then upload it, and see what happens if players report in. My guess is the preponderance of players here would play as the Cartare, build those intelligence buildings, and still that would be the outcome.

It is terribly unbalanced.

I could play all six empires to turn #400, and not build intelligence buildings, and the Khaoran would probably attack their nearest neighbors, and if the Cartare, Rotharian, and Omega were not immediately threatened, they would probably attack the Khaoran as they would be the most pressing threat in the galaxy.

The way I play with so much money available so soon, I can know all research by turn #400, and then it's really a race to make the most intelligence buildings in the shortest time as that causes the most damage with the least risk, so it is very unbalanced.

The genuine issue is how to balance sabotage so it is in some way a realistic but still nominally useful tactic?

I can make each level of intelligence building require an extremely high amount of research way at the upper end. I can make the raw materials and energy requirements prohibitively high, but even that would not remedy this issue.

The real issue is the efficacy rate for these buildings coupled with minor race membership as certain minor races give enormous bonuses to sabotage as it is presumed by the text that they can infiltrate in ways that the major races cannot. So to balance it, those success percentages also have to be lowered.

[UesugiKenshin]

If you have ever considered modding the buildings and are quite aware of what they all do, you will notice the Templar fortifications are limited to three. That is all they can make. I think that is the realistic solution. The Cartare and the Rotharians can make a few more intel buildings than the other empires, but that is all. The Khaoran have a difficult time making them as such a small subset would even stoop so low as to have a career in military intelligence as they are repulsed by it. It violates every honorable aspect of the warrior culture.

I think this is what needs to happen. You can make advanced intelligence buildings, but not very many, and so even with powerful minor race members as natural infiltrators, the efficacy rate is balanced and low and horrendously expensive.

Then all major races have to wage actual war and that causes a rush to make the most effective ships, not rush to safely sabotage by just making more intelligence buildings.

[UesugiKenshin]

This way, the Cartare, then the Rotharians, then the Omega have a minor base chance to do a small amount of sabotage, but can do a bit more if they manage to acquire certain minor races as infiltrators. But even then, it has a minor aspect on the overall game.

To me, military sabotage like capturing a capitol ship in a lengthy galactic war over hundreds of turns, would maybe only happen to 3 ships in a single game...and that is all. It is absurd to happen more than this due to all the protocols that would exist.

Ever watch the old Clint Eastwood Firefox film? He's a Russian American military pilot who has to retire due to battle stress, and then is brought out of retirement. They send him into the USSR at the height of the Cold War, and he's tasked on a suicide mission to steal a prototype stealth fighter that can missile lock nearly immediately by using his thoughts. Thus there is no delay making such a system extremely dangerous and difficult to overcome.

That would never be a routine event. To get a spy on board a capitol ship, and masquerade as a bridge officer, and then overpower everyone, then seize control, and then leave that empire's sphere of influence, then get to a safe sector, is just not going to happen very often.

You are not going to have many Hunts for Red October type events where an entire bridge crew has been persuaded to defect with a capitol ship.

You could not just blow up enemy capitol ships very often.

[UesugiKenshin]

I'm glad that 12 players have downloaded these advanced turn saved games. Most players do not know they exist as a search in English of Birth of the Empires shows zero activity of what is discussed on this forum for the last whole year. What a shame.

The point of months of work is to enhance the BotE experience especially for new players. You can hardly expect me to continue to do so for so few players.

BotE can be a lot more than a mere space wargame app. I wish people could see the potential.

BotE could be a gigantic international creative community acting also in collaborative ways to create major and minor species in a dynamic universe where working together would be as vital as conquering. Talented writers and artists could use it as a creative positive outlet.

You could have transcendent species who have accumulated resources and act as benefactor species to new players.

It could then result in mods that are offline and multiplayer and online so that others could access galactic maps, new trade items, new ships and troops and technology and missions with endless variations. A fascinating mythos involving a rich tapestry of anthropology for every species could exist.

Or probably not and be just another space strategy 4X game app.