Friday, May 4, 2012

Projects Update and IMTU Underground Doctrine


Currently working on the following -


  • IMTU background generation to be added to the Character creation. It will require me to have a little library of backgrounds and professions. I'm expanding on the basic Traveller Professions and slowly incorporating professions that appeared on the background: Specialist Engineers (life support, power plants, bio and farming, etc...)
  • Getting the Economics Down and automating the methods of detailing the Economics of a planet and its political atmosphere. Economics is KING in describing a lot of things in both real world and the game... your drawing on a TON of science to help you game, that's like using mining laser doing some home improvement. - a geeks wet dream. When I say automate I mean make a spread sheet I can just plug the variables or generate them randomly. I have to read more about the trade system and incorporate Comparative Economic advantage which has not been factored in. 
  • Working on a project i call HexGimp Games and Inkscape Boardgames, based on the extensions I've installed. Get this tools and make a simple process to make a game, flesh out the work time so that people can tell it is a good investment in time. Again putting my mass combat and economics to work to allow GMs to play CIV in their games, but at a level of simplicity that it can be a game played in a casual afternoon with friends. The idea is to allow GMs to create landscapes and their Economic Code (like Travellers' UPP) very quickly (via spreadsheet) and Start playing ASAP. calculating time and motion and making sure people can play quickly.
  • My Traveller Game Economic Data and Setting Details. I will detail the Sol and Dingir subsector as well Gemini Subsector using system and planet surface generators i've found. I build my bombardment proof settlements underground and use Dungeon generators to build the cities. All the stuff I create to detail this, I'll try to automate and systemize so that i can do it again and again quickly or HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DO IT. 
  • Regarding having someone else do it, I'll post my BPO research regarding the virtual gaming assistant Key Performance Indicators. The VGA is going to be easier to measure and instruct if I make a play book and create work activities and their KPIs. I've renewed my research and I am close to getting a break through, currently finishing up some work that allows me to be set for the year-ish. Once that is done, i can focus on my studies and gaming, and I'll be able to get some IT OJTs to test my thesis - World Building and Detailing Processes Playbook for GMs Assistant, and see how much time and training it takes to develop a VGA for the mostly automated tasks and basic activities a GM or world builder will need... and all do it at about $5/day. Tools that help GMs verify credibility of VGA applicant and set up a relationship, I'd probably set up a referral site and system. Since this is Niche work and doesn't really help a lot in furthering any of the careers of these VGA's (its a summer part-time job basically) expect a high attrition - that is why a playbook will speed up training and setting expectation.      


BTW IMTU is short for In My Traveller Universe, its typical to assume every Traveller GM is talking about how they have tailored the setting in their own work. Should be applicable to Fantasy IMFS (in my fantasy setting), historical IMHS (in my historical setting) or low tech setting etc. etc..



Underground Doctrine.
I've created a doctrine for colonization in the face of a possibility of war. Underground is the Terran staple and the better coverage a planet is against orbital bombardment the better candidate.

Meshan is an example in the DINGIR subsector of something that has the best cover and SHOULD HAVE BEEN underground. Making a freaking colony, squatting on Imperial territory and failing to make allocations to protect one's own people with protected shelter... is insanely stupid in my book. I've altered a lot of that and made all human settlements are underground. 

Underground
What is underground if you have the technology to create a lot of space and you have already matured self-sustaining life support needed for ships?

Bio Engineering Greenhouse and Pre-Garden Worlds.
We have biotech and we have done this since eons: developed crops specific to our needs. With genetic engineering why not tailor crops planet to planet to serve as:

  • Harvest nutrients from the Gasses and Atmosphere of the planet.
  • Help mine planets, the plants use their capiliary action to move nutrients. either concentrating them to be efficiently harvested. 
  • Slowly terraform a planet.
  • Allow Humans to create disposable surface infrastructure incase of bombardment.  
Bio-engineering is a BIG industry, and they create highly controlled crops that help humans mine, create food, and develop resources in the particular DNA of a Planet or Rock. 

IMTU Meshan 2170CE ISW110
Colony Founded in ~2156CE
Meshan has been "destroyed" at least all the surface infrastructure, but those were old and archaic. Most infra is actually underground. What is in the surface of the planet are Meshan-creeper crop. That is a creeper or a runner plant that is tailored for Meshan to collect a variety of surface nutrients and processes them through photosynthesis. Vilani having "destroyed" the surface and assumed nothing relevant has been left see the plant has crawled and made its way throughout the planet's surface, coloring it a strange purple hue (the photosynthetic coloring particular to Meshan). There are many varieties of the plant for the different terrain and nutrient availability. These plants have the ability to store water if introduced to the atmosphere. 

Burrowing Micro bots harvest these plants. They have been helpful in creating reactor material, food, and raw materials for the remaining colonist and the underground cities. 

Slowly growing is a new crop meshan plant, one that has very deep roots, a mining plant designed to slowly tunnel and concentrate valuable minerals for the colonists. The processes would go smoother if there was a way to bring in more water into Meshan...
 

2 comments:

Jay Dugger said...

Keep up the good work!
Please add me to the list of potential customers for your virtual gaming assistants.
If you would like someone to proof read your spreadsheets or otherwise check your work, I volunteer.

justin aquino said...

I'm very grateful for that Jay, that would be a great help. I'll take you on that offer as soon as I get through the rough patch at work right now. Hopefully I can be done with my work in two weeks and you can expect those sheets by june.

I'll still have to make the documentation for the Toolkits (the ship builder, system builder, and NPC builder) before I start asking the OJTs to produce the material as a Time and Motion Test. Once I have that data, I will start rounding up enough part timers while I can set up the playbook. Playbook (the playbook for the VGA to act professionally and meet expectations of clients) + experienced and trained Part-timers, and maybe develop a manpower pool and Viola. ETA unknown. Worse case scenario I have my notes available for others to try.