Converting to Other Blockchains - Vast Distances and Portable Wealth

Block Chain in 4AU or greater! in our Sol solar system, the problem is the distance from Luna or Mars or Jupiter and their corresponding blockchains. As 1 AU is 8 minutes, note that Sol with Neptune and Uranus - Ice giants and Saturn, they may be using different Blockchains per location. Pretty much acting like a currency. So even in Sol we will be having problems of speed of transaction completion. 

Basically what happens is, the problem is the speed by which a record, transaction and account can be verified. The solution is to convert values as you change Blockchain Domains. 

As distances become greater, the time for “the check to clear” takes longer. 

Basically a Blockchain domain is the reach by which the blockchain is reliable. When a transactions will take weeks or months to process, it’s best to convert the funds into a currency of a Blockchain that is closer. This means I will take 1 million credits from my Imperial Account and Transfer it to this Local duchy’s Blockchain, I may lose 2-10% but I dont lose months or weeks waiting for my transactions to go through.  I may have only 980,000 credits in the new block chain. But I need these credits to help me with transactions and conduct my business in that location. 

So we just came from Taiwan in Dec 16-21 and it reminds me of converting my Pesos to NTD, and then converting them back. The rest of our money is back in the philippines and credit cards allowed us access to these funds at the speed of light, but its the CASH - converting PHP to NTD that made me conscious of what would happen if we lost access to the internet and we needed to make monetary transactions. 

In GURPS this would be Finance, in Cepheus Engine this would be Economics or Finance science. and it is a Science, to understand how many Financial systems overlap, interact, and attempting to predict multiple interacting systems: like Biology, Ecology, and Economics.  

In Game Terms - you can just roll to see how much resources you have at your disposal or the Referee can make this a hook and the challenge. You can handwave it, as one of the many factors the PCs are juggling and thats the purpose of the powerful AI in the Ship’s is for.  You can just keep to assuming the PCs draw from a source of funds - but the Referee can arbitrarily say if it is accessible. The constraints become an unending source of adventure hooks. 

MOSS - Mneme Open Source CC-BY-SA scifi-setting - Interstellar Economies - Blockchain and Money Laundering

Wikipedia of Blockchain for basics

In the Mneme Open Source CC-BY-SA Sci-Fi setting (MOSS), takes inspiration from Daniel Suarez’s “Critical Mass,” blockchains play a crucial role in interstellar travel. In this universe, where Faster Than Light (FTL) travel exists, blockchain technology is adapted to the vast distances and decentralized nature of space travel. Computers on spacecraft, equipped with blockchain nodes, update the blockchain only when they are close enough to securely connect with another node.

You can say MOSS is a open distributed scifi setting. 

This blockchain system relies on various standards for validating transactions, incorporating sensor data that verifies the time and place of each transaction. This data includes stellar constellation positions, gravitational fingerprints, and records of transactions from systems tracking time and pace, and activities of the main star in a system. The ledger can validate blocks only if they meet these stringent criteria.

Other ways to track time for sensor validity is Solar Activity which can be viewed historically from another Star System. 

In MOSS, interstellar distances necessitate that ships’ transponders be securely connected to sensor systems. These transponders, or Black Boxes, are equipped with multiple redundancies in their blockchain processing, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the data. If a transaction lacks sufficient clarity or data, creating uncertainty, it is not executed, maintaining a status quo.

Over light-year distances, ships connecting with each other can verify transactions based on their previous locations. Transactions involving multiple parties are validated by the sensor data of all involved parties.

In cases where ships are cut off from the main blockchain, they start their own branch blockchain. Once reconnected with the larger network, multiple parties can add validation data to these isolated activities, integrating them back into the main blockchain.

Moreover, the Black Boxes don’t maintain just one blockchain. They handle multiple blockchains, analogous to different currencies. As long as a blockchain represents something of value (materials, services, etc.), it can be traded with other blockchains, similar to a currency exchange. This flexibility allows for a diverse and dynamic interstellar economy in the MOSS setting.

Criminals and Pirates dont necessary have a “Pirate” or “Underground” blockchain - the blockchain doesnt make those distinctions. Blockchains, while may have a name or a identifying code for who possesses what, this can easily be shuffled. 

Tampering with a Transponder to produce erroneous or false blockchain information affects all parties - you can say even criminals dont want the currency their are stealing to be worthless. Also that counterfiters try to accumlate legitmate transactions - will have a difficult time because all parties - even underground economies cannot have uncertainty and bad transactions. Even transactions are bad, as soon as they are discovered and detected the ability to have redundancies in place not just retroactively corrects wrong transactions but makes the entire economy of that block chain aware who did it. 

Because of the sensor data aspects, using the block chain in “Safe spaces” is key. Underground blockchains will transact in underground covert locations and may even not function once it leaves these locations, preventing any transaction. A pirate ship will transact with its prey ship, robbing it of its value for the entire economy to see as people release funds at gun-point. It will then trade commodities with other blockchains - to liquidate its prizes. Anyone who will try to trace where the pirates have gone will have to deal with variables of probability as “laundering” who has what happens a lot in Convert economies as blockchains only track ships and many proxy can be used to launder where these values go. 

Because blockchain computers are design to track dizzying amount of transactions, how values are transfered from one party to another can be analgoue (a phsyical transfer). the records can be made to look like typical resource extraction transaction - when miners introduce capital in the form of raw materials in the economies.  

With all this complexity, you can just have this all happen behind the scenes. The Referee can just focus on the Assets, Expenses, Recieveables and Liabilities of the crew. 

what i did wrong - lessons learned for 2024 from 2023

There is very scant data for me to analyze, when it comes to learning what sells. the Mneme world generator I know sells as it hits silver this year. As for what will drive more people to adopt it, i can only guess accessibility.

So I have high praises for Seth Skorkowsky as when ever he reviews an adventure, he polishes it so much that I feel tempted to buy it immediately and run it. He cleans the maps, identifies plot problems (inconsistencies that will stall the game), and various other insights - I'm sure its not just him but his players pointing out errors in the writing. 

What Seth does is make the game more accessibile. I think thats what it all culminates as there is less and less reason why I or anyone should not just buy the product. I want to do what he does - and the really nice way he corrects it without turning people off the adventure. 

Well I want to do that to Cepheus Engine - coming from GURPS and having people have a hard time getting into GURPS - Cepheus engine fixes that by being more accessible. Not only are you able to make an adventure in Cepheus Engine - but you can publish that adventure. If your players really like it to the point that they leave reviews - then you have a great source of validation.

So what can I do to make Cepheus Engine more accessible - 

1. well provide Creative Commons Art and Ships 
2. tools to speed up character creation, ship creation, world creation
3. tools to create scenarios someone who wants to improvise and challenge themselves (using RNGs). 
4. accessible sample settings - not just any other setting but the open source setting which complements the tools and rules. 
   

Of course why didnt it work with Mneme Space Combat? I think its because space combat is not often done. I've read no complaints about space combat rules of any other CE system - and no one is perfect.  I have to guess, specifically conscious of my pain points when I run a CE game.

Mneme Ship Combat Update: 300DT body is done - for Art and when done moving on to Research Vessel.

First off, Happy New Year (from those of us in the Philippines at GMT+8). 

So the merchant liner and the frontier trader are for art. This means Nicco is creating the PPT map by rendering it in blender, formatting the transparent layers, and marking the legend and what each part of the ship is. Then I will upload it. 

A recap: the 20, 30, 50, 70, and 95DT Small craft are all created. I realized I failed to put it here in the spreadsheet. I'm going to have to update the Mneme Space Combat book, and I will start putting the art of the ships in the book as well as having a better way of showing the jam-packed number of ships the Product in DTRPG offers. 

you can see this is not a good way to show the ships. We are going to use Diagram.net and create a table of the ships. 

The Research Vessel was overlooked.  Give me and Nicco till Feb to get to this. 

The 200DT Habitat Ring + 100DT Tender with a Model-B M and J Drive is able to give it TP-1 and J-1. This is going to be a Feat in Blender since we will make a 2D Map that will interact with the 3D Ring - using Instancing. Instancing allows the models in the 2D map to affect the models in the ring without going into the tedium of manipulating the ring. Give Nicco and me about March to finish this. 

The 200DT Habitat - has the 20DT Launches that are designed to perform the Orbiter Role (the ability to land in a terrestrial planet). 

I will honor my commitment to make the rest of the CE SRD Common Ships and then some key ships that I can squeeze in with my budget. Although they will all be TL9!!! (because the BASE version of this ship would be the most available and HIGHER TLs are rarer). 

 TENTATIVE - as committed as a 2-man operation can be. 

TL9 RESEARCH VESSEL 200DT	JAN	2024
TL9 TENDER 100DT (B-M DRIVE, A-JDRIVE)	JAN	2024
TL9 HABITAT RING 200DT	FEB	2024
TL9 SYSTEM DEFENSE BOAT 400DT	MARCH	2024
TL9 SURVEY VESSLE 300DT	FEB	2024
TL9 YACHT 100DT	FEB	2024
TL9 CORVETTE 300DT	MARCH	2024
TL9 DESTROYER 800DT	MARCH	2024
TL9 SYSTEM MONITOR 1,000DT	APRIL	2024
TL9 LIGHT CRUISER 1,000DT	APRIL	2024
TL9 HEAVY CRUISER 2,000DT	MAY	2024
TL9 DREADNAUGHT 5,000DT	JUNE	2024

Whenever we have to remake the ship's profile (Silhouette) and keep it reasonable, that takes a lot of time. more than 2 versioning and prototyping. But we try to reuse it when its reasonable like the 800DT destroyer, 1000DT monitor and Light cruiser should have a fairly similar profile/cross section. 

2024 plans for Game in the Brain

Unfortunately Mneme Space combat is not doing well, selling pretty poorly despite being - by benchmarks of similar products - products with 3d models, rules, words, and, supporting video.

Well I have to adapt, Mneme world generator I noticed did very well. Space combat seems to be tertiary - and not a pain point it seems.

Anyway I'll still be producing the hard scifi plug in and rules - and hope to launch my realistic ships. I have to limit my resources - so I'll top up to the be able to include reaction drive ships similar to the Buran Energia or it's more modern equivalent the SPACE x starship with booster. Basically 2050-2070 reusable orbiters. 

For space combat 

- habitat + tender 

- reaction drives and Delta-v based space. 

- hard scifi ships - orbiters. 

X: deferred if sales pick up, fingers crossed. 

X - hard scifi space combat 

X - Mneme SHIP design : rules first. Then javascript browser based tools, and if i make at least make silver - which translates to 500usd or a sale of about 100 units over the 20, then I can afford to get a entry level contractor for this. 

I'll be Pivoting to something more popular - I hope -

1) I'll be commissioning one of my OJTs for freelance and creating a javascript app that runs on a browser for Mneme world generator.

Nicco research will be for Godot to allow these star systems can be viewed in 3d like the Rpg engine. 

I'll public the Github repository if I at least break even. After Gold. 

2) I'll have a Seperate team work on a RAW CE character generator same javascript browser able to run on the phone, tablet or desktop.

First the random chacter generator, then the browser where you can customize the character. 

But the goal is introducing Mnemes character generator. I'll be developing and upgrading Mneme Variant Combat into Personal Combat that includes - character creation, skills, and equipment.

This will include default characters for encounters, and 3d printable models of combatants 25mm scale. 

It's going to be a lot of money advancing for this, but I want the pride of saying I made the game something I believe is how it should be done unfortunately without marketing to tell people that will be hard. 

This is where I'll introduce vehicle combat and mecha combat. If the experiment works. 

I admit I get shy and don't post as much as the other creators.

Other goals 

1) once I get the encounter table tools for space combat I won't make as much space ships but I hope the algorithm will pick up on the same combats I plan to make 10 or twice a month.  

2) I will make sample sessions of using the products - like World Generator and given my limited time it will be World generator + Personal Combat 2x a month (1/mo each). 

I hope I hit a stride. 

GITB Philipine Holiday but Still working

First I need a Website To Point to. This is a Mediawiki Container. 
It takes an entire day to learn for me. 

Then After this I can learn https://blog.fuzzymistborn.com/vps-reverse-proxy-tunnel/ 

this is so that I can locally host this wiki, mastadon, nextcloud and various other tools like wordpress for the websites and various experiments. 

I needed something for my Gateway (the Virtual Privae Server in Google to point to). 

This is really hard, and even with the AI helping. 

 

Mechs - Mneme Variant Combat Additional rules.

Mecha is part of the Vehicle Combat rules and an expansion of Personal Combat rules - AKA - it’s how I plan to add value and Sales to Mneme Variant Combat.

So my Airsoft Team, Combat Team Omega (CTO), are regular players of Mechwarrior Online (despite the server issues this Nov and Dec). We have a Channel Tier5 Mech Warrior Player and its a way my team and I can play together with our degraded reflexes and the terrible ping (250-300ms) as we are in ETC and GMT+8 (12 hours difference). 

I get frustrated by some problems with Mechwarrior mecha - like the 

1) slots in a mech regardless of Size, 

2) That smaller weapons have the same penetration than larger weapons. That a group of small lasers do better than a Large Lasers.  3 small lasers is 11.25dmg at 160m 1.5 tons vs 1 large laser at 5Tons and 9dmg at 480m

3) there is no Melee and Physical Actions - like stomping, kicking, bull-rushing, etc… only recently they added Shields to the Onyx which was pretty cool and fun. 

4) The game system punishes support mechs like Tagger, NARCer etc.. 

5) the ranges can ruin immersion as engagements are up to 1km.

Why Mech Combat will be fun in a Scifi Game:

1) much heavier power armors and vehicles. And they overcome terrain problems with legs and arms - able to climb, jump and scale. 

2) An increase of Scale and Stakes - In Cepheus Engine, spending 1DT a power armor and 4 to 20DT for mecha. All terrain, environmentally enhanced combat armor. If I raise the realism of how leathal space is and how much hardware is needed to keep a Vehicle operator alive - then Combat Space Suit become much bigger - and that Mechs will be the scale of some of the combat.

How it will work: 

There will be Mech Frames- these frames are the bodies and the power rating of the Engine. A bigger, more massive engine - a higher engine to frame ratio - the heavier the frame. In Mech Warrior - this is kind of out of whack.

its like Equipping a human - you add stuff to it: Armor, Weapons, and equipment. 

You can buy frames with better Performance from standard. Frames come in Bipedial, there are Carcinisation options as well. the biomechanics of different frame designs will have some strengths and weaknesses.

 As a design goal - is a lot of Armor for the Pilot or Pilots, and the ability to take a lot of damage as compared to a vehicle. Also that its basically a vehicle that doesnt require Reaction mass. 

 

Motivations. 

I really believe in my Proto-Pathfinder (because I didnt learn pathfinder yet when I realized the convergent evolution of the systems) take on the 3 Action economy of Mneme Variant Combat.  I'll improve on it from my lessons learned with Pathfinder 2e. The mecha combat and the scenarios will be great in a Toy and Minis since i can 3d print them and buyers can 3d print the mechs and modelled soldiers for 25mm/1inch scale.

Travelers with MECHA, and space combat like the Expanse/Nebulous Fleet Command. You have point defense, reactive armor (armor that EXPLODES to stop shaped charges), and various other real world inspiration. Players and the Referee may like how we make these harder scifi combat more accessible and can draw inspiration in technical read outs of current military hardware.