News. During the previous off-season I worked on ship combat. Now I'm returning to the economic, strategic, and logistical side. Until now, I knew that the server interactions needed for the economy could somehow be built in the engine, but I didn't know exactly how. The problem is that the engine is essentially designed for session-based connections: a group of players has a game room, everyone runs around in it, and one computer acts as the server. There was physically no complete, or even rudimentary, interaction with a server capable of keeping every player connected and serving them information from a database. Some workarounds were possible, but the result would have been poor.
What changed? I found the necessary frameworks and other tools that let me establish communication channels and form requests and responses myself. In short, we now have the connection we need. This is a key development.
I can finally send everything I need to the client. The first things distributed will be game time and the acceleration factor. This will let every client move planets and ships along their orbits without loading the server. Players will be able to fly their ships around star systems and travel between them.
Now for something more interesting for those who made it through all that text. We need players to form the factions. Each player will have a client through which they'll explore star systems, manage their faction's logistics, and rescue their population and technical assets from Earth. This stage of the closed game will shape the future factions.
There are six factions. Their names haven't yet been decided, but earlier preparation established the countries and alliances that form and belong to them: the United States and its satellites; the EU with part of Africa; England with part of Africa and Australia; Russia with India and Asian countries; China; and the Scandinavians, with very extensive obligations toward Africa. At present, Russia plus India and Scandinavia have players. China is uncertain, as is the EU. The United States and England are definitely available.
Brazil remains an open question. It had sought a faction of its own but didn't assume sufficient evacuation obligations. Which faction it joins is a game event that remains to be played.
Every faction has the resources, technology, and production needed to build at least something resembling a spacecraft. Each faction receives one propulsion engine capable of accelerating and braking a spacecraft without reaction mass or large amounts of energy. Travel between systems will take place on request with the help of another ship that doesn't belong to the players. There is also one unassigned jump engine whose fate must be decided.
Players need well-developed cognitive abilities, because at this stage the game will provide only the mechanics for travel and moving cargo and passengers. The entire political sphere must be conducted in writing. Players will also have to engage with economic and social issues.
Write to me.