BotE for Android Balancer Mod

[UesugiKenshin]

Then later six totally new empires and their rebels too. But that requires a LOT of artwork. The logical thing to do is some version of mighty alternative minor races like the Brane. I still need original alien species art though.

[UesugiKenshin]

We're so used to scarcity as wars have been waged over resources and embargoes. But BotE deals in maps of a galactic scale. This is an artificial issue and a function of game design rather than actuality.

Consider what I posted here about a sector of space. A sector nearest Earth has around 80 entire star systems, not one solar system. Scarcity of resources is unlikely.
viewtopic.php?f=107&t=7797

This issue would not be scarcity, but the vastness of space time. See 80 star systems offer vast resources to last millions of years if not billions for growing populations. But interstellar travel and energy expenditure is the issue.

See there has to be sufficient profit to offset all the infrastructure costs, and selling resources does not make sense as it would very unlikely that no planets, moons, astroid belts in a single sector had all six resources....or why bother expanding into new sectors?

It's back to my earliest observations that BotE lacks a valid trade system of finished products and services. BotE has a commodities market trading mining resources that is too profitable for intrasector construction campaigns to ever trade.
viewtopic.php?f=107&t=7727

[UesugiKenshin]

For game design, you want scarcity. Why? To give the AI an impetus for galactic war...yet that's actually a false dilemma as every sector would have an abundance of resources, this no impetus for war.

The reason wars are fought is for theoretical profitability through the exploitation of resources at the terrestrial level...that would not exist in outer space. And it's a sham and an illusion as war became profitable through what President Eisenhower called the military industrial complex.

War is never profitable, but costs trillions that are lost. Then since that is so, countries defend themselves with ever more complex interconnected technological weaponry and countermeasures. So international arms merchants sell nations what actually are bad investments. If you fire your MIRV hyperballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads, every soul on Earth loses.

A nuke makes no profit as it's not generating energy or plowing a field or producing goods and services from raw materials. It ain't no fancy tractor.

[UesugiKenshin]

The USA has not gained any territory, not even a square inch, since the aftermath of the Spanish American war! Hard to believe, but true. There is no American imperialism. It's a lie.

Yet we spent untold trillions on bad investments. America has no empire and natural resources to show for it!

America actually is terrible at war because we give every conquered people back their autonomy and self-determination.

[UesugiKenshin]

BotE generates a morale score for each sector and profit is part of it...just to buy more ships and troops to conquer the territory, yet in the Omega sandbox game at advanced turn #700+, I didn't actually have to fight as minor alien races capitulates as if they fought...they would lose.

It's the art of fighting without fighting.

[UesugiKenshin]

The way I play is peaceful as I guess I play like the Terrans, yet invoke FEAR and DREAD...so minor races end up eventually capitulating.

But the way BotE is configured, the Omega are unlikely to gain minor races unless they buy them through gifts.

[UesugiKenshin]

Diplomacy is not based on actual play, but stored starting attributes. It's doesn't matter how kind I am through actions in game, as BotE has a built in bigotry against the Omega...so the minor races use that attribute bias to be reticent to enter into diplomatic negotiations...unless I send them gifts!

[UesugiKenshin]

See there is a potential to fix many of these things which is why I am modding BotE. I'm in first place and technologically advanced by maybe 75 years with over 500,000+ internal security points and have a GDP 3 to 4 times larger than the average.

Trade profit loss is why wars don't happen more frequently so if that is addressed, less wars should occur. BotE would ideally have missions that improve diplomacy. Then you conquer in an ideological manner.

And probably the sphere of influence is a cultural war that improves diplomatic relations too.

[UesugiKenshin]

I strongly believe that genuine astronomy supports the following ideas about outer space in the galaxy.

1. Every sector would have 9 planets which are the most significant 9 worlds in 20 light years of space time. But hundreds would exist. Look it up.
2. Every sector would have abundant resources.
3. Even a minor race, given sufficient time, would become powerful.
4. Population would increase.
5. Lunar and asteroid mining would happen.
6. That would lead to even more population probably space colonies in geosynch Lagrange point orbits that rotated for artificial gravity.
7. Gas giants would prove useful.

[UesugiKenshin]

I strongly believe that BotE can be more than mere conquering through warfare.

1. I disagree that the major races are fixed, but dynamic based on the charisma of the leadership gaining the will of the People.
2. This means a dominant leader can bring about a revolution in their ethos.
3. This means a positive Cartare leadership might bring about social change where it is plausible the People eshew sabotage and slavery.
4. This means a negative malevolent Terran leader can lead the People to conquer others.
5. That means some minor races would not be recalcitrant, but bury the hatchet and negotiate in good faith. Biases exist, but can be overcome.

Is there anyone who believes otherwise or else Germany would have been doomed after WW2?

[UesugiKenshin]

I strongly believe that with post Level 14 research, that these would be achievable. It is no different than a virgin planet showing no apparent resources, yet they exist as they can retrieved with investment and technology.

But extracting them may incur problems and raise moral and ethical issues and these additional issues can be remediated.

[UesugiKenshin]

History proves you can conquer a less technologically advanced people who have less powerful soldiers by war, but it will not last. They will revolt. Ideological and cultural war is far more difficult and may last longer.

[UesugiKenshin]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ymI5Uv5cGU4
Watch. Empires grow and dissolve through other wars or by revolution or are given back their autonomy and self-determination.

Pick any empire in history and this plays out with the dissolution of the Soviet Union being the most notable one in postmodern history.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ORXuy7jOjXQ

The USA is a republic and no different.

The goal of achieving galactic domination through conquest is not a realistic goal, but may be possible, though improbable through ideological or cultural domination.

BotE should evolve to be more and thus will have a wider appeal.

[UesugiKenshin]

Because I think it would be interesting as an intellectual challenge, I may do an Axis versus Allies mod as a sub mod where the Omega, Cartare, and Heyoun are controlled by one player as the evil Axis powers seeking to dominate the galaxy versus the Terrans, Khaoran, and Rotharians.

Probably have certain buildings on planet classes can make certain race specific ships. So some sectors would quite limited while others could make many starships. I'm brainstorming.

Or I can use the beta multiplayer and 1 to 6 players could control up to 3 empires which would be far easier. I'm trying to think of a clever way to limit what starships can be created on some sectors as at some point, I want minor alien troops that would extremely interesting and powerful, but very rare and difficult to make.

I really want to make a late stage full-scale galactic war. Maybe the minor races then make superweapons as they have special troops that are like the Manhattan Project. See once minor races join through membership, they get lost in the mix. But what if they are the key to winning and certain ones make components that when put together makes a superweapons?

I'm trying to think of some kinds of missions. It would probably have to bpreconfigured for the AI as it would be so complex, otherwise a multiplayer campaign where 2 players could wage a massive battle. Then there would be strategic elements as you would need certain minor races to do this wonder project. Even tougher would have them willingly be members so not conquered, it will fail as they will resist unleashing it on the rest of the galaxy.

There would be a lot of strategy involved to take certain sectors through diplomatic subterfuge or through benevolence to achieve very far reaching goals for either coalition. To make it even harder, maybe the Allies have to do it honorably and the Axis have to do it malevolently by conquering.

So both sides would seek to foil such complex plans just as the German, Americans, Russians, and even the Japanese has very limited atomic experiments.

[UesugiKenshin]

There isn't a way to retrofit starships which is a shame. I have all these outdated starships, so you can add them to your existing better starships in fleets.

I guess the only way would be to preset minor race starships for multiple contingencies IF empires conquered them. That would a LOT of programming as there are 6 empires x 150 minor races x maybe 4 minor alien race starships. That's 3600 starship combinations...so most modders would not bother. But that could be made as with six generations of those minor alien starships, so that is 21,600 different combinations.

Kind of overkill. There probably are 20-30 useful current minor race starships. I could focus on some useful situations where certain upgraded ones would be magnificent.