[X] Attempting To Supply The Canned Beans
[X] Attempting To Supply The Canned Beans with alloys
[X] Plan: Day of the Tendril, Crystal Beam Industrial Carriers
[X] Plan Space Progress Tendrils and Claws also Carriers
 
Last edited:
This plan makes one change, it replaces a laser die with Advanced Alloys for two reasons:
Alloys might have a low enough Progres cost that doing this might be worth it as it reduces all progress costs but will cost a lot of STUs
A respectable choice.

The problem is that I foresee the deployment being a Heavy Industry project that burns STUs. And while we've got a good stack of STUs right now, they're going to be in heavy demand for the next 1-2 years... and so are Heavy Industry dice. We can only do so much, and trying to get our project stack down to a level where we're confident of finishing is important.

Shit, we haven't even built the hovertruck factory!

The second reason is that it is a tech that might improve Improved Continuous Cycle Fusion Development as stronger alloys might allow a reactor to work at a higher temperature and make the alloys available for the new military vehicles we will develop like the Governor A Development once the frigates and carriers have been build.
That's a good argument for doing it soon, mind you. Personally, I'd probably have waited until Q3 or Q4 and tried to slip 'em in.

I'm not saying your plan is a bad plan, mind you. It's just that this is why my plan isn't already your plan. :p

While I am reluctant to vote for any plan without any Improved Fusion Reactor. @Simon_Jester 's plan is really good so I will change my vote for his because Agri Mech (Wohoo!)
The way I figure it, Phase 8 may very well be the last round of fusion plants we build during the current Four Year Plan. I'll need to reassess the situation and think about that a little (or just watch Doruma slam out that infopost I see but haven't read yet as of this writing). As such, it's likely to be until mid-2062 before we do another round of fusion reactors, which gives us some breathing room to research other desirable techs that are likely to enhance fusion technology before we improve the fusion reactors.

...the three fallow dice are still causing me issues, but going over the plan again... I think it is worth it this time.
I really, really wish I could either
1) Find an extra 90 R to fund research gachas, or
2) Find an extra 30 R to fund sports teams that wouldn't entail greater sacrifices than the sports teams are worth right now.

The lack of improved fusion is a point in it's favor for me. I don't really want to start working on that until lasers, Anyder and Bergen are done. Maybe Sparkle Shields as well, but I want to do that at the same time as Buckler Shields for the synergy, and that's a bigger ask to make.
Sparkle first, bucklers second.

Sparkle shields are a fundamental underlying technology. Bucklers are an application of the technology, whose performance is likely to reflect the quality of the underlying shield tech. It's like how we wanted to wait to develop airborne tactical lasers until we had infernium-based "modern" lasers and not just the old Tib War One crystal beam lasers.

Also, buckler shields are 20 R/die and sparkle shields are 30. We definitely want to clear any 30 R/die projects out of our way in or before 2061Q4 if we possibly can... but if a 20 R/die project is still undone in 2062Q1, we can probably find a die for it some time in 'Q1 or 'Q2.

Generally, I'm all for more resource efficiency versus espionage defence at this point with the regency war grinding down, so exchanging the die for harvesting claws seems like a good trade at the moment.
In the event, I decided on more resource efficiency, but sacrificed the Zone Defender simplification project to get it. Because it's a three way contest between resource efficiency, espionage defense, and raw firepower.

With the Regency War winding down, we need raw firepower much less urgently... But we do need espionage defense still, because the Remembrancers (and all those shadow teams) are quite capable of continuing their own personal private war and going all Solid Snake on our secret research bases, even if the larger war is over.

Can I remind planmakers to begin their plan titles with [x] Plan?
Because otherwise it does funky things to the tally and I have to go in and cure it.
Sorry, sir. I was kind of groggy when I put the plan up, and I forgot. Will go back and fix it soon, along with flipping the Nod gacha research to Scrin gacha research.
 
I like the stuff on Steel Talons tab of the military, so I'm just going to talk about and give my (positive) opinion on each one.

As a disclaimer, I'm not saying we should shift any dice to these projects now. Only the Mastodon is a plan goal, and the Navy needs hulls. Probably my hopes and dreams here won't get much love until quarter 4, though I imagine quite a few will be plan goals next year.
[ ] Mastodon Heavy Assault Walker Deployment (New) (High Priority)
Building major Mastodon production facilities in Carentan and Wonsan will construct the core of the long term heavy industrial sites for the Steel Talons. Located to support still open battle fronts, GDI expects them to last for years, and be close enough for the Mastodons to walk cross country rather than stressing rail networks with special trains.
(Progress 0/225: 10 resources per die) (-3 Energy, -1 Capital Goods, -1 Labor, -1 STU)
Yes. The bigest, stompiest walkers GDI has made to date. I love all the railguns, the defense laser, everything. It's a beast, and I can't wait to see it in action.
[ ] Medium Tactical Plasma Weapon Deployment
A medium weight ion cannon, capable of being fielded on the Titan and other Initiative vehicles, and as a secondary weapon on other systems, is a potentially substantial increase in direct firepower. Deployment is likely to be small scale however, as it is less flexible, barring further delays in deployment of variable munitions for the Initiative's railguns.
(Progress 0/80: 30 resources per die)
Who doesn't love new energy weapons? I do find it interesting that they don't require STUs to deploy. A substantial firepower boost is always welcome, and while 30R isn't exactly cheap, it isn't that expensive these days and likely will only cost one 1 die. Seeing as this is a necessary step towards deploying plasma in other fields and designing better plasma in the future I'm excited to see what happens with it.
[ ] Light Combat Laser Development (Tech)
Effectively an Initiative version of the same laser system found on the Brotherhood's Venoms and raider buggies, the light combat laser is likely to be an effective endurance upgrade across a wide number of systems, even if it is less directly effective. For many vehicles however, it will be filling a secondary role as an antimissile laser, shooting down incoming RPGs and bombs.
(Progress 0/40: 25 resources per die)
Speaks for itself. Almost like an MG replacement for vehicles, but not needing ammo bins and can effectively shoot down missiles too. There's a lot to love here, and it's something I'll be pushing hard for in quarter 4, sooner if the situation permits.
[ ] Heavy Combat Laser Development (Tech)
A heavy direct fire beam laser, this is currently more of a curiosity than anything else, especially with the performance of the Initiative's current railgun arsenal. However, the Talons are very interested in experimenting further with laser technologies, and this may well lead to advances in other fields.
(Progress 0/40: 20 resources per die)
The only one I'm not super excited about, but can see a few uses for it (fuck off ion disrupters) and can win us some love from the Talons. And it's surprisingly cheap at 40 progress and 20R. Personally I'd like to do this at the same time as LCLs, but I'm not picky. A good pick to start off the next FYP plan when we just don't have as many resources to go around but lots of dice.
[ ] Modular Rapid Assembly System Prototypes (Tech)
With the Initiative going on a large-scale offensive, more of its supporting assets need to be moved to smaller units, to give them greater freedom of movement and increased striking power. Shrinking down the system used by various Initiative buildings even more than they already are should allow the ability to cram significant portions of the utility of a full base into a mobile platform.
(Progress 0/125: 20 resources per die)
This will make Karachi much easier in the opening days, and just offenses in general. Though this I believe should wait until a few turns after we pick apart the Varyag, just because it's going to have a lot of technologies that would be useful to figure out from someone else first. Still, I believe this is a key development, but in a more long term way. Something to tackle in a couple years.
[ ] Unmanned Support Ground Vehicle Development (Tech) (New)
The capture of Brotherhood toolsets and AI development systems for their Mantis Mobile Antiaircraft Vehicle are a strong starting point for the development of support vehicles. Instead of needing to man every vehicle on the ground, automated support vehicles can be used to either mount optional weapons loads, or be sent into dangerous positions rather than risking manned vehicles.
(Progress 0/80: 20 resources per die)
As someone else pointed out, these are essentially Wingman Drones, but for the groundlings. This was actually something I specifically wanted for the next iteration of MARVs, and for the same reason the air force wants them. Metal is cheap, Pilots are expensive. And a dwindling resource to boot. I was talking up defense technologies earlier, and this is another one of those. It's always better to have a drone take a hit that keeps our pilots alive. Plus it is just more weapons, and could really help the Talons punch up. Granted, that's not a problem they've had yet, but it is something I definitely want to avoid ever becoming a problem. Deployment will probably be a pain, but deployment always is, and if this could be substantial to the Talons, imagine what it'll do for the rest of the Ground Forces.
[ ] Buckler Shield Development (Tech)
A much stronger shield, designed to cover some small portion of the overall hull. While it will likely require substantial redesigns to field, it is also going to provide significant protection for weak points, or allow GDI to reduce total armoring.
(Progress 0/100: 20 resources per die)
[ ] Sparkle Shield Module (Tech) (New)
An upgrade to the shimmer shields, and a significant revision to the system overall, the shield module should be capable of producing much larger and more complicated shield shapes, while also strengthening the defensive properties of the shield system.
(Progress 0/120: 30 resources per die)
Two shield techs, both necessary. I don't even consider this an 'in my opinion' type issue. I feel strongly about all this tech, but this is such a no brainer it's kinda hard to get worked up over. I mean, it's an energy shield. It's armor that comes back on its own. A lucky or well placed shot will never get past it, you have to take down the shield. It's great for every kind of vehicle, and if we can get them small enough every man and woman fighting for Earth should have one, even if they can't be put in Zone Armor.

Now Sparkle Shields are just an upgrade, if the word 'just' can be used about such game changing technology, but it seems to be a massive and comprehensive upgrade. Bigger shields that can be shaped better and are flat out stronger. I'm sure they're also energy hogs, but they're well worth it.

Then we have the Buckler Shield. That one has a trade off, but a very worthwhile one. Yes, we lose shield size, but we get a much stronger shield in return. I might like this one more then Sparkle Shields, though obviously I'll gladly take both. We do still have decent armor, so only having it do partial coverage is an easy trade. Vehicles will always have places it's impractical or impossible to slab on armor, and this is the solution. I know the description says as much, but some things are worth reiterating.

I don't know how we these shields will mesh, but if I had to guess normal Sparkle Shields will be fitted on small vehicles, and we'll apply what we've learned from them to make even tougher Buckler Shields for things like the Mastodon or the next MARV. Machines that have a lot of places you can just put layer after layer of armor on, but have critical areas that can't be covered in such a way.

I believe the defensive technologies should have priority, given the reports from the field. So Shields, Lasers and USGVDs, in that order. Shields are just a wonderful passive defense, LCLs make for a great active defense, and a USGVD can in theory mount both, while also acting as the mechanical equivalent of a meat shield. Once they get out from the Talons and to the rest of the army they'll save a lot of lives.

Heavy lasers and plasma are, I recognize, more of a want of mine, much like Inferno Gel. Unlike the liquid fire though, there's no polical cost to them, and there's more fun stuff gated behind them.

MRASPs are, again, something I believe will be critical to Karachi, but we have quite a few technologies to work out first, and Karachi is sadly years away at this point, so it can sit for a while. Not to long, we don't want to just barely finish these before sending them off, but I figure they can wait at least two years.

Okay, I'm done gushing now. Did my effort post. You all can get back to the important business of planning and voting.
 
Last edited:
No, I am simultaneously confused as to why you keep claiming that spending 2 dice on Anadyr Q1 then 1 die in Q2 results is strictly better compared to 1 die in Q1 and 2 dice in Q2, while also saying that you wouldn't mind doing 3 dice in Q2 instead.
Three dice in Q1. I may have misspoken there. Let me explain again.

For reference, courtesy of Derpmind:
-[] Isolinear Chip Foundry Anadyr 85/320 2 dice 100R 8%, 3 dice 150R 64%, 4 dice 200R 96%

Now, I haven't checked those numbers any time recently, but I trust her and I'm pretty sure those are correct. So let's consider just about every reasonable sequence of dice allocations that adds up to four dice by 2059Q1

1) One Per Turn, Every Turn
This is bad because there is a 36% chance of needing more than three total dice, in which case one die gets spent in 2061Q4. Furthermore, in the event that we need four dice, the 4% or so probability of needing five dice, while miniscule from our current perspective, would be looming larger. Even now, we can predict that P(needing five, given having needed more than three) is somewhere in the neighborhood of 11%. We'd feel compelled to pay an extra 50 R for that second die- possibly 100 R for a third die- just to eliminate slim chances of project failure. Because there's not much practical difference between finishing the project in 2061Q3 and 2061Q4, but damn there's going to be a lot of practical difference between finishing in 2061Q4 and 2062Q1.

So while this strategy almost certainly completes the project, there's a pretty high chance that we'd be under pressure to spend extra dice on the project, even if they turned out to be an unnecessary and very expensive precaution. And 'very expensive' is bad; it means we do fewer other 30 R/die projects, and there are several like those. For instance, we might have to sacrifice making any major progress on the naval laser refits in Q4, due to simply lacking the funds. Or getting Bergen Phase 3 any time before, say, mid-2063 or later.

Conclusion: We need to spend, or be prepared to spend, up to four Anadyr dice in the next three turns.

2) Three in Q1, One in Q2
We don't have the budget for it. Not in the literal "there are not enough R" sense, but in the softer "yeah, not likely" sense. You're welcome to draft a plan that sacrifices enough other priorities to make this happen, but I'm pretty sure it'll lose.

3) One in Q1, One in Q2, Two in Q3
This is bad. Two dice is almost certainly not enough to finish the project, so we go into Q3 with an unfinished project and feel compelled to double down on it, even if that is questionably necessary. P(three being enough, given having needed more than two) is well over 50%, after all. This is the definitive example of a situation where we're setting ourselves up to overspend on the project. Which, again, translates directly into something we can't do in Q3, something we wanted to do but couldn't find the budget for. I don't know what it will be, but it'll be something.

3) Two in Q1, Two in Q2
This at least has the virtue of being quick, but it smacks into the same problem as option two. The probability of us winding up rolling four dice and spending 200 R when we could have gotten the project just as fast by rolling three dice and spending 150 R will be high, in excess of 50%.

4) One in Q1, Three in Q2
This is like option three, only more so. There is a 64% chance of this wasting dice and money, lots of money. The expectation value of the wasted money, including the possibility of us actually needing all four dice, is a full 36 R... which is to say, so much money we could fund a whole set of global sports leagues at that price.

So the recurring pattern we're seeing here is that planning to spend a lot on getting multiple Anadyr dice at once in the future invites wasteful expenditures. Which matter, because in this quest opportunity costs have a way of screaming "FOR KANE!" and kicking us in the gonads. Let us not be blinded by the beauty of our statistical weapons.

Thus, I propose:

5) Two in Q1, One in Q2, One in Q3
This avoids all the above problems. We waste nothing. We probably get the project in 2061Q2. Q3 if we're moderately unlucky. In the very unlikely event that we need five dice, it hopefully becomes obvious that we will need to do so by Q2, and we can re-evaluate whether to roll two dice in Q2 in response to the outcome of the Q1 rolls.

Now, you seem to propose:

6) One in Q1, Two in Q2, One in Q3
This is like option four, but less bad. Risk of this wasting resources and money is considerably lower. On the other hand, it has no potential to accelerate the project meaningfully as compared to my own option five.

7) Zero in Q1, Two/Three in Q2, ???
This seems to me like it underestimates the urgency of completing Anadyr in time. I suppose it may prove to be worth it if it lets us hammer those research gachas into the ground. I can respect it, but it's deliberately sacrificing Anadyr budget for research gacha budget.

So basically, my question to you is, are you proposing option six, option seven, or something I haven't covered yet?

I'm also a bit confused that a maths teacher would let someone waste their time trying to explain gaussian statistics to an unknown audience if it wasn't needed, and then accuse them of having a lack of respect.
Because I didn't ask you to explain Gaussian statistics. And you didn't make it particularly clear that you thought you needed to do so at length. And I don't have the power to parachute out of the sky in wherever-you-live and warn you that you're about to waste a bunch of your time explaining something redundant while you're working on a post you haven't put on the thread yet.

I'd have stopped you from wasting your time if I could, HousePet, believe me.
 
As a reminder in Q2 of this year we will be doing the Forgotten Conference again. Which means last second plan goals for the last 2 Quarters of this year.
 
I gotta say, it is certainly bold of us to spend 90 Resources on Gachas this turn, and then to turn around a claim that we can't afford to build the programs that the people want, even though we have the spare capacity to do so.

Isn't this exactly what is currently killing us in the Agriculture department? Why are we repeating our mistakes in Services? Even if we don't want to do what is popular (i.e. Sports Programs), we at the very least could be doing things that improve the long term health of our populace.

We've got over 1000 resources/turn. And, as I've listed previously, it is trivial to activate all of our Services dice even while funding the shinies. This isn't going to go well with our people.
 
I gotta say, it is certainly bold of us to spend 90 Resources on Gachas this turn, and then to turn around a claim that we can't afford to build the programs that the people want, even though we have the spare capacity to do so.

Isn't this exactly what is currently killing us in the Agriculture department? Why are we repeating our mistakes in Services? Even if we don't want to do what is popular (i.e. Sports Programs), we at the very least could be doing things that improve the long term health of our populace.

We've got over 1000 resources/turn. And, as I've listed previously, it is trivial to activate all of our Services dice even while funding the shinies. This isn't going to go well with our people.
I do not think this is a fair assessment.
The gachas are tech - and any tech we get from NOD will help us defeat them and keep our people safe.
While I also would have prefered to not leave three dice fallow, I can understand where simon is coming from.
 
From the last update:
The head of the committee, Julius Wilson commented that "When we ordered the reconstruction of food stockpiles, it was with the intention of heading off shortages in case of war. With the ongoing war, and only a year left in the plan, it is obvious that Seo Thoki and the Treasury have decided that actually storing food is an unimportant bagatelle, rather than a vital element to prepare the Initiative to endure shortages."
Another representative described the ongoing strategy as "systematic underinvestment in vital food supplies, instead chasing high tech Wunderwerkzeuge."
The nod gachas have a 1 in 10 chance of producing nothing at all. Scrin gachas have a 2 in 9 chance of the same. We still have multiple undeveloped techs, both Nod and Scrin, from years in the past. It can take up to four years for a tech development option to show up. And some techs, such as the arc weapons tech that we just got, are so minor that they don't even appear in the quest.

We can have both services and gachas if we wait a turn for two of the three gacha dice. We can have both services and gachas if we are willing to pursue secondary goals in other departments (that still need to be fulfilled this year anyways). Or we can have gachas and no services.

How else do you think that our citizens are going to take this, other than yet more proof that Seo is more concerned with shiny things than their wellbeing?
 
Last edited:
From the last update:

The nod gachas have a 1 in 10 chance of producing nothing at all. Scrin gachas have a 2 in 9 chance of the same. We still have multiple undeveloped techs, both Nod and Scrin, from years in the past. It can take up to four years for a tech development option to show up. And some techs, such as the arc weapons tech that we just got, are so minor that they don't even appear in the quest.

We can have both services and gachas if we wait a turn for two of the three gacha dice. We can have both services and gachas if we are willing to pursue secondary goals in other departments (that still need to be fulfilled this year anyways). Or we can have gachas and no services.

How else do you think that our citizens are going to take this, other than yet more proof that Seo is more concerned with shiny things than their wellbeing?
Honestly, quoting a politician who is knowingly pandering to his chosen electorate to secure his own reelection does not help your point.
Basically while the congress may have some concerns about our pace, to accuse us of negligence more than an year before the deadline, especially since so far the treasury met every promise given ever, is a calculated and dirty political move, nothing more, nothing less.

What was said above could have been justifiably said if we actually failed the deadline...
Something that happens all the time in real life... often with barely any consequences…
But we did not, and doing this before a breach of contract actually happened is just a clear cut political attack.
 
Last edited:
Isn't this exactly what is currently killing us in the Agriculture department? Why are we repeating our mistakes in Services? Even if we don't want to do what is popular (i.e. Sports Programs), we at the very least could be doing things that improve the long term health of our populace.
What's killing us in Agriculture is that we have Plan Goals and dicked around on working on them for 3 years. Strangely, Services lacks a Plan Goal remaining, and thus ends up shortchanged outside of gacha and pinhole portal at the moment. Plus, in Q4 2061, when we'd hopefully have all gacha and pinhole complete, it's entirely possible to drop 3 dice on Sports and 1 dice on Hallucinogens and have both complete while having a die free if a gacha or pinhole wasn't actually finished. The two aren't comparable situations.

I think the citizens are more concerned with consumer goods, housing, and food than sports programs or hallucinogen development. And given Genetic Engineering has -PS to it, I doubt it's something people want. Finally, this year is the wrong time to be locking a die for an industry for 1-2 turns for AEVA deployment. Unless you want to lock 4 Service die for a turn to try to knock out Services AEVA? So, what Services projects are left... pinhole portals and gacha.

Maybe Agriculture or Military AEVA in 2062? Agriculture really could use more dice, and given that we're already pushing 2-3 free dice a turn at military, AEVA might help there as well (...though that means we'd probably still be pushing 2-3 free dice, and thus are doing 11+2 or 11+3 a turn instead. :D It'd definitely help clear out the deployment and development backlogs quicker).

Actually, any thoughts in general on the idea on penciling in doing AEVA deployments over the course of 2062? My thoughts would be Agri first, then Mil, then Orbital. After that? I dunno. HI, LCI, then Infrastructure? And finally Tiberium, Services, and Bureaucracy?

On completion, locked die unlocked and +3 dice that field.

Q1 2062
- 3D and 60R (Agriculture) (-1 Agri die locked) (82%)
- 2D and 40R (Military) (-1 Mil die locked) (25%)
Q2 2062
- 1D and 20R (Military) (-1 Mil die locked) (82% when combined with the previous turn's dice)
- 3D and 60R (Orbital) (-1 Orbital die locked) (82%)
- 1D and 10R in case Agri doesn't complete? Put it on Infrastructure instead (with 6 dice, Infra can absorb a longer term -1 die better than HI)
Q3 2062
- 2D and 40R (Infrastructure) (25-82%)
- 3D and 60R (HI) (-1 HI die locked) (82%)
Q4 2062
- 3D and 60R (LCI) (-1 LCI die locked) (82%)
- 2D and 40R (Tiberium) (-1 Tib die locked) (25%)
Q1 2063
- 1D and 20R (Tiberium) (82%)
- 3D and 60R (Services) (-1 Services die locked) (82%)
- 1D locked for Services AEVA
Q2 2063
- 3D and 60R (Bureaucracy) (82%)

Of course, if we put Services first, that gives 8 dice to work with and things speed up more...

Q1 2062
- 3D and 60R (Services) (82%)
- 1D and 20R (Agriculture)
- 1D locked for Services AEVA
Q2 2062
- 2D and 40R (Agriculture) (82%)
- 3D and 60R (Military) (82%)
- 3D and 60R (Orbital) (82%)
Q3 2062
- 3D and 60R (HI) (82%)
- 3D and 60R (LCI) (82%)
- 2D and 40R (Tiberium) (25%)
Q4 2063
- 1D and 20R (Tiberium) (82%)
- 3D and 60R (Bureaucracy) (82%)
- 4D for other things

Alternately, you could just hold Tib from Q3 and push 3D 60R in Q4 to reduce the number of turns the die'll hopefully be locked.
 
Last edited:
From the last update:

The nod gachas have a 1 in 10 chance of producing nothing at all. Scrin gachas have a 2 in 9 chance of the same. We still have multiple undeveloped techs, both Nod and Scrin, from years in the past. It can take up to four years for a tech development option to show up. And some techs, such as the arc weapons tech that we just got, are so minor that they don't even appear in the quest.
Seo has a +5 to all aspects of research, including the gacha drops, so the Nod gacha bottoms out at 4 techs and the Scrin gacha at 3.
 
Yeah Seo gets a +5 on his d100's related to advancing technology, but not on the d10/d9 for gacha picks. We do get the +5 on the d100 rolls for what techs on the table we get, but that's significantly less impressive than +5 to the number of techs.

I do think it's important to start chipping away at the Scrin gacha but also I don't think it's such an overriding priority that we should idle dice to do it. With a years-long backlog of techs already available in our queue I don't think the gacha taking an extra turn or two is the end of the world. As long as it's still comfortably complete this year.
 
@Simon_Jester
So this may sound crazy and incredibly risky. Still, what if in your plan, Plan Attempting To Supply The Canned Beans, you switched two free dice out of Strategic Food Stockpile Construction and put the last agriculture die into an Extra Large Food Stockpile.
This would free up a total of 35 resources and mean you could put one of those free dice on the Conduct Economic Census, bringing it up to five dice and almost guaranteeing completion of it. Then put the other free die on Blue Zone Aquaponics Bays (Phase 4) for a 75% chance of completion for 10R.
This would let you take EREWHON off the Conduct Economic Census and put them onto Zone Defender Revision for 15R leaving us with 10R.

I will be the first person to admit that this change would be rather risky and RNG focused but let me know what you think?
 
I gotta say, it is certainly bold of us to spend 90 Resources on Gachas this turn, and then to turn around a claim that we can't afford to build the programs that the people want, even though we have the spare capacity to do so.
Speaking as the author of the currently frontrunning plan proposal, I'm not even sure what you're talking about.

First of all, it's not ninety resources on the research gachas. It's sixty. So, like, you're outright making up an extra 50% of how bad this is, right there.

Second of all, which programs people want are being ignored on the grounds of "can't afford?"

People want nice places to live. Pretty much every plan I've seen so far (including mine) puts four dice and 40 R on building apartments, constructing two phases for it. You want nice housing, BAM. Nice housing.

People want consumer goods on the shelves. My plan puts four dice and 40 R on expanding production of consumer goods. The remaining Light Industry die goes to fertilizer production, and we know fertilizer production directly translates into luxury foods people want because it's explicitly a +Consumer Goods project.

People want Nod's ass to get kicked. Lot of investment in kicking Nod ass. That's fairly popular in GDI, which is why we have a whole political party whose platform basically boils down to "kick Nod's ass harder, with bigger, spikier boots."

...

What desire of the people is being truly ignored here?

Is it in Services? It's not AEVAs, because that's something for Treasury nerds and IT guys. It's not research into genetic engineering, which is actively an unpopular idea. It's not research into Nod hallucinogens, because while I'm sure there are some stoners left out there who would be interested in that for its own sake, I'm pretty sure the people aren't screaming for ice cream Nod super-LSD. Is it portal tech? That sounds like nerd shit, like the research gachas. The only really popular thing in Services right now that we're ignoring is global sports teams.

You know what we've gotten out of Scrin research? Tiberium stabilizers. The ones in orbit slowing down tiberium mutation. Also the ones that emit tiberium-inhibiting rays on the ground. You know what people don't like? Getting eaten by tiberium. Don't get me wrong, I know they'd like to have FIFA and the Olympics back up and running, hopefully under new management, but we're not callous criminal heedless ivory tower assholes just because, y'know, we delayed that.

If the people wanted it that much, some aspiring legislative bloc would have been willing to trade us votes for it.

Isn't this exactly what is currently killing us in the Agriculture department?
We've got the agriculture thing pretty well sorted, actually. Wheels are in motion. Yes, the "let us stockpile a trillion cans of beans in case of another apocalypse" Plan goal got left in the dust a bit longer than it should have. But we'll get it.

Why are we repeating our mistakes in Services? Even if we don't want to do what is popular (i.e. Sports Programs), we at the very least could be doing things that improve the long term health of our populace.

We've got over 1000 resources/turn. And, as I've listed previously, it is trivial to activate all of our Services dice even while funding the shinies. This isn't going to go well with our people.
You do realize we stacked on like +10 Health or so with Services programs in just the past year alone, right?

Anyway. Be specific. Aside from the funny math where you somehow added thirty plus thirty and got ninety, what do you want me to do, specifically?

I've already made three changes to this plan draft because of people convincing me I'd made a mistake or forgotten to consider something. One of them very specifically is intended to impact civilian quality of life. So either write your own plan, or get off your high horse and try to convincing the people who've already written a plan.

From the last update:

The nod gachas have a 1 in 10 chance of producing nothing at all. Scrin gachas have a 2 in 9 chance of the same. We still have multiple undeveloped techs, both Nod and Scrin, from years in the past. It can take up to four years for a tech development option to show up. And some techs, such as the arc weapons tech that we just got, are so minor that they don't even appear in the quest.
The really good techs we get from the gachas, we generally use quickly. Some of the techs from the Scrin gachas are good in the sense of "the Earth gets to live a decade longer because you know more about pushing tiberium back."

That makes the gachas pretty fucking important, and I'm not going to be all OCD about completing and deploying every tech from the previous gachas before rolling a new one, because that would be kind of stupid. Especially with the Scrin techs.

We can have both services and gachas if we wait a turn for two of the three gacha dice. We can have both services and gachas if we are willing to pursue secondary goals in other departments (that still need to be fulfilled this year anyways). Or we can have gachas and no services.

How else do you think that our citizens are going to take this, other than yet more proof that Seo is more concerned with shiny things than their wellbeing?
Seo's gonna point to the stabilizer constellation in orbit, and say "you know how the Blue Zones cover about 50% more of the Earth's surface than they did ten years ago and we just kicked Nod into the middle of next week? Sorry the World Cup's still on hiatus, I guess, but if you really think I'm not doing anything for you, message your legislators; they're going to be raking me over the coals in a year's time and I'll be promising them pretty much whatever the hell they want as long as it's more or less possible."

Honestly, quoting a politician who is knowingly pandering to his chosen electorate to secure his own reelection does not help your point.
Basically while the congress may have some concerns about our pace, to accuse us of negligence more than an year before the deadline, especially since so far the treasury met every promise given ever, is a calculated and dirty political move, nothing more, nothing less.

What was said above could have been justifiably said if we actually failed the deadline...
Something that happens all the time in real life... But we did not, and doing this before a breach of contract actually happened is just a clear cut political attack.
Eh. I wouldn't call it that dirty. A man looking at the results of Treasury's agricultural programs (or lack thereof) in 2059-60 would be justified in concluding that Treasury was fucking around and didn't care much about the Stored Food commitment. Frankly, we were- it didn't seem that important to us, and we were confident in our ability to handle it at the last minute. To be fair, we now are handling it, but to someone who only sees the big stuff we build, it looks like all we're bothering to do is build a bunch of freeze-drying plants that aren't actually getting finished and aren't going to accomplish much, plus developing this utterly execrable nasty 'food' substitute that even rats won't touch unless they're starving to death.

It's not a good look, and having someone from the legislature busting our chops over it seems pretty fair to me.

Yeah Seo gets a +5 on his d100's related to advancing technology, but not on the d10/d9 for gacha picks. We do get the +5 on the d100 rolls for what techs on the table we get, but that's significantly less impressive than +5 to the number of techs.

I do think it's important to start chipping away at the Scrin gacha but also I don't think it's such an overriding priority that we should idle dice to do it. With a years-long backlog of techs already available in our queue I don't think the gacha taking an extra turn or two is the end of the world. As long as it's still comfortably complete this year.
Again, we're actually pretty short on stuff in Services that's even desirable to do right now. AEVAs seem unwise, some of the programs burn Political Support when we don't really have more than we need, portals are mind-bogglingly expensive per die... there's not a lot left.

@Simon_Jester
So this may sound crazy and incredibly risky. Still, what if in your plan, Plan Attempting To Supply The Canned Beans, you switched two free dice out of Strategic Food Stockpile Construction and put the last agriculture die into an Extra Large Food Stockpile.
1) I'm saving ELFS for later for two reasons.

One, until and unless the freeze-drying plants get to work, it's probably going to knock -16 Food out of our existing +22 surplus. I want to keep the surplus comfortably well up into the teens if possible, because we know that being at +0 Food means "there are just barely enough calories, regardless of type, for everyone to get their daily brick of nutrient substitute." +10 or +15 Food is where people aren't actively complaining about the food much, and you know this because that's when people stop eating fungus bars. No normal person eats fungus bars voluntarily.

Two, because it's a deterministic project. We just push GO and it happens. Therefore, it's a great thing to have in reserve for Q2 or Q3. Whereas regardless of when we do ELFS, we will need to build multiple phases of stockpiles, and those can fail or roll poorly, so best we do them here and now. That way, if poor rolls force us to invest more dice into the stockpile construction action, at least we'll know.

Also, it'd free up 20 R, not 35 R. Unless you're talking about canceling more than just the stockpile construction.

This would free up a total of 35 resources and mean you could put one of those free dice on the Conduct Economic Census, bringing it up to five dice and almost guaranteeing completion of it.
Oh, it'll complete. The thing we 'only' have an 88.5% chance of is of getting the best possible results from the census. We're in no danger of not completing the census, though.

Then put the other free die on Blue Zone Aquaponics Bays (Phase 4) for a 75% chance of completion for 10R.
This would let you take EREWHON off the Conduct Economic Census and put them onto Zone Defender Revision for 15R leaving us with 10R.

I will be the first person to admit that this change would be rather risky and RNG focused but let me know what you think?
The main reason I won't do it, I've already said.

But if I were going to do it, what I'd do would be to cancel the stockpile construction, put one each of the Free dice on aquaponics and one on Zone Defenders, and put Erewhon on the ELFS action. Whereas you proposed to do that the other way around.
 
ELFS is something that, if we're within that range of the goal in Q4, we can just push the button in Q4 and be guaranteed to reach the goal. There's no real reason to hit it Q1-3 instead of working on regular stockpiles and food production.
 
@Ithillid How does the Bogatyr Research Projects work? Is it like the Scrin/Nod Research Projects, in that it'll gain us techs some amount of years from now?
 
I might as well drop my plan and vote for another instead.

[X] Plan Attempting To Supply The Canned Beans
 
Last edited:
[X] Plan Attempting To Supply The Canned Beans

@Simon_Jester You might want to tag everyone who used the wrong plan name so they know they need to fix it. Not everyone reads all the posts and some just copy a vote from other people.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top