Attempting to Fulfill the Plan: GDI Edition

[Simon_Jester]

I would not be surprised actually.

Point 1) The Bannerjees have never taken ground from GDI. Doing so may not be on their agenda. They may have been able to get into the Himalayan BZ, but only made a token effort instead.
Point 2) We've taken an option that means that certain techs we develop will be sent back to the Bannerjees. Poultice Plants, Tarberries, and maybe Entari and Spider Silk will likely have some value to them.
Point 3) Yao is currently negotiating opening up humanitarian trade corridors in the Indo-China region. It is reasonable that GDI should have some sort of reciprocal opening of corridors for the Himalayan BZ.
Point 4) Karachi Planned City would means that GDI is containing Tiberium spread on the western edge of India. Therefore, the Bannerjees will be able to focus their efforts more on the west side.

Click to shrink...

1) The thing is, BZ-18 is really hard to get into from India; fighting your way across giant mountains with no real means of getting at the enemy except tunnel boring machines is not usually a recipe for success, even with meme-tier tunnel boring machines like Nod has.

2) True true. It may convince them that a more amicable relationship is worthwhile.

3) Also true.

4) Also also true. And since there's a giant Red Zone that pushed in through Bangladesh and ate a sizeable chunk of western India, that's probably firmly on their minds.

All in all, there is real grounds to hope that we'll be able to get into Karachi without having to fight more than local forces. On the other hand, I very much do want to make sure we're fully ready for that fight, and while our ground and air forces are still very much good to go in that regard... Well, it was only two years ago that we realized our Navy was only barely marginally capable of defending our own sealanes against a serious Nod effort, and here we're contemplating the largest amphibious offensive in history, followed by an infrastructure megaproject, sustained across the beachhead of the amphibious invasion. So some degree of extensive preparation seems appropriate.

That said, they may have to make a show of offering some token resistance, to avoid other Warlords getting too pissy about them allowing GDI to just walk in. Or there may be a semi-subordinate Warlord in the Pakistan area that disagree with GDI's face.
Our doomwall maps indicate some slowing of the RZ advance in Afghanistan and reversing it in Pakistan. That may not be the Bannerjees. I don't think that is GDI in Afganistan.

Click to shrink...

The specific Nod warlord(s) who directly administer Pakistan are likely to be dependent on the Bannerjees, al-Isfahani, or a mix of the two, yes. And either way, they personally would have a strong incentive to resist us, because they personally are going to lose almost all power and influence if we aren't pushed back into the sea. Unless we come ashore offering a conciliatory power-sharing arrangement and amnesties and whatnot, there's going to be at least a fight with the local equivalent of Waters or Mondragon, the second-tier warlord who controls that immediate area.

As to the Red Zones, you're probably right, but on the other hand, we've just learned that aggressively harvesting a Red Zone can shlurp tiberium to places a long way off. And we have been mining the other side of that Red Zone rather intensively for a long time- we do have glacier mines over in Europe and the Middle East. Those could be sucking tiberium out of the Zone from the other side. And Nod seems to more or less let us set up the Red Zone Containment Lines, without too much interference. Between those factors, it's conceivable that RZ-3 is... just not expanding as hard as it used to, y'know?

One other thought: We've been expecting Kane to produce a TCN plan at some point. But all the Nod Warlords would have done their own Scrin tech stuff. Maybe the Bannerjees have one of the missing techs.

Click to shrink...

Maybe, but it bears remembering that each warlord has, on average, something like 5-10% of our resources, with the Bannerjees probably being closer to the 10% end of the scale. The only reasons we can't overpower any one of them is that we have to worry about all of them at once, and because they have weapons of mass destruction which they'll break out on us if threatened enough.

The corollary to this, of course, is that while a 30 R/die Scrintech research project isn't very daunting for us, it's a big deal for the Bannerjees. Especially since unlike a lot of the Nod warlords, they're presumably spending real money on quality of life. Sure, they have some advantages because they have scientists who know stuff from the bits Kane has let drop from the Tacitus or just more generally from whatever he happens to remember from thousands of years ago... But they probably don't have more than a tiny amount of actual Scrintech, as opposed to just good Nodtech.

Although one possibility I've speculated on is that Kane may farm out bits of his own planned TCN's tech to the Bannerjees for field testing and prototyping. Though in that case he would definitely be keeping a very close eye on any possibility of the Bannerjees handing that over, because if we get ahold of the TCN blueprints as a whole without his permission, he is screwed.

I'm sure Kane is interested in the advanced hardware we've been developing lately, we have several key components for making the TCN as desired and we can potentially make a starship suitable for his needs. The fun part will be incentivizing him to come to the negotiating table.

Click to shrink...

Well, definitionally, he must have what the TCN needs, because canonically he was able to design it and hand the design off to GDI, who couldn't even really figure out how it worked.

 

[Ace of Scarabs]

Well, definitionally, he must have what the TCN needs, because canonically he was able to design it and hand the design off to GDI, who couldn't even really figure out how it worked.

Click to shrink...

I'm of the opinion we need to find a way to entice him to come speak to us for negotiations, and slowly encourage the less-radical NOD folks to become open to said negotiations. InOps will be busy with the challenge, but it's better than having to fight them and spend resources on war.

 

[Crafter of War]

I'm sure Kane is interested in the advanced hardware we've been developing lately, we have several key components for making the TCN as desired and we can potentially make a starship suitable for his needs. The fun part will be incentivizing him to come to the negotiating table.

Click to shrink...

*Looks at the new tech roll*
I mean, we could just have Seo mad science the new tech and make Kane really fucking nervous.

 

[Ithillid]

The update has gone to the discord. Will post it after sleep and a couple rounds of editing.

 

[aceraptor]

I'm sure Kane is interested in the advanced hardware we've been developing lately, we have several key components for making the TCN as desired and we can potentially make a starship suitable for his needs. The fun part will be incentivizing him to come to the negotiating table.

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure Kane can create a far better TCN than the monkey model TCN we *might* be able to manage if we get lucky on a few more Visitor tech gachas.

Kane has the Tacitus after all *and* the Threshold tower.

 

[Simon_Jester]

Okay. Well, I'm still interested in making plan drafts, though again, I personally will not post a plan draft in the upcoming vote proper, so other people can make of this what they wish.

Vehrec has convinced me that I should at least very seriously consider the possibility that it is too late to get a tranche of frigates out of the Seattle yard in time for Karachi even if the yard completes in 2062Q2. So I'm going to keep my current draft (which has four dice on frigates for that reason), but also do a different draft that cuts out the frigate yard entirely and shifts dice to a different set of projects in a revenue-neutral manner.

---

Budget: 1050 R

1040/1050 R
7/7 Free dice

[] 2062Q2 Draft Plan Attempting to Have Frigates For Karachi, Mk III

-[] Infrastructure (5/5 Dice, +36 bonus, 90 R)
--[] Blue Zone Apartments (Phase 10) 87/160 (1 die, 10 R) (79% chance)
--[] Suborbital Shuttle Service (Phase 2) 22/250 (2 dice, 50 R) (18% chance)
--[] Urban Metros (Phase 4) 0/150 (2 dice, 30 R) (81% chance)

-[] Heavy Industry (5 Dice + 1 Free die + EREWHON!!!, +33 bonus, 160 R)
--[] Improved Continuous Cycle Fusion Development 0/120 (1+E dice, 40 R) (79% chance)
--[] Low Velocity Particle Applicator Development 0/120 (1 die, 20 R) (34% chance)
--[] Personal Electric Vehicle Plants 0/300 (2 dice, 20 R) (45% chance)
--[] Advanced Alloy Deployment Program 0/??? (2 dice, 80 R) (???)
---[] Trying to budget 40 R/die here, just to be safe

-[] Light Industry (5/5 Dice, +23 bonus, 100 R)
--[] Reykjavik Myomer Macrospinner (Phase 5) 50/1280 (2 dice, 40 R) (2/16.5 median)
--[] Carbon Nanotube Foundry Expansions 0/300 (3 dice, 60 R) (11% chance)
---[] I'll want Rima's projects, but I expect them to be pricey in Capital Goods, so laying foundations there appeals.
---[] But I won't complain if Rima's projects turn out to be juicy and people pursue them
---[] As long as they don't leave us facing a Capital Goods crash

-[] Agriculture (6/6 Dice, +28 bonus, 65 R)
--[] Vertical Farming Projects (Stage 3) 74/240 (3 dice, 45 R) (95% chance)
--[] Wadmalaw Kudzu Plantations (Phase 3) 315/450 (2 dice, 20 R) (80% chance) (86% with Bora Bonus)
--[] Agriculture Security Review
---[] I still want to clear these particular projects; Vertical Farming is good because it's +Food and +yummies.

-[] Tiberium (7 Dice + 2 Free dice, +39 bonus, 180 R)
--[] Tiberium Vein Mines (Stage 2+3+4+5) 5/750 (7 dice, 140 R) (Stage 3, 82% Stage 4, 8% Stage 5)
--[] Improved Hewlett Gardener Process Development 0/160 (2 dice, 40 R) (83% chance)
---[] We're gonna need the STUs, much as we'll need the Energy for improved fusion

-[] Orbital (7 + 2 Free dice, +33 bonus, 170 R)
--[] Orbital Cleanup (Stage 11+12) 32/170 (1 die, 10 R) (96% Stage 11, 11% Stage 12)
--[] GDSS Columbia (Phase 1+2+3) 0/475 (8 dice, 160 R) (Phase 3, 8/11.5 median on Phase 4)

-[] Services (5/5 Dice, +31 bonus, 105 R)
--[] Gene Clinics 94/120 (1 die, 10 R) (100% chance)
--[] Regional Hospital Expansions (Phase 1) 213/300 (1 die, 25 R) (56% chance)
--[] Kamisuwa Optical Laboratories 0/250 (1 die, 20 R) (1/3 median)
--[] Ocular Implant Deployment 0/200 (2 dice, 50 R) (31% chance)

-[] Military (8 + 2 Free dice, +30 bonus, 170 R)
--[] Railgun Munitions Factories (Phase 1) 142/200 (1 die, 10 R) (88% chance)
--[] Ground Forces Zone Armor (Set 1) (Phase 3+4+5) 147/540 (3 dice, 60 R) (80% Phase 4, 18% Phase 5)
--[] Shark Class Frigate Shipyards (Seattle) 0/300 (4 dice, 80 R) (73% chance)
--[] Modular Rapid Assembly System Prototypes 56/125 (1 die, 20 R) (82% chance)
--[] Military Security Review (1 die)

-[] Bureaucracy (4 Dice, +28 bonus)
--[] Focus Reallocation: Services to Heavy Industry (1 die)
--[] Agriculture Security Review (1 die)
--[] Military Security Review (2 dice)
---[] It's the military. One die will probably succeed, but I don't want to mess around.

---

Budget: 1050 R

1040/1050 R
7/7 Free dice

[] 2062Q2 Draft Plan Attempting to Have Rifles And Disco

-[] Infrastructure (5/5 Dice, +36 bonus, 90 R)
--[] Blue Zone Apartments (Phase 10) 87/160 (1 die, 10 R) (79% chance)
--[] Suborbital Shuttle Service (Phase 2) 22/250 (2 dice, 50 R) (18% chance)
--[] Urban Metros (Phase 4) 0/150 (2 dice, 30 R) (81% chance)

-[] Heavy Industry (5 Dice + 1 Free die + EREWHON!!!, +33 bonus, 160 R)
--[] Improved Continuous Cycle Fusion Development 0/120 (1+E dice, 40 R) (79% chance)
--[] Low Velocity Particle Applicator Development 0/120 (1 die, 20 R) (34% chance)
--[] Personal Electric Vehicle Plants 0/300 (2 dice, 20 R) (45% chance)
--[] Advanced Alloy Deployment Program 0/??? (2 dice, 80 R) (???)

-[] Light Industry (5/5 Dice, +23 bonus, 100 R)
--[] Reykjavik Myomer Macrospinner (Phase 5) 50/1280 (2 dice, 40 R) (2/16.5 median)
--[] Carbon Nanotube Foundry Expansions 0/300 (3 dice, 60 R) (11% chance)

-[] Agriculture (6/6 Dice, +28 bonus, 65 R)
--[] Vertical Farming Projects (Stage 3) 74/240 (3 dice, 45 R) (95% chance)
--[] Wadmalaw Kudzu Plantations (Phase 3) 315/450 (2 dice, 20 R) (80% chance) (86% with Bora Bonus)
--[] Agriculture Security Review

-[] Tiberium (7 Dice + 2 Free dice, +39 bonus, 180 R)
--[] Tiberium Vein Mines (Stage 2+3+4+5) 5/750 (7 dice, 140 R) (Stage 3, 82% Stage 4, 8% Stage 5)
--[] Improved Hewlett Gardener Process Development 0/160 (2 dice, 40 R) (83% chance)

-[] Orbital (7 + 2 Free dice, +33 bonus, 170 R)
--[] Orbital Cleanup (Stage 11+12) 32/170 (1 die, 10 R) (96% Stage 11, 11% Stage 12)
--[] GDSS Columbia (Phase 1+2+3) 0/475 (8 dice, 160 R) (Phase 3, 8/11.5 median on Phase 4)

-[] Services (5/5 Dice, +31 bonus, 105 R)
--[] Gene Clinics 94/120 (1 die, 10 R) (100% chance)
--[] Regional Hospital Expansions (Phase 1) 213/300 (1 die, 25 R) (56% chance)
--[] Kamisuwa Optical Laboratories 0/250 (1 die, 20 R) (1/3 median)
--[] Ocular Implant Deployment 0/200 (2 dice, 50 R) (31% chance)

-[] Military (8 + 2 Free dice, +30 bonus, 170 R)
--[] Railgun Munitions Factories (Phase 1) 142/200 (1 die, 10 R) (88% chance)
--[] Low Orbit Support Satellite Constellations 0/200 (1 die, 10 R) (1/2.5 median)
--[] Ground Forces Zone Armor (Set 1) (Phase 3+4+5) 147/540 (3 dice, 60 R) (80% Phase 4, 18% Phase 5)
--[] GD-3 Rifle Development 0/30 (1 die, 10 R) (100% chance)
--[] Infernium Laser Refits 0/450 (2 dice, 60 R) (2/5.5 median)
--[] Modular Rapid Assembly System Prototypes 56/125 (1 die, 20 R) (82% chance)
--[] Military Security Review (1 die)

-[] Bureaucracy (4 Dice, +28 bonus)
--[] Focus Reallocation: Services to Heavy Industry (1 die)
--[] Agriculture Security Review (1 die)
--[] Military Security Review (2 dice)
---[] It's the military. One die will probably succeed, but I don't want to mess around.

So basically, if we can't get the frigates in time for Karachi anyway, we might as well concentrate our naval efforts on a project that can be ready by then: the naval laser refits. The problem is that those are 30 R/die and I don't want to further increase the military's slice of the fiscal budget right now, so I want to make the changes revenue-neutral.

Two dice go "up" from Seattle to the naval laser refits. One goes "down" to the GD-3 development program. One goes to the support satellite project, which I think would be very helpful in a lot of ways, because one of its main advertised use cases is letting us sometimes detect cloaked objects from space. This isn't very useful for tactical applications, I suspect, because the odds of picking up on a single cloaked vehicle are low and moving targets probably make everything harder, though isolinear computer processing might help there. But what it would really help with is cases where we can overfly the same area over and over with the satellites over a period of weeks or months and exhaustively examine the area under different weather and lighting conditions for telltale blips or blurs that might be, say, a big cloaked building.

You know how canonically one of the big limits on our deep strike capability against Nod is that we can't localize most of their infrastructure because it's all cloaked under disruption towers? I expect this to help with that. Quite a bit. Good way to gather intelligence on the overall strategic dispositions of Nod forces, locations of major bases and factories, and so on. I'm a fan.

On the other hand, someone who doesn't like this (or the GD-3) could swap it out with another 10 R/die Military project. For that matter, there's 10 R of slack in the budget, so it could even be put on another 20 R/die project, and there are plenty of candidates there! I just wanted to stump for the LOSS program.

@RaptorusMaximus , this second version of my plan draft ("Attempting to Have Rifles and Disco") has the GD-3, your point of interest. I wish to express my respect for your classy single-issue advocacy. Please note the orange text below; this draft will not be posted by me. However, you may do with it as you see fit, or encourage others to do so, if you wish. I am making plan drafts for the sheer love of doing so and for no other reason.

---

(EDIT DISCLAIMER: I am not going to actually run either of these plans during the vote. People are encouraged to tweak this, modify it, or just yoink it and present it as their own if they are so inclined)

 

[HousePet]

If we aren't doing the Frigates now, perhaps we should do the Islands?
I doubt we have a single turn available to delay there if we want any use from them, for Karachi or otherwise. The platform will be revised.

 

[Phht]

If we aren't doing the Frigates now, perhaps we should do the Islands?
I doubt we have a single turn available to delay there if we want any use from them, for Karachi or otherwise. The platform will be revised.

Click to shrink...

There's no way they're getting done for Karachi. They have the same initial build time the carriers had. Plus they have to wait for carriers to clear slips before any can be started.

 

[Rakuhn]

If we're doing Low Orbit Support Satellites (which I agree are a good idea for Karachi) we may want o consider AECCM and Stealth Disruptor techs first.

 

[doruma1920]

Depending on what exactly the projected rollout timeframe is, it may be worthwhile to still get the last frigate yard now so the first traunch of its frigates is ready shortly after Karachi as reinforcements. And can therefore be dispatched to hotspots when they arise.

 

[Void Stalker]

985/990
[] Plan Space! Columbia and Gravitics
Infra 5/5 90R +36
-[] Blue Zone Apartment Complexes (Phase 10) 87/160 1 die 10R 79%
-[] Suborbital Shuttle Service (Phase 2) 22/250 2 dice 50R 18%
-[] Urban Metros (Phase 4) 0/150 2 dice 30R 81%
HI 5/5 80R +33
-[] Improved Continuous Cycle Fusion Development 0/120 1 die 20R 34%
-[] Low Velocity Particle Applicator Development 0/120 1 die 20R 34%
-[] Personal Electric Vehicle Plants 112/300 2 dice 20R 45%,
-[] Microfusion Cell Development 0/60 1 die 20R 94%
LCI 5/5 120R +23
-[] Reykjavik Myomer Macrospinner (Phase 5) 50/1280 1 die+ Erewhon 40R 0%
-[] Carbon Nanotube Foundry Expansions 0/300 4 dice 80R 56%
Agri 6/6 65R +28
-[] Security Review 1 Agri die
-[] Vertical Farming Projects (Stage 3) (Updated) 74/240 3 die 45R 95%
-[] Wadmalaw Kudzu Plantations (Phase 3) 315/450 2 dice 20R 86%
Tiberium 7/7 160R +38
-[] Tiberium Vein Mines (Stage 2+3+4) 5/570 5 dice 100R 5% (88% for Stage 3)
-[] Improved Hewlett Gardener Process Development 0/160 2 dice 40R 83%
Orbital 7/7+5 free 240R +33
-[] Gravitic Shipyard 0/450 5 dice 100R 55%
-[] GDSS Columbia (Phase 1+2+3) 0/475 7 dice 140R 98%
Services 5/5 70R +31
-[] Advanced Electronic Video Assistant Deployment (Service) 0/200 3 dice +1 service 60R 88%
-[] Gene Clinics 94/120 1 die 10R 100%
Military 8/8 +2 Free 160R +30
-[] Security Review 1 Mil die
-[] Railgun Munitions Factories (Phase 1) 142/200 1 die 10R 88%
-[] Ground Forces Zone Armor (Set 1) (Phase 3+4) 147/360 3 dice 60R 80%
-[] GD-3 Rifle Development 0/30 1 die 10R 100%
-[] Shark Class Frigate Shipyards (Seattle) 0/300 3 dice 60R 20%
-[] Modular Rapid Assembly System Prototypes 51/125 1 die 20R 77%
Bureau 4/4 +28 0R
-[] Security Review (Agriculture) 1 die + 1 Agri 94%
-[] Security Review (Mil) 2 die + 1 Mil 99%
-[] Focus Reallocation (Tib, Orb, HI most likely) 1 die

Free 7/7
5 Space, 2 Mil


Plan Goals
Provide 112 Consumer Goods points from the Treasury (8 45%, 4 95%)
Provide 40 Consumer Goods from Agriculture (4 95%)
Increase Income by 860 (2 vein mines, 3rd at 5%)
Increase Tiberium Processing limit by 920
Increase population in space by 20k (.75k 98%)
Provide 28 Points of Red Zone Abatement
Provide 30 Resources in grants
Spend at least one die on Steel Talons projects every turn

Projects
Complete Karachi Planned City by end of 2065
Complete Chicago Planned City by end of 2065
Deploy Medium Tactical Plasma Weapons
Depoy Orca Wingman Drones by end of 2065
Deploy Services AEVA (88% to finish)
Complete North Boston Phase 5
Develop and deploy Governor-A refit
Develop and deploy Conestoga class
Complete Electric Vehicle Factory by end of 2065 (45% to finish)
Complete at least 3 Blue Zone Inhibitors by end of 2065
Compete Dairy Ranching Domes Phase 2 by end of 2065
Complete 1 of Nuuk, Reykjavik, Bergen (2 dice on Reykjavik)
Complete all phases of Red Zone Border Offensives before 2064
Complete SADN Phase 4
Complete at least 8 Ground Forces Zone Armor factories (80% for 2 factories)
Complete all of the following projects:
Advanced ECCM Development, Stealth Disruptor Development, Zrbite Sonic Weapons Development, Ultralight Glide Munitions Development, Transorbital Fighter Development or follow on heavy ship development, Combat Laser Development, Modular Rapid Assembly System Prototypes, Buckler Shield Development, and Unmanned Support Ground Vehicle Development (77% for Modular Rapid Assembly System)
Complete 2 phases of Reforestation Preparation

Promises to Litvinov
Do not activate Free Dice (except for Tiberium) unless all Department Dice are active.
Spend no more than two free dice per turn on Military.
Activate Munitions Department
Activate Refit Department
Hand off at least 20 points of Capital Goods to market over the course of the plan.
Complete Improved Hewlett Gardener Refits before end of plan (83% to do Dev)

Current thoughts- Going all in on orbital with 5 free dice to push out the gravitic shipyard so that our new adviser among others can have some practical experience and hopefully work towards some designs for both SCED and also for dealing with the Scrin in system. The other orbital dice are pushing out phases 1 to 3 of Columbia.

Adv EVA Service since that is a plan goal and helps us make better use once we are down to 4 dice in that category. It also means when we have the cap goods and energy we are more likely to one turn a HI, Tib, Infra or Mil which we will want as soon as practically possible (so enough energy and cap good surplus) as the bonuses will add up to reduce project length and save dice (most of them are a bit over 4 turns to break even which is not long at all)

 

[trooperist]

Looking at options that have been available for a while. Though mostly I'm just wondering if we'll ever finish Phase 5 of Tiberium Processing Refits. I think I remember reading in an update somewhere there was talk of just closing down the remaining unupdated processing plants.

And well it's not like we're hurting for processing capacity. Nor is it really worth it to use up a dice or two just to get 50 more processing from old infrastructure when we could just build new processing plants instead.

 

[Simon_Jester]

If we aren't doing the Frigates now, perhaps we should do the Islands?
I doubt we have a single turn available to delay there if we want any use from them, for Karachi or otherwise. The platform will be revised.

Click to shrink...

They won't be ready for Karachi, but swapping them in for Seattle is a valid choice if the frigates from Seattle won't be either.

If we're doing Low Orbit Support Satellites (which I agree are a good idea for Karachi) we may want o consider AECCM and Stealth Disruptor techs first.

Click to shrink...

Hmm. AECCM maybe, but stealth disruptors not necessarily.

The stealth disruptor, as I understand it, is an active system- it's a ray you point in the general direction of a cloaked object you suspect is there, and you pull the trigger, and BAM their stealth field overloads. I don't think we'll be able to adapt that to something that's useful on a reconnaissance satellite that's something like 150-200 kilometers above the battlefield.

But AECCM, maybe, because that might have ELINT applications... maybe. I'm willing to go ahead with LOSS anyway, without AECCM, but I can see the logic. Maybe.

Depending on what exactly the projected rollout timeframe is, it may be worthwhile to still get the last frigate yard now so the first traunch of its frigates is ready shortly after Karachi as reinforcements. And can therefore be dispatched to hotspots when they arise.

Click to shrink...

Possibly, though in that case I'd consider spending more than three dice on the yard pointless/wasteful. If it can't be done in time for Karachi, it's not worth rushing.

 

[HousePet]

The Islands are using existing yards though. It they have a shorter lead time in that production could be starting as soon as we assign funding to it, rather than production starting as soon as the yards complete.

 

[Chlof]

@Ithillid Just a question, with our current level of medical technology would we be able to safely remove the current generation of ocular implants from their recipients so they can be updated with newer models?

Click to shrink...

Hey @Ithillid Just wanted to ask this again. I actually have a small amount of experience with a somewhat similar field (Cochlear implants) and one of the main problems the deaf community faces with them is that it's actively dangerous to update the internal parts of the implant, and the cochlear device is relatively unobtrusive in comparison to the GDI ocular implants. Want to make sure we're not leaving a whole generation of people with helmets bolted onto their skulls for the rest of their lives.

 

[Void Stalker]

Looking at options that have been available for a while. Though mostly I'm just wondering if we'll ever finish Phase 5 of Tiberium Processing Refits. I think I remember reading in an update somewhere there was talk of just closing down the remaining unupdated processing plants.

And well it's not like we're hurting for processing capacity. Nor is it really worth it to use up a dice or two just to get 50 more processing from old infrastructure when we could just build new processing plants instead.

Click to shrink...

We are doing another process update so the unupdated facilities will just get rolled into the new set of refits. And we need more processing capacity given our income plan goal

 

[Rakuhn]

I'd assume that would be up to the doctors and their patients?
I expect they'll delay as long as possible in the hopes that medical technology will improve, but once it has been long enough since their original injury that it becomes a choice between a permanent helmet or permanent blindness, I think a lot of people will choose the former.

 

[Ithillid]

Hey @Ithillid Just wanted to ask this again. I actually have a small amount of experience with a somewhat similar field (Cochlear implants) and one of the main problems the deaf community faces with them is that it's actively dangerous to update the internal parts of the implant, and the cochlear device is relatively unobtrusive in comparison to the GDI ocular implants. Want to make sure we're not leaving a whole generation of people with helmets bolted onto their skulls for the rest of their lives.

Click to shrink...

You are leaving a generation of people with parts of helmets bolted to the skulls for the rest of their lives. The thing is that there is no good solution here. Either you have people who can see, but have bits left in them, or you have people who lose the ability to see as their brain rewrites the vision portions. you are good, you are not nearly that good.

 

[RaptorusMaximus]

@RaptorusMaximus , this second version of my plan draft ("Attempting to Have Rifles and Disco") has the GD-3, your point of interest. I wish to express my respect for your classy single-issue advocacy. Please note the orange text below; this draft will not be posted by me. However, you may do with it as you see fit, or encourage others to do so, if you wish. I am making plan drafts for the sheer love of doing so and for no other reason.

Click to shrink...

Thanke for the consideration, Good Sir. I'll definitely keep that in mind after the next turn drops in case my plan-shopping turns up nothing satisfactory. Perhaps I'll actually put together my own plan for once, if things get really bad!

 

[Simon_Jester]

Hm. My understanding is that the reason for the "helmet bolted to skull" aspect of the implants is that the camera array doesn't fit in the eye sockets themselves. Because if the cameras aren't firmly attached to the skull (as human eyes very much are) then moving your head inevitably causes a lot of disorientation, because your cameras are moving in ways different from your head and your proprioception freaks out.

If we ever do invent prosthetic eyes that fit in the eye (or at least into a big ol' pair of goggles like Geordi's visor from Star Trek), we might be able to dispense with the "helmet" and just surgically cover over the bolt attachment points. Or at least replace the bolt-on helmet with something less mad-science looking like, well, Geordi's visor only with fewer exciting features.

But honestly, it might take us years to engineer down into a "Geordi's visor" design, let alone something that fits in the eye socket while having acceptable performance. We'd be irresponsible not to at least offer the choice to get the big ugly first-generation models. Even given the example @Chlof gives about cochlear implants in the deaf, I imagine Chlof would agree that it wouldn't be objectively a better thing if the medical industry had just never started manufacturing the implants at all because they weren't "good enough" yet.

Thanke for the consideration, Good Sir. I'll definitely keep that in mind after the next turn drops in case my plan-shopping turns up nothing satisfactory. Perhaps I'll actually put together my own plan for once, if things get really bad!

Click to shrink...

The GD-3 was always high on my to-do list for this turn; it was mainly the desire to rush out the frigate yard plus the perceived need for a lot of zone armor and a security review of the military that kept the rifle from appearing in earlier iterations of my drafts.

 

[Chlof]

Even given the example @Chlof gives about cochlear implants in the deaf, I imagine Chlof would agree that it wouldn't be objectively a better thing if the medical industry had just never started manufacturing the implants at all because they weren't "good enough" yet.

Click to shrink...

Oh, I definitely agree. It's a deeply complicated and sensitive subject which I'm I bit too tired to go in depth on right now, but I might make a post elaborating in the future.

 

[Oledoms]

Regarding AEVA, perhaps it would be best if we finish the Services AEVA before transferring the die to another category. Say like HI or Light Industry

Also. Regarding AEVA priority, the following below is my recommendation since orbital is complete

Note that there are intervals to allow CPG regeneration via the grants

Possibly Q3 or Q4 Services - Since it is likely that Die will be transferred in the next and this is a plan requirement with many gated medical and tech.

Possibly 2063 Q1 or Q2 HI: Our primary source of capital goods and with both thousand progress projects in Boston and Nuuk needed ,every single number counts

Possibly Q3 or Q4: Military: Too late to help with Karachi but will help with Director limitations since we can only use 10 Dice in Total and there are many ways to improve the army post-Karachi. Will also help with post refit and ammo dept.

Possibly 2064 Q1 or Q2: Light Industry. Same with HI, thousand progress projects

The rest can be taken at our own time. It would be great if we can finish all AEVA during this plan since recruitment is becoming less viable

I still cry on seeing Graduates

 

[Simon_Jester]

Regarding AEVA, perhaps it would be best if we finish the Services AEVA before transferring the die to another category. Say like HI or Light Industry

Also. Regarding AEVA priority, the following below is my recommendation since orbital is complete

Note that there are intervals to allow CPG regeneration via the grants

Possibly Q3 or Q4 Services - Since it is likely that Die will be transferred in the next and this is a plan requirement with many gated medical and tech.

Click to shrink...

Do you mean that the Services AEVA is itself something that other tasks are gated behind? I hadn't heard anything about that.

Personally I'd go for Heavy Industry AEVA, then Tiberium, then Light Industry or Infrastructure, except my prioritization chain would have to be interrupted to do Services some time in 2064.

Light Industry is a category where we have far, far more dice than we have mandatory projects, so it's deeply questionable whether it's worth -4 Capital Goods to get us a +3 on the dice rolls. It's gonna take us a lot of cumulative +15 Progress per turn (much of it not spent on megaprojects, if past trends hold) from the AEVA to make up for the loss of those four points of Capital Goods.

 

[Cerazor]

Even if Nodlantis doesn't exist. It sure makes a good idea for a Propaganda film. Bring your yellow Swimming trunks. We'll be planting a Golden Eagle on the roof of Nod-atlantis soon.

Hopefully starring Hugo Weaving as Granger as he deals with an ardous James Bond Thunderball-esque underwater scuba fight scene. With guys in yellow clobbering goons in red swim at the bottom of the sea.

 

[NSchwerte]

Could someone send me the reason why we are doing Karachi? I can't remember it and the recent discussion made me wonder why we are attacking the relatively friendly and powerful Nod warlords instead of more hostile ones