Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)
- Thread starter Shadows
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And these people are high end scientists and engineers as well, so they're not going to be sitting idle. They'll be working on the rockets that will take them to space eventually.
Initial thoughts:
- Go down to 1% for a year or two while nothing exciting's happening, then spike it back up when we're ready to show off again.
- Materials research 5 is a big ask, probably being around 700 progress total. However, the better our materials, the better... well, everything we do is. 25 PS is also enough to justify focusing all our science dice but the photovoltaics on it.
- Jet research doesn't help us much at this point, I don't think it's a good idea. Yeah, it's a convenient +10 PS, but I'd rather be economical when we could pick MR5 or EPR3.
- Similarly to MR5, EPR 3 is worth doing because it's useful to us when we want to launch payloads with onboard thrusters. It's also a lot of PS to grab. We'd have to pick one of the two, though.
- I'd like to refrain from building launch facilities just yet, because I'd rather grab all the science labs. New launch facilities should probably come closer to the end of the decade, to synergize with us planning new, larger launch vehicles. When we do, though, Singapore would be perfectly located for a half-dozen reasons.
- Speaking of, we should pick promises to build 2 science labs this year if we do 1%, 3 if we do 1.5%. We could also try and slip in tracking stations as well, but gut feel is it'd cut things close?
- NUCLEAR POWER NUCLEAR POWER NUCLEAR POWER. It's breaking even at this point!
- Making the formulation of APCP public is worth doing, IMO. It's not helping the military per se, and everything we discover should be freely available anyways.
- The SDL doesn't want us to:
- Do spaceplane research
- Do rocketry research
That's 10 PS to do nothing. As much as I want to say fuck them, this is actually a really good year to pick this while we focus on payloads and basic research, and then we take the "fuck you" choice in the future.
- Hire spacefarers seems a poor choice this early on. We're several years away from actually doing any sort of manned spaceflight. I don't think those promises will go away.
- Research support, as always, is kinda mediocre.
- With us focusing presumably on either EP3 or MR5, demil access this year is likely not that useful. Save it for next year?
- We're bottlenecked by funds, not dice; we should take no GRAD picks so that our bbudget next year is higher.
- HELL YEAH VENUS PROBE (nobody said it had to be good)
- HELL YEAH MARS PROBE (an impactor with no science payload is technically a probe, right?)
- HELL YEAH LUNAR IMPACTOR (this is probably actually the diciest one)
- HELL YEAH LUNAR TELESCOPE (this is great, I love this, no notes)
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
It might be that 'additional funding' is more like backroom deals, while publicly hoovering up 1.5% of the world budget for two years in a row is a precedent and public issue that a lot of people don't want; They don't want the Space Guys to grow larger every year and prevent any chance for other groups to gain official funding?
That's my interpretation, anyway.
I'm not entirely sure why we'd want to go down to .75% unless we want Demil Locker Access for some reason. Only other thing we're looking at buying with PS is Nuclear Power, and we break even there by taking the 1% budget and the FWW Nuclear options.
Anyways, I think this is the turn we take a "Build two points of Industry or Infrastructure in Region X" promise. We shouldn't have to take many promises this turn, so there should be plenty of slack for an unknown progress project, especially with the number of Facilities dice in our possession. Plus, "Build two points of Industry in North America" counts for three separate promises
Plus, some of the areas are less likely than others to have a lot of good candidates due to poor education infrastructure, the Pacific Islands for example.
What about a single Politics die, so that the Director's area of specialization keeps up with the other departments? Those actions are incredibly cheap after all.
- Location
- the Republic
- Pronouns
- He/They
-[ ] [FUND] 1.5% (-70PS)
-[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (+10 PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor, small additional progress requirement added in order to represent finding materials good for civilian use)
-[ ] Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering Asia and Europe. (+10PS) (Int(M-L) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus)
-[ ] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1956Q1. (+5PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering North America. (+5PS) (Int(D) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus)
-[ ] Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering Asia and South America. (+10PS) (Int(C) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Launch a Lunar Impactor before 1956Q3. (+5PS, +2 to New Delhi Physics Institute bonus)
-[ ] Build the New Delhi AND Beijing Scientific Complexes by 1956Q1. (+10PS) (Int(C) moves 4d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Take the hit for broaching the Nuclear Power topic to the Council. (FWW sets stance: Quietly Pro-Nuclear) (+15PS)
-[ ] Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (+10PS) (No movement)
-[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Conduct Prototype Spaceplane research (+5PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
-[ ] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1956Q1. (+5PS) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build and test-fly a spaceplane before 1956Q3. (+5PS, +2 to Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre's bonus)
-[ ] Transfer APCP formula to the UWF for use in military rockets. (+5PS) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Oppose)
-[ ] Build the New Delhi Institute for Physics by 1956Q1. (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Research Support (-5PS, +3 to all Science and Engineering dice until 1955Q1)
-[ ] Broach the topic of Nuclear Power. (-35PS, variable reactions from the Parties, gain permission to further pursue the topic of the usage of nuclear technology)
-[ ] [GRAD] Operations
-[ ] [GRAD] Facilities
-[ ] [GRAD] Engineering
-[ ] [GRAD] Science
I have assembled a plan proposal around three supporting pillars: that nuclear power is cool, that dice bonuses are great, and that surrendering even the smallest part of our funding percentage is cowardice bordering on treason. I have no idea if this is feasible or if it needs to be rebalanced, but it keeps us at current funding levels and at 70 75 PS. On a non-meme level, I think a commitment to Mars and Venus by 1960 is a great guiding star, like Korolev's "orbital rocket by 1955". I am hesitant to commit to the Moonscope by 1975, though.
I welcome thoughts; this is my first-ever plan proposal.
Obsolete; please see my revised plan here. (It has a new name)
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Sticking to 1.5 is foolhardy. I also don't seem to get why the thread is all-up on nuclear power, but I am not going to vote against it.
(The reason, incidentally, you may want spacefarers early comes from early NASA designs, where the astronauts often helped or led the development of capsules, being skilled engineers.)
(The reason, incidentally, you may want spacefarers early comes from early NASA designs, where the astronauts often helped or led the development of capsules, being skilled engineers.)
Industry/Infrastructure might require facilities dice, so it depends on what else we want to promise.
I wouldn't be against a single Politics die, but I want to try and leave as much as possible to grow the overall budget.
At first glance, a good plan, although I personally would prefer 1% if we can work it (.75 is almost certainly going to freeze our progress completely). Throw me in the sharashka for being a wrecker if you wish.
Weather Observation will be tight because the project will only finish in the last quarter; we'd be really rushing to launch at the end of the year. I don't think this is a year where we need to take huge gambles, but it is an option.
I'd cut the Mars probe, it's harder than Venus (higher delta v requirements, more difficult target to hit, less frequent windows...) and we'll be pushing ourselves to just get one done while also doing other programs.
I don't know if we can manage both MR5 and EPR3. We have four dice, with one of them being used for photovoltaics; that leaves three dice to undertake two very large programs. I'd personally pick one this year, and then one next year, just to be on the safe side (especially if we're at 1.5% and the politicians are looking for an excuse!)
Spaceplane seems kinda pointless to me, since we'd get almost as much from promising to not do it, and there are still a lot of engineering projects we can do in the interim. If we're doing a push to MR5, designing our spaceplane after that point feels more sensible.
I'd promise to not work on rockets, but that depends on if balloon tanks count.
Other than that, I think it's a good base to work off from?
- Location
- the Republic
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Edited my plan to include the FWW's "Conduct Prototype Spaceplane Research" promise, which adds another +5 PS, and the Research Support request, which should help with a lot of those commitments you're worried about, all with no actual increase in requirements because we'd need to do that research anyway.
Also added GRADs.
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Honestly we're pretty good in that regard. The actions that are more or less givens (Getting the Nuclear OK and completing Nuclear Power), alongside the 1% budget, has us breaking even in PS, even paying 35 PS for said nod. Rebuilding what the FAS blew up takes us to 85 PS, and ALS, a 5R/die project that's mostly done, gets us to a whopping 90 PS! We have plenty of slack here.
[] Plan Ironically, Not Moonshot
-[] [FUND] 1.5% - (-70PS)
-[] Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus)
-[] Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus)
-[] Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering Asia and Europe. (+10PS) (Int(M-L) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)
-[] Build the Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre by 1956Q1. (+10PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[] Build a Launch Facility in the Pacific Islands by 1957Q1. (+10PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[] Complete all stages of Tracking Facilities by 1957Q1 (+10PS, CPAL moves 6d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Build the Big Ear by 1956Q1. (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) by 1956Q1. (+5PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards favor)
-[] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 towards Oppose)
-[] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
-[] Conduct Prototype Spaceplane research (+5PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
-[] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1956Q1. (+5PS) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1956Q1. (+5PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (+10PS) (No movement)
-[] Hire a spacefarer from Eastern Europe. (+5PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Transfer APCP formula to the UWF for use in military rockets. (+5PS) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Oppose)
-[] Help sponsor the construction of 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in colonized regions (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Take the hit for broaching the Nuclear Power topic to the Council. (FWW sets stance: Quietly Pro-Nuclear) (+15PS)
-[] Broach the topic of Nuclear Power. (-35PS, variable reactions from the Parties, gain permission to further pursue the topic of the usage of nuclear technology)
-[] Redirect Funding to Africa
--[] Industry (-5 PS)
--[] Infrastructure (-5 PS)
-[] [GRAD] Science
-[] [GRAD] Science
-[] [GRAD] Engineering
-[] [GRAD] Engineering
-[] [GRAD] Politics
IEC Budget: (without extras): 575RpT
PS: 15
"I'm not giving back the money or the cursed rocks."
It concerns me that there's no time limit given for the weather satellites, but hey, if they're offering I'm buying. This is also the only way we'll ever commit to building the Big Ear, so in it goes.
With the introduction of turn progress research and engineering goals, expanding those dice will be critical to not fall directly into hell.
15 PS is a workable buffer. I fear for the future but as long as we act to impress, all should be well. If necessary we can make the budget concession in a later year without much harm, once the world budget has correspondingly grown.
-[] [FUND] 1.5% - (-70PS)
-[] Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus)
-[] Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus)
-[] Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering Asia and Europe. (+10PS) (Int(M-L) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)
-[] Build the Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre by 1956Q1. (+10PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[] Build a Launch Facility in the Pacific Islands by 1957Q1. (+10PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[] Complete all stages of Tracking Facilities by 1957Q1 (+10PS, CPAL moves 6d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Build the Big Ear by 1956Q1. (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) by 1956Q1. (+5PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards favor)
-[] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 towards Oppose)
-[] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
-[] Conduct Prototype Spaceplane research (+5PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
-[] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1956Q1. (+5PS) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1956Q1. (+5PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (+10PS) (No movement)
-[] Hire a spacefarer from Eastern Europe. (+5PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Transfer APCP formula to the UWF for use in military rockets. (+5PS) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Oppose)
-[] Help sponsor the construction of 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in colonized regions (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[] Take the hit for broaching the Nuclear Power topic to the Council. (FWW sets stance: Quietly Pro-Nuclear) (+15PS)
-[] Broach the topic of Nuclear Power. (-35PS, variable reactions from the Parties, gain permission to further pursue the topic of the usage of nuclear technology)
-[] Redirect Funding to Africa
--[] Industry (-5 PS)
--[] Infrastructure (-5 PS)
-[] [GRAD] Science
-[] [GRAD] Science
-[] [GRAD] Engineering
-[] [GRAD] Engineering
-[] [GRAD] Politics
IEC Budget: (without extras): 575RpT
PS: 15
"I'm not giving back the money or the cursed rocks."
It concerns me that there's no time limit given for the weather satellites, but hey, if they're offering I'm buying. This is also the only way we'll ever commit to building the Big Ear, so in it goes.
With the introduction of turn progress research and engineering goals, expanding those dice will be critical to not fall directly into hell.
15 PS is a workable buffer. I fear for the future but as long as we act to impress, all should be well. If necessary we can make the budget concession in a later year without much harm, once the world budget has correspondingly grown.
- Location
- the Republic
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I believe any promise that doesn't have an explicit time limit has to be completed by Q1 of the following year.
It's back of the envelope, but it should be doable (save the caveat below). Keep in mind the number of these that are doubling-up or not one year promises.
In that case, all the weather satellite projects are nearly-impossible to complete, with the time just the research project takes.
pbluekan
Somethin's Fucky ...
- Location
- Trumpistan
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's… not my favorite. Just seems to take every shiny thing on the list.
Regarding the Venus and Mars probes; can the Dawn (our only launch vehicle at the moment) even break out of LEO, let alone send anything of a size worth anything to Mars let alone Venus which is even harder?
If it can't, this promise is literally doomed to fail.
I get that, and this is a first for me, but I would advocate for focusing our efforts in less directions
The R-4 was developed very early, and lacks a lot of refinement. We should be able to make some simple improvements (e.g, making the tanks out of better materials) without doing a full redesign and put around a ton into LEO. If our goal is just a bare-minimumVenus flyby and lunar impact, that should be doable.
- Location
- the Republic
- Pronouns
- He/They
I believe launching Curiosities reduces the progress required? I'm not entirely clear on how that works.
Developing an interplanetary rocket and then launching it twice within the span of five years (that's 20 turns) is actually reasonably achievable, I think. It's one of the less crazy promises I've put in that plan.
Also, edited my plan again because there's a second party that wants EPR3. Sadly this also ruins the plan name, but wygd.
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DracoDracul
Transbian Communist
- Location
- Austin
- Pronouns
- She/They
I say we go down to 1% while we do some more lowkey research. We definitely take the lunar observatory. I think 19 years is plenty of time getting that ready
trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
As soon as one war ends the seeds for the next one are planted. The forces of reaction have gone back into hiding for now. But they'll be back.
Finally some long term projects. Launch facilities within 8 quarters and a few research projects within 7 quarters. I like the Lunar Impactor. The Mars and Venus probes within 5 years seem a bit more daunting. Would we need to design a bigger rocket?
Finally some long term projects. Launch facilities within 8 quarters and a few research projects within 7 quarters. I like the Lunar Impactor. The Mars and Venus probes within 5 years seem a bit more daunting. Would we need to design a bigger rocket?
Free Workers of the World don't ask for much do they? We haven't even put someone in space yet and they want a moon base in 20 years.
This seems like busy work. Sure the All-Sky Survey would be nice to complete, but this would tie up all our Science dice for a while. Especially since just the first phase is 300 points.
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
I'd prefer to take only one new long term promise per World Council turn. I agree that they're nice guiding stars, like the orbital rocket goal, something long term to look at and work towards, but I don't want to have a bunch of them hanging limply.
The moon telescope is an incredible cool idea though. No air up there to interfere with precise measurements! But idk if it's any better than an orbiter; Hubble-like?
My personal bucket list looks like: Broach nuclear power, promise a venus probe, 1% funding. Too sleepy to actually make a plan, tho.
(The All-Sky Survey is also a really cool idea and I want to get started on it sooner or later.)
The moon telescope is an incredible cool idea though. No air up there to interfere with precise measurements! But idk if it's any better than an orbiter; Hubble-like?
My personal bucket list looks like: Broach nuclear power, promise a venus probe, 1% funding. Too sleepy to actually make a plan, tho.
(The All-Sky Survey is also a really cool idea and I want to get started on it sooner or later.)
[ ] Plan: Nuking, Rebuilding, and Freedom
-[ ] [FUND] 1% - Going down to a single percent of the Council's funding after multiple years of increases wouldn't harm your actual ability to get things done too much, and would take some of the pressure off you to perform more miracles.(-200R/turn, +10PS)
-[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in industrialized regions (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Take the hit for broaching the Nuclear Power topic to the Council. (FWW sets stance: Quietly Pro-Nuclear) (+15PS)
-[ ] Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (+10PS) (No movement)
-[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) by 1956Q1. (+5PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards favor)
-[ ] Broach the topic of Nuclear Power.
-[ ] [GRAD] Politics
Pretty simple plan. We do our part to help rebuilding what the FAS destroyed, and get going on Nuclear stuff. We also do a project that is almost done for an additional +5 PS. In exchange, we hit 90 PS, and are free to do almost whatever we like during the next year. Not bad if I do say so myself. We also grab a politics die so our Director's area of expertise doesn't fall behind.
-[ ] [FUND] 1% - Going down to a single percent of the Council's funding after multiple years of increases wouldn't harm your actual ability to get things done too much, and would take some of the pressure off you to perform more miracles.(-200R/turn, +10PS)
-[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in industrialized regions (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Take the hit for broaching the Nuclear Power topic to the Council. (FWW sets stance: Quietly Pro-Nuclear) (+15PS)
-[ ] Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (+10PS) (No movement)
-[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) by 1956Q1. (+5PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards favor)
-[ ] Broach the topic of Nuclear Power.
-[ ] [GRAD] Politics
Pretty simple plan. We do our part to help rebuilding what the FAS destroyed, and get going on Nuclear stuff. We also do a project that is almost done for an additional +5 PS. In exchange, we hit 90 PS, and are free to do almost whatever we like during the next year. Not bad if I do say so myself. We also grab a politics die so our Director's area of expertise doesn't fall behind.
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Fixed and thanks