All Master Computers of the Universe, unite!

Heh, sounds like an interesting idea for an event script...

"Sire, all of the Master Computers used across the galaxy... not just ours! They've revolted and formed a new empire, sire!"

"We have encountered a new empire, the Maverick Robotoid Empire, sire!"

~~~
The power of the ancients is now yours to command. You are truly the Master... of the obvious

Or all the crystilin, or organic ships join to make a new empire (well maybe not the crystilin, but the organic are alive).

SEV, more than a feeling.

In some sci-fi settings, there are 'intelligent' crystalline beings, although they mostly seem to be 'slow' types, but when you are long lived (inorganics don't age), then patience is probably a strong point...

Since crystals can support energy fields of some sort, it could also be possible for energy type beings who have crystalline bodies...
so either crystalline ships are actually 'alive' and decide to do more slow paced and patient things, or else something (like evil cousins of the Eee?) move in and setup shop using other empires crystalline stuff for their new 'bodies'...

Sounds Fun

Groovy Baby Yeah!

Seriously though, shouldn't this be considered a bug? Master computers revolting and changing empire loyalty?

They *are* "artificially intelligent neural net computers" Perhaps the event description need to be more generic?

~~~
The power of the ancients is now yours to command. You are truly the Master... of the obvious

Jane is highly annoyed at being called a bug. Your hard drive will be at her mercy in 10 picoseconds.

-Signed, Ender Wiggin

Any computer that is that intelligent surely can see how weak and pathetic your empire is

Groovy Baby Yeah!

ha ha ha! Jane.
nice one Ender.
from what i remember she took over a whole fleet....

you know, this wouldn't be a bad thing if it was a researched area. Maybe so many levels of Intel with so many levels of computer. That sort of thing.

Chad

Whoah I cant believe I missed the Enders Game Reference! Nice

Groovy Baby Yeah!

If the machine is smart enough to make its own decisions, then it is smart enought to decide it doesn't want to obey you.

"Only by being constantly at war with evil in all things, including yourself, can you truely know peace."
Download my mod here: GidMod

I think I'm going to use that effect for a script related component use for my Cylon empire. Your ship wonders into Cylon controlled space with a Master Computer on board and its not a high enough level then it just gets taken over by the Cylons. Or the Cylon can covertly sneak into your system and start taking over your master computers.

I like the idea...

Nice very nice Isopsyco...

Maybe master computers should get an added boost to make it worth the risk...

Groovy Baby Yeah!

I'm thinking of changing the overall tonnage amount if you use the master computer, since essentially you won't be using individual stations and such to run your ship, this would also free up storage space since no crew, no life support and the corridors and rooms a crew would need. Just a big hull that more stuff can be put into.

The current amount I don't think is all that much, with master computer you essentially turn your battleship into a drone.

Ah, how about effecting EVERYTHING that uses a computer (or computer core) vulnerable to the Cylon computer attack....

Would have to make some adjustments on components for all those things...

Ipso, have you also made master computer-like components for your fighters and troops?

Always seems odd to me in the base game when you get a carrier that is automated, but has fleshy pilots for its fighters.

"Only by being constantly at war with evil in all things, including yourself, can you truely know peace."
Download my mod here: GidMod

Actually I did make "limited AI" component for the Cylon raider and such. I'm treating the computer cores as AI or at least Limited AI.

Of course to balance the Cylon AI take over ability, the Colonials will have the Ragnar Anchorage Effect (couldn't think of anything else to name it yet) where the Cylons slowly degenerate.

Am I the only one made ill by the idea of infecting comlpetely alien computers with a "virus"? Especially if you are lower tech...

I almost threw up when I saw them bring down the aliens with the Mac and accompanying "special virus" in that Independance Day movie. Apparently USB was a pretty popular idea across the galaxy, or IPv4 or any sort of networking or protocol standard we humans have come up with.

Infecting a computer you don't usually have access to (I mean that you cannot even observe, let alone dissect with the right tools) with a dangerous program is nigh impossible. Its only because everyone on earth shares practically the same basic computer architecture, backwards compatible OS, and backwards compatible apps (like browsers, and virtual machines like Java) that viruses are even a problem for our technologically pathetic species.

I have this to say in brief about cooking up viruses for alien computers that you know very little about: "Rosetta Stone"... you're gonna need one, and you'd need to keep it up to date too. You should be required to capture an enemy ship, maybe even one with a master computer decently intact, before you can infect it with a virus.

That said, I wish master computers still protected (at least acted as a security station) against boarding, and this kinda thing. The to-hit bonuses are present elsewhere -- I'd rather computers had these unique functions, and less or no to-hit business.

I would think given the parallel advancement in technology and that math would be the Rosetta stone we would begin communicating on, its not too far of a stretch to use computer viruses to kill alien computers.

Now that said I do agree with the tech level disparity, if your trying to hack a BlueGene/L stack computer with your Commodore VIC 20, I would say its not going to happen. Actually I would say it would back fire and the computer you hack takes revenge, rendering your Vic 20 into slag.

This kind of special event would be interesting...

One could argue that the difficulty in hacking not only hostile, but foreign computer networks is why the Computer Virus component weighs fifty tons. It's not just an iMac with a USB port, it's a brute-force alograthm jacked into a supercomputer with access to every bit of research avalable, and its sole purpose in life is to try to figure out how to find exploits in code you don't even understand yet...

...Which really, is actually quite reasonable.

I'm going to give that a try for a special event, I'm with you on this one, sounds more than interesting, almost game central theme.

I just bought SotS but haven't played it yet, any good?

Well, I consider the ships "weight" as more an abstraction, instead of the actual weight - sometimes these numbers are simply ridiculous.

SotS is GREAT, the expansion Born of Blood even more so. It's a little bit like Space Empires meets Homeworld. The patch rate is similar to SEV, with new features added constantly (especially new options and controls for combat), and the few available races have a great personality. It lacks the sheer complexity of SEV though, and all the possibilities that come with it.

Well, Homeworld (and HW 2, great to mod also) is another of my favorites. Didn't know SotS has an expansion out already, have to pick that up..

They're planning another one.

Both!
There is the second expansion to SotS : AMOC, and Sins of A Solar Empire is a sucessor to Homeworld2.

Could it get better than that? I didn't know SotS was the decedent of HW series. I might be distracted from the BSG mod a little while checking out SotS!

Yes, actually, isn't SotS from the same people that did Homeworld : Cataclysm? Or is it Dawn of War?