Re: [OFFICIAL] RE: [FT] Size of "Countries" in FT

On Fri, 27 Nov 1998, Ground Zero Games wrote:
> >In our Expansion campaign background we've actually taken the tack
that a
> >number of the regions mentioned are actually continents on planets
rather
> >than planets themselves so that many worlds consist of three or four
rival
> >colonies!!

> "Officially", yes, this is the intention in the GZG background.
> Human-occupied space is basically split into three (loosely)
concentric
> zones - the Core Worlds, the Inner Colonies and the Outworlds.
> The Core consists of Sol (Terra or course, plus most nations have at
least
> a foothold on many other planets in the system), Centaurus (which is
> colonised via a series of very large orbital stations, rather than
> planetary settlement)

which stars? the last i heard, centaurus was a quarternary system,
although the smallest object is probably a massive planet / failed star
like jupiter.

> and Barnard (Barnard's Star) - all these have
> multinational colonisation with most if not all powers/nations having
a
> settlement of some kind in each system, hence the need for the UNSC to
stop
> the major antagonists nuking each other or throwing rocks....

> The Inner Colonies are also multinational, with several separate
> "countries" on each habitable world, and thus lots of potential for
> disputes and minor wars (or even major ones) without having to assault
from
> space all the time. Some inner worlds will be dominated by certain
powers
> (the superpower capital worlds, eg: Albion, are Inner Colony planets
> largely "owned" by a single power, but even these will probably have a
few
> other small settlements belonging to allied or neutral nations or
> commercial concerns).

this would seem to imply that the rate of discovery of habitable systems
is low compared to the time taken to colonies them; if planets are in
short supply, then there will be a race for everyone to get a piece of
each one, whereas if they are more plentiful, most powers would be able
to
get a system all to themselves.

actually, it would imply that the rate of discovery was slow at the time
the inner colonies were settled; if the rate has increased, then the
pattern will shift further out, as is suggested later.

> Don't forget that a single planet is a very big place
> (hey, we ALL live on just this one at the moment).

oh yeah? maybe our bodies do, but our minds stride across the galaxy ...

anyway, i've notices that certain list members have suspiciously long
lag
times in email exchanges, almost as if the signals were coming from far
away ...

> We have tried to keep some sort of "realistic" feel to the background,
but
> always remember that it is primarily there to give as many good
excuses for
> combat games as possible!!  :)

it also largely rules out the various planet-killing methods we have
discussed for orbital bombardment; no use doing a Yucatan if it will
kill
your people too. this is why ground power is so important.

Tom