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Author Topic:   New faction: hackers

mcv posted 06-24-99 02:00 PM ET
I've got an idea for a new faction: the hackers. (Probably led by Immanuel Goldstein, if you know who that is.)
Among the stats will be serious police and support penalties (-3 and -2, probably), some research bonus (+1 or +2), possibly small bonuses and penalties like morale -1, planet +1 and/or efficiency +1, though I'm not sure about that. Since this looks like a lot of penalties, I might give them industry +1, because they really have to build everything with clean reactors later on.
Anyway, the problem is what to do with Probe.
As you'd probably expect, I want them to have little trouble breaking into other people's bases, which suggests a high Probe bonus.
Problem is, like the University, they're in favor of freedom of information, and they're to anarchistic to protect their secrets well anyway. So I want others to have little trouble stealing tech and other info from the hackers (but not mind control! those hackers are an independent, freedom-loving bunch of anarchists, so they won't just switch allegiance because of some Hive probe team).
So basically, I want them to have both the advantages of a high Probe score, and the disadvantages of a low Probe.
Any ideas on how to do this?

(Other stuff about the hackers:
They start with Planetary Networks (must have been designed for them).
They can't become a Police State (so how do you wage war? that's the fun part about them). If I can select two aversions, they can't become a thought-controlled society either.
I think they'd like a Cybernetic society, although I've never developed the tech needed.
I'm considering giving them a free Network Node at each base, but that would make them a lot like the University. Then again, they'll probably replace the university when they're used. Zak's picture fits well enough for a hacker (although Emmanuel Goldstein looked totally different last time I saw him).)

Smeagol posted 06-24-99 05:48 PM ET
This faction has already been made by someone else, but I don't know his posting name. Here is the faction (I hope this appears OK on screen because it looks terrible in this little box):
;
; Sid Meier's ALPHA CENTAURI
;
; FACTION FILE: Syst3m F@ilur3
;
; Copyright (c) 1997, 1998 by Firaxis Games, Inc.
;
; ALPHA CENTAURI reads the rules of the game from this file at
; startup. Feel free, at your own risk, to experiment with editing
; this file. We recommend you make a backup copy of the original.
;

#HACKERS
Syst3m F@ilur3, The Hacker, Hacker, M, 1, D3mons33d, M, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0,
TECH, InfNet, SHARETECH, 2, SOCIAL, ++PROBE, SOCIAL, -SUPPORT, SOCIAL, -POLICE,
DRONE, 4, FACILITY, 8
Values, Knowledge, PROBE
Politics, Fundamentalist, nil
Hacker, Hacker,
Angel, Wintermute, Angel's Fall
The Elite, brilliant, unethical, talented, reckless
Madman
allow free flow of information and data
to allow free flow of information and data
destroying the vital computer systems of other factions
destroying the vital computer systems of other factions
hack into and destroy vital computer systems
programming viruses and pirating software
programming viruses and pirating software
hacking into our computer systems
childish games, M2
hacking, M1
"programming", M1
programming fee, M1
creating a free flow of information and data
Elite hackers
Free Information Act
#BASES
Crystal Palace
Gibson
Matrix
Digital
Anarchy
Pyramid
Decibel
Neo Tokyo
System Crash
Fractal
Chaos City
Ice Zone
Chiron.net
Flatline
Spy's Demense
Ghost Zone
Club Hell
fungus.com
AI Grid
New Chiba
Titania Perimeter
Divinopolis
Arctic Razor
Ground Zero
#END
#WATERBASES
Atlantis
water.com
Water Palace
Neptune's Net
#END
#BLURB
Artificial intelligence, digital intelligence, self-aware
machines, evolving neural software, ice and ice-breakers
like you've never seen; we are paving the way to the future,
and you are either part of the steamroller, or part of the road.
^
^ -- D3mons33d Elite,
^ "A Hacker's Guide to the 22nd Century"
#DATALINKS1
^LEADER: {The Elite D3mons33d}
^BACKGROUND: {Elite Hacker; stowaway on the Unity}
^AGENDA: {Free flow of information, information theft.}
^TECH: {Information Networks}
^
#DATALINKS2
^+2 PROBE: {Can hack (or protect) almost any system}
^-1 SUPPORT: {Creature comforts at a premium}
^-1 POLICE: {Difficult to police a nation of hackers, no?}
^Gains any tech that any two other factions have discovered
^Free NETWORK NODE at every base
^Extra DRONE for every four citizens {(prevailing elitist attidutes)}
^{May not use Fundamentalist Politics.}
#FACTIONTRUCE
#xs 440
#caption $CAPTION7
"Hey man, live and let live, okay? Let's just pledge a Blood Truce
and get this over with, $NAME1.
"Very well, but stay out of my computers."
"Too bad, $NAME3. Your fate is already sealed."
#FACTIONTREATY
#xs 440
#caption $CAPTION7
"You seem pretty cool. What say we sign a Treaty of Friendship
$TITLE0 $NAME1? We promise not to screw with your systems if
you do."
"That's an incentive. I accept."
"No. And you'd better not screw with my systems anyway, $NAME3."
# ; This line must remain at end of file
Smeagol posted 06-24-99 05:51 PM ET
As you can see, he gave them the Sharetech ability along with the probe bonus. They may be a little too powerful-- I think that sharetech should be free tech if any 3 factions have it (instead of 2).
If these people can hack so well, shouldn't they also be able to design effective countermeasures? I think a bonus to probe is in order even if they have free flow of info between each other. But if you really want to give them a probe penalty, than you can just give them the Sharetech, 2 ability and this can be used to represent their hacking abilities.
mcv posted 06-25-99 02:56 PM ET
It's not just the tech. I think they'd be reasonably good at sabotage as well.
And they don't just share info between each other. It's an ideology. They want freedom of information, so it'd be very hypocritical if they kept it secret themselves.
Besides, it's a pretty anarchistic and informal society, so it shouldn't be too hard to infiltrate.
And I'd make the support and police ratings much lower. Half of them are pacifist, and the other half is paranoid about 'Big Brother'. I'd make Police Sate the aversion, instead of Fundamentalism. And Thought Control is pretty bad too, ofcourse. Now it's more just a clone of the University with good Probe.
Smeagol posted 06-27-99 12:52 PM ET
mcv-- Hey, it isn't my faction, as I said. I just wanted you to see the possibilities... what you want to do with your faction is impossible. If you want to make them easy to infiltrate then certainly give them the probe penalty. Since this doesn't actually have an effect on the cost of YOUR probe team actions, you can still probe well. I noticed that bioenhancement centers enhance probe team morale, and I think command centers do the same. The ultimate effect of this is that all factions eventually end up with elite probe teams, so maybe you should allow them to start with bioenhance or just command centers to at least give them an early probe bonus. This is really your only option, and I know it isn't the ideal method but at least it has an effect.
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Author	Topic: New faction: hackers
mcv	posted 06-24-99 02:00 PM ET I've got an idea for a new faction: the hackers. (Probably led by Immanuel Goldstein, if you know who that is.) Among the stats will be serious police and support penalties (-3 and -2, probably), some research bonus (+1 or +2), possibly small bonuses and penalties like morale -1, planet +1 and/or efficiency +1, though I'm not sure about that. Since this looks like a lot of penalties, I might give them industry +1, because they really have to build everything with clean reactors later on. Anyway, the problem is what to do with Probe. As you'd probably expect, I want them to have little trouble breaking into other people's bases, which suggests a high Probe bonus. Problem is, like the University, they're in favor of freedom of information, and they're to anarchistic to protect their secrets well anyway. So I want others to have little trouble stealing tech and other info from the hackers (but not mind control! those hackers are an independent, freedom-loving bunch of anarchists, so they won't just switch allegiance because of some Hive probe team). So basically, I want them to have both the advantages of a high Probe score, and the disadvantages of a low Probe. Any ideas on how to do this? (Other stuff about the hackers: They start with Planetary Networks (must have been designed for them). They can't become a Police State (so how do you wage war? that's the fun part about them). If I can select two aversions, they can't become a thought-controlled society either. I think they'd like a Cybernetic society, although I've never developed the tech needed. I'm considering giving them a free Network Node at each base, but that would make them a lot like the University. Then again, they'll probably replace the university when they're used. Zak's picture fits well enough for a hacker (although Emmanuel Goldstein looked totally different last time I saw him).)
Smeagol	posted 06-24-99 05:48 PM ET This faction has already been made by someone else, but I don't know his posting name. Here is the faction (I hope this appears OK on screen because it looks terrible in this little box): ; ; Sid Meier's ALPHA CENTAURI ; ; FACTION FILE: Syst3m F@ilur3 ; ; Copyright (c) 1997, 1998 by Firaxis Games, Inc. ; ; ALPHA CENTAURI reads the rules of the game from this file at ; startup. Feel free, at your own risk, to experiment with editing ; this file. We recommend you make a backup copy of the original. ; #HACKERS Syst3m F@ilur3, The Hacker, Hacker, M, 1, D3mons33d, M, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, TECH, InfNet, SHARETECH, 2, SOCIAL, ++PROBE, SOCIAL, -SUPPORT, SOCIAL, -POLICE, DRONE, 4, FACILITY, 8 Values, Knowledge, PROBE Politics, Fundamentalist, nil Hacker, Hacker, Angel, Wintermute, Angel's Fall The Elite, brilliant, unethical, talented, reckless Madman allow free flow of information and data to allow free flow of information and data destroying the vital computer systems of other factions destroying the vital computer systems of other factions hack into and destroy vital computer systems programming viruses and pirating software programming viruses and pirating software hacking into our computer systems childish games, M2 hacking, M1 "programming", M1 programming fee, M1 creating a free flow of information and data Elite hackers Free Information Act #BASES Crystal Palace Gibson Matrix Digital Anarchy Pyramid Decibel Neo Tokyo System Crash Fractal Chaos City Ice Zone Chiron.net Flatline Spy's Demense Ghost Zone Club Hell fungus.com AI Grid New Chiba Titania Perimeter Divinopolis Arctic Razor Ground Zero #END #WATERBASES Atlantis water.com Water Palace Neptune's Net #END #BLURB Artificial intelligence, digital intelligence, self-aware machines, evolving neural software, ice and ice-breakers like you've never seen; we are paving the way to the future, and you are either part of the steamroller, or part of the road. ^ ^ -- D3mons33d Elite, ^ "A Hacker's Guide to the 22nd Century" #DATALINKS1 ^LEADER: {The Elite D3mons33d} ^BACKGROUND: {Elite Hacker; stowaway on the Unity} ^AGENDA: {Free flow of information, information theft.} ^TECH: {Information Networks} ^ #DATALINKS2 ^+2 PROBE: {Can hack (or protect) almost any system} ^-1 SUPPORT: {Creature comforts at a premium} ^-1 POLICE: {Difficult to police a nation of hackers, no?} ^Gains any tech that any two other factions have discovered ^Free NETWORK NODE at every base ^Extra DRONE for every four citizens {(prevailing elitist attidutes)} ^{May not use Fundamentalist Politics.} #FACTIONTRUCE #xs 440 #caption $CAPTION7 "Hey man, live and let live, okay? Let's just pledge a Blood Truce and get this over with, $NAME1. "Very well, but stay out of my computers." "Too bad, $NAME3. Your fate is already sealed." #FACTIONTREATY #xs 440 #caption $CAPTION7 "You seem pretty cool. What say we sign a Treaty of Friendship $TITLE0 $NAME1? We promise not to screw with your systems if you do." "That's an incentive. I accept." "No. And you'd better not screw with my systems anyway, $NAME3." # ; This line must remain at end of file
Smeagol	posted 06-24-99 05:51 PM ET As you can see, he gave them the Sharetech ability along with the probe bonus. They may be a little too powerful-- I think that sharetech should be free tech if any 3 factions have it (instead of 2). If these people can hack so well, shouldn't they also be able to design effective countermeasures? I think a bonus to probe is in order even if they have free flow of info between each other. But if you really want to give them a probe penalty, than you can just give them the Sharetech, 2 ability and this can be used to represent their hacking abilities.
mcv	posted 06-25-99 02:56 PM ET It's not just the tech. I think they'd be reasonably good at sabotage as well. And they don't just share info between each other. It's an ideology. They want freedom of information, so it'd be very hypocritical if they kept it secret themselves. Besides, it's a pretty anarchistic and informal society, so it shouldn't be too hard to infiltrate. And I'd make the support and police ratings much lower. Half of them are pacifist, and the other half is paranoid about 'Big Brother'. I'd make Police Sate the aversion, instead of Fundamentalism. And Thought Control is pretty bad too, ofcourse. Now it's more just a clone of the University with good Probe.
Smeagol	posted 06-27-99 12:52 PM ET mcv-- Hey, it isn't my faction, as I said. I just wanted you to see the possibilities... what you want to do with your faction is impossible. If you want to make them easy to infiltrate then certainly give them the probe penalty. Since this doesn't actually have an effect on the cost of YOUR probe team actions, you can still probe well. I noticed that bioenhancement centers enhance probe team morale, and I think command centers do the same. The ultimate effect of this is that all factions eventually end up with elite probe teams, so maybe you should allow them to start with bioenhance or just command centers to at least give them an early probe bonus. This is really your only option, and I know it isn't the ideal method but at least it has an effect.