Conquest and Destiny (was Idea for Galaxy Variant)

From: vinson@shiva.seas.upenn.edu (Jack Vinson)

Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1992 14:27:05 +0000

This is from the "Game Preface" in the ~30 page manual sent as your
"start-up" kit.  The manual describes the game pretty well.

"Conquest and Destiny is an open-ended game.  This means that the main
galaxy will exist as long as there is someone willing to play.  There is no
deadline for winning and you can play at your own pace."

The galaxy is broken down into quadrants (27), subquadrants (27/quad),
sectors (27/subquad), and subsectors (27/sector) with stars and planets
found in the subsectors.  According to the manual there are over 4,000,000
planets in the galaxy.  Along with the stars and planets are black holes,
"wormholes" which can be used to travel across the galaxy, supernovae,
pulsars, quasars, and "naked singularities."  The game master has also
indicated that there are some ringworld and sphereworld planets.  One moves
around in a variety of ships, starting with the basic Scout and Cutter and
various transport ships (for people, troops, mining and refinery
equipment).

There are seven races with possibly more on the way:  Marauders kill off
other organic races (basically, robots), Miners can mine where others can't
(asteroids and gas giants), Pirates raid planets and steal ships, Power
Corporations can build "power centers" which decrease costs of building by
20%, Traders can set up trade centers all over including on your planet if
you let them, Transformers are able to increase mining efficiency creating
a higher cash flow, Travelers can move planets.

The technology level of your race is governed by a "knowledge constant"
(KC) which is increased by spending money on research and development.
There is talk of setting up spy networks, a stock market has been created,
defenses, weaponry and ships get better as the KC increases.  Also things
like the ability to go through wormholes or blackholes without totally
falling apart come with higher KC.

As far as other players are concerned, you can communicate with them via
diplomatic couriers in order to begin friendly conversations, start wars or
end them, or simply buy/sell services.  The game allows for the development
of consortiums and alliances.

So far, the planet seems to be central to the game.  This is where mines
and refineries exists and produce credits to spend building more mines,
refineries, people, ships, etc.  Obviously, one needs to explore the
surrounding galaxy as well and try to keep away from others for a while
exploring and expanding.

I've only played five turns with a couple more waiting to come back to me.
The game is set up such that one can play by surface or electronic mail,
although surface mail play costs 50% more because the game master must
enter commands by hand and pay for mailing of results.  Actual cost is
$0.10 per "event" where each group of 10-120 events is a "turn" which are
currently being processed approximately every other day.  Time-wise, I
spend about an hour or a little more on each turn and thinking about the
results of the last one.

To get started, send e-mail to dan_canham@grace.bah.rochester.ny.us and ask
for a registration form.  You will get to pick which type of race you would
like, the name of your race, and some basic information about your race.
That and $10 will get the manual and your homeworld information will get
you started.

If you do this, please mention my name, Jack Vinson, when you sign up as I
will get some extra spending money for the game for introducing new folks
to the game.

If you have other questions, please feel free to contact me at the address
below or in the header.
The Purple Puddle Eater
Jack Vinson			vinson@unagi.cis.upenn.edu