INTRO

The purpose of this article is to articulate the final solution to the DXM experience. This is what it all adds up to: giving the user an unforgettable experience in both single-player and multi-player. The technology tree, the labor system, the workshop system, the tools and the power plants are all important elements of the game, but the overall purpose of the is to reign supreme over the course of Human development. The article will be divided between the single player/co-op experience and the multi-player competitive experience.

DETAILS

I.Single player and Co-operative

A.day counter

1.the single player experience is built on the concept of a day counter, some means of tracking the day/night cycles that constitute a minecraft day. this is done in bukkit plugins but i have never seen it done in a mod. this may be a problem for the single player experience

2.the day counter works by enabling certain mobs to spawn for X many days, at which point another set of mobs will spawn for X many days, and so on until the final tier, who then start spawning Y much more for X many days, and so on...

B.fortress block

1.in single player the fortress block both projects an attrition field and acts as a chunk loader a.the idea being that the chunk loader field is a form of control. as long as the fortress block is active the players civilization is exercising control around the area. if its not active the area falls into anarchy or enemy hands, preventing the player from effectively using it if they are not actually occupying it b.ideally, fortress blocks will have to be fed military and labor resources to operate

C.gradual threats

1.gradual threats are mobs that emerge depending on the the number of in game days that have elapsed and are progressively more advanced, destructive and difficult. the number of days they spawn for or dont spawn for should be configurable a.composed of three classes -uncivilized: threats that spawn anywhere and cannot be prevented but which are the easiest to kill -malcontent: humans which either cannot integrate into society or are driven to hostility as a result of gross poverty. more difficult to kill and potentially destructive -invader: human members of neighboring tribes/nations/empires who are opposed to the player and their civilization. highly destructive and very dangerous but susceptible to the attrition fields of fortress blocks -terrorist: human members of various organizations who are bent on destroying or damaging a nation for a variety of reasons. spawn as a result of successful invasion or shadow wars

2.tribal threats spawn for the first 60 days a.beasts: stupid, slavering, hostile animals like wolves, bears, etc -spawn anywhere b.raider: humans who are too accustomed to fighting and killing and living like beasts to provide for themselves to integrate into society -spawn near housing and workshop blocks c.barbarian: human attackers from another land who speak in incomprehensible gibberish and are hell bent on killing you to steal your belongings, -spawn near housing and workshop blocks -pick up and destroy items found on the ground -are affected by attrition fields

3.city state threats spawn from 60 days to 120 days a.savage: human tribals who cling to an antiquated social system and are hostile to those they deem not of their group -spawn anywhere b.brigands: human criminals which are technically part of society but employ unscrupulous and illegal methods to earn a living on the fringe of civilization -spawn near housing blocks which are not running a reaction c.champion: renowned human fighters from neighboring civilizations that act as adventurers, except with less romanticism and more wholesale murder -spawn near housing, workshop, and control blocks -pick up and destroy items found on the ground -are affected by attrition fields

4.national threats spawn from 120 days to 240 days a.bandit: human criminals which are technically part of society but employ unscrupulous and illegal methods to earn a living on the fringe of civilization -spawn anywhere b.rebel: humans who feel neglected by the ruling body and are intent on breaking off and forming their own nation -spawn near housing blocks which are not running a reaction c.warrior: invading humans dispatched by your more anxious neighbors through shady channels who seek your nations submission -spawn near housing, workshop and control blocks -pick up and destroy items found on the ground -are affected by attrition fields

5.imperial threats spawn from 240 days onward a.gangster: human criminals which are technically part of society but employ unscrupulous and illegal methods to earn a living on the fringe of civilization -spawn anywhere -spawn twice as often near housing blocks which are not running a reaction b.insurgent: human revolutionaries who are opposed to their governments rule. they are absolutely merciless and will employ any tactic or strategy that could lead them to victory -spawn near housing blocks which are not running a reaction -employ suicide bombs c.soldier: trained human fighters who have been drilled and conditioned by an enemy nation. they seek to destroy the players military strength, occupy their lands and pillage their resources -spawn near housing, workshop and control blocks -pick up and destroy items found on the ground -are affected by attrition fields -break nearby fortress blocks

6.age of chaos reigns from 240 days onward and every 30 days mob spawns double and the chance for commandos to spawn increases a.commandos: trained and experienced human fighters who are experts at infiltration and demolition. they seek to sabotage the players infrastructure in an attempt to weaken them for a main invasion -spawn anywhere -break nearby control blocks

C.final solutions

1.the universal constructor and global AI a.consist of two major inventions which stop all mobs from spawning -the universal constructor is a theoretical machine capable of turning the most basic elements of matter into any imaginable good at exponential rates with only simple inputs and energy. would make a post-scarcity economy possible -the global AI is an omnipotent artificial intelligence that is directly linked into the consciousnesses of all humans on the planet via nano-modifications and wireless networks. it is capable of turning the average human into a perfect being free of age, disease, ignorance and frailty. it facilitates a universal democracy and takes every humans opinion into consideration, ushering in an age of peace, understanding and prosperity b.will likely take the form of broadcast stations which have attrition block like effects on a very large area at the cost of electricity

2.solar empire a.consist of utilizing the mod galacticraft and changing its recipes to be DXM ones -build a spaceship and all that jazz -fly to mars/alpha centauri/something -the idea being that humans have a natural tendency towards exploring and conquering new frontiers. this tendency is a biological pressure release valve, giving otherwise hopeless and despondent humans the hope to make a better life elsewhere by offering them a whole galaxy to seek a better life elsewhere. further, such a program actually being a success would earn the players civilization an enormous amount of prestige from other nations b.placing a certain block on a block only present on the other planet will turn it into another block, which can then be used in a reaction to make space port blocks -the space port could be built as a block which eliminates all mob spawning in a large area given some capital and fuel/electricity

3.trade and tribute a.consist of reducing mob spawning through trading at the town hall block by a certain percent and halting invader type mobs for X days by paying off neighboring civilizations -the idea being that neighboring civs wouldn't want to attack valuable trading partners and would not feel that the cost of war is worth it when they can get tribute for free -mobs that spawn as a result of housing blocks not running reactions would still appear, but the age of chaos would be halted permanently

4.military of world conquest proportions a.consist of running reactions at the fortress block involving tons of labor tokens, skilled labor tokens, military goods, and other supplies in order to have a chance at halting all invasion for X days -could result in terrorist mobs spawning near fortress, housing or workshop blocks -terrorist: fanatical human combatants which for one reason or another have declared total war on a civilization. they operate outside tribal, national, and imperial boundaries and are completely ruthless, routinely employing suicide tactics -stops commandos -mobs that spawn as a result of housing blocks not running reactions would still appear, but the age of chaos would be halted permanently -could be a "dominance" block that prevents all invader/commando spawning in a large area given some capital and electricity -simulates an invasion and occupation of neighboring countries

5.MAD (mutually assured destruction) a.consist of building X many nuclear missile silos, blocks which require lots of concrete, electronics and some nuclear missiles to build and can halt all invasion for X many days -missile silo block eliminates all invader/commando spawning in a large area given some capital and electricity

6.welfare state a.consist of supplying housing blocks extra resources, 2-3 times more than necessary b.results in malcontent class mobs no longer spawning

II.competitive multi-player A.revolves around the fortress block, the team system and attrition fields 1.basically fortress block use resources like labor tokens, skilled labor tokens and military goods to run a reaction that takes 20 minutes. at the end of the reaction the military goods have a high chance of being returned. during this reaction the fortress block emits an attrition field, which damages enemy players and players below a certain rank 2.fortress block itself is covered under the "Labor Blocks" article 3.system will necessarily use some kind of list where nations, their members and their members ranks are recorded; preferably this list will able to be edited by the user so admins can clean out defunct teams 4.preferably, command history will be recorded to another file so admins can monitor who is using what command 5.team fortress blocks should only be able to be accessed by the player who placed them. they should be indestructible 6.if another team wishes to destroy the fortress block there could be an invasion block. loaded with military goods, labor tokens and other supplies and placed next to an owned fortress block and activated the invasion block will begin a countdown, possibly making a text broadcast to all players in a server. at the end of the countdown the owned fortress block will be destroyed

B.team system revolves around a system of commands and arbitrary items used to assign players "teams" with structured hierarchies

1.hierarchy -founder; black dye -commander; red dye -general; blue dye -captain; gray dye -colonel; light gray dye -sergeant; teal dye -private; yellow dye -civilian; white dye

2.commands are as follows

/found [nation]: lets players create their own nation if they are not in one; accessible to anyone or only ops as set forth in config
/recruit [player]: adds a player to your nation as a civilian if they are not on a team; only accessible to founders, commanders and generals
/promote [player] [rank]: promotes a player on the users team from one rank to another, could also be used to demote if the rank is lower than their present rank; only accessible to founders, commanders and generals
/demote [player] [rank]: same thing as promote; only accessible to founders, commanders and generals
/banish [player]: lets players remove a player from their nation; only accessible to founders, commanders and generals
/banner: grants player a banner item which is unique to their team and used in crafting team specific attrition blocks; accessible to anyone on a team
/leave: lets a player remove them self from a team; accessible to anyone on a team
/dissolve: lets a founder dissolve the nation they founded, setting them self and everyone else on the team to
/setplayer [nation] [rank]: sets a player to a certain team with a certain rank; accessible to admins only
/removeplayer: removes a player from a team; accessible to admins only

C.attrition fields 1.damage hostile mobs of certain classifications 2.damage players who do not belong to a team or belong to a team that is different from the team whose banner was combined with the fortress block 3.damages players of a rank that is less than the rank color the fortress block was crafted with

IDEAS

-banners could be added as unique looking blocks, possibly even designed by the team that uses them. that way players could put their nations banner up all over the place to signify that land belongs to them (or just for fun) -let players run invasion reactions and shadow war reactions using their nations banner and the banner of a nation they want to have certain hostile mobs spawn on (invader class mobs for invasion and terrorists for shadow war). quality of mobs is determined by inputs (explosives, military goods and labor tokens spawn suicide bombers, military goods and skilled labor tokens spawns gunmen, etc) -shadow war reactions always cost some sort of money (gold, silver, etc)

mensreaMC / Deus-Ex-Machina

The DXM Experience #34

INTRO

DETAILS

IDEAS