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Self-replicating Robots: Astrochicken, Autowars, and Beyond!

#1
I was thinking, what if you could send drones and/or probes into space and have them self-replicate and carry out their pre-set missions? you could explore a large volume of space with such things, or wage large-scale wars. It would fit in the tech tree well; like, say, a probe could have better sensors, but more mass and a slower replication speed or something. Waddaya think?
Destruction is never precise, Creation is a thought, Time is an illusion, and Chaos and Order are one and the same.
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Re: Self-replicating Robots: Astrochicken, Autowars, and Bey

#2
I don't think it's impossible, but lacking any news from Josh we can't be sure about how exactly strategical gameplay is implemented.

Technically, robotic servants use the same AI NPCs do, and if it'd be possible to craft orders to make your faction's NPCs work on expanding your empire and recruiting more members into the faction, pretty much the same mechanism - mechanics-wise - can be applied to robots.

Then, there's a question of balance - some people want the game to be balanced, and others (like me) want to allow it to have run-away effects - which, in case of having mostly robotic faction, would be them trying to exterminate everybody else, becoming a super-power and plunging the galaxy into a machine-controlled Dark Age. Because, you know, fun emerges from that, although it's not the type of fun many people enjoy.

I think similar proposals were discussed - at least in passing - both on the forums and in the IRC, and the idea is not bad in itself, but without input from Josh you can expect little discussion, unfortunately.

I suppose that if not a part of the core game, having an infinitely-expanding robotic force would be possible to implement as a mod anyway.

That's as detailed an answer as we can give you these days, I am afraid.
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Survivor of the Josh Parnell Blackout of 2015.
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Re: Self-replicating Robots: Astrochicken, Autowars, and Bey

#3
Yes, most unfortunate, but I do think that people can work to refine the idea until Josh comes back so that we can show it to him, fleshed out in all its wacky glory. (I mean, really, astrochicken? :eh: :) )
For my part, to respond to the "infinite" thing, perhaps there could be a limit to the number of robots that could form from a seed? like, a limit to the number of units the central computer could handle, or maybe all the units in a star system that has them could collapse after too long without input from command (the player).
Destruction is never precise, Creation is a thought, Time is an illusion, and Chaos and Order are one and the same.
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Re: Self-replicating Robots: Astrochicken, Autowars, and Bey

#4
It really comes down to how construction works within Limit Theory. If construction drones can only create buildings and other stationary structures then ships building ships may be more difficult to code in. Who knows, a lot of things depend on LTSL and the LT game engine.
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Re: Self-replicating Robots: Astrochicken, Autowars, and Bey

#6
I do envision it working like that. Buy and maybe make production drones. Production drones make factories which produce any type of in game object as long as the factory has the resources and blueprints or assembly chips to create the ships, weapons and other items.
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Re: Self-replicating Robots: Astrochicken, Autowars, and Bey

#7
That does seem to be a workable system. This brings me to another point: what if there was a hacking dynamic that could potentially let the enemy subvert your Astrochickens? Like, them hacking into the computers of all of the drones in a system and turning them against you or something. This is going a little far and introduces a wide range of problems to be ironed out, but it would sure be neat.
Destruction is never precise, Creation is a thought, Time is an illusion, and Chaos and Order are one and the same.
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Re: Self-replicating Robots: Astrochicken, Autowars, and Bey

#8
BFett -
Production drones make factories which produce any type of in game object as long as the factory has the resources and blueprints or assembly chips to create the ships, weapons and other items.
That reminds me, you could limit how far the replicators could spread by introducing the limiting factor of production chips; when the chips are used up, the production stops, or something like that. That would work excellently!
Destruction is never precise, Creation is a thought, Time is an illusion, and Chaos and Order are one and the same.
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Re: Self-replicating Robots

#9
Seryth Nortra wrote:That does seem to be a workable system. This brings me to another point: what if there was a hacking dynamic that could potentially let the enemy subvert your Astrochickens? Like, them hacking into the computers of all of the drones in a system and turning them against you or something. This is going a little far and introduces a wide range of problems to be ironed out, but it would sure be neat.
I think hacking has been discussed to some degree :P . There are other topics that mention hacking and explore ways that it would affect the player.

Just remember that any power you give to the player will also be given to the NPCs. When we discuss ideas like this one it's good to keep in mind that we will likely be the targets of such attacks and not the only one doing the attacking.
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Re: Self-replicating Robots: Astrochicken, Autowars, and Bey

#12
Yeah this idea scares me. As much as I like "impossible" odds, I don't know that I'd want to face a fleet like that.

An interesting limiting factor to consider is research. If robots are given the directive to replicate, then they will do just that. You might even set up a few robots to provide materials until doomsday and they'll do just that. Eventually, these robots will amass a sizable fleet. That may sound scary until you realize that the robots haven't done any research. Or, if they have/can, no one told them to replicate the research they performed.

Meanwhile, the rest of the galaxy will not have stood as technologically still and will wage a war of quality against quantity.

Now, I'm sure one of you will simply script their robots to do research and only build the most recent models available, but hey. It was a good idea while it lasted.
Maybe make these robots only capable of duplicating salvaged technology for advancement? That way they can have as many ships as they want, (or the game can support) but can are limited to the level of technology they're currently pillaging.
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Re: Self-replicating Robots: Astrochicken, Autowars, and Bey

#14
I was thinking about systems that
  1. A: Can't change or evolve on their own with research, so misinterpretation won't be a problem, and
  • B: Can't go for too long without orders, however general (except for something to the effect of "stay alive and keep working," which wouldn't count) before just breaking down. (When I say "breaking down," I mean self-destructing, turning off, etc, etc, not going crazy and destroying everything or something to that effect.)
This way, we could regulate the system so that it's unique and not a regular army, along with being semi-autonomous, but not with runaway affects or being impossible to fight due to sheer numbers.

Edit:
Jazehiah wrote:
Maybe make these robots only capable of duplicating salvaged technology for advancement? That way they can have as many ships as they want, (or the game can support) but can are limited to the level of technology they're currently pillaging.
I think that that would normally be a good idea, (like, for non-replicating raiding parties that you don't want to have to supervise that come from your regular army) but with Von Neumann machines you get the same out-of-control problem. It would be too disastrous for your enemies; you don't want to overpower whoever researches the Von Neumann machines.
Destruction is never precise, Creation is a thought, Time is an illusion, and Chaos and Order are one and the same.
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