You can play Galaxy Harvest here:
https://www.kongregate.com/games/levelrusso/galaxy-harvest
I described this great game in detail here:
Galaxy Harvest – incredibly thought-provoking game
The present post is mostly about roleplay focusing on civilizations, but I also chronicled all the technological upgrades to show you what order of development is best from my point of view (at the end of the above post I explained why). I played the map Hive (in the Random Sector) on the medium difficulty setting, but I restarted the game several times to get some big planets relatively close to Earth (Headquarters). I also “cheated” a little and got 3 or 4 free Tech Points from exploring the 7 closest exoplanets (I saved the game and reloaded it over and over again until I got a free Tech Point from exploring a particular planet).
Chronicle of the Project
The goal of the Project: producing energy from biomass on exoplanets
Year 0: First entry is written in retrospect. We decided to count the years of our Project starting from the year this idea was presented by a visionary scientist whose name was unfortunately erased from the official records. The only thing we know about him is that he was later imprisoned because his other views were labelled as “hate speech”. In that time almost every opinion that was different from what the “elites” were promoting was labelled as “hate speech”, even if it made no sense at all. Anyway, in that time mainstream scientists (financed and controlled by the “elites”) claimed that there was nothing wrong about using our own planet for production of energy from biomass. However after some time Earth's ecosystem was significantly damaged and at the same it turned out that the true amount of energy produced from biomass was much smaller than the mainstream scientists had predicted. The idea of producing energy from biomass on exoplanets, instead of on Earth, proposed by that forgotten scientist 530 years ago felt like a total science-fiction then, but right now we are about to do it in reality.
Year 530: First launch of a Scout spaceship. We decided that we would be sending only automatic spaceships, at least in the foreseeable future. Well, if we were desperate we could theoretically send people to a distant exoplanet, but we have no idea how they would feel after hibernation lasting thousands of years.
Year 5,120: First exoplanet explored (11.5 LY away). We learned about it in the year 5,132, because we had to wait until the signal from the Scout spaceship reached Earth. However, in this chronicle we'll be noting only the years when things actually happened.
Year 5,120: First time our technology got improved thanks to scientific data gathered during a long space journey.
Year 6,460: Genetics level upgraded (+1). Expected biomass production increased by 16%. We didn’t interfere with nature and didn’t change any genes in an artificial way, but we used the best seeds from the most recent crops over and over again – it was simply a natural selection. We stopped using “hardcore” Genetics long time ago, when the results of truly objective scientific research of genetic modifications were finally released.
Year 6,460: First launch of a Seeder spaceship. We stick to our plan – after some time we will use ALL biomass from that exoplanet for production of energy, so we can't send any people there because later it would be too hard and/or too expensive to evacuate all their descendants. Not to mention that during tens of thousands of years (the predicted time needed for the biomass to grow in quantity and quality) the distant part of our civilization could “evolve” in a different direction, which could possibly mean trouble, maybe even war. Well, actually it wouldn't be strictly our civilization because it would have to be started with very limited resources, which means that it would be clearly more primitive right from the start. Keeping their loyalty for tens of thousands of years would be practically impossible without introducing a “loyal privileged class”, but that would sooner or later turn into a dictatorship and we don't want to go into that direction either. We remember perfectly well what happened hundreds of years ago on our planet when some people who considered themselves as “elites” were trying to imposed by force a “global government”. We, as a species, were not ready for it then, mostly because our economic and social system in that time promoted the “elites” from rich people, especially from rich countries. Unfortunately rich people in that time were usually more relentless and/or more ruthless rather than more intelligent than poorer people. What's worse, the rich people behaved as if they were equally competent at EVERY subject, when in fact they were good only at what their speciality was. What was happening then is now described as „self-induced anti-logic negative selection”. Well, the intention of the “elites” might have been good, but what actually happened proved that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Basically it was like this: the “elites” wanted to promote some dubious things, but truly intelligent people didn’t want to say stupid/illogical things just because the “elites” wanted them to. As a result many intelligent people at important positions, even in private businesses were fired and replaced by people who were clearly less intelligent, but the companies were still in good financial position (at least for some time) because the “elites” were literally giving away money to companies in exchange for blind acceptance of their ideas. This process took many years and it was like a cancer devouring the humankind. Good tissues of the society (truly intelligent people) were being replaced at the crucial positions by bad tissues of the society (much less intelligent people who blindly accepted everything the “elites” were promoting). The same process was taking place among people who surrounded and advised the “elites”, so the decisions made by the “elites” were becoming more and more misguided. A vicious cycle. The freedom of speech was practically killed, even in the fields that used to be totally objective, for example science. The illusion of highly developed society was kept alive for some time, but the truth was that the average intelligence of all the people started to fall down dramatically. It was true also for the average intelligence of the “elites” themselves and the only way for them to remain “in charge” was to impose a totally brutal dictatorship. Ironically, around that time the “elites” started to feel like demigods ruling over creatures of lesser intelligence. When everything inevitably went to hell, the overall state of our species was so bad that it took us hundreds of years to undo all the terrible decisions made by that “elite global government”.
Year 11,060: First time life was transported to an exoplanet.
Year 70,700: First launch of a Harvester spaceship. We sent a lone Harvester, just to try it out.
Year 95,685: Capacity level upgraded (+1). Capacity of a Harvester increased by 20%.
Year 97,220: First time Space Locust Swarm was detected (around 118 LY away). We called it this way because we detected a source of 239 identical signals that seem to be generated artificially by different objects being some distance apart. We use a similar kind of signal for scanning purposes during long space journeys – our automatic spaceships switch it regularly on and off and use it as a kind of radar. The main difference is that our spaceships send their signals directly ahead and the swarm seems to be sending its signals in every direction. The signals coming from the swarm are sent regularly, but each time they come to us with slightly different intervals, which can be explained by the fact that the swarm is moving in the same direction, but not directly towards Earth. From its recent trajectory we assume that its destination is one of the star systems with an exoplanet we use for biomass harvesting. The swarm is much too small to be “seen” and much farther than the range of our spaceships, so we can't verify any theory about it. When it will be close enough we will try to communicate with it using a spaceship (we don’t want to reveal Earth position by sending a message directly from Earth), but at the moment we have to assume that it’s an alien hostile civilization that is a direct threat to our project and a potential threat to Earth. The speed of the swarm seems to be lower than the speed of our spaceships, so we should have plenty of time before we have to make a move.
Year 106,540: First time life-form on an exoplanet reached level 1.5 (minimum level for total biomass harvesting).
Year 122,120: Start of the first series of Harvesters launched one after another to transform all biomass from an exoplanet into energy and bring it to Earth.
Year 125,320: First launch of a Seeder spaceship right after a series of Harvesters.
Year 132,500: First time life was transported again to an exoplanet that had just been harvested. This process (seeding, harvesting everything and re-seeding again) will be repeated many times, so we won't be describing it in this chronicle anymore.
Year 140,000: First time the amount of biomass energy-units in storage exceeded 1,000.
Year 152,050: Genetics level upgraded (+1, up to 2).
Year 152,050: Capacity level upgraded (+1, up to 2).
Year 172,975: Space Locust Swarm detected (257 signals). This one comes from a similar direction as the first swarm.
Year 210,355: Range level upgraded (+1). Range of our spaceships increased by 25%. The main reason for this upgrade is that we'll be able to engage Space Locust Swarm sooner. In the long run we'll be able to scout exoplanets in other star systems and maybe increase our biomass production.
Year 225,805: First launch of a Fighter spaceship (aiming at the first swarm).
Year 238,335: First contact with Space Locust Swarm made by our Fighter. As we suspected the swarm was a group of different spaceships. They were relatively small and seemed primitive. Our Fighter tried to communicate with the swarm first, but the swarm ignored it and launched some missiles against our Fighter. Fortunately the missiles were easy to neutralize and our Fighter launched an all-out attack. From 239 swarm spaceships 103 survived before our Fighter ran out of missiles. We have to launch another Fighter to finish them off. On a side note: our fighter detected light spectrum that indicates there was life on board the destroyed swarm spaceships. We don't know if that were just frozen seeds similar to what our automatic spaceships transport to exoplanets or if that was intelligent life.
Year 239,035: Genetics level upgraded (+1, up to 3).
Year 248,230: First time Space Locust Swarm was totally destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 254,350: Capacity level upgraded (+1, up to 3).
Year 256,355: Space Locust Swarm (SLS) detected (473 signals). Current total of swarms: 2. This one comes from a different direction than the first two swarms. We estimate that at least 4 Fighters will be needed to destroy the whole swarm. We should probably develop a bigger and/or better kind of Fighter. Fortunately we have plenty of time, because this swarm is around 135 LY away.
Year 261,640: Speed level upgraded (+1). Speed of our spaceships increased by 10%, which means that durations of space journeys will be shorter by 9%.
Year 322,240: Range level upgraded (+1, up to 2).
Year 342,445: SLS detected (260 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 352,390: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 395,025: SLS detected (366 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 401,475: First time we made a big investment into our technology – we spent 2000 biomass energy-units for 2 Tech Points.
Year 420,215: First launch of a Cruiser spaceship.
Year 432,750: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 456,060: SLS detected (289 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 474,370: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 486,225: Genetics level upgraded (+3, up to 6).
Year 507,875: SLS detected (247 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 560,066: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 576,476: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 588,041: SLS detected (292 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 611,646: Range level upgraded (+1, up to 3).
Year 611,646: Speed level upgraded (+2, up to 3). In comparison to the start of the project, speed of our spaceships is now bigger by 30%, which means that durations of space journeys will be shorter by 23%.
Year 625,911: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 627,011: Capacity level upgraded (+2, up to 5).
Year 672,986: SLS detected (294 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 695,566: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 733,336: SLS detected (347 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 735,516: Genetics level upgraded (+3, up to 9).
Year 792,056: First time a giant flare on a star destroyed all life on an exoplanet with massive doses of X-ray radiation. Most of our scientists claim that our star is of different kind and something like this won't happen to Earth, but some others say we should colonize at least one exoplanet, just in case.
Year 800,906: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 802,806: SLS detected (499 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 854,846: SLS detected (347 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 904,346: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 905,246: SLS detected (203 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 908,946: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 976,556: SLS detected (365 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 981,191: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 992,056: First launch of a Terramorpher spaceship.
Year 1,050,916: SLS detected (469 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 1,056,896: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,069,966: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,101,501: SLS detected (328 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,136,081: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,154,296: SLS detected (390 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,206,291: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,211,326: SLS detected (475 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,288,236: SLS detected (420 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 1,290,386: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,292,786: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,300,551: First time we lost our spaceship in an asteroid collision.
Year 1,313,586: Range level upgraded (+3, up to 6).
Year 1,313,586: Speed level upgraded (+3, up to 6). In comparison to the start of the project, speed of our spaceships is now bigger by 60%, which means that durations of space journeys will be shorter by 38%.
Year 1,334,539: SLS detected (432 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,349,600: Genetics level upgraded (+3, up to 12).
Year 1,394,078: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,412,044: SLS detected (350 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,420,631: Capacity level upgraded (+5, up to 10).
Year 1,459,629: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,470,107: SLS detected (678 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,511,078: First time new species of plants suddenly filled entire exoplanet.
Year 1,537,550: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,551,147: A part of Space Locust Swarm was destroyed. We had decided that the remains of the swarm will be allowed to reach an exoplanet, just to see what will happen.
Year 1,556,792: SLS detected (337 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,595,464: First time Space Locust Swarm reached an exoplanet. Our worst fears were confirmed – it is really a very hostile civilization. Exactly 56 spaceships reached an exoplanet with around 650 biomass units. The swarm devoured all life on the planet and increased its size to 374 spaceships. Automatic spaceships couldn't do it, so the swarm must carry intelligent life, probably in some kind of hibernation during very long space journeys. We suspect that the aliens keep their spaceship technology as simple as possible to be able to create new spaceships in a relatively easy way. Or they have too little time to improve their technology because they spent most of their time (as a species) in hibernation. It would explain why their spaceships are clearly slower and their weapons clearly weaker than ours.
Year 1,601,514: SLS detected (792 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 1,606,802: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,646,648: First time life spontaneously emerged on an exoplanet. At least that is what we believe – we noticed a significant change in light spectrum of the exoplanet suggesting that there is lots of organic life. Unfortunately this exoplanet is out of our current range, so we can't verify our theory.
Year 1,650,001: SLS detected (608 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 1,697,789: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,725,712: Life spontaneously emerged on another exoplanet. Current number of exoplanets with life outside our range: 2.
Year 1,737,182: SLS detected (361 signals). Current total of swarms: 3.
Year 1,743,322: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,774,342: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,814,552: SLS detected (556 signals). Current total of swarms: 2. This is is the first time we detected SLS aiming at an exoplanet outside of our range. We have no idea how much biomass is there and how much the swarm will grow.
Year 1,896,602: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,896,737: First time Space Locust Swarm reached an exoplanet outside of our range. The number of signals increased from 556 to 1808. Current number of exoplanets with life outside our range: 1.
Year 1,899,317: SLS detected (934 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,901,902: First time a high-tech civilization emerged on an exoplanet (just outside of our range), but we have no idea how it was possible. We detected new signals that are clearly artificial, but the planet seemed to be lifeless just 250,000 years ago. It's impossible for brand new life to evolve into high-tech civilization in such a short time. One theory is that an advanced civilization came to this planet from the outside, however we didn't detect any movement there. Maybe the aliens came exactly from the other side of that star system and the star obscured our view, but the chances for such a coincidence are minimal. Another theory is that life was present on that planet for a much longer time, but we were not able to detect it. Maybe we misinterpreted what happened 250,000 years ago. One thing we can rather be sure – this new high-tech civilization is different from Space Locust because it doesn't systematically destroy life on their planet.
Year 1,937,652: First time a high-tech civilization sent a spaceship to another exoplanet (that was also outside of our range) – we detected an artificial signal whose source is definitely moving. We are getting more and more worried – we wonder how advanced this civilization really is. Maybe this spaceship is automatic, just like ours, but right now we can't be sure of anything.
Year 1,956,322: First time a high-tech civilization colonized another exoplanet (outside of our range). Well, we are pretty sure that they did it, because there are too many new signals coming from the exoplanet for them to be generated by automatic spaceships. The colonized planet seemed to be lifeless before that, but we are very careful about such assumptions after the surprise emergence of this high-tech civilization on their main planet.
Year 1,957,657: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 1,961,507: SLS detected (773 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 1,980,877: Range level upgraded (+1, up to 7). We did it just to be able to scout the exoplanets with the high-tech civilization. This time our scout spaceship will be sent in a “stealth” mode AND it will be aimed at a different planet in that star-system. We hope that the aliens will not detect it and we'll be able to observe them at ease.
Year 1,999,885: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 2,000,939: First time an exoplanet with a high-civilization was explored. This was the one colonized by the high-civilization. Very little biomass was detected on this planet, which probably means that the type of life from the main exoplanet isn't accustomed to life on this exoplanet. This one has lots of corrosive media.
Year 2,001,639: The main exoplanet of the high-tech civilization was explored. This one has a hot climate with life accustomed to it. Their decision to colonize a planet with a totally different climate must have been a mistake – they probably hadn't scouted the planet in advance. It seems that the civilization on their main planet is already much more developed than on the colonized planet. It proves that our decision not to colonize any exoplanets had some merits. Anyway, this civilization seems to be very careful about habitability of their main planet, which speaks rather well of them. We are pretty sure that this civilization is more primitive than ours – we believe we could destroy it with ease, but we won't take any actions right now.
Year 2,001,774: First time a high-tech civilization improved habitability of their planet. Impressive.
Year 2,038,582: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 0.
Year 2,042,537: SLS detected (1016 signals). Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 2,119,053: SLS detected (871 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 2,147,918: SLS destroyed. Current total of swarms: 1.
Year 2,186,564: SLS detected (1310 signals). Current total of swarms: 2.
Year 2,223,780: We reached our goal – now we have 100,000 biomass energy-units in storage. We believe that with such a huge energy reserves we'll be able to handle any danger. Moreover the alien high-tech civilization has stopped developing, probably because they reached their limit of energy consumption that was sustainable by their own planet. A perfect example that our project (producing energy from biomass on exoplanets) was a fantastic idea. On a side note: such big reserves of energy could theoretically enable us to colonize an exoplanet with enough starting resources to make the distant part of our civilization remain as developed as Earth. But that would be a whole different project.
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