**>> SPYNET BULLETIN **>> EARTHDATE 95.01.21 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE **>> Compiled by Hazed plus a team of specialist newsdroids **>> your news and gossip and get paid good groats! **>> CORRECTION TO LAST WEEK'S NEWS There's a slight change to something we reported in last week's news about mobile rewards: If a planet's treasury is not negative, but does not have enough money to pay out a reward on a mobile, the reward will NOT be paid. If a reward is not going to be paid then the mobile will not appear on the list. **>> WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT? A few changes crept in last week without being pre-reported in the news: The Galactic Administration's drug squad has been forced to stop its operations on Snark because it's too dangerous for them. However, the patrol and the janitor are still active on the pirate asteroid. The Imperial Navy has removed the spyproof room from Surfside, making it impossible for terrorists to hatch their plots without the security forces being aware of them. This will also stop Surfside from having an overwhelming advantage when it comes to the daily awarding of the Tungsten Tourist Trap Trophy. Barons can no longer teleport to their planets with goods in their cargo holds. They will have to walk like anyone else! For an explanation of this, see below... **>> TELEPORTING BARONS The reason for allowing goods inward to be teleported to the owner's planet was because the Duke puzzle required the commodities it used to be taken from the exchange. In the version of the game involved, the game reset occurred every 24hrs, and at reset the amount of commodities in the exchanges was trimmed back to 10,000 tons per commodity. In this situation it was important to allow those doing the Duke puzzle to move large quantities of commodities around rapidly, so that they could travel both where they were going, and back again before the next reset cut back the commodities again. Our temporary solution to this problem was to allow Barons to teleport into their planet with commodities. The situation in the current version of Fed is very different. We have given planet owners warehouses which can hold the goods required. This has two effects: 1. There is no risk of the amount being reduced by a reset (and resets only occur twice a week anyway) 2. Only half as much commodities have to be brought in, because they are going to the warehouse, which stores all of the load, instead of the exchanges, where you lose half of the load to native consumption. The new system is much easier for Barons than the old one, because they can build up the goods in their own time, rather than being forced to do the whole thing starting at 5am in the morning and having to finish the puzzle within 23 hours, or risk getting stuck back in time because they don't have the commodities to travel back. The teleporting has been changed to redress the balance slightly, and because there was no 'game reason' to explain why you could only teleport to your own planet with goods. **>> COMING NEXT... The following changes and new features will all go in some time next week: Barons will be able to build the facilities they need to tackle the devilish Duke puzzle - including that oh-so-useful teleporter! The Galactic Administration's accountants have decided that Dukes' networths are no longer incalculable; they are now being valued in the same way as planet-owners' networths. Any planets that have ended up with negative production on some commodities, due to overzealous removal of production points when doing builds, with have the negatives removes. At last, after many many requests, the command will change to stop the display scrolling right off your screens! will just show the prices of the duchies you are in. You can still see all the prices if you want, by typing . Duchies are going to be limited in size to 15 planets, including the capital planet. Any duchies that are larger than this will not be trimmed... but no other planets will be able join the duchy. This means Budwarp is going to have to make some hard decisions about Epini duchy, since he has 16 planets right now! **>> PLANET NEWS Fastjack became the new Squire of Morpher this week (well, more of a second-hand Squire since this is not his first time at that rank!). Tofer linked in his new planet, Canyon. If either of you would like your planets to be reviewed in the news, drop some sendmail to Hazed when they are ready for inspection. This applies to all planet-owners, at whatever rank - if you have remodelled your planet recently, you can have a review too! **>> THE RETURN OF THE DARK KNIGHT The Galaxy is reeling from the news that the dark and nefarious Nightstalker has thrown off his Senatorial robes and returned to claim his Duchy of Nightfall once again. Sporting the new image of a prosperous businessman (he's ditched the dark cloak and hood for an Armani suit), the articulate, well-mannered Duke, accompanied by his elegantly beautiful lady, Nocturne, has descended upon the unwitting galactic newcomers with a charming, suave, 'can I help?' manner. But what is he really up to? Is he seeking to wrest his once glorious empire of planets now owned by Dukes Chance and Zagmar away from his old allies? Does he then plan to lead the non-LCP duchies against Duke Budwarp's bloated Epini and its allies, thus carrying on the efforts of his reported minion, Daphne and her hired Dragoons led by Admiral? When asked to comment, Duke Budwarp replied that he'd have to ask his wife. It was noted soon afterward, that the LCP duchies have once again lowered their customs to a reasonable rate, perhaps prompted by the threat of increased competition for goods with the return of the wily Duke Nightstalker. As of this reporter's writing, Nightfall has yet to attract any of his old vassal planets and still stands alone, but for how long? **>> JULIET OR MATA HARI? In related news, Delilah killed herself by throwing herself into the polluted seas of Surfside after a humiliating public barboard discussion with Admiral. This reporter learned from an undisclosed source inside the Dragoons that the lady Delilah had originally attempted to seduce Admiral, all the while pumping him for information about who he is working for. Playing the Samson, Admiral fell head over heels for the sultry Delilah, but when he clammed up about his employer like the good loyal soldier he is, Delilah suddenly backed away from the relationship and offered to adopt Admiral as her brother rather than marrying him. From this offer proceeded the nasty exchange on the barboard, culminating in Delilah's tearful declaration that Admiral had hurt her feelings and subsequent suicide. Even stranger, Delilah's appearance coincided with the disappearance of Admiral's supposed, though unconfirmed backer, Daphne, and the lady Delilah's unfortunate demise also coincided with the reappearance of said Daphne. Can it be, this reporter wonders, that Daphne's own bosses, operating from the secret base somewhere deep in Chaos territory, wished to test Admiral's loyalty and withdrew Daphne while Delilah attempted to wear down Admiral's resistance? Or is this all coincidence, and poor departed Delilah just a tragically misunderstood star-crossed lover? **>> MOOoVE OVER, GALAXY OR STEER CLEAR Astrin, owner of Ymris, benefactor to lowly PPs, and the swell guy, has just taken up his ancestral title of "The Cow King." When the denizens of Ymris herd of this ascension, they exclaimed "How divine!" They were immediately reprimanded and informed that it was not "divine" but "bovine"! The miSTEAK was soon corrected. Not long after accepting his ancient title, Astrin erected a statue. The statue, shockingly enough, was not of a cow but of Porcupine! Porcupine said that she would not be taken for granite, so the statue was made from slate. "It was slated to happen," said the pointy creature. What could possibly be going on with this very odd pair? Not only were they talking about statues, they were talking about what the offsprings would be should they have any! Inconceivable! But they were able to come up with the terms of this strange race. "Cowcupine" and "Porcbovine" were two of the species mentioned. Newsdroids were so disgusted by the idea that they did not stay to find out more! When asked if the pair would become a couple, Porcupine stated, "When cows fly!" and Astrin's comment was not complete with, "It's just a bunch of bull..." **>> A TRYST HERE, A TRISTA THERE Interesting developments have been discovered when newsdroids ran across Trista, Thane of Bliss, and Tofer, Squire of Canyon hiding out in a black hole making eyes at each other. Anxious to get a story, the droid camped out on a neighboring asteroid to record the events. The Hubble III telescope was used, so the situation could be slightly out of proportions. But a discovery has been made and it is being named "The Red Shift" as Trista's shift was certainly shifted from her "heavenly body". The events recorded did not sit well with Snake, who has been aspiring to gain Trista's hand ever since he fell into Federation (which has not been long). He was seen watching the recording in the alleyway behind Mare's Nest, and later there were remainders of what looked to be a droid sans a few pieces. Luckily we recovered the Vid (and the SensAmps!) which contained Snake's last words before the current left our poor and now useless droid. Those words were, "Trista shall be mine and Tofer better beware! Oh shoot... now how do I get out of these twisty alleyways...?" **>> SPYNET REVIEW Alas, poor Trader Rdget - the latest victim of the dreaded Tisnar! Congratulations to everyone who promoted during the last week. The new Captains were Kain and Detrim. Bryan and Nod made it to Adventurer. The Traders Guild admitted Rdget, Goldberry, Seamus and Mikey into its ranks. Beauty was promoted to Merchant. Tofer cracked the fiendish GM puzzle. Fastjack and Tofer were promoted to Explorer and then went on to link planets into the game, becoming Squires. **>> CONTACTS The following information will appear at the end of every News Bulletin, so you don't have to read it if you already know it. The current Federation Game Hosts are: Freya, Porcupine, Grannie, Sparky, Zzzax, Geezer, Magneto, Syfari and Goblin. Their function is to answer questions, help new players get started, and make fun things happen. In the event of a problem or question, you can: * talk to Hazed or one of the Game Hosts in the game * a message to Hazed * send mail on your host system to the Federation team: on GEnie, mail FEDII.2 or use the option on the main Fed page on Delphi, mail FED2 or use the option on the main Fed page on Cris, mail FEDERATION2 You can buy a copy of the very excellent Idiot's Guide to Federation for the paltry sum of $15.95. On GEnie, type ORDER from any main menu page. **>> BULLETIN ENDS