Markus Armbruster
298ba998e4
crowded sectors equally vulnerable, including mountains, plains, and inefficient big cities. Closes #917488. Update info.
112 lines
4.3 KiB
Perl
112 lines
4.3 KiB
Perl
.TH Concept Plague
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.NA Plague "The Plague"
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.LV Expert
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.s1
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Plague is used in Empire to symbolize all forms of disease and is
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the only health hazard associated with the Empire game,
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(ignoring it's effects on the players).
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The characteristics of plague are, therefore,
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a compromise of disease features (or \*Qbugs\*U).
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.s1
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Note that if the NO_PLAGUE option is in use, a kindly deity
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has wiped out the plague for you. If not, worry about it.
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.s1
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All of the timelines below are based on a game with 32 ETU updates.
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.s1
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The Empire Plague takes between 96 and 189 time units to
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run its course on land,
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(i.e., 2 to 4 days in any particular sector/ship/land unit
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if an Empire time unit is 1/2 and hour.)
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In so doing the plague goes through three stages:
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.s1
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.in +3
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.ti -3
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Stage I -- The gestation or incubation phase
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in which no symptoms appear.
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Sectors or ships that are in this stage of the plague
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are indistinguishable from healthy sectors or ships.
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This stage lasts 32 to 63 time units,
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(less than a day and a half).
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.s1
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.ti -3
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Stage II -- The infectious phase in which the symptoms first appear --
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orange blotches on the face and hands,
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sometimes accompanied by grey stripes on the genitalia,
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itching of the liver and spleen,
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an uncontrollable fear of ripe tomatoes, etc.
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During this phase the plague is extremely communicable;
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for example, a simple delivery from an infectious sector
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will infect the destination sector.
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.s1
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.ti -3
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Stage III -- The terminal phase in which people die,
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often in the act of fleeing from (real or imagined) tomatoes.
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The number of people that die is roughly inversely proportional
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to the research level of the country (plus 100).
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.in -3
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.s1
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All three phases are of roughly equal average duration,
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(about 48 time periods or 1 day).
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.s1
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Plague usually arises in countries with high technological development
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and comparatively little medical research.
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It arises specifically in sectors with high population density
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and low efficiency.
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.s1
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Recently archaeologists have uncovered a treatise
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by a Dr.\ M.\ Welby entitled
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\*QDemographic considerations and the Empire Plague\*U.
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In part it states:
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.s1
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.in +0.8i
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.ll -0.8i
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It appeared that our original hypothesis
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based on the high percentage of Lumbagan Legionnaires
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among the afflicted had led us down a blind alley
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and that if we were to solve this complex puzzle
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before the end of the series in the spring
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[possibly a reference to the series of tests
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leading to the mysterious \*QNeilson Rating\*U]
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we would have to turn to other disciplines for help.
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It was only by the merest lucky coincidence
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that as I drove home one evening ...
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[here Dr. Welby relates an amusing anecdote
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about a Brownie Scout and the director of a film
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entitled \*QClose Encounters of the Third Grade\*U] ...
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leading us to the following amazing formulation
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of the relationship between medical research,
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technology, population, standard of living and the Empire Plague:
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.ll
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.in
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.s1
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.NF
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Likelihood of plague outbreak (in percent) is
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civ + mil + uw t_level + (iron + oil + rad * 2) / 10 + 100
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max (0, -------------- * ------------------------------------------- - 1)
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max_pop r_level + effic + mobil + 100
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.FI
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.s1
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Later formulations of this relationship show great similarity
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to his statement (see \*Qinfo Innards\*U).
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.s1
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Many researchers have commented on the surprising lack of correlation
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between food supply and plague outbreak.
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.s1
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Fortunately, the plague is only infectious while the sector is
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actively battling the plague (Stage II). The most effective method
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for curing plague has been to isolate the sector by stopping all
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distribution, deliveries, movement, etc. originating from the sector
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once an outbreak has been spotted.
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.s1
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This includes loading and unloading of ships and land units (since
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they can, of course, carry plague), allowing explorations out of the
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sector, moving commodities out of the sector, distribution or
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deliveries from the sector, etc. Basically, any people or commodities
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that originate from a sector actively battling plague will cause the
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destination sector (or ship or land unit) to become infected.
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.s1
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Once an outbreak has been spotted, the plague takes on an infectious
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state at the next update. There is very little time to isolate the
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sector and limit deaths caused by plague.
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.s1
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.SA "Innards, Research, Sector-types, Technology, Populace, Update"
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