RAY'S DRAFT PLAN FOR "THE GAME"

Overview:
Think nettrek meets lunatic fringe meets star fleet battles.  
  Add the railgun and BFG/BFM.

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ECONOMY:

One resource.  Call it goo or something.  Used to buy cool stuff.

Goo comes from bases, and from mines on asteriods.  The bigger the asteriod, the
  better.  Goo must arrive at the base to be spent.  Therefore, one must gather
  it from one's goo mines.  And destroy other goo mines while at it.  Ships
  therefore must have goo cargo holds.  Tugs can carry more with their pods. 
  Any ship can make goo mines in some amount of time "docked" to an asteriod.
  
Goo mines are highly likely to "get lost" in the vastness of space, and be found
  latter, possibly with a LOT of money built up.

Points are rewarded at a stready rate for goo production.  Points are also
  awarded for killing others.  Points cannot buy things.

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CLANS:

Properties of clans:
  Unique looking ships and bases (well, maybe not different bases).
  Different selection of available ship and base classes.

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BASES:

Properties of bases:
  One per team.
  Irreplaceable.
  Upgradable to larger bases.
  Generate some resources.
  Repair ships.
  Upgrade ships.
  Store resources and spare parts (limited capacity).
  AI controlled only.
  Capable of very slow movement, but only to go back to starting location if
    moved.
  Strong shields.
  Weapons on turrets.  The weapons are the same as ships use.  Players may take
    weapons from their ships and place them on the bases, or vice-vera.
    
Classes of bases:
  Minor Base:        2 point symettry
                     2 guns, facing 180 deg apart and with 240 deg firing arcs
                     massive, pretty tough as ships go
  Major Base:        3 point symettry
                     3 guns, facing 120 deg apart and with 240 deg firing arcs
                     1 gun on central turret, 360 deg arc
                     more massive, tough
  Battle Station:    4 point symettry
                     4 guns, facing 90 deg apart and with 210 deg firing arcs
                     2 central 360 deg guns
                     even more massive, tougher, as big as a battleship
  Stellar Fortress:  6 point symettry
                     6x2 guns, facing 60 deg apart and with 180 deg firing arcs
                     3 central 360 deg guns
                     yet more massive, the toughest thing in existence
  
  Bases have no "modifiers" as ships do.
        
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SHIPS:
    
Properties of ships:
  Modifiers such as "tug" "heavy" "light" and "battle" signify sub-classes.
  
Classes of ships:
  Frigate:    1 gun, fast rotation, low mass, fragile
    Mission:  Area control, resource wars.
  Destroyer:  2 guns, medium rotation, low mass
    Mission:  Cruiser buster, some frigate stuff.  General purpose.
  Cruiser:    3 guns, slow rotation, quite massive, very tough
    Mission:  Base killer, bordering being too slow to fight little ships.
  Battleship: 2 guns, 3 turrets, very slow rotation, super massive, super tough
    Mission:  The final word.
    
  "Tug"       Can carry pods/modules, which add to ship's mass.
  "Light"     More fragile and less massive.
  "War"       Less massive, but only a little less tough. **NA for battleships**
  "Heavy"     Tougher and more massive.
  "Battle"    Tougher, slightly more massive.  **NA for battleships**
  
  A carrier ability can be added to ships at the cost of one gun and some added
    mass.  Mass addition is greater for large ships because they add more 
    fighters.  Other modifiers may still be applied.  Note that carriers are
    also mine layers and Def Sat layers (see MINOR UNITS below).  Names are 
    changed as follows:
  
  Frigate -> Escort Carrier:    2 fighters (note: no ship weapon)
  Destroyer -> Strike Carrier:  3 fighters
  Cruiser -> Carrier:           4 fighters  
  Battleship -> Super Carrier:  6 fighters (note: 1 turret is lost)
  
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MINOR UNITS:

Properties of Mines/Figters/Defensive Sats:
  Small, weak, fast, cheap.
  AI controlled.
  Armed with a subset of the weapons available to the ships and bases.
  
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PODS / MODULES:

Properties of Pods/Modules:
  Non-mobile.
  Inert (useless, defenseless, immobile) when not attached to a ship or base.
  Can add shields, weapons, storage, repair, or fighters.
  MUST add mass.
  
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ASTERIODS:

Proerties of Asteriods:
  Sizes vary.
  Indestructable (perhaps).
  Place mines on them to earn resources.