                               Concept : Plague

 Plague is used in Empire to symbolize all forms of disease and  is  the  only
health  hazard  associated with the Empire game, (ignoring it's effects on the
players).  The characteristics of  plague  are,  therefore,  a  compromise  of
disease features (or bugs).

The Empire Plague takes between 96 and 189 time units to  run  its  course  on
land,  (i.e.,  2  to 4 days in any particular sector if an Empire time unit is
1/2 and hour), and twice as long on ships, (4 to 8 days).   In  so  doing  the
plague goes through three stages:

Stage I -- The gestation or incubation phase  in  which  no  symptoms  appear.
   Sectors or ships that are in this stage of the plague are indistinguishable
   from healthy sectors or ships.  This stage lasts 32 to 63 time units, (less
   than a day and a half).

Stage II -- The infectious phase in which the symptoms first appear --  orange
   blotches  on  the  face and hands, sometimes accompanied by grey stripes on
   the genitalia, itching of the liver and spleen, an uncontrollable  fear  of
   ripe   tomatoes,   etc.    During   this  phase  the  plague  is  extremely

                               Concept : Plague

   communicable; for example, a simple delivery from an infectious sector will
   infect the destination sector.

Stage III -- The terminal phase in which people die, often in the act of flee-
   ing  from  (real  or  imagined) tomatoes.  The number of people that die is
   roughly inversely proportional to the research level of the  country  (plus
   100).

All three phases are of roughly equal average duration, (about 48 time periods
or 1 day).

Plague usually arises in countries with  high  technological  development  and
comparatively little medical research.  It arises specifically in sectors with
high population density and low efficiency.

Recently archaeologists have uncovered a treatise by a  Dr. M. Welby  entitled
Demographic considerations and the Empire Plague.  In part it states:

                               Concept : Plague

It appeared that our original hypothesis
based on the high percentage of Lumbagan Legionnaires
among the afflicted had led us down a blind alley
and that if we were to solve this complex puzzle
before the end of the series in the spring
possibly a reference to the series of tests
leading to the mysterious Neilson Rating
we would have to turn to other disciplines for help.
It was only by the merest lucky coincidence
that as I drove home one evening ...
here Dr. Welby relates an amusing anecdote
about a Brownie Scout and the director of a film
entitled Close Encounters of the Third Grade ...
leading us to the following amazing formulation
of the relationship between medical research,
technology, population, standard of living and the Empire Plague:

                               Concept : Plague

   likelihood    civ + mil + uw     t_level + (iron + oil) / 10 + 100
       of     =  --------------  *  ---------------------------------
     plague            999            r_level + effic + mobil + 100

Later formulations of this relationship show great similarity to his statement
(see info innards).

Many researchers have commented on the surprising lack of correlation  between
food supply and plague outbreak.

Fortunately the plague is not infectious during the gestation  stage  so  that
the most effective method for curing plague has been to isolate it by emptying
adjoining sectors during the gestation period.

See also : innards, research, sector-types, technology

