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Vibrant

Started by Biohazard, December 11, 2008, 11:18:03 PM

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Biohazard

Quote from: SteerpikeI've been reading this more and more recently.  I think I'll reserve questions for the upcoming Q&A.  I like it a lot, though - and Darkspeed is an awesome idea.

I'm delighted to answer them. Also, I may have asked already, but is that a Terran Marine in your display pic?

Llum

His display pic is a picture of Steerpike (from Gormenghast I believe). I could swear I've seen it there. That or something from Dune (which i doubt)


Biohazard

Two alien races and an edit to The Unreality. The Grays should be up soon.

Biohazard

Additions here and there, most notably the Grays and "The Xu Complex" under Science Gone Wrong. Map is hopefully coming soon, and will probably feature two versions: one for the local Earth region and one for all of Known Space, color-coded or at least labeled to show territories. Unlikely that non-human races will have their Heartlands mapped out in detail unless it's some time from now, or in the future. Individual systems might very well get mapped out.

Biohazard

Considering adding some OOC boxes to things I add to explain them from a current day perspective, mostly with technologies and territorial expansions. Any thoughts on this?

LD

Do whatever looks best to your consideration.

Notes might look better than OOC tags; or you could put the information in spoilers.

Biohazard

Some minor additions hurr and thurr, more specifically the technology section and the Science Gone Wrong section. Once I get the maps up and describe the remaining races, I have a feeling this setting is going to be mostly complete, as after that it's just going to be a sort of "catalog" of locations, technologies, psionic powers, and events.

Biohazard

Another name change, which should roll off the tongue/keyboard easier. More additions, including the Praetorians (Dyen) to Races, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't even remember. Also have found a new map that suits me a lot better than the one I'm slowly working on, so I should finally get off my ass and have one posted soon.

FREAKIN' AWESOME HORSE

Added the Second Search for Heaven under Factions and the Hleeb under Annihilation of Competition. Definitely going to do some history soon - human first, then probably the Grays, followed by Wraz and Praetor.

Drizztrocks

Quote from: FREAKIN' AWESOME HORSEConsidering adding some OOC boxes to things I add to explain them from a current day perspective, mostly with technologies and territorial expansions. Any thoughts on this?

  I've just started looking at this thread, but I read ALOT of stuff and was hooked from the first page, so here I am.

 Explaining advances in technology between species would definatly be helpful. When you stated that some aliens made advances in space travel, was that before their contact with humans? If not, then how do multiple species have the same technology and space traveling capabilaties when they are light years apart? (For example, you mentioned that UFO's are from the grays, and UFO's have been sighted since the 1940's, so did they already have space travel? And isn't it strange that two different species would develop such similiar technology, such as lights and other things?)

  I would like to know much more about other species technologies. The Reptiles ships (Dragons), how do they work? Is it some kind of grown biotechnology? Explaining other things would also help.

    This is a great setting, very original, and I love all these ideas of a futuristic earth and everything. (That reminds me: what is earth like? Is it a huge city planet supported by powerplants that pump oxygen into the atmosphere? What are climates, flora, and fauna like on other planets? Do they resemble earth or are they completely alien?)

FREAKIN' AWESOME HORSE

Quote from: Survivorman
Quote from: FREAKIN' AWESOME HORSEConsidering adding some OOC boxes to things I add to explain them from a current day perspective, mostly with technologies and territorial expansions. Any thoughts on this?

  I've just started looking at this thread, but I read ALOT of stuff and was hooked from the first page, so here I am.

 Explaining advances in technology between species would definatly be helpful. When you stated that some aliens made advances in space travel, was that before their contact with humans? If not, then how do multiple species have the same technology and space traveling capabilaties when they are light years apart? (For example, you mentioned that UFO's are from the grays, and UFO's have been sighted since the 1940's, so did they already have space travel? And isn't it strange that two different species would develop such similiar technology, such as lights and other things?)

First of all, thanks for the reply. Regarding the aliens and space travel, some have been around for much, much longer than humans on the galactic stage, but after reaching a certain point in certain technological fields they just failed to advance further whether from a lack of interest, resources, or some catalyst/discovery that would push them to the next level. These species that you see right now are the majority of those in the setting that actually developed it on their own, though - I'll be posting more races soon, most of which will be either taught the knowledge by species such as the Grays, Humans, or Praetor, or will be incapable of traditional space travel and will be pretty much isolated to one or two worlds. They also do tend to develop fairly different technology; while humans and their closest allies (the Wraz and the Grays) tend to use a mishmash of the more well-developed methods for both STL- and FTL-travel, other species may use one kind exclusively or may be researching a new kind of travel based in theory. This'll be reflected, if I ever get to that level of detail, in the way spaceports are positioned in systems and the way their exit channels function.

The Grays are one of the more veteran space travelers, developing wormhole-capable technology around the mid-1700s in our history. They were located on the other side of the galaxy, however, and while they've had some of the proponents of darkspeed tech for a while, they've been unable to come up with any stable tech for it until their "younger" buddies helped out. In the age of UFOs, their mechanical creations the Moglins were actually the instigators in most close encounter scenarios; not surprising considering robots is their thing.

The somewhat strange coincidence that species would even reach anywhere near the same technology in a span of about five-thousand years tops is a bit curious, so that question is definitely justified. That's something I'm leaving open to interpretation; it goes well with elements such as the Second Search for Heaven and various scientific theories that pop up, however well based in evidence. There's a lot going on in the galaxy that's trying to figure out the origins of life so it can be perfectly replicated - no one, not even the vorovka are at a point where they can really create natural, biological life using artificial systems - they can only alter and destroy. More specifically they're looking for the point, if it does arise this way, where microbial life does arise from the lifeless elements.

QuoteI would like to know much more about other species technologies. The Reptiles ships (Dragons), how do they work? Is it some kind of grown biotechnology? Explaining other things would also help.

Dragons are created first by building a large skeletal hull for the ship out of a very tough, conductive metal alloy. A fungus from the Wraz homeworld famous for being electrically charged is then tended and grown on the hull, and it proceeds to grow outward and create several webs from section to section that gradually fill in. When it's thick enough the outer layers are made to die, and once they've begun to "rot" they can be altered so that they're extremely resistant and capable of supporting the vessel in space. The major operations consoles, chambers and decks, and moving parts such as doors that are required by regulation to be solid instead of the charged mucus the fungus secretes are all installed beforehand; the only things that are required to be brought on afterward are fuel for the engines and supplies for the crew and the "living" ship itself, which will require a conductive fluid to be pumped throughout the hull to be maintained.

QuoteThis is a great setting, very original, and I love all these ideas of a futuristic earth and everything. (That reminds me: what is earth like? Is it a huge city planet supported by powerplants that pump oxygen into the atmosphere? What are climates, flora, and fauna like on other planets? Do they resemble earth or are they completely alien?)

I haven't decided for sure on Earth, but at this point it's actually a pretty dark world unlike the images you can see nowadays of Earth at night - following remedy of overpopulation issues once it had begun to establish permanently habitable colonies and the custodianship of the mess left behind, it was largely left to grow on its own again. The largest cities remain as towering super-metropolises that instead of sprawling outward further (most had reached almost double the sprawl size of current levels by the 2500s), they kept being built higher. Everything in between places such as Chicago, Moscow, Munich, Magnolia City, Vancouver, Hong Kong, etc. has returned mostly to wilderness, with the occasional farm (these look almost nothing like what our "modern" farm does) dotting the landscape. So looking down from space at night, you'll see various large blotches of city lights marking the population centers, and quick flashes of strands of light moving between the cities that are public transit moving from one city to another. And in the 600 or so years since the cleanup efforts have finished, the abandoned areas have become much like what one would imagine them to have been long before humanity ever hit the industrial revolution.

Luna (the moon) is not the same - it's a sphere of dancing, flashing lights of all colors and frequencies. It was quickly turned into a low-gravity proving ground for military forces, and what isn't serving as that is either "planetary parks" or private research facilities. There was an undead virus outbreak in one in the early days of space exploration that is still closed down, and there are only a few actual cities present.

Flora and fauna on other planets will follow some trends of Earth, but there will definitely be exceptions. One of the big themes I'm toying with is that maybe the humanoid shape is ideal for various reasons, some of which may be yet unforeseen. I'm also taking some inspiration from Mass Effect with the worlds with larger oxygen percentages in the atmospheres or are permeated with this kind of moss that gets everywhere and is hazardous to normal breathing. I hope to at some point catalog actual creatures instead of just species that have made it big on the galactic stage and are cruising around firing lasers at each other and conquering planets. Again, the current list of species seen consists of the most humanoid of them (except the vorovka); soon I'll be posting ones that don't follow regular sensory methods or regular biochemistry. I'm definitely doing at least one silicon-based lifeform, and I want it to be right along the lines of all of the theories for that that I've seen - something akin to a walking/slithering crystal.

FREAKIN' AWESOME HORSE

And now, for the moment someone has possibly been waiting for for a long, long time... THERE'S A FREAKIN' MAP! WHEEEW! Just click the thumbnail on the first post and hit "full size" again when Imageshack loads.

Tangential

The Other Side gives the entire setting a melancholic Romance feel similar to George Martin's old sci-fi epics.

The concept of 0D as equivalent to Enlightenment is tempting to ponder. But what in-world evidence suggest Perfection lies there? Or does anyone even believe that?

The Tragedy of Neptune isn't very tragic. Before ripping away the beauty, proove it to me.

SLIDE manages to be sinister enough to prevent me from overdosing on the WALL*E vibe, but only just barely. I'd love to see you elaborate on it.

What inherent dangers created the Lockdown Hunters? Are they a faction that any Wraz, Human or Gray can join or are they are species created through their joint efforts?

I like pseudoscience, tell me more about darkspace.

What is the purpose of the UDN in the narrative?

When I hit ECHELON & SPECTR the acronyms began seemed to be stretching.

Zextesselus rolls well of the tongue.

Tell me about the red Anvil.

Would you be comfortable tell us more about the rise of Aveloranity and perhaps how widespread it is?

I stop there tonight.
Settings I\'ve Designed: Mandria, Veil, Nordgard, Earyhuza, Yrcacia, Twin Lands<br /><br />Settings I\'ve Developed: Danthos, the Aspects Cosmos, Solus, Cyrillia, DIcefreaks\' Great Wheel, Genesis, Illios, Vale, Golarion, Untime, Meta-Earth, Lands of Rhyme