Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Darren" data-source="post: 1935989" data-attributes="member: 22701">Yeah, hard sci-fi runs into problems with what may or may not be realistically feasible, even if it's physically possible.  I would prefer a bit of tweaking the physics rather than putting a straightjacket on my setting.  That's just me though.To that end the most compelling sci-fi universe I've found that I think would make for interesting gaming was that created by Vernor Vinge in his novel "A Fire Upon the Deep."  It's not really hard sci-fi in that physics operates differently depending on where you are in relation to the center of the galaxy. (There are four or five "zones of thought," each with fewer restrictions as you get further from the galactic core.)  It's quite compelling and won the Hugo in 91 or 92.  Basically most things are highly controlled, and information is power like you would most likely expect in a highly advanced setting, with beings that are truly alien in their outlook and thinking - at least in some places in the galaxy.  Other areas are struggling with medieval tech or less.  There are ancient galactic archives (similar to internet archive sites, only on a galactic scale) from old societies waiting to be discovered and used, but then along comes something resembling a computer virus that is "transcended," having acquired god-like intelligence and power.  You can't fight it directly, so you have to go where it physically cannot operate... but it can send its minions.  If you've already been working on your setting for a long time, reading this for info may or not be worthwhile, but it's great intertainment anyway if you like the genre.  If I were to make my own sci-fi or future campaign setting, it would likely have many similarities to this.Building on what you posted...Bureaucracy - Known archives are highly controlled, but people still go off exploring to find an archive that is not under someone else's control.Technology - Possibly expensive, possibly worthless, possibly magic-like, depending on where you are.Space - Yes, it's big, and traveling too far from known resources is still quite dangerous.  You also risk becomming stranded in space if you get too close to the galactic core and your tech gives out.Futuristic Possibilities - Yes, quite, if you allow for the 'zones of thought' modification to physics as we understand it.Remote Robot Control - Not to give too much plot away if you decide to check it out, but that is a strong possibility too....Either that or Babylon 5.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /></blockquote>

Verification