|
Post by srbrant on Oct 25, 2017 0:18:04 GMT
Could you do a short story about a smuggling operation? Or perhaps about the life of a Helium-3 gas tanker pilot? The later Assumes you have fusion in your story. Although they sounds small and pointless these things could help you realize how you want something to be in your story. For example, if you did the first recommendation it could help you find out how you want starport or whatever you call it security to be like. Hmmm, interesting!
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 24, 2017 23:46:23 GMT
What to write...
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 24, 2017 21:17:03 GMT
To clarify, what I'm looking for are various themes or settings and themes that are common within SF settings. Such as pirates, civilians, asteroid miners, interplanetary politics, battles, skirmishes, exploration, etc. What about a Cold War on Mars? The poles have plenty of access to water ice, the places closer to the equator don't. So I'd expect the North and South pole to be well-developped superpowers after a while, while the territories closer to the equator are less developped and used as pawns in proxy wars between the North, the South, and offworld powers. Or what about a trans-/posthuman cult on Mercury dedicated to building a Matrioshka brain around the Sun? Or megacorporations/governments grown fat from asteroid mining turning their eye to star lifting? Or what about conflict between folks that are pro-uplifting and vehemently anti-uplifting? Great ideas, but the story takes place away from Sol. Like 5,000 lightyears away.
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 24, 2017 19:08:07 GMT
To clarify, what I'm looking for are various themes or settings and themes that are common within SF settings. Such as pirates, civilians, asteroid miners, interplanetary politics, battles, skirmishes, exploration, etc.
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 24, 2017 18:40:01 GMT
Because of a lot of complications, my novel Kemono is in a state of development hell so to stay productive, I want to make some short stories set in its universe... but what should they be about? What aspects of its universe are you guys curious about? Well, based on what you know of it, that is. I need a push in the right direction. Help me out, folks! Did you posted anything substantial about your setting? And if so, where? The most I posted here so far is my previous short story in general discussion. The one with the Skunk captain.
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 24, 2017 18:32:07 GMT
And what if the habitats are already established? Most habitats would be build to be lightweight. Digging out caves is expensive. And the majority of the population lives apparently on the surface in CDE. But they would most likely have some kind of whipple shield against micrometeorites. You indeed need some kind of protection against meteorites. You use lasers to deflect or vaporise the big ones, and armour to tank the small ones. Where the transition lies depends on how expensive digging and/or armour is versus how potent your detection and laser systems are. What applies to pieces of rock/ice also applies to chunks of metal. Or if you have debris collection infrastructure that can somehow recycle those fast little buggers.
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 24, 2017 18:28:27 GMT
Because of a lot of complications, my novel Kemono is in a state of development hell so to stay productive, I want to make some short stories set in its universe... but what should they be about? What aspects of its universe are you guys curious about? Well, based on what you know of it, that is. I need a push in the right direction. Help me out, folks!
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 24, 2017 17:43:21 GMT
Here's some fridge horror I've noticed: what happens to the cannon rounds that miss their targets and what does that mean for the people living on the planet below?! Space debris hauls ass already on an average of seven meters per second, but those puppies could do some extreme damage at that speed! So does this mean that a few colonies have been lost after a major space battle?
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 23, 2017 4:22:18 GMT
Then there's the issue of the shape. My primary image of the Heinleiner is a massive, whale-like shell pinched on both ends like the shape of an almond (if that makes sense). With a long rat-like "tail" with heat radiators at the end like the fins of a fish, smaller ships docking at ports built along its length. It's great, but feels a little...basic.
As for the inside, expect rooms and corridors that snake and weave around each enormous remass tank.
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 22, 2017 6:10:53 GMT
Borophene is quite interesting. It has multiple forms, all pure boron, and one of those only conducts electricity along one of its axes (what this could be applied to is still unknown). That axis also has strength comparable to, and possibly exceeding, the strength of graphene. Borophene also superconducts at low temperature. Graphene and carbon nanotubes can make logic gates for extremely tiny electronics. Boron nitride is an insulator, and with nanosheets of that as a substrate, you have more or less everything you need. As a bonus, these materials are quite robust and temperature-resistant. Boron nitride and graphene have a hybrid in between: borocarbonitride sheets; this allows you to bond all the parts together into what is more or less one huge molecule. When your exhaust velocity is high, like with fusion, adding mass isn't very problematic. See ingame MPD craft for an example. Yeah. Fusion engines can really haul some ass as I can imagine. I'm thinking that the huge habitats on these ships help reduce Delta-V to a level commonly seen in CDE so that, if they were to crash, they do so with relatively minimal damage to the planet because of the lowered velocity. Because these ships can be pretty big!
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 21, 2017 5:44:24 GMT
Interesting... Maybe the phleb materials could be modified versions of these? Also interesting to note: graphene becomes a superconductor when sandwiched between superconductors, is self-annealing and can easily be doped to produce microchips, sensors or PV panels. Boron nitride nanotubes are slightly less strong than CNT's, but are more temperature resistant. Carbon is one of the most common elements in the universe, so being able to tap into it as a building material seems useful. Fascinating... Still wondering just how much habitat space I can cram into the ship before it starts to affect its Delta-V in a significant way. There are corridors and rooms like on a cruise liner, but its more compact of course. Trying to find the right balance is key. Would an auditorium be out of the question? Atmosphere is not much of an issue because of wall-mounted oxygen scrubbers the size of microwaves, but even with that nipped in the bud, high overheads are out of the question unless they play some sort of role.
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 21, 2017 5:02:00 GMT
Ah, the ol' standard! Mass is also reduced a bit by some applied phlebetonium materials (plasteel, arachnite, etc), though their usefulness isn't too much of an improvement because they're used to make larger crew spaces. For structural component: graphene, carbon nanotubes, boron nitride nanotubes, borophene, diamond nanothreads, carbyne and ring carbon (ring carbon is purely theoretical AFAIK) all have extremely high strength-to-weigh ratios. There might be no need for phlebetonium materials. Interesting... Maybe the phleb materials could be modified versions of these?
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 21, 2017 4:52:48 GMT
Come one, come all! Our good friend Cosmogator agrees with my suggestion for more world-building in the CoaDE universe, seeing how there is so much creative potential! And to inspire all of you potential lore-writers, here are some questions to help you get started: - What is living in a post-Cataclysm Sol System like?
- How many other factions are vying for control, who are they and what do they want?
- What sort of entertainment and culture has arisen since the Cataclysm?
- Have much of the flora and fauna from Earth made it onto the colonies? (Most of them if you ask me)
- Are there factions that want to re-terraform Earth?
- Are there factions that want to escape the Sol System entirely?
- Are there factions that demand to know about the Free Republic's dirty secrets?
- What is everyday life on the colonies like?
- What is war like on the planets themselves?
- What are the cryptocurrencies that the Liberty Exchange uses?
- How has mankind adapted to living on other planets?
- What is it like living on an asteroid?
- What are the orbital colonies like?
- What does Earth's surface look like now?
Let's get to writing, folks! Fill up the Infolinks!
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 21, 2017 4:26:37 GMT
What tech are your ships using? Arcjet? Antimatter-catalysed pulse fusion? Nuclear salt-water? Also yeah, don't worry too much about FTL. Just check Atomic Rocket and craft one that has the least direct impact on the stories you want to tell. I have some affection for the Attack Vector: Tactical version of jump points very close to the star, personally. Fusion reactors. Hi-tech ones, but ultimately standard. Encased in a cage of boron carbide, lead and lithium-6 surrounding them for added protection (some maintenance corridors get pretty close there.) The "jump points" are simply Lagrange points. Some asteroids have been pushed into them and used as the beginnings of large space colonies...or pirate havens.
|
|
|
Post by srbrant on Oct 21, 2017 3:53:52 GMT
Look, enough with the FTL squabbling - let's talk about the main issue of this thing: mass. If the mass of the ship is around 1-10 Mt, then regular NTRs would be enough to provide reasonable acceleration and Delta-V. Ah, the ol' standard! Mass is also reduced a bit by some applied phlebetonium materials (plasteel, arachnite, etc), though their usefulness isn't too much of an improvement because they're used to make larger crew spaces.
|
|