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Do-Mo In reply to Vumpalouska [2015-08-16 02:46:16 +0000 UTC]

Hmm it's something I only have some basic idea about...
Basically I wanted something where stuff we understand now would fit in...but by the time our industrial bases are large enough for us to build giant spaceships like this one, I'm pretty sure our weapons would be a lot better then this, and probably everything else. Seriously, if you count out two giant em canons -which are not so far off- everything else is more or less something a modern naval ship could use. Ok, big missiles would probably be something like casaba howitzers, which is somewhat exotic, but still not something that we couldn't build right now if we wanted to. And while it is fun to imagine what the future will bring, I still wanted something that could be calculated, something to give me boundaries to work with, to force me to try and be "realistic"(sort-of obviously ).

So what I imagined is something like this...
Sometimes in the near future, let's say around the year 2050 we would start colonizing our solar system...and sometimes around the year 2100(maybe more), something really really bad would happen on Earth, like a massive nuclear war, or a supervulcano explosion(or both ), something that takes out Earth out of the equation, and leaves our colonies to fend for themselves. And then around, let's say 100-150 years later(maybe more), these ships would happen. So in a way, they are low tech because I imagine that colonies, when left alone, would start of with somewhat small populations, let's say 50-100 thousand people, numbers in that range, and would really really need to invest a lot in food production, and basic spacefaring, for trade among themselves, or they would die out, fast. By the time this ship happens, the entire human population would probably be(a lot) less then 100 million. So they probably wouldn't focus much on developing new technologies, but stick with what they know. I imagine, factions would be something like Venerians, Martians, Jovians, Saturnians and a whole bunch of independent smaller colonies, spread out everywhere, on the asteroid belt, moons of other gas giants, drifting in their space stations, or some type of generation ships...maybe even, some dark, scary, nearly forgotten colonies on large planets that may be beyond Pluto(if that new telescope actually sees them there, ofc ). And of course, when it all started out, some would be more inclined to steal from others what they needed, which is why they HAD to build warships, or again, they would die off. But then again, a sort of cold war is implied, if one big faction is building warships, then others must as well, or they risk being left behind. I also tried to imagine what realistic pirates would be like(pirates are fun! )...so I imagine, that at first, there where something like mercenaries, that provided safety for everyone else...but they became too good, and got rid of all would-be pirates, and they where left without a job to do. So to compensate, they actually became pirates, which would explain why they actually have big ships.

And there are many small details like that, that I like to imagine. But on a larger scale, it's all still pretty basic, and I just add some story bits with each ship that I post here
So in total, it would be something similar to Firefly universe, but with closer tech, and in our solar system. And I think there is A LOT of room for flavors here.

This was probably a lot longer answer then what you asked for, but hey, I felt like typing it

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TitaniumTurt1e In reply to Do-Mo [2018-06-05 02:41:03 +0000 UTC]

This is surprising close to the premise of the book I am in the middle of writing. Like insanely close. I'm imagining a little further in the future with just a bit better tech, but pretty much this.

The only real difference I have in how I imagine my ships compared to yours is that there would be kind of an armor shell around the whole thing with the internals practically identical. That and I use magnetic rail technology for habitat rotation to produce partial, simulated gravity. That makes the ships crew and cargo capabilities a bit higher since I can basically rap the habitable portions of the ship around the cargo and main structure. I'm still way impressed with your ships though, and even more how close your story line is to mine.

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Do-Mo In reply to TitaniumTurt1e [2018-06-05 15:09:28 +0000 UTC]

Oh wou, I can't believe I wrote that comment almost 3 years ago

Sadly, I never went with writing down the story, and I probably never will, I still prefer to just make these designs and add bits of stories with them. Good on you for actually taking that step. I did notice the prologue of your story, and I'll have a read when I catch a calm moment.

With the popularity of the Expanse series, and the cult following of the Firefly, I hope even more people will try to do stories like these, it's surprising just how vast the solar system is, the room for story potential is definitely there.

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TitaniumTurt1e In reply to Do-Mo [2018-06-05 15:29:11 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I think there is a lot of potential for more semi-realistic sci-fi that doesn't involve all the classic stereotypes that just aren't realistic. That prologue is super rough compared to my current draft so it should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm actually several chapters in now though so I might end up posting a few of those some time. All the main elements are still there though, so I would love any criticism you can give me.

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Vumpalouska In reply to Do-Mo [2015-08-16 03:48:08 +0000 UTC]

Well, that was certainly a definitive answer,  thank you. I kind of like well-thought-out fictional universes with extensive background lore. Makes them feel more alive and believable.

I take it that you're very familiar with the Project Rho Atomic Rockets website?

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Do-Mo In reply to Vumpalouska [2015-08-16 04:15:19 +0000 UTC]

Oh yes, I'm a big fan of that website!

Most of my math is taken from there, and I often just browse it, to find new ideas about something I'd like to incorporate in my designs

Long long ago, I tried to do some other realistic designs, but Atomic Rockets was an amazing find, as it showed me just how miss informed I was about so many things. I'm no rocket scientist, or physicist (actually I'm a foreign language student ), so I just have to hand wave things sometimes, but for the most part, I really try to make my things fit with what's on Atomic Rockets website

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Do-Mo In reply to PINARCI [2015-05-07 21:16:15 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!
I've put a lot of effort into it...many more be will come soon

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