[lexington]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Tales of the Solar Patrol gives the TL of its setting as 6+3, but I have been finding this inadequate for certain reasons.

In the setting, budget problems blocked the invention of the electronic computer and the transistor. However, the setting has an "ether," and discoveries relating to this have led to almost limitless power with "Tesla coils," electron drives that can accelerate in an hour to 0.1c and more, nega-barriers (force fields), atomic guns, and gravitic vectors (anti-gravity). All of these technologies are obviously TL^. The setting has electro-mechanical computers called infomats, and has not progressed beyond TL6 except for developments in nuclear fission, putting it in TL7 for power generation.

Yet the setting has manned interplanetary space flight, heavy laser weapons (both TL9), and perhaps some other TL9 stuff I'm forgetting.

So is TL6+3 the best descriptor of this setting? GURPS page B513 lists retro-tech mimicking 1940s SF (which is this setting) as a split tech level, not a divergent one. I was thinking TSP could be described as "TL6 (Tesla Power and Weapons TL6^, Nuclear Power TL7).

Any thoughts?

If the ether really exists in TOSP maybe those aren't superscience within the setting?