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Old 10-09-2018, 12:22 PM   #11
Black Leviathan
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Default Re: The End of the World

I'm a sucker for a good preachy game. It's not that I think it really conveys a message but I grew up on the "We did it to ourselves" apocalypse so it's my particular flavor of The End.

That said, while Global Warming is actually going to destroy our civilization as we know it it's not a very good game plot because it is a destruction that is going to happen over decades if not centuries of us making very slow compromises in our lives punctuated by abrupt violent conflicts not unlike the wars we're fighting over oil now. There won't be golden valley to lead people to and there won't be a turn-around.

If you were going to run a Gobal Warming Apocalypse Game it would look a lot like the World of Darkness, respect for life would be low, violence would be high, poor people would be suffering and dying, governments would keep conspiracies and there would be subversive resistance movements.

If you ran a Global Warming After the End game it would look a lot like every near-future sci-fi game. There would be gleaming new coastal cities with a handful of abandoned drowned cities. Green Power would be prevalent, the world would be at a diplomatic peak after years of resource wars, poverty would be greatly reduced because of the massive drop in populations, and we'd be in the middle of a technology boom as countries are incentivised to solve problems that previously caused massive destruction.
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Old 10-09-2018, 04:25 PM   #12
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We also have video evidence that there would be pirates on jet skis operating out of a ship loaded with cigarettes.
Even if all the polar ice melted by 2150 (evidence suggests that it would take seven to ten centuries) vast areas of farmland would stay high and dry. Drought not flood is the threat. Insects are also a major threat, without winter frosts, crop productivity would plunge.

Vertical agriculture would become popular. Mainly because crops could be more effectively shielded from environmental threats. Also water use would be radically reduced. Nations that invested early in Vertical Agriculture would face blackmail from late investors. Class Warfare with the straving rural poor bitter about urban crops. Meanwhile city folks would be paranoid about protecting their fragile food sources.

Plenty of room for conflict.
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Old 10-09-2018, 06:38 PM   #13
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Default Re: The End of the World

Vertical agriculture is very expensive. The reason why we use so much land on agriculture is because it is the most efficient way to grow crops. If we switched from horizontal agriculture to vertical agriculture, food prices would increase tenfold to hundredfold, depending on the individual crop.

In addition, vertical farms are terribly vulnerable to earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, etc. If a crop is flattened by a hurricane, it is a tragedy for a year. If a vertical farm is flattened by a hurricane, it is a tragedy for a generation.
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Old 10-11-2018, 06:03 AM   #14
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Vertical agriculture is very expensive. The reason why we use so much land on agriculture is because it is the most efficient way to grow crops. If we switched from horizontal agriculture to vertical agriculture, food prices would increase tenfold to hundredfold, depending on the individual crop.
Your price estimates are decades out of date. The simple facts that it would take vastly less water to grow the crops, there would be no need for pesticides, no losses to bad weather, pests, or disease, and the transport cost would be nil, would be vast savings. Also, remember we are talking about a period in the future when improved tech would change the equation. Also, this is a period of serious climate change. The indoor crops would be far more secure than crops exposed to drought and freak weather.

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In addition, vertical farms are terribly vulnerable to earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, etc. If a crop is flattened by a hurricane, it is a tragedy for a year. If a vertical farm is flattened by a hurricane, it is a tragedy for a generation.
These are general objections to urban civilization. They don't seem to have stopped cities yet.
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Old 10-12-2018, 10:55 PM   #15
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Vertical agriculture would become popular.
Conceivably a portion of the floor space of any sun facing (ie southern facing in Nth Hemisphere, northern facing down here) high rise office building could be converted into a multi storied green house. Barring engineering limitations (floor load bearing, air flow management, water supply, and drainage).
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Old 10-13-2018, 12:00 AM   #16
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One of my fav AtE computer games is/was Roadwar 2000.
Spoiler:  

I liked the way that a player and their allies could slowly help settlements reestablish themselves.



The main setting issue I can see is the issue of trade (or more namely, the lack thereof) and impacts from rising sea levels. In an AtE setting, who will have the resources to rebuild ports and their associated infrastructure, time and again?

And whilst on the topic of seaborne trade, could this facilitate a revival of wooden sailing ships like schooners or barques?
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Old 10-13-2018, 10:28 AM   #17
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One of my fav AtE computer games is/was Roadwar 2000.
Spoiler:  

I liked the way that a player and their allies could slowly help settlements reestablish themselves.



The main setting issue I can see is the issue of trade (or more namely, the lack thereof) and impacts from rising sea levels. In an AtE setting, who will have the resources to rebuild ports and their associated infrastructure, time and again?

And whilst on the topic of seaborne trade, could this facilitate a revival of wooden sailing ships like schooners or barques?
The wood supply would be the limitation. But sailing ships can be made from many things. Concrete has been made into good quality sailboats. And there are many better options.
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Old 10-13-2018, 05:47 PM   #18
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The main setting issue I can see is the issue of trade (or more namely, the lack thereof) and impacts from rising sea levels. In an AtE setting, who will have the resources to rebuild ports and their associated infrastructure, time and again?
Build the ports at the head of navigation of rivers. Then as long as that's further up than the final sea level rise, the only infrastructure you need to keep replacing is channel markers showing where the river bed is under the flooded estuary.
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Old 10-13-2018, 06:05 PM   #19
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One of my fav AtE computer games is/was Roadwar 2000.
Can't eat tires!
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Old 10-14-2018, 06:06 AM   #20
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Can't eat tires!
What? You can't? You mean The Great Gonzo lied to us?!
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