New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

[Luke Bunyip]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Electrified railroads yes...

Noice.

What would be the dominant tech(s) for electricity generation? Pumped storage hydro, with wind power, perchance?

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Luke Bunyip

Noice.

What would be the dominant tech(s) for electricity generation? Pumped storage hydro, with wind power, perchance?

I was thinking hydro as in dams helexical generators, tidal, wind, solar, eventually nuclear. With no fossil fuels anything else would get tried early. Malthus once speculated California would develope industry based on solar power. I believe he saw the solar powered machinery demostraited in Paris in the 1790's.

[Luke Bunyip]

Solar ovens and furnaces might find a niche. TL 5 heliostats, powering steam engine driven industries.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Luke Bunyip

Solar ovens and furnaces might find a niche. TL 5 heliostats, powering steam engine driven industries.

That was a common speculation in the 18th century. As I said Malthus mentioned the idea that California might become a world industrial center because of it's bright sunlight.

You could have some very advanced areas but a very limited transport infrastructure. Modern port cities and farms locked in the 1700's.

[Apollonian]

If the initial colonists suspected that there'd be a lack of fossil fuels, or wanted to avoid using any that might be present on the new world, they might have included organisms genetically optimized to act as energy or fuel sources - algae, grains, or whatever. Discovering how to use those, and controlling regions where they thrive, would be a significant historical influence.

[dcarson]

With the lack of coal what do they use to make coke to make steel? Switching to coke from coal instead of charcoal from trees was one of the big factors in the several orders of magnitude jump in steel production at the start of the Industrial Revolution.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

If the initial colonists suspected that there'd be a lack of fossil fuels, or wanted to avoid using any that might be present on the new world, they might have included organisms genetically optimized to act as energy or fuel sources - algae, grains, or whatever. Discovering how to use those, and controlling regions where they thrive, would be a significant historical influence.

Political infighting and social collapse prevented sound planning, or at least suficiant sound planning.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by dcarson

With the lack of coal what do they use to make coke to make steel? Switching to coke from coal instead of charcoal from trees was one of the big factors in the several orders of magnitude jump in steel production at the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Again, one of the things slowing down this planet's technological growth.

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

A whole new paradigm of physics is figured out in the 2030's and is the excepted norm by the 2050's. Two technologies previously super-science fantasies are now practical realities; Anti-Gravity and Faster than Light drives.

It's now 2060 and a Tech Level Nine Earth is exploring the nearby stars. For practical reasons the highest available speed with TL9 FTL engines is 256 times the speed of light. Less than week to Alpha Centauri. Tau Ceti is less than a month away.

Between the ship engines needing maintenance and the issues with sealed life-support systems a 250 lyr radius of exploration is practical. However there is a race to set up bases to dry-dock the ships and refurbish life-support systems. Bases need to be able to feed themselves and provide supplies for ships, as well as provide shore leave and other support services.

Thus these bases need to be towns on the frontier, this means that town builders are required. It's a different kind of West. Store-keeps and School-marms are more important than cowboys and such. Still, these new towns will need trouble shooters to help through the troubled beginnings of settlement. Also, rival powers would prefer competing bases fail, preferablely with an embarrassing loss of life.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Try this one...

A whole new paradigm of physics is figured out in the 2030's and is the excepted norm by the 2050's. Two technologies previously super-science fantasies are now practical realities; Anti-Gravity and Faster than Light drives.

It's now 2060 and a Tech Level Nine Earth is exploring the nearby stars. For practical reasons the highest available speed with TL9 FTL engines is 256 times the speed of light. Less than week to Alpha Centauri. Tau Ceti is less than a month away.

Between the ship engines needing maintenance and the issues with sealed life-support systems a 250 lyr radius of exploration is practical. However there is a race to set up bases to dry-dock the ships and refurbish life-support systems. Bases need to be able to feed themselves and provide supplies for ships, as well as provide shore leave and other support services.

Thus these bases need to be towns on the frontier, this means that town builders are required. It's a different kind of West. Store-keeps and School-marms are more important than cowboys and such. Still, these new towns will need trouble shooters to help through the troubled beginnings of settlement. Also, rival powers would prefer competing bases fail, preferable with an embarrassing loss of life.

If more than one nation is involved that would require not only creating new law enforcement but new judiciary satisfactory to all. The later might be a problem if one nation's law is repugnant to another ("yes we do allow women to read on our planet, got a problem").