Terradyne

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Correct. It's not proper to use terms like "retro-tech" or "alternate history" about stories told about the future that have turned out to fail at prediction. Sorry.

A different word is needed. Right now I can't think of a good one.

Alexei Panshin used the phrase "yesterday's tomorrow," which I think is as good as any. At least, if we're talking about sf that was written in a past year, and looked ahead to what was then a future year, but is now the present or the nearer past, and has not turned out as the sf then envisioned it.

The difference is that someone in 1940, writing a story about the colonization of Mars in 1970, intended to write about a possible future. Someone now writing about the colonization of Mars in 1970 is writing about an impossible past.

Bill Stoddard

[Flaco76]

I had not really thought about the computers in the book. I was thinking the geo-political situation.

1. Replace the USSR with something else. Maybe a Eurasian Union composed of the Russian speaking people in Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

2. The United States and Europe are pretty much the same.

3. Japan was the financial-technology hub with friendly relations with Terradyne. I am thinking they may continue that with Terradyne providing resources and markets.

4. China may have a larger presence under the UPOE Free Space program. They may be a more authoritarian republic.

5. India and the Trans Atlantic Alliance may be more diverse with some countries up the TL9 levels and do not vote in a bloc.

6. I am thinking mature TL9 Fourth Wave technology with TL10 prototypes starting to showup by 2143.
2050-2120 TL9
2120- TL10

7. The Sun Ring is slowly being dismantled and relocated due to fusion taking over power generation.

8. Free Space/Terradyne may be establishing settements in the Belt and Outer System.

9. No uploading of brains or destructive peeling. Biotech crops for Earth/Mars. Bioroids built for dangerous work.

[Pragmatic]

I just want it to get the e23 treatment...

I've very few 3E books left in "dead trees" format, as I've switched almost completely to PDF. This is one of the few non-licensed books I have left. :-)

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Your opinions of THS are a matter of record, on these fora. :)

What, that I like it? Yes, this is known.

Don't forget to separate the game setting from the fringe ideological stuff in the real world. :)

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

I disagree. No explanation is needed. It's simply alternate history.

'Alternate history' is an explanation, Peter. Basic, yes, but it works just fine. By describing the setting as 'alternate history, extended into the future', you are telling the players not to expect that things proceed from 2013, but from 1990 or whenever. It's a 'road not taken.' If computers are different, that's to be expected.
I didn't mean that a detailed account of the alternate technical development was important.
Sorry if I hadn't been clear about this.

[tantric]

I had a little creative flash on this, so here goes.

The point is to have space and hard SF but not be THS, thus more darkness and less biotech. Have a mideast nuclear war in about 2025 that leads to an economic crash. The first world invests in power satellites, the world being sick of the "peace use of nuclear energy" that got Iran and Saudi Arabia their weapons. This will get some people in space - at least a repair and maintenance station.

We don't want prosperity, especially universally. So here the information economy doesn't work so well. Say the third world pays for energy and ignores patents, creating a global divide between Rights and Lefts, which only vague parallels the old socialism based system. The Rights have a sickly information economy, getting that manufactured goods from China, Russia and Mexico while India and Brazil lead the Left. Left nations have areas of high tech prosperity, which the Right equals with the kleptocracies of the 20th century.

more later, maybe

[combatmedic]

'More darkness'? What does that mean? Darker in comparison to what?

I have no idea what you mean by 'Right' and 'Left.'
My confusion and questions aside, your notions seem like fun.

[tantric]

THS is pretty happy tech - I know there are issues, but I don't see the theme as dark. I need names, but I was saying that nations that use copyrights are the new Right, the infosocialists become the new Left. Should China join the Right or go its own way?

Anyway, my basic idea is changing cyberpunk into spacepunk, which THS really isn't. Terradyne is about corporate space - that can be maintained, but varied up. IMHO, Terradyne as a setting is too monolithic. One of the best things about THS is that it's so all over the place and a bit random, which gives it verisimilitude.

I'm thinking it needs a moonbase and a captured asteroid or two. I can't see any way of making Mars profitable....Maybe the Left goes for fission while the Right does solar power sats and builds a mass driver on the moon. Or just lots of orbital ABM sats.

[apoc527]

FWIW, people see THS as far more optimistic and happy than it needs to be viewed. Remember, you are the GM. You can alter aspects of THS just fine. Once I realized this, I enjoyed GMing THS much more. If you want a darker version of THS, make it darker--it's not like the setting is all that rosy in the first place--look at the crap that happens just in 2099! Forced uploads, corporate wars, memetic outbreaks.

Sure, the average American citizen has it better than they do now, but isn't that what you'd expect from a future setting that's NOT post-apoc?

Anyway, I am also curious about Terradyne, but the last post (just above mine) makes me wonder if it's worthwhile to worry about Terradyne or just fiddle with THS.

For example, in my sig, you'll find my Obsidian Portal page for my campaign. CHeck out the sessions in Cincinnati. It was ugly! Very dark.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by apoc527

FWIW, people see THS as far more optimistic and happy than it needs to be viewed. Remember, you are the GM. You can alter aspects of THS just fine.

It's terribly optimistic about only a few things, but things are ridiculously optimistic.

1. Human presence in space
2. Environmental disasters (and the lack thereof)
3. Absurdly accelerated pace of terraforming on Mars