[Space/Spaceships] Getting the velocity/Delta V I want with the tech I want

Vaevictis Asmadi · 04-08-2014, 10:41 AM

I don't think that it matters if the food you're importing is a luxury or a drug. People will always prefer to grow it themselves rather than importing it at a much higher cost.

By the time people are building starships, they have almost certainly already mastered O'Neil colonies and arcologies. If they don't have the natural conditions necessary to grow the luxury/cash crop, they will create artificial conditions that replicate the original environment. All they will need is some seeds (or cell-lines for cloning) and data on the growing environment.

Also, don't count out the possibility of synthetic substitutes for drugs. Unless biotech is stuck at TL8, they should be able to synthetically produce nearly any drug that a living thing can grow.

The exceptions will be newly discovered organisms that haven't been cultivated outside the colony yet, and bizarre things like Arrakeen sandworms that just cannot be cultivated at all.

Like Johnny said, exceptionally expensive manufacturing that requires enormous infrastructure is the main thing people would still want to trade.

04-08-2014, 10:41 AM	#18
Vaevictis Asmadi Join Date: May 2007 Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota, U.S.A.	Re: [Space/Spaceships] Getting the velocity/Delta V I want with the tech I want I don't think that it matters if the food you're importing is a luxury or a drug. People will always prefer to grow it themselves rather than importing it at a much higher cost. By the time people are building starships, they have almost certainly already mastered O'Neil colonies and arcologies. If they don't have the natural conditions necessary to grow the luxury/cash crop, they will create artificial conditions that replicate the original environment. All they will need is some seeds (or cell-lines for cloning) and data on the growing environment. Also, don't count out the possibility of synthetic substitutes for drugs. Unless biotech is stuck at TL8, they should be able to synthetically produce nearly any drug that a living thing can grow. The exceptions will be newly discovered organisms that haven't been cultivated outside the colony yet, and bizarre things like Arrakeen sandworms that just cannot be cultivated at all. Like Johnny said, exceptionally expensive manufacturing that requires enormous infrastructure is the main thing people would still want to trade. __________________ I have Confused and Clueless. Sometimes I miss sarcasm and humor, or critically fail my Savoir-Faire roll. None of it is intentional. Published GURPS Settings (as of 4/2013 -- I hope to update it someday...)