tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post4783348924043712931..comments2024-03-28T00:36:19.403-07:00Comments on Rocketpunk Manifesto: Worldbuilding on the Fly?Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-80971931964424841412013-12-16T03:50:50.046-08:002013-12-16T03:50:50.046-08:00My personal opinion and experience about the thing...My personal opinion and experience about the things mentioned in the title : when i storytelled, i didnt care about small details about every non playing character, maps and stuff like that.<br />I wrote down basics about important NPCs, started develop further details about them on the fly, i dont consider the result were so bad.<br />It wasnt really good, when i didnt have basics about the important NPCs of the area, then after a time, they become rather stereotypical clone like...<br />So i think the main characters, organisations, places, and technical or magical constraints of the story should have proper skeletons.<br /><br />In fantasy world building i encountered questions like, ok so they have mental magic, i cant say they dont have, when hypnosis really exists (although it is not like you can just command someone to kill someone...) does that mean they dont make wrong judgements??<br /><br />No it wouldnt be good... countermeasures, erase memories, mistrust toward mages.<br /><br />Teleport means they dont need caravans, fortresses?? No... teleportation requires VERY much sacrifice... also, you need a HIGH level mage to teleport to a place that isnt marked previously, they can make countermeasures against that few mages... <br /><br />Well i just intended to say, when you introduce speculative breakthroughs you have to care about consequences very carefully.<br /><br />Maybe hard sci there is lesser problems with that, but still can be a number of things, that can ruin your consistency.<br /><br />And not just technical details (like the ones i remember you mentioned Rick, so the big mega dreadnought with the laser cannon can blast away anything... what prevents it from getting blasted by planetary defence when they have better waste heat treatment abilities? Or something like that.) but also economical social things, motives of characters.TOMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07714038528716438776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-11535936667141811572013-12-15T23:58:03.510-08:002013-12-15T23:58:03.510-08:00Hi.
Sorry if i am OFF a bit, but i started my own...Hi.<br /><br />Sorry if i am OFF a bit, but i started my own world building here.<br />(And sent to the plot basics to my friends, although at first i should complete my mayan based roleplay universe)<br /><br />http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=721385TOMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07714038528716438776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-72414737723395969232013-10-27T14:02:06.874-07:002013-10-27T14:02:06.874-07:00Cordwainer,
I think that Lofstrom loops would be g...Cordwainer,<br />I think that Lofstrom loops would be good for launching cargo or unmanned vehicles, but not so much for human launches, due to their very high G-loads. However, reducing the cost of any type of launches is a worthwhile endevor. It takes a lot of time, money, and effort to develop a new launch system. It took from the mid-18th century to the late 1950's to turn ordinary rockets into launch vehicles. I shouldn't expect any other launch system to take less time to develop, so we have a ways to go before we have a replacement for rocket-powered orbital launches.<br /><br />FerrellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-25813274028358924972013-09-29T19:19:51.521-07:002013-09-29T19:19:51.521-07:00Would a Lofstrom or launch loop type technology be...Would a Lofstrom or launch loop type technology be worth investing in, Tony?Cordwainerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06756588407144494507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-73450733615749250822013-09-29T19:14:06.467-07:002013-09-29T19:14:06.467-07:00Also Tony what's your opinion on the future of...Also Tony what's your opinion on the future of Skylon and other HOTOL efforts. Cordwainerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06756588407144494507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-57458954439551227572013-09-23T18:18:20.954-07:002013-09-23T18:18:20.954-07:00I know this is going to shock you all, but I'v...I know this is going to shock you all, but I've actually put up a <a href="http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/2013/09/vandenberg-spaceport.html" rel="nofollow">new blog post</a>.<br /><br /><br />Also, a very belated addition to the comment thread. One tossoff line caught my eye:<br /><br /><i>A YA novel set on Ganymede and dealing with teen angst could get away with the settlement being a small town or suburb lifted from the modern world and repackaged</i><br /><br />This might end up falling between stools. The kids who think Ganymede is interesting would want some cool stuff about Ganymede - not necessary a story 'about' colonizing Ganymede, but some kind of payoff. <br /><br />On the other hand, the kids who prefer slice-of-life teen angst would just think Ganymede stuff was a distraction. Pulling in both audiences could be done, but it would be challenging!<br /><br />(But if it worked at all, it might be really good!)Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-18126463982797901852013-09-23T02:05:27.678-07:002013-09-23T02:05:27.678-07:00Another trick I've learned for my characters i...Another trick I've learned for my characters is, instead thinking first "what would I (want to) do?", to begin with, "what kind of character do I want there?"<br />For example, you may want to tell the story of, say, a dim-witted but well-meaning hero, confronted to his own flawed will at crucial moments. Or a character who is letting his thirst for vengeance consume him. Or a cold planner that is trying to achieve his goals from the shadows by manipulating people for (what he perceives as) the greater good. Or a big-brawn-small-brain guy who just wants to find his place under the Sun.<br />By getting some characterization first, even some broad one, I find it easier to avoid this pitfall.Ethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13196257853962186227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-51383963116691309942013-09-22T11:14:07.502-07:002013-09-22T11:14:07.502-07:00Noclevername,
A trick I've learned to do is t...Noclevername,<br /> A trick I've learned to do is to not just have the start of the story, but also the ending of the story, before I even start writing.<br />I've found that this helps me complete stories much more often and keeps me from getting too far off course. I hope this helps.<br /><br />FerrellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-68802052718330402792013-09-20T22:23:54.875-07:002013-09-20T22:23:54.875-07:00My name is Mike, and I have a worldbuilding proble...My name is Mike, and I have a worldbuilding problem.<br /><br />("Hi, Mike.")<br /><br />I love to world-build, I've been doing it since I was a kid, long before I ever heard the word, but my main characters are all me in different suits (or rather an idealized version of me), and I almost always write first person singular. I want to be better at characters and plot, but sometimes I just start a story and trail off with no ending, just because I think of a cool concept. But concepts aren't stories. And I don't want my characters to be flat or too repetitive (how many times has seeing the same hard-ass tough chick or jive talking kid sidekick made you look askance at a film or TV show?)<br /><br />I have a problem! And knowing that... is the first step.Noclevernamenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-66156966044869797702013-08-20T05:06:51.516-07:002013-08-20T05:06:51.516-07:00"The part I really don't understand is th..."The part I really don't understand is throwing so much money at a movie. Anything that is marginally entertaining seems to make $200 mil domestic so why give it a budget that big? If they need to gross double the budget to break even, why not take the low end of expected gross and say that's the budget?"<br /><br />A British film reviewer, Mark Kermode, put it quite well when he stated that films now are made sufficiently big that it is unlikely they can fail in terms of revenue gained. You could make a film worse than "Cleopatra" and it would still bring in something. Hell, even Waterworld is still making money through a waterski attraction. Therefore: if films can be made to be too big to fail, can't there be more experimentation and effort to make a good film that is too big to fail? <br /><br />I'd say more, but there's a good (small budget) Turkish film out at my local cinema I'm about to go see. On a side note, I do wish there were more British attempts at big-budget sci-fi television...Geoffrey S Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-75852902606947904962013-08-18T14:12:13.196-07:002013-08-18T14:12:13.196-07:00jollyreaper, you have to remember that the people ...jollyreaper, you have to remember that the people who are in charge of film studios started in the buisness in the 1980's and 1990's; they have much the same mind-set that senior Wall Street stock brokers have, and we know how many of them operate.<br /><br />FerrellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-26952308391365356932013-08-16T04:18:09.732-07:002013-08-16T04:18:09.732-07:00I think there are a couple problems with film. Mos...I think there are a couple problems with film. Most of it boils down to money. <br /><br />Because making films is a business, capital is required. Capital requires strings. And because so much money can be made, this has attracted a lot of money and a lot of strings. <br /><br />Hollywood is mercenary so if they think they can make money with a movie about talking turds, they'll do it. They'll put anything on screen. <br /><br />Because so much money is at stake, they only want sure-fire properties. This is why we have so many remakes and sequels. The funny thing is that the biggest hits are usually the ones with the most freedom from studio meddling. Nevertheless, they meddle. <br /><br />The part I really don't understand is throwing so much money at a movie. Anything that is marginally entertaining seems to make $200 mil domestic so why give it a budget that big? If they need to gross double the budget to break even, why not take the low end of expected gross and say that's the budget?<br /><br />I thought that Pacific Rim was a good simple scifi movie. Tons of holes in the world building but it was a fun watch. You aren't looking at your watch wondering when something interesting is going to happen. But it has a $190 million budget and studio pig fighting meant they tried to sabotage the promotion to shank the production company. Real nature, right? Anyway, it's meant to be a franchise builder and sequel chances are iffy now. <br /><br />HBO and cable seems to be the place to go for budget and latitude. Movies seem like a creative wasteland like network television. jollyreaperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05673007647719726846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-90742712325012414482013-08-15T15:39:45.029-07:002013-08-15T15:39:45.029-07:00The problem you address may be less down to world ...The problem you address may be less down to world building and more to the generally declining quality of rfilms as a whole. <br /><br />A good way to illustrate this is to compare one critic-hated film from 2000 and one from 2010. <br /><br />The latter could be, say, Transformers 2, with its endless discordant (LOUD) special effects, endless/ mindless/ worryingly violent action and almost total lack of plot. <br /><br />Now look at the former, say Star Wars Episode 1. Has alot of loud action, with an overly complicated finale and an annoying main character[s]. Some excessive brass in the soundtrack. But it also has moments of quiet, some surprisingly good supporting characters and moments of relatively sophisticated (for a space opera aimed at 12 year olds) political dialogue and intrigue. <br /><br />Both are examples of bad films, and yet I cannot help but find earlier examples far superior to later ones. I can't appeal to age and growing cynicism either, being only 23. <br /><br />I do feel that those stories that do not feature much world building can occasionally appear to be isolated from a wider universe and seem to be taking place in some kind of strange political/sociological vacuum. Some can also seem a little *too* related (technologically, socially or whatever) to the present the writer wrote the book in. Neil Asher and Kevin J Anderson are especially bad at this. <br /><br />Bad world building on the other hand is sloppy, and doesn't present a setting that is sympathetic [superhero franchises and POTC are perhaps the prime examples here]. Instead of "I don't care about these people", you have "I don't care about these civilisations". <br /><br />In short, I agree with pretty much what you stated, and if I didn't, I can still most definitely see where you are coming from. Why can't they limit the amount of (LOUD) brass instruments that film orchestras are aloud for soundtracks? Geoffrey S Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-53204343727592411742013-08-15T09:44:35.269-07:002013-08-15T09:44:35.269-07:00My problem is the large settings tend to not be ve...My problem is the large settings tend to not be very good. I don't know why with all the money involved in a movie, for example, they can't bother on making the script any good. I heard the last Superman movie was terrible. Of the last four Spider-MAn movies, I only liked the first Raimi one. The most recent just failed at being anything close to good and entertaining. <br /><br />Wouldn't it be easier to build a franchise if the films are good? I would still rewatch the first unexpectedly good Pirates movie but the second was so bad I never saw the third or fourth. I'm so sick of Depp at this point I won't watch another film he does. jollyreaperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05673007647719726846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-14309318627923840232013-08-15T06:50:46.867-07:002013-08-15T06:50:46.867-07:00@jollyreaper
It was partly just me looking at the...@jollyreaper<br /><br />It was partly just me looking at the way so many of Joss Whedon's shows have been cancelled, preventing him from getting a good story really going, while also reflecting that the HBO channel has been happy to do "unfilmable" shows like Game of Thrones and The Wire. If they can be done, then maybe someone with a good/accurate sci-fi idea could have a go and ask them for help? <br /><br />If it did work, would that start a trend of accurate sf shows every few years? After Babylon 5 it was cool to have semi-Newtonian physics in shows following after... might it take only one successful show to clear the way for others? <br /><br />WRT world building as franchise developing (toys, games etc), it does seem to be that that is where most large scale sci-fi universes are going now. Star Wars has been at it for years, but now 40k, star trek and even dr who are looking to tie in all sorts of elements into a semi-coherent whole. Time will tell how long this trend lasts. Geoffrey S Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-30796826235396472532013-08-14T21:12:53.728-07:002013-08-14T21:12:53.728-07:00To me, worldbuilding is not the key for a good sto...To me, worldbuilding is not the key for a good story, the story is about the people and events, but worldbuilding does make a big difference because it transcends the story and gives something extra. People who really like a story naturally want more. They buy happy meal toys, action figures, bedsheets and pajamas decorated with the characters from the story. Worldbuilding addresses that need for more, but goes beyond the commercial basics, into the mind.<br /><br />Good worldbuilding allows you to easily imagine other characters, other stories happening within that world. You can even imagine yourself in it. That gives you something more, something beyond the story itself.<br /><br />It doesn't need to be technical specifics as such, although they can certainly help. The feel and the dynamics and general concepts are what make it extendable in the imagination. But it may be that a left-brain (or is it right-brain?) brute-forced world is what provides the underlying structure that allows the imagination to play. It provides a playground that gives enjoyment long after you've read a story and thought through the characters and events.<br />Raynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-80379199101558534592013-08-14T06:13:25.941-07:002013-08-14T06:13:25.941-07:00I missed it. What show did Fox just cancel?I missed it. What show did Fox just cancel?jollyreaperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05673007647719726846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-62357305788444367172013-08-14T05:40:45.035-07:002013-08-14T05:40:45.035-07:00The next time someone gets an idea for a hard-sf s...The next time someone gets an idea for a hard-sf story that can be adapted for television, they should just ignore fox and go to HBO. At least there's less chance it'll be cancelled after just one season. The producers might even listen to the scientific advisers. Then the writers can get on with developing the setting and story without having to fight their corner wrt the accuracy the whole time. <br /><br />Sorry, rant over. Geoffrey S Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-20235907617223766342013-08-07T16:06:03.632-07:002013-08-07T16:06:03.632-07:00Re reading the backstory in Wired, I am pretty ama...Re reading the backstory in Wired, I am pretty amazed at the ratio of "background" to "foreground" in what seems to be a very simple story. The rather ephemeral story telling technique (posting one cell/hour) was lost on me (I really don't have the time/patience for that), but once assembled into a movie it became much more accessible.<br /><br />But what worldbuilding! Setting it 11,000 years in the future, researching astronomical data and rendering a sky set in the far future with allowance for the precession of the axis and the death of a supergiant star, imagining a civilization cut off from access to easy sources of energy, massive geological events (the Mediterranean Sea being cut off and then rejoining the Atlantic ocean) and even developing enough of a new language that currently none of the writer's fans have managed to decipher it (as different from English as English is from Linear A...), all for the sake of a short story that can be told in a simple 40 min movie.<br /><br />I'm sure we have all read massive novels without this level of attention to detail, yet it was delivered without an "infodump". Well done<br /><br />Thucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-54505500650937550682013-08-07T12:22:39.497-07:002013-08-07T12:22:39.497-07:00FWIW this
http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/
allows you t...FWIW this<br />http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/<br />allows you to stop at any frame & slow down or speed up the frame rate so you can check details.Jim Baergnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-44823915186434319712013-08-07T03:48:18.752-07:002013-08-07T03:48:18.752-07:00An amazing example of world building from XKCD. I ...An amazing example of world building from XKCD. I suggest you watch the YouTube movie first then read the article with the backstory.<br /><br />Warning: the YouTube movie is fairly long, and starts rather slowly, but the movie and backstory really illustrate the points of this post:<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5l8BhyGE68&feature=player_embedded<br /><br />http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/08/xkcd-time-comic/Thucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-8075137079818375272013-07-26T21:45:35.535-07:002013-07-26T21:45:35.535-07:00I'll stick to the "ice fishing" arou...I'll stick to the "ice fishing" around an Ice Giant planet, thank you ;)<br /><br />Still that has actually provided enough plot points to actually start wheels rolling in the back of the old grey matter, but I also look forward to seeing the end result of your work as well.Thucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-50730829098797021262013-07-26T17:53:24.577-07:002013-07-26T17:53:24.577-07:00Well, to make you even dizzier you could have larg...Well, to make you even dizzier you could have large ammonia-water habitat moons around a Super-Earth, Jovian or brown dwarf in the habitable zone, allowing you to have multiple worlds with slightly different ecologies in relative close proximity. The possibility of habitable moons gets more likely with larger than Earth sized planets in the habitable zone, particularly around a star that is metal-rich.Cordwainerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06756588407144494507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-74494280527747721962013-07-26T13:30:04.718-07:002013-07-26T13:30:04.718-07:00You know Cord, we are falling into the very trap t...You know Cord, we are falling into the very trap that was spoken about in one of the opening posts: Obsessive World Building. Perhaps that is listed as a disorder among would be writers next to OCD and fear of blank white paper...;)<br /><br />Still, more possible story parameters are emerging, the Aliens are relatively primative compared to the star faring Earth folk, which constrains interactions to a certain extent (the Earth technology has few analogues in this world, so becomes a form of magic). Earth people also have to figure out the ecological relationships between the various species (which could be even more difficult if there is some form of symbiosis going on).<br /><br />Why do the aliens have weapons? Do they have similar motivations to ourselves? Are they hunting/protecting themselves from the predations of the alternate ecosystems?<br /><br />To tell the truth, my brain is already too full trying to extrapolate many of the details of how metal oxide and carbon based life might interact. I may retreat a few steps back and look more carefully into the "Ice Fishing" scenario with MOx based life living on an Ice Giant...Thucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-18823707913317023342013-07-26T10:59:50.779-07:002013-07-26T10:59:50.779-07:00Well, I would tend to think that in the oceans met...Well, I would tend to think that in the oceans metal oxide life would have the head start so while in the oceans such life would tend to stay near the ocean bottom where metal oxides are plentiful and ammonia concentrations are higher while carbon based life would stay close to the warmer ocean surface. That being said if metal oxide critters develop land dwelling forms the predator prey dynamic might be the opposite on land. I would expect a lot of parasitic or symbiotic relationships between carbon and metal-oxide species with carbon based life harvesting metal replacements for sulfur as well as nitric acid and nitrous oxide for metabolic processes, while metal oxide life would harvest certain polypeptides and ammonia from carbon based life forms. Such an old sulfur poor geologically dying world would make for an interesting "world without black gun powder" setting. Intelligent species on such a planet might develop ammonia fueled combustion engines before they develop the chemistry for "smokeless gunpowder". Crossbows and airguns would dominate as infantry weapons, with repeating crossbows and ballistas for light artillery. Steam and motorized pneumatic or mechanical weapons for heavy artillery. Cordwainerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06756588407144494507noreply@blogger.com