Fishman Lord
ULTIMATE AI GOD
I've been interested in doing an RP based on real science and plausibility for a while. I love Star Wars as much as the next guy, but its science is really just plain fantasy. A lot of RPN's sci-fi leans more towards that kind of setting, so I thought it would be fun to try a setting where proven or theoretical science were the rules. No humanoid aliens, no made up physics or rules, and perhaps even following the rule that nothing travels faster than light.
One idea I've had revolves around the descendants of humanity and Earth exploring the cosmos tens of thousands of years in the future. Thanks to genetic engineering and cybernetic enhancement and the like, the original human genome is rare to near extinct, with descendants with everything from blue skin to extra limbs to more bizarre changes dominating. These descendants of mankind spread among the stars in great interstellar ships, some of them using cryogenics or specially induced comas using far-advanced medicine to reach their destinations in their lifetime, others using generation ships despite knowing that they won't live to see their destination, while others still simply don't care because life extension means they can survive thousands of years and a 200 year journey is but a sliver. Earth-descended civilizations would be fragmented, with only small groups of close stars being able to support interstellar civilizations. Civilizations would rediscover eachother then lose contact and repeat the cycle because of extremely long contact times. There would be no unity. Aliens would exist, but their civilizations would be fragmented just like our own, with each system hosting its own unique and disconnected civilization. They would be strange and foreign to us, truly alien. Some might be at a Stone Age, while others might be so hyper-advanced as to be incomprehensible to beings such as us. Some of the more divergent and strange earth-descended groups would be just as foreign as aliens.
This isn't the only setting I have, but it illustrates my general idea for hard science. I'm open to any other ideas as long as they're within the realm of plausibility. I hope you're interested!
Edit:
Alright, so we've solidified a lot of the setting and the RP. Here's the long-term timeline:
2093 C.E.: first human-level fully sapient AIs developed.
2150 C.E.: at this point there are small permanent colonies on the Moon and Mars.
2275 C.E.: first probe reaches Proxima Centauri, Proxima Centauri b found to be a lifeless mercury-like tidally locked planet
2600 C.E.: colony ship launched to Proxima Centauri b
2600-4000 C.E.: humanity slowly spreads to nearby stars
4600 C.E.: first Dyson Sphere completed around Barnard's Star, used as a Matrioshka Brain by a hyper-AI
4600-10,000 C.E.: continued expansion by humanity and other intelligents from Earth. Several planets with non-intelligent life have been found and a few alien transmissions have been confirmed.
12,155 C.E.: Sol and most of the systems within 30 light-years form the Inner Order, a powerful and utopian interstellar empire led by several Matrioshka Brain AIs.
12,941 C.E.: first alien civilization actually visited, an Information Age civilization that had just created sapient AIs. They soon mingle and mix with Earthen civilization and are generally considered part of the Earthen Expanse despite being true aliens.
13,000-60,000 C.E: a ton of shit happens obviously, but human ships trying to reach the Galactic Core find that it is already almost entirely inhabited by a hyper-advanced civilization of Matrioshka Brains. It is unknown if there are any current biological citizens as while the alien AIs were friendly enough they didn't allow anyone in very far and give little information. Earthen sapients have spread very far and encountered several other interstellar civilizations, star-hopping and slowly spreading much like the Earthen Expanse.
~72,000 C.E.: A second hyper-advanced civilization is found in a distant part of the Perseus Arm. Once again, they're friendly enough but tell Earthers to stay out.
~90,000-120,000 C.E.: somewhere during this time the first warp drives appear in the Inner Order and a few other scattered civilizations.
~120,000 C.E.: beginning of the Von Neumann Crisis.
~140,0000 C.E.: At this point tiny footholds have been established on the Sagittarius Dwarf and the Ursa Major II dwarf, meaning Earthkind is technically intergalactic. Many generation ships and probes and AI ships have launched for the Magellanic Clouds, Triangulum, Andromeda, and even beyond, but it'll take a long time for those to reach their destinations, assuming they ever do reach them.
156,239 C.E.: Present Day.
We'll be playing as the adventures/explorers/merchants aboard a great starship. We will travel among the stars, frozen in cryonic chambers during the decade- and century-long journeys between systems. We'll act as explorers, discovering and rediscovering things Earthen, alien, and natural. We'll act as merchants, as in a world where data takes decades and centuries to reach others, information is just as valuable as rare resources. We'll also be carrying those resources, as interstellar trade is a business many find intimidating due to its long travel times. We will even help people and empires establish new colonies and outposts. We'll act as adventurers, communicating with everything from stone-age savages to hyper-AIs utilizing entire Dyson Spheres as brains. We'll see many cultures and civilizations, some retaining original human values even after so many tens of thousands of years, more with morals and cultures and appearances that they are nearly as alien as actual aliens.
One idea I've had revolves around the descendants of humanity and Earth exploring the cosmos tens of thousands of years in the future. Thanks to genetic engineering and cybernetic enhancement and the like, the original human genome is rare to near extinct, with descendants with everything from blue skin to extra limbs to more bizarre changes dominating. These descendants of mankind spread among the stars in great interstellar ships, some of them using cryogenics or specially induced comas using far-advanced medicine to reach their destinations in their lifetime, others using generation ships despite knowing that they won't live to see their destination, while others still simply don't care because life extension means they can survive thousands of years and a 200 year journey is but a sliver. Earth-descended civilizations would be fragmented, with only small groups of close stars being able to support interstellar civilizations. Civilizations would rediscover eachother then lose contact and repeat the cycle because of extremely long contact times. There would be no unity. Aliens would exist, but their civilizations would be fragmented just like our own, with each system hosting its own unique and disconnected civilization. They would be strange and foreign to us, truly alien. Some might be at a Stone Age, while others might be so hyper-advanced as to be incomprehensible to beings such as us. Some of the more divergent and strange earth-descended groups would be just as foreign as aliens.
This isn't the only setting I have, but it illustrates my general idea for hard science. I'm open to any other ideas as long as they're within the realm of plausibility. I hope you're interested!
Edit:
Alright, so we've solidified a lot of the setting and the RP. Here's the long-term timeline:
2093 C.E.: first human-level fully sapient AIs developed.
2150 C.E.: at this point there are small permanent colonies on the Moon and Mars.
2275 C.E.: first probe reaches Proxima Centauri, Proxima Centauri b found to be a lifeless mercury-like tidally locked planet
2600 C.E.: colony ship launched to Proxima Centauri b
2600-4000 C.E.: humanity slowly spreads to nearby stars
4600 C.E.: first Dyson Sphere completed around Barnard's Star, used as a Matrioshka Brain by a hyper-AI
4600-10,000 C.E.: continued expansion by humanity and other intelligents from Earth. Several planets with non-intelligent life have been found and a few alien transmissions have been confirmed.
12,155 C.E.: Sol and most of the systems within 30 light-years form the Inner Order, a powerful and utopian interstellar empire led by several Matrioshka Brain AIs.
12,941 C.E.: first alien civilization actually visited, an Information Age civilization that had just created sapient AIs. They soon mingle and mix with Earthen civilization and are generally considered part of the Earthen Expanse despite being true aliens.
13,000-60,000 C.E: a ton of shit happens obviously, but human ships trying to reach the Galactic Core find that it is already almost entirely inhabited by a hyper-advanced civilization of Matrioshka Brains. It is unknown if there are any current biological citizens as while the alien AIs were friendly enough they didn't allow anyone in very far and give little information. Earthen sapients have spread very far and encountered several other interstellar civilizations, star-hopping and slowly spreading much like the Earthen Expanse.
~72,000 C.E.: A second hyper-advanced civilization is found in a distant part of the Perseus Arm. Once again, they're friendly enough but tell Earthers to stay out.
~90,000-120,000 C.E.: somewhere during this time the first warp drives appear in the Inner Order and a few other scattered civilizations.
~120,000 C.E.: beginning of the Von Neumann Crisis.
~140,0000 C.E.: At this point tiny footholds have been established on the Sagittarius Dwarf and the Ursa Major II dwarf, meaning Earthkind is technically intergalactic. Many generation ships and probes and AI ships have launched for the Magellanic Clouds, Triangulum, Andromeda, and even beyond, but it'll take a long time for those to reach their destinations, assuming they ever do reach them.
156,239 C.E.: Present Day.
We'll be playing as the adventures/explorers/merchants aboard a great starship. We will travel among the stars, frozen in cryonic chambers during the decade- and century-long journeys between systems. We'll act as explorers, discovering and rediscovering things Earthen, alien, and natural. We'll act as merchants, as in a world where data takes decades and centuries to reach others, information is just as valuable as rare resources. We'll also be carrying those resources, as interstellar trade is a business many find intimidating due to its long travel times. We will even help people and empires establish new colonies and outposts. We'll act as adventurers, communicating with everything from stone-age savages to hyper-AIs utilizing entire Dyson Spheres as brains. We'll see many cultures and civilizations, some retaining original human values even after so many tens of thousands of years, more with morals and cultures and appearances that they are nearly as alien as actual aliens.
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