Novaluna One Exocolonial RP [OOC/PMT/SEMI-OPEN/Attn REC]

[Requiem Station]

For the purposes of this RP, I'll be creating a custom tech web cannibalized from various games such as Civ BE.

Another thing to consider (and perhaps put this BCI discussion to bed) is the allowance of a few starting techs that essentially defines the direction of development each nation intends to go. Nothing major, and plenty of room to change one's mind, but still.

So, I could start with artificial intelligence, seeing as I need it to look after the embryos and guide the ship?

[Vistora]

That will be a part of our impending ecology discussion.

Also, this makes for a good segue into a major point I was looking to bring up; one mistake I believe is made far too often in science fiction is extrapolating our tradition Earthly fauna-flora dichotomy onto other planets, despite there being no real reason for evolution to take that particular course over others. I propose a major part of our new planet/moon's ecology be that it have a biodiversity that is original in its conception. No "animals, plants, and fungi" as we know them. They can certainly be analogous in many respects, but that traditional relationship between kingdoms should be done away with.

Hmn. The specialization into plants and animals IRL actually makes a lot of sense since plants are relying on sunlight, which is not very energy-dense. (This guy discusses photosynthetic cows for comparison.) On the other hand, many plants apparently engage in somewhat softer and more indirect carnivorous behavior. There's little advantage to mobility for plants, however, relative to its high metabolic costs.

The existence of autotrophs and heterotrophs, which is what you are actually pointing out, are actually almost inevitable. I'm just saying it needn't be the same plants-and-animals situation we have on earth.

[Vistora]

For the purposes of this RP, I'll be creating a custom tech web cannibalized from various games such as Civ BE.

Another thing to consider (and perhaps put this BCI discussion to bed) is the allowance of a few starting techs that essentially defines the direction of development each nation intends to go. Nothing major, and plenty of room to change one's mind, but still.

So, I could start with artificial intelligence, seeing as I need it to look after the embryos and guide the ship?

Probably, depending on how the techs are organized.

[Nayba Collective]

The existence of autotrophs and heterotrophs, which is what you are actually pointing out, are actually almost inevitable. I'm just saying it needn't be the same plants-and-animals situation we have on earth.

I need more guidance to start coming up with abominations exciting new brands of Plantimal.

[Singaporean Transhumans]

For determining the general climate, we could go with the CivBE settings, and to make it fair and random, everyone report to the LoM discord chat and roll a dice when called upon to. We could also determine the rest of the world settings with dice rolling.

Is this good?

[Vistora]

The existence of autotrophs and heterotrophs, which is what you are actually pointing out, are actually almost inevitable. I'm just saying it needn't be the same plants-and-animals situation we have on earth.

I need more guidance to start coming up with abominations exciting new brands of Plantimal.

Well, to kickstart our discussion on Terranova's cology and biology, we should probably start with the details of the aforementioned celetial body itself.

So far, I'm leaning towards a (relatively) large, habitable moon orbiting a gas giant, similar to Pandora in Avatar. Lower gravity means fewer constraints on the design and size of the wildlife, as well as more available shenanigans in general, so perhaps the moon should possess, say, 60-70% of Earth's gravity? A very strong magnetosphere would allow for a variety of effects, some necessary, and some cool. It would withstand the force of the gas giant's radiation belt and the solar winds from the star, allowing the retention of a dense atmosphere. A suitably dense atmosphere, aside from being of use to air-breathing jet engines and creatures of large size, means the moon can withstand meteor showers without much surface damage, an occurence I imagine to be often given that the moon is orbiting a gas giant.

There is much to be figured out, such as the moon's day/night cycle given that it is orbiting another celetial body. I suppose an orbit of sufficient obliquity would prevent eclipses from occuring too often.

For determining the general climate, we could go with the CivBE settings, and to make it fair and random, everyone report to the LoM discord chat and roll a dice when called upon to. We could also determine the rest of the world settings with dice rolling.

Is this good?

I want to make it much more cutomized though. Anyways, I don't see what the need for randomization is. Another issue is that I don't anticipate there being a "fungal" biome on a world where fungus doesn't exist.

[Singaporean Transhumans]

I need more guidance to start coming up with abominations exciting new brands of Plantimal.

Well, to kickstart our discussion on Terranova's cology and biology, we should probably start with the details of the aforementioned celetial body itself.

So far, I'm leaning towards a (relatively) large, habitable moon orbiting a gas giant, similar to Pandora in Avatar. Lower gravity means fewer constraints on the design and size of the wildlife, as well as more available shenanigans in general, so perhaps the moon should possess, say, 60-70% of Earth's gravity? A very strong magnetosphere would allow for a variety of effects, some necessary, and some cool. It would withstand the force of the gas giant's radiation belt and the solar winds from the star, allowing the retention of a dense atmosphere. A suitably dense atmosphere, aside from being of use to air-breathing jet engines and creatures of large size, means the moon can withstand meteor showers without much surface damage, an occurence I imagine to be often given that the moon is orbiting a gas giant.

There is much to be figured out, such as the moon's day/night cycle given that it is orbiting another celetial body. I suppose an orbit of sufficient obliquity would prevent eclipses from occuring too often.

Why does everyone have a preference for lower-than-Earth gravities

For determining the general climate, we could go with the CivBE settings, and to make it fair and random, everyone report to the LoM discord chat and roll a dice when called upon to. We could also determine the rest of the world settings with dice rolling.

Is this good?

I want to make it much more cutomized though. Anyways, I don't see what the need for randomization is. Another issue is that I don't anticipate there being a "fungal" biome on a world where fungus doesn't exist.

Remove it from the pool then

A five sided dice

[Vistora]

Why does everyone have a preference for lower-than-Earth gravities

Because <g gravity means more fun. It means larger organisms and larger machines. Gravity's a headache to deal with when creating an aircraft you know.

I thought this should be obvious. Why the hell would you want higher gravity?

Remove it from the pool then

A five sided dice

First of all, what are we randomizing in the first place? I don't understand.

[Singaporean Transhumans]

Why does everyone have a preference for lower-than-Earth gravities

Because <g gravity means more fun. It means larger organisms and larger machines. Gravity's a headache to deal with when creating an aircraft you know.

I thought this should be obvious. Why the hell would you want higher gravity?

Never said I did, in fact if you check Crnagora's factbook its homeworld also has a lower gravity

Well yeah of course it means more customization

First of all, what are we randomizing in the first place? I don't understand.

General planetary climate based on CivBE(RT)'s settings

[Vistora]

General planetary climate based on CivBE(RT)'s settings

Why, are we choosing just one biome for the entire moon? 'Cause that ain't happening.

Here's what I had in mind: we create several biomes, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, and each participant chooses where they land based on how they plan to progress.

[Ashkera]

General planetary climate based on CivBE(RT)'s settings

Why, are we choosing just one biome for the entire moon? 'Cause that ain't happening.

Here's what I had in mind: we create several biomes, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, and each participant chooses where they land based on how they plan to progress.

ＭＥＧＡ　ＳＰＡＣＥ　ＪＵＮＧＬＥＳ．

I mean, uh, yes, this sounds reasonable to me.

[Requiem Station]

I need more guidance to start coming up with abominations exciting new brands of Plantimal.

Well, to kickstart our discussion on Terranova's cology and biology, we should probably start with the details of the aforementioned celetial body itself.

So far, I'm leaning towards a (relatively) large, habitable moon orbiting a gas giant, similar to Pandora in Avatar. Lower gravity means fewer constraints on the design and size of the wildlife, as well as more available shenanigans in general, so perhaps the moon should possess, say, 60-70% of Earth's gravity? A very strong magnetosphere would allow for a variety of effects, some necessary, and some cool. It would withstand the force of the gas giant's radiation belt and the solar winds from the star, allowing the retention of a dense atmosphere. A suitably dense atmosphere, aside from being of use to air-breathing jet engines and creatures of large size, means the moon can withstand meteor showers without much surface damage, an occurence I imagine to be often given that the moon is orbiting a gas giant.

There is much to be figured out, such as the moon's day/night cycle given that it is orbiting another celetial body. I suppose an orbit of sufficient obliquity would prevent eclipses from occuring too often.

I was thinking that it's atmosphere should have a higher oxygen content than Earth, to work with the lower gravity in creating large wildlife.

[Vistora]

Well, to kickstart our discussion on Terranova's cology and biology, we should probably start with the details of the aforementioned celetial body itself.

So far, I'm leaning towards a (relatively) large, habitable moon orbiting a gas giant, similar to Pandora in Avatar. Lower gravity means fewer constraints on the design and size of the wildlife, as well as more available shenanigans in general, so perhaps the moon should possess, say, 60-70% of Earth's gravity? A very strong magnetosphere would allow for a variety of effects, some necessary, and some cool. It would withstand the force of the gas giant's radiation belt and the solar winds from the star, allowing the retention of a dense atmosphere. A suitably dense atmosphere, aside from being of use to air-breathing jet engines and creatures of large size, means the moon can withstand meteor showers without much surface damage, an occurence I imagine to be often given that the moon is orbiting a gas giant.

There is much to be figured out, such as the moon's day/night cycle given that it is orbiting another celetial body. I suppose an orbit of sufficient obliquity would prevent eclipses from occuring too often.

I was thinking that it's atmosphere should have a higher oxygen content than Earth, to work with the lower gravity in creating large wildlife.

Yes, that was the idea, probably to coincide with a dense atmosphere.

[Singaporean Transhumans]

ayy do we draw the map based on the cover image

[Rouran]

Just Asking ...

1. Is this possible to launch my Space Shuttles from Railgun (specialized for Space Shuttle Launch) in Terranova RP?

2. When we open Terranova?

3. Can I use Lamia as the My Main race in Terranova

[Vistora]

ayy do we draw the map based on the cover image

Nah, I can just use a map generator or draw it myself. We don't need to be that faithful to the image.

Just Asking ...

1. Is this possible to launch my Space Shuttles from Railgun (specialized for Space Shuttle Launch) in Terranova RP?

2. When we open Terranova?

3. Can I use Lamia as the My Main race in Terranova

1. The Ark Ship cannot be launched by railgun/mass driver, and I do not know why you would want to launch a space shuttle as such from the Ark Ship. There are no real benefits and a lot of downsides. I can explain them if you like.

2. No idea. Probably not very soon, as there's still plenty to work out.

3. Sorry, but no. It's humans only.

[Ashkera]

ayy do we draw the map based on the cover image

I vote no. I *might* be able to generate a heightmap, too, and not just continents/water, and if I do, I could make several to pick from.

[Vistora]

ayy do we draw the map based on the cover image

I vote no. I *might* be able to generate a heightmap, too, and not just continents/water, and if I do, I could make several to pick from.

Yes, and we can custom arrange the biomes on top of the map.

[Ashkera]

3. Can I use Lamia as the My Main race in Terranova

3. Sorry, but no. It's humans only.

They all have to start off with humans. The more exotic bodies (whether robotic or organic or a mix thereof) wouldn't come until later as they develop the techs for them.

[Rouran]

1. I already knew Downside and Negative effects from Railgun (Space Shuttle Launch)

2. *Waiting*

3. K... I will use Human again...

[Vistora]

Okay everyone, I've come up with one of the biomes for our moon, as well as a new kingdom of organisms with which it is heavily intertwined. Geologically, it is located in regions that expel significant amounts of chemosynthetically valuable chemicals, such as sulfates, from the ground. The organisms that predominantly grow here are in a kingdom I call Pansarcae, known as parnsarcids or "sarcs" for short. Most notably, they are extremely adaptable mixotrophs (I do wish the people who coined this term realized how lame it sounds compared to all the prefix-troph pairs) that rely on the steady supply of nourishment from a wide variety of sources, especially the substrates made available through the aforementioned geological vents.

Most organisms within the kingdom exist as part of massive symbiotic agglomerations that span and form the biomes they dominate, with all organisms within sharing the energy they produce through various means both autotrophic and heterotrophic and communicating via vast neural/vascular networks (don't worry Excidium, this will be limited to this taxonomic kingdom and the biome they dominate). Despite this hypersymbiosis, they are very diverse, with the majority of pansarcids existing as sessile mixotrophs similar to both plants, fungi, and sessile animals that span a vast range of sizes. Some sarcs, however, might exhibit more animalistic behavior, such as organoheterotrophy and high motility, though this is uncommon. Most animalistic sarcs are either slow-moving creatures superficially resembling cnidarians (don't tell Devourer), or fast-moving creatures evolved to protect their agglomerations; these are the only sarcs that pose a real danger, and only small, fast sarcs can separate from the colonial system for a short span of time, while larger fast-moving sarcs must remain anchored and rely instead on variously-weaponized tendrils to lash out at potential malcontents. Sarcs do exist outside of these agglomerative biomes, though they are sparse and located primarily in areas abundant in energy sources and free of predators. One example of a solitary order of sarcs are the Pneumogasts; docile, free-floating pansarcids that float around in the air on buoyant sacs of hydrogen, relying on photosynthesis and consumption of certain species of airborne microorganisms to survive.

[Vistora]

Any thoughts?

[Ashkera]

Any thoughts?

I'm still processing the implications for organism design. It's taking a bit to chew.
Key point - in the pansarcid biomes, it's essentially "ecosystem as organism"?

[Vistora]

Any thoughts?

I'm still processing the implications for organism design. It's taking a bit to chew.
Key point - in the pansarcid biomes, it's essentially "ecosystem as organism"?

It makes more sense when you realize that many Earthly biomes are defined by the organisms that inhabit it, but yes. The pansarcid colonies are not necessarily singular organisms, but the symbiotic interdependence exhibited by the myriad pansarcid creatures that inhabit such agglomerations is certainly one of their defining traits. It's like the eusocial structures exhibited by hymenopterids (bees and ants), only with more endosymbiosis.

They were very much inspired by the Zerg of Starcraft, with their massive biostructures and Creep, though the Pansarcids are far, far less predatorial and generally don't exist in such motile forms. The inspiration was heavy, but the final resemblance is not.

[Requiem Station]

Okay everyone, I've come up with one of the biomes for our moon, as well as a new kingdom of organisms with which it is heavily intertwined. Geologically, it is located in regions that expel significant amounts of chemosynthetically valuable chemicals, such as sulfates, from the ground. The organisms that predominantly grow here are in a kingdom I call Pansarcae, known as parnsarcids or "sarcs" for short. Most notably, they are extremely adaptable mixotrophs (I do wish the people who coined this term realized how lame it sounds compared to all the prefix-troph pairs) that rely on the steady supply of nourishment from a wide variety of sources, especially the substrates made available through the aforementioned geological vents.

Most organisms within the kingdom exist as part of massive symbiotic agglomerations that span and form the biomes they dominate, with all organisms within sharing the energy they produce through various means both autotrophic and heterotrophic and communicating via vast neural/vascular networks (don't worry Excidium, this will be limited to this taxonomic kingdom and the biome they dominate). Despite this hypersymbiosis, they are very diverse, with the majority of pansarcids existing as sessile mixotrophs similar to both plants, fungi, and sessile animals that span a vast range of sizes. Some sarcs, however, might exhibit more animalistic behavior, such as organoheterotrophy and high motility, though this is uncommon. Most animalistic sarcs are either slow-moving creatures superficially resembling cnidarians (don't tell Devourer), or fast-moving creatures evolved to protect their agglomerations; these are the only sarcs that pose a real danger, and only small, fast sarcs can separate from the colonial system for a short span of time, while larger fast-moving sarcs must remain anchored and rely instead on variously-weaponized tendrils to lash out at potential malcontents. Sarcs do exist outside of these agglomerative biomes, though they are sparse and located primarily in areas abundant in energy sources and free of predators. One example of a solitary order of sarcs are the Pneumogasts; docile, free-floating pansarcids that float around in the air on buoyant sacs of hydrogen, relying on photosynthesis and consumption of certain species of airborne microorganisms to survive.

I understood about three fifths of that statement, but it sounds good.