Future Tech Advice and Assistance Thread [O.O.C.]

[Milagro]

Nice remix. It's not what I'd call a traditional national anthem sound, but I can see it working. The UPT anthem is pretty traditional-sounding (and was always the no-brainer choice), but I've used more unusual for my old nation.

Eh, I wasn't going for a "traditional" sound anyways. Unlike most anthems, where you only stand and maybe sing, this anthem requires you to dance to it.

And yes, dancing a pretty big thing in Milagro's culture.

For foreigners, whom perhaps aren't quite accustomed to dancing, there is a more formal version.

Still deciding between this, and this.

The first one has that "loud and proud" thing I like about the USSR's anthem, but the second one is more in line with the culture of my nation. However, the second one still doesn't sound quite as formal as the second one.

I think I'll go with the first, but suggestions are welcome.

[New Tauri Republic]

Would the following setup work for a naval vessel? And yes I know that fusion reactors have yet to succeed in generating power, let's just assume for the sake of the arguement that it works in generating power.
Reactor Layout:
Central Spherical Tokamak with superconductor core, and outer secondary superconductors
Interior Thorium Lithium Salt Reaction Chambers ( double as coolant for fusion reaction chamber, as well as nuetron capture, and tritium breeder fo fusion fuel)
Pressurized Carbon Dioxide Gas Chamber Connected to Gas Turbines (located ontop of reaction vessel for maximum volume efficiency) for capturing electricity
Lower Fuel Processing Units
-Outer fusion fuel processing unit
-Thorium/ lithium refueling unit
-Deaturium-Water Processing Unit
Reactor Start Up/ energy buffer superconductor located on top of reaction chamber, in between gas turbine array.
Reaction Chamber Carbon Dioxide gas release valves electronically controlled, to help in startup of primary central spherical tokamak


the molten salt reactor secondary reaction ( secondary in power generation), utilizes normal lithium and thorium molten salts, with the lithium being utilized for nuetron capture, and as a way to generate tritium for use in the fusion reactor primary reaction, with the deuturium captured from sea water while the vessel is at sea. The fresh water is then used, after deaturium and salt have been removed, for the ships crew. The deaturium is fed into the fusion reactor while it is operating, as is the trittium after it has been filtered out from the msr fuel. Helium is filter out from the reaction, and either stored for later use, or released into the atmospher oustide of the vessel. The lithium, and thorium are refueled back at a shipyardm without the need of shutting down either reaction, allowing it to be kept online potentially indefinitely. The fresh water generated by the filtering of the reaction is utilized to remove the need to supply the vessel with fresh water, meaning only food needs to be supplied. Which can also be removed by a logistical vessel that is basically a mobile hydroponics vessel, allowing very long term mobilization of a fleet.

[SquareDisc City]

What universal rules are there, if any, about roleplaying as an already created alien race (I understand that different RPs will have different rules)? Because (forgive me if this seems a bit fanboyish, as I have not been exposed to too many alien films) I have a newfound interest in the Regent (aliens from the battleship movie).

It's entirely common. A couple of things to watch for. Firstly directly RPing an alien country "as is" tends to not work so well, it's better off you can put your own spin on it. You might use an existing species (or 500 ) but create your own political structures. Secondly, you obviously can't claim exclusivity for the species; be ready to meet someone else also RPing the same aliens.

[North Calaveras]

So I took note of stellars idea and here is what I came up with, a rough draft of info. They are basically uplifted sentient vipers who use cybernetics and neural syncing technology. They are calm and rational and hold trust between eachother as a vital part of their relationships.

The Trans-Serpent Pact

Government: Oligarchy
Homeworld: Karsh
Race type: Serpent(Viper-esque)
Enviroment: High-G Foothills
power generation: Geothermal

Military: defensive focus, emphasis on defensive satellites, star bases, shields, minefields, cloaking technology, cities are underground, underground military infrastructure, IED's.
Fleet Focus: Reaction Ships(very fast FTL ships designed for rapid defensive response with a focus on shields,FTL drives and firepower, hulls are light.), Defender ships(Larger and powerful vessels with slow ftl designed for dealing with larger local threats).
Infantry: Exoskeleton infantry(think Ceph grunts, cause they have no arms/legs, they rely on exoskeleton arms,legs) as well as other abilities(such as power fangs, etc etc)
Vehicles: Nueral Interfaced weapon systems(think 40k Dreadnoughts or protoss dragoons)
weapons: Ultraviolet Lasers, Railguns, power weapons(exoskeleton upgrades such as power claws etc etc), missiles/bombs.

this is just a little glimpse of what's forming.

[StellarGate]

So I took note of stellars idea and here is what I came up with, a rough draft of info. They are basically uplifted sentient vipers who use cybernetics and neural syncing technology. They are calm and rational and hold trust between eachother as a vital part of their relationships.

The Trans-Serpent Pact

Government: Oligarchy
Homeworld: Karsh
Race type: Serpent(Viper-esque)
Enviroment: High-G Foothills

Military: defensive focus, emphasis on defensive satellites, star bases, shields, minefields, cloaking technology, cities are underground, underground military infrastructure, IED's.
Fleet Focus: Reaction Ships(very fast FTL ships designed for rapid defensive response with a focus on shields,FTL drives and firepower, hulls are light.), Defender ships(Larger and powerful vessels with slow ftl designed for dealing with larger local threats).
Infantry: Exoskeleton infantry(think Ceph grunts, cause they have no arms/legs, they rely on exoskeleton arms,legs) as well as other abilities(such as power fangs, etc etc)
Vehicles: Nueral Interfaced weapon systems(think 40k Dreadnoughts or protoss dragoons)

this is just a little glimpse of what's forming.

So far this looks pretty good. Since a diplomatic ship is likely to be civilian I see why you wouldn't include it in your fleet, but given the calm nature, they might want a few diplomatic ships with some point defense which they can send to other star nations for talking and such. Just an idea, you don't need to take it, though I'm flattered that you took note of my ideas.

Edit:

Nice remix. It's not what I'd call a traditional national anthem sound, but I can see it working. The UPT anthem is pretty traditional-sounding (and was always the no-brainer choice), but I've used more unusual for my old nation.

Eh, I wasn't going for a "traditional" sound anyways. Unlike most anthems, where you only stand and maybe sing, this anthem requires you to dance to it.

And yes, dancing a pretty big thing in Milagro's culture.

For foreigners, whom perhaps aren't quite accustomed to dancing, there is a more formal version.

Still deciding between this, and this.

The first one has that "loud and proud" thing I like about the USSR's anthem, but the second one is more in line with the culture of my nation. However, the second one still doesn't sound quite as formal as the second one.

I think I'll go with the first, but suggestions are welcome.

Go with both.

Use the first at official events, like addresses from the leader, parades and the second for say... parties where some nice, not so in your face is needed in the background for enjoyment.

[North Calaveras]

So I took note of stellars idea and here is what I came up with, a rough draft of info. They are basically uplifted sentient vipers who use cybernetics and neural syncing technology. They are calm and rational and hold trust between eachother as a vital part of their relationships.

The Trans-Serpent Pact

Government: Oligarchy
Homeworld: Karsh
Race type: Serpent(Viper-esque)
Enviroment: High-G Foothills

Military: defensive focus, emphasis on defensive satellites, star bases, shields, minefields, cloaking technology, cities are underground, underground military infrastructure, IED's.
Fleet Focus: Reaction Ships(very fast FTL ships designed for rapid defensive response with a focus on shields,FTL drives and firepower, hulls are light.), Defender ships(Larger and powerful vessels with slow ftl designed for dealing with larger local threats).
Infantry: Exoskeleton infantry(think Ceph grunts, cause they have no arms/legs, they rely on exoskeleton arms,legs) as well as other abilities(such as power fangs, etc etc)
Vehicles: Nueral Interfaced weapon systems(think 40k Dreadnoughts or protoss dragoons)

this is just a little glimpse of what's forming.

So far this looks pretty good. Since a diplomatic ship is likely to be civilian I see why you wouldn't include it in your fleet, but given the calm nature, they might want a few diplomatic ships with some point defense which they can send to other star nations for talking and such. Just an idea, you don't need to take it, though I'm flattered that you took note of my ideas.

oh there will be diplomatic ships, this is just a general look on the race.

[Thrashia]

Would the following setup work for a naval vessel? And yes I know that fusion reactors have yet to succeed in generating power, let's just assume for the sake of the arguement that it works in generating power.

-details, details, snip-

If you want a hamster running in a wheel to power your naval vessels, then you can have a hamster running in a wheel power your naval vessels. If you want Russian serfs throwing shovels full of coal into a "reactor" to make power, then you can have Russian serfs throwing shovels full of coal into a "reactor."

No one is going to be worried about exactly "how" your reactors or powersources work unless they need to know because it involves a plot point in an RP (i.e. someone is trying to disable your ship engine and needs to know how it works in order to break it, etc). The detail is nice, but don't expect anyone to be grading you on your homework.

[Denengrad]

Hello there people. I was just wondering what some of you might make of this stuff, mostly re-designed my FT nations and just want a few opinions!

Civilization Name: The Polity of Denengrad
Civilization Age: Around the 1000 year mark.

Government Type: A.I semi-transparent autocracy
Government Information: The Leader of the Polity is the A.I known as PC (Polity Central) and rules over the civilization but mainly focuses on central world issues. Others worlds are governed by Sector Class A.I’s that report back to Polity Central on all issues.
Government Status: Very stable. Some separatist movements, but mostly on Line Worlds.
Population: Around one hundred billion.

Home World/Capitol: Home system – Ellingson, Home World – Denengrad, Capital City – Autozam.
Capital Status: Very good, the home world is very carefully watched over by Polity Central so as to keep it as it once was a thousand years ago.
Notable locations and such: Line World Citadel. Agharta City. Factory 101. Protected world of Ten’agellon
Founding Species: Human
Other Species: The A.I’s
=========================================================
Society and Cultural information: A possible Utopia that slightly missed its mark. It’s good but it could all end in tears and dystopia.
Society Status Some civil unrest, always found on Line Worlds. On the most part, stable.
Languages English, Thai, French, German.
Economy: 6
Industry: The Big Fifteen - Fifteen worlds that are the industrial powerhouse of the Polity, on these words there are no pollution laws or emission laws to get in the way of building things, as such these planets can churn out anything the polity wants. No one lives on these planets due to the levels of pollution and the now un-breathable atmospheres so all workers arrive via Runcible and stay for usually one week before returning home for four days off. Also, why build houses when that space would be taken up with auto factories and assembly lines, for the last 300 years the "Big15" have never been out of action, their products include - Aerospace craft, luxury ground vehicles, electronics, crystal mem storage units, heavy farming equipment, desalinization plants, star ship parts.
Production/Construction: Super heavy shipyard facility’s (mothballed). Dyson Sphere (estimated time to completion – 1200 years). Runcible Construction. Megaroad cold sleep ship production.

Soopah Powah: Assasin Drone - For the duration of the Trajeen conflict every type of fighting was engaged in and every possible weapon employed. A moon was flung from a war runcible to destroy a dreadnought, and there was even hand-to-hand fighting usually with messy and unhappy consequences, it has to be said. Terror was a weapon employed by both sides: for the Polity that weapon was the assassin drone. These killers either operated alone or in pairs. Their prime purpose was to infiltrate dreadnoughts, stations or ground bases to turn the occupants into meat paste. Usually they did this in an as messy and frightening manner as possible: diatomic acid injection, complete removal of the skin and immobilization so the victim would be eaten alive by its own ship vermin, immobilization and removal of internal organs while keeping the victim pumped up on stimulants, attaching numerous mines to a person, and using is as a weapon against its own. The drones themselves were, like most drones of the time, fashioned in the shape of various lethal arthropods and other nasty creatures. They possessed minds as hard and sharp as their outside appearances. With remorseless cruelty they killed tens of thousands, their sum purpose the cold calculation of inspiring sufficient terror in the survivors so they would divert resources to defence that would otherwise have been used for offence. It worked, too. There’s nothing quite like knowing something out there wants to slowly open you up and feed bits of you to your children while you watch to inspire you to double your guard.

Specialties/Advanced Sciences: Runcible Tech - The Runcible is a transportation device widely used in the Polity. It functioned as a teleportation mechanism, with users entering at one Runcible gate and emerging at another. The physics behind this was beyond the comprehension of unaugmented humans, and AI’s were required to operate Runcibles, one notable exception being Sarrien Gloval. On most planets, the AI operating the primary Runcible was also the Polity governor for that planet.
Runcible tech was one of the many inventions of genius Iversus Skaidon and his brief melding with the Craystein computer. Many of the technology's components are named after Edward Lear's nonsense poem, the Owl and the Pussycat. For instance, travellers are called quince, and "sliced" as they enter U-space (in reality rendered into sub-atomic particles and reassembled at the receiving gate by that gate's AI) and the gates are called runcibles.
Runcibles varied in size from small installations used for transporting humans to cargo runcibles so large they were mounted in space stations. They required at least two "horns", between which the Skaidon Warp was created, and this formed the link to the next gate (larger Runcibles often had more, One War runcible was equipred with ten horns). Polity Runcibles can be connected to only one Runcible in the Polity network and then remained locked to that location, and are accessible to all Polity citizens for a small fee. The only legal limitation on their use was the prohibition of transporting weapons without special permission (attempting to do so would result in the weapon being left in U-space upon by the receiving runcible AI). Runcible transportation was, for the most part, an extremely safe means of transportation, although sophisticated sabotage could have disastrous consequences. One example was the failure of a Buffer system, the Buffers at the runcible on Samarkand ceased functioning, causing a traveller to come through at near light speed. The release of uncontained energy was an explosion that destroyed the entire facility and much of the colony, no survivors were recovered.
Strengths: Runcible travel between worlds allowing the rapid movement of personnel and equipment. A.I autocracy allows for rapid decision making.
Weaknesses: Severely lacking in practical FTL star ship propulsion. Reliance on Runcible tech.
=========================================================

Holdings/Territory: 47 systems – 29 habitable planets – vast and numerous space facility’s

Colonization/expansion: Sector Class A.I’s will decide when their sector of space is getting a little too crowded, and then request permission from Polity Central to expand into the unknown. Should the answer be successful a search for a viable system will be conducted, this can take upwards of fifty years due to the lack of decent FTL capability. Once a system is found a colony ship will launch, on-board there will be a Planet Class A.I, several sentient war drones, a large number of construction personnel, auto-factories and heavy lifting equipment as well as a large number of drop ships, and last but not least, the Runcible. The travel time can also be upwards of fifty years for this ship.
The first order of business will involve the construction of a structure large enough to house the A.I core, Runcible and power generator, this can tke up to a year. Once the Runcible is online things will proceed at a frantic pace, personnel and equipment will arrive via Runcible and begin construction of arcology cities and the infrastructure designated for that world. These worlds are known as Line Worlds, and are usually a hotspot for separatist movements against the A.I autocracy and the A.I’s themselves.
=========================================================
Foreign policy: Unknown – The Polity has yet to interact or discover another advanced civilization.
Diplomacy: N/A

Technological Age: Earth years, perhaps 8000
FTL Capabilities: Instantaneous travel via Runcible. Ship FTL is very lacking indeed, a Polity ship traveling in U-Space will cover a light-year in roughly one month.
Inter Planetary Travel Nuclear fusion pulse power reactors power most ships in the Polity in terms of conventional engines, converting this into a fusion torch drive system.
=========================================================
Military Information: The military is known as PCS (Polity Central Security) and mostly operates on Line Worlds. It is small but its numbers can explode should they need to thanks to the auto-factories that can pump out ships and War Drones in times of crisis. There are also a large number of human troops who can be called upon
Doctrine: Each A.I warship and War Drone will confer with each other, picking out targets and areas in need of support, this happening in halves of seconds, this information is then filtered down to the human troops.
Human troops have a typical structure of command, and when on the ground work in teams of ten troops known as “Hardliners”, each Hardline unit composes of ten human troops and two sentient war drones. The troops will be in overall command of the unit via the squad commander. The two drones will provide heavy fire support and strikes, as well as stealth operations and terror tactics due to their inbuilt advanced hardware.
Ship battles are carried out solely by A.I’s as their response times are infinitely better than those of humans, typical ship weapons include Rainguns, missiles and masers, with rumored U-Space weapons.

Army: For when a planet must be defended on the ground as in most instances with Line Worlds, troops and drones will flood though the Runcible gates of that world, securing the local arcology first before moving outwards onto the surface proper. War Drones will scout forwards in stealth mode and conduct lightening raids before larger numbers of drones and troops descend. Drones will also use terror tactics, infiltrating bases and killing occupants in as many horrific ways as they can, causing enemy personnel to panic and commit resources that would have been used offensively to be used defensively

Navy: Polity ships are built at vast auto-factories located within deep space not bound to any star, their locations known only to Polity Central and Sector Class A.I’s. Ships can range from 50 meters long up to over 500 meters. All ships are operated by A.I’s, each with its own unique habits, perspectives and preferred tactics. PCS ships are usually kept out of sight until they are needed. Should they be needed in a hurry it is possible to send one via a War Runcible, though the transit results in the collapse of the Runcible gate.

Strengths: Virtually limitless tactics offered by the A.I warships and war drones. Forces are also outstanding at operating in small groups in order to avoid detection within hostile territory.
Weaknesses: Reliance on Runcible tech, should the Runcibles on a world be destroyed, reinforcements may take decades to arrive.

[Alouria]

What universal rules are there, if any, about roleplaying as an already created alien race (I understand that different RPs will have different rules)? Because (forgive me if this seems a bit fanboyish, as I have not been exposed to too many alien films) I have a newfound interest in the Regent (aliens from the battleship movie).

It's entirely common. A couple of things to watch for. Firstly directly RPing an alien country "as is" tends to not work so well, it's better off you can put your own spin on it. You might use an existing species (or 500 ) but create your own political structures. Secondly, you obviously can't claim exclusivity for the species; be ready to meet someone else also RPing the same aliens.

Yeah. There's hardly any backstory for the Regent, so I have both the freedom to do what I want and the need to do something with them. I want to keep their benevolent nature (In multiple scenes throughout the movie, the way their aliens and AI work hints/shows that they hold a sanctity for life and only kill out of self-defense. It's a shame that the critics didn't pick up on these subtleties), but I also want to create a stratocracy government, so I'm interested to see how I'll end up reconciling those two, if at all.

[Avenio]

Hello there people. I was just wondering what some of you might make of this stuff, mostly re-designed my FT nations and just want a few opinions!

I don't really have time to go through that whole thing at the moment, but I would highly recommend that you narrow down what, exactly, you want us to give you advice on. Not to pick on you or anything, since there are a few people that have done this in the last few pages, but copy-pasting your factbook or a section from your factbook and asking for opinions isn't particularly likely to get you useful responses. Being specific give us more of a starting point to give you useful advice and also means that you're more likely to get more people giving you different kinds, since not all of us have the time/energy to slog through your factbook point-by-point, particularly if it's a big wall of text.

[G-Tech Corporation]

@ Denengrad: That looks like one of Vortukia's apps. Is it so?

[Dreadful Sagittarius]

Hello there people. I was just wondering what some of you might make of this stuff, mostly re-designed my FT nations and just want a few opinions!

Big thing

So, where did you acquire these forty-seven systems? Generally it's advised new players start off with 1-3 systems, and through roleplay work your way from there.

Other than that, same as Avenio. If I wanted to read your entire factbook, I would. Please highlight specific sections that you think need critiquing.

[Denengrad]

@ G-tech: It's not, its from a group that never really got off the ground, but I decided to revive most of the stuff I had chosen for it.

@ Dreadful Sagittarius: Each system was seeded with a Runcible gate complex as the Megaroad Fleet made its way to its final destination (stuff im still working on) So the idea was to already have a working infrastructure and industrial base by the time the fleet had reached the new capitol star system, as such the capitol is a young settled planet compared to those on the fringed of Polity space.
As for stuff to look over, I would say mostly the speed of the FTL drives and the Runcible gate system, as combined they have massive disadvantages.

[Abys]

What would be a good reason socially or economically for a nation to actual go down on a planet and settle. Space habitats would be much cheaper for a space faring nation, But I want my people to life on planets mostly. Any ideas?

[Arkotania]

What would be a good reason socially or economically for a nation to actual go down on a planet and settle. Space habitats would be much cheaper for a space faring nation, But I want my people to life on planets mostly. Any ideas?

There's still advantages a planet would have compared to a space habitat, unless your nation can build planet-sized space habitats.

Raw resources, natural protection(thus no need for a potentially dangerous power source that could be vulnerable to sabotage), and more...stimulating when compared to a space habitat(the environment for example,unless your space habitat is one giant holodeck)

I don't see space habitats being cheaper though. A planet pretty much comes ready for habitation. No need for life-support systems, shielding, power or worry about the various dangers space would present to something with less mass than much of the things flying around out there.

[StellarGate]

What would be a good reason socially or economically for a nation to actual go down on a planet and settle. Space habitats would be much cheaper for a space faring nation, But I want my people to life on planets mostly. Any ideas?

One thing I can thing of is that your population will be more spread out, less likely to all go up in flames if some hit gets through armor or some radical gets into the reactor area ( if this habitat has one.)

Also it's an enclosed area with recycled air and usually less room then a planet. Even with sci-fi powered air filters, sickness could spread easier.

[The Legion of War]

What would be a good reason socially or economically for a nation to actual go down on a planet and settle. Space habitats would be much cheaper for a space faring nation, But I want my people to life on planets mostly. Any ideas?

...Maybe it could be as simple as preference? At least with humans, I figure we'd like to be on a planet rather than caged into some floating habitat.

[Reliquary]

What would be a good reason socially or economically for a nation to actual go down on a planet and settle. Space habitats would be much cheaper for a space faring nation, But I want my people to life on planets mostly. Any ideas?

Industry. Mining resources out of a planet will usually take a while and require living spaces to be developed. These living spaces will themselves require entertainment or life would be terrible. They will require a full legal system so that criminal elements of society do not take root. The combination of entertainment, a booming industrial economy and a functional legal system will attract people to the location. More people being attracted to the location will result in more industry, entertainment and government, which in turn will result in even more people, and this cycle will repeat until suddenly instead of a mining outpost with a nearby barracks you have an entire planetary civilization developing.

Space habitats do not have massive amounts of untapped resources, or if they do generally either you didn't build it (in the case of my Reliquary Megastation which was built by some unimportant precursor race) or you're really good at stockpiling and preparing for the future. Even then, chances are you'll need more resources. What stellar object is full of enough resources to provide material for thousands of years while also being easily exploited and built upon? A planet.

Unless you have the energy-to-matter technology or some way to efficiently transform hydrogen into any other element. If you have those, you can probably just leech everything you need off of stars. But I am assuming most people don't have those technologies.

[The Rhustarim Hegemony]

There's still advantages a planet would have compared to a space habitat, unless your nation can build planet-sized space habitats.

Raw resources, natural protection(thus no need for a potentially dangerous power source that could be vulnerable to sabotage), and more...stimulating when compared to a space habitat(the environment for example,unless your space habitat is one giant holodeck)

I don't see space habitats being cheaper though. A planet pretty much comes ready for habitation. No need for life-support systems, shielding, power or worry about the various dangers space would present to something with less mass than much of the things flying around out there.

One thing I can thing of is that your population will be more spread out, less likely to all go up in flames if some hit gets through armor or some radical gets into the reactor area ( if this habitat has one.)

Also it's an enclosed area with recycled air and usually less room then a planet. Even with sci-fi powered air filters, sickness could spread easier.

...Maybe it could be as simple as preference? At least with humans, I figure we'd like to be on a planet rather than caged into some floating habitat.

Yay for being contrary.

Space habitats have, imo, huge benefits over planetary colonisation. I can't help but get the impression when people imagine space habitats, they picture small enclosed things that more resemble a space station. But that's not what they should be. For a relatively well known example of a spaceborne habitate, look to the Citadel from Mass Effect (as much as I don't like referencing existing canon for these things).

The majority of the Hegemony population is housed in O'Neil Cylinders and McKendree Cylinders. The O'Neils are about 30km long, have fields and rivers to make them pleasant places to live and have a carefully maintained natural atmosphere because of the forests that are on it. The McKendrees are even bigger, with the largest one at roughly 8500km long. That one even has a mountain range and a sea. There is no reason a space habitat should be viewed as a cage or 'enclosed area'. I mean, sure they're technically enclosed, but they can be large enough that they might as well not be. When constructed correctly, the atmosphere maintains itself and you don't need to keep it contained with shields or roofs. You get a proper sky, and depending on how it's built you might even get a climate.

And that's not even covering the Orbital that the hegemony is quarter way to completing which has even more space than the McKendrees.

Personal note: I don't like linking to Orion's Arm as a source, but I couldn't find good articles on Orbitals and McKendrees anywhere else. So I made do with what I had

Space habitats are more efficient as living areas than planets, and a lot of the concerns over them can be easily translated to a planet based society as well. Sure, a well placed shot into a Cylinder could take out the whole thing (your engineers should be thrown out the airlock if that's the case, but it could happen). But a well placed shot into a planet could cause a city to be wiped off the map, or trigger some horrific extinction event. You're worried about sickness? Unless you have a planetwide utility fog, you don't have anything to clean the air of pollution and pathogens. The greater surface area efficiency of a spacial habitat means you can better clean the air. You also don't have to worry about natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes - you potentially don't have to worry about storms and such either if the temperature gradients in your habitat aren't severe enough to cause storms to form.

Sure, they require a pretty good level of engineering and industry, but they have huge benefits as living space over a glorified ball of dirt.

That said, let me answer Abys' original question: It could simply be a cultural thing. One of my characters has a fear of setting foot on a planet. She (somewhat irrationally) views them as horrendously unsafe. There's no reason the reverse could not be true for your citizens. Certainly, if your technological capacity and engineering ability isn't high enough to build proper habitats and you're forced to use space station type things as opposed to megascale habitats, then people would be less likely to want to live in them. Planets don't exactly come 'ready' made - and if you can terraform a planet in a short enough period of time I find it hard to believe you can't build habitats of at least O'Neil scale - but they do make for sturdy starting grounds for construction. Logistically, they're a nightmare - gravity makes everyone its bitch - for a spaceborne civilisation, but the average civilian probably won't care that planet life makes it harder to get things into space. They'd probably just prefer to have solid ground under their feet and a sky above their heads.

EDIT: Reliquary makes another good suggestion, and probably the most solid reason as to why you'd settle on a planet, but then you run into the issue of "Why don't you just mine asteroids for your minerals?"

[StellarGate]

Guess it all depends on what you want your nation to be like and what your tech is like.

After all it is an FT nation and with the power of SCIENCE! you can do just about anything. All worries of sickness and stuff aside, just make sure your space habitat has everything your race needs to live and entertain itself. I am most certainly not an expert on such things.

[-The Unified Earth Governments-]

look to the Citadel from Mass Effect

I don't think people should look to a purposeful death trap for evidence :|

Of course I am kidding, but while you raise good points, planetary colonization still seems better :|

Of course you can pull a Forerunner and make a planet thats actually a artificial habitat, or a ring thats such....

[Arkotania]

There's still advantages a planet would have compared to a space habitat, unless your nation can build planet-sized space habitats.

Raw resources, natural protection(thus no need for a potentially dangerous power source that could be vulnerable to sabotage), and more...stimulating when compared to a space habitat(the environment for example,unless your space habitat is one giant holodeck)

I don't see space habitats being cheaper though. A planet pretty much comes ready for habitation. No need for life-support systems, shielding, power or worry about the various dangers space would present to something with less mass than much of the things flying around out there.

One thing I can thing of is that your population will be more spread out, less likely to all go up in flames if some hit gets through armor or some radical gets into the reactor area ( if this habitat has one.)

Also it's an enclosed area with recycled air and usually less room then a planet. Even with sci-fi powered air filters, sickness could spread easier.

...Maybe it could be as simple as preference? At least with humans, I figure we'd like to be on a planet rather than caged into some floating habitat.

Yay for being contrary.

Space habitats have, imo, huge benefits over planetary colonisation. I can't help but get the impression when people imagine space habitats, they picture small enclosed things that more resemble a space station. But that's not what they should be. For a relatively well known example of a spaceborne habitate, look to the Citadel from Mass Effect (as much as I don't like referencing existing canon for these things).

The majority of the Hegemony population is housed in O'Neil Cylinders and McKendree Cylinders. The O'Neils are about 30km long, have fields and rivers to make them pleasant places to live and have a carefully maintained natural atmosphere because of the forests that are on it. The McKendrees are even bigger, with the largest one at roughly 8500km long. That one even has a mountain range and a sea. There is no reason a space habitat should be viewed as a cage or 'enclosed area'. I mean, sure they're technically enclosed, but they can be large enough that they might as well not be. When constructed correctly, the atmosphere maintains itself and you don't need to keep it contained with shields or roofs. You get a proper sky, and depending on how it's built you might even get a climate.

And that's not even covering the Orbital that the hegemony is quarter way to completing which has even more space than the McKendrees.

Personal note: I don't like linking to Orion's Arm as a source, but I couldn't find good articles on Orbitals and McKendrees anywhere else. So I made do with what I had

Space habitats are more efficient as living areas than planets, and a lot of the concerns over them can be easily translated to a planet based society as well. Sure, a well placed shot into a Cylinder could take out the whole thing (your engineers should be thrown out the airlock if that's the case, but it could happen). But a well placed shot into a planet could cause a city to be wiped off the map, or trigger some horrific extinction event. You're worried about sickness? Unless you have a planetwide utility fog, you don't have anything to clean the air of pollution and pathogens. The greater surface area efficiency of a spacial habitat means you can better clean the air. You also don't have to worry about natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes - you potentially don't have to worry about storms and such either if the temperature gradients in your habitat aren't severe enough to cause storms to form.

Sure, they require a pretty good level of engineering and industry, but they have huge benefits as living space over a glorified ball of dirt.

That said, let me answer Abys' original question: It could simply be a cultural thing. One of my characters has a fear of setting foot on a planet. She (somewhat irrationally) views them as horrendously unsafe. There's no reason the reverse could not be true for your citizens. Certainly, if your technological capacity and engineering ability isn't high enough to build proper habitats and you're forced to use space station type things as opposed to megascale habitats, then people would be less likely to want to live in them. Planets don't exactly come 'ready' made - and if you can terraform a planet in a short enough period of time I find it hard to believe you can't build habitats of at least O'Neil scale - but they do make for sturdy starting grounds for construction. Logistically, they're a nightmare - gravity makes everyone its bitch - for a spaceborne civilisation, but the average civilian probably won't care that planet life makes it harder to get things into space. They'd probably just prefer to have solid ground under their feet and a sky above their heads.

EDIT: Reliquary makes another good suggestion, and probably the most solid reason as to why you'd settle on a planet, but then you run into the issue of "Why don't you just mine asteroids for your minerals?"

If we're talking about massive space settlements that could handle a large population, then space settlements make sense. But the resources for these things have to come from somewhere, and sooner or later you'll probably need new sources of material. I don't think asteroids will have everything you need.

Then again it all depends on what your FT is like. The more technologically reliant, the less your people will really need a planet, unless they want to be on a planet.

look to the Citadel from Mass Effect

I don't think people should look to a purposeful death trap for evidence :|

Of course I am kidding, but while you raise good points, planetary colonization still seems better :|

Of course you can pull a Forerunner and make a planet thats actually a artificial habitat, or a ring thats such....

The Halo ring is actually a space settlement(I can't remember what they were called. I know it involves the word torus), like an O'neill cylinder, or perhaps even a Dyson sphere.

[-The Unified Earth Governments-]

Yay for being contrary.

Space habitats have, imo, huge benefits over planetary colonisation. I can't help but get the impression when people imagine space habitats, they picture small enclosed things that more resemble a space station. But that's not what they should be. For a relatively well known example of a spaceborne habitate, look to the Citadel from Mass Effect (as much as I don't like referencing existing canon for these things).

The majority of the Hegemony population is housed in O'Neil Cylinders and McKendree Cylinders. The O'Neils are about 30km long, have fields and rivers to make them pleasant places to live and have a carefully maintained natural atmosphere because of the forests that are on it. The McKendrees are even bigger, with the largest one at roughly 8500km long. That one even has a mountain range and a sea. There is no reason a space habitat should be viewed as a cage or 'enclosed area'. I mean, sure they're technically enclosed, but they can be large enough that they might as well not be. When constructed correctly, the atmosphere maintains itself and you don't need to keep it contained with shields or roofs. You get a proper sky, and depending on how it's built you might even get a climate.

And that's not even covering the Orbital that the hegemony is quarter way to completing which has even more space than the McKendrees.

Personal note: I don't like linking to Orion's Arm as a source, but I couldn't find good articles on Orbitals and McKendrees anywhere else. So I made do with what I had

Space habitats are more efficient as living areas than planets, and a lot of the concerns over them can be easily translated to a planet based society as well. Sure, a well placed shot into a Cylinder could take out the whole thing (your engineers should be thrown out the airlock if that's the case, but it could happen). But a well placed shot into a planet could cause a city to be wiped off the map, or trigger some horrific extinction event. You're worried about sickness? Unless you have a planetwide utility fog, you don't have anything to clean the air of pollution and pathogens. The greater surface area efficiency of a spacial habitat means you can better clean the air. You also don't have to worry about natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes - you potentially don't have to worry about storms and such either if the temperature gradients in your habitat aren't severe enough to cause storms to form.

Sure, they require a pretty good level of engineering and industry, but they have huge benefits as living space over a glorified ball of dirt.

That said, let me answer Abys' original question: It could simply be a cultural thing. One of my characters has a fear of setting foot on a planet. She (somewhat irrationally) views them as horrendously unsafe. There's no reason the reverse could not be true for your citizens. Certainly, if your technological capacity and engineering ability isn't high enough to build proper habitats and you're forced to use space station type things as opposed to megascale habitats, then people would be less likely to want to live in them. Planets don't exactly come 'ready' made - and if you can terraform a planet in a short enough period of time I find it hard to believe you can't build habitats of at least O'Neil scale - but they do make for sturdy starting grounds for construction. Logistically, they're a nightmare - gravity makes everyone its bitch - for a spaceborne civilisation, but the average civilian probably won't care that planet life makes it harder to get things into space. They'd probably just prefer to have solid ground under their feet and a sky above their heads.

EDIT: Reliquary makes another good suggestion, and probably the most solid reason as to why you'd settle on a planet, but then you run into the issue of "Why don't you just mine asteroids for your minerals?"

If we're talking about massive space settlements that could handle a large population, then space settlements make sense. But the resources for these things have to come from somewhere, and sooner or later you'll probably need new sources of material. I don't think asteroids will have everything you need.

Then again it all depends on what your FT is like. The more technologically reliant, the less your people will really need a planet, unless they want to be on a planet.

I don't think people should look to a purposeful death trap for evidence :|

Of course I am kidding, but while you raise good points, planetary colonization still seems better :|

Of course you can pull a Forerunner and make a planet thats actually a artificial habitat, or a ring thats such....

The Halo ring is actually a space settlement(I can't remember what they were called. I know it involves the word torus), like an O'neill cylinder, or perhaps even a Dyson sphere.

Well technically it can be that, but everyone is fucked when it has to be used for its intended purpose.

...Galactic wide genocide.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

What would be a good reason socially or economically for a nation to actual go down on a planet and settle. Space habitats would be much cheaper for a space faring nation, But I want my people to life on planets mostly. Any ideas?

Space habitats would not be cheaper. Planets have an essentially self-maintaining supply system, whereas a space habitat must be constantly supplied. Without planetside development, space travel becomes impossible unless you build, essentially, a planet's worth of infrastructure in space.

And even then, you're still probably going to have to go down to planets now and then to get raw materials.

[New Tauri Republic]

I know in ft this is not always a concern, but is my reactor a realistic design for both mt pmt and ft? I plan on them utilizing such reactors for a long time, since wet navy times, on their naval vessels. They would slowly improve and increase the efficiency, fusion reaction density, and other aspects over that time, eventually maximizing reactor efficiemcy, and being forced to utilized ever more powerful methods of compressing the plasma down for better more compact reactors, while improving the msr compenent to more rapidly start up the reactor, and act as a method of shielding for the reactor, while acting as a way to breed tritium.