Comm-Link:Lore Builder - Twenty-Two - LAG and Tags
Hello and welcome back for another installment of Lore Builder, where we work with you, the community, to flesh out previously unexplored areas of the Star Citizen lore. As always, if you are new to this feature, we highly recommend reviewing the updated caveats and suggested background reading described in this previous issue, so you can get a clear understanding of what’s already been established.
Let’s get right into last week’s post:
LOCALIZED ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY
Incredible. Two consecutive posts with five hundred comments on Artificial Gravity system makes the brain hurt, but there were some great ideas as well as a really fascinating discussion to watch unfold.
Not everybody was on board with the initial system presentation and made some compelling arguments as well as presenting some equally valid alternate approaches. A major part of any creative process is discussion. Often times, presenting an idea will help people decide what they don’t necessarily want. Anyway, you all made some very good points which prompted internal discussions about counterpoints which helped clarify the thinking regarding the tech.
We’ve collected and organized all the submitted ideas, theories, backstories and approaches into our mega spreadsheet. Though we could still keep discussing this topic, we are in a bit of a holding pattern until the designers lock down their design for the mechanic. Once they do, we’ll have plenty of lore options to explain the system that will ultimately exist in Star Citizen.
We did want to highlight a couple specific lines of thought that might particularly work well as we develop the next draft. Highlighted alongside them are a few backers (though it was really hard to just pick a few (For real. There was a ton of great stuff.)):
- We will probably be moving away from gravitons. Though the name sounds cool, using an actual hypothetical elementary particle is looking like it brings a lot of preconceived science baggage with it. We will probably take the suggestion of creating an entirely new element for the generator to create. (
- One place we may look for the source of this new particle is Interspace (the area between jump points). The new science needed to make AG could be a direct result of the discoveries made traversing through jump points.
- A lot of people suggested we stay away from the term ‘piping’ and it is probably a good one. We are leaning towards ‘conduits’ or ‘nanotubes’ as well as the neat idea of incorporating some particle accelerator tech to control the movement of the particles. (
- Having the plates emit LAG in one specific direction seems very useful and we like the way this could possibly tie into tractor tech if we needed it to. We could also have rooms where the AG could be switched from one surface to another as needed. (The designers are having fun with this idea.) And since the fields are contained, it would also be possible to set up rooms where they are oriented in different directions — i.e., bases in space would not have to all be built on just one plane. (
- It was also mentioned how the delay in the LAG system (combined with the unidirectional emission) would help explain why AG is impractical to use as a counter to the effects of increased Gs during flight. (
- Something we saw mentioned a lot was the idea of using two plates to contain the field. This is actually something that, after talking to design, we will probably shy away from. The main reason for this is we want to be able to use the AG in open spaces if we so choose, and again, by having only one plate needed, this tech could possibly be repurposed for tractor beams. Instead we will continue with the notion that AG is interrupted by ship hulls. Though, even if the hull wasn’t interrupting, the gravplates would still have a limited range before the field would decay. (
- BONUS THOUGHT: If hulls block AG, and tractors are based on the same tech, it will explain why when a ship is sucked in, all of the contents won’t be dragged to one side as well.
- There were a lot of good histories to pick and choose from. A few of the history suggestions played with the idea that AG was an accidental discovery and that could be a lot of fun. We are also leaning towards a timeline of around 2300 for AG to start being used. (
Moving on to today’s topic. After two weeks of very intensive scientific debate, let’s shift gears and go a little lighter.
CLOTHING COMPANIES
As we’re developing the costume sets to dress the populations that you will pass while exploring the various planetside locations, the need has arisen for a variety of clothing manufacturers.
To make it easier, here is a template to use for formatting your ideas:
< Company Name >
Headquarters: Where the company identifies itself from.
Availability: How common/available are the company’s products? General rule of thumb, the wider the availability, the cheaper it is; you can’t buy high-end clothes everywhere. So use one of the following options for this section: Wide, Selective or Exclusive
Type: What type of clothes do they make? Since we haven’t figured out exactly how many specific pieces/layers a character will be able to wear, we wouldn’t recommend getting too specific (for example, let’s avoid socks and underwear).
Public Persona: How does the company present themselves to the public (hip? cheap but good quality? blue-collar?)
Again, we strongly urge you to keep the response concise. The constraints of brevity force you to choose evocative words and phrases, which help your company’s identity pop.
That’s all for this week. Please post your ideas in the comments below and we’ll check in with you next week.
Until next time …