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What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
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Author:  Agemegos [ Thu Feb 11, 2021 12:38 am ]
Post subject:  What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
I'm working on a pseudorandom generation procedure to eat stellar catalogue data and spit out descriptions of planets suitable for human settlement and planetary adventure. I've come to the point where I determine what the biosphere is like, i.e. whether there are biofilms, photosynthesising scums, vast turfs of ~ mosses, great forests, whether there are little crawling/wriggling animals, large quick animals, animals with complex adaptive behaviour, social co-operation, economic co-operation, agriculture and domestication, cities, tools, machines, powered vehicles, spaceflight, ecological catastrophe….

I'm very conscious that some of the developments that are of profound importance to palaeontologists, such as the development of eukaryotic cells by endosymbiosis, might not be the way that alien life does things, might not matter to settlers, or might not matter to PC adventurers. Taking that into account, what are the developments that matter to the biosphere, settlers, and PCs, in the most abstract terms?
Author:  Matt Wilson [ Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
I'm not sure if this is what you're asking for, but as a player, my primary concern is anything that would make my character's life more complicated.

I mean, I will also geek out about all your cool details, but first and foremost my guy gotta stay alive and make a living.

  • I'm guessing this is for Flat Black and there's always enough oxygen but after that: What wants to kill me? Are there large predators? Are the small ones stupid enough to bother me? Can local pathogens infect humans? Are there predators that my ape brain doesn't have ten thousand years of experience dealing with, like pterosaurs? Will I need to take a pill every twelve hours to keep from getting sick?
  • What is valuable, or what produces something valuable? Is there a pearl analogue? Is there a fossilized sap like amber? Is there something in the water that actually makes Fosters drinkable?
  • What is a real pain in the ass? If there's plant life, is there something like pollen? Will it cause allergies, or is it weird and kind of oily and prone to gumming up machinery?
Author:  Cyborg IM1 [ Fri Feb 12, 2021 4:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
I did something like this - although I am sure much less scientifically rigid than what you did.

I came up with a new UWP extension - XDC
X = CompleXity - from single-celled to intelligent (5 steps)
D = Diversity - how many biomes are there basically. The more diverse, the more of the world is covered with Life
C = Compatibility - from 0% to 100% how compatible is that life with humans.

A version of it was printed in Stellagama's These Stars Are Ours setting.

If you are even slightly interested PM me and I will send you the document.
Author:  Agemegos [ Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
Cyborg IM1 wrote:
If you are even slightly interested PM me and I will send you the document.

Do you by any chance have private messaging switched off?
Author:  Cyborg IM1 [ Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
Sorry, I've been away on a personal issue.

If I knew how to post a file here I would... :)
Author:  EDG [ Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
can you not just attach the file? (go into the Full editor and it should be below the message window)
Author:  Cyborg IM1 [ Tue Feb 23, 2021 12:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
Attachment:
XDC Summary.docx [37.31 KiB]
Downloaded 5 times


Well heck, I feel like an idiot!

See attached. :oops:
Author:  Cyborg IM1 [ Tue Feb 23, 2021 12:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
Colin used a variation of this (making Compatibility: 2D6+7-Complexity

This makes more complex life less likely to be compatible with humans - which could be really good for a hard sci fi game.
Author:  Vile [ Sat Feb 27, 2021 7:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What are the milestones in the development of an exotic biosphere?
Cyborg IM1 wrote:
I did something like this - although I am sure much less scientifically rigid than what you did.

Nice, simple rule.
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