For someone who likes sci-fi I don't spend enough time thinking about long distance space travel.
I admire the stories that avoid "warp drives" or "worm holes" -- though such a thing isn't a dealbreaker. I just think it's admirable to deal with the upsetting immensity of space on its own terms.
But if you want to avoid hand-waving you need to really think about how people deal with time, delayed communication, etc.
What is your favorite way that a sci-fi story did "long distance" ?
I'm really liking this #free randomized #SciFi text strategy #game called #seedship where you control the AI of a colony ship full of Human survivors in search of a new planet to call home. Along the way you must make hard choices which will effect the colony's chance of success, but also how they live afterwards. You visit various planets until you choose one that seems suitable to put down roots on, but wait too long and your ship will likely be so damaged that by the time you get their, you won't be much help to the colonists.
I've ended up with some very interesting civilizations!
Here's the link if anyone wants to pick it up, it's free on itch. https://johnayliff.itch.io/seedship
If you are using a screen reader, hit the download link under the first heading, hit control end to go to the bottom of the page, then up arrow a couple of times until you get to a dialogue element. Hit enter and you should be golden from there. #InteractiveFiction #TextGames #IF #indiGames #blind #ScreenReader #accessible #FreeGames #ItchIO #StrategyGame #SpaceFiction
Hmm, no thank you on "cell-based meat"... I keep thinking of "Chicken Little", the giant cultured cell-based chicken breast created by Frederik Pohl in the Space Merchants. #ChickenLittle#scifi#meat
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, bad things happen, even when some of the worlds are virtual. Breathtaking science fiction thriller plays on the edge of quantum entanglements between games and life. A MINUS
Don’t know why I slept on #CJCherryh for so long, but glad I finally read #Foreigner. Primarily about a whiny translator having tea w/ people he doesn’t really want to have tea with, who don’t like him, alien horses, & the travails of delayed postal service. Somehow also a gripping political intrigue #ScienceFiction, w/ tortuous intercultural relations, rich #WorldBuilding & gothic vibes.
In the late 1970s, following the release of Star Wars, the wider film industry was scrambling to find their own answer to George Lucas' monster sci-fi hit. For Paramount, this lead directly to the production of Star Trek The Motion Picture. Disney's response came in the form of Black Hole. But Universal's Star Wars cash in -...
#Movie: The Final Programme (1973). This #film version of a Michael Moorcock novel deals with the events set in motion by an old scientist's death and the culmination of his project to create a new better mankind. It's The Man Who Fell To Earth plus Austin Powers plus The Rocky Horror Picture Show plus Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Grade: OK.
In case you missed it, I shared a link to the latest #webcomic update over at @cosmicdash , so consider following there to know when my #sciFi comic updates.
Guess I need to look into a new instance too if mine is going to “wait and see” on Meta (Facebook). I’d rather “wait and see” from behind a safety net than by being in the middle of it…
I left Facebook for a reason. For multiple reasons.
Been missing the old days of cybre.space and it’s quirkiness too, so, any suggestions? Any invitations?
Hey all! Here for my #introduction, I'm new to this instance, but not to Fedi.
I'm Ashkenazi, my parents and I belonged to a Reform temple growing up. I currently am a member of a non-denominational synagogue near me that has conservative roots. Most of social media online is antisemitic and exhausting. Happy to see a Jewish server on here and have been meaning to join for a while.
Still seeking decent sources of bagels near me as a New York-to-Boston transplant, have been ordering bagels as gifts for my equally transplanted parents straight from NYC. Goldbelly has saved us all. I did manage to find a very good Jewish deli near me whose bagels are pretty tasty, although not quite the same.
• #Ingenuity demo cost $0.085B including 1 month operation
• #MRO (the mission that carries the #HiRISE camera producing the images we use in maps), cost $0.716B + $0.031B/y
• A Martian GPS, consisting of 24 MRO class satellites separately launched from the Earth, at $1B/pc + $0.1B/y operation, cost $26B/20y
• A fleet of 10 #MSH s, each capable of carrying max 5kg of payload to 5km/10min/flight, cost ~$10B, including a 2.75B Mars Science Helicopter Support Rover (#MSHSR) and 10y operation.
Been reading "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K LeGuin and I'm surprised at how professional it reads! It feels like a collection of essays written by someone who is an expert in outer space cultures, but never comes off as pretentious or uppity.
Haven't finished yet, but I recommend it to anyone who likes a good sci-fi novel with characters who don't act like idiots 👍
Been meaning to start a reading thread, to log & celebrate the books I read. I can't forget to maintain it until I start, so...
Listened to Redemption's Blade by @aptshadow - another interesting rework of classic fantasy tropes from the mind that brought you the underappreciated Spiderlight. This story comes alive thanks to its interesting ensemble, my favourite being the shifty artefact hunters Cat & Fisher. Read if you want classic fantasy adventure with a thoughtful twist.
Shoreline of Infinity 35, ed. Noel Chidwick - Great collection of Scottish short sff. Lots of unexpected delights, my favourites being a story about a cyborg seagull & a couple written in Scots dialect. I stopped in the street & read bits out loud to myself in a perfectly normal way, just to see how those stories felt in my mouth. Read if you want surprising & varied sff or a seagull terminator.
Me, Myself and Die plays Five Parsecs From Home (youtube.com)
Voice Actor Trevor Devall hosts an incredibly entertaining and insightful sci-fi solo roleplaying campaign.
Battlestar Galactica (1978) | Galactica 1980 - Battlestar Galactica Retrospective, Part 1 (youtu.be)
In the late 1970s, following the release of Star Wars, the wider film industry was scrambling to find their own answer to George Lucas' monster sci-fi hit. For Paramount, this lead directly to the production of Star Trek The Motion Picture. Disney's response came in the form of Black Hole. But Universal's Star Wars cash in -...