LunaRagno Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Re: How hard is your science ficiton? If I ever run another Ace Cobalt in the 21st Century game' date=' you [b']bet [/b]it's gonna have Martian zeppelins! Repped! I had to check my "control panel" to be sure you had not repped me. I love the name of your campaign. Quite evocative of the movie serials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Masked Man Posted September 3, 2006 Report Share Posted September 3, 2006 Re: How hard is your science ficiton? I find it interresting that Larry Niven's work is on the low to medium end of Hard according the article. I think Niven approaches storytelling a little different than most of the other writers mentioned. When begining the writing process He deliberately asks one or two "what if...?" questions and lets the story unfold based on the consequences of the speculative science introduced. Mote in God's Eye is a great examples of this and the handwavium/plot device FTL drive used in that universe is central to the story. I think Known Space and the Mote novels would be considered less than hard SF because they have FTL, which current science says is either impossible or would cause paradoxes. Its the same reason Asimov's books are also not considered hard. For me at least, the big gap in realism is between stories like those by Niven or Asimov on one hand, which try to make realistic technology within the confines of what is required for the story, and most TV and movie SF (and many books as well) which just throw in technology for the "cool" factor on the other. Gripping hand - Go with whatever makes the best story, which in TV and especially movies usually means don't bother explaining on screen, but in books you can do more. Yes I did have to get in a reference to "gripping hand". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithcurtis Posted September 3, 2006 Report Share Posted September 3, 2006 Re: How hard is your science ficiton? Known Space is filled with magic tech which is never explained to any degree. Stasis Fields, Monofilament wire, superconductor cloth, magically-efficient fusion drives, General Product Hulls, Teleportation Booths, Stepping Disks, Skrill, Planets as spaceships, Psionics. Eventually Niven had to give it up because he had written himself into a technological corner (read "Safe at Any Speed"). I reiterate what Doc Anomaly took from me to use as a sig for several months: Larry Niven is often cited as being "hard SF"' date=' but really, his science is so rubber you could carve it into superballs.[/quote'] Keith "I love the stories, don't get me wrong" Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted September 4, 2006 Report Share Posted September 4, 2006 Re: How hard is your science ficiton? Known Space is filled with magic tech which is never explained to any degree. Stasis Fields, Monofilament wire, superconductor cloth, magically-efficient fusion drives, General Product Hulls, Teleportation Booths, Stepping Disks, Skrill, Planets as spaceships, Psionics. Eventually Niven had to give it up because he had written himself into a technological corner (read "Safe at Any Speed"). I reiterate what Doc Anomaly took from me to use as a sig for several months: Keith "I love the stories, don't get me wrong" Curtis Nice quote Most of the Niven books I read are his collaborations with his various author buddies (Pournelle and Barnes come to mind) and they seem to be harder in tone than the stuff he writes solo, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Masked Man Posted September 4, 2006 Report Share Posted September 4, 2006 Re: How hard is your science ficiton? Known Space is filled with magic tech which is never explained to any degree. Stasis Fields, Monofilament wire, superconductor cloth, magically-efficient fusion drives, General Product Hulls, Teleportation Booths, Stepping Disks, Skrill, Planets as spaceships, Psionics. Eventually Niven had to give it up because he had written himself into a technological corner (read "Safe at Any Speed"). I reiterate what Doc Anomaly took from me to use as a sig for several months: Keith "I love the stories, don't get me wrong" Curtis Thats the problem with doing too many "Here is a new piece of tech, lets see how it affects people" stories - which a lot of Niven stories are at least to some extent. The supertech accumulates as the number of advanced races do, so the Puppeteers intoduced GP Hulls, the Slavers stasis fields, and the Ringworld Pak Skrith. Add this to the human tech (which is generally better explained) and you end up with a sufficiently advanced technology which becomes indistinguishable from magic. In the Mote universe this hasn't happened so much but it is still not considered hard SF because it has FTL and ships with shields, although both are pretty well explained IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRavenIs Posted September 4, 2006 Report Share Posted September 4, 2006 Re: How hard is your science ficiton? If I want a game to be super-heroic, then the science tends to be rubber. If I want a game to semi-super, then the science tends to be form-rubber. mostly real with the impossiable. If I want a game to heroric, then it depends on do I want to to be local or galatic spanning, then it varies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.