What level of sf do you like?

[Tech priest support]

Ok how much science do you out in your sf games?

[Cancer]

I prefer it near the hard end of the scale, but that's partly because I'm a top-down simulationist at heart.

[Nolgroth]

Star Frontiers has been my favorite Sci Fi gaming setting for years. I would not call it "hard Sci Fi" but it at least nods in the general direction of physics for the sub-FTL speeds. I'm not a fan of the whole "reach a certain speed and you automagically enter FTL space" but that is easily replaced with "you have to be at this speed before you can activate the FTL drive" mechanics. That is about the perfect balance of science and adventure for me.

 

For Space Opera I prefer Mass Effect. No conservation of anything but Cool in that 'verse.

[Xavier Onassiss]

Good poll. There's a similar scale with a bit more detail here:

 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness

[Tech priest support]

Good poll. There's a similar scale with a bit more detail here:

 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness

Thanks, hadn't seen that one.

[Sundog]

Fairly hard. If it doesn't have a good relationship to real science, might as well be fantasy.

[tkdguy]

I try to keep it as hard as possible. Some leeway for advances in technology is allowed, but I prefer to keep the rubber science to a minimum.

[IndianaJoe3]

I put it in the middle, but it really depends on what sort of game I want to run. I've played with settings that range from 1-5.

[Joe Walsh]

I couldn't answer because I've put each of those different levels of science in the various sci-fi campaigns I've run over the decades. I've enjoyed them all.  I also enjoy them all in books, movies and TV shows. It's all good, as long as it's not one thing masquerading as another.

[bigdamnhero]

What he said. They're all fun, as long as everyone is on the same page. My default preference is probably for medium-hard science, but I've also run Flash Gordon-style games where Mom ear irrigation appt science works however the plot requires.

 

I would also say I see Space Opera as a type of plot structure separate from how hard the science is; you can have space opera with hard or rubber physics.

 

Edit: OK I have no idea how autocorrect decided to insert "Mom ear irrigation appt" in the middle of that. But it's nonsensically awesome and I'm leaving it in!

[tkdguy]

Good point about space opera. A lot of SF writers handwave FTL but keep the science fairly hard otherwise.

 

While hard SF is currently my favorite, I am not averse to other types. I have thought of doing a science fantasy campaign recently.

[mrinku]

Medium by default here. I grew up on the likes of Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Anderson and Niven, though there's a fondness for space opera too. And I'm a Traveller kid.

[Vondy]

It depends on what I'm running!

 

I prefer a harder science fiction that has very little rubber, or is at least, rooted in believable speculation. Some gaming examples would the Jovian Chronicles, Cyberpunk, and Transhuman Space. I regard a lot of popular "science fiction" as actually being different genres, or at least sub-genres, altogether. For instance, to me, Star Trek is really futurist social fiction rather than science fiction because it's not about the science. Trek uses speculative aliens and technology and metaphors for contemporary social criticism while presenting a hackneyed boomer woo-woo view of the human ideal. It's about Roddenberry's pretentious utopian vision. And Star Wars, which I love and run? What science? is a straight-up fantasy tale reskinned as a space opera. It's a mythic tale that gives a nod to morality plays while never quite rising to being one. To call either of these franchises science fiction is to do them, and fiction that is really about the science and its realistic implications for man, a disservice.  

[megaplayboy]

Hmm...super gritty/hard sf examples are a little bit scant, since the lack of FTL means it's not going to be as broad.  The Alien franchise(well, not sure how acid for blood is "hard sci-fi", but whatevs), the old Outland movie with Sean Connery, and more recently The Expanse.  They tend to be more near-future-y and closer to Earth(no FTL) in scope.  

Medium science--maybe BSG(2000s edition)

Rubber scifi--most science fiction films and tv series fall into this category

Space Opera--Star Wars

Science Fantasy--Green Lantern Corps, most comic book science fiction

[mrinku]

Hard Science Fiction is usually limited to books, but I'd count The Martian, Gravity and Deep Impact. 2001: A Space Odyssey is hard enough to count until the very final act. In all of those there's still some tweaking for plot effect and small errors (the sandstorm on Mars shouldn't have been able to blow people over; the space stations in Gravity were VERY conveniently placed etc.) But that's got more to do with how regular fiction works, not the science aspect. Certainly your average action film takes far greater liberties with the possible.

 

Most of Kim Stanley Robinson's stuff is very solid.

 

@megaplayboy: Hate to burst your bubble, but even the 2000's BSG is Rubber/Light science, though I'd rate it over most TV efforts. Maybe settle for Medium-Light?

 

Most science fiction films and especially TV fall into Space Opera on this scale...  anyone who kids themselves that Star Trek is harder SF than Star Wars really has not been paying attention. If anything, Star Trek is worse since it takes its technobabble more seriously.

[Vondy]

Hmm...super gritty/hard sf examples are a little bit scant, since the lack of FTL means it's not going to be as broad.  The Alien franchise(well, not sure how acid for blood is "hard sci-fi", but whatevs), the old Outland movie with Sean Connery, and more recently The Expanse.  They tend to be more near-future-y and closer to Earth(no FTL) in scope.  

Medium science--maybe BSG(2000s edition)

Rubber scifi--most science fiction films and tv series fall into this category

Space Opera--Star Wars

Science Fantasy--Green Lantern Corps, most comic book science fiction

 

Gaming-wise: Cyberpunk 2020, Jovian Chronicles, and Transhuman Space are all "fairly hard."

 

I've enjoyed games inspired by them. 

[Vondy]

... anyone who kids themselves that Star Trek is harder SF than Star Wars really has not been paying attention...

 

Agreed.

[Ninja-Bear]

I love a good Soace Opera! I also enjoy Battletech which is what light sf? And where ever Anetary Romance fall into too.

[LoneWolf]

It really depends on the campaign and the players.  Many of the people I game with myself included are in technical position, so some of the science ends up being very realistic.   But there are still players who are not as technologically sophisticated and often they are the ones who end up playing the more scientific characters.  This often leads to the person learning a lot about what their character knows, but they do not. 

 

On a couple of occasions we had game sessions that were almost completely technical in nature with almost no actual combat.  Having to investigate the security measures and find way to neutralize them was actually a lot of fun. 

[Cassandra]

I need some reality to make the science fiction work for me.

[Cassandra]

My favorite Science Fiction books are Crusade, In Death's Ground, and The Shiva Option by David Weber and Steve White.  The novels are based on the Starfire game system put out by Task Force Games back in 1979.  It started as a simpler starship combat system compared to the companies Star Fleet Battles game.

 

In the universe they have a reaction less drive system allowing increase and decrease of speed without inertia, which allows ships to travel at 1/10 the speed of light.   Travel between star systems is through warp points that are fixed in a location in the star system.  Weapons are missiles, lasers, and a variant of the tractor beam that alternates between pulling and pushing a ship literally shaking it apart.