Whence Black Desert?

So I've been asked, what are the works of fiction that most inspired The Black Desert? Seemed like a good topic to me...

...The truth of the matter is, I can't site many works of science fiction that influenced the design of The Black Desert. SF has always been a big part of my entertainment, but unlike most people that work on the “Hard” side of the SF scale, I'm not generally annoyed by the “Soft” end. For me, fiction is fiction, and I like fantasy, SF, and...did I mention SF?

The Black Desert got it's start in 2007 or '08, when I first discovered Winchell Chung's Atomic Rockets website, and from there the Rocketpunk Manifesto. I had always been a fan of Star Wars, Star Trek and other softer SF and had almost always gamed in those types of settings. That being said, the idea of making spacecraft that could actually exist began to grow on me, especially since I was a fan of TSR's old Buck Rogers RPG. So I began to doodle some rockets and do some research. The earliest of these efforts was a recreation of the Rolling Stone from Heinlein's fiction, if I recall.

Yeah, this one.

At some later point, I stumbled upon that photograph of a Martian that had been going around the Internet. I loved that pic, veracity aside, and my mind immediately began to theorize how Martians could survive, would have evolved, and all that jazz. I was in school for Biology at the time; and was taking Organismal Bio and Mammology at the same time, so I was constantly getting ideas for the native Martains.  I also was interested in Primatology, and began to wonder what other sentient primates were like.

Between the two, rockets and Martians, I had enough Zeerust-y old Rocketpunk bubbling in the back of my mind that I did begin to flesh out an actual setting. I was thinking at the time of maybe writing some stories, or doing a webcomic (which I did do, briefly). The idea of making an entire universe was fun, albeit daunting, and I amused myself with the project in between work and classes. That right there is where is pretty much how The Black Desert got started.

There's much more too it, of course; after all, The Back Desert is a lot more that Rockets and Martians. I would have to say, once I decided to make a Hard SF setting, that most of my inspiration came from research on future tech and the like. Physycist Michio Kaku's TV series Sci-fi Science: The Physics of the Impossible was a big help, as was his other work. I studied videos, documentaries and other info from NASA on current space technology, especially the ISS. Info from the Mars Society help flesh out a lot of the ideas for Mars (obviously) as well as details for the Conestoga Rover. The Destiny Foundation was inspired by the efforts of Bigelow Aerospace and Space X; two space companies founded by billionaires that got rich just to develop space access. Personally, I think the influence of this kind of filthy-rich idealist hasn't been exploited enough in Hard SF, which is a shame.

My ideas for AI come from my own studies of the Human brain and neurology, once I discovered the unlikelyhood of consciousness evolving from current computer technology. The Dysonites and Trans-humans in general were simply products of wanting to do post-singularity fiction without making all the characters totally outre. The ideas for fabricators and their economic impact comes from the work of the Rep-Rap people and logical extrapolation.

The settings background history is pretty much stolen from the Interbellum period of the early 20^th century. The American Expatriate movement, with Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Stein, et al. Is an exciting time from a social standpoint, and it's easy to make a future analog of the original Art Decco Rocketpunk aesthetic, once you scrape off the zeerust. A lot of the details are provided by a mixture of logic and lack of faith in human nature.

As for actual fiction, the idea of Brazil becoming one of the world powers I got from Heinlein, as well as a general love for Hard (if dated) SF. My original concepts for virtual worlds and their uses came from William Gibson. Surprisingly, not from his Sprawl series; from his anthology Burning Chrome and the Virtual Light series. I also did a lot of looking at the open-source universe on the web, Orion's Arm, which is Post-post-post-singularity SF. The sad thing is, there is not a lot of Hard SF available out there; most of the classics aren't sold in the popular stores anymore, and there are no used bookstores anywhere near where I live. I could order more books online, but at this point, I really don't have the time to read them!

While I'm not above stealing borrowing ideas from anywhere, these are the influences and inspirations that most easily come to mind. Hope you enjoy the links!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a PDF to finish! See you tomorrow, RocketFans!

Ships of the Galaxy March Reveal:

         Presenting, the Starwell- Tanker!
         That's right, this is a twist on the ubiquitous "light freighter" common to Sci-Fi games.  It will be on sale Tuesday, and we will be doing another Spacecraft Spotlight showing what you can do with one.
         Now for the eye-candy.  See you Monday!

Since Somebody Asked...Martian Terraforming

Conestoga: The Martian SUV

         I got an email from one of our biggest fans, Trey Palmer; known on the forums as "Pilgrim"  it was one of those general questions about a subject I've been developing for the game for a couple of years now, so I decided to share it with the world.  Or at least you guys:

         "Ray,
           Big dumb question - what method are you choosing for Martian terraforming?   Did folks roof the Valle Marineris to create a large base of operations?   Or just build domes and start building solettas?
         Just curious."


         Whenever an email starts with the phrase "Big dumb question" I know that I will be getting an entire post out of it...

         Anyway, the early Martian colonists built automated factories that's only product are more automated factories and a big load of carbon monoxide.  "These auto-fac greenhouses" have been belching CO into Mars' atmosphere for a century as of 2210.  The increase in atmosphereic pressure has made the water ice in the Martian tundra liquefy and fill the Boreal basin.  The temp has risen naturally to about antarctic levels at the poles.  Since the Martian noon-time temp already gets into the eighties Fahrenheit, the Tropic Zone usually maintains a temp in the 30s and 40s at night, thanks to the thicker atmo.  Sun reflection sats are generally directed at the Boreal Coastal Zone, which not only raises the temp to something a human can tolerate without heroic measures, it makes for a good breeding ground for plant life.

Mars in 2210; Diemos in foreground.

          All of this was Phase One.  If the majority of AI that deserted the Great War hadn't chosen to settle on Mars, it never would have reached fruition.  It took AI patience, perspective, and lack of political douche-baggery to see the project through.  Why would they care?  Because these are the AI that decided they liked living in a universe that had people in it and they had calculated a statistical likelihood that Terra's biosphere and human population would be destroyed by the war.  They were half-right, but the upshot is that these AI made preserving the Human race - and making an environment they can thrive in - a high priority.

          The other practical upshot is that the greenhouse gas technique attracted the attention of the Martian natives.  The concept of pollution was unknown to their culture; their society and "technology" evolved along lines as different as their biology.  The fact that Humans could use waste to bring their planet back to life made the natives if not friendly to the Terran settlers, at least allied and helpful.  Of course there are hardliners that don't want to see Mars green and blue, because no society is unanimous and, let's face it, conflict with Martian natives is cool.

          Anyway, Phase Two of the terraforming project is the introduction of plant life that will produce oxygen.  This requires biomass - a lot of it.  The Martian natives can alter genetic codes as easily as we alter programs, so their cooperation provides a major shortcut; it will only take centuries instead of millennia.  In order to secure enough bio-diversity to make a truly independent ecosystem, Mars needs Terran species.  The natives are confidant that they can alter the native Terran species enough to survive in Mars' current conditions, as well as "program" these species to evolve in pace with the projected changes in the Martian biosphere.  In exchange for Terra's support of the terraforming project, Mars is trading that same native know-how to adapt Terran species to the new conditions of Terra's post-nuclear biosphere.  In order to insure that there would still be a Terra long enough to see this project through, Mars brokered the peace treaty that officially ended the Great War and created a balance of power that will hopefully remain stable long enough to insure the survival of H. sapiens into the future.

An early concept map of Mars showing trade routes and cities.

          So yes, there are underground and domed outposts strung along the cost of the Boreal Sea, and some built in lava tubes on the Tharsis plateau.  Valles Marinaris has a scientific research station that mainly deals with the natives, since their civilization is built into the walls of the chasm near it's base.  This area is the only known way into the native Martians' habitats.  These settlements are linked by sea and the air; the Barsoom Airships are one of these links.

And that RocketFans, is the story of Martian terraforming as well as the origin of the modern Black Desert.