Hello! I'm HyperdrivePenguin (the name is ironic), and I have an interest in hard sci-fi, as seen in this universe. I was thinking of creating an alien species from a faraway galaxy, but I don't know how to get started on an article. Does anybody know who I can talk to to get my bearings and figure out what is and isn't feasible?
Thank you in advance.
Hi! Try reading the
https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/462d55832c31b Daharrans and the pas’utu’ril and the Birchans
https://www.orionsarm.com/forum/showthre...t=Birchans For what are likely best ways to describe/pitch these
Or search on the forums for discussions of these species to see how we have talked through those in the past.
Search the forum for the discussion about the Ripost to see about where our standards are
But you’re in the middle of a discussion on discord about these Sage praying mantis aliens , which I think is going in the direction I think it should go, so far
So I’ll let that run for a bit and respond more on the forum tomorrow.
(12-27-2023, 11:57 AM)HyperdrivePenguin Wrote: [ -> ]Hello! I'm HyperdrivePenguin (the name is ironic), and I have an interest in hard sci-fi, as seen in this universe. I was thinking of creating an alien species from a faraway galaxy, but I don't know how to get started on an article. Does anybody know who I can talk to to get my bearings and figure out what is and isn't feasible?
Thank you in advance.
Well, I'd like to clarify that no, they aren't Terragen in scope. They're a "spider" civilization, which values seeing all the universe has to offer and creating lots of art. This means that they send out large numbers of craft to faraway destinations, but generally don't settle or really interact with the areas they cover. They basically lay down daisy chains of wormholes back to their homeworld to remain in contact with their AI leaders, set up a few outposts for interacting with the local culture, and continue on. That's why they've arrived from another galaxy; they didn't really concentrate on their own and just went out as far as they could.
it can be good for you to read through discussions about xenosophonts too, first. it'll give you a good idea of the process you'd go through to write these Sage xenosophonts.
The Ripost (quite favorable idea by a longtime contributor, well written so far, in development)
https://www.orionsarm.com/forum/showthre...ght=ripost
Dextrans (abandoned idea for nuclear chlorine ocopi xenosophonts)
https://www.orionsarm.com/forum/showthre...ht=uranium
Meistersingers rewrite (rewritten by longtime contributors, in progress, almost done. you might notice some ideas take a while to finish writing)
https://www.orionsarm.com/forum/showthre...2#pid76582
Silent Ones rewrite (rewritten by longtime contributors)
https://www.orionsarm.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5426
Daharans- we converted them to neogens
https://www.orionsarm.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5626
izaki xenosophonts in progress... this was abandoned by the contributor, it seems?
https://www.orionsarm.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3450 I’d not be overly interested in them anyway though, if they had continued , in the form they had , personally
If nobody has replied to your post in too long, just *ask* us to comment. You may have to try a few times , if some of us are busy with life. Some discussions have taken months or years for regular contributors, so we will reply within a week (with *some* level of detail) if you ask .
(12-27-2023, 11:57 AM)HyperdrivePenguin Wrote: [ -> ]Hello! I'm HyperdrivePenguin (the name is ironic), and I have an interest in hard sci-fi, as seen in this universe. I was thinking of creating an alien species from a faraway galaxy, but I don't know how to get started on an article. Does anybody know who I can talk to to get my bearings and figure out what is and isn't feasible?
Thank you in advance.
Hi - Welcome to OA!
To add to what has already been said - If you're looking to add a new xenosophont species to the OA setting, you're first going to need to become reasonably familiar with the setting itself, how it operates, and in particular its various quirks that differentiate it from the 'standard SF setting'. Based on past experience (lots and lots of past experience) this is often the main issue that trips people up when they first join and want to contribute something fairly extensive to the setting like a new xenosophont race. They assume that some element operates the same way as what they see in a lot of other SF and then we have to explain that things operate differently here and then they have to try to modify their idea in mid-development to fit how things work here. Sometimes this happens multiple times and sometimes they get discouraged and give up - which is unfortunate.
To help avoid all that, I would suggest that you start by reading the six main topic pages in the EG as well as some number of the articles linked to them. In particular, the pages on Technology, Galactography, and Sophonts are likely to all be important to your project. Also, don't be shy about asking questions and before you really get into writing, create a summary/proposal of your idea and post it here to the forums (discord doesn't count here - we aren't all on discord, nor do we use discord for serious worldbuilding beyond the beginning stages) for consideration and discussion. Don't start writing up the actual article until that has happened and you and we are all on the same general page about what these beings are, how they work, and that they can fit into the setting and how it works.
As has been indicated in other posts, our standards for adding new xenosophonts to the setting are rather high/picky - higher than for other ideas - so be warned we are going to want lots of details and will be nitpicky. Right off the top of my head, I'm inclined to say that a race that is both extragalactic and of apparently equivalent tech to Terragens is going to be a hugely difficult lift because it has the potential to unbalance the setting and we are generally against that. So it will need to be very very engaging for us to be inclined to include it. Just being honest here so we don't all waste time tap dancing around this issue ongoing.
To summarize - read up on the setting, ask questions about what you don't understand/aren't clear on/can't find, and post a summary of the aliens you are proposing to add here to the forums as its own thread in the General Setting Discussion sub-forum for consideration and discussion. Understand we will be picky (very picky) but it's nothing personal.
Ok, I think that covers my thinking for now. I'm sure others will weigh in if they feel I've missed or mis-stated something.
Hope this helps,
Todd