SF comic project
Steadily progressing. I think I can give up my original hopes on getting all ten issues finished this year. Currently somewhere in the middle of issue 7. The manuscript of the last three is also well developed, so I think I will not need much ofthenext year to get them done. Then, I can start drawing the actual comic and start uploading.
Yes, I know this is crazy. It's a good proof of work persistency though. Perhaps I can put it on my CV?
Science fiction elements info-dump:
Will there be several planets with human or human-like life?
-Yes, there will be four planets inhabited by humans. Except for two "twin planets" which share the same solar system, the interplanetary distance is about 20-30 lightyears (ly).
Are all four planets like Earth? More or less?
-Originally only one (Coldaron). The other three had to be terraformed - Coldaron's twin planet Walderon, as well as the two exoplanets Groolar and Kordinar.
After terraformed they are pretty earth-like. Still some major differences remain. Most obvious the sunlight and stuff associated with that, day-night circles as well as seasons.
On Groolar there is no such things - Due to the "tidal lock" it's always sunset (that is, in the habitable area; the side constantly facing the sun is too hot, and the side constantly facing away too cold for surface life).
Kordinar is not tidally locked, but is rotating very slowly, so that a day-night cycle is entirely 66 days (whereas one day is conventionally defined as a 24 hours cycle). Instead, there is the "daylight-season", "the evening season", "the night season" and the "morning season".
Only Coldaron and Walderon have a day-night cycle as we know it (light-dark cycle with a duration of ca 24 h). Also, only Coldaron and Walderon have seasons caused by an axial tilt. Groolar has no tilt and therefore no seasons, and Kordinar's "seasons" are actually the day-night cycles.
The four planets also differ in their type of sun - Coldaron and Walderon share a yellow sun, Kordinar has one orange sun, while Groolar has three suns, one red and two more distal orange ones.
Other differences are size, mass and gravity, with Walderon the smallest, followed by Coldaron, then Groolar and Kordinar. Low or high size and mass can cause pretty ugly gravity conditions (too low on Walderon, too high on Groolar and Kordinar), but these "inconveniences" got evened out by the use of gravitons (see below).
How about Earth? Is there any reference to Earth (like in Star trek or Babylon 5), or does the story take place in a separate fantasy universe with no mentioning of Earth (like Star Wars)?
-There is a reference, a connection to Earth, which will might be revealed at some point. May or may not be an easter egg. It's nice to find, but if you don't it doesn't matter much.
Is this future world to be viewed as a continuation of our own history?
-I like to view it as a parallel world of ours, where some things are the same while others are different. Technically it could be "our own" world some time in the future. Who knows? :P
What kind of calendar is used?
-Each planet has its own calendar. The Coldaron calendar is very similar to our earth calendar. Groolar kin dof adapted their calandar to be Coldaron-like, where the year was defined to be thirteen orbital periods, not just one, to have years with a similar length.
In contrast, a Walderon orbital period and year is about twice as long as a coldaron year. A Kordinar year is only 66 days. All four planets have the same time point set to "year one", the year when the "old empire" was established. For comparision, stage of cultural development was similar to in Earth's year one, but it's not the same year. Anyhow -
Kordinar year 25000 is sometime in the late forth millenium of the Coldaron calendar.
Long distance space travel - how does that work?
-several lightyear long distances can be traveled in a short period of time via naturally occuring space "irregularities", also refered to as "space folds". making use of such folds, a spacehip needs only some weeks instead of generations. It took centuries, more than one millenium of exploration missions to find those "short cut" routes though.
-Additionally, arfeficial "wormholes", or "space jump portals" have been built, so that teh interplanetary distances (20-30 ly) can be travelled within hours. These "fast tracks" solve the problem with relativity and time dilation. They also reduce temporal delays in communications, data transfer or broadcasting to only seconds.
Is relativity and time dilation part of the physics?
-Yes. Time dilation can be is avoided by using the jump gates.
-In contrast, a spaceship not using the jump gates but instead "travels by foot" between the planets may experience heavy time dilations, depending on the ship's route and speed.
Are there aliens? As in intelligent non-human life forms originating on other planets?
-Yes, signs of an extraterrestial lifeform were found on one exoplanet. This planet did not get terraformed, instead "abandoned" due to the extraterrestial protection act. The alien civilization was considered long lost, still life remnants could not be ruled out. In fact, it soon turns out that something did survive.
-The alien life form(s) are different from us still there may be things they have in common with humans. To use cite one of the explorers - "so different yet so familiar".
Martians??? Just had to ask :P
-In a way, kind of.
How "soft" vs. "hard" is the science fiction?
How about fantasy physics?
-1: Gravitons generate "arteficial gravity" (as in gravity not generated by mass). For example, a matrix of such gravitons in a flat object (like a disc, or the "floor" on a space ship) can enhance* gravity ninety degrees to the disc's surface, and is standard equipment in long-distance space ships (I just like it when you can walk around in a spaceship as if it was a boat..)
Applied to a planet's surface, as part of the terraform program, the planets gravity can be increased or (when the gravitons' polarity is inverted) reduced. Walderon's gravity had to be increased this way, while Groolar and Kordinar's gravity had to be reduced.
*) Technically, everything with mass has gravity, it's just not noticed unless it's massive "enough" (such as moons or planets).
-2: Anachroniums make time travel backwards to the past possible, when certain circumstances are met. Anachronium particles are of dual nature, one component can be turned into a "spin state" by adding energy ("charging the anachroniums") while the other component remains "stationary" (does not spin). Because of relativity, the time for the spinning part is slower than for the stationary part: while the stationary part moves along the timeline at "normal" speed, the spinning part "lags behind", and stays close to the time point of charging, virtually at the time point of charging. Since anachroniums don't 'split' into two, this dual nature establish a connection between present (stationary component) and past (spinning component) at the moment of charging. Any object in contact with a charged anachronium will also connect to the past, and can therefore travel from present back to past.
Time travel?
-Yes (see anachroniums)
-A "time hole" - a matrix of anachroniums - is built. Entering this matrix allows for traveling back to the timepoint when the matrix was created and charged ("charging the anachroniums"). The energy it takes for the traveler to "materialize" in the past is taken from the anachroniums' spin, which is then lost. Because of this energy-to-mass transformation, larger objects (like space ships) will disrupt the matrix. The matrix can be re-established though, by re-charging the anachroniums provided that they do not spread out in space.
-The story begins with such a time travel..
Does time travel cause paradoxons, like the grandfather thing?
-No, when traveling backwards in time, a *new* timeline is "entered", where events will differ from the events in the *original* timeline. For instance - You travel backwards in time and kill your own grandfather - what happens is that your grandfather is killed only in the new timeline which you entered, but not in the original timeline you traveled from. Therefore, you did not kill your own origin and your existence is not any paradox. The only effect you have on the original timeline is that you have dissappeared from it, and never to come back, you are "stuck" in the new timeline you entered.
Space battles?
-Yes. Major ones. At some point, there will be war.
Major destruction?
-The story begins with a time traveling ship bringing the message that all four planets got destroyed in year 25000 (Kordinar calendar). It is feared that it will happen again, in the new timeline, this is one of the main plotlines - the threat and how to stop it.
Yes, I know this is crazy. It's a good proof of work persistency though. Perhaps I can put it on my CV?
Science fiction elements info-dump:
Will there be several planets with human or human-like life?
-Yes, there will be four planets inhabited by humans. Except for two "twin planets" which share the same solar system, the interplanetary distance is about 20-30 lightyears (ly).
Are all four planets like Earth? More or less?
-Originally only one (Coldaron). The other three had to be terraformed - Coldaron's twin planet Walderon, as well as the two exoplanets Groolar and Kordinar.
After terraformed they are pretty earth-like. Still some major differences remain. Most obvious the sunlight and stuff associated with that, day-night circles as well as seasons.
On Groolar there is no such things - Due to the "tidal lock" it's always sunset (that is, in the habitable area; the side constantly facing the sun is too hot, and the side constantly facing away too cold for surface life).
Kordinar is not tidally locked, but is rotating very slowly, so that a day-night cycle is entirely 66 days (whereas one day is conventionally defined as a 24 hours cycle). Instead, there is the "daylight-season", "the evening season", "the night season" and the "morning season".
Only Coldaron and Walderon have a day-night cycle as we know it (light-dark cycle with a duration of ca 24 h). Also, only Coldaron and Walderon have seasons caused by an axial tilt. Groolar has no tilt and therefore no seasons, and Kordinar's "seasons" are actually the day-night cycles.
The four planets also differ in their type of sun - Coldaron and Walderon share a yellow sun, Kordinar has one orange sun, while Groolar has three suns, one red and two more distal orange ones.
Other differences are size, mass and gravity, with Walderon the smallest, followed by Coldaron, then Groolar and Kordinar. Low or high size and mass can cause pretty ugly gravity conditions (too low on Walderon, too high on Groolar and Kordinar), but these "inconveniences" got evened out by the use of gravitons (see below).
How about Earth? Is there any reference to Earth (like in Star trek or Babylon 5), or does the story take place in a separate fantasy universe with no mentioning of Earth (like Star Wars)?
-There is a reference, a connection to Earth, which will might be revealed at some point. May or may not be an easter egg. It's nice to find, but if you don't it doesn't matter much.
Is this future world to be viewed as a continuation of our own history?
-I like to view it as a parallel world of ours, where some things are the same while others are different. Technically it could be "our own" world some time in the future. Who knows? :P
What kind of calendar is used?
-Each planet has its own calendar. The Coldaron calendar is very similar to our earth calendar. Groolar kin dof adapted their calandar to be Coldaron-like, where the year was defined to be thirteen orbital periods, not just one, to have years with a similar length.
In contrast, a Walderon orbital period and year is about twice as long as a coldaron year. A Kordinar year is only 66 days. All four planets have the same time point set to "year one", the year when the "old empire" was established. For comparision, stage of cultural development was similar to in Earth's year one, but it's not the same year. Anyhow -
Kordinar year 25000 is sometime in the late forth millenium of the Coldaron calendar.
Long distance space travel - how does that work?
-several lightyear long distances can be traveled in a short period of time via naturally occuring space "irregularities", also refered to as "space folds". making use of such folds, a spacehip needs only some weeks instead of generations. It took centuries, more than one millenium of exploration missions to find those "short cut" routes though.
-Additionally, arfeficial "wormholes", or "space jump portals" have been built, so that teh interplanetary distances (20-30 ly) can be travelled within hours. These "fast tracks" solve the problem with relativity and time dilation. They also reduce temporal delays in communications, data transfer or broadcasting to only seconds.
Is relativity and time dilation part of the physics?
-Yes. Time dilation can be is avoided by using the jump gates.
-In contrast, a spaceship not using the jump gates but instead "travels by foot" between the planets may experience heavy time dilations, depending on the ship's route and speed.
Are there aliens? As in intelligent non-human life forms originating on other planets?
-Yes, signs of an extraterrestial lifeform were found on one exoplanet. This planet did not get terraformed, instead "abandoned" due to the extraterrestial protection act. The alien civilization was considered long lost, still life remnants could not be ruled out. In fact, it soon turns out that something did survive.
-The alien life form(s) are different from us still there may be things they have in common with humans. To use cite one of the explorers - "so different yet so familiar".
Martians??? Just had to ask :P
-In a way, kind of.
How "soft" vs. "hard" is the science fiction?
How about fantasy physics?
-1: Gravitons generate "arteficial gravity" (as in gravity not generated by mass). For example, a matrix of such gravitons in a flat object (like a disc, or the "floor" on a space ship) can enhance* gravity ninety degrees to the disc's surface, and is standard equipment in long-distance space ships (I just like it when you can walk around in a spaceship as if it was a boat..)
Applied to a planet's surface, as part of the terraform program, the planets gravity can be increased or (when the gravitons' polarity is inverted) reduced. Walderon's gravity had to be increased this way, while Groolar and Kordinar's gravity had to be reduced.
*) Technically, everything with mass has gravity, it's just not noticed unless it's massive "enough" (such as moons or planets).
-2: Anachroniums make time travel backwards to the past possible, when certain circumstances are met. Anachronium particles are of dual nature, one component can be turned into a "spin state" by adding energy ("charging the anachroniums") while the other component remains "stationary" (does not spin). Because of relativity, the time for the spinning part is slower than for the stationary part: while the stationary part moves along the timeline at "normal" speed, the spinning part "lags behind", and stays close to the time point of charging, virtually at the time point of charging. Since anachroniums don't 'split' into two, this dual nature establish a connection between present (stationary component) and past (spinning component) at the moment of charging. Any object in contact with a charged anachronium will also connect to the past, and can therefore travel from present back to past.
Time travel?
-Yes (see anachroniums)
-A "time hole" - a matrix of anachroniums - is built. Entering this matrix allows for traveling back to the timepoint when the matrix was created and charged ("charging the anachroniums"). The energy it takes for the traveler to "materialize" in the past is taken from the anachroniums' spin, which is then lost. Because of this energy-to-mass transformation, larger objects (like space ships) will disrupt the matrix. The matrix can be re-established though, by re-charging the anachroniums provided that they do not spread out in space.
-The story begins with such a time travel..
Does time travel cause paradoxons, like the grandfather thing?
-No, when traveling backwards in time, a *new* timeline is "entered", where events will differ from the events in the *original* timeline. For instance - You travel backwards in time and kill your own grandfather - what happens is that your grandfather is killed only in the new timeline which you entered, but not in the original timeline you traveled from. Therefore, you did not kill your own origin and your existence is not any paradox. The only effect you have on the original timeline is that you have dissappeared from it, and never to come back, you are "stuck" in the new timeline you entered.
Space battles?
-Yes. Major ones. At some point, there will be war.
Major destruction?
-The story begins with a time traveling ship bringing the message that all four planets got destroyed in year 25000 (Kordinar calendar). It is feared that it will happen again, in the new timeline, this is one of the main plotlines - the threat and how to stop it.