User blog comment:Mr.Robbo/New Civilization/@comment-5870856-20130928212333/@comment-5135903-20130929170126

I'm not sure yet. I intend to start off by fleshing out the planetary environment, then working up from there. That's why I'm giving myself plenty of time to plan.

As I said, they will be low-tech compared with the civilizations I have designed so far, but I've already got an idea in my head of what level of technology they might be, though it covers quite a wide range.


 * Lower bound = Renaissance. This could also be thought of as late-classical, as I've always seen Classical Europe as being more advanced in many ways than, for example, Dark-Ages Europe. Song China is also a good example.


 * Upper bound = Interstellar precursor missions. Their interstellar exploits probably won't come up very much though, as this level of technology would probably represent the first serious interplanetary expeditions, rather than the start of an interstellar civilization. No FTL!

Of course, technology can never be thought of as following a linear scale. This species may be way more advanced in one area than they are in another, by our standards. They may have achieved breakeven nuclear fusion, yet have primitive computers. They may be able to genetically engineer all sorts of wierd and wonderful animals, yet be blown away at the sight of a modern production line.

By keeping them low-tech, more of their technology will be familiar to us in its operating principles, allowing for a more detailed and in-depth imagining of their technological development.