It's Suppy. I haven't been around these parts for a while, but if any of you expected me to have nothing to show for it, I am about to prove your misgivings incorrect.
Tapestry of Stars[]
The wiki project I launched with Kray is now officially dead. This is not for lack of ideas, but instead a design decision on my part to move development of my universe to a local level where I retain all ownership, and freedom to format with whatever tools I wish. That is, Inkscape, MS Office, etc.
Contrary to what ToS' death might imply, the universe is on the precipice of great change. Today, I finished the master map project which I started in July of 2014 in its current form. This does not mean there may not be further additions, but the "meat and potatoes" are totally in place.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2rru2axyypem7nu/Final%20Draft.png?dl=0
The finished image in .png format is 113,000 kb, give or take. That's 113 megabytes. The best image host I could find would only host up to 15. So, if you'd like to see it and give feedback or just gawk at my majesty, you will need to download it from Dropbox. The file is called "Final Draft" because I have countless mini-drafts, working revision files, copies, and backups.
This map, in its January 19 2015 state, contains 647 different star system. 647, you read it right folks. And yes, it was nightmarish coming up with 647 names.
The Story[]
Tapestry of Stars is not a grand epic or some space opera with a great story. It is actually (intended) to be a mass of stories of all sizes. It could be anything from the war between the Kklxin and Eteno, both member states of the Galactic Senate, or the rivalry between the Imperial Drussiray Realms and the Senate. Or, if it's your preferred flavor, maybe the story of a cargo captain running ore through the Embannsen Free Trade Zone, their stories dealing with dockworkers and teamsters, and being a wannabe casanova.
It could be anything, and that's what draws me so much to that form of worldbuilding as opposed to the creation of a single grand epic. That is not to say there will not be epic storylines. Much to the contrary. The Buyuk Wars will be roughly 100 years before the "modern day" of the map, but its effects will be truly galactic, and the scale of it is immense. Instead of a limited invasion of a few states from the edge of the galaxy, it is a grand crusade launched via the bridgeway systems - now closed off and quarantined by the last surviving Omni AI - against all of the races of the Omni Range. From Voote Nej to Thoc, we're in it together. At least, we were. It's a different galaxy now.
My Request[]
Populating this universe with species, interesting systems, and other things will be a real chore. So if you have any ideas for anything, I want them. I will take them, almost without question. Currently, I am mostly in need of:
- Species - Mostly in terms of design and biology. Can't just do near-humans and lizard people. I'll take their cultures and names and stuff, too
- Interesting companies - Money money money
- Anomalies - Black hole clusters, wormholes, Omni artifacts? If it's cool or weird or sciencey or all of the above, give it. I especially need something that would block the travel of starships between two points except for very technologically-advanced factions. The region in question is the Spin Drive, which is a route that goes through a something that isolates the Omni Range from everyone else. Only the OoSM knows how to navigate it, and so they are the only vector of trade and contact.
- Technologies - Anything interesting
- Gear - Designs for ships, vehicles, or weapons. Even if it's just a sentence-long blurb
My Offer[]
I don't write creatively as much as I should nowadays. What I want to do is give myself a reason to do so again (despite the dozen projects I have going on various websites that my adoring fans are cutting themselves on account of my neglect).
So, I am proposing a story.
Travels of the Cruiser Koliada
A Star Trek-esque collection of episodes and tales of an Imperial Navy cruiser, the first Omni Range vessel allowed through the Spin Drive by the OoSM (Organization of Spinward Merchants). With modified engines and an OoSM specialty navigation suite, it is able to serve as an agile observer and representative for the Imperial Triumvirate, the Senate, and the Omni Range at large. What is past the Spin Drive is undefined, which leaves room for something like this.
In this story, the realms past the Spin Drive are all of your creations. All of them.
So post anything and everything that you would want the Koliada to see, experience, meet, or participate in. A royal dinner at one of your nobles' private space station estates? A civil war? Dealing with the overzealous stellar traffic police of your capital system? An exotic and famous dessert that just happens to cause terrible indigestion to amphibians? An up and coming character earlier in his life that hungers for adventure aboard a foreign navy's vessel?
The story can be anything, and I intend to write it. Give me every idea you have, all of your ideas. And if you don't like the name or origin of the ship, or its class, tell me what you think about that, too! Would it be cooler if it was just a little corvette with a tight-knight crew? Or a heavy carrier, the city at sea (space)? Or a science vessel?
Summary and Miscelanii[]
- Post everything you have for me. I want to hear you. And how have you been?
- Seriously, give me these ideas and items. And your feedbacks and criticisms
- What can I do for you? What can I do for the wiki?
- How you doin'?
- Feedback, yo
- If you've never posted on one of my blogs, post on this one
- Are you starting to notice a theme?
- I'll add to this list if I come up with anything else