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Your Project Ideas; A place to share your ideas for projects
Topic Started: Oct 14 2015, 09:27 AM (65,402 Views)
GlarnBoudin
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flashman63
Nov 6 2016, 03:37 PM
A Million Years, AD

Behold, the horrors of the atomic age! Mankind went too far! Following the Great War between the Soviets and the Americans, the earth has gone feral, turned into a massive menagerie of bizarre beasts! From giant lizards to the iridescent webs of atomic spiders! The Red Weeds of the Martian Colonies, and horrific arthropods of the Venusian Water Ways! Revived beasts of a bygone age, and horrid machines that seek to terminate all fleshy life!

All this and more, in A Million Years AD: A Stern Warning on Things to Come
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I actually had an idea for a quite similar project, although less a more scientific take on B-movies than 'Like Fallout, but with all the apocalypses at once.'

Once again, I'm ready and willing to work with you on this, if you want.
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trex841
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New New Amsterdam- Keeping this one a secret for now. I like it too much :D


Alright, I think I should dispense with the secrecy, at least in part because I've been debating a little bit about how it should be presented. Basic initial idea was that humanity had taken to the stars in an attempt to colonize other planets. One planet, barring of any native life but still potentially habitable to humans, was covered in massive cities and urban sprawl, without fear of destroying the nonexistent environment. This bustling world would come to be named after one of old earth's greatest metropolises. New New Amsterdam.[1]

But this world almost never came to be. The colonization ships came in waves, each one carrying a vital asset to forming a stable refuge. But the ship carrying the livestock and other domestic animal specimens never arrived, lost in transit. With no large animal life for food or work, there was no hope of survival. Faced with a dire situation, drastic measures were necessary. To ensure the survival of the colony, some must be sacrificed. Stored embryos were manipulated, twisted into the forms required of the remaining population. Death was staved off. But it would win in the end.

One unavoidable side effect of such a desperate move is the similar biology shared between all vertebrates. As such, it was far, far easier for disease to jump from individuals. The colonist fought valiantly against these microscopic attackers, but in the end, the battle was lost. But not necessarily the war.

Life did not fade completely from this world. The genetically engineered organisms fared a little better then their creators, just scraping past the great plague extinction. The great monuments of their forefathers still stood, kept in tact by an army of robotic servants. Now without a populous to serve, they keep the skyline standing for what remains of humanity here. A unique fauna of a unique environment. Survival, in any form.



At least, that was my first idea. But I'm starting to wonder about some potential plot holes. Such as why they would need beast of burden if robots seem so advanced? Or if disease was so bad as to kill of all the normal people, how did everything else make it through? I'm also wondering if the idea of a city environment could/should be explored on it's own, and the Post Human factor should be explored in a different light. Then again, what else would I bring to the table that Nitwhite or Sheather haven't already?

Then there's the fact I want to make sure this fits snugly into the F.I.N.D.R narrative, but that's another issue entirely. There might be more I'm forgetting, but it's late, I should have gone to bed like an hour ago.
[1] For those that don't get it, New York was named New Amsterdam back when it was a Dutch settlement.
F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs
A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team.

At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting.

(And this is just the spec related stuff)
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Corecin
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I've found another plot hole with your project, what's to keep people from having their pets on the ships that did arrive? Surely there would be pets on some ships? Dogs and cats, plus rabbits and goldfish seem like something people would have. And with those pets they could modify some of their offspring to become farm animals.
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flashman63
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I took it that these are generation ships-- after all, if they had FTL, they could just make an ansible call home to get another ship of food.
Travel back through time and space, to the edge of man's beggining... discover a time when man, woman and lizard roamed free, and untamed!

It is an epoch of mammoths, a time of raptors!

A tale of love in the age of tyrannosaurs!

An epic from the silver screen, brought right to your door!

Travel back to
A Million Years BC

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Proceedings of the Miskatonic University Department of Zoology

Cosmic Horror is but a dissertation away

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trex841
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Yeah, I skimmed over that part. All the ships only contained embryos that were only allowed to develop once the planet was ready for them. But when the livestock embryos never showed up, they had to use what they had to get by.

I've been poking at some of my other ideas too, so I suppose I should update those as well for anyone interested. A little later though, I still have some things to do today.

spoiler to hold my unorganized ramblings.
Edited by trex841, Nov 29 2016, 02:44 PM.
F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs
A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team.

At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting.

(And this is just the spec related stuff)
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Sphenodon
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Alright then, time for an idea of my own:

So, a while ago in the S&E Title & Description thread, I came up with the idea of a Sheatheria-esque world that over the course of its history had the biota of various collapsing ecosystems/ecologies introduced to it - sort of a "show of mercy" from whatever controlled the events. I think the idea'd be something cool to work with, but as of yet I don't have anything planned except for a tentative list of possible environments that would have been introduced.

Here it is:
-?Perhaps a Cambrian archaeocyathate reef?
-A Devonian reef ecology
-Carboniferous rainforest biota
-Some biota from a Permian ecosystem or two (perhaps Russia, given the Siberian Traps?)
-A seed-fern forest from the Triassic
-Early Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Egyptian life
-Life from the Western Interior Seaway
-A rudist reef ecosystem (might overlap with the above)
-Perhaps some biota from Cretaceous India (the Deccan Traps)
-Eocene Egyptian life
-Some portions of the Oligocene forests
-Life from Antarctica during the runaway glaciation
-?Perhaps biota from during the desertification of Australia (Riversleigh/Naracoorte)?
-The mammoth steppe

Given that I haven't really nailed down what would qualify as an ecosystem "collapsing" (any suggestions/concrete criteria), I'm not terribly well-versed in the various paleo-ecosystems, and I don't want to include too much (you'd see some minor colonization events from localized or small-scale collapses, but nothing very severe), does anybody have any feedback (what classifies as a collapse, adding/removing ecosystems, etc)? Given the level of planning for a project of such scope (I'd like to also make art for it - I can presently make physical doodles and drawings rather quickly and am currently dusting off my digital art skills), it probably won't be put into motion for a while, but I think it'd be really nice if I can pull it off.
Edited by Sphenodon, Nov 30 2016, 03:23 AM.

We have a Discord server! If you would like to join, simply message myself, Flisch, or Icthyander.
Some of my ideas (nothing real yet, but soon):
Refugium: A last chance for collapsing ecosystems and their inhabitants.
Pansauria: A terraforming project featuring the evolution of exactly one animal - the marine iguana.
Mars Renewed: An insight into the life of Mars thirty million years after its terraforming by humankind.
Microcosm: An exceedingly small environment.
Alcyon: A planet colonized by species remodeled into new niches by genetic engineering.
Oddballs: Aberrant representatives of various biological groups compete and coexist.

..and probably some other stuff at some point (perhaps a no K-T project). Stay tuned!
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Rodlox
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Sphenodon
Nov 29 2016, 10:52 PM
Alright then, time for an idea of my own:

So, a while ago in the S&E Title & Description thread, I came up with the idea of a Sheatheria-esque world that over the course of its history had the biota of various collapsing ecosystems/ecologies introduced to it - sort of a "show of mercy" from whatever controlled the events. I think the idea'd be something cool to work with, but as of yet I don't have anything planned except for a tentative list of possible environments that would have been introduced.

Given that I haven't really nailed down what would qualify as an ecosystem "collapsing" (any suggestions/concrete criteria), I'm not terribly well-versed in the various paleo-ecosystems, and I don't want to include too much (you'd see some minor colonization events from localized or small-scale collapses, but nothing very severe), does anybody have any feedback (what classifies as a collapse, adding/removing ecosystems, etc)? Given the level of planning for a project of such scope (I'd like to also make art for it - I can presently make physical doodles and drawings rather quickly and am currently dusting off my digital art skills), it probably won't be put into motion for a while, but I think it'd be really nice if I can pull it off.
my first thought is "this is gonna be great".

my second thought is "will they each be added in chronological order (cambrian, then devonian, then cretaceous, etc), or in degree of severity (permian, then cretaceous, then eocene, etc) maybe so as to afford some recovery time, or all at once (each ecosystem gets its own continent/sea/zone in which to start, and they're all left to settle themselves), or...?"

on the gripping hand, my thought is "doodles are fine - they can help us form a mental image".
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Dakka!
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Maybe the opposite of the Library? A small enclosed area subject to natural laws of the universe in which animals are released? Wait that's a horrible idea let me do another.
A universe where evolution is ridiculously fast? A planet consisting purely of symbiotes and parasites? A project focusing purely on a species of eusocial insect which makes colonies and hives so immense and long lived that they develop their own biosphere?
"I was a Psychiatrist in Florida! For 3 weeks! Have you ever been to Florida?"




Some project ideas
The Future is Right
Ediacaran Explosion
Great Old Ones
Skinkworld


Unrelated:The Final Spec:What Could Have Been, And Still Can
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Sphenodon
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Calcareous

Rodlox
 
my first thought is "this is gonna be great".

Thanks!

Rodlox
 
my second thought is "will they each be added in chronological order (cambrian, then devonian, then cretaceous, etc), or in degree of severity (permian, then cretaceous, then eocene, etc) maybe so as to afford some recovery time, or all at once (each ecosystem gets its own continent/sea/zone in which to start, and they're all left to settle themselves), or...?"

I was thinking that they'd be added chronologically - specifically, they'd be "teleported" (for lack of better terms - thinking an affected ecosystem would essentially be "copied" into existence from Earth) to this planet as they encountered problems on Earth, developing in sync chronologically with Earth's life. As for where they settle, I was figuring that they'd be "set down" in a place with a climate similar to that of the one they'd have had in ordinary conditions back on Earth.

Rodlox
 
on the gripping hand, my thought is "doodles are fine - they can help us form a mental image".

I can whip up a rather nice-looking doodle in a few minutes, and digitally touching them up might prove lucrative; other than that, I'm currently seeing the current extent of my Paint skills (pretty good with a reference picture, not yet sure about without). Whatever the case, I'll need to come up with some concrete concepts before I can really do much in that regard.


Other than that, are there any thoughts out there about the list of "main" colonization events (any to add or drop) or what should qualify as an ecological "collapse" or not? Looking back on it, my criteria seem a bit nebulous.
Edited by Sphenodon, Nov 30 2016, 06:05 PM.

We have a Discord server! If you would like to join, simply message myself, Flisch, or Icthyander.
Some of my ideas (nothing real yet, but soon):
Refugium: A last chance for collapsing ecosystems and their inhabitants.
Pansauria: A terraforming project featuring the evolution of exactly one animal - the marine iguana.
Mars Renewed: An insight into the life of Mars thirty million years after its terraforming by humankind.
Microcosm: An exceedingly small environment.
Alcyon: A planet colonized by species remodeled into new niches by genetic engineering.
Oddballs: Aberrant representatives of various biological groups compete and coexist.

..and probably some other stuff at some point (perhaps a no K-T project). Stay tuned!
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trex841
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I have come to the realization that my Las Islas de Perezosos idea can essentially be thought of as what the ecosystem of the islands from Jurassic Park could have been like before the dinosaurs showed up. And I'm completely OK with that.
F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs
A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team.

At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting.

(And this is just the spec related stuff)
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Stealth Rock
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The project that I'm currently (sort of) working on is a Habitable Zone idea I've been toying with for a while. It involves aerial life on a super-earth with enough gravity and atmospheric density that the surface of the planet is uninhabitable. I've got the astrophysical specifications down, plus some ideas for internal anatomy, but other than that I still need to do some significant work before I can actually post it.

I'm hoping to have it up within a couple months, so if you see some autotrophic ballonts, hermaphroditic filter-feeders, and near-sapient sky predators gliding your way you know who it is.
My (future) projects

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trex841
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2

EDIT: IN WHAT WAY DOES THE SPACE BUTTON MEAN POST?!?!? Uh, hold on...

I have two questions.

-Do people think that a spec project based off of heavy sapient influence would be good or interesting? Meaning that a sapient species, not necessarily humans, have altered the environment to suit their whims, with stuff like urban "habitats" and genetic modification?

-Am I being annoying be dropping my notes off in here? I mean, I do have my own topic, I could be dividing it up.
Edited by trex841, Dec 3 2016, 05:19 PM.
F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs
A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team.

At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting.

(And this is just the spec related stuff)
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Corecin
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trex841
Dec 3 2016, 05:02 PM
-Do people think that a spec project based off of heavy sapient influence would be good or interesting? Meaning that a sapient species, not necessarily humans, have altered the environment to suit their whims, with stuff like urban "habitats" and genetic modification?

-Am I being annoying be dropping my notes off in here?
I have a currently dead project with that premise, though it is caused by humans, it's this one. Which is actually why I came here to ask a question.

If the focus of my project is that the effects of humans are still around, and not simply forgotten, how long should my project take place in the future? Originally it was five million years, but that was too little, and now it's fifteen million years, but I don't know if stuff that humans have changed would still be apparent by this time (I want a few ecosystems that are remnants of farms, but I don't know if these ecosystems would be able to last for fifteen million years).

And no, I do not think you're being annoying dropping off notes.
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trex841
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I have a currently dead project with that premise, though it is caused by humans.


Hmm, good point, and I already mentioned Nitwhite's and Sheather's explorations of the idea, and the Library and Cornucopia share concepts as well, thought they take a more metaphysical approach to it. If I play with the idea, I'll probably move away from Spec to avoid competition.
F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs
A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team.

At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting.

(And this is just the spec related stuff)
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trex841
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Here's one I don't think I've seen before: Why if the synapsids came to rule the Mesozoic? I'm debating weather to play with the idea in Katiwala or stick to the more traditional Lost World vibe, but even then I feel there's potential to be explored in the idea on it's own, especially if one wanted to extend it to the present day.
F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs
A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team.

At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting.

(And this is just the spec related stuff)
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