33 replies to this topic

[Naglinator]

Firefly is a weird at best. It all takes place in solar system, their is obviously great strides in technology since the 21st century and even space ships are plentiful and cheap.. and yet a planet like 2 hours from the rich worlds use horses.... right. Even the most destitute parts of the periphery are more advanced then this. And they are month and months of jumps away from major worlds. For the MOST part, your AVERAGE citizens in the IS is(based on the books I have, and I have plenty) fairly close to what we have today. School, high school, college, jobs, mortgages, tv watching, etc. Throw in battlemechs and interstellar travel and you pretty much have it.

[HammerMaster]

Not so much in established worlds but backwaters, forgotten periphery planets.
Slug throwers and ICE engines are prevalent. If a burden animal is available and cheaper to use. It would be used.

[evilauthor]

Naglinator, on 30 July 2018 - 11:17 AM, said:

Firefly is a weird at best. It all takes place in solar system, their is obviously great strides in technology since the 21st century and even space ships are plentiful and cheap.. and yet a planet like 2 hours from the rich worlds use horses.... right. Even the most destitute parts of the periphery are more advanced then this. And they are month and months of jumps away from major worlds. For the MOST part, your AVERAGE citizens in the IS is(based on the books I have, and I have plenty) fairly close to what we have today. School, high school, college, jobs, mortgages, tv watching, etc. Throw in battlemechs and interstellar travel and you pretty much have it.

Those destitute worlds have likely been colonized for less than a generation. Or are deliberately kept destitute by the local elite like in the Heart of Gold episode. Worlds like Persephone, prosperous and reasonably high tech but obviously not a core world are likely going into their second or third generation of settlement if the local elite are anything to go by; the elders obviously built Persephone's fortunes and all the younger nobles are spoiled brats living off their parents' hard work.

Contrast Battletech's Periphery which have been settled for centuries.

[Koniving]

Naglinator, on 30 July 2018 - 11:17 AM, said:

Firefly is a weird at best. It all takes place in solar system, their is obviously great strides in technology since the 21st century and even space ships are plentiful and cheap.. and yet a planet like 2 hours from the rich worlds use horses.... right.

The planets in the solar system are really well off on Firefly, the ones using horses are in other systems.

Its called the "Systems Alliance." As in an alliance of multiple solar systems.
Their jumps happen to be kinda rediculously fast/short for the given nature of distances.

Edited by Koniving, 22 August 2018 - 12:11 PM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

The life of an Inner Sphere citizen might be like Firefly, but I have a feeling that life in the Periphery is more like this...

[MechaBattler]

Just out of curiosity. What was the 'smartphone' equivalent in battletech? Some kind of data pad or was it something along the lines of a futuristic pipboy/applewatch?

[Karl Streiger]

MechaBattler, on 27 August 2018 - 02:32 PM, said:

Just out of curiosity. What was the 'smartphone' equivalent in battletech? Some kind of data pad or was it something along the lines of a futuristic pipboy/applewatch?

oh... well this depends... on the time the novel / source book was published. Stuff like a wrist communicator similar to smartwatches are common.
In one of the first novels however Grayson Death used a electric reader that was welded into the deck of a jump ship. That was able to work with huge files of several kilobytes by using some magnetic sheets (or similar)

[MeiSooHaityu]

Karl Streiger, on 28 August 2018 - 01:55 AM, said:

oh... well this depends... on the time the novel / source book was published. Stuff like a wrist communicator similar to smartwatches are common.
In one of the first novels however Grayson Death used a electric reader that was welded into the deck of a jump ship. That was able to work with huge files of several kilobytes by using some magnetic sheets (or similar)

When all else failed, they just sent a fax ...

"The [Comstar] interdiction effectively stopped all interplanetary communication within theFederated Suns, as well as any communication in or out. Hanse still had another trick up his sleeve. The New Avalon Institute of Science had recently duplicated the ability to send communications between worlds with their fax machines, but they were much slower than what ComStar could manage." - Sarna.net: 4th Succession War

http://www.sarna.net..._Succession_War

Edited by MeiSooHaityu, 28 August 2018 - 02:31 AM.

[MechaBattler]

I wonder if they have interstellar pagers too. :3

[Steel Raven]

Data-pads and Noteputers have always been common place in IS and are comparable to smart pads with better battery life.

The BTU also been uses 'Data Crystals' since the 80's which apparently isn't as stupid as it sounds;
https://www.computer...s-of-years.html

[Abaddun]

Realtime interstellar communication in the IS has been a galactic version of "Comstar says no"

[Koniving]

MechaBattler, on 27 August 2018 - 02:32 PM, said:

Just out of curiosity. What was the 'smartphone' equivalent in battletech? Some kind of data pad or was it something along the lines of a futuristic pipboy/applewatch?

Phones that could hack keypads and the like were a thing on the Marian Hegemony. A full cellular network (wasn't called that) which could make interplanetary calls within the system's planets (wasn't cheap) and had expandable memory cards roughly from knuckle to fingernail tip on a thumb in length and as wide as a palm which inserted into the bottom of the device with typically 6 to 8 inch screens.

Basically it was a tablet ..as imagined in 1987 and 1988.

My question is why would key pads have Bluetooth functionality.... So many security concerns.

(Fixed an autocorrect that turned calls into case.)

Edited by Koniving, 12 September 2018 - 11:14 AM.

[Rorik Thrumsalr]

Tetatae Squawkins, on 21 July 2018 - 07:21 AM, said:

That stuff is scattered across hundreds of sourcebooks/novels in bits and pieces. A lot of the more recent sourcebooks have fluff in the form of snarky 'internet comments'. But the real time internet would very much be a local planetary thing like we know it today. With limited amounts of data coming through HPGs and Jumpship/Dropship traffic on a regular basis.

I don't think there is a comprehensive guide to holidays, religions, sports etc. It's something the BT universe could use actually.

So the closest we have is in Mechwarrior: 3rd edition (1715). Pages 174-193 cover nothing but the social and lifestyle details of the clans and inner sphere, covering Technology, language, work, food and drink, entertainment, education, money and commerce, media and communications, arts, religion, travel. Additional details can be found in dedicated chapters of the old house handbooks (1620, 21, 22, 23 & 24) and MechWarrior: Guide to the clans (1725). The newer Classic Battletech house handbooks contain smaller segments that might be informative.

Some interesting tidbits: cuisine in the FS tends toward French/Spanish fare while the FWL likes Mediterranean food. Mormons are relatively common in the FWL, The Catholic church split in two during the Amaris takeover with it's other head being located in the Federated Suns, the Clans actually lag behind the inner sphere in some non military and medical areas (partially because of their fixation on the SL and preserving its culture). The Clans are obsessed with Football (Soccer) and Football (Rugby is played by the Star Adders, Steel Vipers and Ice Hellions while American style is played by the Ghost Bears, Hell's Horses and Smoked Jags). Court Rule 7099.2 in the Draconis Combine states that: "The Coordinator is to dine alone in the dasiku unliess he specifies otherwise. (NOTE: Takashi Kurita prefers company) The red silk cusion is to be placed on the north side of the table, centered to the side, twenty cm from the edge of the table...." (and it goes on and on)

Edited by Rorik Thrumsalr, 04 January 2019 - 04:03 PM.

[Koniving]

MeiSooHaityu, on 28 August 2018 - 02:29 AM, said:

When all else failed, they just sent a fax ...

"The [Comstar] interdiction effectively stopped all interplanetary communication within theFederated Suns, as well as any communication in or out. Hanse still had another trick up his sleeve. The New Avalon Institute of Science had recently duplicated the ability to send communications between worlds with their fax machines, but they were much slower than what ComStar could manage." - Sarna.net: 4th Succession War

http://www.sarna.net..._Succession_War

While we joke about this if we consider a chill is 1 second of transmission time. Considering that the price for 1 cbill or one second in 3025 compared 2016 USD value is $10.90 it stands to reason an evolved/quick fax would be much better than a video call.