Most of it! Phones and Tablets are fine (and will be used to Physrep Science Devices). The Internet is IC, if you can access it, but the Starbase 1 Section of this wiki is an IC Resource - we'd recommend using a website downloader/offline web viewer to download the Wiki if you want to look up things at Events, since it will save battery and Data Allowance (although we will have Tablets with Offline Wiki Database integrated into the Starbase 1 APP in each Faction camp). Note that you are responsible for your own stuff if you bring it to events.
There are a few restrictions on certain bits of tech, mostly for OOC game logistics reasons.
Yes.
Under normal circumstances, this is not possible - to maintain Game consistency, and the identity of the Teams we would prefer that Players were not able to do this spontaneously, or on a whim. However, if an OOC Factor is causing difficulty in continuing to Play your Character, then Please let us know, and we may be able to engineer things to help in a way that makes sense in the World. For example, if you played a Character who required a Makeup or a latex Prosthetics to Physrep, and then became Allergic to those things (but still wanted to Play your same Character), then we could arrange for an Alien Virus that alters your Character's Genetics or similar. Or maybe you have invested heavily in Combat Skills and now have to be a Non-Combatant - we could create a Mind Probe Artifact that replaces some of your skills with something else. Contact the Game Team, and we will try and arrange a mutually agreeable Solution.
On a somewhat different Note - if we make a significant change to the Rules for a Skill or ability that you have, you have the Option to Swap it out with something else at the next Event you Attend.
Big. Very, very, very big.
So big that is is almost impossible for people to conceptualize how big it is.
Federation Space, where the game takes place, is roughly 5000 light-years in diameter. Although this region is only a tiny part of the Milky Way Galaxy, it contains over 600 million stars. The vast majority of these stars have multiple planets orbiting them, and enough of those planets are capable of supporting life, but most of them will be empty of anything interesting. The Federation alone holds sway over somewhere in the region of 1500 Colonies and Systems, so there are a huge number of possible locations for Player Characters to visit as the Game continues. This Scale is an intended part of the Design, as it allows a lot of new and interesting things to be discovered, and have Conflicts over going forward, even in each Faction's backyards.
Yes - but at least not to the point of inducing a War on Humanity. Current Tech is able to produce a reasoning AI equivalent, to a 15-year old Human Child, and even that requires vast amounts of learned Material, and Programmed-in Behavioral Cues, so it is not Emergent Intelligence. Computing is good at performing Pre-Set Tasks, and many Computers can be Programmed for extremely broad Applications so that they seem to possess True Intelligence, but are in truth just well-designed. While AI's have proved excellent at finding Patterns, crunching large amounts of Data, and similar “heavy” Tasks, it has so far proven nigh-impossible to develop a truly creative AI. Artifact Examples of Advanced Generalized AI may exist, and Alien or Precursor Examples could also be found, but these are rare Plot Elements rather than a key part of the Setting.
Energy Fields and Modern Armor basically make Bullets useless. Energy Fields work to dissipate incoming force over the entire area of the Field, and Bullets are good at directing large amounts of Force, to a very tiny point. Once that Force is distributed over the entire area of a Field, it barely impacts the Field at all. Similarly, Armor is made from advanced Composites, and is very good at protecting against small piercing Objects. Energy Weapons deliver massive amounts of Heat Energy that can overload Fields, and burn Holes in Armor. Melee Weapons have a range of means to get around the Defenses of Energy Fields, and advanced Armor Materials - some use Capacitors that deliver a burst of Energy with each Strike, others use Special Materials or incorporate Vibrating Mechanisms, or Momentum Enhancers.
In addition to all of this, Bullets are a pain. They have mass, so you have to haul all of that Ammo around everywhere, and get it into Space and back down again. They have to be manufactured individually, so in order to make more you need to have a functioning Economy to Mine Metals and Propellants, and Manufacture them into a usable Bullet rather than just plugging some Energy Packs into a Solar Charger, or similar - the Supply Chain to make them just isn’t there on many Worlds.
No. Although the vast majority of Language and Text will be Physrepped by English In-Game, in the Reality of the Setting there are innumerable Languages, and bizarre Alien Scripts. However, near-instant Translation Technology is ubiquitous and cheap, and Language Algorithms can typically Decode a new Language in a matter of hours (as long as it has a sufficient base to work with) and then easily Translate it to what the Player Characters can understand (English). However, no Translation is able to perfectly convey the full meaning of every Word, so some terms (often insults and exclamations) may not be translated - you can create your own bizarre Alien expletives if you like. This Translation Tech is considered to be below the abstraction layer of the Game, and Players can assume that Translation Technology is integrated into their kit somehow. If you want to Physrep a separate Translation Device for your Character, then please feel free.
Player Characters may encounter Languages that have not been encountered before, in which case they will need to find enough of a Text or Speech Base to work with before they can be Translated into something they can understand. In addition, ciphered or encoded Text or Speech, or particularly bizarre, or ancient Languages may be beyond the capabilities of the Translation Algorithms.
It turns out that the Heliopause Boundary is the boundary of the Heliosphere, the spherical region around the Sun that is filled with solar magnetic fields and the outward-moving solar wind consisting of protons and electrons. The only spacecraft to cross the Heliopause were Voyager 1 and 2, which reached it in 2012 and 2018, respectively.. After this point they scatter into the Galactic Background Radio Noise. Only powerful, directed Radio Signals are able to maintain coherency through this Barrier.
Ironically, a directed Alien Radio Signal did pass through Sol system in 2122, but the Post-Collapse Enclaves scattered about the System at the time, were extremely paranoid and communicating entirely in encrypted short-beam bursts. The Message was intercepted for later Decrypting, and when no-one could make sense of it within a Human Context, it was Archived, and eventually Deleted.
Nanotechnology and Nanobots do Exist, but it is usually highly Specialized to a Task. There is no “Do-Everything Nanites” or Replicators - the main difficulty is that producing Nano-Scale Computing, and Networking is very difficult, expensive, and requires some vary rare Elements to work. So basically, you have to have a Macro-Scale Device to do the Computing for them, and even if they had Commands to institute a Grey Goo Scenario, they would never be able to find enough rare elements to threaten anything other than a rare Elements Mine.
Organic Nanotech - also known as tailored Bacteria, and Viruses - do exist, but again, they generally do the thing they were designed for, and not much else - although they can Mutate.
Although Starport Industries's Rebirth Process can literally recreate a dead person's body and imprint their mind into it, it still relies on retaining tissue samples that suffer Telomere degradation at roughly equivalent rates to Nature. Lifespans have been significantly extended due to advances in Medicine, Diet, etc, but eventually a Body's Cells just stop replicating effectively, and Errors and Breakdowns occur. Many of the Cancers, or other Life-Ending Conditions that Humans suffer, from have pretty reliable cures, but there are still many effects of Aging that no amount of future Science can prevent, or indefinitely delay.
Similarly, although Medicine has made great strides, some Conditions are not Curable or Treatable in any more effective means than what we have today. The Galaxy is vast, and full of terrible things - new Diseases, bizarre Artifacts, and Strange Energies that Characters might encounter, could be a Source of long-term Injury, or Disability that is impossible for even Advanced Future Medicine to Cure. And while expensive Cybernetics can replace lost, or dysfunctional Limbs and Organs, the process of linking new Implants to their User's Nervous System is fraught with difficulty, and potential Errors, and in some cases can even create new problems, due to failed Neurological Interactions.
Players are free to incorporate these sorts of Elements into their Character's Background if they choose to, but are not obliged to explain anything if they don't want to either.
Although there are precursor Ruins that have been found on many Worlds, there is no current Evidence for highly advanced “Ancients” or similar. No-one knows why. Archaeologists have theorized that Advanced Civilizations come in “waves” - although it is unknown exactly what ended the previous waves. Worrying.
It is very unlikely - the earliest wave of Federation Colony Vessels departed Terra in significant numbers, and at the behest of many Governments, Corporations and Organizations - records of many of them, and where they were going, did not survive the fall of the UFP. As a result, there are Federation Colonies scattered across the Stars that have never been found, or reconnected to the rest of Modern Civilization. These Colony Ships were a desperate attempt to spread beyond a single Solar System, a forlorn hope that Humanity could Survive the Death of its origin World. In the turbulent period around Terra's Ecological Collapse, even the most unlikely candidate Solar Systems saw Ships leave Sol for them, regardless of distance, and likely habitability. Many of the Colony Vessels continue to Travel, and are out in the void of Deep Space, their frozen cargo thousands of years old, ready to reach a Habitable Planet and set down Roots. Some Colony Vessels were designed to Land on Planets and become cannibalized for Parts, but others were modular - built to eject individual Rafts of a thousand Colonists, and the Supplies they need, while the main ship carried on, in search of other habitable Worlds.
A Digital LARP (Live Action Role Playing) is a
type of Social Game
played primarily over technology, such as the internet. It
involves all
components of in-person LARP, except the
physicality (potentially
being able to reach out and touch others in a Role Play
Environment). Digital LARPs
typically rely upon Audio and Video as primary means of
Communication, and
usually include input from an Organizer, GM (Game Master),
or Facilitator.
Digital LARP can be immersive, and just like
in-person LARPs, they
may, or may not occasionally rely on Narrated Description.
The Digital format
lends itself especially well to LARPs focused on Social
Combat, Politics, and
Interpersonal Interactions.
Some LARPs may not be fully Digital. For
example, in some LARPs,
several Participants may interact in Person, but some
Participants may use an Electronic
means of Participation. This will occurred at our
blockbuster LARP Event "Starbase 1" (known for
incorporating technology
into LARP and Film Projects) and Project A.T.H.E.N.A., a
digital superhero LARP by The Geek
Initiative.
Starbase 1’s LARP uses their an Android AAP,
and private BBS, as well as Zoom and Facebook to
coordinate
our Games.
Here are some additional Free Tools available
to help you:
The Starport Industries sometimes broadcasts
our Digital LARPs.
You can view the Archives of the Broadcasts on the SI’s YouTube
Channel. We
also run Non-Broadcasted (Archived, Uploaded)
Transmissions, and “closed Transmissions”
except those which are Private and do not get Broadcasted
at all.
Digital LARPs can facilitate collaborative
Storytelling and Roleplay
between In-Person Events. In 2021, The Starbase 1
LARP commissioned Starport
Industries to run three seasons of ‘Mission’ Adventures
for this
purpose—creating a LARP Game Hybrid for the setting of
choice. We possible may
also facilitate a full digital integration for a
Cyberpunk: Outpost at Night in
2022.
Yes. Just like the in-person portion of the
LARP, you will be
supplied with a Membership Kit Box, upon payment of the
Deposit. You Uniform
will depend on the Division you have chosen among other
things dictated by the
Game Mechanics, and the Preferences of the Organizers and
other Players.
Digital part of this LARPs tend to be more
accessible than
In-Person Games. This is due to several factors:
The Setup is simple:
The Starbase 1 LARP offers Free, or Low-Cost
Accessibility Tickets.
These Subsidized Tickets allow marginalized LARP’ers to
Participate. We
recognize that often, LARP isn’t a friendly, and inclusive
place for
marginalized People (including the financially
disadvantaged), and we want to
make every effort to be inclusive.
To
get
an understanding of Digital LARP, check
out
the aforementioned YouTube Channel or view the Starbase 1
Trailer below:
