Skip to main content
26 events
when toggle format what by license comment
Jan 17, 2021 at 16:14 comment added NomadMaker I strongly disagree with your first sentence "Let me say up front this is not a hard sci-fi book, it's character and story driven." Hard/soft sf is defined by the technology, not by the plotting and characters. Hard sf can be character and story driven.
Jan 17, 2021 at 15:40 answer added TysonDennis timeline score: 0
Aug 21, 2017 at 11:14 vote accept MajorTom
Aug 21, 2017 at 8:26 answer added Rekesoft timeline score: 3
Aug 21, 2017 at 1:11 answer added kagali-san timeline score: 1
Aug 21, 2017 at 0:50 comment added MajorTom Lots of good food for thought here. I may have to revise the stance on guns.
Aug 20, 2017 at 23:44 answer added ADS timeline score: 1
Aug 20, 2017 at 23:34 comment added John Here is an important question, does this need to be a constant condition or something that happens once, you could easily have the first group on the planet find it to cold to fire a gun without risk of he barrel shattering, but every group after that will bring cold tolerant alloy weapons.
Aug 20, 2017 at 23:23 comment added John If the wind is slow enough so people can still stand, then guns are still very accurate at anything but the longest range.
Aug 20, 2017 at 23:17 comment added Catgut @MajorTom I wouldn't try to come up with atmospheric conditions that make firearms outright unusable. Severe wind and reduced visibility may drastically reduce the effective range of modern weapons, but they'll still beat the heck of out of close combat. Finding ways to make them logistically non-viable is probably a better bet.
Aug 20, 2017 at 23:09 comment added MajorTom And guns might work SOMETIMES. But if you are counting on them saving your life, you'd not want to take the chance. (I suppose I could also outlaw them on a colonist planet. Not sure people would really go for that if they are risking their lives to live on some far flung planet. )
Aug 20, 2017 at 23:08 comment added MajorTom @John Guns WORK fine. It's not worth trying to use them due to the environment - visibility, wind, etc. Sure, you can blow someone away inside. But most everything happens outside. When I say "technology" I guess I am really talking about microcomputers - think of advanced smart phones, hand held computers, that sort of thing. Think of the planet is mostly desert, but human compatible.
Aug 20, 2017 at 23:06 comment added MajorTom @Shalvenay oh, good point.
Aug 20, 2017 at 22:57 comment added John define "technology" do you want cars to work, computers, stoves, radio, zippers, ect. Also how habitable is the planet, there is no way to make a planet on which guns will not work and yet have people survive without wear space suits.
Aug 20, 2017 at 22:31 answer added Anthony Gregory timeline score: 0
Aug 20, 2017 at 21:34 answer added redrubberball timeline score: -1
Aug 20, 2017 at 21:33 review Close votes
Aug 20, 2017 at 23:29
Aug 20, 2017 at 21:07 comment added Shalvenay Re: orbital infrastructure -- it's a lot easier to put infrastructure in orbit around something when you're arriving from space vs. when you're stuck on the rock :)
Aug 20, 2017 at 20:58 answer added SJuan76 timeline score: 0
Aug 20, 2017 at 20:38 answer added nzaman timeline score: 7
Aug 20, 2017 at 20:34 comment added MajorTom Fair thought, but let's say bringing stuff isn't an impediment. There are jump ships that can take significant enough loads. If they wanted guns, they could have them.
Aug 20, 2017 at 20:28 comment added Raditz_35 Have you considered that earth people just didn't bring e.g. a gun with them? Every piece of equipment people shoot into space is carefully selected and only brought up if absolutely needed. A gun certainly wouldn't be on my list for things to take on a space trip. Also there are still large parts on earth where technology does not work reliably. For example, in my living room I do not have cell phone reception. For modern technology to work you need to invest heavily into infrastructure. I would think about it if this problem can't be solved in a straight-forward way
Aug 20, 2017 at 20:16 comment added MajorTom I suppose you could use a gun inside. But most of the activity here takes place outside, that's the key. The natives do not build houses per se, although the spend some time in caves. But I also want technology to be limited. When characters go out into the main desert area, I want them to be on their own, with no real hope for using technology like GPS, phones, networks, etc. The idea is that it's almost like the wild west on the colony. Yes it's the future, but I don't want them having all the comforts of Earth. Plus, there's no network of satellites orbiting the planet.
Aug 20, 2017 at 20:09 comment added Raditz_35 Do you want to limit the use of weapons (technology is maybe a bit broad ...) only outside or have the natives of the planet not invented inside yet or do you want a solution where people also wouldn't use a gun inside let's say a building or a cave or wherever people live?
Aug 20, 2017 at 19:37 review First posts
Aug 20, 2017 at 19:46
Aug 20, 2017 at 19:36 history asked MajorTom CC BY-SA 3.0