Topic: Planetary Dawn Project: Construction of Worlds

[Hydromancerx]

If we are going super detail on the map then perhaps we should go super detail on the animals in the biomes. I have lots of experience in this area thanks to Sagan 4. If you want I can make it a mix of real animals as well a plausible new species based on the geography of this planet.

[Inkling]

Maybe some people will want to focus on certain aspects of the world instead of everybody taking on a certain civilization.

It might be helpful to have a conversation about what we want out of this project.  It seems we all came in with different ideas.  Some people seem to want this to be as close to Earth and it's history as possible, some want magic or fantasy or speculative elements.  When this first started I thought this was going to be like Dawn of Worlds again with a dozen races and magic and gods and stuff.  Seems we're leaning more toward the realistic end of the scale.

So what are our goals?  What's the endgame?  Are we collaborating to write a history of an alternate earth?  Will we competing, having civilizations fight against each other?  Can I have an island full of Moas and other extinct animals?

[Oviraptor]

I imagined it as the next PCP. So, "collaborating to write a history of an alternate earth" is what I envisioned.

Can I have an island full of Moas and other extinct animals?

I would say, any organism that went extinct because of humans could exist at the start of the game. Who knows what could go extinct on our world?

[PatMan33]

I just wanna get a small piece of land and try to make something as complete as I can with a level of detail that I am satisfied with.

My vision was to start with a space and try to plot out a bunch of small villages over the distance that would be logical and realistic. Over time I'd work on that area and maybe start others, but I am interested in seeing how it changes over the years. I'd like to build a logical structure that could be any actual civilization or group at a point in time. Admittedly I also told myself that I was going to shoot for more of a mundane level of amazing things. In the past I've been too fixated on setpiece-style creation, and in the last few years since I've done a project I am trying more and more to find what I can with fewer creations and more detail.

But I'm expecting to do some hardcore measurements and whatnot. It seems as if the game is definitely more civilization and creature focused rather than literally building the world. And I am okay with this.

[PatMan33]

Another thing I want to do is make lots of maps of whatever I or we create. Like, I want to make lots of villages with detail, like I said before. And even beyond our maps, maybe make some stylized in-world maps. Something like the Middle-Earth maps or whatever. Plus all the history. I can't wait to get into that and see what develops. The rise and fall of civilizations will be neat to see and look back on, both in-universe and outside.

[Josasa]

I imagined it as the next PCP. So, "collaborating to write a history of an alternate earth" is what I envisioned.

This is what I was envisioning as well. My want out of this game is to come up with a world that has a rich history and diverse cultures. I'm really looking forward to the interaction between civilizations and watching their rise and fall. While I don't mind a game like DoW, I think we've already summed up why that might not be a fit for this particular setup. For me, DoW seems more limited to the creation of a continent although that could just be because that's how we've played it in the past.

As for needing points for a turn, I don't think that's required. I'm pretty sure we all have a good understanding of our 'scope' on what we can change in a given time period. This game is going to center around collaboration and working together and I think we're all in a good position to call someone out if they're overstepping their bounds (in a nice and productive way). Any disagreement can be voted on by the group with a simple majority to decide the matter. We've already been doing that informally with the ground rules, so I don't see why we can't continue it into the game.

However, we might need to have a more concrete system around conflicts between cultures/civilizations. That's an integral part of history and I think there are many examples were chance plays a large role in the outcome of a conflict. It would also be nice to have a more concrete system since I doubt everyone is going to be completely open to having their creation conquered by the neighboring people, especially if said people are prone to scorched earth policies. I don't necessarily have a good suggestion right now, but I'll try to think of something. Unless we want to approach it differently?

[Hydromancerx]

I imagined it as the next PCP. So, "collaborating to write a history of an alternate earth" is what I envisioned.

Can I have an island full of Moas and other extinct animals?

I would say, any organism that went extinct because of humans could exist at the start of the game. Who knows what could go extinct on our world?

What about animals that humans lived along side but went exist during the last ice age? Such as the various Megafauna of the Americas and Australia.

[Hydromancerx]

However, we might need to have a more concrete system around conflicts between cultures/civilizations. That's an integral part of history and I think there are many examples were chance plays a large role in the outcome of a conflict. It would also be nice to have a more concrete system since I doubt everyone is going to be completely open to having their creation conquered by the neighboring people, especially if said people are prone to scorched earth policies. I don't necessarily have a good suggestion right now, but I'll try to think of something. Unless we want to approach it differently?

I see couple ways ...

1. Everything is collaborative and no one really can claim one culture over another.

2. People can design specific cultures but they have specific rules for war to make it fair.

3. People can start out with one culture but then have to swap cultures in later eras. Thus everyone eventually has a hand in everyone else culture. And thus everyone is both invested and not invested if a culture dies. This method is how Sagan 4 works where you design a species and even lineages of species but you cannot get too attached to one species. Likewise lineages almost never completely die out or if they do you still have influence over the path of another linage.

In short I think the key to this is that everyone that contributes gets to feel like their part is part of the world and thus we all get the feeling and pride of this project. Because I think we can agree this is not a project about what civ will "win" but to make the best most interesting world we can. And encourage each other when they have good ideas or good contributions to the project.

[PatMan33]

Yeah that sounds good. I like the third option you laid out, Hydro.

Maybe even just swap cultures whenever we feel like. Maybe someone wants to try something else? "Hey Jos, wanna switch for a little?"

[Brandonazz]

Dibs on second turn at Ovi's culture start.

[PatMan33]

Heeeee. Gonna be jelly you didn't pick me.

[Brandonazz]

Just be like me and accept that we will never be as good as Ovi at worldbuilding.

Go out-RP him instead.

[Inkling]

I think we should take ownership of cultures or villages or whatever level we're at for at least some period of time.  If it's purely collaborative it might not be enough of a game to keep our attention.

There's some brainstorming going on on steam, and I like the idea of having some rules to force us to change things up from the world as it is.  One idea is to not use common domesticated animals.  Which might have been why I mentioned moas, anyway...

[Krakow Sam]

[PatMan33]

Am okay with things like flying mounts. That's like, about as far as I'd be willing to go with most stuff though.