Space Western Worldbuilding

So I am worldbuilding, yet again because I like to shoot out ideas and have them kicked about.

So I got a Space Western in mind and I'd like to see what ideas everyone has to contribute.

The basic idea is that it's a setting across the stars with plenty of Asteroid Miners and good old fashion slughthrowers. with relatively few Energy Weapons Most of the mining is done for a rare element used to fuel FTL drives and it's all done with automated Mining Robots.

The Robots themselves are just a line of humanoid machines with a basic learning AI system to help them improve on the job, decreasing on cost for repairs and replacing them, (Plus this allows the wealthiest companies to make entire teams of dedicated veterans) with the humanoid frame to make it so the Robots identify with humanoid life forms and prevent A.I. Is a Crapshoot.

There are military robots and androids as well but they have a less complicated AI system so they don't get too smart and decide to go killer robot on everyone.

So, ideas? Anything to suggest or question?

edited 30th Mar '15 12:25:03 PM by EchoingSilence

I'd say watch the movie Moon with Sam Rockwell for some ideas of stellar mining installations and human/robot interaction. It's a masterclass.

Are humans the only or main race, or will there be aliens? How advanced will the technology be? Will there be anything like psionics or is it harder sci-fi? How far have humans managed to travel beyond Earth (assuming humans from Earth are your main race)? How many colonies are there, and how far is the farthest of them from Earth (or whatever)?

Oh I've seen Moon! It's good!

I'd say at best it is Physics Plus, it needs Minovsky Physics to explain some elements but I never planned on Psychic Powers. Do you think there would be benefit in the setting for them?

And yes humans are the main race but there are a few Aliens. It's a general new frontier feel, exploring the Galaxy and colonizing. I think there are 17 Colonies outside of the Sol System, and the main story takes place about 15 solar systems over (How big that is I have no clue but I ain't gonna make up anything for it).

What are some Alien species you guys would suggest?

edited 30th Mar '15 8:30:36 PM by EchoingSilence

I just like Magic by Any Other Name, so of course I think you should have psionics But if you don't think it has a real place in your setting, then can it.

I have no sense of scale either, so I can't judge.

I think The Five Races Recycled IN SPACE! is a good start, but I'm still biased. You could have a more advanced species, a more psionically powerful species (or just more primitive than humans), a friendly species, and a hostile species. I won't give any suggestions about their bodies or minds, though, because that stuff should come from you (unless you specifically ask)

I may have at least one alien race with the power of Psionics but the Five Races might be interesting to do. It's a brave new frontier and even the alien life is still colonizing.

So if I do put in Psionics expect Magic A Is Magic A

As far as the "world" part of worldbuilding, there's a ton of new information coming in about the other planets in our solar system. Like, at this very moment we have a probe orbiting Ceres, New Horizons is approaching Pluto and will be sending back more detailed data as it gets closer, we're learning a lot more about the moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn (like how Ganymede probably has a water ocean underneath its crust!), and plenty of other new developments I'm probably forgetting.

Also (kinda-sorta bragging), all this news about other moons and planets has inspired my own Space Western story.

Oh, and a few more things to consider: Kuiper Belt objects like Pluto, Makemake, and Haumea. Terraforming, colonization, and the potential for life on local planets (like Mars and Venus) and moons (like Enceladus, Europa, and Titan). How would a planet's orbit affect colonization and industrial efforts?

Bonus points to anyone who can work Eris into their story.

That is a very good question. How would other planets affect industrialization and the brave new frontier? I had not thought of this.

But that question isn't just limited to "what opportunities appear?" — It's also about "what limitations might there be?"

You say that there's some mineral that allows Faster-Than-Light travel, but unless it's abundant enough for frequent insta-trips within the solar system (and I wouldn't recommend it for story reasons), travellers will have to utilize the planets' gravity to slingshot them to the final destination.

And the lack of FTL can actually add to the Space Western feel thanks to Space Is an Ocean — Specifically, since it would take a long time for anything to travel between planets, almost like during the European colonization of the Americas. Longer travel time means that if trouble comes up on some moon or asteroid colony, they'd have to take care of it locally; reinforcements would take weeks — if not months — to get there.

Another thing to think about is where the planets all are in their orbits. Depending on what calendar year you choose, the planets will be in different places, relative to each other. That will affect who can help where and how long any interplanetary transport will take.

But you can figure out where they'll all be in a given year. One handy tool I've found myself using lately is Celestia, which (among other things) can plot out the orbits of all the planets with a given date. It can be helpful to know if, for example, Uranus and Saturn are on the same side of the sun when you need them to be.

I was thinking of FTL being strictly from getting from Solar System to Solar System. I do like the idea of how it treats it more like the Western Frontier.

I may do something else other than slinging around planets since Aliens do exist and are partaking in this as well.