Hello, fellow writers! Got any question that you can't find answer from Google or Wikipedia, but you don't think it needs a separate thread for? You came to the right place!
Don't be shy, and just ask away. The nice folks here, writers and non-writers, experts and non-experts, will do their best to help you.
The folder below contains links for special interest threads, mostly at OTC, but also from Yack Fest and Troper Coven.
- Aircrafts and Aviation
- Computer
- Economics
- General Religion, Mythology, and Theology
- General Science Thread
- Chemistry
- Earth Science, including Meteorology
- Medicine
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- Space - Just don't talk about space warfare over there; use Sci-fi Warfare thread below instead.
- History
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- Police and Law Enforcements
- Politics - The opening post of the linked thread includes links to political threads on specific countries as well.
- Philosophy
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- Sci-fi Warfare
Also take a look at Useful Notes on various topics. They can be pretty useful.
Now, bring on the questions, baby!
edited 11th Apr '18 6:31:51 PM by dRoy
In the interest of being sensitive to groups with a medical condition that I do not have, are their any sensitive topics or issues regarding people with polymelia("extra" limbs) or amputees?
Nihil assumpseris, sed omnia resolvere!It seems like a sensitive issue.
Would it make sense for a lich to rule over a race of humanoids with exoskeletons that look like animate skeletons?
edited 3rd Feb '14 12:06:16 PM by BiggerBen
It seems to me that that would depend on the personality of the lich, and perhaps the nature of lichdom in your setting.
In the sense that they're living beings that look undead, why not, unless lichdom incurs some degree of innate hatred for or harm to living things.
My Games & WritingNo innate hatred, but he does prefer undead to living.
It would be hilarious if he didnt know...
I think there’s a global conspiracy to see who can get the most clicks on the worst liesYeah, I thought about that.
What if my fictional language's alphabet is actually the alphabet in the Voynich manuscript? Do I still have to create the alphabet?
"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."What do you mean by 'create'?
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."If you're going to have any writing in your work that's written in the language itself (or you're just intense about getting every detail precisely right) then yes, you're going to have to figure out all of the details of the language, including alphabet. But if you're just messing around, and using the language as a bit of flavour, then don't bother.
Is there anything CGI CAN'T do these days? Say I have $350 million dollars for shits and giggles and I want to make a film with some VERY expensive (but Godly) GGI, basically James Cameron's Avatar on steroids.
Is there still limitations we have today that throwing money just simply won't solve because it literally doesn't exist?
edited 4th Feb '14 7:14:40 PM by TacticalFox88
New Survey coming this weekend!It depends on how much time you're willing to burn in the render farm stage.
Nous restons ici.Doing photorealistic humans is still difficult, I believe. We're very good at noticing when something is slightly off.
edited 4th Feb '14 9:28:16 PM by storyyeller
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayThe biggest issue with CGI is that rendering humans in a photorealistic way is difficult. There are some deviations that cause the uncanny valley effect which degrades the viewing experience.
That said, I've read that clouds can be rendered very well with CGI. To the point that there is little way to tell such an artificial cloudscape from a real one.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanI've described a (male, Caucasian) character as being lean and sinewy, with leathery skin and salt-and-pepper hair. Are there any celebrities/widely recognisable faces that I could use to compare him to?
At the moment, I've gone with Ed Harris though I'm not sure if he qualifies as an instantly recognisable face.
Are you comparing him to a celebrity in the narrative, or is a character doing it?
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."For a religion that worships two gods, which sounds better:di/duotheistic, or bitheistic?
"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."The correct etymology is "bitheism" I believe. "Duotheism" sounds clumsy.
I think there’s a global conspiracy to see who can get the most clicks on the worst liesI would personally advocate against ever having an "objective" narrative voice describe a character by comparing him or her to a celebrity.
& It's being described in the First Person POV.
Well, if that's the case, wouldn't the only thing that matters be if Ed Harris is a recognizable face to the character?
It matters because that description would be pointless if it doesn't help the reader.
But the thing is that using a celebrity for comparison is not really that helpful for the reader anyway. I'm having a hard time thinking of anyone who I'd consider "universally recognizable" in terms of appearance. So if the only real purpose is as a description, I'd advise against it.
Even though there's no practical reason for doing so, could humans way back have domesticated Big cats if they REALLY wanted to just to prove that they could?
New Survey coming this weekend!I don't even think Domestic cats are really domesticated. Not to the degree that dogs and horses are, anyway. If you dumped a random shorthaired cat out into the elements, it'd probably survive a while, but a house dog would usually suffer without help. So yeah, domesticated Big Cats are sketchy. You could probably train them like elephants though.
edited 6th Feb '14 7:04:38 AM by ScorpioRat
A cipher is a conlang that's extremely similar to an existing language, typically the author's native language. Often they'll just make up a new alphabet or new vocabulary while keeping the grammar, idioms, phonology, etc. of the original language. It's a lot easier, but it isn't really a new language.
Here's a good starting point if you don't want to make a cipher.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play