2013A, 2013B, 2013C... Developing Alternate Universes

So I have created several civilizations that all live in adjacent parallel universes.

A. First there is our civilization. Our scientists are engaged in a secret project to open a wormhole to another universe. This venture is a cooperation between civilian authorities and several major defense contractors; the military supplies test pilots and a couple scientists, but not much else.

B. Then, there is a civilization where the Cold War never ended and the digital revolution was interrupted by a series of additional world wars. Most of the population lives underground. Due to raids from dwellers of another parallel universe, they are very resource-poor and have developed a technocratic economic system where resources are allocated by (room-sized) computers. Despite their lack of digital tech, they are also developing "quantum translocation," only their version of the project is run by the military. This setting is also home to counterparts of characters from Universe A.

C. Seen only briefly by a lone traveler, a world (or at least a version of the east coast US) where everyone uses bicycles, electric scooters or public transit, and private motor vehicles are illegal. The air is very clean here and people seem more relaxed; there's a different pace to life here.

D. The "Cooks'" Homeworld: An Earth that is host to a civilization of multiverse-raiders called "Cooks" because of the electrolaser weaponry mounted on their attack jets, which "cook" people alive. The Cooks' world's history diverged early on. For whatever reason, civilization developed in a totally alien fashion, with a strange (untranslated) language and technology that is nothing like conventional tech. The Cooks show no signs of cultural diversity. They are apparently descended from people whose ancestors were conquered by one prehistoric super-tribe.

E. A scavenger world that suffered from multiple Cook raids.

F. A more highly evolved version of humanity, possibly post-singularity, having merged successfully with mechanical life. They have "synchronized" their existence will all their multiversal counterparts, and are responsible for recruiting people like the main character, who are born with the ability to naturally transport themselves to different universes.

G, H, I, etc: A number of universes where physical or natural laws, or environmental factors rule out human habitation. This would include, for example, an "Earth" with a methane-based ecosystem.

edited 7th Sep '13 1:20:43 PM by fulltimeD

Are we allowed to suggest our own worlds (I have proposals I think might be interesting)? Good ideas BTW.

edited 4th Sep '13 2:08:24 PM by MattII

Yes, I would welcome suggestions, but there are a couple rules:

First, the intention of the project is actually FTL travel; it instead becomes a method of multiversal travel. But none of the universes should possess FTL or be to Star Trek-sh or Utopian

da rulz

1. The 1 in Infinity Rule: There 1 in an Infinity of 0s of everything. IE For every human-habitable universe, there are an infinite number where the local biochemistry or physical laws are lethal to human existence.

2. The "If There's One, There's Another" Rule (or the "Planet of the Apes" rule):

3. If there's one particular setting, there are infinite variations of that setting.

4. No setting can violate basic present-day science fiction rules. No universes with dragons or faeries or vampires or zombies.

5. Settings should focus on sociology, economics, technology... anything goes as long as it's realistic. It could be absurd, as long as it's realistic.

6. Consider how this civilization might interact with visitors from a parallel universe.

7. Alternate evolutions of Alien civilizations or monsters are fair game as long as evolution is treated realistically and not as excuse to fill the setting with anthropomorphic animals or rubber forehead aliens. Evolution must be treated realistically.

8. No "conspiracy theory" settings where the differencce is "What if the Gov't really is covering up for Roswell and UF Os.

Rule X: In the setting are people naturally born who can traverse the universe at will. These people include Homo sapiens as well as at least one Neanderthal man. The travelers are from all different homelands and eras. They have no name for themselves but are often called shifters or phase-shifters.

edited 6th Sep '13 3:11:37 PM by fulltimeD

How about a world with almost exactly the same ecosystem as Earth, with the one exception of no human habitation whatsoever? I realize you're more concerned with parallel civilizations, but an Earth where humans went extinct early on or never showed up in the first place could have some interesting possibilities, like other realities using it as a competition-free source of resources, or establishing a safe haven. Basically an empty Earth, perfectly capable of supporting human life but without native humans of its own.

I was going to suggest 2 variations on that:

• One where the Homo genus never evolved, thus humans are 'stifled at birth' as it were.
• One where Homo Sapiens never evolved, and thus all the proto-humans like the neanderthals and homo erectuses are the highest form of life, if such they can be described.

Also:

• An 'earth' that is the fourth planet in the system, and sits closer to the outer-edge of the goldilocks zone. Thus, it's colder, and probably less hospitable.
• An earth where Britain wins the revolutionary war in 1779, but in the process loses other colonial possessions, especially India, and still needs to keep troops in America due to continual unrest, thus is unable to expand its Empire into many other places.
• An earth where the meteorite that hits 65 million years ago is much smaller, and thus some species of dinosaurs survive, though not enough to prevent the rise of mammals.
• An earth where Heron of Alexandria combines his aeliopile with one of his piston engines, creating a primitive steam-engine, which starts a sort of Roman industrial revolution.

alright, i'm liking a lot of these, keep'em coming

Some ideas:

• Ronald Regan's "tear down this wall" speech was a declaration of war. Both sides have held off on nukes so far, but Germany is basically uninhabitable and Asia, Europe, Alaska and Canada are devastated. The war is just now spreading to the inner US.
• Napoleon never invaded Russia, and the French Empire still reigns over Europe.
• Jupiter is the third planet in the solar system, and Earth is a moon. How this would effect life (or if there would even be life at all) is up to you.