I haven't yet had a chance to write up the technology FAQ for the game, and it may be a few days. If you've got questions about anything in the game, or if something will be in the game, you can post it here, and I'll explain it to the best of my ability. If that fails, then blaster canons will be installed throughout the ship, in addition to the inexplicable pits of lava, spikes, acid, and just simply botomless holes, moving platforms, robots that can only move back and forth and fire on a level plane.
:D
Artificial gravity, yay or nay?
What's the basis of most weaponry? Projectile, energy, what?
What's the status of spacesuits? Big heavy exoskeletons, or skin-tight pressure suits?
No antigravity, or contragravity, or anything like that. Gravity is provided with that most convenient of forces: acceleration. (Yeah. Run with it. >_>)
Weapons tend to be projectile on planets, electric in space. The military tends to employ all sorts of fantastic and fun weapons of both flavors. The standard projectile weapon is configured and designed to operate in gravity (it actually comes with a gauge to adjust for local gravity so your sniper scope works correctly on whichever planet you're on). Various types of ammo are used, mostly slugs, occasionally hollow-points, or more exotic explosive and chemical rounds.
Energy weapons are a good deal less friendly. Lasers tend to have a short range, auto-sensing the distance and then aligning the internal mirrors to burn that exact spot. One good burn is all a pressure suit can handle, though, so it doesn't take much. Disruptor (or "blaster") pistols are a bit more effective against armor, exciting small segments of physical matter and causing them to explode (no, not an entire person, just chunks of them).
Spacesuits tend to actually be both. You have a skin-tight suit that can be worn comfortably beneath clothing and is standard issue. This is generally worn before donning a bulkier suit of lead-seamed padding or a bulkier exoskeleton, depending on the activity.
The skin-suit can't protect much against radiation, and needs a helmet and oxygen tank aside from that. It is, however, designed to allow moisture out in an atmosphere, but seal to the skin in vaccuum. The gloves (and feet) of the suit can be peeled away when in a ship. In an emergency all crew is expected to be able to seal their skin-suits and find an air supply within one minute at least (Spacers tend to keep track of exactly how many seconds it takes, as this is often a matter of life-and-death, especially if in a smaller craft). The standard helmet is "smart-glass" which means it is aware of where your eyes are, and where bright sources of light are, and blots them out accordingly with red outlines to indicate that the light is there.
The bulkier padded suit is really just insulation and radiation protection. It protects from the heat and cold, and maintains breathable atmosphere within, but that's mainly for insulation. This is the suit used when in an unsafe environment where full manuverability is required. This suit's helmet has a more versatile light-shield, but it has to be toggled manually, and isn't selective.
Alternately, there are also more thickly shelled exoskeletons, with extra arms to grip onto brace-points outside the ship, able to withstand quite a beating and bearing multiple mount-points for various tools -- lights, prybars, and so on. They're a nuisance to operate, but essential for operating in high radiation conditions, such as operating on the external engine components without adequate cool-down. Because this suit can be set to maintain a grip and allow a worker to operate with hands free (falling with a cable could mean that the cable destroys any number of sensor antena or other components about the ship's hull) it's more or less ideal for everyone's least favorite task ... FTL EVA. This suit's helmet has the best light-shielding, with smart-glass that's really smart, as it can recognize what is a component and must be seen to be worked on, but will still adjust the light of an arc-welding torch to allow the worker using it to see what they're doing.
Yeah. Computer systems. Anything special I should know about?
Dracos
There are two forms of data storage for computers, holistic (hollographic, actually, but, hey, they've abused the language over the aeons) crystals which retain information in the form of light. It's fast, and easily accesible, but very delicate. A strong tremor can disrupt a crystal, and an EMP would completely render it unreadable.
The other systems are more old fashioned circuitry and wire, which need to be manually activated. They're too slow to process Astrogation data at FTL speeds, so are used primarily for simpler systems, and backups.
Aboard the Eidolon, an EMP would wipe out the AI, but leave the hard-systems intact so the crew would have full control. The subsystem could then automatically recompile a new AI in the holistic system based off of the last backup, and all archived data.
These systems had failsafes and would automatically start the system back up if there was any kind of massive failures. The system would be able to take care of itself (presumably) with a few shipboard repair and maintainence robots (all hard-wired circuitry, of course) to repair any parts that wore down.
How good is the medical technology of the time?
Probably the most important question is what *can't* be cured?
If I bounce a graviton particle beam off the main deflector dish, can I energize naturally-occuring tachyonic streams to create an impromptu magnetokinetic mass accelerator?
C-rat: With the equipment on the ship, you couldn't regrow missing limbs, and someone who's dead is going to stay that way ... but that's about the limit. Medicines should be able to counter any disease that you discover.
Bjorn: No. But if you sing into Data's knees, I'll reconsider.
What do we eat on spaceships?
Aaaaah! A good question.
Nanite assembly isn't feasible with the current level of technology. But the pioneers of your age can easily have a system that assembles arrangements of various matter together. Your synthensizer can only make purely organic matter; there are no bones in your chicken drumsticks and t-bone steaks. On the other hand, everything also comes across very blandly. For what it's worth, the condiments the synthesizer generates are good, and in fact more nutricious and vitamin-enriched than the food itself.
Where does it get its matter from?
A sizable store. And the ship's waste system.
Theoretically, the system will last as long as there is energy to power it, and unless matter is intentionally removed from the cycle, continue to make edible food.
And Now You Know!
You eat in small rooms that are padded, with attractant (a type of attraction like magnetism involving super technology (well placed wires)) that causes utensils and plates to stick to it. Food comes in sealed containers that won't cause a mess in 0g, but can be opened up and eaten without a straw.
If you're wondering about safety features on any piece of technology so far, just remember that the engineers of Heaven are, if anything, over-engineers. Rumor has it that the Eidolon's design was sent to Congress, and reviewed for ten months before recieving a note that (officially) read: "We don't understand it, but have no reason not to trust you. Go ahead." for approval.
The AI was designed by an Angel Spacer working on Corvalis with a programmer, who designed the AI with certain foolproof fail-safes (aren't you lucky?) and multiple redundant systems in the event of an emergency. The position of living beings aboard the ship proved to be a (sizeable) liability, but the human spirit of adventure and discovery propelled the movement not to dismiss the crew that had been assembled.
For the record, if any of you return, you will recieve (at minimum) 40 years of pay, 70% of which is assumed to be with an automatic danger bonus of +85%. In addition, you are all granted rights and privelages in specific systems.
Angels are given homes in Seraphis, the theoretical paradise in one of Eden's only smooth and hospitable stretches, and accorded the title of Seraph. (In social standings, this means that you can expect to have your voice heard in any gathering, even if it is far from your home, as well as the ability to officiate as a member of the government in the event of a crisis. Essentially, it's becoming minor nobility. Surprise!)
Selken are given homes on Corvallis, away from the busy cities, in the area where the Tribal heads meet, and often (but not always) accorded the title of Dragon. (In social situations, this means that you are given a badge of rank, which is a tattoo that runs from your hip to your opposing earlobe, circling around the body once. All in your society who see this automatically know that you are a minor government official, essentially a policeman with no set duties or tasks to keep you busy unless you feel like it. You are also required to represent those who live in your immediate area in the event of a Tribal gathering, if you remain in an area habitually. And if you're a Dragon, everyone who sees you will know it, too. :D )
Congressionals are awarded homes in the Kennedy Estates of Landon (now relocated from Stygia), and if they are of the mind-set, may pursue the title of Attourney, granting the rights and privelages that are, with all holdings, belonging to of ownership thou henceforth columnize romanisation on the party of the first part. But you can shape the laws of the system, so it's not all bad.
In addition, you can all expect to be approached to write a novel, or star in a show/tri-d series based on the adventures, with the addition of hostile but stupid aliens, scantily clad members of the opposite sex, and equally plausible happenings in the interest of entertainment.
Most of you can also expect endorsements, titles in prestigious schools, scholarships, grants, and possibly small social awards, like an award from the town they happen to choose as a home.
Of course, the guys who had all that to begin with and joined up anyway are the First Crew.
Welcome to your mission, Eidolon Crew!
Were the First Crew.
I'm-a just sayin'.
No bitterness or petty revenge here!
Hard to be petty and vengeful when they died miserably.
Dracos
See, Hale wasn't psycho. He was just being diplomatic!
So I take it that Eidolon generally functions in low-to-no gravity conditions?
A bit afield from tech, but... what's the general society like? Is this the perfect utopia of Star Trek, the chain-smoking megacorporation-dominated world of Alien/Blade Runner/Gibson, or the semi-hedonistic/cultural progress through natural selection of Ringworld?
For purposes of backstory, how exactly did people get chosen/volunteer for the Eidolon mission?
It's actually almost never in 0g, excepting during certain manuevers, or when EVA is being performed, or when a communication array needs propulsion to cut off.
Low g happens, but the craft usually maintains 1g of acceleration at all times (in the hyperspace bubble, anime-physics take hold, and constant acceleration equals constant velocity).
Okay. How the Eidolon is designed and how it actually works.
The Eidolon is made of all the cutting edge technology that Heaven and Corvalis can theorize, visualize, and then with Congressional funding, actualize.
That means that a lot of what's on board is relatively unique and experimental.
First off, visually, at least, the ship looks like a wedge, mostly, the point facing forward, and the rear face being the propulsion system. Being designed by Angels, the hull is sculpted with curling lines, which suggest a pair of feathery wings. These lines are filled with sensory equipment, which protects them from the majority of debris that might be struck while traveling as sub-light speeds.
The 'top' of the ship is the point furthest from the engines. As there is no artificial gravity, save that from acceleration; all of the ship's natural 'floors' are oriented so that 'down' is engine-ward. Everything is also designed to be as safe and comfortable as possible in the event of the ship being without gravity, with rails everywhere to aid movement.
In terms of practicality, the Eidolon is actually two ships. The center of the ship is the cryo-chamber and bridge, as well as the primary computer facility. The maintenance robots are also stationed there, and no more than three of the six will leave the core at any time. In theory, if there was an accident such as a hull-breach, or significant weapons impact that devastated the hull, the core of the ship (and the engines) would separate from the rest of the vessel and leave something that was basically just a bridge, quarantine, and cryo-chambers to ditch the wreckage and return home. The core is technically christened the Prometheus, but until it actually separates from the rest of the ship (which is, in theory, not a reversible process), considered to be a part of the Eidolon. Directly around the bridge and cry-chambers are the crew quarters, which line Prometheus's inner hull.
The engine itself begins shortly 'below' the Prometheus' bridge (which is also the Eidolon's bridge). It's roughly cylindrical, and about forty meters across, and has been named the Mjollnir. It is, in theory, the most powerful engine ever assembled, and is self-sufficient thanks to cunning design that does not at any point include bouncing a graviton particle beam off the main deflector dish. (The ship has antennae, but no deflector dish.)
The bulk of the Eidolon is actually laboratories, shops (for machining components), databases of instructions (for figuring out how to machine components), and loads of equipment for exploring whatever system the Eidolon ends up in. Some of the equipment is simple basic stuff that would be carried by people on foot and used by hand, and some of its is fully automated, such as the two robots designed to be launched into a gas giant to explore its composition (they don't come back from that mission, though). There are also six landers, which can accommodate thirty people each, and two variable-altitude rovers which are not designed for re-entry, but have a greater lateral range than the landers. In addition, there are a pair of sea-craft, and a pair of what are essentially glorified jeeps. These craft are (by default) pre-loaded into the landers, which reduces their personnel capacity by ten, meaning that in the event of an emergency, the entire crew would (in theory) be able to board the landers and abandon ship.
The cryochambers are large, egg-shaped pods, about seven meters across and eleven high. Each one contains five people. The pods are designed to withstand re-entry, deploy parachutes (within an atmosphere) and have an emergency fuel supply with disposable engines that can in theory land the pods safely. If these are jettisoned (which they can be, if it's necessary) then any crew within them are automatically thawed over two days and then released with a week's supply of food and water. Beyond that, the pod will use what little energy remains to power the built-in comm. system to broadcast a distress beacon.
The bridge is mean to be manned by fifteen people comfortably, though there is room for additional personnel at sensor-stations. The seats are soft, and swivel, but are bolted in place and contain straps to restrain anyone during 0g. The consoles are modular and can be moved from station to station. While the ship can be flown manually, this is done via relays, not direct line-of-sight. There are no physical switches and levers, all of the controls are soft-keys on the consoles, which can be reconfigured to each crewman's personal tastes.
Philosophy and outlook for Tribes:
Congressionals:
Congressionals tend to believe that they are the last surviving heirs to the empire of Old Earth. And perhaps they are, though Terra can't verify this -- she doesn't have any concise records of other branches of humans, though according to stories and what evidence remains, they must have existed.
Beyond that, the outlook of the Congressionals is the most erratic of all the Tribes. There is no unifying religion or spiritual belief among the planets -- old Hindu followers and modern Cosmic Christers live side-by-side, along with a good number of agnostics, and so on. Other than the fact that they all speak Congressional Standard (though many Congressionals also know at least a few English (Old Earther) words), and are unified under Congress as the central government, Congressionals are the most diverse and varied of all the Tribes.
Selkens:
Selkens are a little more unified than Congressionals, sharing the same very practical, down-to-Earth and logical pragmatism that's evident in every aspect of their culture -- from their labor-trade, to their art, to their computer fabrication facility.
Most of the Selken therefore also dress appropriately, putting very little value on 'nice' clothes, instead going with whatever is the most durable and sensible clothing for the environment. The Selken tend to spurn religions that attempt to define specific actions as 'bad' or 'evil', instead preferring those with messages of accommodation and adjustment. Spiritualism is mostly evident in the forms of Buddhism and Taoist, along with compatible Old Earther Native American shamanistic practices and the like. Worship of specific gods is rare among the Selken to the extreme.
Angels:
Angels generally tend to have faith that there is a being beyond mortal understanding that can shape the universe, as it must have at some point shaped their system. This is also reflected in the amount of engineering that everything in their lives evidences -- an Angelic tool is almost never going to be limited to a single function. Moreover, anything that an Angel builds is designed to do its job well, and withstand massive damages thrown at it while retaining functionality. (Case in point -- the Eidolon itself.)
Angels don't usually like to specifically worship a god by a name, though some bands of Angels are fervent Cosmic Christers, usually those that live and mine on Purgatory. Angels will dress in whatever's appropriate to the occasion, but moreso than the Selken (or most Congresionals) they do care for appearances. The down-side is that while products of Angel manufacture are usually without peer, it takes a good long while for most of them to be made, and much longer than that to be designed. (The Eidolon's drive system and hull was designed nearly three decades before there was an order for it to be assembled.)
Spacers:
While technically Angels are members of the above three tribes, their cultural values often tend to differ, as they have the most communication and movement between the three tribes. Spacers are often poor at social interactions with non-Spacers, which is attributed to months of travel without much contact with other people. Foremost among Spacer beliefs is atheism, because if a Spacer can't watch out for his/her self, God's not going to seal the airlock for them.
On that note, Spacers tend to be very cautious, as without caution, it's quite easy to die in space. Among their culture, obsessive-compulsive disorder is not considered a detriment, and is in fact, considered a sign of practicality and good breeding.
In general:
The Congressional sector, while expansive, is fairly sparse. For all of the planets they have access to, with their varying degrees of suitability for hosting human life, the sector only has a population of about five billion, just below half of that in the Congressional system specifically.
The most inhabited planet is Aquilla.
In specific:
General notes about cultures on individual planets.
Landonites are all assigned a 'Genetic Merit' rating on birth (or formalization of citizenship) which indicates who they are allowed to breed with, as Landon is under very strict population control laws.
It is rumored that Stygians are all given access to a great secret of Old Earth, but this is considered to be foundationless speculation, as Terra knows nothing about it. Then again, she also knew nothing about the Guardian of Landon before it apparently failed.
Among Angel Spacers and natives of Purgatory there is a unified band that calls themselves the Threaders. 'Threading' is the process of piloting a ship between God's eyes while they (and Mote) are in a specific alignment, so that Mote's magnetosphere makes a brief (and very narrow) gap between the stars where the solar radiation can be effectively blocked by a decent hull. After threading the needle-like window, Mote's gravity allows the ship launched through this gap to break free, and escape back into the system at large. While generally impressive pilots and crewmen, Threaders often have little regard for practicality.
Among the Selken there is a band called the 'Riven'. All of them are born on Demeter, and after reaching the appropriate age to join the labor-trade fare, they move to Daphne, Draconus, and then Corvalis. Apparently, the Riven are relatively secretive, but do have access to Draconus as non-military functionaries at what the Selken claim as a religious site. Only Riven are allowed to access this site, which Congress has scanned with deep radar, and found to be nothing but an empty crater. The ritual journey from the center to the edge of the circle is based on planetary alignment, and is said to emulate the cycle of life.
Why and how you were chosen for this mission:
Most of you were approached by recruiters, as you had at least a solid reputation in your area, and Congress has very complete records. Some of you may have heard about the mission and asked to join. Some of you saw advertisments for the jobs no one really wanted because they were high-risk.
All of you apparently found it worthwhile to gamble 40 or more years, even if the majority of that would be in cryo (which you still age in, if much, much more slowly).
As far as the general culture, it's usually shaped by the individual planets. On Landon and Congress, Congress is practically Big Brother, but outside of those planets, they are much more relaxed.
If one had to be chosen, it'd be closer to Ringworld than Blade Runner ... but Alien isn't too far off the mark, either.