07-22-2015, 08:26 AM
Amit Dutta suggested I post here my worldbuilding effort so here I am. There's already plenty of images and world info created for the project so its going to be long post. I try not to bore you with wall of text when I create these. Just enough to give you basic info.
Looking forward to see what you came up with :).
I'm building setting that is mainly going to exist as pen&paper tabletop RPG but in the end it's transmedia project. It might be applied to some other mediums as well.
Oceanarium is an sci-fi universe where humanity was forced to live under water and learned to adapt by genetically altering their bodies. Things started going in the right direction but newly created society got divided and people started fighting against each other for energy and oxygen supplies. On top of that some unkown danger is lurking beneath on deeper levels.
These are movies, books, games that I had in mind when starting project. I've read "Starfish" later just to familiarize myself with subject of underwater sci-fi. It turned out to be really good choice. I'm planning to read the rest of the Rifter's trilogy. Also to be honest life is the strongest influence here as I was scuba diving once in swimming pool and many times without equipment.
Some story beats of how it all started.
There was a large colony ship sent from Earth. It was searching for new home and after decades of hibernation people finally found new place. It had good atmosphere however it was all covered in ocean. The exception was large flat structure created by some unkown alien civillisation. There were no signs of life both on the surface and under water. People decided to land as they had no other choice. They were extremely low on supplies. On the edge of the structure the colonists created their own small houses.
Then came time for exploration. A group of scientists soon realised that this huge structure covering large part of the planet actually has some entrances under the water. The moment they opened the gates it activated some sort of planet's defense system. A swarm of nanorobots started killing everything alive. People had no chance and the only way to survive was to dive under water. Then all colony moved past the gates and found there was a huge ecosystem preserved. Some alien race abandoned a place with hundreds of aquatic animals and plants living under good conditions. All life support systems worked perfectly fine and people managed to use those systems for their own survival and even flourish a bit. However they never figured out how to disable nanorobots. They were stuck for good.
During exploration of the Nest people found large underwater areas filled with coral reefs. Those are placed on grids of special panels that support growth. Scientists managed to recreate those panels for producing food. The top light comes from ceiling which is all covered in huge automatic shades.
Other major step in survival was building first habitat. It was positioned on the surface of large pillar supporting the structure.
Here's first map I created. I'm now sure it's going to change but it's good to have something for a start.
The round alien structure people started calling The Nest. It's enormous. You can travel inside for weeks both horizontally and downward into lower darker levels. Many years after the gate was opened people deconstructed part of the wall to enlarge the entrance. What it did was some of the wildlife got out and started swimming outside of the Nest (Which caused some undesirable effects. I'll explain that later)
Some of the scavanged metal plates were used as a material for the first habitat. People managed to do this beacause they found that some parts of the Nest had shafts with oxygen and power lines transmitting energy from geothermal power plants. The amount of places that has those things is limited so it quickly become the source of never ending battles.
Here are first character ideas. It's still pretty basic to me.
In order to adapt people used bioenginnering to develop gills. To see sharply under water all kind of face covers are used. From typical diving masks to advanced visors or covers that are inserted under the eyelids. Some people take more radical measures and through bioengineering add membrane to their eyes which helps them see under water like fish. However when not in water the image is very distorted and blurred.
You could call it factions though I consider narrowing the choice for the players. Some wouldn't be playable.
1. (Colonists/Citizens/Technocrats) This is the most civilised group. They have the biggest amount of habitats and rely a lot on technology. Some people still believe it's possible to escape the planet or at least deactivate the nanoswarm hidden in the atmosphere. In the "field" they wear clothing similar to what the colony had in the beginning but without oxygen tanks and breathing masks.
2. (Herders/Coral folk) This group tried to take environment-friendly route and found new home in the upper level wildlife and coral fields. They have small amount of habitats but spend more time underwater. Unfortunately some people got so used to that lifestyle that they forget to communicate and that slowly turns them into savages. People from this group change their skin to resemble fish that they find in their surrounding. They are also expert in underwater camouflage.
3. (Shark riders) Group from lower levels. Unpredictable and agressive. They take great pride from fighting and killing enormous underwater beasts that hide in the dark tunnels. Sometimes their target becomes other factions. People from this faction have pale complexion from abundance of light. They wear skins from the beasts they defeated and put paint on their scars to show their combat experience. Some wear black eye covers that give their faces a disturbing alien look.
4. (Clones) The origin of this group comes from one outcast scientist who stole some advanced technologies from the main habitat labs, escaped to his hideout in the lower levels and cloned himself. His cloned version has modified body. It's very slim to improve performance while swimming underwater and also completely androgynous. This scientist seemed to have a crazy idea on how the new society should look like. When it comes to the look they seem almost the same. Modified white lab outfit, white eye covers and for some reason blue hair.
Some more info on the creatures of Oceanarium.
People always felt like something is not right with this place. The Nest feels hospitable now in the upper levels but lower depth of the ocean covering the planet is hiding some horrible truths. About five kilometers in Snake Trench and in other deep areas of the planet aliens were disposing radioactive waste way before the surface structure was built. In the past all planet was covered in wildlife but beacause of mutations it became extremely dangerous environment to live. Eventually aliens decided to create a place to hide and preserve in it some of the animals. The rest of the planet was purged. However some of the lifeforms were moved when they should be killed. As a result lower levels are inhabited by mutated creatures that are best left alone. Some became sentient beings and even posess psychic abilities. There are stories of people meeting gigantic fish and when they look it in the eye they become insane. Some human communities even started treating lower level creatures as gods and hunt for others to sacrifice them.
Outside of the Nest there are places of high radioactivity and toxicity. When people opened the gates some wildlife got out and several years later infected fish started coming back. For the last few years people are afraid that the end is coming. Not only there is no escape but their hideout is slowly becoming more dangerous place to live. Chaos slowly spreads across the Nest.
Here's some alternative to nanobots dominating the planet's atmosphere and keeping humanity under water. Exteremely deadly insects capable of deconstructing mechanical objects and surviving for decades without any food.
Looking forward to see what you came up with :).
I'm building setting that is mainly going to exist as pen&paper tabletop RPG but in the end it's transmedia project. It might be applied to some other mediums as well.
Oceanarium is an sci-fi universe where humanity was forced to live under water and learned to adapt by genetically altering their bodies. Things started going in the right direction but newly created society got divided and people started fighting against each other for energy and oxygen supplies. On top of that some unkown danger is lurking beneath on deeper levels.
These are movies, books, games that I had in mind when starting project. I've read "Starfish" later just to familiarize myself with subject of underwater sci-fi. It turned out to be really good choice. I'm planning to read the rest of the Rifter's trilogy. Also to be honest life is the strongest influence here as I was scuba diving once in swimming pool and many times without equipment.
Some story beats of how it all started.
There was a large colony ship sent from Earth. It was searching for new home and after decades of hibernation people finally found new place. It had good atmosphere however it was all covered in ocean. The exception was large flat structure created by some unkown alien civillisation. There were no signs of life both on the surface and under water. People decided to land as they had no other choice. They were extremely low on supplies. On the edge of the structure the colonists created their own small houses.
Then came time for exploration. A group of scientists soon realised that this huge structure covering large part of the planet actually has some entrances under the water. The moment they opened the gates it activated some sort of planet's defense system. A swarm of nanorobots started killing everything alive. People had no chance and the only way to survive was to dive under water. Then all colony moved past the gates and found there was a huge ecosystem preserved. Some alien race abandoned a place with hundreds of aquatic animals and plants living under good conditions. All life support systems worked perfectly fine and people managed to use those systems for their own survival and even flourish a bit. However they never figured out how to disable nanorobots. They were stuck for good.
During exploration of the Nest people found large underwater areas filled with coral reefs. Those are placed on grids of special panels that support growth. Scientists managed to recreate those panels for producing food. The top light comes from ceiling which is all covered in huge automatic shades.
Other major step in survival was building first habitat. It was positioned on the surface of large pillar supporting the structure.
Here's first map I created. I'm now sure it's going to change but it's good to have something for a start.
The round alien structure people started calling The Nest. It's enormous. You can travel inside for weeks both horizontally and downward into lower darker levels. Many years after the gate was opened people deconstructed part of the wall to enlarge the entrance. What it did was some of the wildlife got out and started swimming outside of the Nest (Which caused some undesirable effects. I'll explain that later)
Some of the scavanged metal plates were used as a material for the first habitat. People managed to do this beacause they found that some parts of the Nest had shafts with oxygen and power lines transmitting energy from geothermal power plants. The amount of places that has those things is limited so it quickly become the source of never ending battles.
Here are first character ideas. It's still pretty basic to me.
In order to adapt people used bioenginnering to develop gills. To see sharply under water all kind of face covers are used. From typical diving masks to advanced visors or covers that are inserted under the eyelids. Some people take more radical measures and through bioengineering add membrane to their eyes which helps them see under water like fish. However when not in water the image is very distorted and blurred.
You could call it factions though I consider narrowing the choice for the players. Some wouldn't be playable.
1. (Colonists/Citizens/Technocrats) This is the most civilised group. They have the biggest amount of habitats and rely a lot on technology. Some people still believe it's possible to escape the planet or at least deactivate the nanoswarm hidden in the atmosphere. In the "field" they wear clothing similar to what the colony had in the beginning but without oxygen tanks and breathing masks.
2. (Herders/Coral folk) This group tried to take environment-friendly route and found new home in the upper level wildlife and coral fields. They have small amount of habitats but spend more time underwater. Unfortunately some people got so used to that lifestyle that they forget to communicate and that slowly turns them into savages. People from this group change their skin to resemble fish that they find in their surrounding. They are also expert in underwater camouflage.
3. (Shark riders) Group from lower levels. Unpredictable and agressive. They take great pride from fighting and killing enormous underwater beasts that hide in the dark tunnels. Sometimes their target becomes other factions. People from this faction have pale complexion from abundance of light. They wear skins from the beasts they defeated and put paint on their scars to show their combat experience. Some wear black eye covers that give their faces a disturbing alien look.
4. (Clones) The origin of this group comes from one outcast scientist who stole some advanced technologies from the main habitat labs, escaped to his hideout in the lower levels and cloned himself. His cloned version has modified body. It's very slim to improve performance while swimming underwater and also completely androgynous. This scientist seemed to have a crazy idea on how the new society should look like. When it comes to the look they seem almost the same. Modified white lab outfit, white eye covers and for some reason blue hair.
Some more info on the creatures of Oceanarium.
People always felt like something is not right with this place. The Nest feels hospitable now in the upper levels but lower depth of the ocean covering the planet is hiding some horrible truths. About five kilometers in Snake Trench and in other deep areas of the planet aliens were disposing radioactive waste way before the surface structure was built. In the past all planet was covered in wildlife but beacause of mutations it became extremely dangerous environment to live. Eventually aliens decided to create a place to hide and preserve in it some of the animals. The rest of the planet was purged. However some of the lifeforms were moved when they should be killed. As a result lower levels are inhabited by mutated creatures that are best left alone. Some became sentient beings and even posess psychic abilities. There are stories of people meeting gigantic fish and when they look it in the eye they become insane. Some human communities even started treating lower level creatures as gods and hunt for others to sacrifice them.
Outside of the Nest there are places of high radioactivity and toxicity. When people opened the gates some wildlife got out and several years later infected fish started coming back. For the last few years people are afraid that the end is coming. Not only there is no escape but their hideout is slowly becoming more dangerous place to live. Chaos slowly spreads across the Nest.
Here's some alternative to nanobots dominating the planet's atmosphere and keeping humanity under water. Exteremely deadly insects capable of deconstructing mechanical objects and surviving for decades without any food.