Terraforming...

[Spinward Scout]

Hey Everybody!

How do you handle terraforming IYTU? Do you use it at all? Just on Thin Atmosphere worlds? Huge reactors to filter the atmosphere? When do you determine a change in the UWP?

Just wondering,

Scout

 

[alanb]

Originally posted by Dameon Toth Detached Scout:
How do you handle terraforming IYTU? Do you use it at all? Just on Thin Atmosphere worlds? Huge reactors to filter the atmosphere? When do you determine a change in the UWP?

Traveller's UWPs don't make much sense unless terraforming has already occurred, IMHO.

As far as time scales go: the problem is that the faster you make changes the bigger the explosions and earthquakes!

When you terraform you are engaging in chemistry on a planetary scale. You aren't "just" changing the chemistry of the atmosphere - you are changing the chemistry of the seas and the crust as well.

Reread "and the crust". You are changing the chemical composition of the rocks the world is made of.

The problem, essentially, is that you have to make the change you want, and then wait a thousand years or so for things to settle down enough for the world to be safe enough to live on. A world is a mighty big testtube, and it can take a while for it to achieve something like equilibrium.

So, my take on things is that it's either already happened, or is something that takes place over such huge periods of time as to be ignorable.

Alan B

 

[robject]

I agree with alanb - the colonized worlds in Known Space have already been terraformed, more or less based on resources available naturally and equipment available to the terraformers.

 

[hirch duckfinder]

i dont know how plausible the science is , but one of my favourite scenarios ever involved terraforming - this is called snowfall , it's written by joe webb and is available for download at freelance traveller ( free ) . enjoyed it so much , just thought i'd give it a plug .

 

[Jame]

Actually, I'm not sure how to handle terraforming in game terms. So I really can't.

 

[robject]

I tried to convince a referee once that it was possible to partially terraform Shush, a world tucked just inside the rift in the Corridor sector, near the Deneb border.

A factory or set of factories roam around the asteroid belt, chewing up ice chunks and spitting them in towards Shush, where they break up in the atmosphere, causing terrible weather disturbances for awhile... however, after a bit of this, the hydrographics of the world can be raised perhaps to 40%, after which proper colonization can begin in earnest to transform the world into a breadbasket.

 

[Hal]

Things to consider:

Bioengineering will permit mankind to redevelop microbes that flourish in hostile environments - acting to change the atmosphere type from one category to another. We're already working on microbes that convert oil spills into something less damaging. Then we have nitrogen fixing plants that utilize colonies of bacteria in their roots.

As for the water issue? I'm surprised that no one ever thought about how worlds without water can be changed into water bearing worlds UNLESS the world is so small that it can't retain water vapor.

All things considered, get your hands on WORLD BUILDING by Stephen Gillette - well worth it. From where I sit, if you have a world with an oxygen/nitrogen mix - that world has to have surface water, temperatures that encourage decent metabolism speeds, and so on. Without plants, you can't have higher lifeforms - everything is based on a food chain.

As for water? A simple process would be to prospect for water bearing comets or asteroids - launch them towards inner orbit with a manuever drive. Once in a relatively near orbit to the planet you desire to terraform, nudge it carefully into an intercept course. At the last possible instant, detatch your manuever drives and replace them with chemical rockets (assuming they're cheaper than manuever drives) and push it in for a splashdown *or* atmosphere burn up. Either way, it gets added to the planetary ecosphere. Keep doing this until you have a water rating you desire. And if there aren't enough ice asteroids where you want them? Go hunt in other systems. Search in the ort cloud region etc...

 

[alanb]

Originally posted by Hal:
Bioengineering will permit mankind to redevelop microbes that flourish in hostile environments - acting to change the atmosphere type from one category to another.

...
From where I sit, if you have a world with an oxygen/nitrogen mix - that world has to have surface water, temperatures that encourage decent metabolism speeds, and so on. Without plants, you can't have higher lifeforms - everything is based on a food chain.

All of this is very nice, but...

Tweaking an atmosphere involves tweaking a geology. Things break, blow up, and generally get apocalyptic. You don't want to live there while this is happening.

There are also a bunch of interesting issues raised by a world with indigenous life. I have a suspicion that in the real world, the existence of such life would tend to prevent a world from being colonised... Partly for scientific reasons, and partly because there is no way you could avoid contaminating other worlds with these lifeforms if you start mucking about with them. Introducing alien life to Earth? Not wise.

At that point we have to ask: is a world with an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere likely to _not_ have water? After all, it must have temperature and gravity within a certain range... And what is the probability of it supporting life?

Space Opera is your friend.

Alan B

 

[Hal]

Hi Alan,
A while back, when all I had to work with was SCOUTS, GURPS SPACE, and a few other odds and ends space role playing supplements (Including TRAVELLER 2300 AD), I started working on a TRUE BASIC program that would generate star systems and worlds for me. One thing I concluded was that rather than roll randomly for atmosphere types, I'd roll for life first. If life existed on a world, then and only then would it have an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere. It worked out pretty good too

 

[Spinward Scout]

Hal, that's a great idea not generating hydrographic until life is determined. Makes a lot of sense. Seems like anywhere there is water on this planet, there's life. Similar ideas abound about Europa... But there are also lifeforms in places where there isn't a lot of water. Seeds that survive until the next rainy season, etc...

Scout

 

[marginaleye]

An interesting question:

How would one modify the canonical world generation rules to cover regions which were not conveniently terraformed in the distant past?

I'd suggest the following:
Assume that all "breathable" atmospheres (codes 2-9, D, E, and F) are actually "exotic" (code A), unless a "saving throw for the presence of aerobic life" is made. The nature of these "exotic" atmospheres is likely to depend on their density. For instance, a non-terraformed planet of size code 3, with a "very thin (tainted)" atmosphere (code 2 or 3) could be very much like Mars, with an atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide and a little water vapor. Such a planet with a freakishly thick atmosphere (code 8 or 9) might be more like Saturn's moon, Titan, with a cold, thick atmosphere of mostly methane and perhaps ammonia.

How does this sound like a workable compromise between preserving the inherent simplicity of the planet-generation rules, while adding a realistic mix of atmosphere types?