The Raod Not Taken

[Elryos]

While visiting reddit I stumbled upon the short story (wiki) "The Road Not Taken" (text) by Harry Turtledove.
The central idea is that interstellar travelling is actually quite easy and simple, we humans just never discovered it (and are even a bit embarrassed about it afterwards), but without spaceflight as a distraction humanity delved into other things coming out technological superior in every other aspect of life, especially weapons, where the peak of alien technology is gunpowder and muskets (and their spaceships interior lighting is done by fireflies or torches).

To me this sounded like a nice framework for an event or an anomaly, or even one of the grand catastrophies.

Edit: Obviously the title should be "The Road Not Taken".

 

[qer]

actually I think it would made a very interesting mod

 

[panther29]

hmm interesting...
I wouldn't mind seeing pre-interstellar civilizations that have developed in other areas such as the military.

 

[svennnnnnnnnnnn]

Stardrive 2 had something kinda like this, "latecomer" where all other species had expanded to several planets when you started, but your race got extra bonuses. Also vaguely similiar to the role of humanity in the mass effect universe. Could be a fun mode if nothing else, you started as a one-planet-minor with the rest of the galaxy is already claimed by materially superior, but technologically and structurally inferior species. Like playing a western OPM in the middle of ming in eu4

Edit: also the gameplay for the rest would be to modernize before they got overrun, kinda like for native americans in eu4

 

[yerm]

It could make for a fun alternate game setting. You basically play at Napoleonic-era tech but with FTL movement speeds available. This allows pre-modern warfare but on a fast-paced global logistic scale at the planetary level, and then intergalactic conquest in a sort of grand overarching scale. I'm thinking something akin to xcom where you have this larger galaxy setting to work through and this breaks down into small-scale battles for control of individual locations, all using manageable gunpowder-era tech.

Then you run into humans with modern weapons as your end game disaster.

 

[Krajzen]

hmm interesting...
I wouldn't mind seeing pre-interstellar civilizations that have developed in other areas such as the military.

That could be very interesting. You invade pre-spaceflight civilisation and it turns out it just didn't care about space exploration, preferring stability and safety, and is very heavily armed in advanced weapons (including mass destruction stuff) so your invading army is massacred. Bonus points if you provoke them to finally reach spaceflight after all and they start kicking your and everybody's ass in the act of revenge

 

[Hydro Globus]

Love the story, would hate it if it came up in a game. Or at least, if it was an option for the player. The most rewarding solution should always be the interesting one. That's just good game design.

 

[aitaituo]

In addition to end game disasters, industrial buy pre-FTL species could have a chance of getting a free advanced tech on achieving FTL as an allusion to The Road Not Taken, but I don't see how the base game could integrate the idea without being designed around the idea.

In the story, humans aren't just a bit more advanced than the aliens, the aliens never achieved urbanization because it was easier to move to a different planet than deal with a Manure Crisis. The teddy bears, who are definitely space conquistadors, are among the most advanced non-humans in that galaxy and small groups of them are filibustering their way through the galaxy solely through arquebus power. They actually expect to subjugate Earth with less than a hundred soldiers and have done so to several other worlds. The story ends with an oh-sh** moment when the teddy bears realize that a million humans could easily conquer the entire galaxy in a matter of years and the humans number in the billions. Neat mod idea, though.

 

[Tarhun]

IIRC There's a sequel set centuries later after the human empire has fallen and almost no-one of any species remembers how to make technological stuff any more. A low-tech setting like that might be a fun idea for a mod.

EDIT: The sequel is called Herbig-Haro.

 

[Demarque]

That was a good read, it even gave me a humanity f**k yeah! moment. Would make up for a good mod.

 

[RoboticManiac]

Good story.

 

[BooDoo]

"and their spaceships interior lighting is done by fireflies or torches"
*mind blown* Fireflies is one thing, but torches?! That can't possibly pass safety inspection can it?

 

[aitaituo]

"and their spaceships interior lighting is done by fireflies or torches"
*mind blown* Fireflies is one thing, but torches?! That can't possibly pass safety inspection can it?

IIRC, they mention how terrible the spaceship smells because giant teddy bear people not bathing for weeks.

 

[TheFragPrince]

Spaceships without running water, maybe? "Captn. Hornblower dipped his head into the cold water bowl to clear his mind, before ordering full light sails set."

 

[Safehold]

They get water when they anchor to the next ice comet.

But it really would be like the Age of Sail in space, depending on certain tech breakthroughs.

Something that is very close, would be Two Space, a novel. http://www.baenebooks.com/p-441-the-two-space-war.aspx

 

[keynes2.0]

Whose to say that we aren't the primitives taking the crude path? Sure our physics say you cant make FTL but we keep playing with them so if it turns out we are wrong we will figure that out sooner or later. And we have discovered all sorts of primitive ways to get into space.

But suppose somewhere out there is a race of magicians that do thinks not deamed of in our human science? Perhaps their magic never told them how to go into space and they never cared. To them the stars are just distant points of light because they are much more interested in the miracles they can do on the surface of their planet. So one day humanity goes knocking on the door of the magicians.

 

[Knightfall52]

This is also a part of the C&C game line. The scrin get to earth after a premature tiberium detonation only to find that humanity is too militarily focused and quite kick-ass at that.

 

[Daddl]

Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting and makes up for a whole bunch of funny thoughts.

 

[madman125]

This is also a part of the C&C game line. The scrin get to earth after a premature tiberium detonation only to find that humanity is too militarily focused and quite kick-ass at that.

With the scrin it was less about different tech, as their tech was stated to be superior to earths tech in every way. Rather the scrin forces on earth were not an army but a security detail for the harvest operation. Humanity was almost annihilated by the equivalent of a bunch of mall cops.