message 0125

• The technology levels of the different races

>From: Onno Meyer <Onno.Meyer@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de>
>Subject: Re: C. J. Cherryh List
>Date: Mon, 10 May 1993 18:31:04 +0200 (MET DST)

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> 
> > >From: Jo Jaquinta 
> > 
> >       I got involved with a friend putting together an Elite like
> > game. Of course I was looking at it from the point of view of a
> > Cherryh-like universe. That led onto old ideas I had for doing
> > Cherryh role playing game stuff and I've been playing with ideas for
> > ship design.
> 
> >       The first thing I sat down to think about was the relative
> > technilogical level of the various races. Here's what I've come with
> > so far:
> >       Earth           0
> >       Union           2
> >       Alliance        1
> >       Hani            1
> >       Mahendosat      2
> >       Kif             2
> >       T'ca/Chi        4
> >       Knnn            6
> >       Sstsho          3
> 
>
Is there any evidence to rate the T'ca lower than the Knnn? I've got
the impression that they all are quite mysterious and little about their 
technology is known.
 
 I'd rate Earth, Alliance and Union as:
> 
> Union:    2 (some stations/planets are 1)
> Alliance: 1
> Earth:    1 (can vary between 0 and 2)
> 
> Earth is much less homogeneous than Union or Alliance; however, I
> imagine that most of Earth and the Belt would be at a tech level of 1.
> Sol Station, Mars and parts of the wealthier nations would be closer
> in technology to Union.  The less developed parts of earth would be
> very low tech indeed.
> 
> Earth and Alliance seem to be equivalent in spaceship technology,
> derived from Union's early advances in that area.  Union also has the
> edge in areas like genetic engineering (such as azi), biochemistry
> (such as rejuv) and social engineering, so I'd give them the higher
> overall tech level.  However, some parts of Union may not be as
> advanced.  Like Earth, the tech level would vary depending on where
> you are located.
> 
> Earth and Union have the population and resources to engage in
> research and development on a scale that Alliance just can't match.
> Alliance also doesn't have much of an industrial base (at least
> initially).  However, Earth is held back by political/psychological
  ^^^^^^^^^ What time do we discuss here? If we compare Alliance/Union
            and the Compact Space, we're talking about the postwar
	    period, perhaps the 2360s.
	    In 2351, the Merchanters still had ties to the Union or the
	    Earth, and would have had access to modern technology.
	    Even without own research, it would take some time for 
	    their technology to become obsolete.

> attitudes that Union and Alliance just don't have.
> 
> I'd give the Hani a zero instead of a 1.  They didn't develop advanced
> technology on their own; they obtained it from the Mahendosat and
> haven't really advanced much from there.
>
I don't think the SOURCE of technology should be compared here.
The question is wether they have the technology, and the Hani
build their own spacecraft, no worse than the Kif, except that the
Hani build merchanters and not dedicated warships. 
> - nancy
>