It's after midnight, and I'm going to be on shift until 5 am or so waiting
to put beam on target here at the accelerator facility at Notre Dame U.
(a pustulent, oozing chancre on the upper lip of the United States), so I
thought I'd catch up on some requests for Traveller related materials that
I've gotten and just generally ramble, as I haven't done for a while....
ON ARCOLOGIES: Paolo Soleri was a really weird old coot (and may still be,
I don't know if he's kicked it yet), and his main writing was done in the
1960s; the tone and tempo of his works reflect this, tho they still apply
quite well even today. Recall that the environment movement was still in its
infancy and not yet in vogue in the 60s, largely a hippie-and-egghead concern.
It's worthwhile to see how his ideas translate into Traveller terms....
Cars were big and burned lots and LOTs of leaded gasoline, and it really did
look as if the world was going to be totally paved in asphalt. Soleri addressed
this concern with vigor and bile; he was convinced that the automobile was the
Antichrist made flesh, the modern Mammon that all humans worshipped to the
detriment of the planet. Which was and is true, to an extent, but what the hey.
In Trav terms this gives rise to varying degrees of arcological development
based on tech level and type of government and law level. Arcologies are not
megalopoli; they do not grow in random directions like cancers. In fact they
do not grow at all; they spore. When an arcology grows crowded, a new arcology
is built elsewhere. This type of growth and development depends heavily on the
attitudes of the population; worlds with high or extreme Laws and the types
of governments that tend to regiment individual movement stringently will have
an easier time building arcologies. Why is this true, and what does it have
to do with the Satan That Runs on Four Wheels? Simple! Private ownership of
fast long-range transportation is a basic personal freedom we take for granted
here in the USA, and the single greatest blockage to arcodevelopment: if people
move around all the time and constantly go to new places to get more elbow
room, the arcology cannot succeed. Arcologies depend on a populace that has
no private transport and no need or desire to move around a lot, except perhaps
for vacations. A world with arcologies must by definition make ownership of
cars or air/rafts a difficult, expensive and possibly illegal matter. Public
transport must fill the gap, so efficiently that the average citizen does not
miss having no private go-box. The result is a world of tiny, compact urban
areas with wilderness in between, a world that can "breathe" according to
Soleri's vision.
The average arcology holds hundreds to tens of thousands of people; larger
designs of over a million are possible but less practical. It is a single
building that combines comfort and beauty with practicality and efficiency;
while the "basic" designs tend to be pretty but not startling in their
applications and settings, the more "advanced" designs are nothing short of
incredible. I've used designs straight from Soleri's book on parties of
Trav characters, and gotten looks of, "You've gone bananas, right?"
Arcologies can go anywhere there is a need. Fishing and marine development?
Float one on the continental shelf. Shipping and transport? Build one over a
river delta. And- one of my favorites- imagine incorporating hydropower,
irrigation control, population support and a remarkable esthetic sense by
damming a huge river to form a reservoir, and making the structure of the
dam itself an arcology of over a half million people! Soleri also predicted
the rotating drum design for the L-5 colony years before it went on the
drawing board, and in his more fanciful moments created arcological equivalents
of igloos, pueblos, kibbutzim, and designs that could only be called, well,
"abstract." Neat stuff, and a lot more complicated in conception and use
than just a huge apartment building.
ON TECHNOLOGY: I watched a movie on TV last night, something I rarely do these
days. It was a Schwarzenegger shootemup flick I'd missed in the theaters the
first time around, called "Predator." I'm sure you're familiar with the plot,
such as it is: a group of mercenaries in central America get picked off one
by one by a critter that is nearly invisible, moves like lightning, and kills
with a swipe of razor-sharp claws or a blast of energy. (Until Arnie takes
it on with a handmade bow and arrow and some pungi sticks and wins, of course)
And, Trav-head that I am, I got to thinking:
1. The alien's armor was remarkable in its similarity to combat armor: good
protection, chameleon capabilities (altho "our" armor only works in the IR
range, not the visible), and tactical heatscans. The weapons platform was
described as something that could shoot big or small holes in things and
perfectly cauterize wounds: basically a plasma weapon. It was laser-aimed
and guided from a shoulder mount by head and eye movement; not that much
fancier than what the Emperor's troops carry. Conclusion? It's a good thing
the guy chose Earth to hunt on; in a TL13 environment, the local game wardens
would've shot him to pieces in no time.
2. One weapon which I'd heard about but never seen in action before the film
was the 30mm MiniGun, a gatling weapon firing huge shells at a high rate
of fire and capable of rendering just about anything into taco filling, up
to and including armored vehicles. The drum-loading grenade rifles were
also quite interesting, but not as much so since they have an equivalent in
the Traveller rules. What I want to know is, why no MiniGuns in Traveller?
They're heavy and noisy, but really efficient compared to lasers and early
high-energy weapons. Hmm, time for another article in the MTJ....
Well, that's enough for now; the mini-machine-pistols from Total Recall aren't
in the rules either. I guesss we need an Arnie supplement for the rules. |->
fade out mumbling,
metlay