I have noticed a tendency to assume that Hard Times is a reasonable picture
of the technological collapse of the Imperium. Herein is a dissenting
point of view.
The basic assumption about Hard Times TL loss is that the worlds are trying
to become self-sufficient by dropping back 5 TLs and punting.
Why should this be so? Admittedly, these worlds could not build all of the
High-Tech wonders required before Hard Times. So why does it then follow
that they would spend lots of money building industries to produce archaic
equipment? If you need to spendd the money on new industries anyway, why
not build industries producing modern stuff?
I mean, we're TL8, right? If we suffered a major economic loss (up to but
excluding a high level nuclear exchange), it would be EXTREMELY unlikely
that we would stop building automobiles and start building horse-carts.
The need would not be there unless 99+% of our auto industry were blasted
into the stratosphere. Even then, it would be EASIER to reconstruct to
build something we are familiar with, rather than something we've never
done before.
In Hard Times, it is possible for a TL15 world to lose grav technology.
Grav is a 10,000 year old technology. It would be like us losing the
ability to build a WHEEL! It is also unreasonable to suppose that, after
losing grav, the world would build a factory to produce items that noone
has seen for 10,000 years (wheeled vehicles, that is). As long as you
gotta build a factory, build a TL15 grav vehicle plant. It's going to cost
gobs of money either way, but this way you get something GOOD for the
money.
Later...
- -- Via DLG Pro v0.985b
[email removed]
I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution.
--W. von Braun