Crezth
i knew you were a real man of the left
Yo. Terraforming takes thousands of years. At best. It's all arcologies and self-contained environments until then. Flora/fauna largely irrelevant here.
While We Wait: Writer's Block & Other Lame Excuses
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Yo. Terraforming takes thousands of years. At best. It's all arcologies and self-contained environments until then. Flora/fauna largely irrelevant here.
North King
blech
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Flora and fauna are a little bit important for the whole, you know, flavor thing.
Eltain
Deity
At long last, internet at my apartment.
SouthernKing
crickety cricket
A or C.
SamSniped
DJ Goodboye
@Eltain- Welcome back to both civilization and Civilization (Fanatics Center 
).
).
Terrance888
Discord Reigns
Join my NES.
Eltain
Deity
What has happened that TerraNES must RIP, Terrance?
Edit: Nevermind.
Edit: Nevermind.
Symphony D.
Deity
Mmm, yeah, because a planet divided into ~12-24 player states will certainly result in monobiome nation-states whose environment will dominate the national consciousness and outlook. You know, like they tend to on Earth as of right now. Wait...
This will not be a supremely important concern circa 2050 and certainly not by 2100.
Monobiome planets are dumb, and the procedure is pretty much the same on every single one anyway: scrape the top off and pump out fluid so you can dig.
He's talking about strip-mining. Terraforming really depends on tech, too, but sure, a long time with the stated technology level.
For stories? Sure, could be. For government policy? Not really, no.
Nevermind that one of the best ways to colonize a planet "safely" (i.e., not risk the outcome of the multi-billion/trillion dollar mission required) is to scour the landing areas with gamma ray emitters from orbit and just replace the biosphere with the one you want because odds are the one on hand doesn't play nice. (See also: Fallen Dragon) Humans really like taking the familiar with them, and don't seem really appreciative of suddenly being in a different food chain where they have to start all over and may or may not be on top to boot, unless there is something really worth the risk. (And if it was that valuable, one of these more developed powers would probably just invade for it.)
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
Looking up random book titles, I think I have discovered my Sci-Fi triology:
The Dwindling Edge
The era of rapid expansion, rampant optimism, massive naivety and staggering corruption.
Luscious Destruction
The era of massive interstellar conflict, opportunistic profiteering, genocide and disillusionment.
The Fallen Game
The era of post-war privateering juxtaposed with social and economic reconstruction, and the rise of post-statist, post-scarcity, pan-sentient societies.
The Dwindling Edge
The era of rapid expansion, rampant optimism, massive naivety and staggering corruption.
Luscious Destruction
The era of massive interstellar conflict, opportunistic profiteering, genocide and disillusionment.
The Fallen Game
The era of post-war privateering juxtaposed with social and economic reconstruction, and the rise of post-statist, post-scarcity, pan-sentient societies.
North King
blech
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Could be? Try would be, should be, must be... Anyone who is going to write a story about it would care. Heck, some people will care anyway, and that's okay, too. Flavor text is by no means the most important element of a game, but it certainly is an important one. People do care about the details of the setting they're in, and if some people care more about biology than rocket tech it's not exactly your place to tell them they're wrong to do so. Not everyone is looking for the exact same thing here.
Terrance888
Discord Reigns
If I didn't care about the story. I could go play Neptune's Pride.
EDIT: Even then... STORY!
EDIT: Even then... STORY!
Symphony D.
Deity
No, could be. As you yourself say in the very next sentence, it depends entirely on the type of story someone is interested in writing. The vast majority of stories, regardless of genre or intent, will not particularly incorporate the ecology into them. Period. Now, certainly, they could, because fiction is infinitely malleable and just maybe the nature of Space Cows will have some bearing on the plot or characters (see also: Waterland and eels), and I can think of a large variety of fiction set on Earth which does exactly that (see previous), but for most people who write on these forums? No. They write about talking heads usually, and I don't mean the band. There very well could be someone who, in a high stakes quasi-futuristic space game of geopolitical intrigue, wants to do a mashup of slice of life and Western on a Space Cow farm, but odds are probably not.
As to the Space Cow itself, if it isn't edible, it's going extinct. If it is edible, it had probably better be tasty and economically viable (i.e., why we don't usually eat predators), or the same thing will happen. This goes for every other form of life too, by the time an advanced and self-sustaining 21st century level global economy is operational enough to fight with itself. Maybe your characters wind up in a downed vertibird in a Space Cow field or something. But probably not.
Kinda like how NES doesn't see a lot of stories about the intricacy of tuna fishing, whaling, ranching, or herding, despite their historical importance and continued practice into the modern day. They scarcely even pop up in Fresh Starts. Wonder why.
Again, you can do whatever. That doesn't mean it makes sense for Kozmos to drop everything and focus on ecology as a super-amazing-important aspect of his setting, because it isn't.
Crezth
i knew you were a real man of the left
With any conceivable technology level IMO. Unless you have a genesis device in which case, good, because you're past the point you need to be strip-mining anything for any reason.
Even if you're only strip-mining, flora/fauna are not a relevant concern at least as much as average temperature because, again, we're trying to segregate operations from the environment as much as possible.
But wait, I hear you cry, wouldn't a damp jungle environment have a different effect on the operations of machinery as a dry sandy desert environment? Well, yes, that's true, but we're also not anywhere in the same ballpark of as much detail as this entails so blah.
Tsoate
Prince
If you are at the technological level to traverse the stars, we can assume you can deal with most climates. Heck, it would be all robot drones doing the work anyway.
Kozmos
Jew Detective
Well my idea was of a predominantly jungle area that would slowly have to be cleared away, or certain parts preserved for benefits. The oceans would also have some kinds of dangers and peculiarities. Also a central space elevator would be considered neutral grounds by all factions due to the fact it makes trade easier with visitors. I am still in the process of looking for people with geo/astrophysical backgrounds. Climate alteration would be mostly a no-no, considering the initial priority would be survival, land-grabs and dealing with skirmishes and small scale wars. At least in the beginning. Freely slap down objectionable ideas, I'm still in the R&D process.
Terrance888
Discord Reigns
If we are low tech space farers, at least comparably, especially of they to get hands on to clean up room for settlements, then ecology does need specific thought.
Kozmos
Jew Detective
Lack of ecological management was one of the reasons for sending a fleet in the first place and while mission planning included that for the new world, certain difficulties will arise that will sap resources and attention from that goal.
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