The Shakaroo Project

Hi Everyone,

I’m sorry I have not written much this week, but I have been busy developing a new web site for a paying client of mine, so I have to put the time where the money is at.

Still….I’ve been giving a great deal of thought to the project.   I’m looking at re-writing the current situation, but trying to leave much of the history intact.   The history is good and has just enough detail to be useful without being restrictive.

The current situation is changing though as are the star maps.   After talking with some others, I decided that I needed “more space” to work with over the long haul.  I also gave in and I will be allowing a couple of alien races, but they are not character type races.   These races will be very alien, and will provide an opposing force to the Humans.   I needed a reason for the Humans to gather and form alliances and the presence of these aliens will provide that catalyst.

I will be posting more on this soon hopefully.

Later - Steve

Hi Everyone,

Well I am now working on several aspects of the campaign all at once.  I’ve been working on starship design and how the physics of the universe work.  Now I am also working on alien races/cultures, generating new starmaps that will add more flexibility, designing a new website for this project, plus I have a contract to redesign a website for a client of mine and I am going back to college to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer & Digital Forensics.   Needless to say, my life is busy.   Still have to juggle all the family obligations in there too.

I’ve been posting on the forums each day trying to get some feedback and too keep people up to speed on what is happening.   I’m better at doing it there than I am posting here.

Does anyone read this?   If so, just drop me an email at webmaster@dd-p.com and let me know you are out there.

Later - Steve

Hello everyone,

It is a wonderful sunny day in Wausau, WI, USA.   The kids are swimming in the pool here at the hotel and I am sitting here on the computer.   I spent three hours in the pool with them yesterday and my eyes are still burning from the chlorine.   My son has discovered that his croc shoes can float like boats in the water.

To the project:

1.  Chlorine is definitely an irritant.  When working with atmospheres with Chlorine, I will have to keep this experience in mind and imagine how bad this burning would be if 10 or more times worse.

2.  The pool here is basically rectangular with one small corner divided off to be the hot tub/whirlpool.  It is separated from the main pool by a shorter wall that barely separates it.  Overflow water can cross over this short barrier.    I’m thinking this is somewhat like warp space around a ship.  Although you can see something on the other side, there is still a barrier between you and the object being observed.  Perhaps, weapons fire can cross this barrier because of the high energy levels just like I could boost myself over the barrier in the pool with enough energy to drag my body over that barrier.

Okay, I know, I’m stretching here, but if you look around at things you see everyday, you can find inspiration for your writing.

If we decide to allow aliens of some kind, we can think about how different their home environment might be from Human normal.   Sitting in the pool area of this hotel is very warm and humid.   It is uncomfortable to be sitting here dressed normally for my normal environment.   When I was in the water last night, it felt just fine.   We will have to keep in mind that it is extremely unlikely that any alien life would live in the same environment as Humans.  Temperature, humidity, and chemical makeup of the air would all be different, probably to the point of not being compatible.   This is why I am thinking that if there are aliens, they should not PCs and will probably not interact with Humans directly.   This is one more example of how aliens and Humans will probably could live in a shared area without much conflict.   Different races would be looking for different types of planets to colonize and probably would have different needs in the area of natural resources as well.

We’re going up to Rib Mountain for a bit after lunch.  I’m sure I will be able to find some inspiration while we do some hiking up there as well.

Later - Steve

Sorry, but I am away for the weekend with the family.  I do have Internet at the hotel room, but will not have time to work on the project.  At least I am able to leave this message to let everyone know what is happening.   I will of course be looking for inspiration while out and about.

Later - Steve

Hi everyone,

Well, even though it has been a rainy day, I have not done a lot of writing for the project.  I have done some reading and other research, but most of my day has been taken up with doing my real job.   In this case, it is digitally editing three HD DVD’s that have to be ready tomorrow.  Third video had to have its gamma correction turned up because of bad lighting conditions.  This takes a long time to process on my old computer.   Guess maybe I will have to consider upgrading.  I’ve had that computer for over 5 years now and it is still pretty good at most things.  It was a powerhouse in its day.

I can’t help but wonder what the power of the computers of just 10 years from now will be.   Will they finally max out what the current technology can provide, or will they just keep adding more cores to compensate for a lack of throughput on a single processor?  Anyway it works out, I’m sure they will not be anything like what I am used to right now.

Cleaned up a bunch of spammer accounts on the Forums.  I actually went through and cleared out all the accounts except mine and Dan Dean’s.  If you want to access the board, please sign up now.  If you can, leave me a message at srhoag@dd-p.com and I will make sure that we get you authorized to start contributing.   Until then, you should be able to read what is there.

Later - Steve

Spent the morning updating and restructuring the forums on the Rosetta Network.  Created a new forum for spaceship design called The Shipyards.   I then moved some topics around to better match the forums.  Deleted some old stuff, and plan on revising some of the other stuff in there.

I’m going to largely remove data about the Trel and do some re-writes to take them out of the background information.  I may keep them around just as one of those really alien races that are not interested in interacting with Humans.   They are a mysterious race that everyone knows you should not mess with.   You may not know why, buy it is common knowledge.

Hi Everyone,

Been busy with family events this past week, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not thinking about the project during down times.  Make sure you check out the forums on the Rosetta Network, which can be found off the main page of the site.   I will be throwing a few ideas around there for feedback.  More people on there would sure make it more useful and a lot more fun to boot.

Have you been reading about all the ships that the Somali Pirates have captured and held for ransom?   They made over 7 figures last year from ransoms paid out.   Who says crime does not pay?   Our government keeps stealing my money and the politicians don’t look to be starving.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day, so hopefully I will have more time to sit here and get some more of my thoughts spreading across the net.

Later - Steve

Hi Everyone,

Didn’t really work on the project at all today, but did do some thinking about cultures and how I might work some things into the project.  My wife and I went to the Milwaukee Public Museum and saw Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures. It was an amazing exhibit full of history and artifacts that really made you stop and think.   Actually, the whole museum is outstanding, but this particular exhibit was really worth the trip.

Given a little time to fully absorb everything I heard, read, and saw today I will probably try to work some of the ideas into the project in some form.   It just got me thinking about some new aspects that I might be able to use in the project….and also into my personal life as well.

Later - Steve

Well, today did not start out well.  My wife’s car overheated on her way to a conference in Milwaukee, early this morning.  She drove it to the nearest safe place to leave it, and I went out and picked her up and took her to her conference.  I called to have our mechanic go pick up the car and check it out.  He said that he would give me a cheaper rate for the towing if I could wait until after he closed his shop, so I agreed.  Now we won’t find out anything until tomorrow sometime.  That car is my wife’s pride and joy.  I think she loves it more than me and the kids sometimes.  To say that she has not been a happy camper this evening is an understatement, but I do understand that she is concerned about her car.

On to the project now (sorry, had to vent all that).  I stopped adding to the Wiki and decided to get the forums going again.  Look under the Rosetta Network (http://dd-p.com/ProjectSigma/Rosetta/) to find all the forums related to this project.  I’ve re-worked a few of the Forums as well as several topics.  I’m trying to organize them in some semblance of logical order.  I’m sure it will be an on-going project in of itself.

Most of my work today was on technologies.  Thoughts and proposals on how to handle various areas of tech and some hints as to why certain restrictions have been placed on them.   As a tech minded person in real life, I feel I must know what the technological base is for the area before I can move forward.  Maybe that is just one of my many personal hangups, but it is what it is.

Please review the tech forums and give me some feedback.  Unlike our government, I will read and actually consider what you are saying rather than just say “I’m doing this for your own good, even if you don’t want it.”

Later - Steve

I’m just taking a break from doing dishes.    Been thinking about how ships operate, what their expenses are, and what some of the rules should be that govern their operation.

In the Merchant ship book, whichever number that happens to be, it mentioned port of registry and some of the implications that come with that.  This is something that I am going to do a little real world investigation of.  I know that many cruise ships and Yachts are registered out of countries like Bermuda, Langkawi, or the Cayman Islands.  I want to look at how the port of registry will affect how starships are treated at different ports.

Also looking at the overall operating expenses.  Now I know that my conversion van is no starship, but I have a pretty good idea of what the operating expenses are.  Right now I think my van costs more to operate than some small starships.   The starships don’t really need fuel, they have abundant energy available, and could easily produce all the food and air needed, if I allowed full life support systems.  I’m looking for reasonable ways to limit the range of standard ships and to make them more expensive than the family car to operate.  On the surface, I can’t see how a merchant would not be filthy rich in a very short time, except for the bank payments if it is financed.   If it IS financed, what type of security is in place so that the bank will even make a loan on something so valuable and yet so mobile?   I’ll keep reading and thinking on this subject as I really feel that it has a major bearing on how the rest of the system develops.

Later - Steve