Editing FederalSpace:Technology (section)

== The Three Rules of Thumb ==

Going along with this goal, I've got three rules-of-thumb I'm trying to follow: 

'''Rule #1: Trust the Setting's Engineers:''' Also known as the rule of "describe what it does, but not how." I know that our starfarers must have some fancy materials science, because a hand phaser requires some pretty impressive conductors and absorbers to unleash the necessary energy without melting in the user's hand. But I don't need to detail just what these materials are, or where they're used. Our engineers are the only ones who need to know the details; we just need to know what a phaser can be used for. (But since I'm trying to be a little more hard-science consistent, I do try to point out where the ultra-tech may be in use…)

'''Rule #2: Shift Scale Down One Order of Magnitude:''' If it's impossible now, it requires ''at least'' a building-sized installation in this setting. If it's building-sized now, it can be transported by truck in this setting. If it needs a truck now, it's semi-portable. If it's semi-portable now, it's hand-held, and probably multifunction. If it's hand-held now, it's pocket-sized or smaller, and probably integrated with a bunch of other pocket-sized gadgets. If it's already like that now, it can be sewn into your underwear. 

Thus: An FTL communicator is impossible, so it occupies a building, or a whole section of a starship. There are truck (or transporter) deployable factory units. You can lug a powerful generator or radar installation as a backpack unit. A phaser rifle can put out equivalent destructive power to a modern heavy machine gun or rocket launcher, or both—and a "pocket" phaser pistol compares to both SMG and taser. A "pocket comm" combines nearly every imaginable function of PDAs, satellite and cell phones, cameras, microphones, music players, and most other modern pocket devices—with greatly increased reliability, to boot. Your shirts all have calculators or wrist-watches sewn into the cuff. 

'''Rule #3: It's About Choices, Not Levels:''' I've already mentioned that there are no Alien Space Gods or magic Clarke-tech in this setting, but I also want to avoid or twist the lesser trope of the world with technology far advanced from that of the adventurers, or inventions that are limited to only one "race." This is a setting of enthusiastic engineers: anything one culture comes up with, another can duplicate—if they want to go to the trouble. They might not want to, either because their tech base is oriented differently, or they dislike it on moral grounds, or just because they don't see the problems that tech was intended to solve! So it's not that planet X has incomprehensibly advanced tech, it's that the people on planet X have come up with a unique application of known technology to solve a particular problem, and therefore they have the edge of experience over everyone else in using it that way. 

=== Commentary ===

'''Wolfwood2:''' One classic theme that hasn't been much discussed in this thread is "the frontier". TOS was on a five year mission of exploration to seek out new life and new civilizations. One aspect of that I really like is that the power balance could change form week to week. Sometimes the Enterprise would be the most powerful military force in the system, and Kirk would have to make decisions about how (or if) to use his power to try to make things better. Other times the Enterprise would encounter godlike aliens and have to play by their rules.

'''shadowjack:''' This is a thing I do like, and want to keep in mind. A starship is incredible power… but so's a planet. There's thirty of you with a starship, and one billion of them with a planet. It's an even match. Good luck.