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Novawood Habitat

Home of the Nova Media entertainment industry

Novawood
Image from Steve Bowers
Novawood Habitat (originally called UpAbove Station) was constructed in 1102 AT in orbit around Nova Terra (in the Tau Ceti system) during the economic revival that followed contact with the First Federation. Upabove quickly became a centre for the production of virtual entertainments of many kinds, and was given the popular name of 'Novawood', a reference to ancient 'Hollywood' and 'Bollywood' (centres of the film industry on Old Earth).

Several independent media corporations were active in Novawood during the First Federation era, and this period of intense competition produced such popular works as The Sharpsword Chronicles, Damnesia, Causality Revoked, Dhoom Infinity and Mermaid Assassin. The early independent studios went through a period of consolidation and merger, but by the Integration the largest corporations had become hereditary Houses, each led by one or more transapient 'house gods', often partly biont and derived from former heads-of-studio or media stars.

A fad for war-virches reconstructing the events of the Version War was the basis for another revival in Novawood's fortune during the ComEmp era - by this time virches were often vast, complex simulated experiences with multiple timelines, mostly produced in computronium nodes orbiting separately from Novawood habitat itself. The virches were transmitted through the Known Net, the Lightways and the Wormhole Nexus to customers throughout the Inner Sphere and Hinterregions, often as basic concept packages that could be expanded and re-interpreted to suit local tastes. Novawood itself supported very little virch generation activity at this time, but instead became the home of many current and former media personalities, often infomorphs who had become incarnated into physical bodies in order to enjoy the luxury of an embodied life in the exclusive Novawood hills. A limited number of physical tourists were allowed to visit this small habitat, but the number of virtual tourists was far greater.

In the 9500s the Broad Band ISO took over most of Nova Terra's media industry, which had been declining for more than a thousand years. The new megacorps, Novamedia, has made Novawood once more an important centre of virtual entertainment and infotainment in the Current Era.
 
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Development Notes
Text by Steve Bowers
Initially published on 07 October 2017.

 
 
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