Greeting

[lu989673]

Hello! I'm lu989673. finally decided to join the forums and Discord. 

I am astonished and quite overwhelmed when I first discovered Orion's Arm project, the amount of worldbuilding and science that went into this project is truly amazing.
I have spent a great deal of my time reading every single piece of technology listed on the page. I couldn't believe that you could have such batshit insane technologies while still grounded in science, wow!
Atomic Rockets was what motivated me to come to this gold mine and I enjoy everything that OA has to offer!

small questions
-I have been working on my own science fiction. I am looking for a good reference/example of non-standard space warfare (no 18-19th century or World War naval warfare in space please) While I have read about how warfare is conducted in Orion's Arm, do you have any stories in OA that illustrate space combat in great details? Thank! (you can also recommended other science fictions)
-Also do you have stories in OA that have transapients or Archailects as the protagonist? I wish to see how they think and talk even if it was incomprehensible to a smooth brain baseline like me  

Have a nice day! Glad to be here!

[Worldtree]

Welcome ! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying yourself so far!

For warfare, especially of the swarm based , planet-consuming, Star detonating variety which you could possibly find in the OA setting , Adam Getchell’s Stories have a few examples of battles viewed from a distance and a few scenes up close with a team of modosophont “special operatives” (Sarge, Heavy the octopus, etc)
https://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-..._teeth_toc
https://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-...anticide_1

In addition to the stories by author page,

You can find a spreadsheet of all stories in the setting linked to that page which includes summaries and some ratings (which you are welcome to add to)

https://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-...ve-writing


Also “more things in heaven” by Todd Drashner has a space battle against a (very weakened) transapient


For transapient protagonists , the trouble is that their minds are by their very nature , incomprehensible, so first person perspective would be tricky to pull off convincingly and they’re so powerful .it’s hard to tell stories involving them.. but . there are several ways around this for telling a story.
Dirty hands by Theodore Bonn is apparently a great introduction to the setting (and it’s well written) but has transapients as side characters. Under the looking glass by Darren Ryding
https://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-...king_glass

also has a few transapient side characters.

[Worldtree]

The best answer to both of your questions for stories is of course that you are welcome to write your own! (Very Preferably with advice from us on the forum during the process ) m

It’s really quite reasonable to not understand how to write super intelligent entities well… given that they’re by their nature incomprehensible and almost immeasurably smarter than any human author . Which is why placing transapients in the background and treating them more as forces of nature with vague allusions and guesses to what they’re really doing tends to work better

The whole vision of how warfare works in OA has also needed a large reboot for years since many of the articles were written 20 years ago when the setting was more “human centered” ( on the large scale ) and also the implications of widespread mind and body backup technology was not as integrated into the setting as it is now.

[Worldtree]

This vignette in the Ascension article is also really useful for seeing a glimpse of ascending to become a transapient https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/45f993669526b

[Worldtree]

This story (still in development ) also has some nearer future visions of warfare , within the next 600 years https://www.orionsarm.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=4129

Republic day by macgregor , about some bot swarms attacking habitats on mars around the time of the technocolypse

[Worldtree]

As for other possible media to reference for detailed space battles, the expanse series by James SA Corey has many (mostly plausible) space battles described both in the books and the show on Amazon prime, (link to YouTube video of one of the space battles) though there’s not as much automation and drones

Children of a dead earth is a video game you might find helpful which simulates physics -accurate space battles

Ender’s Game by orson Scott card writes the strategy for space battles very well (and it’s a good story)

[Worldtree]

Another few stories with transapient characters

Festival season by mk capriola https://www.orionsarm.com/page/602

Blindsight by Peter watts -there’s not quite superintelligence , and the “space battle” at the end is very limited but it’s one of my favorite sci fi stories - mostly about the nature of consciousness https://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

This author is also interesting -I think this one involved some transapient likr chraracters

https://www.amazon.com/You-Shall-Radiant...B078RBGGC7
This book and
And shall machines surrender by Benjanun Sriduangkaew might be helpful to you

[lu989673]

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for your suggestion!  

I understand why trying to write transapient characters would be such a tricky task. I agree with your suggestion that they should be put in the background as a force of nature incomprehensible to ordinary beings.

I have also read "Under the Looking Glass" by Darren Ryding, it was an eye-opening experience for me. The transapients are truly horrifying yet elegant, and the transcension of the "virus" really depicts how dangerous the blights and perversities are.  I could imagine the horror of having these eldritch monstrosities emerging out of nowhere. I love it!

It's quite a shame that most of the space combat in OA I have looked into seems to be mostly a battle between gods which leaves no room for a mere modosophont. But that's alright, I understand.
I am glad you mentioned the Expanse series by James S.A. Corey. My views on physics-accurate space warfare are mostly inspired by his amazing series and also Atomic Rockets.  I know what kind of warships to use, and what kind of weapons they should use. Unfortunately, I still don't have a good grasp of military tactics and especially writing about them. I am working to improve my understanding of military tactics and how to communicate them effectively in my setting.

[Worldtree]

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for your suggestion!  

(words)

I know what kind of warships to use, and what kind of weapons they should use. Unfortunately, I still don't have a good grasp of military tactics and especially writing about them. I am working to improve my understanding of military tactics and how to communicate them effectively in my setting.

Nice! Well good luck learning that , if it interests you

And always remember that if something like a modosophont space battle, or … a cleverly presented way for a story to be (technically/not actually) told from the perspective of a transapient  doesn’t exist in this setting… it’s probably because someone hasn’t written about it *yet*.. and that person can be you