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Ponderances and Questions

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Axel the Chimeric Axel the Chimeric's picture
Ponderances and Questions
There are questions I've always wanted to ask about Eclipse Phase but they're so small that they're rather meaningless, and I'm sure other people have questions of a similar nature, so I thought I'd toss a few out there and see what answers I catch. Biggest one on my mind is, why so many jumpsuits? It doesn't matter what science fiction media I look into, there's jumpsuits everywhere. Eclipse Phase, Star Trek, and Mass Effect, just to name three, seem to have jumpsuits on every character, no matter what the setting. Now, I can understand this in microgravity or what have you, but on, say, Mars or Venus, where is the reason for this? Or even on anything with 0.5g or so?
Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
Easy to draw? Gamers are rarely into fashion? Personally I am rather clueless about clothing, but I would love to describe EP dress styles in better detail. Thanks to smart clothing and biotech people can dress in really cool ways. Here are a few clothing ideas: Clothing is all about sending social signals. Who you are, what you are, what you do, how much you can afford (in money, time and effort). That will not go away. Even the jumpsuits will be personalised - from sew-on patches (the *really* traditional spacer look, probably favoured by the extreme oldtimers) to image slideshows to interactive textures (when someone in your network approaches, patterns start to bounce between your clothes). The swarm dress (inspired by an illustration in Alternity): an elegant evening dress that is actually a nanoswarm constantly moving to cover the wearer and keep them warm and comfortable. At the edges it literally dissolves into flakes that float away. There are tantalizing glimpses of skin here and there, yet the wearer is also completely clothed. One Venus space is not a problem, so why not go for something expansive? A wide shirt or a dramatic cape would be impractical everywhere else, but here you can have fun. Shirts in microgravity will be problematic, unless they are smart and move with you (complex, and hence slightly pricy). I would expect some form of leggings instead. The tie originated as a cravatte, just like the business suit is a descendant of old military uniforms. There might be new forms of formalwear based on current styles: the stylized leather jacket indicating that one is going for an evening of music and entertainment, the strict white uniform descended from lab-coats used in the military-academic complex of Jupiter (think opening of the Aeon Flux series, with rank denoted by the ceremonial pens in the breast pocket), the t-shirt with a pertinent message autonomists wear to meetings. Not showing up with the right one is a faux pas. By the way, in low gravity and especially microgravity ties are really hopeless. So either they disappear (but then something else has to give a colour accent, show allegiances and style), or there is now a renaissance of tie bars, tie chains or even tie pins (which incidentally make nice assassination tools if poisoned). Hats and shoes are also forced to change. Practically everybody live "indoors", so hats are not really necessary and troublesome in microgravity (again, Venus is the hat capital of the system!) I expect various subtle fastening approaches, or replacing them with a decoration braided into the hair (biotech flowers! or cats!) Shoes in microgravity environments might have gecko traction and be really soft, since they do not carry much weight and are mostly hygienic and aesthetic. New materials allow new forms of slacker clothing: smart clothing that merely optimizes itself for keeping you comfortable and modest by your society's standard, yet doesn't look like anything. A bit like a tshirt and jeans with absolutely no shape, just a comfortable blob that follows you around with some pleasing pattern.
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nezumi.hebereke nezumi.hebereke's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
Jumpsuits are cheap, effective and efficient. It's the 'jeans and t-shirts' of the space world. They will probably make up the 'dirty, work aroudn the house' clothes of space for the first few decades or so of aggressive colonization. Of course, because of that, they're unlikely to be seen as 'stylish'.
root root's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
root@Ponderances and Questions [hr] Because Eclipse Phase follows the trope of the Used Future as Diesel Punk In SPAAAACE!
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Axel the Chimeric Axel the Chimeric's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
The two of you actually put together the sort of thought that came to me after I made this thread: Jumpsuits are the descendant of what people wore when they originally went into space. The original space colonists were all workers, likely in cramped and uncomfortable environments where such suits were necessary. As colonies expanded, it was probably inefficient to make anything else immediately, so people just modified what they had. By the time colonies were made for living and not just for work, the fashion was probably fairly cemented in the minds of spacers. I do like this discussion on new fashions, though.
It that must no... It that must not be named's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
Why do most NASA astronauts and russian cosmonauts wear jumpsuits in space?

"I learned the hard way that if you take a stand on any issue, no matter how insignificant, people will line up around the block to kick your ass over it." -Jesse "the mind" Ventura.

Axel the Chimeric Axel the Chimeric's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
Because they're in tight-confined spaces and probably frequently deal with dangerous chemicals. They can't have loose clothing and need to be able to remove theirs in a hurry if need be. Space is also at a premium, and one jumpsuit takes less to clean and store than a full shirt and pants. Eclipse Phase has habitats larger than most cities on Earth today, many of which are not in space, so such reasons are moot.
Axel the Chimeric Axel the Chimeric's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
I know this is a double-post but I need to bump this with another question. Nanovats can regrow a person's body in under a month, even after the most serious injuries, using little more than the person's head and genetics. Why, then, can't you nano-grow entirely new morphs? Even if you can't reconstruct the brain, just build a cyberbrain in its place. Hell, it might now be pretty, but for people with a bizarre fixation on having a biological body, you could just replace the head with a synthetic one and cover it with a mask. Bim-bam-boom, instant biomorphs, or at least pods. Given the rules say a pod or biomorph otherwise takes anywhere from 6 months to two years, depending on which, it seems rather ridiculous you couldn't just mass-build handy-dandy biomorphs/pods for people in a matter of months.
nezumi.hebereke nezumi.hebereke's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
I do think this is a bit of an oversight in the rules, and one that I've taken advantage of at least once in game (dude, forget the guy's sniper rifle - take his head!) In a nutshell... I don't know. Best guess is the cost per day of operating a healing vat is comparable with the cost of running a cornucopia machine, so it's the same mechanics governing each. The only difference being, the head has enough genetic material to easily reconstruct the 'blueprint' for the morph (it really only has half of the critical information, the other half being the amino acids, proteins, temperature, other environmental factors, and likely the cyberware, chemicals and nanomachines introduced during the process, but I guess that's been handwaved). Honestly? It's something I'm inclined to houserule. If you don't have the full blueprints for a morph, you can't rebuild that morph from just the head.
root root's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
root@Ponderances and Questions [hr] Ew. I think the reason they use a medvat as opposed to a printer is because it is hard to print something that keeps bleeding and screaming as it sticks halfway out of the printer. Medvats offer life support so you can grow a body. I would still let a player attach a printer to a severed limb and let them print that limb back out onto their body, but I'd also play up the whole process of stumpy's sensory nerves being reattached with no regard for the unfolding agony caused by half finished nerve endings firing for all they are worth.
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Axel the Chimeric Axel the Chimeric's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
I don't think you're quite getting me, Root. I'm talking about using a medvat to rapid-grow morphs. It's an oversight in the rules, as it allows you to very rapidly create new morphs, at least pods if not biomorphs, with no need to wait years to grow it. Also, I'm surprised there was never included a Synth version of a Menton, or computers that can be used to enhance an Infomorph Ego (such as a computer that offers +10 COG).
root root's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
root@Ponderances and Questions [hr] Ah, sorry, I misread. I got distracted by the image of someone running around with their arm stump stuck in a grey box as a new arm was slowly printed onto them. Your way makes more sense.
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icekatze icekatze's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
hi hi In a world where your body itself is simply something your ego wears, perhaps many people want to show that off as much as possible?
Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
icekatze wrote:
In a world where your body itself is simply something your ego wears, perhaps many people want to show that off as much as possible?
If you can afford a really cool one, of course you will wear something that puts it in a good light. Not necessarily by going near-nude (although some skins, textures or muscular systems might merit it), but you definitely want to accent its features. What about hairstyles and coronets to emphasize your intellectual menton style? An oddly cut, yet very utilitarian suit that amps up the uncanny valley of your remade morph, showing that you are on the edge and the viewer isn't? A jaunty cowboy hat for your reaper? Distributed jewellery mist for the lady swarmanoid?
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Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
Some further ideas inspired by Jenny Tillotson's talk at a recent conference: Aura clothing Using a cloud of micro-aerostats or holography the clothing spreads out into the air. The “aura” can display pre-set patterns, emotional state or information related to the person. Sensitive clothing Sensitive clothing has tactile sensors and link direct to the nervous system: a touch to the clothing feels like touch to the skin. Scent clothing Making scented clothing is easy, but smart materials also allows scents that shift depending on mood or situation. Some people have “scent wardrobes” with designer scents from fragrance creators. Another approach is scent logging clothes: nanosensors can record interesting smells, allowing them to be shared online or recreated (this has in the past led to some battles over piracy of trademarked scents, and the question of whether parody scents are protected speech). A few clothes even have “weapon scents” intended to repel people accosting the wearer or repel animals. (see her site for more ideas)
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cappadocius cappadocius's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
I don't really 'get' your crazy human obsession with clothing. Anyway, it's really hard to find jumpsuits in Octomorph husky medium.
Tell me, O Octopus, I begs Is those things arms, or is they legs? I marvel at thee, Octopus; If I were thou, I'd call me Us. -- Ogden Nash [img]http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/9071/upliftuserbar.jpg[/img] [img]http://img7.imageshack.us/img7
Yerameyahu Yerameyahu's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
As the art in the book shows… no, it's not. :)
Malakh Malakh's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
[i]On jumpsuits.[/i] Because jumpsuits are convenient and they work. As for fashion...
Quote:
Jumpsuits have also reappeared from time to time in high fashion, where it is often attractive to designers because it has an unbroken line running from the neck to the feet and can be flattering on some body shape. -- [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumpsuit]Wikipedia[/url]
[i]On using Nanovats. [/i] I can see making a pod that way, but not a biomorph. Though I do have something niggling at the back of my head about whether or not a cyberbrain housed in a biological body is actually feasible.
Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture
Re: Ponderances and Questions
cappadocius wrote:
I don't really 'get' your crazy human obsession with clothing.
One word: homeotherms. Although this is actually an argument why octomorphs ought to get leg warmers and other clothing too - their low body temperature is going to seriously impair them even in slightly cold environments. While a naked human can survive in a too cold environment for a while, octopods likely have a much more narrow activity range. However, making good clothing for underwater use is tricky due to the high thermal conductivity.
Quote:
Anyway, it's really hard to find jumpsuits in Octomorph husky medium.
Have you tried Ceres Connection? They have some neat designs.
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