Good day, reader! I have been tinkering with a sci-fi world for around three years now, and I have nearly completed the bulkiest step of the project. When I am designing a world, I focus attainment of maps, locations, lore, characters, encounters, items, etcetera; what is important here is the locations.
I intend for there to be 262 locations, each with specific lore and mechanics around them, 239 of which are finished. I am having difficulty ideating possible locations for a flooded sewer system wherein travelers and mechanists dredge up scrap for their machinery.
Id recommend taking a look at this page https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_GB/region/zaun/ , looking at the city of Zaun in League of Legends. If that does inspire you, then the next step would probably be the series Arcane on netflix, which is a show set in that city.
The Warhammer 40k universe might provide some answers aswell, perhaps looking at the Adeptus Mechanicus for inspiration of inhabitants? (Not 100% sure, I played Warhammer Fantasy and now Age of Sigmar, only play a little of 40k now).
Hope this helped, if you need any more specifics let me know.v
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
Big 40k fan here- the adeptus mechanicus sound spot on in terms of aesthetics- I’d recommend looking at the hive cities as well- huge continent sized sci-fi cities with innumerable flooded and forgotten sub-layers. Outside of Warhammer, I’d definitely recommend Arcane, as well as looking at the history of large cities like Amsterdam and London, which historically are often flooded by the huge rivers running through them- which also act as sewer systems. Honestly it’s up to you, but I think that just by poking around dystopia novels and classic steampunk/scifi you’re likely to find some useful inspiration.
Do you have Tales from the Yawning Portal? Maybe try adapting some of the dungeons from that book to fit your world, and then build off from them , using published material to get inspiration and spring off from.
Many cities already have these structures. The probem is that you're wanting to use them to find usable tech that compares to if not is better than current in world tech...
and that's just not likely to happen.
Not to say it isn't useful. To be honest, part of the reason the government is so secure is because of how dated and backwards it is. You can make your sales tax payments online, but the data entry is so restrictive and such a PITA because they aren't focused on being user friendly as getting the data they need and doing it securely.
Your voting machines will NEVER be hacked because they're basically 8 track tapes hooked up to devices simpler than your standard calculator.
Weirdly, I wouldn't find it strange if some of the systems still running only in dos or some other archaic system are ridiculously secure within our infrastructure simply because simplicity of the system means less dependencies, less access points, and because it's archaic, everyone's going to be working on writing viruses for windows 11 and not some 70 year old OS.
Ah, given my meager few endeavors on social platforms, any attention is surprising. There are some great resources here.
I shall shift my perspective to the subterranean systems neath London, with a scouring eye kept on Paris. Regarding sewage infrastructure, Europe likely has some of the most fruitful locales.
There's that Metro game? Like, it's a shooter, and a metro not a sewage system, but the aesthetic might suit you. I'm sure you can google a bajillion pics and videos. Also, Fallen London, Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies might work for you.
Why would scrap be in the sewers? A metro might literally work better for you. Otherwise, I'd maybe cook up some crazy story about how an earthquake, nuclear strike or asteroid impact crushed a weapons manufacturer or high-tech R&D lab, and plunged untold billions worth of rare materials and untested tech into the cavernous tunnels and silos of the underground Waste Management and Recycling Automated Factories. Have a few aggressive hunter-killer Pest Control units, and a few similarly proactive Troubleshooter droids mucking around down there on back-up power.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I wanted a concise post for the sake of the commentary; I do have relatively expansive lore to substantiate the state of the domain. It's not an organically inhabited location, but instead home to detritus from many ages. The aesthetic of a sewer is what I have had in mind, even if not in purpose.
I'll look into the resources you've promulgated. Thank you as well!
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Good day, reader! I have been tinkering with a sci-fi world for around three years now, and I have nearly completed the bulkiest step of the project. When I am designing a world, I focus attainment of maps, locations, lore, characters, encounters, items, etcetera; what is important here is the locations.
I intend for there to be 262 locations, each with specific lore and mechanics around them, 239 of which are finished. I am having difficulty ideating possible locations for a flooded sewer system wherein travelers and mechanists dredge up scrap for their machinery.
Any ideas for this?
Id recommend taking a look at this page https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_GB/region/zaun/ , looking at the city of Zaun in League of Legends. If that does inspire you, then the next step would probably be the series Arcane on netflix, which is a show set in that city.
The Warhammer 40k universe might provide some answers aswell, perhaps looking at the Adeptus Mechanicus for inspiration of inhabitants? (Not 100% sure, I played Warhammer Fantasy and now Age of Sigmar, only play a little of 40k now).
Hope this helped, if you need any more specifics let me know.v
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Big 40k fan here- the adeptus mechanicus sound spot on in terms of aesthetics- I’d recommend looking at the hive cities as well- huge continent sized sci-fi cities with innumerable flooded and forgotten sub-layers. Outside of Warhammer, I’d definitely recommend Arcane, as well as looking at the history of large cities like Amsterdam and London, which historically are often flooded by the huge rivers running through them- which also act as sewer systems.
Honestly it’s up to you, but I think that just by poking around dystopia novels and classic steampunk/scifi you’re likely to find some useful inspiration.
Be Excellent to one another. Rock on dude.
Ah cheers man, my 40k knowledge aint too great. Most of it comes from some poking about and the Bricky youtube videos 😂😂
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Do you have Tales from the Yawning Portal? Maybe try adapting some of the dungeons from that book to fit your world, and then build off from them , using published material to get inspiration and spring off from.
Not what I was expecting, but ok..
London and Paris are probably good source materials.
Paris has its underground catacombs which you can tour (or get a virtual tour of)
https://www.getyourguide.com/paris-catacombs-l2605/paris-catacombs-skip-the-line-ticket-t66985/
Then there's the london beneath london...
no, not Subterranean London , though that wiki page is quite nice,
The Literal Underground City Beneath London
Many cities already have these structures. The probem is that you're wanting to use them to find usable tech that compares to if not is better than current in world tech...
and that's just not likely to happen.
Not to say it isn't useful. To be honest, part of the reason the government is so secure is because of how dated and backwards it is. You can make your sales tax payments online, but the data entry is so restrictive and such a PITA because they aren't focused on being user friendly as getting the data they need and doing it securely.
Your voting machines will NEVER be hacked because they're basically 8 track tapes hooked up to devices simpler than your standard calculator.
Weirdly, I wouldn't find it strange if some of the systems still running only in dos or some other archaic system are ridiculously secure within our infrastructure simply because simplicity of the system means less dependencies, less access points, and because it's archaic, everyone's going to be working on writing viruses for windows 11 and not some 70 year old OS.
Just food for thought.
Ah, given my meager few endeavors on social platforms, any attention is surprising. There are some great resources here.
I shall shift my perspective to the subterranean systems neath London, with a scouring eye kept on Paris. Regarding sewage infrastructure, Europe likely has some of the most fruitful locales.
Thank you very much!
There's that Metro game? Like, it's a shooter, and a metro not a sewage system, but the aesthetic might suit you. I'm sure you can google a bajillion pics and videos. Also, Fallen London, Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies might work for you.
Why would scrap be in the sewers? A metro might literally work better for you. Otherwise, I'd maybe cook up some crazy story about how an earthquake, nuclear strike or asteroid impact crushed a weapons manufacturer or high-tech R&D lab, and plunged untold billions worth of rare materials and untested tech into the cavernous tunnels and silos of the underground Waste Management and Recycling Automated Factories. Have a few aggressive hunter-killer Pest Control units, and a few similarly proactive Troubleshooter droids mucking around down there on back-up power.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I wanted a concise post for the sake of the commentary; I do have relatively expansive lore to substantiate the state of the domain. It's not an organically inhabited location, but instead home to detritus from many ages. The aesthetic of a sewer is what I have had in mind, even if not in purpose.
I'll look into the resources you've promulgated. Thank you as well!