Science-fiction space-age

This page is about general ideas for a science-fiction space-age game. My main sources of inspiration are games like Mass-Effect, but I want a slightly simpler setup.

History
The history of this game should be very simple, and we're operating within 3 timelines.

Timeline one
Humans have recently discovered remains of an alien civilization that has shaped them into a joint force and pushed them out into space as they've started exploring and and settling other planets. Some humans live as frontiers on newly settled worlds, while others live on-and-off on space-stations and large semi-station ships that mine dead-planets for resources, and finally, the human space navy has recently come under attack by forces unknown, and the first contact war has started. On planet earth, the biggest discovery since spacetravel, is the acknowledgement of "psionics", whom Earth forces expect to use as their secret weapon in the war with the Aliens.

Culture/Inspiration
In this age, Earth is still the only majorly populated planet that humans control, but they're slowly spreading on successful colonies. Some colony worlds are more successful than others, and there are a few "city-sized" space-stations out there. Imagine a Mass-Effect/Star Craft/Star-Trek setting. Humans currently don't understand too much about the universe, but their technological level has been prematurely raised to the stars. Psionics have just been discovered, and first contact with the intelligent Aliens has recently happened.

Happenings
In this era, the alliance is formed, between humans and a few other powerful and intelligent species. An alliance akin to the one from Mass Effect. There is a long war between humans and another powerful species.

Timeline two
Human civilization has branched off into several factions spread across the universe as worlds have been settled. Many years have passed since the first contact wars, but not many technological advances have been made despite the large gap. Many other alien species have been discovered, some co-exist peacefully with humans, others are enemies. One thing almost all aliens have in common with the humans, is that almost all of them can survive under the same circumstances. For some reason, most intelligent life requires roughly the same atmosphere and gravity as a human, and almost 1200 years ago, an alliance between humans and several intelligent aliens started terraforming various worlds, using pinnacle technology. Now, almost 1200 years later, these planets are ready to be cultivated. A new age for frontier worlds has begun. Terraforming technology is still limited to planets that are close to having ideal cirucmstances, but it has still multiplied the amount of inhabitable worlds unfathomably. Among the factions in existence, is the FTA (Free Trade Alliance), the Alliance (Also known as the Republic) and the budding Galactic Empire.

Culture/Inspiration
We're looking at something more similar to Star Wars, essentially the High Fantasy version of Science Fiction. The Republic (formerly known as the Alliance) is a peaceful place where all member species co-exist blissfully, under the protection of the senate (formerly known as the council), but everything isn't as it seems. As with all great civilizations, corruption lurks under the surface and even in this democracy, some have more sway than others. Outside the republic, the free trade alliance has come to exist, a military union of independent nations, and far worse, the greatest adversary of the republic is the galactic empire, a facist feudal nation ruled by an elite of psionics. Not all species are capable of developing psionic abilities, and within the empire, those species are treated as slaves.

Happenings
A few wars happened in this period, but make no mistake, this isn't Star Wars. It was generally a peaceful period until the happening. A species of saptient and independant AI-constructs attacked, and almost crushed the universe.

Timeline three
A disaster has crushed the great human/alien alliance that secured relative peace. Some worlds have died, some races have gone extinct and peace is very fragile. Remnants of the old alliance cling to control of a few key-worlds, as they barely survived an all-out war with a superior civilization, though due to sheer numbers won a narrow victory. Now, life on the frontiers of space is all mankind really knows.

Culture/inspirations
In this time, humans and other species alike, are struggling to survive. The FTA nations cannot withstand the surviving might of the Alliance (Formerly the Republic - it changed back due to the structural collapse), but many frontier worlds don't want to join. On the other hand, remnants of the Empire still exist, and if that wasn't enough, the empire has started infighting. It's an age of rebellion, piracy and civil war. Think firefly.

Happenings
This is the "future", it's completely open, and no happenings are set for this age.

Technology
To keep track of the technology in this game setting, it's been divded into tech-levels.

Tech level 1
This techlevel represents extremely primitive technology, that predates electricity or even gas-driven or steam. Primitive gunpowder weaponry is included though. This kind of technology is available in all three time-lines, and can be acquired or crafted by any intelligent species, so it's never restricted.

Tech level 2
Represents the analogue age. While electricity, steam and gas is now available, computers aren't. This tech-level roughly equals the general tech level of the earth prior to world war II. Some frontier worlds use it, because it's easier to repair and requires less expertise, or at least less advanced means to manufacture. This technology is available in all ages.

Tech level 3
The digital age. It represents roughly present day technology, or rather a slightly futuristic variant. This kind of tech is available on most frontier worlds, but in smaller quantities. Mostly core worlds utilize this kind of technology, mixed with more advanced technology. It's available in all ages.

Tech level 4
Future tech. This technological level is available in small quantities everywhere, but it's much more difficult to get on the frontiers, than in the core worlds, where it's practically common. Tech 4 is available in all ages, and represents technology that is sci-fi related, or space-age related.

Tech level 5
Tech level 5 represents alien technology that, while from an aliens perspective might be below tech level 4, from a humans perspective, is very advanced. Aliens are as a rule of thumb, not more advanced that humans (with some exceptions), but all civilizations are in possession of technology that hasn't spread very far yet, maybe for a good reason. It could be that the technology simply isn't safe for other species or, unnnecessary in general for other species. Tech level 5 is only available in rare cases, but more available in age 2 than in age 1 and 3.

Tech level 6
Tech level 6 represents technology that, essentially isn't beyond the understanding of any of the allied species, but has been advanced to a point that could not yet have been achieved by the allied species, and cannot be reproduced without significant reverse-engineering. It's not available until age 3, as the only species to have used this technology would be the advanced civilization that almost destroyed the alliance. It cannot be made, only salvaged.

Tech level 7
Tech level 7 represents pinnacle technology. Technological advances have slown to a crawl at this point in time, but occasionally, a breakthrough is made. Tech level 7 is normally not available.

General notes about technology
This may be a sci-fi space-age setting, but don't assume that ridiculous inventions exist, like the jetsons and their "laser cutlery".

Virtual reality, hyper-space jumps, energy weapons, power suits, AI technology, nano-bots, artificial gravity and terraforming are some of the examples of things that do exist.

Iconic inventions
Certain iconic inventions exist in the game.

The lightsaber
While a lightsaber is fully capable of melting an incoming projectile, practically no one alive has ever attempted or succeeded at (a powerful psychic might be able to pull off such a feat as a sort of performance). Lightsabers have replaced swords in martial arts and serve a ceremonial purpose in some cases, but are otherwise unimportant and also too expensive to make viable choices for ordinary weaponry. The Lightsaber is available primarily in the middle-timeline. A few existed as prototypes in the first time line, and despite having fallen out of fashion, they still exist in the third timeline, mostly as relics of the past.

Hover-crafts
Hover vehicles are fairly ordinary on frontier worlds as there is limited traffic and not usually a whole lot of road, making these vehicles ideal, but hover vehicles make poor means of transportation in heavily trafficked worlds due to being incapable of very suddenly breaking. The repulsors used in hover-vehicles need to be rather large, so heavy vehicles do not work well with repulsors, but successful attempts have been made and are in use. They are extremely standard vehicles outside of densely populated areas in all timelines.

Personal aircrafts
Essentially flying cars, and not just floating vehicles. Using a mix of repulsor technology and jet engines, these vehicles are mostly found in metropolitan areas. The autopilot is so advanced that these vehicles could function almost entirely unmanned, because their inbuild computers communicate with others in the trafic.

Energy weapons
Plasma weaponry and laser weaponry are both invented and in use. Laser weapons have the distinct advantage of always hitting their target, but they cannot shoot through most covers. A plasma weapon fires plasma, limiting it's range and also significantly impairing it's ability to shoot through covers. Plasma and laser weaponry are mostly seen on space-ships and not that frequently as personal weapons, at least not in third and first era, but very very normally seen in the middle era. Prototypes exist in the first timeline, and some alien races use them, and in the third age, very few maintain the technology to manufacture this kind of weaponry.

FTL technology
FTL (Faster than Light) technology was invented a long time ago by races long dead. Humans, like most other races, have learned to replicate the FTL technology, but they still don't fully understand it. FTL drives seem to take a ship through another dimension, to save time when travelling. The first FTL implements were stationary stations that remain in use, that can accelerate a anything that has a corresponding FTL computer installed. FTL drives that work stand-alone are rare in the first timeline, very expensive in the third timeline and fairly common in the second timeline. In all the ages, it's fairly common that "public transportation" or the space-age equivalent, primarily uses stationary FTL accelerators, as do most transportation companies.

Spaceships
Spaceships come in many sizes, and with different purposes. In the second timeline, it's the norm to create most vehicles so that they can leave the atmosphere, maybe not on their own accord, but are still operational in space and possible to exist inside without a spacesuit. In the first timeline and third timeline, this is less of a priority as making things randomly space worthy is an unnecessary expense, and frankly, who leaves the atmosphere in a hover-car? Some very large spaceships are incapable of landing in most locations and for those same reasons, people rarely bother making them capable of proper atmospheric navigation, but as a rule of thumb, all mid-sized and large spaceships have their own oxygen generators, artificial gravity and atmospheric navigation capabilities. Small spaceships (such as fighters and bombers) are optimized for close-range combat and cannot utilize FTL, but can land without issues and such. They typically have oxygen generators, but they do not have gravity.

Drone technology
Drone technology (vehicles or mobile units of some sort, controlled by a human or an AI remotely) has advanced a lot. In the first timeline, combat drones have come a long way and play a role both in military operations and in home defense, while in the second timeline, surrogate drone soldiers are the norm in many armies. In all timelines it's fairly uncommon for assault vehicles to be manned, but of course, most of these vehicles (and drone soldiers) are built with the option to respectively manually pilot them or install a program to essentially turn the unit into an android.

Androids (droids)
Droids exist in all ages. AI and VI technology make it possible to create machines that can act on their own initiative, within the confines of their programming. There are many variables of these, and anything is possible. In the first timeline, androids are very uncommon and generally clumsy or very limited in their capabilities. The droids of the first age can hardly be considered intelligent, as in this timeline, restrictions were many out of fear of creating a rogue AI, and capabilities were also limited. In the middle timeline, droids are so common their numbers are probably greater than the number of living sapients. In the last timeline, droids still exist in great numbers, not as great, but there are still significant amounts of them.

AI and VI technology
AI and VI technology exists through out all timelines.

Biology
Even in the first age, living creatures have transcended ordinary development. The use of brain implants and body augmentations are the norm. We're at a point in time where cosmetic surgery is so normal that people rarely continue looking the same for very long, and have long since found a way to eliminate bad genes and manipulate a fetus to avoid taking poor features from the genepool.

Humans have reached the limit of their evolutionary potential, or so it seems.

Helpful mutations are instigated by genetic manipulation of a fetus and many humans turn out quite extra ordinary.

An ordinary human lives roughly to see 150 years of age, they rarely get sick as long as they stay in their own homeworld, and they naturally grow to be athletic and muscular. Humans are very strong and very smart for their size and relatively short life-span, compared to other species who fail to develop the same relative strength compared to their bodymass, or the same intellect compared to their age.

An average human male stands well above six feet (over 180 cm) and weighs usually about 200 lbs (around 90 kg) of pure lean cut muscle, cutting a fit athletic frame.

A human female is on average 4" (roughly 10 cm) shorter than an average male, and weighs usually 44 lbs (20 kg) less, with typically a perfect hour-glass figure and a surprising bust-size considering their almost abysmal body-fat percentage.

Hair color and types can be changed permanently though gene-manipulation, even after conception, so can eye color and beard types or even skin color so there's nothing that binds a person to their natural appearance.

Most people do not give birth in the natural way anymore, most children are grown in tanks, at least in core worlds. Of course most of the frontier worlds do not have such technology.

Mechanical or cybernetic implants go a long way to assist humans. Replacement of lost limbs is possible through growing of new limbs in cloning facilities, so mostly cybernetic augmentations are used when someone needs an extra edge, and because such cloning exists, cybernetic augmentations do not need to be permanent.

Aliens
Most alien lifeforms that are sapient and intelligent, are incredibly similar to humans. Some may be insectoid, reptilian or otherwise not mammals, but they're generally speaking all humanoid (with very few exceptions) and (again with very few exceptions) all require conditions of living that are nearly identical to humans. Granted, a reptilian or an insectioid can probably survive in harsher climates than a normal human, and can probably survive in an atmosphere that is slightly different, but most sapient aliens can use the same worlds and survive in the same artificial atmospheres (such as space stations or space ships). Some rare aliens are not at all humanoid and take strange forms and shapes, or live on planets that are completely impossible to exist on for humans. Some are more mildly displaced, such as living under water.