Editorial Where No Game Has Gone Before: How Mass Effect Challenges Sci Fi's Greatest Achievements

[Sceptic]

Starring: low-tech civilization of evolved human colonists.
Guest starring: integral trees (massive, tidally locked, tree like plant organisms shaped like an integral symbol and about 100km long).
Also starring: orbital mechanics.

See that's why I love Niven. It looks silly on paper, but I'm sure he's got pages upon pages of character speculation on how and why these trees exist. And then he'll probably shoot down the whole theory anyway. He's like a pulp Lem.

Uh, but you have translator in Unreal and there are levitating Nali.

Yeah alright, forgot about these two. Especially the levitation.

 

[DraQ]

See that's why I love Niven. It looks silly on paper, but I'm sure he's got pages upon pages of character speculation on how and why these trees exist.

Well, I don't know about you, but I personally consider a workable idea for world with fairly earth-like conditions, but no gravity, no solid ground and orbital mechanics being an important factor to functioning of this biosphere quite a feat. Bonus points for it being a natural occurrence rather than artefact (hi, Ringworld) and another one for not involving unobtainium (hi Ringworld).

It almost seems as if Niven wanted to say "fuck planets, they're boring".


And yeah, I like Ringworld quite a lot, but Integral Trees had more impact on me.

Alas Niven doesn't seem to elaborate on why the trees grow up so large (he might in the sequel, I haven't read it, but there is one), but their mechanism of maintaining orbit is a major plot point.

And then he'll probably shoot down the whole theory anyway. He's like a pulp Lem.

I also respect Niven because when he gets mail telling him that he botched some shit up, he doesn't throw a hissy fit, but hulks out and writes a novel trying to rectify it in accordance with both science and established continuity. It's not like Ringworld was not hard enough, it was simply wrong, so when Niven was notified he just put on his manly face and fucking fixed it.

Imagine biowhore crew doing anything like that?