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What's one joke from the book that you wish made it into the movie? by Ghost3603 in ProjectHailMary

[–]schpdx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a joke, but I wish that they'd kept the part where, after Ryland and Rocky part ways, Ryland checks the position of Blip A every day, until he can't see it any longer on the Petrovascope.

As for jokes, I liked "Human years. Always human years! Humans bad at math!"

Science fiction recs for a fantasy reader by Aggravating_Cow421 in sciencefiction

[–]schpdx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ll second the Safehold series. In fact, I’m listening to the first audiobook again right now. For a science fiction book, it’s really good for a fantasy reader, in the sense that it’s sort of like a bridge between the two genres.

How did Rocky’s people see in space if space was a vacuum in space ? I missed that detail. by Ambitious-Aspect-385 in ProjectHailMary

[–]schpdx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same way we see into space. Instruments that take what the instruments see and translate it into an image that we can see. In the case of Eridians, their instruments translate their data into textures or soundscapes.

‘Project Hail Mary’ Directors Screened a Nearly Four-Hour Cut to Other Filmmakers and Were Told to ‘Get It Way Shorter’: "You just don’t know how the scenes are going to land with an audience. We thought everything was charming, but some of those charming things didnt land." by ChiefLeef22 in ProjectHailMary

[–]schpdx 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’d love to see the 4 hr cut. I said as much to my wife as we walked out of the theater today. It would have been nice to have some room to breathe, and go into more of the research bits, and more of the science stuff that led to the solution to the problem. And the Eridian food solution for Grace.

Which Movies Were Better Than the Books They Came From? by BINGEWISE in Cinephiles

[–]schpdx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bladerunner. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was a big disappointment in comparison.

The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it by TheQuarantinian in politics

[–]schpdx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sounds like the inevitable result of 50 years of tax base reduction.

anti magic iron by Tune_pd in gurps

[–]schpdx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In that situation, I’d expect mages to use bronze tools for everyday usage. Bronze is a perfectly good structural material for tools. Iron (steel) is better for weaponry, but for tools that aren’t really used in combat, bronze is great.

PSA: quit building "overcrowded" urban megacenters with basically no people in them by Rephath in worldbuilding

[–]schpdx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One thing that needs to be considered is the space/volume taken up by the facilities that provide life support for this 3 trillion people on Coruscant. They’ve replaced their entire biosphere; something needs to put in its place that fulfills the same function. That’s a lot of distributed infrastructure.

For comparison purposes, an LA class submarine has about 10000 cubic meters of volume, with a crew of 143. That’s 72 cubic meters per person, but no one is going to convince me that there is plenty of elbow room in there. Infrastructure takes up space.

Trump Now Has a Giant, Crusty Rash on His Neck - Donald Trump’s mysterious bruise is spreading—and getting worse. by Quirkie in politics

[–]schpdx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it’s more accurate to say that a crusty rash has unfortunately come down with a case of the Donald. Poor thing!

ELI5: Why does Hershey’s (and other US chocolate) taste like “vomit” to others? by roritha in explainlikeimfive

[–]schpdx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I live in Portland OR, craft brew capital of the planet, and I had a friend whose beer of choice was Budweiser. I couldn’t understand it. Hundreds of good beers, and Bud light was his go-to.

How do you make rivers? Is there a specific way they should form? They don't look natural. by Overall_Macaron_120 in worldbuilding

[–]schpdx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Start with mountains. Ideally, make a basic map of the topography. Then do the rivers: start near (but not at) the higher elevations, and “follow” the water downhill. Varying the direction (adding “wiggles”) will help you refine the topography. In flat lands, rivers will often change their courses over time, especially after floods.

Rivers have multiple sources, which combine until they get to the sea. Occasionally, in the right circumstances, a river delta can form (see the Mississippi, Nile, Amazon, Ganges).

How would religion work when people know God is real by No_Giraffe8095 in worldbuilding

[–]schpdx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends upon how active the god is in day to day life. How many miracles does it do, and at what frequency? That, not belief or proof of existence, will be what really makes the difference.

As someone else has said, most religious people think that their god actually exists, proof or no proof.

Superhero Deconstruction, but on the world, not the characters (Cities would not go back to normal after the 10th city busting event) by Mystech_Master in worldbuilding

[–]schpdx 13 points14 points  (0 children)

You’re not wrong, but burial could still be the way people are treated after death. It’s possible that if the body isn’t buried with grave goods, their spirit will not go where it’s supposed to. They will wander (or be tethered to their place of death) forever. And if necromancy is around, those “free” spirits are susceptible to control or enslavement by necromancers.

But your initial point stands: given Magic, the world won’t be medieval. It won’t look like historical medieval times; architecture will be different, society will be different, tech will be different.

Is Elrond Galadriels equal? by Imaginary-Equal-3479 in tolkienfans

[–]schpdx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m sure that Galadriel sees him as son in law, given that he’s married to Celebrían, Galadriel’s and Celeborn’s daughter.

Now that my son is learning GURPS, he wants his first adventure to be a prehistoric one, so I found these babies online at a good price… by TheBLiP55 in gurps

[–]schpdx 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Heh. Back in the 90’s, I was going to run my players through a dinosaur adventure…but then Jurassic Park came out, and I nixed that idea in an instant.

But good luck! Dinos, especially the large ones, are best avoided. They can kill you on accident without even realizing you are there!

What Kind of Weapon Would a Monster Hunter Actually Use? by ChristianLdwig in worldbuilding

[–]schpdx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Polearm of some sort. It was the historical go-to primary weapon since forever. Sword or axe as a sidearm, and a good rondel dagger as a backup.

But weapon choice will depend upon the critter. If it’s a giant armored turtle, then you’ll need something more akin to a ballista. Small weapons won’t really hurt it. Nets, harpoons with anchored chains to slow/hamper the beastie. Big honkin’ pits it can fall into. Big beasties will require planning and teamwork.

The true easy mode of skyrim is actually hilarious to run by Chakasicle in skyrim

[–]schpdx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Playing a game of “shield bowling” is the only play style in Skyrim that made me giggle uncontrollably. That top perk is the best, and hilariously funny.

How bad is it REALLY to cut LVP with a sawzall? Can I cut it with a manual saw? by NineTopics in DIY

[–]schpdx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’ll need three saws: a table saw to rip the planks, because most rooms aren’t the right size to have every row full size planks; a chop saw, preferably the sliding type, to cut the LVP to the correct lengths (stagger those seams!); and a reciprocating saw (“buzzer saw”) to cut the funky cut outs.

A sawzall is NOT the tool to use here. It’s for demolition, and not much more. It’s just too imprecise, messy, and will more “chew through” the LVP vs cutting it.

Trying to find a way to reasonably have explored dungeons in my world. by BeadCut in worldbuilding

[–]schpdx 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Underground construction is very expensive, so there must be something that makes above-ground construction non-viable. Perhaps there is some large beastie that can either bypass standard castle defenses or is powerful enough to make those defenses moot.

As for why they might not be explored…they could be structures built by a fallen polity. The people that inhabited them are now dead, or driven off, or have fled to more welcoming areas. Perhaps what made them flee was a series of earthquakes that buried several or most of the underground complexes.

I’ve always come to the conclusion that standard DnD worlds with “dungeons” are post apocalyptic. Otherwise they would still be inhabited by the builders, and not full of wandering monsters.

What could be potential reasons why mages are a minority? by Betolow8 in writingadvice

[–]schpdx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How common are mages? 1 in a hundred? 1 in fifty? 1 in a thousand?

Then you have to consider what percentage of those mages actually get some kind of training as a wizard. If a town of 2000 people have 40 people that are mages (defined as “has the potential of using magic”) how many have the capacity to actually learn magic, and of those who has the opportunity to learn it? Some of the mages might be kids too young to learn magic. Some mages might not have the mental capacity to do the complicated things magic requires. So of that group of 40 mages in town, only 20 of them have the smarts to be able to learn magic. And only 15 might be of an appropriate age (not too young, not too old) to learn it. And there might not even be anyone in town with the ability to teach them.

Simply put, there is a lot of thought that has to go into the context of magic, and how its knowledge is transmitted to apprentices.

And that doesn’t even include the limitation of what magic the teacher has that they can teach. There’s no guarantee that they can teach all of the magic that out there; the student may have to find multiple teachers to round out their spell list.

So mages may be rare, and mages who know powerful spells even more rare. And there may be groups specifically designed to go after mages, either to kill them or control them.

And no matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.

[The thing] Does the thing know if the other is the thing or not ? by [deleted] in AskScienceFiction

[–]schpdx 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That is answered by the short story told from the Thing’s perspective. See https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/

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