Almea+400

[zompist]

Some of you may have seen this on Twitter.

For the last forty years, time has stopped in Almeology, on 1 olašu 3480. The D&D group advanced a year or two beyond that, but when people have asked what happened next, I've had to say I didn't know.

No longer! I now have an outline for the next 400 years— up to ZE 3900.

As you can imagine, a lot happens in that time. ZE 3480 was comparable in technology to about the year 1800. So this period takes us through the equivalent of modern times, and then into science fiction territory. Some of it is predictable (a war with Dhekhnam! railways! rockets!), but I think there will be plenty of surprises, and I haven't forgotten the fantasy elements.

I've used the project also to start up a Patreon, so updates will normally happen there. You don't have to be a patron to read stuff, though some things will appear for patrons first.

The first installment is actually retrospective. I decided to write a history of the Caďinorian and Verdurian constitutions, and, well, they kind of overflowed, reaching 75 pages. They're written as chapters from a Verdurian scholarly work from 3622, so they contain hints about 'future' events.

Also coming soon, an introductory video. I still need to add the sound portion, and though it's going to be simple, I have to learn how to do that.

Finally, I need a replacement for Adobe Illustrator. If anyone knows a tool that does about what AI does and can read AI files, I would love to know about it. It doesn't have to be free, but I'm kind of appalled by Adobe's $21-a-month-forever pricing.

[Yalensky]

This sounds very cool, and worth the money if the content is as voluminous as you say. I hope you're not cutting down those 75 pages.

By the way, is there an expected donation amount or are you leaving it up to the individual donor?

You also have a typo in your URL. https://www.patreon.com/zompist

[Pabappa]

adobe released old editions of all the programs for free six years or so ago and they work fine for me. just as I used Photoshop 5.5 from 1999 to 2014 or so, Ive been using Photoshop CS 2.0 since 2014 and plan to keep on using it as long as I can.

it's legal, though Ive seen one person insist that it wasnt, on the basis that Adobe only did this because it was more cost effective to just release the programs than to keep their license servers on. But i find that hard to believe.

[zompist]

This sounds very cool, and worth the money if the content is as voluminous as you say. I hope you're not cutting down those 75 pages.

Oh no, every time I look at it, I think of something to add.

By the way, is there an expected donation amount or are you leaving it up to the individual donor?

I don't feel I can set an amount! Anything helps.

Thanks for catching the typo.

[zompist]

adobe released old editions of all the programs for free six years or so ago and they work fine for me.

Do you know where these live?

My copy of Photoshop Elements works fine. I don't understand why they don't do something similar for Illustrator. I'm fine with not having all the fanciest features. (I had Illustrator, but it just stopped working last year— it crashes on startup.)

[Raphael]

Cool! I think I can spare about €20 a month. I've already told my bank to transfer the money from my main account to the account connected to my debit card; as soon as the money has arrived there, which should be by Monday or Tuesday, I'll sign up (barring unforseen events).

I wonder how much I'll like it, though - I tend to think of fictional settings that have both magic and futuristic technology as kind of weird.

[Raphael]

I've already told my bank to transfer the money from my main account to the account connected to my debit card; as soon as the money has arrived there, which should be by Monday or Tuesday, I'll sign up (barring unforseen events).

Ok, I've just checked, and my bank has worked faster than expected - the money is already in the right account. That means I can sign up right now!

[Ares Land]

I use Inkscape, myself. It has about the same features.as Illustrator, it can open AI files and it's free. It's the tool of choice for Wikipedia maps.
The one problem is that the UX is awful. But I believe there's no other credible alternative.

I'm extremely happy with GIMP as a Photoshop alternative too.

[Pabappa]

Hmm. It seems like theyve pulled the download page, perhaps long ago. The impression I get is that they did what large, revenue-rich software companies often do ... quietly release an expensive product through a back channel so that people who cannot afford that product will come to use it anyway instead of switching to a competitor.

It is probably still possible to find the binaries somewhere .... I dont use P2P but in theory I could burn a CD and mail it out the old fashioned way. Assuming youre on Windows, that is ... not MacOS.

This software was already old when Adobe released it for download .... it is CS2, which came out in 2005. It's possible that, given fifteen years, Inkspace really is better. Also, I'd think Adobe would be willing to help you out with your existing installation, which is probably much newer than CS2. Do they really only offer customer service to those with the newest versions, even for traditional paying customers?

[Pedant]

Myself, I’m very curious as to how Kerri turns out, as well as whether Almeans do actually reach other planets and even other stars. Best of luck on this journey, sir, and good to see you getting back into it!

[WeepingElf]

I have already been curious about the future of Almea! Surely, this will reveal a lot of things also about the other planets of Ënomai, especially that tantalizingly blue Vlerëi - will it be habitable? Will it offer new soil for Almeans to take under their plow? Will it be full of fascinating alien life? Or a different question: Will they cope well with climate change and other aspects of the environmental crisis they are likely to run into when they industrialize based on fossil fuels? Perhaps they can show us a way who to deal with such problems ourselves. I have been feeling for long that there is a shortage of engaging fiction which shows us how to overcome these problems. Zompist, grab this chance by its horns!

[So Haleza Grise]

Exciting. I am always happy to see more of Almea!

Reading c19th and c20th European history, you sometimes get the sense of truly titanic forces reshaping every aspect of life in a way that must have been bewildering and hard to understand. The formation of modern states in particular was extremely violent! Even more so when the same forces were unleashed outside of Europe sometimes in even shorter timeframes. I wonder how much of 'familiar" Almea will be left, and how much multiple intelligent species can coexist on the same planet when potentially more than one of them has access to industrial-era technologies.

I'm hoping that more Almean scientific knowledge means more access to linguistic resources

[Raphael]

Exciting. I am always happy to see more of Almea!

Reading c19th and c20th European history, you sometimes get the sense of truly titanic forces reshaping every aspect of life in a way that must have been bewildering and hard to understand.

Very trivial minor note: I something think that it would have been more appropriate if the most-used human calendar on Earth would have a starting date of about a hundred years earlier, so that the events and developments of the 20th century would have happened in the first century of a new millenium rather than the last century of an old one.

I wonder how much of 'familiar" Almea will be left, and how much multiple intelligent species can coexist on the same planet when potentially more than one of them has access to industrial-era technologies.

Zompist has already indicated several times that the illii have technology more advanced than what humans on Earth have now, so they shouldn't be at too much of a disadvantage if the uesti industrialize. Dekhnam doesn't seem to be that far technologically behind Verduria. The Flaids appear to be up-to-date by uesti standards. And the elkari are said to have invented steam technology long before uesti did, so they might be able to keep up, too, though their small numbers and geographically small habitats might cause them problems. I can mainly see trouble for the icelani.

[WeepingElf]

My impression is that ilian technology is so hugely advanced that the uesti, flaids and elcari have no chance catching up with it, just apart from the fact that the ilii very strictly keep it to themselves, and won't reach the other Thinking Kinds a hand in matters of technological progress. And the icelani, if they are the Almean equivalent of australopithecines, they are essentially just upright-walking apes, no way smarter than chimps or gorillas, because that's what australopithecines probably actually were. They are very smart by "beastly" standards, but just as incapable to industrialize as chimps are.

Addendum: The ilii probably won't care about what is going on on dry land - until the abuse of the oceans (overfishing, pollution with oil, pesticides, plastics etc.) becomes too much for them to tolerate, at which point they may rip up the land dwellers' asses.

[zompist]

Addendum: The ilii probably won't care about what is going on on dry land - until the abuse of the oceans (overfishing, pollution with oil, pesticides, plastics etc.) becomes too much for them to tolerate, at which point they may rip up the land dwellers' asses.

Good prediction. Note that this becomes a problem pretty early. The steamship proper is just a few years past 3480, and oil becomes important in the 3500s.

In general, it becomes difficult for all the species to stay isolated and unconcerned.

[Raphael]

and oil becomes important in the 3500s.

Are they simply skipping the coal age?

[zompist]

and oil becomes important in the 3500s.

Are they simply skipping the coal age?

No... the document with dates is on the other computer, but I track Earth development pretty closely. There's 120 years before the year 3600, and oil ships were developed within that period (1904).

[zompist]

The intro video is done, and is available in this public post as well as on Youtube:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/we-have-video-41469760

https://youtu.be/45-xoHDyri8

The music is by Robin Morton. His bio is in the links.

[sasasha]

The intro video is done, and is available in this public post as well as on Youtube:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/we-have-video-41469760

https://youtu.be/45-xoHDyri8

The music is by Robin Morton. His bio is in the links.

Blowing both my cover and my trumpet, that's me.

I massively enjoyed working on this and can't wait to read all about the exciting future!

[dewrad]

Amazing. Shared on social media and incredibly excited about this!