Proposed RP: Pony Starship Idea

[Shyriath]

So, recently I got in my head, as I often do, a detailed image that I want to try to draw. The drawing itself is coming along slowly, as usual, but I thought about the general idea and I thought it might be possible to build a good futuristic Crossover RP around it. Some folks in chat seemed to like the idea and had some further suggestions, so here we go.

The general idea is this: the RPers are on a pony-built colony starship, traveling to a new world at slower-than-light speeds. The exact nature of the voyage is undecided: my original idea was that it should be a generation ship, with the current passengers being descendants of the originals living in a self-contained environment, but someone else suggested that it be sort of a Matrix-like arrangement, with the passengers living out their lives in a virtual world. I like that one too, honestly.

Either way, the ship has a controlling intelligence, which the passengers will likely be aware of in some fashion, and may even have occasional communication with, but they have little idea of what it actually is or what its motivations are (though I has Plans ). For the last two generations or so, said intelligence has been getting increasingly erratic and ineffective: the self-contained environment has been breaking down piece by piece, or the virtual world has been accumulating glitches that make things... strange.

The RP would start with or shortly before something rather more catastrophic happening; could be a lot of things with the self-contained environment, but in the virtual-world scenario the entire group of passengers could be decanted back into reality at the same time or something. The RPers would then go in search of the ship's intelligence to find out what's happened to it and whether it can be fixed. Possibly, if the ship were not too far from its destination, they might have to accomplish this before the ship actually arrives.

...

That's all I've got for ideas, I think. Good? Bad? Needs improvement?

[ShadowStorm88]

It's good im my opoinon.The matrix thing, Im uncertain of. Unless thier all connected to the same world, how would they be able to inteact if their all in thier own worlds?

[Shyriath]

Oh, yes, they'd be all in the same world. They'd have to interact with each other to stay sane, I think. One of the background ideas I have about this whole thing is that pony science has not been able to mimic intelligence and personality well enough to pass for real. In that case, having nothing but unusually bright and real-looking dolls to talk to wouldn't really work anyway.

Besides, if they're all in the same world it means some of them will know each other after they get kicked out into reality.

[Neoniie]

I, for one, am quite interesting in this. I believe I saw a similar idea on another roleplay board (though the name has slipped my mind at the moment) and it turned out fantastically. I really enjoy the whole Matrix-virtual reality idea. Either way, I know that I would definately end up participating if it takes off.

[jmayo]

If You Do This I Would Like To Join The Rp

[daftBLUE]

This sounds pretty neat.

[Stainless Steel Fox]

It's a cool idea. But why specifically ponies? This same idea would work for any group of characters. Not that I'm snubbing it, I want to be a part of it.

One Matrix idea might be that they're only ponies in the Matrix, and human outside..Maybe one of the controlling intelligence's idiosyncracies was that it got My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic recordings misfiled as the basic data for constructing it's virtual world, so it's plunged it's crew and passengers into that fitting their avatars to match.

I'd assume that the reason for the virtual world is boredom and lack of recreational space. Living all crowded on the ship would quickly drive most people nuts, as there just wouldn't be enough new stimuli to keep them sane. Also resting their real bodies may extend their lifespans, or it may be some form of partial coldsleep, not true cryogenics but hibernation. The body still ages but at a fraction of it's normal rate, and requires much less in the way of resources. To be honest, that last idea would work better for a sleeper ship than a generation ship, or it could be both.

Part of the fun would be that they have to solve problems both inside and outside the virtual system.Inside they'd have to adventure in an Equestria-like world, solving quests that would relate to fixing software bugs, while outside, they'd be in human bodies, working on the hardware. Sorry, this is your RP, I'm just inspired by the concept.

One thing I'd like to see in a real life pony starship is hippo-pedic tools (things designed for equines not humans). Interfaces should be designed for hooves and mouths.not hands. A seat would be a low cushion you could sit on,or a saddle you could lay long-ways on, possibly with pedal or stirrup-like holsters for your hooves, that double both as as control sticks and seat restraints. If the computer system is partially or totally magic based, I can see every console having a socket a unicorn could plug their horn into to take manual, or rather cornute control of it.

Headsets would be designed with around-the-head headbands, and earpieces thet stuck upwards and back to fit pony ear positions. Even food serving would be different, cutlery would be almost useless, and flatware would almost certainly be designed with a wide lip that you could hold in your mouth for carrying. Soup bowls might have a channel in the lip like a spout on a jug, allowwing you to pick it up and tip it to drink. Yes you can invoke the mysterious tactile tractor effect that even earth ponies exert with their hooves to explain more conventional equipment, but I feel that's lazy.

Sorry, carry on.