SALVAGE SPACE: TECHNOLOGY LEVEL
The Past
What technological and sociological achievements have been made so far?
| TL | Technology Level Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -10 | Prehistoric | Before fire |
| -9 | Stone Age | Paleolithic, Ice Age |
| -8 | Bronze Age | Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, Ancient Chinese |
| -7 | Iron Age | Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman |
| -6 | Middle Ages ~500-1400AD | Medieval, Medieval Fantasy |
| -5 | Renaissance ~1400-1500 | |
| -4 | Age of Sail/Exploration ~1500-1760 | Pirates, Swashbuckling |
| -3 | Industrial/Technological Revolutions ~1760-1914 | Old West 1780-1920's, Horror 1890's-1920's |
| -2 | World War I and II ~1914-1945 | Pulp 1920's-1930's |
| -1 | Atomic/Nuclear/Space Age ~1946-1970's | Atomic Age Horror 1945-1970's, Superhero Era 1940's-1970's, Espionage Era 1940's-1980's, Space Age 1960s-1980s |
| 0 | Information Age ~1970s-2020s | Modern, Modempunk, Modern Conspiracy/Horror 1990's- |
| +1 | Synthetic (Biological/Intelligence) Age ~2020-2199 | Tomorrows, Cyberpunk |
| +2 | Stellar Age ~2100+ | Conquest of the Solar System, Transhumanism, After the Apocalypse (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, Technological, Ecological) |
| +3 | Slower-Than-Light Interstellar Age | |
| +4 | Massless Faster-Than-Light (Communication) | Moving energy/information only above c |
| +5 | Mass Faster-Than-Light (Travel) | Moving energy/information and mass above c |
Note: From TL+2 (Stellar Age) onward, multiple technology levels become possible in a setting as different distant locations diverge in their technological capabilities and social conventions.
The Present
| TL | TL DESCRIPTION | EXAMPLES |
|---|---|---|
| +6 | Faster-Than-Light Interstellar Age | Interstellar Expansion, Post-Scarcity, Federation |
What are the current, commonplace technological and sociological achievements?
Information Networks link people and their technology in real-time within the limits of the speed of light.
Store and forward Information Networks link people and their technology slowly across the stars.
Ever-increasing numbers of Orbital Stations accompany Outosts and Colonies on worlds and moons across explored space.
Biogenetic advancements empower biological augmentation, extended longevity, and Uplifted species to join Humanity as equals.
Artificial Intelligence, based on alogrithms and biological patterns within mechanical and electronics, empower endless forms of Robots, Androids, and Cyborgs and smart devices.
Synthetic Intelligence, based on biological techniques, empower Clones, Splices, Synthetics, and Replicants.
Offworld Outposts and Colonies push back the frontier in a diffuse sphere across the stars within 15 parsecs (50 light-years) of Earth and Sol.
Fusion reactors power Earth, colonies, stations, outposts, and spacecraft where solar, wind, tidal, and geothermal sources cannot.
The Span Drive harnesses fusion energy to drive spacecraft across interplanetary distances.
Extrasolar Surveys slowly push the frontier further and further into deep space.
Extrasolar colonies sprout in the wake extrasolar surveys as corporations and freelancers chase their fortunes in deep space.
Zero-time technology helped unlock travel between the stars bypassing part of the unforgiving physics of spacetime.
Negative-space technology also helped unlock travel between the stars bypassing another part of the unforgiving physics of spacetime.
Interstellar communication bridges the vast distance between the colonies.
Jump ship circuits and a growing network of jumpship supporting stations have begun linking the largest and most important colonies, accelerating trade and growth.
Farspan Drive pushes the colony starships effectively faster than light spurring emigration and trade across the colonies.
The Future
What technological achievements and sociological changes are coming?
| TL | TL DESCRIPTION | EXAMPLES |
|---|---|---|
| +7 | Galactic Age | Interstellar Empires, Decadent |
| +8 | Extragalactic Age | |
| +9 | Pre-Ascendant | the Krell, Markovians, Xeelee, limited mass/energy conversion and control |
| +10 | Post-Ascendance | After the Singularity, Post-Instrumentality, total mass/energy conversion or control |