A Little Insight Into the Making of Space Era

I thought I would post here the details and steps I take to create an interstellar polity in the Space Era Multiverse.

STEP 1 - NAME OF PRIMARY SPECIES, AND POLITY NAME
The name of the species can be absolutely anything that takes your fancy. Here's a few random species names off the top of my head: Viuovha, Nihelibna, Jeyhnu.

The polity name will usually be the name of the primary species, followed by a "government" type (e.g. Empire, Realm, Imperium, Kingdom, Republic, Solidarity, Gerontocracy. Look online on Wikipedia or something, or an online thesaurus, for a whole range of possibilities). There are also polities with

STEP 2 - SPECIES DESIGN
This is important, and will affect a lot of the rest.
- Step 2a
--- Determine the basics characteristics of the species, from species type (Humanoid, canine, feline, ornithoid, icthyoid, ursoid, cephalopod, etc, etc), how many arms / legs / tentacles / etc, how many eyes, what covers their body (skin, thick skin, fur, exoskeleton, scales, etc).
- Step 2b
--- Determine the species' native environment type. The most common is Gaian (Earth-like), but there are many different types of planets, of which 14 classes can be home to advanced civilizations.
- Step 2c
--- Determine the following statistics for the species: Willpower, Aggression, Xenophobia, Arrogance, Fertility, Intelligence, Disease Resistance, and Adaptability. Life Span can then be determined using the Fertility (high fertility generally has shorter life span).

STEP 3 - TECHNOLOGY REPORT
Next, I create a technology report for the polity. This uses a template, and allows for the easy calculation of technology points. Technology is developed in Generations, with the average being around 9th or 10th Generation, though some as low as 1st Generation, or as high as 15th Generation. I decide what sort of power I want the polity to be (Major, Secondary, Minor, etc), and then choose a technology level suitable for that power. For example, anything lower than 5th Generation won't have more than a thousand strategic star systems, and even anything below 8th generation would be stretching it, while a polity with more than 20,000 strategic star systems is likely to be 10th Generation or higher. Each technology generation has an "estimated" technology value, and all polities of a particular level should have a similar value. For example, the following four powers are 10th Generation, and have the technology values shown:
- Ershee'aht COnfederation, £3,433,920.
- Gapulagos Democratic Union, £3,334,250.
- Gescarothe Democratic Alliance, £3,347,270.
- Hedyna Sovereignty, £3,344,700.

STEP 4 - DESIGN STARSHIP AND STARBASE SPECIFICATIONS
Using the Technology Report, I then create three templates inan Excel workbook. Those templates are for Modern Starships (with most up to date technologies), One Generation prior, which will have the most ships, and slightly lower technology levels, and Twom Generations prior, which is starships nearing the end of their service. I then create a number of starship classes for each generation. In general, if there is a specific type (such as a Battlecruiser) in one generation, it will skip the next generation, so for example I would create an 8th Generation BC, skip 9th, and then create a 10th Generation one. There is no limit to how many classes a polity can have. In general I aim for about 8 - 12, but there are some with less, and some with more. Along with the warships, I also create medical vessels, explorers, scouts, and troop transports.

STEP 5 - LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Next is to decide where to place the polity. Will it be in an established region, or will you start a whole new region or galaxy? The possibilities are endless, all the interstellar polities combined take up 0.7% of the Milky Way Galaxy, but are divided between nearly a dozen galaxies. So there is plenty of room to start a new region, or to add a new polity to an established region.

All galaxies are divided into four quadrants; Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. The quadrants of the Milky Way are 2,500 sectors by 2,500 sectors (6.25 million sectors, and 100 million strategic star systems).

When placing a polity, I must bear in mind the neighbouring powers. Sticking a 4th Generation minor power next to a 12th Generation major power that is aggressive and territorial, would probably result in the minor power being conquered, though some small states exist with Space Era, even with only less than 10 star systems.

When I map out a polity, I note exactly the size of the polity (in subsectors) as well as how many stars of each type are present (this is important later).

STEP 6 - EMPIRE DEMOGRAPHIC / ECONOMIC WORKBOOK
The final step is to create the Empire Workbook. This is pretty extensive, including all colonies with a population over 1 million. The Tax Rate must be set, the fleet and starbases added in. Some major steps are:
- Step 6a
--- Set polity's civics. This is for Education, Training (Fleet and Ground), Healthcare, Media, and Suffrage (who can vote). Each Civic has several levels, which affect other things, like GDP, Population Growth, Internal Security, and Civilian Upkeep.
- Step 6b
--- Add the colonies. There is a colony generator (1 for each planet type), which creates the basic statistics. For each colony the following needs to be done:
------ Step 6b1
--------- Calculate food production. In general each world must porduce enough food to maintain their population, with excess food increasing population growth. Different polities will have different levels of excess food. Food production is affected by the planet's Agricultural Rating and the polity's Agricultural Production technology.
------ Step 6b2
--------- Add additional facilities, such as Hospitals, Military Academies, Barracks, R&D Facilities, and Manufacturing Plants (for building fighters and small craft).
------ Step 6b3
--------- Add Industrial Facilities. For this, Minor colonies will have between 10 and 60 ((Population / 2 million ) * ( Random ( 25, 125 ) / 100 ). Major colonies will have enough to fill up half their total space (so a planet with 200,000 space for facilities, that uses 24,000 space already, will use 76,000 space for industry (1,520 in this case). Member worlds will use up to 2/3 of their total space available, whilst the Capital (or Homeworld for a single species polity) will use up to 75%.
------ Step 6b4
--------- Lastly, add Power Plants to power everything. Major colonies, Member worlds, Subjugated worlds, and Capitals (Homeworlds) use Antimatter Reactors (if at least 5th Generation) or Fusion Plants (if under 5th Generation), whilst Minor colonies will use either of these, or Solar Plants.
- Step 6c
--- Add list of all Starbases. Starbases are listed individually, rather than wholly by class. There is no limit (aside from resources) for the number of Starbases a power has, but more Starbases means less ships. Starbases generally have Fleet Command capabilities, and can dock starships for maintenance, repairs, etc (the largest starbases can dock hundreds of Starships within).
- Step 6d
--- Add total number of ships in service per class. Ships one Generation below the Modern technology will generally be more numerous, with those that are two Generations behind nearing the end of their service life, and those of Modern technology only recently entering service. Starship service is only limited by resources, as all starships require Deuterium, Antimatter, and Hypermatter for active service. Also, there is no limit to the number of starships that are in Mothballs (reserve), as Mothballed starships do not use any resources (except money for Maintenance). The Military page will then calculate how many personnel are in active service, and overall fleet statistics such as: total tonnage, total number of ships (active and mothballed), total combat factor, totaL mainetenance cost, and totals of all small craft (shuttles).
- Step 6e
--- Assign Trade Units to neighbouring powers. It is possible to trade through the territory of a third party, if they are on good terms.
- Step 6f
--- Calculate the total number and size of Shipyards. There is no limit, but there is a minimal which is enough to build the fleet to its current level.
- Step 6g
--- Assign and calculate fleets. Most of the information is calculated by formulae once starship dated is added, so just the number of each class needs adjusting.
- Step 6h
--- Determine diplomatic relations. For each neighbour, determine current relationship, Embassy emplacement, and Attitude.
- Step 6i
--- List all R&D Facilities and determine any ongoing projects.

AND VOILA, IT'S DONE.

Then I just need to do the Empire Factbook, which is essentially putting all the important information into writing, with the addition of government systems (Legislature, Executive, Judiciary), and a few other important bits. Currently government types have no effect on a Polity, but I am thinking of changing that, I will make another post about that.

This MUST be done for every single interstellar polity, so you can imagine I am pretty busy.

I like it