Scrub (Generation Ship)

[Cholmondely]

A couple of questions about this one.

1) Does it use the "big traders" AI from BigShips.oxp?

2) How many people on a scrub?

3) Why finnish nomads? And is there a clan Spara?

4) Is there much difference in a pilot's interaction with the various clans? And what about the feuds?

5) How is the Broadcast Comms interaction coming along?

Reference: https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Scrub

The Scrub, a generation ship, is a vessel of astounding enormity, though the impact of viewing it is compounded by comprehending the energy at work in the motion of the three immense triangular modules that grind in opposing directions. With its significant number of inhabitants, the Scrubbers, it is not so much a vessel as a nomadic settlement, always itinerant, as it is unfathomable to conceive that such a moving body in space could ever come to a halt.

It is unknown how many Scrubs exist, nor is any great detail of inner Scrubber workings common knowledge, as reticence is central to their tight-knit culture, and outsiders very rarely join their inner fold, or even less frequently, withdraw to tell the tale.

Culture

Inherent to the nomadic lifestyle in space where unfaltering collaboration and unhesitant sharing of limited resources is key, the Scrubber ship cultures appear to have several features in common. Trading is integral to their survival, and trade with outsiders –though on strict Scrubber terms– isn't uncommon, but it is internally between the various clans of Scrub Nation that the majority of trading activity is staged. As the clans themselves know best what is crucial to survival and how to attain it, the most highly prized commodities for trade are moved through in-culture dealings. Inordinately honour-bound and riddled with archaic rituals, the manner of which the Scrubbers conduct trading is their most renowned feature.

The clans themselves function as extensions of families –though another of the few aspects widely known about Scrubbers is that they do not hold with freeloading passengers and every family member fulfils a useful occupation– so the line of distinction between crew and family is obscure, and it is presumed most Scrub crew members are to a high degree blood relatives. In fact, with the limited gene pool available in a considerable though limited amount of space, Scrub clan leadership need to maintain an infusion of fresh gene material, and an elaborate custom of arranged clan intermarriages is believed to be integral to the structure of alliances and trade agreements between the various Scrub factions.

As evidenced by the constant occurrences of surnames of Finnish origin (i.e Clan Kirvesniemi, Clan Jääskeläinen, Clan Myllylä, Clan Kokkonen, Clan Saarinen, Clan Pohjola, and so on) the cultural roots and available gene pool may to begin with have evolved from sources of close proximity. While this could suggest that a patriotic loyalty exists across Scrub Nation as a whole, bad blood may certainly occur and certain clan feuds have famously been fostered for several generations.

[Old Murgh]

A couple of questions about this one.

Alright.

1) Does it use the "big traders" AI from BigShips.oxp?

It did, or I tried to make it work, but the need for docking customisation and the process of building comms into the AI (pre-phkb's great Comms revamp) led to an adaptation of it.

2) How many people on a scrub?

The working theory is "several hundred" souls. Many enough to form a society but few enough that they need a system of blood exchange to avoid inbreeding.

3) Why finnish nomads? And is there a clan Spara?

Well, the inspiration was the culture of generation ships featured in Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy, "The Sisu" which seemed entirely of a Finnish culture. "Sisu" seems to embody courage and guts, hard work-ethic, know-how, resourcefulness, cohones etc. Seems appropriate for the kind of people who would choose such a life.
I haven't known very many Finnish people in my life, but those I've met have left a strong impression. It seems to me they have a culture that is hard to dilute.

Spara, on the other hand, just doesn't sound very Finnish. Not like Kokkonen, Kirvesniemi and Saijonmaa.. Such unique names.

4) Is there much difference in a pilot's interaction with the various clans? And what about the feuds?

So far there is randomness from a quite big pool of interactions-types, but little consequence from what they're communicating. I would be proud if I was able to script a method to branch comms sets into different behaviour sets.

The feuds (and alliances) are an idea I hope one day can be doable to implement. I imagine it requires a mission-like idea where these things are part of the framework.

5) How is the Broadcast Comms interaction coming along?

It was coming along, I wrote quite a bit of fluff, but there is a pause in all developments at the moment.

I left it at a technical cliffhanger tied to what I hoped to do with the Refugee Adder –where Comms might be able to prompt certain actions, (Specifically, telling a ship to "stand by for cargo transfer", and "follow me", temporarily making an NPC into a playership escort became my biggest desires..), and then phkb wrote:

.. If I get some time I'll look into how to make this happen.

Which gives me hope.

Then summer finally happened here and many RL events. But soon enough the long darkness will be upon me, very likely I'll be snowed in at home and have months to entertain myself with indoor projects, and a new computer to help me evolve.

[spara]

Spara, on the other hand, just doesn't sound very Finnish. Not like Kokkonen, Kirvesniemi and Saijonmaa.. Such unique names.

Indeed, not very Finnish. The reason for that is that my family name, from which Spara is derived from, is actually Swedish. Our fine nation has a long history with Sweden, hence some of our family names are Swedish. There was a time when a lot of family names were changed to Finnish names in the name of national identity, but my family apparently never saw that necessary. Too bad my family name does not grant me with fluent Swedish language skill, though

[Old Murgh]

Indeed, not very Finnish. The reason for that is that my family name, from which Spara is derived from, is actually Swedish..

Ah, so that's the explanation.
Yes, I see many famous Finns have names I couldn't distinguish from Swedish, I tend to assume they are most likely finlandssvenskar or ålänningar but I shouldn't assume.. I must say, when Finns speak Swedish it sounds very cool.

So yes, I only gave the Scrub clans archetypal names. I hope you don't disapprove of my amateur cultural expropriation for this little quirky Ooniverse feature.