Technology as color in science fiction

[Snowden]

Part of the impact of Stranger in a Strange Land is the feeling of realism that comes from the SF coloring (and, indeed, partly from Heinlein's rep as a fairly-hard SF author.)

I was under the impression that "Stranger In A Strange Land" had achieved a limited cult status as a "countercultural" novel beyond Heinlein's existing sci-fi fanbase, or even sci-fi fandom in general; I would take this to suggest there was something "beneath" the coloring that gave it this broader appeal.

Cutting back to games, I believe that means that you can create games based on color or on structure or both, and that that is equally true for science fiction games and for fantasy games. [/i]It is a historical artifact that SF games have tended more to the structure side than have fantasy games.[/i]

...emphasis mine, obviously.  If anything I'd say that historically SF games have overwhelmingly come down on the "colorist" side by applying universal or fantasy-derived mechanics to settings that draw heavily from historical or fantasy sources (ancient Greek city-states, the wild west, the Odyssey, 17th century Caribbean piracy, feudal China and Japan, the cold war, Sinbad, Columbus, Casablanca, etc.).  But in order to avoid bringing the thread full circle, I guess we can agree to disagree!

[Rob Carriere]

I was under the impression that "Stranger In A Strange Land" had achieved a limited cult status as a "countercultural" novel beyond Heinlein's existing sci-fi fanbase, or even sci-fi fandom in general; I would take this to suggest there was something "beneath" the coloring that gave it this broader appeal.

Same impression here, including the conclusion. That's what the "part" thingy in my statement was about. Still, I'm sure the knowledge of the book's author's home genre colored its perception, even, or perhaps especially, by those who normally didn't read that genre.

But in order to avoid bringing the thread full circle, I guess we can agree to disagree!

Hey! Circles are neat! Seriously, I think you're right. I see what you mean, but have slightly different perceptions and I think the same goes the other way. I have certainly learned from the conversation, thank you.

SR
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[Harlequin]

To provide some context, there are some interesting past discussions of similar topics at The Limits of Sci-Fi and a spinoff thread at Groundbreakers.

Things like Big Idea games, see threads above, are orthogonal to the SF elements discussed so far in this thread.

- Eric