Strange adventures on alien worlds are the stuff of classic science fiction.
Science fiction fans love to discover strange and wonderful new worlds. The enjoyment of reading about, watching or playing in an alien world, or even a whole new reality, rests on the effort the creator puts into making the setting both exciting and believable. Whether you are writing a novel, designing a game, or making a movie, you will need to think about the scientific underpinnings of your fictional creation. Follow these steps to get started creating your science fiction world.
Instructions
1. Decide on how important scientific accuracy is to the work you are creating. The science in science fiction often serves the storytelling, not the other way around. For instance, the space fighters found in movies such as "Star Wars" or television shows such as "Battlestar Galactica" do not make much sense in terms of physics. But viewers like them because of the sense of danger and adventure they provide. However, interesting story ideas can arise from the unexpected consequences of scientific facts. It is up to you to decide how much attention you pay to real-world physics. Science fiction fans refer to fiction grounded in real science as "hard" science fiction.
2. Establish the fundamental physical laws of your universe. As a rule, you are going to want to stay close to the real physics of our universe. If you alter the fundamental laws of physics, such as Newton's Laws, the universe will be radically different. Planets will not form, biology will not work in the same way and conventional storytelling will be basically impossible. If you are planning to tell a story with human characters, you will want to keep the basic laws of physics the same as the universe that produced humans.
3. Consider breaking just one law of physics. Most science-fiction settings include some form of faster-than-light travel, despite the fact that this is not possible. If you want this form of travel, you will have to come up with an explanation for it. Make sure to keep the consequences for your universe as limited as possible. In particular, unless you want time travel to exist in your setting, you will need to explain why faster-than-light travel is not effectively a form of time travel. The most common explanation is to posit a parallel universe where differing physical constants permit faster travel. This is often called "hyperspace."
4. Create planets by establishing their size, composition and atmosphere. The size and density of the planet will establish its gravity, which will affect how your characters behave while there. If you want humans, or human-like aliens, to inhabit the planet, its physical properties will need to be relatively earth-like. If not, consider how the planet's characteristics will affect the development of life.
5. Chart the implications of any changes you have made to the physics of your universe. If faster-than-light travel is accomplished by the use of "wormholes" through space, for instance, what implications does this have for politics, economics and travel? What happens to civilizations located near a wormhole, and how do they compare to those more distant? As you consider the implications of your setting's physics, you will discover you are well on your way to detailing your new science fiction world.
