Specter Chronicle 003: Worldbuilding

I have slowly been building a connected universe of stories for the better part of 35 years and I have finally reached the point that I can start putting out actual information about one facet of this connected universe. Since I’ve got this website and a fancy column I write, I figured I’d just write about it here… so here it is, a column about my worldbuilding (as well as worldbuilding in general).

Let’s go!

I should start by saying that all my stories or backgrounds for stories didn’t start out connected. When I started out creating my own shared comic book universe (which is not the universe we’re discussing here), I intended it as a stand alone thing. That goes for my Doctor Who pastiche (also not what we’re discussing). There were a couple of other things that also got created on their own and I had no intention of them joining anything, either.

But an epiphany happened one day.

I stepped back and looked at all my half written first drafts, scanned all the outlines, looked through all the character arcs, and finally took a broader look at all the directions the characters in each “universe” was heading. Did everything line up perfectly? Absolutely not, but there was something there.

The pastiche was the glue because it has an oddity built in that can be connective tissue for everything else. Using that as the starting point, I grabbed the comic universe and weaved part of that into the pastiche… and came up with a hell of a killer “end point” to build towards. That point worked for the universe we’re going to talk about today, too, as well as a few other items.

And that is how it all started.

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The world I’m going to discuss today has roughly 20,000,000 years of history to it. While I would limit the “recorded” history to only about 14,000 years (the “end point” mentioned above is the stopping point), the world does have a whole lot more going on. If one were to compare it to another planet, say Earth, obviously things went on before recorded history here, too.

Now, I can keep being obtuse and continue calling it “the world,” but I’d rather make it simpler and tell you what the name is: Dhumin. If you’re wondering, yes, Dhumin is a Cthulhu Mythos Great Old One. The residents of this world named their world after this very deity, on purpose, and they do have a means of reference for it that will eventually be revealed through story. In fact, their entire solar system is named after Cthulhu Mythos entities, as that is their cosmological exposure at the time of their astronomical discoveries.

Hopefully, I have a few people excited about the story aspect, at least. I intend to do a “History of Dhumin” podcast at some point, not quite as in depth as Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, but more than just a rattling off of names and dates.

Being an amateur worldbuilder, I wanted to make something that was wholly my own, but I also wanted the world to look somewhat realistic. This meant that I couldn’t just hand draw a map (although that only came after four or five attempts) nor could I just take and modify another map (much like George RR Martin did for the Game of Thrones Westeros continent). So, I decided to come up with a different idea all together.

I found a plethora of different “landform” shapes that I thought would look good as continents and islands (that would also fit into some of the key events in history) and saved them to my computer. Each one was then sized to however large I needed it, silhouetted, and added to a much larger map of the entire surface of Dhumin. Once everything was positioned correctly, I overlayed a temperature zone layer and toyed with it until I knew which areas would be icy and which ones would be tropical. All I needed then was the actual interiors of the continents.

Before I get too far, why don’t I show you the world map of Dhumin, complete with temperature zones.

The warmer the color (red, orange, etc) the warmer the climate, the cooler the temperature the cooler the climate. Continents are a bit debatable in this case, though, as I haven’t really declared any in particular. So, I should do it right here during this column, how about that?

Starting in the west is definitely a continent (one), moving east in the north to the three island archipelago arrangement with the center one that looks kind of like a horse rearing up should be a collective second continent (two), the landmass right next to them is likely its own continent (three), connected via land bridge to the “bird shaped landmass hovering over two nests” continent group (four), then we have the long continent (five), just to the west the one with the obvious crater just to the south of it (six), and finally the big island to the west with the trail of islands going west is the last one (seven).

These continents have not, as yet, been named because I am preparing to go through and get more detailed into the history of this world. Part of that history is writing some of it as that history is “happening,” meaning names of things will be given as those things are “discovered.”

I have a rough understanding of what the whole history of the world is, I just haven’t gotten more detailed into that history. This is where the podcast and writing a deeper outline so that books can be written. Ideally, a full cast audio drama series would be great to flesh out some eras of the history but small steps.

I’ve gone off on a weird tangent and should get back to the topic at hand: worldbuilding.

With such a long history (as mentioned above, either 20 million or 14 thousand years of it), there are a lot of eras available to delve into… but all history starts at the beginning. Since this is a fictional location, one might describe this particular era as a “fantasy” era.

Demographics

One of the easiest thing to do in the case of most fantasy worlds is to base the majority of the sentient life on humans (humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes, etc). I mean that each species is basically a slight derivation on humans (taller, shorter, pointed ears, etc) and there are plenty of fantasy works in the world that cover these areas in abundance.

Since Dhumin’s inception, however, I have made a conscious effort to deviate from the “fantasy norms” and also come up with a reason to have these different species on Dhumin (scientifically speaking). I won’t elaborate on the scientific background of the reasons on why species of Dhumin exist but know that there is definitely a reason.

I did begin with humans, the basis for something to latch on to, as something “familiar” for the reason or consumer of the information. Humans are no greater in number or lesser in number than the other species who inhabit Dhumin, but they are in just as wide a variety as one is used to here on Earth. They are only one seventh of the inhabitants.

Along with them are a species who have bioluminescent skin called Lumyen (loo-me-en). Lumyen do resemble humans in appearance, except for their glowing skin and colored hair. Biologically, Lumyen women are the dominant sex as they range in size from 6’9″ to 7’11” tall, and they are far more muscular than their male counterparts. Male Lumyen are 5’0″ to 6’2″ tall and socially the ones responsible for childrearing. This species originated in subterranean locales and is largely considered responsible for the bioluminescent skin.

The third species are called the Pranthos, a pseudo-bipedal feline species. Pranthos can be both bipeds and quadrupeds depending on their needs. The fur of the species tends to be dominated by stripes but can also resemble maned felines or spotted as well. Both males and females share the duties of the species and seem to largely be ambivalent when it comes to social norms.

Next in line are the Drokahn, a species who do resemble humans in figure only. All Drokahn are genderless but resemble the males of the human species. Drokahn skin is a pitch black, their eyes are solid white, their mouths are also solid white (to include their blood), and they have no nose. They have natural night sight, though they can also see in regular light just fine, and each have the ability to reproduce twice in their lifetime.

A familiar-esq entry to the list of species are the Hardravin, basically dragons. The Hardravin come in a variety of shapes and sizes, though believing that they will reach the sizes depicted in popular media (like the dragons in House of the Dragon, specifically). Hardravin are larger than most of the other species on Dhumin but they are mostly not gargantuan in size and more-so resemble Eastern style dragons… though the Western style ones do exist in a smaller capacity. These are the most long lived species on the planet, with an average lifespan ranging about 350 years or so.

All of the species listed above are made up the same basic building blocks of life: skeletons, musculature, blood, nervous systems (that are recognizable), and so on. Yes, that means we deviate from that with the final two “indigenous species” on Dhumin significantly enough to be unique.

First of the final two are the Vodan, a bipedal species who are vegetation based. The Vodan have a watery sap for “blood,” vines and greenery for “organs,” and a wooden bark for what would pass for “skin.” There is really no “norm” for a typical Vodan, they come in different shapes and sizes as well as a variety of “colors.” While the Hardravin are the longest lived on average, Vodan have been known to live well past even the oldest Hardravin. This would be largely due to carefully avoiding combat and taking care of oneself to the best of their ability.

Finally, we have the Kryskuul, the silicone based species on Dhumin. Bipedal and crystalline coated, the Kryskuul have essentially a biologically built in armor due to the crystals. There are a number of things that make the Kryskuul different than the other species on Dhumin, like the lack of a “blood” inside and the fact they regrow their damaged pieces slowly over time (crystal formation). While higher temperature areas are where the Kryskuul thrive, they are able to survive in colder environments in extreme circumstances.

That rounds out the seven sentient species that inhabit Dhumin. There are other species that are on the planet, too, such as the animals and plants that live on the planet. I won’t be getting much into those in this world during this column but they do exist… but I will hint that there is another sentient species on this planet, though they aren’t indigenous to Dhumin.

Surface Features of the World

The map I posted above is just the continental (and island) outlines of the world, along with the temperature zones. There is a lot more detail going on in my map than just that, I didn’t want to just go right into the full reveal right off the top, though. Here’s what the world looks like through a “satellite view:”

Yes, I watermarked it. Sorry, but there are a few more things that will be going on in this map and it’ll be getting bigger for the official release of the information coming later. Let’s not concentrate on that part.

The map contains mountains, deserts, rainforests, tundra, and other kinds of landforms that are clearly visible… from space. The aforementioned first continent has a mountain range so large that it has a permanent snow covering hundreds of miles across (and yes, the mountains in that range are HUGE). All of this world has things going on and there are mysteries to the species that I described above because, you guessed it, in 20 million years things have happened before recorded history.

In Conclusion

Yeah, it feels like I just got started. There is also a lot more to the whole “worldbuilding” thing in general. I alluded to a lot of stuff that I have worked out and you should also have those things at least outlined so you can build your own world.

I also hope that I hooked you with the world that I’ve built here and you’ll come check out the stories that will be told involving the characters from this world. Dhumin will have initially stories revolving somewhere near the “beginning of recorded history” (the fantasy era) and will eventually have tales (or a series of tales) come from the space age (or the future era). Fantasy to science fiction is quiet a range and there is a whole range of things that go on in between.

Thanks for reading.

Specter Chronicle 002: Boxing’s Problem

My personal story with professional boxing started in the early 90s, when I happened upon a free boxing event on ABC where a world title was being defended (successfully, I might add). After that, I really started getting interested in the sport that lasted for quite a long time. I stopped being as interested in the sport when it stopped being about legitimate competition and became more about waistlines just under one’s nipples.

Let’s talk about what’s wrong with boxing.

Mixed Martial Arts

One of boxing’s biggest competitors is mixed martial arts. When the UFC really came on the scene as a weight class separated league, boxing really stopped being as interesting a sport. Not that the fighting was anything less but the fighters themselves started doing weird things in the ring.

This is the era when the “waist” or “belt” started creeping well up into the ribcage area, hugging your opponent became the go to move in the ring, and big fights stopped happening between the fighters fans really wanted to see fighting because the fighters started making demands that were unreasonable of their opponents.

What do those things have to do with MMA? Well, what MMA did was start morphing into what people wanted to see: action oriented fighting.

Forget the differences in the sports for the moment. MMA condensed rounds down to three five-minute rounds, five for championship fights. They didn’t have a “hug your opponent and break up” thing because there is a grappling factor in MMA, so no slowing down the action in the majority of the fighting. There was also the removal of one of the biggest problems: big fights happening between the fighters fans want to see more often.

MMA was doing things right where boxing was not.

Boxing Isn’t Mixed Martial Arts

This header is 100% correct. Boxing is NOT mixed martial arts and never will be but there are things that boxing continues to do that will continue to hamper it as a sport.

Boxing’s events are mostly pay per view at this point, with very little offered for free to the uninitiated viewer. As I stated in the very first paragraph, I came across boxing on ABC in the US on free TV and probably never would have given it a second look had I not seen it where I did with a world title on the line on free TV. Just like giving a movie a chance for $25 a ticket you’re not sure about, no one is going to put down $70 on a boxing PPV just to “see if they like it.” Discoverability is a big deal.

MMA has discoverability as there are several places you can watch it, for free, around the world.

There is some boxing available on YouTube or other Internet sources, sure, but nothing live. Sports really rely on the live component and without the live component, boxing is hurting. You need MAJOR networks or stations on TV to get those random viewers.

Boxing’s Problems And Their Solutions

Boxing’s single biggest issue has to do with their sheer number of governing bodies. Pre-1970, there was only one ranking for each weight class and that meant only one champion per division in each weight class. One undisputed champion of the world per weight class.

Currently, the recognized governing bodies considered the “Big Four” are the WBC (World Boxing Council), the WBA (World Boxing Association), the IBF (International Boxing Federation), and the WBO (World Boxing Organization). Each organization ranks their own boxers individually, meaning there is a potential for 10 completely different boxers to be ranked per division per organization… and that would mean 40 ranked fighters per division.

Each of the Big Four do not rank the other organization’s champions, so there are potentially four separate champions per division as well… and the WBA makes that even more complicated by having a “super champion” when their WBA champion wins a second belt, and gaining the super status… meaning someone new can get the “regular” WBA championship then. That makes a potential of five champions per division.

Another HUGE issue for boxing, in my opinion, is the over abundance of weight classes. There are currently 17 weight classes in boxing, with some being as little as three pounds in difference. That is just too many weight classes. So many weight classes removes the eliteness of the athletes and gives the opportunities for championships to too many individuals.

Four main governing bodies with potentially five championships per weight class is a total of 85 world champions. There is actually another organization that some consider “the fifth” of the Big Four, the IBO (International Boxing Organization), which would add another 17 world champions to that mix. With 102 possible world champions, who can give a damn anymore?

Another big problem that I haven’t concentrated on is the “hugging” issue. When two boxers get to punching each other and one doesn’t like getting hit so much, that guy tends to “hug” the other one to get him to stop. This forces the referee to break the two apart, giving the two fighters a small respite before they resume punching each other. As the fight goes on, this becomes more pronounced because the two fighters are more exhausted.

The final issue that I haven’t addressed is the fights themselves. Fighters are essentially responsible for setting up their own fights, though this is done through promoters, and therefore is left to benefit the fighter for whom the fight is being arranged. In the case of “big fights,” then the guaranteed money for the fighter is the primary concern. This is understandable, of course, but doesn’t result in very many “great fights” in the sport.

What about the solutions part?

This is where I get to those.

THE magazine that represents the sport of boxing is The Ring, which is basically the authority on the boxing industry. The magazine started in 1922 but has now become a website with more up to date information. They’ve devised a system to rank professional fighters separate from sanctioning bodies, having strict rules for who can be considered for a championship.

This is the solution to the “too many organizations” issue. Ignore the sanctioning bodies and just have a separate and widely agreed upon authority to rank fighters. No organization should be ranking fighters and certainly shouldn’t be handing out championships. Boxing is so diluted with belts right now they don’t even matter anymore.

Boxing’s next big issue to solve is a simple one: condense the weight classes. Seventeen is too many. If there is only three pounds between weight classes, that isn’t enough of a difference. I take bigger craps than that.

Here’s the divisions that currently exist, and I’ll just go ahead and strikethrough the ones we can get rid of right off the bat: Heavyweight (201 lbs and up), Cruiserweight (200 lb max), Light Heavyweight (175 lb max), Super Middleweight (168 lb max), Middleweight (160 lb max), Light Middleweight (154 lb max), Welterweight (147 lb max), Light Welterweight (140 lb max), Lightweight (135 lb max), Super Featherweight (130 lb max), Featherweight (126 lb max), Super Bantamweight (122 lb max), Bantamweight (118 lb max), Super Flyweight (115 lb max), Flyweight (112 lb max), Light Flyweight (108 lb max), and Mini Flyweight (105 lb max). I’ve eliminated 7 weight classes, 28 world championships (or 35 if you include the IBO). Most of the ones I removed were created in the 1980s or later, right around when three of the Big Four were running rampant over their heyday. There is a Bridgerweight division (224 lb max) recognized by the WBC only, and I haven’t mentioned anything about that.

Moving on to the “hugging” problem. Boxing should focus on the action and that means avoiding the hugging. An obvious solution is to remove a point every time one of the fighters initiates a hug. Yes, a full point for each instant they hug. If you have an older champion that is hugging a lot, then they could end a round with 0 points. That’s on their head. I assume this isn’t going to be a popular solution, so I’m going to suggestion another one, which isn’t going to be popular either but at least I’ll have suggested two instead of one. The second suggestion is to lengthen the rounds from three minutes to five minutes, and shorten the number of rounds from twelve maximum to seven… and forcing the clock to stop when a hug is engaged. Yes, stop the clock when the hug is engaged, which means whoever thinks they’re getting out of the fight easy is losing the advantage.

Solving the final issue is the trickiest one but also an easy one to fix. Reading this, you might be inclined to believe that I’m going to suggest that The Ring take over as the indicator of who should fight who, but that isn’t what I think at all. Once a fighter is ranked in, say, the top 25 of the world (allowing The Ring to be the arbiter of the official rankings), if the fans vote that they want to see a fighter face someone in particular, then that is the fight that is made. They’re the ones paying for the fight, let them determine who the fighters fight. This eliminates top 10 ranked fighters from continuing to fight scrubs while the champion of a division only battles top 10 ranked fighters. The negotiations should be simple, too… the winner gets 75% of the purse, the other 25% goes to the loser… a draw is 50-50 split. That encourages everyone to try and win.

Thoughts and Responses

I already know my ideas aren’t going to be popular with boxers. They really aren’t going to be popular with sanctioning bodies or promoters. Even these suggested improvements aren’t going to be taken because I’m one voice in a sea of millions and I’m the only one making these suggestions… and I don’t even care if I get credit, just make the changes.

Boxing is called “the sweet science.” That hasn’t been true for a long time. It hasn’t even been true during my life time. The sport deserves better than what is currently being done to it by the very people claiming to be its stewards.

The sport needs to get rid of the Big Four and the rest who hand out belts like participation ribbons. Boxing needs to condense their 17 weight classes into something more manageable… if not 10, or the “prestige eight,” then figure it out, but is must be less. Hugging needs to be eliminated or at least severely limited in the future… it is out of control. And the big fights need to happen without months or years of delay because of selfish fighters or ridiculous demands… because fans deserve to see two fighters in their primes fight, not argue about terms.

Specter Chronicle 001: NASCAR, NASCAR Heat 5, and Auto Racing Simulation

The move towards returning normalcy back to this website is one step closer as I am shifting from a generic “Emerald Specter” column to this new “Specter Chronicle.” The first topic for this is in the title: NASCAR, NASCAR Heat 5, and Auto Racing Simulation.

As a fan of the NASCAR Cup Series, I have followed the sport for quite a long time. My first full season of watching was in 1992 when Richard Petty ran his final race and Alan Kulwicki won the Winston Cup. There were a large number of “legends” present during this season and it also kicked off my determination to want to start trying to simulate the sport.

Since ’92 was more analog than digital, the first attempt was cards. I have since learned that there was a NASCAR Race Cards game that essentially did what I was trying to do, but my game was closer to a 10 lap race. That card version also required friends to play and trying to run any sort of “more than a night of games” league wasn’t happening. I wanted something that was more of a simulation of a season than just a race.

While enjoying Cup Series I was also learning to code in BASIC, which meant I could try to create my NASCAR dream in a digital form! I could simulate an entire field of cars but my parameters relied heavily on randomness, meaning drivers weren’t able to be super consistent.

Video games evolved enough, eventually, to liven up the scene. While I could simulate entire seasons, or careers, I still had to be personally involved… and that wasn’t exactly what I was after. I did enjoy my time with those early versions but it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for in simulation.

But that does lead me to the specific video game I’d like to talk more about: NASCAR Heat 5.

True, I haven’t personally played Ignition, but my opinion of Ignition comes from someone I trust who has played it extensively. His opinion is that Ignition is complete garbage, to the depth that he got rid of the game after only eight months of owning it.

Looking back at the above, though, NASCAR Heat 5 allows me to run either as a fictional character (like my current run as Lou Sweel on my YouTube Channel) or as myself in a season or career mode. This is still the same problem that I’ve mentioned above. So, is there a solution to this problem in 2022?

Actually, yes.

In 2000, I worked somewhere that did tech support for Microsoft Excel and was assigned to the team that provided this support. In order to be able to confidently provide this support I needed to be formally trained in the program, so Microsoft sent out their representative to train me (and the rest of my class) on Excel. Since that time, I’ve expanded to include Apple’s Numbers and Google Sheets. So, I’m really into spreadsheets as a whole.

There have been several runs at a NASCAR-esq simulator in a spreadsheet. Just like back in the BASIC days, a lot of my attempts ran into the randomness element. Using other people’s spreadsheets that simulated entire events like soccer and American football, I tried to adapt those concepts to auto racing. None of these attempts work because, as one would expect, auto racing is a different animal all together.

A more recent search for auto racing spreadsheet simulations turned up the solution to my problem. Trying to simulate auto racing is something that can be boiled down into a simulation of one specific aspect of the sport: a lap time simulator.

Building something that simulates only a single lap, using parameters that include a driver’s skill, track differences, vehicle speeds, tire wear, and other factors is the basis for building a simulation. Like an onion, I started building on top of that and have gotten to the point that I can start creating a roster of drivers to compete in a simulated season on a variety of tracks.

At long last, a simulation.

What’s the point of this? Well, I like the idea of honing this simulator and building my skills in spreadsheet programming up. I also have simulated sports on this website before, and will do so again. This time, though, I’ll start with the auto racing and build out from there.

The simulator will start out with a certain level of technicality and build up from there. There are certain elements built into the spreadsheet currently and there are more elements that I’d like to include into it in the future. As time moves on, I’m hoping that the level of detail a real NASCAR Cup Series team has in adjusting a car for traveling around the track can be included.

Maybe that will be when I’m programming something more than a spreadsheet.