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[NUKE9.13]

Exactly. As major contributors, neither of us will be able to continue the story until an outsider confirms or denies that it sounds good.
SOMEBODY, PLEASE CONTRIBUTE.
ANYTHING SENSABLE.

Steampunk martians battling nanotech-wielding idiots in giant space stations? Being attacked by a crazy computer?

Why is the computer evil? Over-logicality works, because, lets face it, humans are inefficient. If you created an AI and commanded it to be as efficient as possible, it would kill you and replace you with a robot.
Or, possibly, it was created by the earth bound humans before they killed each other to attack the orbitals. On account of how the orbitals were originaly a rebel state, not conforming to earth's [political policy]. War could also have caused the technologically backwards martians.

Cultural things; Orbitals: Eductation is automated, which leaves every orbital indoctrinated with whatever their leaders- possibly the only sane (although still insane) orbitals left, or another AI, or even some crazy martian-leader-conspiracy- choose them to believe. Which is, the martians are evil; any attempts of them to advance to a state that they might attack us must be stopped.
Which leads to them attacking every sign of abnormal electrical activity.
As their perfect-spacestation-world(s) provides to their every need, actual labour would be unheard of.
Society would be based upon observation of the martians, on account having nothing else to do.

Martians: No electricity, but forward thinking, probably means very advanced steampowered and clockwork technology. Which means many very complex pieces of machinery, which you can't use computer-guided lasers to make. This means there would be a large middle class of craftsmen, serious masters of their trades, probably guilds, as their work is so valuable. Maybe even with masonic mysticality.
Perhaps a religous entity, who go around smoting those who try to defy the orbitals. Their motives would depend on the martian's knowledge of the Orbitals. They know nothing; then their motives would be ones of worship, treating the orbitals as gods, not to be defied. They know of them, then their motives are of self-preservation, banishing electrics so they don't get caught up in the blast.

Fresh material! Grab it whilst it's... warmish!

[Armok]

ok, my votes on the new stuff:
- dinasaur riders whit rocketlanchers: yes, dinasaurs maybe were recreated as part of the matrtian terraformaing, rocketlauncers would be steamtech.
- AI(, yes, but the AI shouldn't be evil, the abundance of AI being evil in fiction is according to me very discriminating and comes only out of Xenophobia, the AI should be good. the proto-AI that the orbitals have would be neither good or evil as it just does what the orbitals tell it.
- war seems like a plausible background yes.
- the orbital cultural ideas work.
- I think it would be very hard to make realistic high tech whit NO electricity, a better idea might be to have them have no alternating curent and no other rapidly oscillating or changing electricity such as in very many devices, so still no lasers and the rest of the stuff you said apply.

[NUKE9.13]

- I think it would be very hard to make realistic high tech whit NO electricity, a better idea might be to have them have no alternating curent and no other rapidly oscillating or changing electricity such as in very many devices, so still no lasers and the rest of the stuff you said apply.

What can you acheive with that? Telegrams, combustion engines, electrical lighting. Some other stuff too, probably, but for major things, thats it. The 'rewards' of granting the martians this hardly seems worth the 'cost' of explaining why the orbitals don't notice this, but do notice oscillating electricity. It's hard to convince yourself that everyone down there is a caveman when you can see electrical lighting all over the surface.
Besides; highish level steamtech is feasible- kindof. Babbage. You know you want to consider the alternate history where Babbage built his difference engine, perfected it, and we had mechanical computers long before electronics were advanced enough to build electronical ones.

Also, a good AI is difficult to work with; where is the tension which leads to the story, if everyone is absolutely peachy with each other? If the martians have evolved their technology from scratch, or close to scratch, the whole, orbital/martian 'war' must be fairly stable. A third (evil!) faction allows for instability.
The AI may not be evil, but it makes the story harder to develop if it's good.

[Armok]

my idea was that the orbitals were fairly stupid and ignorant, and that was why, and that the instability came from the Martians inventing for the first time the stuff needed to actually harm the orbitals (spaceflight, most likely). Also I still think at least most Martians should not know of the orbitals or history from before whatever caused the situation.

[qwertyuiopas]

Whatever it's like, this is pointless on the second page!

[Armok]

-BUMP-

[inaluct]

Alright, I guess I'll bite.

Okay, what we need is someone who understands the current setting to do a quick write up of it. After that, we can see if others are interested in contributing. As it stands now, potential participants probably don't really care enough to read through all of the posts.

[Armok]

another try...
Please, I would do it but I have posted far to much already.

[qwertyuiopas]

THSHY%Y#%GA#$WGASG$%

I had just posted a great summary and closed the window but it seems that you posted so it redirected it to the "more posts have been added" page and I list the summary

Here's a summary of it.

not on surface of earth. comic book as "bible"?
steampunk not on earth?
mars!
orbital techie idiots that kill electrical tech on surface?
threat from earth? AI?
http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=29598.msg416663#msg416663?

There. Not nearly as good as before, but it's a summary.
Nothing written in stone, and most of it speculation that was replaced or never fully accepted.

[inaluct]

Sounds hopelessly chaotic and stupid. I vote we start over from scratch.

[qwertyuiopas]

Well, in my good(and lost) description, it went through it in detail.

In the short description, it is a summary of the thread, not the current situation.