The Life in Algol Forum

The year is 2237 AD. Welcome to Novusvita. Second planet from the barycenter of the trinary Algol solar system. Twenty years ago a space probe, Galileo IV, discovered life on the planet’s surface. Complex life. And it has sentient natives. This race is called the Xen’vi, by humans. Of course, no human can pronounce their true name correctly. The Xen’vi have six voice boxes, you see.

Twelve years later, the shuttle Darwin V landed on the planet in the southeast of the continent of Cyro’bar. It carried 300 colonists and a vast supply of equipment and by Christmas, 2229, Darwin was a thriving colony. Over the next few years, six more colonies were founded and a lot of diplomatic progress was made between us and the natives.

The NewLife Project is a collaborative wordbuilding project that revolves around the world of Novusvita, it's solar system, climate, geology, but most importantly, life.

Many things have led to and inspired the creation of the Life in Algol universe. I've always had a fascination with life, geology and astrology and how it changes over time. This led to my on going worldbuilding hobby and my introduction with the (disappointingly cartoony and fairly unscientific) "evolution" game Spore. I didn't like the game much, other than for its creators - I loved those. Spore allowed me to visualise the ideas I had in my mind as 3D renders on a computer screen.

I also subsequently joined the Spore forums - the Sporums. It was there that the eventual development of the LiA universe started growing. I created a forum role play there called Planet Avin, where players got to play as characters and faction on the world of Avin as the strange (though badly put together) Avinoid races that occupied the world (which was one of my early world building works). The RP eventually died and I was left with everything that was created for it. What a waste.

I created multiple other worlds between then and now, but nothing really satisfied me. That's when I decided to do something big.

I set forth to recycle some of my older works. I took Avin and its binary solar system, put it in an actual trinary system, Algol, changed the names of the planets and gave it a new map. I also recycled the plant life and some plot elements from the RP. I then chose a new race for this world. I searched through my creations on Spore and found the perfect species - the Xen'vi. Then I made the NewLife Project public on the Sporums and began work on the animal life of the planet.

Now, almost six months later, the idea has developed exponentially. I'm currently writing a novel series around the LiA universe called The Peoples of Algol.

The story plays off on the world of Novusvita, which means New Life, and is the result of my recycling.

The life on the planet is diverse. As in, really diverse - ranging from living rocks to trees with hearts - though very little has been created. There are other planets in the Algol system that are still just names. The storyline is bland and still a skeleton. The Xen'vi have no culture. No history. They're just there.

Basically, I need individuals willing to help me take on this astronomical project. There are already a few who have helped me greatly and are still helping, but with just the few of us, this project will take years. We need astrologers, speculative biologists, map-makers, etc, etc, etc.

Though much has been done, there's much more still to do. If you think you can help in any way, please join. Wink

Team: (Permanent members are in indigo, definite contributors are in green, members on leave are in red and everyone else helping are in white)

Worldbuilders:

Writers:

Bio-designers:

Artists:

Wiki/Site Helpers:

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I'll be dividing the project into three phases. All objectives listed in each phase will be worked towards simultaneously - this isn't a chronological list. What we're currently focussing on's in blue, what we've started with/can start with's in green and what we have yet to start with's in white. What we've completed is in gold and what can not be continued with's in red. We are currently in transition between Phase One and Two.

=Phase 1:
-Create planet and system
-Create biosphere
-Create native culture and civilisation
-Set up NewLife Wiki and Forum

=Phase 2:
-Establish plot
-Create NewLife RP
-Create landscape and scene examples using rendering tools such as Spore GA
-Outline final story line

=Phase 3:
-Finish the plot planning
-Complete NewLife encyclopaedia, atlas and history book
-Complete (and hopefully publish) The Peoples of Algol Trilogy
-Create interactive NewLife website with links to existing Wiki and Forum