@sphennings It changes how fast things happen within the story and where things take place, hell, even what happens

@Green mix sci-fi epic/drama/romance about a sibling-owned and ran surveying ship + an alien corvid humanoid

Im looking for an FTL system with near-zero travel time and not require a beacon or astral gate. My idea for it is this: you make the rough calculations, point your ship in the right direction and you teleport to your destination, transferring all your inertia and mass with you to the target destination, where depending on the star you're warping too, immediately have to flip and ignite your engines to slow down or speed up to not fall into the star

@redfrogcrab What does the story need? Build a world that has that. Any details that aren't necessary to the story are better left undefined.

A common fallacy I see from people on this site is thinking that the worldbuilding in and of itself has value. It doesn't

It only has value when it enhances something else; a game, a song, a story, a piece of art.

The most perfectly built world cannot save a horribly written story, or an unplayable game, or a horrible drawing.

Imagine the most perfectly calculated world. Everything is 100% physically possible starting with the cloud of particles before the solar system formed. I carefully simulated every atom's movement at every instant, as the stars and planets coalesce, the geography of my planets form, the first signs of life in the primordial oceans, billions of years of evolution, then the beginnings of intelligent life, tools, technology, scientific and cultural advancements, and the rise and fall of nations.

I do all of this and I present to you my story: "See Spot run" says Jane. "Run Spot run" says Dick. "Let's run after him" they both said. And they did.

I ask you. Does any of that hypothetical worldbuilding matter?

no but it's fun

I like trying to figure stuff out like this, it's why I make worlds

That's ok. But none that has any bearing on what you create.

If it's just in your head it doesn't matter.

At least in terms of how others judge your work.

And if you're trying to create something tangible then you're wasting your time building aspects of your world that have no bearing on your creation.

Imagine an author writes a story about a linguist visiting an alien planet. In one scenario they create just enough of the alien language so that the scenes where the linguist learns the language will feel realistic to the readers, and support the themes of the book. In another they create not just a language, but an entire language family, with an associated history.

Remember that you can always add details and fill out the world later. However once you commit details to your audience you loose the ability to change your world to suite further stories.

mhhkay