In your opinion, what sci-fi story do you think will be the most accurate for our future?

[Asclepion]

In Halo firearms underwent evolution rather than revolution sure they still use chemical propellants but the guns are lighter, more reliable, the propellants are better. They still do the job, they killed covies just fine.

Why invent a fancy energy weapon when a kinetic kill round fired by chemical propellants is still effective? The UNSC does have its own WMDs too, planet killing nukes etc.

The halo ground weapons are worse than weapons we use today.

Halo uses a single shot, break-action grenade launcher (with an apparently useless HUD on top) with a range of about 30 meters.

We have multiple round grenade launchers with a range of about 300 meters, we have for decades, both in revolver style and box magazine automatic launchers. We even have belt fed automatic grenade launchers.

Halo uses a pump action shotgun with 6-12 rounds and a range of about 10 meters.

We have automatic shotguns with 32 round drums and a range of 70-100 meters.

To date, I have not seen a single Halo ODST, marine, or army trooper running around with a squad automatic weapon.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

For instance, I could easily see Halo's UNSC and its technology, politics, ship design, etc as our future 500 years from now.

You're out of your mind.

Halo still uses 7.62x51mm NATO rounds. In the 16th Century, the most powerful weapon was the cannon, which could put a good size hole in a castle wall. In the 21st Century the most powerful weapon is the hydrogen bomb, which can put a good size hole in the planet.

In the 26th Century, I sincerely doubt humans will use 500 year old weapons. If humans as we know them exist at all.

It makes sense though. Why not stick with heavily tried and proven technology if that's all you need? They could likely outfit everyone with crazy ass energy weapons if they wanted to, they probably just don't need to. 7.62mm works just fine on humans and therefore, you'd think, on humanoids too. Whats the point of super expensive wonder guns when the old school stuff works just fine and can be more easily and cheaply manufactured?
I find the idea of Halo being a realistic depiction of the future laughable, but I don't think we'd make a progression from the very adequate weapons of now to new, super teched up designs unless we had a real need to (say, power armour or giant bugs). If our guns can kill shit just well in 500 years as they do now then we'd likely end up with just better versions of what currently we have.
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Within the next 50 years or so, probably something like a much less shitty version of Blade Runner. There will probably be most of the same problems we have today except worse to varying degrees, along with a bunch of new problems and maybe a big war or two. Though I don't reckon humanity could become stupid enough to let something like full on acid-raining-hellish-shithole Blade Runner happen to the world...at least not for a few hundred years or so.

If we don't fuck ourselves over too hard a few hundred years from now and manage to go the full on space exploration route, some sort of mix between Firefly (all in all not too bad, but some big social problems) and Deus Ex (megacorps and crazy, scary tech) seems roughly where I think we'd end up.

 

[Asclepion]

Compare this flamethrower to the one used in Halo.

 

[Cooperblack]

Gattica i think - though i haven't really seen anything that made me go "yeah thats how i think it will be".

Gattica i think - though i haven't really seen anything that made me go "yeah thats how i think it will be".

That or Deus Ex.

The human population will start fracturing eventually. Whether through genetic engineering or technological augmentation.

Personally I think it'll be tech, as replacing our soft bits with metal will be alot more viable for space travel than genetics will. I just hope my genes can stay above the poverty line in future generations to see the benefit and not fall to the wayside.

I don't know, It has always seemed unlikely to me that people would be willing to saw off their arms/legs or other parts of their body when you could have the same tech in some kind of armor/exoskeleton.

 

[J Tyran]

In Halo firearms underwent evolution rather than revolution sure they still use chemical propellants but the guns are lighter, more reliable, the propellants are better. They still do the job, they killed covies just fine.

Why invent a fancy energy weapon when a kinetic kill round fired by chemical propellants is still effective? The UNSC does have its own WMDs too, planet killing nukes etc.

The halo ground weapons are inferior to weapons we use today.

Halo uses a single shot, break-action grenade launcher (with an apparently useless HUD on top) with a range of about 30 meters.

We have multiple round grenade launchers with a range of about 300 meters, we have for years (the Milkor MGL has been in service since 1983), both in revolver style and box magazine automatic launchers. We even have belt fed automatic grenade launchers.

Halo uses a pump action shotgun with 6-12 rounds and a range of about 10 meters.

We have automatic shotguns with 32 round drums and a range of 70-100 meters.

To date, I have not seen a single Halo ODST, marine, or army trooper running around with a squad automatic weapon.

You know how it is with the game, its built around a principle of balance. In the fluff the weapons are a lot more powerful, both for the Covenant and the USNC. In the game a marine can take a plasma rifle hit a few times, in the fluff they get a huge hole vaporized out of them. They have superior weapons too, the sniper rifle with its sophisticated sabot ammunition thats more in common with a real world tank projectile than a rifle round. Same goes for the powerfull missiles and caseless rounds, oh and automatic grenade launchers. [http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/MG460_Automatic_Grenade_Launcher] You need to stop judging it by the game which will under power or over power weapons as a matter of game design you have to try and judge the tech by how it would function in the real world. Admittedly thats not easy, you seem to have a fair knowledge of weapons, imagine them as functioning items instead of the way they portray them in game.

They introduced military style weapons in Halo 4 btw, high powered designated marksman rifles and a squad support weapon very much like the SAW (its actually called a SAW in game).

 

[Pinkamena]

Deus Ex: HR struck me as very believable when I played it. Incorporating technology into our bodies seems like the next logical step.

 

[Wintrell Taylor]

I read the GAP series from Stephen R. Donaldson. Its the basic space opera story with all types of corruption from the regular Joe to the corporate powers that run humankind. A future where humans have pushed far out into space in the attempt to replace depleted resources. In this story humankind stumbles into a kind of Warp/Gap drive technology where interstellar travel helps humans go anywhere in space. "Yeah, this future sounds right."

 

[Asclepion]

You know how it is with the game, its built around a principle of balance. In the fluff the weapons are a lot more powerful, both for the Covenant and the USNC. In the game a marine can take a plasma rifle hit a few times, in the fluff they get a huge hole vaporized out of them. They have superior weapons too, the sniper rifle with its sophisticated sabot ammunition thats more in common with a real world tank projectile than a rifle round. Same goes for the powerfull missiles and caseless rounds, oh and automatic grenade launchers. [http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/MG460_Automatic_Grenade_Launcher] You need to stop judging it by the game which will under power or over power weapons as a matter of game design you have to try and judge the tech by how it would function in the real world. Admittedly thats not easy, you seem to have a fair knowledge of weapons, imagine them as functioning items instead of the way they portray them in game.

They introduced military style weapons in Halo 4 btw, high powered designated marksman rifles and a squad support weapon very much like the SAW (its actually called a SAW in game).

The old fluff vs game issue. I know. XD

BOOK: Spartans perceive reality as being at about 1/5th speed.
GAME: Spartans have difficulty dodging even slow-moving missiles.

BOOK: Spartans can punch out tanks.
GAME: Flying bugs can also punch out tanks.

BOOK: Spartan armor is reactive metal-crystal-concrete covered by a recharging energy shield.
GAME: A spartan dies instantly from being hit by a jeep.

BOOK: Spartans can outrun cars.
GAME: Spartans have trouble outrunning ordinary soldiers.

BOOK: Spartans can lift about a ton.
GAME: Spartans effortlessly flip 50 ton tanks. In fact, they don't actually have to move their hands, so presumably they're telekinetic, too.

 

[Seneschal]

Ideally: The Culture. A utopia run by AIs that are millions of times more intelligent than a human.

More likely: Any story where humans cause their own extinction.

Agreed on both accounts. A near-future version of both would, most plausibly, resemble something like Deus Ex or, more likely, Transhuman Space. I'd be surprised if we even exist in puny mortal non-digital form by the end of the millennium (if we exist at all).

Also, Revelation Space presents a decently-plausible distant-future (2500s) look (if you ignore the Lovecraft-inspired aliens): big damn ships taking decades to go between stars, space habitats (because habitable planets are the biggest fantasy of all), non-volitional AI, digital mind-copies, huge data networks to which everyone is connected to all the time, invisible and omnipresent nanotech that builds and maintains everything, and the fact that nations and empires become wholly unsustainable when you're essentially creating an new sovereign nation every time you send some people on a deep-space assignment.

The OP's Halo prediction is a bit silly in comparison. The believable things in Halo are few and far between - it's one step in cheesiness and animation style removed from being on the same level as Gurren Lagann. I mean, I like that, but it can only seem visionary or speculative if it's the only piece of sci-fi you've ever been exposed to.

 

[Asclepion]

Agreed on both accounts. A near-future version of both would, most plausibly, resemble something like Deus Ex or, more likely, Transhuman Space. I'd be surprised if we even exist in puny mortal non-digital form by the end of the millennium (if we exist at all).

Also, Revelation Space presents a decently-plausible distant-future (2500s) look (if you ignore the Lovecraft-inspired aliens): big damn ships taking decades to go between stars, space habitats (because habitable planets are the biggest fantasy of all), non-volitional AI, digital mind-copies, huge data networks to which everyone is connected to all the time, invisible and omnipresent nanotech that builds and maintains everything, and the fact that nations and empires become wholly unsustainable when you're essentially creating an new sovereign nation every time you send some people on a deep-space assignment.

The OP's Halo prediction is a bit silly in comparison. The believable things in Halo are few and far between - it's one step in cheesiness and animation style removed from being on the same level as Gurren Lagann. I mean, I like that, but it can only seem visionary or speculative if it's the only piece of sci-fi you've ever been exposed to.

I'll check those out. Eclipse Phase also has some interesting ideas, and handles post-singularity transhumanity in a really, really good way.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

I think the film Elysium coming out this year is going to turn out pretty accurate, maybe not a space station a certainly restricted green zones for the rich elite while the rest of the world can tear itself apart with disease and famine. We could cure disease and feed the whole world, we could house everyone and keep them warm, we could build a beautiful world and reach out to the stars and seed our legacy. But we won't and why because the people in power wouldn't allow it claiming it would cost an unimaginable amount of money, which is the big lie, money means nothing it only hold the power people give it and it's people who would block this by any means. Sounds depressing but these people would rather the world burn then give up one cent or ounce of power and that's what I honestly see happening either global oppression or global war.

This,

A little known fact is that we actually have the technology and means to feed the entire world, cure a lot of the diseases, and generally make life better and the world a nicer place to be. You would be surprised at just what we can do today to fix our problems.

Thing is it'll never happen, because it means that the people in power would lose some of their power. An we can't have that now can we? Ever noticed that whenever it's said that something bad is happening there are a few people that end up making a fortune off it? Ever noticed that these people are 9 out of 10 times very rich/powerful in the first place? Funny that isn't it.

 

[MiskWisk]

The SPARTAN project was created to fight the Insurrection, and I can't figure out how super soldiers were supposed to stop a terrorist campaign. I seriously doubt our lack of genetically engineered soldiers is the reason the Iraq war lasted for so long.

Going to quickly argue here. The point of the SPARTAN was to have the most efficient soldier possible to assassinate Insurrection leaders before they gained any momentum. A lot of these leaders also had military training and access to nukes, which necessitates a need for quick, small forces, something the SPARTANs could do. I agree that in some cases, using them would probably been equivalent to using a butchers knife instead of a scalpel, but the the general point was they needed extremely highly trained, specialised and durable soldiers to perform ops in hostile, heavily fortified environments.

Anyway, I'm going to hope for the Star Trek future, expect a future like Fallout only with less Humans.

 

[Kael Arawn]

Ah gotta love it when there?s common themes floating around and people argue the semantics.

So 100 years from now according to the reoccurring logic of this thread we will all be either living is a world full of the following:-

Cyberization and or eugenics mixed with dystopian mega corporation ruled hell hole due to lack of resource?s

Or

Cyberization and or eugenics mixed with industrialized space travel so resources aren?t an issue anymore

Or

Cyberization and or eugenics mixed with a utopia born of a technological rapture where we are all happy and war is no longer a part of the human existence.

I think number 1 myself, but 2 would be cool (go firefly) and what I hope for, I really don?t see 3 as plausible. Saddest part about the entire thing is the majority of us will probably be dead before any MAJOR paradigm shift happens (damn future kiddy?s getting all the good tech) and till then it will just be random advancement and carry on as usual (so yeah jumper sans time travel kinda works).

Other thing I?ve learned for this forum is a lot of people consume the same sci-fi media I have (books, shows etc) and they take halo weaponry facts FAR TO SERIOUSLY

Could probably add more to the discussion but most of the possible angles of discussion have been covered.

 

[Kael Arawn]

Dune would be supremely cool, but where are we going to find a planet full of spice shitting giant worms?

 

[Kaymish]

like a few posters before me i am hoping star trek
however that said im thinking commonwealth saga will be most likely maybe not wormholes connecting us to hundreds of star systems but otherwise it is a particularly solid extrapolation of where technology could end up in 2,3,4 hundred years time with basically a semi corptocratic world with heaps of robots some cybernetics poor people who are so downtrodden they are unable to afford the most basic of things the rest of the citizens take for granted/believe are necessary

captcha "Come on down" to the other side captcha?? [http://youtu.be/Mgoy4S7fFmc?t=1m20s]

 

[Kael Arawn]

Kaymish, Pendulum are awesome. if your startrek style future has pendulum as its soundtrack I pick that one

 

[Ben Fell]

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

More about the society then technology it does however look at sleep-learning, reproductive technology, mood changing drugs that are readily available. It's events and world are something foreseeable in the near future.

If not that probably a ghost in the shell kind of universe

 

[BleedingPride]

Personally, I'd see the entire plot from "Moon" happening sometime in the near future. I won't say why for the sake of spoilers, all I'm gonna say is go see it and you'll see what I mean.

 

[PuckFuppet]

The future is always changing, any single snap-shot of variables and possibilities strung together into a coherent narrative is going to be informed by either the static past or the stagnant present. I think the only decent depiction of the future, in a science fiction story, was That Hideous Strength.

Odd pacing, vague supernatural elements and blunt apologist references aside it did a good job of making one thing very clear to the reader; we will never understand the future until we experience it.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

It really depends on what you're looking for. I mean both The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Gattaca would both easily be very accurate and both are Sci-fi. But TMIHM is literally just 'what if we built a penal colony on the moon and then they rebelled and went all libertarian on us' and Gattaca is just everything as it is now + genetic manipulation and a bigger space travel budget.

If you're looking for moderately to way far. Then probably Asimov's contiguous series of I Robot and Foundation would be the best bet. Lots of really interesting but plausible stuff going on with regards to technology as well as the direction of society with everything run through the government for awhile, and people given tiers of pay based on their usefulness from 1-10 or so.