rockstar894I'm not sure you guys understand that the idea of creating a universe isn't the same ruling as creating a galaxy like Star Wars or Star Trek.

Meh, I was just sticking to the prompt of it being sci-fi, but you make great points. We can indulge in pretty much anything when we're talking about an entire universe.

But then, how big of a universe are we talking about, and how old?

rockstar894The universe is vast, and has been around for billions of years, and therefore there may be civilizations that are more or less advanced in technology than others.

Thing is, what if it's not? What if this universe is three-trillion years old instead, or just a few hundred? The answer would fundamentally change what things exist/still exist in terms of stories. With either choice also comes the option of viewing it as a similar universe to our own - created in a big bang event, destined to wither away to nothing - but we can do things differently if we want.

For example, my own universe, the Triad Verse (which has almost zilch in public content but tons in ideas and characters) is the three-trillion year old one. In that universe the rules are different. Instead of starting out in an explosion, absolutely everything in the universe began with a whimper. It took one and a half trillion years for the very first "thing" to grow into existence, and the other half for everything else to arrive over time.

Something huge that might need consideration are Universal Rules, things that influence everything within. In the Triad Verse one of the rules is "Infinity is Default", referring to how energy is constantly being created from nothing, which is why a "thing" appeared out of nowhere, followed by the rest of the universe at an exponential rate. Things like this affect everything from the course of universal history, the shape of the universe, whether or not particles smaller than a micrometer exist, magic, souls, artificial intelligence, etc, etc, etc.

Here's a few ideas along that vein:
The universe is mechanical. All life in this universe is machine-like and digital, advanced enough by this point in time to grow like a natural thing, but still fundamentally different to plants and animals. While this serves as teh basis for everything in the universe, there is an infection spreading its way from planet to planet; biology. It rusts the metals and grounds the electricity, slowly but surely destroying everything in its path.

Universes & Ulghtoorckz. A very diverse universe that shows hints of classic RPG themes - it was created by a team of eight(give or take) gods, who hold the entire universe together. If one of them falls asleep for a while or dies, the aspects they represent begin to show problems. Wars usually break out during these times. Magic exists for sure.

Reality is alive. Existence itself is up to interpretation. If enough sapient minds believe in something, it exists and the universe grows slightly to accommodate for that new thing. Randomness is inherent in this universe, so while some planets may look very similar to ours, others take the shapes of cylinders, tesseracts, flat planes, etc. All is unique and all is in chaos. Infinite story potential with basically no rules, except for when Reality decides to lighten its burden every few million years...

Long post is long