Real basis and game lore: how Cosmos Era tells fact from fiction

Every node in Cosmos Era keeps two things apart: the "real basis" and the "game lore". The first can be traced to a source. The second is fiction, and the interface labels it "game lore". This post explains how the design came about and how to read a node.

What a node looks like

Each node has 7 parts:

1. ID
2. Name
3. Tier
4. Prerequisites
5. Effect
6. Real basis
7. Game lore

The first 5 are gameplay: what it is called, what you must unlock first, and what it does once unlocked. The last 2 are content: the science behind it, and the story the game builds around it.

What goes in the real basis

Part 6 holds only facts you can find a source for:

• Years.
• Names.
• Numbers.
• Sources, such as the journal and the paper title.

If a sentence can't be given a source, it can't go in this part.

What goes in the game lore

Part 7 holds the invented material: names of civilizations, stories, and "what if..." scenarios. The interface labels it "game lore", so readers can tell at a glance what is real and what is made up.

The wiki and the guides follow the same rule. Real facts come with sources. Anything invented is written as "in the game...".

Why keep them apart

• Readers won't remember fiction as fact.
• Anyone who wants to check can follow the source to the original.
• Writers get a clear boundary: to add a year, first find a source, then write it.

Novels get summaries only

The game mentions some science-fiction novels. We write only our own summaries, never quote the text, and never draw copyrighted characters or covers.

How to read a node

1. Start with the name and effect to see what it does in the game.
2. Then read the "real basis" for the real science behind it, with sources you can look up.
3. Finally read the "game lore" for the story the game built around it.

After all three, you can tell which parts of the node really happened in the universe and which parts we made up.

Keep reading

• Why Cosmos Era has no faster-than-light travel: 3 hard rules covers the game's three hard rules.
• In the wiki, every page for an era, civilization channel or ending is split into "real basis" and "game lore" blocks, with sources attached.