I was just wondering what the world of Crimson Skies (see link below) would look like in the 21st century.
What would everyday life be like in a post-balkanized America?
How would have the nations developed?
What would be the political parties in each new country?
What kind of entertainment such as TV shows or movies would they have?
How would have technology progressed?
Would they still have the internet?
These and others such questions I would like to know.
Any thoughts?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_Skies
"When you hit the ground, tell them Nathan Zachary sent you"
Never played the fasa board game, but did complete the computer game which was fun (obviously as I recall the cheesy quote above)
Right keeping in the spirit of this universe
I think you are looking at a very different WW2 for a start - perhaps with British French Russian, Japanese, German and Italian industries having been supplying arms and aircraft to the various factions in the former USA - all the players have already worked up their military industries.
Also with the US out of the picture - the various arms limitation treaties would very likely have lapsed or simply been ignored.
So there is less of a 'Niche' period of military build up in Europe for the Germans to exploit (i.e. a far stronger French and British Empire in the period 1936 - 1941 when Hitler is looking to expand)
So more of a 3 way cold war with Germany with the maginot line's completion preventing Germany from directly striking at France and Belgium in the conventional sense - and air battles very common (with state sponsored Air Privateer's carrying out a proxy war vs air and sea trade)
A coup in the CCCP results in that nation breaking up into warring states and differing factions of the Communist parties vying for power.
The Powerful Entente Nations - allied with the Scandinavian ones prevent the Nazi's from taking advantage
Air battles battles - particularly low level border clashes become very common (with state sponsored Air Privateer's carrying out a proxy war vs air and sea trade)
Those nations impacted the most by this ie the British Empire resorts to equipping most Merchant ships with 'cam' launchers and ingenious methods of recovering such aircraft.
The same is true of airship and both are forced to operate in a sort of convoy system.
Increasingly private security companies are formed and these build/buy/modify Aircraft carriers and Airship plane carriers and are usually hired through Lloyds of London who as the underwriters of most of the worlds commerce have a vested interest in preventing loses.
This industry becomes big big money and the top pilots of both the security companies, Military's and 'Pirate's' become household names
Many of these Pilots are former Air force types but many are also from the various air militias and Privateer companies in the former US and many of those that survive to retirement have accrued vast sums of money and prestige
Eventually the Cold war flickers and dies with Germany and the Eastern states increasingly looking West - and by 1970 a common market is established that breaks down trade barriers
The Americas too experience a thaw and soon they also begin to form trading blocks and it is often former Pilots now millionaires who run their own trading or security firms that have built bridges between former enemies.
Despite the 'enlightenment' of the western nations - the 'curse of communism' takes hold in the far east -filling in the gap formally filled by Empire and the emerging nations in this area of the world begin their own series of wars - prompting a surge of new Security companies and 'Air Pirate' bands
By 2014 those Wars have generally subsided and those Nations have started to prosper in some cases over taking Europe in things like shipbuilding and car manufacture.
The latest threat seems to be from Rogue Arab states which one by one from the 70s onwards twist the words of the prophets, toppling the old regimes cutting off the supplies of Fuel from the Western and Emerging Industries and once again Private armies are mustered and twisting contrails cover the skies above places like Kuwait, Baghdad and Tehran.
