[TML] Lower-tech colonies

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 7/15/08 12:38 PM, "Ewan Quibell" <ewan at quibell.org.uk> wrote:

> As to why someone might be setting up a colony at TL8 instead of TL14?
> Self sustaining population size? I'd guess that in order to self sustain
> at TL8 you might need in the order of say 500 million sophants of
> similar capabilities to Humans, less if you are using Hivers, more if
> you are using Vargr, and to self sustain at TL14, I don't know, maybe 10
> Billion over two star systems (or at least a binary).
> 
> So assuming they aren't going to be moving billions of people, and they
> want to set up the colony to be self sustaining, they pick the
> appropriate TL to match the projected population size?

But nobody making a colony assumes it will then be completely separate.
Trade is assumed.  So the homeworld's population counts in the
"self-sustaining" figure.  *It's* already got the high tech, so you
automatically get sustained.