About

What is this site?

Beyond the Spozak is an open-source Science Fiction setting.  All the content on this website is (as much as possible) in the public domain/ under a Creative-Commons license.  (There are a couple items in the "Works" blog by other people who did not apply a CC license, and they are marked as such.)  You can use it as you see fit. Re-edit and re-mix the elements, even make commercial products out of them.  All I ask is credit for what I have created, and for you to similarly share your creations that use this setting.  These are not requirements, but requests.  Go forth, and make good art!

Also of note, all the articles on specific topics are written as blog posts, so if you have ideas or suggestions feel free to write a comment.  The best ideas may be incorporated into the setting in the future, and anything harassing, illegal, and/or rude will be deleted. 

What is the spozak?

On the other side of our galaxy lies an alien civilization of great antiquity, known as the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns. The Spozak is what they call their arm of the galaxy.  To their minds the Spozak represents all of inhabited space.  The Earth and its inhabitants, the solar system, and all the stars in our sky lie in the wilderness of the void Beyond the Spozak.

Why?

When I was a kid, I fell in love with fictional universes.  Star Wars, Star Trek, DC and Marvel superheroes, etc.  Many of these worlds were well fleshed-out settings full of fascinating people, places and things, and accessible through a variety of media.  Once I got old enough to realize the impossibility of actually living in such a world, I decided that the next best thing would be to do the creative work behind such worlds.  After receiving my quota of rejection letters, I despaired of the practical impossibility of doing that as well. Still, I was building up a stockpile of ideas.  Life moved on.  After a time, I became aware of open-source software.  This planted a seed in my mind.  Over time that seed grew, and spozak.info is the fruit that grew out of that seed, a fusion of science fiction and the hacker ethic.

This site is designed to be a bridge forward for unknown artists. I have left a lot of open questions to explore, and story hooks lying conveniently around.  If you want to tell a Star Trek -like story, Era-1 and the Planetary League is for you.  If you prefer Star Wars or Warhammer 40K, Era-2 and the Holy Empire of Man is the way to go.  Even in Era-0, there are a lot of possibilities, (something along the lines of Farscape, perhaps?), and if you want to get far-out, Era-3 is a time when the whole galaxy joins together in a hive mind known as the Galactic Republic.  Whatever your taste in space opera, there is something in Beyond The Spozak to address it.  Take what you want, and leave the rest, it is open and free to all.  The more people who use this setting the better it will become, so go ahead and make some art!

Thanks for reading,

Matt Ahlschwede

Contact

E-mail me: perscrumption@hotmail.com

Twitter: @Beyond_Spozak

My art on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/mr-matt-9000

I even have a Pinterest board with art from this site:

https://www.pinterest.com/mattahlschwede/beyond-the-spozak/