Look and feel is a tricky one to cover while we’re still writing our cultures and nations and developing the game as a whole. However, the culture we’re furthest forward with is The British Dominion of Mars, and we can show you what we’re thinking for general look and feel there.
I’ll admit that The British Dominion of Mars isn’t necessarily the final name we’re going to use, but it’s quite a bit better than “Neo-Imperialist Space Britain”, the former working title.
You may be able to notice a theme in the names there, and you’d be right – this culture isn’t on Earth.
Military uniform
The BDM’s military look and feel harks back to the British Navy, but with some futuristic embellishments.
It’s possible that some of you might recognise these uniform examples – they’re drawn from the Honor Harrington novels – specifically from the Star Kingdom of Manticore.
Mars is a harsh environment and doesn’t brook much in the way of frippery for frippery’s sake, so while the uniforms draw from tradition, they’re also practical. The idea here is to draw from traditional uniforms, particularly those of the Navy, and update them with practicality in mind.
Military skinsuits (EVA gear) is custom-made for the wearer, and hardened against weapons without overly hampering manoeuvrability.
Civilian wear
As said in the military section, Mars is a harsh environment. Martian civilian wear is as practical as the military uniforms are, though they tend to be rather more lax about the fripperies for fashion’s sake.
There are two main styles of dress here, the noble and the commoner. The difference should be relatively clear. Nobles tend to be better dressed in richer fabrics, whilst it’s not uncommon for commoners to be wearing more muted clothing in hard-wearing fabrics.
There have been some issues with nanotechnology glitches and radiation shielding failures which have affected Martian commoners much more than nobles, making them more likely to have lesions and skin conditions. This isn’t universal but is certainly a common affliction.
Summary and Inspirations
We’re drawing inspiration from traditional naval uniforms for military wear, in particular the Star Kingdom of Manticore from the Honor Harrington books, as well as traditional British military uniforms.
Films like Total Recall (both versions) are good inspiration for the sort of thing you’d find in civilian wear, and the stark difference between noble and commoner lifestyles.
In both military and civilian wear, practicality is key – if there’s a hab breach, you want to be prepared for it, no matter what you’re wearing.
Edited to add: the flag is our proto-design from the first pass at things. It’s probably not the finished article, and like most things on the website is a holding image until we do have the final articles. It’s a Blue Ensign defaced with a red Mars symbol, and is probably a reasonably fair approximation of what an actual British colony on Mars might use as its flag if they based their flag design on traditional attitudes.