In the past, those interested in writing stories needed little more than an idea and a good amount of free time on their hands. Nowadays, neither is a prerequisite thanks to the preponderance of AI-powered writing tools that are available.
These powerful LLM-based tools can be used in many different ways. In the context of storytelling, they can be leveraged to generate an idea or a series of them, turn the writer’s own idea into a fully-fleshed story (or script, or novel), or effectively provide all creative output based on a few simple prompts.
In Alien Worlds, community members are encouraged to contribute to the foundational lore produced by bestselling sci-fi scribe Kevin J. Anderson (Star Wars, Dune): to spin up their own characters and stories based on what has already been canonized. Clearly, AI can help them achieve this much faster than would otherwise be possible.
Introducing the Lynx AI
An LLM tool has recently emerged which is trained on the core lore. Alien Helpers’ Lynx tool lives within the Alien Worlds Discord channel: all you have to do is navigate to one of the chats, type / into the message box and select /AI lore. Here, you can pose questions about the different races, planets and mythology of Alien Worlds – or even command Lynx to write original stories for you.
As one of Dacoco’s content writers, and a keen reader and writer of fiction, I was interested in putting the tool through its paces and finding out what could be achieved. To start, I typed a very basic request into Lynx: ‘Can you generate a short story set in the Alien Worlds metaverse?’
The response did not take long to arrive, and though it was not a fully-fleshed short story as requested, it provided some useful background information about the Altans, Trilium and Triactor Technology, followed by a kernel of a story involving the Khareds and Onoros that could be fleshed out more fully by the writer (with or without the aid of AI).
My next query was an information-gathering one, when I asked: ‘Are each or any of the races native to one of the six Alien Worlds’ frontier planets?’ Perhaps this information can be found by combing through the blog series, Kevin J. Anderson’s foundational lore treatment, or the lore book. I asked Lynx in the hope of receiving a quick answer. The reply duly came:
‘The text does not provide specific information about each of the races being native to one of the six Alien Worlds’ planets. However, it does mention that the Altans, Elgem, Khaureds, Onoros, and Lopati are part of the Federation, and the Humans are a new addition to the Federation. It also mentions that the Altans, Elgem, and Khaureds have their own home planets (Altans on Alta, Elgem on their home planet, and Khaureds on Khaur), but it does not explicitly say that each race is native to their home planet. Therefore, it is not possible to definitively answer this question with the given context.’
Building Stories with the Aid of AI
Deciding to probe the AI’s awareness of a specific race with the idea of writing a story involving the militant Khaureds, I asked, ‘What are the main motivations of the Khaureds?’
The answer provided a summary of the race, their temperament, physical appearance, and guiding motivations. Based on such detailed information, a writer could confidently step into the shoes of a Khaured without worrying that they might assign characteristics incompatible with the foundational lore.
I followed up with another information-gathering query, this time seeking to establish what the relationship dynamics were like between the various races in Alien Worlds. The response was not entirely satisfactory, providing only a short summary of four of the races, namely Khareds, Onoros, Lopati, and Humans, making no mention of the Altans or Elgems (or Robotrons or Biometal/Splicers, which the tool had apparently not been trained on at the time of my query). Moreover, only one dynamic was referenced, with the revelation that ‘the Onoros have an alliance with the Khaureds, with Onoros Drones serving as a workforce for Khared-owned or controlled operations.’
Having received this response, a storyteller might come away thinking they could introduce their own dynamics, since it is not stated whether a relationship already exists. This is something a creative writer might look to play around with: perhaps the Altans and Elgems had an alliance a long time ago that turned into a feud due to duplicity on the part of one or the other?
To clarify, I asked Lynx if these races ever came into contact and received the reply: ‘No, the Altans and the Elgems do not come into contact based on the provided context’ along with a summary of each race.
However, a subsequent query about the Federation and its role in the cosmos appeared to contradict this claim: ‘The Federation is a political and economic union of various alien races, including the Altans, Elgem, Khaureds, Onoros, Lopati, and Humans, among others.’
If Altans and Elgems are part of the same political union, surely they must come into contact at least some of the time?
At this point, Lynx had only been commanded to write a short story set in Alien Worlds (using a basic prompt) and answer some fairly generic questions. It was time to take things a step further with a new prompt: ‘Write a short story with a beginning, middle and an end. The story must be set on Eyeke, involve both Augments and Altans, and feature a battle of some kind. It must also end on a cliffhanger, which teases a sequel story.’
The AI’s reply was interesting. ‘On the planet Eyeke, a battle of epic proportions was brewing,’ it started promisingly, before outlining an ideological schism between the Augments, ‘driven by their belief in the superiority of cybernetic enhancement’ and the Altans, who ‘valued the harmony between organic and technological life that Triactor Technology provided’ and believed the Augments violated this harmony.
A confrontation ensues and in the midst of it, an Onoros appears and intervenes, leaving both the Augments and Altans in shock. The battle ends in a stalemate as the mysterious Onoros vanishes into the shadows, and the ‘cliffhanger ending left the community eagerly awaiting the next chapter in the story of these fascinating races and their ongoing struggle for power and survival.’
As with the response to the initial basic command to produce a short story, the result was more of an outline: there was no dialogue or named characters, just a general plot outline with some information on the races’ motivations and differences. Certainly, the idea could be used to develop a more comprehensive story. Perhaps a better prompt was needed:
‘Write a short story with a beginning, middle and an end. The story should feature one Elgem character, a powerful Altan character, and a rogue gang of Khaured characters. Each character should have a name and the story should include some dialogue, the use of a vehicle, an aborted attempt to colonize a planet, and an assassination.’
On this occasion, Lynx produced a somewhat compelling story involving an Altan bid to colonize a planet close to Eyeke, which motivates a mysterious client to contract an Elgem to assassinate the Altan leader responsible for the plans. The Khaureds had also been planning to confront the Altans as they made their way towards the planet in a spacecraft, but the Elgem assassination caught them by surprise: a Trilium-powered weapon is used to destroy the Altan craft, whereafter the Elgem makes its getaway.
Disappointingly, despite the request, the story featured no dialogue and Lynx neglected to give the characters in question names.
Final Thought
In summary, the Alien Helpers Lynx AI is a useful tool for educating Explorers on the established lore of Alien Worlds, saving them time that might otherwise be spent scouring through blogs and Discord channels.
However, when it comes to producing stories, the tool is more geared towards broad outlines and ideas rather than complete short stories featuring dialogue-heavy interactions. Perhaps the best way to view Lynx is as a highly productive and knowledgeable creative partner, one capable of providing outline-level feedback rather than complete ideas. Ultimately, human creativity remains the driving force here – something I expect most writers and would-be creators will be glad about.
Interested in submitting a story to Alien Worlds? We invite all Explorers to unleash their imagination and craft narratives – with or without the aid of AI – that adhere to the established lore. Stories can be submitted via Google Forms, with the best entries eligible for a Galactic Hubs grant.
Alien Worlds offers a truly unique decentralized platform where players are more than mere participants; they're active stakeholders influencing both the present and future of the game. Whether you aim to create services, tools, games, or other platforms, the community stands ready to embrace and utilize them. Developers, you can access our API toolkit here. Innovators, breathe life into your project by applying for a Galactic Hubs grant today. Leaders, step into the Planetary Syndicates and propel your ideas to the forefront of the community. If you need assistance with any of these endeavors, please visit our official Discord or Telegram channels.