The year is 2008 and the life is very different than what one might expect for a world which grew as ours did. The technology is there on the home planet and in some ships which traverse the never ending darkness of space. Technology is limited in many of the colonies. High powered stuff owned by the governments has special fuels, but these colonies subsist on their own agriculture. They grow it, they burn it to make things go, relying on simpler, steam power (coal, wood, grain alcohol, no gas).
Earth is now divided between the very rich and the very poor, there is no room left for a middle class. People are encouraged to go off planet to one of several colonies built to ease overpopulation on Earth. Some are moons, artificial worlds with natural resources, some actual planets which were found to be suitable for human life.
To encourage people to move to the settlements, the goverment gives you a certain amount of credits for moving off the still very over populated earth. If you're willing to go to one of the 'out of the way' colonies you get X amount of land and X amount of credits to start. If you are lucky enough you may end up in a settlement with advanced medical equipment and/or a doctor who has been properly trained. Otherwise you may be forced to rely on poorly trained, ill equiped 'butchers' for your medical needs.
All the great pioneering historical landmark cities have a colony named after them as well as some of the bigger well known cities and states of the former United States. Denver, Kansas City, Philadelphia, St Louis, Texas, and New York, amoung others. Each colony has multiple little towns scattered across it's terrain.
Denver is a small planet on the edges of civilization, with only a few settlements.
The Denver Colony, was first settled just over 30 years ago and includes the towns of Atasco Creek, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque.. Small coal powered trains go throughout the colony connecting the towns which are wide spread to allow more land between them for settlers and crops. The settlements resemble towns of the old west and the people live off the land and what they can produce for themselves, scraping a living as best they can. They raise livestock, crops, travel by horse and wagon and use old fashioned weapons.
