Veeky Forums creates a soft sci-fi setting

The setting is in an another galaxy, and if humans are present, they aren't the dominant species.

>Soft sci-fi.
>Another galaxy.
Pretty sure that makes it hard sci-fi by default.
Like any setting where inter-stellar travel is possible makes it hard sci-fi.

Soft sci-fi would be something that's more like "twenty minutes into the future", like changes in agriculture mean that food can be grown anywhere and soil can be made fertile through a chemical injected into the soil, etc.
Making technology that seems very fantastical into a mundane triviality.
Especially where aliens are involved.

Hard sci-fi generally means that the laws of nature apply as we know them now, so interplanetary travel takes days or weeks and interstellar travel takes decades or centuries.

FTL is impossible.

Oh, I wasn't aware.
Sorry about the confusion then.

I guess the first step would be deciding if humans evolved there, traveled there (if they did, how) or if humans are even there at all.
Personally I vote for something like Phantasy Star. Humans have evolved into Space Elves and those that haven't have been forced into being Soldier-Droids.

Light, as far as anyone can measure, travels instantaneously, even across interstellar distances.

You have no idea what hard or soft sci-fi is...
Harder is "Obeys more or all rules of physics"
Softer is "Psychics are real, nanomachines break the laws of chemistry, radiations makes super heros, space ships laid out naval deck style, space is both ocean and sky depending on ship shape."

Note, wether or not you have "FTL" isn't a factor, so much as the kind of FTL and how many rules it breaks. If your FTL is "Fuck Einstein, throttle up!" then it's a soft form of FTL, but you could still have hard sci-fi if that's the only rule you're breaking. If it's "Well Einstein only said these methods of FTL are impossible, these methods of FTL are possible or implied by Einstein" then you're on the hard side until you you have psychics or grey goo.

Wow, so authoritative.

I get it.
Thanks for the explanation user. I'll not make an ass of myself again.

>if humans are present, they aren't the dominant species.
The galaxy is dominated by an alien species who are obsessed with human culture, fashion, and style.
Many go to extremes of gene splicing themselves to look like their idols in the next galaxy over.