working from the old whovian timeline page (since deleted--now in the sidebar here) and trying to combine a fair bit of all elements. bound to be a mess, but that's the fun, eh? and by "whovian" i'm thinking in a gaming sense--these would all be places/times for time lord & co. visits, a doctor who meets gaming playground of sorts. this particular version mixes SF with an HPL influence.
there is an assumption that not only have there been past random alien encounters, but also contact with entities from other dimensions. the belief that "magic" is responsible won't be repudiated by science until the early 21st century. we'll also be a little fanciful in assuming other countries have viable space programs as well. the UK, japan, and china are all minor players in orbit. later on the ESA and india get in on the action, maybe even singapore, south africa, etc.
present day: alien ("grays") attacks occur, but are covered up by world governments to prevent panic. x-com handles interceptions on earth. moonbase alpha is under construction on the far side, will provide long-range interception capability. (how to secretly do such a thing is a major suspension of disbelief, i know)
near future (mid 21st century): neotokyo arcology construction and robotics advances. recognition of "magic-via-math" e.g. the laundry series by charles stross, leading to the creation of AMP "attacked mystification police" type specialist groups. mid century also sees genetically modified and "grown" humans coming into society, with the expected prejudices. late 21st century sees increasing resource wars, primarily for oil and water. societies increasingly become split as haves and have nots, with no middle class. reaches large-scale international war stage by century's end.
22nd century would be "post ww3" scarcity and dark ages stuff. the greys & co. were stalemated last century, but now they've lost interest in the battered earth. mid century sees a generation ship constructed and launched then mid to late century sees the discovery fusion power and an FTL drive (insert variety here). a few years after the first interstellar expeditions, (insert alien race) makes contact. while initial meetings are peaceful, things get hostile due to both aggressiveness, mistrust, and miscommunication on both sides.
the benefit of the war was both exploration and increased industry, slowly bringing earth out of the depths. the 23rd century brings humans in contact with the rest of the galactic community in the area.
from this point i suppose i need to decide what or who would be that first contact race, as well as the other interstellar neighbors. it's a start, though
another take--
an interesting possibility--use the similar near-future (2000-21xx) materials. the beginning of 2200s results in a defeat of "mythos" elements and the rise of trek/starfleet, etc. then 2271 or thereabouts the mythos elements return. how would that alter trek timelines? perhaps the "warp speed limit" is also tied to a resurgence of mythos activity. from there, interstellar society develops towards a fading suns present, then into traveller's (altered) OTU. new dark ages? relatively speaking, at least from a trek-like perspective. then into renegade legion’s present.
plenty of time to go from a roman-esque RL to the universe of frank herbert’s dune (personally only considering the original through chapterhouse, but don’t remember the end year for that one). and then approximately 15,000 years to w40k’s present. maybe spice-induced travel brings about the warp and chaos for 40k?
where to go from then, in this grand scheme of things? time for more searching, and this time to include elements from doctor who’s far, far futures. . . like from this page.
the timeline provides an interesting change the scale from part of the galaxy (in traveller) to the entire milky way (in renegade legion). we go from system-only travel (yamato being an exception) to trek’s warp speed, then (iirc) warp gates in fading suns, ca. 4996. then jump drive in trav (5625). perhaps so we get the discovery of warp drive (trek) tech, discover the damage that tech causes to the fabric of space, and the imposition of the “speed limit” in 2370. but the speed limit doesn't fix anything, and civilizations switch to "gates" and fixed destinations (instead of the free-for-all travel of warp drive) in order to stabilize things. by the time we get to traveller, the gates may still exist as artifacts, but jump drive is deemed safe enough to resume free travel.
keep in mind that each game's fictional past would end up being altered by the earlier entries in this crazy thought experiment
plus i need to dig out fading suns and see what scale it fits in. is it a limited part of the milky way, like traveller? or has spread to a galaxy-wide scale?
the final working version of this project will most certainly have to change the names, etc. to fit together better.