Archive through May 14, 2019
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Games and Science Fiction: Sci-Fi (other than Trek):
Archive through May 14, 2019
I mean, say what you like about "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," it at least reflected the advancement of real world technology since the original series.
I remember a one panel comic that said the worst job in the Empire was cleaning the heads used by Stormtroopers because they ALWAYS miss their targets.
Quote:I mean, say what you like about "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," it at least reflected the advancement of real world technology since the original series.
I believe the answer is in the rolling description at the start of "A New Hope".
"In a Galaxy Far Far Away".
A story I read, "The Road Not Taken" depicts a species that did not develop certain technology because it simply wasn't needed or conceived. A rather good story, I might add.
Glenn Hoepfner:
"The Road Not Taken" was actually a topic of conversation, I think it was just last year. Some of the board members managed to find readable PDFs on line for those who wanted to wander down memory lane re-reading it. I being one of those who remembered the story, if imperfectly (I thought it was contemporary, but is actually set a few decades in the future, but I could still imagine an M1 tank being an unpleasant surprise, much less F-22 Raptors and Apaches.
https://eyeofmidas.com/scifi/Turtledove_RoadNotTaken.pdf
Don’t know if I can discuss this but I’m a script writer I don’t have an agent or anything but I work on my proposed DC Comics tv shows I’d like to propose some ideas see if you like them or hate them
Jay, isn't that a bit risky? I presume you signed an NDA, so how would you get around that? Also, there's a reason professional authors stay out of fan-fiction boards: too many have been accused of plagiarizing ideas from amateur writers. What happens if someone comments on one of your ideas and you change it up to match the new idea? Who gets the credit (and the money)?
Garth L. Getgen
Your just wanted to talk to somebody
I’m not very smart about thes things
There's an old saying, Jay; if in doubt, avoid like the plague. If you have any reason to even suspect DC might have a claim to something, it may be wise to leave it to them.
That being said, would you be willing to share your knowledge of writing with anyone else? As you've undoubtedly read, many of the folks on these boards are happy to share their professional knowledge.
If I may, there is an idea I've started trying to coalesce; a vignette in the Omega Sector. Perhaps you can give me some pointers?
It centers around a human woman who works as part of a diplomatic mission from the FRA to the Maesron. It starts with Alice waiting at a starport for a diplomatic package that's had some delays. It's Easter Sunday and the courier that's bringing the decorated eggs and chocolate candies from Aurora is late.
As she's sitting there, she sees a frantically harried Qixa carrying the package she's expecting (for some reason, I've always thought of Qixa delivering Easter Eggs and Candies, ever since I got Omega module 4), but her attempts to try and talk to him are lost to him running off, muttering about how he's late...
Oh, sorry. I gotta go now. There's a Slirdarian Corporal with a pair of Alligators breathing down my neck right now. Hopefully, I'll get out of the booth before too long and maybe we can discuss this idea further...
I nearly snorted my coffee threw my nose. Nicely done.
There are a number of writing circle email lists that would be perfect for discussing such specifics. It will be cheaper than attending Clarion at least.
We've been enjoying a thread, introduced by Glenn Hoepfner, in the "Real-World Space Exploration" discussion line now for a couple days. It started with an excellent question regarding REAL science for some science fiction he was entertaining.
(I wrote that for clarification, should someone be looking through the archives some time in the future.)
With your kind indulgence, I'd like to invite those of you who have your own science fiction to share. IMO, this is what this posting subject was meant for.
As an opening, I'd like to share something screwey that I've been having fun with; I call it, "Dogfights: The Battles of Saturn." As might be surmised from the title, it's about ships and space fighters engaged in dogfights around Saturn and is meant as more of a showcase of what is there than anything else.
I've been hesitant to bring it up here because it's definitely NOT compatible with the SFU. In SFB, the rings amount to some minor dust (or asteroid) collision damage and the atmosphere of Titan or the planet itself is easily handled by the rules in section P.
No, this is DEFINITELY ouside the SFU, but given that this posting area is called "Sci-fi OTHER THAN TREK" (emphasis mine), I think it's a good place for it. 
While I've entertained it for a number of different universes (including, but not limited to: BSG 1978, Battletech, the Godzilla Franchise, and the worlds of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson), I've found myself drawn to placing it in the truly fantastical realm of the rocket ships of 1930's serials, but with as much hard science involved as possible.
The core of it lays with the variety of realms in so close of a region of space. There's atmospheric combat in the atmosphere of Titan, possible geyser run-ins in the Tiger Stripes of Enceladus, playing games with orbital mechanics in the gaps between the rings, playing games with orbital mechanics in low Saturn orbit, atmospheric operations within Saturns atmosphere, and (due to scientific errors on my part) hide-and-seek within the tumbling chaos of the rings themselves.
The atmosphere of Titan is a dangerous place, not only because of the danger of running into the moon's surface (that's largely hidden by the hazy atmosphere) but because of the potential danger of methane ices accreting on control surfaces. As the combatants twist and turn, using traditional atmospheric maneuvers against each other in this environment, they'll invariably find themselves descending. Will they see the deck before it's too late, and how will ice buid-ups affect their performances?
The Tiger Stripes of Enceladus lead to the definite possibilities of "Canyon Chases" that have been done in the past with movie dogfights. This is easily complicated by losing all visibility in an instant, and possibly being physically BLASTED by an unexpected Geyser.
The gaps in the rings, due to the rules of orbital mechanics, are much like having posts on opposite sides of a clear field slowly sliding by each other as the higher orbit ring revolves around Saturn more slowly than the lower orbit ring. Are the watch-posts hidden from the view of opponents as they're approaching, and if so, what is the risk of being seen (and fired upon) AFTER they've passed?
Flying in low orbit around Saturn itself has its own set of problems. As you all undoubtedly know, applying additional thrust will push the thrusting ship into a higher orbit, where it'll have a longer orbital period. This puts the pilots in the conundrum of weighing instant benefit against long-time loss. Meanwhile, if they go TOO low, they'll run into the problem of atmospheric interface.
Once inside the atmosphere of Saturn, there's the continuous drag on their systems, the need to maintain enough reserve fuel to achieve (and break) orbit, and the conditions of the atmosphere itself to worry about. This last part is particularly critical as I'm imagining "The Good Guy Rocket Ships" as having a thrust to weight ratio of less than one to four; they're designed for space work and are out of their element in the atmosphere.
Atmospheres are also notorious for vertical movement. Is the air mass they're in one that is ascending or is it one that's descending. If it IS descending, how quickly, and will the ships be able to power out before getting sucked down so far as to be crushed by the pressure.
As far as the rings go, I gotta admit that, after seeing the chase scene in the rings of Geonosis in the second Star Wars prequel movie, I had all sorts of visions of dogfights in swirling piles of rocks, with a couple large ones having tunnels through them. More recently, though, I've found out that Saturns Rings are, at best, thirty feet thick. Kind of ruins the "Hard Science" of that, but you know it might be fun to have a fling out in one of Jupiters Trojan Camps.
Anyway, I wanted to share this screwey idea with you all, hope you find it amusing, would be pleased as punch if any of you feel like running with your own version, and would love to hear any other ideas for regions within this realm that might make for an interesting environment for a space fight.
Don’t know if this fits anybody got any favorite columbo episodes
When Kirk was the bad guy.
Was that the one where Columbo didn't know how to use a honeydipper? I never knew how that thing worked, either.
I liked forgotten lady where due to a medical condition she didn’t realize she killed her husband felt kind of bad for her
Glenn Hoepfner:
When William Shatner was the bad guy?
Which time?
Shatner was the killer in two episodes of Columbo.
One of two who doubled (the other being George Hamilton).
Two others starred in three episodes (Jack Cassidy and Robert Culp), but Patrick MacGoohan was in four.
I recall reading somewhere that Patrick McGoohan and Peter Falk were good friends, which may have been why he was in so many Colombo episodes.
MacGoohan also directed several episodes of the show.
Okay, so i have a question about Avengers: Infinity War.
* * * * SPOILER AlEET * * * *
Thanos said he wanted to eliminate half of life because resources were overtaxed, which cause people to starve. In End Game, we learned that he got rid of half of ALL life, at least half of all animal life, not just half of so-called intelligent life.
I have two problems with his logic. First, did he not halve food resources, at least meat sources, thus making it just as hard to feed everyone? Second, so what if half of life was dusted? The population will eventually recover, and we'd be right back in the same limited resource problem.
Or am I missing something???
Garth L. Getgen
Nope, you didn't miss a thing. Thanos' solution will last a few generations at best.
That's why, if your goal is to reset the world with a brighter future, you gotta go the Steven King route, aka "The Stand" Captain Trips, the superflu, wipes out 99.7% of the world's population. That'll take awhile to recover, while leaving the infrastructure intact for future generations to reinhabit.
There is a nasty problem with bodies, though...
Thanos's Solution as stated (delete half of ALL life) would not last a single generation.
"All life" includes "plant life." So he wiped out not just half of all animal sources of food, but half of all plant sources of food.
They literally needed to define what he meant, but apparently they just went with "everyone will notice that the jungle did not turn half to dust at the same time and understand he is only talking about meat sacks."
There is also the problem of the precise mechanism. There are more than a few very advanced societies that depend on stable work forces to operate, and if you remove them, well the technology does not last too long. We have that problem now in that some technologies are not written down in an understandable manner, and when it comes time to redo what we should know how to do, we cannot and must invent a new way to do it. (Seriously, we had this problem when it came time to update the nuclear weapons that were "aging out," no one remembered how to make some of the component elements because the former workforce had themselves aged out since the last time the bombs were refitted and the new people had no idea how to do the job from the written records).
Like the aging computer people that got called back to fix old programs in languages modern programmers never learn.