Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Series 5 Tech

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Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

Current favourite for the setting of Series 5 is Pre-TOS, Birth of the Federation, right? Well, I say favourite, but most of us would really prefer it was one of these:

- The Sulu Show.
- Post-Voyager (ie, set from about 2377; I'm including in this the fanboy clusterwank's preferred choice of "Section 31 on a Prometheus").
- Next-Next Generation (ie 25th century or beyond, including the Time Travel show).

But we could be out of luck. And I started thinking about what it would entail, tech-wise. Well, it beats dreaming up new ways of being beastly and mean and howwible to you lot, I'm sure you'll agree.

So here goes:

WARP

You gotta have warp power - I think they said in TNG "Force of Nature" it's the backbone of the Federation. The warp scale will have to be pre-TNG, so I'm sure at one point some nameless force will make them go Warp 13, or whatever. I suspect there won't be a warpcore - but I could be wrong, opinion is divided on whether they had one in TOS. Nacelles. . . should look sorta Daedalus-stroke-Constitution-like - ie like on the Phoenix.

IMPULSE

Likewise, you need impulse power. Reaction engines powered by fusion, as usual. Not much you can say here, really.

GRAVITY

Will they have artificial gravity? Yes. For no other reason that it'll be cheaper. Other considerations (like it would be too B5 to have rotating sections or zero-G) are irrelevant. If you want justification, just remember - the Botany Bay had gravity.

SHIELDS/DEFLECTORS

If they can generate warp fields, they should be able to conquer other varieties of field tech. I'm not sure how far they'll go with it, though.

KINETIC WEAPONS

That is, will they use Photon Torpedoes? I'd be inclined to say yes - after all, a torp is just an AM-warhead missile powered with a warp sustainer field, all achievable given the tech they have.

PARTICLE-BEAM WEAPONS

I know Worf's statement about phasers in "A Matter of Time" and the presence of lasers in "The Cage" make this a tricky one. I'd be inclined to say they shouldn't have phasers of any kind, except maybe the most rudimentary ship-based ones. No personal weapons (see below). So what do they have instead? Don't know. Ion or Plasma-based weapons, I guess.

PERSONAL WEAPONS

No Phasers, OK? So they either have lasers, projectile weapons or some sort of PPG. If you think all this is turning out TOO B5, stay tuned, there's more.

UNIFORMS

Something utilitarian, jumpsuity. I doubt they'll have the kind of shirtsleeve environment conducive to funky Rayon or Spandex outfits.

TRANSPORTERS

Now, THIS is the sticking point. We don't know when the transporter was developed. Here's two dates for you, from "Realm of Fear" - 2209, Transporter Psychosis is first diagnosed; 2319, it's cured when a new type of patter buffer is introduced, or something. That first date is the important one: I can't believe they'd had the technology for decades before such a fundamental problem cropped up. So. . . either transporters were new, OR the problem occurred so rarely it didn't appear until there was really widespread use. I suspect they'll play around with the second one - then again, this is Braga we're talking about, most likely he just won't give a fuck.

I think that covers just about everything. You could mention scanning tech, replicators, but all i can do right now is shrug. So let's sum up:

Unless they really surprise us, we're looking at a B5 Earth Alliance-type level of tech. The ships. .. imagine a Hyperion-class with nacelle pylons sticking out the sides. And it'll probably go further than that, resemblance-wise. This is a less-enlightened humanity we're talking about: fractious, barely-united, no doubt wondering whether they should be out there boldly going or not. In this era of post-Cold War Balkanisation and dwindling investment in spece exploration, all very topical, now I think about it!

Thoughts?

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Luke Ford: "What's it like having a dick in your ass?"

Zoe: "Imagine taking your bottom lip and pulling it over the top of your head. You get used to it but it does hurt."

Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :

Oh, shit.

It's going to be a 'let's beat B5 and make an Earth-based show with funky graphis and evil aliens' kind of show.

Goodbye, continuity
Goodbye, Rodenberry
Welcome, Mr. Braga
.....

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"There's no such thing as overkill when it comes to killing."
-Gaseous Anomaly, December 11, 2000
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Titan Fleet Yards - Harry Doddema's Star Trek Site

Posted by Curry Monster (Member # 12) on :

Not Braga. *Weeps*

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Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

Oh, come on people. Can't we actually discuss this without slagging off BB? It's as tiring as when half the posts in a discussion about Voyager say "Voyager sux! It haz no Quantumn Toprs!" or something as fun.

And to be accurate, only post 1995 Braga sux.

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Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

I tend to agree with the original post. However, I imagine that, where such a series to be made, there would be a conscious effort on behalf of the design team to make the ships recognizable. Proto-saucer sections and the like, I'm betting. Or would bet, were such a series to be made.

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I cannot explain
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****
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Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :

The real trick, design wise, is going to be to create a look that looks more rudimentary than TOS tech, without looking stupid to us modern TV viewers. Same with the ship. How do you make a ship that looks less developed than the Connie Class without making it look dumb? I guess that's what they pay those people for.

My guess about the technology is that there will be very little adherense to the specific dates that these technologies were developed.

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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx

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Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

Maybe the transporter will be really new - and untested. Endless oportunities for dramatic tension as fuses blow. Mind you, both Andromeda and Galaxy Quest have featured new/untested matter transmitters.

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Luke Ford: "What's it like having a dick in your ass?"

Zoe: "Imagine taking your bottom lip and pulling it over the top of your head. You get used to it but it does hurt."

Posted by Quatre Winner (Member # 464) on :

I intend to wait and see and not say much either way.

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"Omae o korusu..." - Heero Yuy

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

Deanna Troi did say that "humanity united" after Vulcan First Contact.

Of course, the TNG crew got Cochrane's motives all wrong too, so that could easily as well be "re-written" history.

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Posted by USS Vanguard (Member # 130) on :

Hmm, if it is Pre-TOS i'd want some more militaristic uniforms (i.e. Movie Era, but not red). Times were tough then, and i've never been a fan of jumpsuits. TOS uniforms were just too much like pajamas.

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Posted by Vacuum robot lady from Spaceballs (Member # 239) on :

The more I think about this, the more I am invigorated about the apparent insight into this time frame.

As per uniforms, I'd speculate they'd be similar in style (Maybe not look) to 'The Cage's uniforms. A sweater and pants, essentially.'

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-Sol System on what constitutes modern day Star Trek watching, 02-22-01

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

Although this is probably a minor complaint ...

I'd like to see a different uniform for the enlisted. Like in the flicks: one glance, you know who is an enlisted crewmember, and who is an officer.

I'd also say the sleeve rank bands are almost a given.

[This message has been edited by JeffKardde (edited March 04, 2001).]

Posted by Vacuum robot lady from Spaceballs (Member # 239) on :

What of division colours, and the whole "red/yellow switcheroo from TOS to TNG?", I wonder.

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

I'd like to see division colors -- probably yellow for command, red for engineering & security, blue for medical and science.

The argument could always be made that Starfleet went for division colors, then to the CAGE uniforms, then BACK to division colors (sort of like from TOS to the movies back to division colors in TNG).

Posted by Matrix (Member # 376) on :

If Pre-TOS I want to see the Daedalus class and wjole shit load of similar designs not something that looks like a brick or looks like it belongs in Star Wars.

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Predict the unpredictable, but how do you unpredict the unpredictable?

Posted by Jim Phelps (Member # 102) on :

Consistency is never as important as looking and sounding good. I suppose we won't see much of the sixties' style, but who knows?

Boris

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I'm not the Boris Skrbic on the Grafitti Wall website

[This message has been edited by Boris (edited March 09, 2001).]