O.. kay? So we may have to wait until Atlantis is dead before this would happen, partly because of the money, and partly because of production time.
The premise sounds interesting, but they're really moving pretty far from having a real-world present-day grounding for the show, which is one of the big reasons I think SG-1 was so successful.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I don't understand. If they can gate within galaxies, and between galaxies, what's the ship for?
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
For building a new set I suppose.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Saving energy, too. Even if you can technically gate to another galaxy and back as often as please you, it's still more efficient to have a mobile base in the galaxy you want to explore. And there may be things to see that aren't where gates were placed.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
And, y'know, this ship is for seeding stargates. Like the Cortez. Always wondered how they got the gates planted...
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: I don't understand. If they can gate within galaxies, and between galaxies, what's the ship for?
Gating between galaxies is still rather difficult for two reasons. First, you need the eighth symbol in a galaxy's address. To my knowledge, the SGC only has gate addresses to two other galaxies (the Asgard galaxy and Pegasus). Second, you need enough power to get there. Unless you've got a ZPM or somebody with an Ancient database in their brain who can build one, you're out of luck.
From reading this article, it seems as though this ship is meant to function as a "hub" for the universal Stargate system. Unlike Atlantis (which wasn't meant to operate for thousands of years without replacement ZPMs), the ship should still have power and presumably has gate addresses to all the gates dropped along the way.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I think my main problem here is that it sounds like Atlantis all over again. ANOTHER lost ancient outpost/ship and ANOTHER Stargate network(s). Loosing the connection with Earth is what made most of the first season suffer IMHO and it was the grounding in reality that made SG1 so engaging. Without that it's just another Sci-Fi show a la mid-90's.
I wonder who the "big bad" will be this time. They've used up false gods/parasites, robots, real gods, more parasites and...uh, more robots. Probably evil Furlings or parasites.
Also, I'll put money on the fact that the name will change as it enters production. Stargate Universe just doesn't sound like a good title...a bit on the nose, no?
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Stargate Andromeda, where they gate around trying to rebuild the once great ancient republic.
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
With Captain Hylan Dunt right?
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: Loosing the connection with Earth is what made most of the first season suffer IMHO and it was the grounding in reality that made SG1 so engaging. Without that it's just another Sci-Fi show a la mid-90's.
I get what you're saying about the "feel" of the show, but I have to completely disagree with you, because I feel that Atlantis' first season was also its strongest so far, for just that reason; they were cut off from Earth, and there was a sense of urgency, of danger, and even impending tragedy that gave the show its impact and its identity; after they contacted Earth, it's been a lot less interesting to me.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
As with everything I'll reserve judgement until I actually see it. I do think it's a bit ambitious though. It's only been what? 15 years since the gate was discovered. IN those 15 years Earth has gone from a backwater planet to exploring the universe?
SG-1 was good because it was about humans in way over their head, but managing to keep up. Atlantis shows how far they've come. They're able to use and understand some advanced technology (too much to be believeable really). Now they're going galaxy-hopping. I too am curious about who the big bad will be. How do you have an enemy that covers multiple galaxies but miraculously hasn't effected Earth, at least up until the beginning of this series?
I'll be excited to see the ship though. And (hopefully) all the new Gate designs.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Wiz, he's a major now.
Aban, as far as watching the the progression like that, I have to agree.
As far as an enemy that is multi galaxy but hasn't been to earth yet.... How many galaxies are in our local cluster?
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
one...two...lots....many.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"And, y'know, this ship is for seeding stargates."
No, that's what the other ship is for.
"Gating between galaxies is still rather difficult for two reasons. First, you need the eighth symbol in a galaxy's address. ... Second, you need enough power to get there."
And which of those things did the Ancients not have?
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: I wonder who the "big bad" will be this time. They've used up false gods/parasites, robots, real gods, more parasites and...uh, more robots. Probably evil Furlings or parasites.
Or evil Furlings with parasites.
Why is Stargate becoming like Star Trek with multiple spin-offs? My favorite thing about SG-1 was the beginning of the series, picking up where the movie left off and the Goa'uld were actually a threat. They didn't have starships, phasers, or transporters. It was the real military using real technology ... for the most part ... to fight a more advanced race.
The further it gets away from that concept the less it seems like Stargate to me.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Doesn't the concept have to grow and evolve as the show ages, otherwise it is stale.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
That's the problem with stories - and games - and TV - and life, come to think of it. If you're all-powerful you're bored. Status quo really must be maintained, but if there's no development it gets just as boring. So you have to make the heroes *and* the dangers they face more and more powerful to keep up.
Maybe there won't be a Big Bad. It'd be more realistic at this point to have lots of smaller Bads...the Tau'ri are like the Big Fuckers On the Block at this point, Ancient and Asgard knowledge and equipment, and so on...they lack resources, maybe, but that's about it. Pair up with the Tollan and Free Jaffa, though, and they've got plenty of firepower. What I'm saying is, it'd be interesting to see Earth put in the position the Asgard used to occupy - going around saving younger races from threats to their existence, trying to stretch their resources out more than is probably advisable in order to save as many people as possible.
Oh and GOD I hope these hundreds of new galaxies seeded with gates millions of years ago don't just happen to be filled with humans. Transplanting them throughout the Milky Way and Pegasus I'll believe, but the universe? How, frozen sperm on the seed ship? (Heh. Geddit?)
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
And what about the notion that the third series will have a team of Air Force people traipsing around a universe full of planets which are nothing but pine trees and lower Canadian arboreals? Inasmuch as most Treks have everyone beaming down to Southern California most weeks?
Mark
Posted by Zipacna (Member # 1881) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: I don't understand. If they can gate within galaxies, and between galaxies, what's the ship for?
The thing about gating between galaxies (besides the power consumption), there actually needs to be a network of stargates in a galaxy to be able to gate there. If you're from the species that invented the gates, and you've never seeded a galaxy with gates before...well, therein lies what the ship is for. Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Why didn't they just remove the safety protocols and hit a giant solar flare with a wormhole?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I don't think people actually read the article before responding to my question. There are two ships. The first one sets up stargates in all these other galaxies. I don't have a problem with that. May problem is with the fact that there is a second ship which does... what? If you can already gate directly to the other galaxies, what are you going to want to gate to the ship for? (Not to mention that every stargate in the universe has a whole chevron on it that's just for gating to this one ship. This one ship which didn't even exist when the gates were first built.)
Either something's screwy with this concept, or the article failed to explain it properly.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Well, the distance between galaxies is huge. If the ship is meant to be a cental base of operations, then it makes sence to have one Gate as a hub of sorts within the local cluster. However, if the ship was meant, as the article stated, to follow the seed ship around, then it might not make sense.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I'm going with the idea that the article is a bit off, and that the ninth chevron gates them to the seed ship. That way they're exploring galaxies as they're being seeded.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
But if they were exploring galaxies as they're being seeded, the network wouldn't be in place and they couldn't use that galaxy's gate system. There's also an intrinsic flaw in the whole thing: Even if the seed ship has hyperdrive for use between planets, seeding even one galaxy would take thousands of years. Say one day to travel to the next planet and one day to robotically set up the gate, the DHD, and perform whatever interfacing is needed. So that's a conservative estimate of 2 days per gate... now mulitply by a million, or however many Gates Carter said were in the Milky Way network.
Of course... if the project was started millions of years ago... then I guess it may have made some progress.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
The second ship does make sense, it can maintain it's position over the vast distances, so gating to the ship makes life a lot easier over having to calculate stellar and galactic drifts. It seems easier to to work out galactic drifting.
The seed ship could also send out seeding parties in smaller ships, jumbo jumpers, sending out even a low 50 per day would cut that time down greatly. With 50 jumbo jumpers and the seed ship itself you could set up a million gates in about 54 years. Doing one per day.
As far as testing and what not it seems they would have it worked out to be drop n gate, as Carter already made the on screen note that the gates are self adjusting for stellar drift updating each other. Drop a gate in to place and wait a bit for the gate to communicate with the others in the local area. Hyper drive to the next planet. Doing an average of two per day per jumbo jumper it would cut the time down to an semi manageable 27 years for a million gates.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
When I first heard the title there was the rumor that the ninth chevron would gate between universes. I thought, Don't they already have the Quantum Mirror for that? Now that would be a nice show idea too...every episode they mirror to a different universe to try to stop the Ori and Goa'uld and Replicators in different universes. It'd be fun to see all the old baddies again and have a new dynamic between them and the now badass SG-1 or whoever, but then again, I can see it getting stale pretty quickly.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Well, they would have the Quantum Mirror, if General Hammond hadn't already ordered them to destroy it!
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
quote:There's also an intrinsic flaw in the whole thing: Even if the seed ship has hyperdrive for use between planets, seeding even one galaxy would take thousands of years.
Unless, of course, you had a self-replicating seed ship... Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Right, right, BJ, pesky logic...
Omega: Von Neumann Gate Berserkers!
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
quote:Originally posted by Daniel Butler: When I first heard the title there was the rumor that the ninth chevron would gate between universes. I thought, Don't they already have the Quantum Mirror for that? Now that would be a nice show idea too...every episode they mirror to a different universe to try to stop the Ori and Goa'uld and Replicators in different universes. It'd be fun to see all the old baddies again and have a new dynamic between them and the now badass SG-1 or whoever, but then again, I can see it getting stale pretty quickly.
So, like Sliders with Goa'uld? Or to put it another way, like Sliders, season 3 & 4?
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
In some of the episodes, the SGC would be be subtly evil and suspicious, in others, it would be lovey dovey and all dressed like hippies, and in some, Captain/Major/Colonel Carter would be dressed in a bikini the whole time.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Yeah we gotta get that show on the air like now. And someone contract Rachel Luttrell's agent.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Robert Carlyle, everyone's favorite trainspotter, forgettable Bond villain and zombie dad, has signed up to head the otherwise youthful cast of Stargate Universe.
The article further sets up the premise of the show. Instead of deliberately heading to the Ancient ship Destiny from Earth, it seems that the team are a group from an offworld base that are forced to head there instead of back to Earth or another safe world, starting our series.
The team leader was supposed to be a US military Colonel, but now seems to have defaulted to a civilian scientist. Hopefully, Carlyle won't end up as useless as Weir...
Mark
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
I read the casting sheet a couple of days ago and some of the descriptions worry me. Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Yah. I'm hoping the leader isn't the only thing they change about that cast. Didn't they already try the green, young Lt. with Ford? It apparently didn't work.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Yeah, and the chicky that's "stunning and sexy" with daddy issues, total slacker genius, brutish marine...
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Casting sheets usually pigeonhole characters like that. Think back to the massive nerdgasm that came when the Enterprise casting sheet was released. Anyone remember "Captain Jackson Archer" or "Charlie 'Spike' Tucker"? So, I have a little hope.
But not too much, 'cause I also remember how Atlantis turned out. Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Um, a 'lost' SG team sounds like the premise to that hideous animated Stargate programme.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Actually, that's what I like about it. "Stargate Infinity" had a remarkably good premise for the "Early" SG-1 universe, having a team stuck "away" from Earth as a consipracy at home has their GDOs locked out. What it didn't take into account was how busy the milky way ought to have been, filled with allies and Alpha Sites to gate to. This, coupled with mediocre family storytelling, no real link to the SG-1 continuity, and some truly godawful production design, really killed Infinity IMO - I never made it past the first few episodes.
We have a similar setup here, but IMO it should work better as they should be exploring new territory, with the added bonus that the ship on which they're stuck is always on the move - they can always change the bad guys as they move on, since bascially no one should have intergalactic capabilities. It DOES suck however that any GOOD bad guys can't follow the ship as it moves on.
However, I liked the idea of returning to the SG team dynamic, so I was hoping for a more military team again. Will the new lead have this capacity? Will Carlyle be stuck on the Destiny for most of the series? Find out on Stargate Universe!
Mark
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
For how long will they be in each galaxy though? I mean, SG-1 spent the entire series exploring the Milky Way and still hadn't even scratched the surface. Will they spend one season in each galaxy? And how will they get to the next? I have to assume the Destiny has hyperdrive.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Presumably the ship is pre-programmed to follow the unmanned "seed" ship that placed all the stargates on planets that had, or would eventually have human or humanoid life on it. It's not known if the "seed" ship also placed the building blocks of human/ancient life on it as well, as the Lanteans did in Pegasus. Anyway, the time the Destiny ends up spending in each galaxy can be pre-programmed as well - it may be programmed to spend a year or two in each, giving the original crew enough time to survey the worlds through the Stargates and then move on. Or, it may be programmed with a "next" button that the crew could press when they were done with the given galaxy. That would seem more reasonable than being forced to leave at the end of an amount of time that may not be enough to survey a galaxy. Perhaps the "seed" ship made a guess for how long the Destiny should stay in place, or it could be like "Sliders" where it JUST HAPPENED to be long enough.
One thing however this series can't continue with, as SG-1 did, is the notion of aliens posing as gods and transporting ancient human societies to other worlds. Granted, while fun this quickly got old on SG-1 and both the Milky Way and and Pegasus' human populations quickly acquired this generic medieval retro look to them. I hope that in Universe they will abandon this and either give us some genuinely alien locations, or at least futuristic ones for a change.
And dammit, give us some good villains. SG-1 had a few good ones that weren't replicators, snakes or vampires. I hope to have some cool aliens here.
Mark
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Daniel Butler: Oh and GOD I hope these hundreds of new galaxies seeded with gates millions of years ago don't just happen to be filled with humans. Transplanting them throughout the Milky Way and Pegasus I'll believe, but the universe? How, frozen sperm on the seed ship? (Heh. Geddit?)
Prepare to have your hopes dashed.
Personally, I'd like to see them encounter a whole slew of races so advanced that the explorers cant interact/challenge them. They'd be beneath them....possibly they'd encounter a race(s) semi-ascended through natural means. Which means they'd be CGI effects and would not have to be humanoid.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
The first trailer for Universe has been released. It has generally been loast in the BSG finale fangasm, which this trailer followed. Youtuuube!
Not much to show - this is obviously taken from the first few days of shooting, with almost all of the shots taken from the crew's forced arrival on the Destiny from the "Icarus Base" shown on the soldiers' patches. There is one quick optical shot, which reveals the only interesting tech: the Destiny's Stargate, which is not like the Pegasus or Milky Way gates we've seen before, nor the Ori or Tollan tech. It does not seem to have chevrons, or if it does, there are a LOT of 'em:
Looks like the Destiny will have about fifty humans aboard at the outset. Recent interviews suggest that the show, at least at the beginning, will be focussed more about surviving on the ship first. Exploration of far-flung worlds will come a distant second, and will happen after the depression and suicides are taken care of. Interesting...
Mark
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
I'm thinking you may mean symbols cause I count 9 chevrons on the gate...
And it would make sense not to have symbols in the traditional sense if the ship is traveling from galaxy to galaxy. It would have to make a galaxy-wide scan to figure out appropriate symbols to use on the network or something like that, and adjust the ship's own gate accordingly.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I wonder why everyone is running and screaming through the ship? Is there something else trapped aboard, perhaps? How big is Destiny supposed to be?
It occurs to me that, at the end of Continuum, Carter is barely heard to mention something to O'Niel about "the new moon base". Last time I watched it, I was wondering if this was their code for sneaking off together. But now I'm wondering if she was talking about Icarus Base.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Minor spoilers...
Apparently Icarus Base is an offworld research base where, among things, they're working on what the ninth chevron is all about. Dr. Full Monty figures it out, and either some aliens attack the base forcing everyone to gate to the Destiny while the wormhole is active, or he FAKES an emergency again resulting in the evacuation to the ship. Who knows why they didn't just dial Earth or somewherer safe, or if there was some trickery involved. I sense a strong resemblence to Dr. Smith from "Lost in Space" here...
In any case, there is no expedition or team, no volunteers and no backup... It starts as an emergency and goes downhill from there. The teaser strongly suggests that everyone from Icarus base barely had a chance to grab some guns and a few crates of stuff before they were cut off from home and the SGC. Aside from the obvious BSG-style jumpcuts editting, which was probably done only for this trailer, I'm still looking forward to this.
Mark
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
One would assume that the ship is in a galaxy when the group arrives. There can't possibly be food or water aboard after a gazillion years. They'll almost have to start using the in-network Gates immediately to find supplies.
I wonder how they're going to avoid setting this up as a hopeless cause. I mean, they have to have some kind of plan for trying to get home.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Indeed. While there are no super-fast Asgard around anymore, they DO have ZPM-powered starships available. I'm guessing that for whatever reason they can't figure out how to dial home, and they're just so far away from Earth that a rescue mission would not be possible. Alternatively, they may have no idea WHERE in the universe they are, with no real way of finding it out - so searching for them would be fruitless for now.
One wonders if they can share the knowledge of how to activate the wormhole to the Destiny with Earth, so at least they can be SENT supplies and food from home. We know they figure out a way to contact the SGC early on, but it was pretty clear that going home is not part of this series' plan for the forseeable future.
Mark
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
So why don't they just call it Stargate Galactica and drop the pretence? Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I'm only looking forward to this so they'll FINALLY fucking release Atlantis' 5th season on DVD!
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I think it's slated for June, yes? I'm eager as well. I haven't seen any of the eps from season 5.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Is that Robert Carlisle? The long haired guy?
I like the film-grain effect they've used... makes it look a little more... cinematic.
BUT - as we've seen in Voyager - if they are constantly on the move - the chance to establish secondary characters - like an ongoing villain will be very limited (if they want to maintain credibility).
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
As long as they're in the same galaxy, a recurring villian might be possible. Though that brings up a good question: If the ship is flying on auto-pilot through galaxies where spacefaring races have developed, they're sitting ducks. Though, I guess it could be argued that none of the races they're likely to encounter will be very old, so their tech may not be much of a match for Destiny's shields or weapons.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
quote:Originally posted by Aban Rune: Though, I guess it could be argued that none of the races they're likely to encounter will be very old, so their tech may not be much of a match for Destiny's shields or weapons.
Assuming the ship has either. Also, this ship was launched millions (?) of years before Atlantis...
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
My money is on a cloaking device.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I'll be curious to hear how the ship's existance is explained in the first place. It was obviously meant to play a key role in the Ancients' grand scheme since every stargate we've seen is apparently designed to be able to send people there. So were people meant to be on the ship alot of the time? If so, weapons and stuff would seem to be a good idea. A cloaking device would also seem to fit as they might be mindful of influencing the development of primitive societies by suddenly appearing in their ship.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
We know that a whole lot of extra power is required to use 8 chevrons, and probably a whole lot more to use all 9. Normal gates can only use 7 so I'd assume that if anyone activates all 9 they'd have to be advanced enough to power the thing.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
The trailer shows the emerging onto the Destiny in a generic gate room not unlike Atlantis or the SGC. I'm almost surprised, if Destiny is supposed to be the "ultimate destination" of every single stargate, that they didn't have it in the middle of a biodome construct or something.
It's possible that the Destiny was to be the ultimate tool of exploration and transportation through the universe, with ANYONE who had the smarts capable of gating there from anywhere else. This must pre-date the "Big Four" Alliance somehow.
Mark
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Aban Rune: I think it's slated for June, yes? I'm eager as well. I haven't seen any of the eps from season 5.
Yeah, me neither- I've had to avoid pretty much all Stargate-related discussions as result of NOT wanting to spoil it all.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I've only just heard about Robert Carlyle choosing to appear in a Stargate spin-off, instead of being Doctor Who so they chose that Elephant Man lookalike instead. Bastard. I wonder what accent he'll use? I might watch this, provided it doesn't rely too much on established SG-1/SG:A backstory which I just couldn't keep track of.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Season 5 of SG:A just became available for pre-order on Amazon. Woot! I'm signed up.
Posted by calin (Member # 2151) on :
Can't wait for the season to start, I was so sad when Atlantis went down Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
I'm hoping this will be my New Show. With BSG gone, and TSCC season over and possibly not returning, I've got nothing sci-fi to watch! Stargate Universe is about my only hope.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)