HI Dark, Well, you certainly raise some good points here. I agree something original would certainly be preferable than a Star Trek knock-off. I was merely pointing out that one wouldn't have to invent everything from scratch if they used a template. However, for myself I probably wouldn't try to copy Star Trek for the same reasons as you gave below. Namely that it would look like a cheap knock-off and therefore wouldn't be as satisfying as really exploring strange new worlds, too seek out new life, too seek out new civilizations, and to go where no man has gone before. Sorry, just had to say that. Lol!
Anyway, I have to agree with you on the fact that Star Trek tends to be too idealistic and the Federation is often represented as some kind of future utopian society. For one thing I personally feel such a view of humanity is completely unrealistic, and from a gaming point of view doesn't have enough intrigue to keep the gamer interested in the storyline. If we populate the galaxy with hundreds of worlds, hundreds of races, all with their own interests and beliefs then that gives the game much more room to grow and expand. Especially, since we have more freedom to create each of our alien races from scratch. The problem with Star Trek is, as you pointed out, that most of them are very human looking. The reason for that is simple enough. Its called money. >From what I understand back in the mid 1960's when Star Trek was being created Dessy Lu gave the Star Trek production staff a limited budget to work with. Since costumes and special effects were extremely expensive they always found ways to cut corners on production costs. The easiest way they could do that is by giving the Vulcans, Romulans, and Klingons pointed ears and a different set of clothing. Really really cheap aliens to be sure. Problem is 20 years later when Next Generation came along they had a lot bigger budget from Paramount Television, but all the known alien races like Vulcans and Romulans were set in that 1960's style of humans with really pointed ears. The only aliens that had a dramatic make over was the Klingons which got a new ridge on their foreheads, pointed teeth, longer hair, and beards. They looked more alien than their 60's counterparts, but were still pretty human looking. Point being that practically from the day shooting began Star Trek's aliens were a victim of budgetary concerns. While there have been some alien looking aliens throughout the later series the fact of the matter is the more human looking races were used primarily to cut production costs down. Fortunately, for us we don't have that problem. Since our game will be primarily text it costs us nothing but a little time to describe a totally unique creature that is more alien than any television show or movie would. Plus since we aren't concerned with Class M planets we can create worlds with a totally different environment than our own that would be truly alien. What such a world and its aliens would look like I don't know off the top of my head, but I'm sure I'd have fun thinking up such a totally new concept from scratch. Cheers! On 8/10/12, dark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tom. > I agree that we need more sf games, but I'm afraid I disagree that modifying > > existing fiction is intrinsically a good idea. > > For instance, if I was playing a game in which you were captain cook of the > > star ship endeaver, exploring planets on behalf of the union of confederated > > worlds, encountering races such as the war like Kringor and the cunning > rymans, it would just feel like a cheap copy to me, and indeed the > similarity to existing material would make it feel unoriginal. > > Rather, I'd love to see a game that used basic sf concepts, eg, travel > through hyper space, alien races etc, to tell a new story, and give us > something to explore that we haven't seen before. > > For instance, in startrek the federation is sort of the goodie two shoes of > > the galaxy, ---- what would happen if the federation were a bit more like a > > real human country, ie, mostly out for their own interests. While Babylon 5 > > explored this idea, babylon 5 also had humans as one of the five or so major > > powers, ---- well what would happen if humans weren't! a major power, but > comparatively miner in scale, perhaps being employed as mercenaries or pawns > > in alien wars. > > Also, where do humans get! the technology able to fly through space, ---- > perhaps it's alien in origin to begin with. > > The heechee novels by fredrich pohl (or at least the first two), for > instance imagine humanity discovering an asteroid full of alien ships, but > nobody has any idea how to fly them so it's just a case of set the preset > controls and see where you end up. Perhaps near some valuable alien tech or > > astronomical data that could make you rich, or perhaps too close to a > neutron star! > > Same goes for planet exploring really, indeed one of the things that always > > confused me a bit in startrek was the way that so many alien races looked > human, ---- what happened to the real! aliens, (this was actually one thing > > I think Doctor who got right). > > Just some thoughts, but personally sinse it's the exploration of different > worlds I' appreciate, it'd be nice if those worlds could! be different, > rather than just a rehash of what we've seen before. > > Beware the grue! > > Dark. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
