Part of the problem lies with the fact that some of the "concepts" involved with a sci-fi universe don't really bother with describing what the rest of the universe is like outside of the immediate focus of the main characters. Then again, there aren't too many sci-fi movies that I'd look to and find inspiration for/from. One of my favorite illustrations of a starship that doubled as a freighter, was the two covers of FTL 2448. The publishers took one scene, and split it into two illustrations - front half of a starship on one book, and the back half of the starship on the second book. Placed together, the two books formed one illustrative scene. I've seen other illustrations that fired the imagination, such as the FUTURE ARMADA series that fired up the imagination. Ah well, what you point out below does make sense of sorts. As for myself? I'd prefer the more "gritty" approach to Sci-Fi ships. I would have LOVED the Star Trek series more had they not included transporters :(
Ah well, that's just my immediate off the cuff response. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Onno Meyer Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2012 12:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [gurps] Space Freighter Memes Hello everybody, I've been thinking about the stereotypes for small space freighters, the right size for party of adventurers. The TL of various fictional settings can be hard to compare, but look and feel may be easier to categorize. A picture says more than a thousand words, so I think of movies and TV: * Very early look-and-feel. Reaction drives with limited delta-V, no gravity, but with FTL. Space 1999, perhaps, but they dodge the question of FTL and zero-G. The old 3E Space had experimental stardrives at TL9, but Vehicles only has them at TL10. * Early look-and-feel. Serenity, the Millenium Falcon in Star Wars, Alien. Engineers will get their hands dirty with a wrench in their hands, even if it is called a hydrospanner. TL10+ in 3E, since you need TL10 for mature stardrives. * Middle (?) look-and-feel. Stargate, Star Trek. You can tell the computer to run a Level 5 Diagnostic, and if engineers must do manual work, they'll juggle glowing crystals. TL12+ in 3E, with contragrav for elegant, effortless flight. * What happens at the higher TLs? From literature, Iain Banks' Superlifters, but they're not party-sized. Or a ship in two units, with a forcefield cargo hold between them. What do you think? What am I missing? Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
