Non-Trek Trek?
- Thread starter David.Blue
- Start date
"Renegades" make make something of itself.
The Truth is we almost had STAR TREK before STAR TREK. Ib Melchor, who created ROBINSON CARUSO ON MARS had a concept called CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS TO THE STARS before Roddenbery had STAR TREK - but a change of management at Paramount who released RCOM mishandled the film (Going as far as bottom double billing it with Jerry Lewis films!) took away any chances of that and his other "space classics" of happening. (Space Versions of "The Three Musketeers" and "Treasure Island" along with "Space Family Robinson" were mooted)
Ib also had "Lost in Space" stolen by Irwin Allen as well from his "Space Family Robinson" concept.
Poor guy, ib is now remembered for RCOM as well as his two AIP films "Journey to the 7th Planet" and "Angry Red Planet".
He's no longer with us and if no one has registered the concepts with the WGA, nothing stoping someone doing the "space classics" concepts. (Except Treasure Planet which Disney did!)
The Truth is we almost had STAR TREK before STAR TREK. Ib Melchor, who created ROBINSON CARUSO ON MARS had a concept called CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS TO THE STARS before Roddenbery had STAR TREK - but a change of management at Paramount who released RCOM mishandled the film (Going as far as bottom double billing it with Jerry Lewis films!) took away any chances of that and his other "space classics" of happening. (Space Versions of "The Three Musketeers" and "Treasure Island" along with "Space Family Robinson" were mooted)
Ib also had "Lost in Space" stolen by Irwin Allen as well from his "Space Family Robinson" concept.
Poor guy, ib is now remembered for RCOM as well as his two AIP films "Journey to the 7th Planet" and "Angry Red Planet".
He's no longer with us and if no one has registered the concepts with the WGA, nothing stoping someone doing the "space classics" concepts. (Except Treasure Planet which Disney did!)
Yes, you must. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is probably one of the best historical movies ever made. It even has it's own proxy Charles Darwin.
Treasure Planet is underrated. 
Well we created a FB group to hash out some ideas. A few notions we've agreed upon is that we're dealing with far fewer alien cultures that are anywhere near our level of technology at a given time -- although a few are so far advanced even communication is very, very tricky (shades of the First Ones on Babylon 5 or the Organians, the "ascended" races in the Earthclan books, etc.). Also we've worked out a (very) general timeline that stretches far enough into the future for the "Federation" to evolve into an Empire, then fall, then with time the rise of a second "Federation."
The initial Era--in which we try to stick as close as possible to extrapolated science--has planet Earth suffering a series of ecological disasters, forcing industry and as much of the population as can be managed into space, with the postulated "warp drive" allowing interstellar colonization.
The initial Era--in which we try to stick as close as possible to extrapolated science--has planet Earth suffering a series of ecological disasters, forcing industry and as much of the population as can be managed into space, with the postulated "warp drive" allowing interstellar colonization.
Remove the title "Star Trek" and replace it with "Sci-Fi?" I suppose it might sound like this: "To boldly go where no generic film has gone before."
How far in to the future are you looking at? Is the primary drive of the Second Federation (trademark pending) exploration now that they are redeveloping their boundaries?
Also, as an interesting consideration, if their empire collapsed, they might be dealing with some difficulties with their neighbors. Maybe some members left in disgust at the more imperialistic behavior that formed the empire and might be resentful or wary of this new approach.
I do like the idea of the more advanced race being difficult to communicate with as that would likely be a barrier that would exist.
I know the concept was a "non-Trek Trek" but honestly, I like were you are starting. If you want to dip in to the well of Star Trek a little more then I would look at things like "Forbidden Planet" and Heinlein's "Space Cadet" and other original inspirations to add some fuel to the fire.
We are focusing right now on the first two "eras" dubbed "exploration" and "federation." Their exact lengths (other than at least a couple of centuries) have not yet been worked out. Everyone is welcome to join in and offer their ideas. Different folks have approached this from various sources, although so far there are only about four out of ten who really do much. We'd all love more participation.
Keep in mind of course the galaxy is huuuuuuuuugggge. Current estimates are something like 200 billion stars. Cut that number in half for binary systems (not really accurate but close enough for jazz). So 100 billion systems. Assume you were sending a fleet of 100,000 starships with the express purpose of visiting every single system for one day. How would it take? Thousands and thousands and thousands of years--proving you were never interrupted and all you did was visit for one 24-hour day.
Keep in mind of course the galaxy is huuuuuuuuugggge. Current estimates are something like 200 billion stars. Cut that number in half for binary systems (not really accurate but close enough for jazz). So 100 billion systems. Assume you were sending a fleet of 100,000 starships with the express purpose of visiting every single system for one day. How would it take? Thousands and thousands and thousands of years--proving you were never interrupted and all you did was visit for one 24-hour day.
The galaxy is indeed huge, but it is scientifically unlikely that most of those star systems are naturally inhabitable. It's more likely what many of those systems will have to be terraformed, or settled using pressure domes filled with breathable atmosphere. In some cases, colonists may even have to tunnel miles below the surface of the planet to protect themselves from heat, radiation or meteor bombardment.
Thus, a "federation" would probably be made up of mostly humanoid races, but not because aliens are mostly humanoid, but because those races would be transhuman offshoots of humanity that have adapted to their respective colony worlds and developed their own languages, culture, technology and forms of government. As we expand away from Earth, we BECOME the aliens.
Thus, a "federation" would probably be made up of mostly humanoid races, but not because aliens are mostly humanoid, but because those races would be transhuman offshoots of humanity that have adapted to their respective colony worlds and developed their own languages, culture, technology and forms of government. As we expand away from Earth, we BECOME the aliens.
Sounds like a fun discussion. But, it's all a matter of what the focus is for the story and were the world is going.
Regardless of how large the galaxy is, and how many stars there are, if you make it too big it can become unweildy in terms of story telling and character development. So, the first question I would ask if how big do you want the member count to be?
Transhuman and other such developments of different populations on other colony worlds is something that fascinates me. I would be curious to explore different aspects, technological adaptations for different planets, cultural differences that might emerge, etc.
With that development, having individual writers focus on different worlds may be a fun way to start.[/QUOTE]
I've been thinking about how different societies could be used to explore the following topics:
- Entire Cultures existing mostly in Cyberspace
- Libertarian Transhumanism vs. Technoprogressivism vs. Bioconservativism
- Technogaianism
- Uplifting
- Immortalism and Survivalism
- Artificial Superintelligences
Looks interesting. Might have to look at it.
