STAR TREK: CONSTELLATION...

[uniderth]

For example it would be interesting to encounter a race that operates more like insect colonies. To them our concept of individual "human" rights would be meaningless and useless.

You are describing the Borg.

There really isn't a lot of uncharted thematic ground in Star Trek. I'm sure there is some, but it's hard to find.

Not really. the Borg are characterized by a hive mind and assimilation of technology and lifeforms into their collective.

I was proposing a means of throwing the issue of human rights on its head. The proposed alien species doesn't have to have a group consciousness. Instead it is the civilization that has the rights and individuals do not. Then having one of our intrepid crew try and and defend the rights of one of these aliens. But our hero gets a reality check when he realizes that human rights don't necessarily apply to all species.

I didn't say the concept of an insect like species was unique just that I would like to see scenarios where our heroes get taught a lesson for a change.

If it were a next generation episode you would have Picard telling Riker not to interfere with the natives. Then Riker would present some damning evidence in a court scene proving that the individuals do have rights. This would start a social change in the society to be more just and recognize individual rights. Bad, bad, alien society! You need to be more like us. Becasue humanziz 'r aw3s0me!

 

[Warped9]

I only said that you shouldn't have 13 episodes representing two year. I didn't told you to have 22 episodes/season,because that means a lot of filler episodes.

Whether 13 or 22 episodes I'd still treat time "in universe" as I've described. I think it would serve the series and the overall story better and in an interesting way that I don't know has ever been done before. It's a small things that could help make the series a bit more distinctive.

Some episodes could give you the sense of consecutive events while others could suggest being set weeks to months apart.

And what happens during those weeks to months? Probably not much beyond standard travel between systems as well as routine star charting and surveying.

 

[Duncan MacLeod]

Relationships, Ray, relationships. A lot can change in a couple of weeks and so much more in a couple of months.

 

[Warped9]

Relationships, Ray, relationships. A lot can change in a couple of weeks and so much more in a couple of months.

True, but this is a space adventure and not a soap opera where the focus is to show every beat of a relationship. If something truly pivotal happens then you can show that, but if not then you stick to the kind of stories the series is primarily intended for.

I, for one, have no interest in resurrecting certain aspects of TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT storytelling that bored me to tears.

 

[uniderth]

Relationships, Ray, relationships. A lot can change in a couple of weeks and so much more in a couple of months.

True, but this is a space adventure and not a soap opera where the focus is to show every beat of a relationship. If something truly pivotal happens then you can show that, but if not then you stick to the kind of stories the series is primarily intended for.

I, for one, have no interest in resurrecting certain aspects of TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT storytelling that bored me to tears.

WHAT?! No episode long romances?! Blasphemy!

 

[T'Girl]

But our hero gets a reality check when he realizes that human rights don't necessarily apply to all species.

Each species would have their own list of what they consider "rights" (if they have rights at all), each list would have developed over the species history. Some of their rights might not even have occurred to us, or would be thing that we would reject.

The right that our hero attempts to apply to them could result in "you actually think that's a right?

(silly simians)

True, but this is a space adventure and not a soap opera where the focus is to show every beat of a relationship. If something truly pivotal happens then you can show that, but if not then you stick to the kind of stories the series is primarily intended for

I'm currently hard press to think of a single modern show in which the characters possess no life outside of work.

If your starship is crewed by people then there are going to be off-duty relationships, of one sort or another, to the audience the lack of a "non-work place" existence would be considered odd to say the least.

This isn't a all or nothing matter, there is a vast middle ground to position your show on.

 

[Tarek71]

Yeah, it's easy to have off-screen passages of time. One episode could have a "Captains log, March 14, 2130" and the next episode a week later be, "Captains log, April 12, 2130".

It obviously doesn't have to be one week later in story time. It could be whatever you want.

 

[Rahul]

Dude, I really like your ideas!
A little feedback:


- What I like most about your scenario is the whole 'final frontier meets twilight zone'-vibe. So many other scenarios I read about are about battles, fighting for the future/against invaders and other war/action-oriented stuff. If you ask me, this narrow focus is what killed Star Trek in the final years. It's awesome to read something more high concept, with the portential to more classic scifi-ideas!

-Characters, characters, characters! It's the worldbuilding and ideas what we debate about, but it's the stories that actually drive us to a new show. And it's the characters that are our windows to the stories!

-I'm not wholely on board with the no knowledge of other intelligent life beyond humans and Vulcans-part. I like the more 'lonely-earth'-scenario, but let's face it: the Constellation will meet a new alien race every other week. I would prefer a scenario where Earth has knowledge of maybe half a dozen alien races, with diplomatic contacts to two or three of them.


Other ideas:
- In a scenario with fewer aliens, I would like to see more humans in space. I think many episodes with 'aliens of the week' could alternatively take place on a human outpost. My idea:
At least once or twice a year, the Constellation has to return to human space to refill ressources. For that, the UESPA has contracts with the human spacer colonies on the edges of known space. These are the descendants of humans who left earth a generation earlier, to escape wars end start a new live. Now, most of them live on desolate places, small habitats on moons, asteroids or barren planets, where they have built new societies under their domes that spend earth-like living conditions in outer space.
Others have built giant constructions in space, factories, refineries and mining stations on asteroids. The 'space bomers' with their old, slow merchant ships are what connect those human outposts Earth, and it's through those boomers that Earth has made knowledge of alien races and artifacts.

-There are some known dangers in space. Like Nausicaan pirates. Even though contact to the Nausicaan gouvernement never could have been established, there are Nausicaan outlaw gangs out there, that attack human traders and colonies with their superiour alien weapons and technology. As such, no open war takes place, but every encounter with them is filled with hostilities.

- I wish to see an alien race, entirely out of robots. We never see robots in Star Trek, I assume the development of A.I. is restricted because of some Skynet-like incident in the past (maybe it was faulty AI that ignited the ominous World War III?). Now, our human explorers make first contact with an entire race out of robot! They live on a living, breathing world, that was once the home to an alien society. This society has now all but vanished. But their tecnology, ther former servants, have survived, to form a new society. A society of AI. But one that is still influenced by their former creators, that has adopted most characteristics of their society, their hirarchy, their laws, maybe even their religion, and that has archeological digging sites on the planet, where the robots study their former creators.

 

[Warped9]

Dude, I really like your ideas!

Thanks.

What I like most about your scenario is the whole 'final frontier meets twilight zone'-vibe. So many other scenarios I read about are about battles, fighting for the future/against invaders and other war/action-oriented stuff. If you ask me, this narrow focus is what killed Star Trek in the final years. It's awesome to read something more high concept, with the portential to more classic scifi-ideas!

This was an overall view I had as well. I'm not against some action, run-and-jump and fisticuffs as ship combat, but that isn't the thrust of the show. Those things are sprinkled in occasionally for added flavour.

Characters, characters, characters! It's the worldbuilding and ideas what we debate about, but it's the stories that actually drive us to a new show. And it's the characters that are our windows to the stories!

Yes, and the characters are a challenge to envision. This needs to be worked on.

I'm not wholely on board with the no knowledge of other intelligent life beyond humans and Vulcans-part. I like the more 'lonely-earth'-scenario, but let's face it: the Constellation will meet a new alien race every other week. I would prefer a scenario where Earth has knowledge of maybe half a dozen alien races, with diplomatic contacts to two or three of them.

The Vulcans are the only ones Earth has contact with when the series begins. But there are rumours and the sense the Vulcans might know more than they're telling. Other races are out there to be encountered as well as alien life forms of different kinds even if they're not intelligent.

In a scenario with fewer aliens, I would like to see more humans in space. I think many episodes with 'aliens of the week' could alternatively take place on a human outpost. My idea: At least once or twice a year, the Constellation has to return to human space to refill ressources. For that, the UESPA has contracts with the human spacer colonies on the edges of known space. These are the descendants of humans who left earth a generation earlier, to escape wars end start a new live. Now, most of them live on desolate places, small habitats on moons, asteroids or barren planets, where they have built new societies under their domes that spend earth-like living conditions in outer space. Others have built giant constructions in space, factories, refineries and mining stations on asteroids. The 'space bomers' with their old, slow merchant ships are what connect those human outposts Earth, and it's through those boomers that Earth has made knowledge of alien races and artifacts.

-There are some known dangers in space. Like Nausicaan pirates. Even though contact to the Nausicaan gouvernement never could have been established, there are Nausicaan outlaw gangs out there, that attack human traders and colonies with their superiour alien weapons and technology. As such, no open war takes place, but every encounter with them is filled with hostilities.

I wish to see an alien race, entirely out of robots. We never see robots in Star Trek, I assume the development of A.I. is restricted because of some Skynet-like incident in the past (maybe it was faulty AI that ignited the ominous World War III?). Now, our human explorers make first contact with an entire race out of robot! They live on a living, breathing world, that was once the home to an alien society. This society has now all but vanished. But their tecnology, ther former servants, have survived, to form a new society. A society of AI. But one that is still influenced by their former creators, that has adopted most characteristics of their society, their hirarchy, their laws, maybe even their religion, and that has archeological digging sites on the planet, where the robots study their former creators.

This parallels some of my thinking although I would hestitate using Nausicans which are a TNG creation. Something else could be envisioned.

I'm thinking that two or three starbases are being established, but it's still early days in this era. I'm also thinking that UESPA is the umbrella organization that oversees different agencies. The Constellation and her like could operate under the United Space Service overseeing Earth's manned exploratory ships. Later the USS will branch out into more military like operations as previously unknown threats are encountered including the Romulans.

 

[Tim Walker]

Dude, I really like your ideas!
A little feedback:


- What I like most about your scenario is the whole 'final frontier meets twilight zone'-vibe. So many other scenarios I read about are about battles, fighting for the future/against invaders and other war/action-oriented stuff. If you ask me, this narrow focus is what killed Star Trek in the final years. It's awesome to read something more high concept, with the portential to more classic scifi-ideas!

-
Other ideas:
- In a scenario with fewer aliens, I would like to see more humans in space. I think many episodes with 'aliens of the week' could alternatively take place on a human outpost. My idea:
At least once or twice a year, the Constellation has to return to human space to refill ressources. For that, the UESPA has contracts with the human spacer colonies on the edges of known space. These are the descendants of humans who left earth a generation earlier, to escape wars end start a new live. Now, most of them live on desolate places, small habitats on moons, asteroids or barren planets, where they have built new societies under their domes that spend earth-like living conditions in outer space.
Others have built giant constructions in space, factories, refineries and mining stations on asteroids. The 'space bomers' with their old, slow merchant ships are what connect those human outposts Earth, and it's through those boomers that Earth has made knowledge of alien races and artifacts.


- I wish to see an alien race, entirely out of robots. We never see robots in Star Trek, I assume the development of A.I. is restricted because of some Skynet-like incident in the past (maybe it was faulty AI that ignited the ominous World War III?). Now, our human explorers make first contact with an entire race out of robot!

I think it is time to give the total war scenario a rest. A long, long rest. The Dominion War should have been the end of that.

Like the ideas regarding human colonies and boomers. You could have a sort of hybrid of Dune and Trek. Like Dune, or a proto-Dune, in which humans began building new human societies in space.

And, perhaps, encountering humans transplanted by the Preservers, on terraformed planets.

But now starting to encounter evidence of extinct alien civilizations, as well as signs of existing aliens.

I also like the concept of a robot society. (Actually, didn't the original BSG have a similar scenario?). BTW, has anybody read the Galactic Core novels by Gregory Benford? Humans live in the shadows of a formidable mechciv (mechanical civilization). The mechciv viewed organic beings as vermin, and humans had to take care to stay out of its way.


Yeah, humans would be expanding into space, but having to avoid/hide from formidable entities such as the Borg, as well as from a mechanical civilization.

There might also be appearances by enigmatic biological beings, who have technology superior to that of Earth.

In the meantime, give the series vibes like X-Files/Lost/Twilight Zone/the Outer Limits.

 

[Warped9]

In the meantime, could it be possible to give the series vibes from X-Files and the Twilight Zone?

I wouldn't use the Borg. But if you read my OP you'll see an X-Files vibe is what I had in mind from the beginning.

This comes back to my idea of the Captain being something of a John Doggett type. He doesn't believe or convince easily. Some of the ship's scientists really have to do their homework to convince the Captain of while some of what they encounter might be truly wierd shit it's also within scientific plausibility. On the other hand it would be fun to have some wierd shit that barely makes any sense to anyone. Nonetheless they have to deal with it.

The crew of the Constellation and their kind are laying the ground work for the breed that will crew the familiar Starfleet starships a century later.

 

[Tim Walker]

http://them0vieblog.com/2015/01/15/star-trek-enterprise-silent-enemy-review/

Interesting comment-that the universe seemed like a haunted house in the early TOS episodes. Beautiful, but dangerous.

Which, come to think of it, would justify such a Trek series. In terms of money, it would be cheaper to set an X-Files like show in the here and now. But the universe as a haunted house...has even more story telling potential!

 

[Tim Walker]

I was thinking about Rahul's comments.

Consider mechanical life forms

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MechanicalLifeForms

There were the squid like sentimals in the Matrix movies


On the other hand, a robot civilization might resemble machines.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TinCanRobot

Here is a depiction of first contact between humans and the second type of AI.

www.biblio.com/9780380004614



Then there is an ambiguous category. Recall the creatures that appear in the beginning of The Fifth Element.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmbiguousRobots

 

[Rahul]

@Warped9:
Well, since the heart and the meat of any series are the individual episodes:

What are some pitches for stories you came up with?

(Don't want to hear specific stories, but rather some ideas/story elements you would like to explore?)


BTW Off-topic: Doesn't this thread belong a little bit more in the fan fiction category?

 

[Warped9]

BTW Off-topic: Doesn't this thread belong a little bit more in the fan fiction category?

Well it is my idea for a television series. If it was for a fan production I would have put it there, but I have about as much likelihood seeing it made as a fan web series then as a stelevision series.

@Warped9:
Well, since the heart and the meat of any series are the individual episodes:

What are some pitches for stories you came up with?

(Don't want to hear specific stories, but rather some ideas/story elements you would like to explore?)

- encountering a rogue planet that should be uninhabitable yet someone or something is still at home.
- what looks like a planet that seems to appear and disappear at will. The Constellation gets caught in one of the disapperances and next finds itself outside the galaxy. How can they get back?
- some life form (or spirit?) is able to possess crewmen.
- a dead world of ancient ruins yet something might still lurk there.
- a world where the entire race seems to have downloaded themselves into a massive virtual existence computer to survive their dying Sun. One of the ship's crew is accidentally downloaded into the system--can they be retrieved?
- aliens who have adapted to life in open space want to return home.
- a lush Eden like planet--perfect for colonization--is brimming with deadly predators. (this could be akin to the ancient Earth explorers encountering strange beasts they had never seen before in Africa and other exotic locales)
- the friendly inhabitants of a pre-warp civilization want to hijack the Constellation for their own ends.
- accidents and incidents aboard ship point to a saboteur amongst the crew.
- the crew of the Constellation and a Vulcan ship must work together to survive.

 

[Tim Walker]

The eden-with-predators could be akin to The Land of the Lost, or The Land That Time Forgot. Jurassic Park.

 

[Warped9]

The eden-with-predators could be akin to The Land of the Lost, or The Land That Time Forgot. Jurassic Park.

We've long past the point where it's relatively easy to come up with totally fresh ideas. We're at the point where you can't escape doing something similar as has been done before, but hopefully you can put a fresh spin on it.

 

[Tim Walker]

Re:fresh spin

Yeah, it has been commented by more than one writer that its hard to come up with something completely novel.

But yes, a fresh spin could be interesting.

 

[Tarek71]

BTW Off-topic: Doesn't this thread belong a little bit more in the fan fiction category?

That's probably true of a a fair amount of Future of Trek ideas. Many seem unlikely to be professionally pitched to TPTB any time soon, or green lighted even if they were.

Maybe after some further fleshing out, it could be re-presented to the Fan Fiction forum for input and feedback over there.

 

[Rahul]

...

- encountering a rogue planet that should be uninhabitable yet someone or something is still at home.
- what looks like a planet that seems to appear and disappear at will. The Constellation gets caught in one of the disapperances and next finds itself outside the galaxy. How can they get back?
- some life form (or spirit?) is able to possess crewmen.
- a dead world of ancient ruins yet something might still lurk there.
- a world where the entire race seems to have downloaded themselves into a massive virtual existence computer to survive their dying Sun. One of the ship's crew is accidentally downloaded into the system--can they be retrieved?
- aliens who have adapted to life in open space want to return home.
- a lush Eden like planet--perfect for colonization--is brimming with deadly predators. (this could be akin to the ancient Earth explorers encountering strange beasts they had never seen before in Africa and other exotic locales)
- the friendly inhabitants of a pre-warp civilization want to hijack the Constellation for their own ends.
- accidents and incidents aboard ship point to a saboteur amongst the crew.
- the crew of the Constellation and a Vulcan ship must work together to survive.

Those are basically the short recaps you mentioned in your initial post, right?

I really liked the idea of a Vulcan ship and the Constellation exploring a planet together/rivaling. That is something unique to this distinct setting, that couldn't be replicated the same way on any other series.


If humans in this series have never encountered other sentient species before, I really would like to see a story revolving around the very first second first contact:

One where the UESPA has already worked out a pin-point exact 'first-contact-routine', based on the experience with the Vulcans, with precise plotted steps and rules for the first encounter. All to go horribly wrong, because the new species is just so different from anything previously imagined, with many back-and-forths, almost leading to serious conflict. Until in the end both sides completely ditch their distinct procedures, simply react on their gut feelings, and finally being able to communicate with each other. And find out, each side was both terrified and positively interested.
- Details of that yet to be determined -
...which would actually be the hard part. Maybe those aliens communicate via smells, but they have extremely sensitive noses, which means fast changes in pressures - AKA sound(!) - and voices already hurt them, leading to a reflexive defence reaction and rendering all initial attempts at communication meaningless, regardless of content.


...Care to elaborate on any of your ideas? Or are they being held confidental until future use?