Do any of the resident artist have any ideas as to what a TOS styled Astromech Droid might look like?
Ooooo... Now That'd be an interesting idea... What if Matt Jefferies designed Star Wars instead of Ralph McQuarrie? Maybe after I'm done with the January Art Challenge I'll sketch something like that up... --Alex
I think CorporalCaptain nailed it already. It would be a silver bin on wires with some flashing lights and antennae, accompanied by a heavily processed voice. What Matt would initially design and what was actually buildable and in the show were often 2 different things.
LOL, couldn't resist...(quick and dirty crap, I know) http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg178/judexavier/JefferiesSW01Small.jpg http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg178/judexavier/JefferiesSW02small.jpg It's especially difficult to imagine, considering (apparently) Lucas's first visions were of Luke as an old guy with a robot head, Han as a "frog-guy", and 3PO a "slimy used-car saleman"...(if this is true).
It's nice and sleek- but I don't think he would have put the cockpit off to the side. He certainly would have centered it.
Possibly derailing the original topic, but I've often wondered if the x-o-comps (exocomps?) were an homage to Nammo, a repair 'bot in the anime series version of "The Dirty Pair". (I can't find any images on-line that are not part of hentai galleries.) Nammo has a roughly egg-shaped white chassis with wide set red "feet". True, the exocomp has a faceted surface whereas Nammo has smoother casing, but the overall silhouette is rather similar. It's been stated in more than one interview that Rick Sternbach and (maybe) Michael Okuda are (or once were) Dirty Pair fans and occasionally slipped in gag references, usually in the various Okuda-gram displays or signage. In a DS9 episode, Rom is being "played" and nearly lets slip a verbal security code which has as part of its sequence "...kei/yuri..." the names of the lead characters. I just wondered if the exocomps were another "nod" to the Japanese cartoon franchise. Maybe Mr. Sternbach himself will chime in and either verify or dispel my theory. Now back to this regularly scheduled thread. Sincerely, Bill
This is going to sound cheesy, but somehow it's easy for me to see Robot from LOST IN SPACE as a "droid" on TOS. Part of it is the similarity in photography and lighting because both shows were in production at the exact same time. Maybe Starfleet wouldn't employ such a machine, but I could see a FORBIDDEN PLANET-style ep with a Flint/Dr. Morbius-style hermit using one as a companion. I could hear a voice like that of the I.S.S. Enterprise's male-sounding computer coming from such a machine. That having been said, the idea of an M4-like hover-droid as show upthread would be excellent for both Starfleet and non-Starfleet alike. The only thing I would change would be the mechanical arms. They look a little too clunky for something advanced enough to use anti-gravity to move about. I could see flexible mechanical tentacles as a CGI effect, though.
The general design and colors has me thinking more like the Starfleet gear in Wrath of Khan. Like the spacesuits, Regula 1 equipment, Genesis cave tech, etc.
Both the exocomps and the "Egg" probe from Dr. Stubbs were modeled after Nammo. You can attribute that to me; Mike Okuda was essentially blameless. Same with the Ferengi security code, and things like the Miyazaki and Urusei Yatsura refs in the LCARS displays. I was the rabid anime fan in the art department. Rick
Thank you, Mr. Sternbach! I had my assumptions, but it's great to read verification from the source. Sincerely, Bill