Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: jdjtcagle on July 26, 2004, 09:07:33 pm
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Mine:
1. Humanoid Aliens (the less humanoid, the more alien)
2. Why does every habitable planet have to look exactly like earth? (why can't they throw some "other" color in the atmosphere or something)
Example of good planet, IMHO
(http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/9573/Delta_Serprentis.jpg)
3. Laser guns, phasers, something that shoots light from a pistol... I just don't llike it, I'll believe somthing like matrix tech.
4. teleportation - not my deal :blah:
5. Robots that can think for themselves... Star Wars, I like there droids.
6. Mystical powers... STAR WARS!!! "Use The Force"
7. Saving your dream on a computer, Final Fantasy...
Well that's all I can think off...
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Well, apparantly you dislike the entire concept of mainstream sci-fi :p
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I hate to admit your right... :p
Do you have any Tiara?
Does anybody share my beliefs?
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Originally posted by jdjtcagle
Mine:
1. Humanoid Aliens (the less humanoid, the more alien)
//Unless you want them all to be CGI, its very difficult to make non humanoid aliens.//
2. Why does every habitable planet have to look exactly like earth? (why can't they throw some "other" color in the atmosphere or something)
//Well, where the hell else can they film it?//
3. Laser guns, phasers, something that shoots light from a pistol... I just don't llike it, I'll believe somthing like matrix tech.
//Watch Stargate then...//
4. teleportation - not my deal :blah:
//Plot device.. meh..//
5. Robots that can think for themselves... Star Wars, I like there droids.
//er.. they can think for themselves too..//
6. Mystical powers... STAR WARS!!! "Use The Force"
//plot device//
7. Saving your dream on a computer, Final Fantasy...
//buh?//
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Sci-fi Pet Peeves?
I'd say the racism/specism. Aside from THHGTTG, I'm not sure if there's any sci-fi universe that isn't about one group of "aliens" killing another group of "aliens".
But then again... I don't think I could stomach the idea of a sci-fi soap opera....
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You obviously don't share them, Thorn...
There Pet-Peeves, not suggestions to what to watch that has these.
They can make better aliens, thats not humanoid...
Let me explain the AI issue I can deal with Robots that can act on information formated to them, but not wisdom...
I guess the "only" way to do these right IMO is with computer
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Tiara: Lies. There's plenty of perfectly good SF out there that has none of the above.
And yeah- basically everything JD listed, along with all other hallmarks of "soft" science fiction. Soft SF was only cool when Bester did it- everyone else needs to at least make the effort to be rooted in reality, or otherwise have overwhelming redeeming value to the absurd hypothetical to make it worth inserting. Things that just "sound cool" are Satan.
That said, humanoid aliens don't bother me too much, 'cos there was a decade or so there where all the good books were basically oriented around the whole divergent evolution thing, where they'd basically take the human template and change one or two significant things about the environment to make a freaky new race. And they did it really elaborately and well, and said a lot of very clever things about psychology in the process, so it was forgivable. Nowadays it's just an excuse to have another race of God-damn catpeople, and judging by the frequency they're crowbarred in catpeople are evidently a highly desirable aspect of a novel, but yeah, at least it has distinguished origins.
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Originally posted by Stryke 9
Tiara: Lies. There's plenty of perfectly good SF out there that has none of the above.
I said MAINSTREAM SCI-FI[/size], not ALL SCI-FI[/size].
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1. Instantaneous space travel. (*cough*JUMP NODES*cough*)
2. Space combat that looks like WW2 dogifighting. Motion in space is not like motion in air. When you give something a push, it keeps moving until you push it a different way, so things happen very slowly in space. If we ever have space fleet battles, it will most likely be groups of large ships drifting slowly in front of or beside each other, attempting to cripple each other or kill off the crews.
3. Science fiction that exists primarily as a technological showcase. Truly great science fiction usually serves as a vehicle for a universal theme, a primary example being AI: Artificial Intelligence.
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Originally posted by jdjtcagle
7. Saving your dream on a computer, Final Fantasy...
There are such things as memory download services now (in Japan iirc, not sure how intact the memories are). It's quite feasible to be able to record dreams in the future.
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Interesting... :)
I would like to start a discussion about this Ford Perfect.
EDIT: Kamikaze, tell me more :)
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Tiara: LIKE I SAID, LIES.
Unless you only count things printed last year as "mainstream", that is. I don't read those, and never will, because they suck, so I can't say for sure how many of those have that "Technology=magic!" **** in them.
Clarke is mainstream. Asimov is mainstream. Dick is mainstream. Miller was thoroughly mainstream. Sturgeon was mainstream. All of them wrote at least some science fiction that reflected a realistic perception of reality. Most of 'em did it damn near all the time. And there's a hell of a lot more names. Would you like me to list them all? It's a very, very long list, and it'll be very dull, both for me to compile and you to read.
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please don't, we get the point...
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Good. I really didn't want to make a list.
Oh, and while it might qualify more as a general literature grievance, the heroic protagonist is a trend that's really gotta go. Enough with the singlehandedly saving the world and the knowing everything relevant to finishing the plot right from the get-go is lame, lame, lame. And I've seen it far more in SF than anywhere else.
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All hail 2001: A Space Odyssey!
jdjtcagle: Start a discussion about what?
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Originally posted by Kamikaze
There are such things as memory download services now (in Japan iirc, not sure how intact the memories are). It's quite feasible to be able to record dreams in the future.
You would have to give me a link for me to believe this.
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Originally posted by Ford Prefect
All hail 2001: A Space Odyssey!
jdjtcagle: Start a discussion about what?
Here if you got smarts, post them here and lets get the most logical conclusion... ;)
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,25674.0.html
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...
That is not mainstream. Ask 10 random people outside who read their books. Maybe 1 or 2 say that they have. MAYBE. Ask anyone if they know Star trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, X-files etc etc and you'll have at least 8 out of 10. THAT is mainstream sci-fi.
At most the 'average' people know of Asimov than ks to the movie I, Robot. :doubt:
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ok, lets get over it, I agree with Tiara, but this is not what this is about...
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my biggest pet peeve in sci fi would have to be the plethura of B grade movies. like Cyborg...with what's his name...that gymnast who thinks he is a martial artist.
ok, now i understand that to apreciate sci fi we have to suspend our beliefs long enough to say....given these circumstances...this could happen.....but some of the garbage that passes for sci fi? The reactions of a human to any given situation would pretty much run mainstream.....no matter the time period. getting set up by your date so that someone can murder you would elicit the same reaction from me no matter what......i certainly wouldn't trust her enough to sleep with her AFTER i find out what's going on.
also.....why is it so hard to find a fallable hero in sci fi? the hero is so often perfect. let's try to make em real k?
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Ok I'm going to bed, I want to see what you all come with when I come back, so please don't spam, night...
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*Falcon brings out some spam*
*lights the spam on fire*
*throws it in cagles room*
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1) Aliens are usually represended with one dimentional personalities comming from a singular cultural background. (etc Klingon's - race of warriors etc) when if you look at Earth you will see a huge diversity of cultures and backgrounds. I'm sure its should be the same with other sentinent beings from other planets :P
2) The dark gritty industrial feel of most mainstream western sci fi. Yeah true you have space stations, space ships, orbital bases which are naturally metal upon metal structures which is natural for these kinds of setting but it gets kind of old. Good examples of alternative ways to design your ship/station interior could be seen in those Japanese Sci-fi shows where you have a beautiful city inside a spaceship (macross) or gardens or some sort good architectural design eye candy all over the place.
3) Not enough small ship dogfighting if there was, it seem simplistic. Show me some good space fighter moves and such :)
4) Not enough beautifully designed sci-fi fighter ships. The only mainstream ship that are actually pleasing to (at least my) eye were the Rebel ships of Starwars (X-wing, Mel Falcon) the others were just plain ugly.
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Originally posted by Cabbie
1) Aliens are usually represended with dimentional personalities comming from a singular cultural background. (etc Klingon's - race of warriors etc) when if you look at Earth you will see a huge diversity of cultures and backgrounds. I'm sure its should be the same with other sentinent beings from other planets :P
4) Not enough beautifully designed sci-fi fighter ships. The only mainstream ship that are actually pleasing to (at least my) eye were the Rebel ships of Starwars (X-wing, Mel Falcon) the others were just plain ugly.
1. in Star Trek there is a reason for this. The Star Trek universe is an analogy of earth and all of the cultures on it. if you one of the planets and break it up into different sub-cultures then that analogy is lost. not only that, but things will get over complicated
4. that's just a personal preference. all scifi ships are intended to have some kind of visual appeal. you make it sound like they're trying to make them ugly.
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The fact that all aliens speak English/Basic or whatever you want to call it. I like how FreeSpace did it with the Vasudans, have them talking, and then some kind of translator speaking over it.
Another thing that relates to that is the fact that in most mainstream Sci-Fi, a person can sit down at the controls of a completely alien craft, and start using it right away. Now, come on, am I to believe that a Human can sit down at say, a Cardassian console (which, I assume, is laid out completely different from a Federation one, and in an alien language) and start using it fluently without any trouble. Ummmm, yeah.
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Originally posted by jdjtcagle
You obviously don't share them, Thorn...
No.. I share them.. they just have logical explanations.
Except for the Stargate comment.. they mainly use modern weapons.
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Originally posted by Dough with Fish
Another thing that relates to that is the fact that in most mainstream Sci-Fi, a person can sit down at the controls of a completely alien craft, and start using it right away. Now, come on, am I to believe that a Human can sit down at say, a Cardassian console (which, I assume, is laid out completely different from a Federation one, and in an alien language) and start using it fluently without any trouble. Ummmm, yeah.
most people can't even use a different OS on the same machine.
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I hate hate HATE the "evil alien race predicted by prophecy is gonna pWn your ass!!!" Almost every major sci-fi universe has done this, and with a few exceptions where it has been well done (Battlestar Galactica (the new one), B5, Battletech) it's just plain sick and trivial now. Even Star Wars succomed to it, it's sad and depressing. It's as bad as the fantasy "Legions of demons are gonna come through this wierd portal thingy and pWn your ass!", which are all absically just bad Tolkien copies. In fact, it's the exact same thing, half the time the evil aliens are coming through a some kind of portal.
My 2nd greatest peeve is the excessive focus on tech. Good sci-fi has always been either character driven (B5) or idea/philosophy driven (Heinlen and other classics, startrek. Well, some of startrek.) Cool toys are nice I guess but look at B5, the best scifi series TV has ever seen, and they almost completely ignore technology. It's there like a normal part of life, never the focus of attention.
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Originally posted by mrfun
I hate hate HATE the "evil alien race predicted by prophecy is gonna pWn your ass!!!" Almost every major sci-fi universe has done this, and with a few exceptions where it has been well done (Battlestar Galactica (the new one), B5, Battletech) it's just plain sick and trivial now. Even Star Wars succomed to it, it's sad and depressing. It's as bad as the fantasy "Legions of demons are gonna come through this wierd portal thingy and pWn your ass!", which are all absically just bad Tolkien copies. In fact, it's the exact same thing, half the time the evil aliens are coming through a some kind of portal.
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You are seriously putting B5 outside of the 'evil doom prophecy'-catagory? Seriously... it has been prophicized for a thousand years by the Valen that there would be an ub3r w4r o' d00m. :doubt: or the Third Space movie, which is another prime example of this with it's doom dreams about the aliens and some stupid doorway for them to come through.
Star Trek on the other hand had very little of it. the only instnce of which I can think of is when Q introduced Picard to the Borg. And that even doesn't really fit in that description :p The rest in Trek isn't prophecy based. Just your average warring neighbours.
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Originally posted by Carl
1. in Star Trek there is a reason for this. The Star Trek universe is an analogy of earth and all of the cultures on it. if you one of the planets and break it up into different sub-cultures then that analogy is lost. not only that, but things will get over complicated
Yes I know that. It's an age old method used not only by sci-fi story tellers but also by fantasy writers to simplify some aspects of the story so to appeal to a broader range of people. I won't go into detail why mainstream science fiction's "analogy of earth and all its cultures” approach is a pet peeve of mine but the approach really disturbs me. (Especially when I have an impression that avid sci-fi fans are relatively more intelligent then the general viewing public)
Then again its just entertainment :)
Maybe in the future a mainstream sci-fi story will be able to put this concept of diverse alien cultures into view more eloquently then shows like Star Trek.
4. that's just a personal preference... you make it sound like they're trying to make them ugly. [/B]
Thus the topic title "Scifi-Pet Peeves"
Like you have just stated "personal preference." To you, certain mainstream western sci-fi ships have a certain of visual appeal but for me the majority are just aesthetically unappealing . Pls note that there are a lot of western sci fi designs that I really admire (Freespace ships are one of them)
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Originally posted by Tiara
You are seriously putting B5 outside of the 'evil doom prophecy'-catagory? Seriously... it has been prophicized for a thousand years by the Valen that there would be an ub3r w4r o' d00m. :doubt: or the Third Space movie, which is another prime example of this with it's doom dreams about the aliens and some stupid doorway for them to come through.
No. Re-read. He said B5 is an example of where it was done well. The shadows turned out to not be anything like what the prophecy claimed they would be.
Originally posted by Tiara
Star Trek on the other hand had very little of it. the only instnce of which I can think of is when Q introduced Picard to the Borg. And that even doesn't really fit in that description :p The rest in Trek isn't prophecy based. Just your average warring neighbours.
He did say almost every sci-fi series. For once there is a cheesy plot hole that trek hasn't fallen into :p
My biggest pet peeve. Alien viruses. Bacteria is one thing but viruses spread by infecting their host and hijacking the replication machinery in their cells. An alien virus isn't going to know what the f**k to do with a human cell and as such wouldn't be able to copy itself.
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Well, the alien console being easy to operate is one thing, but the basic concept of a civilian without any flight experience taking the helm of a shuttle without any issues seems a bit, odd.
And off course, lasers going at sub-light speeds are quite odd too.
Singular mindset cultures aren't much either.
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Will Smith flying an alien craft in a matter of seconds is barbaric...
just thought I would add that in there, don't have time to read everything now...
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Originally posted by jdjtcagle
Will Smith flying an alien craft in a matter of seconds is barbaric...
But... he had a post it to tell him how the controls worked!
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I've always kinda been bothered by the fact that aliens are always:
1. Evil and out to get us/enslave us/eat us/test on us/kill us/rape us
or
2. Friendly and out to help us/evolve us/protect us/build stuff for us/rape us
I've always wandered why dont they ever have indifferent aliens. Like "oh look, humans... Meh."
Just a thought.
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I think Andromeda handled this the best: The Perseids made contact with the human race in order to invite us into the Systems Commonwealth, but after our period of adjustment, we ended up taking a leading role in the government and in the Argosy, even though the empire had been around for several thousand years. It's more plausible because nothing is written in stone; like society in real life, the balance of power will always be a dynamic factor.
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Time Travel - The future is never what it used to be.
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[color=66ff00]Falcon for someone who talks about others spamming all the time you don't half post enough yourself.
I've seen a few threads where you've just posted that everyone else is spamming. See the irony here?
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#1. Human beings, despite being dumber, weaker, softer, and less technologically advanced than most alien races they encounter, someone always manage to outperform the more advanced races and Save The Day. Because, y'know, we're just so darn special.
#2. Any hideous bodily deformation (rapid aging, devolving into a lizard, etc), can be perfectly reversed.
#3. The twin is always evil.
#4. You can tell when you're time-travelling by watching the clocks.
#5. Significant urban renovation is strictly forbidden wherever someone is time-traveling into the future. Moving mannequins requires a special permit.
#6. The bigger the unstoppable doomsday machine, the easier it is to hit its weak spot.
#7. Despite the infinite vastness of space, every spacefaring race has nonetheless agreed on which way is "up".
#8. Genetic clones posesses all the knowledge of their originals.
#9. In the event of enemy attack, ship's system will fail in the following order: weapons control, helm control, shields, life support, communications, coffee maker.
#10. Godlike super-intelligent beings will have the emotional maturity of a 12-year-old.
#11. Automatic doors can tell if an approaching lifeform is going to walk through them, or just past them.
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There are 11 more good examples! :nod:
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Originally posted by ZylonBane
#2. Any hideous bodily deformation (rapid aging, devolving into a lizard, etc), can be perfectly reversed.
With proper knowledge of genetics this is doable.
#3. The twin is always evil.
Agreed. the oldest cliché in the book. :doubt:
#6. The bigger the unstoppable doomsday machine, the easier it is to hit its weak spot.
Agreed. though for St this usually doesn't go. For example; the Xindi Sphere. It didn't have t3h airduct of d00m™ or something. They actually had to baord it and rig the reactor itself to blow.
#8. Genetic clones posesses all the knowledge of their originals.
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Yeah, that is weird seeing as memories and stuff isn't recorded in one's DNA.
#9. In the event of enemy attack, ship's system will fail in the following order: weapons control, helm control, shields, life support, communications, coffee maker.
nah, always shields first unless there is some piercinf wqeapon involved. And the fact that it is in that order is because that is the strategic method of systematically taking out an enemy ship.
#11. Automatic doors can tell if an approaching lifeform is going to walk through them, or just past them.
:lol: Yeah, I always wondered about that. :p
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Also, with regards to No 2, in ST, they usually have to use something like the transporter buffer info on the character in order to recode the DNA. Not always, but sometimes :D
The rest are pretty much bang on though ;)
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though for St this usually doesn't go. For example; the Xindi Sphere. It didn't have t3h airduct of d00m™ or something. They actually had to baord it and rig the reactor itself to blow.
That may be true, but that doesn't excuse the new Star Trek series from being obscenely lame.
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Originally posted by Tiara
With proper knowledge of genetics this is doable.
No it isn't. Sci-fi seems to often be based on the assumption that DNA is a blueprint for the body and that if you change the DNA you change the body instantly.
DNA is not a blueprint. DNA is a recipe. No amount of rewriting a vanilla sponge recipe will allow you to end up with a vanilla sponge after you mistakenly add half a pound of chocolate to it.
Once someone has been heavily deformed the only way you can get them back is via some sort of advanced nanotech (either machine based or biological). At which point the question has to be how on Earth did you let the original pathogen get away with what it did in the first place? Why not simply set your nanotech wonder loose on it before it's turned your crew members into chimps, alien killing machines, etc.
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Originally posted by ZylonBane
#1. Human beings, despite being dumber, weaker, softer, and less technologically advanced than most alien races they encounter, someone always manage to outperform the more advanced races and Save The Day. Because, y'know, we're just so darn special.
Bingo :)
Also, why do we humans always have to be dumber, weaker, softer, and less technologically advanced than most alien races we encounter? Why can't we be more advanced this time?
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Probably because if we were, we;d cane them for all they were worth and then nuke 'em till they glowed :(
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:lol:
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Originally posted by Ford Prefect
That may be true, but that doesn't excuse the new Star Trek series from being obscenely lame.
You haven't heard of Coto's plans right? :D Brainless & Brainless (Brennan & Braga for the uneducated :p) are taking a step back and Coto is going to be in charge. Seeing his plot ideas I think that he'll write out the Space Nazi's that B&B put in fairly quick.
Check my new thread; http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,25701.0.html
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This is good news indeed.
In my opinion, the height of Star Trek quality was The Next Generation.
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Originally posted by Ford Prefect
This is good news indeed.
Go comment in the thread :p
In my opinion, the height of Star Trek quality was The Next Generation.
Yah, but i put DS9 on the same level. But DS9 is a totally different aspect of Star trek.
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The fact that Highlander 2: The Quickening was ever made....
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Also, why do we humans always have to be dumber, weaker, softer, and less technologically advanced than most alien races we encounter? Why can't we be more advanced this time?
Watch Andromeda. Everyone should just stop their lives, and not start them again until they've worked Andromeda into their schedules.
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Originally posted by Ford Prefect
Watch Andromeda. Everyone should just stop their lives, and not start them again until they've worked Andromeda into their schedules.
Only if you watch the first two seasons. The show went WAY downhill afterwards. Now its nothing more than something for Kevin Sorbo to wank off to. Pretty soon they'll change the name to "Hercules in Space" since thats what its pretty much become now.
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Nahhhhh, I still love it. It's well-thought-out, in my opinion, because it keeps you wanting to find out whether they succeed in restoring the Commonwealth. Besides, Hercules didn't have force lances!
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My Sci-Fi pet peeves?
#1: United Mankind. :wtf: I doubt it. My take on this in The Swarm War is that mankind splintered post-interstellar exploration as the various nations made a free-for-all territory grab. I think we're too diverse with our own agendas to come up with anything like the UFP, TC or EA.
#2: No sooner do we leave our own star system than we run into 45 alien species. Okay, we might, but I doubt it. At most we'd run into perhaps three, and they might not be interstellar capable.
The sublight lasers have already been mentioned, so I'll leave that out.
What else........hmm...........oh yes:
#3: Mankind, no sooner have we developed interstellar travel and advanced technology, suddenly become American. What happened to every other nationality? (This pet peeve is remedied in The Swarm War. The Karran Imperium is 90% British in origin with the remainder made up of Japan, Germany and a few others).
#4: Timescale. How in the name of all that is holy do we have a vast sphere of influence by the 23rd century? At best we're looking at the back end of this millennium, assuming interstellar technology is developed and made cost effective within the next century.
#5: A vast supply of inhabited worlds in some franchises. Okay, our knowledge of the galaxy is slim at the moment, but seriously, will practically every star system contain an inhabited world with a population of 5 billion of whatever race holds sway over that region of space?
Can't think of anything else right now.....
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floating Islands... :eek2:
Not sure what that was off of, but whoa!
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Originally posted by Killfrenzy
#4: Timescale. How in the name of all that is holy do we have a vast sphere of influence by the 23rd century? At best we're looking at the back end of this millennium, assuming interstellar technology is developed and made cost effective within the next century.
I take it you're talking about the UFP here? Well, for several reasons;
- It's not just the Humans. It was the Vulcans, Andorian AND Humans. Where the first two already had a decent sphere of influence to begin with.
- Other races/nations joined willingly, thus adding to the sphere of influence of the UFP.
- Again; The UFP ended up as a Federation of many nations. it's not just Human sphere of influence. Humans only gained power thanks to the other nations that joined.
As for the technology, most of it came from the Vulcans. And they were WAY ahead of the Federation at that time. They were also a much older spacefaring race.
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The best book I ever read in terms of main stream sci fi that _avoided_ these problems was Star Trek:Federation - it's a much more realisitc take on Cochrane and the evolution of the Federation etc.
In fact, it explains a lot of how the nuclear war starts, and the public knowledge of Khan.
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Originally posted by Flipside
Probably because if we were, we;d cane them for all they were worth and then nuke 'em till they glowed :(
Hehe but it would be cool to have a story where mankind was the evil invader alien race.
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[color=66ff00]The fact that sci-fi fans are looked upon with disdain when we generally are composed of the best and the brightest.
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Originally posted by Cabbie
Hehe but it would be cool to have a story where mankind was the evil invader alien race.
Actually that's something that would make an interesting story.
Completely non-humanoid aliens as the main characters, and then Earth invades and it's from the point of view of these critters trying to resist the ultra-advanced evil exploiting war machine of Earth ;)
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Originally posted by Ace
Actually that's something that would make an interesting story.
Completely non-humanoid aliens as the main characters, and then Earth invades and it's from the point of view of these critters trying to resist the ultra-advanced evil exploiting war machine of Earth ;)
Also extremely hard to do. how are you going to do an alien society played by humans? ;):p;)
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Originally posted by Ace
Actually that's something that would make an interesting story.
Completely non-humanoid aliens as the main characters, and then Earth invades and it's from the point of view of these critters trying to resist the ultra-advanced evil exploiting war machine of Earth ;)
Heh, now thats an interesting sci-fi idea. Sadly chances are, it won't be mainstream though. :(
#3: Mankind, no sooner have we developed interstellar travel and advanced technology, suddenly become American. What happened to every other nationality? (This pet peeve is remedied in The Swarm War. The Karran Imperium is 90% British in origin with the remainder made up of Japan, Germany and a few others).
True, true. I guess you could blame the producers about that. Even the moral and sensabilities of most the characters of these seires are usually based a lot on western ideals and values. I guess the "other nationalities" you referied to were, in a way, turned into/represended by (usually goofy) Alien races.
I hardly blame them though, after all most of these shows are US productions. I mean, I'm a huge fan of Japanese sci fi and wonder how in the world everyone in the Universe suddenly know how to speak fluient Japanese.
lso extremely hard to do. how are you going to do an alien society played by humans?
This is what CG/animatronics is for, my friend ;)
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Originally posted by Cabbie
This is what CG/animatronics is for, my friend ;)
Owww... Final Fantasy quality... *drool*
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Originally posted by Tiara
Also extremely hard to do. how are you going to do an alien society played by humans? ;):p;)
By making it Lucas' wet dream: all CGI with no actors :p
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Originally posted by Ace
By making it Lucas' wet dream: all CGI with no actors :p
Well, if they can do it ala FF:TSW with an actual storyline I'm all for it :D
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CGI is fine with me !!! :D
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Originally posted by Maeglamor
[color=66ff00]The fact that sci-fi fans are looked upon with disdain when we generally are composed of the best and the brightest.[/color]
And the least socialized.
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I happen to have a very healthy social life, thank you very much!
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Actually, isn't Star Wars 4 onwards a story about Alien societies being oppressed by humans, well, just about everyone being oppressed by humans ;)
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I actualy had a story idea I made a few years ago when someone asked me for ideas for a comic book, one of the better ones was "terra 3" (at the time I was under the impression that terra was the name of our star system, freshmen year of HS) a story about odd aliens who suddenly come in and destroy this peaceful world for no reason and the fight against them, the big plot twist being that these violent mindless invaders were human.
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Originally posted by Cabbie
Also, why do we humans always have to be dumber, weaker, softer, and less technologically advanced than most alien races we encounter? Why can't we be more advanced this time?
I tends to make for boring sci-fi if there is nothing that is a challenge to humanity. At least for the guns-blazing battles in space kind of sci-fi that is really popular at the moment.
A good author could probably turn it into a nice story though
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There are plenty of challenges to a superior civilization: Indolence, intellectual decay, loss of a sense of purpose, internal rivalries, moral upheaval, etc.
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Yeah but how many authors actually bother to write storys about those things? Certainly no one who actually gets them onto TV or movie screens.
I wasn't saying it can't be done just that bad authors (and good ones for that matter) prefer to take the route of having aliens who are more powerful cause it makes their job in telling a sci-fi story easier.
Pity really.
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Originally posted by Bobboau
I actualy had a story idea I made a few years ago when someone asked me for ideas for a comic book, one of the better ones was "terra 3" (at the time I was under the impression that terra was the name of our star system, freshmen year of HS) a story about odd aliens who suddenly come in and destroy this peaceful world for no reason and the fight against them, the big plot twist being that these violent mindless invaders were human.
There's a ton of scifi stories that use that same plot twist...
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Humans always seem to be the most arrogant, greedy, stupid, etc., but hey, we're the only species that can actually compose music.
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:lol:
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Bob: Terra is the name for Earth, Sol is the name of the sun and therefore the star system since systems are named after their star.
Just to clear things up :)
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Originally posted by Styxx
There's a ton of scifi stories that use that same plot twist...
highschool
freshman year
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I'm just saying, it's a good idea - I also "invented" a lot of concepts I found out had been already used a ton of times back in the day.
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One thing I don't like about Sci-Fi: The tendency to make crappy TV series and crappy movies.
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Mine is UFO's from ald Scifi movies
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My sci-fi pet peeve: Wesley f*ckin' Crusher. :ick::ick::ick::ick::ick::ick::ick::ick:
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JMS's bad diologue. The guy writes a good story but sometimes when you're watching one of his shows one of the characters will come out with some diologue that just makes you want to die :ick:
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Here's one of mine. Star Trek (TNG and Voyager especially) seems to suffer from it a lot but I've seen it in other shows too.
The episode starts. Everything is normal. Then one character on board the ship hears voices/sees something or something that isn't there/notices something strange that goes away as soon as he looks away.
Character shakes his/her head and goes about his daily business until it happens again. This happens 3-4 times before the character bothers to say anything other than "Did you just see something?"
What annoys me is that after 10-20 different situations that have nearly resulted in the destruction of the Enterprise or the loss of crew no one ever thinks to post a standing order saying that "all anomalous sightings MUST BE REPORTED IMMEDIATELY!" :D
I've seen cases of this in other shows so I'm not specifically having a go at Trek but Trek is the best example of it happening. To be fair I recently saw an episode of Enterprise (3x06 - Exile) where Hoshi did exactly the right thing. She reported the problem on every single occurence giving as much detail as she could. Unfortunately the rest of the crew were too stupid to believe her at first.
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My pet peeve is that there's just not not enough of the stuff. :p That's why I'm looking forward to Chronicles of Riddick and I, Robot... gotta find a time to see those. :nod:
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Episodes where one character gets badly injured and we spend the rest of the episode watching flashbacks to previous episodes. It's such a cop-out.
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Originally posted by Flipside
Episodes where one character gets badly injured and we spend the rest of the episode watching flashbacks to previous episodes. It's such a cop-out.
Those I don't like too
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Originally posted by Flipside
Episodes where one character gets badly injured and we spend the rest of the episode watching flashbacks to previous episodes. It's such a cop-out.
At least the Simpsons had the decency to title the episode "So it has come to this.. A simpsons clip show" when they did it :D
I think Stargate SG1 - Disclosure is the only example I've ever seen of a well done clipshow. In that case the clips were the arguments people were using not just fond memories of time gone past.
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Originally posted by Setekh
I'm looking forward to Chronicles of Riddick and I, Robot...
Because lord knows the world needs another "Will Smith kills CGI critters and acts stereotypically black" film.
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Originally posted by karajorma
I think Stargate SG1 - Disclosure is the only example I've ever seen of a well done clipshow. In that case the clips were the arguments people were using not just fond memories of time gone past.
I thought Season 7's Heroes did it better, only because there was a few seconds of it near the end.
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This isn't a pet peave, but does anyone else love the Next Generation episode "The Inner Light", where Picard is rendered unconscious by this device and lives out the entire life of some guy in 30 minutes? I think that was the most beautiful Star Trek episode ever made.
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Originally posted by Ford Prefect
This isn't a pet peave, but does anyone else love the Next Generation episode "The Inner Light", where Picard is rendered unconscious by this device and lives out the entire life of some guy in 30 minutes? I think that was the most beautiful Star Trek episode ever made.
A fav of mine too. Seems odd that a race would want to only be remembered by one person though. :)
Now that you've mentioned it I'm tempted to download and watch it again :D
Originally posted by Thorn
I thought Season 7's Heroes did it better, only because there was a few seconds of it near the end.
I wouldn't classify Heroes as a clip show since most of it was new IIRC.
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Originally posted by ZylonBane
Because lord knows the world needs another "Will Smith kills CGI critters and acts stereotypically black" film.
Well, if a movie that's even like that can be found enjoyable, I don't mind so much. :)
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Now that you've mentioned it I'm tempted to download and watch it again
Where can you download that?
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Originally posted by IPAndrews
JMS's bad diologue. The guy writes a good story but sometimes when you're watching one of his shows one of the characters will come out with some diologue that just makes you want to die :ick:
True, but a few actors (Andreas Katsulas, Peter Jurasik, Stephen Furst, and Jerry Doyle isn't bad) manage to make the dialogue sound perfectly realistic.