Star Trek: Foundations (temp thread)

[CX]

Earth History - an open discussion

Lately I've been thinking about this, and I thought I'd get some fan input on it if I could.

Basically, when I first started on this project, I figured I'd modify the historical events that were established in TOS, the movies, and early TNG so that basically everything took place later than the late '90s. Basically I set everything still a few decades off, so in keeping with TOS tradition, it would still seem like the adventures we were seeing could potentially be the future of humanity. Lately though, I've been wondering if maybe instead I should look at Star Trek as kind of like an AU to our own reality. Our world hasn't gone down the considerably darker path that the Star Trek version of Earth did, what with orbital weapon platforms armed with nuclear missiles in the late '60s, whales in captivity in the '80s, genetically engineered super-soldiers in the '90s and a nuclear world war that would be taking place now. Still, these are all somewhat important things to the Star Trek universe, and it illustrates how close we came to the brink of extinction before basically becoming the dominant force in our portion of the galaxy.

So I'm wondering what the fans think at this point. Nothing has really been established yet on the show at this point, and potentially it may never need to be, but in case it does this is something that should be worked out in advance. Should I view the history established in Star Trek as an AU and thus stick to it as rigidly as possible? Or should I rewrite it, moving things further into the future and thus make the Star Trek universe seem like a real possible (or at least relatable) future?

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

I've never really liked it when science fiction stories establishes something in our near future because we're going to catch up on it sooner than later. Obviously when they made TOS back in the day they couldn't know how successful it would be and that we'd still be having it being made now. But my point still stands.

Thus I tend to view those events as still taking place albeit further off in the future and modified to fit "reality". So the Eugenics wars and WW3 has yet to happen, so to speak. I'd be vague enough about when to avoid further catching up. Say in the later first half of the 21st century. The only specific date to still adhere to would be First Contact in 2063.

For some reason thinking about it as AU from contemporary times feels unsatisfactory. But maybe that's just me.

[CX]

^Here is some other opinions about this. I'm thinking that I'm going to go ahead and take Trek history as a kind of AU to real world events rather than to keep pushing everything back.


On another topic, I'd like to discuss casting the character of Gardner.

This isn't something real important or anything, but lately I've been pondering over who I'd visualize as Gardner, and basically it's between two actors I'd like to cast, even if they end up playing different roles.

The first is Keith David.


He's played in a lot of roles as a soldier, but he might be most known for his role on Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick as Imam. I also know him as the voice of the Arbiter on Halo 2 & 3

At different points, I considered him for the role of Captain Archer, but ultimately decided to keep Scott Bakula. Alternatively, if he ever shows up, I'd consider Kieth David for the part of Captain April, or even possibly as a Vulcan or a Romulan.

The other option is Tucker Smallwood.

He's also been in a lot of roles as a soldier type. Some people might know him as Admiral Ross from Space: Above and Beyond, but I'm guessing that most of you would recognize him as Degra's Xindi buddy from ENT.

Alternatively, I could see him as another captain or admiral, or in an alien role.

[Alelou]

Tucker Smallwood wasn't Degra, he was the other primate species guy. Jannar. The one who didn't get stabbed to death.

[CX]

No vote?





Anywho, since there seemed to be quite a bit of resistance to the idea of me using the USAF Space Command wings for the pilot wings, I decided to take another shot at them:



This is still based off of those USAF wings, but not as closely. This is a very rough version, so I'd appreciate any comments, crits and suggestions anyone has.

[Escriba]

I say Keith Davis. Don't know why, I just can see him as Gardner.

As for the wings, I like the design very much, very stylized. Just one question, the wings part, you know, the diagonal strips are going to be like this? I mean, isn't it better if all of them have the same lenght, or if they have a different lenght, wouldn't it be better if they progressively become shorter or something? On the other hand, I love the star, I expect you don't change it

[Alelou]

Star looks nice, CX. I'd vote for Keith Davis too because to me Tucker Smallwood is just too recognizable as the other guy.

[CX]

Cool. As for the length of the wings, they're based off of the USAF Space Command wings, which has similar lengths, but it a lot more busy. I started by just having all of them get progressively shorter, but I didn't like how that looked.

[panyasan]

I have to totally different face in mind for Gardner, but when I have to chose between Keith David and Tucker Smallwood, I would say Keith David. He has a much more interesting face for a Star fleet admiral.

[Asso]

Keith David's eyes are perfect for Admiral Gardner.

[CX]

Here's what I was working on over the weekend:



This is what I guess I'd refer to as the "long-sleeved blues". I plan to add the pilot's wings and a name tag as an example of what else would go on there, and I'm also tempted to add a ship's patch to the left shoulder. A service jacket the same color as the pants would go over the long-sleeved shirt, leaving a little of it exposed at the front. Thoughts?

[Alelou]

I think the guy needs a head.

It looks fine.

[Asso]

I think the guy needs a head.

It looks fine.

Mh, but the head has to be useful and good.
Anyway, yes... it's fine.

[CX]

I did a bit more on the shirt today, and emphasized the short collar. But basically it's a no-collar dress shirt with no breast pockets.



I'm still working on the pilot's wings.


There are no department colors. Departments are to be determined by symbol, such as the pilots wing. Speaking of, if you have any ideas for symbols for the other departments, I'm open to suggestions.

[Eian Flannagan]

Are you wanting a general dept, like "Operations" and "Science?" Or something more specialized like "Security," "Engineering," or "Medical?"