Andromeda

[fiat_knox]

Just caught an episode of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda on ITV4, wondering what could be turned into Traveller terms.

Erm, Hercules and Daniel Jackson's wife, a little guy who seems to fulfil the role of CSI Wolfe and CSI Sanders, something called a Nietzschean, another Nietzschean bad guy, a blonde ... erm, Hercules' love squeeze - cum - hostage?

Oh. A big black and red swirly thing called the Abyss. Riight.

And then the golden one turns into a ... wtf a sun? And blows up the ship ... and then turns back to normal, and ends the show tending a plant ... in a ship ... that she just ... destroyed ...

Erm.

*looks at core book*

Naah. Stick to what I know.

Now. H'mm. The Foundation trilogy ...

Seriously, does anybody know what the show was about, or do I chuck it in the same classification as the final episodes of The Prisoner?

 

[Easterner9504]

One Word

One word descriptions:

FIREFLY - Libertarian

FARSCAPE - Sexy

Babylon 5 - Pretentious

STS 9 - Angry

ST: Voyager - Boring

ST: TNG - Stiff

ST: TOS - Kennedyesque

old BSG: Intriguing

Andromeda, Cleopatra 2525, new BSG, Enterprise - UNWATCHABLE

 

[rancke]

Andromeda, Cleopatra 2525, new BSG, Enterprise - UNWATCHABLE

Actually, first season Andromeda was very watchable. It had an ongoing plot and intelligent scripts. Unfortunately, someone decided that plot and script quality was superfluous. (ISTR that the change didn't occur until season 3, but I won't swear to it; it's been a while since it was on TV).


Hans

 

[Gadrin]

Watch the ep Harper 2.0 if it comes on. It's not a masterpiece but it's pretty good, humorous, has the big bad guy bounty hunter (body builders unite!) and his mysterious, otherworldly super bad guy boss.

I'm not really an Andromeda fan BTW.

It's basically over-the-top, comic-book type stuff in a space setting.

but Beka Valentine...mmmmmmmmmm

>

 

[Jame]

Actually, first season Andromeda was very watchable. It had an ongoing plot and intelligent scripts. Unfortunately, someone decided that plot and script quality was superfluous. (ISTR that the change didn't occur until season 3, but I won't swear to it; it's been a while since it was on TV).


Hans

Which was actually my take on it.

Well, that and the channel it was on deciding to switch it around all the time to a point when I was usually out ... and the few episodes of the later seasons that I caught being less interesting. Though the series finale was watchable.

 

[ThunderChilde]

Just caught an episode of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda on ITV4, wondering what could be turned into Traveller terms.

Erm, Hercules and Daniel Jackson's wife, a little guy who seems to fulfil the role of CSI Wolfe and CSI Sanders, something called a Nietzschean, another Nietzschean bad guy, a blonde ... erm, Hercules' love squeeze - cum - hostage?

Oh. A big black and red swirly thing called the Abyss. Riight.

And then the golden one turns into a ... wtf a sun? And blows up the ship ... and then turns back to normal, and ends the show tending a plant ... in a ship ... that she just ... destroyed ...

Erm.

QUOTE]
Massive spoliers is one way of describing that episode.

The "golden one" is the purest example of what the stellar worshipping folks are on about. She is the avatar of a star, walking amoung humans to avert the great dark fate that is the swirly red and black thing. One of her, mmmm, methods of determing the correct path to take of the many possibilities is achieved by radical cuts taken off the banzai tree that represents the threads and paths off the possible futures. That whole episode was just a themeatic display of what is normally going on in the background.

clear as mud?

 

[Klaus]

Andromeda is both utter trash and occasionally a guilty pleasure.

I watched a few of the first series cuz, y'know, it got spaceship in, and thought it was pretty poo. Then I happened on a season 2 ep and dicovered that yes, it was still poo, but it was interesting and occasionally entertaining poo. At least until the execs fired the creator, Robert Hewit Wolf, near the end of s2, and abandoned the vaguely interesting story-arc that had been building. Then s3 threw any logic that existed out of the window, s4 forgot to care about continuity or plot, to the point where individual episodes were total narrative nonesense, then s5 was 'eh, what is that al...? never mind, I don't care...'

Yup, I forced myself to watch it all. I have made it my goal to watch every episode of every live action sf tv show with spaceships in the english language, and colour, (apart from Jupiter Moon, because that is total and irredeemable tunky of the highest order), so I had to complete Andromeda, as hard as that became.

Dylan Hunt was a dick with egomaniacal delusions of grandeur, but the show seemed to know that in late s1 to early s3, and the other regular characters were all quite interesting, in their own way.

But yeah, it's amazing that pap got 5 seasons when Firefly didn't even get one.

 

[Doyle Hunt]

Just caught an episode of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda on ITV4, wondering what could be turned into Traveller terms.

Rather than arguing the relative merits of the show (I can only bear to watch about 40% of the episodes a second time, myself, and 0% of Season 5) I thought I would get back to your original intent.

In the one episode (before Season 5) that the Tarn-Vedrans actually appear, they are the K'kree, without a doubt.

The Than seem to take the place of the Hivers, though they're people in bug suits and not six-limbed starfish.

Depending on your interpretation, the Nietzcheans are either the Vilani, the Vargr, or the Aslan; they incorporate elements of each. Unless the Nightsiders are the Vargr.

Nova bombs are mass-produced versions of the Darrians' Star Trigger.

The Restorians, or "Resters", a terrorist group led by an insane starship avatar/computer, is the TNE Virus.

The Knights of Genetic Purity are a radical offshoot of the Solomani Party, dedicated to the idea that unless you're pure human, you're not human at all and don't deserve to live.

The Eureka Maru was the first TV starship (and the only, other than Serenity) where the deck plans as shown by the sound stage sets would properly fit inside the hull. Beka Valentine inherited the ship from her father, which is a novel and even marginally realistic way for player characters to obtain a decrepit old ship that they couldn't otherwise afford.

In other words, take the stuff you like (or can endure, at least), fold, spindle, and mutilate to your heart's content, and you're bound to find SOMETHING you can use in your Traveller universe, whether the show's producers intended the similarity or not.

—Doyle

 

[savage]

Sweet

One word descriptions:

FIREFLY - Libertarian

FARSCAPE - Sexy

Babylon 5 - Pretentious

STS 9 - Angry

ST: Voyager - Boring

ST: TNG - Stiff

ST: TOS - Kennedyesque

old BSG: Intriguing

Andromeda, Cleopatra 2525, new BSG, Enterprise - UNWATCHABLE

Excellent thought. One word description but have to not agree with most.
new BSG - Human
old BSG - Epic
ST: TNG - Groundbreaking
Andromeda - Scale
Babylon 5- Characters
Firefly - Traveller
Enterprise - classic
Cleopatra 2525 - GINA
Stargate - adventure
Chuck - funny

Any more.... ok did I mention Gina.
Now Andromeda in more detail... who can argue with a sexy warship with a female AI avatar?

 

[fiat_knox]

One problem with the sexy female AI avatar, and that's I'd have to ramp up the TL to a few levels above the maximum Imperial TL.

But then, if I was running things on the scale of Andromeda, I'd have probably already binned much of the flavour that made Traveller what it is.

Although as such, I've had a few interesting ideas ...

 

[ThunderChilde]

meh, AFAIK she would be possible at TTL 14-15, though probably wouldn't be built by the Imperium. They have this bad taste memory from way back about AI's. The Darrians? perhaps. Hiver's? Muhahaha, yeah as part of a Manipulation I could see it. Working hard on the M project.

 

[savage]

AI Avatar

One problem with the sexy female AI avatar, and that's I'd have to ramp up the TL to a few levels above the maximum Imperial TL.

But then, if I was running things on the scale of Andromeda, I'd have probably already binned much of the flavour that made Traveller what it is.

Although as such, I've had a few interesting ideas ...

Hey that's what I did.... still very traveller.

 

[Psion]

I'm not really an Andromeda fan BTW.

It's basically over-the-top, comic-book type stuff in a space setting.

I do like Andromeda (well, up until Rev Bem disappeared and took overarcing plots with him), but I substantially agree with this.

I thought about running an Andromeda game, and the first place my thoughts went for a game to run it: HERO. Think about it, many of the major characters really kick butt in a fist fight in a superheroic way. An android, a heavy-worlder, and a genetically engineered man with natural weapons? Could've come right out of an 80's Marvel crossover.

 

[aramis]

Rommie is quite doable under Traveller tech levels. She's not a True Artificial Sapient (that's TL 17). She's a High Autonomous with Emotion Simulation, working a bridge that doubles as a holotank (All TL14-15).

 

[Chaos]

Why not just take the general flavor of Andromeda - or at of what Andromeda promised to be early on?

How does this sound: a major starship of the Rule of Man, at some time during the Twilight, encounters some sort of anomaly, is "frozen" for a long time and then recovered during the darkest parts of the Long Night, perhaps in the region and time of the Aslan Border Wars.

 

[SuperGamera]

Why not just take the general flavor of Andromeda - or at of what Andromeda promised to be early on?

How does this sound: a major starship of the Rule of Man, at some time during the Twilight, encounters some sort of anomaly, is "frozen" for a long time and then recovered during the darkest parts of the Long Night, perhaps in the region and time of the Aslan Border Wars.

You could probably do it during the TNE period as well.

 

[fiat_knox]

According to MJD, they did - the so-called Deadspace region.

You could even do something similar in the Abyss Rift beside Lanth subsector of the Marches.

 

[savage]

Avatar

Well that combination was essentially my approach when I created Avatars in my campaign. Their link to primary systems makes them somewhat more flexible. I decided it was one of my TL16 new science. I would think by TL17 it would be more common.

Players react in an interesting fashion to AI. Especially when they're not in control.