Droid: 2J6

[Starwars4J]

After some advice from Classic-space.com I decided to swap out the head from my multi-purpose droid for a more greebled fit (I definitely agreed with Inquisitor General's critique). This is the result:

This droid, built in secret by the Imperial Black Projects tech department head researcher was heavily based off some schematics believed to be from the first generation humans. Clearly some technology can not be replicated exactly, so some concessions had to be made, overall the result was still a droid leagues above the power of anything previously designed. Dubbed the 2J6, this droid was intended to be the next generation of Imperial Assault Droid, however upon activation, the protocol of the first generation of humans was activated and the droid rebelled, destroying the facility in which it was created, as well as two cruisers in orbit around said planet. The current location of the droid is unknown.

With the background out of the way, some details. The first thing I wanted to do with this was to build it off of a "spine"

After several failed attempts at where to go from there, I ended up being really pleased with how the chest came out:

Then I made the arms, in the left arm I put a large canon:

Which can change orientation for support for a charged up blast:

The right arm holds a rapid-fire laser canon, surrounded by cooling vents:

The legs can fold up and it can levitate some distance on the micro-repulsor array on the back:

I ended up finding a way to make the knee joint in a small area, but the claw looked strange bare, so that's why I put the pair of harpoons on either side of the legs, they can also serve as added micro-repulsors.

C&C welcome

[JoeMI6]

Very nice work here SW4J. I really like how you've used Hewkii's head here, I never thought I'd see another good use for it.

[Asuka]

That

[Starwars4J]

That

[Siegfried]

That is much better than the first one. *sweet* Is the "first generation humans" line your creation or is that EU?

[Starwars4J]

That is much better than the first one. *sweet* Is the "first generation humans" line your creation or is that EU?

While my 'universe' has an Empire, it has nothing to do with the Star Wars universe :-P As for the first generation humans, it's part of the storyline I've made for my MOCs, I find a cohesive storyline helps when making MOCs, and makes it more fun. I typed it up once for a thread on classic-space about your storylines, I should C/P it here one day.

Basically there have been three generations of humans, the first (the one we're a part of) which grew to great power, then disappeared a long time ago without a trace.

The second generation which rose again which killed itself quickly in wars.

And the third generation of humans which is where the universe takes place in.

[Siegfried]

While my 'universe' has an Empire, it has nothing to do with the Star Wars universe :-P

Ooops. :-$ Silly me; yes I assumed that you were referring to Star Wars. This is much better; why people spend time writing stories based on Star Wars is quite beyond me. I have some friends who are making a Star Wars fan movie and I often wonder (and have asked) why they don't just write something original. 10 years ago when they started the Dr Who New Adventures series and were asking for submissions I started writing a novel, but half way though I realised that I really wanted to write something un-fettered with back story and set characters. It didn't matter in the end; that computer died a horrid death (long story) and all but a page was lost. :'-(

Do you have a link to your story? It sounds interesting so far....

[Starwars4J]

Do you have a link to your story? It sounds interesting so far....

Well I never took the time to actually type it all out in a professional manner, I just sat down and wrote it in response to the thread (though I had a rough idea in my head). The thread was called Your Colony Empire and time setting..., and here is my post (maybe a minor edit or two, but things ARE subject to change...

First, billions of years in the "past", there was the first generation of Humans. They proliferated, and soon became a dominant force in the Universe. Exploration spread around the Universe, from galaxy to galaxy. Eventually, after several hundred million years of this, the humans had become the leading race in terms of technology, and the laws...which were just, were strictly enforced. All was well and happy for a long time with no major conflicts arising when a small group of humans, who had somehow gone "under the radar" so to speak, had their otherwise peaceful thoughts turned to those of conquest. They looked down on other races, and even more so on fellow humans who wasted their power and technological might. The race had reached a true nirvana, both at the peak of technology, and spirituality (deal with it), and yet they didn't DO anything with it. Despite the endless number of humans in the universe, if they split the riches equally they could each rule several galaxies, and yet they sat content to share it with these "disgusting creatures". So they made a weapon. Not an ordinary weapon, they put the full force of the technology into the creation of a large mech which could operate independently of any pilots. It slowly grew in size, and produced copies of itself. Similar to a virus, it would reach a new planet and just spawn, until all the resources there were gone, then send out a few million more copies to the stars.

This was quickly noticed by the humans, who went to stop their fallen comrads. The battle was very long, and eventually the original creators of the droid had been thought to die, and people wondered what they were fighting against. Eventually the last of the droids...or rather the first of the droids. was confronted with an army of the humans' own mech. And ships. And fighters. The original droid had grown to enormous proportions, and inside, kept alive by the precious gems synthesized by the humans, and the energy stolen from endless planets, were the very humans who had started this. The original droid was destroyed, and the universe was quickly restored to the state it was beforehand (what can I say? The terraforming capabilities of a super-advanced civilization are amazing). While one would think the other species resented the humans for this, they had kept things calm for so long, and fought so hard to fix everything, they regarded them as heroes. The humans however, didn't feel it was deserved. Due to the horrible danger the entire Universe had been placed in due to one of their own, using their very technology, they realized that they were a threat to the universe. It is at this point in history that they vanished from the Universe. Whether they killed themselves, or just forced themselves to stop reproducing and died out that way, nobody is sure. Their technology largely disappeared with them, effectively resetting the Universe. They did, however, leave several silos and warehouses around the universe with intelligent mecha, to monitor things in case anything got out of hand again, so they could step in if the current inhabitants of the Universe were not capable. Rumor has it that they are still operational to this very day.

Fast-forward a few million years. Humanity once again rose. How is unknown, but the theory goes that the first generation may have left time-delayed seeds to re-awaken the race at some point in the future. This race though, was insatiably violent. Within 300,000 standard years, they had entirely wiped themselves out. So went the second generation of humans, without so much as leaving their solar systems.

Several million years again later humanity awoke once again. They were not too pure, but not too violent. Their intelligence helped them quickly develop interstellar travel within 250,000 standard years. They are the current generation of humans. Legends and myth still buzz about the Universe of the ancient race of humans that once existed, keeping the entire universe at peace, and happy. Also mentioned in these legends are that they still watch over it, in the form of several warehouses which store still-active super weapons. Eventually an Empire arose among the humans. However this was not a peaceful Empire, it was formed for the single purpose of finding and using these weapons. A rebellion developed among the humans, as well as various other species who were repressed by this new human Empire, for the new human Empire felt that the weapons were their birthright, and that the first generation of humans were indeed better than the others. The rebellion was founded by the brother of the Emperor, in disgust of his brother's misuse of power and lost ways.

There is currently one known weapon out there, a sentient mecha from the Stalwart-series of defense droids from the first human generation. The question is though, even if the rebellious humans find it before the misguided humans do, would it aid anyone, or merely opt to reset humanity once again due to the "apparent failure" of humanity to develop into a peaceful species? And what of the other weapons out there?

Yes, not terribly well-written, but I'd like to take the time someday to fix it up, write it well, and take out the lame parts :-P

Edited August 19, 2007 by Starwars4J

[Siegfried]

Well I never took the time to actually type it all out in a professional manner, I just sat down and wrote it in response to the thread (though I had a rough idea in my head).

Thanks for posting it. *sweet* Very interesting ideas, and I don't recall a origin story like this before. Is there any reason for the second generation of human or are you just making a point? Are you planning to make this into a story, or is this just for background purposes?

[Starwars4J]

Thanks for posting it. *sweet* Very interesting ideas, and I don't recall a origin story like this before. Is there any reason for the second generation of human or are you just making a point? Are you planning to make this into a story, or is this just for background purposes?

I doubt it will become a full-fledged story, it's just a compilation of how the universe developed, though you never know :-)

The second generation of humans...to be honest I don't remember why I really made them, it just seemed like a natural thing to happen to me. I do like the concept of xenophobia, and it seems like a very human thing to me, I mean we're already xenophobic, so could you imagine how we'd be if we met thousands of other species? Like I said a lot is very rough, some almost down-right embarrassing, but one day I'll make it a lot smoother, and a lot longer. Maybe flush out MOCpages a bit, or just throw my own site up there. There's definitely a chronological storyline going on, hell, I already have sketches of what the main Imperial Base would look like after it's taken over by the rebels...(c'mon, the good guys have to win in the end, not to say they won't take losses...)

ANYWAY before I go on rambling anymore that's it in a nutshell. I don't really sit down and write the ideas as much as jot down what comes to me. Hope this helps clear things up a bit.

Thanks for the interest! :-) I'm actually thinking about making a small topic for the various people and ships in my Universe, but I'm not sure yet.

Edited August 19, 2007 by Starwars4J

[Siegfried]

I doubt it will become a full-fledged story, it's just a compilation of how the universe developed, though you never know :-)

Thanks for the ramble! X-D I tend to write my own stories, but mine are more just a way of explaining about details in MOCs. For example I have a largish rant on my still unfinished ship Impartial and I plan to write one for Staunch (the transport I made for the MOC comp). I do have a planned back story for that universe, but I haven't got around to making a ship for the "other side"... I love to make ships with believeable features, but that means they have to be bigger and that is very part demanding. I also have some quite detailed ideas on faster than light travel and I probably should write them up one time.

[Starwars4J]

Thanks for the ramble! X-D I tend to write my own stories, but mine are more just a way of explaining about details in MOCs. For example I have a largish rant on my still unfinished ship Impartial and I plan to write one for Staunch (the transport I made for the MOC comp). I do have a planned back story for that universe, but I haven't got around to making a ship for the "other side"... I love to make ships with believeable features, but that means they have to be bigger and that is very part demanding. I also have some quite detailed ideas on faster than light travel and I probably should write them up one time.

I know what you mean, I have all the sketches down for my next MOC...an Imperial Cruiser, but it's so parts-intensive I haven't even started it yet! I still have a mountain that I'm building...and this castle keep which I won't finish in the next year even...but this cruiser (which I plan on being a SHIP) is gonna be crazy in parts...I still need to design decent prisoner pods for it though. And you want an easy source of energy for your stuff? I remember reading an article on a theory awhile ago whereby theoretically you could generate an infinite supply of energy by harnessing the power of atoms popping in and out of existence everywhere in the universe. I THINK it was called Zero-point Energy, and it's the basis that all my ships run off of. It's clean, efficient, and most importantly means they don't need to stop to refuel, however missiles and food supplies still need to be refilled of course...

It is the method by which droids can last indefinitely, however, but it is rather expensive. I definitely would be interested in hearing about some of your technologies and story

[Siegfried]

And you want an easy source of energy for your stuff?

A large part of my desire to make fuel an issue is because it makes larger ships needed. To explain, I need to rant more. :-$

In the Star Wars (and often Star Trek) universe, fuel simply isn't an issue for small ships and it bothers me. For example, in Empire Strikes Back, Luke takes a hastily prepared X-Wing from a planet, trans-system (possibly even in hyperspace), does a rough landing, takes off again, goes trans-system and then lands on a platform on a gas giant. Re-fuelling is never mentioned once. Since this fighter also has manoeuvrability similar to a TIE fighter, a ship incapable of hyperspace or atmospheric landing, that is pretty darn impressive! But realistically, why would a fighter have such fuel reserves? I realise that the Rebels are on the run and need flexible fighters, but the X-Wings flexibility is un-realistic. Fuel is weight and fighters need to be as light as possible. Additionally, going by the fact that even the Death Star, Super Star Destroyer and Imperial Star Destroyers in Return of the Jedi seem incapable of targeting and destroying small fighters, why do the Rebels have any large ships at all? They seem to just be targets for the Death Star!

Thus I think that if you don’t put some sort of endurance limit on fighters the whole big ship/small ship balance falls apart. But it's just an opinion. X-D

[Starwars4J]

A large part of my desire to make fuel an issue is because it makes larger ships needed. To explain, I need to rant more. :-$

In the Star Wars (and often Star Trek) universe, fuel simply isn't an issue for small ships and it bothers me. For example, in Empire Strikes Back, Luke takes a hastily prepared X-Wing from a planet, trans-system (possibly even in hyperspace), does a rough landing, takes off again, goes trans-system and then lands on a platform on a gas giant. Re-fuelling is never mentioned once. Since this fighter also has manoeuvrability similar to a TIE fighter, a ship incapable of hyperspace or atmospheric landing, that is pretty darn impressive! But realistically, why would a fighter have such fuel reserves? I realise that the Rebels are on the run and need flexible fighters, but the X-Wings flexibility is un-realistic. Fuel is weight and fighters need to be as light as possible. Additionally, going by the fact that even the Death Star, Super Star Destroyer and Imperial Star Destroyers in Return of the Jedi seem incapable of targeting and destroying small fighters, why do the Rebels have any large ships at all? They seem to just be targets for the Death Star!

Thus I think that if you don

[Siegfried]

Well Luke actually has a credible reason. He made those trips in Hyperspace, right?

But he still left two planets, landed on one and entered into the gravity well of a gas giant. Even taking into consideration repulsorlifts (a concept that I don't like) this takes energy.

As for the need for larger ships? Well that's simple, thicker armor, ability to carry ground troops and more shielding, etc.

I definitely agree with the concept that larger ships are needed for many reasons. but it just seems to me that Star Wars wants it both ways. A ship like a Star Destroyer with TIE fighter escorts should be able to take the Rebel ships in Return of the Jedi in seconds, but the Millennium Falcon seems to be able to take on 4 TIEs without much damage.... but I am digressing as this is not a discussion on "Why Star Wars is unbelievable.", after all, a lot is explainable by, as you call it, hero-luck.

And while the ships can fly indefinitely as far as power is concerned, don't forget that human (and alien) pilots still need food/sleep.

Ahh, but since there seems to be no penalty for landing they could just go to the nearest planet... X-D

However, without getting too deep into Star Wars (which only an example), you have quite nicely highlighted that my simple answer was too simple and without extensive clarification is wrong! :-$ You are right; you don't really need fuel as a good reason to justify large ships. It seemed a logical reason at the time, but in hindsight it probably isn't. In reality I was trying to hide the simple fact that I am a stick! :-$ As I said...

A large part of my desire to make fuel an issue is because it makes larger ships needed.

The main reason why I make fuel an issue is because I don't like many of the technologies that are in most Sci-Fi. Have you ever read any books from the Seafort Saga? With the exception of gravity generators, that is largely how I like things to be. Larry Niven is OK that way as well, however his later books have too much sex in them. I simply dislike most of the conveniences that most sci-fi has. For example;

Deflector screens/ energy shields (this includes airlocks without physical doors)

Transporters

Tractor beams

Artificial gravity and Antigrav (Same thing really)

I just think that stuff like that is too fantastical and that it turns Sci-Fi into Future Fantasy, which is what I consider Star Wars. In my opinion too much Sci-Fi makes easy answers just to avoid the "Science" part of Sci-Fi. The only fantastical tech that I "accept" is some sort of faster than light ability as without that things get pretty boring. X-D Please don't get me wrong though; I can still enjoy stuff like Star Wars, but if something is created by me I prefer that is fits in with my ideals. Thus any power source greater than fusion won't happen in any of my MOCs, unless it was a Star Wars MOC. Annoying aren't I?

Well I have sufficiently proved myself wrong now and highlighted what a stick I am. Sorry about spamming your topic. :-$

[Asuka]

That

[Starwars4J]

But he still left two planets, landed on one and entered into the gravity well of a gas giant. Even taking into consideration repulsorlifts (a concept that I don't like) this takes energy.

Very true, maybe I was just trying to justify something that didn't make sense :-D Why don't you like repulsorlifts though?

I definitely agree with the concept that larger ships are needed for many reasons. but it just seems to me that Star Wars wants it both ways. A ship like a Star Destroyer with TIE fighter escorts should be able to take the Rebel ships in Return of the Jedi in seconds, but the Millennium Falcon seems to be able to take on 4 TIEs without much damage.... but I am digressing as this is not a discussion on "Why Star Wars is unbelievable.", after all, a lot is explainable by, as you call it, hero-luck.

Very true, it's believable only as far as you think "it's a movie", for the heroes almost always need to face impossible odds and do the impossible. There's actually something called the "Stormtrooper effect" named after this.

In reality I was trying to hide the simple fact that I am a stick! :-$

I thought you were a walrus :'-(

The main reason why I make fuel an issue is because I don't like many of the technologies that are in most Sci-Fi. Have you ever read any books from the Seafort Saga? With the exception of gravity generators, that is largely how I like things to be. Larry Niven is OK that way as well, however his later books have too much sex in them. I simply dislike most of the conveniences that most sci-fi has. For example;

I agree for the most part, and I haven't read anything by him but I'll definitely look into it!

Deflector screens/ energy shields (this includes airlocks without physical doors)

The funny thing is, this is actually real. Scientists can currently only do it on very small scales, but it involves manipulation of plasma :-D

Transporters

Agreed

Tractor beams

Well this goes hand-in-hand with...

Artificial gravity and Antigrav (Same thing really)

This is something that I believe will eventually happen, but I can see why you'd rather stick to a future where it never does.

Well I have sufficiently proved myself wrong now and highlighted what a stick I am. Sorry about spamming your topic. :-$

I don't think you've proven yourself wrong at all! And this wasn't spam, I really enjoyed this conversation :-)

That

[Siegfried]

For a little more realism in SF, Sinner, like in, let

[Hinckley]

My current favourite Sci-Fi show is Firefly (yes I know it is dead) and that largely sticks to my ideas. *sweet*

*wub* I recently discovered this too. I bought the series on disc and watch it while sorting LEGO. Have you seen the movie?...

[Siegfried]

*wub* I recently discovered this too. I bought the series on disc and watch it while sorting LEGO. Have you seen the movie?...

Yes. I actually saw the movie first. :-$ Have you got around to watching Red Dwarf yet? (Ahghghhh! I am spamming SW4J's topic again. *skull* )

[Hinckley]

Yes. I actually saw the movie first. :-$ Have you got around to watching Red Dwarf yet? (Ahghghhh! I am spamming SW4J's topic again. *skull* )

No worries. He likes it. Spam...yum :-P Red Dwarf is on my Netflix cue. I should see it within the next year :-$ Firefly is incredibly awesome and may eventually encourage me to try building Space MOCs more. I had just netflixed all of the series disc when the movie was announced. Imagine my excitement! I got them all for christmas last year *wub* *wub* *wub*

[Siegfried]

Firefly is incredibly awesome and may eventually encourage me to try building Space MOCs more.

Luckily for me Firefly is still alive; I am only halfway though the season. Annoyingly I have liked every episode so far... :'-)

I look forward to seeing some space MOCs from you! *sweet*