The Space Opera Working Thread

Yep! She's been shoveling coal...and her plane is coal-fed.
She might be a ship-wreck strandee, or one lonely survivor .... haven't worked up her bio yet....but I'm glad she's acceptable.

neno, if you just do an image search for Steampunk, you'll find plenty of leads. Wiki has an entry on it, too...it's been around for awhile. I really like it, always have, and myself didn't realize how "viral" it had become either.

As for Dag dying in a rescue attempt, that's fine with me. I was wondering if the Deson Fighter has space suits or ejector seats...that's about all I can come up with.

Silo, if you want to write up an outline for it, tell me what you'd like to see happen, provide me with your idea of how it would go, I'll work up whatever specific instructions so as not to fail you.

reply to post by nenothtu

Somewhere, I think it was on Car-Talk (the radio show), I heard a guy call in and say his folks used to burn manure or sawdust or somethng like that in their cars instead of gas. He was dead serious. German accent maybe? Scandinavian?

But yeah, it was interesting.
Wild has learned to adapt. Make-Do Enterprises...her dad taught her all about that stuff that usually only boys know. (I miss my dad! )...yep, that's right. I know how to do wiring, car work, plumbing, soldering...
used to watch him build Heathkits, and he always took me to the hardware store with him, taught me how to choose straight lumber, what to look for in cars, how to diagnose problems, etc. He was a genius.

God rest his soul...I'm still mourning his loss, it will be two years in early August. He was a writer, too, an inventor, with several patents. His mother was a writer and pianist (world class concert pianist) who eloped with a fellow from Finland who changed his name to an Irish one for some unknown reason.

I have my grandmother's surviving manuscripts, and have wanted to revamp them for possible publication...but there was no "steampunk" in it. boo. More about human relationships, and quite dark stuff.

Never met her...but I have an oil painted portrait of her hanging on my wall. She, perhaps, is my Muse. Her name was Gertrude (heh) but she called herself Natalie Bly. Why? Beats me. Her dad disowned her for a while after she eloped...he was extremely unhappy with her choice. I've learned a little about it by reading her prose....but there is still so much to be left to the imagination.

Writing is, like BIAD said, a great outlet for inner conflict!


I'm so excited this idea seems workable!! Now our new "owner" has arrived. .... fun fun fun!

Originally posted by wildtimes
reply to post by nenothtu

 

Somewhere, I think it was on Car-Talk (the radio show), I heard a guy call in and say his folks used to burn manure or sawdust or somethng like that in their cars instead of gas. He was dead serious. German accent maybe? Scandinavian?

But yeah, it was interesting.

I think the idea is to heat it up, which drives off methane gas, which is then burned. the details are beyond my technical ability.. I Do, however, know how to run a car on moonshine! Hint: it has a lower octane than gasoline, so you have to enlarge the fuel jets.

Wild has learned to adapt. Make-Do Enterprises...her dad taught her all about that stuff that usually only boys know. (I miss my dad!

)...yep, that's right. I know how to do wiring, car work, plumbing, soldering...
used to watch him build Heathkits, and he always took me to the hardware store with him, taught me how to choose straight lumber, what to look for in cars, how to diagnose problems, etc. He was a genius.

Mine insisted that I learn all manner of oddball, archaic stuff, as well as how to fix stuff. He was a maintenance man, and could fix just about anything - the problem was, sometimes he KEPT ON fixing it! His IQ was measured at 198, but he quit school in the 7th grade, and could barely read, much less do any writing.

Never met her...but I have an oil painted portrait of her hanging on my wall. She, perhaps, is my Muse. Her name was Gertrude (heh) but she called herself Natalie Bly. Why? Beats me. Her dad disowned her for a while after she eloped...he was extremely unhappy with her choice. I've learned a little about it by reading her prose....but there is still so much to be left to the imagination.

It's good you have that - it's a way into the mind of those long gone. I have an old photo of one of my great great grandmothers, and don't even know her name. I do geneaology, and have narrowed it down to two possibilities, but have no idea which one, and only last names to work with. She is supposed to be Cherokee, and looks it, but I've no idea of her name. I need to get ahold of some of the elders up in the mountains and see if they can work it out. I feel pretty sure that name "Meadows" works into it, and possibly "Evans" but I'm not sure just how. Both are probably married names. it was found in my grandma's stuff after she died, and written on the back was grandma Meadows Grandma", but I don's know WHICH generation of "grandma Meadows" it pertains to. A photo says a lot, and at the same time doesn't say much at all if you can't place it.

I have a magazine article from 1836 about one of my greats-so-far-back grandparents, with some direct quotes in it. He was met in a roadhouse, on his way (on foot!) to "ferret out a land title" in a town 125 miles away. At that time he was in his 90's. His oldest child was 67, and his youngest had just turned a year old. A fairly active old guy - he finally shuffled off this mortal coil when he was 109 years old. Evidently he was tall, rangy, weathered, and soft spoken. He told the writer about life on the frontier before "them varmints the sheriffs and preachers and lawyers" came on to the scene. The description at first glance doesn't match the stories told about him. He was apparently a hellcat, direct from hell. Fought in Dunmore's War and the Revolution, as well as various scrapes and whatnot out in the wilderness. Lived in a hollow sycamore for a year by himself, a couple of hunderd miles from anyone else. he married four times, and never bothered to divorce any - at one time he had a city-wife and a woods-wife, both at the same time. One of his wives died of the flu after a sheriff put them out of a cabin on his own claim. I'm not sure what became of the sheriff.

Back story makes them come to life again.

Writing is, like BIAD said, a great outlet for inner conflict!

I've stopped fighting my inner demons - we're on the same side now!

I'm so excited this idea seems workable!! Now our new "owner" has arrived. .... fun fun fun!

Might be some folks or critters around who are less than amenable to that notion!

reply to post by wildtimes


My 'old-Man' never drove, his Father never drove and I have never driven a car!
Bipeds-by-design -I suppose is the only optimistic way of looking at it.
My son CAN drive, so we are evolving!

Writing can quell those demons inside from screaming at one's soul and from time-to-timem
they yell a little nugget that you can use in your prose.
For me, they nudge with flame-scorched elbows and whisper "Go on, I dare you" and
giggle in their little group behind their hands.

So this sooty-faced lassie may have been abandoned on the planet, huh?
But she's getting on with it, shoulder to the wheel and all that.
Now there's a story all in itself!

reply to post by A boy in a dress


This may be a good place to insert neno's unwitting use of what Margot tried to explain to him, and he couldn't quite grasp.

The Life Force in the Universe. everywhere, every present. I think they just called it "the Force" in star Wars, but the outward appearances are practically the same - I don't know if the inner workings or the physics of it are.

Anyhow, I'll try and work up a post this evening and post it. My internet here is blinking. They're having a "technical issue" that they said may be resolved anywhere from 2 hours to 2 days, so I had to connect through my mobile setup. Luckily, that's all i have to connect through at work anyhow, so I should be able to get it posted. Evidently their 4G network is down, but the 3G is still limping along. 3G is all I can find at work, so that's not a problem - and I'll be there in another hour or so.

I'm batting ideas around in my head for how to introduce this force - it ought properly come as much a a surprise to neno as to the rest, and leave him thinking that he "ran a bluff" - still in disbelief of the evidence of his own eyes.

reply to post by nenothtu


I have an idea where Nenothtu doesn't actually battle Carim... Caramel
Bar -but let's the Man/Girl take a swing at him.

There's three wolves watching and one padding around The Yydryl, and
I know your reservations on taking on your fellow-lupus.
But still, BIAD wants to pay him back for the dreams!

reply to post by A boy in a dress


That's fine - have at him! There's nothing really jelling in my head to handle the situation anyhow. I was just thinking "Oh gosh, he's got the little man! Somebody better DO sumpin'!"

Neno to BIAD: "Go 'head - take care of muh light work. I can't be bothered with nagglin' details like this-un!"

reply to post by A boy in a dress

There's three wolves watching and one padding around The Yydryl,

I haven't gone to the story line yet this morning - but - that 'Wolf' that's padding around the Yydryl - do you have names for the Ship's they're in, names for the fighters in them?

Are they wolf/U-man hybrids? Wolf/Droid/Mechanical? Do you know yet? I'm trying to get a visual.

In researching the new old space ship, I ran across a reference to it on Jerry Pournelle's website. A variant of it was used as the basis of the MacArthur in the book "The Mote in God's Eye" that he co-authored with Larry Niven. While reading through his website (ok, so I was more browsing it than getting a 3 course meal) I found the following: How to Get My Job - Jerry Pournelle. It has good advice on writing - especially of the professional variety wherein one makes enough money to buy the occasional loaf of bread. At the bottom of it is a link to a pdf version of a speech delivered by Robert Heinlein on the same subject. I read a transcript of the Heinlein speech years ago, but it's still good advice. The pdf is a 7.2 MB download, and well worth it, as is the piece by Dr. Pournelle.

reply to post by silo13


They are creatures that can pass through walls, do what they wish and must have an agenda
that is somehow connected to Carimono's ressurection.
There's always somebody hunting for the 'Top-slot' You can't be a King, unless someone is
under you, and that can bring out the worst in us!

I haven't really padded out the Wolves backgrounds, maybe that something we can all add to.

reply to post by A boy in a dress

They are creatures that can pass through walls, do what they wish and must have an agenda
that is somehow connected to Carimono's ressurection.

Got that part - but no visual yet. Are they wolf like? U-man like? Never mind - I'll wait. Just trying, again, to get a visual of what these things are 'padding' around the Yydryl.

There's always somebody hunting for the 'Top-slot' You can't be a King, unless someone is
under you, and that can bring out the worst in us!

Is that a Carimono motto or something?

I haven't really padded out the Wolves backgrounds, maybe that something we can all add to.

Looking forward to hearing more of it. Until then I'll wait for the visual.

peace

Originally posted by A boy in a dress
reply to post by silo13

 

They are creatures that can pass through walls, do what they wish and must have an agenda
that is somehow connected to Carimono's ressurection.
There's always somebody hunting for the 'Top-slot' You can't be a King, unless someone is
under you, and that can bring out the worst in us!

I haven't really padded out the Wolves backgrounds, maybe that something we can all add to.

I'm getting a distinctly "Fenris" vibe from them!

Fenris/Fenrir

reply to post by nenothtu

I'm getting a distinctly "Fenris" vibe from them!

Ahhh - I did a image search and that helps a lot - thanks.

reply to post by silo13


Sorry for the delay... I think what Neno indicated is like the idea that
I had about the wol-effs!

I'm trying to write a debate on temptation and what our hearts truly desire.
Neno doesn't really want -what he assumes is a major task as King Of The
Universe (It DOES sound like a big job!)... and here is a chance for him to
have a way out of it.
A way out that he may be dreaming of.

Tibbs has kept something back for his own-ends, will that have a bearing?
BIAD hasn't stepped upto the plate yet, and I'm relishing writing that part!

reply to post by A boy in a dress


I've got to ask, BIAD, based on the two most recent images you've done for the story thread... have you discovered the wonders of the Lunar Cell plugin for Photoshop? In all honesty, the two planets in the backgrounds look similar to Lunar Cell creations - especially the first, in the image of the wolf and the Yydryl, but the second looks like it, too, with some of your Photoshop magic tossed in.

I use it occasionally - plugged in to paint Shop rather than Photoshop, since I've no clue how to even USE Photoshop. I use it for making textures of planet surfaces to use in other programs, but the globes it creates internally are pretty phenomenal.

reply to post by nenothtu


The images I do are very complicated... it takes precision and good looks and
by chance, I have them in abundance!

Seriously, I have an antiquated-version of Photoshop and usually, I just prowl around
the internet and pluck bits and pieces to make up a picture I see in my head!
I lower the opacity on the layers and this sometimes helps.

One of the craft-images I did, the blue-one, you can see that I can't do anything
with the ship you provided. I distorted it -but it looks stretched and flat.
Such, are my powers!

I can't even load 'Free Photoshop Brushes' into my pallete, that shows how much
I know about the software!!

reply to post by A boy in a dress


"Brushes"? "Palette"? See, when you start tossing around all that technicalese, you may as well be speaking Martian to me! I have CS5, a portable version that was donated to me on a flash-fob, but I load it up and we just sit there and stare at each other until one of us loses interest and moves on. In most cases, I'M the one that blinks - that program has nerves of steel, I tell you!

I finally got that star ship converted to something that Daz can read, with most of it's parts intact. There is a "scout ship" with it, in a fixed position, but I've gott versions where they are separated now. One problem with the conversion is that the pilot's seat in the scout ship somehow got grouped in with the trim on the main ship. It's still in it's proper place in the scout ship, but when I start deleting parts from the overall model, I can delete all the parts of the scout ship, and there is still an isolated seat hanging in the nothingness above the flight bay of the main ship. I've played with the texture and can't get them quite right, so I either have to do it in plain gray, OR I may be able to make one generic "gray-and-rusted-rectangular plates" texture to cover the whole thing in.

Texturing 3D models is sometimes a complicated thing for me. The textures on these are laid out oddly, the parts groups seem not to have converted just quite right, and there are things called "UV's" (no, not THAT kind of UV!) that tell the programs where to put the textures which seem to have come out wonky. Some of them lay on correctly, and others look like a 60's "trip without leaving the farm."

I can try to twist it up any which way you need, if you can describe it, or i can e-mail the models to you and you could do it yourself in Daz if you still have it. It's a simple matter of "File>>Import" to get it into Daz, and then the sky is the limit. Setting the "render options" to output a png file will give you the much sought after transparent background so that you don't have to bother with trimming the ship out of some other background.

I'll try and post a couple more pics in a few minutes.

reply to post by A boy in a dress

I'm relishing writing that part!

And I'm relishing the 'reading part'. The suspense sometimes does me in and I get impatient - but - I'll regn in those horses.

And that ol' image search brought up a really amazing amount of pics. I'll see what I can do to post some of the more fantastical ideas!

peace

reply to post by nenothtu

...It's a simple matter of "File>>Import" to get it into Daz, and then the sky is the limit.
Setting the "render options" to output a png file will give you the much sought after
transparent background so that you don't have to bother with trimming the ship out
of some other background.

There, you see...? Now that's Martian!
I gave-up on the DAZ because I just couldn't get it! I suppose I'm a home-bird and
just stuck with what I'd been taught to do for a living.
The computer I use for rendering, is something from the time when Edison was
fooling about with something called a lightbulb.

I had access to many-many computers, many-many bits of software and even drove
a million-dollar scanning device that could reproduce onto any type of material!

But before all that, I drove a mop and bucket and I think it's there that my heart lies!

If you would be so kind as to come up with the position you'd like to see the craft in,
I'll try to put it in a setting that will hopfully enhance it more.

Originally posted by silo13
reply to post by A boy in a dress

 

I'm relishing writing that part!

And I'm relishing the 'reading part'. The suspense sometimes does me in and I get impatient - but - I'll regn in those horses.

And that ol' image search brought up a really amazing amount of pics. I'll see what I can do to post some of the more fantastical ideas!

peace

I'm gonna kick his ass!