Space Ship Ideas

[Daniel Jackson]

I'm working on a science-fiction story revolving around time travel. For the time machine, I'm going to present it in the form of a space ship rather than the traditional stationary object that one climbs in and out of like in 2002's The Time Machine. The timeship idea has been done before, so I'm not worried about someone stealing my idea. However, I would like a bit of advice. Do you like the idea of a traditional flying saucer, or would you prefer something more original and unique looking? I would like to have a saucer-shaped vessel with four nacelles mounted in the rear, but I fear that would be a rip-off of the Stargazer from Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Battle." Thoughts?

[AvatarIII]

i think long thin needle, or a sphere or ovoid, flying saucer shapes are so cliché you would only get away with using that shape if you had a plausible explanation for it having to be that shape (in my novel there actually is a proper reason for one of the alien species craft looking like that)

[Daniel Jackson]

Well, the reason why I like the saucer is because it's in space, you're never going to see the exterior, so you might as well go for as much space as possible. A saucer seems the best shape for that. I had toyed with the idea of a giant sphere, but that seems clunky, and you wouldn't be able to land it, because it'd roll. lol A thin needle doesn't seem practicle either, because it wouldn't allow for much space.

Do you like the idea of a saucer with four large nacelles mounted in the rear?

[AvatarIII]

with the needle i was thinking really long, like the better part of a click perhaps depending on how big you really needed it, for any space travel it would be ideal because its the most space efficient for if you are travelling fast to avoid micrometeorites, for sphere i was thinking big and having space planes to go from orbit to ground etc, but also sphere would be the best for efficiency going through a spherical tear in space-time, the needle better for going through a circular tear.

but the saucer seems good for if you are doing air and space, since it is a good comprimise, but i dont see the point in having a distinction between the front and back in a shape like a saucer, personally i would have it move () -> in space and <=> -> in atmosphere, if you get what i mean, and have "nascelles" ringed around the underside,
it sounds like you have some good ideas, but when i'm thinking up stuff like that i like to consider of 2 main points
- is it practical
- is it original

keep up the good work though

[Daniel Jackson]

One idea I had was to go with a plain saucer, but remove the concept of front, back, left, and right. Any point along the saucer's edge could be the front, so there'd never be a need to turn around. The ship could move forward, backward, left, or right without the need to turn. By the way, it travels through time by opening a temporal rift and flying through to the next space/time. If you've seen the ST:TNG episode "Yesterday's Enterprise," that's what I imagine the method of travel looking like more or less.

[Acolyte Of Bli'l'ab]

I like the needle idea alot, and I get put off by seeing flying saucers personally. It was overdone in the 50's and 60's especially and now seems cliche and dated. But its your work and you should do what you want and not worry what others think

[boxvic]

Is this a human or alien vessel? I've always favored traditional sea ships as models for human vessels. I like the idea of a submarine shape.

[Daniel Jackson]

It's a timeship built by aliens in a distant galaxy for a time traveler (his original timeship got destroyed) and his friends. Since it's a personal ship, I'm sticking to small scale. If you've seen Star Trek: Voyager, imagine a ship about a third that size, but a saucer shape.

[Xicer]

If it's being built by aliens, I think it'd be cool if it looked really unique. I wouldn't recommend a saucer simply because of how overused they are. You could look around here just to get some ideas.

[Daniel Jackson]

It is built by aliens, but with the understanding that it would be used by Humans since the time traveler's previous ship got blown to bits.

[AvatarIII]

One idea I had was to go with a plain saucer, but remove the concept of front, back, left, and right. Any point along the saucer's edge could be the front, so there'd never be a need to turn around. The ship could move forward, backward, left, or right without the need to turn. By the way, it travels through time by opening a temporal rift and flying through to the next space/time. If you've seen the ST:TNG episode "Yesterday's Enterprise," that's what I imagine the method of travel looking like more or less.

personally i think the idea that it would never need to turn is cool,

would it be a circular rift, because having a saucer would mean incredibly large amounts of space "above" and "below" the saucer shape, it would make sence for the ship to fill the rift as much as possible for efficiency reasons, but if its and oval rift then the saucer would be cool, and as i said before saucers are a good comprimise between atmospheric and space travel

[Daniel Jackson]

In my story, all temporal rifts are circular regardless of the shape of the object passing through, so... yes, that's one big rift. lol

[Ouroboros]

Since it's a time machine that warps space and time by function why not make the outer hull look like some sort of Escher painting. Shapes and lines that defy 3 dimensional reality.



You could even have the various mind bending lines in it sort of come to life, move and the whole craft collapse in on itself when it initiated time travel.

The whole "rift" thing has been done.

[Daniel Jackson]

The story does not revolve around the temporal rift, so I don't care if it's original or not, it's just the method of travel. I find it the most realistic method of time travel depicted in movies. As for your idea, it's very interesting, but it doesn't really gel with my story's structure. The temporal rift is absolutely vital, because there are times where a timeship opens one up, flies through, and before the rift collapses, the enemy ship follows through. I can't do that if the ship simply poofs into another time.

[AvatarIII]

since the rifts are circular and the ship is to fly in the air and space, i still am booting for the ovoid shape. or perhaps teardrop shaped? nikk in through round rift nicely and nicely aerodynamic too!