Where did the word "stargate" come from?

[Snowman37]

Well, I was going to run with the concept of a big "ring," but the similarity to MGM's stargates begins and ends there. How about that? Simply, the ring?

What is the context of the setting? What is the cultural context? Same as the Stargate series?

I managed to streamline my story concept to something I'm willing to post publicly.

The setting: An ancient city on the coast of Antarctica. It is far more technologically advanced than anything ever before encountered. It makes the future of Star Trek and Stargate's Ancients look dated.
Cultural context: Built and abandoned by extra-terrestrials, but why did they leave?

Similarities to Stargate: Atlantis: An ancient city in Antarctica, capable of space flight.
Differences: Built by aliens, not ancient humans. The structure is entirely different from that featured in SGA. Rather than on the mainland, the city is on the coast. Unlike SGA, the city was left behind on Earth rather than relocated. Instead of perfectly preserved; it is in ruins, flooded, and frozen.

[SF_and_Coffee]

I'd still be nervous about it's being a ring or being called that, but that's just me. Cool concept overall, though. But I'm still thinking that with everything, you're just a bit close to the Antarctic gate.

[fems]

Sounds like a Stargate ripoff to me. Don't know why anyone would want to read it when you have such an awesome franchise (three shows, novels and even fanfiction).

[MercySG1/A]

It's just that the stargate was such an awesome idea, and much more convenient than ships! Who knows, maybe some day it will become a sci fi mainstream like space ships. I say go Snowman37! Maybe you shouldn't go exactly with a giant fixed ring, but that's up to you. Your story, not mine.

[Snowman37]

I'd still be nervous about it's being a ring or being called that, but that's just me. Cool concept overall, though. But I'm still thinking that with everything, you're just a bit close to the Antarctic gate.

Thanks for the feedback. By too close to the Antarctic gate, I presume you mean overall concept? I was working on this story today, and I was thinking... it would be more practical, and more interesting, for the alien city to be a traditional city, not one capable of flight. As pointed out, too similar to SGA. Besides, my story is part of a larger saga which features starships the size of cities, some of which would dwarf Atlantis and Wraith hives. If starships can be that big, who needs a cityship? The vast ships basically are cityships due to sheer size.

Sounds like a Stargate ripoff to me. Don't know why anyone would want to read it when you have such an awesome franchise (three shows, novels and even fanfiction).

I appreciate your honesty. Brutal, but honest, and I appreciate. Do you have any input on how to differ enough to stand apart? As for why anyone would read it, as I said, the "gate" is not the driving force of the story, it is merely a plot device. The driving force of the story is the frozen alien city and the quest for answers. Specifically, the characters are looking for those who built the city. They believe that the long-gone aliens have the means to find their lost friend. The book will end with their departure through the portal, gate, whatever you want to call it. "To Be Continued..."

It's just that the stargate was such an awesome idea, and much more convenient than ships! Who knows, maybe some day it will become a sci fi mainstream like space ships. I say go Snowman37! Maybe you shouldn't go exactly with a giant fixed ring, but that's up to you. Your story, not mine.

That's what I am aiming for. The civilization who built the alien city on Earth thousands of years ago can travel via wormhole as easy as we can ride bicycles. It's considered a very common place technology in their society. That said, it'll be depicted as something no other space faring society has been able to master.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Yeah, I think the concept skates very close to the Stargate franchise. Ancient, long-lost aliens, a wormhole-generating gate in the Antarctic, the ability to travel via gate but they use huge ships, too... They're all great elements, but we all know and love a franchise that already used all of those elements together, so if you want to use them too and not run the risk of anyone saying, "Hey, this guy just basically took a whole bunch of stuff from Stargate and used it to make a different story," you're going to have to work extra hard to differentiate your versions of all these things from what their counterparts in the Stargate franchise, you know? Everything from the placement of the gate to the nature of the ships and the aliens -- as well as your central characters -- is going to have to be as deliberately different as you can possibly make them from what we knew in SG, and will probably have to fit together in different ways, too.

I'm not saying it can't be done or that you shouldn't attempt it. All I'm saying is that you're going to have to put in a lot of work on making it all very new and fresh and as unlike Stargate as you can.

[Stubba2]

The setting: An ancient city on the coast of Antarctica. It is far more technologically advanced than anything ever before encountered. It makes the future of Star Trek and Stargate's Ancients look dated.
Cultural context: Built and abandoned by extra-terrestrials, but why did they leave?

Similarities to Stargate: Atlantis: An ancient city in Antarctica, capable of space flight.
Differences: Built by aliens, not ancient humans. The structure is entirely different from that featured in SGA. Rather than on the mainland, the city is on the coast. Unlike SGA, the city was left behind on Earth rather than relocated. Instead of perfectly preserved; it is in ruins, flooded, and frozen.

If people are concerned about the Antarctic similarity, why not try the Bermuda Triangle. Side effects from an Ancient Alien City would tie in nicely to the mytholgy of this area, and it's not cold.

Additionally, disapearances of planes and ships over the years could tie in with possible "stargate" activity

[SF_and_Coffee]

Stubba has a very good point with the Bermuda Triangle. Perhaps that's an idea worth exploring.

[The Dude]

Oh I know I know: The Gatehole!

"What's going on?"
"I'm not sure, Cap- something is making the Gatehole pucker."
"Why do you have to say it like that?"

"What's happening?"
"The replicoids are trying to penetrate our Gatehole, Cap!"
"STOP SAYING IT LIKE THAT!"

"Why haven't they come through yet?"
"I don't know, Cap- something's constipating the Gatehole."
"Okay now you're just doing it on purpose."

Also second the idea of the Bermuda Triangle locale:

"What the hell? Where's our flying city?"
"Holy! The city's vanished, Cap! The Bermuda Triangle strikes again!"
"You remember when I told them not to put it in the Bermuda Triangle?"
"Yep."
"You remember when I said that, right?"
"I remember."
"Okay. Well. Let's head back through the Orifice."
"Gatehole, Cap."
"Whatever."

[Lunaeclipse]

Why not just call it "the portal"? That certainly seems like it would fit.

lol...

Portal: 1. a door, gate, or entrance, especially one of imposing appearance, as to a palace.

...Not sure where the name came from, but this is interesting... perus-gate-of-the-gods

[Lunaeclipse]

In all seriousness, though...

Transit portal
Transit tunnel
Wormhole
Transport tunnel
"the tunnel"
Quantum bridge
Dimensional bridge

Quantum bridge - love it

... The Round Gate... The Star Tunnel...

Here's video for Atlantis... myths-of-atlantis

where-was-atlantis

[Snowman37]

Yeah, I think the concept skates very close to the Stargate franchise. Ancient, long-lost aliens, a wormhole-generating gate in the Antarctic, the ability to travel via gate but they use huge ships, too... They're all great elements, but we all know and love a franchise that already used all of those elements together, so if you want to use them too and not run the risk of anyone saying, "Hey, this guy just basically took a whole bunch of stuff from Stargate and used it to make a different story," you're going to have to work extra hard to differentiate your versions of all these things from what their counterparts in the Stargate franchise, you know? Everything from the placement of the gate to the nature of the ships and the aliens -- as well as your central characters -- is going to have to be as deliberately different as you can possibly make them from what we knew in SG, and will probably have to fit together in different ways, too.

Now this is very good feedback. Do you think presentation would be enough to differentiate? The bulk of the story is the search for the ancient city, it's discovery, the disappointment of it's state of decay, and the exploration of the city and the quest for answers. It will play out as a deeply emotional story. Some answers will be revealed, but they will be far from what the characters are searching for. The "portal" will only come into play at the end of the story, setting up the sequel, which will be set on an alien world. As for the characters, they will mostly be from a tetralogy revolving around time travel, paradox, the end of the world, aliens, a computer's quest to be human, big stories like that. In this fifth installment, a sort of relaunch in a new direction, the big story is dropped in favor of exploring this ancient, frozen city. The expedition is mostly operatives from a secret organization, a spin-off from the CIA. Is that different enough for you?

If people are concerned about the Antarctic similarity, why not try the Bermuda Triangle.

I'm running with Antarctica, because I think it is a beautiful continent, and I just love the concept of an isolated city on an isolated continent. As for the Bermuda triangle, that's easily explained via simple science. I hate it when fiction tries to explore it's mysteries, because said fiction completely ignores the simplistic science that easily explains it all. Besides, the city I've imagined would be miles across. How could that be hidden in the Bermuda Triangle? There's cloaking, but I'm absolutely avoiding that in all of my stories. It just makes it too easy for whoever has a cloak.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Hmmm... you could also place the ancient city in the extreme north of one of the other continents, in a location that was until just recently completely buried under the icecap but which has now been revealed as the ice caps retreat.

Presentation can help a lot, and leaving off any mention or even discovery of the portal until the end of the first book in the series may, too. The various themes you've mentioned also set it apart to a large extent. The fifth idea, of a CIA-like organization doing the exploring, though... why would they be the ones exploring? Is the whole existence of the city kept a secret? For some reason I'm getting an NID-like vibe... I don't know, you might want to work on #5 a bit more, but you do sound like you might have something decent with the overall concept. At least inasmuch as I can say based on the small amount of information you've given.

[Snowman37]

The North could work, but where? Alaska, Canada, Greenland, that land mass north of Canada and west of Greenland, or northern Russia. It's all too accessible over the millennial. What I like about Alaska was that it was completely uninhabited by man and unreachable until just a few centuries ago.

As for the agency spun off from the CIA, they are an organization featured in the previous four stories. As for similarities to the NID, no... This secret organization operates completely off the radar. Their original mandate was to solve the riddle of an ancient timeship. Their new mandate is to find and solve the riddle of an ancient city. They were spun off from the CIA, because the timeship had been found on foreign soil, so who better to be spun off from?

[SF_and_Coffee]

The North could work, but where? Alaska, Canada, Greenland, that land mass north of Canada and west of Greenland, or northern Russia. It's all too accessible over the millennial. What I like about Alaska was that it was completely uninhabited by man and unreachable until just a few centuries ago.

Any portion of any of the above that has been buried under glaciers until the past few years will by definition have been inaccessible prior to the recent melting. It isn't as if Antarctica is really any less accessible; the concept of its being so is basically just a function of the fact that humanity really hasn't done much there yet. Naturally, this is why so many science fiction writers place strange things there -- and therefore why using a different locale would be a good way to differentiate your story from those others. There are places in the extreme north of North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia that have been under ice for tens of thousands of years and have only within the past few years been exposed as Earth's northern ice cap shrinks. Personally, I think it would be fascinating to work with that kind of concept, or to read about it.

As for the agency spun off from the CIA, they are an organization featured in the previous four stories. As for similarities to the NID, no... This secret organization operates completely off the radar. Their original mandate was to solve the riddle of an ancient timeship. Their new mandate is to find and solve the riddle of an ancient city. They were spun off from the CIA, because the timeship had been found on foreign soil, so who better to be spun off from?

Okay, first of all, Antarctica belongs to no one. Secondly, though, this "secret organization" bit is, I think, a turn-off at least to me as a reader. The expectation would be for a discovery of this nature to have more of an international feel (even the Stargate program went international eventually, remember) and unless you have some major reason in your plot why it would somehow be restricted to US involvement (highly unlikely unless the city were discovered on US soil and probably not even then) it becomes a bit of a stretch for the reader's imagination. What's the motivation to make it a CIA-type operation? Are nations at war over this city? You could probably get more mileage and a better story if you dropped the secret organization angle and instead went with an exclusive international coalition of scientists trying to solve its riddles. Besides, scientists are far more likely to figure out an ancient alien city's secrets than spies are.