Steam Trek

September 6, 2003 2:28 PM

Steam Trek - an enterprising individual has masterfully melded two classic SF genres, Star Trek and Steampunk. The result is a wonderful universe with a rich history where Her Majesty's Aether Ships explore the solar system and protect the United Kingdom of Planets. Long live Queen Victoria, and may her glorious reign continue as it has for the past 165 years! (preserved by Lunar Selenite technology captured from the evil Moon-dwellers).
posted by adrianhon (12 comments total)

Holy crap! Nerds to the third power! (I'm just jealous 'cause I don't understand it)
posted by Busithoth at 3:07 PM on September 6, 2003

Yeah, as is quite often, I'm torn between: "That's pretty damn cool." and "NNNEEEERRRRDDDDDSSSS!"

Kirk: Faster Chief Difference Engineer Scott!

Scotty: The Jacquard's eatin' cards just as fast as she can, Cap'in!
posted by leotrotsky at 3:19 PM on September 6, 2003

wow, i think i've just had some sort of conversion experience...
posted by hob at 4:04 PM on September 6, 2003

the world would be much cooler if we lived in that universe. or much hotter, considering the steam.
posted by Hammerikaner at 4:23 PM on September 6, 2003

You mean we don't? There is something to steam. Nuclear power plants could be considered to be effectively really, really large steam engines (on a massive scale, with terrific output). I remember learning about the Industrial revolution and thinking that Nuclear power was some technological leap. It is, but it does seem like a really complicated way to boil water...
posted by Busithoth at 4:35 PM on September 6, 2003

what's with that noise!!!!!!!!
posted by folktrash at 5:04 PM on September 6, 2003

Lord, Thou hast made this world below the shadow of a dream,
An', taught by time, I tak' it so - exceptin' always Steam.

--- M'Andrew's Hymn, Rudyard Kipling
posted by SPrintF at 5:35 PM on September 6, 2003

Here's a real-world nuclear powered steam rocket!

"In other words, one can produce a continuous controlled nuclear explosion in the region just behind the nuclear rocket. At this point the water of the fuel liquid flashes to very high temperature steam, expelling reaction mass with an estimated exhaust velocity of 66,000 meters per second (as compared with perhaps 4,500 m/s for a chemical rocket)."

There's just the teensy little problem due to the fact that all that steam is going to be highly radioactive ...

Proposed by Robert Zubrin, of Mars Direct fame.
posted by Jos Bleau at 5:38 PM on September 6, 2003

Some people with too much time on their hands who chose not to write blogs, simply amazing!
posted by billsaysthis at 5:56 PM on September 6, 2003

That reminded me of this game from the late 80s: Space 1889
posted by Stuart_R at 6:19 PM on September 6, 2003

Two associations:

1) I had good fun playing Worlds of Ultima: Martian Dreams back in the day, which is based on a similar concept.

2) An improv group from Hawai'i did a show called Spaced, which got some local press. They traveled around in a Star Steamer called the USSS Manifest Destiny.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:48 PM on September 6, 2003

The idea's kind of cool and a lot of effort seems to have gone into the site but

(1) Stop making my computer sound like it's crushing R2D2 to death with turbolift doors

(2) Tighten up the prose - it's stodgy as hell so far

Mind you, the frontpage does explicitly call them "penny-dreadful stories" so perhaps my second point rather misses the point. Aagh! I've been infected.
posted by MUD at 5:58 PM on September 7, 2003