Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

[Susano]

If you ever saw/read Wayne Douglas Barlowe's book EXPEDITION then you might want to tune in to see this:

 

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/alienplanet/alienplanet.html

 

The examination of a really alien world. I dunno if I will get to see the TV show, but I want to get the DVD already.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

If you ever saw/read Wayne Douglas Barlowe's book EXPEDITION then you might want to tune in to see this:

 

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/alienplanet/alienplanet.html

 

The examination of a really alien world. I dunno if I will get to see the TV show, but I want to get the DVD already.

A few of the other specials like this I've seen have left me less than impressed, but I'll give this one a try.

 

Funny you should mention Barlowe, since those creatures look a lot like his work. Did he do the concept drawings?

[Susano]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

A few of the other specials like this I've seen have left me less than impressed' date=' but I'll give this one a try.[/quote']

 

Ahh... I see... I'll await reviews before looking into the DVD then.

 

Funny you should mention Barlowe, since those creatures look a lot like his work. Did he do the concept drawings?

 

 

He created the book EXPEDITION, upon which all of this is based. The aliens all see by ultrasound, and most are liquivores. Great ideas for any SH game.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Ahh... I see... I'll await reviews before looking into the DVD then.

 

He created the book EXPEDITION, upon which all of this is based. The aliens all see by ultrasound, and most are liquivores. Great ideas for any SH game.

Don't wait on my account. The reviews of the shows I've mentioned were generally good, they just didn't impress me. Mostly that's because they were more "fluff" than anything. Hmm. Hard to explain. I guess "more neat-o pictures than talking about why[/] a lifeform that looks like this would look the way it does."

 

I've not seen his book Expedition, but the show being based on that does explain why the creatures look like his style.

[Susano]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Don't wait on my account. The reviews of the shows I've mentioned were generally good' date=' they just didn't impress me. Mostly that's because they were more "fluff" than anything. Hmm. Hard to explain. I guess "more neat-o pictures than talking about [i']why[/i] a lifeform that looks like this would look the way it does."

 

I've not seen his book Expedition, but the show being based on that does explain why the creatures look like his style.

 

Ahhh... well, if the show is that sort of fluff, that will be cool by me. I don't need the show to give me the background data, I have the book for that. The show can give me the cool movement visuals.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Ahhh... well' date=' if the show is that sort of fluff, that will be cool by me. I don't need the show to give me the background data, I have the book for that. The show can give me the cool movement visuals.[/quote']

Well, obviously I'm hoping for more "crunch", but if "fluff" fills your needs because you've already got the "crunch", then good!

[Susano]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Well' date=' obviously I'm hoping for more "crunch", but if "fluff" fills your needs because you've already [i']got[/i] the "crunch", then good!

 

Here's the book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0894806297/qid=1115922040/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-3551878-5946545

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Here's the book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0894806297/qid=1115922040/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-3551878-5946545

Thanks! I'll have to order that when I get the money.

 

 

 

I wonder how many people were, like me, introduced to his work via the Science Fiction Book club offering his "Guide to Extraterrestrials" in their join-up flyer?

[Susano]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Thanks! I'll have to order that when I get the money.

 

 

 

I wonder how many people were, like me, introduced to his work via the Science Fiction Book club offering his "Guide to Extraterrestrials" in their join-up flyer?

 

*raises hand*

 

I also have his Guide to Fantasy.

[CSgeekHero]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Dr. Anomaly: I wonder how many people were, like me, introduced to his work via the Science Fiction Book club offering his "Guide to Extraterrestrials" in their join-up flyer?

 

Me too.

 

It looks like most of his stuff is either out-of-print or just out-of-stock at Amazon.

 

I found one called The Science of Aliens which looks like it might be cool.

For aliens, I usually look to books like those or Aliens and Alien Societies from Writer's Digest Books for ideas. If I can't come up with anything good, then I hit bestiaries, alien anthologies, and monster manuals for things to use or adapt.

 

I'll definitely watch the Alien Planet show though.

[AlHazred]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

*raises hand* Me, four.

 

I love Wayne Douglas Barlowe's art style. His renditions of characters are painstakingly correct to the descriptions in the book, to a level not approached by anyone else I've seen. He really is the Audobon of sci-fi/fantasy artists.

 

I remember seeing covers for some of James White's Sector General books which had Barlowe covers - I think they were Major Operation and Star Surgeon. It was an unexpected treat to see new Barlowe artwork.

 

 

[AlHazred]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Let me add this, since we're talking about Wayne Barlowe.

 

When I got the Guide to Extraterrestrials, it was the first book I owned where I read every word in it: the Preface, the Foreward, and all of the handwritten notes in the sketchbook section in the back. For once, an author really brought me into his world, where these aliens, many of whom I'd never read about, all existed in the same universe, sharing the lounge of an interstellar liner with me. It was an evocative feeling, similar to the feeling I got when watching the cantina scene in the first Star Wars movie in the theater.

 

I give Wayne Barlowe props for leading me to sci-fi in a way no-one else managed to. I wanted to live in the same universe he did. I wanted to shake the tentacle of an alien, and talk to them about what made them different from me.

 

I'm still waiting for his book Thype. While I'm sure the original idea has mutated beyond recognition, the hints you get from the sketchbook section are fantastic.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

*raises hand*

 

I also have his Guide to Fantasy.

As do I. I just didn't like it as well for some reason.

[AlHazred]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

As do I. I just didn't like it as well for some reason.

I agree. For some reason, it didn't have the same kick.

[Susano]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Ditto. It tried to be too analytical about the fantastic. Worked fine for SF, not so much here.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Ditto. It tried to be too analytical about the fantastic. Worked fine for SF' date=' not so much here.[/quote']

I think you hit the nail on the head, Susano. In science fiction there's supposed to be science, so there should at least be a nod to the ideal of "well, the stuff in this story -- including the aliens -- can be explain by a consistent set of rules." Note that it doesn't need to be science as we currently understand it, but it should be consistent from a scientific perspective...a rational set of rules that make sense once you figure them out.

 

With fantasy, while there's nothing keeping you from having a consistent set of rules for the way the world works (and I happen to think it helps the story) the catch-all "magic" can be used to explain away anything that doesn't fit with "the way things are supposed to work", and that can explain things like creatures too big to support their own weight, half-breeds of races that should be incompatible by genetics as we know it, and so on and so forth.

 

Since "magic" can freely break even the author's, world's, or its own established "rules", attempting to apply analytical tactics to fantasy stories may work -- or may not. If you insist on applying them, then you lose some of the wonder, the -- well, some of the magic -- that the stories inspire. Even applying those analytical techniques to just the creatures of the stories can make those creatures (and by extension the writings from which they come) seem rather flat and lusterless.

[Lightray]

Sheesh, took me forever to find this thread again (forgot where it was).

 

So: What did everybody think?

 

I thought the probes were cute, and a good idea to anthropomorphize them so much so the viewer'd have something to relate to.

 

The CGI was okay. The critters were interesting, although I wish they'd have spent more time and gone into more detail. The Amebic Sea is a really good idea.

 

I could have done with less of the Talking Heads, though; their rapturous speculation wasn't really adding anything that the voiceover couldn't have done -- and left more time for alien planet scenes.

[Susano]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Hmmm.... sounds like something that might a fun rental, but I'll skip the purchase.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Most of the imaginary critters were at least plausible if a bit far fetched, but the one that most grated on me was the two-legged "Gyro Runner." A real creature with only two in-line (as opposed to side by side) legs would need something to maintain it's balance, such as a tail or outstretched "arms". That thing had neither, and would have toppled over the first time it tried to turn.

 

Even the jet powered predators were more believable.

[Susano]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Most of the imaginary critters were at least plausible if a bit far fetched, but the one that most grated on me was the two-legged "Gyro Runner." A real creature with only two in-line (as opposed to side by side) legs would need something to maintain it's balance, such as a tail or outstretched "arms". That thing had neither, and would have toppled over the first time it tried to turn.

 

Even the jet powered predators were more believable.

 

The book goes into each animal in more detail. The lowered gravity let Barlowe think big -- hence the Groveback and Emperor Sea Strider. As for the "Gyro Runner" I don't recall the legs being in-line, so I can't comment. Still, the basic ideas would make for some great alien life forms for any campaign. Seeing via ultrasound is one that I liked, sheerly for the concept of eyeless predators (which would creep out many people I am sure).

 

Ah... here it is, the Gyrosprinter: http://www.waynebarlowe.com/expedition_pages/exped_gyrosprinter.htm

 

A picture:

 

 

You can see the two rods on the upper back for balance. So Barlowe did think of that when he did the design work.

 

More from EXPEDITION:

 

http://www.waynebarlowe.com/expedition_pages/index_expedition.htm

[Trebuchet]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Those little projections are far too small to serve as any sort of balance. The show managed to show other two-legged critters with large tails for balance; and that's all he'd have needed to do with these. Instead they had a vestigal tail and these dorky things (which I suspect were added more because they looked "alien" that for some practical purpose.)

 

If you were tightrope walking, do you really think two thin 24" dowels with small strofoam balls stuck to your shoulders would be adequate to help you walk across? Or would you prefer a nice long pole?

[Susano]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Those little projections are far too small to serve as any sort of balance. The show managed to show other two-legged critters with large tails for balance; and that's all he'd have needed to do with these. Instead they had a vestigal tail and these dorky things (which I suspect were added more because they looked "alien" that for some practical purpose.)

 

If you were tightrope walking, do you really think two thin 24" dowels with small strofoam balls stuck to your shoulders would be adequate to help you walk across? Or would you prefer a nice long pole?

 

*shrug* I'm not going to second guess Barlowe's design skills. Somethings work better than others. However, I doubt he added them because they looked "alien," reading his comments, I get the impression Barlowe puts some thought into his creations.

[Nyrath]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Those little projections are far too small to serve as any sort of balance.

Those are "halters". They are not for balancing, they are organs for the sense of balance.

http://tinyurl.com/chnjy

http://tinyurl.com/cwaxz

[Lightray]

What were the short, tentacly things with claws or jaws on the Emperor Sea Strider's "chest" region? Sense organs?

[Trebuchet]

Re: Discovery Channel: Alien Planet

 

Those are "halters". They are not for balancing' date=' they are organs for the [b']sense[/b] of balance.

You're thinking of halteres:

 

halteres · pl. n. Entomology a pair of knobbed filaments that replace the hindwings of a two-winged fly and act as balancing organs during flight.

– ORIGIN C16 (orig. denoting weights held to give impetus when jumping): from Gk haltUres, from hallesthai ‘to leap’.

 

They provide additional balance, they are not sensory organs. In flies they evolved from the rear pair of wings. Most primitive flying insects had multiple pairs of wings, whereas most modern flies have only one pair of wings. No telling what those two things were on the alien critter, but they were far too small to provide balance.