To all Star Wars Fans - Start Saving

[DrLove42]

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-death-star-.html

I'm sure we could all band together and start saving up....


..Ever wondered how much your very own Death Star would cost? Now, thanks to some boffins from Lehigh University, you don’t have to.

The students, who run their own blog called Centives, look at the “fun and quirky side of economics” and have estimated that the cost of building the massive space station would be $852,000,000,000,000,000 (£543,511,248,000,000,060).

Most of the Earth’s core would also be needed to produce the necessary steel for the project.

Sean Goodwin, who wrote the article with Anjan Gupta, said: “The interest in the article from me stemmed from watching space battles in ‘Star Wars’ and wondering ‘Can we really build those things? Is there actually enough metal in the world to make a starfleet?’

“If I'm honest, the price of the Death Star was something of an afterthought to the question of "is it possible?"

They worked the cost out by using the reported measurement of the planet-destroying Imperial base (140km diameter) and comparing it to a modern warship to find the density of steel. The evil Galactic empire would need 1.08 x 1015 tonnes of the stuff.

Even if we could somehow harvest our planet’s own core (some might argue that destroying our planet for the sake of building a Death Star is stupid) it would take 833,315 years to produce the steel required.

Overall the project would cost $852 quadrillion as mentioned, a sum that is roughly 13,000 times the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Who knew ruling the galaxy with an iron fist would be so expensive!

The students, who are clearly experts at wasting time, have also worked out how much parents must fork out for their little darlings to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a year. They reckon it’s £26,816, based on the average cost of top British public schools added to the price of wands, scarves and other assorted tat.

Considering at least one student dies a term, it’s a miracle that place survived long enough for Voldemort to attack it..

[lattd]

Also those who like the battlefront series http://www.computerandvideogames.com/334809/star-wars-battlefront-3-rumours-resurface/

[DrLove42]

Battlefront 3 is one of the few games from the original xbox that I still own and play.

A new one would be amazing

[eldargal]

I'd rather have a super star destroyer. Specifically an executor class star dreadnought.

[wittdooley]

Can someone link to that blog? I love that they're finding these important things out!

[DrLove42]

Can someone link to that blog? I love that they're finding these important things out!

http://www.centives.net/S/2012/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-the-death-star/

Enjoy. One of the newest articles is "How much would the Batmobile cost?"

[Psychosplodge]

I'd rather have a super star destroyer. Specifically an executor class star dreadnought.

This^^^^^

death stars are silly, this is all you need, just remember extra bridge shielding....although why the auxiliary bridge didn't take over idk..

[DrLove42]

Did never understnad that

"Oh god! Our tiny command bridge has been destroyed! The entire ship is powerless and drunkenly swerving through space!"

[DarkLink]

I always found it funny in certain parts of the movies how, despite the deflector shields being up, stuff still got through. It's pretty consistant in the first movie, most of the damage comes from shields being overridden, but then somehow ships manage to slip past the shields on suicide runs and the like? And if the turbo-lasers in the Phantom Menace (a much better movie than most people give it credit for) from the Trade Federation can hit the shield generator on Padme's ship while they're fleeing while the shields are already up, then why bother fixing the shields since they apparently don't work in the first place?

Not that Star Wars is hard sci-fi anyways.



By the way, look up the Endor holocaust.

[Psychosplodge]

Well apparently they have two types of shielding, one for physical objects and one for energy weapons.
And no the phantom menace took a decades worth of extended universe and defecated allover it, the biggest travesty being turning Boba fett from a bamf outcast bounty hunter with his own strict honour code and morality to a whiny female dog with daddy issues.....
Not that I'm still bitter....

[DarkLink]

There are, but by default most stuff has both.

Oh, and Boba fett wasn't in the Phantom Menace.

And seriously, if you think that the annoying stuff like JarJar is out of place in the Star Wars universe, go back and actually watch the first three movies. Frankly, the prequel trilogy's plot is much more mature than the original trilogy. Luke Skywalker's redemption of Darth Vader is better done than Anakin's fall to the dark side, but Palpatine's Machiavellian scheme to become emperor trumps pretty much everything else in the original trilogy. And the fight scenes are far, far better than the original trilogy.

Aside from how some of Anakin and Padme's plot is sloppily handled, the prequels stack up very well with the originals so long as you nostalgia doesn't make you stupid.

[eldargal]

I find if you skip through the Anakin and JarJAr scenes in the first prequel and then just the romance scenees in the second they are actually really quite good. The third prequel is good enough that you don't have to skip things. I admit the Boba Fett thing is one thing I do dislike about the prequels.

I know it invalidated a lot of EU stuff but the fact is a good proportion of the EU was silly. Though it is far worse now, everything past 30ABY or so is completely ridiculous.

I remember reading a vaguely similar article where they took one of the big nineteenth centuy British ships, like the SS Great Eastern, and worked out how much it would have cost for a contemporary, pre-industrial country to build and it came in at around five thousand times their GDP or something.

[DarkLink]

I find if you skip through the Anakin and JarJAr scenes in the first prequel and then just the romance scenees in the second they are actually really quite good. The third prequel is good enough that you don't have to skip things. I admit the Boba Fett thing is one thing I do dislike about the prequels.


Exactly. They should do a Fan's Cut version of the movie with exactly that.

[Grenadier]

Clearly if one wanted to build a Death Star the best way to do so would be to harvest materials from other planets and asteroids.

Having read a lot of the "expanded universe" novels one things I gleaned from them is the shielding technology isn't exactly perfect. Lots of factors come into play. Strength of the shields, strength of the weapons, etc. In one particular book a fleet of mercenary, pirates, and smugglers were wiped out by Imperial forces. The book described their destruction vividly. These are ships comparable to the Falcon. And they were being whammied by turbolasers. So it would seem there is a direct correlation with shield strength and ship size. The largest ships obviously having the advantage of stronger shields and laser due to them being able to carry the generators needed for it. While the smaller ships are better suited at defending against fighters and the like.

[Psychosplodge]

Oh, and Boba fett wasn't in the Phantom Menace.

And seriously, if you think that the annoying stuff like JarJar is out of place in the Star Wars universe, go back and actually watch the first three movies. Frankly, the prequel trilogy's plot is much more mature than the original trilogy. Luke Skywalker's redemption of Darth Vader is better done than Anakin's fall to the dark side, but Palpatine's Machiavellian scheme to become emperor trumps pretty much everything else in the original trilogy. And the fight scenes are far, far better than the original trilogy.

Aside from how some of Anakin and Padme's plot is sloppily handled, the prequels stack up very well with the originals so long as you nostalgia doesn't make you stupid.

You're right he isn't but I was more ranting about that entire arc,
there's a difference between nostalgia making you stupid and feeling somewhat annoyed on the basis of having invested time and money on an officially licenced product, to then have it all completely undercut and changed....





I know it invalidated a lot of EU stuff but the fact is a good proportion of the EU was silly. Though it is far worse now, everything past 30ABY or so is completely ridiculous.


The problem with a lot of the post 30 ABY stuff is they are trying (and failing badly) to retcon previously written books and it's very badly done...
I just like to pretend they never existed and don't read anything set before the Paradise Snare...

[DrLove42]

I haven't read any of the EU thats after Battle Of Endor.

The stuff that comes before - Knight of the Old Republic 1,2,3 and the accompnyments - Brilliant

I watched Ep 1 in 3D in cinemas. Its still good. Ep 2 is the worst of the films (too much teen angst - but still a better love story than Twilight :P) but isn't a bad film. Compared to the other 5 its might be bad, but as a stand alone its good

Ep3 is brilliant. The opening sequence is still breathtaking in scope. The execution of Order 66 (besides the worst child acting in history) is a tragic moment the likes of which most films don't manage and still gets me.

And as a personal opinion - Episode 5 is the best...

[Psychosplodge]

See that's the problem I was reading the post Endor stuff, before the phantom menace was released....

And yes episode 5 is by far the best, I can whole heartedly agree with that. Unless he's ruined it by tweaking it again...

[eldargal]

The only EU stuff I would read that is post Battle of Endor would be the Thrawn series, I think the first one is Heir to the Empire, all by Timothy Zahn. I loved those.
Agree re: Order 66, though I still haven't forgiven Jedi for kill stealing a krayt dragon I was soloing in SWg so I was quite pleased. Except for Aayla Secura, don't approva of violence against attractive blue alien girls.:rolleyes:


I haven't read any of the EU thats after Battle Of Endor.

The stuff that comes before - Knight of the Old Republic 1,2,3 and the accompnyments - Brilliant

I watched Ep 1 in 3D in cinemas. Its still good. Ep 2 is the worst of the films (too much teen angst - but still a better love story than Twilight :P) but isn't a bad film. Compared to the other 5 its might be bad, but as a stand alone its good

Ep3 is brilliant. The opening sequence is still breathtaking in scope. The execution of Order 66 (besides the worst child acting in history) is a tragic moment the likes of which most films don't manage and still gets me.

And as a personal opinion - Episode 5 is the best...

[Psychosplodge]

I think that was the first EU books, the thrawn ones, I do particularly like them, and the Han solo ones and the x-wing ones, afte that they're all hit and miss, but i've got everyone from paradise snare to the one before vortex except the ones aimed at really younger readers following the solo kids and some kind of shadow academy...

Hence why I get so stroppy lol

[eldargal]

There is that trilogy of books about Han Solo as youth leading up to him joining the Imperial Academy and then being kicked out etc, those were quite good. I stopped reading the X-Wing series after the Bacta war or that Issarde woman, I forget which came first. They went a bit weird towards the end.

[Psychosplodge]

They changed author after the bacta war, rhen went back for one set around the thrawn era, and i'm not sure where the last one really fits in....even with the timeline o_O

[DarkLink]

Anything by Matthew Stover is awesome. Traitor is the best Star Wars book I've ever read. You do have to read through about twenty books in that extended series to get there, though.

[scadugenga]

Exactly. They should do a Fan's Cut version of the movie with exactly that.

There was one done almost ten years ago. If you can find it, it's called "The Phantom Edit."

It makes the first movie much more acceptable.

All the alien dialogue is dubbed over so not everyone is speaking English. Jar Jar's dialogue was completely rewritten so he appears actually meaningful, and not slapstick stupid.

The only thing I wished they had changed is the mitichlorian b-s. That, more than anything else was a crime to the storyline.

[DarkLink]

Actually, here's something everyone should check out: http://www.darthsanddroids.net/

It's a webcomic based on an RPG in the Star Wars setting, using screenshots from the movies. It's assumed that the movies were never made, and all the crazy stuff happens because of the actions of the players and the dm. It's pretty awesome.

[DrLove42]

Why would you link me to a new webcomic! I'm going have to read the entire archive through now!


And I was going to have such a productive day...

[eldargal]

"Poo, I'm bored, maybe I'll check out that Star Wars webcomic DarkLink linked too"
Two minutes later.
"Hey, this isn't too bad, might read a few more than go do something"
Three hours later.
"Episode 283? It's time for luncheon already?! I had stuff to do before luncheon!"

I'm going to kill you DarkLink. Soon as I've finished this comic.:rolleyes:


Actually, here's something everyone should check out: http://www.darthsanddroids.net/

It's a webcomic based on an RPG in the Star Wars setting, using screenshots from the movies. It's assumed that the movies were never made, and all the crazy stuff happens because of the actions of the players and the dm. It's pretty awesome.

[DrLove42]

I got to 350 before I decided I had to stop and do some actual work today....

[eldargal]

386, glad I don't do real work. I like Sally, though I'm a little offended on behalf of my sex at the idea a young girl could come up with something as bad as Jar Jar Binks.

I remember my D&D game when I was ten. Killed an ogre by ramming a pencil through its eye after it picked me up to eat me. My idea.

[Psychosplodge]

What films did you watch as a child?

[eldargal]

Mostly Star Wars, Transformers: The Movie(actually a film) and The Last Unicorn.

[Psychosplodge]

I see.

And how did this make you feel?:rolleyes:

[eldargal]

Well the Last Unicorn is quite sad. So is a lot of Transformers. Not so much Star Wars.

[DrLove42]

Just for the record...

Summon Bigger Fish may be the greatest move anyone can ever make....

[Psychosplodge]

lol.
But you still manage to overcome it to fatally wound an ogre with a pencil to the eye?
I can't remember seeing owt with that in till that batman film....

[eldargal]

Oh, you want to know where the violent streak comes from. That would be hitting puberty at age eight and being five foot ten tall with a couple of d cups (TMI?) aged ten at an all girls school.:rolleyes:

Special kind of hell.

Oh, having six brothers probably helped.

[Psychosplodge]

Ah yes the literally standing out from the crowd, always makes life easier...

[DrLove42]

So I just watsed my enitre day at work but managed all 3 prequels

Then had the realisation that at a year and bit per film, he won't finish Jedi until about 2015....

[DarkLink]

I'm going to kill you DarkLink. Soon as I've finished this comic.:rolleyes:

Victory is mine.


And I could still link you to the comic that Darths and Droids is loosely based on;). A teaser: it's about Lord of the Rings.