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Is there anything like replicators in the Star Wars universe (or in the extended universe)? I don't mean full fledged transporters or anything like that, but something that could take a block of raw matter, disassemble it, and re-assemble it as something else? I know in Star Trek that's done using something similar to the transporter, but it's kind of hard to believe that, with the level of technology in Star Wars, they don't have something like that.

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    I added "Star Trek" to the title because I clicked on it thinking of the Replicators from Stargate (which may be an interesting question of its own..). Not sure if it should be in the tags as well... – Izkata Feb 16 '12 at 3:56
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Not really, I think there was a teleporter like device in a Boba Fett comic, but that was more of a Ring Gate than a dissembler/reassembler. But the SW universe is full of forge droids, forge stations, and forge moons, that take in raw materials and spit out finished or near finished droids, ships, etc. If I remember correctly that is what the Sand Crawler's original purpose was, gather raw material and churn out some finished product.

Actually the tech is SW is not all that advanced, and doesn't change much over the centuries. Power sources and raw materials change but overall the hyperdrives, weapons, droid capabilities, etc. stay fairly constant with some minor fluctuation. Scale changes are the most blatant changes you see.

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    Huh. "Forge moons" sounds a lot like the Forge Worlds of the Warhammer 40K universe. – eidylon Feb 16 '12 at 6:52
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    He meant the Rakatan Star Forge, I suppose – DVK-on-Ahch-To Feb 16 '12 at 11:42
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Not really, with one exception: Duplicator from "Han Solo and the Lost Legacy"

"Ah, yes, the duplicator, our most awaited item and the most expensive. It will print and collate materials at speeds our own presses cannot match and synthesize any paper or other material from the raw constituents it contains. This, from a device that fits into a few crates. Amazing!" ― Hissal


Why no widespread higher level tech like ST?

Star Wars was meant as a space western, not a SciFi show. So there are VERY few physics and technology advances compared to Star Trek.

Also, it had magic The Force, so who needs neat advanced technology?


Another reason (a more light hearted one) is at the ST/SW technology analysis at http://stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/Special/Special1.html#Replicators :

In conclusion, replicators are interesting toys but we have no use for them.
They represent a typically wasteful Federation compromise between military efficiency and consumer convenience, perhaps also influenced by the small size of their ships.
Well-trained soldiers do not need thousands of menu selections to operate at peak efficiency, and large starships such as Star Destroyers can easily carry a wide variety of foods without having to resort to the manufacture of synthetic foods from "raw foodstock."
Luxury liners will also have no use for replicators, since replicated food is always noticeably inferior to real food due to "single-bit errors" (ref. TM pg. 154). Furthermore, luxury liners tend to be quite large (usually at least 1 kilometre long), and spacious, so that the storage of a varied food selection is not a problem.
As an emergency food supply device, replicators are similarly useless because they need food to create food- a classic Catch-22 for supply-starved outposts.
As a component-fabrication device, replicators are potentially useful but no more so than Imperial duplicators, which reconfigure matter at the molecular level and can be used for duplicating objects like weapons, machine components, etc. providing that the necessary raw materials are supplied

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