posted
Just wanted to post some glitches, errors, or otherwise discussion-worthy points on Bernd's newest page...
The Xyrillian technology already has everything that 24th century holodecks will have too (I just don't buy that it would be so difficult to create holographic characters if everything else is so perfect).
There is no evidence that the Xyrillian holodeck has the ability to segregate its users to allow multi-user scrolling and simulated perspective.
Another problem of the phase pistols is that they fire light bolts. For once, this is visually different from the lasers in "The Cage", as well as from the Federation phasers in TOS and the 24th century that all released continuous beams. Only the Defiant fired bolts from her pulse phaser cannons which were obviously more powerful than normal phasers. It is plausible that creating single defined charge pockets would be harder to achieve than just opening the gate and releasing all the charge at once. Also, light bolts as a visual effect are anything but plausible, for they travel at speeds considerably slower than light. Every ship could outrun them at impulse speed, unless we claim that the frame rate of TV only lets them appear to run slower (similar to wheels which seem to turn very slowly or even backward when filmed). In this respect, phase pistols seem to have few in common with how we, in the beginning 21st century, would envision realistic beam weapons. The visual effect of phase pistols was obviously created with the only intention to let them look "cool".
The phase pistols have fired orange beams on every single occasion. The plasma pistols in "Broken Bow" fired red bolts. After the introduction of phase pistols, only beams were seen. Glowing bolts that travel slower than light seems very consistent with the properties of plasma as we know them.
Everything said about the hand phase pistols seems to apply to the shipboard beam weapons as seen in ENT: "Broken Bow" likewise. They fire visually very similar light bolts from at least three locations above the saucer rim, and possibly even from the deflector dish. This can be seen just before the ship passes the Suliban pods to employ the grappler. It is strange that the following episodes establish that torpedoes are the only (operational) weapons. The beam weapons were not even considered an option in "Fight or Flight", "Civilization" or "Favorite Son". In "Silent Enemy", finally, phase cannons will be available for the first time, fired from the saucer bottom and possible other locations. So if the weapons from "Broken Bow" are not the phase cannons, what else could they be?
Plasma artillery, as described in the series bible. Since they fire red bolts (I think it's inaccurate to call them "beam weapons"), as did the plasma pistols, it's actually great visual continuity.
Since they are technically missiles, why not call them "missiles" and leave the somewhat strange naming as "torpedoes" to future devices with a different technology?
What "different technology" distinguishes torpedoes from missiles? In the real world, a torpedo is essentially an underwater missile (and I guess one could call a missile a aerial torpedo). Since starships operate in space, if they have to hijack an existing word, they seem pretty interchangeable.
For unknown reasons, some older ships like the Mayweathers' Horizon have only 0.8g.
It's not unknown, Mayweather specfically said that his father liked to keep the generator set low to put a spring in his step.
That's it.
[ January 05, 2002: Message edited by: Ryan McReynolds ]
Several episodes of TNG state that an alien ship is equipped with lasers and therefore vastly inferior to the Enterprise.
That's a bit of an overgeneralization. In "Loud as a Whisper," Word mentions plain old laser activity intense enough that Picard doesn't want to endanger the Enterprise-D by entering the area. Lasers, as with anything else, are as dangerous as the amount of power you want to feed through them. If a starship can't normally enter a star's corona, for example, it shouldn't arbitrarily survive a hypothetical laser attack of equal intensity.
Not really a big deal, but I know you strive for accuracy.
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