posted
Yes, the Minbari in B5 had those 3D holographic displays. I imagine that the idea was originally included for dramatic effect. So we could see Sheridan and Delenn commanding the fleet, and see the action at the same time. For a TV series, that was perfect.
The first thing, though, is that readouts for each ship would probably be very beneficial -- status reports on all friendly craft, and combat intelligence on the enemy attackers.
However, it seems to me that a fleet commander would probably want to have more of an overview of the fighting, rather than a view right from the middle of the battle. Because when you're right in the middle, that means a pretty skewed perspective, and you can easily miss some enemy maneuvers -- especially if they're out of your line of sight.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
I didn't get the impression that the Minbari chamber was holographic. I thought it was like the 360 degree theater at Disneyland.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
That was just the screen that the images were projected onto. Delenn was showing off.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
There isn't much I can add to this that hasn't already been said by this point, but in short - you STEER the ship from the bridge, but you OPERATE the ship from the CIC. In general, Trek ships would not have such a distinction, since driving a starship typically requires only one station, and no above-decks location.
And on a tangent, here's something really neat I found about naval lingo.
posted
Something has just occured to me and correct me if I'm wrong--- are you guys saying that there were no readouts in the command area [which was no different than the grey council room] in B5? I do beg to differ, I remember there being some small writing at times. Wasn't there some writing when they zoomed in on the Soul Hunters during first contact with Humans? Didn't some of the ships have writing near them in the Battle of the Line scenes during "In The Beginning" and wasn't there some during the first battle that Sheridan brought together a fleet?
Maybe I'm just imagining things.
-------------------- Later, J _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ The Last Person to post in the late Voyager Forum. Bashing both Voyager, Enterprise, and "The Bun" in one glorious post.
posted
I think there was some writing on one of those displays in "War without End" when Delenn shows them the video of B4 being used in the First Shadow War.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Actually in the US Navy there are two bridges on an aircraft carrier, the bridge where the Captain controls the ship and then there is the Flag Bridge where the Admiral and his staff work out of to control the ship. In the event of a battle the Captain moves down to CIC to handle things and the XO is free to move about the ship, the CO and the XO are never in the same place at once and the Admiral stays in the Flag bridge.
-------------------- "Who cares if we bomb a few hospitals, it just means we got them a second time" Warrant Officer Robert Clift, CVN-71 OEF
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A holodeck, or room with extensive holo-projectors, would be a great advantage. Allowing the Admiral and staff to see the entire battle, reach out and "touch" ships for status reports, etc.
Didn't I get that from a (most likely non-trek) book? Can't recall....
That scene was in the recent "gateways" books where Admiral Ross has a staff meeting via several ships holodecks with the commanding officers of those ships, in order to personally communicate with everyone at once. a good idea, really, but in the actual tactical situation, Picard led the fleet the old tried and true way. The premise was decent and the DS9 books were quite good, but the rest suckd hard: the New Frontier instalments were particularly disappointing. ...and they stuck everybody for buying a hardcover as the final part for $25.00 while the other parts were only avaliable in paperback! A nasty trend with the Trek Pocket books lately.
As for a "situation room" for an admiral, in a recent crossover (with the Genesis device this time) Nachaev uses the Enterprise's huge stellar cartography facility to coordinate both the Klingon and Federation/Romulan fleets. Makes sense to me!
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Me too. That's a pretty good way to set up a flag bridge aboard a Galaxy class or comparable ship. It's not likely that the facility would be otherwise engaged during combat. And like Nechayev in "Genesis Wave" or Sheridan in B5, the big brass of the future can probably best lead the battle if standing all alone in a room with a good info feed. Having lots and lots of consoles for assisting personnel would just distract them, when all that info can be directly fed to the kingpin officer. Stellar Cartography / Astrometrics projection rooms would indeed be ideal for this use.
IMHO, New Frontier either sucks as a whole or not at all - it's a one-man show with PAD running everything, after all. Don't go looking for practical technologies in there, though. The writers who know their naval tech stuff are pretty much limited to Diane Carey and those who listen to her advice. The ones who have a good grasp of general technology and Trek AND have the imagination and practical sense to invent useful new devices out of that are more numerous - Vornholt, Oltion, DeCandido, the Graf... They also know when they don't have to invent a gadget because it was already invented in this episode or that movie.
And as long as I'm that far off-topic, a hint: sooner or later, Pocket Books will be forced to release a softcover edition of any book they really want to sell. There will be one for the Gateways conclusion, too. It's just a matter of waiting them out.
posted
Yeah, the conclusion did finally come out in paperback.....six months later than the other parts! Who can remember all the details of several books you real 8-10 months prior and still hope to enjoy the story? Regarding New Frontier: the stories are either hit or miss, but in general they are as silly as any of the hokey stuff from TOS. The first three books can be read as one story and are great unto themselves, however.
If you guys want to read fantastic books, I'd reccomend the Mellennium books (Deep Space Nine), the story arc covers from just prior the first episode through after the final episode. The current Deep Space Nine series (after the last episode, with new characters) is very well written and thought out.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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capped
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posted
i still like NF, even though i recognize the basic flaws in PAD's premise and the fact that he is no longer being editted. Its a fun little show he puts on and he does manage to say alot, even while tripping over himself.
BTW, the holoconference was a great beginning to what turned out to be a shite crossover. i thought that if it was that interconnecter to begin with, we'd be cool, but in the end they explained nothing. two or three parts actually had nothing to do with it. i doubt any of the writers actually talked, it was more like a loose collection of similar stories, not a crossover.
after that, though, PAD did impress me by establishing some fancy fanboy-style tech for the new Excalibur.. its a Galaxy-class, but the battle bridge had holocommunicators so that Calhoun could command both halves of the ship at once when it separated. and they used up some of the GCS infamous wasted laboratory/classroom/family space and put in a warp sled so that the saucer could be a valid multi-vector combatant. im thinking about blueprinting this variant.. its fun.
Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
Star Trek books are the best books ever and should preclude the reading of anything else ever. I enjoy how they continue the adventures of our favorite crews well after the show. I mean, are 178 episodes really enough for anyone? Especially since they're continually consistent with the show and written well.
That being said, I did read "Millenium" and I still own both my lungs, so I cannot complain. About Peter David, I do however.
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
I was thinking about something along the lines of using the Stellar Cartography room for this a few days ago; the only problem with just having the Admiral on his own is the possibility of him missing something. Even an admiral is only human (or Vulcan. Or Andorian. Or... well, you get the idea); I think it's more likely he'd have a small staff with him in a battle to moniter other views of the battle and draw his attention to any enemy movements or activities that may be important. He can then make a decision based on that.
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I can see several Admirals or Commadores (have'nt seen one of them sence TOS!)monitoring a situation from the back lines. That way, if the Admiral's ship is destroyed, another commanding officer can continue the attack plan. Hmmmm....kind of a Starfleet collective!
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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