posted
In a UK TNG Magazine published by Marvel back in Sept 1991 (issue 20) there is an interview with Okuda set around the production time of TNG Season 4. Several of the pictures with the article are Okudagrams from the Ent-D. But they tend to conflict with some stuff excepted as Canon today. For example, the USS Trieste is listed as Yosemite Class NCC-37124...but other places list the Trieste as Merced Class. It also shows a dedication plaque for the Tsiolkovski which states the Oberth Class ship was launched on Stardate 40291.7 - Isn't that a bit late to have a Reg of 53911? And of course, it also lists the construction yard as Baikonur, USSR *lol*
The question is, how canon do we consider the Okuda diagrams to be?
posted
I knew those Commie bastards were up to no good. Trying to make us believe the Soviet Union collapsed, waiting for us to put our guard down.
Seriously though, I like that they put those in-jokes such as the USSR in dedication plaques and LCARS displays. It shows that they have a sense of humor and enjoy their work.
------------------ Calvin: "Isn't that weird?? If computers can think, what will people be better at than machines?" Hobbes: "Irrational behavior." This post is sponsored in part by the Federation Starship Datalink
posted
Erm... Wasn't the Tsiolkovsky's dedication plaque in Russian, Cyrillic alphabet and all?
------------------ "Yeah...apparently Sizer is very hard to say, so they replace it with 'Is Mr. Caeser home?' Sometimes I'll say that no, he has, in fact, passed away. 'My apologies.' 'Oh, that's ok, I'm over it. Brutus is still a wreck though.' Then I hang up." -Simon Sizer on telemarketers, 1-Nov-2000
posted
If there is a Yosemite class, then it'd have to be pretty old, since the USS Yosemite NCC-19002, Oberth class (clearly seen on screen, and canon) would be rather old in itself. I still want to see photos first.
------------------ Me: "Why don't you live in Hong Kong?" Rachel Roberts: "Hong Kong? Nah. Oh, but we can live in China! Yeah, China has great Chinese food!"
posted
There is canonical evidence that Star Fleet starships being built in the 2360's had registries in the 50000 to 60000 block. So, the commissioning date of the U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky is not unreasonable.
As for the Yosemite Class, I tend to believe that, as in the case with other ships in TNG, that the U.S.S. Yosemite seen in "Realm of Fear" may have been originally another ship than what is seen on tv. However, budgetary concerns forced the change and Mr. Okuda had to change the class of the U.S.S. Trieste.
When I heard that CGI is being used in Star Trek, I had hoped to see a variety of classes, including those mentioned by Mr.Okuda. However, there is very little variety in the Federation designs. And a great deal of variety in non-Federation designs week to week. This is something that I don't understand. If the artist can create a new alien ship, why can't the artist create a new Star Fleet ship? Are there limitations imposed by Paramount on the variety of designs that can be made for the Star Fleet ships?
Returning to thread, this information of the dedication plates and the okudagram could be found in volume 16 of the ST: TNG magazine, published by Starlog many years ago.
quote:Returning to thread, this information of the dedication plates and the okudagram could be found in volume 16 of the ST: TNG magazine, published by Starlog many years ago.
posted
Actually, I'm more worried about Starfleet ships having too much variety. Why on Earth do they need so many different variants of starships when they all do the same thing anyway? It would make sense if there were dedicated fast attack ships with "missile" weapons, lumbering giants with "guns" and "armor", transports with little or no armament but lots of cargo space... Instead, most ships carry an identical selection of phasers and torpedoes, and whenever there are differences, they do not translate into differences in the operational role of the vessel.
What CGI could do would be to give us Starfleet tugs, tankers, tenders, waste collection barges - ships that could not be built in model form because they would only be used once or twice per an entire TV series, and would not be useful as "hero" vessels. But no, all we get is "cool" ships like the ST:FC selection.
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I have to agree with Timo, I would also like to see more of the support ships of Starfleet. There is a refueling ship mentioned in ST:TNG tech manual for instance. That would have been interesting to see.
------------------ "The Starships of the Federation are the physical, tangible manifestations of Humanity�s stubborn insistence that life does indeed mean something." Spock to Leonard McCoy in "Final Frontier"
posted
*sigh*. Why is it The Powers That Be always see the 'general public' as a bunch of brainless sheep just accepting and swallowing everything they give us..
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