On Board the Enterprise-D

Discussion in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' started by RAMA, Feb 22, 2013.

  1. RAMA

    RAMA Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 1999
    Location:
    USA
    Its a book and CD-ROM (yes a CD-ROM) from Mike and Denise Okuda. It's small but its nice to see their return to non-fiction Trek after a long absence, and what better topic than the symbol of STNG but the E-D!

    [​IMG]
     
  2. trekker670

    trekker670 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2008
    Location:
    Michigan, United States
    Can you provide a review of the contents of both the book and the CD? I'm curious as to why they went the route of recreating everything in CG rather than use the source images used in the interactive technical manual (at least in part).
     
  3. RAMA

    RAMA Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 1999
    Location:
    USA
    Ok so the verdict is: This is a terrific book to get your children into the show, or for the unenlightened. It's on the short side but it has all the basics and presented with a modern graphical look. I think longtime fans will be less impressed, there isn't a lot that's new here, but as I pointed out, the simple fact that it's a rare (but ever-increasing) non-fiction Star Trek book makes it worthwhile to support so we can get more of the same.

    RAMA
     
  4. SchwEnt

    SchwEnt Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2005
    I don't know about this book. I've posted similar in other threads before, I can't see the point.

    I'm sure it's top quality work, excellent production all around. But even casual fans know all about the bridge and Ten Forward and where the warp nacelles are and so on.

    What's the interest for a decades-long TNG fan in seeing bridge illustrations indicating "This is where Captain Picard sits" and "This is the Ops Station". How is that new or interesting for us? Who is this book for?

    If TNG is new to someone, and they haven't gotten all the other ST books like this, okay this one is swell.

    But unless there's really something new and NEVER-before-seen, this one isn't for me. And I've got ALL the ST stuff.
     
  5. indolover

    indolover Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2010
    Non-fiction? The Enterprise-D really exists?
     
  6. RAMA

    RAMA Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 1999
    Location:
    USA
    Yes, on many desktops and shelves all over the world!:techman:
     
  7. Infern0

    Infern0 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2008
    Lol'd at CD ROM

    Seems like a good idea though, what I really want is a new Star Trek encyclopedia, there is a season of DS9, 4 seasons of Voyager, 4 seasons of Enterprise and soon to be 3 feature films that need adding.
     
  8. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Location:
    Trekker4747
    Meh. The only way this would be interesting if it was an "open-world" concept allowing one to roam the halls of the Enterprise-D entirely, based off the blueprints.

    Yeah it'd be a ridiculous undertaking by those involved as the ship is utterly MASSIVE but it'd be interesting as hell.
     
  9. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Location:
    I said out, dammit!
    Yeah, a bit disappointing. Nothing really new. The big CGI Enterprise orthographic views are nice, even if they labelled he sensor trench as phasers. The rest we've all seen before.
     
  10. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2012
    Location:
    Winston-Salem, NC
    A lot of that could be alleviated by having a few repeating spaces, and messages like "nothing but crew quarters here; would you like to turn back or go on through", which would trigger either a return or a skip through to the next non-repetitive section.
     
  11. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2001
    Location:
    Sac, Ca
    I think the problem is those images were only at a 640X480 resolution, and wouldn't be quite the size or HD quality we're used to now.
     
  12. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2001
    Location:
    Sac, Ca
    Actually I just got mine in the mail, and am a bit disappointed to see it's just one of those thin SW Dictionary-style books. I was really looking forward to hearing the Okuda's perspective on the making of the show, and maybe getting a few interesting stories we haven't heard before, but instead the book just describes different parts of the ship and how things work (ho-hum).

    Still though, I'd say the book is WELL worth the price for the CD and 3D tour. There is some REALLY cool work in that, and it really shows off just how much great design was in that show. You get to see every square inch of the Bridge, Engineering, and Picard's Ready Room, and you even get a tour of Beverly's office. My favorite though was getting to see the bridge from the viewpoint of the Captain's chair.

    Shame there weren't a few more rooms though. I would have loved to have seen the crew quarters, Ten Forward, and the vast Main Shuttlebay. And we sadly don't get to fly around the exterior of the ship either. :(
     
  13. SonicRanger

    SonicRanger Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2001
    Location:
    Minneapolis, MN
    Well, it all had to fit on a CD-ROM with 700 MB of space.

    I guess the CD-ROM answers the question of who this product is for: your parents and their 10-year-old computer.
     
  14. Squiggy

    Squiggy FrozenToad Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2006
    Location:
    Left Bank
    I was about to say, who has a functional computer with a CD only drive?

    Time to take the bold leap to 2005 and make a DVD-Rom. 4.7 gigs of assorted nerdry. Boom.
     
  15. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2001
    Location:
    Sac, Ca
    It worked in my DVD drive. And I think any optical drive will do actually.

    Whatever the case, it's certainly a whole lot faster and smoother than the glitchy old Interactive Technical Manual.
     
  16. Michael

    Michael Good Bad Influence Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2007
    Location:
    Aloha Quadrant
    Actually, I read on Amazon that the actual data for the virtual tour is only about 100 MB small. (I don't own the book, so I can't look it up myself.) So I dare say there is enough space left to do a lot more locations on the Enterprise-D.

    As for the whole thing: I'm not sure this is something I would want. The artwork looks rather lame and there doesn't seem to be much new information in it (if any at all). A virtual, free-world tour through the whole ship where I can visit every room? I would buy THAT!
     
  17. Ziz

    Ziz Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2001
    Location:
    NY
    Not to mention licensing. Simon & Schuster probably still have copyright on the old stuff.
     
  18. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2008
    Location:
    A type 13 planet in it's final stage
    If they did something like this for the new movie Enterprise I'd get in in a flash. But for the 1701-D? Been there, done that. Technical manuals, floorplans, the Fact Files... I've had more than enough for one lifetime.
     
  19. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Location:
    Trekker4747
    Yes, that's how optical media works. I doubt anyone was concerned about a CD-ROM working in their DVD-ROM drive.
     
  20. lennier1

    lennier1 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    May 3, 2004
    Location:
    Germany
    I wasn't too sure about it at first, but I'll probably give it a second chance, because Tobias Richter's company The Light Works was involved in creating the CG content (tons of prior involvement in Trek calendars, the effects for the TNG Blu-rays, many fan films, ...).