Can't they knock?
- Thread starter Ottens
- Start date
I think a lot of holodeck scenarios include a public setting such as outdoor streets or courtyards, or a lobby if the setting is in a big building. Like how in ST:FC, the holodeck doors opened up into the reception area of the dance club. So if you walk into an active holodeck, you will be deposited in such a location, as an entry to the world depicted in the program. Presumably, if a person in a holodeck is engaging in more 'private' activities, then they will go to a more private location within the bigger simulated setting, such as the inside of a house, or a private room, and the program would know not to deposit somebody in that place. Now if the program solely consists of such a private location and nothing else, then it's kind of the fault of the person who came up with the program for not thinking that through.
It may have been a bit embarrassing for Riker or Picard when Picard walked in on him kissing Minuet in the bar. But contextually/conceptually/whatever, a bar by its very nature is a place that anybody could walk into. So if Riker and Minuet's relationship did end up 'going far' to use Riker's words, presumably it wouldn't have happened right there in the bar where anyone could come barging in at any moment. But who knows, that possibility might be part of the lurid appeal. And Picard was walking into the place from the front door, so the arch must have materialized out on the street. So maybe Riker could have locked the front door so people couldn't come in unannounced.
Kor
It may have been a bit embarrassing for Riker or Picard when Picard walked in on him kissing Minuet in the bar. But contextually/conceptually/whatever, a bar by its very nature is a place that anybody could walk into. So if Riker and Minuet's relationship did end up 'going far' to use Riker's words, presumably it wouldn't have happened right there in the bar where anyone could come barging in at any moment. But who knows, that possibility might be part of the lurid appeal. And Picard was walking into the place from the front door, so the arch must have materialized out on the street. So maybe Riker could have locked the front door so people couldn't come in unannounced.
Kor
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Or make sure your location is nowhere near the entrance and have the computer notify you if some one enters so you have plenty of time to put your pants on while they're looking for you.
Torres certainly did for a while...
I thought in a holodeck you were essentially always near the entrance? You may feel like you've walked away from it, but wherever you are in the simulation, a person would 'enter' near your location?
I could be wrong and probably am.
You're never farther away than the length of the room, obviously, but in the holodeck that could be quite a ways indeed, as far as the participants can tell.
How does it work anyway? Does the floor move under their feet like a treadmill relative to the direction they are walking in?
It's one of those things that doesn't make much sense the more one thinks about it.
It's one of those things that doesn't make much sense the more one thinks about it.
At the very least, have any characters you've created who are based on actual crew either vanish or change appearance when someone enters.
What I meant is, at least as far as I understand it, anyone entering would never be far away from the person inside, because the entrance is relative to the entrant. If Person (A) entered the holodeck then 'walked' 50km, Person (B) would still enter within a few meters of them because Person (A) in fact hadn't travelled at all.
I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself very well or even if I'm correct though.
Essentially, but with force fields more than the actual floor.
with force fields and inertial dampeners it makes total sense.
I should have known it would be force fields! :-D
I don't know. The more I think about it, the more I'm tying myself up in knots.
So, a holodeck question:
Riker enters the Holodeck and walks 5km, then sits and remains sitting.
Worf enters several hours later, Riker is still within the simulation and still in the same 'place' he sat down.
Would:
A) The simulation put Worf through the rigour of a 5km walk to find Riker, all the while somehow making Worf invisible and inaudible to Riker and vice-versa from Riker to Worf until they are 'close' to enough to each other.
Or
B) Would the simulation save a lot of computing power, energy and in Worf's case, time, by shifting the position of its' arch relative to Riker within the simulation?
Force fields and inertial dampeners may be second nature to many Star Trek fans, but for me how the holodeck works requires me twist my mind into a Möbius Strip...
EDIT
I think the question I'm trying to articulate is, is it possible to hide within a holodeck simulation, or will the shipboard computer just drop a person in near other users when they enter?
If you could hide and the computer really would put my Worf through the process of finding my Riker, then said Riker could find a secluded place or structure within the simulation and never be worried about being caught with his pants down.
If it's a case of the latter though, Riker could never walk far enough or hide well enough so as not to get caught...
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I should have known it would be force fields! :-D
I don't know. The more I think about it, the more I'm tying myself up in knots.
So, a holodeck question:
Riker enters the Holodeck and walks 5km, then sits and remains sitting.
Worf enters several hours later, Riker is still within the simulation and still in the same 'place' he sat down.
Would:
A) The simulation put Worf through the rigour of a 5km walk to find Riker, all the while somehow making Worf invisible and inaudible to Riker and vice-versa from Riker to Worf until they are 'close' to enough to each other.
Or
B) Would the simulation save a lot of computing power, energy and in Worf's case, time, by shifting the position of its' arch relative to Riker within the simulation?
Force fields and inertial dampeners may be second nature to many Star Trek fans, but for me how the holodeck works requires me twist my mind into a Möbius Strip...
EDIT
I think the question I'm trying to articulate is, is it possible to hide within a holodeck simulation, or will the shipboard computer just drop a person in near other users when they enter?
If you could hide and the computer really would put my Worf through the process of finding my Riker, then said Riker could find a secluded place or structure within the simulation and never be worried about being caught with his pants down.
If it's a case of the latter though, Riker could never walk far enough or hide well enough so as not to get caught...
I think B.
It probably depends on the program though. Eg Fair Haven was probably designed so that the door was always in the same place because lots of people use the program. But that's also brain freezing.
Totally agree. It would be less brain freezing if the holodeck had taken up a whole deck so there would be more space.
I remember one of the early TNG novels described it that way, force fields acting like a treadmill.
I wonder what happens if two people in completely different areas of the simulation both ask the computer for the exit.
Kor
Going into a holodeck simulation, it would be sensible to be able to have the computer deposit you in a requested area. That way you won't have to walk five kilometres to meet up with somebody like in your example.
But for someone already in there, I think it would also be realistic to be able to ask the computer for a private "do not disturb" area within the simulation so that people coming into the holodeck wouldn't walk in on them while they are in the throes of ....transcendental meditation, or something. (That could probably be overridden in a dire emergency if absolutely necessary.)
So if you enter the holodeck and ask the computer to put you in that person's location, the computer tells you they are on 'do not disturb,' and the closest that it can put you is outside the door to the private room/house/whatever where they are located.
Kor
No way. The computer would just break the simulation and drop the second person into the first person's location. It makes no sense to have someone being unable to leave as a feature.
