"Why the Enterprise-D Was Badly Designed"
- Thread starter Danja
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This. It looks so front-heavy that I feel like it's going to start flipping end over end.
Everything makes so much more sense this way. If they realistically weren't coming back to Federation space for a generation, the children/the city in space makes so much more sense. I still don't agree in any sense with children on a starship, but it at least makes slightly more sense.
My biggest problem with the D is that it all just looks so bland and colorless. I read one critique that said the bridge looked like a dentist's office waiting room in 1985... and that's pretty much it.
That's what happens when your ship skips LEG DAY!
Just retcon it that it's 10000 people instead. Or 20000. They're people we never see anyway, so who cares.
I like the proportions. I think Andrew Probert did great coming up with a new design that wasn't just a big TOS ship. I think it's great having variety in Starfleet.
I like the proportions. I think Andrew Probert did great coming up with a new design that wasn't just a big TOS ship. I think it's great having variety in Starfleet.
Enterprise-D is too big for around 1000 people?
Who knows where adventures might take them, it's good to have to extra space on the ship.
"Evacuate 14000 people from Tagatanuga 5."
"Yes, sir, we have the space for them."
Being big and mean looking might also put some fear into someone planning an attack.
Who knows where adventures might take them, it's good to have to extra space on the ship.
"Evacuate 14000 people from Tagatanuga 5."
"Yes, sir, we have the space for them."
Being big and mean looking might also put some fear into someone planning an attack.
Well, I don't think there is a meanness to the size.
As for the whole "Oooh, it looks unbalanced." complaints, just imagine that the stern section of the Enterprise-D is composed of sufficiently weighty superdensium (or whatever fictional material is pulled from neutron stars) that compensates for the larger volume of the saucer section. Voyager also "suffers" from this same "problem".
Same here. The early conceptual designs promised a sleek ship, but the finished physical model was not appealing.
Loved the D from day one. I had 2 of the Cheerios posters, mint in their shipping tubes but they (too) mysteriously disappeared over the years. Damn thieves! The evolution from the ENT-Refit was clear enough for me.
As for its apparent imbalance, it ain't. Remember the 2 nacelles contain mega-tons of warp coils which counter-balance the weight of the saucer. So while it may appear imbalanced it really is balanced. One quarter of one nacelle coils are visible here at top right.
ETA screen grab:
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Nacelle
As for its apparent imbalance, it ain't. Remember the 2 nacelles contain mega-tons of warp coils which counter-balance the weight of the saucer. So while it may appear imbalanced it really is balanced. One quarter of one nacelle coils are visible here at top right.
ETA screen grab:
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Nacelle
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I think the D is a pretty design, and it has an iconic feel to it that evokes emotion in me when I see her on screen.
That said, the design is not nearly as good as the original Enterprise nor the refit version.
I don’t mind the interior design on the D either. As others have pointed out, being comfortable and a “community in space” actually matches the ship’s mission profile.
That said, the design is not nearly as good as the original Enterprise nor the refit version.
I don’t mind the interior design on the D either. As others have pointed out, being comfortable and a “community in space” actually matches the ship’s mission profile.
It can be taken that way. Aggression can be inferred by size. Intimidation is a thing that can be triggered by the size of something you're faced with.
Let's have a moment of crazy alt-history. Let's say, when Marco Polo sails up to China, he finds himself seeing in the distance, a version of the Burj Khalifa, a skyscraper half a mile high. That's going to inspire awe. And fear. This is a society that has mastered levels understanding in Engineering and Mathematics that Polo could not conceive.
People can reflexively fear a society that could do such a thing. People can take accomplishments like that as a sign of an aggressive society. Why build a thing like that? To show OTHERS that we can.
Some primitive culture that can barely traverse half its solar system coming across a Galaxy or Sovereign? The response could easily be, "Holy ----, look at the people at our door. They are clearly planning to kill us all because why bring THAT to our orbit unless you're prepared to use it."
Sure, but that wasn't the intention of my post.
Honestly I think the Enterprise-D is the best looking ship. Especially the interiors, they are reasonably tasteful for the time period it was created in, and have a very 'homey' feel to it. If I was going to live on a Spaceship for 7 years, I'd choose that one.
I quite like the exterior.
When it comes to the original, I don't really have a strong opinion on the exterior design. But I don't really like how brightly coloured the interior is, especially all that orange. Here I also understand that it was the taste of the time period and that it was also required to be colourful for the early colouTV audience. But When the Ent-D ends up looking somewhat like a 1980s hotel, then the TOS-Ent ends up looking somewhat like 1960s/70s hospital. It just doesn't fit my personal taste.Though I do like Sulu's weird alien plants and wish we had seen something like that whenever they showed the arboretum in TNG.
I'm just more the muted colours type when it comes to interior design.
But I can understand that somebody else might find it boring.
I quite like the exterior.
When it comes to the original, I don't really have a strong opinion on the exterior design. But I don't really like how brightly coloured the interior is, especially all that orange. Here I also understand that it was the taste of the time period and that it was also required to be colourful for the early colouTV audience. But When the Ent-D ends up looking somewhat like a 1980s hotel, then the TOS-Ent ends up looking somewhat like 1960s/70s hospital. It just doesn't fit my personal taste.Though I do like Sulu's weird alien plants and wish we had seen something like that whenever they showed the arboretum in TNG.
I'm just more the muted colours type when it comes to interior design.
But I can understand that somebody else might find it boring.
Star Trek has often been criticized for promoting imperialism.
The arboretum too. The only way I can even accept that tiny thing we saw in a couple episodes that it is some sort of antechamber or specially sectioned-off portion of a much larger complex (for example maybe a section where young plants are grown before they are placed into the "real" arboretum). I mean how are 1000 people supposed to find rest and relaxation there otherwise?
The design of every Enterprise is impractical.
The D is one of the better-looking ones, and that's what matters. And it's a lot more plausible that a construction that advanced would be luxurious than that it would be all gray and cramped and "practical."
The cheapest room in any Motel 6 in America is palatial compared to the house my dad grew up in (let's start with the plumbing).
Star Trek is based in the popular narratives of European colonialism. The folks responsible for it in latter days are clearly concerned by that and keep finding ways to signal that those elements are vestigal or were misunderstood or trivial, but in fact they're foundational.
The D is one of the better-looking ones, and that's what matters. And it's a lot more plausible that a construction that advanced would be luxurious than that it would be all gray and cramped and "practical."
The cheapest room in any Motel 6 in America is palatial compared to the house my dad grew up in (let's start with the plumbing).
Star Trek is based in the popular narratives of European colonialism. The folks responsible for it in latter days are clearly concerned by that and keep finding ways to signal that those elements are vestigal or were misunderstood or trivial, but in fact they're foundational.
I imagine it was one of multiple lounges, though perhaps the most prestigious one.
That's fair. Have you ever watched that video where they POV around the insides of a recreated E-D. It shows there's actually a lot more bars on the ship.
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