Has it ever been established in the Novel-verse when and why the Enterprise - D had her Bridge Module replaced with the one we see in the film? When I started Rogue Saucer, i initially thought that was where it was going to happen, but the novel was pretty clear that even though they changed the Bridge module it was the same as the old one...
It wasn't a different bridge module, it was a cosmetic change for the most part. Carpet and paint and a new console, IIRC - just making it look darker for the film before they crashed the damned thing.
Though Star Trek novels like to explain all sorts of pedantic things, I feel like this one is too pedantic even for them. That is, until Michael and I pen Star Trek: The Next Generation: Year Eight: A Tale of Bridge Modules, Dimmer Lighting, Turtlenecks, and Adventure.
Even though Mike Friedman did a "season eight" arc for DC Comics (issues #71-80), I don't remember that Gordon Purcell drew the bridge any differently from the way it was in the series proper, though he did start drawing the DS9 uniforms on the crew. In the DC's second run of the original series comics, they switched to the Star Trek VI bridge around issue #32 but the characters never alluded to the change.
I thought I had read that while the 1701D sets looked fine on television, filming them for a movie would have exposed too many imperfections (and they were also showing some wear), which explains the dim lighting and new carpets for the existing sets.
That was exactly it. (I think I mentioned this in the recent issue of Star Trek Magazine that discussed the eleven films. I know it was in an early draft of the article.) The sets and costumes were worn down after seven years of use, and after sinking money into creating new costumes (that were ultimately not used) there wasn't money in the budget to overhaul the sets to bring them up to film-quality. Nor was there any need for it, when the sets were going to be trashed. Making the sets dark and making some cosmetic upgrades masked the flaws in the sets.
They added alcoves filled with consoles to the sides of the bridge. Oh, and they gave Worf a chair. Finally.
He doesn't like to talk about it with non-klingons. It will clear up with some cream, just leave it at that...
I guess an "in-universe" idea could be that it was a minor upgrade and maybe one that had been earmarked to take place sometime after the ship's seventh year of operation. It could be that had the Enterprise-D not fallen, its bridge might look different every few years or so. Lord knows that was certainly the case for the Enterprise-A...
The original Enterprise had three bridges in a nine year period... Where No Man Has Gone Before, TOS production and The Motion Picture version.
Wasn't there a line saying that the Enterprise had been scheduled to get a new bridge later that year, anyway, so the one they swapped in would only be temporary? I always liked the Generations bridge. Made it feel less empty. Despite the New Frontier comics, I always imagine the second Excalibur having that layout, if only so Soleta wasn't off at the back console way out of touch from everyone else when she was reporting on science-y things.
During TOS, the bridge design actually stayed the same, but underwent cosmetic changes--a different paint scheme, a change in handrail color, chairs, and the eventual elimination of some speaker-thingys at every console (the Enterprise-D bridge also underwent cosmetic changes during TNG as well, but the changes were more subtle). In TMP, the entire ship underwent a major redesign, so everything changed in that case.
It's interesting that he didn't choose to sit in a chair until after Deanna stopped wearing those low cut tops. Just sayin'.