Bridge Stations, how they could be better.

[valkyrie013]

Had a thought on just the Helm, but started to think on other stations, so opened up to the whole bridge.

Now, in the various series, we have the bridge stations, Usually Helm or Helm/Navagator, Tactical, Communications, Science, Ops, Etc.
Have a few stations with a relatively small area for controls, and a viewscreen in front.

So the question is, how could the bridge stations be better? Bigger screens? VR headsets? Etc.

Now, my thoughts on Helm were, how do they see where they are going?
Example, Enterprise episode, Minefield.
In that episode have Mayweather navigating through a minefield, and it seemingly shows him looking at the viewscreen while navigating. Could there been a display he was looking at? maybe but what I got from the scene was that he was joysticking through by sight.
How could that have been better? Him putting on some type of VR headset where he could "Actually" see where he was going.
Or they could have asked the computer, here are the mines, please avoid at all cost. The computer could take into account sensors all around and make faster decisions in case the mines were moving.
Or could have have a VR Pod, where the helm is in some kind of 360 degree view pod so they can see everything around them instead of relying on a small panel/screen to see around?
Most of the time, Helm is just entering coordinates, pick a speed and hit enter. and be on the look out for the odd asteroid, or rogue planet/star in there course, etc. So basically an autopilot, somewhat the same on a modern airliner.

So thats my thought on Helm.
Any other thoughts on Helm or any other station?
Thanks!

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

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Here are some thoughts on basic improvements.

1) EMP Proof the Bridge at the bare minimum, preferably every room of the ship should be it's own Faraday cage, but that's if resources allow it.

2) Stop having Rocks and other non-sensical thing embedded in the structure of the bridge/ship. It's almost like contractors were skipping out on you when you built your ship

3) Stop running Electro-Plasma directly to any console in your vessel, just use good ole fashion electricity over copper wires and proper shielding and grounding.

4) Turn your Bridge into one giant Safe Room / Panic Room and make it "Transporter" Resistant so that no random Yahoo can beam in or out (Too many violations of Op-Sec as is). Only you can beam In/Out at your discretion due to having the only local transporter Emitter relays connected to the inside and outside of the Bridge via Hard Line/Pipe.

Also make it so that you can't beam shit in/out without approval of all critical rooms. You don't want to get mugged like the USS Voyager and have their stuff stolen via transporter. That was just embarassing. There is already materials that you can use to line the walls of the room to prevent anything of importance from getting beamed In/Out without your express authorization.

That means having local Transporter Emitters on the inside of the "Transporter Proof" room ready to transport on your command and not when somebody else wants to just because they can scan your vessel for all the goodies to rob via transporter.

5) If you got Neutronium, isolate the Bridge section in Neutronium alloy, make it the hardest section to destroy and ALL critical sections of your StarShip should have those rooms isolated in Neutronium.

6) Bury the Bridge into the Saucer and don't leave it exposed on the outside, we have transporters, we can transport the bridge module if need be, expensive in energy cost, but well worth burying the Bridge IMO.

7) Put the Bridge on it's own secondary power grid that is independent from the rest of the vessel. Seriously a Mini Fusion Reactor and Condensed Energy Matrix Batteries is more than enough to power the Bridge alone. If you can afford to have Mini Fusion Reactors for your basic Scientific Duck Blinds out to hide against the natives of a planet, every single StarShip Bridge and Medical Bay can use their own local system that disconnects from the regular EPS conduits and runs on local power.

8) Take a page out of "The Expanse" and mount the bridge on it's own Shocks/Dampers. It's annoying when the vessel shakes and the Inertial Dampers fail to compensate, we have physical damping technology that can get rid of all shakes in camera's, we can do the same for the Bridge / Med Bay.

9) You have Containers in the Cargo Bay that are Phaser/Beam resistant, you can afford to make most of the furniture Phaser/Beam resistant and have a local armory there in case of enemy attack and enemy forces want to take control of the bridge. There's been WAY too many attempts in StarFleet history for enemy forces to attack the bridge.

10) Automated Turret Defense in the bridge / hallways / rooms.

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One Defense Turret was that effective, imagine if every room at every corner at the ceiling and floor had automated turrets. That's at least 8 Turrets in a Square/Rectangular room.

Look at all the times invaders beamed in and ran amuck un-opposed and got the jump on the crew.

Worst case scenario, the Automated Defense turret buys you time against the enemy.

Think of all the times changelings ran about unopposed.

Imagine wide angle phaser beam sweeps in every room to root out the changelings.

It would make finding your average changeling easy.

As for Bridge specific layouts and changes, I'll need time to think about those.

 

[XCV330]

consoles that don't explode.

 

[fireproof78]

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Here are some thoughts on basic improvements.

1) EMP Proof the Bridge at the bare minimum, preferably every room of the ship should be it's own Faraday cage, but that's if resources allow it.

2) Stop having Rocks and other non-sensical thing embedded in the structure of the bridge/ship. It's almost like contractors were skipping out on you when you built your ship

3) Stop running Electro-Plasma directly to any console in your vessel, just use good ole fashion electricity over copper wires and proper shielding and grounding.

4) Turn your Bridge into one giant Safe Room / Panic Room and make it "Transporter" Resistant so that no random Yahoo can beam in or out (Too many violations of Op-Sec as is). Only you can beam In/Out at your discretion due to having the only local transporter Emitter relays connected to the inside and outside of the Bridge via Hard Line/Pipe.

Also make it so that you can't beam shit in/out without approval of all critical rooms. You don't want to get mugged like the USS Voyager and have their stuff stolen via transporter. That was just embarassing. There is already materials that you can use to line the walls of the room to prevent anything of importance from getting beamed In/Out without your express authorization.

That means having local Transporter Emitters on the inside of the "Transporter Proof" room ready to transport on your command and not when somebody else wants to just because they can scan your vessel for all the goodies to rob via transporter.

5) If you got Neutronium, isolate the Bridge section in Neutronium alloy, make it the hardest section to destroy and ALL critical sections of your StarShip should have those rooms isolated in Neutronium.

6) Bury the Bridge into the Saucer and don't leave it exposed on the outside, we have transporters, we can transport the bridge module if need be, expensive in energy cost, but well worth burying the Bridge IMO.

7) Put the Bridge on it's own secondary power grid that is independent from the rest of the vessel. Seriously a Mini Fusion Reactor and Condensed Energy Matrix Batteries is more than enough to power the Bridge alone. If you can afford to have Mini Fusion Reactors for your basic Scientific Duck Blinds out to hide against the natives of a planet, every single StarShip Bridge and Medical Bay can use their own local system that disconnects from the regular EPS conduits and runs on local power.

8) Take a page out of "The Expanse" and mount the bridge on it's own Shocks/Dampers. It's annoying when the vessel shakes and the Inertial Dampers fail to compensate, we have physical damping technology that can get rid of all shakes in camera's, we can do the same for the Bridge / Med Bay.

9) You have Containers in the Cargo Bay that are Phaser/Beam resistant, you can afford to make most of the furniture Phaser/Beam resistant and have a local armory there in case of enemy attack and enemy forces want to take control of the bridge. There's been WAY too many attempts in StarFleet history for enemy forces to attack the bridge.

10) Automated Turret Defense in the bridge / hallways / rooms.

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One Defense Turret was that effective, imagine if every room at every corner at the ceiling and floor had automated turrets. That's at least 8 Turrets in a Square/Rectangular room.

Look at all the times invaders beamed in and ran amuck un-opposed and got the jump on the crew.

Worst case scenario, the Automated Defense turret buys you time against the enemy.

Think of all the times changelings ran about unopposed.

Imagine wide angle phaser beam sweeps in every room to root out the changelings.

It would make finding your average changeling easy.

As for Bridge specific layouts and changes, I'll need time to think about those.

I approve of all these changes, save for the turrets. I don't automatically trust automated security. But, making the bridge a fortress that is difficult to take over would be nice.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I approve of all these changes, save for the turrets. I don't automatically trust automated security. But, making the bridge a fortress that is difficult to take over would be nice.

I guess we can agree on most things =D

 

[fireproof78]

I guess we can agree on most things =D

I mean, I don't ever disagree with your ideas in theory but just their application in terms of the world of Star Trek. If you were creating your own SF series called "Blade Trek" I would probably enjoy all the little technical details that make it so interesting. I would be curious to see the drama in such circumstances. I really enjoyed David Gerrold's "Star Wolf" series, and how he unpacked that world. It was descriptive, enjoyable and conflict driven with plenty of technical difficulties to satisfy mine own curiosity of the "Liberty Ships" in that series. But, it wouldn't automatically fit in to the world of Trek.

When it comes to the Bridge, I always thought Trek was kind of odd in its design, and it certainly informed my own ideas around spaceship design, like the bridge at the front or top of a ship. But, as noted here, that's a terrible plan. So, I read some Heinlein and got some ideas that felt more practical in their application. The biggest one is the bridge is at the center of the ship, can be disconnected from the rest of the ship for protection from all manner of hazards and has its own redundant systems.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

mean, I don't ever disagree with your ideas in theory but just their application in terms of the world of Star Trek. If you were creating your own SF series called "Blade Trek" I would probably enjoy all the little technical details that make it so interesting. I would be curious to see the drama in such circumstances. I really enjoyed David Gerrold's "Star Wolf" series, and how he unpacked that world. It was descriptive, enjoyable and conflict driven with plenty of technical difficulties to satisfy mine own curiosity of the "Liberty Ships" in that series. But, it wouldn't automatically fit in to the world of Trek.

My Ideas are basically to advance the world of Star Trek in technical detail, I have many ways of countering my own defenses, it just requires alot more sacrifices of bodies or hard fought battles by the opposition; it won't be "Easy" to break through the defenses, that's by design. I want them to "Work" for their gains / attempts / schemes.

When it comes to the Bridge, I always thought Trek was kind of odd in its design, and it certainly informed my own ideas around spaceship design, like the bridge at the front or top of a ship. But, as noted here, that's a terrible plan. So, I read some Heinlein and got some ideas that felt more practical in their application. The biggest one is the bridge is at the center of the ship, can be disconnected from the rest of the ship for protection from all manner of hazards and has its own redundant systems.

The other reason I want to have the Bridge in the center is that the very top and bottom of the saucer will have a very long / large rooms with panoramic Windows surrounding it that function as a mix of the Mess Hall / Ten Forward / Cafe / Bar / Social / Recreational / Mini Auditorium / Misc Leisure Room.

Every StarShip of mine will have 2x Giant Rooms that have very large beautiful windows to see outside the ship. You can choose to go to the Top of the Saucer, or the Bottom of it.

Either one will get split up based on the Captain's decision on how to set it up.

If the rooms gets wrecked in battle, your only loss is your Mess Hall / Ten Forward / Cafe / Bar / Social / Recreational / Mini Auditorium / Misc Leisure Room.

=D

During Red/Yellow Alert, all personnel are supposed to report to their posts and these rooms will get locked down and armor panels will deploy to cover the windows anyways.

Nobody should be in any of these two rooms during a critical situation..

 

[fireproof78]

My Ideas are basically to advance the world of Star Trek in technical detail, I have many ways of countering my own defenses, it just requires alot more sacrifices of bodies or hard fought battles by the opposition; it won't be "Easy" to break through the defenses, that's by design. I want them to "Work" for their gains / attempts / schemes.

Which is fine...in theory. The medium limits that a little bit more. Again, I'll go back to Star Wolf book. In one adventure the protagonists had to defeat a physically superior intruder who had booby trapped the ship against the crew. The crew, in turn, had to devise countermeasures to work around the traps, while assuming that other traps existed. It was a tense back and forth as you wait to see exactly what the crew will do to be successful.

In a book that works great. On screen is a different story because you don't have the economy of time. The enemy can "work" for the gains but if the defensives already feel insurmountable then the writer has to work to ensure the workaround makes sense and can be told quickly. Not saying it isn't possible because it certainly is. Just time required to execute it correctly.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Which is fine...in theory. The medium limits that a little bit more. Again, I'll go back to Star Wolf book. In one adventure the protagonists had to defeat a physically superior intruder who had booby trapped the ship against the crew. The crew, in turn, had to devise countermeasures to work around the traps, while assuming that other traps existed. It was a tense back and forth as you wait to see exactly what the crew will do to be successful.

In a book that works great. On screen is a different story because you don't have the economy of time. The enemy can "work" for the gains but if the defensives already feel insurmountable then the writer has to work to ensure the workaround makes sense and can be told quickly. Not saying it isn't possible because it certainly is. Just time required to execute it correctly.

This is why I like the "LOST" formula of story telling where you focus on different groups of people and don't necessarilly feel the need to wrap things up by the end of the episode due to time.

We can always end on a Cliff Hanger and just continue it next episode as needed =D.

 

[Dumbbell]

To make the Bridge more aesthetically pleasing, employ holodeck technology that turns everything that is not an important console into a window into space, including the whole ceiling, bulkheads, and floor.

 

[publiusr]

For enemy ships....I might have all the crew members face away from an imposing captain in a circular fashion....looking out into a surrounding dark space...

 

[Mister Spock]

The helmsman should really have some sort of display that allows them to see more than what is just outside of a relatively small window directly in front of them. I mean, they obviously have access to all the relevant ship readings on their console, but it should be a little more complex than driving a car. Maybe give Mr. Sulu a rear window in case he needs to do some reverse parking. And one of those little pine scented air fresheners.