'Prototrek'

[ngc7293]

I hate to steal Thread names but it was easier than say "Cochran Era Trek" which didn't quite fit.

Anyway, there is a Trek thread in of all places the Pathfinder RPG Forum. The guy who came up with this thread said he didn't like Enterprise and wanted something that came before it and didn't have all the Antigravity and other things that keep you from being smashed to the back of the ship (SIF I believe is one of them). He had this idea of people wearing armor as they went to warp.

A friend of mine once said he hated that trek ships were so big inside and that it would be nice if they were more like submarines.

I got a reply that the reason for that was so cameras could move around (trek sets don't have ceilings) and the claustrophobia went out with the 50's and 60's.

I just wanted to know what people thought of a trek that took place say after Cochran's first flight but before Enterprise.

Also what about a hero ship that was more claustrophobic in some way. There could be a compromise to have open spaces too. Maybe it could be like the Oberth.

 

[Melakon]

If it takes place after Cochran but before Enterprise, what other than warp drive (which nearly every space sci-fi film features in some fashion) would identify it as having anything to do with Star Trek?

 

[Timewalker]

Vulcans.

 

[Melakon]

Until Cochrane pulls out his pistol and shoots them.

 

[Timewalker]

I actually did see that episode of Enterprise. Such a series would have to be the rise of the Mirror Universe, or else it would be really short.

 

[Oso Blanco]

Star Trek in a submarine-like space craft = boring. Do you really want to see such a claustrophobic show on a regular basis?

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Prototrek should be set before Cochrane.Make it about the dorks in the stupid padded armor who snort coke through straws. If you need something to tie it to the earlier series, the main character could be a Pakled who crashes on Earth and disguises himself as a soldier until he can find the stuff to make his ship go.

 

[Oso Blanco]

Who wants to see more prequels anyway ... isn't this part of the board supposed to be about the "Future of Trek"?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Time is relative. Tomorrow is yesterday. The future is now.

I don't think there's much appeal in a pre-ENT series. Take away all the Trekkie stuff like saucers, nacelles, phasers, transporters and aliens and it might as well be called NASA 2030 and ditch the Trek connection and all it's snarled continuity altogether.

 

[HIjol]

Time is relative. Tomorrow is yesterday. The future is now.

I don't think there's much appeal in a pre-ENT series. Take away all the Trekkie stuff like saucers, nacelles, phasers, transporters and aliens and it might as well be called NASA 2030 and ditch the Trek connection and all it's snarled continuity altogether.

...he LIKES it...hey, Mikey!

...you, King Daniel, may have just hit upon something...wonderful

<HIjol gotta Grok this one in Fullness...hmmmmmm>

 

[Melakon]

Time is relative. Tomorrow is yesterday. The future is now.

For years, I've thought the title of a Carpenters song would be great for a Star Trek episode-- "Yesterday Once More". I've no idea what it would be about, but time travel is probably involved somehow.

 

[BigJake]

For years, I've thought the title of a Carpenters song would be great for a Star Trek episode-- "Yesterday Once More". I've no idea what it would be about, but time travel is probably involved somehow.

I like this!

Star Trek in a submarine-like space craft = boring. Do you really want to see such a claustrophobic show on a regular basis?

You know? Yes. Done right, I'd watch the heck out of such a show.

One thing Trek could have used a lot more of IMO -- and this goes for all versions -- is a sense of the genuine and constant hostility of space, "disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence" in Bones' famous phrase. TOS didn't really have the budget for space suits and such so I can see why they went the way they did; but the cushy three-star-hotel feel of the Enterprise-D, while understandably meant to convey a more advanced setting than TOS, was all wrong for this.

I'm a big fan of submarine dramas, which for hostility of surrounding environment -- and the necessity of devoting every square inch of space to multiply-redundant systems that keep you alive -- are a pretty useful analogue for space travel. If you're in a ship built for deep-space operations, cramped quarters should never not be a major element of the ship sets, because no matter how much your technology advances, you're still going to want to expend the maximum possible amount of power on your drives, shielding and environmental systems. Comfy living quarters will always be a second-tier priority.

Really committing to that sense of things provides an ever-present plot mechanism, because in a really hostile medium, the smallest mistake or malfunction can kill you, your resupply and refuelling concerns are constant (and can drive any number of stories), the sense of exploration itself as a dangerous... enterprise where your greatest enemy is your environment comes to the forefront.

 

[Melakon]

The best submarine film I've ever seen is the German film Das Boot (The Boat), though I've only seen the English dubbed version.

There's action, drama, heroics, danger, and it's gripping. A claustrophobic Star Trek done like that would be intense.

 

[BigJake]

Das Boot is of course the great of greats. There's also of course Crimson Tide, U-571 (despite the offensive Yankifying of the crew ), Below, Run Silent, Run Deep... be great to see sci-fi stories executed with that kind of feel.

 

[Melakon]

Shoot, do a Trekified submarine movie/series synthesized of elements from those films above. You don't have to have all that danger/heroics stuff every episode. Deep space exploration in a sardine can, meeting alien races who range from primitives to advanced technology. It would be like a modern sub discovering Tahiti or the Chinese 500 years ago.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Who wants to see more prequels anyway ... isn't this part of the board supposed to be about the "Future of Trek"?

"Future" doesn't mean after Nemesis. It just mean the next iteration of Star Trek. That could be before, during, after or unrelated to what has already been seen.

 

[Drone]

Prototrek should be set before Cochrane.Make it about the dorks in the stupid padded armor who snort coke through straws. If you need something to tie it to the earlier series, the main character could be a Pakled who crashes on Earth and disguises himself as a soldier until he can find the stuff to make his ship go.

While I'll reserve judgement on this specific treatment for the moment, I have wondered about greater details being available concerning the nuclear exchange(s) that took place earlier. What precipitated it , who was involved, greatest areas of devastation, etc.

Is any explication of this easily found in projects (non-canon I assmume) even if just as summarized in passing?

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

I'm a big fan of submarine dramas, which for hostility of surrounding environment -- and the necessity of devoting every square inch of space to multiply-redundant systems that keep you alive -- are a pretty useful analogue for space travel. If you're in a ship built for deep-space operations, cramped quarters should never not be a major element of the ship sets, because no matter how much your technology advances, you're still going to want to expend the maximum possible amount of power on your drives, shielding and environmental systems. Comfy living quarters will always be a second-tier priority.

Really committing to that sense of things provides an ever-present plot mechanism, because in a really hostile medium, the smallest mistake or malfunction can kill you, your resupply and refuelling concerns are constant (and can drive any number of stories), the sense of exploration itself as a dangerous... enterprise where your greatest enemy is your environment comes to the forefront.

Put the crew in compression suits instead of slacks and shirts for their uniforms. In case of a hull breach, they can just throw on gloves and a helmet and they're good to go. Same goes for away missions plus a nifty cowboy belt for their phaser. Uniforms would incorporate nifty stuff like smart materials to assist movement and regulate temperature, electronically tinted visor, HUD, and a tricorder in the gauntlet. Maybe a low-power forcefield like the life-support belts from TAS. Not enough to make them phaser-tanking Iron Man expy, but enough to protect against radiation and thermal hazards. This whole kit would reflect the precariousness of the crew's situation - they're out in deep waters on the strangest of tides, and they can't really afford to let their hair down too much. Something could go wrong at any minute.

The Enterprise is cramped, like a submarine, but clean and brightly lit, with design DNA that kind of makes it look like a high-tech version of a module from the ISS, looking more scientific than militaristic. Everyone has their own "sleeping cabin", but it's basically like one of those Japanese capsule hotels. Yes, even the captain's cabin. It's not cosy, strictly speaking, but would have a charm all its own.

Little things like that. It's mostly window dressing, from a storytelling standpoint, but anything that makes Trek try something new, in terms of futurism and general production design, is welcome in my book. ST09/STID isn't really that radical of a reinvention when you get down to it.

Shoot, do a Trekified submarine movie/series synthesized of elements from those films above. You don't have to have all that danger/heroics stuff every episode. Deep space exploration in a sardine can, meeting alien races who range from primitives to advanced technology. It would be like a modern sub discovering Tahiti or the Chinese 500 years ago.

Maximum want.

 

[BigJake]

^ We reach.

 

[ngc7293]

Put the crew in compression suits instead of slacks and shirts for their uniforms. In case of a hull breach, they can just throw on gloves and a helmet and they're good to go. Same goes for away missions plus a nifty cowboy belt for their phaser. Uniforms would incorporate nifty stuff like smart materials to assist movement and regulate temperature, electronically tinted visor, HUD, and a tricorder in the gauntlet. Maybe a low-power forcefield like the life-support belts from TAS. Not enough to make them phaser-tanking Iron Man expy, but enough to protect against radiation and thermal hazards. This whole kit would reflect the precariousness of the crew's situation - they're out in deep waters on the strangest of tides, and they can't really afford to let their hair down too much. Something could go wrong at any minute.

The Enterprise is cramped, like a submarine, but clean and brightly lit, with design DNA that kind of makes it look like a high-tech version of a module from the ISS, looking more scientific than militaristic. Everyone has their own "sleeping cabin", but it's basically like one of those Japanese capsule hotels. Yes, even the captain's cabin. It's not cosy, strictly speaking, but would have a charm all its own.

Little things like that. It's mostly window dressing, from a storytelling standpoint, but anything that makes Trek try something new, in terms of futurism and general production design, is welcome in my book. ST09/STID isn't really that radical of a reinvention when you get down to it.

I think Wrath of Khan had that in a way. When Khan holed the ship, Engineering was pulling masks off the wall. Not good enough for space of coarse but it would be interesting if that was standard issue instead of just Engineering.