Star Trek Post-TOS Remake

[CuttingEdge100]

I'm not exactly sure where to start, so I'll just start. For some time, I was thinking of a re-make starting around post-TOS, around the time of TMP. Unlike J.J. Abrams, I was thinking of something far more conservative, and more similar to the Star Trek that we grew up watching on TV and in the movie-theaters.

Like in TMP it starts around the idea of a massive refit of the USS Enterprise. However, it would have a different plot than TMP, and much of the crew would change. I know it sounds like heresy, but how long can the same people be assigned to the same ship? I'm not saying that all the characters have to change, and none of the characters from the series can't appear in the story, I'm just saying not all on the same ship. Think "Law and Order", the story goes on even when characters change, move on, die, et-cetera.

The characters I'd prefer to keep would be Chekov, Uhura, and Decker. Chekov was a young guy and he appeared first on the Enterprise around 2267, two years into the vessel's five year deployment. Decker seemed to be a good person, a good leader, especially in the TMP novel, and was hand-picked by Kirk. Uhura, largely because I think there should be at least three characters that are the same (I know, not a good reason).

The characters that would move on would be Kirk, who ends up as a Rear Admiral working in Fleet Operations; Spock who would end up teaching at the Vulcan Science academy or something; Scott who ends up overseeing the refit of the Enterprise, and what else after that, I have no idea; Sulu who becomes a Lieutenant Commander and either becomes an executive officer on a Miranda-sized vessel; McCoy who ends up in private practice.

The USS Enterprise would be similar in exterior design to the TMP design with the exception of the nacelles, which would look like a mix between Phase II, and TMP. A smooth front-cap which would glow at warp. Since it made more sense in TOS for the ship to have as little exposed surface, the vessel would have no outboard grilles.

So what do you think?

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

Just PLEASE don't have them wearing the powder blue pajamas like in TMP!

I'd say go for it - Decker never got a fair shake in the movie - let's see how he handles the center seat. Will this be a five-year mission or some other assignment?

 

[Gibraltar]

I'm a sucker for the upgraded Constitution-class, and I've always thought Decker showed a lot of promise that wasn't capitalized on.

You've piqued my curiosity.

 

[Galileo7]

I'm a sucker for the upgraded Constitution-class....

Absolutely, ever since I saw Scotty and Admiral Kirk in a Travel Pod inspecting the 1701-refit in drydock in TMP.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Sounds very cool. Would you be taking Ilia onboard as well? I always thought that she and Decker were little more than named extras in TMP, and could have been so much more.

In a fanfic I wrote, Decker, Ilia and Sonak were taken from an alternate universe where they were still onboard the Enterprise, and brought to our universe.

I can't wait to meet the new crew of the Enterprise. Also TMP-refit Connie, so much better than the 09 version!

-Bry

 

[BillJ]

Interesting general concept...

But the devil is in the details. What would set this crew apart from the earlier incarnations? Will Decker always felt like Kirk-Lite, what is going to set him apart from Jim Kirk? What type of stories are you going to tell? Are they going to be stories like the original Star Trek, where the universe is this weird, wild place where anything can happen? Or are they going to be more conservative like The Next Generation?

Side question: How the hell did the free spirited Roddenberry end up making a more conservative Star Trek twenty years after the original with no network interference?

What is the universe going to look like in your remake? I think it will be a big predictor of the types of stories we'll see.

Re-booting Star Trek and making it relevant to the current socio-political world has always been a huge interest of mine. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

The Lone Redshirt,

I'd say go for it - Decker never got a fair shake in the movie - let's see how he handles the center seat.

Yeah, I think he had the making for a top-notch Captain

Will this be a five-year mission or some other assignment?

It would be a five-year deployment as far as I know.


Gibraltar,

You've piqued my curiosity.

I'm glad to hear it


Bry Sinclair,

Would you be taking Ilia onboard as well?

I'm not sure. I've never been a fan of the Deltans, the fact that they look exactly like humans, the pheromone thing, the celibacy oath and the baldness. Could her character be re-made into a human? The name Ilia could remain, though I don't know what ethnicity this would fall under.

Considering that Persis Khambatta was 30 during much of the filming, and was 31 at the time of the movie release, I think it would be more practical to make her character a Lieutenant Commander, maybe even a Commander instead of a Lieutenant (Modern day, it is not uncommon to see an officer in their early 30's to be a Major or a Lieutenant Commander. In Star Trek, there are some officers like Kirk who made Captain at the age of 32, so a 31 year old Commander wouldn't be that odd).

I always thought that she and Decker were little more than named extras in TMP, and could have been so much more.

That I agree with, they both had a lot of potential

I can't wait to meet the new crew of the Enterprise.

So far, I've got the following so far

Commanding Officer: Captain Willard Decker
Executive Officer: - EMPTY -
Helmsman: Lieutenant Dylan Carter
Navigator: Lieutenant-Commander/Commander Ilia
Chief Science-Officer: Lieutenant-Commander George Kapsalis
Chief Communications Officer: Lieutenant-Commander Nyota Uhura
Security Officer: Ensign/Lieutenant Junior-Grade Evan Colson
Tactical Officer: Lieutenant Pavel Chekov
Engineering Officer: Name unknown, rank of Commander, to be a vulcan (the same thing that would make a good science officer would also make a good engineer)

That's all I got

Also TMP-refit Connie, so much better than the 09 version!

Of course

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Considering that Persis Khambatta was 30 during much of the filming, and was 31 at the time of the movie release, I think it would be more practical to make her character a Lieutenant Commander, maybe even a Commander instead of a Lieutenant (Modern day, it is not uncommon to see an officer in their early 30's to be a Major or a Lieutenant Commander. In Star Trek, there are some officers like Kirk who made Captain at the age of 32, so a 31 year old Commander wouldn't be that odd).

Seeings as how the late Miss Khambatta was Indian, I'd use that as the basis of a human character. But seeing as how you are doing a re-make, if there was something you didn't like about Deltans, you could always tweak it and adjust it so that you're happy with it.

Just a thought,
Bry

 

[T'Girl]

I always found it interesting that in the travel pod Scotty said they had been refitting the Enterprise for eighteen months and then Kirk said he had been the Chief of Starfleet operations for two and a half years. That means something unknown was going on with the Enterprise for one year. I'd like to think that at the end of the five year mission, Kirk turned command over to Decker, Decker commanded the old Enterprise for a year prior to the Enterprise entering refit. Then Decker oversaw the actual refit. Even if your story takes place immediately after the refit, this would give Decker and his crew "history."

Or the ship just sat in orbit for one year.

 

[CaptainSarine]

This sounds really interesting. I've often wondered how Decker would have done in command, and felt that Kirk acted like a real tool when he took command away from him.

Will you be following the initial idea of TMP or just taking the characters and going in a completely different direction?

 

[CuttingEdge100]

Bill J,

What type of stories are you going to tell? Are they going to be stories like the original Star Trek, where the universe is this weird, wild place where anything can happen? Or are they going to be more conservative like The Next Generation?

More conservative. I'm not going to have a space-amoeba or anything in the plot...


Bry_Sinclair,

Truthfully, I think the name Ilia sounds more like a middle-eastern name (I'd guess Iranian, or Iraqi), than Indian. Though truthfully, Sulu isn't really a Japanese name, yet the character is clearly Japanese.


T'Girl,

I always found it interesting that in the travel pod Scotty said they had been refitting the Enterprise for eighteen months and then Kirk said he had been the Chief of Starfleet operations for two and a half years. That means something unknown was going on with the Enterprise for one year.

Actually, that discussion had come up on this forum. Truthfully, I think it would be best to re-write the plot to have the USS Enterprise come home in 2270, then undergoes an 18-month refit.

I'd like to think that at the end of the five year mission, Kirk turned command over to Decker, Decker commanded the old Enterprise for a year prior to the Enterprise entering refit. Then Decker oversaw the actual refit.

I think that's a good idea.

Even if your story takes place immediately after the refit, this would give Decker and his crew "history."

Yeah, they'd have some experience working together. Though keep in mind, most of these 18-months, the ship would be taken apart, modified, then re-assembled, so they wouldn't be spending much time "on the ship". They would of course interact with each other.


Captain Sarine,

Will you be following the initial idea of TMP or just taking the characters and going in a completely different direction?

Largely going in a different direction.

 

[BillJ]

More conservative. I'm not going to have a space-amoeba or anything in the plot...

A tad disappointing, I love space amoeba's. But I'll still give it a look.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

Bill J,

A tad disappointing, I love space amoeba's. But I'll still give it a look.

I'm glad you'll still give it a look

 

[CuttingEdge100]

I know this will seem controversial, but I'm thinking of altering certain parts of the ship's interior. I'll list in more detail, my proposals tomorrow

 

[CuttingEdge100]

The first part of the ship I'd want to alter would be the ship's bridge. Now, hear me out, I'm not going to go Nu-Trek on everybody. All the stations would be in the same position as they were in TMP.

I'm thinking of the following modifications.

1.) I think every single station on the bridge should have a chair. This was done in TOS, but it wasn't done in TMP, and I thought it was very stupid when you consider how frequently people get thrown all over the place. Like TMP, I like the fact that all the chairs have a full seat-back on them, and arm-rests, but I don't like the leg-restraints. They don't seem to work as well as a good seat-belt configuration. Now, I know seat-belts sound so old-fashioned, primitive, and low-tech for Star-Trek, but they are quite simple in design, and most importantly, they work. I think the chairs could accommodate the same seat-belt and harnesses used in aircraft-cockpits. Seat-color I think would be good in a white-color similar to TWOK with a leather-like texture, but the same shape as those used in TMP. As for the Captain's chair, it would have a dark gray streak down the central section of the chair (the part that looks like a vertebral shape)

2.) While I don't have a major objection to the computer display configuration for the most part, I think the information displayed on them, and the graphics should look a bit more advanced for a re-make, however. It would would also be preferable for each display screen to be flat. I also think certain consoles could use MFD's rather than fixed-function displays as it permits more versatility, especially when you have a limited number of displays.

3.) Being that the U.S.S. Enterprise (pre-refit) did not have a weapons/defense console with the navigator handling weapons/defense as well as navigation; for the refit, I think it would be best to have both the helmsman and navigator to both effectively be "pilots", both qualified to do each other's job, and both able to fly the ship. The helmsman would fly the vessel normally, with the helmsman doing the long-distance navigation work, but in the event of the helmsman's incapacitation, the navigator could fly the ship while they get the relief for the helmsman up to the bridge, producing to some degree, a pilot/co-pilot relationship. I assume the helm-console would contain certain specific displays or buttons, and the helm console might possess the same resources. I assume at least one of the two would have some ability to fire the weapons of the ship.

4.) I think it would be a good idea for there to be some tactile method of controlling the ship. I think either a joystick or a big tracking-ball like device to allow the helmsman to control pitch and roll. Maybe some pedals where the helmsman/navigators feet sit would produce yaw control, and a foot-rest in the middle. The TMP Enterprise already had a throttle, but I think it would be best for there to be either two sets of throttles for both the helmsman and navigator to operate when necessary. I also think there should be throttles for the impulse and warp-drive (normally the warp drive would be used to some degree during impulse maneuvers, but not always)

5.) I think the helmsman and navigator should not, on a vessel expected to do combat, have to be constantly looking down at their consoles. Either some kind of Head-up display (Which would be a transparent flat-screen raised up in front of the helmsman and navigator consoles), or vital data displayed on the view-screen such as heading, pitch, roll-orientation relative to the galactic center or other object, and forward/rearward/lateral/vertical velocity-display.


The second part of the ship I'd want to alter is the Engineering Room. I don't like the TMP engine-room, and honestly favor the engine-room used in TOS over TMP as it looks like a power-generation facility, and it's flat floors allow a makeshift repair space.

There would be a variety of design changes. The basic differences would be the colors would be more like that in TMP-TSFS, there would be chairs in the engineering room similar to those on the bridge, (after all when the ship rocks and pitches, everybody gets flung around), and the computer displays would be updated. The area behind the grate, I'm thinking of a reactor set-up possibly based on the Elite-Force Virtual Dreadnought Mod, and maybe a little bit of Star Trek Enterprise.


The third area of the ship I'd want to modify would include the Main-Recreation Deck. I think the idea of putting it on the ship's centerline would be the best idea. It was proposed early on, and I think it was smarter. It allowed two decks, both turbo-lifts could run through it, and seemed the best spot.

The fourth area of the ship I'd want to modify would be the corridors. I'd prefer to use 9'6" corridors similar to those used in TOS, and the two foot-thick walls to store all sorts of equipment. I still think the angled walls of the TMP Enterprise look nice, though I don't know if the angles would be exactly the same, but I think it makes a good compromise. The ceiling beams, and the walls around them could project force-fields for security purposes. The front and back of the beams which people would see as they walk down the corridors could have screens on them which would provide data (they could be de-activated obviously in the event of an intruder).

Certain sections of the corridors I'd want to fit fold out jump-seats, they'd fold out of the corridor walls and would be similar to the jump-seats flight-attendants use on airliners. The idea would be to avoid people in the corridors getting flung around.


What's everybody's thoughts?

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I would say, redesign the ships interior however you like to fit in with your new concept and how you'll tell your stories.

Though on this point:

5.) I think the helmsman and navigator should not, on a vessel expected to do combat, have to be constantly looking down at their consoles. Either some kind of Head-up display (Which would be a transparent flat-screen raised up in front of the helmsman and navigator consoles), or vital data displayed on the view-screen such as heading, pitch, roll-orientation relative to the galactic center or other object, and forward/rearward/lateral/vertical velocity-display.

I would say that the viewscreen really doesn't do much but display visual scans, communications and occassionally tactical displays for the Captain (after all the rest of the crew do have their own consoles to work from). As such the Helm and Navigation Officers should spend more time looking down at their instruments than up at the viewscreen during combat, so as to monitor and alter course, watch out for incoming torpedoes, etc.

Having some of that info on the viewscreen for the CO's benefit would be a good idea though, so he/she has more to work from when issuing tactical orders.

Just a thought,
B

 

[BillJ]

The first part of the ship I'd want to alter would be the ship's bridge. Now, hear me out, I'm not going to go Nu-Trek on everybody. All the stations would be in the same position as they were in TMP.

I'm thinking of the following modifications...


What's everybody's thoughts?

Kinda think you're getting lost in the minutia... does anything above do anything to service the story? I think you've committed more time to the layout of the bridge than the characters/plot. YMMV.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

Bry Sinclair,

I would say that the viewscreen really doesn't do much but display visual scans, communications and occassionally tactical displays for the Captain (after all the rest of the crew do have their own consoles to work from).

True, but from what it would seem, most of the consoles on the helm console seem similar to the instrument panel on an aircraft. For combat purposes you do not want to be constantly looking down at the instruments, and want to be looking around you to see what's going on around you. For this reason, fighter planes have head-up displays, and many modern planes have helmet-mounted displays as well (so wherever the pilot looks, all the important information is right in front of his/her eyes)

Having some of that info on the viewscreen for the CO's benefit would be a good idea though, so he/she has more to work from when issuing tactical orders.

Sounds good, for both the Commanding officer, and the Helmsman and Navigator. For that to work you'd generally want the following to be displayed

-> Heading based on a reference point, most likely the galactic-center, displayed as a lateral line on the top of the view-screen, measured in degrees: It's important to know which direction the ship's pointed

-> Pitch/Mark based on a reference-point, most likely the galactic-center, displayed as a vertical line in the center of the view-screen as a form of pitch-ladder, similar to that seen on aircraft, measured in degrees: In space, it's not just heading, like on a boat, there's also pitch. This is important to know also.

-> Attitude indicator based on a reference point, most likely the galactic center, displayed as a lateral line across part of the center of the view-screen, and determines the ship's relationship to the galactic center in terms of bank angle, whether it's upside down or right-side up and so on. It would effectively be part of the pitch-ladder system. If you were tilted 90-degrees, the lateral line would be a vertical line, and so on.

-> Forward-velocity based on a reference point (to exactly what reference point, it has never been clearly established, but I assume there's gotta be one), displayed on the left-side of the view-screen in a vertical strip, measured in the following units
* Meters per second and KPH (very slow precision movements)
* KPH and KPS (Foward thrusters to low-impulse)
* KPS and fraction of the speed of light (Low to moderate impulse)
* Fraction of the speed of light and fraction of warp-factor (Moderate to High impulse)
* Warp factor and multiple of speed of light (warp factors 1 to 12)
* Multiple of speed of light and warp-factor (warp factors over 12)
It sounds bizarre that I would be discussing warp-factors above 12, but based on the speeds the Enterprise covered in TOS, the vessel would clearly have to be able to go faster than 512 to 729 times the speed of light. While it's not perfect, the fact that the Enterprise covered two star-systems in one day in "The Doomsday Machine" and a document, created by Gene Roddenberry called "Star Trek Is..." referred to the Enterprise as being capable of a maximum speed of 0.73 light-years per hour. This amounts to a velocity of 6,399.18c, and a warp-factor of approximately 18.5656. Once above Warp 12, the difference in velocity between each warp-factor becomes so massive, it seems best to just go back to measuring velocity relative to the speed of light. Since the Refit is supposed to be more capable than the TOS-enterprise, I'm going to increase it's maximum velocity to 1 light-year per hour, or 8,766 c.

-> Vertical velocity based on a reference point (to exactly what reference point, it has never been clearly established, but I assume there's gotta be one), displayed on the right-side of the view-screen, measured in the following units
- Meters per second and KPH
- KPH and KPS
- KPS and fraction of the speed of light
- fraction of the speed of light to fraction of warp-factor
In space, one does not just move forward, climb, and roll, one can also use Z-axis only maneuvers. For this reason, it's important to have an indicator

[*]Lateral velocity based on a reference point (to exactly what reference point, it has never been clearly established, but I assume there's gotta be one), displayed on the top of the view-screen, measured in the following units
- Meters per second and KPH
- KPH and KPS
- KPS and fraction of the speed of light
- fraction of the speed of light to fraction of warp-factor
In space, one does not just move forward, climb, and role, one can also slide laterally, so it's important to have the ability to have an indicator for this


Bill J,

I haven't decided much about a plot yet, I'm still working on the characters. I'm lacking an Executive Officer (though putting Ilia in as the XO might not be such a bad idea) a Chief Medical-Officer, and I can't think of a good Vulcan name for the engineering-officer.


CuttingEdge100

 

[CuttingEdge100]

What kind of plot do you think would be good?

 

[Gibraltar]

I've got to agree with the feeling that you're focusing a bit too much on the technical minutiae, as your post about the console/viewscreen display illustrates.

As for plot, what challenges face the Federation at this point in it's history? One of the Federation's first big exploratory 'pushes' just ended about two years previously, exposing the UFP to all manner of new species, astronomical phenomena, technology, etc. How did all this new knowledge effect the Federation and it's individual members?

What's the political landscape of the Alpha Quadrant like at this time? Are the Klingons in an expansionist phase? Are the Romulans?

Will this latest ongoing mission of the Enterprise be one of exploration, diplomacy, defense, or some combination of these?

Just throwing out some ideas for you to consider.