Star Trek geeking

[JensAyton]

@JohnnyBoy - this is from memory as I have said earlier all my books on ST are in the loft so here it goes:

Enterprise NCC-1701 as seen in the original TV series is a Constitution class ship (as per the model seen in Oolite)

Enterprise NCC-1701 as seen in "The Motion Picture" - is the same ship as seen in the TV series but a full refit with new engines and deflector dish and bridge configuration plus weapon upgrades

Enterprise NCC-1701A as seen in movies II (TWoK) and III (SfS) - is the, now standard refit configuration of the Constitution class (lots of people refer to this ship as the "Enterprise" class - but it isn't - there never was one)

Nearly. The refit NCC-1701 was destroyed in III, and the NCC-1701-A was introduced in IV and used in V and VI.

Also, you forgot the (Trek) USS Enterprise (XCV 330), the earlier aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6).

On top of that, there were five sailing USS Enterprises in the US Navy and Continental Navy, none of which was a frigate. There was also a motor yacht of the same name. None of these were spelled Enterprize. There were a number of British ships named Enterprise or Enterprize, too.

[JohnnyBoy]

My geekometer has just gone off the scale.

[DaddyHoggy]

Well there you go I was out geeked by Ahruman - I didn't know about XCV-330!

And I've clearly mistaken HMS Enterprize (1743 - didn't realise she was only a 5th-rate) for the much later USS Enterprise (which like Ahruman says wasn't a frigate only a schooner))

My Pride and Joy it lives at the top of the stairs and therefore survived the great "new baby" cull of 2007!

[Disembodied]

Exhaustive rundown of various HMS and USS Enterprises/Enterprizes (and one French L'Entreprise, plus a couple of US balloons/blimps and an airship) here...

[JohnnyBoy]

I read in "Masters of Doom" that the first episode of Star Trek (TNG?) to feature the holodeck made such an impression on John Carmack that he was inspired to start work on a videogame that would allow the player to freely move as a 'first person' around an imaginary world: Doom.

[DaddyHoggy]

@Disembodied - thanks - last updated 2001... (which explains why details of NX-01 are a bit thin on the ground)

@Ahruman - re "canonical" - given that Gene R described ST:V TFF as "apocryphal" then not everything that appears in the TV series and/or movies can be canon - else the Constitution class ship gain A LOT of decks during the rocket boot lift shaft climb seen in that movie.

[JensAyton]

I read in "Masters of Doom" that the first episode of Star Trek (TNG?) to feature the holodeck made such an impression on John Carmack that he was inspired to start work on a videogame that would allow the player to freely move as a 'first person' around an imaginary world: Doom.

That seems rather unlikely, since Doom was his second game fitting that description, and there were a number of others by that time. :-)

[DaddyHoggy]

@JB - lots of people claim to be inspired by Star Trek - the guys at Apple claim that the scene of Data calling up his music on the computer while in his quarters came at a time when Apple computers of the time could only store a few seconds of uncompressed music but they were duly inspired to produce much of the multimedia technology we now take for granted. The same for the mobile phone industry - lots of early mobile phone designers saw the ST communicators and thought "wow!" we could do that...

The Hypospray is a real device now.

PADDs used in Star Trek are pretty much wireless PDAs but as a concept unheard of in the 60s and even in the 80s were definitely Science-Future

When I was working on ISIS at the Rutherford Appleton Labs as a particle research physicist in the early 1990s some of my colleagues were at CERN producing* anti-hydrogen and storing** it.

* About 20 atoms
**Only for a few tenths of a second - near absolute zero in a very strong magnetic field (but from little acorns)

[JohnnyBoy]

That seems rather unlikely, since Doom was his second game fitting that description, and there were a number of others by that time.

Okay, Ahruman, I did cut some corners with my description (it's been a while since I read the book), but nonetheless the Holodeck was an influence on the type of game that John Carmack wanted to create. I'm sure you'll agree with me that Doom was a much closer attempt to re-create the Holodeck than Wolfenstein 3-D.
(According to the book, the second 'first-person' shooter that Carmack authored was Wolfenstein 3-D; the first was 'Hovertank' released in April 1991.)

@DaddyHoggy - Some years back there was a programme on (UK) TV showing how sci-fi had influenced the design of devices, both domestic and military. I managed to miss it, but a friend told me that it was worth watching.... "Cheers, mate!"

Okay, I'm just going to shut up now because I'm getting out-geeked on Star Trek and computer game history....

[JensAyton]

(According to the book, the second 'first-person' shooter that Carmack authored was Wolfenstein 3-D; the first was 'Hovertank' released in April 1991.)

There were of course numerous first-person shooters before that… like, say, Elite. I thought it’d be reasonable to stick to textured raycasters, though. :-)

[ClymAngus]

(According to the book, the second 'first-person' shooter that Carmack authored was Wolfenstein 3-D; the first was 'Hovertank' released in April 1991.)

There were of course numerous first-person shooters before that… like, say, Elite. I thought it’d be reasonable to stick to textured raycasters, though.

So you like the HUD then? Nifty.

[Selezen]

@Ahruman - re "canonical" - given that Gene R described ST:V TFF as "apocryphal" then not everything that appears in the TV series and/or movies can be canon - else the Constitution class ship gain A LOT of decks during the rocket boot lift shaft climb seen in that movie.

Gene Roddenberry describes most of what happened after he stopped having input as apocryphal. If he didn't like it, it was apocryphal. Mind you, STV deserves to be apocryphal... The rocket boot scene was REALLY badly edited...

NCC does indeed stand for Naval Construction Contract - it was in the TNG tech manual, IIRC, which was written by Sternbach and Okuda.

NCC-1700 was the USS Constitution - the class ship.

The Enterprise NCC-1701 was not the flagshiop of the fleet - it was just another Constitution class ship. Kirk made the Enterprise famous. NCC-1701-A was also not a flagship, since it was renamed from the USS Yorktown an d presented to Kirk as a thank you for stopping the probe in ST4.

NCC-1701-B wasn't really a flagship, since it was basically an upgrade of the Excelsior class and not a very prestigious ship. Enterprise-C was still not a flagship (at least not canonically) but was instrumental in cementing relations with the Klingons.

Thanks to this and the rest of the Enterprise's history the Enterprise-D became the flagship of the fleet, serving as the primary diplomatic and exploration vessel of the fleet and showcasing the fact that Starfleet could now take families on board its ships in safety...at least until the Yamato blew up...

[TGHC]

Bom bombom bommm.

Good evening, you are...............

And your chosen specialist subject............

You have one minute to answer your questions starting...... now...................

[DaddyHoggy]

@Selezen - re: NCC - that was my argument too - but Ahruman seemed to imply that if its not in the movies/TV series it's not canon.

[Frame]

at least until the Yamato blew up...

Darn!!! I remember that episode, i remember i ran it over and over again at slow speed, to see the hull being burned away. nasty, but liked the effect...

But the mind controling critters... good thing they dropped them.

Large purple scorpions that somehow mysteriously gets under your skin, without you bleeding to death... now what was,,, ah yes.... Star Gate like...