A View From the Bridge
by FEMAELSTROM, HSM team writer
One of my first articles here at HomeStation was titled “The Need To Trek“, and it covered the idea that with the Star Wars commodities we have here in Home, I suggested that it was time to have a greater presence from Star Trek. I am not going to suggest that the good people over at Flashman Studios read my article and used that as a road map to where we are now — there are a whole lot of Trekkies out there, including within Home — but it is nice to see that in its own way, it came to pass and they have brought us a good offering of Star Trek items.
Their first offering came a while ago with the Starfleet duty uniforms as well as Borg and Klingon costumes. Other goods offered were handheld items like the phaser and tricorder, as well as Geordi La Forge’s V.I.S.O.R. eye piece.
Now Flashman Studios has a new round of Trek commodities, and let’s see if it stands up. Is it worth buying? Will the average Home user be interested?
The first thing I see is simple: if you are a Trekkie or a person that collects private estates, this will be on your list. If in fact you are neither of the above, then it probably will not register on your long range scanners. For those that are Trek fans, here are the facts.
The good:
Me on the bridge of my Enterprise…YAY!
We finally have a dedicated and devoted Star Trek estate in Home. We have the bridge of the NCC 1701-D Enterprise to call our own. It is well rendered, and has so many of the little details that one would hope for in a Trek home. You get Jean-Luc Picard’s ready room attached in the right place, and connecting the two rooms is a sliding door straight out of the show. With the purchase of the Starfleet costumes, it makes for a really engrossing place.
To be fair, I had read some forum chatter involving a fair number of complaints, and upon entering this place, many of those were dispelled.
One of the complaints was that there is a constant background sound in the space. This is actually a plus. In the shows of the newer age (The Next Generation, Voyager and Deep Space 9) great care was taken to give the viewer the feel of being on board a vessel by adding the ambient sounds of a full-time engine running. This, for the fans, should be seen as a plus.
There is a large viewscreen, and out of it you can see stars stream by as you would if traveling at warp speeds.
This place would be absolutely great for machinima film makers. This brought to mind the effort that our own Godzprototype put into making his version of a starship in his classic “LOOTerprise” film.
The adjoining office that is Captain Picard’s is designed well, and I sat on Netflix last night and watched the episode “Reunification” just to see the layout of the office as seen on the show, decorating my office much the same.
- The set offers furniture that is strait out of the show. The offerings are as follows:
- There is a bundle of all the following items for $3.99.
- The Starship Enterprise painting from the show. $0.49.
- Two different seats, the captain’s and a guest’s as well as a sofa. $0.49 each.
- Three desks, the captain’s and two side tables. $0.49 each.
- The Livingston fish tank. $0.99.
- Starfleet laptop. $0.49.
- Model of the U.S.S. Stargazer. $0.99.
- The estate itself is $4.99.
Well designed, but too vivid; maybe La Forge painted this room.
Considering that it is a licensed property of a well known franchise, and seeing the price of other estates lately, the prices for the estate and the furniture items seem very good, and the bundle pack is a great bargain that can easily be used in any other sci-fi estate.
Finally in the plus category, there is an intangible that I can’t put into a reason to buy, except to say that we got a Star Trek place in Home. And when I first appeared on my bridge, there was a moment of saying that this could have been made of newspaper and gum and I would still be happy. It is just really cool to have a Star Trek estate in Home.
(Who knows, maybe Heavy Water will dust off that Millennium Falcon estate they nearly finished and we can have a Star Wars estate in Home, too. Here’s hoping…)
Now, the bad:
The big complaint I have heard is this: the sliding door is broken and keeps sliding open and closed. Even if you are the only person there and across the room, it just opens and closes at will. This is an obvious need to fix, and Flashman Studios has already publicly acknowledged this.
The second point: some of the colors are very vivid. The bridge of the ship in the show was never so vibrant. If the colors were muted a little it would tone down the almost party-like color scheme in the captain’s office.
I watched and watched, but there’s no fish (Livingston) in the fish tank. Yes, it is a very small detail, but those are where the most damage is done.
Speaking of detail, there is one that Trekkies will not like, and as Trekkies are very detail-oriented and very particular about things being canonical, this one is a small fix but should be recognized. The dedication plaque on the bridge is for the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E variant, and we are on the bridge of the Galaxy-class Enterprise D variant.
Yes, it is a very small detail, but to Trekkies, it can be a big thing.
This is an example of little details that need to be fixed.
Only small items can be moved from the single spawn point in the captain’s office into the bridge itself. This means that there can be no extra seats on the bridge, but if an item is slim enough to make it through the door, then it can pass.
The space is small. I would’ve liked to have seen a couple more rooms we could access — private quarters we could decorate in our own style, the conference room, etc. — but that may be just me.
It would have been nice to have some interactivity programmed into the space, too. Press a button to sound an alarm, or fire a torpedo, or make something transport…something. But it is pretty bare of things to do once one sets up the furniture and soaks the environment in.
Still, it’s a great environment.
I am so glad to see the good people at Flashman Studios have decided to boldly split infinitives where no one in Home has gone before. They have stepped in and filled a gap many have wanted filled for a long time. This is a good offering, and I am glad I bought it; there are some things that should be fixed — chiefly the door — and any fixes would go a far distance to showing that Flashman Studios is in tune with the fans of Star Trek and Home. Any of the cons should not deter one from buying this estate if they are Star Trek fans; though it may not be perfect, it’s as close as most any of us will ever get to being able to walk the bridge of the Enterprise.
Live long, Flashman, and I hope you prosper.
- Well designed for the most part
- There are great furniture items here
- Great feeling of being on the bridge
- Come on...Its the Enterprise!
- It has a broken door that need repair
- Colors could be toned down
- Smallish and could benefit from an extra room
- Some details could of been better paid attention to
December 7th, 2013 by FEMAELSTROM | 7 comments
FEMAELSTROM came to Home in June 2011 and never wanted to leave, even at weekly maintenance when he usually gets booted. The sand box environment appeals to the explorer in him and often is out and about as he ‘geeks’ out dressed like some sort of sci-fi character, while he people watches in popular public spaces. An artist and writer, FEMAELSTROM loves making friends and meeting people. He loves sci-fi and decorating Home estates and loves to respond “here” when people ask “where are you from?” in public places.
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;^) This offering from Flashman is a welcome start. I also like how the developer responded promptly to people’s concerns as shared on the message boards. That’s a point in their favor.
I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for Flashman, and their efforts in Home.
Good article Strom.
I agree the details can make or break a thing. For those of us detail junkies the need to accurate is a must. It is good to see a classic like Star Trek in Home, way to go Flashman!
To sound really nerdy, the original Enterprise E was a retrofitted Galaxy class starship, it was to save money on the first contact film, plus it would of fitted better with the last next gen episode all good things. At least we get to see how the dedication plaque would of looked had the original idea went ahead.
“To sound really nerdy, the original Enterprise E was a retrofitted Galaxy class starship, ”
To sound even nerdier… No. It was not. It was a completely brand new design called a Sovereign-class ship. What you’re probably thinking of is either how they de-mothballed the original Enterprise-D model for Generations that was put out to pasture after season 2. Or perhaps you’re thinking of how they redressed the sets which they borrowed from other shows like Voyager which is a practice that goes all the way back to the original cast’s movies.
And Flashman still hasn’t removed the background noise of the engine room even though they have added the proper bridge sounds.
AN UPDATE: I think it is important to post this update. With the weekly update on Wednesday, Dec. 18, Flashman came through for it’s fans and customers. The door was fixed to the ready room. The complaint was that it was broken and kept opening and closing with out being near it. Fixed. The dedication plaque listed the Sovereign class E variant of the Enterprise. Fixed. It now lists the Galaxy class D variant as it should. Bravo Flashman. Showing the fans and users that you heard their voices carries a lot of stock in Home. For the users out there, you will need to re-decorate the captain’s office as it has been changed, so that was unexpected. Where you once entered through the door we had, it is now been moved to the door immediately to the left. The old door is sealed and you may even find your items floating in space, but it simply means that you re-decorate your office. One last item, there is now a spawn point on the bridge itself. Again bravo, and thanks Flashman.
So you mean I now have no excuses not to buy it!? … AWSOME!!!!
Only problem is I have no idea what could be done with it but… the Enterprise deck.
But thats my problem.
The “plaque” was a … “huge detail” for me. Awsome to have it… Huge issue to be the wrong one.
Logging back on Home. To bodly goes whre no Avi has gone before!!!
Its great, enjoy it. For my article, I mimicked the bridge of the Enterprise, but for me, I’m making it my own bridge. My own deco.