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3DCharleston

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  • JoeMcMullenJoeMcMullen80 Posts: 13Member
    Set Flap Factor 5 and Engage!
    lennier1
  • JESJES390 Posts: 194Member
    Setting aside the mechanical nightmare of having to maintain the whole mechanism, and it crippling the warp drive if it breaks (which turns into when during the Dominion War - the Jem'Hadar saw to that with their suicide runs), I don't see why Starfleet wouldn't want to adopt this more widely.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited May 2023 #34
    JES wrote: »
    Setting aside the mechanical nightmare of having to maintain the whole mechanism, and it crippling the warp drive if it breaks (which turns into when during the Dominion War - the Jem'Hadar saw to that with their suicide runs), I don't see why Starfleet wouldn't want to adopt this more widely.

    It was never once brought up in an episode of Voyager, but the variable geometry nacelles were supposed to be Starfleet's answer to the damage being done to subspace first seen in the TNG episode "Force of Nature." Unfortunately, realizing that the problems raised in that episode backed them into a corner writing wise, the effects and warp speed limit were mentioned only a couple times afterward and dropped entirely by the end of TNG. But, Voyager was in development during season 7 of TNG, so it was a consideration. Had that actually been a thing that was mentioned on screen, it would make sense for all future Starfleet designs to have variable geometry nacelles.
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
  • JESJES390 Posts: 194Member
    JES wrote: »
    Setting aside the mechanical nightmare of having to maintain the whole mechanism, and it crippling the warp drive if it breaks (which turns into when during the Dominion War - the Jem'Hadar saw to that with their suicide runs), I don't see why Starfleet wouldn't want to adopt this more widely.

    It was never once brought up in an episode of Voyager, but the variable geometry nacelles were supposed to be Starfleet's answer to the damage being done to subspace first seen in the TNG episode "Force of Nature." Unfortunately, realizing that the problems raised in that episode backed them into a corner writing wise, the effects and warp speed limit were mentioned only a couple times afterward and dropped entirely by the end of TNG. But, Voyager was in development during season 7 of TNG, so it was a consideration. Had that actually been a thing that was mentioned on screen, it would make sense for all future Starfleet designs to have variable geometry nacelles.

    Honestly, I was just joking. I would imagine that warp nacelles themselves are very maintenance heavy, since you want to keep that intense curvature of space from touching the ship's hull, or leaving permanent distortions on the fabric of spacetime. Bots are probably on hand to make their continued operation easily sustainable, even on private vessels.

    Early concept art for the Sovereign class even had variable warp pylons, but John Eaves was told (by the producer? Director? Can't remember) that they didn't want the Enterprise-E to have be associated too much with Voyager, which the variable geometry pylons would have certainly done. That spelt the end of that kind of configuration outside of niche fan designs, unfortunately.
  • lennier1lennier1913 Posts: 1,280Member
    Basically, the producers wanted some element on it that moves (preferrably on the nacelles) and the art department/production hat people smart enough to at least give it that backstory to find at least some in-universe justification. PRobably wanted to give it a distinctive visual gag like the saucer separation on TNG.
    JESevil_genius_180
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    lennier1 wrote: »
    Basically, the producers wanted some element on it that moves (preferrably on the nacelles) and the art department/production hat people smart enough to at least give it that backstory to find at least some in-universe justification. PRobably wanted to give it a distinctive visual gag like the saucer separation on TNG.

    Yeah, Rick Sternbach came up with some other ideas before settling on the nacelles moving. I just think it's a shame that the episode "Force of Nature" should have shattered the Trek universe as we knew it, but was instead quietly swept under the rug. At least the art department thought of it and thought it would make a cool back story on the moving nacelles. I agree.
    JES
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