Bridge Stations

[Peter Cotton]

On the Enterprise-D bridge there are ten LCARS consoles, some small screens built in to the captains chair, some wall mounted LCARS panels and some panels under the main viewer.

To start with we will concentrate on the ten bridge stations. These are as follows:

The two large consoles at the front of the bridge are Navigation and Mission Operations I (shown below).

On either side of the captains chair are the First Officer and Councillor seats. These each have an LCARS screen (shown below).

Behind the captains chair is the Tactical Arch (shown below).

Against the back wall there are 5 stations. Mission Operations II, Engineering, Science I & II and Environment (shown below).

One of our concerns was finding enough data to fill these screens and to provide enough options to keep each bridge member entertained during their visit to the bridge. To do this we have built an outline as to which ship systems each bridge station is responsible for. For easy access we have created a link on the left hand of this site called "Our Enterprise". This link will bring up the latest decisions on how our Enterprise-D is going to be structured - including the final decisions on which system will go on which LCARS screen.

You can go directly there with this link:

Bridge Consoles / LCARS

[Matt Wise]

Here are some panels that I threw together for the Navigation system. Is this kind of what you all are wanting? If so, I can start creating the panels for the Navigation system to get that knocked out. I've been reading the TNG Technical Manual so I can get a better handle on how these systems really should function.

Impulse Control:

Warp Control:

[Peter Cotton]

That looks great. One of our problems is that we do not yet know the resolution or aspect ratio of the consoles - especially the two wide ones at the front.

If you look at the link on the left hand side of the screen - we have a list of project document.

https://sites.google.com/site/newstarshipdevelopment/documents

Doc #04 defines all of the systems we will have on the ship.

Also on the right is a list of which console will handle which ships functions:

https://sites.google.com/site/newstarshipdevelopment/our-enterprise/bridge-consoles-lcars

Having said that we might be doing an interim proof of concept for some of these screens that I could use your help on. 

[Matt Wise]

Sounds good. I am trying to make the screens as close to the TV series bridge layouts as I can. I've been using the TNG Tech Reference Manual to try to infer/copy the relationship of all the systems into what I "think" LCARS interface would be...

[Matt Wise]

Ok, here is a combined navigation console for the helm station... Let me know what you think...

Here is a small explanation based on what I can determine from the tech manual and from watching the show:

The center and right side (right hand section) of the interface controls primary functions (RCS and Warp)... For example, to "pull out" from space dock you would use your right hand, hit RCS-TRSP, click "Course Select". Left hand, bottom left section of the screen would then enter course data. Then click the "Activate" button on the top right with your right hand.

Another example would be engaging warp. Center section with the right hand you would click "Energize Warp Coils" then click the lower right "Course Select", then with the left hand enter course information. Then right hand would click "Engage Warp". 

I'm still working on figuring out how impulse works... Once I get this all figured out I will replicate it using vector graphics (so resolution wouldn't matter) and get a "working" example with sounds and interactions. From there, you all will be able to modify and create the back-end code as needed to get it plugged in to the main simulator.

Is this kind of what we are shooting for?

[Peter Cotton]

That looks awesome.

 

For details on what I want that panel to do, see design doc #04, where I've tried to define what each LCARS console will do. The idea is that I want to have a good balance between all of the consoles so that no one bridge officer is left with nothing to do.

 

A quick list of these functions is provided on the web page:

https://sites.google.com/site/newstarshipdevelopment/our-enterprise/bridge-consoles-lcars

Under LCARS Navigation Panel.

 

One of my biggest problems is going to be making all of the screens work in a logical manner that ties in with the rest of the simulator. I love what you have already, but I'm afraid it's going to get a lot more complex (which is good from my point of view - remember I want people to feel they have tones of options). So for example when it comes to entering a course for warp, they might select a star system, or a nearby planet, or enter a course there's a number of ways to do it.

 

You are going to hate me for this next bit, but the one thing I don't want on any of the LCARS screens is buttons with random numbers/letters on them. I know they did this all of the time on the show, however I believe we can make this simulation have so much depth that we will be able to populate all of the buttons with meaningful commands. I don't want people clicking on buttons to find that they don't do anything.

 

We should discuss all of the buttons available from this panel, and the sequence they will be pressed in (like you did above for RCS-TRSP) and what effect they will have.

 

For example: The navigator should be able to directly type in an impulse speed, but they should probably have quick buttons for full ahead, stop and full reverse too. Maybe even some speeds in between. They should be able to move the ship through all axis (again see design doc #04 for the reaction thrusters). They should be able to target (in the navigation sense) objects on the scanners and match speeds with targets, match course with targets, intercept targets etc. There's a lot we can put into this panel to give the player a multitude of options.

 

 

[Matt Wise]

I totally agree with you! Those buttons I have are just place holders. If a button doesn't have a function; it shouldn't be displayed, and if it has a function, it should be named, not just a number.

 

One example I have seen discussed in the past are the numbers around the arrow pad. Those are objects that the computer has selected as importance and their size shows the importance that the computer has selected. For example, if you are setting at Earth Space Dock, 1218 could be Earth station, and 15 might be the moon.

 

I will read doc #4 and start design from there. That was just an example of a "feel" I was going for.