"Inner Space II" (2020) — Part 1: Saucer Deck Interior Build [Star Trek FASA]
The second series of "Inner Space" tackles the question of what to do with those mystery decks on the upper saucer section of the Loknar-class frigate starship.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00Hello DP community and welcome to a new segment of Innerspace, where together we explore virtual
00:21interior spaces and work out realistic design ideas to bring them to life.
00:27For Innerspace 2, we're going to continue creating interiors for the Lachnar-class starship.
00:33The specific instance is DP's USS Phobos, which I have living in the period roughly
00:392290 to 2310.
00:42It's the transition from 23rd to 24th century and the period between Captain Kirk's Starfleet
00:49and TNG's Starfleet.
00:51The first Innerspace series concluded last month with a new viewing room replacement to
00:56the original starboard arboretum.
00:59I've been tweaking Kevin Reilly's original work since 2018, but all DP updates to this
01:05model have targeted the peek-through spaces.
01:09These are the interiors that often afford extra, relevant detail when the camera is
01:14outside the starship, for example, during a tight flyby shot.
01:21These include Kevin Reilly's original officer's lounge, located beneath the bridge section.
01:27DP's port-side engineering lounge, which also replaced an arboretum.
01:32And yes, if you've been following the channel, the E-lounge did get a recent renovation.
01:38I brought in some more pedestal tables, a large plant, and the bar was upgraded with
01:44a pair of replicators.
01:46The shuttle bay, DP's second major update to this starship model.
01:51And the aforementioned starboard viewing room.
01:55Of these four rooms, the shuttle bay is the only space that never existed when Kevin Reilly
02:00released his original mesh.
02:02And this is why Innerspace 2 is kind of important.
02:06In this series, we are going inside an empty cavity and creating a new interior from scratch
02:12rather than redesigning an existing interior.
02:17With the holiday season fast approaching, I'm tasking myself and the DP community to
02:22wrap the next episode in time for Christmas.
02:26We've got about a month, so let's get busy.
02:31For this build, I've arbitrarily selected the starboard section of these mystery decks.
02:38We'll turn to the port side counterpart for the next Innerspace series.
02:43Thus, right off the bat, all your ideas and plans should be premised on the fact that
02:48we have two of these sections to play with.
02:51So, if your preferred room isn't realized here, there will be another opportunity.
02:59Now from this point on, things get complicated, but in a good way.
03:04First, our floor plan is potentially huge.
03:08You'll recall from Innerspace 1 that we were working within a space that was essentially
03:139 square meters, but this space begins with a generous floor width of 13 meters.
03:20Second, we are completely free to envision a space that is relatively narrow, or a 13
03:27by 13 square, or something quite deep, and anything in between.
03:32If you're random bystander, I think you just found your bowling alley.
03:39Now take all these floor plan options and multiply, because we also have three height
03:44options for this interior build.
03:46Yep, there's nothing stopping you now from suggesting an expanded recreation deck like
03:52the one on the Enterprise.
03:54My understanding of the saucer design on these starships is that they comprise two decks
03:59of interiors along the edge.
04:02Now it's true that the movies and television series established interiors that were often
04:07physically incompatible with the exterior models, but using our 1.75 meter reference
04:15human, we can see it's perfectly reasonable to imagine two decks here, each with 3 meter
04:21high ceilings.
04:22Switching back to the USS Phobos, the situation changes a bit, because now we have this vertical
04:28extension to the standard saucer.
04:31As you can see, it's not quite enough for a third deck.
04:34However, if we are willing to accept 2.5 meter decks, then we can rethink this space as functioning
04:41as an isolated third deck at the rear of the saucer.
04:48The last issue I want to address is the windows.
04:51Don't let the existing windows constrain your imagination.
04:54We can remove windows, we can add windows, and we can resize windows.
04:59Remember that the Enterprise uses larger windows for its recreation deck.
05:05In fact, when I think about windows, I'm imagining some type of skyview window on top, and I
05:11wonder if this is where we should be thinking about an arboretum.
05:15Don't you think it's a much better space for tall trees and a walking path?
05:19If I were to build the ship's arboretum here, I think I would go with two decks.
05:25A completely different idea, one premised on a single deck construction, is a dedicated
05:30wing of VIP quarters.
05:33In this case, I'm imagining a corridor leading to a few suites for dignitaries and alien
05:40guests.
05:43We've been thinking about this new build at the DP Patreon site.
05:47Here is a list of some early ideas as we move forward to Episode 2.
05:54An arboretum.
05:56A dining hall.
05:59Five-back lounge.
06:00This would be a recreation space like TNG's Ten Forward, but possibly multi-deck.
06:07A gymnasium.
06:10A recreation deck.
06:12VIP suites.
06:15Now it's your turn, as I don't want to bias your creativity too much.
06:19Give it some careful thought, and share your ideas with the community.
06:23The one thing I do want to emphasize is to also consider the type of vessel we're working on.
06:29Frigate starships tend to be mission-based, not exploration-based, so this fact should
06:35be brought to bear when you're thinking about interior facilities.
06:39In the next episode, I'll announce the final build plans and begin blocking out the new interior.
06:46Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving in advance.
06:48Until next time, this is Antimatter.