This piece of art was created 13 years old, that’s like hundreds of years in technology terms, however, when we talk about interactive, this piece of work encapsulates the best of what the multi-media hey days offers back then. This software and what it had achieved is still a formidable accomplishment by today’s standard.
I have a lot of difficulty trying to open this software with my desktop computer due to the different in age of the necessary hardware and software technologies required to operate it.
I have to salvage my laptop from the place of darkness and gnashing of teeth that still runs on Windows 98 in order to run this software “correctly” and even then, I still have some problems with the QuickTime VR.
The minute the software starts “operating”, I’m greeted by the UFP Logo and was soon flooded by the beautiful LCARS interface [Michael Okuda’s baby] and Computer voice [The beautiful voice of Majel Barrett] from the Star Trek universe. I am given options to be toured or to just go around on my own.
As an LCARS fan myself, it’s almost heartwarming seeing the state of LCARS as it is during the TNG era, the look and feel of LCARS had not yet settle down and there are so many experimental looks here and there on the ship and that somehow brings a smile to my face, it’s like seeing the birth of an “ideal” that I’m so accustomed to.
The amount of “media” would had mean little compared to the internet itself but still, it’s very impressive as a project, you have walk through environments, videos, photos, schematics, technical diagrams. I find the whole “Dither” look of the images due to limited color depth display abilities back then very chucky, and to think that to this day and age...Director still ask about the whole color depth thing when you import an image in it, it’s the small things about Director that makes me goes “wtf” at times…
What is impressive too is how they try to make the LCARS interface work by using it as the main interface for the delivery of all the information within.
Simon & Schuster [developer] did a very good job.
My description of this piece of art does not do justice to the amount of work that went into it. If you ever get your hands on this work, you’ll understand what I mean.
And how can I forget to mention that all this…is packaged using….MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR Yeh !!!!!
I’ll keep my eyes out for anything that Director still excels in today…
PS: The laptop that is used to run this software is so badly damaged that all its outputs are unusable, I have to use my camera to literally take screen shots of the LCD display screen. I think I did a very good job ! he he he
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