Own an Oculus Rift? Get excited.
Anyone who grew up with Star Trek has had the same fantasy: stepping aboard the Enterprise. It didn’t matter which one necessarily (okay, maybe not the B or C), but we’ve all wanted to visit the bridges of those majestic ships and feel transported to another time and place.
Well, someone realizes VR was becoming a thing and decided to make that fantasy a reality with the Enterprise-D Construction Project.
What is the Enterprise-D Construction Project?
It’s a reconstruction of the ship from Star Trek: The Next Generation in the Unreal Game engine you can move around and interact with. The exterior is about 80% done and the work is progressing on the interiors. They currently have the top parts of the saucer section down but are working on creating the decks below the shuttle bay.
How close is it a recreation of the sets from the show?
The graphical fidelity is great and really captures the 90s aesthetic of the show. Check out this video:
https://vimeo.com/139922946
As for the details… well, they’re pretty darn close for the most part. Some aspects of the recreation are amazing. The exterior of the ship is dead on and has the benefit of some truly lovely lighting. The bridge in particular is also painstakingly detailed, complete with voices of the command crew popping up when you visit their stations.
However, there are some details the creator added that aren’t present in the show. For example, the shuttle bay is absolutely massive… which actually is pretty cool. Obviously, the original show didn’t have much in the way of budget, so their shuttle bay felt very confined so this new one feels like a set we never saw.
Some “changes” are a little less welcome. The biggest change is the use of staircases to get between decks in the virtual tour. We’re pretty sure we never once saw stairs on the Enterprise-D (let us know if we’re mistaken there, guys). The description says there are turbolifts, however. Ten Forward is also a little more cramped than how it seemed on the show, assuming the main lounge really is Ten Forward. However, it’s worth noting that the designer working off the blueprints for ship… so there simply might be some areas in those that never made it to air. It makes the whole thing more exciting, when you think about it.
One room they absolutely nailed, however, is the Captain’s ready room. All the ship models and artifacts are pitch perfect. The painting of the Enterprise above the couch looks amazing. They even managed to get Picard’s fish tank in there.
Oh, and the most shocking thing you’ll find? A bathroom next to the bridge.
Is it worth checking out?
Absolutely. While it’s not perfect, it’s also worth keeping in mind that this is very much a work in progress. Recent planned additions include crew quarters, laboratories, and the arboretum.
Once this is done… we can’t wait to see someone do this with the original Enterprise.
