Originally posted by Lochlaber:
I like the last rendering the best for what I would use as a crew cabin, i.e. double occupancy. About the only reason I could see that you would want to keep that 2.75 meter headroom is to allow for the bunkbeds. It might be nice to have that much extra headroom but it is expensive as far as the cubage would go. I would use this extra room to create a more comfortable fresher unit. Remember, small size really means that the room will only be used for sleeping and a place to get away from everybody else for a short time.
The worry about the wear and tear on fold-up furniture, etc., isn't something to worry about. Maintainence is called for in all the versions of the game and why should this maintainence not include keeping the ship fixtures in good shape. After all, the engineers can replace fusion power plants in a very short time but a broken gymbal, hinge or pipe, would result in chaos on ship because they couldn't fix it?
Nor are the main bulkheads reconfigurable, which is where the built-in fixtures would be. If you want them to be, it would be much more expensive in both weight and cost more than fixed bulkheads, since the supports into which these reconfigurable walls would fit, because the ship's structural integrity can't be dependent upon somebody deciding to move a wall at the wrong time.
Nor are these bulkhead walls thin partitions, like office cubicles. Nobody paying even middle passage, is going to want to be forced to listen to somebody using the facitilies in the next cabin. Most hotels/motels today generally have their bathrooms up against corridors and/or each other, minimizing sound. The latter also allows the facilities to share pipes for water/sewage.
In addition, the electronics being built into the bulkheads would provide additional physical security for the passenger terminals. The thought that simply putting a terminal in a cabin would result in serious security problems is ridiculous. The room is already wired into the main computer for such things as water, power, atmosphere, fire and even steward assistance.
Since every version of the game has included what in essence are limiltless wall screens, simply being painted onto walls, why not in a spaceship. With every wall space possible covered in this manner, you could simply put a scenery disk into a player and be surrounded by sun kissed plains, a lake filled with pretty young things or even deep space for those who liked such a view. At the very least, these painted viewers could take the place of physical computer monitors.
