TF01
3,Q and A
4,by Simon Plumbe

Only a few questions  this  time,  but  please  keep sending them in.
Alternatively, give us a ring on 0860 948296 (please note - this is a
mobile phone), tell us your question and we'll feature it in the next
issue.


Q. Why are TNG seasons 1-3 so slow sound-wise? The characters' voices
   are very deep and slow, which  gets  on your nerves after watching
   any season 4-7 episodes.

A. The difference in the sound  that  you  are  hearing is due to the
   methods used  by  Paramount  when  converting  the  episdoes  from
   videotape to either PAL or NTSC.  For the first three seasons, the
   system used while adequate  did  fall  down  somewhat  in terms of
   picture quality on the finished cassettes. For season 4, Paramount
   started using a new system  of  converting from their master tapes
   which drastically improved both the  sound and picture quality (as
   I'm sure you've noticed).

   However, this  was  not  without  any  side-effects  and  the  new
   conversion process resulted in slight changes in the playing speed
   of the tapes. The actual speed difference for UK cassettes is only
   an increase of 3% (resulting in higher pitched voices), but it can
   be quite noticeable  when  you  compare  latter  tapes  with early
   episodes. If it's any consolation though,  we're not the only ones
   affected by this in the UK  -  while  the PAL tapes run 3% faster,
   the US versions run 3% SLOWER than normal so the REAL speed of the
   episodes is roughly somewhere between the two.

Q. When did we first see Picard's love for Earl Grey Tea?

A. This wasn't seen until the  season two story "Contagion", although
   personally I can't stand the stuff! Incidentally, this episode was
   also the first to highlight Picard's enthusiasm for archaeology.

Q. What is McCoy's middle name?

A. It's never actually been said on  screen, although we do know that
   the initial is H. However,  it  isn't  his  father's first name as
   this was stated as being David in Star Trek III.

Q. A friend of mine has a PC  and  has asked me if The Final Frontier
   will ever be converted to it.

A. In a word, no! For  a  PC  to  run  the  sort of features that are
   common to TFF (music, 4096  colour  graphics,  1MB + of compressed
   text on every issue and much more - all running concurrently), the
   system requirements on a PC would be  too great. Also, there is NO
   "standard" PC whereas TFF  will  run  quite  happily on ANY Amiga.
   There are too many PC configurations around to make it feasible to
   check to see if it works properly  and  the time needed to write a
   custom written menu system (the only  way  you would see the text,
   graphics and sound in a PC version)  would be too much of a strain
   on our resources. We don't do this  for profit, you know - this is
   just a hobby!!

   Also, as you are probably  aware,  Paramount can get rather touchy
   when it comes to Trek  merchandise  and  although we are a FANZINE
   and not really computer software,  Paramount  wouldn't see it that
   way and a PC version increases the likelyhood of Paramount getting
   hold of it 100 times over! It's not worth the risk!

   Finally, we are planning to release versions of TFF on other forms
   of media (paper, audio  etc.)  and  I  feel  it  is better to just
   release one version per form of  media.  In other words, the Amiga
   version will be the ONLY disk  zine,  the audio version will be on
   cassette (with NO CD version planned)  and  if we ever did a video
   version, that too would only be released on one format.