READER'S LETTERS ------------------ Well, after last issue's flood of letters, we're back to just three! Well, maybe they'll pick up now more people are starting to hear of TFF. Enough of this time-wasting, on with the letters! --------------------------------- Philip Morley Fleetwood Lancs England Dear Simon, I have just finished reading the disk-mag, The Final Frontier, and so I decided to write to you to congratulate you on such a brilliant magazine - probably the best I have ever seen. Anyway, I was wondering, is it possible to print out any of the illustrations in the mag? I am asking for your permission - not to distribute them in any way, but merely for my own pleasure. I have printed out a couple by loading them from Deluxe Paint III, but I would really like the Tobias Richter ones called "Starbase" , and "TNG Bridge". I would be so grateful if you would tell me if this is possible or not. Thanks, Live Long And Prosper, Philip Morley Thanks for the letter - I'm glad you like the mag! Getting to the point, we have no real objections to anyone printing out photos/art/articles etc. from THE FINAL FRONTIER as long as it is ONLY for personal use and it is not passed on to anyone. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I presume the art you were able to print were some of the stills from the animation on Issue 1. All of the remainder of the art in the magazine is converted into executable files and then compressed with Imploder. This way, we can fit more art on to each issue and we don't need to waste valuable disk space including an IFF viewer. Obviously, as the art is not in IFF format, you won't be able to load any of it into DPaint, or any other art package. The only way you'll be able to print the art out is to use a graphics-ripper, such as the one built in to Action Replay to rip the pictures from memory so they can then be loaded into a suitable paint package and printed out. I know this may sound awkward, but believe me, it's far better than for us to feature the art on the mag in IFF format - we'd need to use at least 6 disk per issue that way!!! Simon Dear Mr. Gunn I've been searching for a couple of books with little, let's be more accurate, no success, these are DESIGNING TOMORROW: A CONCEPTUAL ARTISTS VIEW OF STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and RETURN TO TOMORROW: THE FILMING OF STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE. Any information you may have would be gratefully appreciated. Yours sincerely S. Gerrans Firstly the names Colin. Mr. Gunn sounds so formal. O.k to answer your questions, the two books have been put on indefinate hold by the publishers. However RETURN TO TOMORROW should be being released during the next few months. To help readers like yourself in getting the more obscure items/book I urge you to read my regular column LETS SEE WHAT'S OUT THERE for an address to write to. Colin Matthew Dean, Bucks, ENGLAND Dear Mr Plumbe, I have just purchased (yes, it's taken me this long!!) Issue one of The Final Frontier disk magazine, and I really had to write to you to express my gratitude for a fantastic magazine! I especially liked the trivia section and the reviews, and may I take this opportunity to congratulate Tobias Richter for all of the work he does for us Trekkies. Speaking on behalf of a lot of us Star Trek fans in PD land, I think you will agree this chap has really thrown new light onto Star Trek, and his name rarely fails to come up in conversations! Being an avid Trekkie myself, I thought I would write to you to offer my services, if you so require them. I am a prolific collector of Star Trek video tapes and books, and I would be more than happy to review them. One query, could you advise me of where I could get an official Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform from? I have recently purchased a slightly less than perfect replica, which, apart from not having an elastic "belt", or metal rank pips, has not got the black band down each side. It also has a rather crude silk screened insignia on it. I have heard from American sources that official uniforms, actually seen in the show, can be purchased at conventions there, but I cannot get any further information. You are my last hope of completing my quest for an official uniform!! (And a long and illustrious quest it is too. It is more important to me than the Tox-u-tat was to Vash!!!) Yours faithfully, Matthew Dean As Colin said in the reply to his letter, the name is Simon!! I really hate being called "Mr Plumbe" -- it's too damn formal! Okay, now that's over with, thanks for the kind comments on the mag. I can't agree with you enough about Tobias -- I've been a fan of his work for years and I think he is one of the reasons the Amiga is so popular. I know people who have purchased Amigas based on seeing his slideshows and animations alone. Thanks for the offer of work -- we can always use extra writers etc! As you can see, I've included the reviews you sent in this issue. Finally, your search for a uniform. As far as official uniforms are concerned, there are no "official" TNG uniforms available that I know of -- what you probably heard about were ex-Paramount stock and they are VERY expensive! To put it into perspective, each uniform used on The Next Generation costs on excess of $3,000 to manufacture!!! Now, when you consider that the studio has 200 such uniforms, it costs quite a bit! The best thing you can do is to either buy the official uniform patterns by Simplicity (these should be available from most good dealers -- if you have trouble, try contacting Fantasy World - their address can be found in this issue's "Let's See What's Out There". Failing that, there are a number of fans who actually make uniforms to order and if you are going to buy one, this is the best way to do it as you'll get one that fits perfectly! One person I would recommend is Maureen Rowley at 36 Kingscote Close, Church Hill, Redditch, Worcs, B98 9JL, ENGLAND (don't forget to say that Simon Plumbe from THE FINAL FRONTIER sent you!). Happy hunting! However, wherever you get it from, don't expect change from £80 for a FULL uniform complete with communicator and rank pips. Simon --------------------------------- Send your letters about the mag, or anything to do with TREK or TNG to: The Final Frontier - Letters c/o Simon Plumbe 14 Rousdon Grove Great Barr Birmingham B43 5HN ENGLAND