TirithRR wrote:
The Holodeck was not just holographic. It created matter, basically. And then used computer generated programs to make it do things. There were limits in place on the decks to ensure safety (pretty sure) and I think one or two episodes played with the safeties being removed. I can't remember any specifics, but I remember instances of the crew being surprised when they suffered damage while in the holodeck.
One of the movies(First Contact?) had Picard turn off the safeties on the Holodeck to use a tommy gun on a Borg.
Also, I was under the impression that Holodecks don't create matter so much as use force fields to simulate it. Edit:
Ah, it does both. Or at least, it used to do both.
Quote:
In the early 24th century, matter replication was primarily used for objects and characters that would be in direct contact with the occupants which gave them an extreme sense of realism. Water, for example, would feel like actual water because on some level, it was, and it could create experiences like odors. This also enabled simple matter to exist outside of the holodeck for brief periods of time (such as snow) before they would lose cohesion without the support of the holodeck grid and revert back to energy.
This, however, used an extreme amount of power, and caused repetitive problems to occur in its safe usage. Some time in the mid 24th century, this was slowly phased out in favor of simpler 'true' holographic technology by focusing on the photons contained within micro force fields. This was not only safer and used less power, but had more varied usage and could be easily controlled with quicker reaction times. Some would argue this made it lose its appeal, but advances in the technology has made it as real as the matter replication method, which is still used for more complex, tactile objects, as well as food, odors, etc.
Edited, Sep 16th 2014 12:00am by Poldaran