Sorry, I came in late.
Spoilers Starship Design in Star Trek: Picard
- Thread starter pst
- Start date
Let's get back to talking about StarShip designs in ST:PIC.
Is anybody else happy that they finally are portraying phasers animating at the correct speeds?
The TNG Technical Manual states that Phasers travel at the Speed of Light.
The first ST show that I noticed to portray it correctly was Lower Decks when Riker came in to save the day like the Big Damn Heroes that he and the USS Titan crew are.
Then ST:PIC portrays the phasers correctly in the big Borg Assimilated Frontier Day fleet vs Earth SpaceDock.
Hopefully they continue doing that moving forward.
Is anybody else happy that they finally are portraying phasers animating at the correct speeds?
The TNG Technical Manual states that Phasers travel at the Speed of Light.
The first ST show that I noticed to portray it correctly was Lower Decks when Riker came in to save the day like the Big Damn Heroes that he and the USS Titan crew are.
Then ST:PIC portrays the phasers correctly in the big Borg Assimilated Frontier Day fleet vs Earth SpaceDock.
Hopefully they continue doing that moving forward.
Okay, let's try this again...
To matters involving the thread title, this topic is not fresh, but I want to mention how I like the black highlights on 25th century successor ship classes in Star Trek Online. I do wish the Star Trek: Picard series had given us closer-up isolated views of the Reliant-class, Sutherland-class, and Gagarin-class.
These three cases especially appeal to me for being logistically written well in PIC in spite of how often STO ends up overusing related trademarks too close together (e.g. Talvath-class and R'Mor-class). The Reliant (NCC-1864) was destroyed in 2285, the Sutherland (NCC-72015) could easily have been retired since last appearing to the audience in 2374, and the Gagarin (NCC-1309) was destroyed in 2257, making 2401 a good time for these lead ships to be (relatively?) new off the drydocks.
I know that some people really hate the white and black scheme of STO starships, but I think it gives Trek ships a more distinctive look, IMO. Gray or battleship gray spaceships have been done to death by most sci-fi franchises, including Trek, so the STO scheme is doing something a little different.
I agree with this somewhat but I also have to point out that every starship has been derivative of the original Enterprise NCC-1701 and there's only so much you can do with a circle and three tubes until it doesn't look like a Star Trek ship anymore. TNG did it best. It resembled the original just enough that you could still call it a Federation Ship. I am too young to have seen it as it was first shown in 87 but I think most people must have been shocked at how different/advanced it looks compared to the Connie. The Disco ships aesthetic is too far removed from the original for my taste. Ships like the Steamrunner whilst very cool are only really recognisable as Star Trek ships by the red bussards and blue plasma glow on the nacelles, oh and the bridge module that is almost always at the top of the ship. I actually really like the Odyssey Class even though some people thing it's fugly. So what if its based on previous ships? Real life hardware is based on what came before it otherwise how could we advance technologically. Yeah the creative teams at Paramount might need some fresh creative juices but at least what we got was recognisable.
You mean Saucer Section, StarDrive Section, & Warp Nacelles; right?
I love the curvacious look of the Galaxy-class, it makes the TOS Connie look like it has Bulimia.
The Galaxy-class was special IMO, it's design was artistically beautiful while the TOS Connie was "Functional", but not "Functional & Artistic" if you know what I mean.
DISCO felt like Retro-Futurism with a StarFleet Aesthetic.
Back when US WarShips had thick armor, DISCO felt like that kind of throw-back, but with a Sci-Fi Future Retro look.
While iconic, I don't always agree with those design rules.
Bridge being on top of the ship? Dumb Idea IMO, but that's a different discussion. The Bridge should be buried in deep into the saucer somewhere.
Red Bussards aren't as nice looking as the TOS Orange Bussards, we should go back to Orange Bussards.
Blue Plasma glow is fine for the Warp Nacelles.
I actually really like the Odyssey Class, I just wish the neck gap was filled in, that's all. Otherwise it's fine.
The modern Ford Mustang is based off the old 1960's & 1970's Mustang design with some modernization.
I'm not surprised that StarFleet went Retro-Future with the Neo Constitution class AKA Constitution Mk.3 class.
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Yeah I could have added 'support pylons' or any other individual design element but I was purposely using overly simplistic terms of identification to convey a point. I am not nitpicking I also said that there needs to be some more out of the box ideas for starships and additionally we could see some more experimentation with design concepts instead of just looking at pictures of previous classes and thinking "like that, but cooler!" like STO seems to do. I'm not taking a side.
I think that the only reason that a majority of new STO ships are based off existing canon designs is because those sell more than completely original designs.
Everything is based off metrics, I'm guessing their metrics show players buy/use canon ships more than original STO designs.
Everything is based off metrics, I'm guessing their metrics show players buy/use canon ships more than original STO designs.
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The E-D's interior design choices were just as bold as the exterior. Before TNG we only had a handful of ships from the TOS era to draw from not including the movies. The Galaxy Class completely changed the Star Trek Aesthetic and perfectly represented the in-universe era and political state of the Federation. I think Star Trek is too iconic a franchise to be lazy with the visual elements of a ship otherwise we fall into generic Sci fi territory. I want more interior creative freedom on Federation Ships not just exterior. I personally found the bridge of the Titan A to be a little boring. Star Trek doesn't need to play it safe anymore. Half the fandom obsesses over the early era of Trek and that's fine but some people refute and modern Trek just because it's not exactly the same as what came before and that's just lame and narrow minded. After saying our final goodbyes to the TNG crew we can move away from homages and visual tips of the hat to previous iterations of the Franchise and see a true new era of Trek that still provides fantastic storytelling and social commentary.
I actually have no qualms with DISCO's floating Warp Nacelles.
There's some functional logic to it, but there are some down-sides as well.
Detached Floating Warp Nacelles and/or individualized floating sections:
PRO(s):
+ If your Warp Nacelle gets damaged or destroyed while floating next to or neear your ship, you can probably ask for a battle field replacement and your support logistics fleet can have a giant reserve of extra Warp Nacelles for your class.
+ Any Damage to the Warp Nacelle that is detached will likely not cause EPS feed back pressure that could harm your StarDrive & Warp Core, if it's gone, it's gone. No back pressure along the EPS lines that can cause a Warp Core Breach.
+ Lower Mass of the Main Ship's Core, which in turn allows more manueverability for same thrust or less fuel consumption for the same speed at STL for the Warp Nacelles & rest of the ship.
CON(s):
- You need to replicate the STL Propulsion Systems onto your Warp Nacelles along with small computer system & sensors along with individual shielding should it be detached far away.
- Floating autonomous Warp Nacelles adds more complexity to the fundamental Warp Nacelle design, along with making it easier to hack if you don't have your IT Security done correctly. You need to replicate alot of basic systems.
- Depending on if you need the Warp Nacelles to re-attach to the main StarDrive section for going FTL and feeding the massive amounts of EPS to power the Warp Nacelles like the Discovery-A, you might not need to replicate the entire Warp Core System onto the Detached Nacelles
- If you plan to have the Warp Nacelles operate as a stand-alone unit, then you can just shove a mini Warp Core into it and give it a small amount of fuel and only reconnect to refuel that small amount of fuel necessary for operation for a short period of time, IRL in-flight refueling has been a thing in the USAF and USN for quite some time. You don't need to have massive fuel reserves stashed on board a individually floating Warp Nacelle if it has it's own mini Warp Core. Attach for a short period to refuel, then detach to let it operate for a reasonable amount of time before needing to re-fuel.
I want brighter lighting and more color and visual complexity, the modern shows have Bridges & Interiors that are too dark and muted in color palletes.
We also need to bring back carpeting, that home/luxury hotel feel was great IMO!
Bare metal decks feel cold and not like a home IMO.
TNG was nice, bright, & vibrant. But kind of bland on color palletes with a limited depth of choices
Oh nah I actually love the detached Nacelles of 32nd century Disco ships that was bad ass. Having the nacelle not be connected to the rest of the ship is a lot bloody safer in an emergency warp core failure.
I don't know why anyone talks so much smack on the E-J either. That thing is sleeeeek
Depends on where you put your Warp Core, if it's in the Warp Nacelles, then yeah; I can see that.
But if you have multiple Warp Cores where everything is floating individually.
Saucer Section Warp Core
StarDrive Section Warp Core
Warp Nacelles Warp Core.
You're just creating seperate issues to resolve.
But that also gives your ship ALOT of frigging energy for Offense/Defense.
Remember 1x Mini Warp Core Powered the Defiant-class.
Imagine how much more Power you could have if you replicated that system across multiple parts of the ship.
If you can't cheat your way in a battle against an opponent to have a unfair advantage. Then it's a War of Attrition.
Just look at the Scimitar vs the Enterprise-E and 2x Valdore-type WarBirds.
See the benefits of having multiple Large Reactors and what it does for you.
You have enough power to Go to Warp, While Cloaked, and Fire while Cloaked at Warp Speeds.
You can Battle while fully cloaked and shielded. Those are HUGE advantages.
Imagine what StarFleet could do if they allowed multiple Warp Cores and larger ships / fuel supplies on each ship.
I love the Enterprise-J, but it's not "Perfect".I don't know why anyone talks so much smack on the E-J either. That thing is sleeeeek
It's a incomplete design draft.
There's a few things I would mix that with.
The Congo Class is almost there.
But mixing the existing Enterprise-J with the Congo Class would be perfect IMO.
There are some design elements I want from both to be merged together to be the perfect class of it's type.
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Guys it's that time of year again to start writing your Christmas lists of starships you wish were canon but aren't. I'll go first
The Chariot Class. This thing looks wild.
The Chariot Class. This thing looks wild.
That's no ship...it's a space station.
Guys it's that time of year again to start writing your Christmas lists of starships you wish were canon but aren't. I'll go first
The Chariot Class. This thing looks wild.
Funny, in my Head Canon, I use a heavily modified version of the Chariot Class design to serve as a "Improvised Mobile Space Station" for Ground Forces who need to secure areas Planet Side.
So yeah, it's entire existence is to act as mobile StarBase to provide logistics support for entire Ground Armies.
I'll forever remain fond of this design that came outta the design contest for the Enterprise-F. I love the retro styling of the neck and long, swept back pylons and nacelles. It looks like an Enterprise.
That's no moon... Oh beg your pardon wrong franchise.
Why? The warp core is still in the ship's main hull and that's the part that goes boom. I find the detached nacelles annoying because they're poorly explained and inconsistently applied (in season three they need to reattach for the ship to go to warp – a critical plot point in the season finale in fact – and in season four they don't). I'd like the ships having multiple free-floating components if it meant they moved like a mini fleet and reformed and recombined in interesting ways depending on the situation, but the only vessel we see do this is Book's ship – every other ship just moves like a static collection of parts that might as well be bolted together.
I'll forever remain fond of this design that came outta the design contest for the Enterprise-F. I love the retro styling of the neck and long, swept back pylons and nacelles. It looks like an Enterprise.
Agreed, this is the only post-Sovereign design I've ever seen, canon or otherwise, that screams "Enterprise" to me. Including the Odyssey-class. This should have been the F.
They don't?
