Starship design in Star Trek

[Gingerbread Demon]

Just seems the only odd designs for ships we get are in spin off shows like Picard, the La Sirena was a neat design overall and different to the usual Trek designs.

Why is Star Trek bound by so many rules and we can't have really different exotic ship designs?

 

[Citiprime]

I thought the later years of Voyager had some odd/weird ship designs, where they let the CGI go in different directions. Overall, you're right. Most of the designs stick to a basic layout. I think they do that because the design language makes it easy for the audience to understand what's happening. If you watch enough Star Trek, you know that an explosion on a ship's nacelle probably means the warp drive is not gonna work for a while. Where if you make the design too weird, then the audience is either wondering what's going on or you have to do an exposition dump where you explain that the weird green blob moving towards the Enterprise was fired by the alien's technobabble launcher that is a technobabble technobabble.

Vger is probably the weirdest design Star Trek has ever done. You definitely get a sense of scale with it, and the Enterprise looks so dwarfed inside it.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

The V'Ger ship was the most unique thing Trek has ever done as far as ships goes. It truly was massive in scale.

 

[Tuskin38]

The Klingon Bird of Prey didn’t really look anything like any previous starship in the franchise. No obvious nacelles on it either.

The Miradorn raider from DS9
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Theta_class_(starship)

And don’t forget about the asymmetrical Breen Ships
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Breen_interceptor

 

[publiusr]

In TOS, you get a sense of woodworking...nice scallops that gave us D-7 and Enterprise. Shapes that were pared down---as opposed to simple shapes greebled up as in Star Wars.

CGI will allow wilder designs.

 

[1001001]

Moving to Trek Tech. That's where starship stuff usually goes.

 

[Shawnster]

Even in TOS there were some interesting designs that did not fit the standard mold. The Woden (Botany Bay model) did not have nacelle. The Tholian ship, likewise, had no visible propulsion. Of course, the Fesarius is the grandaddy of unique ships, both mothership and smaller craft.

TNG era we also have Cardassian ships with warp engines integrated into the main hull.

 

[blssdwlf]

Also Mudd's Class J was like the Jupiter from Lost in Space in shape but upside down. Plus the Doomsday Machine and First Federation cube.

 

[BK613]

The three 'blades' of the Tholian Dart could have been its nacelles with the stretch hexagonal prism in the center as the crewed part.

 

[publiusr]

That whole ship could have been a dilithium crystal.

Starfleet uses metal ships with crystals at the center--maybe the Tholians stood that on its head.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Besides ships what about other things, I mean in the 24th century and beyond what about ships and underwater craft, how much more advanced can they possibly get?

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Besides ships what about other things, I mean in the 24th century and beyond what about ships and underwater craft, how much more advanced can they possibly get?

There are literal Aquatic based Aliens in the Delta Quadrant whose StarShips pop out oof the ocean and meet Voyager.

So StarShips that can travel Under Water.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

There are literal Aquatic based Aliens in the Delta Quadrant whose StarShips pop out oof the ocean and meet Voyager.

So StarShips that can travel Under Water.

That would actually be pretty kickass to see if the Federation could get or make those.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

That would actually be pretty kickass to see if the Federation could get or make those.

We saw the Kelvin-verse USS Enterprise pop out of the ocean.

Spoiler: Kelvin USS Enterprise pops out of the ocean

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[Gingerbread Demon]

We saw the Kelvin-verse USS Enterprise pop out of the ocean.

Spoiler: Kelvin USS Enterprise pops out of the ocean

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Yes we did my favourite of the Kelvin movies Beyond strong second place

 

[Ithekro]

One wonders...how will that civilization look like when it is allowed to make first contact with whomever in the future holds the position of the United Federation of Planets.

Though that is likely many thousands of years down the road.

 

[publiusr]

I have a feeling we are the Preservers, with homo sapiens doing Pohl's MAN+PLUS into something like the Xindi.

 

[Dukhat]

That whole ship could have been a dilithium crystal.

Starfleet uses metal ships with crystals at the center--maybe the Tholians stood that on its head.

That was the beauty of the original design. It was so simplistic and geometrical without a bunch of unnecessary greebles and lights that TOS-R decided that it needed for no real good reason other than to compare it to the ENT version, which was also too overly-designed.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I have a feeling we are the Preservers, with homo sapiens doing Pohl's MAN+PLUS into something like the Xindi.

Uuum ok........

 

[drt]

Vger is probably the weirdest design Star Trek has ever done. You definitely get a sense of scale with it, and the Enterprise looks so dwarfed inside it.

I actually like how in the theatrical version there's never a clear shot of V'ger in its entirety, which helps reinforce a vast and unknowable nature.

The Klingon Bird of Prey didn’t really look anything like any previous starship in the franchise. No obvious nacelles on it either.

I kind of wish they'd left the Romulans as ST3 villains, as using that model for the Klingons has caused the unfortunate follow on effect that we have two spacefaring races that use greenish-colored bird-like designs. I would have preferred that remain a Romulan design cue, while the Klingons had their own thing based more on the D7 design stylings (which now that I think about it, is the route FASA took back in the day).