Designing A Trek Ship

[Crazy Eddie]

Tachyon, you're not going to win this one, because bigger people than you have tried. Fanboi/ubership designs appeal to the lowest common demoninator of Trek fanon, but they are fundamentally problematic because 1) you have to dumb them back down to "mortal" status in order to write a remotely interesting story around them and 2) you have to invent some kind of bullshit reason why your fanboi ship can't be mass produced, for the same reason as the first: a Starfleet equipped with these uberships would negate almost any story idea imaginable.

So you could design a starship with Future Janeway's batman armor, transphasic torpedoes, quantum phasers, interphase cloak, slipstream drive, etc etc ad nauseum. The instant you try to put this ship into a STORY, however, one of two things happen: you either degenerate into power-ranger heroism, or you're forced to invent a whole stack of ridiculous things your ubership has to do but can't for dramatic effect.

The more realistic scenario is to focus on what a ship is designed to do, give it capabilities the enable it to do this, and then put it in a situation where those capabilities serve as useful but far-from-omnipotent tools for the CHARACTERS. This is the difference between:

Lieutenant Fanboi: Bwahahahaha! Your quantum torpedoes are useless against my interphasic cosmic string shields!

and

Sulu <amazed>: The new screens held! Thank God!

 

[Birdog]

You have no understanding of the subject at hand at all.

No, you don't understand at all.

I don't even think you understand what efficiency means. The Galaxy is grossly inefficient at moving cargo because it has things totally unrelated to moving cargo(labs, excess crew, weapons, superstructure, etc.) that it must tout around in addition to the cargo. It's highly inefficient at combat because it's a massive target that does not maneuver very well.

It's mere existence is inefficient because of the sheer amount of resources it takes to build one not to mention time when you could have a dozen smaller specialist for the same cost. This whole thread is sheer fanboism.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

I might as well just hit my head against a brick wall, there's just no getting through to some people. It's ridiculous.

 

[Birdog]

I might as well just hit my head against a brick wall, there's just no getting through to some people. It's ridiculous.

I know the feeling.

 

[USS Triumphant]

You're assuming the jack of all trades doesn't have the same level of expertise as the so called specialist.

He's assuming that because it is prima facie. A person has a limited amount of time, which can either be spread in smaller portions across many fields of study, or lumped on one or a very few.

By the time of the 24th century time and resources do not matter, the Feds can design whatever they want and build whatever they want they have NO limitations.

That's just silly. Completely aside from how utterly impossible that is, you really don't seem to get how conflict and drama work to entertain. Go look upthread at my Incorrigible, again. Yes, I was being facetious, but I had a point, too. God mode isn't fun for very long.

I really really hate it when people overlook the simplest most straight forward explanations, it makes my blood boil. How can people be so thick?

Pot, meet kettle.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

He's assuming that because it is prima facie. A person has a limited amount of time, which can either be spread in smaller portions across many fields of study, or lumped on one or a very few.

We are talking about starships here not people, I was trying to link his analogy to what we are discussing here, can you not understand something that simple? What does people and their time to study have to do with talking about a jack of all trades Starship?? Come on for goodness sake.

That's just silly. Completely aside from how utterly impossible that is, you really don't seem to get how conflict and drama work to entertain. Go look upthread at my Incorrigible, again. Yes, I was being facetious, but I had a point, too. God mode isn't fun for very long.

What are you going on about. This is a thread asking you to design a Starship, i'm not a producer asking you to design a ship for a new Trek series. My God! what does "conflict and drama work to entertain" have to do with any of this?
I've asked you all to design a starship, just a bit of fun, do you all find that so damn difficult you've got to destroy a thread?

My whatthehellometer is off the scale here.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

I'm leaving this discussion, i've got more important things to do than argue stupidity. I can't believe i've given so much of my time to discussing things with you guys here. This entire uproar over this thread makes no sense and I don't think I even wanna try to comprehend why you people find the thread so difficult to fathom.

me = gone

Adios. Thread finished.

HOLY SNIT! Time to get back to the real world before I lose my marbles.

 

[sojourner]

Oh thank god he's gone! I can't believe someone could be that ignorant to all of the examples and analogies we tried to give him.

I really think this was just one long troll.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

I really think this was just one long troll.

yeh the entire thread was trolled by you lot.
You couldn't just come in play nice and design a ship you decided to rip the thread to shreds instead.
It's absolutely pathetic, it really is.

 

[USS Triumphant]

yeh the entire thread was trolled by you lot.
You couldn't just come in play nice and design a ship you decided to rip the thread to shreds instead.
It's absolutely pathetic, it really is.

I thought you were gone?

 

[sojourner]

Yeah, definitely trolling.

Well played sir, well played!

 

[hellsgate]

I've always thought the Intrepid-Class was a well-rounded little vessel.

My favorites have always been the mission-specific "Frankenstein / Mothball Fleet" types, such as the Poseidon or Lt. Kevin Riley's "Phobos-Class" (Loknar TMP-refit) or the Gabriel-Class / Amanda-Class tactical cruisers at Ship Schematics.

The Amun-Class (Prometheus-Class retrofit) at SciFi-Meshes.Com

 

[Tom Riley]

This thread makes me lol.

It starts with the OP being a bit of a dick to everyone, then turns around into everyone popping up and attacking the OP.

While I have to most definitely agree, this is totally just a fanboi thread, however... I guess there's really no harm in him having himself a fanboi thread, if you wanted a more realistic design-a-ship thread then go make one.



That being said, If I were to have my own ship, I'd want something rather good in a fight, but still of decent size to be impressive looking, and comfortable. I'm not going to go to the trouble of making this too detailed, just that if I were to design a ship I'd go for something similar to a sovereign class ship. I'd probably skimp on the sciences because a basic level of scientific capability would please me just fine. I would want a pretty good sickbay and other medical related stuff however...

 

[sojourner]

Yea, the OP's request was akin to someone asking a bunch of automobile designers to build "the perfect car", then not being able to comprehend what they wanted when the designers asked him "perfect at what?". We tried to make the question clear, but he just couldn't understand what we were asking.

Everyone ended up getting frustrated.

 

[Kross]

I think that's how the Gremlin was designed.

Edit: So that's who created the Phobos! Love that ship.

 

[hellsgate]

My intention is not to attack the original poster, but to simply say that a Borg-style mobile headquarters simply wouldn't be Starfleet.

I could see Starfleet Command deploying a small expedition group upon the discovery of feasibly-recoverable M.I.A. Federation citizens somewhere. We've got modest-sized modular carriers such as Captain Worf's Typhon-Class & the Akira-Class that might lead a long distance expedition.

I could see The Klingon Empire or Dominion building such a countermeasure, in the event of a "worst case scenario" but The Caeliar eliminated that necessity.

 

[Kross]

Plus exploring the Delta Quadrant in a ship resembling a Borg vessel is not a great way to start a first contact.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Yea, the OP's request was akin to someone asking a bunch of automobile designers to build "the perfect car", then not being able to comprehend what they wanted when the designers asked him "perfect at what?". We tried to make the question clear, but he just couldn't understand what we were asking.

Everyone ended up getting frustrated.

What you don't understand is that this is MY thread therefore MY definition of a perfect ship or most efficient ship is what should be used when designing it. You all asked me to be more specific with what I mean by most efficient and when I explained to you exactly what I meant you started crying about it.

The most efficient type of ship is one that can do everything. Now either design a ship under that definition or leave the thread. Simple as that and can't get any more simpler.

If you return to this thread and have no intention to design a ship, then the only reason you are continuing to come here is to Troll. You might be able to get away with that in TNZ but this aint TNZ.

My intention is not to attack the original poster, but to simply say that a Borg-style mobile headquarters simply wouldn't be Starfleet.

I said to design a Trek ship not a Starfleet Ship.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

The most efficient type of ship is one that can do everything. Now either design a ship under that definition or leave the thread. Simple as that and can't get any more simpler.

The most "efficient" ship then, in your definition, is a sphere. The shape means you can fit the most inside the mass, including everything you'll ever need.

So take a planet. It has virtually everything; people, buildings, meeting rooms, hospitals and so on. Just stick 20.000 engines to it and you're a go. Have fun.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

The most efficient type of ship is one that can do everything. Now either design a ship under that definition or leave the thread. Simple as that and can't get any more simpler.

The most "efficient" ship then, in your definition, is a sphere. The shape means you can fit the most inside the mass, including everything you'll ever need.

So take a planet. It has virtually everything; people, buildings, meeting rooms, hospitals and so on. Just stick 20.000 engines to it and you're a go. Have fun.

I also said to use what we've seen in Trek already. We've never seen someone stick engines on a planet and move it. That would be impossible anyway cos the minute it's out of view of a sun or stops spinning the population dies.

But if that's what you want your design to be then thanks for your design, it is duly noted. Thanks for joining in.

See, it isn't so difficult is it to just come in and make a design.