Question? What type of design ''would'' you all have liked to have seen as the NX-O1?
Early NX-01 designs at John Eaves' blog.
- Thread starter Gepard
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My only big problem with the NX was that it wasn't a new ship, which was very disappointing to me. Apparently they just ran out of time and had to use an old design. I was waiting to see some sweet new ship and...didn't happen.
The shuttlepods were pretty sweet though.
The shuttlepods were pretty sweet though.
There were also concept sketches for TMP with the saucer being separated, IIRC, a sequence that was never incorporated into the final film.
OT, the first design probably wouldn't be my first choice either but it is interesting.
Soo...the ''continuity fascists'' woulden't be happy with Anything unless it looked like Flash Gordon ''or'' Captian Proton?
The problem is summed up in Eaves' post right there: there was no directive or vision from the higher-ups on what they wanted at all. I like Eaves' work, but he definitely has a style that he doesn't seem to vary no matter what Trek time period he's working on. Without any instructions on what he should or shouldn't do, he sketched up some cool looking Trek ships that looked like all the other Trek ships he'd done, and they were of course totally wrong for the period. It needn't look like "flash Gordon," but it shouldn't look like the 24th century either.
You just have to head over to the ex-astris-scientia website...
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/enterprise_design_comment.htm
There the author, Bernd Schneider, not only comments on how disappointing the design of the NX-01 is (it sounds very similar to the stuff you get to read on the Star Trek XI threads), but also offers glimpses on a couple of designs he would have preferred to see in ENT...
I've just written a post in the 'My Enterprise' thread that I realized summed up my feelings about the ship on 'Enterprise.'
I don't so much mind the concept of the design of the ship that we got - in fact, I've grown from an initial reaction of
to actually like it, and based on what Doug Drexler has said we're very lucky it wasn't a literal copy of the Akira design. Poor Mr. Drexler is a talented man who was much maligned by many posters on this forum who did not recognize the incredible constraints he was under when he designed that ship, myself included.
What annoyed me about the design was that the ship basically seemed able to do most of the things that her later counterparts could. Sure, there weren't tractor beams and we instead had that nifty grappler, we had the theoretically different 'phase cannons' rather than 'phasers' and the actually interesting 'spatial torpedoes' which gave way to the moronic 'photonic torpedoes.' 'Hull plating' decreased in percentages the same way energy shields did. The ship was supposedly slower, yet didn't really seem to have a problem going to some of the same places the TNG ship in particular did. They had a transporter which was said to be 'dangerous' yet worked all but, what, one? of the times they need it to. It was like they didn't know how to break away from the TNG-onward style of storytelling.
One of the things I've always liked so much about TOS was that their actual capabilities, compared to the other series, didn't seemed to be tied to much to the abilities of the ship, as to the abilities of the crew - their ingenuity, their bravery, and their dedication. I'm not saying the other series didn't have this, but I feel like the technology became something of a crutch for storytelling as the franchise progressed. That was something I was frankly hoping the prequel series would step back on.
In essence, the actual shape of the ship was less important to me than the way it was depicted. Make sense?
I don't so much mind the concept of the design of the ship that we got - in fact, I've grown from an initial reaction of
to actually like it, and based on what Doug Drexler has said we're very lucky it wasn't a literal copy of the Akira design. Poor Mr. Drexler is a talented man who was much maligned by many posters on this forum who did not recognize the incredible constraints he was under when he designed that ship, myself included.What annoyed me about the design was that the ship basically seemed able to do most of the things that her later counterparts could. Sure, there weren't tractor beams and we instead had that nifty grappler, we had the theoretically different 'phase cannons' rather than 'phasers' and the actually interesting 'spatial torpedoes' which gave way to the moronic 'photonic torpedoes.' 'Hull plating' decreased in percentages the same way energy shields did. The ship was supposedly slower, yet didn't really seem to have a problem going to some of the same places the TNG ship in particular did. They had a transporter which was said to be 'dangerous' yet worked all but, what, one? of the times they need it to. It was like they didn't know how to break away from the TNG-onward style of storytelling.
One of the things I've always liked so much about TOS was that their actual capabilities, compared to the other series, didn't seemed to be tied to much to the abilities of the ship, as to the abilities of the crew - their ingenuity, their bravery, and their dedication. I'm not saying the other series didn't have this, but I feel like the technology became something of a crutch for storytelling as the franchise progressed. That was something I was frankly hoping the prequel series would step back on.
In essence, the actual shape of the ship was less important to me than the way it was depicted. Make sense?
I've just written a post in the 'My Enterprise' thread that I realized summed up my feelings about the ship on 'Enterprise.'
I don't so much mind the concept of the design of the ship that we got - in fact, I've grown from an initial reaction of
What annoyed me about the design was that the ship basically seemed able to do most of the things that her later counterparts could. Sure, there weren't tractor beams and we instead had that nifty grappler, we had the theoretically different 'phase cannons' rather than 'phasers' and the actually interesting 'spatial torpedoes' which gave way to the moronic 'photonic torpedoes.' 'Hull plating' decreased in percentages the same way energy shields did. The ship was supposedly slower, yet didn't really seem to have a problem going to some of the same places the TNG ship in particular did. They had a transporter which was said to be 'dangerous' yet worked all but, what, one? of the times they need it to. It was like they didn't know how to break away from the TNG-onward style of storytelling.
One of the things I've always liked so much about TOS was that their actual capabilities, compared to the other series, didn't seemed to be tied to much to the abilities of the ship, as to the abilities of the crew - their ingenuity, their bravery, and their dedication. I'm not saying the other series didn't have this, but I feel like the technology became something of a crutch for storytelling as the franchise progressed. That was something I was frankly hoping the prequel series would step back on.
In essence, the actual shape of the ship was less important to me than the way it was depicted. Make sense?
Well said.
I didn't have a problem with the design aesthetic of Enterprise; in fact, I liked it very much from the ship to the uniforms. It was the storytelling that I had a problem with, especially in the first two years of the series.
Good analogy, that is kind what I wa thinking.
Yeah I was thing if they re-did TMP this is what the refitted Enterprise would look like, it looks way too 23 century early 24th.
Ya..I've seen those already(2005 to be exact) but I realized something while looking at those ships. And that was non of them felt like a ''hero'' ship except for this one [inline image deleted] And that one is very close to the ''AKIRAPRISE'' to begin with!
So as much as people LIKE to complain about the NX-O1, I think we could have done ''much'' worse. Just be thankfull we didn't get this! [inline image deleted] 
Oh! and is the ''V'GERPRISE'' supposed to have three nacelles?[miraclefan: Remember that hotlinking isn't allowed here. I tried to change your images to links, but the whole clickable-thumbnail-plus-site-blocking thing was too much for me to figure out. If you wish to post the images again, please save them first to your own site, or a free image-hosting site. Or post links only. Thanks. --HR]
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The second looks awesome and beautiful. Yes probably too modern, but it wouldn't be tagged Akiraprise - that much is for sure.
The first probably too unTrek like but that would have fit the premise of the show to be before Kirk and all that. retracting warp pylons would have been a good story device as someone mentioned.
But the Akiraprise did make sense in many ways by being a compact saucer design with pylons trailing behind. A kind of - keep the stuff that might blow up away from the ship kind of mentality. heh heh
The first probably too unTrek like but that would have fit the premise of the show to be before Kirk and all that. retracting warp pylons would have been a good story device as someone mentioned.
But the Akiraprise did make sense in many ways by being a compact saucer design with pylons trailing behind. A kind of - keep the stuff that might blow up away from the ship kind of mentality. heh heh
Wow, I would have loved this!
I think it's the details of that one that really make it sing - particularly the way the bridge deck integrates into the 'split' saucer and the sideways nacelles that evoke 'First Contact's Phoenix. The double (or one and a half) nacelle struts also evoke a nice primitive feel - like the material isn't strong enough so it has to be reinforced.
I wonder just how much more loudly the decries would have been shouted if this had been the ship for the show? It probably would have still had phase cannons and photonic torpedoes and traveled at the speed of plot anyway!
You are absolutely right. Not the content of the series as such killed ENT (it was, after all, baseline Star Trek, all in all no different than, let's say, TNG or VOY, perhaps even more original... Temporal Cold War, the Delphic Expanse or the Xindi anyone?). It was ENT's unbearable inherent inconsistency that brought its downfall, both among long-time fans and casual viewers...
Wow, I would have loved this!
Me, too... but still, it looks TOO DAMN MODERN, even when you give it the ENT NX-01's hull plating and colouring. However, if you think that a consistent design line is more important than some kind of technical/scientific logic (good luck finding that in the entire franchise), then you are absolutely right.
That's kind of my point, in regard to the ship's appearance, and other such cosmetic things, Academic.
Even if they'd given the die-hard canonists a pre-Daedalus class Flash Gordon-style ship with primitive 50's looking spacesuits, no subspace radio, realistic distance travel, races that only appeared in TOS canon and so forth, would it have really made a difference if they had still treated it the same as TNG, DS9, or VGR, as they actually did in practice?
I think not.
ENT has loyal fans, and I'm glad. I enjoy ENT and I enjoy VGR, but both were so self-limited by what appears to have been imposed restrictions on what kind of stories they were willing (or allowed) to tell, and what dramatic concessions they were willing (or allowed) to make and use.
Even if they'd given the die-hard canonists a pre-Daedalus class Flash Gordon-style ship with primitive 50's looking spacesuits, no subspace radio, realistic distance travel, races that only appeared in TOS canon and so forth, would it have really made a difference if they had still treated it the same as TNG, DS9, or VGR, as they actually did in practice?
I think not.
ENT has loyal fans, and I'm glad. I enjoy ENT and I enjoy VGR, but both were so self-limited by what appears to have been imposed restrictions on what kind of stories they were willing (or allowed) to tell, and what dramatic concessions they were willing (or allowed) to make and use.
kitsune
Captain
This ship is so awesome, it deserves a class name.Wow, I would have loved this!
I think it's the details of that one that really make it sing - particularly the way the bridge deck integrates into the 'split' saucer and the sideways nacelles that evoke 'First Contact's Phoenix. The double (or one and a half) nacelle struts also evoke a nice primitive feel - like the material isn't strong enough so it has to be reinforced.
^How about, ENTERPRISE:Class?
Soo...the ''continuity fascists'' woulden't be happy with Anything unless it looked like Flash Gordon ''or'' Captian Proton?
That's a great observation, because it really breaks down one viewpoint. 2100s are the 50s. 2200s are the 60s and 70s. 2300s are the 80s and 90s.
it's kinda a failure of imagination. just because a show was produced in the 60s with that aesthetic doesn't mean that our current view of the future needs to remain static.
indeed, if, in thirty years ST09 set design looks campy, i hope Star Trek, in whatever its then present incarnation, will make adjustments.
It seems that J.J. Abrams tries to do exactly that with Star Trek XI (both intra- and extra-universal in his approach)... and just look how far it brought him with the 'fans'. Well, there's no way pleasing some people...
