Starship design history in light of Discovery

m'chHla reqthlt?

 

It says M'Chla refit in English.The Klingon text on the wing is just a straight Latin character to Klingon character transfer. Players can put anything they want there, since this was a promo image they probably didn’t bother changing it from the default name.

M’Chla is the class name STO gave the DSC BoP, the DSC writing team (I believe it was specifically Kirsten who came up with the names) gave every Klingon ship a Klingon name except that one, so the STO team gave it their own. I don’t know if it means anything, it might just be a name not a word.

 

The side view shows subdued feathers at the outer forward tips. And also highlights how the design language is that of the DSC skullships, with the forward-curving very solid wing-things rather than sideways-extending thin flippers. Not a bad one, for the era.

I just wonder how one can do "Klingon" for the 32nd century... Now that there's no truly recognizably "Starfleet" there, in terms of shapes or textures.

Timo Saloniemi

 

More pictures
https://twitter.com/ShipTalkingPod/status/1352964925405224960

Eh? They still have ships with starfleet looking shapes.

 

I mean the Voyager looks like a freaking Intrepid class.

 

That points towards the early season Klingon ships...

 

Yes it’s meant to be a 2411 refit of the design.

 

...The point being that those are in a minority amidst a menagerie of shapes and textures that don't establish any New Normal for us to follow. Which is good, because we should expect some diversity from Starfleet by historical precedent, especially if the ships also exhibit longevity. But we can't say "saucers - must be Feds!" any longer; can't really tell if we should be going "rings - must be Feds!" or perhaps "vertically elongated - must be Feds!" yet; and have to rely on statistically untenable assumptions such as "symmetric is Good Guys, asymmetric is Bad Guys" for the time being.

Some of the Starfleet ships might be Romulan in their design language, from the time prior to the Ni'var leaving in a huff. None look like they would have Klingon input, though. Perhaps Klingons are still their own thing, and will be encountered later on. Will they still have winged ships with distinct necks, bulbous heads, and drooping wingtip talons?

Timo Saloniemi

 

Starfleet has integrated the militaries and ships of various planets into Starfleet and blended all those different design philosophies in various combinations. Plus since the Federation gained many new members before the Burn, it makes sense the ships would have more variety.

 

Now for something completely different, a DSC Style Excelsior
https://twitter.com/ShipTalkingPod/status/1355915903079231491

 

I don't like the glowy stripe on the secondary hull.

 

The racing stripes are odd.

 

I assume the glowy stripe is meant to echo the glowy area to the sides of the Discovery's deflector, but it's a bit much.

Here's the lore the STO team came up with

 

It's not bad, but man, when SNW debuts, I hope they start designing ships that resemble the original TOS Enterprise more than ships that resemble the DSC season one ships.

 

^
THIS.

 

If we get both styles and hybrids of the two styles, I'll be happier.

 

^

Also this.

I'd love to see Shepard-class starships alongside TOS-style vessels. A few DSC designs are outstanding.

 

It would be interesting to see a push towards the cleaner lines of TOS with more retro-future style.

 

More primary colors in computer readouts and brighter lighting.