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Spoilers Starship Design in Star Trek: Picard

It's not directly on top of the Galaxy Class.

There are several decks in between.

Then perhaps being on top of the core in earlier ships is what began the design tradition. Then by the time of the Galaxy class it was unthinkable to have the Bridge not on deck 1.

Could be, and with humanity being the leading force behind and spearheading founder of the Federation the new unified Starfleet may have decided to stick closely to United Earth designs for its starships

I always thought it was a massive missed opportunity not to have the Vulcans and Andorian designs in Enterprise contribute to the Starfleet design language. This might require a less familiar design for the NX-01. Nacells from Earth, saucers from the Andorians, double hull concept from the Vulcans.
 
Then perhaps being on top of the core in earlier ships is what began the design tradition. Then by the time of the Galaxy class it was unthinkable to have the Bridge not on deck 1.
Real reason, Star Trek has rule guidelines for StarShip design for Federation StarShips created by Gene Roddenberry.

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/design.htm
Rule #1 Warp nacelles *must* be in pairs.
Rule #2 Warp nacelles must have at least 50% line-of-sight on each other across the hull.
Rule #3 Both warp nacelles must be fully visible from the front.
Rule #4 The bridge must be located at the top center of the primary hull.

Doesn't mean I agree with all the rules.
Here's my interpretation of Gene's rules:
Rule #1: The Warp Field Grilles must meet at some point given the 3D Warp Field lobes that protrude out, doesn't have to be pure line of sight (e.g. Intrepid Class, The Phoenix), ergo pairs of fields must interact with each other.

Rule #2: Nope, (e.g. Intrepid Class, The Phoenix) violate that. And the Borg manage to do it without having traditional nacelles.
Klingon Bird of Prey's have Warp Wings that operate on slightly different principles, but definitely aren't within line of sight of each other.

Rule #3: The Bussard Collector shouldn't be obstructed from collecting interstellar matter, the Nacelles can be wherever as long as they meet other rules.

Rule #4: Way too much IRL Naval Ship design to apply it in space. Makes little sense, especially given modern CNC are in buried bunkers behind lots of armor when in combat. And submarines are closer to what a StarShip is, ergo the Bridge should be protected and buried IMO.
 
I always thought it was a massive missed opportunity not to have the Vulcans and Andorian designs in Enterprise contribute to the Starfleet design language. This might require a less familiar design for the NX-01. Nacelles from Earth, saucers from the Andorians, double hull concept from the Vulcans.
I thought the Nacelles were definitely from Earth's StarFleet

The big Saucer shape was from the Tellerites, Vulcans, and StarFleet
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Tellarite_cruiser
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/D'kyr_type

Andorians had Shields and a secondary engineering StarDrive section connecting to a main section and they used Pylons like Earth's StarFleet.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Andorian_battle_cruiser

Vulcans contributed the faster Warp 7 Engines and Tractor Beams.
 
Imagine how much computing power it'll have when they replace the cores with bioneural gel columns.
Remember the limits of Replicators.
Bio-Neural Gel Packs can't be replicated, they have to be grown since it's living tissue.

Ergo usage of Bio-Neural Gel Packs should be choosen wisely.
 
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Pretty set dressing diagrams which don't mean much: Look at Voyager, where the cutaway has 2 warp cores and 2 computer cores, but episodes make it explict there is only one of each.
 
I would love for that unsightly row of lights to have a function like that, but I don't think they are the source of the blue glow (I just pulled the scene up on my tablet to take another look).

I just had another look at it too, as I was sure I must have gotten the idea from something that I saw.

Right after Riker orders “Weapons hot, deflectors to full!” the blue glow occurs — to me, it definitely seems that it begins at the front of each ship and spreads out around the rim of each primary hull, following the line of those illuminated arrays.

It’s more obvious right at the start when the “camera” is closer to the ships; at that point I think I can see each element of the deflector array illuminate in sequence but as the shot pulls back and the ships are seen from greater distance, it becomes a slightly more diffuse blue glow that starts at the front and spreads out and backwards.

I fully accept that unless or until we hear something specific from one of the producers or designers as to what they *intended* it to be, this is all somewhat speculative — but I do think that’s what I’m seeing.

As you say, it would be nice for that feature of the ship design to have some sort of purpose to it, and something that says “this is a new feature for Starfleet ships going forward.”

I guess maybe we’ll find out more in due course...
 
In TWOK, the Enterprise took a photon torpedo directly to the bridge without shields, and all it did was throw more sparks than usual. So, yeah, the bridge certainly doesn't seem to be very vulnerable for how exposed it is.

It's obviously not vulnerable, whatever the reason, or they and some other interstellar powers (e.g., Klingons) wouldn't be putting their bridges up there.


Real reason, Star Trek has rule guidelines for StarShip design for Federation StarShips created by Gene Roddenberry.

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/design.htm
Rule #1 Warp nacelles *must* be in pairs.
Rule #2 Warp nacelles must have at least 50% line-of-sight on each other across the hull.
Rule #3 Both warp nacelles must be fully visible from the front.
Rule #4 The bridge must be located at the top center of the primary hull.

Doesn't mean I agree with all the rules.
Here's my interpretation of Gene's rules:
Rule #1: The Warp Field Grilles must meet at some point given the 3D Warp Field lobes that protrude out, doesn't have to be pure line of sight (e.g. Intrepid Class, The Phoenix), ergo pairs of fields must interact with each other.

Rule #2: Nope, (e.g. Intrepid Class, The Phoenix) violate that. And the Borg manage to do it without having traditional nacelles.
Klingon Bird of Prey's have Warp Wings that operate on slightly different principles, but definitely aren't within line of sight of each other.

Rule #3: The Bussard Collector shouldn't be obstructed from collecting interstellar matter, the Nacelles can be wherever as long as they meet other rules.

Rule #4: Way too much IRL Naval Ship design to apply it in space. Makes little sense, especially given modern CNC are in buried bunkers behind lots of armor when in combat. And submarines are closer to what a StarShip is, ergo the Bridge should be protected and buried IMO.

FANON-TIME:
It's not about where the bridge is placed. It's how well it is protected.
Material science is obviously pretty advanced (the thin TOS-nacelles keep the whole thing together). Thus it's probably more a case of how much protective layer they put around their essentials. And the bridge is protected by an extra strong layer of their super materials. And it makes sense to use that thick/super strong layer as a protection against space itself as well.

Basically, the whole bridge dome is a giant groin guard.

Yeah, you could put that inside. But there's not really any more value gained by that. Also - bridge windows are stupid. (Not just the JJAbrams one - the little top one on TNG as well).
 
From what I've read, converting meshes between Lightwave and Maya isn't hard, but re-applying the textures or making new ones is some extra work. So if the Picard effects team had the time to create three new sets of shuttle textures, I wonder why they did it for the Discovery shuttle instead of the way more appropriate Type 11/Insurrection model?
 
lso - bridge windows are stupid. (Not just the JJAbrams one - the little top one on TNG as well).
Fanon time: if there are super materials windows are just fine as they can be layered just like hull materials.

Rule #4: Way too much IRL Naval Ship design to apply it in space. Makes little sense, especially given modern CNC are in buried bunkers behind lots of armor when in combat. And submarines are closer to what a StarShip is, ergo the Bridge should be protected and buried IMO.

Same for me, but apparently Trek logic overrules all that sense.

So, I'll double down and say if the bridge must be on the top then I want a window too.
 
FANON-TIME:
It's not about where the bridge is placed. It's how well it is protected.
Material science is obviously pretty advanced (the thin TOS-nacelles keep the whole thing together). Thus it's probably more a case of how much protective layer they put around their essentials. And the bridge is protected by an extra strong layer of their super materials. And it makes sense to use that thick/super strong layer as a protection against space itself as well.

Basically, the whole bridge dome is a giant groin guard.

Yeah, you could put that inside. But there's not really any more value gained by that. Also - bridge windows are stupid. (Not just the JJAbrams one - the little top one on TNG as well).
I'm with you on Bridge Windows, unnecessary, especially when you want to Bury the Bridge like I do =D.

But following your logic of the Bridge being protected like a giant groin guard, wouldn't MORE Super Material Groin Guards in terms of floors with the same level of armor in between add more protection on all sides?

Imagine all the Structural Trusses / Floor Plating / Walls made of similar materials, like the hull?

Just look at how much damage the Defiant took on it's hull with Ablative armor, now stack that by all the extra deck layers you can have in between the outter hull and the Bridge Room?

That's just MORE layers of protection if you design it right.
 
From what I've read, converting meshes between Lightwave and Maya isn't hard, but re-applying the textures or making new ones is some extra work. So if the Picard effects team had the time to create three new sets of shuttle textures, I wonder why they did it for the Discovery shuttle instead of the way more appropriate Type 11/Insurrection model?

I'm perfectly fine with the idea that civilians in the Federation are using shuttle models that are 140 years old. We never saw actual circa 2399 Starfleet ships using DIS shuttles
 
It is perfectly clear to me that the most secure and safest part of any Starfleet ship is the Oval Office, it has to be as we have never seen it, neither have the Romulans or Klingons.

It may be so secret that the crew don't even know where it is. :biggrin:
 
It is perfectly clear to me that the most secure and safest part of any Starfleet ship is the Oval Office, it has to be as we have never seen it, neither have the Romulans or Klingons.

It may be so secret that the crew don't even know where it is. :biggrin:

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Calypso

This is my idea of an "Oval Office".

Imagine that as your reward for making Captain and staying "Captain" for 5 years.

You get to take that beauty on vacation to Risa on your next R&R trip.
 
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