U.S.S. TITAN -- THE WINNER!

[Titan Designer]

Hey Captain X,

No offense taken. All valid points, I can take a critique. I if could not I would
be force to leave the field.

By the way for all of you wondering I am a Graphic Designer by Trade and
an Illustrator a heart. I work in the advertising field by day and draw at night.
That is when my wife does not have chores for me to do around the house.

Every body keep commenting, and I will try and answer questions when I can.


Sean

http://hammerheadgraphics.iwarp.com

 

[Marco Palmieri]

Posted by Captain X:

Posted by Titan Designer:
I put the Catamarans there to protect the Bridge. I have never liked how easy of a target that the bridge seems to be. so I incorporated the that into the
saucer.

This does help explain it somewhat, but you are only protected from two sides. I think you're pretty screwed if your shields fail in a fight anyway, at least based on what we've seen in previous series and movies.

If you notice the primary hull now protects the shuttle bay hanger from enemy fire. I added strips as guides for the shuttles on there way in. Not necessarily for long take offs.

Same issue as with the bridge, you're only protected from the sides and the position you're vulveranle from seems to also be a gap in your firing arc.

I'm confused about this. It's a mistake to give those areas of Titan a little more protection than they enjoy on other ships? You're saying it's either all or nothing? Or have I misunderstood?

 

[Captain X]

Posted by Marco Palmieri:
I'm confused about this. It's a mistake to give those areas of Titan a little more protection than they enjoy on other ships? You're saying it's either all or nothing? Or have I misunderstood?

No, just that it doesn't really offer them more protection. Sure, they have some direct line of fire protection, but with the effect energy based weapons seem to have on ships, if the whole ship vaporizes it doesn't really protect them. On Federation starships the first, last, and only line of defense are the shielding systems, with the weapons systems to theoretically prevent them from having to be used. I mean, as much as I think how it happened sucked, or that it even did happen sucked, you have an obsolete Klingon bird of prey making the E-D its bitch when they figured out how to fire through the shields.

 

[Marco Palmieri]

^But we've also seen starships suffer less catastrophic damage from weapons fire. Surely defeating attacks of that sort against those two areas of the ship is of some value?

 

[Captain X]

Then why not put the bridge at the center of the saucer and totally protect it as is best possible?

 

[Marco Palmieri]

^Which goes back to my earlier question: Are you saying it's all or nothing? No protection is better than more protection?

 

[Captain X]

Why not though? Even assuming an energy weapon behaves like a projectile when it comes in contact with the hull, the only protection is directly from the sides, any angle giving a shot at the bridge. So it's not so much a matter of all or nothing as "why bother?" If your shields fail you're pretty screwed because an enemy isn't going to broadside you because the profile of the ship isn't much of a target, they'd maneuver to get a shot from above or below and if you were still able, you'd be maneuvering to keep them from getting a shot, so any protection offered is pretty much entirely negated.

 

[Corran Horn]

Posted by Marco Palmieri:
^But we've also seen starships suffer less catastrophic damage from weapons fire. Surely defeating attacks of that sort against those two areas of the ship is of some value?

I'm thinking that's a pretty good spot for some of the Defiant's ablative armor.

 

[Captain X]

Or Voyager's batmobile armor for that matter. Bah, it's all pretend anyway.

 

[lonewriter]

While I congradulate the designer, I just thought it wasn't anything special. I have to agree with those who have stated that it looks like a Sovy/Akira kitbash. I whas hoping for something more original.

 

[Marco Palmieri]

Posted by Captain X:
Why not though? Even assuming an energy weapon behaves like a projectile when it comes in contact with the hull, the only protection is directly from the sides, any angle giving a shot at the bridge. So it's not so much a matter of all or nothing as "why bother?" If your shields fail you're pretty screwed because an enemy isn't going to broadside you because the profile of the ship isn't much of a target, they'd maneuver to get a shot from above or below and if you were still able, you'd be maneuvering to keep them from getting a shot, so any protection offered is pretty much entirely negated.

But the defending ship isn't, hopefully, a stationary target. If it's maneuvring defensively--again, as we've seen some vessels do on screen--it may do so in ways that would take advantage of any line-of-sight protection like the kind Sean's design proposes.

Just to be clear, I'm not blind to the logic of your argument. But it isn't the sort of logic Star Trek has ever observed. Otherwise the ships we've seen wouldn't be designed as they are (or the weapons wouldn't behave as they do, or both). And the bottom line is that Titan, like any other part of the fiction, is designed to fit within the Star Trek universe, warts and all.

 

[Marco Palmieri]

Posted by lonewriter:
While I congradulate the designer, I just thought it wasn't anything special. I have to agree with those who have stated that it looks like a Sovy/Akira kitbash. I whas hoping for something more original.

You realize that "kitbash" refers to an amalgam of parts, unchanged from the ships they came from, right? Since everything about Sean's Titan--while undeniably and quite reasonably showing influences from other designs--was created for this ship, it clearly doesn't qualify as a "kitbash."

 

[Turtletrekker]

Posted by JAG:
Welcome to the TrekBBS and congratulations. You should be proud of yourself.

Second that. Way to go! :thumbsup:

 

[Christopher]

Posted by Titan Designer:
I put the Catamarans there to protect the Bridge. I have never liked how easy of a target that the bridge seems to be. so I incorporated the that into the
saucer....

If you notice the primary hull now protects the shuttle bay hanger from enemy fire. I added strips as guides for the shuttles on there way in. Not necessarily for long take offs.

Also i had in mind that while in space dock a clap like arm could extend
around and cover the back of the ship so that star bases could do the re supply directly through the shuttle bay.


I thought of different ways of protecting parts of the ship in battle, that seemed to me a easy targets.

Interesting. Considering that the ship was originally designed as a peacetime explorer and then shelved during the war, is it possible that those features were added onto Dr. Ra-Havreii's original plans as a way of addressing postwar concerns?

Posted by Marco Palmieri:
But the defending ship isn't, hopefully, a stationary target. If it's maneuvring defensively--again, as we've seen some vessels do on screen--it may do so in ways that would take advantage of any line-of-sight protection like the kind Sean's design proposes.

Gee, now I wish I had time to revise a couple of scenes in Orion's Hounds to reflect this kind of strategy. Oh, well -- everyone just imagine it's doing this when you get to pages 33 and 109.


Reposting from Ex Isle:

4. How do we know that the pod has crew in it. It could be automated? That is how I thought of it when I put it seperate from the main hull.

It makes sense, I think, for it to be unmanned. Having it away from the ship isolates it somewhat from the ship's EM and gravity fields, and the pylons could contain "shock absorbers" to damp out any vibrations from the ship. Thus, the sensor readings would be purer, freer of noise. Having people in the pod, walking around and talking and generating heat and stuff, would add noise back.

 

[Marco Palmieri]

Posted by Christopher:

Interesting. Considering that the ship was originally designed as a peacetime explorer and then shelved during the war, is it possible that those features were added onto Dr. Ra-Havreii's original plans as a way of addressing postwar concerns?

I look at those adaptations as reasonable for any ship with a multipurpose mission profile. Remember, while Titan is, conceptually, a ship of exploration, it needs to be self-reliant as it pushes further out, and be prepared to defend itself against hostiles if the need arises. Not unlike Kirk's Enterprise.

Posted by Marco Palmieri:
But the defending ship isn't, hopefully, a stationary target. If it's maneuvring defensively--again, as we've seen some vessels do on screen--it may do so in ways that would take advantage of any line-of-sight protection like the kind Sean's design proposes.

Gee, now I wish I had time to revise a couple of scenes in Orion's Hounds to reflect this kind of strategy. Oh, well -- everyone just imagine it's doing this when you get to pages 33 and 109.

Hey, nobody ever promised you this process would be seamless.

How do we know that the pod has crew in it. It could be automated? That is how I thought of it when I put it seperate from the main hull.

It makes sense, I think, for it to be unmanned.

[/QUOTE]

That's what I concluded as well.

 

[JD]

So is the new sensor net they keep talking about in Taking Wing stored in "the pod".

 

[Marco Palmieri]

^I'll let you after we've figured that out.

 

[Rat Boy]

Posted by Marco Palmieri:

Posted by Emissary of the Prophets:
I hope Sean's name appears on the dedication plaque!

If we ever have occasion to design one fully, I'll make sure of it. Unfortunately the last chapter of The Red King was finalized before the contest even started.

Did somebody say dedication plaque?





Word of warning: the epigram contains a spoiler for The Red King.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Posted by Rat Boy:

Did somebody say dedication plaque?





Word of warning: the epigram contains a spoiler for The Red King.

^^
Me likey! :thumbsup:

 

[Marco Palmieri]

Posted by Rat Boy:
the contest even started.

Did somebody say dedication plaque?





Word of warning: the epigram contains a spoiler for The Red King.

[/QUOTE]

Dude, that's pretty sweet. I tip my hat to you, sir.

Any chance of adding the other judges' names to it?