Why does each race's warships look different?

[Elheru Aran]

Coming back to the warp nacelle thing... I always wondered just where the Klingon Bird of Prey's are. I'd say astride the wings, but no, that's a big-ass hinge section so they can go up and down... wings are too skinny, and I don't think they're under the main body of the ship... so they're inside the ship... like, where? They had to fit a bloody tank for humpback whales in there, after all!

[Uraniun235]

I'm not balking at the $1.3M/episode price tag, I'm just saying that in comparison to the movies, it's relatively low per filmed hour. I'm going to lay it out by how much each minute cost in relation to the overall budgets.

The Motion Picture: $46M/132 minutes = $348,500/minute
The Wrath of Khan: $11M/116 minutes = $94,800/minute
Search for Spock: $16M/105 minutes = $152,400/minute
The Voyage Home: $21M/119 minutes = $176,500/minute
The Final Frontier: $28M/107 minutes = $261,700/minute
Undiscovered Country: $27M/109 minutes = $247,700/minute

Compared with 45 minutes for each episode of TNG, it comes out roughly to be $1.3M/45 minutes = $28,900/minute.

Now, a little explanation on why I pulled those figures up. Each of the movies was produced close to the time of TNG, so even the cheapest production, that of Wrath of Khan, had three times the budget and even then, they still had the sets from The Motion Picture. I'm just reinforcing the point here, but that's why I said they were 'cheap'. Compared to the movies, each minute of TNG was cheaply made, which is definitely a bonus for TV. Still, there are times you can see where the budget runs short. ILM models aren't cheap. Makes me wonder how much the cast and crew of the show were making and how much got left for set design and production.

A couple of nitpicks:

- Not all $46 million "spent" on TMP was actually spent on TMP itself - a good chunk of it, like at least $10 million and perhaps closer to $15M, was spent on the aborted Phase II TV series that was being developed prior to it becoming a movie. This includes spacecraft models that had already been largely built and then abandoned because they were too low-quality to be suitable for use on the big screen, test photography, TOS costumes made for the cast (there's a picture of Persis Khambatta out there of her in a TOS skirt uniform), and story outlines and even a few scripts. That cost got folded into TMP for purposes of accounting. That said, a substantial amount of inflation occurred between TMP and TNG. $46 million in 1979 dollars would be roughly equivalent to $72 million in 1987 dollars.

- ILM only did the effects for Encounter at Farpoint. To my knowledge there were no other TNG episodes for which they were contracted.

[Stofsk]

ATTN: Uraniun

if there's a picture of Persis Khambatta in a TOS-era miniskirt uniform 'out there' maybe you could bring it 'in here'

i dunno i'm just sayin'

[Alyeska]

ATTN: Uraniun

if there's a picture of Persis Khambatta in a TOS-era miniskirt uniform 'out there' maybe you could bring it 'in here'

i dunno i'm just sayin'

I concur. I might have to take drastic action if you cannot comply Uranium.

[Cesario]

What was the point of those upwards-tilting nacelles to begin with? They're Warp nacelles. They don't do bupkis while the ship is under Impulse drive. Them actually changing angle while under Warp would have made sense, Warp field geometry and all that, but that's not what we were presented with. Impulse-horizontal. Warp-angled.

It has to do with that burning fossil fuels use of warp drive depletes the ozone disrupts the fabric of space, thing from TNG

Somehow the variable geometry nacelles are supposed to reduce the harmful impact of warp drive on the environment space.

Not disputing you, but can I get an episode for that?

Since I don't think it got mentioned, it was TNG: Force of Nature.

[Cesario]

Wait, that was the episode for the warp drive damages space thing. It was never explicitly stated that Voyager's variable geometry configuration prevented that.

[Alyeska]

Wait, that was the episode for the warp drive damages space thing. It was never explicitly stated that Voyager's variable geometry configuration prevented that.

That was background information. In later TNG they tried to limit warp speeds for a time. Writers got tired of that and the tech guys decided Voyager and its super fast speed would represent an upgrade in Warp technology that no longer causes this damage.

Had the Interpid class warp nacelles actually adjusted position incrementaly at higher speeds, that would have been interesting. But instead they stuck at a specific angle while at warp. They could just have left them at this angle for sub-light speeds. Berman wanted something cool and said "do it". Thats why Voyagers warp nacelles rotate. No practical in universe explanation has been found that can explain why the engines have to be in a different configuration for Impulse. We can understand a need for warp, but when they are off, no explanation given.

[Terralthra]

Coming back to the warp nacelle thing... I always wondered just where the Klingon Bird of Prey's are. I'd say astride the wings, but no, that's a big-ass hinge section so they can go up and down... wings are too skinny, and I don't think they're under the main body of the ship... so they're inside the ship... like, where? They had to fit a bloody tank for humpback whales in there, after all!

They're the diagonal struts on the underside of the main caudal section.

[Baffalo]

The first time the concept of variable-geometry warp nacelle pylons is mentioned anywhere is in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual in the section dealing with preliminary concepts for future starships. The goal of these pylons is to improve engine efficiency by optimizing field stress when the ship travels extended journeys at warp 8+ velocity.

In the unpublished VOY Season 1 edition of the Star Trek: Voyager Technical Manual, by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda, it is suggested that because of the variable geometry pylons, warp fields might no longer have a negative impact on habitable worlds as established in TNG: "Force of Nature". According to the VOY Season 7 episode VOY: "Renaissance Man", Voyager's warp drive is however still a space-time fabric harming conventional warp drive.

Sure... move the part of the ship that might reduce stress... by not moving them. Absolutely brilliant there Berman. What's next, Optimus Prime shows up disguised as the new Enterprise?

[Baffalo]

This is a pretty minor thing to bitch about. It's not like it changed the story.

I argue making Optimus Prime the new Enterprise is a big change to the story.

Oh, you're talking about the motorized pylons. Nevermind.

[Eternal_Freedom]

This is a pretty minor thing to bitch about. It's not like it changed the story.

I argue making Optimus Prime the new Enterprise is a big change to the story.

Oh, you're talking about the motorized pylons. Nevermind.

Optimus Prime as the new Enterprise? That would be awesome visually.

"Captain! Klingon Bird of Prey closing fast!"

-Transforming noise-

-Optimus punches the BOP into submission-

It has no potential at all storywise, but I'd love to se a parody in this vein.

[Baffalo]

Well it would certainly make up for their lack of ground troops now wouldn't it?

[VF5SS]

No, no. Do it like this.

[andrewgpaul]

ATTN: Uraniun

if there's a picture of Persis Khambatta in a TOS-era miniskirt uniform 'out there' maybe you could bring it 'in here'

i dunno i'm just sayin'

I can only find a top half:

[Baffalo]

Now imagine her replacing Marina Sertis on TNG.

[edaw1982]

Optimus Prime as the new Enterprise? That would be awesome visually.

"Captain! Klingon Bird of Prey closing fast!"

-Transforming noise-

-Optimus punches the BOP into submission-

It has no potential at all storywise, but I'd love to se a parody in this vein.

"Freedom is the right of *all* Federation beings. Space-Viking-Communism Allagory is the very deffination of failure. Now give me your face!"

Also, she made bald sexy long before Sigourney Weaver or Demi Moore. RRrowl!

But regarding the question of the post? Stylistic choice basically. So you can go 'right these guys are Klingons...these are Romulans...these are Vogons..."

In-world...stylistic choice again. Romulans have green ships, probably for the same reason a human might have a red ship. 'Wooh blood is scary!' and what colour is Romulan blood?

As for dark Green klingons ships? Maybe they really hate Romulans...or maybe dark green is menacing enough without being gauche like 'Black'.

And all the 'fleet ships have to be white, or atleast light virginal grey because they're the 'Good Guys'.

[Andras]

Wasn't one of the original concepts that the pylon mounted warp pod contained a M/AM reaction chamber? And the radiation required the standoff distance. One in each pod, which is why the 3 nacelle Dreadnought would have more power then the one or two nacelles ships.

[Uraniun235]

Wasn't one of the original concepts that the pylon mounted warp pod contained a M/AM reaction chamber? And the radiation required the standoff distance. One in each pod, which is why the 3 nacelle Dreadnought would have more power then the one or two nacelles ships.

It's unclear. There's some dialogue at some point which suggests that each of the nacelles might have been its own reactor, or that one of the nacelles might have had matter while the other one had antimatter. Matt Jefferies certainly thought you wouldn't want to be next to them while they were in operation. You don't necessarily need to have the nacelles be reactors in order for them to emit hazardous amounts of radiation while in use, though.

The pylon-nacelle form was also intended to facilitate rapid replacement; Jefferies envisioned replacement nacelles as being relatively easily installed.

[Baffalo]

I got ahold of a book detailing how they went about making Star Trek, and the original design had the Enterprise up-side down. The saucer was on the bottom, the engineering hull on top. The warp engines were just that, engines. They were basically giant rockets that would propel the ship along through space. That was the earliest design though and it ended up becoming different as they hashed out ideas, but yeah. The entire saucer section was something to do with UFOs IIRC.