OMG! Design the next USS ENTERPRISE (Offical Contest)

[Knife]

Chardok

Don't know why everyone wants a triangle hull for da future.

Fuzzy;

I don't know man. The neck looks better I guess. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea. Perhaps you should go for the 'cobra hood' type look like the galaxy class, if you want the snake strike look. Generally, I think it looks too tall with the long thin secondary hull and the switch back neck. Just my take though.

On the flip side, I've always found these concept sketches cool.

http://www.starshipdatalink.net/art/insurrection.html

The saucer with the engines ontop is fun, as is the elongated hull one too.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

...Thoughts?

[edit]

More perspectives:

[Vanas]

As someone who plays the game and geeeenerally enjoys it (the latest series was rather good), I thought I'd try to answer some of the questions and things.

I forget who asked this, but the game's set in 2410, so there's been a bit of a gap. As for how the new ships look, well, pretty much however you'd like. There's blended hulls, ugly war-bastards, flying bricks, the odd spherical command hull, two or 4 nacelles and ships with inexplicable holes punched in them.



For added silliness, the Klingons do indeed get a carrier that can launch fighters and punt the odd Bird of Prey out the side. It's fucking massive.

(For perspective, my ship in the middle's about 2 defiants long.)

Basically, as long as it looks Star Trek-y and won't make people weep when they see it, you're fine. Personally, I'm rather fond of CSJM's design, it does seem to fit in. Anyway, that's my 2p. I'm interested to see where this is going.

[Knife]

...Thoughts?

I actually think that looks much, much better.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Any thoughts on how to make it look less like a goose/swan/duck and more like a cobra/bat/dragon?

I'm still very flexible at this point, and while I like this direction, there are things about it that vex me for reasons I can't quite place.

[Chardok]

Is there any precedence for a concave bottom to the saucer section? like curve the outer edges downward to conceal the middle bubble. it'd look more like a snake hood then, I think.

[General Zod]

Any thoughts on how to make it look less like a goose/swan/duck and more like a cobra/bat/dragon?

I'm still very flexible at this point, and while I like this direction, there are things about it that vex me for reasons I can't quite place.

I think the neck design is a part of your problem. Make it more sweeping and less of a spline.

[Themightytom]

Any thoughts on how to make it look less like a goose/swan/duck and more like a cobra/bat/dragon?

I'm still very flexible at this point, and while I like this direction, there are things about it that vex me for reasons I can't quite place.

I think the neck design is a part of your problem. Make it more sweeping and less of a spline.

You could split the neck into multiple paralell parts that are thinner

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Any thoughts on how to make it look less like a goose/swan/duck and more like a cobra/bat/dragon?

I'm still very flexible at this point, and while I like this direction, there are things about it that vex me for reasons I can't quite place.

I think the neck design is a part of your problem. Make it more sweeping and less of a spline.

You could split the neck into multiple paralell parts that are thinner

2 necks?

[Crossroads Inc.]

I like the Engines, I like the saucer, but I'll agree with others that the neck has to change.

I have to be hounest, I am more in favor of "flat" starships. Instead of tilted engines and a neck between saucer and hull, why not 'flatten' the items? It would still be ST'ish, but as it is now, yoru connectors, between the neck, and the engine pylons, they just look really funky.

Of course that would go against you desier to make it "viper like" But I am not sure you could do somethign like that and make it look right.

Now something else you could do is beef up the secondary hull section, slim down the saucer, and expand the engine pylons. That could make it more "dragon" like, where the saucer would be the head, the hull its body, and the pylons and engines wings

[Knife]

I disagree, the neck-less into the smashed flat look is what everyone else does, I salute Fuzzy for a more traditional attempt.

On the neck issue, on the upper S-curve on the back of the saucer, perhaps extending that into a structure on top of the saucer will help a bit, make it more fluid in the design. Same with the lower S-curve on the aft end of the engineering hull. Extend that out a bit, not much, to give it a more solid look and it might ease out the wooblie look the neck has now.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Good thoughts.

I think I'm going to thicken the engineering section, removing the flatness of the tail by pulling the neck back to fill the space, but I think I'll push the whole secondary hull forward a bit, so the front of the neck still has "poised to strike" feel.

I also think making the top half of the saucer dome shaped like the Ent D rather than the traditional "concave/convex/concave" style should reduce the suggestion of a "beak" shape.

[Vanas]

Is there any precedence for a concave bottom to the saucer section? like curve the outer edges downward to conceal the middle bubble. it'd look more like a snake hood then, I think.

There's a couple of STO ships with concave saucer bottoms, to a degree. The Nebula and Galaxy variants are convex down to the phaser strip and then concave, so it's around.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Is there any precedence for a concave bottom to the saucer section? like curve the outer edges downward to conceal the middle bubble. it'd look more like a snake hood then, I think.

Missed this when you first said it. It's a good idea. I'll implement it.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Doodling on my screenshot in photoshop again:

[Phantasee]

I would pull the peaks (bridge?) of the saucer back to be a bit closer to the centre of the saucer. It's a touch too far forward right now.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I would pull the peaks (bridge?) of the saucer back to be a bit closer to the centre of the saucer. It's a touch too far forward right now.

Yeah, I've moved them forward intentionally so that they rest in the center of the saucer's forward curve (from above) and since the saucer is egg shaped, that puts it father forward from the side.

I think I'll split the difference though, and have it slightly forward from the side, and slightly back from the top.

[Chardok]

looking much, much better. any chance of getting some multiple-view action?

[Fuzzy_Modem]

looking much, much better. any chance of getting some multiple-view action?

I'll rework the model tonight and post more orthos.

Any more suggestions before I start work on the next draft?

[Chardok]

Nah - But how much work would it be to just take it to the crazy level. I mean, we're going for snake-like appearance. I think it'd be a fun expreiment to just REALLY make it look like a snake. I mean like...ball turrets hanging down from either side of the underside of the saucer (fangs), reel in those nacelles and kind of make them part of the "body" of the snake.

Not for serious submission, but just to sort of monkey around and see what it'd look like


For serious, though, I think I'd like to see the full-on render in it's current state before picking it apart further

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Nah - But how much work would it be to just take it to the crazy level. I mean, we're going for snake-like appearance. I think it'd be a fun expreiment to just REALLY make it look like a snake. I mean like...ball turrets hanging down from either side of the underside of the saucer (fangs)

I'm actually considering two tight arc (fixed) forward facing phaser banks in the "fang" position.

The reliant had fixed, gun barrel shaped phasers:
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memor ... hasers.jpg

-and of course the Enterprise D refit with the spinal beam cannon:
http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/ ... hasers.jpg

As for making a full on Snakerprise... I think I'd rather spend my time finding a subtle balance between barely implying such characteristics and bludgeoning people over the head with them.

[Chardok]

Coolio - I will tell you that the first time I saw v.1a of your model, before you even said anything about it, I thought to myself "Man, that really looks like a snake about to strike" so your message was definitely not lost before telling us. I look forward to seeing the next update!

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Coolio - I will tell you that the first time I saw v.1a of your model, before you even said anything about it, I thought to myself "Man, that really looks like a snake about to strike" so your message was definitely not lost before telling us. I look forward to seeing the next update!

Good to hear

[General Zod]

I haven't settled on how I'm going to revise the nacelles yet, but here's a new version. I can already see one mistake I have to fix, but meh.

[Chardok]

What. The. Fuck.