Star Trek Online - Design The Next Enterprise Contest

[DJ Curtis]

I like the clay render of the model okay, a lot better than the drawing.  To me what this really lacks is some explanation of this design.  After the Sov, Prometheus, Intrepid, etc. it's clear that Starfleet has ditched the interhull concept connecting drive to saucer section.  Why have it on this ship?  More importantly, how could having it split like that provide any benefit?

Also, from the drawings, the ship looks a touch to gregarious for my taste.  It lacks refinement and sophistication, if you catch what I'm saying.  The modeler from STO said he took inspiration from Porsche, but it looks more like he took inspiration from Volkswagen... quirky and nubby instead of slick and refined.

Though as I said, the 3d model is promising.  My biggest gripe right now is actually with those terrible nacelles.  It's fun to try to make nacelles look "advanced", but in the end look at every canon ship.  The nacelles are usually pretty simple, pretty plain... One should not disregard practicality in their design.  Remember the crew only sees the ship one room at a time.

[majormagna]

The modeler from STO said he took inspiration from Porsche, but it looks more like he took inspiration from ...

Don't forget Volkswagen's first designer WAS Professor Ferdinand Porsche... (I still theink the Porsche 911 looks more like a VW Beetle)

I like the IDEA of the dual neck, but would greatly appreciate some canonical reason to have it.

[WileyCoyote]

I like the IDEA of the dual neck, but would greatly appreciate some canonical reason to have it.

Maybe ship designers looked back at the "older Constitution-Class" vessels for their elegance. In 2409, these ships were still in service but rather for a nostalgic factor than a practical use. Fleet reports indicated a design flaw in these ships- the neck was a vulnerable spot for weapons fire. To solve this problem, dual neck starships were designs to solve this 200 year old problem.

[DJ Curtis]

Sounds like they just doubled the problem if you ask me.

[FarShot]

Don't you see?  It's a trick:  The enemy sees a neck, and they're all like, "Ooh, let's fire on that and snap the ship in half!"  But once the deed is done, the ship is still whole, and thus they wasted all their time firing on an unimportant spot for no gain.  Successful troll is successful.

[086gf]

Here is another dev diary about it. Now most are saying its even more like a sovvie varient.

http://startrekonline.com/node/2527

[Nebula]

heh it has a USS Titan feel to it now.

[JimmyB76]

that ship looks kinda cool actually!  someone should do one for BC lol

[FarShot]

Hmm, I'd give it about a 7 on a 10 scale at the moment.  The deflector feels very Galaxy-ish to me, a throwback I really like.  I'd like to see a more unique nacelle design - it feels about as different from a Sov nacelle as the Noble's.

However, I will say this:  I know that once it is ingame, the community will accept it better, and since story is likely going to be involved with it, it'll get better ingrained into heads.  Thusly, I'm fully expecting that CGI artists will most likely be making high quality, high poly meshes at some point in the near future.  People such as Tobias Richter even.  And the thing is, though I may not be entirely looking forward to this as the newest Enterprise, I'm definitely looking forward to interpretations of it.

[moed]

that ship looks kinda cool actually!  someone should do one for BC lol

Agreed.

It is a nice, streamlined design and I can actually see this thing being another Enterprise.

[JimmyB76]

The deflector feels very Galaxy-ish to me, a throwback I really like.

to me, it seems very Intrepid-ish lol 
but either way, i also really like the throwback - thats the first thing that stood out to me and i was pleased to see it

[Shadowknight1]

So, are people going to be able to fly that particular class?

[Darkthunder]

So, are people going to be able to fly that particular class?

The "Enterprise-F" class ship, will eventually be made into a playable "Cruiser" type ship in the game. But the Enterprise-F herself, will most likely remain exclusive as the ONLY ship of said class for a while, before the player base gets access to flying it.

[Shadowknight1]

Ah, I see.  I wonder how they plan on sending off the Enterprise-E.

[Joshmaul]

Ah, I see.  I wonder how they plan on sending off the Enterprise-E.

Museum ship, no doubt...

[TheConstable6]

Not that I could ever build a mesh or even draw a ship design but...I think this design is horrible! The nacelles and pylons go poorly with the chunkiness of the saucer-secondary hull connecters, the saucer looks badly misshapen and fangs on the end of the secondary hull look terrible.

[eclipse74569]

I'm not too sure about it...however I don't have a rig strong enough to play STO (not yet anyways, working on rebuilding an old HP DV6000 series and fixing key issues on it (IE, the graphics card))

If I ever get STO I will most likely have to play this ship in order to get a more valued response.

[FarShot]

Actually, regarding the fangs, the Enterprise J has them, so I see them fitting into the lineage.

[majormagna]

Ah, I see.  I wonder how they plan on sending off the Enterprise-E.

In the STO-verse, the Enterprise E went though a 'singularity' in the Paulson Nebula and was never heard from again.

[FarShot]

Since that is such a crappy ending, I'm predicting a mission will involve somehow rescuing the E and Brent Spiner will voice Captain Data.  Just an idea.