Ship design Options

[OrR]

I love the general appearance of the ships shown in the trailer. The moving rings make them feel like insects. I wonder what the purpose of the rings is. It's obviously got to do with fast traveling as they rotate faster when the ship "goes to warp" in the end.

What I don't like too much about the ships is the gray textures. They feel very generic and faceless... The one with the red accents works better. Maybe I just have to get used to them, though.

It seems like the ships have decks like a Star Trek ship. I guess there is artificial gravity as it would be hard to simulate zero gravity when filming people with a low budget. I'm not sure this is a good choice. Star Trek-like artificial gravity is hard to explain away and difficult to justify when it's so easy to get with a rotating interior (see 2001). With CG sets, this should be pretty easy to implement and it's so much more beautiful than the Star Trek option. I guess the main reason why other SF shows use it rarely is because of the difficult sets. What they built for 2001 was quite awesome...

[andyisdigital]

I like the look of the rings. They remind me of the movie "Contact" (with Jodi Foster and Matthew McWhateverhisnameis.) I wonder if they operate on a similar theoretical basis as the "Contact" pod rings.

Rob mentioned something about paying homage to some of the earlier sci-fi film eras. The color/texture may have been made with that in mind, I suspect. All-in-all, I'm very excited to see this project unfold!

[Arkady]

Well, Trek ships are mostlty grey, or greyish white, earthforce ships are a darker shade of grey. There was color features on the Guard ships though, mostly an accent in the rings, and the large circular structure behind the polaris' bridgehouse (the reactor?)

In any case, scifi seems to be just shades of grey (hee!)

[Onara_Teyshan]

There is an elegance to them I think. I really like their looks. Very few starships have colors really. Star Trek ships left color to the warp nacells or insignias. Star Wars ships were the ones with broad color accents. I look forward to the show in 09.

[Starscream]

Babylon 5 ships also had a lot of color, from the Very Light Blue of the Mimbari Ships to the Dark grays and black of the Earthforce Ships.

[Onara_Teyshan]

I had forgotten B5 ships. I was very fond of the Minbari and their flying blue "gold fish". The Centauri had a fondness for purple in their ship designs.

[DHillMSP]

I like the look of the rings. They remind me of the movie "Contact" (with Jodi Foster and Matthew McWhateverhisnameis.) I wonder if they operate on a similar theoretical basis as the "Contact" pod rings.

Rob mentioned something about paying homage to some of the earlier sci-fi film eras. The color/texture may have been made with that in mind, I suspect. All-in-all, I'm very excited to see this project unfold!

Just got me thinking on the Contact comment - there have been calls elsewhere for more science in "science fiction" - if this were indeed the basis of the "egg beater" design...seems to me that it would be headed in that direction, anyways.

Well...that, or fluffy omlettes.

[Armagron]

I definitely hope there is some explanation for the rings myself. I have a pet peeve about unnecessary parts on space ships (and don't get me started on symmetry on ships that never enter an atmosphere). I have a Tuvok approach to starship design (the Delta Flyer didn't need wing flaps to fly. They were only there for aesthetic reasons.). Some examples where I have been annoyed at ship designs can be located in "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith." There was a gray ship (I think "Star Wars: Battlefront II" calls it a Federation Bomber) that had this little tail flap that pulled down when the ship landed, but for the life of me I could not figure out why. The ship did not rest on it, nor did it seem to balance the ship any more than if it were extended. It just moved up and down for no reason. The same thing with the Jedi star fighter. It left the docking bay of the ship it was in, extended wing flaps (in space, mind you) flew a few yards and then closed them again when it docked with the hyperspace ring. Then when it was flying through an atmosphere the ship functioned properly with the flaps extended or closed. No purpose for them except for aesthetic reasons.

So, I really hope there is some logical reason why these ships were built with two rings that rotate in opposite directions other than to make it easier to destroy a group of ships in close proximity with one shot when the rings get disengaged from a destroyed ship and go flying in multiple directions impacting into other the other nearby ships thereby disengaging their rings, and flying them off in a chain reaction of wincing regret (as has already been depicted in the trailers). Sure, it's makes for cooler explosions, but I don't think it's gonna be getting that four-star safety inspection award any time soon.

[Mighty]

I have no clue but my speculation on the rings is that they have something to do with space travel. Possibly like Nacelles on Federation ships.

[Onara_Teyshan]

This may seem anathema but pretty ships attract attention. No one wants to watch plain (boring) ships slip silently in space. ( a refference to the sounds thread) As for me, I really like those rings. It will be interesting seeing what explanation is given for them. I assume docking or shuttle landings are a no-go when those egg beaters are on whip.

[Jaiden-Verax]

This may seem anathema but pretty ships attract attention. No one wants to watch plain (boring) ships slip silently in space. ( a refference to the sounds thread) As for me, I really like those rings. It will be interesting seeing what explanation is given for them. I assume docking or shuttle landings are a no-go when those egg beaters are on whip.

I guess those rings are pretty vulnerable to attack. I imagine "Target their flights rings!" is akin to crippling their FTL capacity. Apart from this tactical vulnerability I like the look of the ships.

[Arkady]

This may seem anathema but pretty ships attract attention. No one wants to watch plain (boring) ships slip silently in space. ( a refference to the sounds thread) As for me, I really like those rings. It will be interesting seeing what explanation is given for them. I assume docking or shuttle landings are a no-go when those egg beaters are on whip.

when the ship was backing out of dock the rings were stationary.

but yeah i suppose it would be challenge trying to dock a shuttle when those suckers are rotating

[Chroniton]

Ensign killing in a whole new sci-fi universe. LOL!

[Will]

This may seem anathema but pretty ships attract attention. No one wants to watch plain (boring) ships slip silently in space. ( a refference to the sounds thread) As for me, I really like those rings. It will be interesting seeing what explanation is given for them. I assume docking or shuttle landings are a no-go when those egg beaters are on whip.

"Pretty" is irrelevant.

[Chroniton]

No offense but those ships look very delicate, cutable with sicssors delicate, especailly those rotating things. Though i agree their not boring it's just being weened off the Scimitair to find out that it's being replaced with an egg whisk.

This post has been edited by Chroniton: Jan 11 2009, 02:48 PM