Poll closes at month's end.

I voted for the standard 2 nacelled version. I admit it.

Now I am intrigued to see what 2.5 nacelles looks like...

I am assuming its the best of both, i.e. the extra little cannons and launchers etc?

Voted for the three nacelle version, I'm up for keeping the ship the same.

Hi, I'm pretty new here, but I also prefer the classic

2

I prefer the three, but I am in favor of a compromise.  :)

I vote for a compromise along the lines of:

1) The nacelle replaced with a mission-specific pod
2) A crewperson (perhaps Lefler) wistfully noting the fact that the nacelle's no longer there. Just as a touch of respect.

Thanks,
Chris

I voted for 3, don't fix it if it isn't broke.

I voted for two nacelles, albeit more powerful, but with the mission specific item where the third would have been.

The Excelsior could become the ship that Starfleet send into problem areas for troubleshooting missions.  More powerful engines, and enough equipment to make the A-Team a little excited.

It could also be a testbed for new equipment.

I'm agreeing with a few others here.

Go with 2 (albeit uprated versions) and a Mission Pod (similar to a Nebula class) where the 3rd used to be.

Go with 2 but add some new features

Could a smaller third nacelle be integrated into the saucer design? Keeping the lines similar (though probably streamlined), but giving the third nacelle an obvious purpose (warp capable saucer) while also updating the look of the ship overall...

Dan

mission pod?    like a otter pool ?      3 is good  2 is fine .

I really like that idea and it you be a reason to have a third nacelle. The only thing would be to make it look good

okay that would just be cool.  Especially if we get to see shots of Excelsior seperating and both sections going into warp. 

What about... 4?


No, listen for a sec.

the "Engineering" section of the Excelsior could be thicker, and there are only two noticable warp nacelles (as per normal) However, when "ludicrous speed" is required, two more warp nacelles can 'pop out' from the engineering section, their job being to create a warp bubble within the bubble, or in other words, allowing for much, much faster speeds over a short period of time, say.

You will need an indicator light.



I think that would be a cool effect to see additional nacelles popping out of the ship.

It's a starship Jim, not a robot in disguise... ;)

I posted a pic of a possible refit for the Excelsior here;

http://forums.hiddenfrontier.com/index.php....html#msg201106

I'm of a mind to keep the third nacelle. For the design it balances the original mission of Excelisor. Thogh having a short range sustainer warp nacelle might be interesting. Especially if a saucer sep is called for. Allowing the saucer to maintain warp operations independent from the stardrive section.

Remember I have to update my models for that refit! LOL!  :$

( points Null Ray) HEY!  :?

Anyway I think the third nacelle looks fine. However the Excelsior either needs to use the bridge cannons or lose them. And having torpedoes that close to the bridge is a bit nutty.

Well, lets list our compromise options thus far...

1. Go back to the Original Galaxy Design, and never ever speak of the third nacelle again.

2. The mission pod, for when a plot device attacks that only it can solve.

3. The third nacelle is on the saucer, in case of saucer separation.

4. Emergency Nacelles for meta-warping.

What I personally would vote for is a combination of all four. How about, a prototype runabout that docks where the third nacelle used to be. It is warp capable, and able to funnel it's warp power into Excelsior for when it needs to get out of dodge. But here's the cool part, when the ship needs to saucer separate, this new runabout can detach during separation, and fly up to the saucer, fitting in the niche where the support used to be, and making the saucer warp capable! Thoughts?

I'm with Dan on this!

David

I think three nacelles but the third should be attaced to the saucer section to allow two high speed warp vessels in one-- I also think there should be a fly though battle deck some where

~Floxy

what if the nacell was situated sidewise  like the flying bridge /sensor arrays on the saucer section  with 360 degree field development ability

~Floxy

Totally awesome but probably too awesome for the anti-fanboy-people. ;D

A tertinary hull with a through-deck hangar could be a good form of replacement for the nacelle. It's can be big enough to not look ridiculous, as a relatively small nebula-type pod would on the really large support of the nacelle.

[edit to add quick sketch of through-deck-cruiser]

4... because no one really liked the odd number movies as much as we may say we do :)

eww that looks more ridiculous than the Excelsior in it's current form...........way too fan-boy.

I like that idea.  I always thought that making the saucer section the combat section, and then taking its two most powerful sources of energy away from it was a BAD design.

In TNG the saucer was supposed to be the lifeboat to save the civillians while the stardrive-section would engage the hostiles. It was Riker in "Best of Both Worlds, Pt. 2", who used the saucer as a second attack-vessel.

Ever since seeing Rikers ship in 'All good things', I 've thought that 3 nacelles looked 'top heavy'. I like sleek lines, ala the good old constitution class, or the incredible Helena. So I'm voting for 2.

I'm for the third nacelle being on the saucer section- it's a nice touch!

A third nacelle on the saucer would look silly in my opinion, even more so than the third nacelle as was.

Keep the unbroken lines of the ship.

I assume it would go for a more integrated design. As in the Defiant's nacelles, but even more streamlined.

Since the only place, i can see an integrated nacelle is taken by the big gun, would this mean a four nacelle design (with the saucer nacelles on both sides)?

i actually played with that idea ages ago and as said put the integrated nacelle below the centre of the saucer in a housing not unlike that of the phaser cannon, the front end of the whole addition would hold a traditional round main deflector.

If there were nacelles integrated into the main saucer, they would have to be smaller and a lot less powerful than the main 2 on the Secondary Hull.

A powerplant would have to be integrated into the main saucer as well.  The phaser cannon would perhaps not be able to function due to the power usage of the engines.

Eh. Best bet, ditch everything that was "glued on" with the All Good Things Galaxy.

Then go back in and redesign the bridge and B-C deck/superstructure to change the detailing of the saucer

Add in recessed nacelles that would rise up when the saucer separated, add in some other structures to give you the impression of a powerplant (glowies and such)

Change the arrangement, shape and placement of the life-boats froms square to chamfered triangles

Add in the Sov-style color scheme (dark-blue/white/light-gray/dark-gray accents)

Add in the TNG+ paneling details (as seen on the Akira, Steamrunner, Sov...First Contact-and-later design elements

Remove about 1/3rd the windows on the saucer, add mission-specific stuff around about 60% of the saucer (essentially eliminating those windows and replacing them with recessed sensor pallets and scale greebles)

Follow that same surfacing aesthetic for the neck, engineering hull, nacelles and struts. It'd give you a Galaxy-class shape, but make it look "advanced" and like a true refit (within story), give you some different colors, and let you put elements in that you need for your specific story, while ditching the more awkward parts grafted onto the "Galaxy-X".

Dan

Dan, please, we need SPECIFICS here....    LOL

I can't even begin to imagine what you just described... maybe someone on here can sketch it up.

-- Rick

But where would the powerplant go?

I'm certain it would take up quite a few decks.

In-story, reduce the crew down to a few hundred and reconfigure the interior to accomodate the special, mission-specific tech that's causing the refit. Use the available space for a new warp core, placed horizontally instead of vertically.

Production-wise, put it in the new saucer superstructure, tween the bridge and the neck.

I'm still pretty new here, but I would like to keep it with 3 nacelles.  She's a dreadnought, it's looks cool...

And I hate changing what ships look like.

TNG was awesome.  Enterprise was a beautiful ship.  And while All Good Things introduced a neat look at a future version of the Enterprise, I didn't like that they had tainted the look of the Enterprise.  Go ahead and change the Galaxy's look, but don't touch the 1701!

Same for the movies.  Sure, the new refit Enterprise looked pretty cool, and the design was kept for "A," but changing from TOS to TMP just seemed...wrong.

So yeah...I'm a fan of keeping ships the way they look.  I'm voting for 3 nacelles.

:$
But if you HAVE to...I'd say stick something where that third nacelle was, and don't make it look stupid...

I rather like 3 nacelles, although from a dramatic standpoint the 3rd nacelle is a liability; the one time it would have been useful, Lefler needed 10 minutes to bring it online, by which time it was too late.  (2.07: Fire in the Heart)

I agree :-) as far as powering the Sauser a secound warpcore would not need to be as large it only is to be used if seperated and its only half a ship then or for backup power and you would no longer have to devert power from lifesupport maybe thay could also put more crittical systems more interier so they cant be taked out but random phaser fire.  A ship with two warp cores would be a power house.

Think of the Defiant's warp core, the whole ship is all of what 5 decks thick? That should be enough to at least sustain the saucer at warp, or maybe a lower warp factor, i mean face it a saucer section even with the Excelsiors cannon, isn't exactly the most heavily armed.

:agree:  what they said

The Galaxy-saucer is rather large, containing around 3/4 th of the ships volume/mass (without nacelles). IMHO a Defiant-sized warp-core and runabout-sized nacelles do not suffice for more than Warp 1 or 2.

But i remember reading, that the Galaxy-interior is modular and easily configurable, so adding a warp-core of sufficent size seems not to be a problem.

The sauser is an escape vehicale it would not be expected to use high warp rutienly for extended use possable quick burst. or as insystem multi vector atack mode the smaller warp core would likely work under those situations.