Dynaverse.net
Taldrenites => Starfleet Command Models => Topic started by: Spartan-039 on May 19, 2009, 12:06:02 pm
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I'm starting to work on a new ship that has been in my mind for a while. I want to create a whole line of Federation ships very, very early on during their exploration of space. Especially an experimental desgin that has a bit of a Babylon 5-ish feel to it. Sort of like a ship desgined for use, but only the prototype was built. Like the saucer section of an early Federation ship connected to a spinning center section for gravity, etc. I'd like some suggestions before I get done with the first version of the ship. Anything will help. I'll post the concept art when I finish it.
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Most ships start as sketches. Sketch out some of your ideas, and then post them here. There are plenty of opinions available from that point out.
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Allright, I'll be done by tomorrow. hopefully it will be somewhat liked.
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I'd start with some basics here. The Phoenix had the front cockpit, twin nacelles, and missle body. Maybe incorporate the old Vulcan ring drive in the back of a missle-like body, or a centrally fixed section the nacelles attach to with rotational sections fore and aft of there. Or mount the saucer vertically and spin that for "gravity" with nacelles attached to the center axis, and maybe a bridge structure attached ahead of the saucer where it could act as a lifeboat.
I'll draw out some ideas on lunch here quickly to show you what I mean.
(edit: very rough, but here's the illustration to give you an idea of what I mean. Personally, I like the rotational sections the best with the Vulcan drive ring second.. but the centre saucer idea could certainly be explained with early rotational gravity simulation. Use what you like, or nothing at all.. no worries either way.) ;)
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Well I can help out with ideas :)
if you want that is
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I'll get the pictures here soon to show you a rough idea of what I mean. It takes a while on my computer for it to be uploaded.
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Here's what I got thus far...
(http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/8565/conceptfederationussody.jpg)
(http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/8565/conceptfederationussody.jpg)
(http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/8565/conceptfederationussody.jpg)
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Very good. But it still really isn't the thing I'm looking for. Think of something like the Phoniex, but on a much larger scale, missle-like, with a large, rotating section in the middle with the nacelles on the sides of a box-like thing for a shuttle bay on the back.
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I like that a whole lot Atolm. Could be used to start a whole new sci-fi genre. In that case, what about swaping out the nacelles for a ring. Keep the pylons as they are. Put large bearing structures at the end of the pylons where the ring attaches as if the ring rotates through a set of rollers at the end of the pylons. Buzzards could be put on the bearing structure. Boy do I wish you could have rotating parts in SFC!
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I like that a whole lot Atolm. Could be used to start a whole new sci-fi genre. In that case, what about swaping out the nacelles for a ring. Keep the pylons as they are. Put large bearing structures at the end of the pylons where the ring attaches as if the ring rotates through a set of rollers at the end of the pylons. Buzzards could be put on the bearing structure. Boy do I wish you could have rotating parts in SFC!
thnks :), Nexus is the game for that...lol
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Very good. But it still really isn't the thing I'm looking for. Think of something like the Phoniex, but on a much larger scale, missle-like, with a large, rotating section in the middle with the nacelles on the sides of a box-like thing for a shuttle bay on the back.
Thanks too,
sorry mate...lol, this ship is designed under a different principle, gravity created under accelleration(rather than rotating parts)... so the vessel would be constructed like a building, thus the "up" or "top" of the ship would effectively be the bow of the ship.
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Makes sense, I might go with that. But I first have got to figure out how the heck to get my 3D modeling program to even bloody work.
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So she is setup like a Battletech ship. Seems a bit small considering the fuel load needed. 20+ metric tons per burn/day is alot for an interstellar ship that size. I think it would make a good alternet Vulcan type though. Kinda looks lit the Taplana Hath.
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I think it would make a good alternet Vulcan type though. Kinda looks lit the Taplana Hath.
I think that reason is exactly why it would make a good Early-Fed ship. It's likely that Early federation ships would borrow a lot from the Vulcans.
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So she is setup like a Battletech ship. Seems a bit small considering the fuel load needed. 20+ metric tons per burn/day is alot for an interstellar ship that size. I think it would make a good alternet Vulcan type though. Kinda looks lit the Taplana Hath.
I dunno, Impulse is pretty damned powerful :) , and if the ship has low warp, like say warp 1-2 like the Phoenix ancestry, then she's got a good enough power source to do what is expected too
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Spartan, I am slightly confused. I know you want a gravito-rotational ring, but did you want a vulcan-style drive or a nacelle-syle?
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I wanted a nacelle drive, but wither will do. Which is easier to make?
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I wanted a nacelle drive, but wither will do. Which is easier to make?
I only opted the nacelles because the Phoenix herself had them... So I said why not (and you know how I like Annular nacelles, ie warp rings :D )
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Well, once I get my 3D modeler to work correctly, then I'll try both he nacelles and the rings.
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one thing to keep in mind if you do gravito-roational rings. You need 2 counter-rotating segments of equal mass - otherwise the direction of motion can get very screwy.
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That I know. Physics play a huge role into such things.
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Its star trek, I don't think physics actually plays too much of a role in anything...lol
Update:
(http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/451/federationvikingclass00.jpg)
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That's cool! It sort of reminds me of a classic rocket-ship design because of the vertical nature of the saucer now, and this is all combined with the standard Federation layout... they work well together.
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Nice. I'd start working on it, buuut my computer won't let me find a good enough modeling program to use on my computer. I absolutely hate Vista computers.
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Nice. I'd start working on it, buuut my computer won't let me find a good enough modeling program to use on my computer. I absolutely hate Vista computers.
Let me experiment a bit.. I have a Windows 7 box that I can play with installing a few programs on.. maybe one of them will do it for you..
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Atlom you have any other angles of that girl for us to look at? She looks nice.
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I believe Gmax runs on Vista and has the .mod plugin: http://www.4shared.com/file/56695695/3378fb01/gmax12.html?dirPwdVerified=ae1a9a1c
There's also Mod Tool. It doesn't have a .mod plugin, but it's current so should be fine on Vista: http://www.softimage.com/products/modtool/
There's Blender, as well. Again, no .mod plugin (and Blender is wierd ;)), but runs on Vista. http://www.blender.org/
Atolm, another great design!!!
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I believe Gmax runs on Vista and has the .mod plugin: [url]http://www.4shared.com/file/56695695/3378fb01/gmax12.html?dirPwdVerified=ae1a9a1c[/url]
OT: I am playing around with Gmax, but I did a search and it seems that 98/ME can't handle the plugin. Do you know if there is a good middle program that could open up an exported Gmax project and then save that project as a .mod? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
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I believe Gmax runs on Vista and has the .mod plugin: [url]http://www.4shared.com/file/56695695/3378fb01/gmax12.html?dirPwdVerified=ae1a9a1c[/url]
OT: I am playing around with Gmax, but I did a search and it seems that 98/ME can't handle the plugin. Do you know if there is a good middle program that could open up an exported Gmax project and then save that project as a .mod? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
If it won't run on 98/ME, then the only other programs are max3 thru 5 and Milkshape, AFAIK. Sorry, man. Is updating your PC an option? You might be surprised at how much better PCs have gotten in the last decade. ;)
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I have a VISTA! And it gives me the things that won't seem to work. Milkshape didn't work, most of the options I've looked at online. It's annoying.
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I believe Gmax runs on Vista and has the .mod plugin: [url]http://www.4shared.com/file/56695695/3378fb01/gmax12.html?dirPwdVerified=ae1a9a1c[/url]
OT: I am playing around with Gmax, but I did a search and it seems that 98/ME can't handle the plugin. Do you know if there is a good middle program that could open up an exported Gmax project and then save that project as a .mod? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
If it won't run on 98/ME, then the only other programs are max3 thru 5 and Milkshape, AFAIK. Sorry, man. Is updating your PC an option? You might be surprised at how much better PCs have gotten in the last decade. ;)
Thanks for the info. I guess I like older stuff, but an upgrade might be a good idea. :)
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Does anyone know how to use blender? Because I don't.
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There are lots of tutorials online. There are video tutorials on youtube too.
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All right, I'll check them out tonight when I get home.
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Well, I can confirm that gmax does install and run (and import and export .MOD files) on Windows 7, build 7000.
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Bearing in mind that the Pheonix made it into the Warp "One Point Somethings" and Archer remembering his father's work with Warp 3 (27c) engines, early Earth starships would be rather on the slow side.
The Fortunate was only capable of Warp 1.8 or around 6c where as the later built Horizon just made it past Warp 2 (8c).
So if, as abenchmark, Starfleet's starships would be probally only one small technology step more advanced than the Fortunate and the Horizon.
So with early Starfleet pre-Ent exploration starships pushing in the Warp 2.5 (15c) to Warp 3 (27c), and interstellar flights to even local stars of interest, most of the ship's hull would be for stores and supplies.
On the other hand, the Warp Nachelles would be smaller than the NX-01 but larger than on the Horizon or Fortunate.
A balance between speed and Warp Streamlining against flight duration (stores and supplies) would have a strong influence on the design brief Starfleet would hand to the engineers and designers tendering for an exploration ship contract.
Remember, compared to the NX-01, early Earth Warp powered starships, would be like sail ships next to a steamer.
Just something to bear in mind.
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Well, I can confirm that gmax does install and run (and import and export .MOD files) on Windows 7, build 7000.
That's good news, Alex. Seeing as how Vista doesn't like Max 3-5. We can still convert to .MOD for the foreseeable future w/Gmax.
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Well, I can confirm that gmax does install and run (and import and export .MOD files) on Windows 7, build 7000.
That's good news, Alex. Seeing as how Vista doesn't like Max 3-5. We can still convert to .MOD for the foreseeable future w/Gmax.
It does give us an upgrade path.. as long as Windows 7's XP Mode in build 7100 doesn't break it again. I have a build 7100 box running as well, I'll try installing it and XP Mode and then see if I can import and export from that.
It will mean that the number of .MAX files will go down, but it also looks like gmax's interface is very similar to 3dsMax r3.1, and that's good news for those familiar with that.
Spartan.. any images/renders/sketches of your idea?
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Well.... sort of. I have a problem with putting my pictures on here though. This really, REALLY, annoys me. I've tried once before and it didn't work too good.