No disrespect intended .. BUT that is the problem. There is little or nothing fresh being published for the Klingon faction.
THERE NEEDS TO BE ! (for emphasis ... NOT screaming)
Yep, why would there be another ship for each and every permutation of BO and/or console slots...but only on the Federation side.
Everyone else just gets reskins, re-re-skins or nothing at all.
I think something that is at least identifiable as a seperate ship or destinct variant would be and excellent choice.
For what ever it is worth I know that the artists have their hands full ! There simply needs to be some attention given to the Klingon faction. IMHO the 3rd faction should be put on hold until the Klingons are brought to speed.
Yes that would mean that a model that I have been promoting the last few YEARS should wait ! I'll gladly be patient and wait for a FEW (not one or two) Klingon models get added to the game! It's simply the right thing to do!
This is certainly the greatest comment from a non-KDF player on the subject I've ever seen.
Thank you and I believe you should receive an honorary title from the KDF community for this.
sorry for the delay folks! the weekend has been absolutely NUTS !
At any rate here is the WIP I 've been promising. I wish I had more time to get the next step in the Science vessel completed enough to post ... but frankly I was not sure how far outside the box I should go and still make it look like a Klingon ship. BUT I have started on it ... and depending upon feed back with this work in progress we'll see what shakes out.
THIS CONCEPTis a place to start the discussion (I hope)
OH.. It should be noted that I origonally thought about simple adding a few noticable add-ons to an advancecd long range scout .. Someone suggested a newer ship. While it is obvious I modified the hull .. it is also obvious that is a LOT different. It simply may not be different enough. My thoughts are to still try to keep it recognizable as a "KLINGON" design.
ALSO: the pod is manned by a crew of 4 Plus the captain. IMHO Klingons might not want to stay sat comfortably behind a console and send in a remot probe all the time. Klingons being more fearless might prefer to "fly" the probe directly into the anamoly and get first hand data ! (just a thought).
There seems to be a little Klingon in there somewhere in that designer's heart.;)
IKS Gorkon Novel 1, page 39
Martok talks to 12 captains he's about to send into an unexplored sector to claim it for the Empire:
"This is an open-ended mission. It will continue until every parsec of the Kavrot Sector is at least charted and catalogued. Initial probes have indicated at least a dozen worlds that should meet the criteria for conquest, and hundreds more possibilities.
Kahless once said that the unknown is the greates foe of all.
Today, each of you will go and face that foe.[...]"
I think that last part is exactly what you captured with your idea of a manned probe to send directly into the heart of the matter to be investigated, great job!
I can't remember when anyone had such kind thinbgs to say about anything I've posted. I should have the final step done in a day or so. If it takes a while longer don't panic ... just takes me a while some times. ( I work entirely too many hours ... but hey .. that beats not having a job soooo we'll just keep plugging away).
At any rate .. I try to remember and post all 3 models ..
1. the long range scout class (which gave us a base to work from)
2. the initial science vessel
3. the last version ( not posted as yet)
Hello, even though I'm still unable to work in 3-D right now, I've been working in 2-D instead.
And I'm unscropulous enough to inflict the results on you floks.
Fluff text:
After the destruction of Praxis, the Klingon Empire was in dire need of additional resources to survive.
Even though peace with and support from the Federation alleviated the problem somewhat, more needed to be done to prevent a total collapse.
As a result the KDF was tasked to find new resources to exploit, new worlds to settle and new civilizations to conquer.
Existing KDF ships were suited for conquest, but hardly for deep space exploration.
So a new generation of ships that could operate independantly for extended periods of time was required.
They would need the most advanced sensor and surveillance equipment available and they would have to be able to investigate potential conquests unnoticed.
Until that time the ships best suited for such functions had been Birds of Prey, but even they were not up to the challenge.
The Klingons used the Bird of Prey's characteristics and advantages in an unusual way:
they created a vraiation of it that was similar in size to a contemporary battlecruiser.
With its low fuel consuption, powerful sensor array, excellent stealth characteristics combined with the ability to land on a planet, the Jubbe' [Seeker] class scout can operate for years without support in hostile territory.
In wartime it can be used to observe fleet movements at great distances, track down hidden enemy bases of operations and provide direct support to ground troops.
Even though it lacks the Bird of Prey's ability to adjust its wings' position and is less maneuverable, it makes up for these disadvantages.
Its better shielding and excellent targetting systems allow it to absorb more damage and destroy enemy strongholds with surgical precision.
Years later the KDF would repeat the concept on an even greater scale thorugh the creation of an even beiiger cousin of the Bird of Prey: the K'vort.
Okay, pointless text aside: the differences in proportions are not due to my poor drawing skills, they are deliberate (yes I know it's easy to say that, but there is a slim chance you folks believe me ).
It does have a less curved hull and different wings.
Since it's about the size of a K't'inga I added an aft torpedo tube and there is a shuttlebay between the warp engines/baffles.
The forward pod is more pointed than on the 23rd century BoP.
The Birds of Prey have some kind of large "pipe" going around the outisde of the bridge, please mentally picture that section and replace the "pipe" with a large grid with makes up the scout's primary and very prominent sensor array.
I'd figure this ship would be Tier 3 with less hull and more maneuverability than the Olympic and with a console arrangement slightly more towards combat than its Federation counterpart
Stat guessimates
Hull 17,000
Turnrate 14
Standard cloak
Weapons 3/2 no cannons
Enginering 1
Science 2
Tactical 2
And since I'm such an excellent insomniac right now, I managed to figure out a possible bridge arrangement on this ship last night.
Assuming we got such a ship and assuming we can one day design our own bridges this is how I picture it (the scale is non-STO, about as cramped as actual Klingon bridges)
Hello, even though I'm still unable to work in 3-D right now, I've been working in 2-D instead.
And I'm unscropulous enough to inflict the results on you floks.
Fluff text:
After the destruction of Praxis, the Klingon Empire was in dire need of additional resources to survive.
Even though peace with and support from the Federation alleviated the problem somewhat, more needed to be done to prevent a total collapse.
As a result the KDF was tasked to find new resources to exploit, new worlds to settle and new civilizations to conquer.
Existing KDF ships were suited for conquest, but hardly for deep space exploration.
So a new generation of ships that could operate independantly for extended periods of time was required.
They would need the most advanced sensor and surveillance equipment available and they would have to be able to investigate potential conquests unnoticed.
Until that time the ships best suited for such functions had been Birds of Prey, but even they were not up to the challenge.
The Klingons used the Bird of Prey's characteristics and advantages in an unusual way:
they created a vraiation of it that was similar in size to a contemporary battlecruiser.
With its low fuel consuption, powerful sensor array, excellent stealth characteristics combined with the ability to land on a planet, the Jubbe' [Seeker] class scout can operate for years without support in hostile territory.
In wartime it can be used to observe fleet movements at great distances, track down hidden enemy bases of operations and provide direct support to ground troops.
Even though it lacks the Bird of Prey's ability to adjust its wings' position and is less maneuverable, it makes up for these disadvantages.
Its better shielding and excellent targetting systems allow it to absorb more damage and destroy enemy strongholds with surgical precision.
Years later the KDF would repeat the concept on an even greater scale thorugh the creation of an even beiiger cousin of the Bird of Prey: the K'vort.
Okay, pointless text aside: the differences in proportions are not due to my poor drawing skills, they are deliberate (yes I know it's easy to say that, but there is a slim chance you folks believe me ).
It does have a less curved hull and different wings.
Since it's about the size of a K't'inga I added an aft torpedo tube and there is a shuttlebay between the warp engines/baffles.
The forward pod is more pointed than on the 23rd century BoP.
The Birds of Prey have some kind of large "pipe" going around the outisde of the bridge, please mentally picture that section and replace the "pipe" with a large grid with makes up the scout's primary and very prominent sensor array.
I'd figure this ship would be Tier 3 with less hull and more maneuverability than the Olympic and with a console arrangement slightly more towards combat than its Federation counterpart
Stat guessimates
Hull 17,000
Turnrate 14
Standard cloak
Weapons 3/2 no cannons
Enginering 1
Science 2
Tactical 2
And since I'm such an excellent insomniac right now, I managed to figure out a possible bridge arrangement on this ship last night.
Assuming we got such a ship and assuming we can one day design our own bridges this is how I picture it (the scale is non-STO, about as cramped as actual Klingon bridges)
nicely done ! I particularly like the bridge lay out ! Your T-3 works well with the T-5 advance scout we posted for ya ! Excellent retro!
BTW.. for the ships I'm posting, I'll let you and your fellow Officers discuss the specifications. IMHO you folks see them every day ... and know where the short comings are for the T-5 stuff (which is what I've been doing thus far.
Don't know how many others have seen it yet but a couple of us have been theory crafting a Leathian ship with a science focus just a little bit down the boards, it is designed to be a teir 5 like the other non-klingon ships but its another science flavoured ship so I figured mentioning it here wouldn't hurt.
it seems there is little interest in this matter right now and discussion has ended completely.
I wish to thank everyone who has participated and I'd like to especially thank OlBuzzard who is probably
the kindest and most supportive non-KDF player you can imagine.
I realize I'm not the OP of this thread but it seems as the last one currently around I'll be the one turining off the light.
However I've a tendency to keep my promises if I can.
So I wrote a few lines a couple of days ago about another scout I was working on, which is a converted battlecruiser.
And I'm finished by now, even though it's again just a design on paper.
N'Vak class (Tier 2)
I started out with a schematic of the K't'inga from EAS.
I inverted the image's colour and printed it on a sheet of pater with a grid.
Grid-size is 0.5 centimeters if anyone wonders.
Anyway I used that as a point of reference to get the proportions right and see where to add what.
I've created two drawings, top and bottom and added the K't'inga on the grid to the image to show you where I enlarged the hull and which proportons are slightly altered etc.
It's quite funny actually: I printed an image in paper and then scanned it again into an image.:)
Here's the fluff text which explains how I imagine such a ship would come to pass.
"
N'Vak Class Expedition Scout
By the time Gorkon became chancellor, the Klingon Empire was in a state of economic decline.
Various internal and external conflicts had been a serious drain on the Empire's natural resources.
Gorkon wanted to seek a peaceful resolution of the conflict with the Federation and divert military
funding into the economy and also find new resources beyond the Empire's borders.
More conservative elements wanted to resolve those differences with the Federation militarily and simultaneously solve the resource problems by aquiring the riches of the Federation instead.
As a compromise, a ship was designed the could do both depending in the way the negotiations with the
Federation went.
As a short-term solutionproduction at available sources like the moon Praxis was increased.
To minimize the already considerable drain on the available budget existing ships and part were used where possible.
Several D7 battlecruisers that were partially dismantled for conversion to the more advanced K't'inga class were chosen to be used as a basis.
The command pod was rearranged to accomondate several additional sensors and includes a recessed sensor/deflector array.
The neck was enlarged to house laboratories.
Changes to the aft hull were considerable, especially on the inside.
All cargo holds were removed and replaced with addiitonal fuel storage, a new and somewhat bulky high-reliability reactor was installed along with several redundant safety systems.
The latter required the hull to be enlarged somewhat.
An additional hullpiece was added aft betwen the impulse engines that contains addiitonal sensors, auxilliary generators and the aft weaponry.
The familiar hangar deck at the top of the aft hull was completely removed and replaced by a multi-level cargo/hangar section that holds all the cargo bays removed from the hull itself along with several additional ones.
The cargo section is connected to the hangar section for rapid movement and exchange of cargo.
The hangar bay itself holds several large cargo shuttles for that purpose as well.
These capabilites can be used to quickly establish a foothold on an unclaimed planet and put up the foundations of a colony.
The warp engines are basically D7-type S-2 graf units with addiitonal coils in a stretched nacelle housing.
This was done for several reasons:
The D7 nacelle has Disruptor mounts that allowed the armaments to be installed there, freeing up space in the command pod.
Several nacellec and coils were in storage from previously converted vessels and readily available.
Even though the S-2 graf units become somewhat unreliable at the power output the K't'inga's warp reactor is capable of, the used engines had already proven to have several additional decades of operational lifetime left if operated at power levels the older D7 was capable of.
The N'Vak's reactor operates as similar levels which were by that time already inadequate for a state of the art warship but more than enough for a military scout.
The lengthened nacelles mean there is less strain on the individual components, extending their lifetime even further.
Since there are still considerable spare parts in storage, there is also no problem replacing burnt out parts.
The ship's purpose is two-fold.
As a scout its cargo bays are filled with supplies for extended expeditions beyond the Empire's borders, seeking new resources to exploit.
In wartime, these cargo bays are converted into barracks for hundreds of soldiers along with their ground assault vehicles.
Cargo shuttles are swapped out for assault shuttles that carry those troops and their equipment and vehicles to their destination.
Laboratories are converted into emergency hospitals.
The scout uses it improved sensors to bombard planets from orbit and can also relay targetting data to other ships.
The exploration functions were later taken over by more specialized scouts, but the N'Vaks remain in service as border patrol ships and commando transports that can be deployed quickly to quell occasional uprisings."
I have to agree a little with people saying the Bird of Prey makes an excellent science vessel and that the Federation should have a distinct edge or "uniqueness" factor here. KDF already has a lot of unique ships, such as the mentioned Bird of Prey and Carrier, along with the racial ships.
What I'd really like to see are lower level Carriers and more "Fleet Support" ships, that are a blend of Engineering and Science, instead of a purely science-dedicated ship.
If they do decide to do ship leveling then the KDF will need a nice science ship. Why we don't have one anywhere is still odd.
We have one, but they nerfed its shields, hull, and made it more of a cruiser than a carrier...What else do you call the ship? It relies on auxiliary power to reduce the timers of the fighters or BOP's or whatever else, so you cannot do much damage...not even the damage of a cruiser, and subsystem targeting is innate to the carrier, so we need a 1/2-way decent science ship...either that or un-nerf the shields and hull issues people speak about....
We have one, but they nerfed its shields, hull, and made it more of a cruiser than a carrier...What else do you call the ship? It relies on auxiliary power to reduce the timers of the fighters or BOP's or whatever else, so you cannot do much damage...not even the damage of a cruiser, and subsystem targeting is innate to the carrier, so we need a 1/2-way decent science ship...either that or un-nerf the shields and hull issues people speak about....
or leave the Vov nerfed and give me back the better pets and design some decent controls for them.
Basically the Vov was double nerfed in that it had changes to the Vessel and its pets. One or the other, the former or the latter needs to be changed.
Well, I just read through this entire thread and I must say that there is a lot of debate. With all the suggestion and opinion being thrown out, I figure why not throw in my own.
I suggest that the bird of prey should simple have universal console slots like they have universal Boffs. This would allow one to customize the ship to match the Boffs they are using. With the right consoles a BoP could easily become an excellent sciences officer vessel especially if the battle cloak is utilized to its potential.
Universal Console Slots also keeps the unique feel of a bird of prey and the KDF which the Federation does not posses.
or leave the Vov nerfed and give me back the better pets and design some decent controls for them.
Basically the Vov was double nerfed in that it had changes to the Vessel and its pets. One or the other, the former or the latter needs to be changed.
Yes, it does need to be changed...one or the other....
Well, I just read through this entire thread and I must say that there is a lot of debate. With all the suggestion and opinion being thrown out, I figure why not throw in my own.
I suggest that the bird of prey should simple have universal console slots like they have universal Boffs. This would allow one to customize the ship to match the Boffs they are using. With the right consoles a BoP could easily become an excellent sciences officer vessel especially if the battle cloak is utilized to its potential.
Universal Console Slots also keeps the unique feel of a bird of prey and the KDF which the Federation does not posses.
That's an interesting idea, but there might be a slight problem:
If they simply gave the BoP 9 "white" slots, there is the risk of abusing it by stacking a ridicilous amount of consoles, like 9 different armor consoles, resulting in an armored monstrousity or stacking 9 weapons consoles, resulting in a tiny deathstar.
That is based on the assumption it is actually possible to make netural console slots and not just neutral consoles like the Borg Console.
However two additional variants of the BoP that only differ in their power bonuses and their console arrangement, that favour either Tac or Sci with 4 consoles might be an easy way out of the issue.
Which is what Cryptic would probaly prefer, a solution that's not very time consuming.
That's an interesting idea, but there might be a slight problem:
If they simply gave the BoP 9 "white" slots, there is the risk of abusing it by stacking a ridicilous amount of consoles, like 9 different armor consoles, resulting in an armored monstrousity or stacking 9 weapons consoles, resulting in a tiny deathstar.
That is based on the assumption it is actually possible to make netural console slots and not just neutral consoles like the Borg Console.
However two additional variants of the BoP that only differ in their power bonuses and their console arrangement, that favour either Tac or Sci with 4 consoles might be an easy way out of the issue.
Which is what Cryptic would probaly prefer, a solution that's not very time consuming.
I'm sorry I don't understand the question.
Could you please elaborate a little?
What is or would be preferable to what?
Their solution that is not time consuming...is that preferable to what we already have in the game? I would prefer that they didn't do that again.....Last time they did something haphazardly the ships got to us later than expected...
Their solution that is not time consuming...is that preferable to what we already have in the game? I would prefer that they didn't do that again.....Last time they did something haphazardly the ships got to us later than expected...
On the one hand i could see it, in star trek armrada 2 the kdf science ship, was pretty much a ship pack with destructive science abilities. Also it had klingon music hehe. That being said the kdf has this gigantic carrier that sends out bops. So not sure if it would be right balance wise for them to give kdf science ships.
As it is to get my science fill, I have had to look into doing a hit and run BOP build for the KDF side....I am testing it on my Fed toon...yes I have those too..... to see if it works. It seems to me the BOP is going to be the catch-all ship for us if they don't make a science ship....a true science ship through all levels....Besides, you heard them...no good increase in ships on this side until around the end of the year or next year....if I am reading the Ask Cryptic post properly...did anybody else get that vibe?
On the one hand i could see it, in star trek armrada 2 the kdf science ship, was pretty much a ship pack with destructive science abilities. Also it had klingon music hehe. That being said the kdf has this gigantic carrier that sends out bops. So not sure if it would be right balance wise for them to give kdf science ships.
The problem with the large carriers (Vo'Quv/Vod'leH) is that they make using skills that have a firing arc extremely difficult.
That inclused SNB, one of the Science Captain's abilites.
From what I've gathered about the Kar'fi it's not exactly suited for science because it has some issues with survivability.
Meaning the more maneuverable of the two is better for Engineering.
Comments
Yep, why would there be another ship for each and every permutation of BO and/or console slots...but only on the Federation side.
Everyone else just gets reskins, re-re-skins or nothing at all.
I think something that is at least identifiable as a seperate ship or destinct variant would be and excellent choice.
Yes that would mean that a model that I have been promoting the last few YEARS should wait ! I'll gladly be patient and wait for a FEW (not one or two) Klingon models get added to the game! It's simply the right thing to do!
This is certainly the greatest comment from a non-KDF player on the subject I've ever seen.
Thank you and I believe you should receive an honorary title from the KDF community for this.
As it should be, at least as long as it comes from someone as talented as yourself.:)
It's wonderful.
There seems to be a little Klingon in there somewhere in that designer's heart.;)
IKS Gorkon Novel 1, page 39
Martok talks to 12 captains he's about to send into an unexplored sector to claim it for the Empire:
"This is an open-ended mission. It will continue until every parsec of the Kavrot Sector is at least charted and catalogued. Initial probes have indicated at least a dozen worlds that should meet the criteria for conquest, and hundreds more possibilities.
Kahless once said that the unknown is the greates foe of all.
Today, each of you will go and face that foe.[...]"
I think that last part is exactly what you captured with your idea of a manned probe to send directly into the heart of the matter to be investigated, great job!
I can't remember when anyone had such kind thinbgs to say about anything I've posted. I should have the final step done in a day or so. If it takes a while longer don't panic ... just takes me a while some times. ( I work entirely too many hours ... but hey .. that beats not having a job soooo we'll just keep plugging away).
At any rate .. I try to remember and post all 3 models ..
1. the long range scout class (which gave us a base to work from)
2. the initial science vessel
3. the last version ( not posted as yet)
Thanks
And I'm unscropulous enough to inflict the results on you floks.
Fluff text:
After the destruction of Praxis, the Klingon Empire was in dire need of additional resources to survive.
Even though peace with and support from the Federation alleviated the problem somewhat, more needed to be done to prevent a total collapse.
As a result the KDF was tasked to find new resources to exploit, new worlds to settle and new civilizations to conquer.
Existing KDF ships were suited for conquest, but hardly for deep space exploration.
So a new generation of ships that could operate independantly for extended periods of time was required.
They would need the most advanced sensor and surveillance equipment available and they would have to be able to investigate potential conquests unnoticed.
Until that time the ships best suited for such functions had been Birds of Prey, but even they were not up to the challenge.
The Klingons used the Bird of Prey's characteristics and advantages in an unusual way:
they created a vraiation of it that was similar in size to a contemporary battlecruiser.
With its low fuel consuption, powerful sensor array, excellent stealth characteristics combined with the ability to land on a planet, the Jubbe' [Seeker] class scout can operate for years without support in hostile territory.
In wartime it can be used to observe fleet movements at great distances, track down hidden enemy bases of operations and provide direct support to ground troops.
Even though it lacks the Bird of Prey's ability to adjust its wings' position and is less maneuverable, it makes up for these disadvantages.
Its better shielding and excellent targetting systems allow it to absorb more damage and destroy enemy strongholds with surgical precision.
Years later the KDF would repeat the concept on an even greater scale thorugh the creation of an even beiiger cousin of the Bird of Prey: the K'vort.
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/3508/klingonscoutcollage.jpg
Okay, pointless text aside: the differences in proportions are not due to my poor drawing skills, they are deliberate (yes I know it's easy to say that, but there is a slim chance you folks believe me
It does have a less curved hull and different wings.
Since it's about the size of a K't'inga I added an aft torpedo tube and there is a shuttlebay between the warp engines/baffles.
The forward pod is more pointed than on the 23rd century BoP.
The Birds of Prey have some kind of large "pipe" going around the outisde of the bridge, please mentally picture that section and replace the "pipe" with a large grid with makes up the scout's primary and very prominent sensor array.
I'd figure this ship would be Tier 3 with less hull and more maneuverability than the Olympic and with a console arrangement slightly more towards combat than its Federation counterpart
Stat guessimates
Hull 17,000
Turnrate 14
Standard cloak
Weapons 3/2 no cannons
Enginering 1
Science 2
Tactical 2
And since I'm such an excellent insomniac right now, I managed to figure out a possible bridge arrangement on this ship last night.
Assuming we got such a ship and assuming we can one day design our own bridges this is how I picture it (the scale is non-STO, about as cramped as actual Klingon bridges)
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/2376/klingonscoutbridgearran.jpg
nicely done ! I particularly like the bridge lay out ! Your T-3 works well with the T-5 advance scout we posted for ya ! Excellent retro!
BTW.. for the ships I'm posting, I'll let you and your fellow Officers discuss the specifications. IMHO you folks see them every day ... and know where the short comings are for the T-5 stuff (which is what I've been doing thus far.
Keep up the good work !
(this is getting to be fun ! )
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=210829
it seems there is little interest in this matter right now and discussion has ended completely.
I wish to thank everyone who has participated and I'd like to especially thank OlBuzzard who is probably
the kindest and most supportive non-KDF player you can imagine.
I realize I'm not the OP of this thread but it seems as the last one currently around I'll be the one turining off the light.
However I've a tendency to keep my promises if I can.
So I wrote a few lines a couple of days ago about another scout I was working on, which is a converted battlecruiser.
And I'm finished by now, even though it's again just a design on paper.
N'Vak class (Tier 2)
I started out with a schematic of the K't'inga from EAS.
I inverted the image's colour and printed it on a sheet of pater with a grid.
Grid-size is 0.5 centimeters if anyone wonders.
Anyway I used that as a point of reference to get the proportions right and see where to add what.
I've created two drawings, top and bottom and added the K't'inga on the grid to the image to show you where I enlarged the hull and which proportons are slightly altered etc.
It's quite funny actually: I printed an image in paper and then scanned it again into an image.:)
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/9123/klingont2scoutktingagri.jpg
Here's the fluff text which explains how I imagine such a ship would come to pass.
"
N'Vak Class Expedition Scout
By the time Gorkon became chancellor, the Klingon Empire was in a state of economic decline.
Various internal and external conflicts had been a serious drain on the Empire's natural resources.
Gorkon wanted to seek a peaceful resolution of the conflict with the Federation and divert military
funding into the economy and also find new resources beyond the Empire's borders.
More conservative elements wanted to resolve those differences with the Federation militarily and simultaneously solve the resource problems by aquiring the riches of the Federation instead.
As a compromise, a ship was designed the could do both depending in the way the negotiations with the
Federation went.
As a short-term solutionproduction at available sources like the moon Praxis was increased.
To minimize the already considerable drain on the available budget existing ships and part were used where possible.
Several D7 battlecruisers that were partially dismantled for conversion to the more advanced K't'inga class were chosen to be used as a basis.
The command pod was rearranged to accomondate several additional sensors and includes a recessed sensor/deflector array.
The neck was enlarged to house laboratories.
Changes to the aft hull were considerable, especially on the inside.
All cargo holds were removed and replaced with addiitonal fuel storage, a new and somewhat bulky high-reliability reactor was installed along with several redundant safety systems.
The latter required the hull to be enlarged somewhat.
An additional hullpiece was added aft betwen the impulse engines that contains addiitonal sensors, auxilliary generators and the aft weaponry.
The familiar hangar deck at the top of the aft hull was completely removed and replaced by a multi-level cargo/hangar section that holds all the cargo bays removed from the hull itself along with several additional ones.
The cargo section is connected to the hangar section for rapid movement and exchange of cargo.
The hangar bay itself holds several large cargo shuttles for that purpose as well.
These capabilites can be used to quickly establish a foothold on an unclaimed planet and put up the foundations of a colony.
The warp engines are basically D7-type S-2 graf units with addiitonal coils in a stretched nacelle housing.
This was done for several reasons:
The D7 nacelle has Disruptor mounts that allowed the armaments to be installed there, freeing up space in the command pod.
Several nacellec and coils were in storage from previously converted vessels and readily available.
Even though the S-2 graf units become somewhat unreliable at the power output the K't'inga's warp reactor is capable of, the used engines had already proven to have several additional decades of operational lifetime left if operated at power levels the older D7 was capable of.
The N'Vak's reactor operates as similar levels which were by that time already inadequate for a state of the art warship but more than enough for a military scout.
The lengthened nacelles mean there is less strain on the individual components, extending their lifetime even further.
Since there are still considerable spare parts in storage, there is also no problem replacing burnt out parts.
The ship's purpose is two-fold.
As a scout its cargo bays are filled with supplies for extended expeditions beyond the Empire's borders, seeking new resources to exploit.
In wartime, these cargo bays are converted into barracks for hundreds of soldiers along with their ground assault vehicles.
Cargo shuttles are swapped out for assault shuttles that carry those troops and their equipment and vehicles to their destination.
Laboratories are converted into emergency hospitals.
The scout uses it improved sensors to bombard planets from orbit and can also relay targetting data to other ships.
The exploration functions were later taken over by more specialized scouts, but the N'Vaks remain in service as border patrol ships and commando transports that can be deployed quickly to quell occasional uprisings."
What I'd really like to see are lower level Carriers and more "Fleet Support" ships, that are a blend of Engineering and Science, instead of a purely science-dedicated ship.
Stay tuned.
And yet "a sharp balde is useless without a sharp eye" is a familiar saying among Klingon Warriors so they value that as well.;)
Uh..... ok
We have one, but they nerfed its shields, hull, and made it more of a cruiser than a carrier...What else do you call the ship? It relies on auxiliary power to reduce the timers of the fighters or BOP's or whatever else, so you cannot do much damage...not even the damage of a cruiser, and subsystem targeting is innate to the carrier, so we need a 1/2-way decent science ship...either that or un-nerf the shields and hull issues people speak about....
or leave the Vov nerfed and give me back the better pets and design some decent controls for them.
Basically the Vov was double nerfed in that it had changes to the Vessel and its pets. One or the other, the former or the latter needs to be changed.
I suggest that the bird of prey should simple have universal console slots like they have universal Boffs. This would allow one to customize the ship to match the Boffs they are using. With the right consoles a BoP could easily become an excellent sciences officer vessel especially if the battle cloak is utilized to its potential.
Universal Console Slots also keeps the unique feel of a bird of prey and the KDF which the Federation does not posses.
Yes, it does need to be changed...one or the other....
That's an interesting idea, but there might be a slight problem:
If they simply gave the BoP 9 "white" slots, there is the risk of abusing it by stacking a ridicilous amount of consoles, like 9 different armor consoles, resulting in an armored monstrousity or stacking 9 weapons consoles, resulting in a tiny deathstar.
That is based on the assumption it is actually possible to make netural console slots and not just neutral consoles like the Borg Console.
However two additional variants of the BoP that only differ in their power bonuses and their console arrangement, that favour either Tac or Sci with 4 consoles might be an easy way out of the issue.
Which is what Cryptic would probaly prefer, a solution that's not very time consuming.
Is that preferable to the current ones we have?
I'm sorry I don't understand the question.
Could you please elaborate a little?
What is or would be preferable to what?
Their solution that is not time consuming...is that preferable to what we already have in the game? I would prefer that they didn't do that again.....Last time they did something haphazardly the ships got to us later than expected...
I don't know.
I honestly don't know.
The problem with the large carriers (Vo'Quv/Vod'leH) is that they make using skills that have a firing arc extremely difficult.
That inclused SNB, one of the Science Captain's abilites.
From what I've gathered about the Kar'fi it's not exactly suited for science because it has some issues with survivability.
Meaning the more maneuverable of the two is better for Engineering.