Art Of The Intelligence Ships

pwlaughingtrendy

Captains! Learn more about the design of our Intelligence Ships featuring a unique aspect in fusing bold new styles with more traditional design elements in our latest developer blog by Art Director Brad Stokan!

Check it out here!

~LaughingTrendy

stoutes

Could we by any chance find a leek on the boat? :P Nice blog once again.

boogieman624

Thanks For The New Dev Blog Guys!!

hypl

As always, the concept art tends to be better than the final product. At least in my opinion.

Please tell me you have plans for some of those concept designs. The two resembling a sleeker Vesta class look gorgeous.

suaveks

I'm still not a fan of the FED designs, but I'm a huge fan of customization options. In that regard, will the Intelligence ships have an option to add windows...? They look decent on the last screenshot, with the standard white hull material, but they seriously need some windows to make them look more "Trek". Especially the science ship, which saucer variant looks way better than the default one.

seannewboy

Personally i like it, congrats on the work, although i would say the Qibs head is too wide.

captainwallis84

Awesome stuff, however I am more interested on news and in game images of this new T6 Guardian class myself.

khan5000

Im not sure if I like the T6 Intell ships with the Intell skins or the classic Starfleet skins

crypticarmsman

Sorry - but (IMO) you guys failed on your 'Fusion' criteria when it comes to the Fed ships (the KDF and RR faction intelligence ships IMO met all the listed visual design criteria though with regard to their overall 'look'.) To me it still seems like Cryptic ship artists are not fans of overall Fed ship 'look' aesthetics; and that's sad going forward because it appears the new Cryptic Fed ships will not evoke a 'Star Trek IP related' feeling from me if the current Cryptic Fed design trend continues. YMMV.

corelogik

Of the Fed vessels, I think the Phantom Escort looks the best/most like it's design lineage. It's probably the only one I will be buying. (of the ones released at launch)

The Romulan Warbird looks good too, but I'll wait to a buy a Klingon ship until I see if you guys release a BoP or not. Raptors are nice, but I'm a BoP kinda warrior.

khan5000

crypticarmsman wrote: »

Sorry - but (IMO) you guys failed on your 'Fusion' criteria when it comes to the Fed ships (the KDF and RR faction intelligence ships IMO met all the listed visual design criteria though with regard to their overall 'look'.) To me it still seems like Cryptic ship artists are not fans of overall Fed ship 'look' aesthetics; and that's sad going forward because it appears the new Cryptic Fed ships will not evoke a 'Star Trek IP related' feeling from me if the current Cryptic Fed design trend continues. YMMV.

Thye've said this is not the current design aesthetic for all future ships...just for the Intell ships. Think of them like the dyson ships. Not every ship going forwards looks like the dyson ships.

c0nd1t10nr3d

When exploring shapes, we gravitated to a language featured prominently in modern stealth aircraft and fighter design – sharp-edged planes meeting in angular lines and tapering to sharp points or thin blade-like edges. This helped us to find aggressive and dangerous looking shapes evocative of swift, silent edged weapons. We also investigated the lines and shapes of angular, low-profile racing cars – capturing the sense of speed as well as the idea of low-drag, aerodynamic shapes. While our ships wouldn’t be concerned with drag in the vacuum of space, the minimal profile helped to evoke a sense of a ship so sleek and with such a miniscule energy profile it could swiftly and silently ‘slip’ past foes undetected.

I didn't realize they still used "Radar" in the 25th century! The angled and pointed meeting lines in today's stealth fighters/bombers is a method of making the planes invisible to Radar. A concept which is no longer viable in the 25th century due to advanced sensor arrays etc.

So, to me, and in my personal opinion, this design concept is 4 centuries back in the wrong direction.

I like the Klingon and Romulan designs but still really dislike the Fed designs. Sorry. Just my opinion.

venkou

pwlaughingtrendy wrote: »

Captains! Learn more about the design of our Intelligence Ships featuring a unique aspect in fusing bold new styles with more traditional design elements in our latest developer blog by Art Director Brad Stokan!

Check it out here!

~LaughingTrendy

I wish the ships didn't scream polygon.

Link: Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk

Lockheed used sharp angles as a way to reflect radar. I am not sure if it fits in the Star Trek universe. I will have to see these ships in game, so I can get a feel for their design.

Interesting design choice.

kirimuffin

An interesting read, to be sure. Unfortunately I must join the chorus of "KDF and Rom ones look alright, but Fed ones look ugly." Even so, I appreciate the thought that went into these designs, and I can live with them knowing what the rationale is.

Now, can the next blog please be about the stats on the Guardian/MaHa/Aelahl?

drreverend

I do have a question regarding the Eclipse Intelligence Cruiser design. Where are the phaser array strips on that located? Are they those tiny strips near the nose or mounted along the blade of the saucer?

suaveks

kirimuffin wrote: »

Now, can the next blog please be about the stats on the Guardian/MaHa/Aelahl?

This please.

megawolf0

This is nice. Hope to see more ships. And I don't care what others say, I like the FED ships.:cool: The others are meh.

capnmanx

Good blog.

Nice to see what the ships look like with different hull materials (and parts in the case of the Scryer). The Phantom in particular looks pretty good (shame I'm not into escorts really).

Could we maybe see the Eclipse with a more recent hull material please (type 5 or 6, or maybe with the Mako shield visuals)? With the one used in the blog it looks kind of... well, I'm not sure; just off somehow. Might be that the launch materials (I assume that's what it's showing) are maybe a little crude for that model.

Well, anyway, good read.

omegaglory

I totally agree with crypticarmsman. The KDF and Rom ships look good. I look at them and think, "that's a Kllingon ship", "that's a Romulan ship." The Fed ships however, don't look like Star Trek Fed designs. They're too angular, too pointy. Round or oval saucers and nacelles on pylons are important to the Federation design aesthetic. You ditch those, and the Fed feel is lost. I don't know what the skinning options will be like, but I don't get the Tron-like lighting on the ships either. If you can choose to get rid of those, great. Otherwise, I'll have to pass on these ships.

This guy would pretty cool if the F-117 edges were rounded out.

http://images-cdn.perfectworld.com/arc/dc/3a/dc3ae406801cc585115ed7afe8e4791a1410803795.jpg

I'm still waiting on a remodeled Typhoon. :-)

sthraxpwe

Its interesting to see behind the curtain on the design philosophy of the new ships. I like the design theory, but I don't like the cut of the Fed's jib. Looking at the Rom ship, I think putting the theory into practice was a much more successful exercise and resulted in a ship that looks like a Romulan ship, but has an aggressive, stealthy appearance. The Klink ship also seems to embrace the design goals while still managing to look like a Klink ship.

I can only hope the customization options can turn the Fed eyesores into something that looks like more tradition fed designs.

sashibai

I just hope this customization they are having for those Fed ships allow players to change them completely.
Not only is the concept just bad but the overall look is ugly and nowhere near anything Fedlike.

I will for one not be buying any of those ships and will wait for others to come out later, maybe.

c0nd1t10nr3d

venkou wrote: »

I wish the ships didn't scream polygon.

This is another thing I meant to say in my post above. Two out of the 3 fed ships look like seriously low poly models of craft found in games from the from the late 80's, early 90's.

thegreendragoon1

I defiantly love the concept sketches. I'm sorry the final designs didn't really stick with any of those. Here's hoping we see some of those reemerge in future designs.

tpalelena

c0nd1t10nr3d wrote: »

I didn't realize they still used "Radar" in the 25th century! The angled and pointed meeting lines in today's stealth fighters/bombers is a method of making the planes invisible to Radar. A concept which is no longer viable in the 25th century due to advanced sensor arrays etc.

So, to me, and in my personal opinion, this design concept is 4 centuries back in the wrong direction.

I like the Klingon and Romulan designs but still really dislike the Fed designs. Sorry. Just my opinion.

This, and I add that I find Fed ships usually ugly to begin with, so that's no surprise.

The Klingon/Romulan ones are nice.

mustrumridcully0

I'd really like to see some more in-game screens of the different materials. And whatever other variations are available.

c0nd1t10nr3d wrote: »

I didn't realize they still used "Radar" in the 25th century! The angled and pointed meeting lines in today's stealth fighters/bombers is a method of making the planes invisible to Radar. A concept which is no longer viable in the 25th century due to advanced sensor arrays etc.

So, to me, and in my personal opinion, this design concept is 4 centuries back in the wrong direction.

I like the Klingon and Romulan designs but still really dislike the Fed designs. Sorry. Just my opinion.

No, of course they don't usually rely on radar.
They use [TECHNOBABBLE] sensors. The hull consists of a [TECHNOBABBLE] and [TECHNOBABBLE], which coupled with the special angled hull distorts the [TECHNOBABBLE] sensor signals so they do not detect the ship as easily as would normally be the case, and further assists the ship's cloaking device.

tilarium1979

I like the Rom and Klingon ships, like most people seem to be saying. On the Fed side, I don't like the cruiser, I do like the escort and things the science ship is OK looking. The thing I don't like about the cruiser is the nacelles. I looks to me more like a Prometheus class then anything else, and that's not my favorite ship design either. I do like and appreciate that they've added extra parts to the ships, that's one of my favorite things with this game, customizing my ships design to get something neat and different. Sadly that's really gone to the wayside lately with all the canon ship designs. Please tell me that the Rom and Klingon ships will have some customization parts too!

atomictiki

Fed ships look like they came from a game a decade or more ago. Such low poly models! Sorry guys, they are fail. The Rom and KDF one are alright, but not enough to make me buy them.

farmallm

Looks good, nice to see where these ship ideas came from. As of now, I won't be buying them. However I could in the future. As I have other purchases first. And I need to add to my ship slots since I'm full.

The Fed escort reminds me of a sword from WoW at the front. As it shares the same look. I'm still waiting for the Guardian ship. To see how it looks.

Love the effects of the glow, I'm sure in game it will be very sweet. Only other thing is they look really bland. My other more canon ships looks far more cooler. With these you will have a hard time. Dragging my Fed out of his Ambassador, KDF out of his K'tinga, and Romulan out of her DD. :P

shpoks

Still ugly as sin, those Fed ships. Sorry to be blunt, just speaking my mind.
The option to use faction specific hull materials, however, is probably the best thing related to them and is very much wellcomed. In retrospective, the same should be enabled for the Dyson ships.
I will also repeat the request to make windows availible on the faction specific hulls.

Now, how about the stats on the other 3 ships?

corelogik

captainwallis84 wrote: »

Awesome stuff, however I am more interested on news and in game images of this new T6 Guardian class myself.

sashibai wrote: »

I just hope this customization they are having for those Fed ships allow players to change them completely.
Not only is the concept just bad but the overall look is ugly and nowhere near anything Fedlike.

I will for one not be buying any of those ships and will wait for others to come out later, maybe.

I'd be happy if we could apply "normal" hull materials to them. I could live with the Phantoms shape, if I could use my normal hull material.

drreverend

The Eclipse design is growing on me, to be honest. But I've always been a fan of four nacelled ships.