As much as I think JJ Trek is best Trek ever, Cryptic cant do stuff from his Alternate reality. Its a copyright and legal trouble thing.
This happens when two companies get hold of two pieces of an IP.
The posted picture is "just" a fanwork, inspired by the new movies, not a actual part of them.
I think Cryptics devs could easily adapt a similar style for STO, if they wanted to.
Regarding your IP related comment, i fully agree with you. Having the IP split and being property of two different companies is mere nonsense IMHO.
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
All I can say is Freud would have a lot to say about the art department's ship designs :rolleyes:. Im with the OP on this one the ships are too phallic.
A TIME TO SEARCH: ENTER MY FOUNDRY MISSION at the RISA SYSTEM Parallels: my second mission for Fed aligned Romulans.
There is one thing I definitely agree with, the newest FED designs aren't fluid at all, they're blocky industrial looking vessels.
The Odyssey was fluid, it's one of the nicest FED ships in the game.
Some of the linked said 'JJ Trek versions' also seem nice, but I'm reluctant to call them 'JJ Trek versions' because his Constitution is ugly as hell (and the worst thing on it, nacelles, is also the least pleasant part on those other inspired designs).
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
I think Cryptics designers often overdo their Designs, instead of keeping them simple.
What i wish, to have are more different but basic ship parts.
No fancy Saucers, Pylons, Nacelles or Engineering Hulls, just some simple basic shapes but much more variations for us to use.
For example, they did it right at the the various pylons of the Star Cruiser variants.
Some are facing forward/ backwards, some are upside the ships center, some are lower.
The same with the Heavy crusiers saucers, some round, some streched.
THATS what i wish for all ships. More Variation instead of focussing on little details, no one sees from a distance, i do much more care about the general shape of a ship.
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
This is one of the contest entrys for the new Enterprise (which was won by the Odyssey ) that called my attention.
I think that's a excellent example of how to do it. It preserves the basic elements of a Starfleet ship and gives it really gracious lines.
Apart from the realy fragile looking pylons (which are also too extended IMO) the ship is exactly what i am looking for. Even the nacelles look really cool (which isn't easy done, most of the ships have somehow cheap looking ones) althrough they could be too long (again), but thats not easy to see a this angle.
What i also like about that design is the much stronger looking neck, which always looked too breakable on the original constitution and the refit. But here it is done in such a good way, it blends perfectly into the general shape of the ship.
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
Perhaps Cryptic could contact the author, or maybe be inpsired by it ...
That Insignia-Class is awesome, because it picks up that design idea from the old Enterprise-D Manual book about future designs and modular construction. Bottom left.
While we're at it, I'd also love to see the one in the upper right.
You mean some more don't you?
The Vet Destroyer is one of the runnerups IIRC.;)
I can only speak for me, but cryptic seems to have the talent to keep out good looking starfleet ships and choose someugly one instead. lol.
@captainkeatz
I agree the insignia would be nice to have as the upper right ship, too.
To be honest, i miss the oval shaped saucers (the wide ones). I think they should have continued that design along with the streched style of the sovereign. There is place for both design philosophies IMHO.
Why i always found irritating is the tendency to give ships more and more long and streched nacelles.
With the Ambassador - Galaxy - Intrepid (canon ships btw.) we could see a tendency to get smaller and smaller nacelles. But some movie producer decided that long nacelles look better (completely ignoring the history of ships before) and decided that the GCS (enterprise) should be replaced with a totally rediculus streched looking ship.
My point is that STO could be the place where both design philosopies could exist along with each other. New designs should have a alternative saucer shape for instance, as well as some smaller nacelles.
Also the option to have different facing pylons should be mandatory for a new released ship IMO.
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
I know devs won't react to this thread, just by reading my name but anyway.
I would like to propose a alternative 2409 Starfleet style, that looks different than the egg shaped saucer and long nacelles, most of Cryptics Starfleet creations have. (Odyssey, Avenger, Regent)
This is not meant as a substitution to the already existing ship models, but a alternative to it.
I don't have much graphic material on my own, so i will use other sources to show what i mean.
Here's a alternative Odyssey (just a bad concept, but you get the point) that shows different ratio and a different shaped saucer.
Yes, some will say "hey it looks like a Galaxy Class"... i know.
Constitution - Ambassador - Galaxy design line should be included in STOs 2409 style too, not just the Excelsior and Sovereign design, in my opinion.
Introducing different shaped saucers and other ship parts would give us players much more space to experiment and Cryptic could sell them via the C-Store.
So i think it would be a nice idea to give us some alternatives for our ships.
Especially since most of cryptics starfleet designs have the tendency to be too much filled with edges and other "cool" things. I think a different design aproach (elegant and more fluid shapes) could be a welcome change.
this ship looks actually better than most of the cryptic ships. i dont like the sources section as long as 20 football fields. the ship you posted here looks actually good and does not have some ugly deflector (like most of the cryptic ships)
i always think like "would this ship fit into a star trek tv series" and most times i see cryptic ships, i say "no". even if its 2409 or whatever. there should be more hardcore star trek fans at cryptic to run their quality control.
I have to say, I'd love to have some alternate designs, especially ones that steer away from the very blocky, militaristic ones we've been getting from more recent ships. *coughavengercough*
That's not to say that all Cryptic designs are oh so horrible, because the Venture skin for the Galaxy is probably one of my favorite ship designs in-game. It really gives me the feeling of super high-tech smooth designs that I've always thought of for "future Star Trek". As well as fixing the painfully thin neck vs. huge saucer that always did bug me about the otherwise awesome Galaxy design.
To be honest, its almost like some of these ships would fit better in Star Wars rather than Star Trek with their "bare machined metal" aesthetics.
Also, that JJ-Trek Excelsior looks bloody brilliant.
I am pretty much all onboard with the general thoughts of this thread. As ive put it...Cryptic seems to be making all of the starships more like hotrods instead of "streamlined" and majestic.
They like to cut holes into ships for whatever reason, they add pointy bits (which are fine, though without an option for smoother hulls). Things seem to be jagged, rugged, ect and in my own (small) opinion this detracts from the feel of the ships.
I feel they should be moving fed ships more back to a streamline look, much like the new Odyssey. Klingons ships as well had a great feel when they had less cables and holes in the wings such as the D-7. And as much as I like the ship artists, think they are great guys, they have to get rid of this split head weirdness on the Romulan ships, and think less hotrod and obvious bird reference and more functional-beautiful ship.
Personally i don't really like the design of the Odyssey either.
But ... and that's a big BUT ... Cryptic already said they choose this, because most of the ships entered (the really gorgeous looking ones) where mostly concepts of different artist, simply brought into the competition, because a fan liked it. There would have been to much legal trouble if one of those would have been choosen. So a vague concept of a fan was choosen, an original creation, the rights of which belonged to the fan and were probably given to cryptic.
The artists here have to be really carful when creating something new for commercial use.
As for the Avenger. Personally i only find the side view to be fugly andthe back view plain okay. It's what i would expect a Federation battlecruiser to look like. Clunky as hell. Basically a rushed built that only exists because there was dire need for it.
Another thing to keep in mind is the need to keep multiple related starhip lines modular. A streamlined look would be way harder to realize. (see the Regent class neck for that). If that wouldn't be the case you couldn't mix and match the parts anymore. Youd basically just end up with lockbox-like ships where the only things you could do are, choose a hull texture and different decals. I'd rather not loose that freedom.
I would really like to see a Enterprise J type of ship, maybe made possible by the dyson sphere technology.
...
As for the Avenger. Personally i only find the side view to be fugly andthe back view plain okay. It's what i would expect a Federation battlecruiser to look like. Clunky as hell. Basically a rushed built that only exists because there was dire need for it.
I'm sorry but that explaination sounds like a cheap excuse to justify a ugly looking ship to me (pls, don't take that personal).
Cryptics Designers just lack the "feel" to make good looking Starfleet ships IMO.
On each one of their designs there is at least one element that looks out of place.
(like the avengers neck and saucer, the odysseys backwards facing pylons and so on)
Maybe Mr. Rivera (Lead of everything in STO:rolleyes:) thinks that this is needed to make a ship look "cool", but for me it just ruins everything.
I don't see a reason why they couldn't create a additional wide saucer for the Avenger amongst other things for that ship.
Another thing to keep in mind is the need to keep multiple related starhip lines modular. A streamlined look would be way harder to realize. (see the Regent class neck for that). If that wouldn't be the case you couldn't mix and match the parts anymore. Youd basically just end up with lockbox-like ships where the only things you could do are, choose a hull texture and different decals. I'd rather not loose that freedom.
Again i don't see a big hinderance there. Just look at the various starcruiser ship models, they blend good enough into each other.
Especially the various types of pylons is what i would like to have on other ships too.
On the other hand i really HATE the Noble and Majestic pylons (assault cruiser). I mean what did the "artist" think when placing holes into them? It looks just weird and totally out of place on a Starfleet ship.
Those ships would look way better if its creator would have kept them more smooth looking instead of making them look so blocky and just weird (sorry i couldn't find a better word for it).
As for the Regent neck, the biggest problem i have with it is that the various saucers don't "sit" on the right place. They should have been placed more to the front IMHO.
I would really like to see a Enterprise J type of ship, maybe made possible by the dyson sphere technology.
What i like about that ship is the integration of the deflector into the wide hull. I think that's something they could have made at one of the star Cruisers (or better one of the assault cruisers) too.
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
Another thing to keep in mind is the need to keep multiple related starhip lines modular. A streamlined look would be way harder to realize. (see the Regent class neck for that). If that wouldn't be the case you couldn't mix and match the parts anymore. Youd basically just end up with lockbox-like ships where the only things you could do are, choose a hull texture and different decals. I'd rather not loose that freedom.
They haven't done any impressively modular ships in a long time. The way we could customize our T1 Miranda was what drew me into the game initially. That, the T3 Cruiser tree and a few others gave the opportunity for really interesting ships. On the other hand, I cannot tell the Vestas from each other or from a hybrid.
Another thing to keep in mind is the need to keep multiple related starhip lines modular. A streamlined look would be way harder to realize. (see the Regent class neck for that). If that wouldn't be the case you couldn't mix and match the parts anymore. Youd basically just end up with lockbox-like ships where the only things you could do are, choose a hull texture and different decals. I'd rather not loose that freedom.
...
I don't see a big problem in making shipparts for especially streamline ships. The creator of those ship parts just has to pay aattention to the connections between the ship part (like saucer - neck).
The problem you are refering to (regent neck) only comes from the fact that they didn't made the regent ship parts intersect with the other assault cruiser ship parts. They just made the Regent without caring about the already existing ship models. That's not because of the Regent parts a more streamlined but because the designer obviously didn't had the time or mood to make a better product.
Speaking about the Assault Cruiser, i would really wish they would just add Noble and Majestic pylons but without the holes and edges. I find those ship parts highly annyoing and ugly. Additionally, i would really appreciate if some devs would set the saucers (noble, sovereign, imerial and majestic) more to the front when using the regent neck.
I know these a just small things, but they are really annoying when trying to create a good looking ship.
There is another thing i wish the devs would finally add. Some slider that lets us change the wideness of the pylons (and nacelles) a bit. Sometimes the availlable pylons are just a bit too wide (or narrow) for a certain configuration. I wish we could have some control there.
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
There is another thing i wish the devs would finally add. Some slider that lets us change the wideness of the pylons (and nacelles) a bit. Sometimes the availlable pylons are just a bit too wide (or narrow) for a certain configuration. I wish we could have some control there.
That's an interesting idea... as mentioned before a lot of the problems with the Odyssey are problems with proportion. If we could adjust proportions...
That's an interesting idea... as mentioned before a lot of the problems with the Odyssey are problems with proportion. If we could adjust proportions...
Of course, then we would get absolutely hideous concoctions...... :rolleyes:
Of course, then we would get absolutely hideous concoctions...... :rolleyes:
Some ships look like that, even without any change by the player.:D
And on the other hand if someone wants to create a even uglier ship than Cryptics initial design, that's the players problem.
As i see it, the ship tailor is a huge fun factor in STO. But it is clearly lacking anything new since start. No new features, almost no new ship parts, or new patterns.
A addition, like some sliders to slightly change a ships proportions wouldn't need to be too powerful. Changes could be limited to 10-15% that would be more than enough, to create better proportions. (the ships basic shape wouldn't be changed too much by that IMO)
But in my opinion Crpytic wouldn't have to add such a slider to every ship part, i think the pylons would be sufficent. (especially at the Assault cruiser)
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
But in my opinion Crpytic wouldn't have to add such a slider to every ship part, i think the pylons would be sufficent. (especially at the Assault cruiser)
Maybe true, but can you imagine the raging conflagration that would engulf the forum if the devs only added the slider to certain parts?
I agree, though, that all the pylons on the assault cruiser except the Sovvie and Regent suck.
Maybe true, but can you imagine the raging conflagration that would engulf the forum if the devs only added the slider to certain parts?
I woudln't be so sure about that.
If they would only add that slider to a ship pylons, i can't imagine ppl raging because we get MORE options than before.
Of course Cryptic should make it clear that it's going to stay that way, and no other ship parts are getting sliders.
I agree, though, that all the pylons on the assault cruiser except the Sovvie and Regent suck.
I agree, but i also think that especially these ship parts would benefit from a slider. they are ok with their intended ship configuration, but when using other saucers for example they look way too narrow imo.
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
Well, new buyable ship appearance parts would give use back to the Ship Costumes tab of the Z-Store, since they moved the parts that used to be there to the fleet versions of the ships.
I woudln't be so sure about that.
If they would only add that slider to a ship pylons, i can't imagine ppl raging because we get MORE options than before.
Of course Cryptic should make it clear that it's going to stay that way, and no other ship parts are getting sliders.
...
Maybe i wasn't clear enough in that case, so i'll try again.
I think Cryptics devs should make all possible ships pylons in STO adjustable (about 10-25%).
Of course ships like the Defiant couldn't be included in this, but i think ppl wouldn't raging because of this.
On the other hand such a relatively small scope wouldn cause any big texture deformation.
So maybe later they could also add Saucers, Engineering Hulls sliders, but that wouldn't be very necessary IMO.
If a slider wouldn be possible for some reason, maybe Cryptics devs could add various versions of already existing ship parts (pylons in this case) featuring different wing spans. Maybe they could also add versions without holes and more rounded in general (Assault Cruiser and Monarch Exploration Cruiser, for example)
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
Maybe i wasn't clear enough in that case, so i'll try again.
I think Cryptics devs should make all possible ships pylons in STO adjustable (about 10-25%).
Of course ships like the Defiant couldn't be included in this, but i think ppl wouldn't raging because of this.
On the other hand such a relatively small scope wouldn cause any big texture deformation.
So maybe later they could also add Saucers, Engineering Hulls sliders, but that wouldn't be very necessary IMO.
If a slider wouldn be possible for some reason, maybe Cryptics devs could add various versions of already existing ship parts (pylons in this case) featuring different wing spans. Maybe they could also add versions without holes and more rounded in general (Assault Cruiser and Monarch Exploration Cruiser, for example)
I think this would be great for fine tuning our ships look, Often i would like to use a particular mix of parts, But have decided against it because the ship ended up being excessively long, strangely tall, or weirdly squashed looking because of how the nacelles and pylons fit together
( specially on nacelles like the imperial where the attachment point is very far forward making them unpractical for use on other skins )
These are the Voyages on the STO forum, the final frontier. Our continuing mission: to explore Pretentious Posts, to seek out new Overreactions and Misinformation , to boldly experience Cynicism like no man has before.......
You know, I see a lot of people b*tching about Cryptic's designers making ugly starships, but the designs that people are complaining about are the older designs from launch (which yes, they were pretty fugly), not the newer designs since PWI bought Cryptic and Cryptic hired more designers. I like a lot of the more recent Cryptic designs, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from them.
Some ships look like that, even without any change by the player.:D
And on the other hand if someone wants to create a even uglier ship than Cryptics initial design, that's the players problem.
As i see it, the ship tailor is a huge fun factor in STO. But it is clearly lacking anything new since start. No new features, almost no new ship parts, or new patterns.
A addition, like some sliders to slightly change a ships proportions wouldn't need to be too powerful. Changes could be limited to 10-15% that would be more than enough, to create better proportions. (the ships basic shape wouldn't be changed too much by that IMO)
But in my opinion Crpytic wouldn't have to add such a slider to every ship part, i think the pylons would be sufficent. (especially at the Assault cruiser)
I LOVE playing in the ship tailor!
In my opinion small tweaks can make a world of difference in the appearance of ships. For example the Avenger:
The Avenger looks like a duck (my opinion). Why? Ever see a duck floating on the water and notice how it's breast curves out thrusting forward of the neck. Now, look at the Avenger, the deflector area of the hull is forward of the neck, reminiscent of the duck. This, along with its squat and upright shape scream duck every time I see one.
One simple tweak, changing the size of the neck, so that it meets the front edge of the hull, completely removes the duck silhouette that has haunted me since the Avenger was introduced. In my opinion it now looks much more solid and integrated and flows from front to back.
The piece de resistance was adding a small bit of length to the nacelles to provide A bit better over all balance (to my eyes anyway)
These two small changes took a ship, that to me, was a duck and changed it to a ship I could see myself owning and using.
Of course everyone has different tastes and I am not advocating that my tastes should be a standard.
What I am advocating is that to be able to mold things toward an individuals taste even in a small way, can bring happiness, contentment and the more choices, pieces, colors, settings, etc., there are, the greater the chance each person can find something they will like.
Comments
Otherwise known as TRIBBLE YOU PARAMOUNT!!!!
The posted picture is "just" a fanwork, inspired by the new movies, not a actual part of them.
I think Cryptics devs could easily adapt a similar style for STO, if they wanted to.
Regarding your IP related comment, i fully agree with you. Having the IP split and being property of two different companies is mere nonsense IMHO.
Parallels: my second mission for Fed aligned Romulans.
The Odyssey was fluid, it's one of the nicest FED ships in the game.
Some of the linked said 'JJ Trek versions' also seem nice, but I'm reluctant to call them 'JJ Trek versions' because his Constitution is ugly as hell (and the worst thing on it, nacelles, is also the least pleasant part on those other inspired designs).
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
Parallels: my second mission for Fed aligned Romulans.
I think Cryptics designers often overdo their Designs, instead of keeping them simple.
What i wish, to have are more different but basic ship parts.
No fancy Saucers, Pylons, Nacelles or Engineering Hulls, just some simple basic shapes but much more variations for us to use.
For example, they did it right at the the various pylons of the Star Cruiser variants.
Some are facing forward/ backwards, some are upside the ships center, some are lower.
The same with the Heavy crusiers saucers, some round, some streched.
THATS what i wish for all ships. More Variation instead of focussing on little details, no one sees from a distance, i do much more care about the general shape of a ship.
I think that's a excellent example of how to do it. It preserves the basic elements of a Starfleet ship and gives it really gracious lines.
Apart from the realy fragile looking pylons (which are also too extended IMO) the ship is exactly what i am looking for. Even the nacelles look really cool (which isn't easy done, most of the ships have somehow cheap looking ones) althrough they could be too long (again), but thats not easy to see a this angle.
What i also like about that design is the much stronger looking neck, which always looked too breakable on the original constitution and the refit. But here it is done in such a good way, it blends perfectly into the general shape of the ship.
Just going to leave this here, and leave!
Perhaps Cryptic could contact the author, or maybe be inpsired by it ...
I hope STO get's better ...
I hope STO get's better ...
That Insignia-Class is awesome, because it picks up that design idea from the old Enterprise-D Manual book about future designs and modular construction. Bottom left.
While we're at it, I'd also love to see the one in the upper right.
You mean some more don't you?
The Vet Destroyer is one of the runnerups IIRC.;)
I can only speak for me, but cryptic seems to have the talent to keep out good looking starfleet ships and choose someugly one instead. lol.
@captainkeatz
I agree the insignia would be nice to have as the upper right ship, too.
To be honest, i miss the oval shaped saucers (the wide ones). I think they should have continued that design along with the streched style of the sovereign. There is place for both design philosophies IMHO.
Why i always found irritating is the tendency to give ships more and more long and streched nacelles.
With the Ambassador - Galaxy - Intrepid (canon ships btw.) we could see a tendency to get smaller and smaller nacelles. But some movie producer decided that long nacelles look better (completely ignoring the history of ships before) and decided that the GCS (enterprise) should be replaced with a totally rediculus streched looking ship.
My point is that STO could be the place where both design philosopies could exist along with each other. New designs should have a alternative saucer shape for instance, as well as some smaller nacelles.
Also the option to have different facing pylons should be mandatory for a new released ship IMO.
this ship looks actually better than most of the cryptic ships. i dont like the sources section as long as 20 football fields. the ship you posted here looks actually good and does not have some ugly deflector (like most of the cryptic ships)
i always think like "would this ship fit into a star trek tv series" and most times i see cryptic ships, i say "no". even if its 2409 or whatever. there should be more hardcore star trek fans at cryptic to run their quality control.
That's not to say that all Cryptic designs are oh so horrible, because the Venture skin for the Galaxy is probably one of my favorite ship designs in-game. It really gives me the feeling of super high-tech smooth designs that I've always thought of for "future Star Trek". As well as fixing the painfully thin neck vs. huge saucer that always did bug me about the otherwise awesome Galaxy design.
To be honest, its almost like some of these ships would fit better in Star Wars rather than Star Trek with their "bare machined metal" aesthetics.
Also, that JJ-Trek Excelsior looks bloody brilliant.
They like to cut holes into ships for whatever reason, they add pointy bits (which are fine, though without an option for smoother hulls). Things seem to be jagged, rugged, ect and in my own (small) opinion this detracts from the feel of the ships.
I feel they should be moving fed ships more back to a streamline look, much like the new Odyssey. Klingons ships as well had a great feel when they had less cables and holes in the wings such as the D-7. And as much as I like the ship artists, think they are great guys, they have to get rid of this split head weirdness on the Romulan ships, and think less hotrod and obvious bird reference and more functional-beautiful ship.
my 2 cents
-Seacat
But ... and that's a big BUT ... Cryptic already said they choose this, because most of the ships entered (the really gorgeous looking ones) where mostly concepts of different artist, simply brought into the competition, because a fan liked it. There would have been to much legal trouble if one of those would have been choosen. So a vague concept of a fan was choosen, an original creation, the rights of which belonged to the fan and were probably given to cryptic.
The artists here have to be really carful when creating something new for commercial use.
As for the Avenger. Personally i only find the side view to be fugly andthe back view plain okay. It's what i would expect a Federation battlecruiser to look like. Clunky as hell. Basically a rushed built that only exists because there was dire need for it.
Another thing to keep in mind is the need to keep multiple related starhip lines modular. A streamlined look would be way harder to realize. (see the Regent class neck for that). If that wouldn't be the case you couldn't mix and match the parts anymore. Youd basically just end up with lockbox-like ships where the only things you could do are, choose a hull texture and different decals. I'd rather not loose that freedom.
I would really like to see a Enterprise J type of ship, maybe made possible by the dyson sphere technology.
Cryptics Designers just lack the "feel" to make good looking Starfleet ships IMO.
On each one of their designs there is at least one element that looks out of place.
(like the avengers neck and saucer, the odysseys backwards facing pylons and so on)
Maybe Mr. Rivera (Lead of everything in STO:rolleyes:) thinks that this is needed to make a ship look "cool", but for me it just ruins everything.
I don't see a reason why they couldn't create a additional wide saucer for the Avenger amongst other things for that ship.
Again i don't see a big hinderance there. Just look at the various starcruiser ship models, they blend good enough into each other.
Especially the various types of pylons is what i would like to have on other ships too.
On the other hand i really HATE the Noble and Majestic pylons (assault cruiser). I mean what did the "artist" think when placing holes into them? It looks just weird and totally out of place on a Starfleet ship.
Those ships would look way better if its creator would have kept them more smooth looking instead of making them look so blocky and just weird (sorry i couldn't find a better word for it).
As for the Regent neck, the biggest problem i have with it is that the various saucers don't "sit" on the right place. They should have been placed more to the front IMHO.
What i like about that ship is the integration of the deflector into the wide hull. I think that's something they could have made at one of the star Cruisers (or better one of the assault cruisers) too.
They haven't done any impressively modular ships in a long time. The way we could customize our T1 Miranda was what drew me into the game initially. That, the T3 Cruiser tree and a few others gave the opportunity for really interesting ships. On the other hand, I cannot tell the Vestas from each other or from a hybrid.
The problem you are refering to (regent neck) only comes from the fact that they didn't made the regent ship parts intersect with the other assault cruiser ship parts. They just made the Regent without caring about the already existing ship models. That's not because of the Regent parts a more streamlined but because the designer obviously didn't had the time or mood to make a better product.
Speaking about the Assault Cruiser, i would really wish they would just add Noble and Majestic pylons but without the holes and edges. I find those ship parts highly annyoing and ugly. Additionally, i would really appreciate if some devs would set the saucers (noble, sovereign, imerial and majestic) more to the front when using the regent neck.
I know these a just small things, but they are really annoying when trying to create a good looking ship.
There is another thing i wish the devs would finally add. Some slider that lets us change the wideness of the pylons (and nacelles) a bit. Sometimes the availlable pylons are just a bit too wide (or narrow) for a certain configuration. I wish we could have some control there.
Of course, then we would get absolutely hideous concoctions...... :rolleyes:
Some ships look like that, even without any change by the player.:D
And on the other hand if someone wants to create a even uglier ship than Cryptics initial design, that's the players problem.
As i see it, the ship tailor is a huge fun factor in STO. But it is clearly lacking anything new since start. No new features, almost no new ship parts, or new patterns.
A addition, like some sliders to slightly change a ships proportions wouldn't need to be too powerful. Changes could be limited to 10-15% that would be more than enough, to create better proportions. (the ships basic shape wouldn't be changed too much by that IMO)
But in my opinion Crpytic wouldn't have to add such a slider to every ship part, i think the pylons would be sufficent. (especially at the Assault cruiser)
I agree, though, that all the pylons on the assault cruiser except the Sovvie and Regent suck.
If they would only add that slider to a ship pylons, i can't imagine ppl raging because we get MORE options than before.
Of course Cryptic should make it clear that it's going to stay that way, and no other ship parts are getting sliders.
I agree, but i also think that especially these ship parts would benefit from a slider. they are ok with their intended ship configuration, but when using other saucers for example they look way too narrow imo.
I think Cryptics devs should make all possible ships pylons in STO adjustable (about 10-25%).
Of course ships like the Defiant couldn't be included in this, but i think ppl wouldn't raging because of this.
On the other hand such a relatively small scope wouldn cause any big texture deformation.
So maybe later they could also add Saucers, Engineering Hulls sliders, but that wouldn't be very necessary IMO.
If a slider wouldn be possible for some reason, maybe Cryptics devs could add various versions of already existing ship parts (pylons in this case) featuring different wing spans. Maybe they could also add versions without holes and more rounded in general (Assault Cruiser and Monarch Exploration Cruiser, for example)
I think this would be great for fine tuning our ships look, Often i would like to use a particular mix of parts, But have decided against it because the ship ended up being excessively long, strangely tall, or weirdly squashed looking because of how the nacelles and pylons fit together
( specially on nacelles like the imperial where the attachment point is very far forward making them unpractical for use on other skins )
I LOVE playing in the ship tailor!
In my opinion small tweaks can make a world of difference in the appearance of ships. For example the Avenger:
The Avenger looks like a duck (my opinion). Why? Ever see a duck floating on the water and notice how it's breast curves out thrusting forward of the neck. Now, look at the Avenger, the deflector area of the hull is forward of the neck, reminiscent of the duck. This, along with its squat and upright shape scream duck every time I see one.
One simple tweak, changing the size of the neck, so that it meets the front edge of the hull, completely removes the duck silhouette that has haunted me since the Avenger was introduced. In my opinion it now looks much more solid and integrated and flows from front to back.
The piece de resistance was adding a small bit of length to the nacelles to provide A bit better over all balance (to my eyes anyway)
These two small changes took a ship, that to me, was a duck and changed it to a ship I could see myself owning and using.
Of course everyone has different tastes and I am not advocating that my tastes should be a standard.
What I am advocating is that to be able to mold things toward an individuals taste even in a small way, can bring happiness, contentment and the more choices, pieces, colors, settings, etc., there are, the greater the chance each person can find something they will like.