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Starfleet Design Bureau

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LunaMoth said:
Was size a factor in why our science ship in the previous quest got an A instead of S?

I guess you wouldn't realistically need size to put scanners and computers on a ship, but I'm unsure how much space survey stuff takes up in star trek.

Also I think we should prioritize speed as well.
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On Project Intrepid in the first quest we got an A instead of an S for science because we took a cargo bay and extra antimatter instead of a second science lab and a second computer core (vote options, vote result). We might have been able to take one of those and still get an S but there is a Sayle quote that because we took multiple non science options we only got an A. We took those options for good reasons (we wanted Voyager to have an easier time) but it did have consequences for the science score.
 
LunaMoth said:
Was size a factor in why our science ship in the previous quest got an A instead of S?

I guess you wouldn't realistically need size to put scanners and computers on a ship, but I'm unsure how much space survey stuff takes up in star trek.

Also I think we should prioritize speed as well, if we can but focus on good science.
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If you want max Tactical, take all the gun options. If you want max science you have to take every science option, even over cargo bays and the like.

The quest overall has a very bad tendency to go light on science, even on science ships. We got bailed out on the Voyager by it having a dedicated science saucer with extra sensors pretty much.

I'd be more sympathetic to half saucer, if I could trust we'd actually pick science and let it just resupply at bases more often.
 
This survey ship can maybe have a cargo or shuttle bay, just as a little boost to Engineering so it can be out surveying for longer, but it absolutely should have Science as the likely-highest stat.
 
BeepSmile said:
I'm going to be arguing pretty heavy for our next explorer to be big, expensive and have max science, but for this build I could live with 'medium' science
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This is a much smaller build, I don't think we even get to medium science if we pick half saucer and sacrifice internals. I still think the full saucer is worth it because it'll give us more external surface to attach things to but I absolutely think the ball is also better because internals are how we secure our science score.
 
Moratorium only ends in like 15 minutes but I'm going to bed so I'm voting now.

[X] Half-Saucer (Industry: 3)

Not much to be said here, I'm not fully convinced that this needs massive internal space, and Sphere just seems like a bad choice until we have more ships capable of responding to emergencies. Though there is something to still be said about some cost saving, @Sayle now that the war is over we have to worry about industry again right? How much do we have?
 
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We should probably not talk ourselves into making a general cruiser after selecting a science vessel. Spending a lot of industry on weapons and impulse engines would be contrary to our purposes. Going with the full saucer might save industry in the long run by avoiding the need for a secondary hull, while the sphere offers the lowest cost. Working toward a half-saucer with a secondary hull and full torpedo and phaser armament is something more like the utilitarian cruiser needed to replace the Stingray-class.
 
Cavalier said:
We should probably not talk ourselves into making a general cruiser after selecting a science vessel. Spending a lot of industry on weapons and impulse engines would be contrary to our purposes. Going with the full saucer might save industry in the long run by avoiding the need for a secondary hull, while the sphere offers the lowest cost. Working toward a half-saucer with a secondary hull and full torpedo and phaser armament is something more like the utilitarian cruiser needed to replace the Stingray-class.
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This quest has a tenancy to somewhat make vessels that are their role in name only tbh...
 
Survey ships only deal with systems within our borders. Outside our borders is the domain of the Explorers. They follow in the wake of Explorers who've planted a flag and documented any major space wedgies and Patrol ships who have secured the area from pirates and other belligerents.

Survey ships do not need maneuverability or weapons as much as other ships, as they are already going to places already deemed safe.

As such, cutting costs on defences isn't a bad idea so long as it makes it up with maximising science.

Thus, the least useful option is the Half-saucer. We either maximise space with the Full-saucer or manage costs with the Orb.

And frankly, budgets are tight right now.

[X] Sphere (Industry: 2)
 
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I like sphere because on its own it's pleasing. I dislike sphere because the secondary hull is usually not blended well and something in my mind says nacelle/warp performance is a little hinky. I don't know which is better narratively seeing results closer to our future configurations at a small scale or seeing the hinkyness for science.

The cost differential at this stage is nothing IMO. Not slapping an extra 2-5 cannons, 2-3 torpedo launchers, or a massive secondary hull requiring odd deflector stuff is where a lot of savings come from.

I'd vote half saucer if we're looking for nimble single-role and full saucer if we're really afraid of space and can deal with some mission creep. Nimble helps dodge asteroids, get away from random awakened tech, get closer to things of interest, but more space could mean we shove in an expanded medbay/transporter bank.

Do medbays, transporters, or future astrogation labs (cargo bays) add cost?
 
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It's a survey vessel, it should not be a general purpose combat vessel. Fragility is unfortunate, but not a true problem: It does surveys. It is not meant to fight people, and can afford to have a fairly minimal armament.

As such I think the half-saucer is a genuinely bad idea. It gets us maneuverability at the cost of internal space, and as a survey vessel we want to be making the exact opposite tradeoff. Bad combat capabilities is fine, it is explicitly meant to survey relatively safe territory.

A full saucer for the internal space would be solid. A sphere for the cost savings would be solid. The half-saucer seems a complete waste to me.

If we really need back guns on the sphere, they can go on the secondary hull.
 
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Jensaarai said:
This survey ship can maybe have a cargo or shuttle bay, just as a little boost to Engineering so it can be out surveying for longer, but it absolutely should have Science as the likely-highest stat.
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I'm not trying to be combative, but this is exactly what I'm talking about.

You didn't get to the internal selections before giving up a science option for a cargo bay. If we pick something with less internal space, we're going to come up short on science. It's going to by default have enough storage to perform survey missions. Extra cargo bays will mean it has the capacity to do cargo transport.

If it comes up on a half saucer that we have a second slot for a choice between the only cargo bay or an expanded medbay to handle medical events what would you choose?

[X] Full Saucer (Industry: 4)

I'm definitely down for saving costs by ditching torpedoes, phasers are good enough for point defense and piracy deterrence, and going for a smaller secondary hull if we need to save costs even more. But the full saucer will let us put a bunch of labs inside it, while we could dump the impulse engine and maintenance into the secondary hull.
 
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[x] Full Saucer (Industry: 4)
Half-saucer gets us maneuverability and sunlight speed, neither of which is actually what we need on this ship. We said we would build a science ship, leave off on the half-saucer for the colony response ship that will have more tactical expectations placed on it. We need internal space for labs, and external space for sensors. I'm not seeing a secondary hull as particularly key, while I think it would be with the other options.
 
i was being facetious when i said Pizza ship before but thinking on it im coming around to the idea.

This is not just a SCIENCE ship its also a SURVEY ship which means not just science labs and a computer but also a large shuttle bay so ships can go down to planet surfaces to do survey work.

bigger is better this time.

[X] Full Saucer (Industry: 4)
 
[X] Sphere (Industry: 2)

[X] Full Saucer (Industry: 4)

Yeah these guys are going to be largely either escorted or inside borders, full science, I don't think the half-saucer can provide that.
 
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