Starfleet Design Bureau

Does anyone else just find inline deflectors ugly? I don't like what they do to the lines of the primary hull basically every time.
 
[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)

Personally I think this balances cost, warp sprint factor, and maintaining that sacred Manoeuvrability: Very High rating. By massing 85kT rather than 95kT we avoid needing a second Type-3 Impulse Thruster to get MAXIMUM ZOOM, and the incumbent extra cost that entails, not to mention the cost of a Blister Deflector itself. (The total is 7 Cost extra; not insignificant on a ship this size.) And maintaining maximum manoeuvrability has various benefits; more ability to get out of dangerous situations, better combatant, and less need to mount (expensive) extra weapons for more coverage.

As I recall, Maneuverability is a linear factor, so slightly above threshold just means slightly below Very High Maneuverability. It's really not worth sacrificing anything to avoid.

...Noooot sure about this? Would you have a citation handy? It feels intuitively like the ratings should matter even if it's a bit artificial, but I'm more than willing to be convinced here.
 
[JK] Top deflector. Turn the saucer sideways. Fly flat first like a shield.

Cursed ship layouts. Bonus points, point the flat saide of the saucer forward and put landing gear and thrusters there. It lands with the nacelles pointing up into the air like a demented lawn dart.
 
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...Noooot sure about this? Would you have a citation handy?
As it happens, yes. The first is the most explicit:
There aren't thresholds. It's a sliding scale.
Maneuverability is directly correlated to engine power related to overall mass. Each engine is assumed to be able to move 100kt at "medium" effectiveness. Asking the same engine to move 200kt will get you "slow". It's a scaling modifier to your sustained damage output (ie, keeping the target in your best arc), capping out at having double the engine power needed. So having 600kt of engine thrust for a 300kt ship, for example. Which is hard. Easier on smaller ships.
And how this plays out in practice:
46.8% maneuverability instead of the expected 50.2%. It's a dip, but not the end of the world.
 
Plenty of room for the 8 deck tall warp core!
Oh man, that's hurting more every time it gets said. I'm going to develop a complex about it, then Sayle will casually drop that the warp core is seven and engineering around it pushed it to eight or something and the decks have always been bigger than the core and I misunderstood all along.

Does look like 7 on the Excalibur though.
 
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[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)

Flat bottom girl, you make the rocking world go round.
 
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[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)

Personally I think this balances cost, warp sprint factor, and maintaining that sacred Manoeuvrability: Very High rating. By massing 85kT rather than 95kT we avoid needing a second Type-3 Impulse Thruster to get MAXIMUM ZOOM, and the incumbent extra cost that entails, not to mention the cost of a Blister Deflector itself. (The total is 7 Cost extra; not insignificant on a ship this size.) And maintaining maximum manoeuvrability has various benefits; more ability to get out of dangerous situations, better combatant, and less need to mount (expensive) extra weapons for more coverage.
Unless the Nacelles only weigh 5kT, we're going to be over 90kT total. We're not getting maximum maneuverability with only one engine. And you're only saving 2 Cost, which is tiny.
 
[X] Blister Deflector (Mass: +10,000 Tons) (Cost: +2)
It's a science ship, it needs the full Deflector to Science at anomalies, because this is Starfleet.
Don't care about the core, honestly.
 
[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
While tempting, I don't think Max Sprint will be that important for a Biosphere survey ship. If there is an emergency, there will probably be better ships suited for the task.
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)
On the other hand, Max Sprint and a shuttlebay and modules is more than worth the cost increase.
 
[X] Blister Deflector (Mass: +10,000 Tons) (Cost: +2)

[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)

invest in longevity, this could be the Oberth but good and it stays in service for a century.
 
invest in longevity, this could be the Oberth but good and it stays in service for a century.
I'm torn, I've redone my vote after being persuaded to go inline deflector.

The issue in my mind is, what are the odds we'll have enough yards to make this thing in quantity if we go max on volume, since we need our big yards churning out Excalibur-class battlecruisers? If we can still churn out max quantity even with better shielding and, ideally, a rapid-fire photorp launcher, will we still be able to achieve its primary objectives, bio-survey, and implied secondary objectives, general survey and also build them in smaller yards??

If we're going to go with higher cost, then ideally we want something that surpasses our mandate and replaces the Kea in primary and extended survey duties so it can focus on other science duties? That won't be cheap, but it would be very valuable, especially if we have decent firepower. Enough to supplex a D6 would be nice, and achievable.

I'm open to logical argument. Or bribes. But mostly logical arguments.
 
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[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)
 
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