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Starfleet Design Bureau

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Zulaq said:
I guess my main point is supposed to be mass = cost. And we've blown past the point where the ship is cheap enough that it can be afforded to spend months on bio-science singular missions because it needs to do more in order to justify that extra cost.
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If we give starfleet more capability they're intelligent enough to prioritize what missions need doing. This ship will be great at surveying and flying fairly quickly. Sometimes that means science takes a backseat to rescue missions or patrols. Other times it means sending a unit that's geared for combat toward the space wedgie to see if they've got enough science to be useful. If it's more capable it also means more groups within starfleet could see the utility. They then might request larger production runs or shift resources that would otherwise go to more SF designs (since there's less of a time crunch).

In this case a larger platform could just mean we've got more space to science better. Unlike with patrolling or wars the targets we'll send these to aren't usually going to disappear on us.
 
Here's an amusing quirk: of all the ships we've designed so far, this one seems likely to be the most effective at delivering and supporting ground forces in the event that we ever get into a war where That's relevant.
 
[X] Cruise Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.4) [Range: +20%]

Wring the most range out of the default antimatter we're putting into this, since I'd rather not throw a module slot into more.
 
[X] Linear Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.2, Maximum Warp: 7.6 -> 7.8) [Range: +10%]

This sounds like it would look cool. I'm in.
 
[X] Linear Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.2, Maximum Warp: 7.6 -> 7.8) [Range: +10%]

I'd be happy with cruise, too, but I want to see what linear looks like.
 
[X] Cruise Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.4) [Range: +20%]
[X] Linear Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.2, Maximum Warp: 7.6 -> 7.8) [Range: +10%]
 
[X] Cruise Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.4) [Range: +20%]
I prefer the range, but I don't fault anyone for following through on the aesthetic.
 
[X] Linear Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.2, Maximum Warp: 7.6 -> 7.8) [Range: +10%]

I'd like one TOS era Intrepid class with a side of science, please and thanks.
 
[X] Cruise Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.4) [Range: +20%]
[X] Linear Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.2, Maximum Warp: 7.6 -> 7.8) [Range: +10%]
Would be happy with either
 
KarmaA said:
If we give starfleet more capability they're intelligent enough to prioritize what missions need doing. This ship will be great at surveying and flying fairly quickly. Sometimes that means science takes a backseat to rescue missions or patrols. Other times it means sending a unit that's geared for combat toward the space wedgie to see if they've got enough science to be useful. If it's more capable it also means more groups within starfleet could see the utility. They then might request larger production runs or shift resources that would otherwise go to more SF designs (since there's less of a time crunch).

In this case a larger platform could just mean we've got more space to science better. Unlike with patrolling or wars the targets we'll send these to aren't usually going to disappear on us.
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The design brief asked for a ship which Starfleet didn't have to prioritize it's missions. It was asking for a ship that they can produce as cheaply as possible while being able to complete bio-science missions. Their idea was probably along the lines of, 'if we can make this cheap enough, we can make enough ships to cover all the bio-science needs, while having enough funds left over to make a few more Excaliburs which can then be used to do everything else now that there's no chance of them being tied down for months a time cataloging biospheres'.

Not to mention that being interrupted by another mission while cataloging a biosphere is probably the worst thing possible, while responding to the emergency interruption might take a couple weeks, there's a chance that week was the one time of year that strange carnivorous rock monsters go to the surface of the planet, mate then return to the mantle to lay their eggs (cough, Horta, cough) and by the time the ship returns to finish their cataloging mission all the signs have been buried or could be confused with say a volcanic eruption. While that's the worst case scenario, even the best cases will probably result in the mission taking longer overall than if it was uninterrupted as they need to double check that they didn't have something move into areas they already surveyed while they were gone.

But I do admit that we've gone to far to change now. I should have spoken up sooner. I'm just hoping that by laying out my reasoning now, then next time we have a similar brief I'll be able to refer to my arguments now in order to speed up my response time and be more persuasive by having already laid the foundations for my line of thought.

[X] Cruise Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.4) [Range: +20%]
 
Honestly I don't think it's invalid to want to build a smaller ship - this project had a sort of crossroads thing going on where we could've chosen frigate or light cruiser, and we've gone for light cruiser. That's fine, and I think this will be a nice little ship, but there's nothing invalid with wanting to design the Selachii/Skate Mk II.

Honestly the best way to do that might be to ask @Sayle about specifically a getting a brief for narrowly scoped escort project, rather than turning this design into one.
 
Skippy said:
Honestly I don't think it's invalid to want to build a smaller ship - this project had a sort of crossroads thing going on where we could've chosen frigate or light cruiser, and we've gone for light cruiser. That's fine, and I think this will be a nice little ship, but there's nothing invalid with wanting to design the Selachii/Skate Mk II.

Honestly the best way to do that might be to ask @Sayle about specifically a getting a brief for narrowly scoped escort project, rather than turning this design into one.
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Having it clear that SF has already made something in the same size range to do Y and Z missions as part of a retro or project start post would limit how much we let scope creep happen.

I think we'll always struggle not to include generalist features though just due to transit times and relatively limited hull quantities.
 
[X] Linear Configuration (Efficient Cruise: 6 -> 6.2, Maximum Warp: 7.6 -> 7.8) [Range: +10%]
I really want this to have the nacelles connected to the engineering section at the back of the nacelle rather than the front to make a delightfully compact profile, but the spirit of f l a t is a good one either way. Also, a bit more range is nice but so is speed.
 
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