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Starship Design Bureau

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One part of me says go all in with prototypes since we still have the Miranda to fall back on if some things dont work out, and this way we can test out some major changes (single impulse unit vs the old double) that are not just itterations but jumps forward (isolinear computing on the previous ship is an example of this). Which in turn means when we design an Excelsior replacement we will better now which of the new tech pans out (or there will be time for the various institutions to revise and provide improved version)

[] Type-7 Avidyne Impulse Engine (Prototype)
[] Enhanced Deflector Dish (Prototype)

If the new impulse engine works out then that improves tactical by dint of better maneuvering as well as giving us better options on future ship designs. Also at this point I am looking at the Ferdinand as more of a test bed which means our future ships are a lot better

Edit- also since we did not take the option that split the engine i feel like we should make use of the ability to prototype a new style of engine that when the kinks are worked out will give superior performance
 
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@Sayle, why aren't type-6 engines an option? Are they not compatible with the ship size/frame, or is there some other issue?

Outside of that... I'm inclined towards the enhanced deflector and standard engines. High warp matters a lot for transportation, one of the ship's primary roles, and I'd rather not push our luck with an experimental model impulse engines when we already have an experimental hull, deflector, and are planning for experimental weapons.
 
NSMS said:
@Sayle, why aren't type-6 engines an option? Are they not compatible with the ship size/frame, or is there some other issue?

Outside of that... I'm inclined towards the enhanced deflector and standard engines. High warp matters a lot for transportation, one of the ship's primary roles, and I'd rather not push out luck with an experimental model impulse engines when we already have an experimental hull and are planning for experimental weapons.
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The Type-6 were an enhancement on the Type-5 designed for ultra-performance. While the Enterprise-B made good use of them, it'll be a good few decades before advancements in impulse technology make refitting them onto an Excelsior viable en masse. Unfortunately the Dominion War destroyed so much of the Excelsior-class fleet that it was decided that it was more practical to fully invest in the post-359 suite of starships rather than try and use the Lakota-type refit for the Excelsior on the surviving starships.
 
The other reason I am comfortable with the Ferdinand being a test bed is that with the Renaissance the ship it was replacing was just bad, in our case the Miranda is still a solid ship so if the Ferdinand stumbles it is not leaving a big gap in Starfleets capabilities, while on the flip side making sure any non iterative improvements are figured out before we do the Ambassador equivalent seems like a good idea. By iterative it would be things like the type 5 to type 6 engine since it is still the same underlying style/principle as opposed to the changed from the type 5 to type 7 engine or from phaser banks to phaser array.
 
I don't think we need a high warp cruise necessarily, especially at the cost of an even bigger hull. But better impulse engines could help our tactical score.

@Void Stalker Vote moratorium.

@Sayle Is this a plan vote?
 
Derpmind said:
I don't think we need a high warp cruise necessarily, especially at the cost of an even bigger hull. But better impulse engines could help our tactical score.

@Void Stalker Vote moratorium.

@Sayle Is this a plan vote?
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We are required to have the ship be able to act as a cargo hauler, and it's supposed to be able to respond to distress calls. Higher warp factor is important for both of those.
 
NSMS said:
We are required to have the ship be able to act as a cargo hauler, and it's supposed to be able to respond to distress calls. Higher warp factor is important for both of those.
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This craft is also implied to be more green water than blue in terms of its operational region, so high warp factor is less crucial when considering this is a ship Starfleet is probably hoping to have at least one of these at every port of call. Warp factor matters, but small-shipment hauling is rarely going to be time sensitive enough for it to be more than a + or - for the associated scoring, and while supporting a secondary role is fine, we shouldn't do it at the expense of the main requirement, which impulse engines are crucial for.
 
The last ship was defined by its need to respond to things, and this one isn't - it is meant to be cheap (low crew, potential cargo use) and have a basic level of capability - response to distress was mentioned in relation to having sufficient armament for if it does, not the role in general. I don't think taking risks to achieve extra speed makes much sense. For the impulse engines, maybe, as that would help the Tactical score, but not the warp speed.

We should note that with the Renaissance, the hull design started out an ease of manufacturing of A but it was a B after we put in the experimental computers and engine configuration (before the warp drive fix that pushed it to a B-). These experimental systems do seem to have an effect on that.

Edit: If we want a hull to put experimental systems on to advance overall technology, the science ships or light cruisers seem better suited than a workhorse like this. I'm not against the phasers but in other cases we should be conservative.
 
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I feel like the enhanced deflector dish is a better choice due to the fact that our later designs can make use of it to improve their warp factor.

The improved impulse engine is cool but I don't see the need to take the risk with it at the moment.

But if we are just going to treat the Ferdinand class as a pure test bed, then let's go for broke on the upgrades.
 
I'm up for the prototype deflector dish but I'd rather keep the Type-5 Impulse Thruster.

Some prototypes but not all prototypes. Got to keep this thing easier to make/maintain
 
In terms of our "screwing around" budget, we've already built an entirely new hull design, we're going to need to put in heavy automation, and we wanted to try the new phasers arrays out. I'm not super enthused by either of the prototype options here, and while I'm more in favor of the new impulse engine, I think I'd rather go completely conventional this turn so we can do more experimental stuff later. Plus there's only so much "and find out" we can afford before this design becomes nonviable.
 
This is suppose to be a mass production unit, so the new hull design needing a major change to a shipyard to build isn't a big deal, but too many new stuff will make it hard to make too many.

That said, the new impulse engines don't require us to make the secondary hull bigger again, so I'm ok with that
 
I think we should go for a largely normal design for this phase, so that we have more room for trying out new things in the other phases.

In particular because speed doesn't seem to be a particularly key point for this ship?
 
It feels like feature creep to test out a new engine and deflector design when the focus is on being a well-armed cargo hauler, where the prototype part would be the phaser array for a high tactical score.

I'd go with the proven engine and deflector for this ship for reliability, manufacturing and maintenance reasons. This is a ship that's meant to be in abundant numbers too, I think, so too many prototype parts would hamper it there.
 
[X] Stick to the standards
-[X] Type-5 Avidyne Dual Impulse Thrusters
-[X] Recessed Navigational Deflector
 
[X] Stick to the standars
-[X] Type-5 Avidyne Dual Impulse Thrusters
-[X] Recessed Navigational Deflector
 
[X] Prep for the Ambassadors
-[X] Type-7 Avidyne Impulse Engine (Prototype)
-[X] Enhanced Deflector Dish (Prototype)

Rather figure out problems on new drive types on a frigate that can be replaced easier than on our capital ships which have longer production and prototype times.
 
[X] Slow but steady march of Science
-[X] Type-5 Avidyne Dual Impulse Thrusters
-[X] Enhanced Deflector Dish (Prototype)
 
[X] Stick to the standards

I would prefer to keep this design cheap and simple, but the prototype impulse engines could also be useful if people want to advance the tech:

[X] Relevant Innovation
-[X] Type-7 Avidyne Impulse Engine (Prototype)
-[X] Recessed Navigational Deflector

If Warp 6 was good enough for last generation's fast response ship which sacrificed for that speed, it's good enough for this generation's frigate.
 
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