Order -> Spaceframe -> Warp Core/Nacelles -> Tactical -> Scientific -> Internals -> Prototyping -> Certification -> Final Review
[X]Plan Space For Upgrades (10/12)
-[X] Small Cargo Bay -1 Module
-[X] Multidisciplinary Science Labs: -3 Modules
-[X] Advanced Sickbay: -2 Modules
-[X] Enlisted Communal Rooms: -4 Modules
With the space finally allocated, it's just a matter of tweaking the power conduits and computer access points to accommodate the new areas. You feel reasonably confident that your choices are such that the brass will be happy with the capabilities of the ship. As it stands they will be the final sections to be assembled, and won't be finalised until the ship is confirmed to be fully functional. While the infrastructure and components for the new warp drive are installed first they can't do anything without the main computer controlling the process, so that's the first thing you test.
The results are, in a word, incredible. If anything the Daystrom Institute has vastly understated the performance of the new isolinear systems under load, and in addition to blazing through sequential calculations like a station-based supercomputer it has no problems seamlessly integrating multiple command flows. You can't help but lay reverent hands on the main computer core control panel once it has completed the battery of tests intended to push to its absolute limit. You joke with a beaming designer from Daystrom that you'll need a smaller computer core, but what the Centaur has is what it will have, her and every vessel of the design.
The new isolinear computer core has exceeded all expectations. In future the Centaur's computing resources will be called 'excessive for its size', but right now its capabilities have taken a substantial leap forward from what was predicted.
Of course with good news comes the bad. It's only a few weeks later that you're walking a circuit through main engineering with a grim-faced supervisor. "It's a miracle the field quenched rather than inverting altogether," you are told. "Half the coils cracked on the spot, and we're lucky the core didn't breach and take out half the drydock. We'd have lost a lot of people."
Yoyodyne varies between effusive in its apologies and vociferous in its insistence that the test was not conducted properly, but the reality is that the nacelles will have to be replaced either way. The inquiry takes months but eventually traces the issue back to minute variances in the magnetic interlocks feeding the warp core. Entirely within tolerance for the core, but not for the unexpectedly fussy nacelles. In the absence of a new interlock design (and a new warp core injection system, and a new warp core), alterations will have to be made to the existing system to bring the interlocks into the tighter parameters needed.
The first option is to supplement the interlock with additional equipment to bring the antimatter stream into spec, but this kind of ad hoc solution will vastly complicate the injector system. Complicating one of the most fundamentally important systems on any starship will not be popular with any engineer and the way every proposal requires just bolting new equipment onto the existing infrastructure hurts your designer's soul.
The second option is to replace the interlock with a much higher quality variant. Given the interlock is already as damn-near close to perfect as any manufacturing facility can reliably get them, to call this difficult is an understatement. You are given to understand that existing production would need to be ramped up so the statistics line up for some of the interlocks to come off the line with the excruciatingly precise tolerances that will be required.
The new nacelles are disastrously incompatible with the existing warp core. Additional systems will need to be maintained at an equal priority to the warp core itself by the crew or specialty parts must be manufactured.
[ ] Supplement the interlock with additional systems.
[ ] Require the interlock be of a higher quality.
So we either take a hit on maintenance or manufacturing. I really don't want maintenance to take a hit.
[X] Require the interlock be of a higher quality.
Additional systems feel like additional points of failure. A higher-spec interlock meanwhile feels simpler to deal with. Hopefully their quality management is up to standards or better.
Well, this is rather unfortunate but not exactly unexpected. Better to have learnt this lesson before we tried using a new generation of nacelles on our flagship explorer. It's good news that the problem was discovered now, rather than in a shakedown cruise.
So essentially, as far as the vote goes, we're trading off production cost versus operating cost here?
[X] Require the interlock be of a higher quality.
Ultimately I'd prefer we go for a fixed cost here, rather than something which will increase operating costs and also potentially lead to safety issues. It's unfortunate, and it may mean we do a more limited production run of this class than we otherwise would have. But this project should still hopefully have been a useful testbed for new technologies, and produced a very capable light explorer and patrol starship.
If I wanted to look for a silver lining here, I'd hope that spinning up manufacturing and production processes for higher-quality interlocks may lead to these becoming cheaper down the line as we summit the learning curve. Solar panels were once literal space-age technology which were difficult to produce, they're now extremely cheap. If higher quality interlocks are something that future starships could benefit from, then we may in the long run benefit from learning now how to produce them at scale.
With the warp core "fixed", the propulsion tests proceed as planned. The new nacelles do live up to the hype once they get their precisely controlled plasma flow, maintaining a comfortable Warp 7 cruise and capable of pushing up to Warp 9 in an emergency - though you refrain from attempting maximum warp and make a note to advise likewise in the specifications. While the new interlock can feed the system, it may be best not to stress it to the edge of viable settings unless it's an absolute crisis.
With that done you hand over the ship to the shipyard supervisors and auditors for a thorough review of the design. Their judgement will be the defining factor as to whether Project Centaur has met its design goals and the potential mission profiles it can take on, and whether the ship is merely another one-off design or viable for multiple production runs. Of course this will be from an engineering and practicality perspective - the legacy of a specific class will usually be down to the crews that actually run it and how it performs in service.
Project Centaur Mission Certification
The Centaur design specification requires up-to-date tactical systems and a high warp factor to respond to reports of hostile activity in Federation space. The Centaur design requires basic scientific capabilities to serve as a short range explorer in Federation territory.
It is the judgement of this report that the Centaur meets these requirements. Details follow.
The Centaur has a medium operational range at a cruise of Warp 7. As such the Centaur is certified to operate six months from the nearest refuelling depot at standard cruise. Crew lodgings are noted to be comfortable and recreational spaces allocated.
The Centaur is equipped with a Type-6 shield matrix, ten Type-8 phaser banks, one forward dual torpedo launcher, and one aft torpedo launcher. The Centaur is equipped with twin Avidyne Type-E impulse thrusters and displays high manoeuvrabilityin combat conditions. As such the Centaur-type is certified to proactively engage hostile vessels.
The Centaur is equipped with a standard navigational array and primary deflector system. Onboard facilities match current Federation design goals for a vessel of her size, augmented by an advanced isolinear computer system.
The Centaur is equipped with a standard shuttlebay and two Type-5 shuttlecraft. The design carries one standard cargo bay adjacent to the shuttlebay and one small cargo bay in the primary hull. There is also a modular space in the saucer section equivalent to a standard cargo bay that can be used in an emergency. The Centaur is therefore certified to carry out low-capacity bulk cargo deliveries.
The Centaur has advanced medical facilities installed. It is therefore certified and authorised to bring aboardclass-2 biohazards.
The success of the isolinear computer system leads this report to the recommendation that isolinear computing systems should become regulation standard. Difficulties have been noted with the manufacturing of critical warp-system components. Production should be limited until such a time as a new antimatter injector is specifically designed for the Yoyodyne Type-A nacelles.
In concordance with the findings of this review and in consultation with Starfleet Command, Supervisor Utopia Planitia authorises one (1) production run of twelve vessels, further orders to be reviewed after a performance analysis and the certification of a new warp core assembly.
It's over. It's done. You have designed a starship from start to finish. Often leaning on the proven components of the past, both for reliability and ease of production, but distilling a unique amalgamation of the old and new from the process. Project Centaur has exceeded its goals despite some last-minute setbacks, producing what appears to be a solid design that any officer would be happy to serve aboard.
But there remains one last piece of business to attend to: the name. "Centaur" was randomly assigned at the beginning of the process, when possibilities were infinite. But now those possibilities have become reality, and it needs a deliberately chosen identity. You've poured blood, sweat, and tears into this ship. The whole team needs an acknowledgement of that. As per tradition the name you choose will stand as the name for the design as a whole, as well as that of the first vessel.
This ship is the…
[ ] USS Centaur, for the name she has been known as for the last two years.
[ ] USS Apollo, in homage to the vertically nacelled Hermes-class.
[ ] USS Renaissance, an optimistic hope for a new renewal in starship design.
Project Centaur:
Ease of Maintenance: B
Ease of Manufacture: B-
Tactical Score: B
Scientific Score: B+
Comfort Score: B
Final Score: 62/100 [Acceptable]
[X] USS Renaissance, an optimistic hope for a new renewal in starship design.
Better than the constellation and it sound like Yoydyne have possible ways to design future components to let the vertical nacelle config work better. Interesting that with full Bs it only hit acceptable
Edit- Also I really want to do an escort next so that we can prototype phaser arrays on it so that when we go the next capital/explorer ship we have any array kinks worked out
It's interesting to consider what class to build next. On the one hand, another ship design under our belt gives us more of a chance to test our new tech. On the other hand, a smaller vessel means less space and less margins for error, where any component taking more space than planned has a big impact on the rest of the design. So it feels like an escort could work, but either we might need to go quite conservative and use only tested technology, (which limits the use as a testbed) or risk having a ship which does not work very well.
If we play it safe with everything but the new phaser arrays which I know a few players have mentioned wanting to test out, this might be a workable compromise? If the EPS conduit issues prove to be enough of a problem it might still lead to a compromised design, but I guess that's a risk we have to accept going in.
The letter scores are worth 1-5, then expanded to give a score out of 100. Keep in mind that A-S in every category is probably outright impossible. Even the Sovereign probably only scores an S in tactical and B or less in just about everything else. The Defiant is probably an A in tactical and a trashfire in just about everything else, but if you've got a commission for a pure warship then tactical will be weighted much more heavily than the other factors.
The Centaur is mostly a jack-of-all-trades, even if it wasn't expected to be exceptional in any category.
