The thing, familiar to some from the tech forum, is still a graphics-free treatise of canon ships, SotSF and Spaceflight Chronology ships, major ships from novels, and assorted RPG ships sprinkled in to cover the gaps. Updates include
- a lot of streamlining to make this as ENT-compatible as possible, such as weapon type and performance specs revisions - new small craft - a few new ENT-era and ENT/TOS 'tween ships
and silly stuff that's there for the obsessed reader to find.
It's still a WIP, but apart from the shuttlecraft section it's finally beginning to come together. Suggestions and guest entries are welcome, but the policy is that each entry should tie at least somehow either to canon or to SotSF and SFC. FASA and SFB are okay if they fill a gap, but for example Masao's fantastic SF Museum stuff can't be used. This is not a creative work, after all, but merely a derivative one...
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Excellent as usual, Timo! Every time you release one of these things, I want to read the whole ting over again to catch every change, and to see how coherence is maintained from cover to cover. Should you ever publish this, I'm *so* insisting on a signed copy.
Mark
Posted by seanr (Member # 277) on :
Jesus! You definately need to publish that!
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
Another update, with FASA 'working ships' added.
And whaddaya know - the Lotus Flower freighter/tanker design, seen on some 1st season TNG screens and marketed by FASA as the class for Kobayashi Maru, can indeed be the Kobayashi Maru. With minor adjustments...
Conventional wisdom says the ST2 computer screen dimensions are all wrong for the ship seen in the TNG screens. Yet if one looks at the Lotus Flower closely, one can see a three-segment spine structure. If one assumes the Lotus Flower is modular, and scales her according to her single LN-64 nacelle, then the one-segment version matches the canonical Kobayashi Maru dimensions *almost exactly*! Coincidence or design? Who cares... She's one of the better-looking FASA creations in any case.
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
You should publish this. Either in print or on the net. It's too good to sit idly on a few people's hard drives.
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
Well, if he is going to publish on the net or in print, he needs to remove those picture placeholders by either actually putting in pics or just removing them and those captions altogether.
Posted by Nim the Plentiful (Member # 205) on :
D00d! U so totally forgot the USS Rand Ecliptic!
Posted by Sarvek (Member # 910) on :
Nice work Timo. You are the only one that I know of that is doing this. Your work is very thought out and well organized. When will you add graphics??
Posted by The Captain from M.I.K.E. (Member # 709) on :
perhaps we should start a graphics contribution list/open house for anyone who might contribute.
i know that i have tons of original art depicting non-canon starships
Posted by Ultra Manjuice (Member # 239) on :
YES!! Posted by The Captain from M.I.K.E. (Member # 709) on :
quiet, you!
Posted by Ultra Manjuice (Member # 239) on :
100% Authentic!
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Captain from M.I.K.E.: perhaps we should start a graphics contribution list/open house for anyone who might contribute.
i know that i have tons of original art depicting non-canon starships
Everyone does: would you include lal the diffrent non-canon versions of each ship (like the Apollo class) or just one that you think is best?
Posted by The Captain from M.I.K.E. (Member # 709) on :
well, those are completely conjectural designs... i mean i've done many renderings or drawings in my day of FASA ships, Spaceflight Chronology ships, SotSF ships, Franz Joseph ships, comics, novels, etc...
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
Well, the nirvana solution would be to have a bunch of volunteers do the pictures as captioned in reasonable-quality CG, probably sharing the 3D models of the assorted ships with each other (since several would typically appear in a single pic), and working for virtual peanuts.
Most of the ships already have a shape (and thus are probably already well represented in the virtual desk drawers of CG artists). Some don't, mainly those "Design: Own" buggers. Oh, I do have three-way pencil doodles of them, of course. There's also a third category: ships that have an intended shape in some publication or other (typically, Spaceflight Chronology) but are "different" in my view (usually meaning, the printed side view holds true but the 3D nature of the ship is a bit different from what young Sternbach intended). There'd have to be a two-way consultation process to get those done right.
In case Mike or somebody else wants his name immortalized in the annals of published fanfic, I'm all open to contributions. And suggestions as to how to compensate for their effort!
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
I'd certainly be willing to help with making proper 2D schematics of D:Own's, or upgrading SFC designs.
Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
WHAT!
You mean to tell me that I printed the whole bloody lot off and now you're gonna add the pictures! FUCK!
Of course work paid for all the paper and ink - why not? The fuckers don't pay me enough, my boss was out for the week and I had nothing to do (as usual) . . . so I helped myself. Tricky thing was getting all those papers and plastic wallets out of the workplace, but I managed it!
Guess I'll have to redo the whole lot when the pics are added!
I'm bad! HEHE!
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
Well, knowing that it's always been a work-in-progress for Timo and that he updates occasionally, it's never a wise decision to print out the whole thing until he says it's complete and will never be updated again.
Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dat: Well, knowing that it's always been a work-in-progress for Timo and that he updates occasionally, it's never a wise decision to print out the whole thing until he says it's complete and will never be updated again.
Smartarse! :D
Posted by aneurysm (Member # 906) on :
That definately needs publishing.
I did noticea couple of mistakes though. For the sovereign Class, the registry you give for the USS Bismarck is the same registry as the scoutship from Insurrection. And you have two Chimera Class vessels with the same registry. One was the Firebrand, I cant remember the name of the other right now.
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
Firebrand is a Freedom class, isn't it? Any mistakes in the Chimera entry are my fault anyway. I'll have a look at it.
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
Oops, the Firedrake and the Minerva do share a registry. It's up to Wraith to decide which should be changed.
The Bismarck rego I sort of picked out of thin air, knowing that there had to be a 227 reference there because it was an Eaves ship. But of course it cannot be 75227, doh! (Unless the scout was an auxiliary on detached duty from the Bismarck...) Sorry about that.
Thanks for the proofreading, and keep up the good work!
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by aneurysm (Member # 906) on :
Sorry I meant Firedrake, accidently typed Firebrand instead. I was obviously too concerned with proof reading your work to proof read my post (there's a couple of typos there too!).
I'm enjoying slowly wading through it, if I pick up any other mistakes I'll let you know. Brilliant work so far though, it will certainly be well worth picking up when you have added some images.
It would be criminal not to publish it. You have obviously spent so much time and effort on it that it deserves as wide an audience as possible (and dare I say, a little bit of money for your efforts).
Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
quote:Originally posted by aneurysm: It would be criminal not to publish it. You have obviously spent so much time and effort on it that it deserves as wide an audience as possible (and dare I say, a little bit of money for your efforts).
I agree - publish this and I'll definately buy a copy from Amazon.co.uk!
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
Yes. Because we all know how EASY it is to publish a Star Trek book.
Actually.. how does that work? Pocket Books obviously has the Star Trek monopoly (via Simon & Schuster and Viacom) in the US, but how does that work abroad?
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
quote: Oops, the Firedrake and the Minerva do share a registry. It's up to Wraith to decide which should be changed.
Well, I mentioned the Minerva twice so you can chage the Firedrake. I don't mind what reg you give her.
Posted by machf (Member # 1233) on :
quote:Originally posted by Harry: Yes. Because we all know how EASY it is to publish a Star Trek book.
Actually.. how does that work? Pocket Books obviously has the Star Trek monopoly (via Simon & Schuster and Viacom) in the US, but how does that work abroad?
Well, I've seen at least one book published in Spain dedicated to the series, which didn't seem to have any kind of "approval" from Paramount... can't remember the title right now, though. It's likely it was one of these, but the bookstore where I saw it a couple of years ago is no more... It may have been the one titled "Star Trek: 30 A�os de Aventuras", if I remember the cover right.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Well, there are plenty of books about Star Trek published by fans and others. I mean, if you want to publish an "official" guide, the answer is you can't, for all practically purposes, but that hasn't stopped people from doing it unofficially. There's a whole subculture of such works, as is frequently mentioned around here. The majority of fandom has migrated to the internet these days, I suppose. Personally, I think that seems like a better place for something like this, as I would imagine Timo will be tweaking it for some time to come.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Hmmmm....making it a PDF file that gets loose online would probably be the easiest way to reach all the hardcore fans that would really cherish it as the Holy Grail anyway. Hmmm....a PDF could be added to by anyone as well. Mabye you could make a LCARS template in Word or Pagemaker for us to add additional info and non-canon ship specs.