Star Trek Online has released their newest class of starship: the Odyssey class. Its most famous member? The new USS Enterprise-F. Cryptic Studios and CBS collaborated to create a contest that allowed fans to compete in order to design the concept for the new Enterprise. Cryptic then developed the concept into a complete 3D model that has been introduced into the game.So what goes into choosing a new Enterprise? According to the development team at Cryptic Studios, it’s a careful balance of traditional features, such as separate saucer and engineering sections, and a new concept, like the split neck of the winning entry by Adam Ihle. Read more about the design process of the Enterprise-F in a series of articles by Cryptic Studio’s designers and artists.
That looks like a really cool ship, and I’m glad that it’s not too dissimilar from the last one which I absolutely loved. When I was younger I put a lot of effort into designing and drawing spaceships, and even created a few into 3D models. I wish I’d known about this competition when it was still running, I’d have loved to be involved!
The Enterprise-F, huh? I am greatly pleased to see that even though we have yet to return to the 25th century in the films, the legacy of the Enterprise is still continuing on.
I used to play another Star Trek game by email and we had gotten to the point where Captain Data had been promoted to Admiral and the Enterprise-E was decomissioned. Even then, we had been suggesting a new ship and wouldn’t you know it, my character actually got to command the new Enterprise. Unfortunately, it was Endeavour-class (which resembled more of the Constitution-class ships only sleeker and more 25th century high-tech). It was later decomissioned and renamed the USS Dirk (remember, this was a similar game but completely different and was not cannon, merely a sim). It was destroyed in the Idran system by Jem’Hadar cruisers on an exploratory mission.
Well, long story short, the staff went around saying that what my character had commanded was not the REAL Enterprise, merely a testbed for the new technology that was being developed for the actual ship. Unfortunately, some of the technology never got onto the current Enterprise. The testbed had a retro-fitted Borg transwarp drive. I do believe that the Oddyssey-class ship does not have that.
Sim-wise, my character here at 118 is the great-great-grandson of my character that commanded the testbed. OOC, though, I am excited that there is now a canon ship that we can forever know, just like the others. Perhaps, just perhaps, this Enterprise will make her way to this starbase. It makes me smile to know that somethings always change, but become better as they age. The legacy of the Enterprise still lives on, always exploring strange new worlds. No matter the captain, it will always seek out new life forms and civilizations. And will boldly go where no one has EVER gone before.