Trekyards EP222 - Designing the Enterprise F (Part 1)

So in case anyone didn't know there is a continuation of the Enterprise legacy in STO (Star Trek Online) the Enterprise-F or Odyssey class. A contest was held a few years ago to design the next ship in the Enterprise lineage and people were to submit plans and designs for the next ship to carry on the iconic name of Enterprise. Out of all the submissions entered one stood out and won. That ship was designed by Adam Ihle. Today on Trekyards we speak with Adam about his unique design. Tune in next week for Part 2
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[@ihlecreations]

Hi everybody! Glad to see so many who enjoy the Odyssey Class Enterprise. LLAP.

[@ryanholden3522]

You did a great job Adam, I'm not a STOL player but I would have loved to have seen this in a new series.

[@thumb-ugly7518]

I’m late to the party. Not a player but a fan. I like all the design submissions shown during your explanation of the designer controversy. That said, your Enterprise felt the most stylistically consistent. Fuzzy Modem’s ship is certainly beautiful, but it is a sovereign treatment of an excelsior, or Enterprise b-e. It should be a contemporary of the Enterprise E. Nothing but love for all the ships.

[@FeeriiEekii]

Awesome design, still the most beautiful ship in the game, especially with the new hulls (check it out in the Defiant and Sovereign Hull), as I already said in the comments: Anyone who hates on the design or on you for whatever reason is, in my mind, a sad sack of tribble dung. This ship needs to become canon, hope to see it in the Picard TV series.

[@jocax188723]

Heya Adam! How'd it feel for the Verity to get THIS CLOSE to proper canon?

[@gerogyzurkov2259]

@@jocax188723 He's now completely beaming cause his design is finally on the screen making it 100% added official design to the Star Trek Franchise. I would be also be proud, beaming, and I am happy also as a player of a fan of the game I like the design of the STO Odyssey. So I was excited for it shown on the trailer 😊.

[@Formulka]

I hope Eaglemoss gets to release it as a model, Odyssey is fantastic.

[@JohnnyZenith]

Formulka I want the model.

[@TheMobiusTrap]

This ship, and its Flagship variants, are all beautiful ships. Very well designed, and fun to use!

[@shadows.82]

You may want to look at the sub variants Yorketown, Sojourner, Endeavor as well.

[@voiceofreason1629]

Even though I'm not a huge fan of this design, I still like it. I just wish CBS would make a (NEW) Star Trek instead of going backwards in the time line. I think that's why the show (Enterprise) didn't do so well, and why I believe (discovery) will flop. We as an audience want to boldly go where no Star Trek has gone before. Don't take us back, that job is for fan films.

[@stangundam01]

think the reason that enterprise didn't do as well as it should was that the studio heads didn't let the writers do their idea of a real prequel before mccoy spock & kirk but instead made them do it like a sequel to voyager & ds9 with the whole time war followed by the xindi & sphere builders. personally I'd have liked them to have mad discovery not another prequel to T.O.S but to have covered the years between kirk & picard

[@Zorro9129]

I care less about the time Star Trek takes place in than about the quality. Enterprise didn't do well not because it was 22nd century but because it had poor writing that made Voyager look great in comparison and was flat in terms of character. STD is just worse in every regard, and so is Picard.

[@scottishtrekkie7555]

I'm using the Odyssey Class on my ship just now I love her 🖖🏻

[@TomCat777]

I truly love this ship. I like it more than the D and the E. I started playing STO a few months ago and my first purchased ship is this. Truly a work of art in design.

[@Xybr]

I love the episodes where the designer shows off their thought process. Can't wait for Part 2!

[@RotalHenricsson]

I honestly don't like most of the STO-ship designs but the Odyssey always struck me as truly beautiful marriage of Sovereign and Galaxy Class. I love it. Glad to see her get more attention here :)

[@SuperGamefreak18]

I love the STO background that has this ship in it she fits so well with the rest

[@clouless7032]

Picard to Riker: Perhaps you still will... somehow I doubt this will be the last ship to carry the name "Enterprise". ....And this one is a lovely, sleek :) and powerful addition to that family!

[@jedrhodes4833]

The Odyssey Class/Enterprise-F has really, REALLY grown on me. Having Shon come in and save my arse repeatedly probably helps, lol.

[@EnterpriseKnight]

The ship looks great. He must've geeked out finding his ship featured out in the Countdown comic.

[@gerogyzurkov2259]

He's greeking out in Twitter now even more that it is in a official Star Trek TV series finally.

[@EnterpriseKnight]

@@gerogyzurkov2259 i know right? It's incredible

[@PotholesInMyLawn]

Nice ship... The D looks the best when it banks... to go into warp.

[@VEN0M415]

When they talked about the saucer section detaching, the saucer with the two wings on the side looked like a Miranda class

[@MrSheckstr]

I'm not sure how I feel about the spindly double neck. No so much from a structural strength aspect but from the concept that to get from the bridge to somewhere in the lower module you would have to go from the center of deck one.. down to somewhere past the middle of the saucer, traverse laterally to the extreme port or starboard side, travel down one of the necks, move back to the center of the lower hull, then likely have to travel back up or down several levels. And remember those necks have to fit not only personnel conduits but cargo pathways, energy conduits, AND now house the hardware for this "warp ring" you want it to turn into once detached. I would still fill in the bulk of the negative space between the hulls with a galaxy type neck that would contain primary conduits between the hills, battle bridge for the lower hull, tactical systems, etc. That would still allow your catamarans be pylons for your warp ring and SECONDARY conduits between the hulls. The other option would be instead of a G type neck fill the void with a tertiary craft like a defiant style of vessel (saucer only craft with integrated nacelles) that could serve all the above purposes and serve as an escort vessel. Or perhaps a mission specific pod like on Nebula and Luna Class vessels

[@Captain_Razor_88]

Adam has officially joined the list of enterprise designers. As of Star Trek Picard season 3, the Odyssey Class U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-F has been revealed on the TV screen and is now official canon, per Star Trek canonical regulations.

[@enterprise-h312]

This design to me combines the best of the D and the E. The thing which I personally like best about the D is the detail behind it. I don't know if there is a Technical Manual for the E?

[@morganb6717]

the Odyssey's introduction into ST:O was great; they included a mission that highlighted its arrival in game by allowing players to temporarily take command of an Odyssey and basically testdrive this glorious beast. with it was also included a new bridge design specific to the Odyssey. save for the ridiculousness of having a transporter pad being present on the bridge, it is otherwise my favorite bridge environment and, while i realize Mr. Ihle had no hand in that, i think it coupled well with the ship Cryptic gave us from Mr. Ihle's design. it is a grand ship that i believe lives up to the standards of what a Flagship Enterprise should be and easily stands proudly as part of the namesakes iconic legacy. well done, Mr Ihle, and thank you for your epic contribution (hence we get Odyssey).

[@disruptive_innovator]

As a STO player, I am glad this design was chosen for the Enterprise F. It looks good following the Sovereign, has some Voyager feel and is a larger exploration worth vessel, like Galaxy class was was in her prime. And I enjoy how nice the twin neck looks. Love the Odyssey!

[@FLAME4564]

neat since this is to me a fitting way to pay tribute to a particular galaxy class of the same name of this star trek online starship design concept.

[@robertlewis2774]

This baby girl should be star trek Canon!!!!!!!thank you Mr. Ihle beautiful!

[@Zickcermacity]

4:12 Whoever said your ship looks like a 'fat bloated whale' evidently never watched a single episode of TNG(Enterprise D - as in DISASTER!) Both Sovereign and Odyssey are a return to sane proportions and balance in the Federation garage, and interpret elements from Excelsior class(Ent. B) with taste!

[@saquist]

I can't agree. It's not comparable to Sovereign or Galaxy.

[@krisguntner4805]

You want to see a fat bloated whale ship look at the covenant ships of halo. That's a whale of a ship.

[@martinbaxter6414]

kris guntner Yes!

[@jankjason]

+Zickcermacity The Galaxy class may not be one of my favorites (unlike the Sovereign and the Odyssey) but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a "disaster". But we all have our own opinions on the matter.

[@saquist]

Mark Grant The Galaxy is the hallmark of the 24th century. Trek wouldn't be what it is today without Probert's design.

[@watchthe1369]

A vulcan ring drive in the necks? AWESOME! It also explains that second warp reactor.

[@ronniejacksonjr5607]

I Love the Odyssey Class

[@Skybaby79]

glorious ship

[@tempest0392]

I love the odyssey class i have IT myself and its named U.S.S. Destiny :)

[@tempest0392]

Ncc 51453

[@thribs]

Named after the awesome novel trilogy I assume?

[@JimbobHarrigan1984]

I own the T6 tac version with Oddy skin. She's called the U.S.S. Hernandez

[@dschehutinefer5627]

Mine is called U.S.S. Sacrosanctus. Because it never dies! XD Great ship, I really love it.

[@wrongway1100]

Optimus Prime The look of it is pretty good. Very appealing to eye. It looks like a federation ship.

[@gerogyzurkov2259]

Honestly the Ceta might be interesting to add also. A smaller Odyssey sounds modular design would of been fun see.

[@iainhossack7088]

Tbh, I love this ship, I want this ship to be canon, I want a model of this ship, I want a painting of this ship, I want this ship in a series, I want to own this ship. This for me is my Enterprise.

[@TYSniper]

Well congrats, its going to make an appearance in Picard season 3!

[@shawnbeckmann1847]

I like the 4th Place Design by far the Best

[@ericstockham7009]

Odyssey class is a beautiful ship. my ship of choice in the game in fact. that other ship looks good but this was definitely better.

[@03jalapeno]

This is my favorite ship in STO

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

Really love this design, I think it actually makes a better Enterprise-E than the E itself, it looks like a much better followup to Enterprise D

[@808INFantry11X]

Well the Enterprise E was the first ship of the Neterprise line that had specialty mission it was a cruiser designed to fight the emerging Borg threat unlike the rest of the Enterprise which were showcases of the cutting edge innovations up until that point

[@808INFantry11X]

I like the Sovereign class ship its still one of my favorite if not favorite. I also love the Odyssey because it takes many of the inspiration of both the Sovereign and Galaxy class ships and combined them and kind of a return to a more exploratory mission.

[@CybershamanX]

Yeah, when you compare the F to the NX, you can totally extrapolate out to the J. Good job! :) And I just wrote a sentence that on the surface looks like I'm talking about essentially just letters... :P ;)

[@larryiscreating]

Am I the only one who thinks it's awesome that his mom was a Trekkie?

[@90lancaster]

I think I like this a bit better than the Wexelman one - that does look a bit to much like a Flying Boat. I think STO did a good job back-blending it to the E but it's not quite pushing in the J-Direction yet. But it seems quite possible all the ship up to the Enterprise 'I' May have pointy primary hulls as it's a substantial assistance to the function of higher warp factors and Slipstream. The J is quite probably using a completely different kind of FTL drive so doesn't need to be pointy so has the call back to the more rounded hull and almost a bit of NX about it too. But I like this it does look like a pumped up E its sort of a same relationship between the alternative Ambassador class & the 'D' has. That said to return to the Wexelman one - if it had D-style under the saucer nacelles It would look so much nicer. especially with right angled struts that tip down slightly. The only problem with that one is that - which would suit the hull shape best - things like side ways nacelle struts of even inverted upside down engines that hang down not sit on the strut would all look better but would also all look more like some other ship and not an Enterprise. Personally I'd be taking inspiration from the Titan and the vesta class and then seeing what the biggest Slipstream design you could make would be. Speaking of which I hope Trekyards will cover Voyager's 'full circle' fleet sometime.

[@FeeriiEekii]

Such a great looking ship, the original Odyssey class is close to perfection, it's my main ship and lots of times I just keep staring at it without actually playing the game :-P Of all the variants that are available now I'd rate them (visually) as follows: 1. Odyssey 2. Sojourner (very close second) 3. Verity 4. Yorktown 5. Endeavour Anyone who hates on the design or Adam Ihle for whatever reason is, in my mind, a sad sack of tribble dung. Excellent work by Adam and the designers at Cryptic.

[@wazda6488]

There are all these refits of the odyssey, but I always preferred that standard odyssey

[@FeeriiEekii]

@@wazda6488 I agree. But the Yorktown version seems to be the most popular.

[@pathfinderdiscovery9395]

in battle smaller ships could be let threw the shields an maybe help guard them if they are damaged just a thought

[@PhillBogart]

Has there ever been an Enterprise-class? For once, I would have liked to have seen that honor finally placed on one of the Big-E's.

[@pokealex388]

Not too sure about how a "warp ring" design would form a warp bubble and allow the saucer to to travel at warp but that would still make an interesting impulse engine design.

[@thedevilisatroller6527]

awesome ship

[@donaldhill3823]

Looks cool. I'd want to be part of her Crew.

[@hisokamorow1816]

odyssey class is a tribute to the USS odyssey R.I.P p.s. the hole in the neck is for splitstream

[@davidhernandez9985]

Still waiting for the new nebula class design!

[@PurcellAdam]

I really hope this makes it to Star Trek: Picard. Pretty inspiring either way.

[@alex30425]

It’s finally going to appear in Picard S3!

[@shinjofox]

Not crazy about the F but the design does fit into the lineage well.

[@bikkiikun]

It is actually not much bigger than the Galaxy class (from arse to nose) and probably even smaller in terms of internal volume. It's just that the engines are very long and swept backwards. The Sovereign Class is actually the size of the Ambassador class, with less or equal internal volume. But that is Ok, because the Enterprise E was unfortunately more of a warship, than an exploration vessel. So, my guess is, the Odyssey Class goes back to being more of a ship designed to explore, than to fight in a war.

[@timothypage252]

It reminds me a little of the Oberth class.

[@galbert117]

What if they had the runner-ups & 2nd-4th place ships as special ships won through rewards involving the Mirror Universe? Then you could have 6 new Enterprises...

[@morganb6717]

the Second Place submission looks like it is, roughly, what the Avenger battlecruiser is based on. the Third Place seems to be what the Temporal cruisers were then designed from, at least from the stills shown in this vid. so it would seem that they did make their way beyond just submission.

[@jeffgrencik1295]

still think the twin necks makes the turbo lifts have to go further to get to the engineering hull.

[@MidnightAge]

I will admit that the Odyssey has grown on me over time. I still actively dislike the Sovereign, though.

[@j626exp3]

When u see the size of the J compared to the F. 😱😨😲😓

[@808INFantry11X]

J626 Exp the enterprise j is big as fuck i mean its like over 3,000 meters its like 2/3rds the size if the infinity of halo which is 5 clicks long. The enterprise f is nice jump in terms of size.

[@Fg-jl2jy]

Never really did like the Fuzzyprise, always felt more like a light cruiser to me.

[@lezking5060]

I do wish people would stop incorrectly referring to "gaps", "holes" or just "space" in an object as "negative space". Negative space is its own concept in design, and doesn't just mean "a gap".

[@240ups]

I love his design...structural stress question solved elegantly.....also the oddness of Enterprise D to me comes down to one subjective opinion since the beginning...."Baby has Big Head"

[@thribs]

Any ideas for the G?

[@MorleyRobertson1975]

Doesn't anyone think it's time the Enterprise deserves a class of ship named after it?

[@Maximusrex4575]

Part of the drama around the ship at the time is the community was allowed to vote, and they thought, despite there being wording otherwise, that what they chose would win. Cryptic and CBS always had the final say. That being said, some people just went off the deep end about it, I recall one person who predicted it was going to make the game close down, and that guy was really "vocal" and spammy about their disdain for the whole thing.

[@cadengrace5466]

Obviously congratulations to the designer for his achievement but really there is no reason for the neck to be structured that way between the primary and secondary hull. In fact that is just about the worst way to attach to high torque pieces of significant mass that also have their own thrust issues.

[@SIG442]

I love the Odyssey class in the game, got all ships (T5 and T6 ships). They pack a punch but the consoles on the T5 ships are rather pointless. I never use them, after testing them they just seemed to be a waste of console slot space. The saucer is only impulse speed and not even full impulse, which makes it rather silly to have in pretty much any situation. Also it is rather weak and does not seem to add to the damage output or in many cases it doesn't fire at all for that matter. It just cuts your crew in half and the ship already has a issue with it's crew being very easily depleted to zero, specially in fights with the Borg for example. The worker bees are excellent for a TV series or movie, but rather pointless in the game. They are destroyed easily with pretty much a single shot. Aside from that is the problem with it's capabilities that are seriously lacking. It simply does not do anything really during a battle or outside a battle which makes them useless. The Aquarius Shuttle in the back end of the secondary hull is just another crew killer and weak, just like the saucer is. It does deal damage and pretty much at the same output as the ship itself. But again it is very easily killed after which you need to wait far too long for it to be ready again. Then you first need to dock it, wait some more and only then you can send it out again. Which takes way to much time which makes this whole idea rather pointless and stressful to handle during a battle. The saucer also experiences the insanely long waiting times for that matter. The nacelle's on this shuttle show that it would be warp capable, but it does not even do full impulse. Which makes it just as useless again as the saucer since you need to dock it before moving to the next target. Knowing how fast games can be in STO, it makes no sense at all to be so slow at all.

[@Graytail]

To begin with, I absolutly hated this ship, I wanted to enter my own ship but not being in the US I wasnt able to. But she grew on me, fast. I'd really like to see someone redesign the Miranda class in this style. And as for the necks being too thin? At warp speed the whole ship relies on the nacelle pylons, and those are pretty damned thin! And those that say the pylons arent important, think about the warp10 flights in Voyager, when the nacelles kept tearing themselves from the hull. Those pylons have to be pretty strong.

[@llamapi3]

Good interview. Been debating trying ST:Online. I think I tried it years ago in beta and just couldn't get in to it. In particular the outside star ship stuff I found boring and really really bad.

[@llamapi3]

So I guess any players have some suggestions?

[@thribs]

Story wise it's really good. I does ignore so major things that happen in the novels which is annoying but they're still good. There are many characters from the TV series that guest star as well. Looks like with the latest update they're about to add some First Federation material to it.

[@thatHARVguy]

When they released Legacy of Romulas (2013), STO became what they really wanted. The stories have gotten better and the Trek actors reprised their roles in game. They improved some systems, others not so much, and Lighting 2.0 looks fantastic. It's a great time to come back, as their 7th anniversary is right now (Jan. 26-Feb. 23). Get to level 10 to join the celebration and earn a free anniversary cross-faction ship.

[@thribs]

Neb=ver tried that one. I'm too lazy to play as a Romulan.

[@TalesOfWar]

You don't have to, a lot of it is cross faction stuff.

[@martinbaxter6414]

It's shweeeeeet! As though... well, I can only comment further if I see proof-of-age from anyone who might read the resulting post. (There are laws, you know... 😉)

[@lezking5060]

I don't like it - I know that probably goes against the grain, but it's just a personal opinion. Even though I can only see a little of the 4th place entry... that would have been my winner.

[@winsarun7916]

And Now Startrek Online design contest we got a flying Bluetooth speaker. for 7th year anniversary.

[@winsarun7916]

And NO it's doesn't look by Beats By Dre.

[@saquist]

At first I didn't like Tourangeau's Titan. But I didn't read the rules closely. Later find it' it's the best Fan accepted Canon design ever. I STILL don't like the STO Enterprise F. The crew space in the double neck is a joke. I'm surprised a designer came up with it. From what I've seen here the Cetea Class looks like it could make the double neck work but it's hugely illogical. If the area was workable at least it would have some functionality if not practicality. -As Warp engines the neck works...that's what should have happen! -Isn't it strange the Refit is so many's favorite and yet everyone forgets it's functionality?

[@Starjumper2821]

According to STO Lore the split neck is supposed to reduce turbulence during Slipstream travel, making it possible to have the drive enabled for a longer period. Starfleet is still not very accustomed to such a technology. Of course in reality such a thing makes little sense when there's such a huge deflector dish in the way all the time.

[@saquist]

Dauntless was fake but it was actually slipstream. -It was sleek and conformal -the deflector area was drastically reduced -the nacelles were stowed close As Chakotay said: "I've never seen this kind of hull geometry. Looks like they've taken a whole new approach to starship design." Nothing in STO should look like normal Federation ships. Even the Enterprise J should look somewhat similar to this concept. The only reason why it doesn't is the CBS/Paramount marketing machine which says it has to have a Connie configuration. That's stupid. "Ape Brain" thinking.

[@Maupin001]

Ultimately, all Star Trek designs are based on what an artist thought looked good. A real starship based on the closest thing we have to a working equation for FTL travel - the Alcubierre metric - will be a spindle with two large-ish rings suspended around it, so anything that doesn't follow that design is artistic silliness. I think Odyssey/Enterprise-F looks nice, so it's just as "right" as anything else, AFAIK. There should not be nearly as much variation between peer starship designs from competing powers as we see - they should either all follow the Federation geometry of saucer/nacelles or the Klingon/Romulan geometry of projecting command module/broad primary hull.

[@Idazmi7]

@@Maupin001 _"Ultimately, all Star Trek designs are based on what an artist thought looked good."_ The Original and Refit were both designed by Matt Jefferies, who was a professional aerospace engineer. All the other Enterprise hulls were designed on a pure aesthetics basis with a near-total disregard for logical engineering.

[@petar2744]

@@Idazmi7 So you can say that Jefferies thought that practicality, functionality and overall logical aesthetic looks best for the ship. right?

[@Cyberwolfman]

If enemies had any common sense, those neck pieces would be prime targets.

[@TheGrumbleduke]

Not really; Starfleet ships tend not to have much in the way of armour, relying on their shields instead. Breaking through one (or both) of those neck pieces would likely be harder than punching through the saucer, and just as difficult as getting through to the warp core (they're quite think at the back).Much better to go for the nacelle pylons, or bridge, or main computer, or warp core, or impulse engines, or weapon arrays, or deflector, or .. an actual critical system, rather than trying to cut the ship apart.

[@majordakka5743]

Mark Lawrence Star trek beyond

[@TalesOfWar]

It's like modern naval vessels. Their main line of defence is to... not get hit. They have pretty weak hulls when going up against modern anti-shipping weapons. Saying that starships can take a good amount of direct damage to the hull from weapons of their respective era before they become compromised. Unless the script calls for otherwise (looking at you Generations!).

[@majordakka5743]

That's also the biggest point of catastrophic failure. Basic survivability design principles emphasize that should be reinforced as much as possible, even if you used some superhard/tough/strong unobtanium material as your hull

[@VEN0M415]

Mark Lawrence well as we saw in Beyond, in sure Kirk wished he had two necks rather than one on the enterprise lol

[@jdanielmcmahon]

The D is the lazyboy of enterprises haha

[@seanoneill9606]

If only you knew then it would become canon

[@paulchristianjenkinsj.d.1943]

Frankly, I was never a fan of the Enterprise E. It seemed almost a downgrade from the Enterprise D. I guess the Borg Invasion and Dominion War changed the focus some from a mission mostly for exploration to that of being more of a warship.

[@beebopvroop5218]

The kid in the middle couldn't look less interested if he tried...

[@michaelseymour7211]

D neck. E no neck. F back to neck?

[@winsarun7916]

I'll be honest i hate the new T6 Look of Odyssey The only one I like from the New Ody is Yorktown class. The rest look umm Weird.

[@sw-gs]

Because of that double neck and hole between it i called this ship "a-hole".

[@paulfrenczli6215]

the Designer seems like a very nice and intelligent Man, but I am not a fan at all of this "Enterprise-F" at all! I Do not the consider cryptic Game cannon!

[@cornerofthemoon]

Parts of the Enterprise F I like but don't care for the shovel nose saucer. If the saucer isn't elliptical it ain't the Enterprise.

[@thegrumpytucsonian1591]

Hope this Enterprise - F thing is not canon, because it is stupid and ugly as crap.

[@MrJacalhoun30]

I want to thank the creator of the Enterprise F. it's the first starship named Enterprise I HATE

[@TheCastellan]

I LOVE it. ;)

[@pixelforge4858]

i hate the neck on this thing so much

[@FLAME4564]

meh many people would pefer Enterprise designes like this much better than the more hated JJ/Churchprise and trust me that Enterprise with the level of lenseflare took more beating in Star Trek Beyond than a speeding drunk crashing on a highway.