Not ripped off per se, but if someone with more skill (or free time) than you sees something useful in your design, he may submit a better version of your idea to the contest.

For example, I completely forgot about the option to place the main deflector in the saucer section, as NX-01 had. Having a secondary shuttle bay there would be too much like an Akira, but the deflector dish fit into my design perfectly. Except I ended up with an empty space on the underside, and had no better idea than to stick a giant cannon there, like on Admiral Riker's refitted Enterprise-D from All Good Things.

---

Controller Sean 'Jaguar' Mirrsen
Competent Modder, Proficient Programmer, Grand Master RtD GM.
GM of Multiworld Madness, a Roll to Dodge epic.
GM of Space Whaler Escape!, a Roll to Dodge survival/skirmish.

I've done this with three contests before, and no one has produced anything even similar to mine. If people want to take my idea they should. I don't hold a monopoly on receiving inspiration from other people's artwork.

___________________________________

Okay, I think I'm ready to start modeling the first draft. Working on a good looking saucer right now, and I think I've gonna keep it.

I think after I model each hull section I'll stitch them together, then experiment with smooth settings and subdivided surface conversion. My hope is to get something a sleeker than the Enterprise D.

I'm still learning Maya's modeling tools. For a decade I modeled in Rhino, then exported to Maya for texturing and rendering. I left Rhino behind a couple years ago now, and I find there is still a lot of Maya I just haven't scratched the surface of yet.

Fortunately, a buddy sent me a Maya textbook. Thanks man You're a lifesaver

I would imagine it is very rare for a bridge officer to go that far. If anything, he'd go to engineering, and engineering would have people who actually go to the nacelle. Do you know how noticeable dust is on red?

If you really wanted to be efficient with internal travel times you could just make it a sphere or maybe even a cube...like the Bor(in)g.

Or he'd just use the intercom and give the conscripts orders from on high the way an officer should.

Well, we're all entitled to our opinions, so I will refrain from posting giant shots of my model for now. I wonder if an 80x80 animated avatar would make a good submission?

---

Controller Sean 'Jaguar' Mirrsen
Competent Modder, Proficient Programmer, Grand Master RtD GM.
GM of Multiworld Madness, a Roll to Dodge epic.
GM of Space Whaler Escape!, a Roll to Dodge survival/skirmish.

Well, that's why I said that I imagine it is very rare for a bridge officer to go that far.

Yeah but my version skips going to engineering entirely and the officer stays on the bridge.

My scenario is this: bridge officer and engineering officer went to the academy together, bridge officer was less of a fucking nerd and made connections (sts), and he likes to slum it in engineering to rub it in.

Replace bridge officer with Riker and engineering officer with Geordi and you've got it.

EDIT: After all, there's no DRAMA in just shouting down the pipe at the engine room, is there?

If you just need the 3D functionality for this, you could always just download the 30 day free trial of AutoCAD from Autodesk's website. And then download one of the CAD verticals after that, then another, and another. There are enough of them that you'd get like 6 or 7 months free. 'Course, you could always install it in a virtual machine and reset it after 30 days...Or image your system and reinstall from the image...

For 2D projects, you could try Dassault Systemes DraftSight
http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/ ... -overview/
It is free, works with existing .DWG's, and has a similar UI and most of the same command functions as vanilla AutoCAD.

---

“I prefer Gary,” the Centurion said. - Centurion GRY-237427, "The Hunted"

“This sucks,” Gary said, as the Land-Rams to either side exploded. “I will request a transfer from your command in our next life, Commander.” - Centurion GRY-237427, "The Hunted"

Give a man a match, you warm him for a day. Set him on fire, you warm him for the rest of his life - unknown

Progress on the 1st draft.

Somthing just looks... wrong... about that secondary hull, maybe stretch out it's backside a little more so it doesn't end so abruptly?

Or at least that's my take on it >.>

I'll give Draftsight a try. If worse comes to worse I can always put in some extra time in my AutoCAD class and use the software there.

Edit: And I'm already impressed with Draftsight. So far it has all the basic functionality of AutoCAD that I'm used to that most of the clones I've tried didn't quite match.

I'm playing with basic shapes again, experimenting with connecting the nacelles to the saucer like in my first wip image, and just trying to come up with something more interesting, attractive or unique.



[edit]
Minor changes:


[edit]
Gak. Apparently I just re-created this:

Coming up with something that hasn;t been tried before is proving rather difficult.

And your Steamrunner-esque design would be fairly shit structurally if that's a vital secondary hull, rather than just a defelctor or torpedo housing

---

You are standing on a 4.5 billion year old complex, self-sustaining organic spacship, which is orbiting a power source a million times larger than your ship. There are 200 billion other power sources, many of them with ships like yours, in your fleet. There are 40 other fleets in the immediate neighbourhood and your entire neighbourhood is moving at two million miles per hour towards an object 150 million light years away. Welcome to life, it's a lot more exciting when you think on larger scales.

Early rough-draft after playing around with Draftsight.

Want to do something different? Something that's never been done? Make a BEEFY ST ship. Seriously the ships get thinner and thinner, and more and more elegant. For once break with tradition and do something big and bulky! Who cares if it is "pretty" go with functionally!

---

Praying is another way of doing nothing helpful
"Congratulations, you get a cookie. You almost got a fundamental English word correct." Pick
"Outlaw star has spaceships that punch eachother" Joviwan
Read "Tales From The Crossroads"!
Read "One Wrong Turn"!

That's actually what I'm doing with my design.

It's interesting what happens when I extrude the secondary hull out of the back of the saucer.

Something I whipped up for pondering purposes:

So the Century Class is the equivalent of Cyborgs?

I really like your Steamrunner wannabe shape Fuzzy. You can probably get away with making the lower pod smaller and turn it into something less important than an engineering hull, say a weapons pod or something. Your elongated version above is nice too, but pretty much everyone does the long pointy with the secondary hull attached to bottom of hull bit.

What about a huge donut nacelle outside the ship (Think Vulcan), with 4 structures inside that are defector dishes, and something in the middle?

woah woah woah missing link...

I was actually considering a horseshoe shape with a saucer inside, and maybe a sphere inside that. Might be similar to what you're describing.

Oh yeeeah. I guess that one might be important :p