Linds: So today I’m sitting down with Rob Archer to talk about starship design. He’s an experienced designer and I am currently going through the review process on my first ever design.

So, Rob, the first question I have is basically how do you decide what to design? Is it a random inspiration? Or based on a need?

Rob: Well first hello to you too Linds, glad to be here and to have this discussion which is near and dear to me.
But to answer your question, that’s a complicated answer in some forms depending on the design. Usually it’s just jotting an idea down by me here or there, and then compiling it later on into a full fledged design.

But I’ll use my current project that I’m working on for STF which is an alien design which eventually joins Starfleet

In a current sim the USS Merrimack in Black Fleet encounters a monogendered female like alien race known as the Alstaire who though by the end of the sim will do a trade agreement with the Federation won’t officially join until much later in 2390.

I saw a need and opportunity to create their cruiser design from the sim into a npc/support role for GMs to use in STF called the Karatona class cruiser.

Linds: Right. That makes sense.

Rob: For those who don’t know an npc/support design is a design meant only for GM use in sims and not as a main fleet roleplaying area
So in short, the decision to make a design is random for me, coming from a little bit of everything. Sorry for being so long winded there

Linds: It’s all good!
Can you maybe describe briefly how the design process before submission for review goes for you?

Rob: Certainly! Though just to note eventually the engineering department hopes to get a newer simplified process made. So down the line this process I’m mentioning now may change.
The ship design process uses a template called the standardized ship submission form or SSSF, this gives a break down of the sections needed and some basic info of what to put into those sections, from there the ‘weight’ of the ship or its class (like a cruiser!) is decided by crew size from the Milwaukie Plan, finally the nuts and bolts of ship systems is decided by the designer from referencing the third and final document The Modern Navy Plan

The designer then compiles all this together into a standard text document and submits it to the engineering department for approval and review.

Linds: How do you as a designer decide what elements to choose from those documents? I know for myself as Calé and I were designing the replacement for the old McCoy-class that it felt like random choices even if we understood that our ship had certain focuses that we needed to weigh more heavily.

Rob: Generally the ship’s mission profiles should fit the system setup choices if you ask me, though some will disagree with me on that. For example a medical ship after all doesnt need heavy armament or over the top stuff like that as its profile of missions wouldnt include heavy combat. But given its ‘medical response’ nature it probably would want decent warp engines, shields (for protecting itself!) and moderate sensor systems
I hope that makes sense

Linds: But that’s what the review process is for, correct? To ensure the ship design is balanced and meets its intention?

Rob: Yes the review process does check for balancing and meeting intention. But the more correcting that is needed the longer then a designer would need to wait to see their baby project approved. If though the designer considers things from both sides of the ‘coin’ so to speak as a reviewer of their own project they could shorten the review process cycle and get their baby approved much faster

Linds: I can attest to designer tunnel vision though, lol.

Rob: Obviously not everyone as a designer can do this, so there in is where I suggest talking to others privately before submitting it for advice like you guys did with Nick V! I get it alot myself from others too looking to get their feet wet for the first time. My usual advice is start with a ‘throw away’ design something small like a shuttle or runabout. Again it takes more time personally then but you learn alot

And yes designer tunnel vision is a danger it is true. When I built my Mythology class Explorer early on the design was to say the least a bit over the top compared to what we eventually got. And even that I plan to trim down a little for believability reasons based on feedback I got in the past year or so.

Linds: What advice would you give new designers?

Rob: For a first time designer? My advice is start with a throw away design to learn the ropes. Something like a shuttle, runabout, or very simple ship design which you really don’t intend to actually submit. Get private feedback on that to note your weak areas then learn from that when you go all in on your personal full design.

Also when submitting your design put the text into notepad and save it as a plain .txt document, this lack of ‘special’ formatting like you would see in a word document or google docs say saves the engineering director tons of time on fixing it for posting when review time finally comes.
Finally don’t be afraid of getting advice privately or posting sections of a throw away or actual design on the engineering department boards. For those of us in the department actively we love giving advice!

I worked very hard over the past years to mold the engineering departments attitudes away from the perceived and sometimes rightly so attitude of negativity and what not. So to see it get used always makes me happy with new people coming in.

Also as an aside the engineering department also accepts tech submissions! Not just ship designs

Though that is its own process which is a little different from ship design

Linds: What resources, inside or external to STF, would you say are invaluable to new designers looking to design a ship, or even tech?

Rob: A good question! (Chuckles) I get this alot, my first piece of resource would be say look at a canon design or existing design in STF first to make sure something doesn’t already exist exactly like what you’re going to try to build. So in that regard memory alpha/beta and the STF technical manual in the library are your friend. Also the MOTD of the Engineering department since some recent designs passed are on there temporarily until the library gets an update. Also useful for inspiration are just random google image searches for fan made star trek ships, while you shouldn’t use direct information from those or their names they can inspire you to create your own. As for tech usually again memory alpha/beta and creative ideas that may form in STF sims can be a wealth of creativity to make something of your own

In short if you get an idea to pop up in your mind write it down somewhere for later expansion

Linds: That sounds like great advice!
Well, that’s all the questions I have at the moment, but we’ll leave this open in Ten Forward for others to ask more or contribute their own thoughts.
Thank you for taking the time to have this conversation.

Rob: No problem Linds I’m happy to help and contribute!
Take care everyone!

Join the conversation! Have you ever designed a ship? Or wanted to? Do you have a different process? What do you think is the most intimidating part of the process?