[Mod] Yesteryears Updates

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
It is a very nice model, specially for a canon design we all knew Federation would have following their policies of exploration and science.... honestly, I like it, but I just loved when they introduced the Nova class 100+ years later, hehehe .

Keep it up!

 

[Majestic]

Thank you all, I haven't been on much in the last 48 hours due to a heatwave. I however did managed to ready 2 and 1/2 books in that time. But no work on Yesteryears. Before the heatwave hit I was working on the Phobos, Miranda and Soyuz classes. The latter I am having difficulty getting the pods to look right. Kind of annoying really. I'm half thinking of re-designing the darn thing.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
Yes, I have read about tha theatwave, and that there is even a new red color in the scales due to that . I do hope all of you there are doing ok, because those heatwaves can really cause health problems.

Keep it up! .

 

[Majestic]

Thanks Chile, it's going to be 34 degrees C today and 40 tomorrow. So I guess I'll get a lot more reading done over the next couple of days but not much modelling or texturing.

 

[Majestic]

I was looking through my files to find what I have to do when I get back to this project after the Earth faction from TCW is released and I found this that I never showed here. So here is one of the destroyers, done back earlier this year that I never got around to showing you all.

 

[Jetfreak]

Ah, the trusty Akyazi. You know that thing never gets old for me. I just love its sleek look and insect-like qualities. Reminds me of a Stag Beetle ready to pounce.

Its a great rendition Maj, your in-house texture work is very refined. Takes some skill to get a consistent look for the entire TMP fleet.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks Jet.

Having a refined and matching look is my plan with both my mods. In fact the TMP textures are easier as I went in a more simplified approach, less detail but it works for TMP.

The Aykazi was a bit of a challenge as I had to design all new nacelles for her. I was originally going with the standard ones but it didn't look right, so I made these ones. They turned out quiet well. Last night I also realized I had the Phobos started but didn't get very far into the texturing so that is one less model to map which is always a joy for me as mapping textures is a real pain for me.

 

[Majestic]

A new one I have done over the past few days. Was stuck on TCW stations, couldn't get the motivation nor the inspiration with the texturing. So I took a break, beginning of the week I decided to do some work on something I have been trying to get done for ages, and at the end of the week I finished this up.



It's the Phobos, an early cruiser, fast cruiser perhaps. Weaker than the Miranda class, but cheaper and faster to build. Basically the Intrepid of TMP era.

 

[kjc733]

I've liked the Phobos since I first saw one, and this seems to be a very nice rendition of it.

It does look like it'd be quick and agile, so fast cruiser seems to suit.

 

[Starfox1701]

Great work man

 

[Majestic]

Great work man

Thanks Starfox.

I've liked the Phobos since I first saw one, and this seems to be a very nice rendition of it.

It does look like it'd be quick and agile, so fast cruiser seems to suit.

Not to mention she has some pretty large impulse engines, they are over 2-3 times the size of the engines on other classes. So I do think fast cruiser fits. I am going to make her the fastest cruiser out there, just a tad slower than destroyers. I'll probably also revise the back story of the class to reflect this.

 

[Majestic]

Ok next up....

The workhorse of the federation fleet, the Miranda class. This ship has a couple of variants and so to start off you'll only be able to build the Miranda, after some research however you'll be able to build the Avenger and Saratoga sub-classes and refit existing Miranda's on the fly to either Avenger or Saratoga configuration.

The Miranda is the base model, no roll bar. The Avenger is the most common configuration (aka the Reliant, Majestic, Trial), the one with the roll bar. The Saratoga (which I might rename, as it's not official) has two sensor pods that allow extra line of sight. Good to have in fleets heading to attack.



This one took a bit longer than I would like, and I hate doing canon vessels so it was one I put off for sometime, but finally I decided to take a crack at it, and went my own way with texturing. She is the workhorse and so Federation fleets will constantly have these in their fleets, basically the TMP Akira when it comes to Armada 2.

 

[kjc733]

Looks like a nice set of meshes I assume the Avenger variant has superior weapons capability (having torpedo launchers on the rollbar)?
Any hints on how the rest of the fleet stacks up in terms of capabilities?
I may have to bite the bullet and download FO for this...

 

[Jetfreak]

Up to your usual tricks eh Maj? Love the little homage there, a neat set of Mirandas for sure.

 

[Majestic]

Looks like a nice set of meshes I assume the Avenger variant has superior weapons capability (having torpedo launchers on the rollbar)?
Any hints on how the rest of the fleet stacks up in terms of capabilities?
I may have to bite the bullet and download FO for this...

Yes the Avenger has the tactical edge over the others. I do have more than a few ideas on how the fleet is set-up. It will be a very destroyer and cruiser orientated mod. Your large vessels won't be often used, at least not like other mods. This is intentional as I want the emphasis on smaller ships. So the Constitution/Constellation are probably the highest mass produced units you'll use, the larger guys you'll only build a handful in a standard multi-player game, unless you're fighting the AI.

That said each race will be different, a short list of their specialties listed below:

Federation - Well rounded, not the best tactical, but great defense.
Klingons - Weak units, strong weapon loadout. Old cloaks mean they can only be activated for a limited time. They also have some bonuses like fighters, assault ships and freighters than can become fighting ships. They'll use the large ships even less than the Federation. You can blame Praxis.
Gorn - Tanks, slow paced progress through the tiers, great defense, better than the Fed. One of the few races that use the big guns more than rivals. Oh and they have suicidal/kamikaze units.
Kzinti - Long range missiles, good for assaults. Poor defense. Moderate economy. These guys are best at long range. They do have close range disruptors if the need arises.
Romulans - Stealthy, awesome cloak detection, great cloaks (no timeouts like Klingons). These guys are best for raids and cloak and dagger tactics.

It's a basic outline, if it wasn't 4am I'd probably be able to explain this better.

Up to your usual tricks eh Maj? Love the little homage there, a neat set of Mirandas for sure.

Thanks, I had you in mind when texturing these, so I just had too.

Well tomorrow I'll be onto the next ship. Let's see how long I can keep this up.

 

[Majestic]

Next up... And this one was a pain. I wanted to fit it on the Miranda texture, oh did I mention that 2-3 ships will share the same texture file in YY? Anyway I wanted all the Miranda's to share the one file, makes sense since very little is different between them. When adding this ship to the texture I had to go back and make some severe changes to make it fix. That meant for the Saratoga and Miranda I had to re-map their saucers. So I decided to have them use the same saucer (bottom) texture as the Avenger just with the registry section being re-mapped to another spot. All the Miranda's have the same bottom saucer texture anyway.

I am doing registry versions as if I do get to the campaign phase of the mod I want a few hero units and so doing it this way now, saves me a lot of work in the long run.

Well anyway, here is the Soyuz class, an assault cruiser. Unlike the Avenger and Saratoga classes, the Soyuz is not a variant of the Miranda. A variant to me is a quick alteration of a class to perform a specific role. Both the Avenger and Saratoga fit this. The Soyuz is a class on her own, sharing only the main section of the ship. My idea is that these guys were built as a combat version of the Miranda, designed for combat, no science labs installed. It was based off the Miranda hull to cut down on design and production costs. This class was designed and produced in direct response to Klingon aggression in the late 2280's. Done to booster combat numbers in the fleet quickly.

Like many fans I have elected to say the sensor pods are phaser cannons, as I already have the Saratoga and the Soyuz looks more more aggressive than the Saratoga and well it's just more cool. We must remember this is the late 23rd century and Starfleet is a more aggressive and seen more as a military than in Picard's golden years.

Anyway here is the image:



The Grafton will, if I get to a campaign, be one of the main hero ships and will feature in the first 5 or so missions.

You'll also noticed I added a little bit of my own touch to this. I added in 2 fore torpedo launchers and a small phaser turret. In my view it gives a reason why the bottom of the saucer is different to the Miranda, plus as a combat ship it needs a torpedo launcher and the phaser turret can be lowered on a small shaft and becomes a full 360 degree rotating turret to be used again small fighters, though due to game mechanics it's just eye candy.

 

[Atlantis]

Looking very good there Maj. The Soyuz has always been a favourite of mine, and you've certainly done it proud.

I like the torpedo bay idea and phaser turret, very nice touch. And the texturing: stunning.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks Atlantis I am glad you like her, yeah I felt the addition of torpedo launchers were a must for a combat ship. I have always liked the Soyuz myself and wanted to reflect this in YY. I also have ignored the 2290 decommission date, why would Starfleet decommission a fairly new design? In Yesteryears there is no TOS Miranda like many fans like to think, there was a Surya but it was never refitted, they made the Miranda instead.

 

[Majestic]

Well this was a bit of a challenge, this is the latest completed ship from YY. The Ulysses class is a monster, she is the Federation's modern Dreadnaught and is armed to the teeth. Triple barrel phaser arrays on the saucer and more photon torpedo launchers than four Constitution class vessels she is a vessel designed for war.

[fieldset=Ulysses Backstory]In the 2280's, Starfleet faced the real threat of a Klingon invasion. Faced with this possibility, Starfleet knew they were unprepared with the majority of their fleet comprised of cruisers (notably of the Constitution and Miranda classes) and they were massively outgunned. With authorization of the Federation council Starfleet took into high gear designing and field testing numerous designs all across the board. Of key importance was a dreadnaught to stand up to the new designs currently being fielded by the Empire and so the Ulysses was born. Not designed with scientific labs or exploration in mind, the Ulysses was produced using technology from the Constitution and Miranda classes as the Excelsior project had incurred several set backs and Starfleet needed a design that was reliable. The Ulysses was also a massive undertaking but despite all this made the record of the fastest designed, authorized and built prototype in Starfleet history, a mere 18 months total.[/fieldset]

Here is the Ulysses all completed.



This ship was a pain to map, it's engineering hull despite my best efforts continued to stretch, I ended up re-mapping the thing at least a half dozen times and in the end I ended up splitting the hull up and make it work. In the end it worked out alright and all I can say is I hope the others aren't going to give me the same amount of trouble.

Let me know what you think, as I put my own little touch into her, plus tried some different ideas with the texturing.

 

[Jetfreak]

Oh dear, oh dear! I can hear the teeth-grinding all the way from Qo'nos.

That is one tough SOB man, a very respectable take on the Ulysses. It may look like an overgrown Connie on steroids, but once those weapon banks come on line you better have some serious shields in front of ya'.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks mate, she is a beast. This is one of the best examples showing Starfleet of the 23rd century, they aren't the loving lets talk our way of a fight 24th century Starfleet.

This and the battleship will be a very limited produced vessel. While I won't be putting a cap on them, you'll not want to build many unless your aim is to go bankrupt. They will be outrageously expensive, slow to produce but once you have one, it will dominate the battlefield. They'll earn themselves the reputation of Starbase steamrollers.

As in steamrolling a starbase over.


--- --- ---

Well this one didn't take long. Last night after I completed the Ulysses class I decided to take a look at the Okinawa, a design I was seriously considering scrapping. I decided to do some basic modelling improvements (added some impulse engines, a shuttlebay and a torpedo launcher bay) and today started to map and texture her. While she didn't turn out great, she isn't horrible. So I have decided to keep her.

Talk about one extreme to the other, from one of the biggest ships (Ulysses) to one of the smallest.

Many of you older gamers may have some fond memories oh her in Starfleet Command, I know I do. It was part of this that made me want to give her a second chance on life. Plus I was thinking of texturing her anyway and if she didn't make the cut just turn her into a map/campaign unit down the track.

She serves as the Federation frigate and weakest combat unit, a role formerly taken by the Detroyat. If you've played FO and know of the Sabre, then it's an identical role for the Okinawa.

Pretty picture for you all.



Again I did my own take on the design, notably the modelling from last night (added some impulse engines, a shuttlebay and a torpedo launcher bay). I know many other fan versions and even the original didn't have them in the same places or omitted them altogether. But I like it this way.

Oh and in case you're unaware, Bulahdelah is a mountain in Australia, I've been through it myself (well over it). It's a 292 m (958 ft) high mountain and was first named by the Aboriginal people of the area, the Worimi. They called their mountain "Boolah Dillah" (meaning: the Great Rock). In 1818 John Oxley, a crown surveyor added the word "Mountain" to its original name. The mountain is widely known by its long-term nickname, "the Alum Mountain", but is officially registered as Bulahdelah Mountain.

 

[Rifraf]

I really like that Okinawa. Reminds me of one of the ships MAP did for BI: Counterstrike I think it was. I think that one had 4 nacelles though? Dang memory, I'd have to look it up. Anyway, nice design. I'm guessing the deflector is behind the black portion on the front of the engineering hull?

I'm curious on the extra fins at the rear of the nacelles. Just modellers license or do they serve a function? These all look very nice. I so should have learned to model/texture all those years ago.

 

[Cborg1700]

I wouldn't have imagined that the Gorn would be using suicidal tactics against their enemies. I would imagine that it would be more of a Klingon tactic. Unless it is out of desperation.

Since it seems that this mod focus on smaller ships, will you be doing additional ships for the Federation such as the Yamato (SFC) or Dreadnaught-class ships?

This sounds like it's going to be a good mod

 

[kjc733]

I'll confess I'm not usually a fan of Starfleet Superbattleships - just goes against the grain for me and usually they're ugly as sin to boot. That said, your Ulysses is rather well done, which has got to be a first time I've found such a beast "acceptable"

As for the Okinawa - that's an unknown design to me. Not a big fan of the fins (??) on the trailing edge of the nacelles but otherwise seems like a nice solid design. I always have a soft spot for the "red shirts".

 

[Majestic]

I really like that Okinawa. Reminds me of one of the ships MAP did for BI: Counterstrike I think it was. I think that one had 4 nacelles though? Dang memory, I'd have to look it up. Anyway, nice design. I'm guessing the deflector is behind the black portion on the front of the engineering hull?

I'm curious on the extra fins at the rear of the nacelles. Just modellers license or do they serve a function? These all look very nice. I so should have learned to model/texture all those years ago.

No deflector on this one. You'll find a lot of TMP designs lacked a deflector, Miranada included. If it's okay for a canon ship to lack one then it's good enough for me. Also the Federation seems to be the only faction to use deflectors so there must be other ways to produce a deflector field than a dish. I read on http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/ that it could be a combination of the gravity fields and shield generators or something that can produce a similar field without the dish.

The fins were on the original design and so I added them to the model. You'll notice other TMP Federation ships have fins as well. Even the beloved Constitution class.

I wouldn't have imagined that the Gorn would be using suicidal tactics against their enemies. I would imagine that it would be more of a Klingon tactic. Unless it is out of desperation.

Since it seems that this mod focus on smaller ships, will you be doing additional ships for the Federation such as the Yamato (SFC) or Dreadnaught-class ships?

This sounds like it's going to be a good mod

Well the Gorn have been invaded for centuries by the Romulans, "Never again" has a big meaning for them and they'll do what they must to survive and not be conquered. Plus the Klingons are getting some nice unique goodies that other factions won't. Can't give them everything now.

I thought about the Yamato, but the design doesn't fit for me. I really not much a fan of the design I tried it by doing a rough kitbash of my models to see and it just didn't feel right for me. The Federation class in YY was never refitted. I only want a couple of the big guns, which I already have. You'll find destroyers and cruiser classes to be the bulk of your fleet.

I'll confess I'm not usually a fan of Starfleet Superbattleships - just goes against the grain for me and usually they're ugly as sin to boot. That said, your Ulysses is rather well done, which has got to be a first time I've found such a beast "acceptable"

As for the Okinawa - that's an unknown design to me. Not a big fan of the fins (??) on the trailing edge of the nacelles but otherwise seems like a nice solid design. I always have a soft spot for the "red shirts".

Thanks KJC, yeah I agree with the battleships, but this is the 23rd century cowboy Starfleet. The threat of the Empire in the 2260's, 70's and 80's meant to survived Starfleet needed to be prepared for a Klingon invasion and so many of their ships are focused on combat. Starfleet of the 23rd century is a different animal to Picard's Starfleet.

Yeah she is a Red shirt, good way to explain her. Good for early raiding. The fins were part of the original design and since other ships have fins on their nacelles too I thought it couldn't hurt to keep them, breaks up the boringness of the nacelle back end anyway.

 

[Cborg1700]

I didn't realize the history between the Gorn and Romulans. It now makes sense.

Since you have said that this is the cowboy diplomacy era of the Federation it would make sense that they would be more militarized and their vessels geared towards that. Also bigger is better would probably be the norm at this time also. But TOS and the movies makes it seem that it would be more of a Cold War type situation where each measure is met with counter measure and so on. So instead of big ships, better technology to defeat big ships. Besides big ships are attributed to Klingons anyway.

 

[Majestic]

The history of the Romulans and the Gorn was something established in Starfleet Battles (which the Starfleet Command games are based loosely off). So it's more soft canon or non-canon but I have adopted it for Yesteryears. A lot of this era is unknown, which makes in very interesting to me.

I have combined what I like and this mod from the get go is a way for me to explain the changes to the galaxy from TMP to TNG eras.

Having been invaded several times and almost fully conquered the first time by the Romulans, the Gorn have become very mistrusting of non Gorn (and non-reptilian) species. Infact they have become very good at defending themselves and a lot of their technology is a combination of their own design and some backward engineered Romulan tech discovered intact after the failed Romulan invasions. Mainly plasma torpedo technology.

Anyway the Gorn attacked the Federation on Cestus III mistaking Humans for Romulans, having been invaded over the last few centuries they had become very territorial. In fact the Romulans were part of the ploy and discreetly alerted the Gorn though an old secured channel (which they knew the Gorn cracked several years ago) near Gorn territory that they had established a colony on Cestus III. The Gorn intercepting this sent a warship and destroyed the colony. It was the Romulans hope that this would cause a war between their two enemies and weaken both sides. Unfortunately for them it had the opposite effect with both the Hegemony and the Federation becoming friends and allies. They decided to both settle Cestus III as it was on the newly established Federation/Gorn boarder and the two powers developed the colony together.

The Federation/Gorn alliance is one of the only alliances built on mutual respect and friendship rather than political and an alliance of convenience. This alliance is one of the big things in the YY storyline and one day I do hope to do a campaign to explain this story in full detail. But right now my aim is to get the races into a beta format and released.

I only have 5 Federation ships left then it's onto the stations.

 

[Cborg1700]

The Gorn also shared technology with the Federation (the aforementioned Plasma torpedoes 'SFC')

Also it seems that everything the Romulans do to destabilize a region or one or more powers the Romulans fail and their enemies become united and stronger. It's no wonder the Romulans survived at all.

TMP to TNG is a lost era that no one has explored ans should be as there are a lot of unanswered questions.

Looking good sir

 

[Majestic]

Yesteryears doesn't fully follow the SFC/SFB timeline, for example there are no Lyrans or Hydrans (one day perhaps but it's a extremely slim possibility). The Mirak have their original Kzinti name and features (they are feline not canine) but there are things I have choose to adapt as I liked it. Such as the Romulan/Gorn history.

The Romulans are good at the epic fails. The YY storyline will tell how the Romulans go from what they are like in TOS to the more isolationists and cautious Empire in TNG. A big conflict/event will happen that will re-shape the galaxy.

The main factions are:

1. Federation
2. Klingons
3. Romulans
4. Gorn
5. Kzinti

There is also a 6th race that I have kept secret since YY's inception. Something people have tried to guess but no one has.

I also would like to do a TMP Cardassian faction (was originally doing so but cut back), the Tholians (again another cut back due to time pressures) and another one or two factions as an expansion after the first 6 are complete. I pretty much know how the core factions will be like in design and purpose. It's just making the time to get through all the modelling and texturing. I am doing it solo now. So I am focusing one one species at a time. Though of late I have been looking at the Klingons, and have finalized for the most part their units, with only the core of their stations needing sorting out. I like to have the units finalized before starting the modelling process as I hate wasting time on something that later doesn't work.

TCW, my ENT mod is still considered a side project that will be put on hold after the release of the Earth faction that I am still hoping to have out by the end of the year. I only have some stations to texture and 3 ships to map and texture. Then all the coding. I will be getting back into them after I finish texturing the Federation ships for YY. Once that is out of the way I can focus all my modding time to YY and only work on TCW when I want a break from YY.

 

[Rifraf]

Very nice Majestic. I haven't played many ST games beyond A2, BC and Legacy. I'm not aware of much history of the Cardassians before TNG and DS9. Is it out there or are you using your imagination?