star trek online concept art

Star Trek Online

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Star Trek Online (often abbreviated to STO ) is a Star Trek themed free-to-play MMORPG developed by Cryptic Studios , published by Perfect World Entertainment.

• 3.1 Development
• 3.2 System requirements
• 5 Statistics
• 6.1 Perpetual Entertainment screenshots
• 6.2 Concept art
• 6.3 Beta screenshots
• 7 References
• 8 External Links

Setting [ | ]

Star Trek Online begins 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis and 22 years after the destruction of Romulus (seen in Star Trek (2009) . The year is 2409 and the infiltration by the Undine (Species 8472) has led to a new war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire , and a Romulan Republic (under Spock 's protege D'Tan ) has broken away from the remnants of the Romulan Star Empire (under Empress Sela ). The game covers characters, locations and events from all series and films, including the latest releases such as Star Trek: Picard .

Gameplay [ | ]

Gameplay revolves around playing a character of desired faction in an open world, with various locations and elements from the Star Trek universe. It features a combination of space , where you take control of a starship , and ground portion of the game, where you control an avatar from the first or third person view. Game starts with a character customization, and a tutorial which introduces player with basic mechanics and available game formats, such as PvE ( episodic storyline , PvE Queues ), PvP and other content slowly unlocked with leveling .

Game release [ | ]

Star Trek Online - Official Console Announcement Trailer

The launch of Star Trek Online for Microsoft Windows occurred on February 2, 2010. Players who pre-ordered had early access, called Head Start, which began January 29, 2010. The launch build was temporarily revived on April 1, 2015, known as Star Trek Online: Rebirth , allowing players to experience the game as it originally existed.

On November 12, 2013, a beta version of Star Trek Online became available for MacOS, but official support ended on February 5, 2016. [1]

Development [ | ]

Star Trek Online was originally being developed by Perpetual Entertainment, but in January 2008 the company announced it would no longer be developing the game and the license and content was transferred to Cryptic Studios , while the game was being published by Atari Interactive and Namco Bandai.

After Perfect World acquired Cryptic, it was announced on August 31, 2011 that they would be offering Star Trek Online in a free-to-play model in addition to its subscription option. The details of such a system, with free silver accounts and paying gold accounts, were announced September 6. The free-to-play service launched on January 17, 2012. By July 2012, Star Trek Online was the top performing game for Perfect World North America [2] .

System requirements [ | ]

As of March 1, 2017, Star Trek Online no longer [3] supports Windows XP and Direct3D 9, or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0. To ensure a smooth gaming experience, it is recommended that the following specifications are met:

• OS: Windows® 8 or 10 (64-bit)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz (or equivalent AMD CPU)
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Hard Disk: 21 GB
• Graphics: NVidia GeForce GTX 4xx, ATI/AMD Radeon HD 5xxx, or Intel HD Graphics 4xxx or better (Supports Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 11 or higher)
• Sound: DirectX 11 compatible sound chip or onboard audio capability with the latest sound drivers
• Network: Broadband Internet connection required

Updates [ | ]

The logo of Legacy of Romulus

In Star Trek Online, major updates/patches are called seasons in reference to the television show. Season numbering has remained consistent between PC and Console releases, despite seasons 1-11 being released at launch for console. The largest updates have been called expansions, which to date include;

• Legacy of Romulus : introducing the Romulan Republic faction and early-game KDF characters.
• Delta Rising : adding the Delta Quadrant and a Star Trek: Voyager focused storyline.
• Agents of Yesterday : introducing the TOS Starfleet mini-faction and a Temporal Cold War story.
• Victory is Life : focusing on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

Since Victory is Life, the game has focused on releasing expansions overtime with thematically-linked major story updates.

• Season 15 to Season 18 focused on Star Trek: Discovery .
• Season 20 to Season 23 focused on a Year of Klingon theme.
• Season 24 and onwards focuses on a Terran Empire story arc.

Statistics [ | ]

For the 3rd Anniversary of Star Trek Online, PC Gamer released some game statistics [4] :

• 2 million existing player characters
• 10 million starships in service
• 10 billion light years travelled
• 1 billion planetary encounters
• 800 million episodes completed
• 16,500 fleets in service

For the 4th Anniversary of Star Trek Online, additional statistics were released [5] :

• 3.2 million existing player characters
• 16 million starships in service
• 300 playable starships to command
• 2.8 million reputation projects completed
• 75.8 million duty officers in service
• 21,500 fleets in service

For the 5th Anniversary of Star Trek Online, additional statistics were released [6] :

• 51% tactical, 28% engineering, 22% science
• 73% Starfleet, 16% Klingon, 11% Romulan
• 421 playable starships to command
• 107 million duty officers in service
• 25,040 fleets in service

8th Anniversary updated statistics [7] :

• 5.2 million total players (62% on PC, 19% on PS4, 19% on Xbox)
• 139 unique species available as captains, bridge officers, or duty officers
• 502 unique playable ships
• 161 playable episode

Gallery [ | ]

Perpetual entertainment screenshots [ | ].

Some of the very few in-game screenshots released, shortly before Perpetual Entertainment stopped development.

Early Dev.Logo

Space scene

Ground scene

Ship Interior

Early Dev.Ship

Concept art [ | ]

Early Concept art

Early Rating Pending cover art

Beta screenshots [ | ]

Open Beta ground scene

Open Beta inventory & status windows

Open Beta space scene

Open Beta Loading Screen

References [ | ]

• ↑ Mac closure notice (February 2016)
• ↑ Dan Stahl - Forum posting (1 August 2012)
• ↑ Updated system requirements for Star Trek Online (December 2016)
• ↑ PC Gamer - Star Trek Online three-year anniversary beams up guest appearance by Denise Crosby (30 January 2013)
• ↑ 4-Year Anniversary Infographic (30 January 2014)
• ↑ 5-Year Anniversary Infographic (29 January 2015)
• ↑ 8-Year Anniversary Infographic (23 January 2018)

External Links [ | ]

• StarTrekOnline.com , the official website
• Star Trek Online at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
• Star Trek Online at Wikipedia
• Star Trek Online: 8th Anniversary Dev Reflections on Youtube, January 17, 2018.
• Star Trek Online: Console UI
• Star Trek Online: Console Space UI
• Star Trek Online: Console Ground UI
• Star Trek Online: Navigating Console UI
• Star Trek Online Console Differences
• 2 Playable starship
• 3 Infinity Prize Pack - T6 Ship

DualShockers

Star trek online's dyson sphere concept art released.

One of my biggest requests of the Star Trek Online development team at Cryptic has been that they should focus on more obscure elements of the Star Trek franchise. They have done this here and there, and with their most recent release of concept art, it appears the trend will continue.

"Relics," an episode from season six of Star Trek: The Next Generation , featured a massive structure known as the Dyson Sphere. The Dyson Sphere was constructed around a star in order to harness its energy and protect the enclosed civilization from other interstellar hazards. The sphere encountered in the show was abandoned and non-functional. Dyson Spheres are set to be featured in upcoming content in Star Trek Online .

Check out the gallery below for concept art of the Dyson Sphere and its creators.

Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online concept art for props and architecture

Creative fields.

Architecture

Illustration

• concept art
• Visual Development

Attribution, Non-commercial

Screen Rant

20 crazy star trek concept art designs better than what we got.

Star Trek introduced many alien and futuristic characters and worlds, but it didn't always look like the future we know and love.

For more than fifty years, Star Trek 's talented concept artists have been introducing us to strange new worlds, new life, and new civilizations.

Star Trek 's production teams had the massive task of creating the universe of the future. Not only did Star Trek show us what Earth and humanity would be like centuries from now, but it also took us to far-away planets home to diverse alien species.

Although audiences are now very familiar with Star Trek 's remarkable characters and locations, they did not always look like what we know.

With a practically unlimited drawing board, concept artists toyed with many ideas for well-known parts of the series and movies, such as the Borg, the Klingons, the Enterprise, and even beloved characters like Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.

These designs were often more complex and intricate than the final product, likely changed over time by production budgets and technical requirements.

Other designs reflect parts of Star Trek we never even got to see in cut scenes or cancelled series and movies. They show a side of the franchise we never knew, the Star Trek that could have been.

With that said, here are the 20 Crazy Star Trek Concept Art Designs Better Than What We Got .

Borg Queen, Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: First Contact 's Borg Queen had to be many things at once. She had be a menacing threat, but still a beautiful seductress within the story.

Concept artist Ricardo Delgado drew up this early design for the powerful leader of the Borg Collective.

In Delgado's design, the Borg Queen would have looked like a cross between cyborg and ancient royalty.

The head carapace would have resembled an Egyptian queen. He intended for her to have ancient Borg text written on her mechanical body, indicating she was part of a long history of the Collective.

He also noted that the suit would look more like crystal and bone. This version of the Borg Queen would have looked equally at home leading the Borg or unearthed from a centuries-old tomb.

Early Alien Designs, Star Trek: TOS and TNG

The original Star Trek and  The Next Generation introduced a host of aliens, brought to life by '60s prostheses and '80s special effects.

When these aliens were brought to the screen, they often looked quite different from their concept art.

The first piece (left) is an early concept for the M-113 creature, also known by fans as the Salt Monster. The final product resembled something like a sad fish, but this version looks straight out of Stranger Things with a more abstract face and a realistic-looking sucking mouth.

The second piece (top right) is Andrew Probart's design for Armus, the gelatinous entity that destroyed Tasha Yar. This early art takes more advantage of his changeable shape to create a monster, a far cry from the "man dipped in tar" final version.

The last design (bottom right) is Probart's design for the Bynars, showing them as more culturally and visually distinct.

Jaylah, Star Trek Beyond

Jaylah, the escaped survivor of Krall's attacks, was the highlight of Star Trek Beyond . She survived along on Altamid by living in the crashed USS Franklin .

Her final design for the movie was similar to this concept art, but with a few marked differences.

Jaylah's skin and hair were brightly white, whereas her concept version used more earthy tones. Her clothes are lighter, unaffected by the dark cinematography of Beyond , and the individual pieces of her outfit look more distinct from one another.

The concept design looks like character that would truly blend into the background on the grey-brown world of Altamid.

Her distinct pieces of clothing also better reflect her scrapper lifestyle, as if each piece could have been taken from a different source. This version of Jaylah seems better prepared to camouflage and survive.

Hall of Ancient Thought, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

In Star Trek III , Spock is taken back to Vulcan to perform a ceremony that will restore Spock's consciousness to his body. To do this, he is taken to the Hall of Ancient Thought, a magnificent mountain temple on Vulcan.

The interior of the hall was created and filmed, but the scene was cut for time. However, even in the filmed scene, the filmmakers did not feel that the real set did the concept art justice.

Industrial Light & Magic created this concept for the hall's interior, making it an epic display of Vulcan culture and history.

The entire pathway on which the Vulcan procession takes place is lined with giant stone Vulcan heads. Part of the hall looks straight out of Indiana Jones , flanked by fire and incredible stonework.

If the filmmakers had been able to bring this art to life, it would have been an impressive sight.

Founder's Planet, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Deep Space Nine brought the Changelings into the story, showing the homeworld of the shapeshifting species to which Odo belonged.

In the series, the Founder's homeworld was a dark, orange landscape mainly focusing on the sea of the Great Link.

Before this set was created for the Changeling planet, concept artist Jim Martin drew up an intricate design that would have made a diverse alien landscape.

However, the special effects team on the series ran into difficulties making this bright, complicated landscape into a real set.

The planet also had to be shown in relative darkness so the Great Link could be seen amongst the other elements. The producers were ultimately disappointed by the final set.

Without the constraints of the special effects of the time, the Founder's Planet might have been a more fleshed-out landscape.

Unused Alien, Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond kicked the franchise up a notch with interesting alien designs that the special effects team actually had the technology to pull off.

For the Yorktown Space Station, concept artists drew up some amazing and off-the-wall ideas for new aliens aboard the station.

This particular design by Phillip Boutte Jr. went unused, which seems like a terrible decision on the part of the filmmakers because it looks fantastic.

This alien design has so many intriguing elements to it that it would have raised questions about who this is and what this species is like.

Everything from the patterned skin to the sweeping cloak to the mask begs for more information about this character.

The mask may be a breathing apparatus, which would have been a good inversion of the common Star Trek logic that all the main species can breathe the same atmosphere.

Early DS9 Station Designs, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Deep Space Nine was designed as a simple, elegant gyroscope, but there were several other designs in the running. These early concepts for the station were eclectic, containing complex elements that didn't necessarily fit together, but it looked that way for a reason.

An early idea for the station saw it as a deep-space Tower of Babel, built upon by several distinct cultures.

The different sections of the station would use the technology and style of the culture that built it.

This would create a wide variety of layouts throughout the station. Both of these designs reflect that element well, appearing as a hodge-podge made from the designs of several different architects.

This concept for Deep Space Nine might have added more depth to the station itself and increased the complications of keeping the station up and running.

Borg Drones, Star Trek: The Next Generation

When the production team of The Next Generation came up with the Borg, they had to settle on a design for the menacing cyborg collective.

The Borg always looked great, but they went through a variety of visual designs. In these early designs, the combination of human and machine is still there, but it is used in different ways.

The first design (left) by David Fisher includes metal pieces that extend up over the mouth. The second design (middle) smooths out the style of the mechanics so they blend in with the organic elements.

The last design (right) settled into the Borg's usual facial structure, but had a more organic look to all of the mechanical elements.

The mask elements and the organic-like robotics of the early designs would have been excellent additions to the Borg aesthetic.

Enterprise Engineering, Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek 's 2009 reboot created some gorgeous new concepts for the design of the Enterprise. The engineering section, though, was not one of those.

In the engineering sequences of Star Trek , the section does not seem to match the streamlined look of the rest of the ship.

It's cluttered with pipes and seemingly outdated technology, but there's a reason for that. The engine room scenes were actually filmed in a Budweiser brewery.

However, the brewery wasn't the only idea for the Enterprise's engine room. This concept art shows another idea for the engineering section, one that matches the sleek style of the rest of the Enterprise.

It features more high-tech engineering, such as automated parts to assist in handling engineering equipment. The warp core is the star of this art, and it would have been a magnificent sight on the big screen.

Klingons, Star Trek: Into Darkness

Star Trek: Into Darkness revamped the Klingons for the new Kelvin timeline, changing the way that the species was presented on screen.

The new Kelvin version was somewhere between The Next Generation and Discovery . They had different forehead ridges from their former iterations, and they tended to have shaved heads.

It was a significant change from the harsher look and the thick, flowing hair of TNG 's Klingons.

Artist Neville Page had the task of designing and modeling the new Klingons. He went through several versions, all with different ridge designs, facial hair, and ornamentation.

This version stands out because of the use of ornamentation in the design.

It retains the Klingon's usual hair, but braids in back in a gold plated ornamental style, supplemented by a gold nose-piece. It's a more sensible cultural style for the Klingons that would have looked stunning in the movie.

Altamid, Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond focused on the Enterprise crew stranded on Altimid, a planet with diverse landscapes that was home to an advanced ancient species.

The movie featured several locations on the planet, ranging from Krall's quarries to lush forest. When developing the planet, concept artist Victor Martinez drew up multiple designs for Altamid, most of them bright and beautiful like this one.

This design is particular intriguing, as it combines a bright, sunny planet surface with dark gateways into its subterranean structure.

Star Trek Beyond tended to lean dark in its cinematography, missing the chance to create this visually stunning landscape within the movie.

This design also looks far more alien than the final design, and it would have been interesting to explore a planet that looked vastly different from Earth.

Borg Obelisk, Star Trek: First Contact

For the Borg's cinematic debut as the villains of Star Trek: First Contact , the filmmakers considered ways to make the Borg different from what we have seen before.

One idea they explored was changing the Borg's ship designs from the classic cube. Ricardo Delgado came up with this design for the Borg Obelisk with a Borg sphere set into the top.

Delgado stated about the design, "I felt the obelisk was a natural geometric progression away from the cube, while the obvious reference to Egyptology would also make the audience wonder if this was the Borg's first visit to Earth."

It was scrapped when it proved difficult to present in a visually exciting way, but Delgado's design and its implications about the Borg's ancient history remain intriguing.

Crepusculan, Star Trek Discovery

Star Trek Discovery has been the first Star Trek series to hit television since advanced special effects became common. This gave them an opportunity to diversify their alien repertoire.

One of the first species they featured was the Crepusculans, a non-humanoid species native to a desert planet.

The aliens featured in the show were small creatures that went unnoticed a desert canyon. The original concept art for the species, though, appears to be a bit less subtle.

The non-humanoid species that Starfleet concerns itself with usually seem to be strikingly human-like. The final design of the Crepusculans similarly retained a human-like form.

This concept art would have been interesting within the series, as it presents the race as a beastly species.

The franchise would have had a chance to explore Starfleet's relationship with species that would traditionally be considered animals or monsters.

Federation Battle Shuttle, Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond almost got creative with the Federation's ship designs. Concept artist Victor Martinez created this design for a Federation Battle Shuttle.

According to Martinez , "It was created for an earlier version of the script, and unfortunately was cut from the final script, but perhaps influenced the enemy 'Swarm Ships' we do see in the final film. Both are small, dart-like fighters, ultra-maneuverable, and can carry a pilot and 2-3 passengers in a toboggan tandem style seating."

The Battle Shuttle would have been amazing to see in action, as Star Trek has seldom delved into this kind of ship design for the Federation.

Throughout the different series, shuttle design was getting more high-tech and maneuverable.

This shuttle would have been the culmination of that build-up within the franchise. Hopefully, we'll eventually get to see the Battle Shuttle work.

Chang, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

General Chang continued the grand tradition of Klingon antagonists in early Star Trek with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .

Chang was an intelligent villain out to sabotage the peace talks between the Klingons and the Federation. He was brought to life by Christopher Plummer, who wasn't happy with the usual Klingon design.

He requested less drastic, more human makeup for Chang, and the filmmakers granted his request.

Originally, Chang was going to look like the traditional Klingon. This early design shows all the usual Klingon hallmarks, including pronounced forehead ridges and a full mane of hair.

He also appears in more grand attire, adding a regal touch to his military uniform.

This version of Chang would have been a commanding antagonist, and it would not have deviated so drastically from the Klingon's usual design.

Swarm Soldier, Star Trek Beyond

Krall's Swarm Soldiers made things difficult for Kirk and his crew throughout Star Trek Beyond . By the time they got to the screen, the swarm soldiers were high-tech metallic drones.

This drone workforce had been left behind by the previous inhabitants of the planet, the same inhabitants that left the energy transference technology that created Krall from Captain Edison.

Concept artists Alan Villanueva and Neville Page came up with this early design for swarm soldiers.

Instead of the obvious robots of the movie, these soldiers have an organic feel.

Their characteristics could easily be roboting or living tissue. This swarm soldier is a horrifying mashup of monster traits out of classic science fiction movies.

As they are not so clearly robots, they leave an unnerving question about how the original inhabitants created this workforce.

Recreation Room, Star Trek: Phase II

In the scrap heap of cancelled Star Trek project lies Star Trek: Phase II , the first intended sequel series for the original Star Trek . T

he series got pretty far in development before cancellation. Concept art was drawn up for the series, showcasing all the major areas of the ship.

The concept art showed off the new bridge, sickbay, the captain's quarters, and the recreation room. While the other sets were fairly standard for Star Trek , the recreation room was a step away from the norm.

The new recreation room combines a futuristic feel with '70s fun. It features alien plants, brightly colored spaces, and of course a nook in which to play 3D chess.

The first concept piece (top) gives a glimpse at some form of futuristic entertainment, possibly holographic, within the recreation room.

It's a display of high-tech entertainment and fun space that makes Ten Forward boring in comparison.

Klingon Uniforms, Star Trek: Into Darkness

Among other changes to the Klingons for Star Trek: Into Darkness , the uniforms also needed to be redone.

The movie left behind the bright metal chest and shoulder plates of TNG 's Klingon warriors for a simpler style. The warrior attire got a modern update, focusing on long military coats and helmets, which had never been associated with Klingons in the past.

The helmet was even made to reflect the Klingons with engraved forehead ridges.

This concept art for the Klingon warriors by Constantine Sekeris is similar to the final version, but with an interesting deviation. This uniform looks more leathery and worn, almost like something out of World War II.

The helmet seems to be made out of the same leathery material, allowing for better camouflage. The uniform is also a wartime callback, a good fit for warrior species.

Young Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, Star Trek: The First Adventure

Before J.J. Abrams brought us the early days of the Enterprise crew, there was the cancelled movie Star Trek: The First Adventure .

Intended to follow Star Trek V , this movie would have cast young Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in a prequel about how the three met at the Academy.

While the project was ultimately thrown out, it developed far enough to have a script and concept art.

This concept art for the movie shows the character designs for Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Kirk is coming out of rural Iowa. reflected in his simple Americana style. Spock, a brilliant outcast who left Vulcan, is still in full Vulcan cultural attire. McCoy, a 30-year-old doctor who joined Starfleet to search for meaning, has a cowboy-type style indicating his origins in the American South.

It's an interesting display of their early lives that would have made The First Adventure a movie to see.

Kruge as a Romulan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Before Christopher Lloyd stepped into the part of the Klingon commander Kruge in Search for Spock , the original story would have had a Romulan antagonist.

Kruge would have been a Romulan commander that showed up in a Bird of Prey to investigate and mine the Genesis Planet only to have his crew picked off by a feral Spock.

This version of Kruge likely would have been more measured, as his main goal was not the Genesis weapon.

Romulans have largely gone underutilized in Star Trek , especially given their long backstory with the Earth-Romulan war.

A Romulan antagonist would have been an excellent utilization of those undercurrents of conflict, and he probably would have been a more believable threat than the over-the-top Klingon Kruge.

This concept art is a look at a Search for Spock, which would have taken the movie and the franchise in a vastly different direction.

What do you think? Would you have prefered to see these pieces of  Star Trek  concept art on screen? Sound off in the comments!

20 Incredible Star Trek Concept Art Designs You Need To See

What could have been...

Like all fictional worlds, the Star Trek Universe has more or less been built from the ground up. Sure the shows and movies have used existing locations to stand in for other worlds and used the occasional rented prop (red blinking tubes, we're talking about you), but the majority of what you see in the Star Trek Universe has been painstakingly designed and constructed physically and/or rendered in the digital world.

As with any design process, many concepts were produced and then abandoned, either for reasons of practicality, budget, or because the production simply changed directions. These designs include radical new make ups, costumes that never saw the light of day, even whole sequences that were conceptualized but never filmed.

Of course some of these designs might be considered questionable, but these twenty Star Trek concepts and art designs are a fascinating look at what could've been.

20. Picard's Lecture – Star Trek: Picard

Another tantalizing glimpse via production illustrator Laurent Ben-Mimoun's work depicts a scene from Star Trek: Picard in which Jean-Luc Picard gives a lecture about his time as Captain of the Enterprise.

This artwork features Picard at a podium surrounded by holographic versions of the USS Enterprise-E and Lieutenant Commander Data as he appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The audience Picard is addressing is made up of a number of iconic Star Trek aliens including several Ferengi (who ultimately never appeared in Star Trek: Picard), a Vulcan, and a Klingon (using the Star Trek: Discovery-style makeup).

I played Shipyard Bar Patron (Uncredited) in Star Trek (2009).

Star Trek: 20 Pieces Of Unused Concept Art Even Devout Trekkers Have Never Seen

An animated Star Trek set in the 26th century? Picard's robotic arm? Is that V'Ger? This concept art fans will have to see to believe!

Star Trek showed us a future in which humans, after overcoming their need to earn money and wage war, took to the stars and explored the final frontiers of space.  Star Trek may have given us moments of humanity at its finest, but the show itself had many issues behind the scenes. The original pilot of Star Trek was rejected, forcing creator Gene Roddenberry to go back to the drawing board. Even spinoff shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager had difficulties finding the right people to sit in the Captain's chair. The casting may have been eventually perfected, the ships awesome and the storylines superior, but when you take a look at the initial concept art, you may wonder if these were designs for a different show altogether.

We know that Jean-Luc Picard's transformation into Locutus impacted him psychologically, but what were the initial ideas that involved the permanent changing of Picard's body? What was the initial idea behind Final Frontier , an animated Star Trek series set in the 26th century? Outposts built into asteroids, Captain Kirk's flying squirrel outfit, a floating Klingon chair and much different versions of U.S.S. Enterprise, Voyager and Defiant will make you think about the Trek that could have been. Perhaps there's a mirror universe out there where some of these ideas, however strange, might eventually see the light of day! Let's wind back the clock and take a look at the early drafts and concept art for the ships, characters and moments that have become iconic science fiction moments in the Star Trek universe.

20 CONCEPT ART BY MATT JEFFRIES

As large as the Enterprise may become, you'll probably always see crew members crawling around the ship in cramped pathways called Jeffries Tubes. These tubes were named after Star Trek set designer Matt Jeffries, who also designed the Enterprise, several Klingon ships and smaller objects like phasers.

In the above sketches done by Jeffries, you can see the beginnings of what was to come. In the upper left and bottom right, you can see drafts for what will eventually become a D-7 Klingon Battle Cruiser, based off the shape of a manta ray. The circular design was actually an early concept of the Enterprise but was scrapped for a more familiar saucer shape.

19 STAR TREK: DISCOVERY UNIFORMS

What will clothing be like in the future? The answer: uncomfortable! Actors on Star Trek: The Next Generation complained their spandex jumpsuits were too tight and had were too revealing. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture , thousands of dollars were spent on jumpsuits with boots built in, but there were no shots in the movie that showed that off!

In the concept art for Discovery uniforms, the middle design borrows from the loose blue jumpsuit featured on Star Trek: Enterprise (as well as the zippered pockets on the legs). All versions have atypical zippers, possibly showing an homage to the angled rising black shape at the bottom of the uniforms from the Next Generation television series.

18 PICARD'S LOST ARM

When Captain Picard was transformed into Locutus in the episode "The Best of Both Worlds," we got to see Borg drones placing cybernetic pieces on the Captain. There was a close up showing an attachment being placed over Picard's right hand, but in previous versions of the script, it actually was a full replacement of the arm.

In the second part of the episode, Data wrestled with the Captain and snapped off the attachment. The above concept art shows Picard receiving a pale prosthetic version of his hand that he would have sported for the rest of the series. The idea wasn't used, but writer Ronald D. Moore's idea of wounded heroes was continued when he wrote for Battlestar Galactica .

17 EARLY ENTERPRISE DESIGN

Gene Roddenberry wanted to challenge expectations with his Star Trek series, which would feature a multi-racial cast exploring the final frontier. Roddenberry knew from the beginning he wanted to do something different, and it all started with his initial mock up of what eventually would be the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Early concept art by Matt Jeffries depicted the Enterprise as a ship inside several cylinders. This breaks from the idea of the "flying cigar" shape and is a variation of the flying saucer that was popular at the time. The idea of a saucer inside a saucer would make its way to the design of the U.S.S. Discovery.

16 BORG QUEEN

The Borg initially started out as a race of insects, and even though they wound up being robots, the idea of a race of drones was kept consistent. So where there are drones, there is a queen, and the Borg Queen made its first appearance in Star Trek: First Contact . As scary as she was, concept art by John Eaves and Richard Delgado shows us how she was originally conceived.

The drawing by Eaves on the left makes the Queen look much more industrial, giving her a look that's part Matrix, part steampunk. The drawing on the right by Delgado is reminiscent of the Maschinenmensch from the 1927 film Metropolis . The Queen's legs would have been a sharp metal point that floated over the ground.

15 WILDLIFE FROM STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

The beginning of Star Trek Into Darkness offered an interesting scene in which Kirk, Spock and McCoy violate the Prime Directive to save the planet Nibiru. They encounter the population of the planet as well as the indigenous life forms. By accident, Kirk shoots a Nibirilla, which McCoy explained was their ride back to the Enterprise. At the time, the ship was hiding in a body of water.

Above is concept art for some of the life forms that didn't make it into the final cut of Into Darkness . Kirk and McCoy had to dive off of a cliff to get to the submerged Enterprise, and we theorize that this fish would probably have been one of the aquatic lifeforms that the Captain and Doctor may have encountered.

14 STAR TREK: FINAL FRONTIER

Star Trek: The Animated Series was a fun addition to the Star Trek universe and made perfect sense: an animated show would solve any issues with budget limitations or restrictions due to make-up. Added to the crew was an Edosian named Arex (replacing Checkov) and a Caitain communications officer named M'Ress. In 2006, fans almost got another animated Star Trek show!

Star Trek: Final Frontier was set in the 26th century and if you thought DS9 was a downer, get this: the Vulcans have left the Federation, the Klingons were defeated by the Romulans and flying around the galaxy is near impossible due to Omega particle bombs that have gone off by unknown attackers. The concept art is beautiful and scripts for the show are downloadable.

13 FLYING KIRK!

Fans and critics praised the J.J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek in 2009, saying that it was packed with action and adventure. Younger versions of the crew of the Enterprise meant they had more opportunities to run around and get into fights. In the Star Trek video game that came out in 2013, Kirk got to fly!

In the concept art for the video game by Fernando Acosta, he designed something initially labeled a "squirrel suit" but in actuality was a wing-suit. In the game, Kirk's shuttle is shot down over a Gorn outpost and the Captain and Spock use these suits to glide to safety. Star Trek Into Darkness didn't give us wing-suits, but did give us Khan and Kirk in spacesuits shooting through space in an asteroid field!

12 STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT BORG VESSEL

The Borg were introduced in the Next Generation episode "Q Who" and they were initially conceived as a race of insects. Budget prevented this from happening and they instead became a race of cyborgs. Instead of the sleek, curvy design of Federation ships, the Borg flew around in efficient geometrically shaped ships that were cubes and spheres.

In concept art for Star Trek: First Contact by Richard Delgado, he continued with the idea that the Borg would only design shapes that had strict geometric symmetry. Proposed for the film was a giant Borg obelisk that would contain other ships inside of it. You can see the Borg spherical ships within the structure.

11 ENGINE ROOM

The 2009 reboot of Star Trek featured the largest version of the Enterprise to date: the Enterprise-E was 685.7 meters long while the one from the Kelvin universe was over 700 meters in length! The film by J.J. Abrams had a massive budget, and the above concept art shows off how giant the proposed engine room was going to be.

The above drawing makes the Engine Room look like a high tech version of a submarine, but fans may recall a more spacious depiction of the Engine Room in the final film. This is because the location was actually a Budweiser manufacturing plant! Set phasers to Bud Light!

10 STAR TREK: DISCOVERY KLINGON TECHNOLOGY

The Original Series depicted the 23rd century and was produced in the 1960s. When the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise was produced, it took place in the 22nd century, but the bridge looked more advanced since the series was made in 2001. The problem came up again when Star Trek: Discovery launched in 2017.

Discovery takes place about 10 years before The Original Series , but still had the problem of looking retro for the future, yet advanced by today's standards. In the above concept art, we see a Klingon in a tactical chair that was meant to move around the bridge. Kind of reminds us of Laurence Fishburne's command chair from Event Horizon !

When Star Trek was launched back in 1966, the pilot episode "The Cage" had to be retooled because it was considered by some to be too cerebral. To a degree, when Star Trek: The Motion Picture premiered in 1979 some fans were taken aback by the slow, ponderous pace of the movie. V'ger was hard to describe... was it a giant vessel or a ginormous life form?

In the above concept art, V'ger is depicted as a giant craft. In the film, the depiction of V'ger is a little more nebulous, with unclear boundaries and implications that it's a giant moving cloud that's two astronomical units wide... that's around 300 million kilometers in width!

8 PHASE II CONCEPT ART

We've seen crossovers between Star Trek and the X-Men , Green Lantern and Planet of the Apes , but we'll probably never get an official crossover between Star Trek and Star Wars . However, Ralph McQuarrie, famous designer and illustrator whose work was featured in Star Wars was also hired to do conceptual art for a failed Star Trek project in the late 1970s.

Planet of the Titans involved some strange elements like time travel and Kirk going missing, but here in the concept artwork by McQuarrie we can see some of his Star Wars sensibilities in Trek . Instead of a sleek space station, one is built into the rockface of an asteroid, something we'd more likely see in Star Wars .

7 EARLY DRAFTS OF VOYAGER

After designing the Enterprise-D, producers at Star Trek wanted the next ship to be smaller. Designer Rick Sternbach also gave the new ship some features writers intended on using, such as the ship's ability to safely land on a planet then return to space. Initial drawings by Sternbach consisted of a lot of objects protruding from the vessel that would eventually become the U.S.S. Voyager.

Starfleet is known for being sleek and futuristic, and producers reigned in much of Sternbach's proposed ideas for the Intrepid-class vessel. Work on designing Voyager started as early as 1993, which fell between the last season of Next Generation and the second season of Deep Space Nine .

6 STAR TREK: DISCOVERY EARLY TRANSPORTER

Star Trek: Discovery had some tech problems. The show takes place 10 years before the Original Series , yet had to still look futuristic for current audiences. Making retro future tech is not easy, and Discovery decided in the concept art for the transporter room to take somewhat of a steampunk route with giant copper protruding dishes and cylinders.

The concept art wound up being used specifically for the U.S.S. Shenzhou. The ship was the focus for the first few episodes of the series. After the Shenzhou was abandoned at the Battle of the Binary Stars, focus of the show switched to the advanced U.S.S. Discovery and its never before seen spore drive.

When Durinda Rice Wood, costume designer for Star Trek: The Next Generation , had to create costumes for the Borg, she knew that they were going to be the biggest villains the Federation had faced to date. Wood's initial sketches on the left were reminiscent of drawings by H.R. Giger, the artist that designed the main creature in the Alien franchise.

Wood's idea was that the Borg, although futuristic, would contrast against the sleek, smooth designs of the Federation. They would be space zombies, and any necrotic parts would be swapped out with robotic ones. The drawing on the right is by Richard Delgado, who made changes to the Borg for Star Trek: First Contact . Delgado wanted to have transparent plates where you could see the internal organs of the drones.

4 EARLY VERSIONS OF THE DEFIANT

The U.S.S. Defiant made its first appearance in the DS9 episode "The Search" and was a big change in design from previous Starfleet vessels. Originally named the Valiant, it was a compact ship specifically designed to fight the Borg, so how was Starfleet's first warship going to look? The above concept art takes you through the evolution of the initial ideas.

The ship started out as a giant shuttle, referred to as a Runabout. Starfleet was more known for its exploratory endeavors, so concept art was trying to keep that tone in mind with designs for Starfleet's first combat vessel. Check out the third design, which depicts a detachable front module.

3 KIRK AND SPOCK FIGHT

What words come to mind when you think of the original Star Trek series? There was some great science fiction moments with stories, cool ship battles (they were good at the time) and occasionally we got to see Kirk fight an alien and get his shirt ripped. Do people think about Kirk and Spock as being action heroes?

It seems like the 2009 reboot of Star Trek is trying to get us to think that way. In the concept art for the 2013 video game, it appears that Kirk and Spock are up against a giant attacking lizard. The game tried to rebrand Kirk and Spock being more action-oriented. We get it, you want Kirk to be Han Solo. Does that make Spock Chewbacca?

2 HOME PLANET FOR THE FOUNDERS

In interviews with cast members from Next Generation , they would joke about how light and jovial their set was in comparison to the somber tone on the set of Deep Space Nine . Given the concept artwork for the home planet of the Founders, it's a little surprising to see how much color was planned for such a dark television series.

The above artwork was done by concept artist Jim Martin, but the final show depicted the Founders homeworld as a giant ocean. This makes more sense, given that the Founders were lifeforms that existed in a liquid state. They would probably have no need for structures normally used by "solids."

1 MCQUARRIE'S ENTERPRISE

Although it was incredibly exciting to see Star Trek return to television in 1987 with Next Generation , there were earlier plans to launch a television series following the second five-year mission of Kirk and crew. Star Trek: Phase II was set to launch in 1978 after Roddenberry's failed attempt at producing Star Trek: Planet of the Titans .

The above drawing was concept art by the legendary Ralph McQuarrie, who also did concept art on Star Wars . The above draft was the redesign of the Enterprise for the film, and was also considered a possibility in Star Trek: Phase II . Oddly enough, its design would be borrowed heavily for the main ship featured in Star Trek: Discovery .

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Check Out 32nd-Century Starfleet Concept Art And More Behind-The-Scenes On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

| January 5, 2021 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 109 comments so far

Season three of  Star Trek: Discovery wraps up on Thursday with “ That Hope is You, Part 2 .” Before diving into that, we have gathered together some behind-the-scenes images from the work on season three, including some new concept art.

Federation ships concept art

Today CBS shared two images of season three concept art, each with a collection of 32nd-century Federation ships. These ships were first revealed at Starfleet HQ in episode 5 “Die Trying.” We have zoomed on each of the new images to get a closer look at each ship and provided details for each.

USS Voyager-J – Intrepid Class

Obviously inspired by the original 24th-century USS Voyager from Star Trek: Voyager .

USS Nog – Eisenberg Class

Named in honor of the late Aron Eisenberg , who played Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and passed away in 2019.

USS Le Guin – Mars Class

Named for speculative fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin . This ship is under the command of Captain Bandra .

USS Maathai – Angelou Class

The ship is named for Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement. The class is named for the late poet Maya Angelou .

USS Jubayr – Courage Class

Named for 13th-century Arab geographer Ibn Jubayr .

USS Annan – Saturn Class

Named for Ghanaian diplomat and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan .

And here is the original Tweet with the combined images.

Get an exclusive look at the concept art for the new Federation ships in #StarTrekDiscovery . Which one is your favorite? pic.twitter.com/1ikPGUG0js — Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) January 5, 2021

More behind-the-scenes on Discovery

Below, a number of behind-the-scenes photos from last week’s “There is a Tide…” that were shared on social media by CBS , co-showrunner Michelle Paradise , and director Jonathan Frakes .

Composer Jeff Russo posted a brief video clip of singer Ayana Haviv performing Andorian opera from last week’s episode.

New episode of @StarTrek Discovery streams today. Featuring @ayanahaviv singing the “Andorian” opera/aria I wrote for the episode. Check out this short clip of the recording session, she is amazing! #LLAP 🖖 pic.twitter.com/twPivnOw76 — Jeff Russo (@jeffersonrusso) December 31, 2020

Finally,  Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green shared some of her favorite off-camera images from episode one’s location shoot in Iceland.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Sonequa Martin-Green (@therealsonequa)

New episodes of  Star  Trek: Discovery  premiere on Thursdays on  CBS All Access  in the U.S. and on  CTV Sci-Fi Channel  in Canada, where it’s also available to stream on  Crave . Episodes are available on Fridays internationally on Netflix.

Keep up with all the news and reviews from the new  Star Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com .

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The future is a kitchen appliance trade show.

Please show us your designs for us to compare….haha – actually, I kind of agree with you but I really don’t think there is much places left to go with ship designs nowadays….hasn’t everything already been done?

Only kidding. But yes, I tend to agree.

“Please show us your designs for us to compare”

That’s what “not understanding the core concept of “criticism”” looks like

Man, I sure wish they still had Jim Martin designing spaceships. He did some great stuff in the 90s for TREK tv, and a few of his unused designs, like one for a Gorn ship, were outstanding. Did good stuff for ALIEN REZ too.

nope ! not by a long shot ! There’s all kinds of futuristic shapes to choose from, even four, five, six dimensional hypercubes with black holes inside them, all kinds of things that would challenge the human mind, it’s just that there seems to be a lot of limits put on what is acceptable insofar as what people will accept, can’t please everyone, especially when the majority of people know nothing about the possibilities of future tech, what is impossible and what is theoretically plausible.

Haha. I like the designs – but I also agree.

Wasn’t there a new Constitution class? Show us that!

They did. It’s cloaked.

These concept designs are much clearer than what we saw in the actual episode, thanks to the show’s low-light aesthetic.

Haha I stopped watching the show 5 episodes ago (for reasons which I won’t go on and on about) but I have an affection for this website so I come back here a few times a week to stay updated. But from what I remember, the lighting was fine when we had to show a close up of one of the characters crying or hugging each other so I think the visual aesthetic reflects the priorities of the show runners. Less science, more feelings.

Despite your assurance that you would not “go on and on about” why you stopped watching the show you made it quite clear why you stopped watching the show.

In all fairness, I didn’t go “on and on”….. I just went on. If you want me to go on and on like a middle-aged grumpy you-tuber that doesn’t like anything new, I can certainly oblige haha – just kidding!

Lol – the lighting’s also blue… so very, very blue!

We are all so lucky to have you participating when you don’t even both to watch the show that these articles are based on.

Thank goodness we have your involvement here. THANKS!

I appreciate your reply. I guess I respectfully disagree with your point that I don’t have cause to join this discussion – but I am inferring from your comments, if I got this wrong, I apologise.

I have grown up with Star Trek. When I was 6 years old I got my first action figures and a Star Trek Duvet cover. My first taste of ST was Wrath of Khan and I was hooked, so I watched Space Seed and still hooked. Watching ST TNG got me through being bullied at school when I saw that Data and Worf were different too and they could earn the respect of the people around them.

I have introduced my friends to Trek, my daughter to Trek (who doesn’t care if the protagonist is a ‘strong female’ or not) and I have engaged enthusiastically and for the most part positively with the Trek community. I have carried the ethical and moral messages of Gene Roddenberry forward.

I feel that the number of shows someone chooses to watch of Disco should not qualify or disaqualify someone from participating in the discussion. I happen to not like Disco. I’m not alone. But I don’t hate it, I don’t hate the characters, nor do I hate the fans, I do not hate Star Trek because of one disappointing production. I hope this allows me to participate still in these discussions.

Live long and prosper (yes, I say that to people in real-life)

yes, and it seems to be getting worse. I could swear I am watching Young and the restless or days of our lives instead of a sci fi show

Space isn’t bright. Much more realistic.

Except for maybe Voyager, these designs are disappointing. It’s like no thought went into these. They are way worse than the rejected designs for previous movies/shows. I could see these as ‘alien’ ships but not as Starfleet.

Seriously, these look both very fresh and very much in keeping with the clean Starfleet aesthetic.

I’m so happy to see the end of awkward and chunky ships in the style of Star Trek 2009.

They might look fresh, but I can’t see how they look Starfleet at all. Awful ship designs, but it’s okay given their limited screen time; the Discovery on the other hand 🤮. What a minger!

How would you know what looks Starfleet? That makes no sense.

It’s 900 years later. Things change. Me, I think they’re neat – although I’m not crazy about this Voyager (too 24th century).

Who knows which alien races joined Starfleet in these centuries? Why shouldn’t their designs influence the look? Therefore they have to look different. ENTerprise made a mistake in that way, that they “downgraded” a starfleet ship and made it an earth ship, while the designs of the Vulcans and Andorians looked totally different from each other and were distinguishable. This was a good idea in ENT per se. But from that point of view into their future, starfleet ships should have looked like elements from earth, vulcan and andorians ships combined and not like an earth ship was used as a blue print for the basic designs of later ships, while elements of vulcan and andorian ships were ommited. Made no sense, since they were way more advanced.

The Nog and Jubayr remind me of the Minbari ships from Babylon 5.

The Jubayr looks like something that Gaudi would have designed – a flying Sagrada Familia. Good name for a ship, though. Not sure that Kofi Annan was remarkable enough as UN Secretary General to be memorialized on a starship 1100 years from now, though, particularly when the fleet is relatively small.

Aren’t there two more not seen in this feature, one of which was said to be a Constitution class and another with long slender nacelles? I like the Nog. Still not a fan of detached nacelles and mighty morphing power ships though.

First ship is nice future take on Voyager. Second ship is a ripoff of the Star Wars hospital ship. I don’t understand the USS LeGuin (love the Oregonian author though!). USS Maathai is cool and reminds me of some agrarian utopian future-city. Must be huge!!! USS Jubayr — fugly nonsense that looks more like a phaser than a starship. USS Annan … meh

With all that said, I like the departures from traditional Starfleet design. To see the same bunch of saucers with primary hulls and two nacelles 1,000 years later would be way more dissapointing. I think they did some good work here and tried to think outside of the Trek box.

I want to like the Le Guin (as I too love the author), but I cannot even tell what angle the picture is from. Schematics needed.

I like the Le Guin best – it’s got something. The Maathai is interesting because it is basically a flying disc of autonomous landscape (including what looks like forest, coastline and sea). So, I guess the world’s finally a disc then :-). I wonder how they light the sky, it can’t just be transparent because that would make the sky quite dark in space. The Jubayr I don’t like, its intricate design does not look to be tied to function and thus seems to waste a lot of building material.

As a general comment about design on Star trek Discovery: A lot of the new tech in STD seems a little too “organic” for my taste: Maybe the writers decided to answer the question “where will future technological development lead us” with “it will merge technology with biological/organic life”. I think it’s a legitimate idea but I don’t really like the resulting tech & design aesthetic (like spore drive, giant flowers planetary defense system, and also the Jubayr looks a little like a veiltail fish…), because to me it feels more “trippy” than Star Trek. The Su’Kal story also fits into that concept of linking technology with organic life.

What was always fascinating about Trek tech was that it presented new technology that had a real, new practical use (transporters, communicators, Padds,..) that viewers could admire & covet. Now that so much of it has become reality, it’s becoming harder to creatively think of new future breakthrough technological devices that adress a real need. So in Discovery we have faster transporters, customised controls, legless chairs etc. which are basically enhanced versions of the same.. It would be great to have a post about future tech in Discovery & other new Trek series, discussing where they further developed pre-existing Trek tech, and where they came up with some really new tech that adresses a special or everyday need or desire.

I hate that we learned nothing about any of them! We don’t get to see the insides, propulsion, nothing…..

It would have been cool to see them featured more.

I totally agree!

More to look forward as Discovery goes forward.

And who knows, maybe another series will be set in this new era.

Totally. We can’t get all at once in one season. I am glad I was able to see the upgrade Discovery, the new federation Headquarters, and Book’s ship which I really really like. Those scenes on the Nebula, changing its shape its something new for Star Trek.

Hopefully in Season 4 we will see one or two more ships in detail. More sets. Everything looks so elegant, they are spending a fortune on each season, movie quality sets, I give them credit for that. Also for the designers and builders, the knowledge to build these futuristic sets it is pretty amazing.

That would require some imagination and intelligence from the showrunners and writers, both of which they lack.

Maybe Trekyards can come up with something? It seems like the fan community has a double duty nowadays of filling in the gaps left by the show runners

Would that add to the story in anyway?

Ah the Courage class, named after Sandy Courage–the composer of the original Star Trek theme tune.

I absolutely love the new look of these ships. Voyager, so cool. We see the impossible, detachable nacelles…the USS Maathai, a transparent spaceship with a green forest.

At the beginning (Season 3) did not see too much differences between 24th and 32nd century. Glad each episode gave us something new. I was impressed with the Discovery retrofit.

Berman era Star Trek is my favorite. For the stories. But for the visual aspect, I really enjoy what we are watching now. I like this team for all the new ships, special effects, makeup, and costumes. Taking full advantage of the latest in technology. Can’t wait to see the new episodes with the virtual screens. :P

Agree with so many of your points Jay! Berman era will probably always be my favorite era by far because it just expanded Trek in so many ways. But I am enjoying the new shows a little more at least. PIC started off amazing but stumbled badly by the end. But both LDS and DIS this year have been generally great even if DIS still has tons of flaws IMO. But I think putting DIS in the 32nd century has given it a shot in the arm and really liking the new visual look of the show the most. Going (very) forward has done this show a lot of favors.

But the issue for me with the newer shows, with the exception of LDS, they are not as rewatchable as all the older shows are. But I guess a big part of that is they are much more serialized so you can’t just watch them individually the way you can TOS, TNG or VOY for example.

I was watching DS9’s “Duet” today and having the exact same thought about rewatch-ability. There are dozens of Berman-era episodes I could watch over and over like “Duet.” I just cannot say that about the hyper-serialized modern Trek. I am really looking forward to Strange New Worlds for the return to episodic Star Trek. I really have tried to buy in to the season long arc concept, but I just think it is too limiting and hard to return to for future re-viewing.

But especially Duet needed a follow-up, because it was never quite clear if Kira murdered that Clerk in cold blood or if her failure to render assistance was an unconscious act resulting from her hatred of Cardassians. It angers me that this was written so ambiguously.

Sorry, who was the clerk Kira murdered? I don’t remember that in the episode, but it’s been some time since I last watched it.

The episode was based on “The Man in the Glass Booth” by Robert Shaw.

But the clerk reminded me of German officer Wilm Hosenfeld, who wrote in his diary: “The whole ghetto is a burned ruin. . . These beasts. With this terrible mass murder of the Jews we have lost the war. We have brought upon ourselves an irredeemable disgrace, an inextinguishable curse. We deserve no pity, we are all complicit. I am ashamed to go into the city, every Pole has the right to spit at us”

Thank you for sharing that. I wasn’t aware of the allusions.

You’re not recalling it accurately. Kira doesn’t murder anyone or fail to render assistance. It’s a perfectly self-contained story that needed no follow-up. It does expertly draw upon ongoing themes related to warcrimes during the Bajoran occupation. One of DS9’s best episodes in my opinion.

You can be sure that if Sisko would have been attacked on the promenade with a knife, Kira immediately would have started an emergency transport to sickbay and Bashir would have saved him in a second. (How can a knife wound be lethal in this environment). Instead she showed no intent to rescue him but took him into chokehold until he was finished. I’m sure the writers did not intended to read it that way, but it is how they presented it in the scene. If people call out Discovery writers for such blunders, I find it fair to hold DS9 writers to the same standard. It was not a coherent written scene.

For one, they needed to wrap up the episode quickly; a lengthy death bed scene in sickbay wasn’t needed. Two, he died instantly, which can be written off as being stabbed in some vital Cardassian organ.

Anyway, she didn’t “murder” anybody. You’re reaching for something that isn’t there.

They rescued Jean Luc after he got stabbed through the HEART. Don’t tell me they could not have saved this guy. Kira not even tried and she murdered Cardassians before. Kirk and McCoy were prisoned for less.

It’s pretty clear that the writers had no murderous intent behind Kira’s actions there. She has a change of heart and confronts the killer with her words.

These ships look like works of art, not functional exploratory/ military vessels. They are interesting, but lame for starships. I don’t care for Books ship and others that can pull apart mid-flight. Again, how realistic is that? basic laws of physics stil apply then as they do now. What happens if someone is in that part of the ship when it reconfigures??

I don’t think ship’s shapshifting is that impossible to accept, if you are willing to buy into other Star Trek concepts like warp drive, transporters, or holodecks. Warp drive literally bends the laws of physics. Transporters turn individuals into pure energy beams (or something). And the holodeck concept implies plenty of magical smoke and mirrors that ultimately defy belief to some extent.

Aa for the visual paradox with Booker’s ship, I can imagine space warping around the pilot or passengers but still managing to keep them safe through force fields and what not. Perhaps Booker and passengers sit in essentially a holographic or extra dimensional bubble of some sort that maintains the visual continuity of the ship interior while the ship is actually “shapeshifting” all around them. I would prefer to see some attempt at showing what is happening inside Booker’s ship. Personally, I wish they hadn’t gone there with the ship mechanics because it desperately screams, “Engage! Full speed!! Cool Factor 9!!!”, but to say something is impossible in Star Trek because it defies the laws of physics? It’s more than meets the eye is enough to suspend my disbelief.

All Trek ships, ever, are works of art, and not functional in any way, shape, or form. If you don’t like the asethetic, that’s your perrogrative, but they have always been designed to be pleasing to the eye.

Matt Jefferies, Andrew Probert, Doug Drexler, maaaybe John Eaves to some extent, and maybe a few others were very keen on making some functional sense out of their designs, as well as making them look good. Modern Trek seems only interested in making things look ‘cool’ and flashy in some way, with little care for practicality or functionality. Especially now when they can literally make up anything and run with it.

Functional only to the extent of the existence of a few of the things that may have been necessary to space flight. Form never followed function in Trek design, and as the series continued form became even more straightjacketed, down to the color and lighting of the ships of various Trek races.

Well they look a bit as if different designers each got their go at one artistic starship design, but therefore don’t feel quite consistent between each other (as in one consistent design aesthetic), but a bit all over the place. And it does bug me when, like with the Jubayr, its intricate design is not linked to function in a way that on a large starship scale would waste a lot of building materials and thus would make this ship unlikely to be built (…unless it houses a mobile galactic art exhibition and is actually meant to be lavish :-D – maybe it’s a museum ship or some other kind of representative building like a conference center?) Even in a fictional world, I appreciate the beauty of in-world plausibility besides the beauty of aesthetics :-)

Really love the look of Voyager J! Feels like it’s own thing but you still see elements of the original ship. I really hope we see her in action in the finale! Not holding my breath but fingers still crossed.

Like the other ships as well, but the Le Guin, I can’t make heads or tails of it lol. It’s so strange looking. That’s not necessarily a bad thing I just need to see it at a different angle. But overall I think its nice to see a shake up of what we think of starship designs in the 23rd and 24th centuries. But same time yeah they are a bit funky looking to say the least. But I’m up for it! I am hoping next season we actually get real some real 32nd century starship action and see other ships around and not just Discovery, Burn or no Burn.

I like the attempt to create something truly futuristic here instead of just upgrading traditional designs. However, it is true that some of these designs are oddly reminiscent of household appliances and other franchise designs.

Voyager’s nacelles remind me of my Wi-Fi router. The Annan is the lovechild between a Golden Snitch and a Stargate. Jubayr and Nog are Star Wars fregats.

I appreciate the effort but I just don’t think these designs are too impressive, compared to the Timeship Relativity for example…

These are some of the ugliest starship designs I’ve ever seen. What is the creative team smoking? Simply awful.

Thank you for commenting this. My thoughts exactly. I can’t believe some Trekkies give the people making Discovery so many free passes.

I’m going to assume that these names are jokes, like the shuttlecraft Indiana Jones and the like. Let’s be honest, no one even remembers a nonentity like Kofi Annan even today, and if Maya Angelou is remembered any more than a few decades from now, we’re in trouble. (Continuing the honesty, there’s one reason she’s even known today.)

On the other hand, I have no problem remembering Aron Eisenberg for over a millenium. :-) More deserved than even the transparent telegraphing they used for his ship in the DS9 documentary.

I wonder why they never named a ship after Hans Beimler. Maybe it seemed to nepotistic with his grandson on the writting staff, maybe because he was a communist or maybe he was really to unimportant. But since he was important enough for P. K. Dick to reference him, I think he should be important enough for Star Trek.

No communists, please. Thank you.

A man who gave his life fighting fascism at least deserves to be remembered.

To be plain, he fought one murderous totalitarian regime on behalf of another…which may have been the one to kill him in end in any event. (The Commies killing their own was what Orwell noted in Spain, and what turned him against them too.)

How quaint of you. Don’t you know that communists are A-OK?

A hundred million dead? What’s that?

Well, you learn something new every day. When did Dick reference him?

And why would they name a ship after him? Apart from any negatives, of course.

In Radio Free Albemuth Dick quotes the first stanza of the Hans Beimler Lied.

They named a whole class of ships after a Nazi (Oberth if you ask), they could at least name one ship after someone who fought the Nazis.

Oberth was a Nazi-era German rocket scientist.

If you want, the entry “Russian” on Memory Alpha lists a whole bunch of ships and classes named for Soviet rocket scientists, spacecraft, and astronauts. The Soviet Union murdered tens of millions of people. That’s more than enough balance.

I don”t know what you are talking about. I said nothing about the Soviets. I only said that Oberth was a Nazi.

You said that Beimler fought the Nazis. He was a Communist. The Soviet Union also fought the Nazis. That’s all.

But that doesn’t put me on the side of the Soviets, does it? Beimler fought for the freedom of my people, the Soviets not so much.

Which people did he fight for? The Spanish?

Let’s be frank here, one side of that war were proxies for the Nazis, and the other side were directly controlled by the Soviets. Neither had the best interests or freedom of the Spanish people at heart. (Although individuals fighting may well have, of course. But they didn’t last.) It was a mess.

Seriously???

You mock Maya Angelou? You insist that memory of her works be prevented?

If society comes to its senses, no preventing will be necessary. They’ll pretty much disappear on their own.

Obviously copies should be preserved and be available, if only to see the depths to which the folly sunk.

So 930 years in the future, all of the ships are named after 20th century ‘giants’ like the useless and corrupt Kofi Annan who couldn’t be bothered to care about any of the world events around him, from the genocide in Rwanda to mass killings in Bosnia and corruption in the oil-for-food program in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq..

Nobody is perfect but I think it isn’t a good idea to name starships after politicians unless it’s someone larger than life like Gandhi or Lincoln.Otherwise I prefer more abstract ideas like Enterprise, Voyager, Intrepid, Discovery, Bonaventure, Fidelity, Donager :-)

I agree with you. I prefer these type of names. Abstract names. However, I have to admit, I was emotional to see U.S.S. Nog. However Nog is a character, not a real person.

I guess I got emotional because of Eisenberg. He played such a great character, and he was amazing in real life. (-_-)

It’s probably a good rule that you don’t honor someone in that way until they’ve been dead for a certain amount of time and history has judged. I think the USPS has a rule- or did- that no one apart from a president (who has to wait a year after death) gets on a stamp until they’ve been dead twenty years or so. They should have a similar rule for currency- make it 150 or so. Only a handful of US Navy ships have been named for living people, usually retired.

Of course, Annan, he should live and be well, would be long gone by this point. But in the real world, they named the ship *today*.

Nachum, neshama, Kofi Annan isn’t gonna live and be well any more, he died a couple of years ago.

I do thank you for that update. RIP.

Yeah, s**t happens. Patterns of Force was on last night, who knew the Vulcans appreicated the Nazi’s efficiency.

That was not an uncommon progressive view of fascism in the 20’s and 30’s. It’s just really weird people would still be saying it in the 60’s.

Spock’s line from A Taste of Armageddon applies here too. “I do not approve. I understand.”

Well, if you want to go that far, I suppose I could say that I “understand” why that same regime took all my relations in Poland, men, women, and children, to pits and shot them in the head.

But I wouldn’t want to say it.

Then again, I’m not a Vulcan. And ever since ENT or so we’ve seen the dark side of that “understanding.”

Well, with all due sympathy to you and your family, I wasn’t going that far. Neither was Spock, since that wasn’t the specific thing he was talking about.

This doesn’t come up in conversation much, but Spock was pretty detached about rationalizing questionable behavior in “logical” conversation. Spock’s failure to grasp anything other then the “logical” uses of Genesis in TWOK, while McCoy is practically choking on just how bad the device could go wrong is a classic example. Logic isn’t always a virtue.

He wasn’t rationalizing anything. He was pointing out the purpose of Genesis and other things, because he’s a scientist. He wants to understand how things work, and sees it as his duty to point out how things work.

Understanding the use of terrible weapons and philosophies doesn’t automatically make one a proponent of their use, anymore than understanding how fire works automatically makes one an arsonist.

And Spock could just as well make moral judgments of immoral people. As he said to Trelane:

“I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose.”

Voyager will be a bottle opener on the startrek.com shop or eaglemoss.com. Calling it now.

Great. Will be a great success. The Enterprise pizza cutter is in my wish list. :P

More the Annan, I’d think. In fact, the Annan *looks* like a bottle opener.

Someone has to say it…..some of these ships would also make spiffy adult toys.

I don’t get why in a world of advanced CGI where you can have things like the Marvel Helicarrier in all it’s detail without breaking the bank all the new Star Trek ships look not real, plain, not functional nor detailed (exception – Lower Decks, which is a cartoon!). These Discovery ships (when you can see them given the refusal to focus or light external scenes with the exception of their beautiful second season Connie) look less real than even the TOS models used in the 60s. All the new ships look like they are using a CGI modelling program from the early 80s. Hell, the Star Trek II CGI of the genesis planet looks more detailed and real then these. Even the detached nacelles, maybe put some cool effects as opposed to just having pieces “out there”; looks like they did that just because the CGI can’t model the connections and it was all on the cheap. None of these ships look attractive or capture the imagination. It’s like the 1960s Klingon D-7 battlecrusier, it was way more memorable and visible than all the 2020 Klingon ships put together. What is going on?? There are 3d modellers on scifimeshes.com that do way better work for their own enjoyment, why not hire some of those guys and gals??

Are you kidding?! The Marvel and CBS banks are not equal. Also, CBS hired union workers which impacts cost. Sure, amateur modelers could do an equal or better job sometimes, but they might not even have food on the table.

Why not pay them (those on scifimeshes) and reward them for doing such great Trek work vs. paying for this subpar work?? Hell, buy their meshes, that would have been x 10000 then a generic fleet in Picard or a bunch of white disconnected blobs in Discovery (are those Klingon and Federation ships, or a poorly modelled rebel fleet from Star Wars?)

I thought the NX-01 was the ugliest starship design that I would ever see. Now in seeing the Eisenberg Class, I am not so sure.

Love the Saturn Class though.

Why would you have a large hole in the middle of the ship? It just makes it that much more difficult to get from point A to point B.

You mean like a Romulan Warbird? Or the USS Grissom? At least in this time period they have personal transporters to move around the ship.

The GRISSOM is just horrid. I guess the Rom can skate by since that is an alien design, but the GRISSOM just should never have gotten past the sketchpad. A lot of ILM Trek designs suck, actually, though I like the BoP. But Mike Minor’s RELIANT (which ILM only built, didn’t design) works better for me than any of the later ones in the movieverse, even if the design was approved while looking at it upside down.

I’ve wondered if the reasoning behind the Grissom design is the bottom section is meant to be a large piece of tech, like a sensor pod, and isn’t inhabited.

Honestly, I don’t think that much thought went into it, they just wanted a silhouette that was easily recognizable as not the Enterprise. If you look at ILM interviews from the era, it sounds like there were only a couple design passes for EXCELSIOR, a few for the BoP, but everything else was just ground out fast. The merchantman ship was just put together from kit parts, according to Cinefex.

The fact ILM was even able to get into designing stuff they had no business designing, like hand props including the tricorders and a Klingon communicator that (as a good friend who occasionally frequents this site pointed out way back when) looks like nothing but a glorified heat-sink, speaks volumes about how the film was mismanaged, starting with dispensing with the Paramount art direction team from TWOK who DID design RELIANT, and had a more interesting Genesis Cave design that ILM apparently couldn’t successfully execute (not that their final version is successful either.)

To give an example of how ILM working on props seems WAY outside the guidelines, when Abel’s people started trying to redesign the first film by encroaching on other departments, unions had to turn up there and flame them about it (that’s from TMP/TWOK art director Mike Minor interview in ENTERPRISE INCIDENTS.) So the idea that Bennett and Nimoy seem to have actually encouraged this on TSFS suggests a total lack of faith in their new art department (and going by the goofy BUCKROGERS-looking EXCELSIOR interior, maybe that was warranted) and a blatant disregard for who is supposed to do what on a film production, and that latter aspect is inexcusable and should have been actionable (besides being creatively stupid, IMO.)

Sorry for going on and on, just still really PO’d about all the crap going down yesterday … not surprised in the slightest, but mad as Hell.

The Grissom was supposed to be the equivalent of an AWACS, and part of a literally modular-component design.

The main platform was the only “standard” part, with all main computer and engineering systems.

The saucer was an add-on module for when the ship carried a crew. It could be swapped out for a “robotic” module, too.

The nacelles strapped onto the energy interface points on the outboard platform ends… either top or bottom. It could also take a single nacelle on a roll-bar.

The Grissom, as we saw it, was being used to deploy a massive, high-resolution sensor package, which is what you’re thinking of as the “secondary hull.” That was not originally intended to be inhabited at all. Perhaps accessible for maintenance through crawlspaces.

When TNG reused the Grissom model, they misused it, treating the sensor pod as a “hull” rather than as a “nacelle” containing special sensor hardware. And the original intent fell apart after that.

The design, as originally created, made perfect sense. But as happened so often, the original design intent was forgotten at the earliest opportunity.

Which is a real shame. Because the “modular starship” concept, borrowed from FJ and expanded upon, could have given us dozens of unique, easily made, models with very little cost to produce. That was the original designer intent, at least. And, despite it being abandoned by the studio, it was continued, non-canonically, by fans, for years.

The most popular of these was the Jester-class corvette, similar to the Grissom but replacing the high-res sensor pod with a Reliant-style torpedo pod.

I still love the “modular starship design” concept.

https://images.app.goo.gl/6HgXaht8VwMdeswP9

I remember when the Warbirds first appeared on TNG there was a suggestion that that space was meant to contain smaller ships and carry them in their warp bubble, saving energy. But I don’t think we ever saw that.

In some ships, of course, there just aren’t many people in the remote parts, like engine nacelles. But a ring in the middle of the main saucer?

(And yes, I think the same about Discovery’s empty space.)

The Saturn Class looks like a toilet seat.

Have we finally seen a toilet in Star Trek somewhere?

Star Trek V: Final Frontier. When the trio are locked up in the brig.

I need to rewatch that, did they have 23rd century Charmin handy? Enjoy the go in zero gee?

They use bidets.

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Published Jul 15, 2010

New Lithographs of Concept Art from Movie Posters

Not every scene of a movie makes it into the final cut that reaches theaters, and those scenes – bits and/or sequences trimmed for time or pacing -- tend to turn up as extras on the subsequent DVD and Blu-ray releases. It’s a common occurrence and it happened with J.J. Abrams recent blockbuster Star Trek feature. Fans were treated, for example, to more young-Kirk back story, a Klingon interrogating Nero, and Spock nearly having a close encounter with his father, Sarek.But when was the last time you saw the movie poster equivalent -- concept art?The answer is… now.Quantum Mechanix Inc. is making available, for the first time, concept art created for the Star Trek movie poster. QMx will offer several thematic sets, each with four 18” x 24” prints. The first set features retro, Works Progress Administration (WPA)-style themes that were contemplated at an early stage of the promotion/marketing process, back when the target release date for Star Trek was still December 25, 2008. Abrams, his team at Bad Robot and the marketing unit at Paramount Pictures ultimately elected to go in a different direction, but the concepts developed and the art commissioned were nothing less than stunning, and now they’re available to the public.“About the closest analogy I can come up with is that these are like the director's cuts of movie posters,” says Andy Gore, CEO, Quantum Mechanix Inc. “While they may not have been necessary to tell the story, having access to them adds dimension and color to an already great experience. As far as I know, no one has ever done something like this before, for any franchise. It’s unusual for a studio to release promotional artwork they didn’t use. And I think if these images were any less compelling than they are, we probably wouldn’t have gotten clearance to release them.”Gore recalls that when he and Quantum Mechanix staff were first given access to the concept posters, everyone involved was dazzled. “The work was just breathtaking, all of it, really,” he says. “But we were especially taken with the retro, WPA-style art. It was reminiscent of our own Blue Sun Travel posters and Battlestar Propaganda posters. So it’s a school of design we really love. And I knew we just had to bring these to our customers.”The Star Trek Movie Poster Set, Series 1: Retro costs $29.95 and is comprised of four plated-printed lithographs that, like all QMx poster sets, come on 100-pound, aqueous-coated, satin-finish paper. Series 1, it should be noted, is intended to pave the way to additional sets in the very near future. “We already have three more series in the planning stages,” Gore says. “I can’t really tell you much more, except each series will be thematically unique. Not just the concepts, but the art styles that were experimented with span the gamut. You could seriously fill a museum with all the wonderful art that sprang from Star Trek’s creative process."Get them now at www.quantummechanix.com .

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10 More Incredible Star Trek Concept Designs You Need To See

Posted: April 16, 2024 | Last updated: April 16, 2024

10 More incredible Star Trek concept designs you need to see

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Monday 13 April 2020

Dark remnant's uss galileo concept art.

2 comments:

Been trying to remember something: LCARS - Library Computer Access and Retrieval System What does "PCAP" stand for? I remember it being explained publicly somewhere, back when Star Trek XI - Abrams' first movie as director - was released to the cinemas. But I cannot recall what the explanation was.

Another thought: all those unused designs can be starship classes in their own rights. May it become so.

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A Long-Lost Piece Of Star Trek History Has Been Found – And Returned To The Roddenberry Family

The next time you fire up eBay looking for a lightly used PS5 or a random everyday item that kind of resembles the face of Jesus Christ (look, do whatever you want with your hard-earned money, folks), take a closer look — you might just come across a priceless pop-culture relic that has been missing for decades. Anyone who's used these sorts of online marketplaces for long enough undoubtedly has their fair share of horror stories, but this is one case that ultimately resulted in a happy ending for all involved.

It's a tale that has gone down as part of "Star Trek" lore over the long years. A franchise as long-lasting as this one will inevitably rack up its fair share of fan-favorite props and other objects of import, created by talented and pioneering artists to bring genuinely out-of-this-world visuals and legendary concept art to life. Historically, "Trek" has relied on matte paintings, cutting-edge VFX techniques, and all sorts of innovative production designs to help turn various shows and movies into the beloved entries they became. One in particular that had been lost to time, a 33-inch model of the USS Enterprise used in the classic opening credits for  "The Original Series," has managed to find its way back where it belongs.

The news was announced on Twitter (only the Borg would call it "X") by Eugene Roddenberry, Jr., the son of late franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, via a report by the New York Times . Roddenberry had some eagle-eyed fans to thank for it, who spotted an eBay listing auctioning the starship for $1000. The seller, upon being alerted to its significance, authenticated the find and eventually handed it over to Roddenberry for an unspecified reward. How's that for a feel-good story?

Back where it belongs

Perhaps no other fanbase understands the value of memorabilia and franchise history quite like Trekkies do. This probably explains why, rather than selling the Enterprise model for a quick buck, the unnamed seller instead went through the proper channels and made sure the priceless artifact was returned to its rightful owner. But how did it end up lost in the first place, you ask? Well, Gene Roddenberry originally lent the model to be used during production of 1979's criminally underrated "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," whereupon it mysteriously went missing. For their part, the seller claimed to have found the model in a storage unit — the exact path it took to end up there, however, will likely never be known.

In order to fully authenticate the find, according to the New York Times report, Eugene Roddenberry enlisted the help of "Star Trek" art supervisor Michael Okuda, "Trek" VFX artist Denise Okuda, and technical consultant Gary Kerr, the latter of whom used an old photo of the model from the 1960s as a point of comparison. According to Eugene:

"We spent at least an hour photographing it, inspecting the paint, inspecting the dirt, looking under the base, the patina on the stem, the grain in the wood ... It was a unanimous, 'This is 100 percent the one.'"

With that, an age-old cold case in the "Star Trek" universe has finally been solved.