The ship design

[lordpenquin]

I think that aside from the space combat scenes being the best part of the mini, the design of the Galactica itself was very well done. For the first time we see a logical location for the launch tubes, which we never saw in TOS. I also liked that the landing bays could retract for jump or for protection. We also saw elevators in action in the landing bays, to explain how they got from there back to the launch tubes. It was interesting to depict the Galactica as an outdated model, complete with missing hull plating. Even the bridge equipment looked "old" in a way. I missed the big window at the front of the bridge, but from a tactical standpoint, it makes more sense to keep the command deck isolated from possible outside attack. I also loved the huge cannons all over the place. Much better than the pea shooters on the "old" ship. Overall the old Galactica has more "style" and "heart", but the new Galactica is designed from a tactical standpoint and a "realistic" (Since we are talking about 3000 feet long space ships here...) one .

My vote is still with the old girl as being the better of the two ships...

[Kaith Rustaz]

The original had a grace and a beauty all her own. When I was a kid, it was one of the first space ships I doodled endlessly. (The other 2 were the original Enterprise, and the Yamato).

The new one, from what little I could really make out, is ugly. I hadn't considered the idea that it was missing hull plating though.

From a functional standpoint however, the new wins out over the old. This version just scream "Is that all you got?". The ship is incredibly reinforced, and seems to have some serious 'bangability'. Now, the original did have nukes, butonly used them sparingly. This one can put out a cloud of flak thats pretty hard to cope with it seems.

Now, an interesting idea would be to find out that the newer battlestars did have laser weapons, but this one didn't due to its age.

[Hito]

I like the overall look of the new ship but from what i could tell of it I just didnt like the bottom.
It ruined the overall flow. IF it hadnt stuck down so far it would have been cool tho.

If the do a series I'd like them to come up with a way to get rid of it.
Mebby make It a detachable unit for planet invasions.

[baafan]

AS I posted elsewhere, at first look, I didn't like the new BSG. But by the end of the mini, it kind of grew on me. As you guys have pointed it, it feels more functional tactically than the original. It looks more like a warship. As lordpenguin mentioned, I also liked the newer cannons and how many of them there were, just like the numbers of anti-aircraft guns on a WW2 era warship. The amount of "flak" put out was impressive.

While not exactly a ship design, one thing that didn't make sense to me was the number of crewman. I believe somewhere I heard a figure of 3000 crew. That seems awfully small, considering how huge a battlestar is supposed to be. At least in my mind, I visualize each landing pod as the same size as an aircraft carrier. And carriers have crew complements in excess of 5000. So I would expect a BSG complement of 10000+

[thomas7g]

I know Lee Stringer did alot of the model. I know Fabio worked on her rear. And Don worked on the forward underside.

I'm not a fan of the redesign, but you can tell they did a very good job of making this puppy real.

Mucho kuddos to them. :)

[beeker]

I really like the new ship. Ever since I read the first Honor Harrington book by David Weber I've been ruined on ships that have exposed bridges with windows. The new Galactica looks like what I would expect a warship of that technology to look like.

I didn't get the feeling that the hull plating was missing. The exposed rib look seemed to be a design feature of the ship. What that design would do would be to limit surface damage from a single enemy hit. The weapons of the Galactica are all on the surface. If the surface is smooth then even if a nuclear hit doesn't do much damage to the interior of the ship the blast would literally strip all of the guns from the ship (while the ship may withsand a 50 megaton hit I doubt that a gun turret can).

About the crew size. I would expect that the normal complement of the Galactica would be around 6,000 or more; however, the ship was being decomisioned. The 2,000 number is probably a skelton crew. The minimum number necessary to keep the ship functioning. In the beginning of the show I had the impression that everyone was being reassigned, and orders had been cut. The reassignment of an entire complement (except those on museum duty) would take time. I could well have started weeks or even months before the story started. The easiest way would be when a persons normal rotation is up they would not be replaced. Over the course of a year that could take up to 1/3 or even 1/2 of the crew away.

Anyway I have to go with the new design over the old (don't hate me for it :) ).

[jonahlee]

Originally posted by lordpenquin
For the first time we see a logical location for the launch tubes, which we never saw in TOS. That's not actually true, I have just been watching the first few episodes of TOS and you do actually see where the launch tubes come out in a couple of shots, and it is in the exact same place as they are shown in the mini, so that wasn't anything new, that was directly from the original series.

[thomas7g]

The only difference between launch tube positions is that the new galactica has the vipers spitting out straight away from the ship. The old galactica had the tubes slightly diagonal so it shot the viper going out slightly forward.

http://www.starshipbuilder.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000007.html

[HollyKnight55]

About the Cylon ships - did you get the impression the ships themselves were AI? Or do you suppose they were merely remote controlled?

My first impression was that they were AI themselves (it was mentioned they lacked a cockpit). But does it makes sense an AI would want to be "trapped" in a ship all the time? Having a conscious, I would think they would want to join the majority of other Cylons "in person", as it were.

[Kaith Rustaz]

I believe I saw 'bodies' being ejected from the cylon ships a few times.


Regarding the 'ribbed' feel of the new Galactica....it makes sence. It provides breaks to 'absorb and deflect' explosions.

Still think its ugly though. :)

[baafan]

Hollyknight said: About the Cylon ships - did you get the impression the ships themselves were AI?

My first impression was that they were AI themselves (it was mentioned they lacked a cockpit). But does it makes sense an AI would want to be "trapped" in a ship all the time? Having a conscious, I would think they would want to join the majority of other Cylons "in person", as it were.

I definitely got the perception that at least the lead cylon ships that knocked out the computers and defenses were AI themselves.

As for wanting to be "trapped" in a ship, well, my guess is that they had no choice in the matter. :)

Beeker said: About the crew size. I would expect that the normal complement of the Galactica would be around 6,000 or more; however, the ship was being decomisioned. The 2,000 number is probably a skelton crew. The minimum number necessary to keep the ship functioning. In the beginning of the show I had the impression that everyone was being reassigned, and orders had been cut. The reassignment of an entire complement (except those on museum duty) would take time

Good point Beeker. I didn't even consider the decommissioning/museum aspect relative to the crew size. Although I still say 10,000+ or more. :)

[jonahlee]

And as for being "trapped" in a ship, an AI that had no fixed form, would probably love being a fighter. Think of the freedom, being able to fly that fast and move that quickly.

[callsignfalcon]

I think they said something about them being automated in the mini or something(i could be wrong...)... O.o though I think the ai would make sense too

[thomas7g]

Originally posted by jonahlee
And as for being "trapped" in a ship, an AI that had no fixed form, would probably love being a fighter. Think of the freedom, being able to fly that fast and move that quickly.

...not being able to scratch an itch.....

;)

[baafan]

Originally posted by conundrum7g
...not being able to scratch an itch.....

;)

Or would that be more of a "rust spot." LOL. :D

[lordpenquin]

I think that both the ships and the new versions of the robot like cylons are automatons. They have no "ego" or sentience. They only follow orders and react to situations. The humanoid cylons are the ones in charge.

[GiovanniBlasini]

Originally posted by lordpenquin
I think that both the ships and the new versions of the robot like cylons are automatons. They have no "ego" or sentience. They only follow orders and react to situations. The humanoid cylons are the ones in charge.

I'd hazard a guess that the current Cylon fighters are run by a fully sentient AI - when in "port", they could just mentally "roam" the Basestar when bored.

It is beginning to look, though, like the more human-looking Cylons are more or less running things, however.

[baafan]

Here's a thought. Since the human looking Cylons can transfer their consciousness and memories to another body, why couldn't the minds of a Cylon automaton fighter transfer to another body? Maybe as a warrior, they would transfer to a Centurion when on the basestar and to the fighter when they launch.

And I agree that the human looking Cylons are in control.

[xenagabby99]

I agree that the human looking cylons are in charge as well. Makes it interesting though, humans created cylons and now the cylons seem to have the most control. Now the creation that the cylons made are more human and they are in control. It's an interesting mix and I say humans have flaws and when you add any kind of human emotion to a machine like the cylons there are gonna be kinks. It will be interesting to see if this plays out in the colonials favor.

[SAR Pilot]

I was thinking the same thing about the sentience of the cylon fighters. If the human forms can transfer their conciousness, then why couldn't the other forms do the same?
It may be the same sentient minds of the human form cylons taking on the roll of fighter pilots.:cool:

[GiovanniBlasini]

Originally posted by baafan
Here's a thought. Since the human looking Cylons can transfer their consciousness and memories to another body, why couldn't the minds of a Cylon automaton fighter transfer to another body? Maybe as a warrior, they would transfer to a Centurion when on the basestar and to the fighter when they launch.

And I agree that the human looking Cylons are in control.

That makes a great deal of sense. After all, "those models still have their uses," right?

[SAR Pilot]

I prefer the combat power of the new Galactica over the old. In BSG 03, the ship is well armed and armored. The turrets are all internal until readied for combat, placing them behind armored plate. Plus, it had point defense like the Yamato. . . and you have to love that! :)

[sdwebguy]

I'd like to see some photos of the new ship..didn't get the show taped so I didn't get a good look at her.

[SpartanJP]

Hi. I live in Canada and won't be able to see the new ship till some time in January. A link to a site with a picture of the new BattleStar disigne would be grately appreciated. I always thought that the original ship was one of sci-fis best designs and can't wait to see the new one.

[Intersun]

there are some sketches of the Galactica (that are pretty close to the final version) here:

column 1 and 2, fifth row down

***banned site***/articles/conceptart.shtml


WTF !?!?!? Why can I not display this URL?

well it should read: w w w . g a l a c t i c a 2 0 0 3 . n e t

[SpartanJP]

Thanks Intersun. I went to the fordiden site and finally got to see the new Battlestar design. It’s not bad but like someone already said, it realy does look like a ribed condom without all it’s hull plating. Hopefully it will make it to series and we will get to see the finished product.