Nice thinking and idea with the docking ports. Never made sense to me that they had a separate system when the ship was docked. Good work.
I know what the thinking was on it. The idea was that it was like a gangway at an airport. When the ship is docked at a station, it extends and attaches to the ship like the ones that attach to a plane. That was literally designed for one specific thing in TMP.
Probably the only reason it was used was because it was designed to be used for docking with the drydock in TMP. However, when they designed the Spacedock model for TSFS, they probably didn't care much about it. They never really showed how the ship attached to Spacedock, but it seemed to mainly be via some kind of tractor beam system, that's how Scotty was able to override it when they stole the ship. Having a physical attachment to the ship would have added an extra step to stealing the Enterprise, which is a really well paced scene with no extra "fat" on it. Adding that extra step of clearing a physical mooring would have messed with the pacing.
The Reliant had that square type of port on it, but no other Starfleet ship has those ports. So, only two known canon classes have them. (not counting any canon kitbashes that use the saucers) In the TNG episode 11001001, we see them clearly using the standard round style docking port to dock with Starbase 74.
You see it makes sense to me that they would have had one standard docking system, something that was universal for the entire fleet. That's why aside from the refit Connie and the Mirandas we don't see it again!
The watcher in the tower... Waiting, hour by hour...
- Mike Oldfield
I suspect the Miranda class only had that style of port because they copied a lot of the elements from the Connie Refit to sell the notion of "one big happy fleet." (sorry, I couldn't resist using that quote) They wanted the ships to match so that it was clear that they were from the same technology tree. Even the Excelsior class, which was from that era, doesn't have that port, even though I've seen it appear on (incorrect) schematics drawn by fans. Neither the Constellation or Oberth classes have that port either, so that rules out it being a "that era" thing.
On the plus side, I reinstalled Windows 11 on my desktop that I built and it's behaving this time. I suspect Windows trying and failing to initialize the wifi thingy was causing the reboots. Linux just ignored the thing since it wasn't working, but not Windows. Since I fixed it, the computer is behaving as expected. This is only important to me because I like to play strategy games, and I prefer to play those on a monitor to a TV. So, the setup in the living room won't work for games like Age of Empires, etc. Also, that tiny gaming PC that I bought will run AOE4, but not with very pretty settings. I have some other games that won't run well on that thing too, so having a gaming desktop makes sense, besides for doing CUDA rendering in Blender. We have a $300 MSI RTX 4060 at work that I'm probably going to eventually buy and install. It's such a new card that I haven't been able to look at any reviews on it, but I've had good experience with MSI products. But, I have other things making demands on my money right now, like deciding if I want to buy a house. I'll have to decide by next month, as it's either that or re-sign for my apartment. (both have positives and negatives)
And, finally, I will be taking a break from the Connie for a bit. I have another model that I started before this but never showed here that I want to work some more on. It's a canon ST ship, so the greebleage won't be as high and it might help me hang onto a shred of sanity. (maybe)
Thanks, but it seems to be stable now. I did the reinstall a few days ago and have had no issues, where the issues started right after install before. Windows is just so finicky with hardware. I've never messed with Apple computers, but I understand they're picky with hardware too. (more so what it will actually run on) But, Windows is the most picky OS I've ever dealt with when it comes to hardware. Plus, there are so many things that can trigger random reboots in Windows. It probably was just the WIFI thing causing the issues, as the board is supposed to be Win11 ready.
I don't have any of this with Linux, but Linux doesn't have the software compatibility that Windows does and I am a gamer. I've been less than impressed with the newer console offerings, plus even Sony has realized that there's a market for their games on PC, so I'm probably going to do more PC gaming moving forward, so having Windows is a must. Though, one thing that's odd is that Intel drivers are open source, meaning they can be bundled with an OS. Kubuntu 22.04 LTS has the WIFI drivers bundled with it, so the WIFI thing worked right away once it was screwed in correctly. However, the same isn't true of Windows 11 22H2. I actually had to plug in a USB WIFI dongle to finish setting up the computer and download the correct drivers for the on board WIFI.
Thanks, but it seems to be stable now. I did the reinstall a few days ago and have had no issues, where the issues started right after install before. Windows is just so finicky with hardware. I've never messed with Apple computers, but I understand they're picky with hardware too. (more so what it will actually run on) But, Windows is the most picky OS I've ever dealt with when it comes to hardware. Plus, there are so many things that can trigger random reboots in Windows. It probably was just the WIFI thing causing the issues, as the board is supposed to be Win11 ready.
I don't have any of this with Linux, but Linux doesn't have the software compatibility that Windows does and I am a gamer. I've been less than impressed with the newer console offerings, plus even Sony has realized that there's a market for their games on PC, so I'm probably going to do more PC gaming moving forward, so having Windows is a must. Though, one thing that's odd is that Intel drivers are open source, meaning they can be bundled with an OS. Kubuntu 22.04 LTS has the WIFI drivers bundled with it, so the WIFI thing worked right away once it was screwed in correctly. However, the same isn't true of Windows 11 22H2. I actually had to plug in a USB WIFI dongle to finish setting up the computer and download the correct drivers for the on board WIFI.
Yeah... it can be fun! I work in IT so I have to support them in all their stupid decisions and watch out for them.
One of their 'security' updates way back when used to uninstall the network drivers from this one PC and it took us a week to figure out that's what was doing it. So freaking frustrating.
I've been gaming and doing 3D on PC and windows for so long now (started with windows 3.1) that I'm probably not going anywhere near Linux any time soon if I can help it. Had a friend try to convert me but none of my games worked even in the emulator so that got scrapped quickly.
Thanks, but it seems to be stable now. I did the reinstall a few days ago and have had no issues, where the issues started right after install before. Windows is just so finicky with hardware. I've never messed with Apple computers, but I understand they're picky with hardware too. (more so what it will actually run on) But, Windows is the most picky OS I've ever dealt with when it comes to hardware. Plus, there are so many things that can trigger random reboots in Windows. It probably was just the WIFI thing causing the issues, as the board is supposed to be Win11 ready.
I don't have any of this with Linux, but Linux doesn't have the software compatibility that Windows does and I am a gamer. I've been less than impressed with the newer console offerings, plus even Sony has realized that there's a market for their games on PC, so I'm probably going to do more PC gaming moving forward, so having Windows is a must. Though, one thing that's odd is that Intel drivers are open source, meaning they can be bundled with an OS. Kubuntu 22.04 LTS has the WIFI drivers bundled with it, so the WIFI thing worked right away once it was screwed in correctly. However, the same isn't true of Windows 11 22H2. I actually had to plug in a USB WIFI dongle to finish setting up the computer and download the correct drivers for the on board WIFI.
Yeah... it can be fun! I work in IT so I have to support them in all their stupid decisions and watch out for them.
One of their 'security' updates way back when used to uninstall the network drivers from this one PC and it took us a week to figure out that's what was doing it. So freaking frustrating.
I've been gaming and doing 3D on PC and windows for so long now (started with windows 3.1) that I'm probably not going anywhere near Linux any time soon if I can help it. Had a friend try to convert me but none of my games worked even in the emulator so that got scrapped quickly.
I started with Linux in the Vista days. (Vista was so terrible) That was back before Steam even had a Linux client, so you literally just had open source games that could be installed. Now Steam and GOG have pretty decent Linux libraries, but not anywhere near as much as is available for even a Mac, much less for Windows. There are ways to install Windows programs on Linux, but it requires a lot of work, more so than it's worth, in my opinion. Before I gave Windows another look on this computer the other day, I looked into a website dedicated to making Steam games work on Linux using Steam's in house compatibility layer, which is called Proton. For games like the AOE games, people listed stuff they had to do to make them even work as you expected, and there were still issues. It's a crap shoot. Meanwhile, I transferred my 4TB game drive to this computer, pointed Steam in its direction and just played some AOE4. No voodoo to get it to run. After all, it's a Microsoft game, so of course it works in Windows. It runs and looks nice on this computer in medium settings. Given the age of the 1660 Super chipset and the fact that it was a budget chipset to begin with, I'll take it.
I mostly gave up on running Windows programs on Linux after multiple attempts to get Truespace and then Lightwave working on there didn't work. I forget what the issues were with Truespace, but I remember not being able to get Lightwave 10 to work because WINE (the Windows compatibility layer) didn't have USB support for the dongle. Then LW2018 wouldn't work because Newtek married it to the Windows firewall for network rendering support. Trying to get that stuff to run made me hate WINE and made me decide that nothing is better than running a program on the OS it's made for.
And, finally, I will be taking a break from the Connie for a bit. I have another model that I started before this but never showed here that I want to work some more on. It's a canon ST ship, so the greebleage won't be as high and it might help me hang onto a shred of sanity. (maybe)
I decided I at least wanted to finish the work on the docking port before I switched to working on something else.
I decided I didn't care for the thing I had in the center of the impulse engines. At some point, I went off script as far as what I originally planned. This is much closer. Also, the details on the first version were a lot of polygons that really only made a difference in extremely close renders. With this setup, it's at least visible from a bit farther back.
I wanted to do something that is somewhat similar to the crystal thing on the TMP ship, but that also reflects my personal style. (I may eventually do this kind of build of the refit as well) There's more to do here, but this is where it stands.
I'm also in the process of buying a house. I put in an offer on one yesterday that was accepted, and closing is in 30 days. Now comes the fun part of financing, and all that. So, if the updates drop off, that's why.
There won't be any further updates on this project because I'm officially scrapping it. I've come to the conclusion that all I'm really doing here is taking one of the best space ship designs ever and making it ugly by changing things and adding a bunch of crap to it that doesn't belong on it. I just figured I'd let people know so you don't expect updates on this thread.
I'm sorry to hear that. Although I haven't commented much on this thread I really liked your approach and you made some interesting changes on the original design. I can understand the sentiment, though. Have been on that point myself way to often. Now I'm just looking forward to your next project.
Posts
- Mike Oldfield
I know what the thinking was on it. The idea was that it was like a gangway at an airport. When the ship is docked at a station, it extends and attaches to the ship like the ones that attach to a plane. That was literally designed for one specific thing in TMP.
Probably the only reason it was used was because it was designed to be used for docking with the drydock in TMP. However, when they designed the Spacedock model for TSFS, they probably didn't care much about it. They never really showed how the ship attached to Spacedock, but it seemed to mainly be via some kind of tractor beam system, that's how Scotty was able to override it when they stole the ship. Having a physical attachment to the ship would have added an extra step to stealing the Enterprise, which is a really well paced scene with no extra "fat" on it. Adding that extra step of clearing a physical mooring would have messed with the pacing.
The Reliant had that square type of port on it, but no other Starfleet ship has those ports. So, only two known canon classes have them. (not counting any canon kitbashes that use the saucers) In the TNG episode 11001001, we see them clearly using the standard round style docking port to dock with Starbase 74.
- Mike Oldfield
On the plus side, I reinstalled Windows 11 on my desktop that I built and it's behaving this time. I suspect Windows trying and failing to initialize the wifi thingy was causing the reboots. Linux just ignored the thing since it wasn't working, but not Windows. Since I fixed it, the computer is behaving as expected. This is only important to me because I like to play strategy games, and I prefer to play those on a monitor to a TV. So, the setup in the living room won't work for games like Age of Empires, etc. Also, that tiny gaming PC that I bought will run AOE4, but not with very pretty settings. I have some other games that won't run well on that thing too, so having a gaming desktop makes sense, besides for doing CUDA rendering in Blender. We have a $300 MSI RTX 4060 at work that I'm probably going to eventually buy and install. It's such a new card that I haven't been able to look at any reviews on it, but I've had good experience with MSI products. But, I have other things making demands on my money right now, like deciding if I want to buy a house. I'll have to decide by next month, as it's either that or re-sign for my apartment. (both have positives and negatives)
And, finally, I will be taking a break from the Connie for a bit. I have another model that I started before this but never showed here that I want to work some more on. It's a canon ST ship, so the greebleage won't be as high and it might help me hang onto a shred of sanity. (maybe)
Thanks, but it seems to be stable now. I did the reinstall a few days ago and have had no issues, where the issues started right after install before. Windows is just so finicky with hardware. I've never messed with Apple computers, but I understand they're picky with hardware too. (more so what it will actually run on) But, Windows is the most picky OS I've ever dealt with when it comes to hardware. Plus, there are so many things that can trigger random reboots in Windows. It probably was just the WIFI thing causing the issues, as the board is supposed to be Win11 ready.
I don't have any of this with Linux, but Linux doesn't have the software compatibility that Windows does and I am a gamer. I've been less than impressed with the newer console offerings, plus even Sony has realized that there's a market for their games on PC, so I'm probably going to do more PC gaming moving forward, so having Windows is a must. Though, one thing that's odd is that Intel drivers are open source, meaning they can be bundled with an OS. Kubuntu 22.04 LTS has the WIFI drivers bundled with it, so the WIFI thing worked right away once it was screwed in correctly. However, the same isn't true of Windows 11 22H2. I actually had to plug in a USB WIFI dongle to finish setting up the computer and download the correct drivers for the on board WIFI.
Yeah... it can be fun! I work in IT so I have to support them in all their stupid decisions and watch out for them.
One of their 'security' updates way back when used to uninstall the network drivers from this one PC and it took us a week to figure out that's what was doing it. So freaking frustrating.
I've been gaming and doing 3D on PC and windows for so long now (started with windows 3.1) that I'm probably not going anywhere near Linux any time soon if I can help it. Had a friend try to convert me but none of my games worked even in the emulator so that got scrapped quickly.
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Thanks a lot!
I started with Linux in the Vista days. (Vista was so terrible) That was back before Steam even had a Linux client, so you literally just had open source games that could be installed. Now Steam and GOG have pretty decent Linux libraries, but not anywhere near as much as is available for even a Mac, much less for Windows. There are ways to install Windows programs on Linux, but it requires a lot of work, more so than it's worth, in my opinion. Before I gave Windows another look on this computer the other day, I looked into a website dedicated to making Steam games work on Linux using Steam's in house compatibility layer, which is called Proton. For games like the AOE games, people listed stuff they had to do to make them even work as you expected, and there were still issues. It's a crap shoot. Meanwhile, I transferred my 4TB game drive to this computer, pointed Steam in its direction and just played some AOE4. No voodoo to get it to run. After all, it's a Microsoft game, so of course it works in Windows.
I mostly gave up on running Windows programs on Linux after multiple attempts to get Truespace and then Lightwave working on there didn't work. I forget what the issues were with Truespace, but I remember not being able to get Lightwave 10 to work because WINE (the Windows compatibility layer) didn't have USB support for the dongle. Then LW2018 wouldn't work because Newtek married it to the Windows firewall for network rendering support.
Thanks a lot. I've tried various things over the years with the old girl, but never just greebled it. We'll see if I have the stamina to keep it up.
I decided I at least wanted to finish the work on the docking port before I switched to working on something else.
I decided I didn't care for the thing I had in the center of the impulse engines. At some point, I went off script as far as what I originally planned. This is much closer. Also, the details on the first version were a lot of polygons that really only made a difference in extremely close renders. With this setup, it's at least visible from a bit farther back.
I wanted to do something that is somewhat similar to the crystal thing on the TMP ship, but that also reflects my personal style. (I may eventually do this kind of build of the refit as well) There's more to do here, but this is where it stands.
I'm also in the process of buying a house. I put in an offer on one yesterday that was accepted, and closing is in 30 days. Now comes the fun part of financing, and all that. So, if the updates drop off, that's why.
And buy a rubber stamp of your signature so your arm doesn't fall off signing all that paperwork!
It's mostly digital these days.