The guys over on the Flare sci fi forum (where I found this link) were seriously bashing this design, though after looking at the runners up most understood why it won. I like it, didn't picture it as the Titan though. Most complaints were wthat it appeard unoriginal, however the rules of the contest wanted it to be recognizable and basicly reflect the "established look" of Fed vessels. I kinda like the idea of adding a roll bar to a cruiser styled hull. I think I'd like it better if the engines were raised but the low profile creates a smaller cross section. I do agree with others that it is a bit small for a deep space exploration vessel, however the (Intrepid Class) Voyager, Nova Classs (Equinox), and Obereth Class (Grissom) were all relatively small vessels. The Galaxy, Nebula, and Constellation designs seem better suited for deep space exploration. I picture smaller vessels within the Federation with the large vessels on the out skirts or in deep space where there may be little or no Federation assistance.
Many also complained that the design had too many common elements that were just switched around. Like Sovereign hull and Akira engines but anyway I don't find that unusual if it was developed around the same time as the Akira. Star fleet ships should share some of the same elements. Every new ship design doesn't have to have a whole newly designed set of engines. Look at the refit Enterprise and the Miranda Class, and the Galaxy and the Nebula Class, not to mention all of the Batttle of Wolf 359 vessels with Galaxy style engines.Well anyway the design has begun to grow on me but no Aric "I" wont be building one any time soon!LOL .
Here were design specs for the contest:
The Ship:
U.S.S. Titan, NCC-80102, Luna-class. The Titan is a midsize Starfleet vessel, approximately 450 meters in length (larger than the U.S.S. Voyager, smaller than the Enterprise-D), with a crew complement of 350. Titan's hull configuration is comparable to other established Starfleet vessels.
U.S.S. Voyager, approximately 344 meters
[Additional: USS Akira - 464 meters]
[Additional: USS Excelsior - 467 meters]
U.S.S. Enterprise-D, Approximately 642 meters
The Luna-class is Starfleet's newest-generation long-range explorer, a starship not built specifically for combat, but like the Constitution-class of the previous century, a vessel designed for a long-term multipurpose mission into uncharted space. Equipped with conventional tactical systems (deflector shields; phasers; quantum torpedoes), Titan also boasts state-of-the-art propulsion and cutting-edge scientific equipment, as well as being a testbed for experimental science tech not yet available on other classes.
The Titan is manned by the most varied multispecies crew in Starfleet history, with humans taking up less than 15% of the 350-member crew. The diversity of the crew is intended to facilitate stories that will explore the ways that beings of different cultures, biologies, psychologies, and physical appearances learn how to work together, or fail to, depending on the circumstances they encounter. Titan has eight shuttlecraft of various sizes.
The story behind the Luna-class:
The Luna-Class Development Project was initiated in 2369 in response to the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole, and originally conceived as leading a planned Starfleet wave of deep-space exploration in the Gamma Quadrant. The project was spearheaded by Dr. (Commander) Xin Ra-Havreii, a Starfleet theoretical engineer at Utopia Planitia. Field testing on the prototype U.S.S. Luna was under way by 2372 in the Alpha Quadrant, and construction of the fleet was scheduled to begin the following year. Unfortunately, contact with the Dominion and the subsequent outbreak of hostilities mothballed the project indefinitely, as Starfleet redirected its shipbuilding resources to the production of vessels better suited to combat.
Upon the war's end in late 2375, Dr. Ra-Havreii correctly judged that the Federation's cultural psychology would eventually shift back toward its pre-war ideals, and pushed to have the Luna-class revisited as a major step toward resuming Starfleet's mission of peaceful exploration (even though the class would no longer be assigned exclusively to the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant). Construction of an initial fleet of twelve Luna-class vessels was completed by 2379, and the Titan was offered to William T. Riker, one of many command officers eager to put the strife of the last decade behind him.
The Luna-class fleet:
The ships of the Luna-class are all named for moons in
Earth's solar system:
Amalthea
Callisto
Charon
Europa
Galatea
Ganymede
Io
Luna
Oberon
Rhea
Titan
Triton