LAST EDITED ON Nov-20-01 AT 00:39 AM (EST)

>(Okay, the Galaxy look kinda stupid. But the Ambassadors are even
>worse! The Galaxy at least has the streamlining going for it.)

Now, see, I have exactly the opposite opinion. The Ambassador class (or, as the WDF called them, Iowa class), to me, is an updated starship done right - it has some futuristic elements, like the TNG-style warp engines, and yet still acknowledges its roots (note the Excelsior-style saucer pylon).

I'm quite fond of the Ambo; to my eye, it does everything right that the Galaxy class did wrong in trying to be an "updated" Constitution. The shuttlebay's in the right place. The navigational deflector doesn't look like God's eyeball with a case of pinkeye. The warp engines aren't hilariously undersized. The saucer section isn't monstrously bloated, turned 90 degrees off axis, and generally shaped as though it had been excreted by a gigantic ungulate.

Aside from that ship, the only TNG-era new designs I can think of that I don't find, at best, unappealing, are the Defiant class, the Sovereign class (which does right everything the Intrepid class got wrong - bleagh) and the era's shuttlecraft, Danube-class runabouts included. The others range from utterly indifferent (Klingon Vor'cha class), to comically lame (Galaxy), to irritatingly bad (Intrepid - speaking of suffering from laughably-puny-engine syndrome), to outright vomitous (Nebula).

Oh - I take part of that back; I think I like the Steamrunner class, but I haven't actually seen enough good shots of it to know for sure. I might go try and play Dominion Wars again just to get another look, but then again, I might not - I didn't find that game very playable. The Steamrunner's certainly got a nice name, though, I'll give it that.

Also, please note that, while it was designed by the TNG crew, I don't count the Constellation class, as it's made of movie-era Constitution parts. All the TNG guys did was take Jefferies and Minor's bits and jam them together in a new shape, and I must admit they didn't do such a bad job, at that. The Connie's an OK-looking little ship. (Light cruiser? Destroyer? Hmm... )

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/