Nova Class Deckplans

[Erik Filean]

Very, very nice work! It's clear, readable, and the room shapes are imaginative and look like the irregular floor plans we've seen in real sets. I really like these.

[Argyle]

Hmmm.... I notice that the probe storage/configuration room (a facility I would never have remembered to include) isn't anywhere near the torpedo tubes, which are also serve as probe launchers. Right now, the probe guys have to rustle up some fresh recruits to haul the probe down to the launcher on a grav truck or something. This is expected with custom probes, but it would get a little old to have to do it for standard probes.

A possible solution would be to move the Probe Room from deck 4 to deck 3, where the Space Science lab is now. That way, it can share the machinery that the torpedo magazine uses. The Space lab can go to where planetology 2 is now, and planetology 2 goes down where the probe room started out. The main problem with this plan is that the labs get shorted some space since the displaced lab is bigger than the probe room. On the other hand, probe configuration is more of a workshop task than a laboratory one. Maybe they need more room to make a mess?

Another solution would be to swap one of the forward blocks of junior officer quarters on deck 4 with the probe room. This keeps the space usage a little more optimal, but ruins the very nice symmetry of that deck and squeezes the moved quarters into a funny shaped space.

All three configurations have trade-offs, but you're the architect. What do you think?

[Publius]

Actually, there are already probes in the launcher, but only in my head since I forgot to write that down here. Nice catch Argyle. Of course this does not show at all on a floorplan and I probably should have made a note of it either in my opening comments or on the plan, but there are so many little things I kind of forgot. Thanks for mentioning it, I will alter the plans in the future to show this (probably using parenthesis like I did with the Crew Quarters). (Warning: I ramble for the rest of this, only read if you are interested in my logic. Sorry for the length)

A probe is roughly the size of a photon torpedo (actually, some appear to be smaller than that size, which is fine, they take up approximately the same amount of space). The depth(?) of the torpedo is approximately 0.46m, therefore it should be able to allow stacking for at least 4 torpedo/probe 'units' (I'll use 'units' in the future to denote a space for either probe or torp) in each space shown on the plan. This only amounts to about 2m in height, roughly half of the deck height and allows the rest for loaders and bracing and all that stuff. Now, there are 12 port and 12 starboard lozenge shapes in the torpedo room to show these 'units'; if we allow 4 'units' of depth for each that would mean that there are 96 'units' in the Deck 3 PT magazine rooms total. The Probe room has 12 more black lozenge shapes, for 48 additional probes (these are obviously all probes).

My Thinking: It hardly makes sense to have a science vessel with 96 torpedoes and 48 probes, the opposite in fact seems like a much better ratio (Voyager was supposed to have something like 60 Torps, but I do not really remember where I read this so it is probably not canon). That means that the Port and Starboard Magazine rooms would be loaded with half torpedoes and half probes for a total of 48 torps and 96 probes.

Most of the probes in the Magazine/launcher area are 'simple' and can be programmed like they program Torpedoes right from the bridge or other command stations. They are probably the Type I/II styles or something equivalent. Most of the Probes in the Storage area on the other hand are more sensitive and or need to be opened up to be programmed or have modules inserted & removed. Movement from the storage to the magazine can be done by hauling them or (because it is hardly likely to occur in combat) by transporting them.

Now, that was what I was thinking when I drew them, but your suggestion has some possibilies. comments:

• Turning the Space Science area into the Probe Storage and Configration chamber: It has the advantage of being a simple solution, but the disadvantage of removing a science lab. Ouch. I would reclaim some space with the present probe lab though... I really wanted to have a large area for Space science. Hmmmm let me think on that.
• Believe it or not, I placed the quarters where they are because of the arrangement of windows on the thing. Unfortunately changing them is not an option (but still a damned good idea but for the window placement). BTW, you can see where the windows are on the plans, look for the grey outlines along the edges where the quarters are located. (see something else I forgot to write down)
• New idea: I have already roughed in the Changes I mentioned earlier to replace Sickbay to Deck four as suggested by the MSD. There are actually two versions I am staring at right now on another window. One removes the Holodecks completely, the other removes the holodeck on one side only and frankly I'm not wild about either. I could however incorporate the space on Deck two where the Sickbay is presently located for a Probe Storage/Configuration area. There is very little overlap between the two decks, but just enough to slip a probe through I think down in the corner

[Dan Stack]

Very nice job. I like the suite concept for the enlisted quarters - I helped out someone working on Nova plans about a year ago (pity they are still unpublished) and I know how hard it is to squeeze a crew of 80 and still have room for other stuff. The Nova is a small vessel.

Some random comments/nits...

• I'd keep the holodecks. It seems like the destiny of the Nova to be something of a more long-rang scout vessel, to judge by what we see in the Voyager episode "Endgame". I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over relocating sickbay. ("Equinox" gave the impression of having none, but Equinox was not in great shape either.)
• I like the Waverider plans. Just wanted to make sure I said that!
• Deck Four Shuttlebay looks a little cozy - I'm not sure there's room for the Type 8 shuttles to get out without moving the shuttlepod a bit.
• Nice job lining up the windows with the quarters. They are a little hard to make out on a printout but I shrunk it down to 75% to fit on a 8.5x11
• The brig cells seem a little cozy
• I'm guessing yellow is Jefferies tubes and blue is sinks. I can't seem to find sinks in some of the quarters if that is the case.
• Some of the rooms seem to have no entrances - Ready Room, Conference Room, and some crew quarters stand out.
• You might not need one, but most ship plans I have seen have a turbolift maintenance station.

btw, like Aslan indicated, this month's Star Trek Magazine has a lot of details for the Rhode Island variant of the Nova. I lack a scanner, but a brief list of differences according to them:

• Escape Pod hatches shaped like Enterprise-E's
• Front of ship filled in (most obvious change)
• Protruding bridge module (might not require any change to the plans)
• Raised spine of dorsal engineering hull is stepped on Equinox but smoother on Rhode Island (again, might not require changes to plans)
• Single impulse engine aft of main bridge on Rhode Island as opposed to port and starboard of main hull on Equinox (I'm not sure about this one - I thought both of them had the impulse engine aft of the main bridge)

[Argyle]

Originally posted by Publius
Most of the probes in the Magazine/launcher area are 'simple' and can be programmed like they program Torpedoes right from the bridge or other command stations. They are probably the Type I/II styles or something equivalent. Most of the Probes in the Storage area on the other hand are more sensitive and or need to be opened up to be programmed or have modules inserted & removed. Movement from the storage to the magazine can be done by hauling them or (because it is hardly likely to occur in combat) by transporting them.

If that's the case, problem solved! It just needs to get stuck in the footnotes or something.

Originally posted by Publius

• Turning the Space Science area into the Probe Storage and Configration chamber: It has the advantage of being a simple solution, but the disadvantage of removing a science lab. Ouch. I would reclaim some space with the present probe lab though... I really wanted to have a large area for Space science. Hmmmm let me think on that.

That's why I suggested all that elaborate shuffling. Planetology has two big labs on the existing plans. After the change, planetology has a big lab and a small lab in the old probe room. Space still has a big lab, it's just in a different location. If you really want to keep all the planetologists on the same deck, you can bump the chemists or physicists downstairs.

Originally posted by Publius

• Believe it or not, I placed the quarters where they are because of the arrangement of windows on the thing.

Bah! Who cares what the exteriors are like?

Originally posted by Publius

• I could however incorporate the space on Deck two where the Sickbay is presently located for a Probe Storage/Configuration area. There is very little overlap between the two decks, but just enough to slip a probe through I think down in the corner

Hmmm... Then you need to account for the pass-through on deck three, which eats a chunk of the space lab anyway. Rather than that, I think it would be better to either leave things as is (with the understanding that only custom jobs have to get pushed down the hall), or do the laboratory shuffle we've been talking about.

[Ensign Arrgh]

First, on with the groveling...

Publius, you are the master, the one, the only, these deckplans are marvelous, wonderful, nearly the thing I saw for my favourite ship (at least, the crewers of those ships don't run the risk of finding themselves aboard an Enterprise, for being stationned on her seems to be too risky for any one who values his skin to accept it, but that's just me).

Now, I just have one slight question and nitpick.
On deck 4, the cross of corridors could be filled for more useful space, as could some other corridor areas, and there seems to be a lot of turbolifts for such a small ship, but it might be be my cluelesness of standard starfleet ship deckplans. As well, it seems that the corridors shown on plan are nearly three meters, while 1,8 meter would be enough even with 150 peoples onboard, and I don't recall that corridors in the show were so large. It could have freed some space.

Otherwise, bravo, bravo, wow, ... I'm breathless, and speechless, ................................

[Dan Stack]

If it is of interest, some info on Rhode Island

http://www.talax.fsnet.co.uk/endg_rhode_index.htm

[Publius]

Dan: You are entirely correct about the Brig, think of it as the style Riker sat in on the Pegasus episode (the one where it revealed he had been a part of a Starfleet program to build the ineterphasic cloak) the forcefield is circular, and gives a total diameter of about 6m. Not real big at all. The only reason I placed one on a ship that small is that they were mentioned specifically in the Equinox pt 2 episode.

Regarding the Shuttles: DOH! you are right. I sized up the Shuttles and forgot to move them around. I have actually changed the dimensions of the Bay (the next time I update the picture it should reflect this), it's still a bit tight though.

Sinks: In the Jr. Officer quarters and the larger quarters they are the pull-out variety like in Kim's room. Okay, I made that up, sounds good though doesn't it?

Thanks Ensign Arrgh. The corridors in general were once a standard of 3m, along the way in drawing the plans I had to increase the size of my scale by 109% (and a few other things, like the shuttles) so they should be something like 2.75m now. What the plans don't show is that the corridor has a lot of 'stuff' on either side, water supply hoses, waste carrier lines, firesuppressant gas lines etc. The 3m width made the corrdiors the same width as the corridors of the Enterprise A as pictured in Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, I figure by the 24th c there is a little more leeway and even though .25m smaller it has approximately the same interior space with more of that stuff in the jefferies tube space between the decks (Enterprise A Era Decks were shorter anyway). The actual open space btw where people walk down the corridor is about 6 feet wide or so.

Re: Turbolifts. The one place where there are a whole lot of turbolifts is on Deck three, which is where most of the Escape Pods are located. That is also where I put a few extra turbolift bypasses for the extra traffic that might occurr during those times. Other than that there are generally two turbolifts on every deck but four. There are quite a few there, but I needed to put the vertical turboshafts (the red circles with the triangle) on the sides to get around the deflector dish on the engineering decks so I just put an extra stop there on each side just past them. I figured because there are so many quarters located on Deck Four the traffic would be higher than usual anyway.

[ComaBoy]

I'm at a loss for words.

Fantastic job and thanks for sharing!

[RaconteurX]

Lots of talent here in Michigan, 'twould seem.

Now if someone would only create a set of deckplans for the Daedalus-class explorers...

[Greg Smith]

Excellent deckplans!

RaconteurX: I have seen Daedelus class plans from someone one this site (Owen maybe, or Dan Stack). Try a search.

[Dan Stack]

I've done some Daedalus plans - nowhere near as good as the Nova ones here, but they should do the job. (Hey, you get what you pay for... )

Just click on the link in my sig.

[qerlin]

Lovely. I really like these.

[Re'k]

Thank you for these deckplans of outstanding quality!!

Our RPG group is using a ship that's adapted from the Nova (adapted from a "surveyor" role to a "superscout"), so we're using your deckplans. We've run two sessions so far. Having a map of the Jeffries Tubes is helpful, especially when you have to fight a guerilla battle to take your ship back from a team of mercenaries.

The holodeck is very useful on a ship this size. A dozen mercenaries don't fit in the brig, so we turned the holodeck into a temporary brig. We're screwed if the power fails, but that's what security officers are for.

I do have two questions, though:
--> On deck 4, how does one access cargo bays 2 and 3? Is it transporter access only (plus J-tubes)?
--> On deck 3, what is the semirectangular space that seems to straddle the bulkhead between the main cargo bay and the shuttle high-bay?
--> Deck 6, starboard side, there's "Operations". What's the similar chamber on the port side?
--> If a Galaxy-class starship with only 1,000 people aboard can survive with only one set of washrooms, why do 80 people need washrooms on every single deck?

Similar thanks to Owen for his Oberth plans. I don't know if our narrator has seen them, but I had, so I used them to get an idea of the internal layout for the major decks on a Herbert-class transport (Narrator's Guide, long nacelled Oberth with underslung cargo pods).

I think deckplans assist in roleplaying games in two ways... for me, a map helps to make the imaginary locations we're working in seem more real. And even if you feel you don't need that help, it's a good way to synchronize your idea of a location with everyone else's.

[aelius]

Great plans!
Makes me want my players to stumble across an abandoned Nova...