| Star Trek Ship Construction Sheet by Robert M. Elder |
| This spreadsheet is designed around the FASA Starship Construction Manual and can make most of the ships found in the various Ship Recognition Manuals. I say most of the ships because it appears that FASA did not follow their own construction rules to make many of the ships found in those publications. (go figure) |
| It should be noted that the Master Control Panel (MCP) has a maximum weapon listing of 23 weapons. That's 1 more than the original MCP could list, (22) but less than the most number of weapons found on the Defense Stations (24-33) or ships like the Galaxy Class Enterprise 1701-D. (which has 43) Current limitations of space make these impossible to build with this program. I fully implemented the Calculation code to allow for up to 49 weapons, but the space was simply not available to show them on the MCP. Maybe in a version 3.0 re-write. |
| Note that the MCP is the only sheet really meant to be printed. This Info sheet may also be printed, as well as the Version History sheet. The Ship Data sheet may also be printed, but requires legal paper. (8 1/2 x 14) It's designed for data entry, not for display. |
| Here are several notes about the Starship Construction Manual, Ship Recognition Manuals, and starship construction in general… |
| - I was able to reverse-engineer the WDF calculation within a reasonable accuracy. (3% margin of error) A few weapons were found to be off by more than 3%, (-27% to +41%) but I assume those to be typos and mathmatical errors. The equation is: |
| WDF = (Average Damage x Maximum Range x Average To-hit) / 16.75 |
| (Beam Weapons) Average Damage = ( (+3 range x (max power +3) ) + (+2 range x (max power +2) ) + |
| (+1 range x (max power +1) ) + (no bonus range x max power) ) / Maximum Range |
| (Plasma Bolts) Average Damage = Sum of damage at all ranges / Maximum Range |
| Average To-hit = (Sum of To-hit targets by Firing Chart / Maximum Range) / 10 |
| Enveloping weapons (Plasma Bolts) multiply their WDF by 1.2; Accelerator Cannons divide their WDF by 2 |
| - I was also able to reverse-engineer the DPC, WER, and IER values, though they also showed slight drift in mathematical error. (probably due to rounding errors) The equations are as follows: |
| DPC = ( ( Max Shield Power x 1.43 ) rounded to the nearest whole number / Shield Efficiency Rating ) rounded to the nearest 0.5 |
| WER = ( Warp Power Units Available x 1.43 ) / ( Movement Point Ratio ) rounded to the nearest 0.5 |
| IER = ( Impulse Power Units Available x 1.43 ) / ( Movement Point Ratio ) rounded to the nearest 0.5 |
| - The calculation to determine banked weapons seem to vary based on race and weapon type. However, the basic equation remains the same. Simply multiply the base Superstructure Requirement by the constant for that weapon type. Here are the constants: |
| Federation Lasers - 2.0 Phasers - 1.5 Klingon Disrupters - 2.0 Romulan Disrupters - 1.5 Orion Disrupters - 1.65 Gorn Blasters - 1.87 |
| - Vessels with a cloaking device all increase their WDF by 50%. Though in the Ship Construction Manual, only Romulan weapons list the increase, I have included the calculation to increase the WDF for all weapons if a cloaking device is included on the vessel. |
| - Also concerning cloaking devices, the cost, computer requirement, and power requirement for them is now based on a calculation that closely emulates the Cloaking Device Types table. There are variations in the absolute values, but quite close. The calculation permits cloaking devices for any class of ship and allows for advances in technology. The calculation is as follows: Type is the 'Generation' of the device... i.e. Type 1 is first generation (the earliest model of cloak) and class is the Ship's class size. |
| Power Requirement = ( ( 4.5 - ( ( 1- (1 / Type) ) x3 ) ) x class ) - 1 |
| Rounding the ones digit to the nearest 0, 2, 5, or 8… minimum of 5 |
| Computer Requirement (minimum WDF) = ( ( Power Requirement - 3 ) x Type ) rounded to the nearest whole number |
| Cost = ( ( ( Type -1 ) x 1400 ) + 1000 ) x Power Requirement |
| - Multiracial systems are permited by using a given computer's WDF rating as it's overall computing power. Thus, an M-2, ZD-5, Mark IV, and 1DG are all considered to be equally powerful. (all have 40 WDF) So a given piece of hardware, like a FWD-1 warp drive which requires an M-2, will work equally well with any of the previously mentioned computer systems, regardless of it's origin. |
| - The optional Torpedoes Remaining Track on the right side of the MCP is my own idea to add a bit of preasure in campaigns. (and emphisizes the importance of supply ships) In essence, 1/30th of the weight of the launcher are the actual torpedoes and thier warheads. The calculation I derived for determining the number of torps per launcher is as follows: |
| Torps = ( ( weapon mass / 30 ) x 1000 ) / ( ( Damage x Kg per Damage point ) + Base Projectile Weight ) rounded down |
| Kg per Damage point: Antimatter Torp. - 10kg Nuclear Warhead - 20 kg Explosive - 100kg |
| Quantum Torp. - 5 kg (est.) Tri-Cobolt Missile - 5 kg (est.) |
| Base Projectile Weights: |
| Federation Torps - 300 kg Acc. Cannons - 800 kg Klingon Torps - 500 kg Romulan Torps - 250 Gorn Torps - 600 kg |
| - The weight and cost system for the Crew and Shuttlecraft systems are also my design. The crew recommendations follow the rules from the Ship Construction Manual, with a few tweaks of my own. Assigning more crew than the system recomends adds weight and cost to the ship design. (but we're only talking about a few tons) More shuttlecraft than recomended also adds weight... 500 mt per shuttle over recomended to be specific. The equations to determine recommended crew and shuttlecraft are: |
| Crew = Ship's weight / Racial Constant by ship's class x Ship Type Modifier x Sub-type Modifier |
| Shuttlecraft = Crew / Ship Type constant |
| - The Ship Type Constant for shuttlecraft varries from type to type. Shuttlecraft, Warpshuttles, Yachts, Corvettes, Cutters, Gunboats, Couriors, and all vessels less than Class IV all default to zero. Essentialy, it's the number of shuttles per Crewmember. (passengers and troops count as 1/10th their number) |
| - The transporter systems add weight and cost, but are very small compared to most other systems. You'll only ever notice the weight on very small ships, like class I vessels, or if you pack rediculous numbers of them onboard. All transporters have a certain weight depending on type. |
| Standard Personal - 1/6 ton per pad Compact - 1/4 ton per pad Emergency - 1/20 ton per pad |
| Combat - 1/10 ton per pad Small Cargo - 1/2 ton per SCU Large Cargo - 1/4 ton per SCU † |
| - If any transporter is installed, 50 tons is added to the ship's weight per 4 transporters (or any fraction thereof) installed to account for the weight of the Targeting scanners and the Emitter Pad Array on the exterior of the ship. † Large Cargo transporters count as 2 transporters when figuring this number. The exception is if the only transporter installed is the Compact transporter type. Those systems include the weight of miniturized versions of this added hardware. |
| - Cost for transporters is a little complex. The following applies to all transporter types except the Compact Transporter. |
| Cost = ( # of rooms x 2 MCr ) + ( # of Emitter Pad Arrays x 5 MCr ) + ( tonnage of transporter rooms x 1 MCr ) |
| Compact Transporter Cost = ( # of rooms x 10 MCr ) + ( tonnage of Compact transporters x 10 MCr ) |
| - It should be noted that the information in many FASA resources appears to be inconsistant with their own construction rules. I have attempted to modify the rules to allow as many ship designs as possible, however the vessel weights as listed are almost never right. Of signifigant note are Space stations and Facilities. I tried to create rule adjustments to allow for their listed weight, but they appear to not employ any logical patterns. I can only assume that FASA just hacked them together and put in weights that "sounded right." Therefore, you can design them with this program, (remembering the 23 weapon limitation) but the weight and class will be wrong. |
| - The Componant date system is very simple. Just list the stardate that an individual componant became available for use and the item on the Ship Data page will display the highest value of the componants installed. This will tell you the soonest stardate that the design could have possibly been built. |
| - The Tholian Plasma Disruptor needs a little explination. There are 2 power settings for each type, low and high. At low power the attacker has a choice to hit a target for damage or to attack it's power grids. If Damage is selected then the weapon does the stated damage to the facing shield arc. (so TD-10 will do 10 damage, a TD-20 will do 20, and a TD-15 will do 15) If power systems are attacked, the defender must roll against their Chief Engineer's Astronautics skill to avoid the damage being directly applied to the power grid. (default skill is a 60) Power system attacks ignore shields. If set to high power, the weapon does both types of attacks. |
| Star Trek™ is the property of Paramount™ and is used here without permission. No infringement nor claim to materials is intended, nor should any be inferred. Ship Construction Manual and Ship Recognition Manual were products of FASA's Star Trek RPG and Starship Tactical Combat Simulator. Both products are out of print. Derivative work here is mine alone and not the product of any other's effort. Don't even think about suing me, because I'm poor as a church mouse and you'd never get a dime... so there! |
Last Updated on 12/07/05
By Robert Elder
Email: robm1973@sbcglobal.net