I've liked that uniform from the moment it showed up here on Nexus. Never got around to doing what you just did - so thank you for that! If I may, though, I am curious about some of the choices you made. I have detailed comments below, but please take them only as suggestions, not demands. I am a retired USN veteran, so I might have a few insights to recommend, if you are open to it. If not, just ignore me, no worries.
A. Sarah- CPT, CMD - This makes total sense. No issues here.
B. Vlad- CDR, OPS - This would, with your current setup, mean that Vlad is the second ranking member of Constellation. I agree with OPS, but not sure that he should be the number two. Noel makes more sense for this, as she also seems to be the one handling things at the Lodge while Sarah is out doing things, whereas Vlad never really leaves the Eye. I would recommend leaving as OPS, but putting at LT instead.
C. Barrett- LCDR, CMD - Rank is fine here, but given he's a field agent, primarily, OPS makes more sense to me. Recommend LCDR, OPS.
D. Sam- LT, OPS - Sam seems to be placed in a position where he is on parity with Barret in terms of responsibilities. After all, he IS in charge of the Akila City operations (even if only because he kinda has to be). That being the case, recommend LCDR, OPS.
E. Andreja- ENS, SCI - Honestly, this is the one that REALLY prompted the comment here. Why Science? She is a trained combatant, a field operative. I can see not having her rank be lower - she is the newest of the members by far, as I understand it, but nothing I've seen suggests she should be in the Sciences realm. Recomment LT, OPS.
F. Noel- Ensign, CMD - See above comments about Vlad. Recommend CDR, CMD.
G. Walter- ENLISTED, OPS - Walter's position seems very akin to that of the Supply Officer. Having him be a crewman just doesn't seem right to me. OPS is the closest match, so agree on that, but recommend LTJG (ENS if there isn't... I don't recall), OPS.
H. Matteo- ENLISTED, SCI - This makes the most sence, apart from not wanting any of the core members of the group to be enlisted - that really should be saved for the ship's crew that the PC hires in game, IMO. Recommend ENS, SCI.
Again, take it or not - just some thoughts looking at this. Thrilled, thought, that this is out there now. Thanks for sharing, and for the work involved.
Yeah, I'm also close to what your thinking. But I also use Constellation Fleet Uniforms Expanded which opens up more possibilities of different divisions within Constellation. See my previous post on what I use myself on my playthrough (Also not a demand or request or anything. Just something I give my constellation members manually via console commands).
I have this whole table set up to how I would redistribute the rank and division assignments once everyone is recruited and assigned to my ship. I assigned them this way so I can have a somewhat equal amount of crew at each main division of Command, Ops, and Sci, and an increasing number of crewmembers for each rank. And a nice and equal mix of of Pants and Skirts uniform style for each rank and each department:
I will take that into consideration. I wanted the different divisions to all be present so my crew and Constellation were not just comprised of a bunch of ops people. That is why Andreja is in the science division. The reason Vlad is second in command is because he has the whole eye to take care of, however I do see what you mean about Noel being a better fit for second. This is just a simple ESM edit that was done through xEdit so if you know how to use that please feel free to update this and I will even post it as an optional file for those who don't like the rank structure I put up. I'm not military so I dont' know how all this works sadly.
I also put Andreja as Science division apart from balancing the different divisions in Constellation, the official Andreja | Starfield Wiki specifies Andreja's role as "Astronomer and Navigator" Which compared to the others' roles, would probably fit more with the Science division. But anyone is free to interpret the best uniform for her of course.
I hadn't decided on all the companions just the main ones. Sarah was Science Commander Barrett Science Lt. Commander Vladimir Science Lt. Commander Noel Science Lieutenant (Skirt) Sam Operations Lt. Commander Andreja Operations Lt. Commander Matteo Faith Lt. Commander Walter Finance Lt. Commander Cora Student (unranked, Skirt) - Requires kids wear armor mod and still has small issue with back of her neck Adoring Fan Student (Unranked, Skirt)
Absolutely fair, @MichaelOliver. No complaints from me - as I said, sharing some opinions, nothing more.
If I do decide to make the variation I was talking about, I will likely share with you. I have a few mods out there, but I don't do the Donation Points thing, so have to real issue with posting variations like this for other people. I'll get back to you... need to see how simple the process is first.
To quote Scott Manley - "Fly Safe".
@NeoKing
Navigation is part of the Operations Department. Astronomer could be Sciences, but Navigator is very much Operations. On further thinking, though, Vlad might be better as Sciences than in Operations... thinking on what he does - coordinate Surveys, chart positions of signals, etc. - that sounds more Sciency than Operational. I might make him Sciences instead, which would also keep the balance you were referring to, if you felt the need.
Barret and Noel should be Sci, as they are named as scientists in-game.
Sam and Andreja I always imagined as security-equivalent with their experience and pre-constellation activities. So, Ops I guess?
If Sarah goes with you through the Unity, Vlad takes over as chair. So Vlad and Sarah, Com.
If you're using Uniforms Expanded there are finance and religion options, otherwise I don't think Stroud and Matteo should have uniforms. Stroud is just the financier, and the chaplain (Matteo) doesn't usually wear a uniform.
You know what, after playing the game a bit more. You might be right. Barrett should be SCI. And Andreja being taking the role of Security would be suited for OPS.
But I'm still in-between whether to choose Sam as COM or OPS. He's a pilot so he's basically a captain of his own ship as well. So, I'm inclined to have him towards COM. As do the entire of my crew that has piloting skills like Moara, Amelia, Erick, all are given COM departments. But I did assign Sam as OPS before as well. So hmm.. decisions decisions...
If I hadn't already outfitted my entire crew, named and unnamed companions in the Fleet uniforms already I would have definitely used this as a quick n easy method to get that "Federation" feel in Starfield. The way I achieved it required a lot more work on my end and several more mods to get there :) Excellent idea and love to see more Trek stuff working its way into Starfield.
Very nice I was going to work on something like this after my fleet uniforms expanded mod but work has been kicking my ass. IMO my mods permissions are open and I believe the original mod is as well why not in a future update make this an AIO with a link back to the original mods.
I always love your expanded mod. I really wish we can have even higher rankings for each department uniforms like Fleet Admiral, Admiral, Vice Admiral, Rear Admiral, and Commodore all with the pips contained within a square outline. I'm just not that good with the texturing and creating the standalone uniform for them.
The US Coast Guard is a great example. We treat them as a military entity in a lot of ways, but they are part of the Dept. of Homeland Security. They aren't military, they are maritime police. They can arrest people, cite them for violations of maritime law, etc. The military cannot do that. Even so, they do use the USN military rank structure and in many ways act like a military body, but they are not. Unless we actually go to war, that is... in which case, they shift over to Department of Defense management.
Police use a military-ish system for this as well. I know you meant it as a joke, but it might be something that somebody is actually thinking, so it is important to note this distinction. Just because you are using military-ish ranks doesn't mean they use it for anything other than a seniority system... though, admittedly, as small as Constellation is at the beginning of each playthough, it isn't likely something needed. On the other hand... wearing a uniform does promote a sense of Unity.
Even in civilian world ranks are also in place, although we might call it differently. Like at a corporate level, you have Directors, then you have Managers, and then you have Supervisors, and then Employee, and then Intern. These are hierarchical ranks where one answers to the other higher-ranking position. This is the same thing.
Finally, a well needed mod ever since the Fleet uniform mod was released. Now the Constellation members look like they're a proper organisation. Thanks for the mod and really well done.
You'd have to forgive me that I won't be installing this mod because I already manually assign the members their uniform using console commands. So, I just mix and match to what I think they should be wearing. And I also use the Constellation Fleet Uniforms Expanded mod as well to make them in the following outfit:
Sarah = Captain - Com (Skirt) Walter = Captain - Finance (Pants) Noel = Captain - Sci (Skirt) Matteo = Captain - Faith (Pants) Vladimir = Captain - Ops (Pants) Barrett = Commander - Ops (Pants) Sam = Commander - Com (Pants) Andreja = Commander - Sci (Skirt) Cora = Ensign - Student (Skirt)
I use those high ranks because when I captain my own ship, Sarah would be given a demotion with a Commander outfit, and every other named crew member that I recruited would have the lower rank. So permanent Constellation members are always the highest ranks and everyone else I recruited are lower ranks underneath them. Anyone with Body Type 2 will have skirts uniform, anyone with Body Type 1 will have pants. But this is just subjective to me. Not to criticise or give feedback on your mod or anything.
"Sarah would be given a demotion with a Commander outfit"
From a military customs point of view, this would be incorrect. She would still retain the RANK of Captain, but would be referred to as Commodore (given that she is, in essence, a Squadron Commander). There is only one Captain on a ship, positionally, and I agree that she would not be called "Captain"... that said, she would not be demoted (even if only in name).
I agree with you. To be honest, I would give her the rank Fleet Admiral (with 5 pips and a square covering them). But sadly, we don't have that rank uniform in the original mod. So I have to make do with what we have. No way both of us would be wearing 4 pips, and both under the same command division colours.
Besides Sarah's last rank in the UC Navy was Commander. So I kinda thought it's still fitting.
If I had my way, I would have the following ranks for the permanent Constellation members that cannot be recruited as crew aboard your ship, and for Sarah:
Sarah = Fleet Admiral - Com (Skirt) Walter = Admiral - Finance (Pants) Noel = Vice Admiral - Sci (Skirt) Vladimir = Rear Admiral - Ops (Pants) Matteo = Commodore - Faith (Pants)
Sadly we don't have those ranks in the uniform mod, that's why I just use whatever we have into that list in my original post.
23 comments
A. Sarah- CPT, CMD - This makes total sense. No issues here.
B. Vlad- CDR, OPS - This would, with your current setup, mean that Vlad is the second ranking member of Constellation. I agree with OPS, but not sure that he should be the number two. Noel makes more sense for this, as she also seems to be the one handling things at the Lodge while Sarah is out doing things, whereas Vlad never really leaves the Eye. I would recommend leaving as OPS, but putting at LT instead.
C. Barrett- LCDR, CMD - Rank is fine here, but given he's a field agent, primarily, OPS makes more sense to me. Recommend LCDR, OPS.
D. Sam- LT, OPS - Sam seems to be placed in a position where he is on parity with Barret in terms of responsibilities. After all, he IS in charge of the Akila City operations (even if only because he kinda has to be). That being the case, recommend LCDR, OPS.
E. Andreja- ENS, SCI - Honestly, this is the one that REALLY prompted the comment here. Why Science? She is a trained combatant, a field operative. I can see not having her rank be lower - she is the newest of the members by far, as I understand it, but nothing I've seen suggests she should be in the Sciences realm. Recomment LT, OPS.
F. Noel- Ensign, CMD - See above comments about Vlad. Recommend CDR, CMD.
G. Walter- ENLISTED, OPS - Walter's position seems very akin to that of the Supply Officer. Having him be a crewman just doesn't seem right to me. OPS is the closest match, so agree on that, but recommend LTJG (ENS if there isn't... I don't recall), OPS.
H. Matteo- ENLISTED, SCI - This makes the most sence, apart from not wanting any of the core members of the group to be enlisted - that really should be saved for the ship's crew that the PC hires in game, IMO. Recommend ENS, SCI.
Again, take it or not - just some thoughts looking at this. Thrilled, thought, that this is out there now. Thanks for sharing, and for the work involved.
Sarah was Science Commander
Barrett Science Lt. Commander
Vladimir Science Lt. Commander
Noel Science Lieutenant (Skirt)
Sam Operations Lt. Commander
Andreja Operations Lt. Commander
Matteo Faith Lt. Commander
Walter Finance Lt. Commander
Cora Student (unranked, Skirt) - Requires kids wear armor mod and still has small issue with back of her neck
Adoring Fan Student (Unranked, Skirt)
If I do decide to make the variation I was talking about, I will likely share with you. I have a few mods out there, but I don't do the Donation
Points thing, so have to real issue with posting variations like this for other people. I'll get back to you... need to see how simple the
process is first.
To quote Scott Manley - "Fly Safe".
@NeoKing
Navigation is part of the Operations Department. Astronomer could be Sciences, but Navigator is very much Operations. On further thinking, though, Vlad might be better as Sciences than in Operations... thinking on what he does - coordinate Surveys, chart positions of signals, etc. - that sounds more Sciency than Operational. I might make him Sciences instead, which would also keep the balance you were referring to, if you felt the need.
Sam and Andreja I always imagined as security-equivalent with their experience and pre-constellation activities. So, Ops I guess?
If Sarah goes with you through the Unity, Vlad takes over as chair. So Vlad and Sarah, Com.
If you're using Uniforms Expanded there are finance and religion options, otherwise I don't think Stroud and Matteo should have uniforms. Stroud is just the financier, and the chaplain (Matteo) doesn't usually wear a uniform.
Barrett should be SCI. And Andreja being taking the role of Security would be suited for OPS.
But I'm still in-between whether to choose Sam as COM or OPS. He's a pilot so he's basically a captain of his own ship as well. So, I'm inclined to have him towards COM. As do the entire of my crew that has piloting skills like Moara, Amelia, Erick, all are given COM departments. But I did assign Sam as OPS before as well. So hmm.. decisions decisions...
Jokes aside, looking great! I also love the uniforms but I will not force my crew of free thinkers into a military ranking system ;-)
The US Coast Guard is a great example. We treat them as a military entity in a lot of ways, but they are part of the Dept. of Homeland Security. They aren't military, they are maritime police. They can arrest people, cite them for violations of maritime law, etc. The military cannot do that. Even so, they do use the USN military rank structure and in many ways act like a military body, but they are not. Unless we actually go to war, that is... in which case, they shift over to Department of Defense management.
Police use a military-ish system for this as well. I know you meant it as a joke, but it might be something that somebody is actually thinking, so it is important to note this distinction. Just because you are using military-ish ranks doesn't mean they use it for anything other than a seniority system... though, admittedly, as small as Constellation is at the beginning of each playthough, it isn't likely something needed. On the other hand... wearing a uniform does promote a sense of Unity.
You'd have to forgive me that I won't be installing this mod because I already manually assign the members their uniform using console commands. So, I just mix and match to what I think they should be wearing. And I also use the Constellation Fleet Uniforms Expanded mod as well to make them in the following outfit:
Sarah = Captain - Com (Skirt)
Walter = Captain - Finance (Pants)
Noel = Captain - Sci (Skirt)
Matteo = Captain - Faith (Pants)
Vladimir = Captain - Ops (Pants)
Barrett = Commander - Ops (Pants)
Sam = Commander - Com (Pants)
Andreja = Commander - Sci (Skirt)
Cora = Ensign - Student (Skirt)
I use those high ranks because when I captain my own ship, Sarah would be given a demotion with a Commander outfit, and every other named crew member that I recruited would have the lower rank. So permanent Constellation members are always the highest ranks and everyone else I recruited are lower ranks underneath them. Anyone with Body Type 2 will have skirts uniform, anyone with Body Type 1 will have pants. But this is just subjective to me. Not to criticise or give feedback on your mod or anything.
From a military customs point of view, this would be incorrect. She would still retain the RANK of Captain, but would be referred to as Commodore (given that she is, in essence, a Squadron Commander). There is only one Captain on a ship, positionally, and I agree that she would not be called "Captain"... that said, she would not be demoted (even if only in name).
Besides Sarah's last rank in the UC Navy was Commander. So I kinda thought it's still fitting.
Sarah = Fleet Admiral - Com (Skirt)
Walter = Admiral - Finance (Pants)
Noel = Vice Admiral - Sci (Skirt)
Vladimir = Rear Admiral - Ops (Pants)
Matteo = Commodore - Faith (Pants)
Sadly we don't have those ranks in the uniform mod, that's why I just use whatever we have into that list in my original post.