Those of you that have been following the progress of Star Trek Online may know that the game is set some 30 years in the future from Nemesis.
The developers intend to fill in the gaps for every year from Nemesis to STO with a future history cribbed from the shows and novels and their own stuff.
Their first installment came out a couple of days ago.
Wasn't one of the BIG problems with the TNG-era was that the tech was insanely too advanced for adventuring. (Everything, literally, could be done for you with a voice command?) Why put this game 30 years PAST that period? Seems problematic.
Also, read the history... anyone of any importance for the next thirty years just HAPPENS to be a fan favorite character for the TNG - VOY shows. There's a shock.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Plus, as usual, the human race s unchanged, despite interactions with countles alien cultures, technologies and religions and philosiphies....
You'd expect at least some level of societial alteration.
Posted by Wes (Member # 212) on :
This is supposed to bridge the universe we know with the Star Trek Online universe, which will rarely feature our "hero" characters.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Shouldn't this go in the Creativity forum with the other fan fiction? This reads a bit like the timeline we created for Renaissance. Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
They've revealed some new ship designs. Looks like one of them is Sovvie Refit, but they keep acting like its an entirely new design.
quote:Originally posted by Mars Needs Women: They've revealed some new ship designs. Looks like one of them is Sovvie Refit, but they keep acting like its an entirely new design.
To me, I'm not so much concerned with the fact that the NX-91001 looks a lot like a Sovereign.
My problem with it is, every time I look at it, I'm forced to mumble to myself, "Why? Why in the name of all that's holy would you put that fugly rollbar there?"
What's new to me is that customization pic. If there's one thing I've learned from City of Heroes, it's that Cryptic is awesome at customization, and I'm betting that's just the tip of the iceberg at to what we can do.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
That customization animation reminds me of Starship Creator but with better graphics. Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Starfleet faces it's greatest threat: design stagnation.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Starfleet faces it's greatest threat: design stagnation.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Flare faces its greatest threat: double posting.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Out of curiosity, does anyone here have the slightest intention of playing this game?
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Nope.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I might check it out, but I'm not exactly looking to sink time and money into a black hole like a MMORPG...
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
It sounds like it'll be interesting to play for a while, but I've seen how my friends get sucked into WoW and I don't want to end up like that. It'll probably come down to how much money and free time I have when it comes out.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
Fail. unless this game can BEAT the PrC Blizzard Juggernaut, this will be doomed to fail (fail being a little as the #2 MMOMP(sp?) or forgotten in as little as a year from release (Star Wars: Galaxies, anyone?)
but no game will beat Wow for the forseeable future. Not with what $ they put into it (and how much hand-over-fisting Blizzard gets...) I'm surprised my beloved DDO still is active (even though where i live, i haven't seen a DDO game box on display in years)
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Didn't they have a Matrix MMO not to long ago? You want to talk about epic fail...
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Don't forget the Stargate online game. And friend and I, both SG-1 fans, were discussing this game and trying to figure out how it would work.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I've often thought that the B5 universe would be ideal for one of these games, or better yet, given how well thought out the world is a sandbox RPG. You could play as almost anything from an IPX surveyor, a Ranger, a Psicop, a freelance trader/merc/smuggler, Earthforce officer or just a civilian business person from just about any race.
Actually my "dream" B5 game would have you start off as a Starfury pilot during the Minbari war, survive the battle of the line, leave Earthforce and work as a surveyor out on the rim before being sucked into the events of the Shadow War and becoming a Ranger. The gameplay would be somewhere along the lines of "Beyond Good and Evil" with degrees of free roaming and side-quests between missions.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Oooohh, I like the idea of a B5 game! You're right, the diversity of characters would make things quite interesting!
And that's the same reason why I don't really get this Trek RPG. Sure there's a big variety of races and planets, but there's not exactly a great diversity in roles? Who's going to want to be the junior relief science officer on the night shift, anyway?
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
That is one of the biggest flaws of the Star Trek universe is that it's been made up as it went along, so there's little or no connective tissue and next to no idea how the societies actually work, at least (ironically) from a human standpoint. No money, war, poverty or disease and a "more evolved sensibility" sounds all well and good, but they've never really gotten into how it would actually work. I think the DS9 writers were the only ones to even take a stab at it and even they struggled with the concept.
B5 is simple in that thing work more or less how they do now. You want to go to Mars? You have to buy a ticket. You need money? Get a job. You want to travel through a jumpgate? You have to pay a toll. Dock at a station? Docking fees, customs and you'll probably have to rent a room. Visit another world? You'll need a visa. Want to survey a new planet? You'll have to buy the jumpgate codes from the corporation that owns them. On top of that, JMS has sketched things out to such a point that you can drop a character at any point in the timeline for a thousand years in either direction and you have a good idea as to what's going on.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: Actually my "dream" B5 game would have you start off as a Starfury pilot during the Minbari war, survive the battle of the line, leave Earthforce and work as a surveyor out on the rim before being sucked into the events of the Shadow War and becoming a Ranger. The gameplay would be somewhere along the lines of "Beyond Good and Evil" with degrees of free roaming and side-quests between missions.
I think it would be more interesting if you chose what side you wanted. Either on Earthforce side or ISA side.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
You mean as a human that stayed loyal to Clark, or as a Minbari?
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Okay, wow. That ship is all kinds of messed up.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
*Vomits...* That's better. I'm wiping that ship from my memory now. Why would you take a ship like the Miranda, which already has limited space, and make it more limited by making the saucer hollow in places?
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
Looks like it has a magnetic hull and attracts pieces of (s)crap.
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
Fun in the comments section
"are the cryptic designers now 24/7 drunk?"
At least they didn't ruin the Klingon ship, even if the design is hundreds of years old by that time period.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
John Eaves has made about ten "new" Starfleet vessels for the game, and they only reinforce my opinion about his unimaginative, time-periodless designs that all look the same. Even his Iowa and Tahoe class ships are just Eavesified versions of the Sabre and Intrepid classes, and one of the classes looks like a giant peace symbol. Don't even get me started on this uber-Miranda.
And I just found another reason to dislike Eaves: The producers were going to build a new model for the Enterprise-B in Generations, and Eaves persuaded them to reuse the Excelsior!
(Actually, the truth is that John Eaves is an extremely talented artist and designer, much more than I could ever be. I just wish all his stuff didn't look the same).
As for the Klingon Raptor, somebody probably just said "this design is way too good just to be sitting around not being used in anything other than that shitty Enterprise show." And they're right. And, thanks to Eaves, the ship fits right in in the 25th century, 300 years after it was supposedly built.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I tend to agree. Eaves is from a technically standpoint a superb draughtsman, but his imagination in the realms of fictional starship design is chronically one tracked.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mars Needs Women: SUPER MIRANDA!!!
Not even gonna clip-art THAT piece of shit.
is the federation that fucked up that you build retreads of old designs? Not that it isn't logical, mind you, but 3 year-olds playing with thier feces could make better designs/refits...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: I tend to agree. Eaves is from a technically standpoint a superb draughtsman, but his imagination in the realms of fictional starship design is chronically one tracked.
Now now, he's at least as subject to the (idiotic) whims of the directors/producers as any other designer. Eaves' designs for Insurrection were very good and what did they do? They made him turn the (very cool looking) Holoship into a brick, cram the Captain's Yacht into the torpedo launcher and then rendered the Son'A command ship flying backward.
I recall Probert being pissed that he had to add those "fins" to the ends of the Connie Refit's nacelles.
But the man also has some pretty bad designs (mostly from Nemesis) to go with his very cool ones (Dominion and their allies).
That "Super Miranda" is indeed a steaming turd: is the outer hull supposed to be lopsidede or are they going for some cartoonish look?
A real lack of originality there.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
Okay, so the ship designs thus far haven't been inspiring, but character creation is looking pretty good.
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
Although someone on Trekmovie complained it was harking back to mashed potato on people's foreheads (or something along those lines), I think it looks really encouraging. And I'm sure they'll let you make more unusual and adventurous aliens once the movie comes out and they see the Star Warsy aliens that can now be included in the dressing up box.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
What the hell? A Founder and a Vorta in Starfleet?
Posted by Josh (Member # 1884) on :
Kind of disappointing to see that the create your own alien mode is bound by the infamous skin/ears/forehead rules of ST alien of the week designs
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
quote:Originally posted by Fabrux: What the hell? A Founder and a Vorta in Starfleet?
I saw the Vorta, but where do you see a Founder?
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Between the Vulcan and the Trill.
Posted by Josh (Member # 1884) on :
When you think about it the character creation tool is kind of like a Founder
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
If you choose a Founder, can you become other races/species/genders?
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Technically you should be able to become anything you want, from smoke to fish to lamp posts, which means it's probably not a good idea to include founders as playable characters.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
yeah....I'd keep turning into fire (no idea how the fuck that works).
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
New shots released, one of the Miranda. I have to say I like the color scheme. The mixing of black, grey and white surfaces freshens up the design. Also, this Miranda has a conventional rollbar, it seems to be customizable. The pod in the earlier screenshot looks like it's from the Akira-class.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
What a completely unoriginal design.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
They've also shown a ship that looks like a modified Cardassian freighter(the Groumall).
Posted by Galaxy (Member # 2144) on :
I've got to say, while I was somewhat intrigued when they first announced the development of this game (long before its various troubles), the more I see of it, the less impressed I become. That said, ship designs in Star Trek have been increasingly off-putting for me, particularly once we entered the Enterprise-E era, so I shouldn't be entirely surprised.
I guess I was particularly naive in hoping for the game to be set during TMP era though. Back to Klingon Academy for me...
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
Been a while since anything's been added to this thread.
Oslo Class - Looks like a cross between an Akira and a Norway. I was never a fan of the Norway in the first place, so I'm not particularly thrilled about this one either. Still, I like it a little better than the Sovereign-wannabe-with-fugly-rollbar from earlier.
Excalibur Class - Pretty much the Constitution done in late-24th Century style (heck, the description says as much). Again, not terribly original, but I think this is my favorite STO class yet.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
quote:Oslo Class - Looks like a cross between an Akira and a Norway.
Oslo class. Norway class. I'm sure there's a connection here, no matter how vague.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
That Excalibur class is assinine- it's only 350 meters long with Nova nacelles and a very "Connie Refit" torp launcher. WHY would starfleet designs go backwards 100 years? I cant see it as anything but the "Nostalgia class".
Also, those two rows of dorsal windows dont work on a saucer that small- not unless it's very convex.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I dunno, I don't see why every ship has to be ridiculously huge. Seems to me the Excalibur fits basically the same role as the Intrepid.
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
At least it doesn't look exactly like a previous design but with extra fins or a hideous, out of place rollbar.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
It looks like a serious attempt to modernize the Constitution class, even says so in the bio. Any other views? I'd very much like to see the Stargazer class with that design kit, with Connie photon tubes in both nacelle axles, like the studio model had.
Posted by Mirror-Amasov (Member # 742) on :
I like the idea, but the whole design lineage of ST:O is so completely redundant and boring. I think it started with the Defiant and her multi-colored hull plates and got worse with the designs of ships like the Intrepid or Sovereign. And this is the epitome. Too sleek, to modern (as in 'beginning of 21st century modern'). I love Probert's and Sternbach's E-D lineage (the Nebula and all of that). Same for TOS or TMP era. Now that was something truly original. It looked much cooler than these arguably designed-to-look-cool-ships they come up with today.
Still, I like the idea of havin a 24th century Constitution. Starship designs seem to be totally arbitrary anyway. There is no reason why the nacelles should be above or below the saucer, how many it should have, should the pylons be short, long, curved or whether there should be a neck and so on. But, without any doubt, the classic Constitution design is one of the best. Ever. So why the hell not?
Posted by Wes (Member # 212) on :
I think a lot of you are reading too far into the default designs of these ships. According to the dev interviews, ships will be so changeable and refit-able, that you could take something like say, the new Oslo class, and make it look almost completely different. It's rare you'll see the default configuration in this game.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mirror-Amasov: Still, I like the idea of havin a 24th century Constitution.
So why not just give us a real Connie. If you look at the screenshots page, the Centaur is in the game. If that ship still exists in the 25th Century, why not the Connie, even if it didn't appear in the TNG series (except for that Wolf 359 wreckage).
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Sure- we should suggest to the US Navy that they send the USS America out on patrol to intercept North Korean weapons shipping.
The America is a wooden sloop design, over 100 years old, but it still floats so why not, right?
That's the same reasoning as having a Conie refit serving alongside a Soverign or later design.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Yeah, but she'll have the Merrimac and the Monitor as escort. Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
That's the Virginia and the Monitor ya no account Yankee dog! But it makes the point- just because a vessel is sea (or space) worthy does not garner it a place in a modern navy (or Starfleet, in this case).
Just look at what cannon fodder those poor Mirandas were- Starfleet probbaly was desperate enough to re-commission old ships by the time of DS9:SOA, having lost entire fleets of what we can assume were frontline ships.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Bra-less tight fitting leather jumpsuits are apparently the way of the future. I'd mock this, but when I think about the mini skirts in TOS it's not as laughable.
Posted by shikaru808 (Member # 2080) on :
I must have this game.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Jesus fuck....that's lowest common denominator marketing at it's finest. Expect that as an ad in Maxim- right along ads for Axe bodyspray and other crap marketed to teenage boys.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
How illogical.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Pictures of Vulcan chicks with breasts as large as their heads wearing an unzipped wet-suit is not about logic.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Oh, I agree. I was commenting about the picture, not about your comment. Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
So I picked up the issue of PC Gamer today.
The article itself chronicles the two writers playing through an "episode", the Star Trek Online equivalent of a quest or mission. It's a time-travel episode involving the Guardian of Forever, Miral Paris, and some old Klingon guy out to alter history. Sounds pretty good.
The pictures, though... Wow.
Thus far, my opinion on the STO ships has ranged from thinking them fugly to thinking them unimaginative. Not anymore. There's a picture at the top of Page 45 showing six possible ways to customize a Constellation by swapping out saucers, pylons, and nacelles. I gotta say it: each one of the variants is gorgeous.
Page 49 has some artwork of four sample crewmembers. The second character, a doctor, is wearing a uniform variant that looks very much like it might be a precursor to 29th Century uniforms.
The bottom of Pages 50 and 51 has models of various species from the game. Of particular note is a Bajoran wearing a mirror universe uniform, and a Gorn that looks way better than the one from Enterprise.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Could you scan some pics of the Constellations for us?
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
CC edit: EVERY TIME YOU BREAK A TABLE, I KILL A REDSHIRT. PLEASE, WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE REDSHIRTS!?
[ August 20, 2009, 06:33 PM: Message edited by: Charles Capps ]
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Oooo, Cheyenne-class!
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Wow, that magazine needs a copyeditor bad. Not only did they misspell "nacelles", but they also should've said Cheyenne.
Still, those pics are awesome. I just might end up checking out this game.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I'd go with the middle-left saucer and the bottom-left nacelles.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
What's up with the diffrent color striping and panels on those- one has red stuff, another green?
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
User customization, surely. The top-left and bottom-left saucers are the same design, but with different markings. It's a good idea, I'd jump at the chance to design an Excelsior with all the cutesy turquoise stripes turned black or removed altogether.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
one question is, while those mods actually quate to performance?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
It looks pretty damn cool.... But so did ST: Legacy and I hear that sucks pretty damn badly.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
It fails even at sucking? This is low even for ST-games. Could cause a rift in subspace.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Yeah Legacy did suck. While it looked pretty, it was riddled with bugs and bad controls. Plus the physics were phucked up, with ships moving erraticly like if they were having a stroke. I got a change to play it once, and I played as an Akira. When the ship got to the top of the map it started nose diving like a play that flew to high into the atmosphere. Did the creators even know that most of Star Trek takes place in the near weightlessness of space?
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Ooh! We're bashing Legacy!
Horrible, horrible horrible.
The battle damage looked like a four pointed star that grew bigger everytime you got hit. The warp engines were supposed to fall off if you hit them but they didn't. The targeting controls were so messed up it wouldn't stay with the target you chose. You're little fleet wouldn't do anything unless you switched shps and took manual control. They wouldn't repair themselves unless you took manual control. The multiplayer was broken right out of the box and took months to fix. Try to set up a quick skirmish match and the computer picks all dreadnoughts while you're stuck with a dinky little weiner-ship. While it was cool that the got some of the acual actors to do voice work for the game Capt. Janeway and Sisko got like 3 lines each if even that much.
Makes me glad I pirated the game and didn't pay a single penny for it, although it wasn't even worth the time I wasted on the torrent. Blew it away a week later, and went out and bought X3:Reunion, at least the user-created Star Trek ships for that game were at least half decent looking.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I played a Trek ship sim once, don't remember which, it had a linear weapons layout; if you had a list of four phaser banks and two torpedo tubes, you had to fire the four phaser banks and the first torpedo bank in order to fire the second torpedo tube, you couldn't choose which weapon to fire when.
Just like Mechwarrior 2, every push of the trigger moved the firing icon one row down on the weapon setup list, truly dumb. OK, let's burn up all the long-range missiles on these pesky outlying scout mechs, nothing but medium laserbeams left for the core defenders!
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
you could set your groups, however Nim... at least in MW2Mercs i think you could...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Legacy's screenshots were a fanboy wet-dream- a bunch of FASA designs realised in 3-D! I really REALLY wanted that game not to suck: it seems that it was developed for the X-Box and only adapted for PC as an afterthought- even the printed instructions for certain things are obviously meant for the X-Boxd controller.
Armada 2 is still pretty fun to play....at least it is when I beat my room-mate's ass with those cardie dreadnaught weapons! I've never been able to get of those fucking mods to work though- and they look soo damn cool! Anyone try that?
Posted by shikaru808 (Member # 2080) on :
Armada 2 really was the shit. The latter Starfleet Command series however, sucked just as bad as Legacy did.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nim: I played a Trek ship sim once, don't remember which, it had a linear weapons layout; if you had a list of four phaser banks and two torpedo tubes, you had to fire the four phaser banks and the first torpedo bank in order to fire the second torpedo tube, you couldn't choose which weapon to fire when.
Just like Mechwarrior 2, every push of the trigger moved the firing icon one row down on the weapon setup list, truly dumb. OK, let's burn up all the long-range missiles on these pesky outlying scout mechs, nothing but medium laserbeams left for the core defenders!
You could set your weapons groupings and fire one after another like you said or as a whole group. I haven't played MW2 in so long I almost forget what it was like. I usually liked to separate them into energy weapons, missiles, and ammunition based weapons like the Gauss or Autocannon. Then further dividing them into sub-groups based on range since it's obviously a waste to launch your SRM's with your LRM's when you're trying to hit a target way out of range of the SRMs. For me there was nothing better than putting a pair of AC20's on a jump-jet equipped Timberwolf and doing some close in killing. For fun I would have a Dire Wolf with a couple dozen flamers on it. A single alpha strike with that and you both blow up from massive overheating.
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Legacy's screenshots were a fanboy wet-dream- a bunch of FASA designs realised in 3-D! I really REALLY wanted that game not to suck: it seems that it was developed for the X-Box and only adapted for PC as an afterthought- even the printed instructions for certain things are obviously meant for the X-Boxd controller.
Armada 2 is still pretty fun to play....at least it is when I beat my room-mate's ass with those cardie dreadnaught weapons! I've never been able to get of those fucking mods to work though- and they look soo damn cool! Anyone try that?
You're absolutely right with that Xbox comment, I seem to recall a few times the game would ask you to push the "start" button...WTF!!
I never got a chance to play Armada 2, but there were some decent mods for the original, namely the Millennium Mod IIRC. You just had to try one and hope it wasn't horribly unbalanced, plus the installation procedures weren't exactly user friendly.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
quote:You could set your weapons groupings and fire one after another like you said or as a whole group. I haven't played MW2 in so long I almost forget what it was like. I usually liked to separate them into energy weapons, missiles, and ammunition based weapons like the Gauss or Autocannon. Then further dividing them into sub-groups based on range since it's obviously a waste to launch your SRM's with your LRM's when you're trying to hit a target way out of range of the SRMs. For me there was nothing better than putting a pair of AC20's on a jump-jet equipped Timberwolf and doing some close in killing. For fun I would have a Dire Wolf with a couple dozen flamers on it. A single alpha strike with that and you both blow up from massive overheating.
Well, I'll try and remember that when revisiting MW4, I heard they're going to release it for free.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Hey Jason, you should try a mod called Fleet Ops. You don't need to have Armada 2 installed, just have the CD inserted into your computer and click on the mod installer. Be warned that they've ramped up the difficulty from the stock game, got my ass kicked by the Borg in like 15 minutes on the lowest AI setting. That's why I'll stick with Bridge Commander. Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I'll give it a try- it's the instilation of the mods that i'm somehow messing up. I long for a more difficuly AI- currently I have to have four players against me for a challenge -usually I just take over their instillations and use ther ships/special weapons against the other AI players.
My roommate at least is a sneaky bastard with his cloaked ships- his favorite move is to have a whole cloaked fleet hang just outside the range of my sensors and pounce all at once.
Armada 2 is a great game but no fleet could sustain such casulaties for long.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
Well, this is most certainly a curve ball. Not completely impossible, given "Message in a Bottle", but still... Out of left field.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Well considering the nomadic nature of the Hirogen, it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility. Though I can't seem them being a real threat to Starfleet, more likely a threat to Federation civilians. Though I'm sure the Klingons will just loooove them...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I dont really see a strong Romulan/Hirogen alliance happening. What would they possibly have in common? The Hirogen (being poorly realised Predator knock-offs)would want to hunt Klingons and Gorn, even Tholians and Breen...but unless they do some fleshing-out of Hirogen society and maybe establish some special needs, I dont know why the Hirogen would need to ally themselves with the Romulans.
Though I could see an technology swap- Hirogen ships with cloaks would be kinda cool.
Personally, I'd rather see the Gorn, Tholians or Tzenkethi developed....or some new threat from unexplored space.
Posted by FawnDoo (Member # 1421) on :
Depends on what section of Hirogen society was making the alliance - the Alpha that took Voyager and wanted his people to stop being nomadic might have had followers. They could be after a home planet and holodeck technology - and since they captured Voyager and had enough time to copy their database, they might have decided that the Romulans are their best bet.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
That's possible- maybe a nice homeworld within the Neutral Zone on some barely habitible rock (to challenge the Hirogen, of course).
Really though, the Hirogen need aton of work beore they're in any way interesting- the Predator thing really made me sad- soo many Voyager episodes were devoted to these two-dimensional goons- and it's yet another society where being a warrior is the norm- impossible in any society that needs everyting from engineers to computer techs.
They'd have to have someting on par with the treatment that was done for the Cardassians- taking them from "alien menace o' the week" to Trek's most believable baddies.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
Kinda like how the Clans from battletech kinda sorta couldn't exist, by the numbers, Jason?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Er..I guess so- I'm not real familliar with Battletech.
I really liked the Enterprise episode with the Klingon lawyer lamenting the decline of his culture as the "warrior class" took over. Probabaly explains why the KLingons still fly 80-year-old recalled KBOPs.
A better solution would be for children to be tested for aptitude at an early age with the smartest growing up to form a ruling class that (while honored) is rarely seen- prefering the (still well trained) soldiers handle the dangerous work of inter-species relations on a daily basis.
Posted by FawnDoo (Member # 1421) on :
I always thought that they missed a trick with the Klingons, and how they were presented. I thought that the whole "warrior ethic" thing was going to be presented as part of the Klingon psychology/worldview, not (as it actually turned out) as almost every Klingon turning out to be a warrior.
That way, a Klingon doctor would be just as much a doctor as his Federation counterpart, he would just view it as fighting a battle against an enemy - in this case, disease or injury. Klingon engineers, lawyers, leaders etc would all do the jobs they wanted to do, but would just view everything as a fight for a cause they thought was honourable. Being a warrior and fighting a battle would be a key concept to the Klingons, but it would just apply to different people in different ways, in different fields of work.
Like I say, I always thought they missed a trick with the Klingons and just ended up going down a fairly boring route. That said, my wife did point out once when watching DS9 that the Empire must have a huge import market for shampoo and conditioner. Maybe that's how the Federation can afford to churn out ships at such a prodigious rate?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Yeah, all those Klingons ahve perms too- that wavy hair curling iron look from the 1980's is big in the Empire.
And then there's the vast untapped market for tooth sharpeners...
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
Well, folks, Star Trek Online is now in open beta.
I've been playing for a while now, as I was lucky enough to get invited to closed beta (couldn't talk about it at the time, non-disclosure agreement and whatnot), and I gotta say that so far the game is good. Not great, but good. I do have a few issues with it.
First, the bridge officers. I had said quite some time back that Cryptic (the developers of the game) were quite well known for customization options. And for the most part, that's true for Star Trek Online... Except for the important stuff like their gender and species. I had been formulating in my brain what kind of crew I'd like to have beforehand, and this just throws my creativity right out the window. No matter how much I may want a female Vulcan science officer, if the game gives me a male Andorian science officer, well, I'm out of luck. I'm really hoping full customization is implemented before launch.
Secondly, space combat is way too hard. I'm no stranger to MMORPGs. I've been playing World of Warcraft and Cryptic's earlier game City of Heroes for a while now. In those games, unless you do something colossally stupid (like go up against WoW's elites or CoH's archvillians on your own), you've got a pretty good shot of surviving fights. Defeat is still possible, but unlikely. Star Trek Online's space battles are a fight to the death with every fight. For example, I had a cruiser with max power to shields, which is the closest thing this game has to a tank (a character meant to absorb damage, for those not in the know). Even so, I had about a 50% chance of getting blown up, and even if I didn't blow up, I was down a battered wreck of a ship. Granted, there doesn't appear to be a death penalty in this game, but I don't enjoying dying on a more-than-regular basis. The difficulty seriously needs to be adjusted.
Thus ends my rant.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
quote:Star Trek Online's space battles are a fight to the death with every fight.
Only if you're the first to get aggro. Enemy threat control is entirely busted.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
quote:Originally posted by Charles Capps: Only if you're the first to get aggro. Enemy threat control is entirely busted.
Well, I was mostly referring to solo play (especially vs. groups of Birds-of-Prey), but that is also definitely true. In fleet actions, I was either not taking any damage at all, or was insta-killed in about two seconds, depending on whether I had aggro or not.
Oh, and CC was playing and I didn't know it? Boo.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
Just started last night, actually. I wanted to start when Open Beta started, but the servers going down five minutes before I tried to log in two nights in a row was a wee bit painful.
Using my WoW name, @Galthron. Feel free to bug/friend me in game.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Is the game system intensive? I'm trying to gain access to the open beta, but I don't know if my POS Radeon X1600 PRO can handle it.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Maybe they'll go all WOW and let characters have familliars- I want a Horta...maybe my own Ceti Eel.
Charles, what's the general goal of the game? I mean, is there some event going on beyond the ship youre on that defines the missions or something? You know, stuff like Borg trying to destroy earth, Whale Probe trying to destroy earth, V'Ger trying to destroy earth, Picard clone trying to destroy earth, time-traveling romulan miners trying to destroy earth, Xindi trying to destroy earth....then there's the old "Spacial Anomaly about to destroy earth" gag for when you want a refreshing change of storyline. Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
There's pretty much very little coherent plot that I've encountered so far.
Then again, I've played it for about four hours total so far due to the beta server sucking.
I don't know how intensive the game is, as I have a relatively modern system. If your card can handle DX9 games, you should be OK.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Krenim and Charles, any screenshots of ship constructs that you've hammered out? Are the ships seen rolling out of a spacedock once you press "Finish" at the customization screen?
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
Well, with FlareUpload shot at the moment, no. However, I cannot sing the praises of the ship editor enough. I really can't. It is awesome. That cruiser of mine I talked about earlier? Think gunmetal post-refit Connie variant. (Yeah, I know, what are Connies doing in the 25th Century? My answer to that is "Shut up, its a Connie.")
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
quote:Krenim and Charles, any screenshots of ship constructs that you've hammered out?
As I mentioned, I've only played a few hours, and so I'm still in the newbie ship. You get to pick from a Miranda, a Centaur, or something else that starts with an S and has a ' in it that I can never remember the name of. It's ugly.
The editor is basically a kitbash generator. Based on the available ship tier, you can pick from a set of three related designs per ship type, and mix and match parts, hull plate pattern, colors, etc.
The USS Flare is a Miranda with Centaur pylons and the rollbar and nacelles from the S-some'thing class.
Wait, what's all that in the background? It's Wolf 359.
Unfortunately it's just composed of generic dead starships. I was unable to locate anything special, but I didn't try too hard.
quote:Are the ships seen rolling out of a spacedock once you press "Finish" at the customization screen?
Customization occurs when you're at Earth Spacedock, but nothing fancy happens after you accept the changes.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
Here's more screencaps. Sorry about the square thumbnails.
They rebuilt Spacedock at some point. It's freaking huge.
They stuck a handful of ship models out here, presumably for players to gawk at.
Nicely lined up.
It's a Prometheus.
The ugly-ass S'omething class, and yeah, that's a Defiant variant. There's also the nose of an Akira variant, but apparently I didn't screencap it.
A Cheyenne, in all her kitbashed glory.
Another view of the Cheyenne.
I'm not entirely sure what this one is. Could be either a Cheyenne variant or a Prometheus variant.
I have no clue what this is, but based on the dimensions and shape, I fear it's a Galaxy variant. Holy crap that's ugly.
Two Olympic variants.
Front shot of one variant.
Front shot of the other. I was revolted at first, but it's really not that bad in comparison to the Galaxy variant horror show.
An Intrepid variant.
And from the bottom. Yes, those impulse engines are hugegantic.
A vanilla Intrepid.
The only vanilla Galaxy in the little parked fleet. Pardon the guy in the... well, I think it's a Steamrunner variant, he's also gawking.
It's a Sovvy!
A Sovvy variant. Underside. Apparently I didn't get a copy of the top.
I think it's another Sovvy variant.
I think.
Maybe?
A player in a Connie refit.
Still the classiest ship in the fleet.
Also, the maximum image per post limit is now 50. Why did I have it set to 8? WTF.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Wow. Almost makes me wish I was into computer games, at all. Bit too late though, now.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Well it seems I won't be gaining access to the beta, but thanks anyway for the pics. I'm still have mixed feelings about the games, I'm a little off put by the apparent poor quality of starship combat.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
Forgot I had a Photobucket account. Oops. Anyway, here's my ship at the moment, the Adrasteia.
Space combat is only bad when you're overwhelmed in PvE. It's an entirely different animal, so I'm told, in PvP.
Also, this would make a very poor first MMO.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
If this thing had a free trial I might go for it, just to see if I could bash up one of our old ASDB designs.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I never thought I'd say thais but those are actually worse than the crap from starshipschematics.com.
Chuck you've sold me on never buying this game- there's not a ship design in there that even warrants a "save as" motion from me.
Even their Galaxy class is very poorly realized- far worse than the Bridge Commander or even Armada models- and it's nicely named "starfleet cruiser", which made me laugh in spite of the horror of those other images.
Particularly hilariously bad is that 5 o'clock traffic jan into the spacedock (which itself looks a bit like the Borg queen's ship).
Overall I give it an F-
But maybe the in-game play is somehow so fantastic that it overcomes the design work. Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
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