One really cool thing (and I think smart on there part) is placing the game time line way ahead of all the TV shows and movies.
We have a history to build on and can have a grand old time without having to fit in some lame quest chain that has you running errands for Admiral LaForge or some such.
One thing I'm not really looking forward to is seeing Players as nothing but Kilngons and female Vulcons. But such is the world of MMO's
WoW finaly going too see a Great MMORPG. Im so tired of the RPGs that are D&D based or conqure the fort pvp garbage always living in the past. Other futureistic games have been a huge disapointment and left a huge hole in my wallet doubleing that feeling I am also hopeing to see some of the TV series characters. Even if they are clones or androids of some design. I would love too play a character like Data. Would you??
I will be watching this develop... Im so excited.... ooops Bio brk Brb
Barlausth
PS thanks for giveing me something to look forward too
Will there be voice comunication within your team??? i would realy like too see that in game.. it makes grp decisions so much faster and fun in real time action.
While there is definitely nothing easy about developing a large on-line game, I do hope as many that you guys can pull this off, to many times have we seen "this will be in the game!" then when released, "hey, this is eq :P" how many times have we plugged into a new morph just find the same game with different graphics.
I would hope you stay with your initial concepts of having all stationed manned in a ship and caring out orders etc in missions that involves ship travel. While I would agree with some, that there are times it can get boring at points, I might suggest making a place like the forward deck that allows for other players, (waiting on their needed skills) (IE< traveling in space with their comrades) a place to hang and play mini games like the fighter simulations etc.
Aye, I know what you devs are thinking, mini games within the main game? that's allot of sub work, I would agree to you to a point, but say taking a simple chest engine, adding new animated graphics for the pieces can be really fun. With such a setup of course you could have checkers as well etc etc. Some will say "that never worked in *insert title here* but the thing we have to remember they were all text games ( not to interactive) and most of those as with swg games really were in bad places to begin with (should have been in the cantinas) and there was no real down time.
There are other ways to counter the boredom, (personal rooms can be worked on, or room to room (internet gaming ) lol, stuff like that.
I definitely understand the issue of "who would want to play a medic? when engineering is so much more fun" I would say AI in place of those positions not full would solve this, thou everyone knows it will not be as effective as those with a full RL player crew. Thou this would allow for those (want to solo ) people a chance. Mind you, I would at a point , make the AI not that great so on those (epic) missions, doing it with AI crew just wouldn't happen. For instance, lets say the AI has routines that they can do , but a RL player has a bit more options at their disposal, without these options that the AI doesn't have, It is almost impossible to finish the epic mission alone.
I think you guys get where I am coming from, but I am sure this type of system is definitely feasible and would work well.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
I like the idea of the mini-games. Medic could actually be a very interesting role in space combat.
For example, the medic mini-game might be that you are responsible for diagnosing and treating NPCs that arrive in sickbay with wounds sustained from exploding interface panels and plasma conduits. The speed with which you heal them and get them on their way could influence the number of NPCs crewmembers working, which would influence the efficiency of various departments.
You could even be responsible for healing player characters that get involved with firefights with boarding parties.
To make it more interesting and interactive some stations might have a choice of mini-games that can affect the battle in different ways. For example, the science station might have a mini-game that tries to figure out the opposing ship's shield frequencies, giving a bonus to phaser hits. But there might be an alternate mini-game that jams their sensors, reducing their ability to accurately target your ship.
You could also create dependencies between the mini-games to encourage players to work together.
For example, a player might use a tactical station to aim and control a phaser bank in the way you would control a turret. But that phaser bank could also have a frequency modulation setting that can be changed by the player, based on information he gets from the science officer. If they put voice chat in the game, I could see that type of thing escalating into some really cool interactions. "Their shields are operating 257.4 MHz! Set phasers to match!" or "Aim for their port warp nacelle, their shields are down in that section!"
The trick will be breaking things down so that even if you're not the captain or the helmsman that you still have fun and feel like you're influencing the outcome of the battle.
I think someone said the main point of Star Trek was space combat. Hmmm, if I remember correctly it had more to do with going where no man had gone before and all that good stuff. It was about different stories of humans encountering alien races, sometimes hostile and sometimes peaceful. It was about a lot of things, but I can't really say the main focus was on different spaceships shooting at each other. Granted that certainly happened, but I don't think it was ever meant to be the main focus.
Daron Stinnet: Here are a few things that I would suggest as an avid player of online games since 1996. I have played almost every major North American mmorpg, and too many bad asian mmorpgs. Of them I can say there are only a few that I am willing to waste my time on, or was willing. These are World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot, EvE Online, and perhaps Everquest. I've played swg, ac, ac2, eq2, l1, l2, UO, MxO, SB, AO, and others. I also am playing Settlers of Ganareth, the prequel to Dark and Light.
Dark and Light and EvE online both use a single server setup. I think this feature is brilliant, and if implemented correctly will help STO become a huge success. This is because a single server doesn't break up the STO community into various shards like WoW or DAoC, etc. There would be no "the grass is greener on the other side" that causes players to switch servers so often, upsetting the balance of players.
WoW has an extremely user-friendly user-interface. This is SO important I cannot stress it enough. Work on your UI, it's how we see the game. Exquisite graphics are nice, but if I can't play the game because the UI sucks then it will turn me off, and many others.
WoW also uses a well made quest system, it has many little stories that are a part of the world. This is good, and it adds to the gameplay. I would suggest making use of Star Trek's vast storyline and knowledgebase to create lengthy quest arcs that are intriguing and fun for players. The arcs could have numerous endings depending on a players race, and the choices they make during the quests. It shouldn't be ridiculously difficult either, the game is meant to be fun and challenging, but also playable by a large audience. Perhaps being able to select a difficulty at the beginning of each quest part for a particular Arc would be a good way to give players more freedom. The harder versions could potentially give better rewards.
WoW uses instanced play to enhance the experience for it's players. Although they don't always use it correcltly I feel that instanced gaming, which I think originated in Anarchy Online is a staple for mmorpgs today. It allows players to experience content without the interference from other players, unless you want that interference. For instance, (no pun intended) you could setup a mission that involved two warring races. One race would attempt to acquire resource X, or rescue certain hostages from the other race. And it could all be done by players. I think that would be a fun an exciting way to place pvp combat into STO. Not everyone likes pvp, and so it shouldn't be a necessary function in the game, but I think it should definitely be there.
Ahem on pvp. Do not half ass it if you place it in your game. If you do it will turn against you. Granted you can always change things, but how many players will have left before those changes take place? I think ffa pvp should be done in certain areas of a game, and those areas should never be places that players who don't want to pvp have to go for ANY reason. It is unfair, and it is much like telling someone who enjoys romantic comedies to watch Saw or else they can't watch uhh.. well you get the idea. Never force a player into a pvp situation if they don't want to be in one. However, every effort should be made to allow them to experience all non-pvp content just like everyone else. PvP should never be pitting experienced players against helpless newbs. It is unfair and disgusting. There will always be people who want to grief in any online game. Don't give them the chance. PvP should be fun, BALANCED, and rewarding. Make sure its tested and retested. I like how DAOC assign a team lead to balancing rvr and allows players to apply for positions as the leads for their class. This gives players a valid voice in where devs make changes in the races/classes.
Character Customization - necessary. I know this part of the game seems perhaps foolish to some people. However, imagine you have only the choice of 2 faces, 2 hair styles, 2 sexes, and some different kinds of cloths for any given race. Now imagine everyone plays on the same server cluster - one big world - lots and lots of people who look exactly alike with different names. LAME. So yeah, I think everyone would be happy to see like 20 different hairstyles, faces, noses, ears, lips, eyes, cheeks, chin, neck, body size, weight, height, coloring of everything, scars, tattoos, piercing, you name it we want it. Or at least the option. I want to be an old man with a heavily receding hairline and a british accent
Story - The importance of stories is generally accepted by all people. I would say we all have our own stories that take place within the greater story we call history. History gives our stories context, shape, significance etc. A well made fictional story should do all of these things. It should always be reminding a player where they are and why they are there. It should be total and enveloping. The Star Trek stories are extremely good, and I have great hopes that the STO team will deliver a beautiful game in terms of storyline. I hope to see a cast of characters, and a plot line, and something that even lil ole me can take part in.
Environments - I would have to say I think as far as level design is concerned WoW is the best I have ever seen. They have almost every environment on earth crammed into their little world. And the diversity within each environment is astounding. Each area is handcrafted and made to look the part. This is extremely important for players because we want to feel like we're actually in a place that could exist, maybe, but the elements are stretched enough that it feels fantastic.
Well that's enough for now. Hope you read it and enjoy. If any of this is something you're already doing then I apologize. I honestly haven't read up on the game at all. Good luck, and may the force be with you... oops wrong series
It is pathos we lack, and this lack of pathos makes the worlds we explore quite stale.
The big thing that I would like to see is character customization. I don't want to just choose a race, pretty him up and then choose a class and get into it. I want stats, something that makes my character different then the next character. Looks alone don't cut it. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Not any of our captains were the same as the other in the TV/Movies TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise...lets have diversity with skills.
I would also like to see group ship oriented combat for space. I guess mini games could work for it.
And, there are so many species...I know not all of them will be there from the start...but please please don't lock something away, race/class, that has to be unlocked. It is just a pain and I don't want to see grinders and macros. Make the game fun from the get go and keep it in line with the other Star Treks. One more suggestion...Maybe it should be set after Voyager and the others, that way story conflicts are limited from the TV/Movies.
Now...Course Heading..."Second star to the right...and straight on till morning."
If they do look at EVE, make one server cluster for all (highly unlikely considering the hype theme), and make EVE with a star trek theme and model the inside of ships - they've got a winner.
I doubt multiple players in one ship is possible. Why? Because you would need the same people day in and day out. Do the Homeworld concept fit with Star Trek? Motherships (guilds) and one player in each ship. Away teams and boarding is much easier to adapt to a MMORG. Thats also how SWG never really where Star Wars.
Will be interesting to see how they solve this this puzzle of a promising game.
I noticed something and it was the faces of these toons on this screenshot, I hope they dont end up looking like a blurred,distorted faces like they did in anarchy online.
Thanks for the info drop. It's good to have some input on STO. I hope you guys keep up with the devs on this one. STO is definitely one of the up and coming MMO's that could define the future of online gaming.
As to the issue about the toons shown and their faces I believe they did that to obscure any definite appearance. Remember, the object of the study isn't their faces it's the uniforms specifically. If STO dumps some crapy graphics on this one like Anarchy online they would have to register an amazing on the completely brainless meter
If you really want to see a great style of ship to ship combat go to www.darkspace.net this would give you base line to model star trek on. I am a long time trekie i own every trek game there is even the first one done for the 286 the enterprise was represented as the letter E, i really enjoyed the ship combat of sfc1 and sfc2
Originally posted by GISP All your Questions can be found at the Official site: http://www.startrek.perpetual.com/index.html One thing whish make me wonder is, Why isnt it listed in the Game list?
We do not list games until they have in-game screenshots.
Theoretically, we could make an exception, but if we do then any guy off the street who "has an MMO" and a website suddenly can be on our list. So this rule cannot be bent.
Dana Massey Formerly of MMORPG.com Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
I was wondering if anyone knows whether the characters will be individually customizable or whether we will have to select from a series of set "faces."
Selecting one's own appearance helps me to identify with my character.
I have loved TREK since 1966. Please, Devs, for the sake of all thats logical, make this for the players, not the dollar. If you do, the players will bring you the dollars, and our friends dollars too.
( Yes that was both a heartfelf plea and a shot at SOE. )
Comments
One really cool thing (and I think smart on there part) is placing the game time line way ahead of all the TV shows and movies.
We have a history to build on and can have a grand old time without having to fit in some lame quest chain that has you running errands for Admiral LaForge or some such.
One thing I'm not really looking forward to is seeing Players as nothing but Kilngons and female Vulcons. But such is the world of MMO's
Well...I cant wait to play It! Hope It Will be as good as Earth and Beond. The Only Uber Sci-Fi game I have played. And I have tryed em all!!!
A E&B game whit EVE grafic would rule my World=)
*U KNow I Love U*
I will be watching this develop... Im so excited.... ooops Bio brk Brb
Barlausth
PS thanks for giveing me something to look forward too
I have a question
Will there be voice comunication within your team??? i would realy like too see that in game.. it makes grp decisions so much faster and fun in real time action.
Thanks in advance for an answer
Barlausth
While there is definitely nothing easy about developing a large on-line game, I do hope as many that you guys can pull this off, to many times have we seen "this will be in the game!" then when released, "hey, this is eq :P" how many times have we plugged into a new morph just find the same game with different graphics.
I would hope you stay with your initial concepts of having all stationed manned in a ship and caring out orders etc in missions that involves ship travel. While I would agree with some, that there are times it can get boring at points, I might suggest making a place like the forward deck that allows for other players, (waiting on their needed skills) (IE< traveling in space with their comrades) a place to hang and play mini games like the fighter simulations etc.
Aye, I know what you devs are thinking, mini games within the main game? that's allot of sub work, I would agree to you to a point, but say taking a simple chest engine, adding new animated graphics for the pieces can be really fun. With such a setup of course you could have checkers as well
etc etc. Some will say "that never worked in *insert title here* but the thing we have to remember they were all text games ( not to interactive) and most of those as with swg games really were in bad places to begin with (should have been in the cantinas) and there was no real down time.
There are other ways to counter the boredom, (personal rooms can be worked on, or room to room (internet gaming ) lol, stuff like that.
I definitely understand the issue of "who would want to play a medic? when engineering is so much more fun" I would say AI in place of those positions not full would solve this, thou everyone knows it will not be as effective as those with a full RL player crew. Thou this would allow for those (want to solo ) people a chance. Mind you, I would at a point , make the AI not that great so on those (epic) missions, doing it with AI crew just wouldn't happen. For instance, lets say the AI has routines that they can do , but a RL player has a bit more options at their disposal, without these options that the AI doesn't have, It is almost impossible to finish the epic mission alone.
I think you guys get where I am coming from, but I am sure this type of system is definitely feasible and would work well.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
What I want to know is when does beta start and more importantly. how can I sign up?
If someone finds out, please reply to this thread or email me at corey.junk@gmail.com
And if the STO devs are reading this, I'm willing to quit my job and beta test full time. Just tell me where to sign up.
I like the idea of the mini-games. Medic could actually be a very interesting role in space combat.
For example, the medic mini-game might be that you are responsible for diagnosing and treating NPCs that arrive in sickbay with wounds sustained from exploding interface panels and plasma conduits. The speed with which you heal them and get them on their way could influence the number of NPCs crewmembers working, which would influence the efficiency of various departments.
You could even be responsible for healing player characters that get involved with firefights with boarding parties.
To make it more interesting and interactive some stations might have a choice of mini-games that can affect the battle in different ways. For example, the science station might have a mini-game that tries to figure out the opposing ship's shield frequencies, giving a bonus to phaser hits. But there might be an alternate mini-game that jams their sensors, reducing their ability to accurately target your ship.
You could also create dependencies between the mini-games to encourage players to work together.
For example, a player might use a tactical station to aim and control a phaser bank in the way you would control a turret. But that phaser bank could also have a frequency modulation setting that can be changed by the player, based on information he gets from the science officer. If they put voice chat in the game, I could see that type of thing escalating into some really cool interactions. "Their shields are operating 257.4 MHz! Set phasers to match!" or "Aim for their port warp nacelle, their shields are down in that section!"
The trick will be breaking things down so that even if you're not the captain or the helmsman that you still have fun and feel like you're influencing the outcome of the battle.
There are a lot of possiblities.
I think someone said the main point of Star Trek was space combat. Hmmm, if I remember correctly it had more to do with going where no man had gone before and all that good stuff. It was about different stories of humans encountering alien races, sometimes hostile and sometimes peaceful. It was about a lot of things, but I can't really say the main focus was on different spaceships shooting at each other. Granted that certainly happened, but I don't think it was ever meant to be the main focus.
Daron Stinnet: Here are a few things that I would suggest as an avid player of online games since 1996. I have played almost every major North American mmorpg, and too many bad asian mmorpgs. Of them I can say there are only a few that I am willing to waste my time on, or was willing. These are World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot, EvE Online, and perhaps Everquest. I've played swg, ac, ac2, eq2, l1, l2, UO, MxO, SB, AO, and others. I also am playing Settlers of Ganareth, the prequel to Dark and Light.
Dark and Light and EvE online both use a single server setup. I think this feature is brilliant, and if implemented correctly will help STO become a huge success. This is because a single server doesn't break up the STO community into various shards like WoW or DAoC, etc. There would be no "the grass is greener on the other side" that causes players to switch servers so often, upsetting the balance of players.
WoW has an extremely user-friendly user-interface. This is SO important I cannot stress it enough. Work on your UI, it's how we see the game. Exquisite graphics are nice, but if I can't play the game because the UI sucks then it will turn me off, and many others.
WoW also uses a well made quest system, it has many little stories that are a part of the world. This is good, and it adds to the gameplay. I would suggest making use of Star Trek's vast storyline and knowledgebase to create lengthy quest arcs that are intriguing and fun for players. The arcs could have numerous endings depending on a players race, and the choices they make during the quests. It shouldn't be ridiculously difficult either, the game is meant to be fun and challenging, but also playable by a large audience. Perhaps being able to select a difficulty at the beginning of each quest part for a particular Arc would be a good way to give players more freedom. The harder versions could potentially give better rewards.
WoW uses instanced play to enhance the experience for it's players. Although they don't always use it correcltly I feel that instanced gaming, which I think originated in Anarchy Online is a staple for mmorpgs today. It allows players to experience content without the interference from other players, unless you want that interference. For instance, (no pun intended) you could setup a mission that involved two warring races. One race would attempt to acquire resource X, or rescue certain hostages from the other race. And it could all be done by players. I think that would be a fun an exciting way to place pvp combat into STO. Not everyone likes pvp, and so it shouldn't be a necessary function in the game, but I think it should definitely be there.
Ahem on pvp. Do not half ass it if you place it in your game. If you do it will turn against you. Granted you can always change things, but how many players will have left before those changes take place? I think ffa pvp should be done in certain areas of a game, and those areas should never be places that players who don't want to pvp have to go for ANY reason. It is unfair, and it is much like telling someone who enjoys romantic comedies to watch Saw or else they can't watch uhh.. well you get the idea. Never force a player into a pvp situation if they don't want to be in one. However, every effort should be made to allow them to experience all non-pvp content just like everyone else. PvP should never be pitting experienced players against helpless newbs. It is unfair and disgusting. There will always be people who want to grief in any online game. Don't give them the chance. PvP should be fun, BALANCED, and rewarding. Make sure its tested and retested. I like how DAOC assign a team lead to balancing rvr and allows players to apply for positions as the leads for their class. This gives players a valid voice in where devs make changes in the races/classes.
Character Customization - necessary. I know this part of the game seems perhaps foolish to some people. However, imagine you have only the choice of 2 faces, 2 hair styles, 2 sexes, and some different kinds of cloths for any given race. Now imagine everyone plays on the same server cluster - one big world - lots and lots of people who look exactly alike with different names. LAME. So yeah, I think everyone would be happy to see like 20 different hairstyles, faces, noses, ears, lips, eyes, cheeks, chin, neck, body size, weight, height, coloring of everything, scars, tattoos, piercing, you name it we want it. Or at least the option. I want to be an old man with a heavily receding hairline and a british accent
Story - The importance of stories is generally accepted by all people. I would say we all have our own stories that take place within the greater story we call history. History gives our stories context, shape, significance etc. A well made fictional story should do all of these things. It should always be reminding a player where they are and why they are there. It should be total and enveloping. The Star Trek stories are extremely good, and I have great hopes that the STO team will deliver a beautiful game in terms of storyline. I hope to see a cast of characters, and a plot line, and something that even lil ole me can take part in.
Environments - I would have to say I think as far as level design is concerned WoW is the best I have ever seen. They have almost every environment on earth crammed into their little world. And the diversity within each environment is astounding. Each area is handcrafted and made to look the part. This is extremely important for players because we want to feel like we're actually in a place that could exist, maybe, but the elements are stretched enough that it feels fantastic.
Well that's enough for now. Hope you read it and enjoy. If any of this is something you're already doing then I apologize. I honestly haven't read up on the game at all. Good luck, and may the force be with you... oops wrong series
It is pathos we lack, and this lack of pathos makes the worlds we explore quite stale.
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Antioche
The big thing that I would like to see is character customization. I don't want to just choose a race, pretty him up and then choose a class and get into it. I want stats, something that makes my character different then the next character. Looks alone don't cut it. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Not any of our captains were the same as the other in the TV/Movies TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise...lets have diversity with skills.
I would also like to see group ship oriented combat for space. I guess mini games could work for it.
And, there are so many species...I know not all of them will be there from the start...but please please don't lock something away, race/class, that has to be unlocked. It is just a pain and I don't want to see grinders and macros. Make the game fun from the get go and keep it in line with the other Star Treks. One more suggestion...Maybe it should be set after Voyager and the others, that way story conflicts are limited from the TV/Movies.
Now...Course Heading..."Second star to the right...and straight on till morning."
If they do look at EVE, make one server cluster for all (highly unlikely considering the hype theme), and make EVE with a star trek theme and model the inside of ships - they've got a winner.
I doubt multiple players in one ship is possible. Why? Because you would need the same people day in and day out. Do the Homeworld concept fit with Star Trek? Motherships (guilds) and one player in each ship. Away teams and boarding is much easier to adapt to a MMORG. Thats also how SWG never really where Star Wars.
Will be interesting to see how they solve this this puzzle of a promising game.
All your Questions can be found at the Official site: http://www.startrek.perpetual.com/index.html
One thing whish make me wonder is, Why isnt it listed in the Game list?
~Yiir~
I have several questions about this.
1. When can we see some actual gameplay screenshots, not cutscenes.
2.what style will be seeing(3d or 2d) for space and on the ship walking around?
If I have anymore questions I will ask later, since it is 530am and Im not fully awake.
Thanks for the info drop. It's good to have some input on STO. I hope
you guys keep up with the devs on this one. STO is definitely one of
the up and coming MMO's that could define the future of online gaming.
As to the issue about the toons shown and their faces I believe they did
that to obscure any definite appearance. Remember, the object of the
study isn't their faces it's the uniforms specifically. If STO dumps
some crapy graphics on this one like Anarchy online they would have to
register an amazing on the completely brainless meter
this is my two cents
i fight the battles other fear
EagleRanger
We do not list games until they have in-game screenshots.
Theoretically, we could make an exception, but if we do then any guy off the street who "has an MMO" and a website suddenly can be on our list. So this rule cannot be bent.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
I wanted to start out saying,
back in my early days on the internet, before windows 95
I was using DOS & the games I would play online were text based (I liked telnet w/ terminate more then telix)
these games were, ( I did eventually move to windows & kept playing until all but one was gone )
Trekmuse - DS9 Muse - TOS - Strange New Worlds - ATS
& others
believe me, I've been waiting a long time for this - my thanks to Daron Stinnett & the rest of the crew for taking on this project
I was wondering if anyone knows whether the characters will be individually customizable or whether we will have to select from a series of set "faces."
Selecting one's own appearance helps me to identify with my character.
I have loved TREK since 1966. Please, Devs, for the sake of all thats logical, make this for the players, not the dollar. If you do, the players will bring you the dollars, and our friends dollars too.
( Yes that was both a heartfelf plea and a shot at SOE. )
NUKE SOE