GameStreet – Star Trek Online News

July 28th Dev Chat Transcript

A Star Trek Online IRC dev chat has just wrapped up and the transcript is now available for those who weren’t able to make it.

The dev chat took a strong focus on ship certifications and progression, weapon firing arcs, and other minutiae. Some things that stood out were the fact that players can level all through all three tracks (Escort, Science, Cruiser) of ship skills. They say this will take much longer than focusing on a single ship track, but it can be done.

Also, the Federation will not be receiving a large carrier class ship (at launch) in the same vein of the recently unveiled Klingon Vo’Quov Super Carrier. This was a conscious decision made to offer distinct gameplay differences between the two factions.

Players will be able to set weapons to the forward or rear positions of their ship, and each weapon type has its own firing arc, with weapons like beams having a wider firing arc, but lower damage, and cannons having a narrower arc while dealing more damage.

Small ships such as the Bird of Prey will also have a place in end-game/fleet engagements, as well. They are nimble and can make efficient cloaking runs at targets, so all types of ship configurations will have their roles in engagements.

For more information check out the full dev chat transcript here

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Meet the Team: Joe Blancato

This latest edition in the Meet the Team series features Joe Blancato, Online Community Representative at Cryptic Studios.

Find out more about Joe below:

What do you do on Star Trek Online?

I’m the primary online community representative for the STO. This means I spend a lot of time interacting with our customers over a variety of media, do a lot of behind-the-scenes coordinating and scheduling, and write a lot of the stuff you see on the site. I also occasionally meddle in the affairs of dragons and challenge Craig to duels during our internal play tests.

What I’m doing right now (other than answering the questions I’m asking myself): Putting together some real information to share with the world about the game. This is a pretty cool project, since I get to spend a lot of time with folks on the dev team that I don’t usually get to bug during my normal routine.

Fun fact: I got my start in this industry working under Joe Blancato at the WarCry Network.

If you’d like to know more about Joe, read the full Meet the Team entry here.

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Jack Emmert on Microtransactions

Jack "Jackalope" Emmert took some time to clarify the hot-button issue of microtransactions in Star Trek Online. Given the fact that Champions Online will be receiving microtransactions, naturally, Star Trek Online fans are a bit nervous as well.

In a post on the official Star Trek Online forums, Mr. Emmert reassures us that like Champions Online, the microtransaction offerings will be mostly aesthetic in nature, and for the ones that do have a gameplay effect, they will also be attainable through in-game means.

Jack on micro:

• The vast majority are aesthetic items, such as costume pieces, action figures, emblems, etc.
• A very few are account-level management tools, such as being able to rename a character
• Micro-transactions should never limit your ability to enjoy the game or reach the level cap
• Any micro-transaction that has a game effect can also be earned in the game through play

The full post is available here

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July 14th Dev Chat Transcript

The transcript for yesterday’s Star Trek Online dev chat is now available on the official Star Trek Online website. The dev chat focused significantly on ship configurations and customization options.

For example, players will be able to customize a variety of cosmetic and functional aspects of their ships, though from the cosmetic point of view ships will retain the signature silhouette of their particular configuration.

There will be classes of ships that perform differently within each configuration, leaving many options for players to choose what kind of ship best serves their playstyle or the task at hand.

Cosmetic customizations will take place at Starbase (for the Federation) while functional customizations such as weapons mods can be done in the field.

For more information, check out the full transcript here

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Kobayashi Maru: Klingon Edition

The newest Kobayashi Maru entry is now available on the official Star Trek Online website.

This latest scenario is of Klingon origin and challenges you to do your duty, or sate your honor:

You are a Klingon captain guarding a defense station as it undergoes maintenance. The station is vital to the Empire, as it is being upgraded with new, top secret technologies that would automate the majority of its functions and allow the warriors currently operating the station to join their brothers on the field of battle.

You detect a Federation vessel moving at through the system and plot an intercept course. You manage to catch the ship near the system’s edge. It is a light escort, no match for your heavy cruiser. When you hail the ship, the Federation captain says he is delivering medical supplies to a Federation world and cannot stop for anything. You demand that he surrenders, but are caught off guard when he fires several torpedoes at you, damaging your ship’s propulsion system.

The Federation ship manages to slip away as your crew frantically repairs the damage. Their efforts bear fruit as in mere minutes you are able to give chase. Your warp drive is slightly damaged, but you are still slowly gaining on the ship.

Suddenly, the defense station hails you, saying a Romulan Warbird has decloaked inside the station’s sensor range. The Romulans are not attacking, but instead seem to be scanning the station. The station fires one of its weapons, knocking out the Warbird’s cloak and damaging its warp drive. The warriors on the defense station say the Warbird is retreating, but the head of security believes the Romulans were able to fully scan the new technology being added to the station.

If you turn around now, you could catch the Warbird before it makes it out of the system, but the Federation vessel that caught you off guard would get away, making you a laughingstock among the Empire. If you pursue the Federation ship, the Romulans would escape with technical readouts on one of the most advanced defense stations in the Empire.

Do you sate your honor, or do you do your duty?

The full entry can be found here

What would you do? Let us know in the comments.

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Bridge Crews

MMORPG.com’s Carolyn Koh reports from a recent IRC chat about bride crews in Cryptic’s upcoming Star Trek Online MMO.

In Star Trek Online, every player is the Captain of his own ship, but like the characters in the TV series, there are career choices. Captain Jean Luc Picard was a diplomat and archeologist, and players similarly will develop skills. Apart from the character development, players will recruit their Bridge Crews throughout the game. These are actually Bridge Officers; the Communications Officers, Science Officers and the like, your Spocks, Chekovs and Scottys, a distinct difference from your Ship Crew, which are your hundreds of nameless crew that help run and repair the ship. The gameplay mechanic for your Bridge Officers is somewhat akin to minions and pets. They are the "phat lewts" of the game and will be earned, leveled and can be traded, although some will be bound to you.

Read Bridge Crews

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Meet the Team: Denis Korkh

In this latest entry to the Meet the Team series on the official Star Trek Online website we meet artist Denis Korkh, who works on the game’s ships.

What do you do on Star Trek Online?

I build some of the ships that will populate Star Trek Online. Sometimes this means replicating what has already been tried and true and other times it’s definitely about sneaking in the awesome and hoping that the real hardcore fans don’t come after me with torches, bat’leths and phasers when all’s said and done.

Read the full interview, here

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Timeline Information

The official Star Trek Online website has been updated with a clarification on where exactly STO takes place in the Star Trek timeline. The new Star Trek movie changes things up a bit with the introduction of an alternate timeline, causing some potential complications.

In the update, Cryptic Studios assures their fans that Star Trek Online takes place during the "prime" reality, which includes all the previous Star Trek shows and the first 10 movies.

For more information on the timeline, go here

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Dev Blog: Going Someplace New

Star Trek Online Producer, Daniel Stahl writes this look at the technology behind the game that will allow players to truly explore a vast universe without requiring an army of developers.

Hello, my name is Daniel Stahl and I’m a producer on Star Trek Online.

Ask any Star Trek fan to quote the opening to the TV show and you’ll hear the words “…to boldly go where no one has gone before.”

It’s a defining characteristic and mission statement in Star Trek. Explore. Go out there and see what you find.

As a producer, it begs the question, “How?” How can you explore someplace new in an MMO where there are zones and maps and contacts and missions that everyone seems to have access to over the course of their character’s career? Most game content is hand created by a staff of designers and artists who spend time placing things where they should be, making sure that there is a natural progression to what you do. It is a lot of work just to make a single planetary system.

Read the Dev Blog: Going Someplace New

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Meet the Team: Matthew Kenneally

The Meet the Team series continues with the introduction of Star Trek Online UI Programmer, Matthew Kenneally, on the official Star Trek Online website.

What do you do on Star Trek Online?

I’m the UI programmer for STO. I am responsible for programming the functionality behind many of our in-game windows, HUD elements, as well as camera and targeting systems, which are in a constant state of iteration and revision. When you think about how complicated a UI for Star Trek can be, you get the duality of a challenging and thrilling job. The UI team is at a stage now where we’re getting some great looking visuals on the screen, and it feels like everything is coming together. This is why I love making games: to create an experience that looks as good as it is fun and functional.

Learn more about Matthew here

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Dev Blog: Anatomy of a Playtest

The folks at Cryptic Studios have checked in with another exclusive behind the scenes look from their developer blog. This week, we get "The Anatomy of a Playtest."

Each week, the entire Star Trek Online team gets together for an internal play test. It’s an incredibly important part of the development cycle, and I think our fans should know more about how we use our experience to shape the game and make it better. We play together every Tuesday for about an hour. Obviously, certain teams play the game quite a bit more than that, but Tuesdays are a special day where everyone on the team – Art, SW, Deign, Audio, Concept Art, Production, QA, OCR – is required to play our game. We get to really focus on key elements we’re adding to the game, and to sit down and have real discussions about what we’re working on.

Read it all here

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Excalibur Class Ship Revealed

Cryptic Studios has released new information on the Excalibur class ship, one of the vessels that will be available to Starfleet players in Star Trek Online.

Updating the iconic profile of the Constitution class, the Excalibur is the first of a group of new, state-of-the-art cruisers intended to fill a variety of roles for Starfleet.

Designed with the modular construction favored by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, the Excalibur can tackle almost any task. Its expanded cargo capacity and advanced warp core make it an ideal solo exploration vessel, but it also performs well as a support ship during fleet actions.

During times of peace, the Excalibur class is well-suited for cargo or transport missions. Its massive holds make it invaluable to Starfleet, which uses the Excalibur class extensively to resupply planets, space stations and other starships. It has enough power to run industrial replicators non-stop, and is often the ship of choice for missions of mercy or rapid evacuations. Crews on Excalibur-class ships can convert cargo bays to temporary housing in a matter of hours, enabling the Excalibur to carry as many as 1,100 passengers in an emergency.

Read more here

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Meet the Team: Josh Ferguson

Cryptic Studios has posted an internal interview with Star Trek Online content designer Josh Ferguson.

What do you do on Star Trek Online?

I’m a content designer. Specifically, I deal with a lot of the "Exploration Content." One of the core components of the Star Trek universe is the whole "…where no one has gone before" idea, and I’m doing a lot the content work geared towards supporting that notion. No "One" may have seen precisely what the player is exploring, but there is a whole lot of work needed to make sure that it makes sense, plays well, fits Trek and above all … that it is fun.

How long have you worked in gaming, and what did you do before Star Trek Online?

I’ve been making games for 14 years. I’ve worked on quite a number of games over the years at companies like Turbine and Microprose, as well as more than four years here at Cryptic. I have a couple of shipped MMOs under my belt, but perhaps most relevant to STO’s community, I had a somewhat minor role on Star Trek: Birth of the Federation – a game which I still remember very fondly, even though it has been a decade since it shipped.

Read more here

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The Path to 2409: 2388

The latest Star Trek Online lore update from Cryptic studios charts the future history of the Star Trek Universe as they reveal yearly events leading up to 2409, the year the game starts.

Fallout from the destruction of the Romulan system dominates interstellar events in 2388.

The Romulan colony worlds reel from the loss of their homeworld and a vacuum in leadership. With the death of Praetor Chulan and the disappearance of Donatra, there is no one who has the authority to call the worlds to order or organize a new government. The leadership council of Rator III declares itself to be the new Romulan Senate and Rator III as the new capital of the Romulan Star Empire, but it is quickly challenged by the leaders of Achenar Prime and Abraxas V, who make similar claims.

One person many look toward to pull the Romulan people back together is Admiral Taris. She concentrates on evaluating what military forces remain, and issues a call for all remaining ships, even deep exploration vessels, to return to Romulan space.

Internal squabbling and politics hinder the Federation’s relief efforts in Romulan space.

Read more here

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Path to 2409 – 2387 Supplemental Log

Cryptic Studios has posted a supplemental log to the 2387 edition of their Path to 2409 lore series, which details the events of the Star Trek universe leading up to the year 2409 when STO takes place.

Commander Suran, once captain of the warbird Soterus, now lives as a gentleman farmer on the planet Talvath. Talvath has recently petitioned for Federation protection, which is what brings me here to interview him. He is the highest ranking military officer on the planet, and has indeed become something of an elder statesman. His intimate knowledge of Romulan politics, and involvement within definitive political events dating back to the conflict with Praetor Shinzon, makes him an even more important source of information. He smiles at me, offering me a glass of water as we sit on the porch of his sprawling ranch.

I know why you’re here. [he tilts his own glass at me] Oh, you may say it’s to gather information and determine whether your Federation will accept us. But you have all the same questions everyone else does.

What questions would those be?

Read more here

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