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Star Trek: Online

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Star Trek: Online ship interiors

based on the post about Cryptic Dev Team details
regarding ship interiors in the game.
I just came across this.

The largest Starfleet starships like the Galaxy- and Sovereign-class were not designed for individuals to own, but to act as in-space "towns" called hubs. Such ships would have been commanded by a NPC crew, and their interiors rendered in high detail;
-memory alpha


The work you see here is one of 12 decks I was asked to help develop. Working from October through December, 2005, the Game Designer, Art Director, and I planned out the basic elements of those decks and I built them as simple 3D models, helping us all to visualize those spaces quickly. Then, choosing one of the decks,.. Medical & Sciences: Deck-7, I was asked to sketch each of the rooms, adding details that would be seen and used in the game. As of this writing, this is the only deck I've been asked to take through 'concept phase' completion.
Andrew Probert's Concepts and designs 21 images made in 2006 for PERPETUAL ENTERTAINMENT

Interior layout designs STAR TREK ONLINE GAME for Deck7 Medical and Sciences section.
http://www.probertdesigns.com/Folder_DESIGN/Concepts_PerpEnt..html


His Official Trek related job titles:
STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, 1979
PRODUCTION ILLUSTRATOR

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, 1986-87
SENIOR CONSULTING ILLUSTRATOR

In January 2008, Perpetual Entertainment ceased production of the game and laid off the entire Star Trek Online development team.
Non-code assets of the development were transferred to Cryptic Studios, who have subsequently developed their own title under the same name, but with significantly different game mechanics.
SOURCE

These may be the actual interiors Cryptic Studios used.
 
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first video of space battles and new ships

Cryptic Studios' Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich and included new combat footage and info. in an interview on MSNBC for Star Trek Online preview.
Length 3:18 video

I believe this new combat in-game footage is the first time we have seen space battles and phaser fire on ship interiors for this game as a video, with stereo sound.
In the video we also see the new The NX-91001 ship go into Warp leaving a blue trail behind. We also see the NCC-79719 new Oslo class ship flyby, NCC-95032 HAWAII (ARIZONA class), and another unclassed Federation ship. We also hear some of the new music underneath the voice.
At 3:02 there is a really nice wide shot of a Borg cube fast approach and full stop in front of what looks like a Enterprise-D and scans it with green light. Very similar to shots I've seen on Voyager.

FYI I found the NCC95032 here which should help you in classifying ships:
ESF Starship Directory
 
Star Trek: Online fees

I don't think it's been disclosed yet.

Will there be a monthly fee?
Yes. The fee will be competitive with other products of our genre.
Will the content grow during the lifetime of the game?
Yes, through updates and expansions
It was disclosed by startrek.com on 7.12.2005 and here.



A fee in a way tells you that this is a serious game, and only the serious play it. That is not to say that the fee takes away from the fun of the game
SOURCE: STO forum post
Pay to Play monthly = looking at Cryptic past games, free updates, no restrictions, able to keep the game running with chances to expand on ideas. Down side may not get your money worth of game time.
another STO forum post
 
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Star Trek: Online development images and design info

I found some stuff from the initial development of Star Trek: Online from Perpetual before Cryptic took over even though they kept the Intellectual Property.

7 images of Concept Artwork from Cryptic Studios
http://www.sto-zone.net/cryptic/conceptart.html


2 images from a planet surface structure? Looks like a temple
http://www.sto-zone.net/pe/images/3dd2.jpg
http://www.sto-zone.net/pe/images/3dd3.jpg


This will help you understand what ship interiors MAY be in the initial game launch.
Continuing from my post earlier this week about Andrew Probert doing designs in 2006:
CREATING A GALAXY CLASS STARSHIP
experienced Star Trek designer: Andrew Probert, the guy who designed the Enterprise D, Next Gen's original Starship. But you're certainly not familiar with the intimate details of HOW he is contributing - and that's what I'd like to discuss.


The Rooms - Our first brainstormed list spelled out all of the possible things that players would need or want to do in a hub. These actions included healing, visiting their quarters, buying/selling/trading, getting missions, engaging in hobbies, resupplying, chatting, and lots more. In order to establish the areas that supported all of these actions, we did the following:

1) We first looked at canon to find established (and hopefully well-known) areas of the Galaxy-class. Clear matches like Sick Bay, the Bridge, and Ten-Forward called out to be included.
2) We searched through both sets of Enterprise-D blueprints (Sternbach's and Whitefire's) to see if there were other, previously designed rooms that fit the bills - even if these rooms weren't canon (defined by if we've actually seen or heard reference to the area in a show or movie). We sure found more labs than we ever expected!
3) Failing both of these, we created our own areas, but made sure they made sense in relation to other known associated rooms.

The next list identified canon or blueprint-established rooms that looked cool or fun to explore, but weren't quite as crucial. This process gave us known spaces like Jefferies' tubes, and less-familiar but intriguing areas like the Aquatic Lab.

The end result was a bag full of vital, interesting, or just plain cool building blocks.


We identified a number of vital decks to serve as the core of our gameplay area, including those that serviced the three departments (science/medical, engineering, and security), as well as the bridge, crew quarters, recreation, and the main shuttle bay. And while our decks are still identified by number, they're also distinguished by other factors: color, lighting, architecture, signage, and even art hanging on the walls and planters on the floor. While everything still feels true to the show, you'll never mistake the science deck for security. Andrew's design talents were and continue to be invaluable in this effort.

So where are these decks located in the ship? We looked to the blueprints again, and while we did some consolidating, in most cases we found logical anchor rooms: iconic areas from which the remaining rooms could flow. We also took into account aesthetics and the opportunity to connect some decks with multi-level landmarks.

Andrew [Probert] was great in this process; he's got most of the ship design living in his head, and was immediately able to tell us if there were potential layout problems.

Andrew, Ken Henderson (our art director), and I hashed through these issues and iterated a number of deck plans. I was mostly concerned with game-design and flow issues. Andrew helped nail down the look and location of both old and new spaces, and grounded them in TNG-era design. Ken paid attention to the details as well as technical construction concerns.

The Concept Art - Once a deck's layout was nailed down, we moved on to drawing up concept art for the individual rooms. In some cases, reference was pulled straight out of TNG episodes; in others, we described to Andrew what the room needed to accomplish, and he delivered excellent line sketches in the same style, pictures that look as though they could have come out of the 'Art of Star Trek' book. While every one of these spaces might change as the design evolves and we discover more about how our game plays, this was a great first step.

The final product, our Galaxy class Starship hub, pays off on expectations, but also allows for some incredible new experiences - all in a ship that feels like an off-stage Enterprise-D. I'm thinking that our ship is potentially pretty close to what the original Trek designers would have created given the task of building a functioning city-ship and given an unlimited budget.


I want to make it clear that this material is concept art. We've yet to actually build these spaces in our engine, and there are issues like modularity, reuse, complexity, and detail level that we've yet to address. We're really excited to have this early view of what we might build, but like any material we release this early, these plans could easily change.


Christine Brownell and Mike Stemmle (the Lead World and Story Designers) [Mike Stemmle is the Story Lead on Star Trek Online] have done an amazing job organizing even the smallest facets of Trek canon into a galaxy that, if the extensive Wiki pages detailing STO's design are any indication, will be above awesome to explore
an early build of Star Trek Online, during what we call a "Build Verification Test".

--Glen
Glen Dahlgren here, Design Director on STO,

Feb 6, 2006 - CREATING A GALAXY CLASS STARSHIP by Glen Dahlgren (Lead Designer)
http://www.sto-zone.net/pe/devlog-designingagalaxyclassstarship.htm
http://www.sto-zone.net/pe/devlog-designingagalaxyclassstarship2.htm
 
Re: Star Trek: Online fees

I don't think it's been disclosed yet.

Will there be a monthly fee?
Yes. The fee will be competitive with other products of our genre.
Will the content grow during the lifetime of the game?
Yes, through updates and expansions
It was disclosed by startrek.com on 7.12.2005 and here.



A fee in a way tells you that this is a serious game, and only the serious play it. That is not to say that the fee takes away from the fun of the game
SOURCE: STO forum post
Pay to Play monthly = looking at Cryptic past games, free updates, no restrictions, able to keep the game running with chances to expand on ideas. Down side may not get your money worth of game time.
another STO forum post

Thanks for the info. To be clear, I was referring to the amount of the monthly fee, which (as far as I know) hasn't yet been disclosed. Please correct me if I'm wrong, however, obviously you're far more of an expert on this game than I.
 
This game has the real potential to be phenomenal, I just hope they include more playable sides/races in the expansions.

Imagine being at the helm of a borg cube :borg:

I know who I am going to play as first, though. Go team klingon!


I know from a friend who plays CoH/CoV that Cryptic is usually really good about subscription fees. AFAIK, you pay less when you order larger chunks of times (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, etc etc). At any rate, I'm not normally an MMO guy, but I may become one for this game.
 
I'm all for this game, especially since GW2 has been delayed yet again and playing various free MMORPGs only holds my attention for so long before I get bored (grinding gets old and that's all the free ones seem to be).

If I'm gonna pay to play another MMO, it'll be this one.
 
I am excited for this new game. I want to be an Andorian captain. My ship will have Andorians, Humans, and Tellerites on board. The best thing about this game is that you can create crews undreamt of in the TV series.
 
Re: blog post about ST:Online timeline

Star Trek Online begins in the year 2409, which is about 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis.

Christine "Kestrel" Thompson has posted a new blog over on MMORPG.com - In this blog she talks about the daunting task of writing thirty years of Star Trek History and how exactly she has chosen to approach the whole thing.
In addition, she also mentions a couple of tidbits that we havent heard about yet - Laas and the missing 98 changlings from the "100" - which could give us some idea about what to expect in some future updates.
What happened to the Klingons? How were the Cardassians recovering from the Dominion War? Where were Laas and the missing 98 changelings, and what did they want? What was the Federation doing when all of this was going on? What about the Gorn, or the Orions? And so on.
full blog post:
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Awenydd...w-how-you-got-here-Christine-Kestrel-Thompson

original source

I see that they've reached the year 2387, including the events of Countdown (the comic series/graphic novel written as a lead-in to the Star Trek movie, chronicling the destruction of Romulus and the rise of Nero). I wonder how far in advance they knew about this, as their previous backstory seemed to devote a lot of time to Romulan political developments that now, apparently, will have no bearing on the game.
 
Re: blog post about ST:Online timeline

Star Trek Online begins in the year 2409, which is about 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis.

Christine "Kestrel" Thompson has posted a new blog over on MMORPG.com - In this blog she talks about the daunting task of writing thirty years of Star Trek History and how exactly she has chosen to approach the whole thing.
In addition, she also mentions a couple of tidbits that we havent heard about yet - Laas and the missing 98 changlings from the "100" - which could give us some idea about what to expect in some future updates.
What happened to the Klingons? How were the Cardassians recovering from the Dominion War? Where were Laas and the missing 98 changelings, and what did they want? What was the Federation doing when all of this was going on? What about the Gorn, or the Orions? And so on.
full blog post:
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Awenydd...w-how-you-got-here-Christine-Kestrel-Thompson

original source

I see that they've reached the year 2387, including the events of Countdown (the comic series/graphic novel written as a lead-in to the Star Trek movie, chronicling the destruction of Romulus and the rise of Nero). I wonder how far in advance they knew about this, as their previous backstory seemed to devote a lot of time to Romulan political developments that now, apparently, will have no bearing on the game.

They've been in talks for a while now, you'll notice that the major players in the Romulan political system "mysteriously disappeared" before Romulus' destruction. After launch the next two factions Cryptic want to release are the Dominion and the Romulans, I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens once the timeline reaches 2409.
 
I am more interested in the developments on the other side of the galaxy. I am certain that Bajor will become part of the Federation. I think the Cardassian Union might be divided among powers. I think Cardassia Prime will end up as Federation. Some planets may go to the Jem'Hadar.
 
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