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Star Trek Online: GDC Studio Visit: The Direction of STO
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
While in San Francisco at the Game Developer's Conference, Managing Editor Jon Wood had the opportunity to attend a press event at Perpetual Entertainment, the makers of Star Trek Online. In this article, Jon looks at how the direction of the game fits in with the legend of its IP.
Last night, members of the press were treated to a visit to Perpetual Studios' offices in downtown San Francisco. During that time, we got a hands-on look at Gods and Heroes (the subject of another article) and a look at some of what they're doing with Star Trek Online.
While we didn't get to look at the game itself (they're still in a very early stage of development), we did get a chance to look at the game's assets: race models, ships, planets, and the like. It was enough to get a good idea of the feel of this new incarnation of the Star Trek franchise.
For folks who might not know, Star Trek Online is set about 20 years after the movie, Star Trek Nemesis. Setting the game outside of the direct timeline of the movies and the television show gives Perpetual the opportunity to branch out and put their own stamp on the Trek universe. As with any IP, that can be a risky business. The games industry is full of tales of IPs gone horribly wrong, where the spirit of the original incarnation is lost because the company was more interested in capitalizing on the brand recognition of the IP than they were about making a solid game that would entertain fans and non fans alike.
;)
You can read the whole article here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Awesome.
That is real great news. I have a lot of faith in Perpetual and I really hope they can pull it off. This just increased my faith :P
We all know the graphics are going to be pretty, but what would be much more helpful and interesting is to know what they are actually planning for the mechanics of the game. Is it going to be level or skill based, is it going to be quest or "sandbox" based, how will combat and ship control work. How will they do "crafting" in a universe where everything can be made for you in the little machine?
These would have been much better questions to ask than "how is the ship going to look".
"When people don't know much about something, they tend to fill in the blanks the way they want them to be filled in. They are almost always disappointed." - Will Wright
I doubt that PE is releasing that type of info yet. They could ask until they are blue in the face and they won't give anything out.
I really doubt we will start hearing anything about the mechanics of this game until AT LEAST God's and Heros is released.
And as far as crafting is concerned, when was the last time you saw them cook up anything besides food and drink with a replicator. You think they make Warp Nacelles with those things? It won't be an issue.
I'm Here. I'm Awesome. Get Used To It.
Oh, wow. The image of the ship approaching the starbase is awesome.
The background has nebula type effects, like a certain other space based MMO. I would prefer black, but that is just a small niggle. The station looks great, all blue and glowy.
I can't wait for the real thing now.
Wait, I take that back.
Unfortunately, there's a long history of the entire license being screwed up and screwed with.
Somebody needs to stop J.J. Abrams before he puts the last nail in my beloved Star Trek's coffin.
--------
"Give a man a fire, and he is warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he is warm for the rest of his life."
And as far as crafting is concerned, when was the last time you saw them cook up anything besides food and drink with a replicator. You think they make Warp Nacelles with those things? It won't be an issue.
I want you to think about something for a second please...if you will. When I and many others look for a MMORPG to call home, we look for a MMORPG whose company knows what they are doing and can handle the monetary responsibilities of our demands. It is not encouraging to know that STO doesn't even have the answers to those questions that the earlier poster asked. They have been in development for almost a year now, maybe more (can't remember exactly). Mythic, as we all know, is a good company. When they announced that they were developing WAR, they already have been working on it for 6 months. But even then they knew the mechanics of the game and were able to answer the above questions for their game. That is what I expect from a good solid company, that is likely to finish a MMORPG in a decent amount of time and release it in a finished state, instead of a severely bug ridden state with performance and serious lag issues that plague games released by companies that don't have the budget or know how to do better.
So wouldn't it be reasonable to expect the same amount of information, which is really basic, from Perpetual considering they are about a year into development now? I just thought it's something to think about. If the company is worth a damn, they would know already what they plan to implement, whether it's skill based or level based, quest based or sandbox. Or, they could just be witholding information, which is also fine, since they have a MMORPG that should soon be released this year. But it would be nice to know if they have figured out what they are doing, even if they wouldn't tell us. It would go a long way of telling us how stable of a company they are.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
Google gives you lots of information about Internet Protocol. That doesn't help much when discussing what an IP is in relation to an mmorpg.
IP - Intellectual Property ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property )
Rillarri - 1stMI
www.1stmi.com
Are you 1?
PE probably does know where this title is going. Who really knows how far along they are? We certainatly don't, because they ain't telling us.
Honestly people, I doubt this was an open forum where they invited the people in and they got to ask questions. And instead of asking questions about gameplay, all they asked was "Can we see another screenshot/concept art piece?"
PE released the info they wanted to release. The are probably not trying to show up their original IP MMO game called God's and Heros. If you really want to know how STO is going to be handled, pay attention to GnH. After that is released later this year, I'm sure we will get all sorts of STO goodies
Last I read (in an article of MMORPG.COM no less) the game was going to be class/level based (a little fuzzy on that detail), with missions instanced for your crew - the only time you will be likely to run into another player not on your crew will be at starbases - no PvP combat or even playable races hostile to the Federation, and when you get injured, you are always instantly saved 100% healthy via Star Trek teleporter + hypospray magic.
I can see where some of the design decisions came from in order to keep with the theme of Star Trek, but I'm not sure if I'll be wanting to play it. But despite all my negativity, I will say that they seem to have a rather interesting approach to Ship control/flight. Haven't seen any solid details yet, but it look like it will be a crew effort, with each person managing a system in a sort of mini-game.
I used google to look up pompus rude idiot and guess what ? Your name came up....
I wanted to step in here now and clear some things up. For those of you asking for gameplay information, I can see where you're coming from. I' m as curious as anyone about how the game will be constructed, whether or not it will be a sandbox, is it level or skill based? The fact of the matter is that Perpetual, as a company, isn't talking about that aspect of their game yet. The fact of the matter is that there's a lot that changes in the development of an MMORPG between pre-production (where they are now) and launch. Announcing what features are going to be in the game, before they are locked down (or close to it) is not only a pain in the butt for companies (who then have to go out and say "We changed our minds") but also a pain in the butt for fans of the game like you and I who are looking forward to it. I know that's something that always aggrivates me.
I figured though, since I was there and saw what I saw, that I'd pass on any information I had. I know I was starved for it, and I figured others were as well.
Cheers
Jon
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Personaly, I love hearing any information about STO. Thanks for getting what you could for us guys, really hope to hear more soon of cousre.
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I think this game is going to attract players who want to be part of a crew and experience the true Star Trek feel in a game. Concerning the topic of instances wouldn’t that promote a sense of a “unique experience” on a mission with crew mates? I can't see how this game is going to cater to a solo mentality and I am quite happy with that concept. But is it going to feel like a guild wars game in the sense of how instances work? I am still waiting to see how STO debuts & hope it does well. We all need a good sci-fi!
The artwork looks amazing= thanks for the articleGreat to see something on this project. Give us more give us more!
Have you heard of this thing called common sense? What you typed took longer than just answering the question. Not sure if that makes you a jerk or a moron.
Anyway... I'm really looking forward to this game. Not just because I've been a Star Trek fan since my mother first let me stay up to watch the original series reruns back in the mid 1970's... but because, frankly, I'm fantasy-ed out. I'd like to play a new MMORPG that isn't fantasy-based. I'm just glad to have read even one little tidbit about how the game's coming, even if the article didn't tell us a whole lot of new information.