The Bridge

[Gremark]

Hello all,
New too the forums and thought I would ask a question. I searched and was unable to fine the information, so hopefully someone out there will have an answer. My question is, during combat situations, is it going to be a top down view of the entire ship, or will it be the bridge view and you will be issuing commands from the bridge. I think it would be extremely exciting to be standing on the bridge issuing commands to the ships crew and viewing the battle that way. Although I could understand the complexity of designing something like that and having to go with the top down type view. If anyone has any ideas, would love to hear them.

Gremark
'They will remember us when men are fairy tales, and books are written by rabbits.'

[Im-Kris]

I don't think there have been any specifics released about it yet, but i'd like to be able to choose different views,

1) Your can see what you could if you were sitting in the captains seet. (ie bridge, screen etc.)

2) You can view your whole ship as if it was some form of Third Person.

3) Mixture of both(somehow)

[NicPre]

I would like to see the ability to get out of my seat and pace the deck. It would also allow for a more personal interaction when using the ship's view screen when speaking to other ships visually.

-np-

[Evmeister]

Being able to see the other persons face on screen in the bridge when talking to them, Both Player and NPC. Maybe even have facial expressions and lip movements while talking...of course this would take much work and would be cool to see but not a deal breaker.

[Corehaven22]

......as far as we know we wont get to see our bridges on the inside period. Not at launch. All control of your ship will be handled via an exterior view. Combat, exploration, all that stuff. You'll be able to see your avatar when you beam down to a planet or whatever.

[Tamgros]

......as far as we know we wont get to see our bridges on the inside period. Not at launch. All control of your ship will be handled via an exterior view. Combat, exploration, all that stuff. You'll be able to see your avatar when you beam down to a planet or whatever.

Yeah, in space you're ship will be your avatar. Content is about 50/50 space ans walking around places like DS9 type space stations, earth, Vulcan, other ships (during episodic content), and such. It will be a third person view.

There will be a lot of menus and things that you can bring up. This would allow for an 'on screen' command to see a veiw that looks like your viewscreen. Nothing about this is confirmed, but the system definitely leaves itself open. This kind of thing is still in development.

[nwtampaguy34]

i would also like a cockpit view and be able to walk about the bridge and the rest of the ship

[Corehaven22]

i would also like a cockpit view and be able to walk about the bridge and the rest of the ship

Yea....dont get me started. Maybe after launch.

[knightofhyrule730]

/headache


Ok look.

You will not be able to see the inside of your ship at launch. The only interiors of the game you will be seeing are:

1) Social Hubs (starbases like DS9, planets like earth)

2) Missions (Beam aboard USS interiors and go see why everyone died)


nothing else...at launch.

[Captain-Derring]

I agree with what Captain Reed said, from what I have gathered it is external views for the time being.

[Naemi]

......as far as we know we wont get to see our bridges on the inside period. Not at launch. All control of your ship will be handled via an exterior view. Combat, exploration, all that stuff. You'll be able to see your avatar when you beam down to a planet or whatever.
I was under the impression that we would have ship interiors at launch, just not customizable yet.
Says so here : There WILL be ship interiors at launch!!!! (http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=18033)
I would guess that you will be able to change from different views, just in like any other game. Something like wheel mouse out to see your ship in space, or wheel in to see you caracter inside the ship, and wheel more in to first person view. Makes sense to me :rolleyes:
Zinc clearly says :"You will be taken to interiors during instanced missions. You'll go to them in persistent ways as well - mostly social, but also in other cases that I'm going to be vague about right now on purpose : ) - There are starbases, satellites, ship interiors (yes, ships), buildings on the ground, caverns under the earth or deep in asteroids - all sorts of places you'll adventure within interiors."
I guess it's the "in other cases that I'm going to be vague about right now" that got every one confused. :)

[ShawnCooks]

i want to see the inside of my ship go and move around, go over the a bridge officer and say "looking good today"

I dont want to just keep looking at the butt of my ship

[Colm]

i want to see the inside of my ship go and move around, go over the a bridge officer and say "looking good today"

I dont want to just keep looking at the butt of my ship

/agree

I can very well imagine on long cruise in warp drive, during which I'll have time to walk around my ship and check up on the crew, or diverse passengers I lately picked up on this or that quest, open conversations with the npcs aboard, and possibly unlock other missions this way.

[Loekii]

i want to see the inside of my ship go and move around, go over the a bridge officer and say "looking good today"

I dont want to just keep looking at the butt of my ship


They have stated that they cannot do that by launch, so they are going to try to do something after release.

If it is a total game breaker, you can always just wait till they add the patch, and then buy the game.

[Outpost_31]

It would be nice to have the bridge commander view. Hopefully, we get it in an expansion.

[knightofhyrule730]

I was under the impression that we would have ship interiors at launch, just not customizable yet.
Says so here : There WILL be ship interiors at launch!!!! (http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=18033)
I would guess that you will be able to change from different views, just in like any other game. Something like wheel mouse out to see your ship in space, or wheel in to see you caracter inside the ship, and wheel more in to first person view. Makes sense to me :rolleyes:
Zinc clearly says :"You will be taken to interiors during instanced missions. You'll go to them in persistent ways as well - mostly social, but also in other cases that I'm going to be vague about right now on purpose : ) - There are starbases, satellites, ship interiors (yes, ships), buildings on the ground, caverns under the earth or deep in asteroids - all sorts of places you'll adventure within interiors."
I guess it's the "in other cases that I'm going to be vague about right now" that got every one confused. :)

missions do not occur on your ship. they are derelict ships or other locations.

at this time you will NOT be able to see your interior if you scroll your mouse in or out. most likely it will probably just enter a first person view of the ship itself.

[KO_Gilligan]

Quite a bit of misinformation in this thread.

Inside of your own ship will only be when it's part of an instanced mission/event like defending from an invasion party. Yes, that will happen on your ship (like in the video)

Other interior locations will be both instanced,
and persistent places to visit.

Flying your ship will be in 3rd person view from up behind the ship - probably with the ability to zoom from short field of vision - zoom in - (similar to first person view) to broad field of vision - zoom out - for a better tactical perspective.

Both the instanced only ship's interiors and the 3rd person ship view have been confirmed by the developers, and discussed at length here.

[KO_Gilligan]

Inside your ship will be the same experience that other players have with their ships - your interior will not be special, or customizable.

It has not been stated that these instanced interiors will change according to the appropriate size of the bridge, or different designs/facilities of ships but it seems possible that the instanced events would coincide with a different sized bridge for different ships -

ie: fighting off intruders on my Nova should look different than fighting off intruders on my sovereign

obviously if you are Klingon your instance would be different, maybe too with some of the different ships... nothing has been said regarding this by the developers though.

[laladiel]

......as far as we know we wont get to see our bridges on the inside period. Not at launch. All control of your ship will be handled via an exterior view. Combat, exploration, all that stuff. You'll be able to see your avatar when you beam down to a planet or whatever.

theres a sticky post that explains that interiors will be there at launch.

[Zombie1982]

at this time you will NOT be able to see your interior if you scroll your mouse in or out. most likely it will probably just enter a first person view of the ship itself.

What if I scroll really, really hard and think good thoughts? :p

[ShawnCooks]

/agree

I can very well imagine on long cruise in warp drive, during which I'll have time to walk around my ship and check up on the crew, or diverse passengers I lately picked up on this or that quest, open conversations with the npcs aboard, and possibly unlock other missions this way.

i think this would be a good idea if for have an ambassador on borad and you need to take it some where and, you go and talk to him and find out he is about to have a medical emergency where you need to take him to a starbase.

[drumsetjunky]

Content is about 50/50 space ans walking around places like DS9 type space stations, earth, Vulcan, other ships (during episodic content), and such. It will be a third person view.


HA....:(
Awww...i made myself sad...

[Father_Origin]

I read somewhere it would be 3rd person during battle...no word on other times.

[gumsmuggler]

I think I read somewhere that when u fight another ship. That fighting will be kinda lame or in other words u move in flat area. Vs a 3D environment because they want them to be "Dog Fighting". Which is a huge bummer imo.

[Loekii]

missions do not occur on your ship. they are derelict ships or other locations.

at this time you will NOT be able to see your interior if you scroll your mouse in or out. most likely it will probably just enter a first person view of the ship itself.

I would actually like to see some Episode occur on 'my ship' (ie invader, plague, etc). I think it opens up some interesting Episode themes and gameplay.

They could just use the default ship interiors to play it out -- ie use the 'derelict' ship interiors, but say it is occurring on 'my' ship.

Obviously it would be instanced, and would only function for the Episode.


I think I read somewhere that when u fight another ship. That fighting will be kinda lame or in other words u move in flat area. Vs a 3D environment because they want them to be "Dog Fighting". Which is a huge bummer imo.

You misread.

Ship to Ship combat will be relatively 3D. You will be able to fly above and below your target, just like a 'dogfight'.

The 'map' outside the instances will be relatively 2D, with only a little maping up or down. This of the map like a big Pizza box, rather than a flat piece of paper.

[knightofhyrule730]

HA....:(
Awww...i made myself sad...

Ugh, you're another one who doesn't understand that the movie's events after Nero and Spock enter the singularity after Romulus explodes DID NOT HAPPEN IN STO. EVER. well not ever, well see what happens.


I would actually like to see some Episode occur on 'my ship' (ie invader, plague, etc). I think it opens up some interesting Episode themes and gameplay.

They could just use the default ship interiors to play it out -- ie use the 'derelict' ship interiors, but say it is occurring on 'my' ship.

Obviously it would be instanced, and would only function for the Episode.


i have a feeling youre not going to see intruder missions until interiors are released. Like Gilligan said, it would look weird if a Nova bridge looked the same as an Intrepid as a Sovereign; including the other sections of the ship the mission takes you to. Because of those facts it becomes a a bit clear that there would be a lot more coding and work that Cryptic probably isnt willing to do pre-launch. If they were we'd have full Interiors already (because they could use the same models and code, for the most part)

[Loekii]

I can respect that.

Speaking for myself, I would forgive the 'wierd simularities' if it ment that there would be some great intruder missions. So much happens on your own ship, that I would feel it almost more strange to never have a problem on my own ship.

[Leonidusroar]

But wait... Why would there be a stickied thread titled: There WILL Be Ship Interiors At Launch! ?
I mean.... The admins can sticky. The admins work for Cryptic.
So there are only two possibilities... Either Cryptic is lying, which I sincerely doubt, or the WILL be interiors....
Vulcan logic. =) I go with the second option.

[Loekii]

But wait... Why would there be a stickied thread titled: There WILL Be Ship Interiors At Launch! ?
I mean.... The admins can sticky. The admins work for Cryptic.
So there are only two possibilities... Either Cryptic is lying, which I sincerely doubt, or the WILL be interiors....
Vulcan logic. =) I go with the second option.

No lying. Just a misunderstanding of what 'Ship Interiors' means.

There WILL be ship interiors ---- in special instanced missions and space bases (like DS9).

There wont be personal ship interiors.

[knightofhyrule730]

I can respect that.

Speaking for myself, I would forgive the 'wierd simularities' if it ment that there would be some great intruder missions. So much happens on your own ship, that I would feel it almost more strange to never have a problem on my own ship.

oh yes. I agree. I can forgive it. I'd love to play superhero and protect my ship without my bridge crew's help!

[Colm]

No lying. Just a misunderstanding of what 'Ship Interiors' means.

There WILL be ship interiors ---- in special instanced missions and space bases (like DS9).

There wont be personal ship interiors.

Thank you for that distinction, that actually makes more sense.
Ship interiors for instances or social spaces, but not (yet) your own ship's interior to watch over / interact with your crew / passengers. I can see why the devs would delay this as it adds a lot of work and wouldn't be considered a priority.

[Corehaven22]

theres a sticky post that explains that interiors will be there at launch.

Read KO Gilligans post earlier in this thread. He pretty much told it like it is. Yes Ive read the sticky post and have posted in there.....a lot.

You are NOT going to be able to just suddenly see the inside of your bridge because you want too. If you have the urge, you wont be able to skip down to engineering and perform some sort of inspection. Some missions may allow you some interior view, but only if its relevant to the story at hand.

A lot of talk by the devs have hinted something like this (free roam interiors) may be included after the games launch.

Now some of you can argue with me all you want. Im telling it like it is. That does NOT mean I like it that way. Again, like I stated in an earlier post.....dont get me started.

[LordDave]

I remember reading one of Craig's blogs that said they tried combat from a bridge only standpoint and found it was impractical since you couldn't see around you. Remember, on the shows helm and tactical both have sensor data displaying what is around, where it is, what firing arc is available, ect...
Captains can't see that stuff from... The Chair.

[LunaticFringer]

Aye, pretty sure I remember them recently having said ship combat would be "third" person so to speak with ship exterior being our only option. No bridge commander interface from what I gathered.

[Corehaven22]

On the whole player crew thing, Im totally against it. Ship interiors Im ALL for it. Not player crews. Im sure it was and is impractical. Why have someone help you out on your ship when NPC crew memebers fill that role nicely enough. Who wants to sit down in engineering and reroute power all day without even being able to see whats going on? How boring is that?

All the while the players crewing you ship could have just brought along their own ships to any engagement. I would rather have people bring along their ships to help me out rather than them messing around inside my own ship in order to give negligible bonuses. With the crew customization being the way it is, Im sure some of my NPC crew might fill the role better than most players could anyways.

I understand fully how people want this for a good role play experience. They want to form a crew and relive the shows. But Im not sure that actually makes for good GAMEPLAY, and this is a game. What player crews would end up doing would be akin to a bunch of little mini games.

Instead of worrying about player crews for a good roleplay experience, try to embrace the way its being set up. Instead of roleplaying in a crew environment, look forward to roleplaying in a Fleet environment. Everyone has their own ship and contributes that way. I think a lot of people may find that more entertaining than they thought. In reality its only a minor difference. Instead of sitting in some chair running the science station on someone ELSES ship, you can have your own science ship instead. And when your fleet commander tells you to scan for lifeforms, you can move your OWN ship in and do that. Instead of playing some silly minigame to do it.

Just the way I see it. Again, I couldnt be more for ship interiors. But I dont think I'll ever see player crews as fun or practical. Not the way the game is already being designed.

[Riska]

I remember reading one of Craig's blogs that said they tried combat from a bridge only standpoint and found it was impractical since you couldn't see around you. Remember, on the shows helm and tactical both have sensor data displaying what is around, where it is, what firing arc is available, ect...
Captains can't see that stuff from... The Chair.

Perhaps ship interior's would be too much of a novelty to ever be useful outside of the mission context. I mean what reason would you need to go into your ship, especially when no one else could see it. I think once you can invite other players aboard for whatever reason then you could make it a sort Star Trek themed version of Home, and customise it as you see fit. The Sims has proved that sort of thing is popular (not that im suggesting anyone in this forum wants anything to do with that...thing). However, personally I would like to play the game sooner then have to wait for this to be implemented.

Out of interest LordDave is that Daniel Jackson from SG1 in your pic, or just someone who looks an awful lot like him?

[Corehaven22]

Perhaps ship interior's would be too much of a novelty to ever be useful outside of the mission context. I mean what reason would you need to go into your ship, especially when no one else could see it. I think once you can invite other players aboard for whatever reason then you could make it a sort Star Trek themed version of Home, and customise it as you see fit. The Sims has proved that sort of thing is popular (not that im suggesting anyone in this forum wants anything to do with that...thing). However, personally I would like to play the gamer sooner then have to wait for this to be implemented.

Out of interest LordDave is that Daniel Jackson from SG1 in your pic, or just someone who looks an awful lot like him?

Yea, the entire purpose of free roam interiors is the its aesthetic value I would imagine. Crag has said he wants them to be "functional" if they are ever implemented. I still fail to see how this could happen, but perhaps with a lot of imagination they could figure something out.

But say I installed a newer, more efficient warp core in my ship. I'd like to go down to engineering and take a look at it. I'd like to see how the different bridges look on different ships. I'd like to be able to interact with my NPC crew and see them on board.

Yea....all aesthetic stuff. I just feel it adds necessary immersion to the game. Ive heard it said its on the top of the list of stuff the devs want to add after launch, sort of giving me the impression they want to take the time to do it right if they are going to do it. Time they dont have right now. Fair enough I say.

[Riska]

Yea....all aesthetic stuff. I just feel it adds necessary immersion to the game. Ive heard it said its on the top of the list of stuff the devs want to add after launch, sort of giving me the impression they want to take the time to do it right if they are going to do it. Time they dont have right now. Fair enough I say.

I agree that immersion is very important to a game, I mean Final Fantasy, Oblivion and Fallout prove how important little details are in creating the illusion of a fully functioning and realised world. I can see your point that without it, it will remind you that this is a game every now and again (though maybe this hint would be a good thing for certain players ;))

[Colm]

Yeah, real astronauts get to see a lot more of the ship's inside than the outside space, flicking dials and punching buttons. Not very adrenaline-pumping for a game tho. And there's not really enough time to read thru the thick manuals or call headquarters so they can tell you which button to punch to turn right, when an enneny vessel attacks, which thankfully never happens in real life. I guess a ship is easier to manoeuver in outside view, with a limited number of controls so it doesn't get too confusing.

However, for a game that wants to add as much immersion to it as possible, ship interiors should definately be at the top of the to-do list.

[Tain]

If it is a total game breaker, you can always just wait till they add the patch, and then buy the game.


This is good advice, and is exactly what I am doing. I just hope they make a big announcement when they finally add interiors/bridges so those of us waiting know when to hop in.

[Loekii]

This is good advice, and is exactly what I am doing. I just hope they make a big announcement when they finally add interiors/bridges so those of us waiting know when to hop in.

I have friends that avoid games at release, because they cannot stand release bugs and issues. So they wait a few months, and jump into the game after it has had a patch or two.

[LordDave]

On the whole player crew thing, Im totally against it. Ship interiors Im ALL for it. Not player crews. Im sure it was and is impractical. Why have someone help you out on your ship when NPC crew memebers fill that role nicely enough. Who wants to sit down in engineering and reroute power all day without even being able to see whats going on? How boring is that?

All the while the players crewing you ship could have just brought along their own ships to any engagement. I would rather have people bring along their ships to help me out rather than them messing around inside my own ship in order to give negligible bonuses. With the crew customization being the way it is, Im sure some of my NPC crew might fill the role better than most players could anyways.

I understand fully how people want this for a good role play experience. They want to form a crew and relive the shows. But Im not sure that actually makes for good GAMEPLAY, and this is a game. What player crews would end up doing would be akin to a bunch of little mini games.

Instead of worrying about player crews for a good roleplay experience, try to embrace the way its being set up. Instead of roleplaying in a crew environment, look forward to roleplaying in a Fleet environment. Everyone has their own ship and contributes that way. I think a lot of people may find that more entertaining than they thought. In reality its only a minor difference. Instead of sitting in some chair running the science station on someone ELSES ship, you can have your own science ship instead. And when your fleet commander tells you to scan for lifeforms, you can move your OWN ship in and do that. Instead of playing some silly minigame to do it.

Just the way I see it. Again, I couldnt be more for ship interiors. But I dont think I'll ever see player crews as fun or practical. Not the way the game is already being designed.
I was referring to just flying your ship from first person bridge view. No player crew involved.



Out of interest LordDave is that Daniel Jackson from SG1 in your pic, or just someone who looks an awful lot like him?
Yep. He's my avatar on my star trek RP forum.

This is good advice, and is exactly what I am doing. I just hope they make a big announcement when they finally add interiors/bridges so those of us waiting know when to hop in.
Well keep watching the forums. Once they announce it, there will be threads all over the place.

[Corehaven22]

I have friends that avoid games at release, because they cannot stand release bugs and issues. So they wait a few months, and jump into the game after it has had a patch or two.

Sort of the philosophy of "Why pay for something monthly thats not finished? " There may be something there.

[Corehaven22]

I was referring to just flying your ship from first person bridge view. No player crew involved.


Yikes. Actually I dont think I meant to quote you. I must have been reading your post and just hit quote instead of a regular post. I was just saying something in general. Sorry about that. Lemme go fix it. Embarassing. :o

[Riska]

I was referring to just flying your ship from first person bridge view. No player crew involved.


A short term solution, though a purely aesthetic one, would be that when you enter combat, adding something around the edge of the screen to simulate the boarders of a bridge screen? As in, your looking at your ship from a third person view yes, but only for the tactical benefits this gives. Not that it makes much sense in the way of, what's actually filming you, but hey. It could still be viable.

[Gremark]

Thanks for all the great information and discussion all this answers my question completly.

Gremark
'They will remember us when men are fairy tales and books are written by rabbits.'