Ten Ton Hammer: Star Trek Online Space Combat Q&A

[Marcosore]

Ten Ton Hammer:
What role will ship type, speed, maneuverability, and tactics play in battle, and can your friends join in your encounter or instance at any time? What about loot and loot split in co-op combat? Will STO support user interface addons and flight sim-oriented peripherals? And, as importantly as any of these questions, how will Star Trek Online preserve the "bridge drama" and atmosphere that has made Star Trek ship combat so compelling for generations?

Find it here: Ten Ton Hammer: Star Trek Online Space Combat Q&A (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76234)

[mufti09]

Thanks for the link, good stuff Maynard.

[Elboulevardo]

"Now the cool thing is that that encounter ends up turning into a location on the astrometric map, where other players who are flying by and who are flying around in sector space can see that activity, that there's something going on there, and they can actually jump in and help out"

This little info nugget excites me :D

[dr_truth]

"Now the cool thing is that that encounter ends up turning into a location on the astrometric map, where other players who are flying by and who are flying around in sector space can see that activity, that there's something going on there, and they can actually jump in and help out"

This little info nugget excites me :D

agreed. Though i will be jumping into most of these, i really like the option to try and avoid them if i'm really not up for a fight.

[Elboulevardo]

there are some really good info pieces in here...fantastic read!

[KODudna]

"Now the cool thing is that that encounter ends up turning into a location on the astrometric map, where other players who are flying by and who are flying around in sector space can see that activity, that there's something going on there, and they can actually jump in and help out"

This little info nugget excites me :D

Ditto! Very cool!

[Klaus_Richter]

Worth the read, thanks for the link.

[KODudna]

Oh, but here's a thought. He said that there will be three basic speeds you can travel at: Warp (travel speed if you will), Full Impulse (sprint), and 1/4 Impulse (combat). Fair enough - simple, clean, doesn't detract too much from the game. Personally i'd rather be able to have a slider to go through my impulse speeds, or at least 4 presets - 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, full, but I digress.

My real question is about warp speeds. I assume, since you have only a "go to warp" function, your ship will presumably go to its maximum sustainable warp speed. Again, fair enough. However, different ships are capable of different warp speeds. For example the Intrepid is particularly zippy, whereas an older vessel, say, an Ambassador, is not (even with upgrades to the warp assembly, the spaceframe may not be able to handle the stress of high warp).

Anywho, I wonder if the game takes into account varying warp velocities when traveling in the astrometrics view. Technically speaking, if that Intrepid and Ambassador start at the same spot and go to the same destination at max warp, the Intrepid should get there first hands down.

Or, is it simply gonna be a one speed fits all deal. And really, if they do have different speeds, would people even notice in gameplay? It'll make Trekkers happy I bet ;-p

Thoughts?

[Inquizitor]

"Now the cool thing is that that encounter ends up turning into a location on the astrometric map, where other players who are flying by and who are flying around in sector space can see that activity, that there's something going on there, and they can actually jump in and help out"

This little info nugget excites me :D

I liked that as well. Kinda makes me wonder if that is how the Neutral zone will happen? We will see each others signatures and actually activate a location. So a battle could start off small but then reinforcements keep coming and coming and coming.

[cmahecha]

Thanks for the link! Nice info. Sounds good that you can see where people may need help (specially with tough encounters). Sounds very trekish to jump in and help.

Just make sure that both persons are rewarded. The one who helped, and the one who was helped. We don't want people feeling like they were KSed when someone comes to help them out. That breaks up the community as well.

[j911g]

Oh, but here's a thought. He said that there will be three basic speeds you can travel at: Warp (travel speed if you will), Full Impulse (sprint), and 1/4 Impulse (combat). Fair enough - simple, clean, doesn't detract too much from the game. Personally i'd rather be able to have a slider to go through my impulse speeds, or at least 4 presets - 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, full, but I digress.

Anywho, I wonder if the game takes into account varying warp velocities when traveling in the astrometrics view. Technically speaking, if that Intrepid and Ambassador start at the same spot and go to the same destination at max warp, the Intrepid should get there first hands down.

Thoughts?

Well, to your first query, there is indeed a slider that controls ship velocity, I believe he was speaking in generalities, basically stating that most of the time you will be using one of those 3 speeds because they are the most practical, not that you are only allowed to full or quarter impulse. Take a look at the videos of STO at Eurogamer on youtube and you'll see what I mean.

Secondly I believe that it will make a difference as to how fast your ship can travel in warp, albeit a marginal one, but I don't see them mentioning top warp speeds in the "Ships of the Line" page without them having some effect in game. I can't confirm this obviously, but it seems likely that in your hypothesis the Intrepid would arrive first, if only by a small margin. Hope this helps.

[Awarkle]

well after playing other pvp games i know for a fact they need to put a big warning at the log in screen saying

" THIS IS NOT A SOLO GAME GO PLAY STREET FIGHTER 2 FOR 1 VS 1 FIGHTS"

because frankly after playing dark age of camelot and rushing to help a realm friend out to only get shouted at


"OMFG DONT ADD NOOB"

i dont really want to see that in startrek online with duelers ruining pvp.