Explorable and Interactive Starships

[RagnarokHGM]

Hello.

There's alot of things I look for in a Star Trek Game that I've always wanted but could never get.

Detail, Interactivity, Things to do.


My question is, Will you freely be able to switch from ship-view mode, to first person, and actually walk around inside your ship? Entering Turbolifts, Transporting Around, Going into your Quarters, dining in the Mess Hall? Etc.?

I would hope so, if not It'd be a real dissapointment. I'd love to be able to just relax in my quarters aboard an Intrepid-Class.

And then goto the Bridge and prepare to engage the borg or something, or just go exploring.

[Thaalvor]

.. I would /love/ to be able to wander the decks of my own vessel.

[Interdictor]

I'm not sure exactly how they plan on implementing it, but Jack did say we will be able to visit the different sections of our ship. Not sure if we will be able to "get up and walk around", or that they willl generate full deckplans (which would be quite a feat for the bigger ships like the Galaxy class), but he DID say others will be able to board our ship and look around as well - so I guess the answer to your question is - we don't quite know yet, and THEY might not even know yet. :D

[gat]

Hello.

There's alot of things I look for in a Star Trek Game that I've always wanted but could never get.

Detail, Interactivity, Things to do.


My question is, Will you freely be able to switch from ship-view mode, to first person, and actually walk around inside your ship? Entering Turbolifts, Transporting Around, Going into your Quarters, dining in the Mess Hall? Etc.?

I would hope so, if not It'd be a real dissapointment. I'd love to be able to just relax in my quarters aboard an Intrepid-Class.

And then goto the Bridge and prepare to engage the borg or something, or just go exploring.

My thoughts exactly.

This is something that's been rolling around in my head since I first heard about STO. The episodes and movies revolve so much around the ships, the crew, the quarters, etc... If they don't do something good, I feel that a lot of Trekkie's are going to be disappointed.

I would like to see ships being exact replicas inside and out. I want to be able to go down to the engine room and gawk at that hot new Ensign that just got transferred. I want to find a half destroyed ship with no warp drive and no gravity floating in space (dead bodies and all) and explore and salvage it room by room. I want to walk into my quarters and find Q waiting to zip me off on some crazy adventure. I want to be able to mosey into Ten Forward, (on my ship and yours) have a glass of Romulian ale and see people chatting it up and playing Star Trek Chess. I want full DS9 style space stations full of all types of alien life forms occupying all types of shops and services. I want to be able to customize the interior of my star ship with photos, art and music. I want to shoot another ship with a Photon Torpedo and rip 5 decks apart and see bodies float out into space. I want to get beamed aboard a Borg ship, get half assimilated, escape and roam around Halo style and rack up some kills.. hahah. riiiiiiight... It would be cool tho!

There's so much potential here. I really hope it's tapped.

[Eloween]

If they do this i agree to buy 100$ each month to play the game :D

[chrisdanger]

I have feeling this will occure with game play. You'll see your command deck, ready room, medical, engineering, 10 forward ect.. For the people who like a "hall crawl" that may or may not be in the cards. If it is, it'll make the expeience better. Im also hoping we dont see a repeat of "Generic building interior #13" that you see with other MMOGs either(sorry, had to call out MxO and CoH on that one..).

[TheProphets]

Well, I'd be very disappointed if we couldn't walk around and explore our ships. It would be a lot of untapped potential for various kinds of "mission quests" that could pop up within our own ships themselves.

[noblee]

Smart money is on advanced turbolifts that go right where you want to go without any corridors. Just too crazy to think about rendering all the hallways needed on a major capital ship. Or, if they did, it would just be hallways with only one functional door per deck, which is even more unsatisfying.

It just is not a good use of delevoper time to render thirty decks with actual spaces and people all of them. If they did, it would end up being Star Trek: Tour A Ship without anything else, like say, ship combat, major story arc, the actual war they are planning, etc. You would get to wander around your ship for $15/month though.

[slycherrychunks]

My question is, Will you freely be able to switch from ship-view mode, to first person, and actually walk around inside your ship?I personally believe that this is the factor that will make or break the game. We know that there will be ship interiors - but how free will you be to switch between the two? If it's only on certain missions or in space dock, then I will be severely dissapointed.

As for how detailed the ship interior should be - just as long as we get the major stuff - bridge, engine room, sickbay etc.

I'm no coder, but I imagine that ship exteriors and interiors would have to be rendered on two different gaming "planes". Can anyone explain to me how they worked in SWG?

[lootra]

hmm, first, image the computer loading a full interior ship, then watch it try to render it all... gonna take a while...

so the interior will probably just be important rooms with hall-ways

[IanD967]

1st: welcome :D
2nd: although we know interiors are in an that we have missions on them we have no idea as to what we could do on them

also be sure to check the FAQ's in my sig which will cover everything that we know so far :)

[rileylan]

I definitely want multi ship-view modes when in combat, etc, and be on the bridge in combat watching your officers and view screen. A trailing camera only in this scenario would be really dissappointing. Would like to be able to walk up to the helm, operations, or tactical and control those (if so desired), and each station have guages and buttons that can be pressed or viewed to take a particular action. I just don't know how they are going to do that...of if they will.

[VainEldritch]

If they do this i agree to buy 100$ each month to play the game :D

Hmm... as an "older" player (I watched the re-run TV episodes of the original series in 1973... :) ), I find myself in a position where I also would pay a very high monthly fee for a great game that delivers infinit exploration, a "pet" crew, MMORPG social interaction / guilds, in the Star Trek I.P., with regular updates and continual bug squashes and top-notch customer support.

For that, yes - I really would pay 100$ / month... :D

[Pliskin]

I'm no coder, but I imagine that ship exteriors and interiors would have to be rendered on two different gaming "planes". Can anyone explain to me how they worked in SWG?

Most of the walk-around player ships in SWG were small. Maybe 2 or 3 decks and nowhere near the size of even something like a Defiant class.

I don't think that an entire ship, deck-by-deck, is that feasible, at least not on the scale of the vessels in Trek.

The only way i can see it possible is if there's a "ship instance" where you enter the "ship level" and perhaps on-board events happen.

But the server load from having access to the entirety of a galaxy class during the regular game would be insane. Because its not just you, and everything happening on your ship that needs to be taken into account, its everything happening on every deck of the 300 other ships in the sector as well.

[Bazil]

I would hope so, if not It'd be a real dissapointment.

Prepare yourself, that way it won't hurt as much.

[JMD10222]

Prepare yourself, that way it won't hurt as much.

I agree . Prepair for the worst hope for the best;)

[TheMasterpiece]

Hello.

There's alot of things I look for in a Star Trek Game that I've always wanted but could never get.

Detail, Interactivity, Things to do.


My question is, Will you freely be able to switch from ship-view mode, to first person, and actually walk around inside your ship? Entering Turbolifts, Transporting Around, Going into your Quarters, dining in the Mess Hall? Etc.?

I would hope so, if not It'd be a real dissapointment. I'd love to be able to just relax in my quarters aboard an Intrepid-Class.

And then goto the Bridge and prepare to engage the borg or something, or just go exploring.




We do know we can go into the main parts of the ship (bridge, engineering, sickbay, holodecks, etc) but if itll be first person or 3rd I dont really care. I actually prefer 3rd when moving so I can see my character I made.

[kekvin85]

corridors like elite force / the fallen had i would be happy with.

[GundamAce]

I actually posted a thread about this a while back, but I'll restate some of what I want here.

Things I want to be able to do on the decks of my ship (Keep in mind I want to be able to access all these menues from the ship chase cam view as well)

I. The Bridge
_____A. Impulse Nav. - This station should take me into the ship chase cam view from the gameplay vid.
_____B. Computer Terminal - Look up useful game information such as...
__________1. Specs on known ships and technologies.
__________2. Cultural information on known species.
__________3. Geological data on known planets.
__________4. Useable resourse data useful for crafting.
__________5. Data on known PC's and NPC's useful for building fleets or away teams.
_____C. Tactical Station - This station should give the following sensor data...
__________1. RTS style tactical display for the sector.
__________2. In depth information on ships that have been actively scanned such as...
_______________a. Shield strength at varying frequencies.
_______________b. Weapon strength at varying frequencies.
_______________c. Number, type, and location of lifeforms on the ship.
_______________d. Energy distribution information.
_____D. Engineering Terminal - This station should allow me to modify ship systems such as...
__________1. Shield and Weapon power at varying frequencies.
__________2. Power distribution for engines, weapons, shields, life support, transporters, sensors, ect...
__________3. Repair teams assigned to damaged ship systems.
_____E. Astrogation Terminal - This station should allow me to...
__________1. See the entire map of playable space.
__________2. Set speed and course to multiple waypoints on that map (Sort of like EVE).
II. Engineering
_____A. Warp Core - I should be able to...
__________1. Switch out components to improve or modify warp speed and energy consumption.
__________2. Repair damage recieved in battle.
_____B. Technical Crafting Stations - I should be able to use this station to...
__________1. Design technical components using a wide array of resources to produce different effects.
__________2. Build components using engineering tools and resources.
_____C. Jefferies Tube Hatch - I should be able to use this point to...
__________1. Switch out components on hard to reach systems such as...
_______________a. Impulse Engines.
_______________b. Sensors.
_______________c. Shields.
_______________d. Weapons.
__________2. Repair damage to those same systems as a result of battle.
_____D. Engineering terminal - Same as on bridge.
III. Sickbay
_____A. Beds - I should be able to...
__________1. Use to recover damage or harmful effects faster.
__________2. Assign NPC crew to use so they can recover damage or harmufl effects faster.
_____B. Testing Terminal - This station would be useful for finding or creating organic resources such as...
__________1. Protiene strands.
__________2. Hormones.
__________3. Cellular organisms.
_____C. Medical Crafting Station - I should be able to use this station to...
__________1. Design new consumable items from a wide array of resources to produce effects such as...
_______________a. Curing or causing harmful effects.
_______________b. Healing damage.
_______________c. Generating various buffs.
IV. Torpedo Bay
_____A. Launch Tube
__________1. Switch out components to improve or modify torpedo damage, effects, speed, or targeting.
__________2. Repair damage recieved in battle.
V. Holodeck
_____A. Arch - This terminal should allow me to pull up a host of useful instances such as...
__________1. Models of the interior of known enemy ship types.
__________2. Locations where combat is expected.
__________3. Recreational programs for both combat and non-combat activities.
__________4. Re-creations of historical ships and battles.
VI. Science Labs
_____There should be a number of different labs (not every ship will have each type) that store stations for
_____crafting new tools and items not crafted elsewhere.
VII. 10 Forward
_____Some ships should have a mess hall or other social environment.
VIII. Conference Room
_____Some ships should have a room where fleet members can meet to discuss missions and strategies.
IX. Captain's Ready Room
_____Although not technically necessary for any game reason that I can think of, I still think it would add to
_____the feel of the experience. Not every ship needs to have one.
X. Quarters
_____This area should be customizable to reflect the nature of the PC.
XI. Cargo Bay
_____This room should have a terminal that allows the player to manage all the resources stored on the
_____ship.
XII. Transporter Room
_____The transporter could have several functions including...
__________1. Assembling an away team.
__________2. Transporting from the ship to another location (planet, space station, or another ship)
__________3. Putting resources and items into the cargo bay.
__________4. Transporting fleet mates out of dangerous combat situations (A good death solution when on
____________the ground would be that you are teleported to sickbay and need to beam back to the quest's
____________start location.)
XIII. Computer Core
_____I can't really think of anything useful to do in here, but trying to protect it from a boarding party intent on
_____stealing information seems like a good mission.
XIV. Armory
_____A good place to store a wide array to weaponry like phase rifles, tricorders, and other stuff.
XV. Shuttle Bay
_____For ships that have shuttles, this would be a good place to modify the shuttle loadout and change the
_____shuttle type. It would also be a good place to board the shuttle for away missions that don't allow for
_____transporters. (A good death solution when in space would be that you're beamed aboard a shuttle
_____and must travel to the nearest friendly starbase to pick up a new ship. The shuttle would need to be
_____indestructable for this solution to work)

That's all I can think of right now. If anyone has anything they'd like to add, I'd love to hear it.
(Edited to make the outline readable)

[Sythian]

I'm no coder, but I imagine that ship exteriors and interiors would have to be rendered on two different gaming "planes". Can anyone explain to me how they worked in SWG?

In SWG one piloted their craft from the cockpit. Only certain ships had interiors with a few having more than one deck (3 at the most). One would just get up out of the pilot chair and walk around the ship.

Ship sizes were scaled to actual size in relation to the player avatars.

[Phunix]

Most of the walk-around player ships in SWG were small. Maybe 2 or 3 decks and nowhere near the size of even something like a Defiant class.

I don't think that an entire ship, deck-by-deck, is that feasible, at least not on the scale of the vessels in Trek.

The only way i can see it possible is if there's a "ship instance" where you enter the "ship level" and perhaps on-board events happen.

But the server load from having access to the entirety of a galaxy class during the regular game would be insane. Because its not just you, and everything happening on your ship that needs to be taken into account, its everything happening on every deck of the 300 other ships in the sector as well.

They could try and work around the server load by having most things happening on the ships randomized except for mission-related. If it's not relevant, don't process it.
Do have the server use smart randomization though, so when leaving the bridge with your No1 on there you don't end up exiting the lift facing him because everyone's randomized.

As for ship layouts, that's a tricky one. They could hey could employ modular design, to where most briefing rooms look the same, and the layouts mean more hallways and a series of randomized rooms.
With randomized rooms I mean non-essential rooms you can enter, get created but don't get memorized for long. Certain rooms of course should be unique to each ship, such as the bridge.
Since Federation has set standards and their gear is all relatively similar, every room 'just has to be' an altered clone of the previous. Now, actually getting all that work done... alot of manhours of course...
The complexity level of having Jeffries tubes and such I think is unattainable but I like to be surprised. :D
And not sure how easy al the artwork is while keeping in line with cannon.
What I definitely don't want to see is breaking with reality like in PotBS where each auction/magistrage/navalhq/others looked the same even though dimensions outside vary.

[phujitiv]

Yeah, Star Wars Galaxies allowed you to walk around in some of the ships that they had. It was hard for them to implement though. Also, they tried to have one person flying the ship while another use the turrets on the same ship but I think there were network sync issues or something.

[Azarel]

Hello.

There's alot of things I look for in a Star Trek Game that I've always wanted but could never get.

Detail, Interactivity, Things to do.


My question is, Will you freely be able to switch from ship-view mode, to first person, and actually walk around inside your ship? Entering Turbolifts, Transporting Around, Going into your Quarters, dining in the Mess Hall? Etc.?

I would hope so, if not It'd be a real dissapointment. I'd love to be able to just relax in my quarters aboard an Intrepid-Class.

And then goto the Bridge and prepare to engage the borg or something, or just go exploring.

I would like these options as well. I think it would put STO appart from EvE where you can't wander around your ship at all. Besides, the closer you get the game to feel like star trek the better. It wouldn't feel like star trek if you couldn't walk around the ship. Most of the shots from TV and the movies are from the inside of a ship or on a planet.

[Sobekeus]

Frankly, I hope you experience the game fully from your character's point of view, not the ship's.

[RagnarokHGM]

While I understand that they may not be able to render the 100 decks on a Galaxy Class and such, they should at least implement 5 to 10 decks or so with useful features.

Such as the Captain and Crew should be able to sit in chairs, lay on beds and rest - to regain Health etc. etc.
I don't know about Holodecks in ST:O but I hope they are put in as well.

If they don't put in Ship Exploration chances that I spend money on ST:O are very low. At least SOMETHING would be nice. ^_^

I remember buying Elite Force and Bridge Commander thinking and hoping I could freely explore my ships and take control of panels and such - dissapointed when I was glued to the Captains Chair or hauled off to the brig if I didn't leave the Bridge.


This is what I think is going to make or break ST:O. They promote Exploration - I just hope that it also includes ships. I'm dying to have roleplay or real scenarios on the bridge, or lounge in the Mess Hall, have dinner in my Quarters with a guest etc etc.

It just isn't a Star Trek game if you can't implement at least most if not some of the features and such you find in the Show Itself. I was a huuuuuuuge Voyager fan, therefore Intrepid Class is my favorite, it's a beautiful design. Only 15 decks though, but hopefully at least 5 of them will be explorable in ST:O.


I guess we'll have to wait and see. Set phasers - to patience... :(