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What's up with Star Trek Online?
MMORPG.com has a piece talking with Daron Stinnett, producer for the preproduction-phase MMOG Star Trek Online. They discuss the decision to only include the Federation in the game's launch, the gameplay both on starships and planetside, and the many ideas still being nailed down for the title. From the article: "The uniforms are a good example of an area where we've needed to evolve the look of Star Trek to support the game. Star Trek uniforms from the shows tend to be very subtle in their variation, which of course works when you're filming close enough to make the actors themselves the stars of the show. But for an MMO, It's well understood that giving players the ability to customize their look as their character evolves is an important part of any MMO as is the ability to recognize player rank and specialty from a distance. So we have created new uniforms that are still very recognizable as Star Trek, but with recognition and customization features that will work well in our game world."
... called "UNIforms" for a reason. One form.
I agree, in a game they need to be a little more dynamic, look different etc. It'll be interesting to see how this gets pulled off.
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
arg...that came out crappy, I hate missing the preview button and hitting submit.
An interview with the driving force being Perpetual's flagship title
Daron Stinnett is the Producer of Star Trek Online. This industry veteran was previously the subject of a developer profile on our site. Today, we have an interview with him that focuses in on what you truly want to know: Star Trek Online. To go with the interview we also have two screenshots from the game (which are also included in this article).
MMORPG.com: You're obviously a long way away from retail launch. Can you give us a general update on where you are in production and when in a general sense you anticipated major milestones (alpha, beta, launch) will come?
Daron Stinnett: We are an early phase of development where we are working on our design, prototyping our new ideas, laying down foundation for our tools and technology framework, and doing a lot of planning. We have quite a bit of company technology, tools, and processes to draw upon, so we expect to be in full scale production by this summer and begin our initial public beta tests in the summer of 2007.
MMORPG.com: The Star Trek universe is filled with unique races and passionate fans will undoubtedly be extremely upset if any are skipped at launch. With the realities of a production in mind, obviously you cannot please everyone. What races are you going to concentrate on and why?
Daron Stinnett: Playable races are those that you might expect to see on a Starfleet starship and will likely include Human, Vulcan, Klingon, Bajoran, Bolian, Trill, Tellarite, Andorian. The controversial issue is our decision to have Star Trek Online focus exclusively on Starfleet at launch. The immense scope of MMOs means that if you want to build a multi-faction game, then those factions had better be carbon copies of each other from a game mechanics point of view. But the "coat of paint" approach just doesn't work with Star Trek. Starfleet is very unique, as are the other factions and we didn't feel that anyone wanted a watered down experience in order to achieve a multi-faction game. Starfleet, with its focus on starship life, space combat, exploration, and away missions, presents a challenge to MMO conventions that has pushed us to come up with fresh ideas that will give players a very new online experience. And ultimately, innovative gameplay and respect for our license are the things that will provide the greatest value for players.
MMORPG.com: By choosing to do space and land-based content, you're essentially making two games. Can you talk about your general goals in regards to the land-based aspects of the game?
Daron Stinnett: We're committed to doing both space and ground for Star Trek Online because it is the right thing to do. But you're right to point this out as a challenge for the development team. Building two games at once is hardly a recipe for success, so we've put a lot of effort into figuring out how to unify the mechanics between the two environments, while maintaining the unique flavor of each.
We also want to avoid creating two kinds of games from the player perspective, so we are building a world where players will feel equally capable in either arena. Just as it is in the series, we expect player characters to move freely between the two environments. This will enable us to weave space and ground gameplay together in a single mission. For example, its not hard to imagine mission that takes place within a derelict Borg Cube that allows the player to complete that mission either on foot or by ship, or a combination of both. The possibilities are endless and we're planning on giving players a lot more mission variety than they are used to.
MMORPG.com: And in space?
Daron Stinnett: Both space and ground combat have similar RPG style combat mechanics, but the similarities end there. Like a mount in land-based MMOs, your starship will speed you across the galaxy to destinations unknown. And of course starships are so much more than mounts since they a
- AMW
when you play a Betazoid?
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
NPC-Teacher: Your quest is to recover five Vulcan brains and re-implant them in their owners. Return here when your quest is complete for your payment of 100 quatloos.
Eym0rg: "Brain, brain, what is brain?"
CSR-Bones: "I'm a doctor, not a scriptwriter!"
JimmyTheKirk: "eym0rg ur hot! asl? cyb0rz?"
JimmyTheKirk adjusts his pants
CSR-Bones: "And from my observations, it seems they're bisexual, reproducting at will."
NPC-JamesTiberiusKirk: "I know, but really."
CSR-Bones submits his resignation. CSR-Bones: "It's dead, Jim."
As William Shatner said in a video clip for one early Star Trek game, "Space is boring."
I agree. But that's art folks for you. They're never satisfied to just give you what you WANTED.
I just find it amusing that you got modded Redundant the first time and Informative the second.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
Picard: Number One?
Riker: Yes, Captain?
Picard: Let me ask you something. If I whispered in your ear that Commander Worf's head looks like a fanny, would you join me in a laugh?
Riker: Yeah, I could get in on that.
Picard: All right! Here it comes. (out loud) Commander Worf's head looks like a fanny!
(Bridge crew laughs, except for Worf)
Worf: You can both suck my ridges!
Allow all characters to participate in space combat in a meaningful way. If you have a minor ship, you may have to hide behind a major ship to keep from getting squished, but you should still be somewhat useful. Likewise, a swarm of 10 or 20 low-level ships should still be able to take down a high-level ship. Play the packs of rabble rousers against the single monolythic guardians.
No single overarching "level." If players have engineering experience, they have engineering experience. If they make money and can afford a larger ship, their status in ship size is better. But no player should be "level 19" or "Level 105" or level anything overall.
Put showmanship into your missions. Don't hire entry-level game designers to setup missions: hire entry-level film students.
Shake up the world. The satisfying climax of Star Wars is the transformation of the galaxy. The interesting parts of Bound are the ones where the rug is pulled out from underneath you. When the player doesn't expect it, transport him to an alternate universe. Or temporarily dissolve the fedaration council, allowing him to get attacked with impunity. Or do any one of a number of things to alter the course of history. Maybe it is for everyone, like AC, or maybe it is just for them... like Guild Wars.
The ______ Agenda
If you want to see some real action in the game, choose a red shirt....you won't last long though.
Everyone making an MMORPG has NO ideas and is copying the people who went before them, its really very sad. Why not get some people who
a) Have some ideas on how to do an original and fresh MMORPG and
b) are die hard trekkies who would laugh customisable uniforms out the room
Because when a financer sees a 30 million dollar MMORPG development price tag, they want to ensure that the game will be a financial success by copying everyone else's financial successes (doesn't work, sadly). They want lots of control over who gets into positions of power in the game development team, and largely put in other toothbrush salesmen who also don't know the industry. These people generally hire the kinds of people who will do their bidding like a good employee, and listen too much to the marketing department.
With so much money riding on the line, the project generally changes direction in a major way a few times over its life, depending upon the nervous whims of the leader or financers. Workflow and cost considerations ensure that the moment-to-moment content for the game is created by interns with no shipped titles under their belts. Employees get quickly burned out like some resource to be expended.
On the other hand, you really do need some degree of visual customization of your avatar in a mmporpg, much more so than in a regular game. Otherwise the world quickly becomes a creepy endeavor of bumping into your long lost twins.
The ______ Agenda
I want to play as a tribble.
swanker than you