Star Trek Online
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| Star Trek Online | |
|---|---|
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| Publisher: | Cryptic Studios |
| Developer: | Cryptic Studios |
| Stardate: | TBA (2409) |
| Platform(s): | PC and console |
| System Requirements: | TBA |
| Genre(s): | MMORPG |
| Reference #: | Reference number (if available) |
- For the version of Star Trek Online that was being developed by the defunct Perpetual Entertainment, see Star Trek Online (Perpetual Entertainment).
Star Trek Online (STO or ST:O for short) is the name of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) currently being developed by Cryptic Studios. The game takes place in the year 2409, nearly 30 years after Star Trek Nemesis. [1]
An earlier version of the game was being developed by Perpetual Entertainment however, in January 2008, Perpetual Entertainment ceased production of the game and laid off the entire Star Trek Online development team. The license for Star Trek Online was acquired by Cryptic [2], which subsequently hired some of the Perpetual development team. The game was rebuilt from scratch as Cryptic had acquired no useful assets from Perpetual aside from several pieces of concept art that may be included in the final game. [3] [4]
On 27 July 2008, after placing a countdown timer on its website, Cryptic officially announced that they were the new developers and publishers of Star Trek Online. The official website was relaunched with details and screenshots. [5]
On 10 August 2008, at the official Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, Cryptic released several key details of the game as well as a gameplay trailer derived directly from the functioning game. Although no release date was announced, Cryptic Chief Creative Officer (CCO) Jack Emmert hinted that it would be sooner than players would expect, and certainly within the next three years.
[edit] Key Features
Several features of the game were released during the Star Trek convention. Among these was the revelation that each player would captain their own vessel, although they would not necessarily have the rank of Captain. Crews for the ships would be divided into two with the Bridge crew being likened to pets, i.e. upgradeable skills and so on, with the remainder of the crew being general, or "Redshirts" as described by Jack Emmert. Holographic crewmembers could also serve as members of a crew, albeit with some limitations. An article in the October 2008 issue of the GameInformer magazine revealed that players' bridge crew, while being defeatable, will not die in the game although the "redshirt" crew can and will, necessitating replenishment at Starbases or friendly planets. The September 17 issue of "Ask Cryptic" posted on the official website also indicated that bridge crews will be fully customisable with race, appearance, gender, name and physical appearance under player control. [6]
Gameplay style was also broached with general directions of combat, exploration and trade. Combat would involve slow-paced space combat and fast-paced land-based conflict. Exploration was discussed in view of explored and unexplored planets and systems. Players will choose, depending on the mission, which Bridge crew and/or General crew to accompany them to the surface of planets, although some missions would involve only players. First contact with undiscovered species will also be featured and may influence the progress of the game. An example was given in that a newly discovered race may be recruited so one or two bridge crew members could be of that race. Trade would be conducted within the faction (Federation or Klingon Empire) with some trade channels between the two. These missions would be assigned from a Central Command.
Vessel interiors would be able to be explored with several areas mentioned including Medical facilities and decks. The gameplay trailer also showed a battle scene on what appeared to be a Galaxy-class bridge. [7] It was mentioned however that starship interiors were mainly for social interaction, showing what modifications were made, less as a gameplay element.
Guilds within the game would be known as fleets with the ability to construct stations, mining facilities and shipyards. Several ships would only be fleet-accessible and can be constructed with the cooperative efforts of many players, then passed on to fleet members. Cooperative play was also touched on with the ability to form taskforces.
Customization is one of the hallmarks of Cryptic Studios and as such, Jack Emmert detailed the numerous ways in which players would be able to personalize the game. The characters, or in-game avatars would feature fully customizable features, with modifiable features such as obesity and height. Players would also be able to create their own race or base a new race on mentioned, unseen-before races. Ships would also be customizable to an extent with the ability to change nacelles and stanchions or add decals.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- STO Center STO resource site with, news, forums, and fleet database.
- ST-Online.nl A Dutch Site which translates all news about Star Trek Online.
