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Star trek gaming.

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited March 2012 in Ten Forward
I thought it mite be a fun philosophical discussion to discuss the prospect of star trek gaming. there hasn't been very many new Star Trek games lately.

This is not a discussion to argue over which old Star Trek game was the best game ever made! this is not a discussion of why didn't game X play like game Y. this is not a discussion to argue Star Trek Online is the best and only game to care about and thus we shouldn't discuss anything else.

In fact this is not a discussion to argue at all, if you want to do so please start your own thread!!!!!!!

now that the franchise is starting to return in popularity, I think it's a good time to talk about gaming in Star Trek. I thinks we need to discuss what we think is a good avenue for Star Trek games. I want to go into topics of gaming in general. I think now is a good time to talk about what we want in a Star Trek game.

All of That being said, I think ill start with the discussion off by defining exactly what we can talk about.

these days vidio games are almost an art form of media, akin to movies books and films. the more time passes, the more can be done with games. This is a similar concept in fashion to what major motion picture films get more special special effects the more time goes on. I like to think of it as, these days if you can dream it, vidio games can probably build it.

I like to ask questions when considering what makes a star trek game. but like many game designers i don't know what those questions are. so I thought I mite let you guys elaborate on those. in the mean time, ill give a few of mine.

What kind of game would you like?

Is it a solo player, or is it an MMORPG?

what time period of the TV shows, Movies, or books, or other medium would you like it to play within?

feel free to pose a few of your own but I thought that would get this started.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    for me all i aak for is sto, just with a better cover system for ground and full true flight for space; combat wise and for non-combat a proper self propegating universe to explore, till then im good with how sto is atm gameplaywise.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Star Trek Excalibur is a fan made game being currently developed, initially a mod for Bridge Commander its become it own game. http://stexcalibur.com/

    Then there is the new Star Trek game coming out thats based off of the new storyline, it appears to be a fast paced shooter. http://trekmovie.com/2011/06/13/e3-impressions-new-star-trek-video-game-looks-amazing/


    Personally I would like to see a game where I get the same feeling I got when playing Elite force, when roaming the interior of Voyager. I liked the feeling of just being able to walk around the ship and see the crew doing their day to day duties and feel like they have a purpose on the ship.

    I would like to be able to have that and to be able to explore and do other stuff too, STO is in some ways what I want, but a lot of what I was hoping for from it I feel never came out the way in which I had hoped they would.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    well, I see things are getting off to a good start.

    I'm sort of interested in this, Star Trek Excalibur thing, but I tend to be a skeptic of fan made works. most rarely can keep interest or investments long enouph to ever get past the development stage. and that isn't just based on a narrow view of indie based games, its based on experience, there are several projects that never made it in the past.

    I doubt I will need to point out that one that was using the mod tools of elite force to attempt to make an MMO for star trek , its name eludes me at the moment, but few strictly fan made games ever make it, without outside funding from an already successful and well profitable parent developer.

    barring my reservations, however, who knows it mite happen. :D

    If I were to start my own game project myself, I would rather have a single player game. not that I don't mind MMO's , but, there are just some things an MMO by its very design nature can't do. STO shows that simply because its an MMO, that it cant provide the encompassing level of immersion that the franchise so desperately needs.

    the reason for this is simple, while it can let us pretend to be the captain, it cannot let us pretend outside of its specific setting which was chosen for the game, while at the same time, catering to the specific tastes, of all of the players playing it at the same time.

    in a single one on one environment this isn't an issue. If you want to play during a specific era of the Trek universe setting, a mod will fulfill this without hindering the rest of the customers different preferences. in an MMO this simply Isn't possible, because they are all in the same play environment at the same time. thus whatever one player does affects all the players playing the entire game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Exaclibur is 100% fanmade... no external support except for random donations.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    anazonda wrote: »
    Exaclibur is 100% fanmade... no external support except for random donations.

    Don't let CBS find out about that. They will shut it down.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    CBS is too busy to worry about a non profit project most likely.

    But I do hope they are at least shopping for other projects besides the the one hosting these forums.

    As I stated before a single player game has the advantage of being specific to the user, and since STO has shown to be possible to have both a ground based and starship based game play, in one game even. This is something a single player hasn't done since the very first trek game ever, Star Trek 25th anniversary edition.

    While in that game it was all based almost in it's entirety, on the bridge of the famed enterprise, it was rather clunky and rather unwieldy by today's standards. Some games since it, have done either ground based game play best, or done starship control game play best, no one game has ever done both equally as well. With trek games in the past its mostly always been one or the other. I for one would like to see both in the one game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    My all time favorite ST game (other than STO which is pretty good) was the ST:Armada series.
    I am a big fan of RTS, with M.A.X. being probably my favorite.

    Multi player with an absorbing single player campaign.
    With DLC, it is easy to expand on the content for these as well, adding new missions, maps and ships.

    Armada let you choose different time periods (iirc) and choose a faction to represent.
    I think being able to pick between TOS, ENT, TNG - VOY and then down the line offer campaigns that give you the choice to play in the "alternate" ST universe (Abrams version) would be great.

    Act as Starfleet Command instead of as a starship captain. Missions should be handled like the DOFF missions, choosing the crew and sending them on assignments while you get stuff down.
    Building bases and researching upgrades to equipment.

    Every mission and event would have repercussions and affect gameplay.
    And even offer a limited Section 31 ability that would let you send a team back to "fix" missions or events you either failed or that had an effect you didn't like.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    While I do like the armada series, it also is like I stated earlier solely best at space starship based game play it doesn't even attempt to offer the ground based game play at all. But, I can understand individual tastes of others being different. Some would like an R.T.S type game, others would like an adventure or click type story driven game, others still like MMO's like S.T.O. I personally prefer an R.P.G.

    What I really want to see, is an R.P.G that puts you in the role of a (random Joe Blow not a known character in the franchise.) starship captain, but starts you out as a mere officer in training. As you work your way through your career, you will get further options to develop according you your individual tastes.

    This premise will allow a team of developers flexibility to adjust the game to fit the individual players tastes. It will also allow you to get freedom for "Modders" to adjust it further, by offering other types of changes to suit individual tastes.

    but the whole of what I'm looking for is something that plays like Skyrim on the ground, but then plays like S.T.O in space. basically I want a first person heavy game play on the ground, but as soon as you pilot your starship out of space dock, it becomes a flight simulator. that in itself is no small feat for a development team, it means a lot of work. but, if its pulled off well, you can get a game that really makes you feel like your actually in the Intellectual Property, that is STAR TREK.

    With all of that in consideration, all other factors of the project can be variably changed to make the one game that does everything other games can in one package. with creativity you would be able to create your own individual STAR TREK saga with you as the star of it. You could play any time period desired, but at the same time, you can then add onto the game with a full suite of “Modders tool set” which would be a must to develop alongside the game. Basically one game that lets you live in STAR TREK.

    I think I'm not the only one that would feel like that would be the perfect STAR TREK game. But if you think about it, that can apply to just about any game in the franchise, if you can pull off the illusion that your in the STAR TREK universe, its really is the perfect STAR TREK game.

    With all of that in consideration, all other factors of the project can be variably changed to make the one game that does everything other games can in one package. with creativity you would be able to create your own individual STAR TREK saga with you as the star of it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    wow did i say something offending? or does nobody care about the subject? if the former I apologize then.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Star Trek TNG A Final Unity along with ST 25th Anniversary and Birth of the Federation and Bridge Commander are the only Trek games I've played that actually felt like proper Star Trek. None that have come since have been as good, even STO (which in a Star Trek context is terrible)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Space:

    I would like a 3D tactical simulation such as Bridge Commander but with STO style roleplaying and ship customization aspects from SFC3 and STO.

    This means you not only act as a tactical commander (as with BC) but you also have to manage ship status (detailed engineering management like Silent Hunter 3), vast logistics and trade options (the failed Battlecruiser series), and of course, the optional ability to hand-picked crews and send them on support missions and reseach projects (doffs).

    Basically this game will give me what SFC does - complex tactical systems operation in an 'open space' concept, plus STO levels of interactivity and as much immersion and detail as can be crammed into modelling a living, breathing starship and her crew.

    I would want to have an epic campaign in the Delta Quadrant for starters, something in the line of retracing Voyager's footsteps - something that challenges the player to make the right decision, captain the ship and also make gradual and persistent evolutions and adaptations to allow it to survive its (for instance) 5 year mission.

    Support this space and management component with a solid ground based RPG/shooter hybrid like Fallout: New Vegas and we have a winner here. And amazingly the gameplay mechanics would not be very different from STO at all because we're already doing all of that management stuff... in a simple, friendly format.

    What I propose is take STO and go mad with it adding detail and complexity anywhere (scalable of course) for those of us who are/were military or naval enthusiasts and want the 'real' captain's chair experience with all its responsibility and liabilities.

    Just like in Silent Hunter, these 'simulator' players don't need hand-holding from tutorials or carebear easy levels of difficulty. We just want authentic Star Trek naval combat and technology with the universe made in such a way the tactics and weapons of our favourite Captains feature prominently enough to be intuitive and generally encouraged to learn them :)

    There is no such thing as game balance in the real world. Only victors and losers.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    I would like to see something set in the "Enterprise" era where just about everything is brand new and nearly everywhere you go is someplace "where no (hu)man has gone before", which is really a major part of Trek for me.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    ChibiClari wrote: »
    I would like to see something set in the "Enterprise" era where just about everything is brand new and nearly everywhere you go is someplace "where no (hu)man has gone before", which is really a major part of Trek for me.

    I can just see that type of campaign now.

    Early or even Pre-UFP, 5 year TOS style mission with an NX class going into the unknown.

    That's a good one :3
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Personally I would like to see a game where I get the same feeling I got when playing Elite force, when roaming the interior of Voyager. I liked the feeling of just being able to walk around the ship and see the crew doing their day to day duties and feel like they have a purpose on the ship.
    ^ This.

    Elite Force was a great game and EF2 was a decent follow-up. Being able to roam the ship is something I expected from this game, and was surprised to find it missing. I'm sure lots of players would enjoy this aspect, for both RP and just to look around.
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