I like Mellow Worf. He's obviously a man who has gotten away with killing a couple of heads of state and helped beat back the Dominion. He's a galaxy-beater and he has nothing left to prove.
1987's Angry Worf would be silly to have in there.
I have to say it was an excellent story, welcome the appearance of the flag captains. The introduction of the Romulan flag captain was very refreshing. Good dialogue and it felt more trek feeling to, exploring the unknown.
My only disappointing were, the other main characters wasn't fully voice. I was also disappointed about after when we got to tau dewa sector, we had all the first officers contacting their captains to join the fight, but my first officer and my ship was no were to be found. How can a first officer abandon their captain.
"You ask why we give our ships computer normal emotions. Do you really want a warship incapable of loyalty?"
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
That would require the game remembering who your First Officer is. :P
Are you saying all this years they can't get this tech right, if so why can't they just have your ship present and Assit you in the fight. Don't tell me that also a tech limitation.
"You ask why we give our ships computer normal emotions. Do you really want a warship incapable of loyalty?"
Are you saying all this years they can't get this tech right, if so why can't they just have your ship present and Assit you in the fight. Don't tell me that also a tech limitation.
I'm not telling you that at all - I'm saying that particular feature has been broken for some time now - since the NR launch, I think.
And yeah, it would be cool if your ship could assist you in the fight. That might be a tech limitation, as I'm not sure the game is currently able to create your ship, with your equipment and boff abilities, as an NPC at this time. It's probably doable, but I bet the tech for it doesn't exist right now.
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
I'm not telling you that at all - I'm saying that particular feature has been broken for some time now - since the NR launch, I think.
And yeah, it would be cool if your ship could assist you in the fight. That might be a tech limitation, as I'm not sure the game is currently able to create your ship, with your equipment and boff abilities, as an NPC at this time. It's probably doable, but I bet the tech for it doesn't exist right now.
It's weird, but one of my favorite parts was when the Romulan scientist threatened the Fed side of the three way alliance when Shon wanted to destroy the gate. A subtle reminder that though the Rommies are playing nice for now, the alliance that binds them all is a fragile thing that can be broken with one hasty act.
Unfortunately that Romulan scientist doesn't have a leg to stand on; the gateway on New Romulus is indeed theirs, however the space based one in the Jouret system is in Federation territory. Starfleet even has its long range Borg detection network setup there in-game, so her arguing that the "New Republic" won't let Starfleet destroy it just proves how moronic she is.
1. Before activating the gate we (at least Lt. Cmdr.'s) are sent scurrying around to 5 different computer terminals. You didn't see Picard running around using all the terminals while his crew watched him with stupid looks on their faces and their thumbs up their butts.
3. As captain of a starship why am I the one setting demo charges?
Then after the prisoners are freed, I get sent ahead to scout instead of the security ensign, or even the sci or eng ensigns.
If someone needs to run all over the place to do scutwork it's the Ensigns and Ricky Redshirts who are supposed to do it.
I will never understand people whose idea of a "game" is to give NPCs orders and then standing around waiting for them to come back. The doff system is fine for what it is, but when I'm on a mission, I want to be actively engaged.
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
On this note, it seemed to me that Shon's initial dialogue when you first speak to him read as if he didn't remember who you were. That seemed off to me.
Actually, he does. I noticed that for my Fed characters who've completed The 2800 series and First Contact Day, he has an additional line of dialogue that reads "Good to see you again, [Rank]". My Romulan characters and Starfleet Tac who haven't completed The 2800 series did not recieve this dialogue.
You're just a machine. And machines can be broken.
If you complete the mission and get the Accolade, but didn't know about the advanced pets, can you go back for them in another run through? Or are you screwed?
If you complete the mission and get the Accolade, but didn't know about the advanced pets, can you go back for them in another run through? Or are you screwed?
I believe you can pick them up on replay. I did, but I actually didn't complete the accolade the first time, so I can't say for 100% certainty. But I'm sure you're fine.
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
What advanced pets? Did I miss something entirely and why isn't there a complete list by now? ^^
Come on guys... I know you can do that! You're fast! xD
Nah, a little joke on the side but really... what do you mean by "advanced pets"?
What advanced pets? Did I miss something entirely and why isn't there a complete list by now? ^^
Come on guys... I know you can do that! You're fast! xD
Nah, a little joke on the side but really... what do you mean by "advanced pets"?
Once you've activated every walkway and console in the "hub" room (and received the accolade for it), you need to return all the way back to the first dead-end console you encountered, near the room's entrance. There's an option to open a secret compartment, and inside you'll find 2x Advanced Drones for your carrier.
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
Once you've activated every walkway and console in the "hub" room (and received the accolade for it), you need to return all the way back to the first dead-end console you encountered, near the room's entrance. There's an option to open a secret compartment, and inside you'll find 2x Advanced Drones for your carrier.
Unfortunately that Romulan scientist doesn't have a leg to stand on; the gateway on New Romulus is indeed theirs, however the space based one in the Jouret system is in Federation territory. Starfleet even has its long range Borg detection network setup there in-game, so her arguing that the "New Republic" won't let Starfleet destroy it just proves how moronic she is.
Task Force Omega is setting up a listening post there, not necessarily the Federation.
Obviously, the system is now in the Repuclic's sphere of influence. The Federation never managed to reestablish the colony there, so I guess the Republic just took over.
Nice to see another actor from Star Trek join in. It was cool to tie it into the tv episode and bring the STO story together finally.
The cutscenes were a bit tacky though and lacking sound effects. Seems dated
Task Force Omega is setting up a listening post there, not necessarily the Federation.
Obviously, the system is now in the Repuclic's sphere of influence. The Federation never managed to reestablish the colony there, so I guess the Republic just took over.
Admiral D'Vak only advised Starfleet that it would be a good place to build an early warning system there. Starfleet is building it in joint operation with the Klingon High Command, since it is near their space. No mention at all of the Romulan Republic's involvement, or permission, is stated.
Admiral D'Vak only advised Starfleet that it would be a good place to build an early warning system there. Starfleet is building it in joint operation with the Klingon High Command, since it is near their space. No mention at all of the Romulan Republic's involvement, or permission, is stated.
And now we learned it's in Republic space. I have no problem with that.
If the Romulan scientist was wrong, Shon would have told her so. Fact is: she isn't wrong.
Jouret is in Romulan space. Minor retcon.
And now we learned it's in Republic space. I have no problem with that.
If the Romulan scientist was wrong, Shon would have told her so. Fact is: she isn't wrong.
Jouret is in Romulan space. Minor retcon.
But one which was not necessary if they'd just placed the gateway in say, the Virinat system, for example. That would have made more sense from a story narrative point of view, since it is known as a Romulan colony, and that it would show us the bigger picture of how the Elachi knew and informed their Tal Shiar allies of the colony in the first place.
But one which was not necessary if they'd just placed the gateway in say, the Virinat system, for example. That would have made more sense from a story narrative point of view, since it is known as a Romulan colony, and that it would show us the bigger picture of how the Elachi knew and informed their Tal Shiar allies of the colony in the first place.
I guess Cryptic wanted to link the gateway to the Borg's first incursion. We never actually learned why they attacked the Federation colony in the Jouret System.
Now we may know. They were after the gateway. Nice touch, although I agree that it raises unnecessary questions regarding the territorial status quo of the system.
No matter, I guess the most recent information is the best we have, and accordingly the Jouret System falls under Romulan jurisdiction, and they allowed Task Force Omega to construct their listening post there.
The retcon works. Althoug it wasn't really necessary.
the voice work was as half assed as usual (voicing the 1st line and calling that a day is just a pathetic work morale and makes me ANGRY to no end) ...if Michael Dorn can voice the full text, then so can the no-name actors that talk to him!
You had MONTHS to prepare this mission... you had people standing in front of microphones with the text in hand, recording it, but you did not bother to record it all.
WHAT is the problem here?
Do you think the patch size is getting to big (those few megabytes won't make a dent!)? Do you need a day more to record the full voices? Where is the bottleneck.... it has been 3 YEARS now and i still see a half assed job, every single time they do this!
That said, the first half of the mission with all the text popups, and that pathetic Puzzle attempt with *can you remember 4 random numbers [no! but i can make screenshots, alt tab and read it back to you!... seriously we're doing that TRIBBLE again?]...
horrible... hated it...
before the gateway activation i walked OUT OF THE DOOR, because i knew this wasn't going to end well ... PREDICTABLE...
Press F.... aaand... i'm inside the room with the others and of course the exit is blocked.
So... why can't i ask my ship for a beam up??? Anybody?... nooo we HAVE TO go through the gateway!!!! but but... Ship! Transporters!... Nooo it's in the script dooo eeet!
Oh whatever... *jump*
after that it was a bit much running around in half circles but at least the text-pop-up adventure phase was almost over, the rest was kinda fun, or at least interesting from a plot perspective.
Combat was boring... ground and space...
Flying that new ship... uuuhm... ok.... that was done better than the Enterprise - C thing where i lost all my Bridge Officer layouts after playing. I even kinda liked the visuals of this generic Ship that was inspired yet by another doorstop. *yawn... get a proper ship DESIGNER please?... the dude can do polygons... but NO imagination...* [or maybe its the guy deciding which ship to use after the designer shows 20 awesome artworks and Geko keeps pointing at the one ugly one on it... i don't know... you did see the Elachi concepts in that blog right?]
Sooo...
it was horrible...
it was kinda interesting...
visuals were ok...
but
AGAIN no reason to use MY BOffs
AGAIN no chance to use MY Ship
AGAIN nothing remotely challenging... the only thing challenged here was my patience with these awful half done voice overs.
Worf VO... awesome, but that is from a Fanboy perspective... it was literally the only thing that kept me from pressing Alt+F4 in the first part of the mission.
yeah and those rewards... a 360? antiproton beam turret (we only have been asking for Beam Turrets for like 3 years now)... i would give a damn about that if Antiproton consoles wouldn't be the most expensive ones and any of my 11 Ships would use Antiproton.
a warpcore... that doesn't seem to have anything special about it... meh
and a Ship i will not use anyway because it is generic space game stuff and not STAR TREK
OK played through it one time. half an hour. logged out...
will NOT play it with my 10 other chars (can't even use my Ships... 11 times the exact same space combat portion? no thx...)
...will return in Season 8.
oh... and my rear speakers are still clicking (reported when LoR launched, not fixed, S8 better fix that or i rip the cables out of the speakers... because turning the volume down doesnt remove it!).
i could also check up on my Zen status... my 7500 Zen have grown to 9500 Zen... so that Lifetimer bonus IS working... but still nothing to buy in the C-Store (Avenger class cruiser... lol what an ugly pot). And no i do not want to fly around in Voth Ships either so keep that next LockBox.
9000+ Zen and nothing to spend it on... tzz... really didn't see that coming ever.
I've pointed this out to another player, but so far nobody got it to work.
In the section where you get the swarmers.. if you check the map there is a retracted bridge to another 3 platforms.. in the middle. Interestingly it has the stubs at each end of the middle platform like a bridge is setup to extend like the other working connecting platforms.
When you get the option for the secret compartment, if you have sound turned up you hear the sound of a platform extending, as soon as you open the compartment you hear the sound of them retracting.
I suspect there is an additional secret which activates that middle bridge to the other 3 platforms. It is either broken, requires doing something unusual to the swarm consoles, or has a time limit.. I am unsure. it could be it was never finished properly too, tho I would suspect the last 3 platforms would likely contain the other consoles off the mission obelisk carrier.
My thoughts were perhaps it was setup for co-op and the 2nd player needs to be standing on the middle platform when the secret compartment terminals are activated, and the bridge extends for a small amount of time. I don't think you can do this mission co-op so it would be broken in that instance. Short of some fly hack to get to the other platforms to check - or working out a way (if any) to get that platform to activate and sharing it, I guess it may remain a mystery.
If anyone works it out, or someone on the programming team can confirm/deny the suspicion of an unfinished portion let us know!
I think a coupple of my predacessors on this page need something new to do. If you play these missions for its combat base only you miss most of what its about. Star trek is about exploration and adventure. what is more adventurous or explorative then going where no one has gone before?
Granted it did start a little slow for my taste, but thats trek! 60% of episodes from the shows didnt start out with being flung into combat right away. they started like this episode, slow and built up. I can agree I would like to have seen full voice acting for "featured episodes", but some still adds to the feel compared to what we had 4 years ago.
Those side comments aside I will now review what I thought of the episode.
The start was nice, beaming down and beilg led as a special observer for a historic event. In a way it made me feel honored. from there I thought the toucch of getting to work along side worf, even only once was amazing. checking numbers and setting up precautions is a bit dull but it would happen in trek so I welcomed it. The events that force you to use the gateway are well off the progected outcomes and adds a nice if slight plot twist.
The Unknown...The whole "where are we" thing snd feel was well done. If I hadn't been testing season 8 all this time I wouldn't have known (or read a single dev blog). Once in you follow standard procedures of survival...patch yourselves up, explore, discover, learn (or exploit if you want to use the term). Along the way you not only discover new things never before seen by anyone but also some classic things like the table and the alien race (not that you see them for very long). Classic get into a sticky spot and rescure your allies (most of tyhem anyways). The next room is what got me. That viewing room as ill call it for lack of a better term was amazing. If you actually took the time to read those consoles congrats, you are a no life star trek lore lover like myself! I found the information facinating. the plans couppled with each was well detailed as well. The final computer was challenging if you have certan settings applied...like bloom, but allowed for that feel of, were in a dark place with really bright lights in this one spot.
The bridge sequence was nice. actually investigating the consoles was a nice touch, however i feel people would benifit from choosing who goes where. the space sequence is ok, a few seconds after getting there its a royal rumble of you and allied ships and elachi. your main offence two overpowerd klingon bo's and an andorian who loves apb way too much. send your swarmers and watch the hull of a dread drop in about 10 seconds. then when its all said and done...the misterious Omega!! Ok, not so misterious if you ever seen any star trek episode having to do with the omega directive. all the top notch guys beam off your ship and your again left with your crew who you wish could be as good as what you just lost. warp out and end.
Afterthought: I assume and sincerly hope there will be a follow up episode or mini episode bringing you to the sphere for some reason or another, rather then a random hail for general assistance in a new zone. The rewards are very nice and I think the ship has an interesting new look, although I find it crappy that to get the console we have to spend 800 lobi (for a consiole and a universal bo slot?! thats a really crappy deal for us cryptic!)
so theres my review of the most recent featured episode.
To my mind, there are a couple of problems with voicing everything.
1) Cost. Voice work isn't free. And while I'm not privy to what we paid Mr. Dorn for his contribution, I imagine it isn't peanuts. I think that we focused our voice over budget on the important part, Worf.
2) Patch size. You're mistaken about "those few megabytes." One of the biggest single patch bloats out there is Audio. Doing full voice work for the whole episode would have expanded the patch size significantly. And that carries a bunch of problems with it. It takes more space on everyone's hard drives. It takes longer to download. It takes up more bandwidth from the rest of the game. Etc.
While I think we'd all love to see the whole thing voiced, it's not practical.
To my mind, there are a couple of problems with voicing everything.
1) Cost. Voice work isn't free. And while I'm not privy to what we paid Mr. Dorn for his contribution, I imagine it isn't peanuts. I think that we focused our voice over budget on the important part, Worf.
2) Patch size. You're mistaken about "those few megabytes." One of the biggest single patch bloats out there is Audio. Doing full voice work for the whole episode would have expanded the patch size significantly. And that carries a bunch of problems with it. It takes more space on everyone's hard drives. It takes longer to download. It takes up more bandwidth from the rest of the game. Etc.
While I think we'd all love to see the whole thing voiced, it's not practical.
While not art-related, I think this post is a good candidate for the "recidivist topics" thread.
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
I've heard some people say Michael Dorn sounded a little stilted. To be honest, he always sounded like that except for moments of intense emotion. And during this mission, I kept having flashbacks to playing Invasion, where Worf was your commander for the game. My only complaint is that I wish the other characters voiced their lines fully. Either have them say everything, or say none of it. Don't do a little bit and leave it.
As for the mission itself: I'd much prefer missions like this, where you go around investigating things, solve mysteries and try to explore and discover. I find that far more entertaining and rewarding than just pewpewing everything. Maybe that's why I lvoed A Final Unity so much. Honestly, I would be very happy if most of the S8 missions invovled investigating, with only the odd mission that was full on warfare. But I know that's not going to happen. I loved the fact the backup plan with the charges completely failed. As for why we didn't beam up to the ships, I figured there was too many people with too little time to get a transporter lock on everyone and to energise. The gateway was the fastest escape route for everyone.
Now I admit, at first I thought the stuff at the start was a bit rubbish, and it was only having Mr Dorn there kept my interest up until the placement of the charges, but in retrospect, that buildup helped the anticipation when the gate was activated, having had all that buildup.
Finally, the map room. Wowzers. That was very impressive. I loved that thing. The information on the panels was a good read. Interesting Earth didn't seem to be the highest level of observation. Which I loved. For once, Earth is not being targeted primarily. And the Iconians are scared of the Dominion! As a DS9 lover, that really did make my day. And when all those swarmers came at the end, combined with the music ramping up, I admit, I got into it, frantically hoping I would get the data downloaded before that swarm reached us. I thoroughly got into this story, and I thank everyone involved with this episode.
The things I didn't like, other than the voices just giving a line instead of everything, was the space part. I've not tried carriers since they had the control interface overhaul, nor did I know what half those powers were. As such, I was just sorta flying around mangling things while sending out my fighters. As a man who normally hates ground levels and loves the space stuff, this is quite impressive that this mission completely reverses my opinion. It did however, reinforce my opinion that the Omega Directive is the most braindead thing ever conceived of. What if the Enterprise had detected the Omegas during the battle? The crew would have been locked out and they would all be dead. I'm all for posting the Omega mark everywhere to make sure the Captain sees it, or hell give him a verbal command no matter where he is, but locking everything out from the crew is unbeliveably stupid. I thought so when I saw the Voy ep as well.
I did enjoy fighting alongside the three flagships. But on a small note, I tried to get a screenshot of them together when they manouvered into position, but the hull of the Enterprise still calls itself the Oddessy. Right registration, wrong name.
Overall, I've loved this episode, and I loved the last one with Denise Crosby. I know I'm probably in a minority here, what with it seeming like the majority just wants to run around shooting everything in sight, but I rank these things among the best missions of the game. Certainly more entertaining than the standard missions in the roster. Maybe a little too much 'Follow The Worf' during the exploration, but that's understandable considering he had his voice and you wanted to maximise it's use, and I still loved it.
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A Romulan Strike Team, Missing Farmers and an ancient base on a Klingon Border world. But what connects them? Find out in my First Foundary mission: 'The Jeroan Farmer Escapade'
Comments
1987's Angry Worf would be silly to have in there.
My only disappointing were, the other main characters wasn't fully voice. I was also disappointed about after when we got to tau dewa sector, we had all the first officers contacting their captains to join the fight, but my first officer and my ship was no were to be found. How can a first officer abandon their captain.
Are you saying all this years they can't get this tech right, if so why can't they just have your ship present and Assit you in the fight. Don't tell me that also a tech limitation.
I'm not telling you that at all - I'm saying that particular feature has been broken for some time now - since the NR launch, I think.
And yeah, it would be cool if your ship could assist you in the fight. That might be a tech limitation, as I'm not sure the game is currently able to create your ship, with your equipment and boff abilities, as an NPC at this time. It's probably doable, but I bet the tech for it doesn't exist right now.
I don't let my First Officer captain my ship.
Unfortunately that Romulan scientist doesn't have a leg to stand on; the gateway on New Romulus is indeed theirs, however the space based one in the Jouret system is in Federation territory. Starfleet even has its long range Borg detection network setup there in-game, so her arguing that the "New Republic" won't let Starfleet destroy it just proves how moronic she is.
Commanding Officer: Captain Pyotr Ramonovich Amosov
Dedication Plaque: "Nil Intentatum Reliquit"
I will never understand people whose idea of a "game" is to give NPCs orders and then standing around waiting for them to come back. The doff system is fine for what it is, but when I'm on a mission, I want to be actively engaged.
When you're in the same room as someone you know (even a large room), do you pull out your cell phone to talk to them, or do you walk over to them?
I wasn't taking orders. I was accepting the suggestions of a highly respected former Starfleet officer.
There's logic to this. The Ensigns and Redshirts don't get sent because they'd get killed, duh.
Actually, he does. I noticed that for my Fed characters who've completed The 2800 series and First Contact Day, he has an additional line of dialogue that reads "Good to see you again, [Rank]". My Romulan characters and Starfleet Tac who haven't completed The 2800 series did not recieve this dialogue.
I believe you can pick them up on replay. I did, but I actually didn't complete the accolade the first time, so I can't say for 100% certainty. But I'm sure you're fine.
Come on guys... I know you can do that! You're fast! xD
Nah, a little joke on the side but really... what do you mean by "advanced pets"?
Once you've activated every walkway and console in the "hub" room (and received the accolade for it), you need to return all the way back to the first dead-end console you encountered, near the room's entrance. There's an option to open a secret compartment, and inside you'll find 2x Advanced Drones for your carrier.
it works with the green walk ways too.
I'm embarrased that I didn't thought of backtracking the whole thing...
Task Force Omega is setting up a listening post there, not necessarily the Federation.
Obviously, the system is now in the Repuclic's sphere of influence. The Federation never managed to reestablish the colony there, so I guess the Republic just took over.
The cutscenes were a bit tacky though and lacking sound effects. Seems dated
Admiral D'Vak only advised Starfleet that it would be a good place to build an early warning system there. Starfleet is building it in joint operation with the Klingon High Command, since it is near their space. No mention at all of the Romulan Republic's involvement, or permission, is stated.
Commanding Officer: Captain Pyotr Ramonovich Amosov
Dedication Plaque: "Nil Intentatum Reliquit"
And now we learned it's in Republic space. I have no problem with that.
If the Romulan scientist was wrong, Shon would have told her so. Fact is: she isn't wrong.
Jouret is in Romulan space. Minor retcon.
But one which was not necessary if they'd just placed the gateway in say, the Virinat system, for example. That would have made more sense from a story narrative point of view, since it is known as a Romulan colony, and that it would show us the bigger picture of how the Elachi knew and informed their Tal Shiar allies of the colony in the first place.
Commanding Officer: Captain Pyotr Ramonovich Amosov
Dedication Plaque: "Nil Intentatum Reliquit"
I guess Cryptic wanted to link the gateway to the Borg's first incursion. We never actually learned why they attacked the Federation colony in the Jouret System.
Now we may know. They were after the gateway. Nice touch, although I agree that it raises unnecessary questions regarding the territorial status quo of the system.
No matter, I guess the most recent information is the best we have, and accordingly the Jouret System falls under Romulan jurisdiction, and they allowed Task Force Omega to construct their listening post there.
The retcon works. Althoug it wasn't really necessary.
the voice work was as half assed as usual (voicing the 1st line and calling that a day is just a pathetic work morale and makes me ANGRY to no end) ...if Michael Dorn can voice the full text, then so can the no-name actors that talk to him!
You had MONTHS to prepare this mission... you had people standing in front of microphones with the text in hand, recording it, but you did not bother to record it all.
WHAT is the problem here?
Do you think the patch size is getting to big (those few megabytes won't make a dent!)? Do you need a day more to record the full voices? Where is the bottleneck.... it has been 3 YEARS now and i still see a half assed job, every single time they do this!
That said, the first half of the mission with all the text popups, and that pathetic Puzzle attempt with *can you remember 4 random numbers [no! but i can make screenshots, alt tab and read it back to you!... seriously we're doing that TRIBBLE again?]...
horrible... hated it...
before the gateway activation i walked OUT OF THE DOOR, because i knew this wasn't going to end well ... PREDICTABLE...
Press F.... aaand... i'm inside the room with the others and of course the exit is blocked.
So... why can't i ask my ship for a beam up??? Anybody?... nooo we HAVE TO go through the gateway!!!! but but... Ship! Transporters!... Nooo it's in the script dooo eeet!
Oh whatever... *jump*
after that it was a bit much running around in half circles but at least the text-pop-up adventure phase was almost over, the rest was kinda fun, or at least interesting from a plot perspective.
Combat was boring... ground and space...
Flying that new ship... uuuhm... ok.... that was done better than the Enterprise - C thing where i lost all my Bridge Officer layouts after playing. I even kinda liked the visuals of this generic Ship that was inspired yet by another doorstop. *yawn... get a proper ship DESIGNER please?... the dude can do polygons... but NO imagination...* [or maybe its the guy deciding which ship to use after the designer shows 20 awesome artworks and Geko keeps pointing at the one ugly one on it... i don't know... you did see the Elachi concepts in that blog right?]
Sooo...
it was horrible...
it was kinda interesting...
visuals were ok...
but
AGAIN no reason to use MY BOffs
AGAIN no chance to use MY Ship
AGAIN nothing remotely challenging... the only thing challenged here was my patience with these awful half done voice overs.
Worf VO... awesome, but that is from a Fanboy perspective... it was literally the only thing that kept me from pressing Alt+F4 in the first part of the mission.
yeah and those rewards... a 360? antiproton beam turret (we only have been asking for Beam Turrets for like 3 years now)... i would give a damn about that if Antiproton consoles wouldn't be the most expensive ones and any of my 11 Ships would use Antiproton.
a warpcore... that doesn't seem to have anything special about it... meh
and a Ship i will not use anyway because it is generic space game stuff and not STAR TREK
OK played through it one time. half an hour. logged out...
will NOT play it with my 10 other chars (can't even use my Ships... 11 times the exact same space combat portion? no thx...)
...will return in Season 8.
oh... and my rear speakers are still clicking (reported when LoR launched, not fixed, S8 better fix that or i rip the cables out of the speakers... because turning the volume down doesnt remove it!).
i could also check up on my Zen status... my 7500 Zen have grown to 9500 Zen... so that Lifetimer bonus IS working... but still nothing to buy in the C-Store (Avenger class cruiser... lol what an ugly pot). And no i do not want to fly around in Voth Ships either so keep that next LockBox.
9000+ Zen and nothing to spend it on... tzz... really didn't see that coming ever.
In the section where you get the swarmers.. if you check the map there is a retracted bridge to another 3 platforms.. in the middle. Interestingly it has the stubs at each end of the middle platform like a bridge is setup to extend like the other working connecting platforms.
When you get the option for the secret compartment, if you have sound turned up you hear the sound of a platform extending, as soon as you open the compartment you hear the sound of them retracting.
I suspect there is an additional secret which activates that middle bridge to the other 3 platforms. It is either broken, requires doing something unusual to the swarm consoles, or has a time limit.. I am unsure. it could be it was never finished properly too, tho I would suspect the last 3 platforms would likely contain the other consoles off the mission obelisk carrier.
My thoughts were perhaps it was setup for co-op and the 2nd player needs to be standing on the middle platform when the secret compartment terminals are activated, and the bridge extends for a small amount of time. I don't think you can do this mission co-op so it would be broken in that instance. Short of some fly hack to get to the other platforms to check - or working out a way (if any) to get that platform to activate and sharing it, I guess it may remain a mystery.
If anyone works it out, or someone on the programming team can confirm/deny the suspicion of an unfinished portion let us know!
Granted it did start a little slow for my taste, but thats trek! 60% of episodes from the shows didnt start out with being flung into combat right away. they started like this episode, slow and built up. I can agree I would like to have seen full voice acting for "featured episodes", but some still adds to the feel compared to what we had 4 years ago.
Those side comments aside I will now review what I thought of the episode.
The start was nice, beaming down and beilg led as a special observer for a historic event. In a way it made me feel honored. from there I thought the toucch of getting to work along side worf, even only once was amazing. checking numbers and setting up precautions is a bit dull but it would happen in trek so I welcomed it. The events that force you to use the gateway are well off the progected outcomes and adds a nice if slight plot twist.
The Unknown...The whole "where are we" thing snd feel was well done. If I hadn't been testing season 8 all this time I wouldn't have known (or read a single dev blog). Once in you follow standard procedures of survival...patch yourselves up, explore, discover, learn (or exploit if you want to use the term). Along the way you not only discover new things never before seen by anyone but also some classic things like the table and the alien race (not that you see them for very long). Classic get into a sticky spot and rescure your allies (most of tyhem anyways). The next room is what got me. That viewing room as ill call it for lack of a better term was amazing. If you actually took the time to read those consoles congrats, you are a no life star trek lore lover like myself! I found the information facinating. the plans couppled with each was well detailed as well. The final computer was challenging if you have certan settings applied...like bloom, but allowed for that feel of, were in a dark place with really bright lights in this one spot.
The bridge sequence was nice. actually investigating the consoles was a nice touch, however i feel people would benifit from choosing who goes where. the space sequence is ok, a few seconds after getting there its a royal rumble of you and allied ships and elachi. your main offence two overpowerd klingon bo's and an andorian who loves apb way too much. send your swarmers and watch the hull of a dread drop in about 10 seconds. then when its all said and done...the misterious Omega!! Ok, not so misterious if you ever seen any star trek episode having to do with the omega directive. all the top notch guys beam off your ship and your again left with your crew who you wish could be as good as what you just lost. warp out and end.
Afterthought: I assume and sincerly hope there will be a follow up episode or mini episode bringing you to the sphere for some reason or another, rather then a random hail for general assistance in a new zone. The rewards are very nice and I think the ship has an interesting new look, although I find it crappy that to get the console we have to spend 800 lobi (for a consiole and a universal bo slot?! thats a really crappy deal for us cryptic!)
so theres my review of the most recent featured episode.
The Michael Dorn voice over was like icing on the cake.
To my mind, there are a couple of problems with voicing everything.
1) Cost. Voice work isn't free. And while I'm not privy to what we paid Mr. Dorn for his contribution, I imagine it isn't peanuts. I think that we focused our voice over budget on the important part, Worf.
2) Patch size. You're mistaken about "those few megabytes." One of the biggest single patch bloats out there is Audio. Doing full voice work for the whole episode would have expanded the patch size significantly. And that carries a bunch of problems with it. It takes more space on everyone's hard drives. It takes longer to download. It takes up more bandwidth from the rest of the game. Etc.
While I think we'd all love to see the whole thing voiced, it's not practical.
While not art-related, I think this post is a good candidate for the "recidivist topics" thread.
I've heard some people say Michael Dorn sounded a little stilted. To be honest, he always sounded like that except for moments of intense emotion. And during this mission, I kept having flashbacks to playing Invasion, where Worf was your commander for the game. My only complaint is that I wish the other characters voiced their lines fully. Either have them say everything, or say none of it. Don't do a little bit and leave it.
As for the mission itself: I'd much prefer missions like this, where you go around investigating things, solve mysteries and try to explore and discover. I find that far more entertaining and rewarding than just pewpewing everything. Maybe that's why I lvoed A Final Unity so much. Honestly, I would be very happy if most of the S8 missions invovled investigating, with only the odd mission that was full on warfare. But I know that's not going to happen. I loved the fact the backup plan with the charges completely failed. As for why we didn't beam up to the ships, I figured there was too many people with too little time to get a transporter lock on everyone and to energise. The gateway was the fastest escape route for everyone.
Now I admit, at first I thought the stuff at the start was a bit rubbish, and it was only having Mr Dorn there kept my interest up until the placement of the charges, but in retrospect, that buildup helped the anticipation when the gate was activated, having had all that buildup.
Finally, the map room. Wowzers. That was very impressive. I loved that thing. The information on the panels was a good read. Interesting Earth didn't seem to be the highest level of observation. Which I loved. For once, Earth is not being targeted primarily. And the Iconians are scared of the Dominion! As a DS9 lover, that really did make my day. And when all those swarmers came at the end, combined with the music ramping up, I admit, I got into it, frantically hoping I would get the data downloaded before that swarm reached us. I thoroughly got into this story, and I thank everyone involved with this episode.
The things I didn't like, other than the voices just giving a line instead of everything, was the space part. I've not tried carriers since they had the control interface overhaul, nor did I know what half those powers were. As such, I was just sorta flying around mangling things while sending out my fighters. As a man who normally hates ground levels and loves the space stuff, this is quite impressive that this mission completely reverses my opinion. It did however, reinforce my opinion that the Omega Directive is the most braindead thing ever conceived of. What if the Enterprise had detected the Omegas during the battle? The crew would have been locked out and they would all be dead. I'm all for posting the Omega mark everywhere to make sure the Captain sees it, or hell give him a verbal command no matter where he is, but locking everything out from the crew is unbeliveably stupid. I thought so when I saw the Voy ep as well.
I did enjoy fighting alongside the three flagships. But on a small note, I tried to get a screenshot of them together when they manouvered into position, but the hull of the Enterprise still calls itself the Oddessy. Right registration, wrong name.
Overall, I've loved this episode, and I loved the last one with Denise Crosby. I know I'm probably in a minority here, what with it seeming like the majority just wants to run around shooting everything in sight, but I rank these things among the best missions of the game. Certainly more entertaining than the standard missions in the roster. Maybe a little too much 'Follow The Worf' during the exploration, but that's understandable considering he had his voice and you wanted to maximise it's use, and I still loved it.
A Romulan Strike Team, Missing Farmers and an ancient base on a Klingon Border world. But what connects them? Find out in my First Foundary mission: 'The Jeroan Farmer Escapade'