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General Discussion Right? Game Mechanics:

jdt135jdt135 Member Posts: 3 Arc User
Game mechanics: Since we're NOT playing sto on a game engine best suited for playing Star Trek, I want to talk about a few things that do exist and some that don't. Players, npcs, and boffs... Why are we walking on tables and consoles? It's very distracting. At one point I read boffs described as glorified pets. Right now I'd call them stupid pets. They're always scurrying for an exact position; their stances oddly move in unison and now they don't even walk proper anymore. I would prefer some formation options for my boffs and everyone should move more naturally. The rally point is o.k., but I'd like the option to actually give orders (something multiple choice or so). That could work for boffs and other npcs. Why am I scanning everything myself? Shouldn't one of the boffs do that? Seems one them "Reports" every time I'm done scanning anyway. A few of them salute now and then, but it's not good. Seems I have to walk past them completely or right up to them before they do. Most npcs are useless. They walk all the way to the end of the corridor and when the door opens, they turn around to head back to nowhere. If players are "Captains, Admirals, or even Fleet Admirasl" Shouldn't most of the npcs be kissing our...? well, you know. Most of them don't even know we're there. :( Also, I'm tired of being in missions where the cook tells me what to do and I'm supposed to jump. At least once I want an npc to speak out of turn with me so I can hit the button to call the guards to escort him or her to the brig. These days, I can't stand the popup window, the one they revamped a couple seasons ago. I call it the "always in the way window". It can't be resized and it pops up at the worst times. In featured episodes, a voice actor is saying most of the stuff. Why use the pop up at all? Or at least, give us control over it. What about the black panels that slide in from the side? They're just as bad. One more thing on npcs, everything should spawn in BEFORE the turbo lift doors open NOT beam in after the doors are open. I also don't like it when I get in a turbo lift, and when the very short loading screen is gone I'm standing outside the lift. Why is it that when I go from ground to bridge then leave the bridge I go directly to a loading screen, but when I go from space to bridge and leave the bridge my toon has to beam off the bridge (possibly into the vacuum of space)? I have very little love for loading screens, but beaming into space when you expect to be in command from the bridge is just silly.

Yes I've heard they're working hard to finally revamp sector space and I'm happy about that. I'd be happier if they would greatly improve the way ships move in any kind of space. Right now, we still warp through planets, stations, and just about anything else that's in our way. Why do we still screech to a halt when jumping to warp? They never did that on t.v. Maybe we've never fully noticed how badly the big ships moved in the t.v. shows; but they tricked us with flybys and cutaways. I keep saying that warp speed should be a breathtaking experience. That's what the flybys and star streaks were for! Lets face it, speed flight has never been done right. We need flybys and way better star streaks, and they should never be linked to gear. And I don't want to see "star streaks" when I'm supposed to be at full impulse and in an atmosphere! With the expansion of sector space can we just get all the engines up to transwarp 14? It makes no sense to always have to switch in the borg engine just for traveling. Hopefully, things will get better; but if traveling doesn't improve... How about less loading screens? Since getting there isn't half the fun, better shortcuts matter more, give us more choices everywhere we go. At the Academy, I can choose E.S.D., system, or sector. Why not the other way around? I'm going to hit a loading screen no matter what I do, but if I could choose one instead of two that would help. Also, don't skimp out on the "transwarp" shortcuts remember, one loading screen not two.

The first time I logged into sto, got to my ship in space and saw something in the distance; I wanted to target the object or ship and then "zoom in" to get a better look at it. An old habit from my days in Bridge Commander. I still want that and "standard orbit". When I saw tyken's rift up close for the first time I wanted to scan/record it for study and maybe review a playback of the thing. That's when I realized that we don't have active sensors and space isn't quite real enough without it. To pull up to a floating thing and play match the waveform doesn't quite cut it. (sorry) In Armada2 they had what was called: "The fog or war". There was a map of space and the traveled portions of it would then be "charted" (like a scratch off). You had an image of where enemies were, but without a ship or a sensor array in the area you had no way of knowing enemy movements. What about the range? I understand that for game play purposes, maybe we shouldn't be firing weapons from further than 10k out maybe no more than 15k, but shouldn't the readout pretend it's 50+ k? Currently, I can have a target lock from about 30 or so k, but I don't get all the target info unless I'm 16k or less from it. (In sector space max range is about 6 or 7 light years). Come on... the transporters had a range half way between 40-50k and that's about half the range of the weapons give or take (maybe less). They could see a borg cube headed at them at warp 9 and it supposedly would be there in about 3 minutes.

Transporters: I went to the transporter room on my ship and guess what; IT DOESN'T WORK!!! What about site to site transport? I should be able to call my ship in obit for all kinds of support all the time anywhere I go. Especially site to site transport; and go anywhere in range including multiple decks of my ship, as well as many locations on planets or stations. All I'm sayin is: It would be nice if this felt like star trek for a change.
Post edited by jdt135 on

Comments

  • adamkafeiadamkafei Member Posts: 6,539 Arc User
    edited March 2015
    I think a TLDR is needed here...
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  • organicmanfredorganicmanfred Member Posts: 3,236 Arc User
    edited March 2015
    adamkafei wrote: »
    I think a TLDR is needed here...

    did you really read the textwall?
  • roadghostroadghost Member Posts: 394 Arc User
    edited March 2015
    did you really read the textwall?

    I got like the first 3 lines about Boffs running over/through objects and jockeying for positions.

    Shoot I'm happy they even follow me. I remember they used to get stuck, stuck behind doors, stuck behind plants, stuck on top of plants (that one really used to TRIBBLE me off on beam ins). These days I really have to make and effort to loose them. I still can, especially when hunting accolades, but not as easy as during the first year or so.
  • hyperionx09hyperionx09 Member Posts: 1,709 Arc User
    edited March 2015
    adamkafei wrote: »
    I think a TLDR is needed here...
    TL;DR = OP wants; no, is demanding, more immersion.

    Gist Examples of Certain poitns:

    Where Boffs are more dynamic and can be ordered more like NPCs in other games, like Halo; where they can man driver, passenger/weapons and do a half-decent job, complete some objectives if they get there ahead of you, etc.

    Where even objects with a randomly unique graphic could be scanned or fired upon.

    Where NPCs treat you according to your rank; beyond the mere saluting or full attention you get when you walk near them (on ESD, the saluting outside Quinn's office entrance or heading to the Ship Tailor/Ship Selector/Ship Seller, where they stop what they're doing and face you).

    Where flying through sector space should be "thrilling and exciting".

    Where more interaction with Boffs is wanted without somehow going through all those pop-up messages.

    Where transporters work like they're supposed to and you either end up on the teleport pad or the turbolift when you beam up or move from room to room.
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