test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

The Good Old Days

So I was just killing time yesturday when I found an old GameInformer from when Cryptic first announced STO and all I can say is, wow. Even though I've played since beta, its still scary how much this game has changed.

Anyone remember when these ships were supposed to be a thing?
sto_screen12_0.jpg

star_trek_online_pcscreenshots23446screenshot_2008_08_19_13_49_22_copy_copy.jpg

or how about the old ESD?
screenshot_2010-03-12-22-34-17.jpg

And who could forget the old Crystalline Entity :P
CrystallineEntity.png


Anyone else have so old pics from simpler times?
_____________________________________________________
Anyone want to give me a Temporal Heavy Dreadnought pack? I'll be your friend :D
«1

Comments

  • deaftravis05deaftravis05 Member Posts: 4,885 Arc User
    where's the crystal?
  • alexraptorralexraptorr Member Posts: 1,192 Arc User
    The ship in the Second Picture is actually in the game though, but they removed the Rollbar for the sake of customization.
    "If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid." - Q
  • gerwalk0769gerwalk0769 Member Posts: 1,095 Arc User
    I remember the Old open Crystalline mission. You would begin to damage it and some yahoo would come in a shoot off an attacks FAW/GW/ (TS?) that split crystals that healed the Entity. That was a never ending PUG mission.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xEhs5ZG4AM
    Joined STO in September 2010.
  • jodarkriderjodarkrider Member Posts: 2,097 Arc User
    Heh, those seem ancient. Seems like a completelly different game, graphics-wise. :smiley:
    [10:20] Your Lunge deals 4798 (2580) Physical Damage(Critical) to Tosk of Borg.

    Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator
    "bIghojchugh DaneH, Dumev pagh. bIghojqangbe'chugh, DuQaHlaH pagh."
    "Learn lots. Don't judge. Laugh for no reason. Be nice. Seek happiness." ~Day[9] 
    "Your fun isn't wrong." ~LaughingTrendy

    Find me on Twitterverse - @jodarkrider

  • mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    Heh, those seem ancient. Seems like a completelly different game, graphics-wise. :smiley:

    The top picture is not from STO as it ever was released, I think. The other two look like it, though.
    Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
  • daveynydaveyny Member Posts: 8,227 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    The top pic is a Perpetual design graphic that Cryptic inherited when they leased the IP rights.
    It's part of the leftover stuff that Perpetual had drawn up but never got to actually get into game form.

    They should use the old ESD Starbase design as the outside for Starbase 39-Sierra.
    B)
    STO Member since February 2009.
    I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
    Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
    upside-down-banana-smiley-emoticon.gif
  • jodarkriderjodarkrider Member Posts: 2,097 Arc User
    Heh, those seem ancient. Seems like a completelly different game, graphics-wise. :smiley:

    The top picture is not from STO as it ever was released, I think. The other two look like it, though.
    Ahh, yeah. I'm a "youngster" compared to some of resident STO vets. Two years ago, I was pretty much just a newb, starting with the game. So seeing these pictures is fairly amusing and nice.
    [10:20] Your Lunge deals 4798 (2580) Physical Damage(Critical) to Tosk of Borg.

    Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator
    "bIghojchugh DaneH, Dumev pagh. bIghojqangbe'chugh, DuQaHlaH pagh."
    "Learn lots. Don't judge. Laugh for no reason. Be nice. Seek happiness." ~Day[9] 
    "Your fun isn't wrong." ~LaughingTrendy

    Find me on Twitterverse - @jodarkrider

  • kayajaykayajay Member Posts: 1,990 Arc User
    I'm loving the ship with the cut-outs! I'm guessing they've butchered it for that flat Intel ship, but oh for more fun...
  • duncanidaho11duncanidaho11 Member Posts: 7,983 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    kayajay wrote: »
    I'm loving the ship with the cut-outs! I'm guessing they've butchered it for that flat Intel ship, but oh for more fun...

    The difference is 4 years on that one. I doubt there's any kind of direct connection (initial 2409 Miranda variant also had cut-outs but even then that's just the expression of a general idea) even if it was a question of early cryptic versus late (as stated above its from the first dev to take a whack at STO.)

    Also, some of those space assets (Ie. the ones that actually made it to the game) are still available in the Foundry. If you're really keen in revisiting the glorious past you have the tools to play around with a few things. :P
    Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
    Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
    Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
  • djf021djf021 Member Posts: 1,382 Arc User
    kayajay wrote: »
    I'm loving the ship with the cut-outs! I'm guessing they've butchered it for that flat Intel ship, but oh for more fun...

    I like that one too. I want one...anyone for a new destroyer, maybe?
    C4117709-1498929112732780large.jpg

    Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
    -Captain James T. Kirk
  • This content has been removed.
  • khan5000khan5000 Member Posts: 3,008 Arc User
    I remember in Beta they ended it with a massive Borg invasion. Borg were all over old ESD.
    Your pain runs deep.
    Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
  • daveynydaveyny Member Posts: 8,227 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    If you go to John Eaves' web site (HERE), you can see a few of the starship designs Perpetual had in mind for their version of the game.
    He was hired to work on their design team back then.

    (I wish like Hell that PWE/Cryptic would take him on as a design Dev for a while, or at least hire him to make some ships)
    STO Member since February 2009.
    I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
    Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
    upside-down-banana-smiley-emoticon.gif
  • mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    Interesting, 3 of these look like something Eaves must have made for Perpetual, and I've seen before, but the forth in the lower right seems unfamiliar.

    starship%20combo%202.jpg
    Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
  • duncanidaho11duncanidaho11 Member Posts: 7,983 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    and I've seen before, but the forth in the lower right seems unfamiliar.

    It very much seems like a flight deck variant of the Akira escort (with a better deck arrangement). I think you can find a few small touches of it spread out between various Akira variants but that probably owes a lot to convergent evolution. The one right above that you can actually emulate reasonably well with some of Cryptic's original Akira bits too.

    I am liking that shortened sovereign class at the top. I really wish cryptic gave us something more subtle like that for customization options instead of the Majestic/Noble hyperactive dream fests. :P


    Also here's a fun "easter egg." If you look through some of the older debris fields in STO containing Federation ships (for example I think Wolf 359) you can find a variant (or at least something a hell of a lot like it) of the cut-out-saucer cruiser with the saucer filled in.
    Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
    Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
    Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
  • warmaker001bwarmaker001b Member Posts: 9,205 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    Ship models and textures had greatly improved since launch day. You can see it for yourself. Go to the shipyard and examine the original Lv40 dil / free ship token ship skins and compare them to C-Store releases over time. The old ships aesthetically don't hold up anymore to newer stuff.

    On a related note to the ESD change from "The Old Donut In Space" to the current one, KDF First City had a change from way before even the ESD change. You can get a very general look of how First City looked before its change when you play "Blood of the Empire," minus the fires and destroyed equipment of course B) The part where you go fight on the ground at "KDF Headquarters" against the Fek'Ihri. The map was a multilevel zone and the Chancellor's Hall was at the top of a big, central spiral stairway.

    2 screenshots, 1st from 2012, the 2nd from 2013.
    WlSGGCh.jpg
    Character models, especially the faces have changed.
    oi2RfMB.jpg
    The Shipyard at old ESD was a separate room to load into entirely.

    Unfortunately all my old, launch era pictures are gone.
    XzRTofz.gif
  • giliongilion Member Posts: 686 Arc User
    To everyone who thinks the first ship I posted looks good, that is a perfect example of something that looks good from one angle, and really bad from another. This is a closed saucer variant of the same ship:
    dening_STO_ExcaliburPS.jpg


    I also dont have very many pictures of my own from back then, but a few of the more.... interesting ones that I have include:

    This glitch in the old Exploration missions
    screenshot_2011-04-06-19-51-14.jpg
    (hard to tell, but yes those buildings are floating)

    And something I really miss, the good old starship pileup:
    screenshot_2011-02-19-14-34-14.jpg

    _____________________________________________________
    Anyone want to give me a Temporal Heavy Dreadnought pack? I'll be your friend :D
  • gfreeman98gfreeman98 Member Posts: 1,201 Arc User
    khan5000 wrote: »
    I remember in Beta they ended it with a massive Borg invasion. Borg were all over old ESD.
    Oh yeah that was fun. I lucked out; some Engies had erected a shield bubble at the beam-in spot. We were surrounded by dozens (hundreds?) of Borg drones in every direction. We survived for some time with just our weapons protruding so we could kill them but they couldn't hurt us.
    screenshot_2015-03-01-resize4.png
  • kayajaykayajay Member Posts: 1,990 Arc User
    Interesting, 3 of these look like something Eaves must have made for Perpetual, and I've seen before, but the forth in the lower right seems unfamiliar.

    starship%20combo%202.jpg

    Those are better than all of those abominations we had to choose from for the Jupiter!
  • djf021djf021 Member Posts: 1,382 Arc User
    gilion wrote: »
    To everyone who thinks the first ship I posted looks good, that is a perfect example of something that looks good from one angle, and really bad from another. This is a closed saucer variant of the same ship:
    dening_STO_ExcaliburPS.jpg


    You're right, that's a terrible view. It looks like when your dog drags his butt across the carpet, lol.
    C4117709-1498929112732780large.jpg

    Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
    -Captain James T. Kirk
  • jodarkriderjodarkrider Member Posts: 2,097 Arc User
    khan5000 wrote: »
    I remember in Beta they ended it with a massive Borg invasion. Borg were all over old ESD.
    Just because of that I did miss out. :p:D
    Would kick their poor Borg butts with grin on my face. :*
    [10:20] Your Lunge deals 4798 (2580) Physical Damage(Critical) to Tosk of Borg.

    Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator
    "bIghojchugh DaneH, Dumev pagh. bIghojqangbe'chugh, DuQaHlaH pagh."
    "Learn lots. Don't judge. Laugh for no reason. Be nice. Seek happiness." ~Day[9] 
    "Your fun isn't wrong." ~LaughingTrendy

    Find me on Twitterverse - @jodarkrider

  • mewmaster101mewmaster101 Member Posts: 1,239 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    I remember Donut ESD, IMO, I actually liked it a bit, easy to navigate. I was not here for the original First City, but it is hilarious playing the Fel'khir missions that were never updated, so not only is it still using the original version of First city, BUT even more hilarious, textures are missing all over the place, as if the Fel'Khir are distorting space and time there.

    Also, yeah, while some of those ship designs look nice, some of them look like garbage, and to be fair, none of them were 100% going to be in the game, even when it was owned by Atari, they were just Design art.

    also, good old days? when you were repeatedly kicked out of teh game every 5 seconds? or how if you were not using a fast turn rate ship with DHCs, you were automatically, totally inferior?
  • nateham101#2745 nateham101 Member Posts: 420 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    Alot has changed since I began playing in 2012. Alot of good changes, and like every game, some not so good. Overall, I am happy with it. Wish bugs were not such a problem, but its the only trek game out right now so I can live with it.
    1Wlp6QH.gif
  • sunfranckssunfrancks Member Posts: 3,925 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    The old days:

    STO_Nostalgia.png
    Fed: Eng Lib Borg (Five) Tac Andorian (Shen) Sci Alien/Klingon (Maelrock) KDF:Tac Romulan KDF (Sasha) Tac Klingon (K'dopis)
    Founder, member and former leader to Pride Of The Federation Fleet.
    What I feel after I hear about every decision made since Andre "Mobile Games Generalisimo" Emerson arrived...
    3oz8xC9gn8Fh4DK9Q4.gif





  • captainbmoneycaptainbmoney Member Posts: 1,323 Arc User
    Ancient ESD Shipyard with details about ships from T1 to T5 and the holographic projectors you could mess around with. The old Club 47 that was just a big room with a small window and a bar. actually being able to use Coversheild to climb unto places and when everything a fabrication officer was usable in social zones. the old lights and the running around in a circle many times to find things.

    The old first city with the 3 story hall way that everyone loved. the tribble piles during the first anniversary. the insanely confusing layout that made the shipyard look like some kind of back-ally for selling drugs. when the old Vo'Quv was OP like crazy. I have a lot of memories trying to get places in my KDF.

    so many good times

    Like my fanpage!
    https://www.facebook.com/CaptainBMoney913
    Join Date: August 29th 2010
  • warmaker001bwarmaker001b Member Posts: 9,205 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    Alot has changed since I began playing in 2012. Alot of good changes, and like every game, some not so good. Overall, I am happy with it. Wish bugs were not such a problem, but its the only trek game out right now so I can live with it.

    The Good 'ol Days had more people in the game. When Delta Rising hit, I can still remember the departures of a lot of people, a number of which I knew. Some fleets were gutted. Hell, traffic on the Official Forums took a sledgehammer to the nose. More Subforums used to be active, like the Faction (especially old Fed Shipyard), PVP subforums. Now the only active subforum is General Discussion. Even the Fed subforum is slow in participation. I also remember the massive lag the game had at the time of DR's release, especially around the time of last Winter Event. You guys remember the Sarr Theln's trait causing the entire queued instance to lag and disconnect? The first few months after DR hit was a pretty low point in the game, IMO. Things have gotten better, but man did we lose a lot of people.

    The Good 'ol Days for me also had more people participating in PVP. It had always been niche. But it always had this active core to it to do battle. Enough to a point where there were many long play sessions that all I did was PVP and not hit a single PVE queue or BZ. This was also during the days when the PVP queues had FvK (Fed vs KDF). The Feds and KDF players used to be a lot more passionate about their factions. That passion is gone, as with PVP.

    The KDF was markedly different, too. Everybody knows the KDF is by far the smaller playerbase. But due to the roots of the faction being so PVP oriented, back when PVE was a total joke (Kahless Expanse ad nauseum) for the faction and PVP was the only real way to progress, the smaller KDF was, IMO, on average generally more "skilled." I would have taken a KDF PUG vs a Fed PUG any day of the week, and seeing a KDF teammate even in a PVE queued instance reassured me. Hell, even in PVP, the KDF PUGs knew the importance of fighting together compared to too many Feds trying to go solo and "Kirk" it. Not saying the Feds couldn't win. We had our win streaks, they got theirs. Sometimes you clubbed the Harp Seal. Sometimes, the Harp Seal clubbed you :D But on average, I would have taken a random KDF guy first. I can't confidently say the same is still true with the KDF today. The faction on average just... "lost something" it used to have.
    XzRTofz.gif
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    I remember Donut ESD, IMO, I actually liked it a bit, easy to navigate. I was not here for the original First City, but it is hilarious playing the Fel'khir missions that were never updated, so not only is it still using the original version of First city, BUT even more hilarious, textures are missing all over the place, as if the Fel'Khir are distorting space and time there.
    Actually, AFAIK, the issue is that certain parts of the terrain are flagged as high-detail objects or something.

    BTW, the map is in foundry, including the non-burning version.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • warmaker001bwarmaker001b Member Posts: 9,205 Arc User
    edited December 2015
    I remember Donut ESD, IMO, I actually liked it a bit, easy to navigate. I was not here for the original First City, but it is hilarious playing the Fel'khir missions that were never updated, so not only is it still using the original version of First city, BUT even more hilarious, textures are missing all over the place, as if the Fel'Khir are distorting space and time there.
    Actually, AFAIK, the issue is that certain parts of the terrain are flagged as high-detail objects or something.

    BTW, the map is in foundry, including the non-burning version.

    There was only 1 thing I liked about Donut ESD.

    It was doing the trick to put yourself outside the windows and people wondering how the hell you got out there B)
    XzRTofz.gif
  • deaftravis05deaftravis05 Member Posts: 4,885 Arc User
    I remember Donut ESD, IMO, I actually liked it a bit, easy to navigate. I was not here for the original First City, but it is hilarious playing the Fel'khir missions that were never updated, so not only is it still using the original version of First city, BUT even more hilarious, textures are missing all over the place, as if the Fel'Khir are distorting space and time there.
    Actually, AFAIK, the issue is that certain parts of the terrain are flagged as high-detail objects or something.

    BTW, the map is in foundry, including the non-burning version.

    There was only 1 thing I liked about Donut ESD.

    It was doing the trick to put yourself outside the windows and people wondering how the hell you got out there B)


    That was fun :D
  • meimeitoomeimeitoo Member Posts: 12,594 Arc User
    gilion wrote: »
    Even though I've played since beta, its still scary how much this game has changed.or how about the old ESD?

    screenshot_2010-03-12-22-34-17.jpg

    Old ESD looks great, but its scaling feels off somehow (like way too small).
    3lsZz0w.jpg
Sign In or Register to comment.