Thanks! Both for the compliment and for pointing out the spelling error. Can you imagine unveiling that banner after the President Okeg's speech only for someone in the audience to say "typo."
Here's a set of corrected banners.
Take your pick.
I have to say I'm drawn towards the middle banner. The gradient with the white outline for each of the emblems seems to make them stand out in a subtle manner.
I have a suggestion for the main title. Perhaps a different font would make the title stand out more; something along the lines of the fonts used in past movie and TV title screens?
I have to say I'm drawn towards the middle banner. The gradient with the white outline for each of the emblems seems to make them stand out in a subtle manner.
It may just be my screen settings (or not having had coffee yet) but the middle one might have a little too much white going on. "Exploration" is getting a bit lost in the federation banner and my eye doesn't really want to focus on it. Personally, I'm really liking the top one but a compromise between 1 and 2 might be the way to go with some very lightly shaded lines rather than white.
Post edited by duncanidaho11 on
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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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!
I don't know if you lot spoke about using the old ESD interior or not during your show last night (which I missed - sorry.)
However if you are unaware of it.
Earth (Sol III) and 'The Moon' (Luna) are built into the map and are not part of the sky drop.
We brought it up when we were going through potential maps before the break. Our proposed solution was to wall off half the map so the player couldn't see Earth. However, we haven't decided if we're use this map for the interior or not yet.
I think our leading candidate was Sierra Outpost II, since it had a command center, lounge area, cargo bay, window with nothing outside, etc, and didn't have any of the downsides of the old ESD maps.
Plus, like the old ESD we're using for the exterior, Sierra Outpost II isn't in game anywhere anymore.
That said, this will be just one small part of the station we'd be supplying to everyone. If an author needs to visit a different section of the station as a part of their plot, they are free to build it however they see fit. For instance in my mission I'm having the player visit the linguistics department on Deck 50, so I'm building that independently out of the generic Fed interior.
Regarding the interior of the new station, will there be a 'mandatory' first mission that everyone should play (and refer to in other missions) as a kind of 'meet and greet' to introduce the station and concept, as well as all the core NPCs? (like what Duncan has provided below?)
Question: for our exploration missions do you guys want a bit of an in-character blurb to include with the starbase?
Something like:
Status Report: Captain Bailey, U.S.S. Discovery
Stage 3 gateway testing complete, final activation pending candidate selection. Voth mission adhering to specified guidelines but Tarkaram is requesting additional surveillance of their power output. No change in subspace phenomenon, no additional signals detected. What that means we'll just have to find out.
I wouldn't call it "mandatory" but a short intro mission would definitely be a good thing. We'd include that mission title in the promotional material as a gateway to the other missions. Will probably have Greendragoon do that on his account, we get better frame rates when we build live on the show from his computer, rather than me sharing my screen with him over skype.
It appears I'm too late with this suggestion; however, I was thinking that the Forcas Interior map would also make a nice base, with a couple of walls to block off any unwanted bits. This would assume that it was the Klingon Empire that contributed one of its bases to the Alliance effort.
For instance in my mission I'm having the player visit the linguistics department on Deck 50, so I'm building that independently out of the generic Fed interior.
As more people work on stuff like that it would be neat to develop a register of Starbase facilities (ex. for general information terminals to make the station feel big.)
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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I figure they've all worked on it as a joint project. The way I envision it, it could have a Klingon section and a Romulan section, depending on what each individual author might want to depict. But where the Feds are always the ones at the forefront of exploration, I figure they'd mostly take the lead.
Huh, looks like I missed that episode. Thanks for the link.
Nice to see the walkthroughs of the various maps and their strengths and weaknesses.
To be honest, I'd love to ask Cryptic if they could, in the spirit of this project, spare a small amount of dev time to clean up (remove) the space 'artifacts' off the original ESD interior map. This would make it a perfect fit for the exterior (and is only the small top part of the station, analogous to 'Ops' on DS9, allowing for expansion into the rest of the larger parts of the station by any author).
I am watching The Foundry Roundtable Episode 120: Beyond the Furthest Starbase, and thought that I heard that the inclusion of the base in a mission was now considered optional. Did I hear that correctly?
I am watching The Foundry Roundtable Episode 120: Beyond the Furthest Starbase, and thought that I heard that the inclusion of the base in a mission was now considered optional. Did I hear that correctly?
Yup, you don't have to use the starbase if you don't want to (which I think was the idea from the beginning). The only requirements I think are 1. the starting location (which I'm really liking the Archer System for) and 2. there's exploration.
That said, it would probably be a good idea for included missions to still reference the starbase or exploration initiative where appropriate. You might as well take advantage of the collaborative work going into this thing.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
I figure they've all worked on it as a joint project. The way I envision it, it could have a Klingon section and a Romulan section, depending on what each individual author might want to depict. But where the Feds are always the ones at the forefront of exploration, I figure they'd mostly take the lead.
As I said, I recognize that my suggestion was late; however, in defence of the concept, I would point out that the Klingon Empire would be rather confined if the Klingons did not research and explore. The underlying groups influencing the Klingons were the Mongolians and the Soviets...neither had difficulty exploring.
A joint initiative doesn't suggest a joint build. There are few resources available after the Iconian War. Any available base makes sense.
There is no reason to discard a Klingon base option out of hand.
That said, there is no reason for me to support one anymore, either
I am watching The Foundry Roundtable Episode 120: Beyond the Furthest Starbase, and thought that I heard that the inclusion of the base in a mission was now considered optional. Did I hear that correctly?
Yup, you don't have to use the starbase if you don't want to (which I think was the idea from the beginning). The only requirements I think are 1. the starting location (which I'm really liking the Archer System for) and 2. there's exploration.
That said, it would probably be a good idea for included missions to still reference the starbase or exploration initiative where appropriate. You might as well take advantage of the collaborative work going into this thing.
doesn't even have to be that much really, just even a "set course for *insert base name*" mission ends.There you're done!
doesn't even have to be that much really, just even a "set course for *insert base name*" mission ends.There you're done!
"We're returning from a supply run to Starbase *Name Pending*"
"Starbase *Name Pending* wants a full report when we're done here."
"I lost big in poker last night to *Insert Name Here* of Starbase *Name Pending*
"There was a little accident at Starbase *Name Pending.* Good news though, they found it was only tribbles in the waste reclamation system."
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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Just wanted to include a link here for the newest Roundtable podcast that includes info on the new Starbase involved with the Alliance Exploration Initiative so folks can keep abreast of what is happening.
My comments on the project are there, but for those TLDR types...I think placing the door at the Archer system is a great location and the space backdrops used for the Starbase are cool - but conflict with established Cryptic material.
Wasn't the FED starbase in the area only near the Archer system anyway? Could say its in a neighboring system.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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President Okeg, Chancellor J'mpok, and Proconcul D'Tan stand in front of a large room crowded with delegates. President Okeg steps up to a podium bearing the colors of all three major governments and begins to speak...
"My friends, welcome.
We have just emerged from a time of darkness unprecedented in galactic history. An all encompassing war in which every known sentient species fought for its survival. A war causing devastating loses to both sides.
But we are not here today to dwell on the tragedy of the past. We are here today at the threshold of an exciting new beginning. A day that sees, for the first time, an alliance between all known galactic powers. A day to start rebuilding with new found friendship and determination. A day to look forward to a bright new future.
It was through a selfless gesture that the war was ended. Let us usher in this new era in the same spirit. To that end, we are proud to announce a combined Alliance Exploration Initiative. It is more important now than ever that we seek out new friends among new worlds, new resources to replace those lost, and new knowledge to broaden our understanding - to make sure we are prepared for whatever the future holds.
To this effect, a new Alliance station, XXXX, has been created as the stepping stone into that vast unknown. Exploration will be the key to our future; let us boldly go into that new dawn...."
Photonomy spoilers ahead:
Seeing that President Okeg has endured through the events of the Photonomy series, perhaps the first mission should have a quick dialogue reference to those events. (Maybe even retroactively insert a mention or two of the Exploration Initiative into Photonomy as well, such as in Okeg's dialogue.) Perhaps we could also have a holographic officer or two aboard the station. I suggest at least a Repair and Maintenance Hologram (RMH) promoted to the station's Ops or Chief Engineer position and given a "real" name.
Question for everyone. I'm just about ready to open up nominations for the station's command crew. Should I use this thread or make a new one? I don't want to overcrowd this forum with threads, but I also want to keep this thread for general project discussion.
Also, the Foundry Roundtable will have another live show at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday at twitch.tv/thefoundryroundtable where we'll be continuing building the exterior map and get started on the interior.
Question for everyone. I'm just about ready to open up nominations for the station's command crew. Should I use this thread or make a new one? I don't want to overcrowd this forum with threads, but I also want to keep this thread for general project discussion.
Either works but it'll sooth my nascent OCD if we could have a clean discussion of the crew in a new thread.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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Either way's fine with me. I do have some ideas, not so much for specific characters but for positions/titles of senior officers. It seems to me a facility like this would require quite a few departments that have no direct analog to a starship's or even a regular station's (a first-contact department, for one) that would, in turn, require department heads. I'll post more specific proposals once we decide where this discussion is going.
I know that it's not relevant now, but I published a map to show what a Klingon Alliance base might look like...if interested, look for Gorkon Station under review.
There were a few decisions we had to make without community input. The exterior aesthetic of the station being one of them since we had to pick one and run with it. You can make good cases for Romulan, Fed or Klingon being the dominant style. We picked Fed. Still I feel like the other two governments would have a big share and people can make Klingon and Romulan sections of the station if they want them for their missions. For my mission I'm creating a small section of Deck 50 and I've utilized a generic Fed base map, but with some Klingon and Romulan objects to help give it that joint-venture flavor.
In the end, we're just going to provide people with a very small part of it, and authors can fill in the rest however they want (or not even use the station at all!).
Comments
Looks like a Tribble, but can terminate at will :P
I have to say I'm drawn towards the middle banner. The gradient with the white outline for each of the emblems seems to make them stand out in a subtle manner.
I have a suggestion for the main title. Perhaps a different font would make the title stand out more; something along the lines of the fonts used in past movie and TV title screens?
"No matter where you go...there you are."
It may just be my screen settings (or not having had coffee yet) but the middle one might have a little too much white going on. "Exploration" is getting a bit lost in the federation banner and my eye doesn't really want to focus on it. Personally, I'm really liking the top one but a compromise between 1 and 2 might be the way to go with some very lightly shaded lines rather than white.
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!
Last set from me until further notice.
Yeah, I'd say 2's pretty much perfect now.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
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However if you are unaware of it.
Earth (Sol III) and 'The Moon' (Luna) are built into the map and are not part of the sky drop.
We brought it up when we were going through potential maps before the break. Our proposed solution was to wall off half the map so the player couldn't see Earth. However, we haven't decided if we're use this map for the interior or not yet.
My character Tsin'xing
That said, this will be just one small part of the station we'd be supplying to everyone. If an author needs to visit a different section of the station as a part of their plot, they are free to build it however they see fit. For instance in my mission I'm having the player visit the linguistics department on Deck 50, so I'm building that independently out of the generic Fed interior.
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
As more people work on stuff like that it would be neat to develop a register of Starbase facilities (ex. for general information terminals to make the station feel big.)
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!
You can check out our discussion on Episode 119, where we went through the various base map candidates. http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1209333/the-foundry-roundtable-episode-119-the-alliance-exploration-initiative
I've also got the poll for the starbase name going: http://strawpoll.me/6575896
I'll probably keep it open for a week. Once we get that done, I'll run the poll for the mission tag.
Huh, looks like I missed that episode. Thanks for the link.
Nice to see the walkthroughs of the various maps and their strengths and weaknesses.
To be honest, I'd love to ask Cryptic if they could, in the spirit of this project, spare a small amount of dev time to clean up (remove) the space 'artifacts' off the original ESD interior map. This would make it a perfect fit for the exterior (and is only the small top part of the station, analogous to 'Ops' on DS9, allowing for expansion into the rest of the larger parts of the station by any author).
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
Yup, you don't have to use the starbase if you don't want to (which I think was the idea from the beginning). The only requirements I think are 1. the starting location (which I'm really liking the Archer System for) and 2. there's exploration.
That said, it would probably be a good idea for included missions to still reference the starbase or exploration initiative where appropriate. You might as well take advantage of the collaborative work going into this thing.
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!
As I said, I recognize that my suggestion was late; however, in defence of the concept, I would point out that the Klingon Empire would be rather confined if the Klingons did not research and explore. The underlying groups influencing the Klingons were the Mongolians and the Soviets...neither had difficulty exploring.
A joint initiative doesn't suggest a joint build. There are few resources available after the Iconian War. Any available base makes sense.
There is no reason to discard a Klingon base option out of hand.
That said, there is no reason for me to support one anymore, either
doesn't even have to be that much really, just even a "set course for *insert base name*" mission ends.There you're done!
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!
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1210462/podcast-the-foundry-roundtable-episode-120-beyond-the-furthest-starbase
My comments on the project are there, but for those TLDR types...I think placing the door at the Archer system is a great location and the space backdrops used for the Starbase are cool - but conflict with established Cryptic material.
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
Wasn't the FED starbase in the area only near the Archer system anyway? Could say its in a neighboring system.
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!
Photonomy spoilers ahead:
My Foundry missions | My STO Wiki page | My Twitter home page
Anyways, reminder to vote for the starbase name: http://strawpoll.me/6575896
Please vote only once.
Also, the Foundry Roundtable will have another live show at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday at twitch.tv/thefoundryroundtable where we'll be continuing building the exterior map and get started on the interior.
Either works but it'll sooth my nascent OCD if we could have a clean discussion of the crew in a new thread.
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!
My Foundry missions | My STO Wiki page | My Twitter home page
My character Tsin'xing
In the end, we're just going to provide people with a very small part of it, and authors can fill in the rest however they want (or not even use the station at all!).