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Official Feedback Thread for the "Battle of Caleb IV"
coldsnapped
Member Posts: 520 Cryptic Developer
Please use this thread to post feedback and issues found for the new episode "Battle of Caleb IV".
New Episode: Battle of Caleb IV
New Episode: Battle of Caleb IV
- Klingon ships have attacked repeaters in the Federation’s subspace communications network, and Starfleet Command believes that it may be a prelude to invasion.
- Join in on these events discussed in the Deep Space Nine episode “Once More Unto the Breach.”
- This mission can only be played with a TOS captain.
- Once this episode is completed, TOS characters will have access to the Klingon War arc.
- For more details, please visit the Battle of Caleb IV blog at: http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9981053-star-trek-online:-battle-of-caleb-iv
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Comments
- I 'defeated' the Klingon captain in the wardroom, only to have him kick me through the partition as if I had failed. I understand that failing is part of the episode.
- really enjoyed the battle portion while I hold off the klingon forces, but again I defeated them (over and over) throughout the process. After destroying the 6th D7 maybe you could add a new accolade 'You Done Got Gud' or 'Not even Kirk did this'
- This battle could easily become a Lt. level 'No Win Scenario'
Otherwise - more TOS fun. Good work all.
Cut the door animation uses a modern elite fleet phases pistol.
Kor disappears on the animation after the fight with him.
"You seem to have gotten some of your blood in my raktajino. This is unfortunate."
On a related note, has anybody tried replaying these early missions after finishing Battle of Caleb? Can you get back to the TOS map to do that and can you get back to the 25th Century map afterwards?
i miss tos esd already
P.S. I still think the Pioneer class is SEXY AS HELL!
Hmm.. I just had a devilish thought.... I wanna try this in a 5-man...
My character Tsin'xing
What's my position?
That people should know what they're screaming about!
(paraphrased from "The Newsroom)
1) The Admiral's orders are to disable the Klingon ships if possible including by firing on their engines - however the fleet immediately goes and destroys the Klingon ships. Noone bats an eyelid (even a left window chatbox along the lines of "Well, seems they didnt want to surrender" or "They kept firing despite their engines being down" or something to explain the anomaly.
2) The fleet, when you move to the next checkpoint, takes forever (really, a long time) to follow you. I essentially triggered battle on my own.
3) The cut-scene will presumably be updated before going to Holodeck, but it isnt at all clear which ships are exploding or whether they're just damaged, and what the Klingon ships are firing at you (you later see they are tractor beams).
4) Kor doesnt introduce himself as Kor. Why not a "I am Captain Kor of the Imperial Klingon Fleet and I have defeated you in battle" before going onto the rest of his dialogue (which is otherwise fine).
5) It seems very odd that Daniels can beam you through their shields with just a few simple modifications... perhaps alluding to a more sophisticated device? Also, the quick moment when it cuts to my Bridge, everyone is standing on their chairs then sits down - also they've reverted to wearing their default uniforms (eg, my Tarsi wears black, but the cutscene had her wearing red again).
6) Tarsi brings along a view photon charges to knock out the tractor beams - but noone raises that there are a dozen Klingon ships using their tractor beams so just disabling one ship is pointless. We just rush off - perhaps one could raise a "and we'll find out what we can do to the rest of their fleet on the way..."?
7) Tarsi said that she had the charges - so why am I placing the bomb? Perhaps she says that she hands them to the Character at the beam in point?
8) After planting the first bomb, Kor orders the crew to 'eliminate us immediately', but all the hostiles just stay in their rooms - why arent there security teams rushing us? Why dont they beam the bomb out of their engineering bay?
9) Your character uses a non-TOS phaser to cut the door.
10) The Science Lab isnt really - it looks more like a medical bay. Why are we bombing a hospital? Arent we the Feds, the Goodies??
11) The Kor fight scene has a few issues:
a) If you are a female character with a skirt, the cutscene where you overhear the Nakuhl and Kor argue features you looking straight up her skirt given the croutch position and direction that has been chosen. Perhaps revise?
b) When the Nakuhl officer/guest beams out, you start reading the dialogue with Kor but he/his minions start shooting at you - I still dont know what the second page said. Perhaps some kind of delay until you walk around the corner from behind the wall, or just a 10 second timer where noone (incl you) can shoot?
c) During the battle, I found myself on the far side of the table, but the cutscene had me back at the wall again but I wasnt there, and Kor wasnt there either. It then jumped to me falling over on my back despite my character wtfpwning Kor in the actual battle. Seems very odd.
d) the beamout sequence used TNG beams, not TOS transporter graphics.
e) the explosions are a bit choppy - eg it looks like Kor's ship totally explodes which breaks immersion (but I know Kor lives!!). I think in short this cutscene needs quite a bit of work to tidy it up.
12) It might be helpful for a chatbox to suggest that you should focus on destroying the Klingon ships that arent tractoring federation ships; I ignored the 'free' firing ships to my detriment as as soon as I freed the third Federation starship I had half a dozen Klingon ships firing on me - all with their rapid cannon volley. In short: I melted. Now, there are better STO players than me out there, but I am experienced so a new player would be like 'wtf'. It wasnt immediately apparent in the heat of battle that the other Federation ships wouldnt turn to support you in battle instead of just running like scared petaQ.
13) The timer before you 'die' is about right: after respawning, I held out with just a few seconds to go before I would have reached the timer (which is presumably auto-die).
14) The end cutscene involves 'modern' Klingon Birds of Prey firing on your ship just before it explodes - this needs to be fixed.
15) More needs to be done to integrate your character into ESD - I like how the initial NPC thinks its funny that you have just come from a holodeck with an old-skool uniform, but there are two things that worry me: the first is that a TOS character could actually be a player's first character, so modern ESD isnt going to make sense to them - a video pan to the Admiral's office like the normal Fed tutorial (or a running light to follow) would be helpful. The other is the next point.
16) I really dont like how Admiral Quinn's first words are 'here, go get a ship'. It is really under-done and feels like an empty conclusion after such a heroic act. Remember, your character just died for the Federation. He should say something like:
Quinn to Character: "I have always wanted to meet a Hero of the Federation such as yourself. History records the actions of you and your crew as upholding the finest values of Starfleet; values that I hold dear and have sought to uphold myself over the years. It is an honour to meet you.
I understand that you've been given a crash course in history over the last x hundred years - so as you know we have entered another dark time where the threats to the Federation are mounting. We need natural leaders - heroes - like you out there in command of starships.
I have recommended your for a command position on a ship of the line... [existing text]. One of my Officers [NPC - perhaps the Temporal Agent at Quinn's door? Or Sulu??] will assist you from time to time with adjusting to modern life in today's Federation/Starfleet.
[existing text about the shipyard]."
17) Admiral Quinn doesnt get pissed off by you rocking up in your old uniform - either make him a sticker for appearance (which seems silly) or make him deliberately not care. It is also unclear why the mission rewards you a 'free costume change' given you've literally JUST visited the tailor beforehand (rather than after). What would be helpful are some new Shield Batteries and Weapons Batteries given we've probably used all that we had with the long battles with the Nakuhl and the Klingons in the last two missions. Alternatively, perhaps switch the order of the Admiral and the Tailor missions??
18) Following the selection of a new ship, I am encouraged to go and speak to Ensign Raak who is introduced as a fellow former classmate from the Academy. This is true from the 'normal' Fed tutorial as he beams the Klingons on board like a total moron, but you've not seen him to this point in TOS given he is a Caitian. Continuity??
What are the thoughts of other testers out there??
There are plenty of loose ends from the original TOS that would involve other ships being dispatched after the Enterprise 1701 to investigate further, clean up or otherwise tangentially reference. What about the episode "A Piece of the Action" - boundless ideas there, including them joining the Federation as a new member (an actual diplomatic mission where you dont have to commit genocide-by-phaser-bank). Or complete new missions where you have to protect yourself from random alien shizzle (new diseases, creatures, scanning planets or nebulae etc), patrolling borders, escort duty, drug-running etc. Lots to do in the "wild west" of the TOS era when Starfleet was quicker to reach for the phaser than all the do-gooders in TNG or Voyager.
In short, to leverage from Oliver: please sir, can I have some more?!!?
Hopefully they do add more of an introduction to the future for you as, I feel like I just lost my ship, half my crew and everyone I ever knew back home. The second I get to earth i'm told get changed and get to work...I just died man, give me a minute here!
And how do I have my ship back?
I am also confused now as they are releasing a series of TOS ships in their new packs, but given their levels, we will already be in the future when we use them. So why have them? Is it because every new rank we get to go back in time?
With all that being said, I can't wait to see how it all unfolds. Great work STO team!
Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
Still, a few more elements need to be added to our transition through time. Either indicate through dialogue, brief animation, or a caption saying “After a brief introduction…” or some such thing that we’ve been given basic instruction before being sent to 25th century ESD or give some more basic instruction after we appear in front of the Bolian.
The mission list and the arrow tells us to meet with Phillip Crey, but I’d like either Daniels or Crey to hail us (in a sidebar dialogue) telling us there’s someone here to integrate us into our new time. It would make the character seem less abandoned.
Also, this occurrence leaves me with some questions that are unanswered (worse, unasked) that I’d like the opportunity to ask. Having them as optional questions to ask Crey would probably make the whole thing seem less abrupt.
—Was I supposed to die in the original version of the battle?
—If I am being saved, why bring me to the 25th century? What’s the advantage of doing that? Why not to Daniel’s time?
—Why isn’t saving me putting the timeline at risk?
—Is doing this for killed temporal agents normal? If not, why am I so special?
—Why are there so many 23rd Century ships for me to fly? (Assuming I bought them for Holodeck, which I did.)
And there are more questions I could ask, but I understand that too many questions, even optional, could be bad for the game. I also know that voice actor availability and price might impact what can be done in ways I don’t know.
I can even imagine some answers. The 25th century being one of the major fronts in this time war, it could be useful to have someone with knowledge and even personal contact from an earlier era around.
But it’s just. . . I keep saying “abrupt,” because that’s what it felt like. It also felt like an odd choice for Daniels. A few small changes might eliminate both feelings.
Let us upgrade the Seleya Ceremonial Lirpa and Kri'stak Blade
Agreed! At least tell us that they thought we might be nostalgic and wanted to introduce modern technology to us early so they found an ancient pioneer class ship in a junkyard and gave it a quick sweep and a polich and handed it to you - just like old times!
Seconded - even more eloquent than my ranting earlier above!!
One thing I noted in the final battle though, was the way the spawns were working. No sooner had I dealt with the first ships, I had 6 others spawn (not decloak, but *spawn*) right on top of me. I know I don't like it when people cry "my immersions!" but that was pretty immersion breaking. In fact, I found that whole fight difficult to the point of wondering how on earth people are saying it's easy. Yes, I know you're meant to 'die' in it, but not until the end. I have a feeling that many people will die pretty much endlessly through that fight.
I suggest that you ease off on the ships in the first sections of that battle, then build up towards the "NWS" rather than the "instaswamped" state it's in now.
Little things? Yeah, basically the same as everyone else has said, 25th century weapons flying around on the ground, 25th century bops etc. I had a few backwards tractor beams in the cutscenes from the klingons too, as well as the iffy explosions.
If it aint broke, don't fix it!
They must of spent a metric buttload of dilithium upgrading them though!
My character Tsin'xing
The cut scenes seem all pretty broken right now, but I figure this is expected at this stage? (D5s are replaced by BOPs, NPCs not appearing in cut scenes, weird camera angles, wrong SFX...)
NO federation ship would abandon another so easily. Basically, it needs some back-and-forth with the Admiral asking us "Can we reach warp" etc, and we need to hail the fleet and report our warp drive is down. The fleet should offer to turn back and help, but the admiral should state the enemy is vastly superior and perhaps mention hailing starfleet command for assistance.
At which point, you can hail the fleet and tell them to run and that you will hold back the Klingon advance.
Either way, it was glorious.
I agree that there needs to be a little bit more conversation between the Admiral and your Captain to decide that your ship will stay to let the other Fed ships escape.
A few bugs of note
- Where it cuts to your bridge for a few seconds in one cut-scene, your head is missing. Tested as playing an Andorian female
- If you defeat Kor while in the entrance alcove of the room, and he's further back, the camera just shows the wall between the two during that cut-scene
- Placeholder graphics for ground items that already exist, such as the type-ii personal shields. This seems to be random, since I acquired a nonbugged version and a bugged version during the ground portions of the two new episodes.
I'm hoping that these aren't the only new missions in the TOS era. It doesn't make sense for me to pick up the bundle if all you're just using would be the Pioneer or the Connie.
Fully agree. Im eying the bundle, as a huge TOS fan, but frankly there seems like there is not going to be anywhere for us to use the bundle. I dont fancy using a TOS ship 'just because' each time, it doesnt fit the universe and there isn't even any lore to support it (your ship is destroyed, you wouldn't just get another TOS ship, they dont exist anymore!)
However this is also the perfect time for a little comparison of how TOS temporal agents measure up against the last added new faction at release:
Legacy of Romulus
2 new player species
7 new free ships for the new faction
9 new C-Store ships for the new faction
tutorial + 26 missions for the new faction
6 missions for all factions
a complete set of new looks for plasma weapons and a few new types
Agents of Yesterday
1 new free ship
8 new C-Store ships for the new faction
2 new C-Store ships for all factions
tutorial + 6 missions for the new faction
..... Well, I'm curious if they will add something more than the extra mission goals from the Delta recruit event. At the very least a few ways to get TOS phasers and torpedoes on high levels and Type II phasers with an exploit mechanic would be really necessary so you can keep the TOS look if you spend hundreds of $$$ on the temporal ships.
Sometimes, if you want to bury the hatchet with a Klingon, it has to be in his skull. - Captain K'Tar of the USS Danu about J'mpok.