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So what would exploration in this game really look like? (my thoughts)
teknesia
Member Posts: 860 Arc User
And no, I'm not talking about the genesis system. That had it's moments, but it wasn't really exploration.
Before Netflix booted them back off, I was rewatching the first 6 movies and something made me think of III today. So I pulled up youtube and watched the opening credits with that music: https://youtu.be/LBXkoGTZBNk I love how empty and desolate that music makes space feel in that sequence. I don't think there is even close to an analogue to that in STO.
Obviously, the genesis system didn't work. So, there'd have to be something scripted, but it doesn't have to be episode by episode either. I'm thinking like the Dyson Sphere adventure zones. Those aren't a great example if only because they're so focused on the violence/action aspects of the game, but if you mix them with sort of the feel of New Romulus, then I think you might see where I'm going (or not?).
Imagine a new space adventure zone. Now, not a new sector necessarily or at least in the design by which we see sectors* (although, that's possible, it just doesn't seem to lend itself to feel that adventure zones give). The adventure zone would be space & ground, although ground would be more instanced and distributed than space: i.e. there wouldn't be just one, two or even three planets that you explore, but many. Maybe we're sent out there, maybe we're trapped out there. I don't know why we get to this area or what the narrative is that propels us. But it's there and we get to investigate by doing the minigames, by diplomacy, and by cowboy diplomacy.
Intertwined with this narrative of how we got there, there's another narrative that we slowly come upon by doing the missions and completing the reputation for exploring. Because I was thinking of ST:III's opening sequence, perhaps for this adventure zone we should get a new BO that's not quite ours. It'd be sort of like a Tovan in that it could be quintessential to the story, but in a different way(and by different, I mean that they can either be dismissed or it's a free BO slot). Maybe some way that projects loss, draws us in, and gives the narrative around the game and our admiral a sense of risk. A moment of sadness.
Anyway.
My apologies that I didn't do a better job with making clear points and I feel as though the paragraphs are kind of messy. Let's face it, I'm kinda stream of consciousness of this one. Still. One can dream of an STO that doesn't just rely on fan service (not blaming the devs or the direction lately btw. Some of it has been well executed) and sort of like the Cold Deferi series gives you that feeling like you're out there alone(or with a fleet) in the far reaches of space and the plot isn't so overtly driven by Iconians or timelines, maybe something subtle that builds very slowly in the background, and let's you experience the exploration, the episodes that come with it, in a localized way that hits home fashion. In a way that I'm not fighting for the fate of the galaxy or Earth. I'm fighting for her. I'm fighting for him.
If you got that far into this, thanks for the read.
*Sectors btw, are beautiful. I just don't think that they lend much in respect to interaction.
Before Netflix booted them back off, I was rewatching the first 6 movies and something made me think of III today. So I pulled up youtube and watched the opening credits with that music: https://youtu.be/LBXkoGTZBNk I love how empty and desolate that music makes space feel in that sequence. I don't think there is even close to an analogue to that in STO.
Obviously, the genesis system didn't work. So, there'd have to be something scripted, but it doesn't have to be episode by episode either. I'm thinking like the Dyson Sphere adventure zones. Those aren't a great example if only because they're so focused on the violence/action aspects of the game, but if you mix them with sort of the feel of New Romulus, then I think you might see where I'm going (or not?).
Imagine a new space adventure zone. Now, not a new sector necessarily or at least in the design by which we see sectors* (although, that's possible, it just doesn't seem to lend itself to feel that adventure zones give). The adventure zone would be space & ground, although ground would be more instanced and distributed than space: i.e. there wouldn't be just one, two or even three planets that you explore, but many. Maybe we're sent out there, maybe we're trapped out there. I don't know why we get to this area or what the narrative is that propels us. But it's there and we get to investigate by doing the minigames, by diplomacy, and by cowboy diplomacy.
Intertwined with this narrative of how we got there, there's another narrative that we slowly come upon by doing the missions and completing the reputation for exploring. Because I was thinking of ST:III's opening sequence, perhaps for this adventure zone we should get a new BO that's not quite ours. It'd be sort of like a Tovan in that it could be quintessential to the story, but in a different way(and by different, I mean that they can either be dismissed or it's a free BO slot). Maybe some way that projects loss, draws us in, and gives the narrative around the game and our admiral a sense of risk. A moment of sadness.
Anyway.
My apologies that I didn't do a better job with making clear points and I feel as though the paragraphs are kind of messy. Let's face it, I'm kinda stream of consciousness of this one. Still. One can dream of an STO that doesn't just rely on fan service (not blaming the devs or the direction lately btw. Some of it has been well executed) and sort of like the Cold Deferi series gives you that feeling like you're out there alone(or with a fleet) in the far reaches of space and the plot isn't so overtly driven by Iconians or timelines, maybe something subtle that builds very slowly in the background, and let's you experience the exploration, the episodes that come with it, in a localized way that hits home fashion. In a way that I'm not fighting for the fate of the galaxy or Earth. I'm fighting for her. I'm fighting for him.
If you got that far into this, thanks for the read.
*Sectors btw, are beautiful. I just don't think that they lend much in respect to interaction.
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