new things for STO???

admiralbrad77

i was thinking, i would actually like to see exploration into STO beyond what it is now.

theotherscotty

So say we all. I keep holding on to hope that some real "exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilizations" will happen at some point. I'm not a computer guy so I have no idea how it would be implemented, but I'm sure it would take a lot of time and money to make it happen so we probably won't see it for a while (if ever).

talien

There used to be an exploration system that would give you a semi-random map, space or ground but they were sometimes buggy and things like falling through the terrain would occasionally happen. Unfortunately cryptic deemed it "not up to standards" and removed it instead of giving it some work to update it.

ltminns

They said we were getting back to exploring before they released the Future Proof Arc. We got sidetracked and ended up exploring time. We found that

'There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge.'

No wait, that was the Twilight Zone.

admiralbrad77

ltminns wrote: »

They said we were getting back to exploring before they released the Future Proof Arc. We got sidetracked and ended up exploring time. We found that

'There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge.'

No wait, that was the Twilight Zone.

yea i thought i had heard same thing before the expansion that they wanted to get back to explorations and all that. Ok well just another "typical promise" lol

rattler2

And don't forget about everyone's favorite artifacts from...

THE THIRD BORG DYNASTY!

dracounguis

Yeah, to quote Grif from Red Vs. Blue:

"I mean, we should be out there finding new and intelligent forms of life. You know, fight them."

starkaos

Exploration in STO is a bit trickier than in games like No Man's Sky. Pure exploration just doesn't fit since there needs to be some story involved. Therefore, a combination of procedurally generated content, Foundry missions, and dev missions would be required for exploration to be added to the game.

peterconnorfirst

admiralbrad77 wrote: »

exploration

Please define the word a bit as you would imagine an implementation in the STO videogame. Also bring up some representative Star Trek TV show episodes with a center around the theme “exploration” and how such a thing could be transferred into the game best.

I bet is just my imagination limiting me but every time I try I always end up with:

STO + exploring (scanning, searching, closing) – action = boring^2

Please help me out.

freightstopper

I never found the exploration cluster missions that required you to wander around scanning or looking for things / devices / wreckage / plant life to be boring, actually I probably spent more time outside my ship and on a planet doing that in-game then I actually have spent outside in RL...

What some people find tedious and boring other people enjoy, for example - I find it boring to warp into a system spent a few seconds trading threats with some unlucky soul and then blow up dozens of ships, then leave, warp to the next system and repeat.

I would actually be interested in a mission or chain of missions where you go to a currently unused door or building at Starfleet Academy / Klingon Academy / New Romulus Command and give a lecture, selecting the correct phrase or sentence, answering questions etc.
Or supervise a holodeck training exercise where you have to select the correct response to what happened during the exercise, ie - praise for solving it, lecture or explanation on what they did wrong.

thelunarboy

I keep banging on about making the exploration clusters "foundry zones", that encourage authors to invent planets, civilizations and stories that are entirely imagined up and not existing races. Make the missions spawn randomly when a player scans an "unknown star system" and add a tool that allows authors to allow chained missions to appear in a certain order (both consecutive and non consecutive if the "episodes" allows for stories in between), and spawn only in a specific cluster if their mission depends on it.

I think this would help drive players to use foundry content (because it wouldn't just be top missions that appeared in the clusters, you wouldn't know what you would get and you could move from mission to mission in an exploratory manner). It would also encourage authors to put more content out because the chance of gaining rewards from players using their missions would be higher.

mjohnson75

> @starkaos said:
> Exploration in STO is a bit trickier than in games like No Man's Sky. Pure exploration just doesn't fit since there needs to be some story involved. Therefore, a combination of procedurally generated content, Foundry missions, and dev missions would be required for exploration to be added to the game.

I would have to say you are completely correct. If exploration were added for exploration's sake without story you would have this.

Cmdr. William Riker: We've finished our first sensor sweep of the Neutral Zone...
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, fascinating... 20 particles of space dust per cubic meter and a class 3 comet... Wow, this is certainly worthy of our attention...
Cmdr. William Riker: Captain, why are we out here chasing comets?

fmgtorres1979

I'm going to try and describe what I would like it to be. Please bare with me because putting this into words is not exactly easy.
Firstly it would have to be somewhat apart from the game. Let's say it required a form of activation and while you were in exploration mode, you'd be in sort of another game. In exploration mode you would be able to go somewhere and initiate exploration procedures that could vary from scanning, using boffs and doffs for several tasks in order to try and find something. Through this system and completing said tasks and a few puzzles that could be introduced you might find something worth looking into. It could be a ship, and anomaly, a planetary curiosity, a new species, ancient tech, etc, etc, etc...
Some would have you beam down to planets and explore several areas and life forms and that would/could give you data for that specific mission or even be useful in some other mission you might get another time. Imagine you found a strange device in one, even after you try to find out wht it does you can't reach a conclusion, but one day while doing another mission you find out that the device opens some ruins or something like that and you get to explore another area you couldn't access any other way.
I'd also like ti to have a "collection" function where you could form a personal database of alien worlds, life forms, minerals, etc...


By the way, I think it's about time to increase the level cap to 70 - Joint Chief / High Council Member


The level cap part was a joke

captkelly31

What STO needs is some 80's type effects. Energy weapon sounds, like the Slayers staff weapons from Krull, or The Last Starfighter.

Or ship details, like the spinning lights on that saucer (not the saucer itself) from just before the title from "The Thing", or the inner glow effect from the saucer(again, not saucer, or any other ship) from Battle Beyond the Stars, and BSG's Ship of Lights.

It could also have us encounter a species that has robots, some geometric shaped, some human shaped, running around doing construction, deliveries, sanitation jobs.

megan2478

thelunarboy wrote: »

I keep banging on about making the exploration clusters "foundry zones", that encourage authors to invent planets, civilizations and stories that are entirely imagined up and not existing races. Make the missions spawn randomly when a player scans an "unknown star system" and add a tool that allows authors to allow chained missions to appear in a certain order (both consecutive and non consecutive if the "episodes" allows for stories in between), and spawn only in a specific cluster if their mission depends on it.

I declare this suggestion AWESOME!

Exploration can be fun, as long as there is some kind of challenge and contrast/conflict. Doesn't have to be a shootout all da time.