hello everyone, a few of yall might know me from the SFC days

anyway as stated i am handicapped and cannot use a keyboard nothing near like an able bodied person. i have read the online manual and so on and the game seems to be played with 7/8th of the KB , if space combat doesnt play like SFC did or atleast close to it i wont be able to play STO :mad:

can someone please give me more detailed info on what all the mouse can do as far as flying/moveing around and so on.thanks
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You can click the abilities on the toolbar to use them.
You can click the shields and Engine settings to get them where you want.
If you have a mouse with extra buttons you can probably map those to other keys you might want.
I believe the only thing you have to do with the keyboard is Chat (unless someone has found a way to get around that with voice chat somehow)
I also believe that there is a joystick option, you may want to check that out.
It's possible to play the game with a minimum of keys - if you can handlke something like a Nostromo n52 gaming pad you can play this game no problem.
Same with ANY controller with a d-pad that can be mapped to keyboard actions, if you can't use the standard keyboard mappings. Take a bit to set up the remaps, once it's done should be seamless.
If you don't have access to them, the keypresses that are critical pretty much anywhere is the WASD combination for movement. Everything else in-game can be put onto hotbars and activated with the mouse.
By default, mouse left button selects targets. Targets can be auto-selected by facing your view towards the enemy you want to target and using the fire key or hotbar tray - though the computer may not always the foe you want it to.
Holding things down is primarily for movement of the player character - everything else can be activated with a press/release. Weapons on average will fire for 4 seconds, recycle in 1 and be ready to fire again on the sixth second - so there's some time between keypresses
Some players have reported success by using speech recognition for most commands - that still leaves the WASD combination for movement though, and introduces a small time delay while the speech program does it's thing - delay is reported as being 0.5 second.
Hope that helps you make a good decision - most of these issues are shared by most MMOs though, so it's not uncommon. Sadly, designing interfaces for the handicapped is still a work in progress (I'm disabled too - right leg BTK amputee).
is there or will there be a demo.
and thanks for the replies so far, nice and speedy
If Champions Online is any indication, then these will probably be 14-day trials that give you a full gameplay experience - as in, you can pretty much play the entire game. But only for 14 days.
A few months after launch (but only a few months, not immediately), we will likely get a 'general' invite-a-friend programme. In CO, any user can generate friend invites.
These are 14-day trials as well, but the trial account is limited in where they can travel to in-game, and has a level cap. The trial account also has some restrictions on what chat channels they can use.
I expect STO to follow the CO model, since they have the same management.
This means your best bet is to secure a buddy pass from a Collector's or Gold Ed owner after launch.
Or else wait a few months for the regular trial.
There won't be a demo - if you mean a cut down version of the full game. It's not really possible with an MMO. The game is downloadable, though, and you can probably pick up a game card to try it out. Unfortunately, the open beta just finished.
As mentioned above, I think you'd be ok with space combat via mouse. Away missions might be more awkward, though.
Well, that's why I was suggesting the Nostromo - it has a d-pad on the side that could be mapped to WASD. If you can use a joypad, it can help
Linkage to the Nostromo N52 Speedpad
Since I don't know exactly what you have left on that hand, it's hard to recommend anything. Sadly, though the game is loosely based on SFC it's nowhere near exact. Being able to HOLD WASD is pretty much essential as the commands are not toggles - they only work so long as you hold 'em down. With something like a mappable controller, it would be POSSIBLE to make 'em toggles - though that would raise it's own set of issues.
Anyway, hope this helps - if even in a small way.
OH - and about the demo thing...
Cryptic has a bad habit in their MMOs, of limiting trial availability in a attempt to restrict RMT types from exploiting. Mostly, trials are from "buddy codes" or similar partially-verifiable sources - I wouldn't count on a trial being available soon for this game. Sadly, I have the digital version (which doesn't have any buddy codes), or I'd send ya one myself.
I haven't seen this posted anywhere, and it's not listed in the keybinds section of the game. Was this posted and I just missed it?
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/234312734/PC_LAPTOP_USB_JOYSTICK_JOYPAD_GAMEPAD/showimage.html
Here is a link to the pricing page:
http://startrekonline.com/subscribe
There already is one. the codes from those del taco things also give 48hour trials. stackable upto 10 days (if you get 4)
To the OP:
Personally i play the entire game with just my mouse except my directional controls.
WSAD is my steering and the rest is 100% my mouse controls.
i play with a standard 3 button ( mouse 1 mouse2 + Wheel)
Alternativly there other options like controling the computer with your voice, just about any half decent voice recognition program can be set to run keystroke combinations from vocal commands through a microphone.
You could use simple voice commands like up down port starboard fire1 fire2 fire3 etc.
As a disabled gamer you may find ablegamers.com a useful website. They can often give you advice or help if you have any difficulty with the controls.
keep in mind that STO has full key remapping support so you can customise the controls to the way that is comfortable for your personal use.
i made a couple macros for my logitech g9. basicly one macro is fire all weapons + equalize shields while keeping a mouse button pressed down. like an old nintendo turbo button. if it works with my keyboard i will give you a tutorial
Star Trek Online Voice Control
Its not built inot the game, but someone who used a third party program to work With STO.
I dont remember who the original poster was, but it might be usefull for you.
The only problem I have steering with the mouse (I also map jump and roll to my side mouse buttons), is increasing/decreasing ship speed, but if you click the middle mouse by default it toggles max/min throttle. I would prefer to use the scroll wheel, but then I lose convient camera zoom. I think I'll try holding the middle mouse button (the scroll wheel, and dragging up and down to control the throttle. If that works then you can do everything for movement with a Microsoft Habu mouse or something with at least 4 buttons + the scroll wheel button, 5 total.
HTH!
I been gaming for 15 plus years and i know exactly what your concerns or questions might be and id be glad to help in anyway.
Took a quick look at it at the link you so kindly provided. It's a little sparse on details, so it's kinda hard to say.
As long as the joystick shown can be mapped to keypresses (as well as the buttons), there should be no problem. If not, there's software out there like XPadder that can do the same thing.
In terms of buttons and presses, you'll still need to do some binding in game as ground and space both have their own keymaps. In both modes, the TURBO button on that controller will be useless, as nothing in STO would benefit from a turbo button.
For space, you'd need 1 button for Fire All Beams (fires all beam weapons tthat face towards your target), then individual buttons for your torpedo launchers - depending on ship this can be up to 7. Realistically, people probrably won't use more than 4 at a time - if you're comfortable with volleys, there's a "Fire All Torpedoes" command. The others can be all hotbar'd with little issue. Shield reinforcement would be good to have mapped as well - as would the "Emergency Power to Shields" Engineering BOFF command that'll save your butt more than a few times.
For ground, you'd need one button for primary attack, one for secondary attack, one for melee. Others can be hotbar'd or mapped as you choose - they're not essential (a good BOFF setup can keep you healed for quite a bit). You'd think melee wouldn't be a issue - believe me it IS. Especially when you start dealing with Klingon Swordmasters - their weapons ignore shields, and your melee is also a knockback.
No matter what, some powers/secondary items will have to be onthe hotbars, and accessed with the mouse - there's 3 hotbars, with 6 slots per bar - 18 possible commands all at once.
Good luck to you - hope this helps.
with a little work you can make almost everything in the game short of movement voice activated using the info here....
http://www.wegame.com/forums/General-Gaming-Discussion/voice-control-in-star-trek-online/
hope that makes it so you can enjoy this wonderful game.
change the fire all weapons button from ctr+spacebar to spacebar then with one push you can shoot anything that is in firing arch.
I don't think anyone's elaborated on the subscription plans here, so:-
When you buy the game, it comes with a month (30 days) of free gameplay. After that it's US$14.99 a month - or a similar price depending on your region. This is the standard price for MMOs.
From now until the 2nd of February, they're offering lifetime memberships for $239.99...one-time payment, then no further monthly fees.
You can still buy a lifetime after the 2nd of February, but the price goes up to $299. And the current offer package includes some perks the regular lifetime membership won't get. But the option will always be there if you think you might play STO long-term.
There's also a discounted annual subscription plans for $119.99 - about $60 less than paying monthly.
If you're not sure on the game, I'd definitely suggest trying it out before buying, or subscribing. Though a lot of the control suggestions folks have made in this thread look very promising.
It should be said that STO is actually designed to be ported to the Xbox 360 console someday, and the PC version can currently be played with an Xbox 360 controller. It's pretty decent with a controller.
As such, it should work fine with your USB Joystick, provided a proper control scheme can be figured out.
- How to Use a Joystick in Game (A Tutorial)
- Xbox 360 Controller: a How To & Feedback
Depending on your hand/thumb mobility, I concur with The.Last.Red.Shirt's suggestion. Try out a Razer Naga mouse. Got one a short time ago and it is really nice for MMO play.http://www.webtechglobal.co.uk/blog/game-reviews/star-trek-online-and-vista-speech-recognition
if you want to give the game a shot, PM me and i'll send you one of my buddy keys.
edit: notice you're not online right now, i was waiting to see if you needed a key before i hopped in game. but guess i'll hear from you tomorrow if you do.
Right Mouse button press (hold) = camera turn-to-face
Right mouse button drag = enable mouse-look.
This makes me able to hold the right mouse button to steer the ship in whatever direction I look, just like what the original controls do with left+right mouse button.
Left mouse button still enables mouse-look (without the steering)