So the Prometheus Bridge set is coming out soon (this week, I think), which I've been looking forward to since I first saw a glimpse of it in the
"Expanding Universe" Pt. 1 video.
Except for one thing:
Please, please, please, PLEASE tell me you guys fixed the captain's chair so it's in the middle of the bridge (at least just inside the circumference of the handrails) and NOT all the way in the BACK of the bridge!
From this still image, this is the glimpse we were shown way back when the video clip was first released. The captain's chair should be moved forward at least to the front of the step below the platform it's currently sitting on in that shot. If at all possible, the top two steps should be removed and the chair should be at the front of the third step. That may even leave enough room to add another station in back, and we know you guys aren't afraid to add extraneous stations to fill space, looking at what was done with the Sovereign bridge.
Also, the chairs on the outer sides seem 'off' compared to the display texturing. The seats are in the middle of what appears to be two different consoles. With the inflated scales of these interiors, there is now room for two seats, one for each display in between the bulkhead frames on the sides.
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Actually that one bridge completely torpedoes any argument that the bridges need to be cavernous because it's an mmo and there are battles there and blah blah blah, but I digress.
thanks for that namco-bandai, yet another reason i'll never purchase another game from your poxy one-man slow-TRIBBLE couldn't-release-on-time-if-it-would-save-your-life company.
sorry, just had to vent a bit. Yes, i'm looking forward to the prometheus bridge too, though it'll be hard to get me away from the bridge pack 3 bridge, it's started to really grow on me.
Strange, I'm watching the vid on YouTube right now, and no warning about copyright.... oh wait, this is being blocked in Australia?!?
The video should be on STO's main video page, here
I'm hoping the map/level designers are aware of this and have had plenty of time to correct it.
Aside from that, I think it's probably the best/closest thing to an actual starship bridge, even if it is still 2-3 times the size of the actual Prometheus bridge (just means it's only slightly larger than the size of what a Connie Refit's bridge is supposed to be).
i'm looking forward to seeing what variations they have for the prometheus bridge. i'm not a fan of the colour scheme in the vid but there's usually something i like out of the choices in bridge packs.
I know! Everyone wants Properly scaled Bridges, but Cryptic is putting fingers in their ears, going "lalala, can't hear you".
Their intention was for a bunch of players to get together on a bridge, but how many people really do that? 9 out of 10 times its a few people. And when interiors are added, they will surely move to the Observation Deck or 10 Forward.
It's funny, the Saber's Bridge, and the Intrepid's bridge (the Section 31 mission where they test you), the bridges are nicely scaled. Not rediculously huge player bridges that you can play football in.
I suppose they will just have the folks standing around looking at consoles - personnally that annoys me. I would like every officer to have a sitting chair and animations for walking around a bit.
Regardless, I have a Star Cruiser bridge for my Prometheus and it serves me well. I WOULD use the Defiant but Cryptic stupidly didnt scale the lower tier bridges up to the higher tier officer amounts.
There is enough room on the Defiant bridge for a full 10 officers but it will only take 6 from what I have seen.
Some of the others are the same. They wont show all your officers or have generic officers which ruins it.
Fortunantly, I have 'future proofed' myself against any 'boarding actions' by having a fully armed bridge crew. That Prometheus bridge looks like it would be a good place to have a firefight due to the open plan. Just imagine 5 Borg beaming in surrounded by 10 of your Bridge officers with all their powers. Arcwaves / Energy Blasts would be hilarous.
Unfortunatly, I dont see myself getting that bridge. Until they are functional or have SOME bonus the Star Cruiser pack will do me fine unless they come out with an improved Defiant bridge.
If you look at the diagram of the Prometheus bridge from Ex-Astris Scientia, there are two more stations forward of the doors but out of the camera shot. this brings the total number of stations to 6 (not including the captain's chair). The total amount of assigned bridge officer slots in a Tier 5 ship is 5 (two of the designated type for the ship, 2 of another type, and one of the remaining type). So although you may not have all the assigned BOffs on the bridge, you *could* have all the BOffs you have assigned to stations for space combat on the bridge (whether or not the right ones show up may be another story).
Also consider that there is plenty room on this bridge for more stations/seats/standing consoles. That still image from the video taken months ago shows the back two seats on the outer walls straddling two display panels each. That's exactly how it appeared on the show. HOWEVER, it was much less noticeable and impractical because the show's bridge was at least half the size of it's STO counterpart. In the show version, you could turn the chair 45 degrees one way and be facing one panel, and turn the chair 45 degrees the other way and be facing the other panel. With the interior scale inflated like it is, the same seat is now out of reach of the panel controls on either side. HOWEVER (!), there is now room for TWO chairs at each station, which could double the amount of seats on the outer circle of the bridge from 4 to 8! That should be plenty to have room for extra empty chairs that your friends can sit in for RP sessions or generic crew to man.
If they were to move the captain's chair into the middle of the bridge (like it's supposed to be), there would even be enough room to add a stand-up console in front of the back wall.
And let's not forget the possibilities of the upcoming ship interiors, where you may be able to see your other BOffs around in other compartments. If they add the abilities to have Chief Engineers or Chief Medical Officers I'd much rather have them in Engineering or SIckbay rather than on the bridge. Maybe even have a chief science officer in the lab too...
Thus:
Chief Engineer - +5% Repair rate
Chief Medical Officer - +5% Crew Recovery Rate
Chief Security Officer - +5% Able Crewmen
Although I would rather see all 10 current Bridge officers be placed on the bridge and the option to customise the generic crew members. The uniform at least would be good enough.
Alternatively, have universal stations that apply passive boosts depending on the profession of the officer placed in them. Thus it pays to have all of your Officer positions filled and planned out to suit your style.
Regardless, that Bridge has 6 positions and we need 10 if all the officers are to be placed accurately, even more if they account for all possible variations of officer amounts.
It's available now, and surprisingly the scale is quite acceptable, it looks like a real bridge and not a cavern like some of the other bridges.
One odd thing though, the crew seats are huge. As in could fit Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons huge.
One thing I don't like, and this might've been in the show too so I don't know if Cryptic's to blame, is how the captain's chair is on top of a bunch of steps.
Realistically, if the captain gets thrown out of their chair as happens in Trek, they could fall down those steps and break their neck.
Evidentally Starfleet was not happy with the already present hazards of exposing the bridge to enemy fire and exploding consoles and decided to add another.
Ok, so the "Blaze" Bridge looks like an actual Prometheus Bridge... It's still scaled up to about the size of a Constitution-Refit Bridge, so it looks about the size of the Enterprise-A or Excelsior Bridges, but that's perfectly acceptable. There are 6 stations, all manned by actual BOffs, no generic crew.
The "Atlas" Bridge has the two extra steps and moves the captain's chair way in the back
"Pandora" has one extra step and no handrails
"Caucasus" has two extra steps and no handrails, but the captain's chair looks like it may be a little forward than the Atlas bridge. Also, it looks like it's at red alert, which is kinda neat.
Really, I'm happy about the Blaze bridge... and that this bridge feels like the right size and not a giant cavern.
LOL! Well look at it this way, BOffs can have their consoles potentially explode in their face at any time... the Captain is at the maximum distance from any exploding console, so falling out of the chair may be an acceptable risk.
Unless they decide to install seat belts.
Blaze Bridge looking Fwd
Blaze Bridge looking Aft
Atlas Bridge Fwd
Atlas Bridge Aft
Pandora Bridge Fwd
Pandora Bridge Aft
Caucasus Bridge Fwd
Caucasus Bridge Aft
One thing not shown in the preview pics on the C-Store: the handrails on the Pandora and Caucasus bridges are replaced with the TNG arch tactical stations, giving those bridges two more stations.
Also, Captain chair placement:
Blaze = 3 steps Pandora = 4 steps Atlas = 5 steps Caucasus = 5 steps
So lol, the Atlas and Caucasus chairs are on top of "mountains""Explore the final frontier from the Blaze, Atlas, Pandora and Healer bridges! "