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Dev Blog: Ships - From Start to Finish

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    f8explorer#7814 f8explorer Member Posts: 1,328 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    suaveks wrote: »
    You know what would be even nicer?

    If we didn't have to "grind"...

    I mean, 9 consoles suggest there will be an "upgraded" version sometime in the future anyway. Secondary Deflector doesn't make up for this, as it was said it was planned to be added to all science ships eventually.


    For those of you who don't remember the mission - http://sto.gamepedia.com/Mission:_Present_Patrol


    Yeah... five times... Each taking up about a minute or so. And you have to go from ESD to the Academy and back to ESD to turn it in.

    "Fun"...


    But you'll have to grind as you'll need the transformation console if you want the upgraded model.

    That's the fear at this point and how you end up over a barrel.
    Joint Forces Commander ... / ... proud member of ... boq botlhra'ghom / AllianceCenCom!
    " We stand TOGETHER and fight with HONOR!"

    U.S.S. Maelstrom, NCC-71417 (Constitution III-class/flagship) --- Fleet Admiral Hauk' --|-- Dahar Master Hauk --- I.K.S. qu'In 'an bortaS (D7-class / flagship)
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    jaturnleyjaturnley Member Posts: 1,218 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    genhauk wrote: »
    OR ... You will find that secondary deflectors are specifically that ... secondary deflectors where the main ones don't fit.

    Opens up another channel for them and things to put in the next new fleet holding (likely where the fleet version of this ship will be as well).

    Also ... betting the other sci ships will get a secondary deflector just like the cruisers got the cruiser powers.

    And then just like you would buy power cores ... you will now buy secondary deflectors.

    All speculation but betting its true.

    Makes sense with retrofitting a second deflector - almost all of the models already have two built in anyway, so it wouldn't be outside the range of possibility.
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    f8explorer#7814 f8explorer Member Posts: 1,328 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Anyone else notice that with the exception of the proton cannon ... She's armed with all beams? ... I'm worried she will not run dual heavies except for the proton one ... hoping I'm wrong on that one.

    Also ... wondering if you can do like the vet ship and stick her in tac mode primarily and leave her there.

    And. .... If you can swap out the proton cannon for another brand.
    Joint Forces Commander ... / ... proud member of ... boq botlhra'ghom / AllianceCenCom!
    " We stand TOGETHER and fight with HONOR!"

    U.S.S. Maelstrom, NCC-71417 (Constitution III-class/flagship) --- Fleet Admiral Hauk' --|-- Dahar Master Hauk --- I.K.S. qu'In 'an bortaS (D7-class / flagship)
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    jaturnleyjaturnley Member Posts: 1,218 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    suaveks wrote: »
    You know what would be even nicer?

    If we didn't have to "grind"...

    I mean, 9 consoles suggest there will be an "upgraded" version sometime in the future anyway. Secondary Deflector doesn't make up for this, as it was said it was planned to be added to all science ships eventually.


    For those of you who don't remember the mission - http://sto.gamepedia.com/Mission:_Present_Patrol


    Yeah... five times... Each taking up about a minute or so. And you have to go from ESD to the Academy and back to ESD to turn it in.

    "Fun"...

    Personally I am not afraid of a little work and don't need things handed to me for just showing up. Maybe that's just me, tho.

    There has been some great stuff on CollegeHumor about that very subject lately.
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    bendalekbendalek Member Posts: 1,781 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    It sounds picky, but all I hope is that they don't keep those colours for all the ships ... Fed is ok with black/grey/white/blue, but my OCD says that Klink ships need to be brown/red/green and Rommie ships need to be aqua/teal/green ...

    Oh and the "Tactical Mode" might be something like the Saucer pet function? Maybe we'll get a little animation, like the saucer opening to reveal the DHC's or a turret will appear out of the "nose" or maybe ... finally ... Nacelles that curl up!

    And hopefully not too much of a "grind" ... I'm one of the many "night quickie/weekend warriors" who play STO, so if it's 5 hours a day for 15 days ... Back to my Gal-X
    Oh, hoho hohhhhh, Oh,, hoho, hohhhhh
    My%20STO%20Sig%20Clear_zps5etu86s1.png
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    sunfranckssunfrancks Member Posts: 3,925 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Nice blog, very interesting in how much it takes to make a ship!

    Those ships though, oh my....drool.....

    Need to be Fleet level 10 console ships though, I don't use anything else these days.
    Fed: Eng Lib Borg (Five) Tac Andorian (Shen) Sci Alien/Klingon (Maelrock) KDF:Tac Romulan KDF (Sasha) Tac Klingon (K'dopis)
    Founder, member and former leader to Pride Of The Federation Fleet.
    What I feel after I hear about every decision made since Andre "Mobile Games Generalisimo" Emerson arrived...
    3oz8xC9gn8Fh4DK9Q4.gif





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    qweeble#7491 qweeble Member Posts: 164 Cryptic Developer
    edited January 2014
    kirksplat wrote: »
    I am impressed by the complexity of the model. Do the artists work with a subdivision tool or is it all hand-crafted? Probably a dumb question from someone who merely dabbles in renders.

    Generally, since ships share versatile materials, we do not create high-poly models then bake them down onto low poly. With the way we do it, we can create a much higher texile density, and significantly reduce ram usage, as well as promote complex customization.

    Yes, the ships would look better if they had a unique unwrap & texture, but there's always a tradeoff. The character team & environment team regularly create high-poly models then bake them onto lower-poly models. If we ever do this, it's usually for a specific part on the overall material. So, yes, we hand-craft the ships, usually starting from various primitive geometry objects.
    I make space ships!
    Twitter! STO_JamJamz
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    jaturnleyjaturnley Member Posts: 1,218 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    bendalek wrote: »
    It sounds picky, but all I hope is that they don't keep those colours for all the ships ... Fed is ok with black/grey/white/blue, but my OCD says that Klink ships need to be brown/red/green and Rommie ships need to be aqua/teal/green ...

    Oh and the "Tactical Mode" might be something like the Saucer pet function? Maybe we'll get a little animation, like the saucer opening to reveal the DHC's or a turret will appear out of the "nose" or maybe ... finally ... Nacelles that curl up!

    And hopefully not too much of a "grind" ... I'm one of the many "night quickie/weekend warriors" who play STO, so if it's 5 hours a day for 15 days ... Back to my Gal-X

    If you look at the concept art in the blog, there's a pic of the Fed transformation. Basically the primary hull is split open in Sci mode to reveal the second deflector, and closed together in Tac mode to uncover the DHCs. I'm glad to see more transformation animations on the new ships lately - they take extra work, but the cool factor is not to be underestimated.
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    comtedeloach2comtedeloach2 Member Posts: 499 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Whats going to be the mechanic to keep everybody from running in tactical mode?
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    mamif3mamif3 Member Posts: 149 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Just noticed something.

    Zoom in on the bottom right of the screenshot that shows console layout.

    Only 4 bo seats.........:mad:
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    kirksplatkirksplat Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    So, yes, we hand-craft the ships, usually starting from various primitive geometry objects.

    That's awesome.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    f8explorer#7814 f8explorer Member Posts: 1,328 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    jaturnley wrote: »
    ]Basically the primary hull is split open in Sci mode to reveal the second deflector, and closed together in Tac mode to uncover the DHCs.

    Which leads me to believe that she will only have room for one dual cannon ... right where the proton sits.

    As if she had more, you couldn't fire them in science mode as the cannon ports are buried in that mode.
    Joint Forces Commander ... / ... proud member of ... boq botlhra'ghom / AllianceCenCom!
    " We stand TOGETHER and fight with HONOR!"

    U.S.S. Maelstrom, NCC-71417 (Constitution III-class/flagship) --- Fleet Admiral Hauk' --|-- Dahar Master Hauk --- I.K.S. qu'In 'an bortaS (D7-class / flagship)
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    ruinsfateruinsfate Member Posts: 58 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    So.

    The screenshot indicates that this only has 9 consoles. A ship worth grinding for, regardless of all its other funky special space magic abiltiies, is expected to have 10 these days. Are these going to have 10 on release, or are we going to be expected to ALSO pay for a fleet version? Cause if the latter, that's very rude, considering how the last two anniversary ships worked.
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    blassreiterusblassreiterus Member Posts: 1,294 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    mamif3 wrote: »
    Just noticed something.

    Zoom in on the bottom right of the screenshot that shows console layout.

    Only 4 bo seats.........:mad:
    Not quite, there is one seat that is having its slots hidden, which is somewhat of a bug on Tribble, I think, still. The missing bridge officer slots belong to the bridge officer right next to and on the left of Veril.
    Star Trek Online LTS player.
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    kyuzos7kyuzos7 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Whats going to be the mechanic to keep everybody from running in tactical mode?

    high level science abilities.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    mamif3mamif3 Member Posts: 149 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Whats going to be the mechanic to keep everybody from running in tactical mode?


    Escort ships in general??

    If you don't change it there is 0 reason to fly it over an escort.
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    cptskeeterukcptskeeteruk Member Posts: 559 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    While i see the mesh is usually decent enough i always feel the textures are low res and generally the lighting with the way they set up the maps make them look far too bright and it can be hard to find the details with spec maps. I hope they can improve this somewhat in the future as imo theres no real reason why you couldnt up the res a bit more as typically they shouldnt make the system requirements that much higher due to the settings window i.e high details section which of course would be for high spec systems while the low spec systems could use a lod down on the textures and it would be fine with their systems.

    One new ship that i saw in a dev blog about the undine tho that has me baffled is the battleship. Its textures are terrible. Why? I could make a generic texture that wrapped around the ship better in ps in 2 mins that would look more detailed and sharper instead of the low res and very pixelated texture you have used. I just dont know what to think of your artists when they do that its just like the voth ships, they too look very poorly made texture wise i have to wonder on the artist that made them.

    Another thing i wish to see is a non standard engine trail. Because imo they are far too long and they dont belong on cap ships. Smaller ones would suit much better. Look at homeworld for the difference in cap ship trails vs fighter trails. Something like that would make much more sense in the game and be more canon.

    Ruinsfate, yeah i guess it will be a 9 console ship and their will be a fleet version planned for later release with 10 consoles and slightly improved stats. Its the way most of these go these days afaik.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    knuhteb5knuhteb5 Member Posts: 1,831 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    LOL! You all are so silly with comments like this :P This blog has been planned since last month (and written way before yesterday's screenshot from Tribble) as also revealed in CaptainSmirk's section and my post here: http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=14108911&postcount=67

    There is no way a blog like this could be written, produced, localized, etc. in 24 hours. <3

    Cheers,

    Brandon =/\=

    Regardless, you could have changed the timing of the blog's release to put out the flames, and you knew full well that this new rommie sci destroyer would make us drool. BAD BRANDON, BAD!!!

    That being said, I still think obtaining them should be a little easier. There shouldn't be a 24 hour cooldown period for grinding for them. It should be more to the tune of the mission cooldown timer resets every 2-4 hours and possibly reduce the amount of grinding you have to do for them.
    aGHGQIKr41KNi.gif
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    mamif3mamif3 Member Posts: 149 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Ah ok. Was worried there.
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    omegaphallicomegaphallic Member Posts: 101 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I' m going onto a limb here and say that I don't think there will be a Fleet Verison, the reason it has 9 consoles is the inherant transformation ability, from Sci to Destroyer, effectively counts as a console equavilant, but inheriant to the ship and unchangable. There is presidence for this amoung Fleet BoPs some of which do not have 10 consoles.
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    basilisk1979basilisk1979 Member Posts: 18 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I so will get this ships on all 11 of my characters ( 6 fed, 2 Rom, 4 kling )
    Its so absolutely awsome !!!
    AWSOME I SAY !!!!!
    ENDLESS COOOOOOOOOLLLL
    Ehem.
    Love you guys, you guys made my days, weeks, months *squeeeeeeeeeee*
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    stoutesstoutes Member Posts: 4,219 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Generally, since ships share versatile materials, we do not create high-poly models then bake them down onto low poly. With the way we do it, we can create a much higher texile density, and significantly reduce ram usage, as well as promote complex customization.

    Yes, the ships would look better if they had a unique unwrap & texture, but there's always a tradeoff. The character team & environment team regularly create high-poly models then bake them onto lower-poly models. If we ever do this, it's usually for a specific part on the overall material. So, yes, we hand-craft the ships, usually starting from various primitive geometry objects.


    From someone who made a shell for a Jaguar E-type (love the model) and a Plymouth Prowler, I say great job on the models guys! Love to see the good old polygons again :D.

    Oeh, and i love the codes! Almost looked like I was back at work :P.
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    blassreiterusblassreiterus Member Posts: 1,294 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    knuhteb5 wrote: »
    Regardless, you could have changed the timing of the blog's release to put out the flames, and you knew full well that this new rommie sci destroyer would make us drool. BAD BRANDON, BAD!!!

    That being said, I still think obtaining them should be a little easier. There shouldn't be a 24 hour cooldown period for grinding for them. It should be more to the tune of the mission cooldown timer resets every 2-4 hours and possibly reduce the amount of grinding you have to do for them.
    We don't even know how long the cooldown for the daily will be, so saying that it's going to be 24 hours is a little premature.
    Star Trek Online LTS player.
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    wilbor2wilbor2 Member Posts: 1,684 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I LIIKKKEEEE!!!!! :cool:
    gs9kwcxytstg.jpg
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    omegaphallicomegaphallic Member Posts: 101 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Btw Sci Destoryer makes it sound like its designed to destroy science.

    So this leaves me wondering when the Republicans/Tories started designing Starships for Dyson Joint Command? ;p
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    qweeble#7491 qweeble Member Posts: 164 Cryptic Developer
    edited January 2014
    sohtoh wrote: »
    Wait, wait, wait... what's this ChildBone and ChildLayer I see referenced in the one pic? What the heck are you building these ships out of? IT'S PEOPLE!!! DYSON HYBRID SHIPS ARE PEOPLE!!! :D

    *looks both ways*


    ...



    *Backs out the door*
    I make space ships!
    Twitter! STO_JamJamz
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    wilbor2wilbor2 Member Posts: 1,684 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    We don't even know how long the cooldown for the daily will be, so saying that it's going to be 24 hours is a little premature.

    Most cd in this game are 20 which i think is great cos most ppl cant log oon the sametime
    gs9kwcxytstg.jpg
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    mamif3mamif3 Member Posts: 149 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I' m going onto a limb here and say that I don't think there will be a Fleet Verison, the reason it has 9 consoles is the inherant transformation ability, from Sci to Destroyer, effectively counts as a console equavilant, but inheriant to the ship and unchangable. There is presidence for this amoung Fleet BoPs some of which do not have 10 consoles.

    If that is true than why get this ship at all? All it is is flexible with only 9 consoles.

    Not much room for flexible in a game of min\max.

    It needs a fleet version with a 4th TAC slot.
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    jaturnleyjaturnley Member Posts: 1,218 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Whats going to be the mechanic to keep everybody from running in tactical mode?

    Why would you need one? Sci ships have their uses, and being able to swap over and use Gravity Well III/Scramble III, sensor analysis and subsystem targeting, which I am assuming stop working in Tac mode. Even if they don't, commander Sci abilities are no joke, it would be worth swapping back and forth to use them.
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    ddesjardinsddesjardins Member Posts: 3,056 Media Corps
    edited January 2014
    Rotating boff positions - ABSOLUTELY FRAKKING COOL.

    Game changer.

    BEST IDEA YET
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