Some severely cool screenshots here. I wonder if there's any possibility of doing this sort of thing more often than once every few years, given how much interest there was in this one? I believe they tried a monthly contest a year or so ago, but it was buried in the depths of the forum somewhere and hardly got any attention, whereas this one was advertised in the game launcher and got 2000 entries. I'd certainly be interested.
I think the old monthly contest just picked winners and was done. This is a bigger deal because the winners are going into the game as loading screens.
I would definitely like to do them more often than every couple of years, but monthly is untenable. Sorting through 2100 screenshots isn't trivial, and even once we have picked winners, hooking them up into the game is about a day of work for Thomas the Cat.
Anyway, we'll try to do the next one sooner than 2019.
Would like to know what criteria judging was based on.
Also, is it normal for someone to win twice? Seems like there were a lot of entries overall.
There isn't really any solid criteria. This is a subjective thing. These shots were judged by 3 of our longer term artists on STO, Thomas the Cat, our Lead Artist Michael Panov, and myself. We didn't have any names associated with the screenshots while going through them, it was basically a tinder thing, swipe right if we like it, swipe left if we don't. Then we ran through them again with just the ones we liked, repeating the process until we were down to about 20 shots. That said, we didn't all agree all the time. There were some hot and heavy discussions about certain shots, and people trying to champion their favorites, etc. Again, subjective.
Things we're looking for include, but are not limited to: Representing the game well - Show off what this game is about, highlight things that look good. Don't include glitchy stuff or things that make the game look bad. Representing Canon - This isn't a hard rule, but we're generally prefer ships that look mostly like their canon counterparts and characters without a lot of doo-dads attached. While you may love your fluorescent pink and green Risian Corvette, it may not be the best for a loading screen. Telling a Story - You can convey a lot of information in a single shot, and if you can get that to be a snippet of a story, that's grand. As examples, the women on New Kentar with their guns drawn, clearly posed to strike against some foe around the corner. The Defiant that just blew up another ship and is zooming away from the explosion. Etc. Crisp shots - Renderscale is your friend. Good lighting - Depends on the map, but newer maps tend to be better. The shot of the Romulan ship is great because the lighting from the nearby nebula is reflecting off the hull, but the underside is softly lit so it doesn't just disappear into blackness. Good framing/composition - Learning about Composition is a good idea, and FOV and Demorecord are your friends. Unexpected - This is somewhat nebulous, but in general, things that we don't necessarily see a lot of. The Nautilus shot was a good example. While most ship shots are up close, trying to show every detail of the ship, the Nautilus is framed from far away, making it feel more like it's alone in space, which is interesting. The Gorn was another great example of this. The moment it popped up on screen, everyone laughed and cheered.
Don't try to cram everything into one shot. Simple is better (KISS). Remember these are loading screens, they need to read in a fraction of a second.
As we whittled things down, we also tried to avoid having duplicates. So by one of the later rounds, we had 3 different "Miranda in Space" shots. We chose the one we liked the most of the three, and tossed the others.
Hope that helps for future entries. But again, remember that this is a subjective process, and we're not always going to agree.
To answer the "how often will we be doing this?" question, we'll definitely be doing it waaaay more often than we used to, but we definitely aren't doing it every month.
Some severely cool screenshots here. I wonder if there's any possibility of doing this sort of thing more often than once every few years, given how much interest there was in this one? I believe they tried a monthly contest a year or so ago, but it was buried in the depths of the forum somewhere and hardly got any attention, whereas this one was advertised in the game launcher and got 2000 entries. I'd certainly be interested.
I think the old monthly contest just picked winners and was done. This is a bigger deal because the winners are going into the game as loading screens.
I would definitely like to do them more often than every couple of years, but monthly is untenable. Sorting through 2100 screenshots isn't trivial, and even once we have picked winners, hooking them up into the game is about a day of work for Thomas the Cat.
Anyway, we'll try to do the next one sooner than 2019.
Would like to know what criteria judging was based on.
Also, is it normal for someone to win twice? Seems like there were a lot of entries overall.
There isn't really any solid criteria. This is a subjective thing. These shots were judged by 3 of our longer term artists on STO, Thomas the Cat, our Lead Artist Michael Panov, and myself. We didn't have any names associated with the screenshots while going through them, it was basically a tinder thing, swipe right if we like it, swipe left if we don't. Then we ran through them again with just the ones we liked, repeating the process until we were down to about 20 shots. That said, we didn't all agree all the time. There were some hot and heavy discussions about certain shots, and people trying to champion their favorites, etc. Again, subjective.
Things we're looking for include, but are not limited to: Representing the game well - Show off what this game is about, highlight things that look good. Don't include glitchy stuff or things that make the game look bad. Representing Canon - This isn't a hard rule, but we're generally prefer ships that look mostly like their canon counterparts and characters without a lot of doo-dads attached. While you may love your fluorescent pink and green Risian Corvette, it may not be the best for a loading screen. Telling a Story - You can convey a lot of information in a single shot, and if you can get that to be a snippet of a story, that's grand. As examples, the women on New Kentar with their guns drawn, clearly posed to strike against some foe around the corner. The Defiant that just blew up another ship and is zooming away from the explosion. Etc. Crisp shots - Renderscale is your friend. Good lighting - Depends on the map, but newer maps tend to be better. The shot of the Romulan ship is great because the lighting from the nearby nebula is reflecting off the hull, but the underside is softly lit so it doesn't just disappear into blackness. Good framing/composition - Learning about Composition is a good idea, and FOV and Demorecord are your friends. Unexpected - This is somewhat nebulous, but in general, things that we don't necessarily see a lot of. The Nautilus shot was a good example. While most ship shots are up close, trying to show every detail of the ship, the Nautilus is framed from far away, making it feel more like it's alone in space, which is interesting. The Gorn was another great example of this. The moment it popped up on screen, everyone laughed and cheered.
Don't try to cram everything into one shot. Simple is better (KISS). Remember these are loading screens, they need to read in a fraction of a second.
As we whittled things down, we also tried to avoid having duplicates. So by one of the later rounds, we had 3 different "Miranda in Space" shots. We chose the one we liked the most of the three, and tossed the others.
Hope that helps for future entries. But again, remember that this is a subjective process, and we're not always going to agree.
I find it both ironic and hysterical that the texture error on the 23c Gorn made it as a loading screen.
Y'know those symmetrical dots going down the chest and the ones on the side of the head?
Yeah, those are breathing holes from the original suit so the actor wouldn't die of heat stroke...
Space Barbie Extraordinaire. Got a question about Space Barbie? Just ask.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
To answer the "how often will we be doing this?" question, we'll definitely be doing it waaaay more often than we used to, but we definitely aren't doing it every month.
I'd suggest that future screenshot winners be added to the rotation instead of replacing these winners, if that's feasible. I love that you guys picked a large number of screenshots, so you're not likely to see the same one twice during a play session. Let's have even more of that!
While I'm obviously disappointed that I didn't win, given the quality of those who DID, I'm not surprised....
Guess I'll need to find another way to achieve my ingame immortality...maybe I can finally convince myself to brave the Foundry and create a story that's been brewing in my head for close to 2 years.... <_<;
Some severely cool screenshots here. I wonder if there's any possibility of doing this sort of thing more often than once every few years, given how much interest there was in this one? I believe they tried a monthly contest a year or so ago, but it was buried in the depths of the forum somewhere and hardly got any attention, whereas this one was advertised in the game launcher and got 2000 entries. I'd certainly be interested.
I think the old monthly contest just picked winners and was done. This is a bigger deal because the winners are going into the game as loading screens.
I would definitely like to do them more often than every couple of years, but monthly is untenable. Sorting through 2100 screenshots isn't trivial, and even once we have picked winners, hooking them up into the game is about a day of work for Thomas the Cat.
Anyway, we'll try to do the next one sooner than 2019.
Would like to know what criteria judging was based on.
Also, is it normal for someone to win twice? Seems like there were a lot of entries overall.
There isn't really any solid criteria. This is a subjective thing. These shots were judged by 3 of our longer term artists on STO, Thomas the Cat, our Lead Artist Michael Panov, and myself. We didn't have any names associated with the screenshots while going through them, it was basically a tinder thing, swipe right if we like it, swipe left if we don't. Then we ran through them again with just the ones we liked, repeating the process until we were down to about 20 shots. That said, we didn't all agree all the time. There were some hot and heavy discussions about certain shots, and people trying to champion their favorites, etc. Again, subjective.
Things we're looking for include, but are not limited to: Representing the game well - Show off what this game is about, highlight things that look good. Don't include glitchy stuff or things that make the game look bad. Representing Canon - This isn't a hard rule, but we're generally prefer ships that look mostly like their canon counterparts and characters without a lot of doo-dads attached. While you may love your fluorescent pink and green Risian Corvette, it may not be the best for a loading screen. Telling a Story - You can convey a lot of information in a single shot, and if you can get that to be a snippet of a story, that's grand. As examples, the women on New Kentar with their guns drawn, clearly posed to strike against some foe around the corner. The Defiant that just blew up another ship and is zooming away from the explosion. Etc. Crisp shots - Renderscale is your friend. Good lighting - Depends on the map, but newer maps tend to be better. The shot of the Romulan ship is great because the lighting from the nearby nebula is reflecting off the hull, but the underside is softly lit so it doesn't just disappear into blackness. Good framing/composition - Learning about Composition is a good idea, and FOV and Demorecord are your friends. Unexpected - This is somewhat nebulous, but in general, things that we don't necessarily see a lot of. The Nautilus shot was a good example. While most ship shots are up close, trying to show every detail of the ship, the Nautilus is framed from far away, making it feel more like it's alone in space, which is interesting. The Gorn was another great example of this. The moment it popped up on screen, everyone laughed and cheered.
Don't try to cram everything into one shot. Simple is better (KISS). Remember these are loading screens, they need to read in a fraction of a second.
As we whittled things down, we also tried to avoid having duplicates. So by one of the later rounds, we had 3 different "Miranda in Space" shots. We chose the one we liked the most of the three, and tossed the others.
Hope that helps for future entries. But again, remember that this is a subjective process, and we're not always going to agree.
I find it both ironic and hysterical that the texture error on the 23c Gorn made it as a loading screen.
Y'know those symmetrical dots going down the chest and the ones on the side of the head?
Yeah, those are breathing holes from the original suit so the actor wouldn't die of heat stroke...
How is that a texture error? They were on the original, so they were intentionally included in the in-game version.
Some severely cool screenshots here. I wonder if there's any possibility of doing this sort of thing more often than once every few years, given how much interest there was in this one? I believe they tried a monthly contest a year or so ago, but it was buried in the depths of the forum somewhere and hardly got any attention, whereas this one was advertised in the game launcher and got 2000 entries. I'd certainly be interested.
I think the old monthly contest just picked winners and was done. This is a bigger deal because the winners are going into the game as loading screens.
I would definitely like to do them more often than every couple of years, but monthly is untenable. Sorting through 2100 screenshots isn't trivial, and even once we have picked winners, hooking them up into the game is about a day of work for Thomas the Cat.
Anyway, we'll try to do the next one sooner than 2019.
Would like to know what criteria judging was based on.
Also, is it normal for someone to win twice? Seems like there were a lot of entries overall.
There isn't really any solid criteria. This is a subjective thing. These shots were judged by 3 of our longer term artists on STO, Thomas the Cat, our Lead Artist Michael Panov, and myself. We didn't have any names associated with the screenshots while going through them, it was basically a tinder thing, swipe right if we like it, swipe left if we don't. Then we ran through them again with just the ones we liked, repeating the process until we were down to about 20 shots. That said, we didn't all agree all the time. There were some hot and heavy discussions about certain shots, and people trying to champion their favorites, etc. Again, subjective.
Things we're looking for include, but are not limited to: Representing the game well - Show off what this game is about, highlight things that look good. Don't include glitchy stuff or things that make the game look bad. Representing Canon - This isn't a hard rule, but we're generally prefer ships that look mostly like their canon counterparts and characters without a lot of doo-dads attached. While you may love your fluorescent pink and green Risian Corvette, it may not be the best for a loading screen. Telling a Story - You can convey a lot of information in a single shot, and if you can get that to be a snippet of a story, that's grand. As examples, the women on New Kentar with their guns drawn, clearly posed to strike against some foe around the corner. The Defiant that just blew up another ship and is zooming away from the explosion. Etc. Crisp shots - Renderscale is your friend. Good lighting - Depends on the map, but newer maps tend to be better. The shot of the Romulan ship is great because the lighting from the nearby nebula is reflecting off the hull, but the underside is softly lit so it doesn't just disappear into blackness. Good framing/composition - Learning about Composition is a good idea, and FOV and Demorecord are your friends. Unexpected - This is somewhat nebulous, but in general, things that we don't necessarily see a lot of. The Nautilus shot was a good example. While most ship shots are up close, trying to show every detail of the ship, the Nautilus is framed from far away, making it feel more like it's alone in space, which is interesting. The Gorn was another great example of this. The moment it popped up on screen, everyone laughed and cheered.
Don't try to cram everything into one shot. Simple is better (KISS). Remember these are loading screens, they need to read in a fraction of a second.
As we whittled things down, we also tried to avoid having duplicates. So by one of the later rounds, we had 3 different "Miranda in Space" shots. We chose the one we liked the most of the three, and tossed the others.
Hope that helps for future entries. But again, remember that this is a subjective process, and we're not always going to agree.
I find it both ironic and hysterical that the texture error on the 23c Gorn made it as a loading screen.
Y'know those symmetrical dots going down the chest and the ones on the side of the head?
Yeah, those are breathing holes from the original suit so the actor wouldn't die of heat stroke...
How is that a texture error? They were on the original, so they were intentionally included in the in-game version.
...and yet the in-game version does not have the zipper line that the costume does. That was on the original, too.
I'll Grant the hole on the side of the head, as that was shown, but according to this:
Those holes were strictly for ventilation and would be covered by the tunic. Moreover, the size of the holes on the original costume would have meant that the actor in the suit would have been visible.
Keep in mind that I'm not complaining about anything. I just found the whole thing hilarious.
Space Barbie Extraordinaire. Got a question about Space Barbie? Just ask.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
I would definitely like to do them more often than every couple of years, but monthly is untenable. Sorting through 2100 screenshots isn't trivial, and even once we have picked winners, hooking them up into the game is about a day of work for Thomas the Cat.
Anyway, we'll try to do the next one sooner than 2019.
To answer the "how often will we be doing this?" question, we'll definitely be doing it waaaay more often than we used to, but we definitely aren't doing it every month.
Thanks for the answers! I wasn't really suggesting doing it monthly, not if you're going to get 2100 entries. That was just a point of comparison. Mostly I wanted to know if there was going to be a new one any time soon.
Normally I'm not bothered about not winning contests, but I find that my ability to be a good loser is contingent on there being a next time to look forward to. Knowing that there's another one coming up, even if it's six months away, I find it much easier to see the winners and be inspired to do better next time rather than disappointed at missing my one chance at STO immortality.
The winners of this contest definitely help me get a better idea of what thee judges are looking for. When I take screenshots, I usually try to capture the whole scene. Next time, I think I will try for some closer up images, which I was trying to avoid because I thought that a ship name being visible or characters might not be what was being looked for. I was really impressed to see an Ambassador make it in to the winning choices! [= One of my screenshots contained an Ambassador but wasn't anywhere nears as close up because I wanted to capture the beauty of the new Romulus system in it.
I was really happy to see that one of Lil's screeenshots made it in to the winners. She has been playing since the very beginning, probably has every ship ever released, is a player that has an unprecedented loyalty and appreciation for STO, and posts regular screenshots via Twitter, all of which are stunning.
Congrats to the winners and good news this is becoming a more reg event - with the improvements (well ok maybe not with l2.0) its nice to have some up to date screens in the loading rather than the out of date screenies that made the game look ancient
These screen shots are all fine and dandy, but how about making the load screens I see pull from my screenshots folder?
That would take some considerable doing.
All of our loading screens have to be formatted a certain way. I'm sure programmers could make it work with whatever resolution your shots are at, but it'd take a bunch of work.
Also, in all likelyhood you wouldn't want it to actually just pick something at random from your screenshots folder, you'd want to make a folder of shots you WANT to see as loading screens, which would be more work.
One of these contests could be run for each new season and/or mid-season update.
Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator and Resident She-Wolf
Community Moderators are Unpaid Volunteers and NOT Employees of Gearbox/Cryptic
Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
These screen shots are all fine and dandy, but how about making the load screens I see pull from my screenshots folder?
One would think they could just set the default path for load screens to a local folder that has to be created by the user. If the game needs to render a load screen, then it could check for the local folder first to use a random image from. If that folder doesn't exist, it defaults to a random selection from the server, just like it currently works now.
Yeah, I plan to enter the next one, but I'm very new to this contest. I've taken about eight screenshots, all from space, and I don't know about them, about 6 out of 8 of them are mostly of my ship (U.S.S. Chestnut) and the shots aren't too bad, but they don't fit every rule in the book, since they have my ship in them and since my ship has custom colors, I believe it breaks the "Representing Canon" qualification. I took 2 of a cruiser NPC that very much resembles the refit Enterprise, but I've personally been brought to an impasse. I'm posting my images to DeviantArt for people to help me out, I don't know if anyone here has an account there, but I'd appreciate the help. Also, if it's not a problem tacofangs, I wish to use the part that you mentioned the recommended features for the screenshots that you posted in one of your comments so people can decide without so much trouble. As ridiculous as it seems, it's my first time doing this, so...... yeah.
Comments
Goodtimes Cryptic!
I think the old monthly contest just picked winners and was done. This is a bigger deal because the winners are going into the game as loading screens.
I would definitely like to do them more often than every couple of years, but monthly is untenable. Sorting through 2100 screenshots isn't trivial, and even once we have picked winners, hooking them up into the game is about a day of work for Thomas the Cat.
Anyway, we'll try to do the next one sooner than 2019.
There isn't really any solid criteria. This is a subjective thing. These shots were judged by 3 of our longer term artists on STO, Thomas the Cat, our Lead Artist Michael Panov, and myself. We didn't have any names associated with the screenshots while going through them, it was basically a tinder thing, swipe right if we like it, swipe left if we don't. Then we ran through them again with just the ones we liked, repeating the process until we were down to about 20 shots. That said, we didn't all agree all the time. There were some hot and heavy discussions about certain shots, and people trying to champion their favorites, etc. Again, subjective.
Things we're looking for include, but are not limited to:
Representing the game well - Show off what this game is about, highlight things that look good. Don't include glitchy stuff or things that make the game look bad.
Representing Canon - This isn't a hard rule, but we're generally prefer ships that look mostly like their canon counterparts and characters without a lot of doo-dads attached. While you may love your fluorescent pink and green Risian Corvette, it may not be the best for a loading screen.
Telling a Story - You can convey a lot of information in a single shot, and if you can get that to be a snippet of a story, that's grand. As examples, the women on New Kentar with their guns drawn, clearly posed to strike against some foe around the corner. The Defiant that just blew up another ship and is zooming away from the explosion. Etc.
Crisp shots - Renderscale is your friend.
Good lighting - Depends on the map, but newer maps tend to be better. The shot of the Romulan ship is great because the lighting from the nearby nebula is reflecting off the hull, but the underside is softly lit so it doesn't just disappear into blackness.
Good framing/composition - Learning about Composition is a good idea, and FOV and Demorecord are your friends.
Unexpected - This is somewhat nebulous, but in general, things that we don't necessarily see a lot of. The Nautilus shot was a good example. While most ship shots are up close, trying to show every detail of the ship, the Nautilus is framed from far away, making it feel more like it's alone in space, which is interesting. The Gorn was another great example of this. The moment it popped up on screen, everyone laughed and cheered.
Don't try to cram everything into one shot. Simple is better (KISS). Remember these are loading screens, they need to read in a fraction of a second.
As we whittled things down, we also tried to avoid having duplicates. So by one of the later rounds, we had 3 different "Miranda in Space" shots. We chose the one we liked the most of the three, and tossed the others.
Hope that helps for future entries. But again, remember that this is a subjective process, and we're not always going to agree.
I find it both ironic and hysterical that the texture error on the 23c Gorn made it as a loading screen.
Y'know those symmetrical dots going down the chest and the ones on the side of the head?
Yeah, those are breathing holes from the original suit so the actor wouldn't die of heat stroke...
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
I'd suggest that future screenshot winners be added to the rotation instead of replacing these winners, if that's feasible. I love that you guys picked a large number of screenshots, so you're not likely to see the same one twice during a play session. Let's have even more of that!
Guess I'll need to find another way to achieve my ingame immortality...maybe I can finally convince myself to brave the Foundry and create a story that's been brewing in my head for close to 2 years.... <_<;
How is that a texture error? They were on the original, so they were intentionally included in the in-game version.
...and yet the in-game version does not have the zipper line that the costume does. That was on the original, too.
I'll Grant the hole on the side of the head, as that was shown, but according to this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/birdofthegalaxy/3614768641/in/photostream/
Those holes were strictly for ventilation and would be covered by the tunic. Moreover, the size of the holes on the original costume would have meant that the actor in the suit would have been visible.
Keep in mind that I'm not complaining about anything. I just found the whole thing hilarious.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
Thanks for the answers! I wasn't really suggesting doing it monthly, not if you're going to get 2100 entries. That was just a point of comparison. Mostly I wanted to know if there was going to be a new one any time soon.
Normally I'm not bothered about not winning contests, but I find that my ability to be a good loser is contingent on there being a next time to look forward to. Knowing that there's another one coming up, even if it's six months away, I find it much easier to see the winners and be inspired to do better next time rather than disappointed at missing my one chance at STO immortality.
My character Tsin'xing
I'm pretty sure those were supposed to resemble reptilian ear holes, so they most likely were intentionally shown.
The winners of this contest definitely help me get a better idea of what thee judges are looking for. When I take screenshots, I usually try to capture the whole scene. Next time, I think I will try for some closer up images, which I was trying to avoid because I thought that a ship name being visible or characters might not be what was being looked for. I was really impressed to see an Ambassador make it in to the winning choices! [= One of my screenshots contained an Ambassador but wasn't anywhere nears as close up because I wanted to capture the beauty of the new Romulus system in it.
I was really happy to see that one of Lil's screeenshots made it in to the winners. She has been playing since the very beginning, probably has every ship ever released, is a player that has an unprecedented loyalty and appreciation for STO, and posts regular screenshots via Twitter, all of which are stunning.
That would take some considerable doing.
All of our loading screens have to be formatted a certain way. I'm sure programmers could make it work with whatever resolution your shots are at, but it'd take a bunch of work.
Also, in all likelyhood you wouldn't want it to actually just pick something at random from your screenshots folder, you'd want to make a folder of shots you WANT to see as loading screens, which would be more work.
Unlikely, but an intriguing idea.
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One would think they could just set the default path for load screens to a local folder that has to be created by the user. If the game needs to render a load screen, then it could check for the local folder first to use a random image from. If that folder doesn't exist, it defaults to a random selection from the server, just like it currently works now.
Oh, and if no poll will happen - my absolute number one are the Gorn. Love them. Though some (most) of the others are really great, too.