I mean it was interesting that Janeway briefly made a comment about the Voyager-J; there's been some speculation she might return to Voice Act.
I've watched some of the streams TtC has posted to his
https://twitter.com/Cryptic_TTC and I must say I'm impressed. Somehow it's one of the few Fed ships I don't have, and so I was now perhaps rethinking that. Or if people haven't acquired the Federation Fleet Admiral Faction Pack that's also an excellent choice under Ship Bundles.
I've seen some claim that Tuvok already took over command of her former ship, think she (Janeway) maybe coming to STO to be a Admiral perhaps on the Andromeda, or perhaps another? Or what other reasons might they have, I know the new Material 7A seems very nice. Hopefully they also add it to a few other Federations Ships in time, as I'm sure they will.
https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Upcoming_content
Fall major story update (possibly Starfleet themed)
Type 7A hull material [3]
Revamped ship models [3]
Reliant Advanced Light Cruiser
Andromeda Exploration Cruiser
Pathfinder Long Range Science Vessel
Shran Light Pilot Escort
probably 1-2 others
new Federation interior corridor and set pieces [4]
+
T6 Steamrunner Blockade Runner Escort
Or what our everybody else thoughts, and please
try to keep it positive, friendly, and welcoming.
Comments
Why is it a kick in the teeth? They have already been remastering canon ships too.
It just seems to me that they should get the canon ships up to the current standards before they move on to reworking their original designs.
Yea they are remastering several Canon Ships, or updating or Modernizing/Revamping several, as they can get to them. So thanks for the more positive note.
I mean they do all things as it makes sense, based on what other things are coming. We've also heard or as is shown on the Fandom site shown above, if you read below the T6 Steamrunner Blockade Runner Escort is being worked on as well giving it a Modernization which they even showed previews of in one Twitch Stream.
Still I wanted to talk about what other thought we might see after the Klingon War. Given the little that we know of that's been slightly talked about... *sigh*
As I said (above) keep it positive, friendly, and welcoming.
This is a special project that only Thomas seems to be working on, so the other artists will all still be working on new ships. When it's a canon ship's time for either a new T6 or a Ships of the Line bundle then the canon design will get remastered as well.
However the Story update... could be bringing back some of the missions that were pulled for revamp?
I'm guessing that's a side effect of how the Mirror Universe was originally used in TOS, where a radically different aesthetic would have hurt the story (it's suppose to be off but only so little that you could mistake it for the Prime timeline)
I suspect that prior to Discovery airing the idea that you deviate from the established aesthetic for the mirror Universe might have been considered too risky and a part of that aesthetic was that ships look more or less identical to prime ships just with different hull markings.
Given the sync force of The Writers, the ships would mostly be in sync too.
Also... bringing up the upcoming Terran arc... now the revamps to existing ships makes sense.
In fact I think some expect it, still given all Klingon focus last year or so, it will be nice to see what this new ARC presents.
Not to mention what other surprises, they have likely yet to reveal...
You see if they rework some hallways because they need them for a new episode or something. That is fine.
Why is that totally okay for me but not the ship?
Because interiors you will see close up. It will be a very noticeable difference visually and as a experience. It therefore makes the rework worthwhile.
Is a reworked Andromeda really worth it now when it may be used in some asset that is floating some 10km away or only seen in a few seconds long cutscene?
Especially considering that the ship is a rather recent addition and the quality isn't even bad to begin with?
For me the answer is no.
And if it is just to improve the overall quality why improve the Andromeda a little bit when other ships like idk... Nova or Saber are still using 10 year old models... wouldn't that make more of an impact on the overall quality of the game?
If it is about the amount of work necessary (Nova and Saber need entirely new models) why isn't the New Orleans updated to use the Galaxy material?
Seems about the same effort and would provide a greater visual impact if you ask me.
Actually... the New Orleans was updated to have access to the Galaxy material.
Oh my bad. I retract my statement then.
I could swear I had a look at it a few weeks back and didn't see it. Maybe I was stupid... anyway the other points I think are still valid.
Idk did the Andromeda sell?
It wasn't so much a comment about sales but rather what would make more of a visual difference to the game.
I take the risk and say the improvements made to the Andromeda are probably only really noticeable when you see the old and the new one side by side. I doubt it will be a night and day difference simply because the old one is rather good quality already. (as far as STO goes)
However if a new Nova or Saber was made I do dare say that anyone would instantly notice a huge difference from miles away.
The point is mood as Cryptic made their planes I simply say I disagree with their priorities.
I used to have a Fleet Saber way back when. I only got rid of it because I ran out of roster space and dumped almost all of my T5's to make room for T6's. It's pretty sad that they are going to rework the andromeda model when there are several other ships with garbage models in the game that need to be re-worked. Personal opinion here, but andromeda model is ugly as hell. No one I know that uses any of the galaxy variants uses the andromeda model.
The Saber needs more than just a rework, it really needs a whole new model built from scratch, same with the Nova as well. The 2409 ships that are getting updated are only getting an increase in number of polygons as well as remapping of how the hull materials get applied to them.
Which came first the chicken or the egg?
Is demand driving supply or supply driving demand?
The ships are really, really ugly by todays standard and lack any specialization seating as they never got an update since T5 was a thing.
Would you spend time/money for upgrade tokens or fleet ship modules on something as ugly and outdated as this?
Of course you rarely see them around, they are obsolete.
Doesn't dictate that people wouldn't invest in up-to-date and competitive version of it.
I am not sure about the Saber since I don't think I ever had one, but the Nova/Rhode Island could get by with adding polys and using them to correct some of the worst problems (like for instance the very noticeable jaggies the saucer has), along with remapping the materials to handle the higher res textures properly. That would at least make it look like it actually belongs in the game instead of a phone game or something.
Part of the problem with the Nova could be that it is one of the oldest ships and has a rather extensive set of kitbash parts they would have to update too (and a lot of people like the kitbashing aspect so getting rid of it would be a turn off that would probably hurt sales of the ship). They may see it as taking up four ship slots or whatever and not want to bother.
When a T6 Nova finally happens they'll only be updating the actual Nova and maybe the Rhode Island, there's no way they'll be touching the other variants except to get them compatible with the newest materials. If you think differently then look at the Connie and the Akira, because that's exactly what they did with those ships. Also the Saber has been around since launch as well and has just as many variants available as the Nova does.
If they just did that I probably would not buy it unless they had a materials option to fix the missing lateral sensor pallet covers, it made a lot of sense on the Equinox to have them gone (damage or even having to cannibalize them, the interior was rather busted up too), but as a "standard feature" they are an irritating violation of the rules set down by Jefferies and Roddenberry about no unnecessary greebles on the hull and that all equipment is fixable from the inside of the hull.
That is why I usually substitute the Quasar or Aurora saucers for the Nova and Rhode Island ones.
You are right, but it's part of Cryptic's agenda with concern to the Nova. None of their ship artists like the ship and the only way ships get updated anymore is if someone takes it on as a pet project. It's neglect has caused it to lose popularity and Cryptic uses that lack of popularity to justify their lack of attention.
Of course Nova's are rare.. why would they be anything else? They're old hat T5 ships with some of the worst model textures in the game. When Cryptic asks players what they want, the Nova gets a lot of mentions, but they still insist that no one wants it because they don't want to do it.
I don't think I ever heard one person complain about the model for the Andromeda.. ever. It's already a really nice looking ship, but here we are getting a remodel when other ships are still left behind. The Nova is just one example, the Patrol Escort is another and there are many more. Ultimately though, unless someone at Cryptic decides they like one of those ships it's not going to change. The next updated ship will be whatever the developers personally like.
As always, he did a stellar job.
If only he liked one of the left behind T5 ships.
Yes it seems to be very wonderful (revamp) indeed!
As any new model it looks good.
I may be wrong but this is not the old Type 7 material and I think the most striking visual improvement is not so much to the model but actually the new material.
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