We have had the chance to have a little interview with Andy Velasquez, Associate Producer of the upcoming MMO Star Trek Online. As a big fan of Star Trek I personally can’t wait to get my hands on it. We also now have the official release date: Feb 2nd for America and Feb 5th for Europe and Australia.
Techulous: With the game entering closed beta status right now – how close are we to getting the game to the public?
Andy: We haven’t announced our release date yet but if you have followed other MMO releases in the past you should know that Open Beta will follow not too long after Closed Beta gets into full swing, and after that, release isn’t too far away…
Keep looking out for our official announcement regarding the release date for STO.
Techulous: What obstacles have you come across using the license?
Andy: One of the biggest problems that we have is how to make sure all the cool stuff from the existing Star Trek universe fits into one game! There are some things that we instantly knew that we had to have in the game and lent themselves well to MMO conventions. For instance: Make Deep Space 9 into a bustling social hub. No brainer. Make a mission where your away team pays a visit to the Guardian of Forever. Have to have it. And the list goes on and on.
But even after we go through the hundreds of “must haves,” there are still so many references, people and locations that we want to explore. Everyone on the dev team has their own favorites, so trying to decide what makes it in for launch has been one of the most enjoyable obstacles to overcome.
Techulous: Press coverage of the game so far has been very positive, how are you all feeling about where the game is heading?
Andy: As a developer you work so hard on a game and you get so close to the project that you become super critical of what the team is doing. So when other people who are a few steps removed from the process experience what you’ve made and like what you are doing, it is very uplifting.
The positive feedback from the press and fans has also increased the burden of responsibility we feel as developers. We definitely feel like we are on the right track with this project, and now we are even more motivated to execute and deliver a top notch game so we live up to everyone’s expectations, especially our own.
Phasers at the ready
Techulous: How will player progression be handled in Star Trek Online?
Andy: I could talk for hours about all the different ways that players can progress and customize their play experience by the decisions they make as they play. To save my fingers the stress of typing all of the information out I’ll try to briefly touch on as many systems as I can.
Players will be awarded skill points for their Captains and Bridge Officers by completing episodes, defeating enemies and exploring the universe. The player can use those points to improve different skills that start affecting very broad systems, such as “Starship Directed Energy Weapons Training,” and will get more specific in function as the player progresses. Players will also be able to spend points to upgrade their Bridge Officers’ abilities to make that tractor beam last a little longer or to ensure more mines are launched with each deployment.
Beyond just the Captain and Bridge Officer abilities, players in STO will be able progress through the various ships of the line. Starting out in a Light Cruiser, players will graduate into higher-end Science, Escort or Cruiser type ships.
Getting new rifles, ability kits for ground play, upgraded deflector dishes for your starship or profession-specific console modifications for your starship are all different types of loots that players can acquire as they progress and create the ship and crew of their dreams.
The player’s “character” is so much more than just a single avatar in Star Trek Online, which makes the concept of “player progression” very interesting!
Techulous : Will the game be based on the same engine as Champions Online or are you using Star Trek specific one?
Andy: Star Trek Online uses the Cryptic Engine, which is a fully functional MMO game engine that Champions Online was also developed on.
Techulous: Do you plan to support either DirectX 10 or DirectX 11 in Star Trek online?
Andy: STO will definitely support DX10 or DX11 cards but there won’t be any features that require DX10 or DX11. So players with high end machines will definitely be able to take advantage of their hardware and crank their settings!
Techulous: Can you give us any examples of quests that players will undertake in Star Trek Online?
Andy: Content in STO has been created to reflect the structure and pacing of many of your favorite episodes from the TV shows and movies. As such, players should expect that the tasks required of them in game share that same format.
So for example you might start in Earth Space Dock and have a meeting with a Starfleet Admiral who informs you that a freighter has gone missing in Sector 001 and sends you to the last known coordinates of the ship. Upon arrival you scan the area and find the ship being attacked by Orion Syndicate raiders. After repelling the attackers you must beam aboard the ship and rescue the crew before the warp core goes critical. After beaming back to your ship, you might notice that Orion reinforcements have arrived and the episode ends with a climactic space battle.
Techulous: What percentage of the game takes place on the ground rather than in space?
Andy: Right now we are looking at a roughly 40/60 percent split of all content between ground and space. Very much like the heroes of the Trek universe did, we wanted players to complete great acts on the ground as well as on their starships. We built almost all of our handcrafted content to give the player the feeling of being in an episode from the show and allowing them to travel frequently from ground to space.
Great looking space battles await
For more on Star Trek Online, visit the official site for it: http://www.startrekonline.com
Star Trek Online will be released on Feb 2nd for America and Feb 5th for Europe and Australia.
no one ever asks the more important questions about a new mmo.
for instance -
how will crafting pan out
how is the guild system going to work
can players own space as a guild and construct structures such as starports and dry docks in space
also how will the economy system work in the game.
we already know the basics like player progression and what we can do with star ships, thats just a linear given.
we wanna know the important stuff that no one seems to ask about, this stuff is the life and soul of mmos and determines weather they are going to be great or not.
so come on lets have something viable and not stuff we already know about
Hiya, I agree there. We will be asking more detailed questions in the future. This was only our 2nd interview on the site so we’re still improving (I hope). In the future we will also ask readers what questions they would like to hear ask.
Thanks for the comments
why not ask them ,why did they accept money to get in close beta “CO 6mth and lifetime subs “then blew all those ppl off after u launch CB.well i should say more like changed what u said into not what u meant.
Uhm, they didn’t “blow those people off”. They all got in. Whether it was at the same time or not is a different matter. You need to get your grievances in order before you start firing off half-cocked critiscisms.
Um. We haven’t all gotten in.
I could care less about Guild and Crafting information on the game. Those are on the very end of my list of what I look for in an MMO. I am more interested in how player vs player content will unfold, or what “classes” will there be.
For instance; will there be an open style of player vs player? Will it be only in some “zones”? Will it be in an arena style?
As far as classes, will there be any form of the sterotypical class system? Will there be Tanks, Healers, Nukers, etc? Or will the lay out of skills be like it is with Champions Online where there is no clear cut class system?
Those are on the top of my list for what I’m most interested in when it comes to MMOs.
There is PvP, in the form of two factions, the Klingons and the federation (more factions may be added later. There will be specific PVP zones, but you can also fight outside the PvP zone if you are of different factions.
Here there are classes (Science, engineering or security), which determine what Type and class of ship you have (Many classes in one type.) Engineers are mainly Tanks, Security are nukers and Science are the support class, but all ships can be customised and tripped out.
Lifetimer here and still no email I’m at the end of my tether with Cryptic at the moment!
Unhappy 6th month CO deal
I also picked up the 6th month CO deal and have not received the STO Closed Beta Invite yet.
LIfetimer here too and yes, I am also being treated like I am non-existent in the Cryptic replies department. STEP UP CRYPTIC!!!!!!
and that just a cpl i pulled off the fourms and u guys dont think its important enough to address
so much for half-cocked critiscisms.
any chance of getting some of our guild members in the closed beta…we love to try it out and give some feed back to our members about your game..
‘thx reptaa
I have always wanted to own some gold latinum, but from what i have seen this game will not have any money. The Federation may not use money but the rest of the galaxy did. I cant speak for everyone but I am not all that into MMO pvp. I have not seen any thing about the Ferengi Alliance but if they put Deep Space Nine content in this game they may want to think about that . As willl the other persons I am hoping for some good crafting and trade skills in this game the idea of setting up a mining operation on a planet or an asteriod is a cool idea. The setups that were used in SWG was kinda unique and it was mostly player driven. I just hope STO is not like E&B or EveOnline laser that ore up.
Apparently you have not heard. The Ferengi become part of the Federation prior to 2409.
It really is disappointing to see people get so “high and mighty” about getting into Beta after paying for a 6 month or lifetime subscription. I suggest reading this sticky forum post at Cryptic on the very topic: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=29485
Just because you are guaranteed in, doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed in the first round. People need to lighten up.
What some ppl dont get is we were told and lead to believe we would be getting in first round on our CO fourms .
See im apart of both fourms so i know what they were saying on both side. They could have said way b4 closed beta started, you guys got it worng we didnt mean it like that.
They waited till after they launched it to tell us ,obtw u guys read to much into to that that isnt what we ment after having 1 of ur dev on the CO side tell us yeah u will be first..
Some of us really really feel mislead and to have then not even come to the co side and address it make it even worst.
Cryptic is letting us fight it out on the fourm with the member that this dont even pretain too..and all of u defending them are the 1 that didnt pay ur money cause if u did u would be just as mad as the 1000s of ppl that did
Actually, I did buy the 6 month subscription and I am excited for the opportunity to get into the BETA, but that shouldn’t have been the sole reason for the purchase. I understand both sides of the argument as well, since I too have not received a BETA key, but folks are acting like the paid good money for a BETA slot; we paid for a 6 month subscription to CO. The beta was supposed to be a perk (albeit an enticing one) not the crux of what we were paying for.
I admit, Cryptic community reps could be more active about giving out useful information, but they are also probably the lowest men on the totem pole and under gag orders. But I think the ultimate solution is to be patient, it all works out in the end.