STO Questions & Updates

Ten Ton Hammer sent some questions about Star Trek Online's interface

Pyriel32 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:24:53 GMT

Building the essentials of Star Trek Online A fundamental key to making a good MMOG is its User Interface. A poorly fashioned interface will make it hard to enjoy a game, no matter what its other assets, and a good UI will be almost transparent as users start up the game for the first time and begin taking control, almost without thinking about it. We spoke this week to Amy Skopik, UI Designer for Star Trek Online and Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer to unveil some of the challenges ...

Star Trek Online Developer Diary

Pyriel32 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:44:36 GMT

Star Trek Online Developer Diary Cryptic's Michael Cavallaro discusses the creation of visual effects. by Michael Cavallaro November 19, 2009 - I'm Michael Cavallaro and I'm the VFX Lead here at Cryptic Studios. When I first heard that we were creating Star Trek Online, I was so excited. Star Trek is one of the most beloved IPs in the world and I wanted this challenge. Creating the visual style of Star Trek Online was no easy task. You might think that everything ...

Release date made official by Cryptic!!!

Baumer — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:20:05 GMT

EARTHDATE 2009.11.09
Release Date: 02/02/2010Posted by Rekhan
We're happy to share with you Star Trek Online's official release date: February 2, 2010, in North America, and February 5, 2010, in Europe. Mark your calendars, and we'll see you in 2010!

It's official folks! The game comes out in February!!

B

Star Trek Online: Exclusive new screens & interview

Pyriel32 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:01:19 GMT

GamerZines: Does it surprise you that it has taken this long for a Star Trek MMO to appear when other (arguably lesser) franchises have been blessed with one already? Craig Zinkievich: I think that the idea of a Star Trek MMO has been around for a long time. But actually making MMOs is a very technically challenging endeavour. We at Cryptic were very excited when the license became available and we were able to secure it. We're all great Star Trek fans here, not only had we been waiting ...

box art for sto

Pyriel32 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:47:19 GMT

ok folks here it is the final box art for the game.

They have redone the website.

Getting down to the grit of ground combat in STO

Pyriel32 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:56:59 GMT

Ten Ton Hammer: How frequently will players be involved in ground combat? Dan Stahl: Let’s take the Klingon Federation Front as an example. It’s the first hub in the game. Within that hub, you have a number of episodes. Each episode is a five act instance. Within those five acts, one to three are ground maps. Just like a tv show, one episode may be to fly to a system, take some readings, maybe go onto a ship, where you might get a clue where they beamed down to the planet, so you beam ...

Massively's Community Answers

Pyriel32 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:54:49 GMT

It's a bit late due to some scheduling issues, but your first batch of Star Trek Online community questions are here and they're all about ships as promised! Of course, we noticed many of you had space combat questions. While those unfortunately weren't answered this week, our new topic (up later today, so be on the look out for it!) will in fact, be, space combat. Still, many of your questions are answered below. As the weeks continue to go by, we endeavor to fulfill your quest ...

Message from the Online community rep

Exezer — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:31:37 GMT

Hi everyone,

I just got the word in, and wanted to let you all know that we will be
sending out the last of the Closed Beta invitations to all the lifetime
and six month subscribers by the end of December.

Thank you all for your patience,

Stormshade

now dont that suck ....i know they might invite during that time or over that time but still setting a date like that kinda just ticks me off more.

Video - Starship Tactics Part 1

Liet — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:21:37 GMT

First off: Hi! I'm new around here and wanted to start off by letting everyone know that you should drop everything and watch this video

Starship Tactics Part 1 can be found here: http://www.startrekonline.com/videos

Enjoy all the HUD goodness.

Star Trek Online' to beam gamers to the bridge

Marticus — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:01:44 GMT

Star Trek Online' to beam gamers to the bridge By DERRIK J. LANG (AP) – 2 hours ago LOS ANGELES — The most iconic setting in "Star Trek" almost didn't make it into the series' online video game. The developers at Cryptic Studios were focusing on recreating the sci-fi franchise's universe for "Star Trek Online," the upcoming massively multiplayer online game that boldly casts players as captains of their own starship. Yet they were leaving out a crucial location: ...

Bridges available from launch!

qoona — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:52:29 GMT

http://www.startrekonline.com/node/499 Great news! We previously mentioned that we might not be able to let you explore your ship interiors at launch. But your feedback really made it clear to us that being able to walk around inside your ship is a crucial piece of the Star Trek experience. With that in mind, you'll be able to walk around on your bridge at launch. Your bridge will be a social area where you and your friends can meet to talk about plans for your future missions, ...

ZOMG Non-Gaming Media Coverage!

RaiderRich2001 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:54:15 GMT

Associated Press

OK, so it's not very long, but at least it's not the usual bad journalism you get when the regular media does video game stories.

Ask Cryptic: Episode Missions

Pyriel32 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:44:57 GMT

It's time for another Ask Cryptic, where the questions you ask go straight to our developers. This round, we're talking about Episode Missions, those mission arcs in the game designed to feel like you're playing an episode of Star Trek. If you have questions you'd like to ask the team, please do so in this post's comment thread. Read on to learn a bit about Episode Missions. (You may have recently seen this text in a dev diary on MMORPG.com. They've graciously let us quote it here, so you ...

G4 hands on

Pyriel32 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:42:49 GMT

Pick Me! I'll Boldly Go! I need to be perfectly honest here, Cryptic Studios had me at "To Boldly Go." I grew up a Star Trek fan, and when I heard that an MMO was in the works, I rapidly set about the task of recruiting my friends to play Star Trek Online with me. I can't be a Starfleet captain without loyal officers, can I? Unfortunately I still have a little longer to wait before I get to take my ship for a spin, so until then I'll just have to be satisfied with the hands-on ...

NowGamer Interviews Craig

Pyriel32 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:47:24 GMT

Executive producer Craig Zinkievich answers our questions on the first Star Trek MMO What are the challenges of developing a new canon for the series at the same time as a new thread is being developed by the films – without potentially confusing your audience? The films take place in a different timeline – so the co-ordination has been pretty easy. The Hobus supernova and the destruction of the Romulan homeworld were known early enough so that we could work it into our timeline. Throughout ...

System Requirements Posted

segreto — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:33:16 GMT

System Requirements OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit) CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 Ghz or AMD Athlon X2 3800+ Memory: 1GB RAM Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 / ATI Radeon X1800 / Intel HD Graphics Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required Disc: 6X DVD-ROM Recommended System Configuration OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit) CPU: ...

Techulous' Exclusive Interview: Star Trek Online’s Andy Velasquez

Pyriel32 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:41:17 GMT

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. 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 ...

Star Trek Online: Episode Missions Explained

Pyriel32 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:26:04 GMT

Episodes are the mission chains in Star Trek Online that feel even more like you're playing an episode of the show than normal. We looked at more than 700 Star Trek TV episodes and dissected them to determine how those writers told stories in Roddenberry's universe, then set about crafting our own for you to enjoy. We actually have content writers on staff who approach the mission chains as though they were standalone TV episodes. Rather than thinking strictly in game terms, they design the ...

new screen shots are up

DukeNukemTX — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:28:55 GMT

http://www.startrekonline.com/screenshots?img=26

well, not very new... still, first ones in a good while

Al Rivera Talks Star Trek Online & Craig Zinkievich talks with ten ton hammer

Pyriel32 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:05:37 GMT

With the closed beta finally live, we thought it was time to ask some questions about the way Star Trek Online was evolving and changing before release. We tracked down lead designer Al Rivera and grilled him about Klingons, crafting, future races, and more. Read on. We're just starting to see more about the Klingon side of Star Trek Online - up until now the story has been pretty much told from the Federation point of view. What can we expect to learn about playing the game from the Klingon ...

Massively's Star Trek Online beta interview

Pyriel32 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:55:09 GMT

With beta now beginning, we shot some relevant questions at Cryptic's Craig Zinkievich, executive producer on Star Trek Online. He gave us his insight on what the team's goals are during beta and what some of their toughest challenges were from their point of view. Plus, we even got him to spill the beans on when Klingons would be entering the fray for beta testers -- hopefully the rest of us get to see and hear more about the warrior race soon thereafter. It's a short interview, mostly ...

euro gamer plays sto

Pyriel32 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:29:55 GMT

Trekkies can put one fear to rest right now: Star Trek Online feels just like Star Trek. From the 10-minute demo available on the Eurogamer Expo show floor, it's difficult to learn all that much about the mechanics and structure of this licensed MMO (you can read more about these in our recent preview and interview). But it's immediately apparent that developer Cryptic has nailed the unmistakable flavour of faintly cheesy, high-minded, planet-hopping science-fiction with a straight face and a ...

PC DOME'S Star Trek Online interview

Pyriel32 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:43:25 GMT

After City of Heroes/Villains and the recently released Champions Online, Cryptic Studios is developing another MMO, but this time without superheroes. Their new online RPG is connected to one of the most popular sci-fi series, namely Star Trek, and offers a lot of new features. In our exclusive interview we've talked to Andy Velasquez, Associate Producer of the team. First, please introduce yourself and the team. How many people are working on the Star Trek Online project at Cryptic? Yo! ...

Ten Ton Hammer with Craig Z

Pyriel32 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:32:08 GMT

Your Questions, Cryptic's Answers Questions by Benjamin J. de la Durantaye, Executive Editor, Ten Ton Hammer Answers by Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer, Star Trek Online (Cryptic Studios) As part of our Premium Membership Program, members get a chance to ask their own questions of the developers for various MMOGs. This week, we talked to Cryptic Studios about Star Trek Online. Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer, was more than happy to answer questions from our readers ranging ...

new sto the future past part 2 video and 5 new screenshots.

Pyriel32 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:50:17 GMT

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/startrekonline/video/6238134/star-trek-online-the-future-past-part-2?hd=1&tag=topslot;thumb;3 ok i will try to find it on you tube later today but here is the new sto the future past part 2 video, i uess they aren't doing the path tp 2409 anymore sigh. ok here are some new screen shots too This one is for you Jarhok.

Alltern8 Interviews Andy

Pyriel32 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:03:09 GMT

Alltern8: What were your primary concerns when adapting the virtually sacrosanct Star Trek franchise into an MMO? Andy Velasquez: As you mention the Star Trek IP carries so many expectations with it and fans of the series are some of the most devoted and informed of any franchise ever and so definitely one of our main concerns is doing right by those who already have so much invested in this universe. Fortunately, these concerns are also some of our biggest motivators on this project. ...

New STO Video

Truth Seer — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:15:39 GMT

New STO video at Gamespot.

Regular

HD

And now bed.

Rock, Paper ,Shotgun's Hands On: Star Trek Online

Pyriel32 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:39:13 GMT

As I mentioned earlier, I spent a lot of the weekend at the MCM Expo. I eventually managed to tear myself away from my table and go looking for electro-entertainment. Alas, mainly console – or console versions of PC games we’ve already covered like Borderlands. And Assassin’s Creed 2, which I would have looked at, but I was scared away by the Marge Simpson cosplayer who looks as if they’d peeled Marge and was wearing her yellow skin as a skin-suit ala Silence Of the Lamb’s Buffalo ...

Star Trek Online beams down to Expo from euro gamer

Pyriel32 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:46:27 GMT

Hey there. How are you feeling? Smug, fulfilled, expectant? Or listless and utterly hollow with despair? We warned you that Eurogamer Expo tickets would sell out, and they almost have. No amount of pleading emails will change it, tickets are gone for three of the four dates, with only Wednesday the 28th of October in Leeds available. We are very nearly full. Still, that won't stop us rewarding the faithful. To that end we thought we'd roll out news that Cryptic's potentially massive new ...

Ask Cryptic: Player Progression 2 (Oct. 19)

Pyriel32 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:39:47 GMT

ramjam380:Following the previous discussions, there were concerns that large ship numbers of higher level players would end up cruising around in the big top-tier ships, especially since they are given automatically upon obtaining a certain rank. Will there be enough advantages particular to the lower-tier ships to make them worth using even if a player can access higher tiers? There are five tiers of ships. At tier 5, there are two ships per category, so there are two top-end Escorts, ...

venture beat Interviews with Star Trek Online’s creators

Pyriel32 — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:08:09 GMT

http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/16/interviews-with-star-trek-onlines-creators-with-game-play-footage/

No new game info sigh.

Gameshark's preview of sto

Pyriel32 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:05:47 GMT

Cryptic Studios has been relatively mum over its highly anticipated Star Trek Online, satiating excited fans with a few screenshots here and there. But recently I was able to take the upcoming MMO for a test spin. I also spoke with Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich about what we can expect to see when it drops in the spring. The storyline of Star Trek Online takes place 30 years after the film Star Trek: Nemesis and 22 years after a supernova blew up Romulus -- the basis of the JJ Abrams ...

New ship overview from cryptic

Pyriel32 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:07:56 GMT

Ship OverviewShips in Star Trek Online are as much a part of your avatar as your captain or Bridge Officers. They’re highly customizable, both cosmetically and functionally. Visiting a ship “tailor” will allow you to change the color of your ship, the nacelles, the neck and/or nacelle pylons, its saucer, its name, its registry number and so on. And since ships have paperdolls and Bridge Officer stations, the decisions you make in how you outfit the ship’s weaponry, impulse engines, shields, ...

Craig Zinkievich's interview with Eurogamer

Pyriel32 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:30:00 GMT

Cryptic's been developing its Star Trek MMO somewhat quietly while superhero stablemate Champions Online stole the limelight. It was only at gamescom back in August that we got our first proper look at the game, and very illuminating it was too. Now that Champions is out in the wild, though, Cryptic is ready to start dishing the dirt in detail on a game that could be out sooner than you think. We called up executive producer Craig Zinkievich to talk Klingons, betas, consoles, random content generation ...

Dev Chat Transcript from October 8

Pyriel32 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:35:01 GMT

Here are the questions and answers given for those whom missed the transcript. There were technical issues, so I isolated the pertinent information. Questions are in turquoise and answers in green. Hello, and welcome to this week's dev chat! Just in time for Halloween, a Lovecraftian plague has decimated Cryptic, so we lost our developers for this chat. In their stead will be Awen (who also has the plague but has thus far resisted its ... darker effects) and Rekhan, ...

Bridge Officers (Ships) / And some screenshots

Pyriel32 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:48:17 GMT

Bridge Officers play a key role in how any ship performs. The player can assign his Officers to specific stations on a given ship. These stations can be Science, Tactical or Engineering stations, and ships of different type favor stations of a specific type, as well. Science ships focus their stations on Science, Escort ships on Tactical and Cruisers on Engineering. The more advanced the ship, the larger number of Bridge Officer stations there are (generally). The stations, like Bridge ...

TrekMovie interview with Craig Zinkievich

Jarered Baerwas — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:54:18 GMT

Here's a link to a rather good interview with Craig Zinkievich published by TrekMovie yesterday.

http://trekmovie.com/2009/10/07/exclusive-interview-with-star-trek-online-producer-craig-zinkievich/

Enjoy!

A Star Trek Online Q&A with Craig Zinkievich

Zapp Brannigan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:54:40 GMT

Phasers Set to Beta - A Star Trek Online Q&A with Craig Zinkievich Tags: in Ten Ton Hammer Network Anonymous Craig Zinkievich Interviews Star Trek Online Posted October 5th, 2009 by B. de la Durantaye Overcoming obstacles, and bringing in the masses Questions by Benjamin J. de la Durantaye, Executive Editor, Ten Ton Hammer Answers by Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer, Star Trek Online (Cryptic Studios) The course is set, and it’s time to engage with Star Trek Online. ...

ships of the line

Pyriel32 — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:34:07 GMT

Ok here is a list of player flown ships sofar this is from cryptic themselves. Federation Player Ships Light Cruisers Miranda Centaur Soyuz Lieutenant Commander Science (Science Vessel) Nova Aurora Quasar Escort (Escort) Saber Rapier Ushaan Cruiser (Cruiser) Constitution Excalibur Vesper Commander Science (Research Science Vessel) Olympic Hope Horizon Escort (Heavy Escort) Akira Zephyr Norway (Oslo re-fit) Cruiser ...

Ask Cryptic: Player Progression

Pyriel32 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:12:21 GMT

Good news to our forum veterans: For this upcoming Ask Cryptic, we’re not talking about combat! Instead, we’ll be focusing on player progression. We’ll be focusing on how your character becomes more powerful and the systems behind that, rather than content or story progression, at least this time around. If you have a question you’d like to ask, just ask it in this post’s comment thread. You can also read on to learn more about player progression. When you think of progressing ...

beta date maybe

deltaraven666 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:45:05 GMT

Flash forward to the present, and it seems that Cryptic may indeed be dropping hints to players in the form of a mysterious set of [color:9db1=#d4d6d8 !important][color:9db1=#d4d6d8 !important]posters found on the side of random bus stops in CO’s Millennium City. Each of these signs bears the same date – October 8, 2009 – curiously only a week off from the date that may or may not have previously been hinted at with the NX-91001. im looking into this myself and remember its ...

ZAM Another Look at Star Trek Online

Pyriel32 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:13:55 GMT

Space may be the final frontier, but Cryptic Studios is boldly going where no other game company has gone before. Star Trek Online, the first MMO based on the legendary franchise, was one of the most exciting new games we previewed at PAX '09. We got to experience first-hand Cryptic's unique blend of space combat, role-playing and epic exploration, and we're more stoked than ever to pilot our very own capitol ship when the game finally hits store shelves. Taking a break from his primary duties ...

we need a list of the beta participants

deltaraven666 — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:08:27 GMT

I think a list of those participating in the beta would be helpfull. Firstly we can pool are resources from the start and get to know the game mechanics better fleet wise that is. Also the ones who didnt get in on the beta deal will know who to go to for help and questions. And i dont know how the starbases are going to work so if we need to do somthing to get one then we can get started right away. The reason we should do this now instead of at launch is ease of location if we wait then ...

Starfleet Dicovery Class

Pyriel32 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:00:05 GMT

Discovery Class Specifications Dimensions: Overall Length: 355 meters Overall Draft: 80 meters (subspace stance); 64 meters (warp stance) Overall Beam: 135 meters Displacement: 715,000 metric tons Defensive Systems: Advanced Deflector Array Improved Sensors and Targeting Lock Reinforced Shield Generators Reinforced Tritanium Alloy Hull Velocity: Cruising: Warp Factor 8 Maximum: Warp Factor 9.995 Offensive Systems: Fore and Aft Type X Phaser Arrays Fore ...

Dev Chat 9/22 Transcript

Pyriel32 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:26:15 GMT

Hello everyone, and welcome to today's dev chat! With us today is Steven "Snix" Nix, our Combat Systems Designer. He'll be answering your questions about player progression. To ask a question, please join #stoquestions and post it there. You can also discuss the chat in #talktrek. My major concern is will there be penalties for cross-class skills, especially in Space. Will my Engineer take a penalty for tactical ...

Ask Cryptic: Player Progression (Sept. 17)

Pyriel32 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:54:27 GMT

Welcome to the 15th installment of Ask Cryptic, where where we put the questions you ask to our development team. In this issue we discuss player progression. Read more to learn about Star Trek Online! Sklarz: Are we limited to one branch? say I'm Engineering and I go down maintenance and then later I decide I also want to do some in Modification. Are we limited to one branch or can we go all out and get them all? You’re not limited to any branch; you can acquire all the skills within ...

Path to 2409 - 2391 Supplemental Log

Pyriel32 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:35:02 GMT

Excerpt from a classified report from Lieutenant Mark Fischer, Federation Operative placed with the troops of the exiled Romulan Commander Sela. Makar Compound I believe Commander Sela has found allies in her bid for power. The artificial quantum singularities we were able to track seem to have been left by a species we’ve never encountered before. Commander Sela managed to contact them and begin some sort of negotiations. I had further indications of some sort of potential alliance ...

The Path to 2409: 2392

Pyriel32 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:10:28 GMT

News of the race for Federation President dominates news nets for much of the year. President Nan Bacco declines to run again, stating that while she didn't feel right leaving office during the Romulan crisis, "I've been here too long. We need new blood and new ideas." The popular Bacco doesn't endorse a successor, throwing the field open to dozens of potential candidates. Jaed Maz of Trill is frequently mentioned by political commentators, as are Federation Councilors Soron of ...

a rumor

stevedogg83 — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:05:47 GMT

so ive been readin and ive heard rumors of a fleet logo, first time ive ever heard of this, guess it is time for us to start brainstormin

Champions Life Time Subscription

Truth Seer — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:04:49 GMT

Have you guys seen this yet?

http://www.champions-online.com/preorder

CO with STO perks.