- "Enlist and engage."
Star Trek Online (STO or ST: O for short) was the name of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) under development at Perpetual Entertainment.
In January 2008, Perpetual Entertainment ceased production of the game and laid off the entire Star Trek Online development team. Non-code assets of the development [1] [2] were transferred to Cryptic Studios, who have subsequently developed their own title under the same name, but with significantly different game mechanics. [3]
Beta testing was formerly slated to begin in winter of 2007 or spring of 2008 with a tentative launch in early 2009, after the release of the film Star Trek. [4]
General information
Game setting
- Years later, Andorian poets will describe this time as the "En'ock tu Ch'enock," roughly translated as "The calm before the inferno." [5](X)
The STO story was to have started around Stardate 77021.1, twenty years after Star Trek Nemesis, as the Alpha Quadrant rebuilds following the Dominion War. The Romulan Star Empire is on the brink of becoming close allies (or perhaps a member) of the United Federation of Planets while the Klingon Empire continues to be a strong ally of the Federation. More and more species are enrolling in Starfleet Academy to join the growing ranks of Starfleet personnel. Even the Borg are considered a manageable threat with technology brought to the quadrant by Captain Kathryn Janeway.
Such peaceful conditions have convinced the Federation President to divert resources of Starfleet towards the construction of a network of enormous transwarp conduits, which have been troublesome and expensive, but with great exploratory potential.
However, elements of Starfleet fear that the Federation is falling into a false sense of security and into a deceptive trap by one of its old enemies, or perhaps a new one. Thus, steps are secretly being taken to prepare for the conflict that is sure to come. It is up to you to choose your path for the coming century.
The Beta Quadrant would have been the primary area of space where much of the gameplay would have taken place, with future game expansions opening up other areas. Initially accessible areas had been stated as including: the Romulan Star Empire, the Klingon Empire, Vulcan, Andoria, the Tholian Assembly, the Briar Patch, Bolarus, and perhaps the unknown enemy force. The Borg would have been one of the major antagonists, and the Q had been mentioned to be involved in the game in some capacity.
Game features
- "A wholly new Star Trek experience." [6]
Star Trek Online was to have been made available worldwide, localized for various languages, and paid for through a monthly fee, comparable to current subscription-based MMORPG games.
The game would have featured planet-based and starship-based content, with players exploring the Star Trek universe in third-person mode. Both player characters and starships would have levelled up to develop their skills and systems respectively, and could be customized with equipment and other elements as desired. Starships would have had crews of many player characters working together, and new vessels were intended to be obtained throughout the game experience.
The game was intended to draw much of its content from all television series and movies of established Star Trek canon. However, the game developers had stated some changes had to be made to fit the game's design and capabilities. New elements were also expected to be added, such as technologies, ship designs, and alien species. It was believed that some content might even come from popular non-canon sources as well. Elements of the upcoming Star Trek movie could have been incorporated into STO without much difficulty due to the different time periods the movie and game are based in.
The game was initially to have been available for the Windows PC, but hints were made of allowing players to perform actions through other platforms, such as a mobile device.
Supporting community mods and user-generated content within the game through the holodeck or perhaps empty areas of space was being explored at the time, with the holodeck also being used for certain exploratory, social, or trading activities.
It has been said that the developers were interested in exploring the possibility of tying together a future television series with the game so that players could influence what is seen on the show through their actions within STO, although this is certainly not on the drawing board at this time. At the least, the game story is designed to play out as a new TV series.
Planned future expansions of STO were said to revolve around different races in the Star Trek universe, perhaps the Romulans or Klingons.
STO would have used text chat as the primary means of communication, but PE had stated their intent to make voice chat more accessible, perhaps by incorporating it into the game.
PE had started investigating the possibility of having in-game voices provided by Majel Barrett (as Computer Voice), John de Lancie (as the voice of Q), Kate Mulgrew (as the voice of Kathryn Janeway), and Ricardo Montalban.
System requirements
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The full system requirements were never publically finalized before development ceased. The following table summarizes what was known.
It was also stated that a video card that supports Shader 2.0 technology may have been required to render the complex lighting effects [7](X), with speculation that DirectX 10 may also have been required. [8](X)
Gameplay information
Missions
As with other MMORPGs, STO was based on completing quests to advance skills and gain tangible assets, like weapons and monetary compensation. STO was expected to have thousands of missions of various scales and differing types.
Most of these missions would have been cooperative in nature, in that players would work together with other players around the world to complete various missions that a Starfleet starship typically encounters, collecting rewards dependent on their performance during the mission. One can expect a majority of the content available to solo players as well. Each mission would have been created by hand, most likely not using any pre-programmed algorithms to generate them in real-time. Like the television series, STO would have tried to provide opportunities to find peaceful solutions to tense situations, but with combat being unavoidable in certain circumstances.
There were also plans for player versus player (PvP) combat to be available in two variations - "war games" for the more casual players that can be initiated anywhere between the two parties, most likely through holodeck simulations; a "wild west" PvP area for larger-scale battles was in the works. Performance in PvP might have had a persistent effect on one's character outside of the PvP environment through rewards or penalties.
Alliances
A character would have selected a group within the Federation to align with, called "factions". This alignment would have affected the type of missions, equipment, and other technologies available to the character. Such groups might have been based on department, race or culture, or other factors.
Players would also have been able to make affiliations with other players through "guilds", called fleets. Such player groups could then take on larger missions, pooling together their skills and resources. Smaller player groups called "clubs" and "small teams" would also have been allowed for more casual situations.
Economy and reputation
The game's economy was intended to revolve around the Federation credit to purchase personal luxury products and services that were typically not provided by the Federation to its citizens, such as decorations for quarters or the character itself.
A pseudo-currency of Prestige was also being considered, to improve one's reputation with Starfleet and, in essence, "purchase" equipment, missions, rank commissions, ship commissions, and ship upgrades. Such purchases may also have required Federation credits.
Space travel and exploration
Starfleet vessels would have carried characters between destinations through conventional warp drive, and possibly through the new transwarp hubs. However, the speed of travel in real time was undecided at the time, although it was not intended to be instantaneous, in order to allow for unexpected events and missions to occur. Spontaneous missions and rewards would have provided incentive for free-form exploration of the galaxy at lower travel speeds.
The tuning of impulse speed in respect to the size of all objects and the distances between them was underway at the time, to "give space the kind of explorable depth and complexity we've seen in some of the most dramatic scenes from the films and shows." [9](X) Significant time and effort had been put into new technology and art to make the space-based environment as exciting as a traditional ground-based environment.
Space combat
Space combat would have taken place in real-time and portrayed with 3D graphics, with many different camera angles showing in-ship and exterior views, similar to television. In February 2007, it was hinted that movement in space had "moved beyond 2 dimensional thinking," despite earlier statements of a 2D plane in order to simplify the learning curve for the pilot.
The ability to make critical analysis and decision-making quickly was expected to be the desired goal. Space combat would have been at a slower pace than ground combat, due to slower movement speeds and significant damage producing/reducing capabilities of capital starships.
Ships of all sizes, including fighter-sized ships like the Federation attack fighter, runabouts, and shuttles would have been available, and players could join forces in many smaller ships or one larger one for a mission.
There were initial concerns with allowing all characters to have access to smaller starships being detrimental to teamwork and collaboration, but the desire to be a captain of one's own vessel for many players played a role in changing this.
Higher-level players would have had the ability to form armadas consisting of multiple capital ships and escort ships to complete difficult missions. Major incentives were intended to be provided for players to group together, and some of the larger starships may even have required a high-ranking, player-run crew. Captains of such crews were said to have "access to some incredible abilities." [10](X) It was mentioned that such armadas could be "fighting battles with fleets of Borg". [11]
The largest Starfleet starships like the Galaxy- and Sovereign-class were not designed for individuals to own, but to act as in-space "towns" called hubs. Such ships would have been commanded by a NPC crew, and their interiors rendered in high detail; player-controlled ships were intended to be of lesser detail. Vessels designed by cultures outside of the Federation were also planned to be accessible.
Away team and ground combat
Away team combat, including boarding parties, would have been in the third-person view based on the use of skills as actions, similar to existing MMO games, and distinctive from first-person shooter games. Offensive, defensive, and support roles were all planned to be available. A player could have chosen to transport from a transporter room or initiate a site-to-site transport.
Death from ground combat scenarios would have simply resulted in a loss in time, rather than some sort of permanent death penalty: once critically wounded, the character would have been given an emergency transport to a medical facility, such as sickbay, receive treatment, and traverse back to the combat area. One might also have been awarded a lower mission bonus based on the number of deaths accumulated during the battle.
It was the intention of the developers to make space and ground combat comfortable for all players to participate in and both combat types are expected to be viable options in various situations. Both bridge duty and away mission duty were intended to be important for character advancement, although one could have specialized in one area.
Key game non-playing characters
Federation President
Described to be charismatic with a bold vision of the future of peace and exploration. The president is urging Federation citizens and scientists alike to look towards "the next frontier". This of course varies with whom is the top scoring player for that week. Game play allowing for fluctuation of command week to week.
Terran Ambassador
The 94-year-old Terran Ambassador possesses galaxy-renowned diplomatic skills that are being put into effective use in negotiating with the Romulan Star Empire, but has never forgotten that "the universe is more surprising and more dangerous than anyone can imagine."
It was hinted in a storyline teaser (and widely believed) that the Terran Ambassador would be Jean-Luc Picard, because Picard will turn 94 in 2399. It is unknown whether Perpetual intended Patrick Stewart to lend his voice talents toward this game.
Miral Paris
The young Klingon/Human Miral Paris entered Starfleet, following her parents. This has inspired a generation of Klingons who believe her to be the kuvah'magh to enter Starfleet themselves.
Character development
Setup
Players would have been Federation Starfleet officers. As of September 2006, it was known that characters could be of one of nine races: Human, Vulcan, Andorian, Bajoran, Tellarite, Bolian, Klingon, Cardassian, or Ferengi, which will define their initial physical appearance. However, PE later stated that the list of playable species had been changed and locked, but had not released the information before the cancellation.
- The original analytical/versatile/aggressive character structure was done away with in favor of a more "interesting and distinct flavor."
- Klingons were one of the original races available to be chosen by players (along with Humans and Vulcans), but the current system was adopted to address the issue of why there would be so many Klingons in the Academy. However, they were added back in after a customer survey clearly indicated a desire by the market to play as a Klingon.
- In late-2005, many other races were added to the list of playable characters, including Trill, which could work towards becoming joined, and obtain special skills from the joining. Another unknown race was also confirmed to be joining the line-up in early 2006, which was later revealed to be Cardassian and Ferengi in the second official FAQ update, thus replacing the Trill race.
Other cosmetic changes to body and clothing could also be available at this time, although some will have to be earned through progression of one's character.
The Academy
A player would have started the game with an "approachable, solo-friendly newbie experience" [12] at Starfleet Academy as a new cadet, attending courses as a tutorial to the game experience. Afterward, the cadet would have been assigned to a training vessel to have an opportunity to try out the content of the departments available to them: Science, Security/Tactical, and Engineering.
Original plans indicated that players would specialize in one of the following professions: Flight control, Engineering/Operations, Science, Tactical/Security, Medical, and Command. However, this was changed to the current three departments to expand the versatility of character development.
The Command division would have been accessed through the Leadership skill set system which every player could access in their development, albeit forgoing some training in their primary department. At the end of the space training, players would have selected a department to specialize in initially. To be a high-ranking officer later on, one would have needed to balance their department and Leadership development. The highest known rank a player was planned to be capable of obtaining was admiral.
Players would have continued their adventure within the relatively safe confines of Federation space.
And beyond
Later on, characters would have graduated from the Academy and become commissioned officers. At their own pace, the player was expected to explore the vast reaches of space, develop relationships with other players, join the crew of other spaceships, and enter hostile territories where the major conflict would come into play. More peaceful missions like planetary surveys were also expected, even for advanced characters, to complement the combat.
Success in missions would have gained experience and reputation for the character, which could have been used to gain rank, take on new missions, and other actions. Characters that earned the respect of Starfleet were to be granted ship commissions, and at higher levels even have their own crew of other players and non-player characters (NPCs). One could temporarily leave their personal vessel to join the crew of a larger ship. Regardless of rank, a player would always have had a personal vessel available to them.
Character development was planned to continue through improving one's standing in various "specialties" (within the departments, such as Medical and Flight Control) so that each character could specialize in skills they can apply to many different situations, including away and space combat missions. One known example was that a Science officer could be an Intelligence Specialist (primarily a starship-based role) or a Medical Specialist (mostly an away team role). Regardless of a character's skill set, all players could have expected to participate in combat and non-combat situations.
Players with a high standing in a specialty would have received an appropriate title to represent their achievements.
It was stated that it would be possible to develop skills or progress through missions even while offline from the game, although it was unclear how this would work. Such a move was designed to help casual players with not a lot of free time for games to still progress their characters at a reasonable rate.
Art and design
Starships and starbases
A Galaxy-class starship was the first major area to be modeled and was planned to be a major hub of activity. The design was based on the USS Enterprise-D, so well established areas such as Ten Forward, sickbay, and the bridge were to be represented. Other planned areas included an aquatic lab and a multi-level computer core. Such areas were made known in January 2006, when concept material on a Galaxy-class starship's science/medical hub deck was published, with 18 other concept sketches of the hub deck released up to May 2006.
The layout of the decks may have been based on grouping key areas for certain departments like engineering, science/medical, and security to make accomplishing similar tasks easier. Decks were also to be distinguished by number, color, lighting, architecture, signage, and other furnishings. It was expected that decks and their doors, hallways, and rooms would have been larger and easier to navigate than seen on television.
In February 2006, the visual look development team generated in-game, real-time screen shots of a turbolift, hallway, and observation lounge typical of a Galaxy-class starship. [13] Two more screen shots were made available in early March, one of a female Vulcan officer in a Galaxy-class observation lounge, and another of a corridor showing a door and turbolift. [14]
In May 2006, a promotional banner for STO on Perpetual Entertainment's revamped website included an Akira-class starship, taken from an in-game screen shot. It was confirmed to be the object of the first "look development" for the exterior of starships.
In July 2006, the first two detailed in-game screenshots of the Akira-class vessel, named the USS Perpetual, were released. Ian Pieragostini showed live demos of the unreleased game later in the month at an industry presentation. [15] For the first external visual look development, a scene from Star Trek: Voyager was selected to be reproduced. [16]
In March 2007 at the Game Developer's Conference, PE released four new concept art material including a starbase with the newest reincarnation of the USS Enterprise, and the design for the new Sacagawea-class small-sized starship. The Enterprise of the STO universe will be of a new class.
Characters
The first character modeled was a female Vulcan.
The new Starfleet uniform that would have appeared in the game were described as being "a combination of the war-time jacket uniforms that debuted in Deep Space Nine and the popular, more form-fitting costumes of the later seasons of The Next Generation." Colors were to be assigned based on department. From an early interview with the developers, Science gets blue, Engineering gets gold, and Security gets red. Under this color scheme, it was uncertain what color command officers would wear; they might have kept their original department's color or receive a completely different one. However, later concept art implied that Science gets blue, Engineering and Security gets gold, and Command gets red.
A player would have been able to customize their uniforms with various styles and placement of shields, body armor, insignia, and other personal items. Uniform styles from all Star Trek eras were also planned to be offered, although it was unclear in what capacity. Crew quarters most likely will also be customizable, including their location (based on character advancement). At the industry presentation in July 2006, Ian Pieragostini showcased the quarters of an admiral on a starbase.
Concept art on Starfleet uniforms and an animation of the LCARS interface were released, with an image of various views of what player uniform customization could be available for STO was also made available.
Perpetual's website had an image of an Andorian command division Starfleet officer along with two other crewmembers exploring a planet. [17](X)
Planets
Little was known about the planetary look of the game, but a July 2006 industry presentation did provide a glimpse of a planet that was explorable by an away team. In November 2006, PE mentioned that most of the land-based areas will be "open" in terms of the ability to socialize with other players, with instanced areas primarily for missions that demand less community interaction. In March 2007, concept art of a cinematic-like shot of an away team approaching an alien structure was released.
Other
In March 2007, some desktop wallpaper was also released around the same time overlaying several space images with the PE and STO logos.
Development information
Development progress
The game entered the first production stage gradually during mid-2006 from the pre-production phase, as PE built their staffing resources and developed content ideas. In early-September, it was announced that the community should expect less frequent releases of game images, as the team will "stay [in the] dark" so that they can "do a grand reveal for the new look we've created to for the game and it's [sic] era."
In September 2006, gameplay began to take a significant leap forward. The Perpetual Platform was being utilized for its server technology (initially used for PE's Gods & Heroes) and to create a viable testing environment for server selection, character creation, character movement, camera, object collisions, rendering, and animation, all on a simplified space station. It was expected that PE would be testing space combat, limited ground combat, space travel within a populated sector of space, and run missions involving these aspects shortly after. In November 2006, PE conducted a couple of new interviews, one of which revealed the name of the sector as Epsilon.
In March 2007, it was revealed in a podcast with StarTrek-Online.net that the release date was pushed closer towards the then-planned release of Star Trek at the end of 2008. However, that was later pushed back to early 2009 before its eventual cancellation.
The TOS Season 1 HD DVD set by CBS featured an STO preview.
Beta testing
PE had planned on conducting small private betas throughout the last year of development, with an open public beta at the end of the development cycle.
STO was originally slated for beta testing in 2006, with release in 2007, but this information was removed from all official sources and in early 2007, it was confirmed for a 2007 summer beta test _target and early 2008 launch. These development points were never reached.
Development team
- Todd Berkebile - Server Lead
- Robert Brown – Concept Artist †
- Glen Dahlgren - Lead Designer
- Bobby Deddens - Graphic Designer *
- Ryan Dening - Lead Designer/Concept Artist [18](X)
- Steve Desilets - Senior World Designer
- John Eaves - Design Consultant/Concept Artist †
- Greg Faillace – Art Director †
- Ira Goeddel - Character Technical Director
- Lorien Gremore - Production Assistant
- Eric Heimburg - Senior Systems Designer
- Ken Henderson - Art Director
- TJ Holleran - Art Technical Director
- Harry Lang - Project Director
- Mike Okuda - Design Consultant
- Ian Pieragostini - Lead Client Engineer
- Fabio Policarpo - Senior Graphics Engineer
- Andrew Probert - Design Consultant
- Todd Reamon - Art Director
- Mike Stemmle - Story Lead
- Daron Stinnett - Executive Producer †
- John Yoo - Lead Systems Designer
- Christine Brownell - Lead World Designer
- James - Unknown
- Jesse - Level Designer
- † - as (additionally) confirmed in the TOS-R Season 1 HD DVD special feature, "Preview: Star Trek Online"
- * - as identified on Ryan Dening's blog
Harry Lang oversaw development of Star Trek games from 1998 up until the split of (old) Viacom on 1 January 2006. This resulted in the newly formed CBS Consumer Products taking over responsibility for the Star Trek games licensing. Lang continued as senior director of Interactive [new] Viacom Consumer Products, the licensing division of the now separate Paramount Pictures, which had lost the Star Trek franchise in the split – including the Star Trek Online game and others.
Senior staffers Eric Heimburg and Ken Henderson were no longer part of the development team either as of early 2006. The team consisted of 35 developers as of September 2006, and was expected to rise to 70-80 after the pre-production stage under new ownership.
Appendices
References
- Exclusive Stinnett Q&A(X) at StoZine.com(X)
- 12 March 2006 Podcast/Audio Interview with Daron Stinnett, Executive Producer for STO(X) at Hailing Frequency 'The Internets First Podcast Dedicated to Star Trek Gaming'(X)
- 19 July 2006 A+E Interactive Preview: Star Trek Online(X) at The Mercury News blog(X)
- 8 September 2006 Glen Dahlgren Star Trek Online Interview at FiringSquad.com(X)
- 17 September 2006 Podcast/Audio Interview with Daron Stinnett, Executive Producer for STO(X) at Hailing Frequency 'The Internets First Podcast Dedicated to Star Trek Gaming'(X)
- 24 November 2006 Daron Stinnet Podcast(X) at Game/On MMORPG.com(X)
- 19 January 2007 Daron Stinnet Exclusive Interview(X) at WarCry Network .com(X)
- 1 April 2007 Audio/Podcast Interview with Ryan Denning, Lead Concept Artist for STO(X) at Hailing Frequency 'The Internets First Podcast Dedicated to Star Trek Gaming'(X)
- 7 May 2007 Studio Visit: The Directions of STO at MMORPG.com