This week there has been an interesting development regarding Cryptic Studio’s upcoming Star Trek Online MMORPG. We can now see the first connection between IDW Comics and the Cryptic game. Plus Cryptic has started a new ‘Kobayashi Maru’ challenge on their forums and there are also a couple of new interviews to check out…see below for more details.
Cryptic IDW Synergy
[the following section has major SPOILERS from ‘Star Trek Countdown #1 comic]
TrekMovie has been advocating for the various licensees to do some coordination in their post-Nemesis storytelling. In past Cryptic ‘Path to 2409’ updates we had seen many references to the Pocket Books post-Nemesis novels, and this week we have seen the first connection between the game and IDW comic books. In "Star Trek Countdown #1" (see TM review) we see the appearance of Captain Data, and he is wearing a new uniform. That uniform is based on the new design for Starfleet uniforms for Star Trek Online (see comparison below). Also one has to wonder if the mention of the B-4 android in the recent ‘Path to 2409: 2384’ update may lead to ‘Captain Data’ seen a few years later in the Countdown comic series. [Thanks to Paul and Scott who sent in tips spotting the uniform connections]
New Starfleet uniforms via IDW comics (left) and Cryptic’s STO (right)
[END SPOILERS]
‘Kobayashi Maru’ challenge
This week on the official forums for Star Trek Online, Cyrptic has started a new feature where they ask the community to offer solutions to ‘nearly impossible scenarios’. Here is the first scenario:
You have been assigned to take refugees to Starbase 187 when you receive a distress signal from a medical ship ferrying critical supplies to Pacifica, which has been struck by a plague of unknown origin. When you reach the medical ship, you find that the ship is surrounded by two Gorn Cruisers and five Gorn frigates. The medical supplies must reach Pacifica, but not only are you carrying innocent civilians on your ship; you limited weapons capability.
Will you assist the medical ship that has medicine on board that may save thousands, or ensure the safety of your passengers? Choose quickly or all is lost!
How would you solve this scenario? Can you save both?
You can post your idea for a creative solution on the STO forums.
More STO
Here are a couple of other links to check out for STO this week:
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‘meet the team’ update with executive producer Craig Zinkievich at startrekonline.com
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Interview with community manager Nicole Hamlett at HailingFrequency.co.uk
Also a reminder that you have until January 29th to enter the ‘Planet Exploration Contest’ to win a guaranteed spot in the STO beta test.
For more on STO, see our special Star Trek Online category for our most recent articles and also visit the official startrekonline.com site.
COMMENTS SPOILERS WARNING: it is ok to discuss spoilers discussed in the article in the comments below. If you skipped the spoilers, you may want to skip the comments.
Glad to see they’re coordinating the uniforms…
I like the uniform. Looks nice.
Also I can’t wait to see how they brought back Data. The B4 android was fairly primitive and it took Data more than a few years to reach TNG level, how long would it take B4 to get to captain?
I believe Data transfered his “memories” to B4. Kind of a android version of Spock’s “remember”
sweet
That’s a pretty tough contest for just one shot at being a beta tester. I would think they would want quite a few beta testers.
The *new* Path to 2409 entry isn’t new… it was already posted early this month.
Those uniforms are over-designed nonsense.
Maby this game WIll get done?
Darth “Online Ballz” Ballz
sorry you are right Mathias, that ‘path to 2409’ was reported in a previous ‘sto update’, my bad…i removed that part.
Solution:
1. First maintaining radio silence, ready transporters for emergency evacuation.
2. Send a distress signal broadcast on behalf of the afflicted vessel over every frequency known to be monitored by any sentient race.
3. Dispatch monitoring probes to carry live feed of the events as they are occurring or, in the alternative, to serve as record buoys in case of destruction. Patch feed to any monitoring station within range.
4. Broadcast intent to rescue and Invite all ships to rescue the afflicted vessel.
5. Upon declination of assistance by any other ship, or upon nonresponse, immediately use transporters to evacuate the medical supplies and personnel.
6. Depart the area at maximum emergency warp.
7. You’re right, there were far too many posts before someone started complaining.
Aww! Not the Gorns! Don’t make them evil! That’s not fair! They were just defending their territory!
Very interesting to see the two uniforms looking so alike. Even though the timelines will be different in STO than in Trek books and other mediums, it’s cool to see them “cross paths” so to speak.
Greetings from The STM forums ( not that they matter, because trekmovie.com gets all the traffic.) MAKE SURE TO VISIT THEM!
http://www.startrekmovie.com/forums I like the vulcan in that pic… hot!
on this pic in the comic, you can also see a screenshot from the old TNG game ‘a final unity’.
I’m liking the “synergy”. (Great word, by the way.) Gotta say, IDW is the best comic book publisher the Star Trek license has ever been with.
I LOVE those uniforms. I think the First Contact uniforms are great, but those are fantastic! Love where the ranking is placed.
I like those uniforms. They took me a while to get used too; suffice it to say they have grown on me.
– Scan all the ships, get their registries, relay it all back to Starfleet with a situation report.
– Hail Gorn, tell ’em that since now if anything ugly happens, the UFP will know exactly who did it, maybe we should talk things over.
-?????
-PROFIT!
Can we see how the Phasers will look for STO? Bet they will be better than Trek10
They probably found data in pieces in the debris field from the Shinzon ship and put his ass back together. B4 is probably finger painting somewhere.
The change of B-4 becoming Data would probably be a painful process for both of them.
Perhaps as Data’s memories began to emerge within B-4 ‘brain’ (like Spock’s katra residing in McCoy in ST III:TSFS) there was the eventual struggle between two selves of B-4 and Data (three if counting Data’s daughter Lal).
I guess B-4 decided to sacrifice himself (or transfer his essence to a different location) so Data can regain full use of his body.
But if B-4’s positronic network was too primitive for Data’s essence to make use, perhaps a newer Soong-type android body was created to resurrect Data.
Another idea: what if they transferred Data’s essence into Lore’s body. Thus, wiping of all traces of Lore.
bahaha Shatner is going to be mad!!!! They resurrected Data but can’t resurrect Kirk!!! haha
22, another possibility is that Data had created a back-up of his essential programming, including software and all information constituting his memories, within the Enterprise-E’s databanks. This would have been the prudent and logical thing to do prior to sacrificing his own life.
While Data’s capabilities are unique in that he is a Soong-type android, his total storage, processing and informational capacities are probably easily within the databank and program-execution capabilities of the Enterprise’s equipment.
It is quite possible that, at some point after the Shinzon encounter, an automatically generated alert notified the command crew that Data’s essential bits and bytes were still in existence. How that data is unlocked could be a story in itself, since Data would not want just anyone to be able to access what would fundamentally be his spirit. Quite possibly, he would require that only his closest friends be able to authorize the downloading of his essence, requiring, for example, that a long series of puzzles be answered that only such friends could solve. (One of those could be, for example, the circumstances under which Data found his cat, Spot.)
Alternatively, or in addition, Data could still exist in some form as an actual, conscious entity, expressing himself through the ship’s computers.
One other thing. The Holodoc capabilities of Voyager and ships of similar capability would seem to suggest that Data, as well, could be expressed holographically aboard the Enterprise-E or any ship of like capability, assuming, reasonably, that the Enterprise-E is at least as advanced as Voyager. Rather than being limited to a physical form, Data could become, in essence, “HoloData,” capable of existing and interacting in multiple places simultaneously through the use of holoprojectors. That would obviate the need for B4 to sacrifice himself to make way for Data.
#7: over designed?
By whose standards? I think they look logical and a nice progression from what has evolved over the years.
I like to think that Geordi took the dismantled Lore and downloaded Data’s files into it. Thus creating a new Data,
Lets not get to complicated. The most logical theory is its just B-4 having assimilated all of Data’s memories and ultimately becoming Data. If you have someone’s memories, you ARE that person.
What about McCoy though. McCoy had Spock’s memories in him, and he was still McCoy.
#7… Agreed.
I’m basing my opinion solely by what I’ve seen here at Trekmovie.com, so in fairness I may be full of crap (because I haven’t read the comic, and will never play the game) but…
I read the review of Star Trek Countdown #1, and I cannot put into words how disappointed I was. It was mainly the dialog, but they really blew it with me. I was really looking forward to it too, but that’s why I should give them a chance, and I might. So far the jury is out.
But to see this new video game and all they crap they want us to believe is Trek’s future? No way. Then to come to the realization that this abomination, and the comic are conjoined in any way is grim news to me.
Please don’t let this be a trend.
Don’t let Cryptic Studios, and IDWs shallow production qualities bleed over into our beloved Eleventh Star Trek Film!
If you are going to serve me Cheese Dialog for dinner, at least give me some Substance Cola to wash it down.
Friends, consumers, countrymen. Our products feature the same uniforms, therefore will be cool!
I want this movie to be about more than what’s on the surface.
The site is almost impossible to log onto/register.
It asks for verification codes which include cyrillic letters (Russian ‘fa’) and others I’ve not seen.
Get a clue, guys.
poo
28, unless B-4 truly believes he’s Data, he’s not. How could he? Physically, he’s a different entity. There’s not basis in philosophical materialism to believe otherwise. The only recourse, thus, is to rely on his own sense of self, and until he knows (believes) he’s Data, he can’t be.
I was kind of hoping they’d find Data;s body floating around in space after the Scimitar exploded. I hated that Data died blowing up the Romulan ship. Couldn’t he have just set up a timer bomb or set his phaser to overload, or whatever?
33. I understand, but you retained the entire memory of someone else, wouldn’t you believe your that person? All we are is in our brain through memories. Its just like when Spock used his contra merge with a new body. The same might be true for B-4 and Data.
Spock just basically downloaded his mind into McCoy. He left behind a copy of himself. McCoy just carried it around, but he didn’t become Spock.
35, I would tend to agree with 36. You can retain memories of someone else without actually being that person.
This can be seen if you recall a particularly vivid dream in which you believed you were someone (e.g., King Midas) you could not possibly be, or have been doing something (e.g., turning everything you touched into gold) that you could not or did not do. Your memory of that dream does not make you the person who did the things that were done in the dream (unless, of course, the person in your dream happened to be you).
Addendum: To clarify, your retention of the memories (or pseudo-memories) of the dream person (again, e.g., King Midas), no matter how complete, does not make you in any way King Midas.
RE: B4/Data – what about the TNG episode ‘The Schizoid Man’? The scientist dude who said he was Noonien Soong’s mentor transferred his entire consciousness into Data and completely took over him.
Nemesis stated that Data transferred his memory into B4. With the help of Geordi and Dr. Crusher, it doesn’t seem such a massive stretch that Data’s personality could resurface in B4. OK, so they’d have to do a bit of retro-fitting…
Or, how about Lore? He was deactivated and disassembled at the end of ‘Descent, pt. 2’, but wasn’t actually destroyed. Maybe he was put in a box in a secret Starfleet warehouse a la ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, and they formatted Lore and transferred Data’s memories into him.
I think it’s perfectly plausible that Data could elude ‘death’ in this manner…
Nice to see the deep connection between TNG and the new movie. It keeps the Trek Universe smoothly flowing.
C:> mount L:\ore
Memory device mounted
C:> Format L:\ore /Positronic
Are you sure you want to erase L:\ore, all data will be lost? Yes
Format complete, 800 quadrillion bits (100 petabytes) free
C:> Restore L:\ore /source=E:\mainframe\CommanderData.bak
682 petabytes transfered, 118 free
C:> Shutdown /restart
Hmm, suppose I could have backed up Lore before the format, oh well, what’s done is done. Now where is Dr. Juliana Tainer? I’d like to get into her head.
Ref:
1) Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(Star_Trek)
2) DOS For Dummies, 391st ed, Copyright 2365
#23: Or can they?! ;-P
You can’t get into a nature of exisiance based on memories arguement when it comes to Data because at the end of the day he is a machine! If I had two identitical, or atleast similar laptops, formatted one of them, and transferred everything, including the operating system, from one to the other, I would thus then have two laptops the same! Thus B4 could, to all intence and purposes, become Data.
That said, it does raise a whooooole load of issues that could very well get its own slow and tedious TNG episode about identity and Data’s rights where in Crusher, being wet, can’t accept that B4 is Data because he isn’t Data…whereas Data keeps saying “some techno-bable about how my core programming is the same as Data, therefore I am Data” or some such…then Data saves Crushers life or something and its all happy in the end…you know one of those episodes that you can’t help but feel is a filler, but with a moral being rammed down your throat too! Not that I don’t like TNG, don’t get me wrong!!
In my opinion Data’s body could probably survived the explosion on the Scimitar.
Ha yea…Shatner is going to be pissed…they’ll ressurect Data but not him lol!
I like the new uniforms, it does suggest that Starfleet is trying to become less militarised after the Dominion Wars, going back to the clearly scientific/exploritory uniforms! I did like the Black and Grey ones though! I am certainly not complaining though, any trek is better then no trek, and this all seems pretty good in my opinion!
Sounds interesting.
Seeing as how Countdown is almost 30 years after Nemesis I think B4 had time to process Data’s “download” maybe even go through the Academy again, serve aboard various ships and then reach Captain and get command of the E.
Speaking of the time frame, in previous articles it was stated as 6-8 years after Nem. which was very confusing to me at first, especially after Spocks reveal of how long he had been on Romulus.
But I got it figured out now and think the stardate conversion was wrong.
#45
Every 1000 digits is one year, as established in TNG. Sort of like a metric system for earth years. So July 1, midnight would be XX500.00. Kinda goofy, but interesting nonetheless. Different than TOS stardates.
I was hoping for a Star Trek: Enterprise that established the Stardate System, but I assumed it started with the Federation inception.
Solution:
ALWAYS separate the saucer section with the civilians :) Transfer bridge crew to the Battle Bridge.
Red Alert – All hands to battle stations
@41:
HAHAHAHAHA!!!
But surely it should read:
C:> mount L:\ore
Memory device mounted
C:> Format L:\ore /Positronic
Are you sure you want to erase L:\ore, all data will be lost? Yes
Format complete, 800 quadrillion bits (100 petabytes) free
C:>rename C: D:
C:>D:
D:>deltree c:
D:> md D:\ata
D:> Restore D:\ata /source=B:\4\CommanderData.bak
James 48,
HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, holy crap, that’s good!
Surely Data’s memory capabilities are more than 800 quadrillion bits?
More seriously, to 43: Yes, I agree, but the new Data must believe that he’s Data or else the argument is lost. If B4 believes he’s B4, but merely carrying Data’s memories, then he’s exactly that: B4 carrying Data’s memories.
The other thing about the HoloData concept I like is that it allows the use of CGI to render the Data character, thereby completely sidestepping the “Brent Spiner is too old to play Data” conundrum once and for all. (The holographic nature of HoloData would lend itself to a certain stiffness and lack of realism inevitably found in today’s CGI. Don’t ask me why the HoloDoc isn’t similarly stiff and unrealistic, although we know the real-world reason why. … Come to think of it, we could rationalize it as being the result of the fact that Data was never originally intended to be holographic, whereas the HoloDoc was.)