After running a countdown clock in their website for over a month, Cryptic Studios has officially announced they are the new developer for the Star Trek Online MMORPG. As predicted by TrekMovie on Sunday, Cryptic re-launched the official website with a few details, screenshots and a new countdown timer to Star Trek’s big Vegas convention in two weeks.
Official announcement (of the announcement)
CRYPTIC STUDIOS LICENSES RIGHTS TO PRODUCE STAR TREK ONLINE
Trek Fans Worldwide Are Invited to MMO Gamplay Reveal at Annual Star Trek Convention August 10, 2008 or Via Live Webcast at Los Gatos, Calif. – Cryptic Studios™, a leading developer and publisher of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), announced today that it has secured the global rights to develop and publish Star Trek® Online, a massively multiplayer online game based on the legendary Star Trek franchise, from CBS Consumer Products.
Cryptic will unveil the first Star Trek Online gameplay footage as well as details about this highly anticipated MMO at the annual Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas on Sunday, August 10, 2008. Trek fans from around the globe can also view the event live via webcast at http://www.startrekonline.com/.
Interested participants can register today for the Star Trek Online webcast and to sign up for the STO community by visiting http://www.startrekonline.com/.
Highlights
Here are the game highlights from the new announcement
- Set in 25th century
- Site and forums show TNG-DS9-VOY era ships (Sovereign, Defiant, Akira and Nova classes, plus Federation ships firing on Romulan Warbird)
- Two factions: Federation and Klingon Empire
- Two types of game play: space/ship and land-based
- Allows ‘player-generated content’
- PC and console-based
- Release date ‘TBA’
This is similar to the design highlights from when Perpetual was developing the game, however that game was not going include the Klingon Empire (but allowed players to play as Klingons in the UFP). Also Perpetual never confirmed that their game would be available on console either (or at least as far as we can remember). They also have a new logo for the game, which is actually more akin to the standard TOS logo and typeface…possibly to fall in line with CBS new branding standards.
Screenshots available + game play footage ‘coming soon’
Cryptic has provided nine new screenshots and promises that game footage will be available at the Vegas Convention. The images appear to be actual in-game shots and not just concept art. Here are a couple examples showing space and ground images.
A space station
A communications array
Exciting, but much to learn
Cryptic Studios is a much better home for the Star Trek MMORPG than Perpetual. Cryptic have a proven track record and are well regarded in the industry, whereas Perpetual was a new company that seemed long on promises and short on delivery. Cryptic are quite the opposite and usually let their work speak for them, but there are many things that we will hopefully learn soon, such as:
- Delivery date target (and beta target)
- Cost model and price (subscription vs. micro payment or other)
- Playable races and ships
- Overall story
- Which consoles
Cryptic also has set up new forums as well as a sign-up for a newsletter. Head to the new official Star Trek Online website for more.
New STO Site
…Yup. This is a TNG-era MMORPG. Notice the graphics on the forum header:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/
…And the fact that it’s the Enterprise-E on the main site header. This means two things:
1) They’re using the TNG era to avoid spoiling and/or having to deal with Abrams’ regurgitation.
2) Old Trekkers like me and some of the others around here won’t get to play TOS-era scenarios.
Ah well, there’s always digging up that old Unreal Tournament editor and doing a total TOS conversion for the original UT…
looks pretty cool. cant wait!!
****Cryptic Announces Involvement With Star Trek Online****
oh.
It looks like they’ve switched to the original typeface in order to harmonize with the movie despite the 25th century setting.
STO was always a post Nemesis based game and that hasn’t changed and it was set before Abrams Star Trek was announced, so one really has nothing to do with the other.
I’ve been looking forward to this game since I first heard about it (when it was being developed by Perpetual). The great news is that Cryptic has a proven track record when in comes to MMORPG so I’m looking forward to it.
#1: The TNG era is my favorite era so I’m extremely happy about it. Further, it takes place in the 25th century so it’s actually in the future of the TNG era.
This is great news and I’m looking forward to the gameplay footage.
Maybe this can break me away from ST: Armada I/II? I’ve been playing for almost 9 years now. lol. That’s sad and I apologize for admitting that.
#01 OM
>Ah well, there’s always digging up that old Unreal Tournament editor and doing a total TOS conversion for the original UT…
Why?
ST voyager Elite force has lots of wonderfull TOS mods already done.
I play on the 1701 and on space station K7 often.
(I don’t have the link at hand right now, but you’ll surely find it without much problem just searching on google)
Of the MMOs I’ve tried I got the most enjoyment out of Cryptic’s City of Heroes. That said I don’t think their plan to create a new Super MMO in Champions Online is going to fly and that could drag down STO. I’m also a 1st Generation Trekker so I’m not that interested in a TNG MMO.
I’m just not sure how they’re going to make this work. It’ll either be absolutely amazing or completely rubbish. Either way i’m sure to give it a bash.
I also beleive that setting it in 25th Century is best idea because there is no canon to mess up and upset trekkies with.
As Picard said in Nemesis “It seems we are truely sailing into the unknown.”
Fingers crossed for this!
Look forward to playing it…. :)
For all our Dutch Fans,
There is a Dutch Community website that tracks down all the news about STO and then translates it into Dutch…
http://www.st-online.nl
So I can play something besides Encounters? Yay.
Bridge Commander is my favourite ST Game, but although im excited about ST:O im quite confused about what it actually is?? :S
I’m SO beaming up for this.
Huge fan of Cryptic’s City of games. Can’t wait.
-James Seals
I hope I can get to Captain the ship, because the Perpetual style or system wasn’t my favourite, in fact i hated it, but so far, with cryptic development, I’m happy :D.
I really love Bridge Commander for this reason, besides being able to explore the galaxy with the latest mods.
Captain a ship, and a crew. Beam down and explore. Search the galaxy for new life and new civilizations. I am looking more forward to this game than the movie. The movie is going to ruin everything else in Star Trek land so much that STOL will be all we have left.
I suck SOOOO much at games like this. It looks like it would be fun if one had any ability at all, but I personally see it as a large computerized mouth that would need me to feed it money. I could see myself spending too much time trying to learn how to get better and not enough time away from my computer.
I really am looking forward to this! Star Trek is the perfect universe for an online game!
THX:
That’s quite funny.
Hopefully, it’s not the type of game where you have to be good to enjoy it. I suck at World of Warcraft, but I love it.
I’m not into committing time to group activities online. If the phone rings, or a child requires attention, the Paladin stops running.
I hope we can choose to be things other than “Captain”. I would rather serve under a captain and be a part of a crew, specializing in an area.
I do this in real life… fur instance, I go inta’ a Wimpy’s burger joint and scan tha’ countertop wit’ me geiger-counter…
“Show’s traces of acne cream”
Then I try ta’ communicate wit’ tha’ bizarre local lifeforms…
“Pardon me, I can understand how those rings stuck in your lower lip can hinder communications, but we can work together peacefully in an attempt to feed me.”
When a bonny lass passes by, I try ta’ delve deeper inta’ her by applyin’ me mind-meld… oddly enough involving me hand touchin’ a part o’ her rather quickly…
“Hey- you didn’t have to slug me. Violence is never the answer to bridging the galaxial gap between us. Can I have your number, love?”
And finally, once tha’ sloppy, greased food is presented ta’ me, I hurl it skywards repeatedly, guarding meself by pointing me ray-gun at tha’ cashier…
“Beam this up for analysis… Stay back or I’ll make beeping shooty sounds at you.” (food falls on me then) Dear God, I’m under attack! Sheilds up! (raise me umbrella)”
Arrrrrrrr…
Wait, so this isn’t available for Macs?!?!? That totally sucks!
I’m so disappointed they didn’t change it to TOS or TOS movie era.
As someone whe grew up on TOS reruns, TNG never really cut it with me.
Besides, a Star Trek MMO without bumping into Kirk and Co. now and then just doesn’t seem right. Especially with the new movie/s coming.
Ah well, I’ll probably still try it
Also, they ask if you can find the Gorn in the forest within the screenshots. I can’t find him, are they pulling my leg?
I have high hopes for this. I haven’t gotten into a sci-fi mmo since SWG, and it’s terrible now since all the “upgrades” to the game they made. I will be waiting for the next 14 days with great anticipation. I couldn’t find anything about an open beta.
BND:
Why are you on this thread?
I’m not sure what to think of the setting. It honestly looks like my least favorite . . . and by that I do NOT mean TNG. I love TNG era.
When I see Akira class ships flying around, and Prometheus warships alongside the Sovereigns like the Enterprise E, I just groan . . . I kind of view that as Post-TNG.
When I think of TNG era, I think of the last line of Exploration craft trying to perform multiple functions. You’d see lots of Excelsiors, Mirandas, and Oberths. The Galaxy class was the new technology, but still a big exploration vessel. Then, the Federation developed one unique warship — the Defiant. That made the little ship “special.” Then all at once, over night, Starfleet comes up with all of these gunships that don’t — to me anyway — convey the feel of the good ol’ Star Trek exploration ship.
Give me a sharp captain who can struggle to take his little Miranda class starship and try to stand up against a bird-of-prey, and I will think adventure. Give me another canned Akira blasting away at six Borg Dodecahedrons and I’ll just get bored.
Either way, I don’t see myself playing the game. Mainly because I don’t want to shell out monthly fees, and secondly because I want to have a life away from the computer (Says the llama as he types away happily on the Trekmovie.com board). ;)
Wondering: Remember all that talk about Andrew Probert designing interiors when this was a Perpetual project? Wonder how much of that is being retained, if at all…..
And yippee, the Klingons as bad guys again (sarcastic). Why couldn’t they create a game without constant battles and, I don;t know, go off an explore where no one has gone before…
I haven’t played a Star Trek game since the old FASA RPG in the early-mid 80’s…
#29: CDR, I couldn’t agree more.
Rather poor marketing to do a countdown to another countdown. It is just pisses people off.
They should have done the simultaneous re-launch with the con presentation.
Thanks for nothing!
27
Huh? I’m a free man, ain’t I?
Or am I? Chained ta’ me compootie play-acting in an on-line realm…
Arrrrrr…
“Huh? I’m a free man, ain’t I?”
You are Number 6.
Or is it…
YOU are, Number 6.
Haha!!
*rides off on pennyfarthing bike*
I don’t know if Klingons will be BAD, just a completely separate race from the UFP.
One of the major distinctions from Perpetual’s effort that’s worth highlighting is that it looks like in the new version each player gets their own starship to command as opposed to the old setup where a team of players worked together to crew one ship.
The new way is a lot more appealing and was how I was hoping they were going to do it when the project was announced initially.
“13. j – July 28, 2008
So I can play something besides Encounters? Yay.”
Its not going to be on PS2 that could never support this game. It will be on xbox 360 for sure given that the system has a proven track record with games with a huge universe just look at Oblivion. Second it may very well be on PS3 as well but that is iffy considering the console from my understanding has much less experience with this sort of game and even online gaming in general.
“16. Ravenwulf – July 28, 2008
I hope I can get to Captain the ship”
If they let you work your way up to captain in this game, which I think they shouldn’t, it will be interesting to say the least. The reason I say now to that idea is because MMORPG games are about people online with individual characters all working together and against each other in some cases to win and play the game cooperatively. Who is to say if I paid my 20$ for the month that I should take orders from you are anyone else for that matter. I think the captain giving the orders should be a AI computer character and the players need to work together to complete said mission.
Here is the summary of an MMORPG for thoes who have been questioning what the game actualy is. An MMORPG or Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, is a game that has two parts. There is client software on your PC (this is all the graphics and such that you see) and then there is the server software that you connect to over the internet that runs the “world” that you inhabit. You have to be online to play, and you share the gaming experiance with hundreds or thousands of other people who are connected to the same server and playing in the same world. Typicaly you play a character that has a certain class or role in the world, and you group with other players of different classes or roles to accomplish goals in the game world. There are normaly other situations in the game that pit you against other players of different factions. As you play the game and accomplish goals you get experiance for your character and gain new ability and generaly get better at what ever it is that you do. There are normaly areas or tasks that require alot of people to accomplish the goal and these are called “raids”. Most MMO’s have a guild mechanism as well, which is when players form a group that meets regularly to play and share resources and accomplish things in the game that otherwise would be hard or impossible to do without large scale cooperation. Hope this helps.
Personally I think “consoles” is more likely to refer to handhelds, similar to what’s being done with Spore.
“Maybe this can break me away from ST: Armada I/II? I’ve been playing for almost 9 years now.”
…Oh, so *you’re* the one! :-P
—–
“Why?
…Uh, because I’ve always preferred the “feel” of UT over pretty much any other FPS out there? Which is probably why the Klingon FPS I got a kick out of – same engine,different skins. Note for the record that I didn’t care much for “Half-Life” or “Quake III Arena”, either. And before anyone mentions “Crysys” or whatever it’s called, I’ve got a fake leg to fund first.
ST voyager Elite force has lots of wonderfull TOS mods already done. I play on the 1701 and on space station K7 often.
…Elite didn’t click with me for some reason, which is why I didn’t follow it or any of the modding that came about. I may have to look into it now.
——-
“I haven’t played a Star Trek game since the old FASA RPG in the early-mid 80’s…”
…Yes, that was probably one of the best RPGs to come out, especially ones based on Star Trek. FASA’s losing the license over Richard “Melakon” Arnold’s bullshit was actually the first sign of what his tyrrany would bring to the licensing side of the franchise. Yet another reason that anytime he’s seen at a convention, the fans need to congregate together and at least tar and feather him.
——-
“STO was always a post Nemesis based game and that hasn’t changed and it was set before Abrams Star Trek was announced, so one really has nothing to do with the other.”
…Not directly, no. But the reason for setting it way after Nemesis – the site says “25th Century”, as you’ll note – would be to avoid any “confusions” that might result. Hollywood is weird about things like that – sometimes they’ll make a big deal about it, other times they’ll turn a blind eye to it.
how is it suppose to work? Everyone is captain of a ship? I think that would be kinda stupid. Everyone should start off in star fleet or what not and learn there class , then be assigned to a ship from the bottom up, maybe you cant have your own ship till you have enough “honor points” for your ship. Maybe the ships act like a guild?
#39—“FASA’s losing the license over Richard “Melakon” Arnold’s bullshit was actually the first sign of what his tyrrany would bring to the licensing side of the franchise.”
I always assumed that TNG (and some of its early established canon) had simply made the game irrelevant. I remember the TNG update sourcebook, and that it was almost immediately contradicted by what TNG developed onscreen. I wish the TOS/movie-era RPG would have continued. I always enjoyed that, and much of the material sits (well-kept) in my closet (along with Axis And Allies, and other games from that period).
I never played another ST game again.
Consoles – mainly refer to the dedicated gaming systems such as the X-Box 360, PS3, and Wii (these are the current gen ones). Hand held systems are normaly refered to as hand helds or portables and are not suited for this type of game because they lack the processing power needed at this time.
Finally, a new ST game that involves EXPLORATION.
“I always assumed that TNG (and some of its early established canon) had simply made the game irrelevant. I remember the TNG update sourcebook, and that it was almost immediately contradicted by what TNG developed onscreen. “
…Yes and no. Most of the discrepancies resulted from Arnold refusing to assist FASA in getting the TNG expansion for the RPG “in line” with the actual series. According to several FASA staffers – as well as the late Mike Ford – most of the information FASA had to work with came from the various bootleg TNG Writer’s Guides that were floating around at the conventions. From the beginning, Arnold was flat-out stonewalling on assisting FASA, and it became pretty clear almost from Day One that he was intent on getting the license away from FASA. Note that prior to Arnold’s arrival, FASA and Paramount had a really strong working relationship. In fact, FASA’s minature designers were responsible for the Klingon Bird of Prey design, back when the original script called for the adversaries to be Romulans and not Klingons. Then “Melakon” came along and screwed everything up.
One of these days, someone needs to do to Arnold what Buzz Aldrin did to Bart Sibrel….
Finally! I can’t wait to beam in and eventually command an Akira-class starship!
The screenshots remind me of Yes album covers.
Sounds good.
Those wanting TOS-era missions needn’t worry. If STO is a success I can totally see them doing an expansion pack set in Kirk’s era. Maybe even a tie-in to JJ’s new movie (doubtful but possible).
I just hope it’s a freeroaming galaxy, Galactic Core… here we come!!
Hmmmm… I’m trapped in this here crate headin’ fur Instanbul wit’ military secrets trapped in me sub-conscience… if only someone could save me… someone wit’ a crowbar… then mentally meld out tha’ hidden info in me head…
Arrrrrr…
I haven’t participated in one of these yet, but maybe. The last time I did something like this was the on-line BBS’s where we would collectively get together and plot out our own adventure as long as our 2400 baud modem would stay connected. That is where my nom de guerre was established as I would always end up joining in late and all of the bridge positions were taken and I would ‘invent’ the role of spiritual advisor.
I am sure some of the ‘oldlings’ who still ‘troll the boards’ will remember my annoying them as they tried to blow up everything. Wow, this really shows my age, doesn’t it.
As for those who are concerned about generational issues, BE CREATIVE. Someone could take on the role of Mr. Atoz. And there always is the Office of Temporal Investigations – no problem with becoming active in “field research”. And if you have a starship at your command, I’ll bet any amount of latinum that some programmer is enough of a fan to have considered that someone will try a slingshot manuever.
I have seen enough complaints about the time-travel abuse rampant in the latter incarnations of Trek – use that to your advantage and go talk to Farmer Cochrane and his sheep pig. “That’ll do, pig; that’ll do.” Just watch out for fast moving clouds!
Hey, #49, some of us are still simming on BBS’s. Bravo Fleet is probably a bit different than the older stuff, but, hey, text-based is text-based.
Looking over the STO “About” page, I am not hopeful. The focus on “stunning space battles” and Away Teams for “face-to-face” confrontations signals to me that we have yet another ST game that is about to completely miss the point of ST.
Sigh. ST gamers, the drought continues into Year 12.