Star Trek Online: Klingon Raptor Revealed

GamersCircle has some information about one of the Klingon ships that will be making an appearance in Star Trek Online…

After the Dominion War, the Klingon Empire embarked on an aggressive period of starship design and construction to replace ships lost during the war and subsequent conflicts.

Facing the increasing demands of Chancellor Martok and the Klingon High Council to create more ships in less time, the design teams at the shipyards of Ty’Gokor looked to the past for inspiration for new ships for the Empire.

The Raptor class of the 22nd century was a small frigate intended for use as a scout ship. Its limited weapons and small crew compliment made it a ship for hit-and-run raids rather than extended conflicts. It was, according to lead designer Kurak of the House of Palkar, “capable of winning a battle, but not a war.”

The new Raptor shares the basic geometry of its ancestor but is larger and packs a much more powerful punch. The ship is classified as a destroyer and is fast, maneuverable and armed to the teeth.

An improved cloaking device allows it to travel at warp six or higher without radiating a subspace variance detectable by Federation sensors and particle dampeners limit the Raptor’s emissions of tetryon particles. Ablative tetraburnium alloy hull plating adapted from captured Federation technology allows the ship to fight longer and harder. Read more

Star Trek: Online Releases New Art

New screenshots for the Star Trek: Online MMORPG have appeared online.
As reported by IGN.com (UK), four new screenshots are available for the Star Trek: Online MMORPG, including a ship approaching a reddish planet, a cargo-type ship in space passing a doughnut-shaped rock, a planet-side scene complete with falling snow and an interior workspace.

To see the screenshots, head here.

Source

Star Trek Online: Changes and Story Update

As reported by Star Trek: Online and Wired, Infogrames, the parent company of Atari, has purchased Cryptic Studios, a leading developer of Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games. Cryptic Studios is the developer of Star Trek: Online, which is due to be released in 2010.

“The acquisition of Cryptic Studios brings to Infogrames an outstanding creative organization, with a proven track-record of success in the fast-growing MMO category,” said David Gardner, Infogrames CEO. “Cryptic’s success is founded on leading-edge technology and the vision of a seasoned executive management team. I am impressed with the tools and technology that Cryptic has developed to make MMOs less expensive to build. Creating vast worlds and interesting interactions can be very people intensive but with the use of Cryptic’s toolset they have a proven way of cutting average production costs in half. This is exactly the type of company we wanted to acquire in order to build Atari for the 21st century.”

“We share a common vision with Atari and their leadership team,” said John Needham, CEO of Cryptic Studios. “With our game development and online platform technology skills, we’re very excited about the opportunities that this unique combination with Atari creates. I am committed to helping Atari grow into a leading online game company and look forward to being part of the team.”

Meanwhile, as reported by Star Trek: Online, the background history of the Star Trek universe for the MMO game has been updated. The year is 2382 and according to the story, the situation with the Romulans is unstable and is a source of concern in both the Alpha and Beta quadrants. The Romulans are reluctantly forced to accept limited aid from the Federation due to the loss of some of their former agricultural planets. The Romulans also have political problems with internal political issues. And Klingons are waiting to take advantage of the Romulan woes. Read more

Diverting Power During Combat In Star Trek Online

This edition of Ask Cryptic is especially interesting for Star Trek fans wanting to know how combat is going to play out in Cryptic’s Star Trek Online. We now know that it will be possible to divert power from one system in the game to another. So a player will be able to drop engines by 40% and boost weapons with that diverted power, allowing them to make a heavier attack.

Related to this is the new knowledge that there won’t be a “mana bar” style power system in the game. Players will never have to worry about being able to fire their phasers because their energy is too low, but of course if they divert too much power from said phasers they won’t be hitting very hard with them. Another possibility — although unconfirmed as far as we know — would be if your phasers were damaged too much from concentrated fire.

Finally, we’re happy to hear that Cryptic is certain that a grouping of smaller ships will definitely be able to take down a larger battleship. This means that Star Trek Online’s leveling system will not be the norm, another plus for anyone hoping that the game won’t be “WoW with starships” or anything of the sort.

Source: Massively.com

More ‘Star Trek Online’ Answers

More details are given for Star Trek Online enabling fans to know what to expect when the game is released.

As reported by Star Trek Online and Startrek.gamona.de, questions ranged from weaponry and Federation foes, to space travel and time frames.

Both the Klingons and Federation will have access to martial arts or weapons. But Star Trek Online developers caution that “it may be more difficult for a Federation character to obtain a bat’leth or a Klingon Empire character to acquire a lirpa.”

And skills will be important. Players are cautioned that “a Federation character may be able to pick up a bat’leth and use it, but without training he or she will be less effective than a Klingon who has studied the use of the weapon. And certain martial arts may be limited by faction or race. Not everyone can perform a Vulcan nerve pinch.”

Combat isn’t limited to hand-to-hand. Starship combat will require that one has full control of one’s ship and that will be available to players. The player’s ship will be able to be maneuvered to protect vital systems while at the same time trying to attack the enemy’s weakest point.

And what about the enemy? Although the Romulans and the Dominion are penciled in as future player factions, players will make contact with those two empires before that. According to Star Trek Online, “But how could we call the game ‘Star Trek Online’ and not include the Romulans and the Dominion?”

Star Trek Online isn’t solely blasting the PetaQ Klingons to StoVoKor though. There are planets to visit and systems to explore. Players and their away teams can transport down to planets. However, if a planet or location is only accessible via shuttlecraft, the player won’t be able to manually fly the shuttle through the atmosphere and land on the surface of the planet.

Star Trek Online will have a progressive timeline. According to the developers, “Expect dramatic and subtle changes in the timeline and expect every change to make sense.”

To read more, head to the articles located here and here.

Source: TrekToday.com