TOS set up for STO

[darrincates]

Hi!

I am an avid gamer and TOS fan/purist. I play EF I with all the K7 TOS maps and characters and mods ... alos Bridge Commander completely ovrehauled to be pure TOS ships, bridge, uniforms and even the complete collections of the original soundtrack music ever released in the background via an mp3 player mod. ... I have no interest in anything NON TOS ....

I was hoping ou guys might be able to answer a couple of questions about STO .... and I might end up a member of your guild eventually .... it looks like awesome fun ..... I signed up just to see if I could see screenshots of STO as TOS ....

1) I get sea sick when running/viewing over the shoulder games, but I see there is a 1st person camera hack for STO here:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=157643, Could one run around in 1st person all the time if he wanted? - If so, does it work in the ship and/or on the bridge and everywhere?

2)Assuming Connie is a possible ship for STO, can you walk around the whole ship from bridge to engineering to sickbay, etc? Even if you have to load different maps, is it an explorable, complete Connie?

3) Can you control the Connie like in Bridge Commander? Can I find some planet on a stellar map and warp there? ... Then beam down to explore/solve problem/fight TOS bad guys? Then beam back up, and go someplace else for another "mission"?

4) I see advertised at the STO site that you can make your own missions. Are there fan made missions avalable for DL and if so ...

5)Are there any missions for STO based on TOS episodes? I would love to play any of these episodes as "Missions" in STO if they existed: Doomsday Machine, Balance of Terror, Space Seed, The Corbomite Maneuver, Shore Leave, The Galileo Seven, Arena, The Devil in the Dark, Errand of Mercy, The City on the Edge of Forever, Amok Time, Mirror, Mirror, By Any Other Name, The Ultimate Computer, Bread and Circuses, Assignment: Earth, The Enterprise Incident, Spectre of the Gun, Day of the Dove, The Tholian Web, Wink of an Eye, ... well all the rest of season 3 .....

If all of this IS possible, I would love to know the steps needed to accomplish a TOS overhaul of STO ... links to TOS crew / TOS ships / TOS uniforms / TOS maps / etc ...

Thanks! - Darrin

[Jaarod]

Hi Darrin.

There is a ship interior pack for a TOS Connie that you can buy that looks really good. That gives you a bridge and interior that looks exactly like TOS era. There is engineering, sickbay, crew quarters, transporter room, rec room and bridge. They all look great.

The crew onboard the TOS interior are dressed in TOS uniforms and you can dress your captain and bridge officers in TOS era uniforms.

You can also fly a TOS Connie, a Movie era Connie, along with movie era Miranda's and Excelsior's and Oberth's.

Combat is entirely 3rd person, you can not control things from your bridge like in bridge commander.

You can get missions that take you to a variety of different worlds and you fly through deep space at warp. You fly towards a system and then load a map to switch to being in the system. Then some missions allow you to beam down, do some stuff and beam back up.

There are a lot of episodes that are inspired by TOS stories. You get to fight the Doomsday Machine, visit the Guardian of Forever and travel back in time, etc. But all of the missions are firmly set in the games timeline and are just inspired by TOS and take elements from there to make the mission.

There are fan made missions, which are free to play if you are a subscriber. Some people make TOS themed missions. Though currently, the TOS interiors are not yet available for use in player created missions. That should come in time.

You can do a lot of TOS things in STO, but it really is a complete Star Trek game. You'll never be able to see just TOS stuff and nothing else. It's a fun game with lot's of TOS era stuff you can use, but it's really about all era's.

[darrincates]

Thanks for the quick reply with great info Maarkean!

Maarkean wrote:

There is a ship interior pack for a TOS Connie .... They all look great.

Kewl ... I'l look for screenshots!

Maarkean wrote:

Combat is entirely 3rd person, you can not control things from your bridge like in bridge commander.

bummer! - this post advertised it was possible: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=157643

Maarkean wrote:

You can get missions that take you to a variety of different worlds ... Then some missions allow you to beam down, do some stuff and beam back up.

Awesome! - JUST what I was wondering ... COOP? Meaning my wife and I at seprate machines in our LAN room could work together on the same ship, doing the same missions together so to speak?

Maarkean wrote:

... the TOS interiors are not yet available for use in player created missions. That should come in time.

until they do, at least I could do the TOS missions that DO work with the mods ...

Maarkean wrote:

You can do a lot of TOS things in STO, ...

Thanks Maarkean! - It sounds like there might be enough to lure this TOS purist in! - .... as soon as it's free ....... TTYL! - Darrin

[Jaarod]

STO is an MMO, which is different than Bridge Commander or any other ST game. You play online in a virtual world with thousands of other people. That is the only way to play.

You can't mod the game like you can Bridge Commander since it's an MMO. You can purchase the TOS interior to use for your ship from Cryptic. But missions don't take place on your ship. You have space missions, where you have a 3rd person view of your ship and then you likely beam down to a planet. Once on the planet you have your character and your bridge officers.

Missions are done in small instances, ie the worlds you visit only have yourself or your team. You can play those with your wife or whomever you wish.

The game is currently not free, but will be going "Free to Play" sometime in the next few months. You'll be able try it out then for free.

[Vexashen]

You and your wife wouldnt be able to man the same ship outside of a role playing setting. You would each fly your own ships. However when you go into ground combat in a group you would each be part of the same away team instead of each beaming down with your own away team.

[Cleric Krystabella]

darrincates wrote:

Assuming Connie is a possible ship for STO, can you walk around the whole ship from bridge to engineering to sickbay, etc? Even if you have to load different maps, is it an explorable, complete Connie? Thanks! - Darrin

This is the video for the TOS Bundle. It gives you a basic tour of the different TOS items available.

http://youtu.be/6VXpoXqwNWU

[Sky Falls In Thunder]

darrincates wrote:

Thanks for the quick reply with great info Maarkean! Maarkean wrote: There is a ship interior pack for a TOS Connie .... They all look great. Kewl ... I'l look for screenshots! Maarkean wrote: Combat is entirely 3rd person, you can not control things from your bridge like in bridge commander. bummer! - this post advertised it was possible: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=157643 Maarkean wrote: You can get missions that take you to a variety of different worlds ... Then some missions allow you to beam down, do some stuff and beam back up. Awesome! - JUST what I was wondering ... COOP? Meaning my wife and I at seprate machines in our LAN room could work together on the same ship, doing the same missions together so to speak? Maarkean wrote: ... the TOS interiors are not yet available for use in player created missions. That should come in time. until they do, at least I could do the TOS missions that DO work with the mods ... Maarkean wrote: You can do a lot of TOS things in STO, ... Thanks Maarkean! - It sounds like there might be enough to lure this TOS purist in! - .... as soon as it's free ....... TTYL! - Darrin

Just to clarify, right now when you're teamed with your wife, she'll have to have her own copy of the game and account. When you're in space, each of you will be commanding your own ship, not both of you on the bridge, say one at Sciences and one in the Big Chair. When you beam down for a ground mission, however, you'll be running around together along with enough of your bridge crew (NPC officers) to make it a 5 person group.

[Shakara Fortal]

darrincates wrote:

Hi! I am an avid gamer and TOS fan/purist. I play EF I with all the K7 TOS maps and characters and mods ... alos Bridge Commander completely ovrehauled to be pure TOS ships, bridge, uniforms and even the complete collections of the original soundtrack music ever released in the background via an mp3 player mod. ... I have no interest in anything NON TOS .... I was hoping ou guys might be able to answer a couple of questions about STO .... and I might end up a member of your guild eventually .... it looks like awesome fun ..... I signed up just to see if I could see screenshots of STO as TOS .... 1) I get sea sick when running/viewing over the shoulder games, but I see there is a 1st person camera hack for STO here: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=157643, Could one run around in 1st person all the time if he wanted? - If so, does it work in the ship and/or on the bridge and everywhere? 2)Assuming Connie is a possible ship for STO, can you walk around the whole ship from bridge to engineering to sickbay, etc? Even if you have to load different maps, is it an explorable, complete Connie? 3) Can you control the Connie like in Bridge Commander? Can I find some planet on a stellar map and warp there? ... Then beam down to explore/solve problem/fight TOS bad guys? Then beam back up, and go someplace else for another "mission"? 4) I see advertised at the STO site that you can make your own missions. Are there fan made missions avalable for DL and if so ... 5)Are there any missions for STO based on TOS episodes? I would love to play any of these episodes as "Missions" in STO if they existed: Doomsday Machine, Balance of Terror, Space Seed, The Corbomite Maneuver, Shore Leave, The Galileo Seven, Arena, The Devil in the Dark, Errand of Mercy, The City on the Edge of Forever, Amok Time, Mirror, Mirror, By Any Other Name, The Ultimate Computer, Bread and Circuses, Assignment: Earth, The Enterprise Incident, Spectre of the Gun, Day of the Dove, The Tholian Web, Wink of an Eye, ... well all the rest of season 3 ..... If all of this IS possible, I would love to know the steps needed to accomplish a TOS overhaul of STO ... links to TOS crew / TOS ships / TOS uniforms / TOS maps / etc ... Thanks! - Darrin

Hi Darrin,

A few more things.

1) on the hack you mentioned. im not sure anyone has said this but i believe that "any" kind of hack is actually against the EULA and if Cryptic finds out could suspend or ban the account. Just a frendly warning so if you use it dont let anyone know 8P

2 & 3) On the TOS bridge sets. be aware also that unfortunatly the decks are NOT true decks from the old deck plan set that was put out in the 70's. all you get are the bridge a "crew deck" and an "Engineering deck". personally they are not bad and i enjoy using them for my RP. However their are descrepencies in shape and objects that are not there. If i remember correctly the dilithium chamber in the middle of the engineroom is missing. Also the entrance to the engine room is incorrect. but unless your a nitpicker like me you probably wont notice it. 8P

Beaming Down. you do have a transporter room on the decks. however last i checked it was just there for looks. when ever you get close to a planet a pop up will ask you if you want to beam down. if you say yes it will give you another pop up asking you to select your away team from your available crew (of Bridge Officers or BoFFs as they are refered to)

4) Yes. and there are some excellent, some alright and quite a few really bad missions. also you dont actually down load the missions. you will be able to search them and if you like one you will "Hail" starfleet and acquire the mission.

5) there is only one mission actually based on one of the TOS episodes (that i can remember) and that is based off the doomsday machine (my favorite episode) but its set in the 25th century and is about the klingons trying to capture and reactive the machine. there is also one set of missions that are a set of Time travel missions back to the 23rd century. Oh and the Devidian missions also jump back to the 23rd century.

As for foundry (Player created missions) in the 23rd century none that i know of. i have 4 stories in the wings waiting for the TOS bridge and sets to be made available to the foundry but till they are you cant create a TOS episode on a TOS ship.

You can only really use the TOS connie from levels 1-10 and you might be able to get away with it from 11 to 21 but as you get higher level it becomes really difficult to level past there from what i heard. however there is the TMP connie that becomes available at lvl 11 but again after about 30 it becomes really hard to level. at least that is what i have been told.

However you can use the TOS bridge and decks on any ship you want. So technically i could have a galaxy class with TOS bridge and decks. Me i dont do that becaus it ruins my immersion. However you can also do what i do. you are given x number of ship slots. i hang onto certain ships like my connies and when i RP i switch over to that ship and when i go level i switch back to my Vice Admiral ship. which in my case is a Lakota class.

Now im always the devils advocate so dont let the stuff i say turn you off. because right now there is a connie reit in the works. it was posted in the last engineering report. also even with its faults this game coninues to get better and better. even with the development team working on the extensive code changes for going to F2P they have still created the New Duty Officer System and have revamped 2 missions (one of which is the doomsday machine episode.) and given us season 4. so there is a lot of work being done on the system.

anyway i hope you do join us and if you do send me a friend invite to @rayvenwing and when im on i'll move to one of my lower level chars and come hang out 8)

[darrincates]

Hey thanks for all the detailed replies! - I've really been on the fence about STO, and after reading all of your posts, I WILL give it a whirl after it goes FTP

I guess I'm just surprised that there is nowhere to be found a TOS Simulator, that allows you to run the ship like Bridge Commander (1st person - http://www.mainecustomdesign.com/bc/screenz/ScreenShot088.jpg), walk around 1st person on your bridge 1st person(http://www.mainecustomdesign.com/bc/screenz/ScreenShot046.jpg), and all over the ship (http://www.mainecustomdesign.com/bc/shot0015.jpg), and allows you and your friends to go from planet to planet / mission to mission, 1st person, coop - http://www.mainecustomdesign.com/bc/shot0005.jpg / http://www.mainecustomdesign.com/bc/shot0000.jpg

That's what wife and I were hoping for ... where she or I could assume the captains role in 1st person and the other could be science officer, or perhaps choose a role, McCoy, Spock, Kirk and see it all from 1st person, ... fly the ship to assigned planet, walk through the ship to the transporter room, beam down (map load) solve problem there, all in 1st person, beam up when all is well, and get new orders and off to next planet / system ... etc ....


Do any of you know of a TOS sim like that?

See you all when it goes free! ... and thanks again! - Darrin

[darrincates]

PS, as a website developer, I am really impressed with this lively, colorful, not too BZ (but almost) site ...well done ...

www.mainecustomdesign.com - Wife and I doing small website development for for 12 years now ....

[Richard Silk]

darrincates wrote:

Do any of you know of a TOS sim like that? See you all when it goes free! ... and thanks again! - Darrin

Alas No - or I would be playing it

[darrincates]

dreamingbadger wrote:

Alas No - or I would be playing it

See, now why ISn't there a PC title like that? No demand? Unscriptable? ... seems odd that there isn't anything like that out there.

[Shakara Fortal]

darrincates wrote:

Do any of you know of a TOS sim like that? See you all when it goes free! ... and thanks again! - Darrin

I do but you need pen paper and dice 8P

[darrincates]

Shakara Fortal wrote:

... but you need pen paper and dice 8P

really? ... sounds like a game I used to stay up late playing with 5- 10 others in college (89-92) called DnD .... but there were many dice ... and little hand painted pewter characters with player sheets , and a DM ... wicked fun and addictive .... whats the TOS game you are reffering to? ... It sounds kewl!

[Richard Silk]

darrincates wrote:

Shakara Fortal wrote: ... but you need pen paper and dice 8P really? ... sounds like a game I used to stay up late playing with 5- 10 others in college (89-92) called DnD .... but there were many dice ... and little hand painted pewter characters with player sheets , and a DM ... wicked fun and addictive .... whats the TOS game you are reffering to? ... It sounds kewl!

Could be FASA Trek or LUG or Prime Directive (sorta TOS sorta not), byr PD is also comming in a new Mongoose Traveller flavour as well. Or anyone of a number of homebrews