Star Trek Online - "Boldly going where Everyone has gone before"

[Mrbloodworth]

Entry 5.0 - "Interactions in Action"
Stardate 61390.2 (December 4th, 2007)

Hola, STO fans, and welcome back to the DevLog! There's something darned cool lurking in this entry, so let's skip the endearingly goofy banter and get right to it...

Over the past few DevLogs we've primarily focused on a sampling of the low-level processes of STO development, taking a peek at terrain generation, object design, and version testing, among other things.

Today we'd like to seriously shift gears, and start revealing a little bit about the actual game systems themselves. We'll start with a deceptively simple game mechanic that's deucedly difficult to nail down: the Interaction System.

What's the Interaction System you ask? In a nutshell, the Interaction System controls every non-combat, player-to-NPC interaction in the game. If you want to talk to a Ferengi shopkeeper, it goes through the Interaction System. Need to get some additional phaser training at the local Starfleet Academy? That's the Interaction System. Want to beam down to a planet? Interaction System. Responding to a distress call from a crippled starship? That's the Interaction System, too. In fact, when one is done tallying up the mission givers, trainers, vendors, Transwarp Terminal operators, Dahar Masters, helpful cadets and informative colonists, you'll find that there are just about as many peaceful interactions in Star Trek Online as the phasers-and-bat'leths variety. Put plainly, the Interaction System is the glue that holds all the other systems of STO together, transforming a bunch of disconnected (though spectacularly well designed and balanced) phaser fights into an actual game, so it's vitally important that we get it "just right."

As we design, implement, and refine our Interaction System, we're trying to keep a few basic goals in mind:

    * Keep it Simple - The less clicks and extraneous buttons the better.
    * Keep it Intuitive - The best Interaction System is one the player can figure out without any instruction.
    * Keep it Consistent - No matter where the player is (ground, space, another dimension) or what kind of interaction he's engaged in (dialogue, buying, training, obtaining missions, etc.) the widgets of the Interaction System's interface should behave in a consistent manner.
    * Keep it Trek - A blanket goal of STO, but one that bears repeating.
    * Keep if Fun - You'd be surprised how often this gets forgotten.

So, what can you interact with in STO? A better question might be: what CAN'T you interact with?

When playing on the "ground" (the surface of a planet, the promenade of a space station, or the interior of an "abandoned" Borg cube, etc.), players will use the Interaction System to chat with terrified aliens, order cups of Earl Grey from station replicators, launch games of chance from charming Dabo girls, and get missions from Starfleet superiors, among scores of other activities. All of these interactions, from the mundane to the sublime, will be launched by the most casual of mechanisms ("Keep it Simple"): a single right-click of the mouse on a neutral or friendly NPC.

While flying through space in a starship, players will use the Interaction System in exactly the same way ("Keep it Consistent")... but the NPCs the player will interact with will reflect more of the awesome diversity of the Star Trek universe. In space, players can respond to hails from officials on distant planets, or get orders from the commanders of besieged space stations, or do business with the owners of untrustworthy Orion shipyards, simply by right-clicking on those planets, space stations, or shipyards in exactly the same manner as if they were on the ground. In fact, the Interaction System is often the key to the player's ability to transition between space and ground, as ably illustrated by our VERY FIRST RELEASED IN-GAME SCREEN SHOT:

Vulcan Village

Unfortunately, while the Interaction System of Star Trek Online may be nigh-infinitely expandable, our blog space is not, which is why it's time to bring this DevLog entry to a close. Please stay tuned for the next DevLog, which will reveal even more interesting tidbits about the development, systems, and content of Star Trek Online.

On behalf of everyone here at STO, thanks for the continued enthusiasm for Star Trek Online,
Mike Stemmle, Story Hologram

PS Big thanks to Greg, Steve, Daron, and Sean for helping to get this DevLog together.

Source

Just wanted to add, i made this a while back when they were first talking about the game. lol. It was a joke then....

[Murgos]

Did I remember to sign up for the beta for this one?

I've suddenly become interested.

[Ghambit]

HAH!  That devlog  screenie looks just like one from Earth and Beyond... 'cept instead of a Jenquai Explorer, there's a Starfleet heavy cruiser there.  (sigh)
Even the damned font is the same. Along with the cartoony NPC avatar.  'Course, the UI is standard fair.  Makes me wonder though, "why even have a ship at all?"   

[WayAbvPar]

Heh. I didn't notice the 'I made this' part before I saw that screenshot. I was like 'CCP's lawyer has some work to do!'.

[Kirth]

when I saw that last dialog option thats given to that alien I thought it should be "bend over!"

[Venkman]

These guys are approaching a LoTRO/Turbine-esque level of verbosity for what amounts to "what you've seen before, but with more words". A lengthy description of how UI systems are built in general and a UI that "proves" it? Come on. I think I believe the actual space shot is real, though there's something about the ultra-bright gleamies on some of the celestial bodies that has a very Photoshop feel to them. But not for a second do I think the user interface buttons and dialog box are real.

For one, they depart way too much from the LCARS they've been hawking for a year. For another, they just look pre-Alpha rough in layout with icon-art that looks lifted from another game.

That wouldn't bother me except some'll likely use this as a "proof" that the game is still in progress. I believe Mrbloodworth's screenshot more

[Ghambit]

These guys are approaching a LoTRO/Turbine-esque level of verbosity for what amounts to "what you've seen before, but with more words". A lengthy description of how UI systems are built in general and a UI that "proves" it? Come on. I think I believe the actual space shot is real, though there's something about the ultra-bright gleamies on some of the celestial bodies that has a very Photoshop feel to them. But not for a second do I think the user interface buttons and dialog box are real.

For one, they depart way too much from the LCARS they've been hawking for a year. For another, they just look pre-Alpha rough in layout with icon-art that looks lifted from another game.

That wouldn't bother me except some'll likely use this as a "proof" that the game is still in progress. I believe Mrbloodworth's screenshot more

I'd like to be hopeful they'd stick with the LCARS, but they've already come out and said that they're shifting their design to a more "casual" player (and a more traditional UI).  I assume they THINK casual people will like your typical RPG-UI, which is what they've shown in their screenie.  So far, I see nothing inspiring.  It's EnB with ST: Legacy ships.  Even the graphics for Space look like EnB, cartoony (every time I look at those 'roids I think of blasting rocks with my mining laser and an ugly space-squid popping out of it).  I was hoping they'd do something akin to the Infinity space-gaming engine:  http://www.infinity-universe.com/Infinity/index.php   But nope... aint happenin. 

In other news:  here's Shatner's take on the movie
http://www.livevideo.com/video/ShatnerVision/A3249AA2F28F47F1B643D9D6050C6277/shatner-s-thoughts-on-the-new-.aspx

[Venkman]

I'd buy that except for this recent post by the lead UI designer on the (current, I think) top STO fansite:

Hi everyone,

My name is Steve Mason and I'm the lead UI designer & engineer for STO. I come to this site every now and then to read the threads about UI issues and it's always really inspiring to see. Star Trek is unique in that it's one of the few science fiction universes that has a distinct look and feel for its computer UI, so it's not surprising that so many people are concerned with the interface in our game. I'm a huge fan of Star Trek and Mike Okuda's work, so it's been a dream-come-true to be able to work on this project. In fact, one of the reasons why I came to work on this game was because I was scared they would get someone who didn't have a deep affinity for LCARS and all the cool graphics in the shows! As a fan, I was already looking forward to being able to use a Star Trek computer interface in an MMORPG.

So, for the last 18 months or so, I've been working on a new LCARS design style that will not only look cool, but also *work* well. Remember, LCARS was made twenty years ago, before modern computer GUI standards had been established yet. You know, things like movable windows, scrollbars, drop down menus simply didn't exist back then, at least not in the mainstream (mac doesn't count, sorry). Heck, LCARS was intended to be used by touching it with your fingers, or speaking --- not using a mouse and keyboard. Not only that, but really it was intended to replace the TOS bridge control surfaces which were covered in pentiometers, sliders and blinking lights! So it's been a really interesting challenge to take the graphic design and interface style of LCARS, and apply it to the needs of a sophisticated, modern application like an MMO.

There's been a lot of speculation on here about what the UI might be like, or how LCARS will work on terminals a la Doom 3. And I can't talk about anything that might provide clues about gameplay, but I can say this:

Be prepared for a new LCARS style. Think modern, slick, clean, and elegant. Think shiny, black, and serious. Think iPhone. It's going to feel good. The design of the UI has been driven directly by the needs of gameplay. The last thing we want is the for the UI to get in the way of actually playing the game.

If anyone has questions about the UI for STO, or just LCARS in general, I'd be happy to answer. Obviously I can't talk about anything that might be considered "newsworthy" -- I'm leaving that up to Daron and Mike , but I think more abstract discussions about the design of the UI are safe territory.

Now, granted, the shot above is way early (and I still believe somewhat manufactured). But you can't just slap something as so-very-not-normal-MMO like LCARS atop an otherwise-you've-played-it MMO.

[Margalis]

Is it just me or was all that text a description of a right-click menu?

[schild]

It's not just you.

[tmp]

Is it just me or was all that text a description of a right-click menu?

Nope; though that's wall of text to describe right click on NPCs with exclamation mark, by the sound of it.

The big question is probably if the exclamation marks will be yellow, futuristic blue, sleek iPhone black or maybe bold and adventurous purple?

[UnSub]

Is it just me or was all that text a description of a right-click menu?

Can't you read? It's an Interaction System! I can't wait until they start talking about their Visual User Screen Display and Character Development Pathways! 

[Ragnoros]

My bad, that wasn't from the official site. 

[Venkman]

Sure you aren't talking about MrBloodworth's created image? The STO image is hosted on their site (though it would have been more entertaining if that was hosted on Fileshack  ).

[Chinchilla]

Right click, mouse wheel to scroll down, and left click to accept.  WOW!  Sorry... all that gibberish gave me the same impression.

[stray]

Hate to spoil the party, but I'm not sure what the gibberish is. I think the LCARS interface is rather cool, and not a waste of time to talk about when making an ST game. UI is serious business! Also, if you don't know who Michael Okuda is, then get the fuck out of the thread!   

Not sure why everyone's focused on right clicking either. It might not have any right clicking at all. He could just be talking about how the mmo hotkey bar or how the HUD would resemble LCARS or some kind of kiosk-like shit. Hopefully it won't take up too much screen real estate though.

[Margalis]

When playing on the "ground" (the surface of a planet, the promenade of a space station, or the interior of an "abandoned" Borg cube, etc.), players will use the Interaction System to chat with terrified aliens, order cups of Earl Grey from station replicators, launch games of chance from charming Dabo girls, and get missions from Starfleet superiors, among scores of other activities. All of these interactions, from the mundane to the sublime, will be launched by the most casual of mechanisms ("Keep it Simple"): a single right-click of the mouse on a neutral or friendly NPC.

[Miasma]

When playing on the "ground" (the surface of a planet, the promenade of a space station, or the interior of an "abandoned" Borg cube, etc.), players will use the Interaction System to chat with terrified aliens, order cups of Earl Grey from station replicators, launch games of chance from charming Dabo girls, and get missions from Starfleet superiors, among scores of other activities. All of these interactions, from the mundane to the sublime, will be launched by the most casual of mechanisms ("Keep it Simple"): a single right-click of the mouse on a neutral or friendly NPC.

I wonder what they were considering before some wizkid said "holy shit there's another button on the mouse we could use".

Radial Menu that you have to escape out to see.
Alt + Shift + left click to talk.
Target them with left click then use /commands to interrogate.
Petition a GM each time you meet an NPC and have them go through scripts.
Distribute a book with the game where people can look up the NPC in an index and read the text.
Have NPCs randomly give out quests and shout at anyone near them.
Don't use any dialogue at all because it's just too complicated, revisit the idea when direct mental communication technology is available making this feasible.

[Ghambit]

Personally, I like it better when my right-click button is reserved for more pressing matters.  Earl Grey and Dabo Girls are great, but I'd rather fix an EPS conduit or chisel a hole in someone's thorax with a laser scalpel.

[Murgos]

Personally, I like it better when my right-click button is reserved for more pressing matters.  Earl Grey and Dabo Girls are great, but I'd rather fix an EPS conduit or chisel a hole in someone's thorax with a laser scalpel.

Ahh, cutting edge context sensitive right click.  Gotta be careful with that level of interactive control, go to far and people start to complain that the game plays itself.

[Ghambit]

Personally, I like it better when my right-click button is reserved for more pressing matters.  Earl Grey and Dabo Girls are great, but I'd rather fix an EPS conduit or chisel a hole in someone's thorax with a laser scalpel.

Ahh, cutting edge context sensitive right click.  Gotta be careful with that level of interactive control, go to far and people start to complain that the game plays itself.

Believe you me, I'm on your side with that one.  Ultimately, my point was exactly what you're saying.  What it SEEMS like they're doing is making the "right-click solves all" button.  I'd rather not have that happen. 

[Furiously]

You sure they shouldn't take the SCAR-L interface to their face?

[Mrbloodworth]

It never ends.

Kohnke v. Perpetual - The Opening Round

Posted December 11th, 2007 by Ethec

How a new civil case hints at the real story behind Perpetual Entertainment's moves in recent months and the demise of Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising.

by Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle

December 11, 2007 - Details surrounding Perpetual Entertainment's dealings subsequent to the cancellation of Gods & Heroes are coming to light as Ten Ton Hammer uncovered court documents of a new complaint just submitted to California's Superior Court last week. The allegation: the San Francisco-based developer fraudulently transferred valuable assets (like the Star Trek Online license) to an insider-owned corporation at a loss, leaving those with a financial stake in the now-defunct MMORPG Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising without hope of payment save legal recourse.

Court documents reveal
surprising new allegations
against Perpetual

According to documents received last Friday in California's Superior Court for the County of San Francisco, public relations firm Kohnke Communications, Inc. – best known for promoting the efforts of numerous MMORPG developers like EA Mythic, Red 5, Turbine, and NetDevil – is suing Perpetual Entertainment, Inc. for breach of contract, fraudulent transfer, fraud, and various other charges for damages between $80,000 and $290,000, perhaps much more in terms of punitive or exemplary damages.

The complaints stem from allegations that Perpetual sold valuable assets like the Star Trek Online (STO) license to P2 Entertainment, Inc., a thinly veiled yet separate corporate entity, before executing the Perpetual ABC or "Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors" (a liquidation mechanism allowed by states like California as a less expensive alternative to the extensive litigation surrounding bankruptcy). The case could have drastic implications for future of the pre-alpha Star Trek Online title.

Pushing the Corporate "Reset Button"?

The problem was in Perpetual's valuation of transferred assets and the timing of the disclosure, or apparent lack of disclosure, of P2 and the ABC.  While the ABC was executed on October 10th, 2007 and the sale of select Perpetual assets at less than market value allegedly took place prior to that date, Kohnke and other creditors had not been informed about the ABC's execution more than a month and a half later. The transfer of assets left Perpetual financially destitute while Perpetual representatives continued to promote an image of calm in the wake of the cancellation of Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising. This, according to the complaint, constitutes a breach of Perpetual's contract with Kohnke with intent to defraud and a violation of the California Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act.

To quote the complaint, which in itself reads like a courtroom drama: "Star Trek Online Executive Producer Daron Stinnett published comments on November 28, 2007 at startrek-online.net, flatly denying that Perpetual was in the process of liquidating and representing that Perpetual was still an ongoing concern: 'There was also a report about PE liquidating our assets. That report relates to a transaction that took place a while back. And while I can't go into details right now, I want to assure the community that the entire Star Trek team is still here working hard…'

"Just one day later, the story changed dramatically. On November 29, 2007, Keene [Joseph Keene, an officer of both Perpetual and P2 with a 'significant equity stake in the company'] confirmed to counsel for Kohnke that Perpetual had executed the ABC, and that all of Perpetual's assets were in the hands of Perpetual ABC. However, Keene also admitted that, prior to executing the ABC, Perpetual transferred certain assets to P2.

"On information and belief, the assets transferred to P2 include Perpetual Entertainment trademarks and copyrights, the perpetual.com domain name, and assets related to Star Trek Online, including code and the license… Perpetual received less than market value for the assets it transferred to P2, and the transfer made Perpetual insolvent (or worsened Perpetual's existing insolvency)."

There seems to be a page two on TTH, but the link is broken for me.

[Ghambit]

nice find...  but sad, real sad.
Unfortunately, this is the direction gaming is going these days.  Hardcore speculation and crusty old finance guys with their hands in the cookie jar mucking up the works.

[Wershlak]

Hopefully they transferred the Ferarri and the 30" monitors over to P2.

 

[TripleDES]

Farewell, STO, we barely knew you!

[Venimor]

(sigh)

That Star Trek Curse is a playful animal, isn't it?

[WayAbvPar]

So STO was wearing the red uniform during the away mission?

[Venimor]

So STO was wearing the red uniform during the away mission?

Yep. But it doesn't really matter what color shirt you're wearing.

I feel like I'm on the trail of a killer. Like that investigative reporter McGee, following the Incredible Hulk around the country.

[geldonyetich2]

Page 2 worked for me.

Indeed, McKibbin said as much in his final address to the Gods & Heroes community: "After assessing all of Perpetual's opportunities, we have made the decision to put the development of Gods & Heroes on indefinite hold... Moving forward, we're shifting our collective focus, resources and development efforts to Perpetual's Platform Services division and Star Trek Online , thereby ensuring that the game lives up to the high level of expectation set by the dedicated Star Trek fan base."

Apparently, they figure Star Wars isn't dead despite their attempting to sell something they don't own.

[Mrbloodworth]

Page 2 worked for me.

I still can't see it. =(

[geldonyetich2]

A Conspiracy Against Rome

To make matters worse for Perpetual, Kohnke alleges that the scheme to defraud Perpetual's creditors goes far deeper than paper transfers to a malformed corporation. According to Kohnke, Perpetual cancelled Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising in some part due to between $80,000 and $280,000 in incentives that would be owed to Kohnke upon the launch of the moribund game and the subsequent financial impact on the development of Star Trek Online. Under the third count, "Intentional Interference with Contract," Kohnke's counsel points out that "the reason that Gods & Heroes was cancelled had nothing to do with the commercial expectations for that game – it was cancelled solely due to the desire of Keene, McKibbin [Chris McKibbin, officer and significant equity shareholder in Perpetual and P2], and P2 to concentrate on Star Trek Online, which they believed was adversely affected by Gods & Heroes."

Chris McKibbin

Indeed, McKibbin said as much in his final address to the Gods & Heroes community: "After assessing all of Perpetual's opportunities, we have made the decision to put the development of Gods & Heroes on indefinite hold... Moving forward, we're shifting our collective focus, resources and development efforts to Perpetual's Platform Services division and Star Trek Online , thereby ensuring that the game lives up to the high level of expectation set by the dedicated Star Trek fan base."

But Kohnke saved its strongest words to inveigh against perceived fraud on the part of Keene, McKibbin, Perpetual, and P2. Kohnke alleges that, as early as September 27th, Perpetual knew that Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising would be cancelled and, subsequently, Perpetual would not be able to satisfy its contractual obligations to Kohnke. Still, as late as October 9th (a day before the ABC's execution) and according to Kohnke, Perpetual asked Kohnke to prepare promotional materials related to a new round of funding. Such actions in bad faith were, in Kohnke's words, "fraudulent, oppressive, and with malice."

No one at Perpetual Entertainment was available for comment by phone at the time this article was released. A case management conference date for Kohnke v. Perpetual is set for early May 2008.

[schild]

Hm. I like a lot of the people at Kohnke.

But if they're charging that much for PR, it's a fucking scam shop.

Their PR isn't that good.

In fact, I could make more hype for a game than they could. Alone. With nothing but a computer and a phone and photoshop.

[Murgos]

Eh?  It's bullshit.  Kohnke is suing to get money for INCENTIVES.  Incentives that weren't due unless the game launched.  They don't want money owed them, they want bonus 'good job' money for work they didn't do on a product that doesn't exist.

Sounds like greedy assmunchery to me.

[Mrbloodworth]

Eh?  It's bullshit.  Kohnke is suing to get money for INCENTIVES.  Incentives that weren't due unless the game launched.  They don't want money owed them, they want bonus 'good job' money for work they didn't do on a product that doesn't exist.

Sounds like greedy assmunchery to me.

Reads more to me that they ant PE to be exposed, they could care less about the money.

The whole situation on PE's side is some shady crap.