Dev Chat July 28th

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> How much
of a role will weapon arcs play in combat? Most of the emphasis seems
to have been placed on shield positioning but maneuverability and
weapon arcs can play just as large a role. There were a couple DS9
episodes where the Defiant used their maneuverability and tractor beam
to avoid the weapons of the more powerful Vor'cha and Negh'var class
ships.

<@CrypticZinc> Weapon arcs play a HUGE
role in space combat. Obviously, if we want positioning and facing to
be a big part in space combat - weapon arcs is the first thing you look
at.

<@CrypticZinc> Witht he exception of only a few, all the weapons
in STO have arcs to them. You can slot these weapons in forward facing
and rear facing slots.

<@CrypticZinc> Phasers tend to have large firing arcs, photon torpedos and cannons have smaller arcs.

<@CrypticZinc> Some weapons (mostly beams) have arcs that are larger than 180degrees -

<@CrypticZinc> if you slot one in the front and back - you can get some cool "broadsiding" action.

<@CrypticZinc> Yes - you can slot weapons in the back - although most ship have more slots in the front.

<@CrypticZinc> Cruiser classed ships tend to be a little more "omnidirectional"

<@CrypticZinc> Forward and Rear only.

<@CrypticZinc> You can still shoot to the side - given large firing arcs.

<@CrypticZinc> Like the >180 degree phasers.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> Does
Escort 2 mean, an Escort in Tier 2? And is the rumour that Tier 1 will
only have Light Cruisers (and therefore no Science, Cruiser, or Escort
ships) true?

<@Cryptic_geko> All players start with a
Light Cruiser. When they rank up to a Lt. Commander, they will gain
access to a new ship. That ship may be a Cruiser, a Science Vessel, or
an Escort. To get one of these ships, you will need the necessary
skill. Choosing one does not restrict your access to the others, but
you still need the right skill (you need Science Vessel Skill to get
science vessel). To get into the next science vessel, you will need to
be a Commander rank and have skillpoints in "Research Science Vessel"
(which unlocks towards the end of the "Science Vessel" skill). So you
can go deep with your skills and ships, or you can go wide.

<@Cryptic_geko> So you can go deep with your skills and ships, or you can go wide.

<@CrypticZinc> [LF]NiomoLire Craig, can we have more than one Tier 2,3,4 ship?

<@CrypticZinc> Yes

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> Is it
possible to level up all 3 trees enough that you will be able to pilot
all 3 types equally well?

<@Cryptic_geko> Yes exracon. its on open skill system. but it will take you a while.

<@CrypticZinc> Firing Arcs - there are
only forward and reverse slots to put weapons in. The weapon defines
it's arc. There are a lot of different arcs in the game. 45, 90, 180,
270, etc...

<@Bizarro_Daeke> Will the science vessel be able to dump radiation?

<@Cryptic_geko> there is an Eject Warp plasma skill in the game.
It stalls skip engines, causes damage and reveals cloaked ships. But
its not limitted to science vessels.

<@CrypticZinc> We can even define the
offset so that a weapon arc can be a 45degree arc but 90degrees off to
the side. We don't have any of those weapons in right now - but we
could do it.

<@Cryptic_geko> wider firing arcs typically mean less damage. Canons have narrow firing arcs, but hit hard.

<@CrypticZinc> Loekii Okay, so arcs are still relatively limited,
depending on the weapons slotted into the spot. So it could be some
tactical choices there on your build --- stronger punch but smaller
arc, etc.

<@CrypticZinc> Exactlly

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> Titan7963> Last
friday we found that the Klingons have a "carrier" type ship that is
massively huge. Will the Federation have a "carriar" type vessel also?

<@Cryptic_geko> Probably not at launch. We want each side to have distinct gameplay

<@Bizarro_Daeke> Can i target one subsytem with
phasers and a different one with torpedoes at the same time ?

<@Cryptic_geko> no, when you target a subsystem, your attacks are
focused on a particular system. you cant spread the attack.

<@Cryptic_geko> HomoTrek[FYAD]> will there be thermonuclear warheads

<@Cryptic_geko> No, but there is a Tri-Cobalt device

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> Will there be any reason other
than personal preference to use small ships in end-game content and
will there be incentive for a wide variety of ships in a fleet/task
force/group for combat operations? For example, if I want to use the
BoP will that be viable or will it hurt my group if I use it instead of
the Negh'var in my hangar? I know you've said that tier and combat
effectiveness isn't entirely dependent on size, but where is the line?

<@CrypticZinc> Yes!

<@CrypticZinc> We want to encourage fleets in the end game to be made up of many different configurations of ships.

<@Cryptic_geko> Yes, a player's Vor'cha ship is not necessarily
better than another player's Bird of Prey. Toe-to-toe, a Vor'cha would
pound a Bird of Prey. But a BoP is fast, hard to hit, and a master of
cloaking in combat. BoPs can do cloaking runs, which balances the
playing field very well.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> There was talk about Fleets
building ships earlier in the dev cycle. Has that been scrapped, put
off to a later date...? I am interpreting your answer to Manx's
question to mean that grouped/endgame rewards will be the main benefit
of grouped fleet players, not resource networks, crafting, etc...

<@CrypticZinc> Put off to a later date
(post launch) in the very least. There will still be items and rewards
towards the endgame where you will want to be in a fleet to gain better
access - but there will be no Fleet owned items. (At least administered
by the game)

<@Cryptic_geko> bmckenna[Fark]. and will proton torpedoes actually hit all the time like they do in the movies

<@Cryptic_geko> Its photon torpedo (not proton - was that a trick
question). They don't always hit in the movies and they don't always
hit in STO.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> Just a reminder - Please send your questions into Bizarro_Daeke and Bizarro_Rekhan

<@Cryptic_geko> Ix_Forres. Once more, in
the vain hope it will be answered: Will we have control over internal
ship systems? Power, impulse, warp, computers, environmental systems,
idf/sif etc? And will we be able to affect other ship's in supportive
or offensive ways? And, of course, can we eject the warp core or
antimatter stores of our ship?

<@Cryptic_geko> You can transfer power between systems. and yes, you can buff friendly ships in many ways.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> Tostig> Will the end
game all be based around fleets/raids? Or will there be solo/small
group content to get the "best" gear?

<@CrypticZinc> We'll get specific about all the endgame options
at a later date - (sorry if I'm punting a little here) - but trust that
there will be multiple endgame options. There will be endgame "Fleet"
sized raids - there will also be content that can be solo'd to advance
a player through endgame.

<@Bizarro_Daeke> Sorry guys, give us one second. There are a ton of questions to dig through.

<@Bizarro_Daeke>
Will we have to spend some form of money to buy ships, or will there be
an option to "get it" from the KDF or Starfleet once we reach a certain
level?

<@Cryptic_geko> You will not buy ships with a resource or
"money". You will, however, earn reputation with your faction that you
need to spend to gain access to ships. There are, of course, other
pre-requisites to gaining access to a ship - Rank and skill.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> That's about it for us, folks. Thanks to
everyone who joined for the chat and asked questions. Be sure to stop
by the official site for news on the next dev chat!

Nice dev chat. Finally some news about space combat.
And lol, 'proton' torpedoes.

I like that there was mention of the ability to broadside.

<@CrypticZinc> Put off to a later date
(post launch) in the very least. There will still be items and rewards
towards the endgame where you will want to be in a fleet to gain better
access - but there will be no Fleet owned items. (At least administered
by the game)


Hmmm - wonder what that means?

dru_mcd wrote:<@CrypticZinc> Put off to a later date
(post launch) in the very least. There will still be items and rewards
towards the endgame where you will want to be in a fleet to gain better
access - but there will be no Fleet owned items. (At least administered
by the game)


Hmmm - wonder what that means?

I was wondering the same thing myself, It kind of leaves the door open to have fleet station at a later date but not administered by the Game operators...
Interesting indeed!

BTW Dru, I really like your new avatar !