Dear Developers: Suggestions for the sequel!

[bspartan128]

I am writing to the developers and the designers of this wonderful videogame adaption. The second sequel should be an Adventure/RPG hybrid with gameplay elements from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Fallen and Mass Effect with moral choices. The game stays entirely in the third-person perspective and displays a 3D screen on the top right, when using the Tricorder, showing scan visuals instead of the first-person view.

It would solve combat problems where the player is more agile and has more freedom of movement when shooting down enemies. I can see inspirations were taken from “Detroit: Become Human,” with the interactive, quick-time events but should be used only in respectable cutscenes.

Personally, I would like to see a holodeck and a virtual tour of the Resolute where users can explore the ship for fun and use the holodeck for training purposes just like in Voyager: Elite Force. Another feature that would be nice is multiplayer. Not as in versus combat but cooperative gameplay where you are assigned to special operations fighting alongside the federation and its allies and maybe space fights challenges (on the bridge) to keep your crew alive as long as possible to get rescued by Star Fleet. This is my feedback.

[Nemo]

This should have an option to skip combat alltogether and instead watch it in a cinematic way like in the series. “Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One” from Frogwares has that option.

Also I think Cooperative Multiplayer is awesome if done right. It should not be a coop fighting game though. Star Trek is about solving problems with dialog, so the multiplayer should rely much on diversity of opinions and skills of teammates like you want to approach a problem more tactical or using diplomacy, or more with science or engineering.

Talking about singleplayer again, I would like to see a ships counsellor to join the staff, who has more insights in the behavior and body language of the antagonist.

I pretty much liked the gameplay elements of Deep Space Nine: The Fallen, but not so much Voyager: Elite Force, which was too much of a shooter and not enough character and story development for my taste. The freedom to walk through the ship between the levels and talk to the crew, is nice though.

I would love to have the opportunity for deep branching dialogs with every crewmember on the ship and being less chased through the game by urge to advance the story. While the story should still be the core part that makes the game an interative cinematic experience, I could imagine an Off Duty mode, where you just socialize with the crew in the the Holodeck or the equivalent of Ten Forward. Remember in the Star Trek Series, the stories often if not always had an off duty part, which I think is essential for character development.

3rd person (shoulder) perspective has its benefits, but I would love to see an option here as well to experience the 1st person perspective seeing your own body like in Mirror’s Edge, which would make action scenes much more feasible as an option to quicktime events. For example duck-rolling under a closing bulkhead to get out of engineering like Geordi.

Here I have to admit that the scenes of Carter walking through the locked down ship opening the bulkheads with phaser shots and not being able to run or crouch while holding the phaser felt a little constraining.

I already mentioned more of my suggestions here: REVIEW: Great Story, Characters, Gameplay! Please make this an ongoing series. It's better than anything on TV!

[bspartan128]

Nemo, I agree with your points except for having the option to skip combats. It would help make the game more dramatic and keep the adrenaline going when solving problems. Another thing I forgot to mention is adding the reticle, either circle or square shaped when you are targeting your enemies to take down. I love the Target style in Mass Effect 2, so maybe the developers can borrow some ideas from that game.

Just as you mentioned, an Off-Duty mode with a Holodeck and exploring the Resolute would be a nice touch, interacting with the crew by going through their quarters and a library deck to educate fans about Star Fleet history, its origins, best Captains and learning about different species.

I also want to see an LCARS Type Menu on the start screen along with an
Art Gallery and a rationale with comments from the designers. I don’t mind seeing another Capatins desk, but I prefer seeing it with an LCARS monitor as the main menu, similar to Mass Effect 2.

[USSEnterprise]

I personally think any kind of multiplayer is out. Dramatic Labs is made up of mostly ex-Telltale employees, and multiplayer was never really Telltale delved into, though they did have the optional Crowd Play thing for their Batman games. If you guys want multiplayer, I think STO is your best and only option for final frontier multiplayer action.

Whatever Dramatic Labs next game is, be it ST or something else, I’m sure they’ll continue to refine the processes they learned here. I would personally love a chapter select option, like Telltale brought in at some point, maybe their second Walking Dead game? I made it a point to get all the trophies for this, and I will admit playing it three times back-to-back just to get that last trophy I missed was something of a PITA. Plus, it’s easier to see what would’ve happened for “smaller” choices, like if I said this instead of that, would it still have pissed off such and such a character.

Maybe it’s cos I did end up playing it three times right on top of one another, but I found by the last time I could almost do the phaser combat in my sleep! Just learned the patterns of when to look up (when there’s no sparks or clouds above your covering spot) and no more than two shots would take down a Tkon. Like one of the firefights on the Xeldi with Carter, I just flew through it. I’m honest to God not boasting here, but I think the phaser fights just happened to irregularly, and we didn’t get enough chances to get used to it on a first playthrough. Maybe a practice mode from the main menu would be a handy thing to have next time around?

[bspartan128]

@USSEnterprise That’s what I said earlier, a Holodeck on the Resoute with a training tutorial. It can also give other scenarios like learning to give orders to your crew and how to fly a shuttle.

[Nemo]

I agree combat can be an option and if it is an option it should be done good. I agree that Mass Effect is the reference for this genre.

But please also understand that I like the option to decide completely against combat in favour of diplomatic approach, and also if combat is enevitable, I like to have the option to just watch the combat like a movie instead of actively engaging in it.

I play games to chill out, not to get adrenaline going. I have enough adrenaline during my dayjob.

But I like the idea to have a separate tutorial for all gameplay elements before the actual story starts, so the flow is uninterrupted. It should however be another player character, as I think it feels too gamey if the decorated commander who got 2nd place in a test that makes the Kobayashi Maru test look like a picnic needs to learn the ropes again. Maybe she’s not qualified as commander then.