Star Trek - The Final Frontier (Beta 1.0)

[rjord2021]

Working on a mod of this size can be very daunting and the end can seem unreachable....
However the way to get around this is to make sure you have the basics down first and then add the details later.

For example, images for characters and ships are cosmetic but the rest of the mod is game-play.

So even though I had spent time at the start to create individual portraits for each race, images for ships, characters etc were pretty much uniform as these were to be added in the end.

Doing it this way means I can get in plenty of game-play as I develop and test each section of the mod.

[rjord2021]

Two different versions of the D7 Battlecruisers that are in the mod......

[Dakkon7]

ORIGINAL: rjord1

My main development machine for this mod died and thanks to daily backups I have transferred the entire mod and workfiles across to my laptop.

Development continues.......

[:(] Jeez, close call. Hope you don't have anymore hardware problems going forward developing the mod.

[rjord2021]

The default procedure for landing party missions to planets or other missions is now simpler.Not everyone will want to play this mod with too much level of detail so by default I have toned down the complexity of landing parties, damage control, medical emergencies and so on.

For the rest of us, which includes myself, this mod will be detailed and anything can happen. You can have situations arise such as a fault while transporting down to the planet.
The landing party may be infected by an alien virus.
First contact with a new civilization may put one of the landing party in grave danger.
Passing back in time could result in the Federation been wiped from the mod..... a game ending disaster if Kirk fails.

One of the great things about Distant Worlds Universe is that you can be one ship on an adventure experiencing Kirk's full 5 year mission while the rest of the game plays out around you.

You could be working out how to get out of a tense situation on Andoria or Vulcan while ambassadors on Earth are negotiating with war hungry Klingons. By the time you finish the mission and leave the system the Federation and Klingons may be at war and you suddenly encounter a Klingon battleship.

[rjord2021]

Adding character names to all 75 races.

I am setting up the mod with classic battles with the Klingons and Romulans.

105 Klingons are featured in the mod and the Klingons are known by their Klingon name and not their English name.
It makes sense they would not refer to each other by their English name.

[rjord2021]

I am currently doing a full test of the mod using the Federation, Klingons, Romulans and Vulcans.

These are the 4 big races in Star Trek and I am making sure that the "feel" is right between these big 4 to recreate the atmosphere of the tv show.

[rjord2021]

Early Access Games....... Discover, play, and get involved with games as they evolve.
=====================================================================================

When you look on Steam you will see you will find games currently in development released in early alpha stage which are updated frequently. This allows game players to try the game in its very early development and give the developers feedback about bugs etc. and is very popular.

I am considering doing the same with the mod.

The plan would be to release an early stable version of the mod and then release updates weekly as the mod progresses.
While the mod would have all 75 races appearing the playable races would be as the Federation specifically with intense battles with the Vulcans, Klingons and Romulans.


Please give me feedback if this would be something you would be interested in.

This would also apply for the other mods I am working on

: Star Trek Voyager
: Star Wars
: Doctor Who
: Stargate
: Battlestar Galactica

Each of these mods are being designed with gameplay different from other mods so far released for Distant Worlds Universe.

[rjord2021]

12 characters from Star Trek Discovery are in the mod in positions they would occupy 10 years after the Discovery era.

[wolfe69]

Look interesting, just wondering are you doing this all by yourself? Noticed you started this thread back in March of last year. My favorite race is the Romulans, wasn't sure if you can only play The Federation or any major factions.

I couldn't see the map well, just wondering if you already place Alpha Centauri, if you do, there no need to place a habit planet there, cause there is none support human life there. Mostly barren and volcanic rocks, can be like Vulcan. Just noticed there were miscaluation about that system, cause Alpha Centauri has a low level red dwarf star and very low energy hitting that planet or planets.

[rjord2021]

Yes I am the only one working on the project so it is taking time to do.

You can play any of the 75 races in the mod but at the start the Role Play is limited to the Federation with Klingons and Romulans also being role play at a later date.

[wolfe69]

Cool, any ideas when this will be ready to test to play?

[rjord2021]

Development on the mods may be on hold for the next 48 hours.

Seven oçlock this morning my internet died and I have just been told that it could take 48 hours before a tech comes round to fix the line.

Will try to do work on the mods which does not require an Internet connection but this will slow things down a little.

[rjord2021]

The mod will begin with the Enterprise having the bridge crew as seen in the second pilot episode.
Missing at the start will be

Spock
Leonard McCoy
Uhuru
Sulu
Checkov

They will be transferred over to the Enterprise at different times during the mod.

Spock will appear on the Enterprise once First Contact with Vulcan occours and a couple of other conditions are met.
McCoy for example may join the Enterprise when Chief Medical Officer Piper retires, is wounded or is killed.
Sulu and Checkov will join the Bridge crew when the existing bridge crew manning Helm or Navigation retire, are wounded or killed.

If something happens to Spock after he joins the Enterprise then Checkov will replace him on the bridge as Acting Science Officer.


The list below are the bridge crew of the Enterprise as of the second pilot.

Captain Kirk
Chief Medical Officer Piper
Chief Engineer Scott
Communications Officer Dezago
Navigator Lee Kelso
Helmsman Gary Mitchell
Dr Elizabeth Dehner
Yeoman Smith
Acting Helmsman Alden
Acting Helmsman or Acting Navigator Hadley
Acting Helmsman or Acting Navigator Leslie

[rjord2021]

This coming weekend I am making changes to the beginning stages of the mod.

Federation, Klingon and Romulan ships eventually added warp drive technology to their ships however weapons such as phasers, disruptors and photon torpedoes came later. So prior to these technologies being researched the ships will be using atomic weapons.

This adds in a danger if you use the role play as atomic weapons were more likely to blow up in their pre-fire chambers than against an enemy ship's hull plating.

In the Balance of Terror episode it was noted that while the Enterprise had warp technology the Romulans were still limited to impulse drive. Some tweaks are being made to the Romulan settings to try and recreate this but mostly the introduction of warp technology will be determined how quick the Romulans research warp technology.

Warp technology must be researched and will not be discovered when finding alien ruins.

[rjord2021]

Sean Finnegan hated James T Kirk and at Starfleet Academy he would beat the living daylights out of Kirk on more than one occasion. As a result Kirk detested Finnegan as he always came off second best with Finnegan being the better scrapper.

Saying this I could never understand the Shoreleave episode where the character of Finnegan was more like the Joker from Batman instead of showing Finnegan as the character who frequently tormented Kirk. Watching the episode I never get the impression that these two truly hated each other though I do understand that Finnegan would often have that maniacal grin on his face when confronting Kirk.

Well Finnegan is now in the mod and his bitterness towards Kirk has intensified making him a very dangerous character. Finnegan was court martialed and thrown out of Starfleet and has vowed revenge against Kirk.

Finnegan appeared in Star Trek Beyond as a different character who never meets Kirk and in the mirror universe Kirk actually kills Finnegan.

In Shoreleave Finnegan has not aged and is the same age as Kirk remembers him in the academy back in 2250.

In the mod it is 16 years after Finnegan and Kirk first meet and Finnegan is older, no longer part of Starfleet and I am working on how and where he appears in this mod.

[rjord2021]

Harcourt Fenton Mudd now has a bigger role in the mod as he was one of a small number of characters outside the Enterprise crew to appear in 3 episodes of TOS or TAS.

[rjord2021]

Characters and races in this mod are added only if they were in the TOS era or there is a valid reason how they would appear there.

Locutus of Borg was a character which had a lot of potential in story lines but sadly was limited to 2 episodes.

Locutus was created because there were difficulties in negotiations with Patrick Stewart and Locutus was created as a means of writing out Captain Picard at the end of Season 3 if negotiations failed.

Everything in the timeline of this mod has changed beginning with First Contact with the Vulcans never happening and the Archer era being completely changed. This occurs when Locutus is not saved by the Enterprise-D and remains with the Borg and Locutus in a Borg cube travels back in Earth's history and changes the events of the past pre Archer era.

Though successful in stalling Earth's development of warp technology, Locutus discovers that the year 2266 will see the Federation reach out for the stars and once again become a threat to the Borg.

To stop this from happening Locutus travels to 2266 to build up Borg colonies with the sole aim of wiping out the Federation by killing off Captain James T Kirk.

[rjord2021]

As each of Starfleet's Constituition class starships finish construction and are ready for their first mission in Distant Worlds they are manned by bridge crew as per official Star Trek crew manifest.

This is optional and if you decide to use it in your game this is purely your choice. If you want to take this option then the mod includes procedures and the manifest for each ship. I am playing this mod in hardcore mode which I am sure many of you are going to enjoy but you can turn down any of the features at your preference.

Example of the Crew Manifest.....


USS Constellation (NCC-1017) was the ship originally commanded by Captain Ran Armstrong who was then replaced by Captain Matthew Decker who many of you will remember.

Ran Armstrong - commanding officer in early 2260s
Matthew Decker - commanding officer until 2267
Hiromi Takeshewada - first officer
Lewis Rosenhaus - chief medical officer
Guillermo Masada - second officer and science officer
Etienne Vascogne - security chief
George Howard - communications officer
Chaoyang Soo - lieutenant junior grade
Helga Litwak - assistant security chief
Sontor - ensign
Alamanzar - officer command division
Emil Jazayerli - head nurse
Norma Shickele - technician
Lawford - yeoman until 2263
Guthrie - yeoman 2263 onward

When the starship is ready to leave the construction yards to head out into the quadrant each of the bridge crew will be beamed up to the ship as well as the entire crew of the starship.... rest of crew will be noted as a number.

If you wish you will be able to manage starships other than the Enterprise. For example, after battle you determine if any of the crew were injured or killed in battle which determines how many crew are being treated by your Chief Medical Officer. If the Chief Medical Officer was one of the casualties then in this example the USS Constellation is diverted to the nearest starbase or Earth.


Captain Decker of the USS Constellation as he appears in the mod.

[rjord2021]

After each battle with enemy ships Captain Kirk will follow several command decisions to check on the status of the ship and crew.

If there are no enemy ships shown in Distant Worlds in the system the Enterprise is in this means that sensors do not show any enemy vessels in the area. Keep in mind that the Romulans and Klingons may be in cloaked ships so check the system carefully before cancelling Red Alert and dropping shields.

Kirk will then need to call for Damage Reports from all sections of the ship and get Scotty and his engineering team to begin repairs. Damage can occour anywhere on the ship and will be divided into 3 groups of severity.

If the Warp and Impulse Engines are damaged the Enterprise is not going anywhere until they are repaired. Severe damage may require the Enterprise to call for assistance from the closest Federation ships.

If shields are damaged the Enterprise can go to warp however cards will recommend not engaging enemy ships while the shields are down.

Transporters, phasers or photon torpedoes are some of many systems that will effect the Enterprise after battle.Damage may not be limited to one section of the ship and there could be multiple damage reports that would need to be fixed.

After battle Kirk will also ask for any injury reports and this will include crew members who were injured or killed in battle. Any injury or deaths will have steps to be followed by the Chief Medical Officer.

[rjord2021]

When the Enterprise reaches an unexplored system the ship will explore each planet in Distant Worlds. When scans show that a new civilization has been detected the Science Officer will scan the planet to determine that the civilization has reached warp technology.

If they have, the Enterprise will attempt to contact the planetary leaders who will either not reply to the hail, they will reply but refuse permission for a landing party or they will reply with permission to meet a landing party.

Kirk would then put together a landing party and beam down to the planet to hopefully win command and scientific points.