Star Trek Online: Earth Spacedock Update
Yesterday the MMORPG Star Trek Online updated Earth Spacedock for the PC version of the game. The console version will be released a little later on. This replacement impacts upon Sol system space, the entire exterior model of ESD and elements of the interior. The outgoing model was somewhat old with several anomalies that linked to aspects of the game that have changed over the years. Perhaps the biggest reason for the change is a canon update to ESD as seen in the third season of Star Trek: Picard. The TV show features a new Earth Spacedock, also known as Probert Station, which boasts a larger superstructure designed to meet the demand of Starfleet in 2401. It would appear that this update is the first substantial release from the developers at DECA Games and may potentially indicate the quality of future content.
Star Trek Online launched in 2010 with a bespoke model of ESD which to all intents and purposes was a placeholder design. Within a year ESD was replaced with a canonical model based on the design that first featured in the film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and later used in TNG television show. The latest model for ESD had to be built entirely from screenshots from the TV show as there was no official design to work from. The result is a far more contemporary model which still offers the functionality of the old. Furthermore the model for planet earth has also been revised using 8K textures and a complex cloud map. Within Sol systems the fleet shipyards have been removed and McKinley station is now placed in the far corner of the map. Drydocks have been added on the periphery of the map so players can take screenshots of their ships.
The original Earth Spacedock from 2010
The ESD ground map now features a larger central docking bay and the models of the vessel inside have all been updated. These provide a much greater sense of scale. The developers intend to change the ship model regularly and no doubt they will showcase whatever ones are new to the game. There are cosmetic changes to Admiral Quinn’s office to reflect the revised galaxy map from several years ago. Several Type 14 shuttles have been added to the shuttle bay, as well as to the vessels that fly in and out. It would also appear that the San Francisco skyline on the Starfleet Academy map has been updated. Overall this is a good selection of revisions which are cosmetically justified without impacting negatively upon the essential functionality that ESD offers as a major game hub. Furthermore, ESD is visually a lot brighter and now seems to have the appropriate gravitas you’d expect from such a Starfleet institution.
However, this being STO, updates never come without some bugs or technical fallout. There was substantial lag and rubberbanding on several phases of ESD earlier today and I had to move to smaller populated instances before these abated. More annoyingly, the update has resulted in all traits being unslotted from alts when you log in for the first time. There was also a similar issue with some loadouts. All of which is currently being looked into but it would have been better if this had all been addressed on the test server before going live. I will have to trawl through some recent screenshots so I can correctly recreate my trait build which is a nuisance. However, I will not do this until the bug is patched, which will hopefully be in the next 48 hours. Although I am pleased to see the revised model of ESD, the subsequent bugs do lower my expectations of DECA Games. I hope I am proven wrong.
