00:00Hi, I am Tim from GameXide, working as a game designer on the space combat of Star Trek
00:09Voyage Across the Unknown. When designing the space combat, we looked at both how it works in
00:15a TV show as well as how other Star Trek games handled pivotal part. We took inspiration from
00:21Starfleet Command, Bridge Commander and Star Trek Legacy, but also had the central power fantasy in
00:27mind that you are the captain. You do not fly the ship, you have Tom Paris for it, nor do you manually
00:35aim and fire the phasers. This is Truvok's job. Instead, you give commands to your crew,
00:41which enemies and subsystems to target. You are doing this via the radial order menu,
00:46and especially the attack and defend options. A key point in Star Trek combat is the positioning
00:52of your ship in relation to the enemy, as there are different subsystems located on each side,
00:57side, and the shields on each side are weakened but also recharged independently. However,
01:03in order to hit the respective side, you obviously need a clear line of sight.
01:08By selecting to attack the enemy weapons located in front, your helmsman will try to maneuver Voyager
01:15in front of the enemy to give your security officer a clear shot at the desired subsystem. Note,
01:20that while he will continue to fire regardless and hit other sides, he can only wear down the front
01:25shield and damage the weapon subsystem once the relative position is reached. The same,
01:32however, is true for Voyager. If enemies target the ship's warp core and the port shields are close
01:36to failing, you might consider using the defend the port order, so your helmsman turns the ship
01:40around. Once your currently selected enemy is no longer able to shoot at your port shields,
01:46they will slowly recharge and you can make some necessary repairs to the underlying subsystem.
01:50Again, your security officer will keep firing but is likely no longer able to hit the enemy's weapons
01:56due to a lack of direct line of sight. So, are you risking taking critical damage to deal the final
02:01blow or will you abort the attack? While Phaser Fire has a certain bleed-through ratio to deal damage
02:08even through shields, torpedoes can only deal devastating damage to the hull once shields are down.
02:14As timing is key to hit the correct side and supply is limited, you need to order firing torpedoes manually.
02:24Other parts of the rail menu involve the option to flee combat, which is only available once either
02:30enemy's warp engines are disabled or if your cloaking device is ready, only if you have one,
02:36as otherwise they would follow you easily, or the option to surrender by giving your enemy resources.
02:43However, be aware that not every enemy would accept a surrender. In addition to the command
02:49menu and the manual firing of torpedoes, you also need to give orders to your bridge crew when to use
02:54their special abilities. Before each fight, you select up to three from a broad variety.
02:59Paris, flying an evasive maneuver to dodge incoming attacks.
03:07Belana, overcharging the warp core to give you more energy to use.
03:15Or even 7 of 9 firing a bore-confused torpedo.
03:19But there are many more to explore.
03:22Their skills have a certain cooldown and often work best in a certain situation or order,
03:27for example, unleashing Tuvok's double shot once Harry hacked the enemy shield frequencies.
03:32Timing these skills is crucial.
03:36The final piece to survive as a starship captain is managing your energy distribution.
03:42Each combat room you have built is represented by an empty bar, with the total number of energy
03:47bars available depending on your current warp core level. While at the beginning of the game you still
03:52have enough energy to power everything, new combat systems such as the or cutting beam,
03:58energy dissipator or the cloaking device will force you to choose your energy allocation wisely.
04:03To add a little more depth, certain hero abilities allow you to temporarily overcharge systems.
04:12Damage to your warp core, on the other hand, makes your energy levels drop, forcing you to change
04:16tactics on the fly. Luckily, you can pause the game at any time and take a deep breath.
04:23While space combat is only a small part of our game, it is closely connected to your ship build
04:29and develops more depth as you progress throughout the Delta Quadrant.
04:33New technologies and increasing hero abilities keep adding to the options you have at your disposal.
04:39Depending on your specific objectives within a combat encounter, you can employ very different tactics.
04:44Remember that you can always auto-resolve space combat. In this case, the result is calculated
04:50similarly to away missions or points of interest, with your ship build deciding your chances.
04:57We hope this video has given you a better understanding of some of the inner workings
05:01and design choices for space combat and hope to see you in the Delta Quadrant soon.
05:14Thank you
Comments