More on Star Trek Discovery

This past Wednesday (10 August 2016), Bryan Fuller revealed a few spoilers in Los Angeles at the Television Critics Association conference about Star Trek Discovery. Here are some of what was discussed:

Characters:

A woman/female will take the center seat and be the main lead for the series. Although not a captain, but a “Lieutenant Commander — with caveats.”

Seven characters are penned to be the leads for the series (hard to say if it will be just the Discovery crew, returning support characters, villains, etc). 

There will be a gay character, not known if they will be male or female.

There will be robots and more aliens than previously seen on a Star Trek series/movie.

An "original" alien will be named Saru.

A source and additional reading here: http://www.polygon.com/tv/2016/8/11/12433320/bryan-fuller-star-trek-tcas

Timeline:

The events in Discovery will take place around 10 years before the first adventures of Kirk and company (it should be worth noting, the Discovery, as depicted in the current trailer is not the finalized ship, more of a "proof of concept", or so they claim).

A clue offered with this, "an incident in the history of Starfleet that had been talked about but never fully explored." Strong rumors surround the recent "Axanar Incident" (read more here http://www.axanarproductions.com/category/cbsparamount-lawsuit/ ) that might have more than coincided with the story plans for Discovery.

More good stuff here: http://tvline.com/2016/08/10/star-trek-discovery-amanda-grayson-spoilers-cast/

They are calling it....Discovery

In May 2005, the last Star Trek show, an episode for Enterprise called "These are the Voyages" aired and it's been reruns ever since. Twelve years of no new shows on TV (except for the odd special, here and there) and only three movies, at the time of this posting.

However, if plans come to fruition, January 2017 will bring a new chapter to the Star Trek saga back to the small screen. Titled Discovery, very little is known what the show will be about, the time frame for which the stories will take place or even who will be cast in whatever roles are being scripted. Sounds promising for a show about to air in less than six months.

This past July at Comic-Con in San Diego, a teaser trailer for the new series was shown. The footage contained what some could consider "dark" music and a unusual ship being launched from a hollowed out asteroid. However, it was later reported the ship, as depicted, was a "proof of concept" and the design might not even make the final cut before airing.

All of this is very cryptic and confusing to me. Okay, they settled on a title, very good. Then, show a ship they may/may not use? Okay....no clue. No news (at the time of this posting) of any of the actors, hints at the time frame this will all take place (rumors have it somewhere between 2161 and 2293, not officially confirmed)....just a lot of nothing.

Well, that last part isn't totally honest. Here is what is known for sure, a guy named Bryan Fuller is one of the show's creators, Alex Kurtzman is the other. Star Trek veteran Nicholas Meyer has signed on as a writer/consulting producer and Rod Roddenberry as a producer.  It will take place in the "Prime Universe", so it will have a different look and feel than Abrams' reboot movies.

No doubt more will be revealed as time goes on, including something on or around August 10th (as the rumor goes).

The virtual adventures continue....

Thanks in part to seeing Star Trek: Beyond, my son has decided to revisit Star Trek Online on PC. By proxy, I put aside some of my previous bitter feelings from the game and downloaded the latest client. Much to my surprise, they have added some gameplay action from my favorite era, The Original Series.

Although the starter ship isn't cannon (meaning, not seen on a TV series or Movies), it will make a nice period piece to work from and up through the storyline of the game. Pretty tough little ship.

Meanwhile on my main account, I have progressed to Commander. My son has taken more of a liking to the mainstream timeline (which happens after the events in the Next Generation films), so I have jumped in to give him a helping hand. Already, he has progressed to Captain's rank. Seems the game and it's mechanics have struck a chord with him.

The Silverscreen pulls me back here

After many months of not writing anything Star Trek related, the month of July has brought about some excitement and spurred me back into Gene Roddenberry's universe. First, it was the new movie: Star Trek Beyond.

Even before me and the family sat in the theater to watch the movie, my son and I got a promotional cup full of pop to go with the experience, good or bad.

In my opinion, the movie was pretty good, albeit scripted off a lot of borrowed stuff from the other films. The destruction of the Enterprise was seen in both Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek: Generations, but they put their own unique and believable twist on their version of events.

The main antagonist, Krall, who is really a starship Captain named Balthazar Edison, is a good blending of villains seen before. Take a little of Ahdar Ru'afo (mostly his "immortality cheating") from Insurrection, mix in a bit of Khan (for being abandoned) from both Space Seed and Wrath of Khan and add a dash of a few others along the way (those two really stick out for me). With that, you get a nasty adversary that you almost feel sorry for, in the end.

I get the impression the actors who played the crew of the intrepid starship Enterprise had fun playing their roles again. There was an obvious chemistry that came through in their performances and the interactions between each other felt like....family.

Another thing I noticed was the amount of screentime each of them got, except for the now late Anton Yelchin (for whom the movie was partially dedicated to, Leonard Nimoy was the other). Although his scenes made a pretty good impact on the story, just not the same balance as the others, from my perspective.

However, one of the standout moments was McCoy's first aid technique on Spock, injured on the planet Altamid.

For me, the star of the show was the U.S.S. Franklin. I was a fan of Enterprise when it first aired and watch the odd rerun when I could (now, it's on Netflicks) and seeing a ship from this era on the big screen is a huge nod to a show I think was cut too short in it's run. Although the back story given onscreen seems solid, there are big holes on how it fits into the Kelvin (the name adopted for Abrams' reboot series) timeline. Minor continuity issues that could be resolved at a later date, I suppose.

Overall, a good movie and scripted as a standalone episode, so people who haven't seen Star Trek before could jump right into the middle of things, with only a few explanations needed to fill in the gaps. But, it could have also been a standalone movie, with no connections to Star Trek and delivered a good time as well.

So, about that giveaway I mentioned....

No sooner do I make this posting http://startrekquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/01/hurry-i-just-found-out-giveaway-from-sto.html  that I jump into the game and try to collect my prizes. However, I run into a slight roadblock to that goal. It seems it wasn't available to me, despite following the directions given.

So, I opened up the Star Trek Online forums and made my first posts there http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1211143/seems-i-am-not-worthy-to-claim-a-giveaway in hopes of getting a response from the community. I had suspicions of this possible scenario, since I tried claiming other prizes that wouldn't go into my account, but from promotional codes.

The first answer back was what I was expecting. I had held out hope, since this was a special occasion, I could still be able to claim these ships, even to be unlocked by my characters at a later date. However, this just wasn't meant to be.

Too bad, doesn't give me much incentive to keep playing now, does it?

Hurry, I just found out, a giveaway from STO!

Since I have been spending most of my gaming time on Star Trek Timelines, I haven't kept any of my eyes on Star Trek Online. So, with very little time left to cash in on a giveaway, I will post this here, just in case you happen to be playing too and didn't know about it either https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9739823

Starship Sunday V

Starship Sunday is a showcase feature of cannon spacecraft seen in Star Trek television episodes and movies.

This week; USS Bozeman, NCC-1941, Soyuz Class. Seen on Star Trek The Next Generation, Episode 5x18 Cause and Effect. First aired 23 March 1992.

In 2278, Starship Bozeman entered an area of space known as the Typhon Expanse and was reported lost when it entered a temporal distortion. Later, in 2368, the Bozeman was able to escape the distortion and encountered the Enterprise D, but both ships collided, causing the Enterprise to be destroyed. Being within a close proximity to the unstable temporal distortion, a temporal causality loop was formed where Bozeman continually and repeatedly encounter, collide and destroy the Enterprise over and over.

Eventually, the Enterprise crew would change this pre-determined series and outcomes of events and both ships were freed of the loop. The crew of the Bozeman would learn there were almost one hundred years in the future, from when they started their last voyage.

The Bozeman, still in active service, would be forced to make a course correction when the Amargosa star was destroyed in 2371. Two years later, the Bozeman was back in action when a Borg cube invaded Sector 001, a part of the defending Earth fleet.

Make time for the lines

In Star Trek related gaming, I have been spending a little more time on my Android app, Star Trek Timelines than my PC game. Slowly leveling up....

....discovering some interesting bugs, some which are amusing....

....another gave me a temporary advantage to the game.

I finally collected a doctor, a character with a very elusive trait it seems, to finish off some previously uncompleted missions, due to being locked to not having one.

Although I have unlocked a lot of the universe so far, I find myself going back to finish off episode and playing them over and over, in an attempt to collect rare rewards and level my characters up.

There's no hurry really, I have all the time in....

What ever happen to....

....the Vulcan Shuttle Surak? Only ever seen for a brief moment, during Start Trek The Motion Picture, delivering Spock to the disabled Starship Enterprise. I thought how it docked was pretty cool too!

However, after this short scene, it was just gone. And, when I mean gone, poof, never to be seen again onscreen. This has always struck me as odd, since Star Trek, from the shows through the movies, has recycled many ship models in either their original form or modified to stand-in for something else/new. But, not this one?

Even out in the real world, only one model was produced. Although the box art has been updated over the years....

....finding one in a local store can be a daunting task. The internet has opened up the possibilities of acquiring one with better success, these days.

Still, I wonder if this forgotten ship will ever make another appearance onscreen, someday....

What if?

With the third Star Trek movie, set in the J.J. Abrams' re-visioned but alternate universe, set for release soon, I thought I would have a look back and consider something. With a new cast and other big changes, what if one thing wasn't changed from the Star Trek most of us have known all our lives?

If you have seen the first two films or not, you might be familiar with the above picture anyways. Right before the first movie rolled into theaters, there was a mass media blitz of commercials on just about every electronic device that could broadcast them.

This simple scene from those commercials, showing the Enterprise under construction in an Iowa field (yeah, but don't go there) set in motion a mixed bags of emotions on how this icon was....changed....improved....altered....pick your own wording.

However, what if the ship remained as it always was, as many wished it would have stayed as, how it could have been....

 

Starship Sunday IV

Starship Sunday is a showcase feature of cannon spacecraft seen in Star Trek television episodes and movies.

This week; HMS Bounty, Klingon K'Vort Class. Renamed for Star Trek IV The Voyage Home, released 26 November 1986.

In 2285, the commander and crew of the late Starship Enterprise captured a Klingon Bird of Prey, while in orbit above the Genesis Planet. Under new command, the Bird of Prey left orbit as the unstable planet exploded and traveled to Vulcan. It was there, during a three month period of exile, the ship was named with a nod to historical irony. 

The Bird of Prey departed for Earth, only to be informed a probe of alien origin was causing environmental havoc to Earth. The crew, deducing the probe's intentions, traveled back and time, collected two humpback whales, then traveled forward in time, so a response to the probe could be made.

When the Bird of Prey arrived back to the correct time, it was caught in the same effect as other starships, losing power. Unlike the other starships, the Bird of  Prey returned inside the atmosphere and was crashing to the Earth. Narrowly missing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Bird of Prey made a water landing in the bay. The whales were freed from the sinking ship and the crew was rescued.

It is unknown if the ship sunk to the bottom or was later salvaged by Starfleet Intelligence.

A first escape through electric dreams

At the start of the 1980's, there were a few choices of video game machines on the market that could be purchased for the household. Atari was one, Colecovision was another. My family chose the Vectrex. With a built in screen, which freed up the television for other activities and a fairly simple to use control system, this was what we got.

One of the games that had been acquired was Star Trek The Motion Picture, which bore little in relation to the movie of the same name. In modern terms, it was a first person shooter against opponents who were vectored ships made out of sticks of light.

It was a very simple operation to get started with. Roll out the built in control panel, place the cartridge into the side, reach around back, turn the knob to power things up....

....pop in the plastic color screen to cut the intense screen brightness down and blast away enemies, dock with wormholes and dodge incoming fire.

Okay, there was some creative license used for the game content and ship depictions, but for the time and technology, it worked. I can remember playing for hours and hours, trying to beat my previous high score. The odd time I had a friend come over and managed to talk them into playing, we would challenge each other against our lined foes.

One drawback I can still remember to this day, the sore eyes. Even with the colored plastic screen in place, staring and tracking at those lines of light wore down my eyes, might like looking at freshly fallen snow on a bright day. Worse, driving, at night, into the snow.

Ah, the memories looking back. I suppose, as good as any place to start, huh?

Getting the right cew

Like most other MMO's, Star Trek Timelines has a Daily Rewards feature and collect a good one, I think.

By the numbers, my newly acquired Captain Janeway has some pretty good skill attributes right off the bat. She joins my roster, along with other legendary captains as Picard and Sisko, helping me to progress through the game's storyline. However, what does the color and stars mean?

Well, if I am interpreting things right, here is how I see things. White, one star characters are the most common to collect and can't be fused with duplicates. Green, two stars are a little harder to get and can be fused once. Blue, three stars are harder still to acquire and can be fused twice. Purple, four stars are the really rare ones, being able to be fused three times.

So, my theory goes something like this, one and two star characters can be viewed as disposable, held onto until a better  three or four star is collected and leveled/fused up to meet or beat the skills and attributes of the lower characters.

For example, here are two different versions of Wesley Crusher. The one star version is probably the most common and easiest to collect. Skill wise, the one star variant doesn't bring much to the table, except for the starting stages of earlier missions. The three star version could come in quite handy for progressively harder missions, due to the higher ceiling of skills and levels.

Also, taking into account that having a standard account, meaning I haven't spent any real world money yet, I am limited to having only 25 crew slots available. So, somewhere along my journey among the stars, my one star Wesley will be jettisoned....er, retired, when a better character is offered.

Plus, I never did like his sweater....

Ships and planets

A random selection of certain shots from all of the Star Trek shows and movies with one theme, ships and planets. Above is probably one of the most easily remembered scenes from the Original Series.

The Next Generation brought the world the scene, repeated many times over it's seven year run.

While Deep Space Nine had a few shots of Federation runabouts in orbit, I wanted a more rare image of the Defiant doing the same.

The Enterprise E spent most of it's onscreen time in space, however, I did  find one image the fit the criteria.

Voyager in orbit, not as rare as one would think.

Last, but not least, NX-01 Enterprise rounds out this series of themed images.

Blazing a mission path

As I progress through Star Trek Timelines, I thought I would share a few tips for some of you who might have been giving the game a try. So, I will breakdown how I do Away Team missions.

Here is a start screen for a mission. On the left, I have three slots for crew to attempt this. The top middle shows the mission path, from start to finish and all of the alternate routes to completion.

So, the people I will pick for the mission path will need a Command Star, Diplomacy Wreath, Science Beaker, Security Phaser and/or Engineering Tool.

I pick Cretak, a Romulan I acquired through a free spin of the Dabo Wheel (I will explain that later). Out of the eight requirements for the mission, she unlocks four.

Next, I pull her out and select Spock, from Star Trek The Voyage Home. Once again, half of all the mission paths are open.

Satisfied with my first two choices, I put them back in and complete the crew with Tom Paris, from Star Trek Voyager. Seven out of eight mission requirements unlocked, but only one option to final the mission. Also, none of my choices can make use of the Suggested Traits, little bonuses that stack on the skill numbers to push them over the minimum requirements. Confused? Let me show you....

First, I choose Tom Paris, since his Command Skill at 54 is far above the minimum 29 needed.

Then, the game will apply a random bonus, depending on Suggested Trait or in this case, I think it's because I have brown eyes....

....and collect a Critical Success! The rewards range from something that can be equipped immediately or used to be combined with other items to create something that other crew members can use. Now don't worry if selected crew members come up a little short on the minimum requirement, the random bonus might be just enough to carry the attempt into the Target Zone or even beyond it.

Word of advice, keep an eye on used characters. After using one, they will suffer from a cool-down penalty, with red, reduced skill numbers. Another handy tip is not using a character that doesn't have the right skill for the mission requirement. Tom Paris doesn't have a Diplomacy Wreath, so selecting him for a mission that needs one for completion will have consequences.

So, in brief, use characters that have equal to or higher skill numbers than the mission requirements. Find characters that also offer Suggested Traits bonuses, if available. Don't be afraid to challenge a mission multiple times to find the right Away Team members that bring the highest chances of success.

But, most important of all, be mindful of the rewards you collect, you might just level up a character needed for an even more challenging mission.