If you were creating a sim

[Kallah Ramson 0]

If you had a chance to design a sim from the ground up, what would you do? I'd like to hear and share some ideas. Poster retains the rights to any ideas...so no swiping anything for yourself GM's.

 

One idea I've done but didn't get very far cause the sim group I was in had a poor recruiting staff was:

 

-USS Athena. This was a TOS movie era sim. A Klingon D-7 cruiser's crew vanished. It's next crew kept complaining of system failures and finally decided the ship was cursed. So, they added it to the next batch of cruisers-for-cloaks exchange with the Romulans. It served the Romulans well until a supply mission to a hidden base within the Federation frontier where it suddenly lost it's cloak and all main power right as a Starfleet patrol came into the area. While the Romulans managed to destroy the base before being captured the ship's self destruct system would not arm.

 

Starfleet now had an enemy ship that could operate in both Romulan and Klingon space. She was made to run Federation, Romulan, or Klingon system configurations with a holographic comm system that could give a number of false images. This was before the ban on Federation cloaking systems so there was no issue at the time about retaining that piece of equipment. Outer hull markings were exchangeable to fit the theater of operations they were in.

 

The ship was used for Black Ops and patrolling inside enemy boarders. There was a catch to the ship that explained all the odd malfunctions the Klingons and Romulans experienced and would one day test the moral fabric of it's Starfleet crew.

 

-TOS Starbase. Set shortly after the TOS episode "Arena". A starbase is set up at or near Cestus III. It is a joint operation between the Federation and Gorn to help establish a secure boarder between the two peoples. It's crew has the mission of exploring the worlds along the boarder and selecting which are best for Federation colonist, Gorn colonist, or joint colonization. Local trader ships cause problems as they look for revenge on the Gorn's attack of Cestus III. The Orions aren't really happy of their hold on trade in the area slipping into a free market either. Some Gorn don't quite trust the Federation yet. And the Klingons are more than willing to throw a few wrenches into the machinery of peace (seeing as this area is outside of the Organian treaty zone).

 

The sim would have a Starfleet and a Gorn scout craft for support ships. A combined marine detachment would also be located at the station. I've dubbed this as "Aegis, the pre-quill".

 

Okay, there's a couple of ideas I've had. How about y'all. Am I the only one who things about this stuff?

[Chell Reno 0]

I created a simm for Alpha Fleet just over a year ago. We started out as a Defiant Class ship in the year 2382 with a specialty in Intelligence missions. Aventually AF ran into some problems and so I took my ships and joined Subversive Alliance. A simm group alot like STSF although a good bit smaller.

 

After we switched fleets we changed the ship class to Luna, as descibed in the Titan book series and our mission went to exploring unkown areas of the Gamma Quadrant. I closed the simm down at the beginning of this year since school was picking up and I had to choose between that and STSF. Obviously I chose to stick with STSF.

Edited August 16, 2006 by Chell Reno

[Sendai Riko 0]

Ah, as I've probably mentioned before, I love the Akira class. :D So that'd be the ship. I'd try to concentrate on the Ideal: explore strange new worlds, meet new life and new civilizations, and all that. Sometimes I think sims end up being a little too battle-happy.

[Images 0]

Call me out for its lameness and being Law and orderish but I always liked the idea of the federation equivelant of the us marshals or something of the sort.

 

Basically the sim would take place on a space outpost with a small fast ship attached, perhaps defiant class. They'd be in one of those middle of nowhere places where the nearest facility is a while away. The crew would be contacted about wanted criminals in the nearby areas or important crimes with a bit of a shaky level as to who's turf its on. They'd go in and investigate with science staff for all the forensic stuff, security boys for the actiony stuff, meds to patch em up and to examine bodies as well as engineers to keep it all working and to offer their expertise with any tech crimes. There might be an official representative from each of the major territories onboard to keep things legal as well as maybe a few criminal law experts who'd act as attorneys for preliminary hearings that would take place onboard, their outcome determining whether or not they'd be shipped back to a larger facility. It could really grow from there into something bigger perhaps?

 

There's be loads of interesting plots with things like undercover work, serial killers, trials, ethics, the orion syndicate. Something with more ground level politics than the huge epic ship and station things. But to keep things dramatic there could always be a plotline like a season of 24 where things need to be sorted or the system could hit the fan.

 

Thoughts?

[Captain Huff 0]

If you had a chance to design a sim from the ground up, what would you do? I'd like to hear and share some ideas. Poster retains the rights to any ideas...so no swiping anything for yourself GM's.

 

So you're saying that if someone here comes up with a really cool idea, I can't go plug it to the council? ;)

[Kallah Ramson 0]

Can't speak for others but any ideas of mine you want to submit, go for it... I just want to be in the loop so the idea doesn't get butchered. That's kinda what happened to the Athena sim I mentioned. We were on our own, joined a group, had some issues with them, and had a lot of trouble when we left because they were claiming name and concept rights to the sim.

[Nicolas Lepage 0]

Lately I've been thinking about this very topic.

 

I thought that maybe a sim set in the Mirror Universe might be fun. The challenge (it can be both good and bad) is that there is not that much know about it. So that means there's almost no limit to the creativity of both GMs and players.

The other thing I'd like to try out one day is a marine ship. I know Agincourt has marines but a sim with just marines ( maybe some support staff...probably fighter pilots) might be interesting. Having this sim set during the Dominion War would make it doubly interesting. (Or maybe marines in the mirror universe......;-)

 

The problem is just that, while those concepts might be interesting during a plotline of a few weeks I'm not sure it's really do-able for a whole sim that's supposed to run for years.

[Dielle 0]

Call me out for its lameness and being Law and orderish but I always liked the idea of the federation equivelant of the us marshals or something of the sort.

 

Basically the sim would take place on a space outpost with a small fast ship attached, perhaps defiant class. They'd be in one of those middle of nowhere places where the nearest facility is a while away. The crew would be contacted about wanted criminals in the nearby areas or important crimes with a bit of a shaky level as to who's turf its on. They'd go in and investigate with science staff for all the forensic stuff, security boys for the actiony stuff, meds to patch em up and to examine bodies as well as engineers to keep it all working and to offer their expertise with any tech crimes. There might be an official representative from each of the major territories onboard to keep things legal as well as maybe a few criminal law experts who'd act as attorneys for preliminary hearings that would take place onboard, their outcome determining whether or not they'd be shipped back to a larger facility. It could really grow from there into something bigger perhaps?

 

There's be loads of interesting plots with things like undercover work, serial killers, trials, ethics, the orion syndicate. Something with more ground level politics than the huge epic ship and station things. But to keep things dramatic there could always be a plotline like a season of 24 where things need to be sorted or the system could hit the fan.

 

Thoughts?

That sounds terrific, but it sounds like it might be a lot of work in terms of plotlines and all. It's not that someone can't pull it off, but I think it would have to be a lot more organized and detail oriented. I like the idea of dealings with the Orion Syndicate and all, or about raising ethical questions. It would be nice to have some morally ambiguous situations that really make players think and figure out what their characters would do.

 

I've always been interested in the idea of a sim that moves away from Starfleet or anything remotely militaristic. I'm interested in seeing what life's like for everyone else. The easiest thought would be some sort of merchant freighter type vessel, but I think there's a lot of room for creativity.

[Kallah Ramson 0]

 

I've always been interested in the idea of a sim that moves away from Starfleet or anything remotely militaristic. I'm interested in seeing what life's like for everyone else. The easiest thought would be some sort of merchant freighter type vessel, but I think there's a lot of room for creativity.

 

 

You should try a starbase sim.

 

Also you'd probably like this.... Aurura Trek. It's a CGI Fanfilm set in the TOS era onboard a private freighter. While they only have the first part up it's intended goal is to "seeing what life's like for everyone else".

[will_marx 0]

Call me out for its lameness and being Law and orderish but I always liked the idea of the federation equivelant of the us marshals or something of the sort.

...

 

Thoughts?

 

CSI: Starfleet? Law & Order: Federation Marshals? Starfleet 911? :D

 

Any way... way back in 1992 (cue cheesy TARDIS sound effects), I was happily writing ST fanfiction based first on a Constitution-class ship, USS Antietam, NCC-1798. Then, after flinging the intrepid crew into the latter half of the 24th Century, and blowing the Antietam up just for good measure, I decided to expand a bit, and design a 1400m long ship, as Antietam-A. She's capable of slugging it out with a D'Deridex, launching fighters to defend itself or recon an area, or conduct (gunboat) diplomatic missions and scientific missions, all with ease. The actual design of the ship went through many different variations as I developed it-- launch tubes along the sides of the secondary hull, a la BSG, the launch tubes facing aft on the dorsal side of the secondary hull, finally the launch tubes under the fantail, a bridge located directly over the connecting dorsal on a triangular saucer with two shuttlebays and that super phaser from All Good Things.

 

It has potential, I guess. I just haven't nailed down a final design, and frankly, I've lost a lot of my skills at drafting, and have no patience for CAD or 3D programming.

[LoAmi 0]

a 1400m long ship, as Antietam-A. She's capable of slugging it out with a D'Deridex, launching fighters to defend itself or recon an area, or conduct (gunboat) diplomatic missions and scientific missions, all with ease.

 

I've never been much of a fan of super-souped up ships with weapons turrets coming out of every bit of empty space. They might make sense in the mirror universe, though.

[will_marx 0]

I've never been much of a fan of super-souped up ships with weapons turrets coming out of every bit of empty space. They might make sense in the mirror universe, though.

To each his own, Lo

[Marius Tr'Lorin 0]

I just came up with this as I read the topic, but maybe a exploration style sim, set out in the delta quad, would be cool. There's bound to be more species and cultures out in the delta quadrant, even if they might be

a) hiding, scared to death of the borg.

b)so powerful, they just swat at the borg like flies, hence the borg's reason for coming over to our quadrant.

 

either way, it would be interesting to go exploring around there.

[Kansas_Jones 0]

The USS Prideshadow, a ship crewed entirely by Caitians.

 

Okay, I'll behave.

 

1.) A sim based on the Hazard Team of Elite Force 1 and 2 fame. An elite security team trained to handle first encounter, tactical, operations, observation / stealth....think MACOs/Marines meets Starfleet Security.

 

2.) A sim set during the TOS movie era, probably after Star Trek 6.

 

3.) A space station set during the TOS era (check out the "Harbinger" novels - very cool).

 

4.) A Mirror universe sim. (WOOT!)

 

5.) A section 31 sim.

 

Out of all these ideas I like the Hazard Team and Mirror sim the best. Ship wise? I am partial to the Steamrunner, Akira, Consitution and refit Constitution class being used sim-wise. For the Hazard team, outfit them with some sort of ARGO-esque all terrain vehicle for patrols and what not.

 

I'd need time to really flesh out the above ideas, and thats really all they are at this point - my own ideas just sorta lingering in the old imagination.

Edited August 19, 2006 by Kansas_Jones

[Joy 0]

Starfleet JAG, unlimited possibilities... unlimited penalties. Muhahaha!

 

Not a sim, perhaps. How about a pair of wandering characters, floating around STSF? Any time a legal question comes up in a sim, or a Starfleet Admiral gets a bit out of line, two JAGs show up, one for prosecutor, one to be public defender. We could take turns with the roles. We could form a jury of peers out of the sim players to judge the issue. Whacha think?

 

Where should we start?

[will_marx 0]

Not a sim, perhaps. How about a pair of wandering characters, floating around STSF? Any time a legal question comes up in a sim, or a Starfleet Admiral gets a bit out of line, two JAGs show up, one for prosecutor, one to be public defender. We could take turns with the roles. We could form a jury of peers out of the sim players to judge the issue. Whacha think?

 

Where should we start?

How 'bout on the Arc? Although it'd have to be when we get back from where/whenever we are. And I've got the perfect case for them--Two engineers charged with sabotage. One's guilty, the other isn't. As far as I know, we're trying to figure that out right now.

 

The only suggestion I have, would be to bone up on the actual Uniform Code of Military Justice and Manual for Courts-Martial. Although it is full of dry legalese. And is a 4+ MB PDF file.

[a]General Courts-Martial- Comprised of a Military judge and no less than five members
Special Courts-Martial- a. A Military Judge and no less than three members; or b. Three members only

Edited August 19, 2006 by will_marx

[Ronin Shephard 0]

How about one with marines on a starbase with no way off in the mirror universe? That could be explosive err i mean fun.

[Philip Carst 0]

All we really need is a swanky theme song. :D

 

::shudders at the song::

 

Sounds like you're trying to attract grumpy old men to the sims...

"I'm old, all I wanna do is watch Matlock."

 

How 'bout on the Arc? Although it'd have to be when we get back from where/whenever we are. And I've got the perfect case for them--Two engineers charged with sabotage. One's guilty, the other isn't. As far as I know, we're trying to figure that out right now.

 

Uh oh...

Just don't let Joy know how we're trying to figure that out.

[Pneuma 0]

Alrighty I got an Idea here for yall. How about a Dominion War Sim that takes place on a Joint Federation Klingon, Romulan and whatever Military base. It would send out groups on special assignments and the like. Such as Search and destroy and doing strategic attacks at verious locations.

[will_marx 0]

 

Uh oh...

Just don't let Joy know how we're trying to figure that out.

 

 

My orders were quite simple--any means necessary. It's not my fault that 2LT Swan never learned any interrogation techniques. But then again, she seems more infantry than Military Police, or Intelligence.

[Murdok Helios 0]

Mine would have to be on an Alien ship, not sure which but no more federation ships!

[Philip Carst 0]

Mine would have to be on an Alien ship, not sure which but no more federation ships!

 

Two words (well, one of thems a word anyway)...

 

RES Talon.

[will_marx 0]

Two words (well, one of thems a word anyway)...

 

RES Talon.

 

Don't forget about the Q'ob either.

[STSF NDak 0]

Should I ever have the oppertunity, I'd love to start a sim TOS Movie Era set after Khitomer and prolly after Kirk-goes missing. Likely on either a Connie or an Excelsior.

 

I think it'd be a cool time to deal with, because there's very little we know about the period from about 2293-2311 (Tomed Incident) and then again from 2312-2340 (Khitomer Raids, et al)

[Kallah Ramson 0]

Should I ever have the oppertunity, I'd love to start a sim TOS Movie Era set after Khitomer and prolly after Kirk-goes missing. Likely on either a Connie or an Excelsior.

 

I think it'd be a cool time to deal with, because there's very little we know about the period from about 2293-2311 (Tomed Incident) and then again from 2312-2340 (Khitomer Raids, et al)

 

I've made one like that before. USS Eagle, Constellation class, (righth when the class of ship is first launched). It was assigned to patrol the Klingon boarder, aid with the continuing relief effort to Qronos, and be one of the first ships to do scientific work in and past Klingon space. It also had a marine attachment. I loved this sim because I created it but then gave it to someone else to run and I played a normal character. So, I could enjoy it and not worry about running it. Also my marine character was in the K9 division and my dog quickly became the ships mascot (and outlived my stay on the ship actually).