Massively^™

In the past, Star Trek Online devlogs have been light on gameplay information. Perpetual's Mike Stemmle usually writes about the development team, concept art, and things of that nature. But this time it's different. Not only does Devlog #5 include juicy details about interacting with NPCs, but it also includes the very first in-game screenshot. Sweet!

We can learn a couple of things from this screenshot. First of all, the graphics are neither cutting edge nor outdated; they're right in the middle. This is arguably a sweet spot for MMOs. Second, the LCARS influence can be seen on the UI, but it's not overt. In fact, it's barely there. We do find it a bit alarming that the game features a standard MMO "1 through =" action bar -- a tired convention that's begging for innovation.

As far as the NPC interaction stuff goes, though, it all sounds good.

If you've been following Star Trek Online, then you know we get the sweetest little tastes of information in Perpetual's monthly devlogs. This month's devlog is about game art -- specifically, putting together different building-block pieces of it to form a variety of locales. This is appropriately demonstrated with pieces of a Vulcan town -- "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations," get it?

While that's (Vulcan voice) fascinating, the highlights of the devlog are arguably the little bits of concept art. Most if it is Vulcan stuff, but devlogger Mike Stemmle did toss in the above-pictured TOS Doomsday Machine. If you're a real Trekkie, that bit alone should make the wait unbearable. We're trying our best to be patient and to not let Perpetual's Gods & Heroes self-destruction get to us. To quote Spock, "you must have faith that the universe will unfold as it should."

[Via Warcry]