Collision confirmed and starship customization detailed in Star Trek Online
The newest Ask Cryptic for Star Trek Online starts off with a big "Yes!" to the question of whether or not the game will feature collision detection. After that, it gets into the nitty-gritty of starship customization. The gist of it is that Cryptic wants players to have the ability to look at other ships and generally know what class they are -- so no adding four nacelles to a Miranda class vessel.
However, you can pick the type of nacelles you want on your ship and for that matter you can mix and match every single piece (IE hull, saucer, pylons, etc) on any ship. Beyond those visual changes, players will also pick colors and decals for their interstellar space rides. Now as far as the rest is concerned...
Modifications of ship systems such as weapons, warp, deflector dish, shields and more will all be possible. Plus, you'll be able to add plenty of improvements onto a ship alongside upgrades. So things like newer medical beds or targeting computers for improved accuracy. Different ships will have more or less of these enhancement slots, so a Defiant class would probably have more tactical slots than say, an Intrepid class.
You'd think that was enough, but there's one more layer to this moist cake of customization: bridge officers. Cryptic is calling this the primary way players will customize how their ship handles. Each officer will have a certain set of skills that can only be utilized while at a duty station. And since we know these guys will have their own progression system, that means it's all about how you allocate their skills.
