It's been a long wait. Now it's here. OrionSlaver and the dev team get all soppy and reminisce about the good ol' days before heading off into the sunset to face the future together.

Posted by OrionSlaver on Dec 5th, 2016

And now, gentlefolk, we finally reach the end of our journey. The experience which began six years ago today comes to a close. The Final Frontier is upon us.





Star Trek Armada 3, of course, started with Max in 2010, and was first released during the Christmas season of 2013. Beginning simply as a spiritual successor to the Armada games of Star Trek’s golden age of games, since then the mod has grown beyond all the developers’ expectations, and is now a small phenomenon. Armada 3 has players all around the world - in the United States, Russia, China, Australia, the UK, Europe, the Middle East, South America... Everywhere, made up of people of every colour, creed and orientation, proving once again the global appeal and unifying spirit of Star Trek. Contributing to the wider experience of Star Trek is something for which the entire team is extremely grateful.



It has indeed been a long journey. For years the development team has devoted many thousands of hours of their free time into the development of Armada 3, a process that has not been without its personal and technical challenges. Sharing this experience has made good friends of the developers. Over the years we’ve been by each other’s sides (morally, if not physically) through thick and thin. As friends we’ve witnessed changes, struggles and triumphs in each other’s lives. Relationships have blossomed and fallen apart. We’ve witnessed marriages and the births of children. Homes have been made. We’ve seen loved ones suffer serious illnesses. Careers have begun and prospered. Even now, in the last few days a member of the dev team has just become engaged to the person he loves. And of course, we’ve all felt the loss of a friend.



Through it all there has been Armada 3 - this frustrating, tedious, stressful, time consuming mod that we’ve all loved working on so much. It’s been an amazing journey. We’re glad it’s done. We’re sad it’s over.



I could write pages about what this mod has meant to us. Instead, I’ll let some of the development team themselves say what this mod has meant to them.



------------------------------------------------------

Maxloef1990:

I started this project a few years ago and to this day I cannot believe how much it has grown. The sheer amount of love from this community has been overwhelming.



Along the way we brought on board a lot of very talented people. People who became more than just colleagues - friendships were formed and have grown over the years. Some of those people I actually got to meet for real when we met up at Star Trek Destination London. I am honoured to call these people my friends.



I am so proud of the work everyone has put into this project it is truly a labour of love and you can tell by the dedication of the entire team. Hours upon hours, late nights and early mornings everyone pulled their weight in making this project a reality.



Let’s not forget the community the support you have shown over the years has been breath-taking. So many people from all over the world are playing this mod. At times it’s a little overwhelming.



So now with this project coming to a close its really a chapter of my life that I’m closing the book on. It’s been many wonderful years and I am going to miss this community a lot. I hope that some of you will follow us to our next big project. That project is just in its infancy.



And finally I’d like to say thank you to a person that is no longer among us - Chris Knight ‘Amargosa’. You will be missed.

------------------------------------------------------

Ambarenya:

It is hard to forget the sheer excitement I felt back in the dark days of 2013 when I heard that a guy named Max Loef had started a project to recreate one of my favorite game series from the Golden Age of Trek. Little did I know that a mere seven hours of slaving away on a lengthy (if not slightly pedantic) review of the Star Trek: Armada III 0.95beta would catapult me into being a part of a dream.

And that is what Star Trek: Armada III is for me -- it is a dream made manifest. The game that we always wanted, but never got, whether due to time or neglect or forgetfulness. But we have brought from the darkness all these things that made Trek great, and saved them from the depths of obscurity. And that is what I believe has driven the team - my friends - to put in their best effort into each and every little detail. The real nitty-gritty minutiae. And we take pride in this canonical pedantry. This IS the team that can accomplish anything they set their mind to. It is also the team that can have an off-hand discussion over whether an escape pod is placed correctly or not. The alpha strike potential of a Nebula class. Whether the Nova had holodecks...and still come away as friends. Some may not realize it, but through our combined synergy, we have put countless hours of insight, research, discussion, and passion into everything we have done, and we hope that it shows in our end product.

With the release of The Final Frontier, I am sad to see the end of an era, but I am glad and content to know that before we ourselves depart, we have plotted our old ship on a course towards the Second Star to the Right. May our child gracefully fly off into the sunset, Straight on Til Morning, towards all the Undiscovered Countries, Boldly Going Where No Man, and No One, has Gone Before. ☧

------------------------------------------------------

Gul-Dukat:

It's hard to put into words what STA3 has meant to me over the past six or so years. I could talk for hours about how incredible the community has been and how supported we've felt in our project by the players, but it's not them that I'd like to address today.

I've been fortunate enough to meet and work with an array of individuals from all walks of life and with a vast array of talents while working in STA3. I'd like to address my thoughts to you and you alone. I've spent hour upon hour on Skype or TeamSpeak with you discussing the mod, coming up with ideas and speaking about our thoughts and feelings on life, the universe and what's important to us personally.

This has been more than a project to me, more than a side-line to my normal life. You are more than my colleagues. You have become true friends that I treasure. Your honest advice and guidance has guided me through some difficult times and you have made a huge and positive difference to my life. Thank you. It's been more than a pleasure, it’s been an honour.

------------------------------------------------------

Bane:

STA3 for me has been a culmination of thousands of hours of balancing. I started on the team near the very beginning as the first full time Beta tester pre 0.95 and quickly moved into organising and cleaning up strings and code that were just out of place.



It's been rough some times - some people have not liked the direction we've chosen and why we have balanced things the way we have, especially the Borg, but other than the very few percentile that have found the balance wrong overwhelmingly we've always felt supported and we've stuck to our guns! Though weve compromised on others!



The friendships I've forged with the other developers have led me on to new ventures esepcially with Gul and Max, they've stayed at my house, they have become surrogate uncles to my daughter (Now nearly 7!) and growing up she has seen my own devotion to the mod at the best and worst of times, but it's all been worth it. I'd also like to single out Draconis to as again he's become my good friend we spend so many hours playing games together and without his help in the balance team I'd have been a lot more stressed!

I've now moved on to other Sins mods such as Ascendancy with Corey and I hope that many of you will enjoy for STA3 and Sins for years to come and of course if you, the dedicated supporters of this mod, want to speak to myself or Gul you can find us on GBgaming we are always up for a chat!

------------------------------------------------------

Draconis:

I have been working on STA 3 for quite some time now and did a lot of coding on the back end. Since the old 1.0 STA3 release I worked on a lot of the new stuff and replacing, improving or overhauling a lot of the code. Sadly we were also limited by the game engine and never got to do some of the things we wanted to do, we like to call it "because Sins". Along the path to our latest release, I did meet quite a lot of new people. And a lot of these people I can now call good friends. I do quite like how passionate our player base is about our mod. It gave us passion and drive to do all the things we did. Of course we are all big fans of star trek also. I am not a man of many words, so I hope everybody enjoys our latest release of STA 3: TFF.

------------------------------------------------------

KillaBC:

My word what can I say about Star Trek Armada 3? It’s been a long road, getting from there to here - but it’s been a very worthy one. I joined back in May 2013 and since then Armada 3 has grown beyond any expectations that I had about the project. I have a lot to thank Armada 3 for, in fact Armada 3 is the reason I have a career in digital design. It got me my job and I learned a lot from the incredibly talented people around me and I hope that I’ve done the same for people that have joined the team along the way. Armada 3 has impacted on lives in ways no one could have imagined and that’s made it more than just a mod.

------------------------------------------------------

Outerexodus:

I joined STA3 shortly before our 1.0 release. There was just something about the level of quality the STA3 team was putting into their mod that drew my attention back to modding after years away. I thought myself lucky when Maxloef accepted the help I offered. Boy did that change in the first Dev Meeting!! But in all seriousness, this team is comprised of some of the most humorous, talented, and dedicated individuals I have ever worked with, and I am extremely honored and humbled to have been part of it. As work on The Final Frontier progressed, I was sadly unable to contribute as my wife and I had our first child and I experienced a whole new level of joy. This great team offered such understanding and continued to value my input. Love these guys! Unfortunately, also experienced sadness when Amargosa was lost, striking a blow to the whole community with the loss of such a wonderful talent. This team has been through exciting highs and depressing lows together, and we have formed some amazing friendships through it all. As our work on STA3 mostly draws to a close, I can only look back with pride at our team and our fans. This project will remain one of my proudest achievements, and I look forward to incredible projects together in the future. Lastly, thanks to all our fans for the continued support. "Live long and prosper!"

------------------------------------------------------

Zurmi:

I joined CTA as a beta back in 1.2 and became a dev in 1.3. I'm still not sure how it happened. When I started as a dev I had no clue what I was doing but with the unending patience of Draconis, Bane and Gul. Especially Gul and Bane, the quote KHAN! (replace Khan with Zurmi) when I made a few mistakes :D I've made many new friends, from the beta testers to the devs - especially the coding and balance group (Bane, Draconis). I will remember our group coding sessions fondly - some of the stuff that was said was pure comedy gold :D I've learned a lot about modding and it is no joke. The amount of time dedication and love of the current and former devs that have put into this game can never be truly justified in words but I will say it was an honour and privilege to be a small part of this epic project. I’ll leave you with my favourite quote - “Well, once again, we’ve saved civilization as we know it.” “…And the good news is, they’re not going to prosecute.”

------------------------------------------------------

Hobbs203:

Having only joined the development team for Armada 3 recently, I have been welcomed by a hard working, diligent, professional and out-right bonkers team that has been both rewarding and a pleasure to be a part of. Now we're finally at the release date I feel very proud for what we have achieved and I hope you enjoy exploring, conquering and subjugating The Final Frontier.

------------------------------------------------------

Lavo:

In truth, I cannot remember when I first got involved with Star Trek: Armada 3, but what I can tell you is I do know the lasting friendships that have been born from my, albeit small, involvement with the project. Meeting individuals such as Gul, Max, Conner, Bane, Rick, Draconis, and others over the years. Sticking around for hours in TeamSpeak and Skype calls, dissecting Sins for all it's worth, and bemoaning the hardcoding of the game are fond memories of mine. STA3 was also an opportunity for me to make new and complex abilities, with the thought-to-be-impossible saucer separation being one of my favourite moments in Sins coding. It has been an honour and a pleasure working with the dedicated members of this mod and I am pleased to see it come this far and having grown this much.

------------------------------------------------------

Thiextar:

During the last few months I have had the privilege to be a part of this amazing team, and I must say, it's been one hell of a ride! The amount of work that these guys volunteer to do during their free time is mind boggling. I am so happy of being able to say that i have been a part of this, and I would like to think that i have influenced the mod positively in some way. Cheers, and thanks for letting me in!

------------------------------------------------------

OrionSlaver:

For myself, Armada 3 has been a great experience and a helluva journey. I downloaded Armada 3 on Christmas Day back in 2013, and was hooked immediately. I immediately saw the potential in this mod to become something special, and I'm very pleased to see that it's done just that. I remember the first comment I left on this page – I was complaining about how fragile the Romulans felt in 0.95. :D Later I was invited into the beta-testing team, and then joined the team fully as Beta Lead and map maker. I remember Bane struggling with every fibre of his being to teach me how to code. :D In another life, mate!



I will treasure this experience not only for the joy of helping to create something special, but mainly for the friendships I’ve made. I have truly enjoyed working with a wonderful team of top blokes. It’s been a pleasure.

------------------------------------------------------



There are, of course, many, many others who have been involved in the creation of this mod. There is simply not enough room on this page for everyone who has played a part in Armada 3. It’s been an honour, all of you.



For the final time, I would like to recognise our entire team of beta testers. Your help and feedback has been absolutely essential. You’ve all become a part of this group and it’s been a lot of fun working with you. Our deepest thanks to you all. Take a bow, guys - this mod exists, in part, because of you.

Seems legit...



Finally, for several years now Star Trek Armada 3, the expansion A Call To Arms and now The Final Frontier have been truly blessed with the best, most devoted, most helpful supporters with the most generous hearts on ModDb. Some of you have been with us since the beginning. A lot of you are new to Armada 3. All of you have been wonderful. You’ve not only kept us focused and motivated, but enthusiastic and eager. YOU have made this project the great experience that it has been. And for that, each and every one of you has our love and our lasting gratitude.



The Final Frontier is the culmination of six years of Star Trek Armada 3. The brainchild of our own mad scientist, scholar and philosopher Ambarenya, The Final Frontier is perhaps the most ambitious mod ever developed for Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion. Since its inception it has pushed the Sins engine to its very limits and has provided us and the game with all kinds of new challenges. And now it's finished.



In a way we envy you, the players. You're about to witness The Final Frontier for the first time. You're about to explore Armada 3 like never before, and experience the pinnacle of everything we've worked on for all these years from a fresh perspective. We hope you enjoy playing it as much as we've enjoyed making it.



But I’ve yapped on long enough, I think.



Without further ado, it is our profound pleasure to present to you Star Trek Armada 3 – The Final Frontier.



We hope you'll join us for our next project - Star Trek Infinities. It's going to be huge. Moddb.com



See you out there!



As always, stay classy. Or don't.

- OrionSlaver