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Star Trek Online lets you command your own ship - in a universe full of other Star Trek captains. A universe, we might add, filled to the brink with Star Trek details. Craig Zinkievich, the Executive producer for Star Trek Online, told us all about it.
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| Craig Zinkievich |
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Craig Zinkievich: Well most importantly we are all massive fans of Star Trek on the development team. Although we want to make sure that if a player has no knowledge of Star Trek lore, they can get in and enjoy the game – at every turn, we’re trying to get canonical references back to the shows and movies.
The hardcore Star Trek fan will find tons and tons of locations, character references, event references and bits of techno-speak from the show. Our goal is to constantly barrage people with a deep love and knowledge of the Star Trek universe with things they recognize.
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Given the extremely rich fiction that exists surrounding the time-line the various series took place in it’s an interesting decision to move the game further into the future. Can you tell us why you chose to do this?
Well Star Trek Online Set is set in the year 2409 and takes place in the prime timeline 30 years after the events in Star Trek Nemesis and 22 years after the destruction of Romulus. The alpha quadrant is not as safe as it once was. The Romulan Empire is scattered, but still powerful – chaos reigns as internal factions fight for what’s left of the empire. The Khitomer Accord between the Federation and the Klingon Empire has broken down, leaving the two powers on the verge of all out war. The Borg have returned, more advanced and more bent on their goal of assimilation. Needless to say, there’s plenty of work for StarFleet Captains in 2409.
The reason for setting STO in this time period as that we wanted to give players the experience of a Star Trek Universe that was familiar but, being a group of creative individuals ourselves, we weren’t interested in just recreating scenes from the shows and movies. We also didn’t want to force players to constantly feel overshadowed by their TV and movie counterparts. Rather, we wanted everyone to feel like they were the Kirk or Janeway or Picard of their gameplay experience.
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Players will be able to team up to do all of the content in Star Trek Online. If you’re doing instanced mission content – you’ll be able to team up with other players to a team size of 5. When you’re in Space – all of you will be piloting your starships. When you beam down to the ground – our away missions – you’ll all go down as Captains.
In addition to being able to team up for all of the Episode content in STO, there are large scale Fleet Actions that require 30+ starships and Captains to complete. If the Klingons try to take a Federation Starbase near the border – 5 starships isn’t going to be enough to beat back that threat.
Star Trek has always put a lot on emphasis on the fact that there are (nearly always) alternatives to fighting. Will the game reflect that aspect, too, and if yes, how?
Yes we do have diplomacy missions in game – the point of these it to figure out a problem , locate evidence or find a missing person. These missions flow naturally through talking with NPC’s and exploring the environment.
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As you gain skills points and experience you will be able to move up through the ranks. You don’t level in this game, you start as an Ensign and move all the way up to Admiral.
What kind of punishments are there? Can you lose your ship in battle?
When you lose your ship in battle it will likely involve loss of some crewman and damage to some of your items. However players will not lose their ship, they will simply respawn at the last unlocked respawn point.
Is spaceship control going to be more tactical or more hands-on via a joystick/pad?
Space combat in STO is tactical and measured and for this you will need to use keyboard controls. During combat you have to think about positioning, transferring power to boost weapons or shields, when to use your crew's abilities, and what is the best way to exploit your opponent's weaknesses. Positioning is extremely important, and you have time to take actions such as rerouting power to shields or weapons, or weakening an opponent's aft shields and then manoeuvring to take advantage of that. There's a lot more to it than "fire phasers"!
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We definitely want to bring in a mixture of Star Trek fans, young and old, hardcore gamers and casual gamer. Mostly, our goal is to recreate the feel you get when you watch the Star Trek shows or movies.
We’re designing the game to be deep enough to satisfy a hardcore audience, but accessible enough that people new to MMOs can play the game and still have fun. It’s terms of its learning curve it is one of those “minute to learn, lifetime to master” games.
For more casual MMO players – they will find a lot of content their and our Episode missions really cater to people who don’t have a lot of time but still want that Star Trek experience. Episodes are five-part missions that last between 45 minutes and two hours that feel like an episode of the show. They have acts, dramatic points, recurring characters, and really tell the story of Star Trek Online. We even have them divided up into “seasons.” It’s bite-sized chunks of engaging content that casual and hardcore gamers will enjoy.
http://rpg.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=18916
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