GamersCircle

GamersInfo was able to sit down with Craig Zinkievich, executive producer of Star Trek Online, during the New York Comic Con to ask about one of the greatly anticipated massively multiplayer online games of the 21st century.

It’s 2409, and the Khitomar Accord has collapsed. The Federation and Klingons are again at war. As a player, you have the option of acting as a captain for either the Federation or Klingon Empire. In addition to pitting these two ancient enemies against each other, you’ll end up fighting against an unnamed ancient evil that threatens the entire Alpha quadrant. This unnamed ancient evil is referenced in older source books and information, so it won’t be an evil that is new to fans, but the creators still want it to be a surprise.

Alright, first question, does everyone have to be a captain? Or can you be a science officer, engineer, what?

Everyone is a captain, but players have the option of improving in different areas. So a player can advance as a captain with a specialization in engineering, or science, or security, for example.

So what about the other sections of the ship, or the other officers? Who will be controlling them?

Each section is controlled by a specialist, created by the player. So you basically create an NPC to run each section of the ship for you. This frees the player to focus on the things that they enjoy the most, without having to micromanage too much.

Well, in the demo trailer we see a lot of shots involving the designing of the characters. Will players have the same flexibility in designing their officers or just the captain?

Absolutely. We want to give the players as much flexibility as possible. They’ll be able to design the style of their crew, how their individual characters look and even create new races.

What about stats and so forth? Will Vulcans be more intelligent, Klingons stronger, etc.?

Absolutely. Race will affect your stats and abilities, and when you create new races, you can give them new attribute point spreads.

Now, you’ll be playing Klingon versus Federation, and those are the primary enemies. What about enemies like the Borg, Cardassians, Romulans and so forth?

Yeah, they’ll definitely be there. We’ll be including a lot of the universe; there’s a lot of material there.

Speaking of Klingon and Federation, what about pirates or privateers? Will players have the chance to do something independent other than working for just one faction or the other?

Well, there’s nothing about that option yet, but we may introduce them later; it will just depend on demand and desire I suppose.

The demo suggests that there are four primary areas of play: ship-to-ship combat, planet-side missions, missions on space vessels and exploration on your ship. If all players are captains, how will they get the chance to interact with each other — other than ship-to-ship combat?

Well, every mission you transport to has five characters, a combination of players and computer support players. So essentially, when you beam down on a solo mission, you’ll have four backup specialists that you created, or you might transport to a mission with a two friends, so you’ll have three real players and two computer support members.

Let’s say the captain you play is a security specialist and your friend is playing a captain with a specialty in science. You have two remaining characters that might fulfill the security and science positions. If you have a medical officer who is leveled further than your friends, you may want your agent on the mission, instead of his.

What will combat be like on the mission? Will you just be using phasers or what?

No, no. They’ll have plenty of options. The Vulcan neck pinch, the bat’letH, melee combat will definitely be an option.

So what are we talking about with regards to customization? How much control will players have?

They’ll have lots of options — plenty of them. Players will be able to design everything — not just race, but weapons and ships. It won’t just be cosmetic, either, but actually makes a difference for equipment and gear.

Speaking of customizing, you can do that with ships. Does that mean you won’t just be using the standard ships?

Sort of. You’ll start out with smaller class ships and slowly upgrade.

So I can start with, say, a Klingon Bird of Prey and then eventually upgrade to a battleship and then design different elements of the ship?

Yeah, exactly. We want to give the players a lot of control of the look and feel in the game. The basic class of the ship will remain the same, in that case, but you’ll be able to add certain functions to it, as well as cosmetic ones to give it your own look.

What about space combat, then?

There’re a lot of variables to consider. The players aren’t just moving the ship through space shooting at each other. They have to really pay attention to things like tactics. If the ship is damaged, then the captain needs to decide to divert power from shields to weapons, or to life-support, and so forth. Tactics will definitely play a role, and your supporting characters will make a difference to that success. Their level will affect their abilities to succeed at the goals you assign them to.

There’ve been a lot of problems with space combat, though, in other games. What about the space combat in this game? It often looks good and interesting on screen that doesn’t always translate well. Will players have a range of 3D combat, or will it be more linear? I mean, 3D combat is pretty important in a game like this and, to quote, “He’s thinking two-dimensionally.”

*laughs* Space combat will definitely be in a 3D engine here for purposes of ship-to-ship combat.

Cool, cool. OK, well, the combat for the ship sounds good, but what about the interior of the ship? I know it sounds a little odd, but I noticed there’s a lot of interest for giving details to a ship, like in Sims. Star Trek, Star Wars, BSG … there’s a lot of interest in the ship’s personality. What can players expect in terms of customization? Can they customize their quarters or redesign ten-forward, or what? Like Picard with his Earl Gray Tea? Or Kirk with his models of 18th century ships that we saw in his apartment in San Francisco?

Sure, sure. Customization is really important. Who knows, over time we may be able to have extensions and patches for more unique upgrades and so forth in the interior of the ship. That’s something that’s really important to the game.

Speaking of the game, what about the tie-ins to social role playing that extend beyond just completing missions? Captain’s logs, data and information that can be observed by other players online as you travel through missions?

There’re big plans to see that as the game progresses. As characters go on more missions, they’ll be able to post their logs and bios online, and other characters will be able to read them and understand and learn about each other, hopefully providing cues for other missions.

Wow, you know, I’m really excited about this. The game sounds really cool. So one final question: With players creating their own races, completing new missions and detailed backstories and shared character logs, is it possible that the Star Trek franchise may take a cue from some of the players and maybe make a story or a Star Trek episode or series based on one of the players in the game?

Well … I dunno know about that …

I got you. Cool. Well, let’s just say that’s not a denial, right?

*laughs*

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