ST:Infinite Space Update

posted on April 19th, 2011, 7:12 pm

Here is a short interview with the Okuda's and new shots of more ships and stations.

Q: How did you get involved with the Star Trek Game?

A: We were lucky enough to be approached by CBS and Gameforge. Our first meeting with the Gameforge team was when they came to Los Angeles about a year ago . Frankly, we just wanted to hear about their game concept because it sounded cool . Imagine our surprise when Michael Hengst, the producer, turned to us and asked if we could fly to Germany in a couple of weeks to meet with his team!

Q: What is your role during the development of the game?

A: We are consultants to Gameforge and Keen Games on Star Trek content. That means that we review designs and story elements to help them stay consistent with the world of Star Trek . For things that have been established in episodes and movies , we try to help them make it match what you’ve already seen. But, of course, part of the fun of this game is to dig a little deeper and reach a little further than we did in the actual episodes. Where new material – like new ships – is being created, we try to help them make it both fresh and familiar.

Q: You have been to Europe last year, to see the developer of browser game and to work on the preliminary design. What was your impression of Keen and what did you like about Europe?

A: We had a great time in Europe! Sarah Steffen and her colleagues at Keen really impressed us with their attention to detail, and their concern for authenticity. Also, they have some very, very fine designers. They were trying to get the nuances right, and they bombarded us with questions like, “would a Klingon do this?” or “could you upgrade a Defiant-class ship to do that?” or even “does this feel like Star Trek ?” It was a whirlwind visit, but it was good to meet the team face to- face. We continue to collaborate with them over the Internet.

Q: Transferring a vastly complex universe like Star Trek to a game is a challenge by its own.

A: What would be the most important thing to keep the feeling“ of Star Trek? That’s a tough question. Star Trek is the sum of many, many elements , from story and character, to the thrill of discovery , to the power of science and technology to improve our lives. To us, the visuals of the ship and character designs are very important. But even more important are the core values of Star Trek : The adventure o f exploration, delight in the diversity of life-forms in the galaxy, and the ethical strength of the characters who are always willing and able to defend themselves very effectively, even though they never go out looking for a fight.

Q: Working on a game is somewhat different, than working on a TV show. What was for you the main difference?

A: Each version of Star Trek is a little different from what came before , and movies are quite a bit different from television . So the jump to interactive gaming was, in one sense, just another version of Gene Roddenberry’s universe. It’s fun for us because is a very different medium, so we’re learning a whole new set of rules for storytelling and production. Fortunately, our friends at Gameforge and Keen have been holding our hands in that regard , and we’ve been learning a lot. For us, one of the interesting differences is that in television, there are a lot of things that are seen only in the background, so you don’t put a lot of time or effort into them. For example, in a big battle scene, a lot of the background ships might be very crude models. But in an interactive game, you often can’t control what things are seen closely, so the Keen design team sometimes has to put in a lot of extra work on things that we might ignore in television. Gameforge has sent us some new screenshots for their upcoming free-to-play browser game Star Trek: Infinite Space, set during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War.

Pics here. Star Trek: Infinite Space Q&A With Mike & Denise Okuda | TrekMovie.com

posted on April 19th, 2011, 10:03 pm

Hey the pics look very nice!!
I wonder what kind of klingon ship is that on the fourth picture?
It would fit to the design concept of fleet ops!!

posted on April 19th, 2011, 10:17 pm

looks like a modern version of the raptor from enterprise.

i wouldnt mind a design that is an homage to the raptor.

posted on April 19th, 2011, 10:27 pm

Well i am not familiar with the ship you mentioned, so i asumed it was a complete new ship.

By the way does anyone know if there are any new klingon ships planed for upcoming patches of fleet ops?
I saw they want to make a new sang class model.

posted on April 19th, 2011, 10:29 pm

I don't know of any new Klingon ships planned. If any are, they're probably in the list of classified tasks; woudn't want too many secrets out.

posted on April 19th, 2011, 10:31 pm

Raptor class - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki

thats the raptor

posted on April 19th, 2011, 10:32 pm

Every faction gets additional ships in their respective redo

posted on April 19th, 2011, 10:39 pm

Oh i see the raptor has some history!! Thanks a lot for the link !!
But on the infininite space bla picture it doesnt look like a scout ship more like a medium cruiser similar like the vorcha class.

Hey foks looks like i missed some updates. What do you mean with klingon faction redo?
I thought that only the borg are redone completely and the mix tech system.

posted on April 19th, 2011, 10:41 pm

all the races get a redo.

posted on April 19th, 2011, 10:44 pm

Oh yeah that is NICE!!!!!!!!! Cant wait for the next patch

posted on April 20th, 2011, 4:43 pm

Oh i see the raptor has some history!! Thanks a lot for the link !!
But on the infininite space bla picture it doesnt look like a scout ship more like a medium cruiser similar like the vorcha class.

Thats becuase of the type of game that it is look at the pic of the 2 bops, the ktinga and the galaxy aswell as the pics with shuttles from before. They are all closer together like they are in Armada but even moreso.

Hey foks looks like i missed some updates. What do you mean with klingon faction redo?
I thought that only the borg are redone completely and the mix tech system.

Im browsing the list every month why arn't you?  ---> Star Trek Armada II: Fleet Operations - Project Progress

posted on April 20th, 2011, 4:50 pm

i quite like the art from the screenies (apart from the raptors)

posted on April 20th, 2011, 5:12 pm

Oh, I forgot to bring this up before but hey FO dev team you've got your Ferengi trading station right here.

posted on May 16th, 2011, 8:54 pm

They have the Big-D, Defiant and Jem'Hadar Destroyer selectable in the 3d viewer.

Star Trek: Infinite Space

posted on May 16th, 2011, 8:59 pm

I think it looks like that crappy arcade typoe startrek game on the ps2.

I just hope the gameplay and storys are better than the graphics and physics.