Star Trek Online Lives Again

In an AP article released Friday, Cryptic Studios, which had taken the reigns on the Star Trek Online project, gave the first hint of what the game would be like.

It seems that Cryptic will be choosing to discard the direction of the P2 team, which was the last group to work on the project.

"Pretty much, we're not using anything that Perpetual gave us outside of the concept art. No engine, no tech, no art, outside of the concept," said Cryptic's Chief Creative Officer Jack Emmert, in an interview with GameSpy.

In an interview with the Associated Press Emmert said that players will have the option of either playing as a Starfleet or Klingon Captain, with customizable characters from established Star Trek races (including the Gorn!).

Emmert describes the gameplay as very much in line with the television series and movies.

"You'll venture through space exploring new civilizations and life-forms," said Emmert. "You'll also beam down to planets and have adventures inside your ship. It's a galactic-wide game. There's going to be tons of space to investigate. We have a great system for exploration, which will allow for almost infinite possibilities."

The game is to be set in a period "a few generations following the last 'Trek' film," according to the AP. GameSpy has the following from their interview:

The game's setting: sometime in the 25th century, an exact stardate to be revealed at the Trek con unveiling. It's a time of expansion for the Federation, enabled by technological advances suggestive of the capabilities of the biggest threat it's ever faced. Transwarp conduits, once the strict purview of the Borg, are now operated by the Federation, allowing faster, farther travel to previously inaccessible areas of the galaxy. As for it being a period of peace, the fact the game is being designed around two separate factions strongly suggests that they'll be at odds. But Emmert wasn't prepared to confirm this.

Perhaps the biggest change for the long expectant fans will be the switch from P2's vision of multiple players on one ship to a different experience, in which each player is their own captain with their own ship.

However, though this is the direction for the current work on the game, Cryptic hasn't ruled the old approach out.

"It may be a direction we go in the future," said Emmert to GameSpy.

As with P2's development, it sounds as if the Star Trek production community is interested in helping out. P2, at one point, had a number of people who had been involved in the cannon Star Trek involved with their team.

"Some people have contacted me that are involved in other aspects of the Star Trek IP," Emmert said.