TREKCORE > GAMING > STAR TREK ONLINE > DESIGNER DIARY > Back from Vegas

PUBLISHED: Aug 18, 2005
AUTHOR: Glen Dahlgren

Greetings all.

I'm Glen Dahlgren, the lead designer on Star Trek Online. Since Daron and Ken have been questing through this space, I figured I might as well join in. Hell, whats an MMOG without grouping?

For those new to the site, let me give you a little of my background. I come from a lengthy career at Legend Entertainment, a PC development studio over in Virginia (they do have game companies on the East Coast, believe it or not). There I designed adventure games such as Gateway I & II and Death Gate, and then later first-person shooters such as Wheel of Time and Unreal 2. My goal has been and continues to be to fuse story with action and create the most compelling player experience possible.

I'm extremely excited to have the opportunity to work on STO-I've been a fan ever since Trek gave us a science-fiction alternative to the dubious Lost in Space-and there are so many elements of the Trek universe that translate into a compelling MMO design.

Anyway, on a completely different topic, some of us from the STO team recently traveled to the Star Trek convention in Vegas. Initially, we planned to use the opportunity to meet some of the hardest-core ST fans face-to-face, ask them some questions, and get a feeling for what they're looking for in an MMORPG (and look for cool swag to decorate the walls of our office). That didn't sound too bad; I'd never been to a Star Trek convention and I was looking forward to it.

As discussions continued, our casual visit somehow turned into a panel presentation. And it was booked into the main meeting room that houses 3,500 people. And what I discovered was the Grand Slam biggest damn Trek convention of the year. Hell, with the exception of Archer, ALL of the captains were going to be there, along with pretty much everyone else who had even a bit part on any series!

Klingon, Ian, Glen, Borg, and Daron the moment before we ran for our lives.

So we went into it swinging. We upped the ante by revealing that Mike Okuda had joined the team as a design consultant, and who was kind enough to actually join our panel. We laid out the basic premise and vision of the game. We exposed the areas where we were pushing the look and feel of Star Trek forward, by presenting the early concepts of our uniforms and the new iteration of Mike's LCARS interface. And then we discussed the game's design with a very interested and intelligent audience.

The panel: Ian (lead engineer), Mike Okuda (design consultant), Ken (art director), Glen (lead designer), and Daron (executive producer) talking about STO.

The end results were extremely gratifying. As we spoke, people began to understand that this project is the vehicle that is moving Trek into the future. In the absence of other new media, we have the incredible opportunity to be the ones telling the untold stories, pushing the boundaries, and establishing a new beachhead in the final frontier. The interaction with the audience was great, especially because it allowed us to communicate with people who didn't have any knowledge or preconceptions about the game, in addition to the fans who have followed our progress from day one. And the one-on-one conversations following the formal panel were a lot of fun.

I hope I don't embarrass Mike Okuda too much by mentioning that he and his wife (who was also instrumental in the production of Star Trek) are wonderful people. After the panel, we had some engaging discussions where they related some insightful behind-the-scenes stories about Trek. Theu're excited to be a part of something new-especially something interactive-and we’re really grateful to have their experience to draw upon. Speaking of which, Mike isn't the only established expert we're hoping to have assist us, although I'll keep further names under wraps until we've nailed down the agreements.

Mike Okuda shows us how to make the magic.

This trip also happened to be my first visit to Vegas, and I was happy to have the opportunity to see the Star Trek Experience in the Hilton. It contains two sections (the Borg and the Klingons) and they were hands-down the best motion rides I've seen (although Spider Man at Universal was a close second). The attention to detail was amazing, I appreciated the live interactivity with actors that took the illusion seriously, and I was surprised and gratified that they had incorporated all of the latest material from Enterprise into their Trek museum and timeline display (the rather large area you walk through before the rides themselves). When we sat down at Quark's Bar afterward, I noted that it was a very cool feeling-both at the convention and the Experience-to be immersed in this environment where Trek was so pervasive. Even non-believers were amazed. For the time they were there, everyone who visited was a fan.

Ken takes on a Gorn statue (and somehow loses).

Anyway, I should wrap this up. My plan was to use this space to discuss elements of the design, but I guess you never know what exactly is going to show up until I write it (I certainly don't). Just so I don't avoid the design topic completely, I should mention the addition of our new systems designer: Eric Heimburg. Eric comes to STO from Turbine where he worked as a designer, producer, and engineer on Asheron's Call 2. He's already added a lot to the process of nailing down our systems, and I'm glad to have him on board. Hopefully, we'll get him to post here as well.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time!

Glen Dahlgren