As previously reported on our show, Bethesda Software has gathered together, for the first time in gaming history, all five famous legendary Starfleet Captains and the actors who portrayed them, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, and Scott Bakula to do the voices of their characters in the video game “Star Trek: Legacy.”
The role of the player of the game will be to command Federation starships in action. Gamers may start with a single ship, but eventually will be able to lead a squadron of starships, with the ability to take direct control of any vessel. Multiplayer will allow play as other factions, namely the Klingons, Romulans, and the Borg. For the newest details, GameSpot turned to lead designer Ian Currie of developer Mad Doc Software.
We have a short segment of that interview for you here:
GameSpot: We know that the game is no longer tied to The Next Generation episode “Contagion” (the episode in which the Enterprise is infected with an alien computer virus). So how will Legacy unite all the eras of Star Trek? Will we follow the adventures of a single starship, sort of like how the television series follows the different starships in different eras?
Ian Currie: You start with one ship, the NX-01, with Captain Archer at the helm. From there you build up your fleet and at various points the timeline advances forward. When you cross over from the Enterprise era to The Original Series era, your main ship will change, and Kirk will be at the helm. A similar thing happens when the timeline changes from The Original Series to The Next Generation. However, beyond the main ship, it’s up to you to determine what fleet changes will occur and when.
GS: It was announced that famed Trek writer D.C. Fontana wrote Legacy’s story. What was the collaboration process like with her? Was she involved with developing the story early on?
IC: It was a huge thrill for us to have her associated with the project. She came on board fairly early, when the story was still in its infancy. Given her knowledge of all things Trek, I’m sure it won’t come as any surprise that she had a great deal of influence over the story direction. It was an iterative process, as the story and gameplay have to blend together in such a way that the strengths of each are retained. This can sometimes be challenging, as not every story element fits into a game, and we didn’t want to incorporate cool gameplay mechanics if it didn’t fit into the storyline. In the end we got just the right mix.
GS: We understand that the Klingons, Borg, and Romulans will be in the game? Will any of the minor races make an appearance, like the Ferengi? Also, could you tell us about the new alien race that’s being created specifically for the game?
IC: Yes, the Klingons, Borg, and Romulans all make it into the game. Unfortunately, I can’t same the same for the Ferengi and any new alien race you might have heard about.
GS: How many different starships will there be for each faction? Are there full-on fleets for the major races? For instance, will there be Klingon and Romulan counterparts to all the key Federation starships?
IC: There are more Federation ships, but that’s mostly because in the single-player campaign you play the Federation. We wanted to include as many Federation ships as we could for this reason, but we still have plenty for the other races–just about 20 for each.
You can catch the entire interview at the GameSpot Website.
