“Star Trek Timelines” strategy game announced for mobile and web


Disruptor Beam, a Boston-based game developer, has announced the development of Star Trek Timelines, a multiplayer strategy RPG set in the Prime Universe that will cover every era of the franchise’s history, from the Enterprise-era through the TNG-era.

The developer, who released Game of Thrones Ascent last year, is designing the game in a way that makes “mixing and matching” crews from different eras a possibility.

Disruptor Beam CEO Jon Radoff explains:

 Temporal anomalies, mirror universes and time travel have been recurring themes throughout all the Star Trek series and several of the films. This will form the basis of Star Trek Timelines, and gives us the opportunity to explore a lot of “what-if” scenarios: what if Spock and Jean-Luc Picard got to serve on the same ship? What would it be like to have members of the mirror universe’s Terran Empire on your crew? This game will allow you to join forces with your favorite characters from across the many eras and universes from Star Trek lore—and then make decisions that impact the future of civilizations, star systems and the galaxy itself.

 

Radoff also wants to emphasize that this isn’t anything like more recent Star Trek strategy games:

 Let’s talk for a moment about what Star Trek Timelines won’t be: it isn’t a first-person shooter or a MMORPG-oriented environment where the action is about running around and blasting everyone with your phasers. There are already Star Trek games that feature first-person action—and we also feel that a combat-oriented game wouldn’t really capture the vision of Star Trek. Instead, we’re going to focus on giving you beautiful vistas of outer space, artistic renderings of your favorite characters, and a conflict mechanic where science and diplomacy are just as important as your ability to fire photon torpedoes. This means that some aspects of the game will be more “abstract” than you’d experience in a first-person perspective game – but we think it’s the right way to create the right experience for Star Trek.

 

Radoff goes into a great deal more detail about the project in a blog post here. http://www.disruptorbeam.com/blog/entry/vision-for-star-trek-timelines

The game is very early on in its development.  When released it will be available on iOS and Android platforms, as well as web browsers.

TrekMovie will bring you more information about this cool-looking project as we get it.

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First…ENGAGE!

Neat idea. Looking forward to seeing some screenshots.

This is a great idea.

I look forward to it!

Fantastic!! A “real” Star Trek game, not Halo with a starfleet skin.

Yep, definitely sound like an interesting concept! I am intrigued!

I have some reservations about the platform they are choosing. Mobile devices are typically the domain of “Buy in” type games, where one has to pay money for upgrades or to open new levels. Not good. Also the trailer is monumentally short of any meaningful game content. Not good.

Now if the concept is true and executed properly I would play it. Certainly a Star Trek video game should have some conflict, but my tastes would be better served by an exploration game.

I’m looking forward to it, I’ve been waiting for a good Star Trek game on Android. This one sounds interesting.

That generic Trek theme rip-off has set the bar pretty damn low already.

I thought that Starfleet Academy from the 1990s was the best Star Trek ever, it felt most like a real Star Trek experience than any game ever made. I agree that Star Trek should NOT be just a shoot-em-up. I would also like to explore strange new worlds, perform rescue operations, use diplomacy, conduct investigations in space, support scientific endeavors, etc. That’s the kind of Star Trek game I would like.

interesting… =)

at least SOMEBODY is gearing up for the big 50th… =P

am i the only one who has no interest in mixing and matching crewmembers of different TV Ships?

either give me my own custom crew, or give me a full Replica TV Crew…

also the Music is AGAIN not Star Trek music, how come that all Star Wars games always blast the original Themes but none of the Star Trek Games ever do?

Whats the reason that CBS’s Star Trek license for games doesn’t include the Music of all the TV Shows by default?

…hopefully this will be not another rip off game like Star Trek Trexels was …with Paywalls everywhere.


nothing against Tablet games, but i also wouldn’t mind some REAL Star Trek games again. Star Trek Online certainly has its fanbase but after 4 years with it it just doesn’t have anything left for me and the new stuff is just more of the same, while the Story gets ignored to the point that it is just a vessel to introduce the next mark farming zone or to sell the next C-Store Ship. *MEH*
And i don’t need to mention “Star Trek – The Game”, do i?

#11. Z3R0B4NG – April 10, 2014

“also the Music is AGAIN not Star Trek music, how come that all Star Wars games always blast the original Themes but none of the Star Trek Games ever do?” – Z3R0B4NG

The answer is simply that before the 2005 split old Paramount was better at wrangling musical copyrights. “New” (its really old Paramount) CBS doesn’t bother because apparently new Paramount got the music wranglers. You’ll also notice on the packaging of CBS TV shows on disc printed on or after the 2005 divorce a message “MUSIC HAS BEEN CHANGED FOR THIS HOME ENTERTAINMENT VERSION”; this is why the original HAWAII 5-0 pressed before 2005 has all the original Don Ho music and the ones reprinted after do not, for example.

@ 11. Z3R0B4NG,
You don’t “have” to, it’s just an option. Nothing I care much for myself, but doesn’t sound mandatory for interesting gameplay.

Also, I know Trek Trexels is a paywall game, but if you’re patient (and can’t sleep sometimes, like me) you don’t have to pay a dime. I haven’t, and I’m maxed out waiting on more content with millions in resources and thousands in dilithium.

You know what would make a good Trek experience? A Star Trek Online type game in which you made your own unique character and instead of being a captain, you were part of a crew. Groups of people would be assigned to a ship, and you could participate in group missions. Instead of the dumbed down, “can’t miss it” plot advancement in TNG, you’d have a lot of different options. So say, if you’re playing the science officer, and you forget to scan the planet to determine suitability, and your team beams down, they die on the spot. Or if you’re the tactical officer, and you don’t look at an available tactical report that lists that the planet is in a civil war, when people start shooting and take you by surprise, there won’t be shields that kick in, you die if you can’t get a phaser out in time. The missions would be mission briefing and tricorder intensive. If you didn’t take advantage of the information at hand, you fail. Also, you could chat with your fellow players and brainstorm solutions to the problems. That would be fun, and more true to Trek.

That would probably be a good idea for Star Trek Online to work on, so when people got sick of shooting at each other and buying new ships in STO, they could actually band together and do something interesting to break up the monotony. Others could also use the foundry to create their own missions. And I bet if given the opportunity, Trek fans could come up with some stunning “episodes.”

Hmm, this actually has me excited. Imagine what not only the exploration missions could be like, but the battles? If every player plays a department head, tac officers would have a display on their screen that allowed them to target and fire the phasers and torpedoes at different enemies. The helmsman would actually be responsible for steering the ship and altering speeds, the medical officer would actually have a sickbay display in which they had to assign medical teams and triage patients, thus improving “crew health” and ship performance, the ops officer would run damage control, your engineer would allot power and repair crews, your science officer would monitor sensors, etc. And any one of those officers could drastically effect the outcome of the fight. Say the game starts at 6:00GMT, and your CMO is at his front door arguing with the pizza guy about his order. While he’s arguing real time, casualties are coming into the sickbay and NOT being treated, and dying, which gives everyone else less crew resources to do their jobs. Your science guy notices that the other ship’s warp core is unstable. And instead of telling the captain, or the tactical guy so he can TARGET IT, he answers a text on his phone? Maybe the enemy repairs it and bounces back to destroy your ship, after the crucial opportunity is missed.

Oh, and bonus if your screen shakes during a battle! Maybe realistically, you’ll try to fire the phasers and end up hitting a button that launches a probe *LOL*Maybe that’s too realistic, Worf never did that…

Combine headphones, and you’d have a pretty fun experience. People giving updates on the shields, engines, weapons. The captain yelling out orders. And fleet actions? How cool would that be? You could actually have a communications officer to keep in touch with the group captain or admiral. You could yell out formation commands like Sisko!! (joy!) If the admiral dies, another captain would have to take over the fleet, like Picard in First Contact. You could move in to assist ships with extra medical teams and engineering teams for repair. And if they really wanted to make it awesome, you could beam over boarding parties to wreak havock on enemy ships, or have security personnel repel boarding parties on your ships.

Crews could form together like fleets do now, or be randomly assigned in hourly “episodes.” I’m not a video game designer, but how hard would this be to incorporate into STO, I wonder? Way I see it, they have an uphill battle in fighting boredom. Once my characters reach level 50 I lose interest. I haven’t even been through all the missions.

Remember when Star Trek Online promised all this stuff too? Yeah….

A game where science and diplomacy are at least as important as weapons sounds very interesting. I wish it were going to be a PC game, rather than a mobile game, though.

So, does that mean I can have real Spock and Mirror Spock on the same ship? That might lead to some interesting situations… :-)

The Astounding ‘Conspiracy Theories’ of Wall Street Genius Mark Gorton – JFK’s Death, The Cabal, 9/11

http://gawker.com/the-astounding-conspiracy-theories-of-wall-street-geniu-1561427624

Ahmed: this one is for you, my friend, re: the “matrix”… ;-)

http://humansarefree.com/2014/03/about-dimensions-holograms-reality-and.html

@ “I am not Herbert”: If the world does end, I will sit back, and drink a bottle of a particular wine that I am saving for a special occasion while listening to Christopher Cross’ “Sailing”.

Herbert –
What the heck is the matter with you? Keep that conspiracy garbage of this Trek site.

Why not, Mike Barnett? There is nothing else happening or at least not being reported on this site. Not all the links have to do with notions of conspiracy.

So, 20+ comments in to a new article you are ready to throw in the towel and use this particular comment thread to start talking about subjects that aren’t related to the article…like conspiracies?

Would it be OK if I posted something random here like boll weevil facts or in-depth analysis of each episode of McHale’s Navy?

The “Chat” tab is where you should go for off-topic discussions.

Sigh when are we gonna get a real AAA Star Trek PC/PS4/XBOX One game that’s not a bad movie tie in or has crappy pay walls on mobile.

Give me a good single player RPG or a modern Birth of the Federation II!

At least star wars fans have the new Star Wars Battlefront too look forward too!

#26. Mike Barnett – April 15, 2014

Actually, that is pretty much par for the course at trekmovie.com: when a chain remains fallow for a few days and isn’t closed, it often gets co-opted for discussion of other things.

Moderators will often put the kibosh on OT discussions if people start having on topic things to contribute but until then, complaining about about OT on a chain that hasn’t had any on topic contribution from 4-11 to as of yet just seems to be a prescription to get the chain closed and it is difficult to see what is gained when that occurs?

Your mention of CHAT is appropriate, but owing to the clunky nature of trekmovie’s comment system most of the contributors there have enjoyed an above-the-fray oasis from the minutia that gets extensively commented on in these far more publicly and easily viewed chains.

Is this ideal? By no means, but as Anthony Pascal is absent and apparently not taking an active hand in his site’s operations, its comment system is not likely to receive the massive update that this site’s popularity indicates it deserves. Until then, it would behoove us all to realize that while things aren’t ideal, it can be made more manageable by executing a bit of civility and good humor as in:

“Sorry guys, I’m sure you find the discussing on the price that Leonard Nimoy’s toe lint went for on eBay riveting, but I have something on topic to contribute.” and in that manner rerail the derailed conversation.

Besides, only contributing messages since the creation of a chain complaining about others being off-topic doesn’t exactly count as making an on topic contribution, either. Does it?

#26 – Who is throwing in the towel? No one is prevented from commenting on the topic of this thread. It is just that the comments section of this thread has been quiet…

People are going a bit off-topic on threads here all the time. Besides, one of the links related to how the universe might be seen/experienced. I would have thought that was a Trek related.

@Z3R0B4NG

“And i don’t need to mention “Star Trek – The Game”, do i?” Um, could you? I don’t understand what’s being implied by the question? Was it a particularly bad game? A cautionary tale, perhaps?

I’m not much of a gamer, frankly, so I don’t have very strong opinions about it. The last video game I played was an old-fashioned starship shooter that was actually created by a fan of the Starship Exeter fan film. It was a nice, little diversion.

28. Disinvited – April 16, 2014

Thanks – that makes perfect sense when you put it that way. I stand corrected.

…this BEING a Trek site, one would hope for open minds… ;-)

…like that of lovely Rose =)

BREAKING News: Flight 370 Passenger Managed to Send Photo From Hidden iPhone Tracing Back to U.S. Military Base Diego Garcia

http://humansarefree.com/2014/04/breking-news-flight-370-passenger.html

So I don’t have to keep on topic?

I like chicken. But not exclusively. Being an omnivore, I’ll eat almost anything organic.

Anyway, here’s a link you can click:

http://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

Re-post from Trek 3 writer thread

==============================

Star Trek – Horizon

Star Trek: Horizon is a feature-length film set during the time of Enterprise (the fifth Star Trek series).

The Coalition of Planets, a young alliance of worlds led by Earth, is at war with the Romulan Empire. Desperate for a chance to gain the upper hand in the war, the Coalition forms an alliance with T’mar, a Romulan deserter, in the hopes that she can provide valuable intelligence on her former masters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6lvauYhw70

==============================

@33. More like Faking News……

Anybody know, what happened to TrekWeb? It seemed to have imploded.

You are welcome.

In other news:

“This is the first validated, Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of another star. We can now say that other potentially habitable worlds, similar in size to our Earth, can exist. It’s no longer in the realm of science fiction.” – Dr. Elisa Quintana, NASA SETI Institute

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0417/Earth-sized-planet-discovered-Is-our-galaxy-teeming-with-habitable-worlds

OT – First, Happy Easter everyone. I hope you all enjoy the holiday time.

Second –

Chris Pine – “On roles that he wouldn’t do…

“Not too much dark stuff. I always used to think that I would do [those sorts of roles], but now I prefer comedy.”
– See more at: http://www.getthegloss.com/news/what-does-chris-pine-find-sexy#sthash.DTgCBFqD.dpuf

This is interesting because not so long ago he was saying that he would like to do more dark roles and wanted to play a darker Kirk. I wonder if his change in attitude may have had something to do with the character he played in Z for Zachariah and about the whole tone/feel of this movie. It is based on a book dealing with dark post-apocalyptic theme and people who are not so nice. Perhaps doing this kind of film made him feel more depressed etc than he initially thought that it would.

Chris will be playing a character who is involved in a bad love relationship in a stage play being performed July/August this year…hmmm

In the link above, Chris also mentioned that he thought the best invention of the last 100 years was high heels! Thoughts – agree/disagree?

if you are a man, yes… also, the thong is a pretty good invention IMHO ;-)

The Q is coming to a bookstore near you!

====================================

Q Stops By J.J. Abrams’ New Star Trek Universe To Make Trouble

No, your eyes do not deceive you — that’s Picard’s fan favorite nemesis Q, holding the new crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise in his omnipotent hands! Q takes a trip to visit the new movie-verse in IDW’s Star Trek’s comic’s next adventure, and we have the exclusive details!

Besides the premiere of Star Trek #35’s cover above (courtesy of artist Tony Shasteen), we spoke to writer Mike Johnson to find out what happens when Kirk and his young crew meet Q.

io9: What brings Q to this new timeline?

Mike Johnson: At first: curiosity. A beloved Trek character from the original timeline makes a cameo appearance at the beginning of the story (issue #35) and tries to convince Q to leave the new timeline alone. But Q can’t resist a new sandbox to play in and cool new toys to play with: toys like Kirk, Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew. Ultimately we’ll learn that there is something unique to the new timeline that affects Q directly, although he would rather the humans not know what it is.

io9: He’s definitely the Q we know from The Next Generation, correct?

MJ: Indeed. The Q Continuum exists outside of the alternate timelines that our tiny flesh-brains occupy. Every Q is the same Q across all parallel realities, and this Q maintains both his fascination with and his contempt for the human species in particular.

http://io9.com/q-stops-by-j-j-abrams-new-star-trek-universe-to-make-t-1564357914

Malaysia Flight 370: Hijacked by CIA (secret gov’t) AWACS?

http://humansarefree.com/2014/03/malaysia-flight-370-hijacked-by-us-air.html

I must admit: the Flight 370 “Hidden iPhone Photo Tracing Back to Diego Garcia” does seem very suspicious… (fabricated? planted? diversion?)

…but is it any less SUSPICIOUS than the whole situation?? i think not…

I definitely think we are being lied to, and our time/money is being wasted on searching in the way that is being done =(

the pilot was definitely up to something… and i’ll bet he was working for the CIA (whether he knew it, or not)… =(

they (secret gov’t / CIA) scared the shyte out of us with 9/11 (false flag), so we gave into the fascists (classic nazi tactics)… now they can operate almost with impunity… =(

@41. Lovely, first they make a ham-fisted effort to resurrect Khan, then another effort to resurrect Trek’s most cartoonish villain. I’m telling you, space hippies are next. Maybe they can look for Spocks brain…

If Bob had anything at all to do with this, he needs to be dragged out back and beaten with light sabers.

@45. Phil

It is not just Q that will be resurrected but also DS9 !!

“The Q Gambit will kick off with Star Trek issue #35, as the mischievous Q sends James T. Kirk on a quest that will witness the Enterprise joining forces with familiar faces from Trek lore, beginning with the crew of a very familiar space station.”

And Bob is working as the “Creative consultant” on the Star Trek comics.

@42-44. Fake. Fake. Fake. If you’re going to make stuff up, at least be creative with it. Don Lemon’s black hole story is more credible at this point…

Q is part of the Star Trek universe(s), just like Daleks and Cybermen are part of the Dr Who universe.

The really puzzling bit is why the Doctor has not met Q and why one of the Enterprises has not had dealings with a Dalek or two.

I mean, how many universes, indeed earths, are there and why are they so very separate?

Mind you, I would rather not see a Dalek or Cyberman in Star Trek, but the possibility (however improbable) should not be discounted.

Come now – let’s not be having any more mention of any Khan. He has been so very done. It was either crisp him or freeze him…

What? No more opinions on whether high heels are one cool invention? After all, Carol Marcus and Nyota Uhura wore heels, although not quite as high as the ones I suspect CP was referring to. I wonder if the really high heels will still be around in the 23rd century. I do think that one James Kirk would certainly approve…:)

Let’s not be having drivel words like “sexist” enter into any discussion. Millions of women choose to wear high heels because they may want to feel and appear sexy and it is NOT sexist for women to want to be seen as possibly being sexy by others.

Yes, Rose, Q is part of the Trek universe – I would just have to hope that the people making the creative decisions would fight the urge to keep revisiting the familiar. Q is intrigued by Kirks refusal to accept the no-win scenario? Sorry, but Q is omnipotent, he should be as interested in that as I am about why my dog chases squirrels. Besides, history is littered with real life examples of individuals who prevailed in a no-win scenario…so it’s really not that original of a concept at all, least of all one that a god-like being would interested in exploring further.

Yeah, they need to leave Khan in the freezer. And drop Carol off somewhere before they hit the five year mission road. Actually, I can think of a few things about the five year mission that might make for interesting storytelling….