We have had the chance to have a little interview with Andy Velasquez, Associate Producer of the upcoming MMO Star Trek Online. As a big fan of Star Trek I personally can’t wait to get my hands on it.

Techulous: With the game entering closed beta status right now – how close are we to getting the game to the public?
Andy: We haven’t announced our release date yet but if you have followed other MMO releases in the past you should know that Open Beta will follow not too long after Closed Beta gets into full swing, and after that, release isn’t too far away…
Keep looking out for our official announcement regarding the release date for STO.
Techulous: What obstacles have you come across using the license?
Andy: One of the biggest problems that we have is how to make sure all the cool stuff from the existing Star Trek universe fits into one game! There are some things that we instantly knew that we had to have in the game and lent themselves well to MMO conventions. For instance: Make Deep Space 9 into a bustling social hub. No brainer. Make a mission where your away team pays a visit to the Guardian of Forever. Have to have it. And the list goes on and on.
But even after we go through the hundreds of “must haves,” there are still so many references, people and locations that we want to explore. Everyone on the dev team has their own favorites, so trying to decide what makes it in for launch has been one of the most enjoyable obstacles to overcome.
Techulous: Press coverage of the game so far has been very positive, how are you all feeling about where the game is heading?
Andy: As a developer you work so hard on a game and you get so close to the project that you become super critical of what the team is doing. So when other people who are a few steps removed from the process experience what you’ve made and like what you are doing, it is very uplifting.
The positive feedback from the press and fans has also increased the burden of responsibility we feel as developers. We definitely feel like we are on the right track with this project, and now we are even more motivated to execute and deliver a top notch game so we live up to everyone’s expectations, especially our own.

Techulous: How will player progression be handled in Star Trek Online?
Andy: I could talk for hours about all the different ways that players can progress and customize their play experience by the decisions they make as they play. To save my fingers the stress of typing all of the information out I’ll try to briefly touch on as many systems as I can.
Players will be awarded skill points for their Captains and Bridge Officers by completing episodes, defeating enemies and exploring the universe. The player can use those points to improve different skills that start affecting very broad systems, such as “Starship Directed Energy Weapons Training,” and will get more specific in function as the player progresses. Players will also be able to spend points to upgrade their Bridge Officers’ abilities to make that tractor beam last a little longer or to ensure more mines are launched with each deployment.
Beyond just the Captain and Bridge Officer abilities, players in STO will be able progress through the various ships of the line. Starting out in a Light Cruiser, players will graduate into higher-end Science, Escort or Cruiser type ships.
Getting new rifles, ability kits for ground play, upgraded deflector dishes for your starship or profession-specific console modifications for your starship are all different types of loots that players can acquire as they progress and create the ship and crew of their dreams.
The player’s “character” is so much more than just a single avatar in Star Trek Online, which makes the concept of “player progression” very interesting!
Techulous : Will the game be based on the same engine as Champions Online or are you using Star Trek specific one?
Andy: Star Trek Online uses the Cryptic Engine, which is a fully functional MMO game engine that Champions Online was also developed on.
Techulous: Do you plan to support either DirectX 10 or DirectX 11 in Star Trek online?
Andy: STO will definitely support DX10 or DX11 cards but there won’t be any features that require DX10 or DX11. So players with high end machines will definitely be able to take advantage of their hardware and crank their settings!
Techulous: Can you give us any examples of quests that players will undertake in Star Trek Online?
Andy: Content in STO has been created to reflect the structure and pacing of many of your favorite episodes from the TV shows and movies. As such, players should expect that the tasks required of them in game share that same format.
So for example you might start in Earth Space Dock and have a meeting with a Starfleet Admiral who informs you that a freighter has gone missing in Sector 001 and sends you to the last known coordinates of the ship. Upon arrival you scan the area and find the ship being attacked by Orion Syndicate raiders. After repelling the attackers you must beam aboard the ship and rescue the crew before the warp core goes critical. After beaming back to your ship, you might notice that Orion reinforcements have arrived and the episode ends with a climactic space battle.
Techulous: What percentage of the game takes place on the ground rather than in space?
Andy: Right now we are looking at a roughly 40/60 percent split of all content between ground and space. Very much like the heroes of the Trek universe did, we wanted players to complete great acts on the ground as well as on their starships. We built almost all of our handcrafted content to give the player the feeling of being in an episode from the show and allowing them to travel frequently from ground to space.

*sigh*

Have they ever mentioned having episodes or content from any of the movies? I'd love to go to the planet from Insurrection. Even if it's not that exciting, it is my favorite ST movie. It would be nice to be able to do science missions there or even fight in the Briar Patch.