Star Trek Online: A Blast From the Past With New Heritage Ships
Star Trek Online (STO), the long-running massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the Star Trek universe, has always striven to balance the authenticity of the franchise with the expectations of modern gamers. While STO has consistently expanded its in-game universe with ships inspired by new shows like Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery, its latest update takes a nostalgic turn, bringing back beloved ships from classic Star Trek video games.
The "Heritage Ships Bundle" introduces three iconic vessels from titles like Star Trek: Invasion, Star Trek: Armada, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars, allowing players to experience a piece of Star Trek gaming history within the modern STO landscape.
Reimagining the Past for the Future
Thomas Marrone, STO’s Art Director, reveals the inspiration behind this unique addition: “There’s a lot of people out there who love these old games, and who love these ships. What is Star Trek Online but a watering hole for all these amazing Star Trek ships, and Star Trek concepts and stories?”
This nostalgic gesture comes at a perfect time for STO. While the game regularly incorporates ships from the latest Star Trek series, a lull between recent releases presented a window of opportunity to delve into the past. Marrone explains, “We just had Discovery season five ending… We had a kind of window here between Lower Decks [season 5], and Prodigy [season 2]… We don’t typically like to add or even like to develop things for STO until we’ve actually watched the episodes ourselves, because we want to make sure that what we’re adding to the game reflects exactly what you see on screen.”
This deliberate approach allowed the STO team to focus on bringing these classic ships to life. The Heritage Ships Bundle not only pays tribute to the legacy of Star Trek video games but also allows STO to solidify its position as a comprehensive and expansive Star Trek universe experience.
Remembering the Typhon and Invasion
The Heritage Ships Bundle features the U.S.S. Typhon, a unique and beloved vessel from Star Trek: Invasion. James Swallow, the writer of Invasion, expressed his excitement about the ship’s return: “It’s crazy for me to think that a game that I worked on nearly two and a half decades ago still has a fanbase, still had love for it. That was really, really cool. When the guys at STO reached out to me and said ‘oh, we’re gonna bring it back, I was immediately excited about the idea because [the Typhon] was such a unique design for a ship, such a fun project to work on.”
Invasion players took on the role of Ensign Ryan Cooper, a pilot in the Typhon’s Red Squad, a wing of Valkyrie-class fighters under the command of Worf. The Typhon was a visually striking carrier vessel, a hulking brick of a design that was unlike anything fans had seen before. Its distinct appearance and unique role in Invasion made it an instant favorite among players.
Swallow reflects on the game’s impact: “[Invasion] was the very first video game project I ever worked on, the first Star Trek video game for a Sony console as well. We broke a lot of new ground with that project, and I have a lot of love for it. The design was so cool, and then seeing it reinvigorated and brought back to life, it’s just amazing. [In Invasion], it has that kind of fuzzy look to it, it looks like it’s been taken through a soft focus lens, and then here it is in stone, sharpened focus.”
The Typhon in STO is a testament to the team’s commitment to honoring beloved designs while updating them for modern graphics. Swallow adds, “It’s the ship that we always wanted it to be, it’s the design that was always there, that if we could have done it back in that era in the Playstation, we would have. But now seeing it, it’s just amazing. I can’t wait to get my hands on it and just kind of tool around–I play STO on and off myself, and I tend to ‘unplay’ the game. I won’t do any of the missions, I’ll just noodle around in my ship, listen to the sound effects. I’m going to go to DS9 for fun and just kind of be a tourist in that world for a little while!”
Honoring the Legacy of Classic Designs
The STO team faced a unique challenge – translating these classic designs, originally crafted with limitations of earlier technology, into a modern MMORPG. Marrone explains their approach: “One of the things that Dave Blass, the production designer on Star Trek: Picard said that I really loved was that he doesn’t see Star Trek as a science fiction show: he sees it as a period piece, the period just happens to be 200, or 400, years in the future. We’re bringing [these ships] into Star Trek Online, and so we’re adding detail–these games were Playstation One, or early PC era gaming. The models weren’t super detailed.”
The STO team aimed to “drill down on the intent” of the original designs, adding details while staying true to the original spirit. Marrone elaborates: “The analogy I use is sort of wiping the grease off the lens to bring it into focus. The shapes, the silhouettes are all exactly the same, and if there are details there, we honor them and incorporate them. But then we’re like ‘well, what if ILM built this model? How would they do it, what would they want it to look like?’ It still looks like that ship, it still has the same material treatment, it still feels of the same era that that ship was created for. We did the same thing with the Achilles and the Premonition. We made [the Achilles] look just like it looked in Dominion Wars, but, you know, plussed it up a bit. I want to shout out Tobias Richter, who did the Typhon and the Achilles models, he did a great job.”
The Evolution of the Premonition
The Premonition, a ship from Star Trek: Armada, presented a different challenge. Its low-poly designs from the 2000 RTS game lacked the intricate details of more modern games. This allowed the STO team more creative freedom in reinterpreting the design, balancing fidelity to the original with modern aesthetics.
Marrone shares, “We hired Eric Henry, who has a wonderful YouTube channel about starships. He’s actually done a lot of ships for us, where he’s created new designs, but he tackled the Premonition. The model in Armada is a really basic, low detail model. It was an RTS from 2000, right? It was very low triangle count, very low-res textures. That was one ship where we felt like we had a bit more leeway to be interpretive, instead of just rebuilding what was there–we did a little more design flourish on it. Eric, he’s my go to guy when I have a hard design problem to solve. I think anybody who’s played Star Trek Armada will recognize it, but they’ll also notice we kind of sleek it out a bit, we added a bit more function and gave it its own visual identity.”
This careful balance between honoring the past and updating for the future is central to the Heritage Ships Bundle. Marrone emphasizes, “We’re always thinking ‘How does this fit in with the lore? What’s the best way to balance that player expectation versus expanding on the look, and iterating on it, and making it feel modern?’ That’s something that everybody says when they’re working on Star Trek. You’ve got to honor the past and try to break new ground. I think there’s an appropriate time and place to do that–with us, it was for the Achilles and the Typhon. It was very much, how do we bring it in focus and create the high-detailed version of what you saw in the original games. The Premonition gave us a little more room to play with.”
A Legacy of Innovation
The Heritage Ships Bundle is a testament to the enduring legacy of Star Trek video games and the enduring power of nostalgia. By bringing back iconic designs and updating them for STO, the developers have created a unique experience for players both old and new. The inclusion of these ships not only reminds fans of the franchise’s rich history but also demonstrates STO’s commitment to expanding its universe and offering players a wide range of choices.
Players can experience the Heritage Ships Bundle now on PC, with the bundle coming to Playstation and Xbox on August 22nd. As STO continues to evolve, it is clear that the game will continue to explore both the future of Star Trek and its captivating past, ensuring that fans have ample opportunities to experience their favorite franchise in new and exciting ways.
