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Temporal Cold War Chat Transcript |
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Written by Barta János on
Monday, 06 August 2007
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 Star Trek Enterprise: Temporal Cold War is a modification for the Half-Life 2 computer game, and is based on the fifth series of the Star Trek saga: Enterprise. On the 5th of August, the developers happily agreed to visit the TrekUnited Chat Room within the scope of E-Day, and were engaged in a question and answer session by the membership TrekUnited. Just click on through to read the transcript and to view the screenshots that were released exclusively for TrekUnited!
TrekUnited: Please, let me welcome everyone to the Enterprise: Temporal Cold War chat! To begin with, let me thank you for the E:TCW team for accepting the partnership with SaveEnterprise, and advertising TrekUnited (and SaveEnterprise) on their site and forum. Also, let me thank you everyone who attended this chat interview... First of all, tell me about yourselves! What is your task within the mod team, why and when have you joined, and what are you doing in real life? (This last one is not obligatory to answer)
 CaptainSource: Okay, well, I suppose I will go first. The E-TCW mod was started by myself in May last year and at present, I am not doing too much... lol.. So I can work on the mod.
TripTucker: I am still attended to High School, this is my last year. I am working on this mod I think for... 9 months or less. I am doing almost all the modelling, but Flanker, another talented member of our team helps a lot with the ships that he made. I really enjoy making models for E:TCW.
TrekUnited: Do you plan to have a similar job in the future?
TripTucker: Yeah, I'm trying to get a job in the gaming industry. Like a 3D-designer, or something like that. And working on E:TCW really helps to get the experience and skills that are necessary.
TrekUnited: And helps TCW too, I'm pretty sure about it. Just before we get too deep into other questions can you give us a brief overview of what the mod is about, what are your plans... You know, for people who are new to it?
CaptainSource: Star Trek: Enterprise - Temporal Cold War is a Half-Life 2 Total Conversion. It is obviously based on the series Enterprise, and will star all of the major characters from the series. The mod itself will have a demo which we are working toward releasing as a proof of concept and to give those wanting to play the game something to enjoy while we finish the main mod.... It is a first person shooter, but we will try and add also RPG and adventure elements, by being able to explore freely the entire ship and even having your own quarters to keep things in... Most of the featured species will come from the series, like the temporal agents, the Suliban, Klingons, Tholians. Besides these, we will also include a new enemy, the Anani.
TrekUnited: Tholians? Cool! Not something I expected from the plot...
CaptainSource: Okay, who gave the plot away?! LOL.
TrekUnited: What will be the system requirements of the modification?
CaptainSource: A reasonably good system I guess, basically one that handles Episode 2 well... A DirectX9-capable graphics card, and at least 512 megs of RAM.
TrekUnited: So will the modification be based on Half-Life 2 Episode Two?
CaptainSource: At the moment, the mod is using the normal HL2 engine, but, if we need to include extra features which are implemented only to Episode 2 or 3, we gonna switch. We will see, but now that VALVe has fixed the High Dynamic Range effect in HL2, it is looking good already, I think...
 TrekUnited: Are you using any already existing content (sounds, models, textures) from Half-Life 2?
CaptainSource: No, we are trying to do a total and complete conversion. Right now, we have more than 400 custom models, and over 1200 custom textures. Of course these numbers are getting bigger as time flies. Basstronix, our talented audio engineer produces all the custom sounds we need for the mod, and is also doing some of the generic voices and learning Trip's accent.
TrekUnited: Why did you decide to make a modification out of Enterprise, instead of the four other Trek series?
CaptainSource: Why not? Enterprise is a great series! There has not been a game made for Enterprise, but have been for all the rest. So Enterprise was the perfect choice for me...
TrekUnited: In which season does the mod's story take place OR if the story does not take place during the four seasons of the show, in which year does it take place?
CaptainSource: The demo will take place in dry dock, at the end of Season 2, just after the attack on Earth. The NX-01 is taking on extra crew and the player is happen to be one of them. On the other hand, the main mod is going to take place between the second and third seasons of the mod.
TrekUnited: So you are not going to feature other NX-vessels (like the Columbia NX-02, the Avenger NX-09, or Star Trek Legacy's Curren NX-03) in the mod?
CaptainSource: At present, this is not planned, as the mod is all about Enterprise. We give the player the chance to run around the ship they have grown to love. The other ships can have their own mod... Mwuahaha.
TrekUnited: Where does the main storyline take place?
CaptainSource: In the Expanse, the place where things take place that cannot be explained by normal physics or science. It gives us a clean slate to work on, and gives our writers a chance to shine. With six previously untold weeks to fill, there is plenty of content to play with, and a great ship to explore. Just watch out for the spatial anomalies...
TrekUnited: About the anomalies... Will they be part of the game?
CaptainSource: No. In the series, they encountered with anomalies only after the period that we plan to have the mod set in.
TrekUnited: It seems that you are all very aware of the details of the show...
CaptainSource: Well, I watched it a couple of times... And it was just on the Sci-Fi Channel about 30 minutes ago... LOL.
 TrekUnited: Although the mod will take place in a timeframe which was not shown in the series... Are you going to recreate famous parts/episodes or scenes of the show in some way?
CaptainSource: Well, if you want to see a scene from the series, pull out the DVDs or rent them and watch them again . We want to give the player the chance to see something new, meet all the existing crew and learn what it is like to be a part of that crew.
TrekUnited: The mod's subtitle suggests that the Temporal Cold War constitutes an important part of the storyline. Why did you decide to include it? I am just asking this because the Temporal Cold War was not a really liked part of ENT during its run, as far as I know.
CaptainSource: Well, for one thing, "Temporal Cold War" is a good name for a subtitle . On the other hand, it was not really explored completely in the series. They mentioned many temporal factions, but only a tiny fracture of them appeared in the series. I thought, let's see at least one more faction and see what they want to do to the timeline and why!
TrekUnited: So... Are you going to include at least one non-canon species? In this case, a temporal faction.
CaptainSource: Yes, they will be the Anani, a bio-engineered species that has been inserted into the Enterprise-timeline (the middle of the 22nd century) to make sure that the timeline changes as their "benefactors" want.
TrekUnited: So they are similar to the series' Suliban in some respects.
CaptainSource: Yep, similar in some way. But unlike the Suliban, the Anani have been grown physically, and not genetically improved. These Anani will have 3 casts: Warrior, Worker and Tech. They will be used in various ways, to push a certain agenda.
TrekUnited: I guess that the most dangerous is going to be the warrior.
CaptainSource: Yep. If you have seen a picture of one, you must be already dead... LOL
TrekUnited: Are they humanoid?
CaptainSource: Kind of...
 TrekUnited: Will the mod feature an original soundtrack, or you are going to use the series' soundtrack?
Basstronix: The mod will feature an entirely original soundtrack, although certain melodies may be inspired from the series' soundtrack. For example, the closing theme (Archer's Theme) will still be intact, but in an entirely new form, as well as the Main Theme itself. And who knows, we might be hearing a new rendition of Faith of the Heart...
TrekUnited: So you basically reimagine it?
Basstronix: Well, the music will have a slightly different feel, in general a little more intense, to fit with the higher adrenaline of being in a first person game.
CaptainSource: And I must say, we are all extremely impressed with the professional quality of all of Basstronix music compositions... He has also composed for several films, he has been given a spot here: http://us.imdb.com/name/nm2447425/
Basstronix: I have scored many more films than appears on that site, but those are the award winning ones. Say... should we share a composition cap'n?
CaptainSource: Brilliant... Yes, please
Basstronix: Maybe the Showdown... I'd like to share that one.
CaptainSource: Upload to the server, and throw in a link!
Basstronix: Will do!
TrekUnited: Basstronix, Captain also mentioned that you will impersonate Trip. What is the more difficult in your opinion? Composing the music, or recording voice?
Basstronix: Well, they are both difficult in their own rights, however I have over 6 years of composing experience... Imitating a voice can be fairly difficult, trying to emulate their exact formants... In general, it's easier to try and get their accent down and go from there, which isn't too bad, considering half my family is from the south... Not to mention that Connor Trinneer, the actor who plays Trip, also fakes the southern accent, so I am basically faking a fake accent
TrekUnited: It seems that there won't be any problems on the side of voice and music...
CaptainSource: As for voices... Well, we hopefully will have most of the base main characters covered with our voice actors... And for those we can't get a voice actor, we will skillfully try to extract their lines from the center channel of the DVD set... John Billingsley kindly replied to a request to star in the mod saying with his current project with "The Others" and "The 4400" his schedule would not permit, but he wished us all the best with the mod.
 TrekUnited: Did you try to contact any other person from the main cast?
CaptainSource: Yes, we emailed most of them, but only John sent a reply.
TrekUnited: Lets get back to TCW for one more question: The producers of the show were often blamed that they did not follow the established Trek timeline and canon in many respects. What about with you? Are you going to be careful about it?
CaptainSource: We will be as careful as the series was, LOL. Basically, being part of the Temporal Cold War and (in this way) having the ability to create alternative timelines that can be "fixed" later, makes us able to stay away from having to be canon. Of course, we will be trying to stay within the realities of the Star Trek universe to an extent.
TrekUnited: Let me ask a question that I have received from a certain person who likes bare midriffs... Is the Mirror-Universe going to be featured in the mod?
CaptainSource: LOL... No. But when the mod is released, all of the models, textures etc. will be available for others to create the Mirror Universe, and I hope they will do it...
TrekUnited: Will the slower and smaller Starfleet ships, like the Intrepid and the Sydney appear in the mod?
CaptainSource: Yes. That has been a request a few times. They will be in the mod, even if they would serve only as filler for cut scenes. Since the demo is set at space dock, there should be a few other ships making an appearance. Flanker, another talented teammember, has been hard at work producing those, I'll see if I can find a link to the ships he has made so far...
TrekUnited: What kind of gameplay should the players expect? Does combat plays a large part in the mod, or are there many puzzles and situations where problem-solving skills are a must-have?
CaptainSource: We hope to bring a good balance to both action and problem solving.
TrekUnited: Offshoot of that question: I'm curious, will you be fighting on your own, have a squad with you, or a mix?
 CaptainSource: Both. You are going to be part of an away team, but there could be times when you should go on your own to complete certain mission objectives.
TrekUnited: Talking about combat... What kind of weaponry should we expect? Are you going to include custom non-canon weapons?
CaptainSource: At present, all of the base Starfleet and MACO weapons are in the works including the stun baton. But there will be a couple of surprises that we would like to keep under wraps...
TrekUnited: Will the game feature any ship on ship combat? And if so, will the player have any control over it or will it be scripted?
CaptainSource: It is a feature we would like to include. Nevertheless, the game is going to be an FPS. There will be scripted space battles, but there will be situations when the player would control the ship.
TrekUnited: What about with the shuttlepods? Do we get to fly them?
CaptainSource: The short answer is "yes".
TrekUnited: Are there going to be any usable equipment, like tricorders and tools like that?
CaptainSource: Yes. The tricorder, communicator and hypospray for health (and other refills) will be available in the mod to complete certain part of the mission at hand.
TrekUnited: Now, some questions about the player character, without giving away too much information... Did the player character appear on-screen?
CaptainSource: No. You will be whoever you are and want to be in the mod.
TrekUnited: Half-Life 2, the game which gives the basis of the modification is based around a character who did not speak a word since he had been created. What about with the player character of the mod? Is s/he going to speak?
CaptainSource: Having a player character to speak, to me, breaks the illusion of being in the game. If someone speaks, then the player is not really interacting, but watching themselves talking... Which (in my opinion) is not good for women (in the case of a male character) and/or players of a non-English speaking country. But this is an undecided debate we are having in the dev forum at the moment, and is only my opinion.
TrekUnited: What about with guest characters like Soval, Shran, Admiral Forrest, or most importantly, the temporal agent Daniels?
CaptainSource: We want to try and have as many of the main characters from the series in the mod, as long as time permits and the script itself calls for it.
 TrekUnited: Will the mod feature a multiplayer mode? If yes, then what kind of gameplay should players expect?
CaptainSource: Well, MP is the new thing after the main mod is released... So for now, it is not the primary task on our minds, but that said, we have chatted about a team-style mission-based gameplay, where you have to complete certain tasks to win the round.
TrekUnited: The Black Mesa Team announced earlier that they would try implementing a cooperative-mode into their mod. Don't you think that making it possible to complete the single-player campaign in multiplayer mode would be worthy of consideration as a mode of multiplayer?
CaptainSource: It could be, but we have not discussed this to date.
TrekUnited: So to sum up: Is this basically every gamer Enterprise fans dream come true?
CaptainSource: We hope so! It will have a little of everything. I have played with so many Star Trek games, and most of them have failed in one or more areas of gameplay. The best I played was Elite Force... In my opinion it was even better than EF2. Still, our primary goal is to build a game that will suit everyone, Trekkers, fans of sci-fi and gamers alike.
TrekUnited: Well, our time is almost up. Last question: If Bethesda (as far as I know they have acquired every right of publishing Star Trek games) would offer that they would publish the mod as a commercial product, and would hire the team as the group of developers... Would you accept or decline their offer? Of course it would be Bethesda that would buy the Source Engine for you, and would bear all the expenses of the development.
CaptainSource: A good question, and one that I could not answer without having everyone have their say on the crew... But if it is worth a couple of mil, I am sure the crew would jump at the opportunity to work in the industry and get paid for it.. though this would defeat the "modding".
TrekUnited: I think that we should not waste the time of the devteam anymore! Thank you for attending to the chat!
CaptainSource: Thank you, guys
Discuss: TrekUnited Forum
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"If Spock were here, he'd say that I was an irrational, illlogical human being for going on a mission like this... Sounds like fun!"
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