Raven Takes On Star Trek: Voyager

On Monday evening, Raven Software's Brian Raffel announced work had begun on a title based on Star Trek: Voyager. The title will be published by Activision, and Raffel says it will combine "both intense first-person shooter action and team-oriented combat."

GameSpot News spoke to Brian Pelletier on Tuesday. Pelletier is the project leader for the unnamed Star Trek: Voyager project (and also was project leader for Raven's hit Heretic II). He said that the team is currently looking at a winter 2000 release. The game itself is just out of its design phase, and the team is aiming to complete a short playable demo for this May's E3.

Raven was given the license by its parent company Activision after Activision helped influence Paramount (the holder of the Star Trek license) to secure the license for ten years. Considering that a few of Raven's staff are Star Trek fans (how many gamers aren't Star Trek fans?), the team was more than happy to take the project when Activision presented the idea.

While other companies have gone where no man has gone before - and come up with some of the worst Star Trek games imaginable - Raven is taking a slightly different approach than its failed competitors. When the license was given to the team, Brian says the group sat down and decided, "First of all, let's put Star Trek aside and make a first-person shooter." Raven took the idea to Paramount (who is aware that Star Trek titles up to this point haven't been all that great) and said, "All we want to do is make a great game." The team took this attitude with them when they approached Paramount. When Raven finally laid down some of its early plans with Raven's proven track record, Paramount gave its approval.

Pelletier couldn't speak too extensively about the game, but he did say that the game will include all of Voyager's characters. So that means that Seven of Nine will make an appearance. Pelletier laughed that since the announcement, several skin designers have already asked to help build a Seven of Nine skin for the upcoming title. Unfortunely, the company doesn't know yet if the cast of the televised Star Trek: Voyager program will supply its talents to the game but the idea is being talked about.

Raven hasn't announced which engine it will use for the game, but considering its mastery of the Quake II engine (apparent in Raven's last title, Heretic II), we assume that the Voyager title will be Quake II based. Pelletier said the game is in such early development that the team is "still looking at engines."

The Star Trek: Voyager players will take the role of a security officer fighting alongside fellow security members. And there will be a storyline included for single players. The company is also taking a good look at the multiplayer part of the game and heavy cooperative play options.

Raven hopes not to build just another FPS title and is exploring several ways to help make its new title stand out in the crowd. Right now, Raven is looking to achieve that by trying out new ideas with scripted events and NPCs. But with the early design document still wet with ink, this list of ideas may grow as the game takes shape.

"After E3, we promise to talk more about the title," says Pelletier. For now, the team has some long days ahead of it, building the first playable demo of Voyager.