Star Trek Conquest Interview

This interview conducted between Star Trek Games and Frank Aarnot of 4JStudios on November 18th, 2007 regarding Star Trek: Conquest, the strategy-action title for the Playstation 2 and Nintendo Wii from Bethesda Softworks.

Star Trek Games: Are there any existing games that are similar to Conquest and if so how does Conquest set itself apart from them?

Frank Arnot: The original pitch was sort of like Encounters meets Risk. So in order to dominate a map, you have to make strategic decisions and resolve conflict through short, intense arcade battles. There aren’t many other games that do this on the Wii or PS2, plus we have the excellent setting of the Star Trek universe.


Star Trek Games: How did you come to the decision to create Conquest and what were some of the main goals in its design?

Frank Arnot: After Encounters, Bethesda asked us to come up with another ST game proposal. We were happy with what we achieved in Encounters, but we wanted to take Conquest in a slightly different direction. We wanted to make something a little deeper than Encounters, hence the strategy element of the game. One of the main design goals from the start was not to overcomplicate the strategy element of the game, to keep it almost “casual” so that campaigns would not require a massive investment of time to complete.

Star Trek Games: Could you outline some of your favorite gameplay elements in Conquest?

Frank Arnot: I love the empire building aspect of the game, and I’m also a big fan of the simulated battles. Although flying around in Arcade Mode with an attack formation of seven Defiant class ships is awesome.

Star Trek Games: Many hours are spent playtesting a game before release, would you care to share a memorable session or moment playing Conquest?

Frank Arnot: Yep, I have indeed spent many hours playing Conquest and have had a lot of fun doing so. I think the best thing is that right up to the end of the project I never got sick of playing it. I truly enjoy playing the game – it’s a lot of fun – and when we get our box of free copies from Bethesda I’ll definitely fire it up and play it again.

Star Trek Games: If you had MOO3 or Civilization at one end of the spectrum representing deep 4x play and Encounters at the other representing pure Arcade action where would Conquest fall?

Frank Arnot: That’s a broad spectrum! I’d have to take an easy out and say “somewhere in the middle!” Neither the strategy nor the arcade elements match the depths of products that stick to one genre. In my opinion, both elements combine to produce a very satisfying mixed-genre game.

Star Trek Games: On average how long does a session with Conquest last? How long would you say a 'long' session be and how long would a 'short' session be?

Frank Arnot: It depends on a number of factors, such as map size and difficulty - typically a game will last around 1.5 hrs. Short games with just two opposing sides (on “easy”) can be finished in around 30 minutes. A game with all six competing races on “hard” can take more like 2-3 hours.

Star Trek Games: Could you outline the different types of admirals in terms of proficiencies and deficiencies?

Frank Arnot: There are 3 types of Admirals: Attacking, Defensive, and Movement. Attacking Admirals are stronger when used for attack but weaker when defending, and vice versa for Defensive Admirals. Movement Admirals can move further each turn and have a balanced attack/defend ratio. As Admirals gain battle experience, their particular strength becomes boosted, making them even more formidable.

To further mix things up, the six different races have a different spread of Admiral types, so the Klingons for example have more Attacking Admirals, whereas the Romulans have more Defensive Admirals.

Star Trek Games: Starships obviously play a big part in the game, but what other types of ships, weapons, or objects are a factor in gameplay?

Frank Arnot: Starbases, research stations, mining facilities, defensive turrets, and superweapons are all major gameplay elements.

Star Trek Games: How big a factor does the technology tree play in a game. Is it possible be technologically inferior but still win by other factors?

Frank Arnot: Technology is a very important area of the game – without it the player cannot upgrade their ship and structure capabilities, or build and fire superweapons at their opponents. Some races start in a better technological position than others, but it is possible for every race to emerge victorious.

Star Trek Games: How much of a factor does the environments (or maps if you prefer) play in the games strategy and tactics? Will players need to avoid Black Holes while taking advantage of things such as Wormholes?

Frank Arnot: From a strategy point-of-view, the positioning of your fleets on the galactic map is important. It’s possible for some races to open up temporary wormholes between system, while others can use a “pulse device” to isolate systems completely.

Star Trek Games: Will players tend to spend their time controlling the strongest ships and issuing orders to their other AI controlled ships or will they tend to jump from ship to ship to maximize tactical combat opportunities?

Frank Arnot: To maintain a good pace in the arcade battles, the range of orders is simple: fire at will, defend me, attack who I attack, etc. The aim of the Arcade Mode was not to create huge epic battles, but rather to create fast-paced, smaller sized bites of blasting like you’d fine in Encounters. Personally, I love creating a fleet of seven Defiant class ships, going into attack formation and flying around blasting everything!

Star Trek Games: Are there any kinds of achievements or awards for accomplishing tasks? Will the player have access to any stats when the mission is finished?

Frank Arnot: Winning the game as each different race unlocks new skirmish maps and ship sets. The game does store a record of your successful “conquests” with limited stats like which opponents, number of turns, etc.

Star Trek Games: Will there by any CGI created scenes or will all intro, outro and story scenes be rendered in-engine?

Frank Arnot: There is no-CGI and a limited number cut-scenes using the in-game engine.

Star Trek Games: How much does Conquest borrow from Encounters and how has its design improved from your experience creating the previous title?

Frank Arnot: The largest element of Conquest is the turn-based tactical play and this is all new. The only “shared” design is the arcade mode, but again this is heavily modified in Conquest, but certainly recognizable to Encounters fans.

Star Trek Games: Last question, you have just meet a Star Trek fan who is a casual game player as well but hasn't been happy with previous games. You only have about 30 seconds to sell them on Conquest, what do you say?

Frank Arnot: Actually, you’ve just described the perfect consumer for this product. Conquest is a pick-up-and-play, strategy-lite game set in the Star Trek universe. It’s perfect for either the strategy fan who wants to play a campaign that can be completed in a reasonable amount of time, or for the arcade fan that is looking for a little bit of strategy to accompany his blasting.

Interview Location: http://startrek-games.com/games/star-trek-conquest/interviews/stc_interview_01.htm

Games Database Entry : Star Trek Conquest