Thirty years after its debut, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine remains one of the most enduring Star Trek shows in history. Exploring weighty themes like war, morality and spirituality, the series took many risks and boldly went where no other Star Trek had gone before.
Recently, we invited “Star Trek™ Fleet Command” players to board Deep Space Nine with an original story arc based on the iconic series. Our Scopely Studio teams at DIGIT and Omnidrone developed these narratives to appeal to Trekkies across generations, from long-time fans to those discovering Deep Space Nine for the first time.
In honor of Deep Space Nine’s thirtieth anniversary, we sat down with Logan Starks, Associate Product Manager at Scopely, for a behind-the-scenes look at bringing Deep Space Nine to life in “Fleet Command."
How did you first discover the Star Trek franchise?
When I was younger I didn’t watch a lot of TV. My dad also worked the night shift so he was asleep during the day– the only show we had time to watch together each day was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I remember my first time seeing the Borg and thinking they were some of the coolest enemies I’d ever seen. From that moment on I was hooked.
Why did the team choose to bring Deep Space Nine to “Star Trek Fleet Command?”
Deep Space Nine is consistently in discussions of the best Star Trek series of all time and the characters are some of the most memorable to date. We all love Deep Space Nine and knew our players would too.
Deep Space Nine is such an expansive series. How did you and the team decide which elements to bring into the game?
We wanted to make sure we brought some of the most iconic Deep Space Nine content into the game. Sisko, Dax, Miles, Kira, Bashir, Weyoun, Ikat’ika and the Defiant are all core parts of the Deep Space Nine experience that we knew players would enjoy.
What new features arrived in the game with the Deep Space Nine arc?
We introduced the fan-favorite ship, the USS Defiant, along with the Bajoran Faction. Players are able to build their reputation with Bajor and empower their ships. Players can also use those ships in Solo Armadas, which is a brand new way to play “Star Trek Fleet Command” – where the onus of destruction and all its required ships are on you.
Other new features include:
- Alliance Starbases– a new way to interact and build with your Alliance by upgrading and empowering your very own starbase while mining brand new celestial objects throughout the Galaxy.
- Assaults that allow players to live out their inner Cardassian, attack enemy Alliance Starbases and claim their loot.
- The brand new Armory building, which hosts a wide array of abilities for many combat ships!
How do you balance staying true to the source material while creating new experiences for players?
We aim to make sure players are excited to interact with the new content and try to design Ships, Officers, Systems and Missions that both fulfill the fantasy of Deep Space Nine and help players progress in a meaningful way as a Commander. This is a tricky balance! Thanks to the creativity, passion and hard work of the whole team, we were able to introduce so many great features in the Deep Space Nine story arc.
What elements of the DS9 story arc were you most excited to introduce to players?
As the Arc-Runner for Update 48, I was thrilled to help introduce the USS Defiant, Weyoun, Ikat’ika and Pon to players! Weyoun is one of the most iconic villains in the DS9 series and one of the most powerful officers in our game! The USS Defiant is also a fantastic ship and one that our players were brimming with excitement about. From the design process to seeing the final ship in game– it was an incredible process to be a part of.