Ubisoft-owned Cary-based game studio Red Storm Entertainment is at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles this week debuting its upcoming virtual reality game “Star Trek: Bridge Crew.”
The game launches this fall on PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew” is the first Hollywood-licensed virtual reality game for Ubisoft. And it comes as the sci-fi franchise celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year with a new movie from Paramount Pictures, Star Trek Beyond, and a new digital series from CBS launching in January.
David Votypka, vice president of operations at Red Storm Entertainment, is overseeing virtual reality research and development for Ubisoft from the Cary location. Ubisoft is developing virtual reality games across multiple studios and has a Just Dance VR Experience on display at the show. Red Storm is also developing a multiplayer Werewolves Within game for VR platforms.
“Star Trek: Bridge Crew comes from our social VR background and technology, having developed Werewolves Within,” Votypka said. “The Star Trek brand has meant so much to so many people for so long. Over the last 50 years we’ve met a lot of different Star Trek crews. The bridge crew is at the heart of Star Trek and is so much the focus of missions and action and plots of the films and TV shows.”
Votypka said the concept of the bridge crew as a gameplay element opens up different dynamics across players and how they survive together. The virtual reality game offers 4-player cooperative support with players taking on the role of either the captain, tactical officer, helm officer, or engineering officer.
“The captain leads the crew and has specialized information that the crew relies on for strategies to complete missions,” Votypka said. “The game makes the captain the smartest person so others will listen to his orders.”
The engineering officer is in charge of power and repairs. Unlike Scotty from the films, he’s stationed on the bridge and not the engine room. The helm officer drives the ship and operates all of the sensors, and the tactical officer is in control of the weapons and shields.
“We’ve angled all stations on the bridge for social presence, making it easier for players to see each other,” Votypka said. “We want to be faithful to the brand as long as we can deliver fun gameplay and social interaction.”
The game demo at E3 runs on Oculus Rift with Oculus Touch, which allows for full hand tracking. This allows players to wave and gesture, but also interact with the computers and controls to fire weapons, transfer power, and protect the ship.
The gameplay demo commences with each of these characters taking a shuttle from space dock to the U.S.S. Aegis, offering a close-up look in virtual reality at the brand new starship. The game is set in the current film universe of Star Trek Beyond, but takes place in a different sector. So there won’t be characters crossing over. Fans of the films will contend with Klingon Warbirds in the demo, which tasks the crew to work together to rescue 18 people from a space research center that’s come under attack in a largely uncharted sector of space known as The Trench.
The game demo runs in length from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on how well the crew works together. Teamwork is critical in the game. For example, in order to transport survivors to the ship, the tactical officer must drop the shields. This becomes tricky when the Klingons attack and the ship is defenseless. There’s a constant series of decisions the captain must make and order his crew to carry out in the demo — and ultimately in the final game.
Votypka said the E3 demo is a condensed version of what a typical mission in the game’s story mode will be like. In addition, the game will ship with a mission generator that will create randomized elements to offer daily challenges for crews.
The game is playable solo and up to four players. When fewer real players are available non-playable characters step in for all of the roles except for the captain, who controls the action. Votypka said there’s interest in cross-platform multiplayer, but there’s nothng to announce yet.
“We designed this as a social game that allows players to experience what it’s like to be on the bridge of a starship from the comfort of their own living rooms,” Votypka said. “We built a lot of this technology for Werewolves Within and that carried over to this game. I’m a big proponent of hand-tracking, which really makes you feel like you’re there.”
Votypka said the game is not being designed as a tactical hardcore experience.
“You don’t need to go to Star Fleet for three years to play this game,” Votypka said. “We bring you up to speed with the controls in 10 minutes and get you going. The game is about living the Star Trek fantasy and making the decisions you see in films and TV shows.”
Votypka spent time in Los Angeles earlier this year with Star Trek alums Jeri Ryan, Levar Burton, and Karl Urban playing the VR game for a trailer that was unveiled at E3 to showcase the multiplayer experience.
Votypka said the game concept is about placing fans in starring roles on the bridge, so actors and characters from the films aren’t in the game.
“We want to let players tell stories of becoming a Federation officer,” Votypka said. “It’s all about you — the player — going on own missions unrelated to the movie story in a new ship.”
Votypka said Red Storm is experimenting with VR games across all platforms, including Google Daydream.
“We believe in prototyping early,” Votypka said. “That early work allowed us to turn those prototypes into games and to have a launch lineup for year one of VR.”
Ubisoft also has Eagle Flight playable on VR platforms at E3. That game is being developed at Ubisoft Montreal.
“New technology allows us to do things in games we couldn’t before,” Votypka said. “VR can make games that weren’t possible before. We believe in the potential of VR to bring players into more deeper experiences. VR advances our world creation capabilities. We can take players’ senses and immerse them in that world with stronger emotional connections.”
Ubisoft isn’t porting existing games to VR. Instead, the company is developing original experiences such as Star Trek: Bridge Crew.
Votypka said VR projections show a lot of demand for the new technology with anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 million headsets being sold this year, generating $3 billion. By 2020, VR could generate over $40 billion.
“We think Star Trek will be around for a long time in VR,” Votypka said.
