Nick Duguid is a Senior Environment Artist at the MMORPG Star Trek Online and has been a Star Trek fan for a long time. We spoke with him about his existence as a fan, which allows him to now help shape Star Trek.
Who is speaking in the interview? MeinMMO author Andreas Bertits was able to speak with Senior Environment Artist Nick Duguid from Cryptic Studios about his work on Star Trek Online, one of the best Free2Play games according to MeinMMO.
What Nick Duguid revealed to us about his work on Star Trek Online
MeinMMO: Please tell us how you went from being a Star Trek fan to designing for Star Trek Online.
Nick Duguid: Well, I’ve been a fan of Star Trek since my childhood. Regarding Star Trek Online, I had already been employed at Cryptic for a few years when the studio acquired this license. At that time, I was working on Champions Online, but of course, I was very pleased that we would be making a Star Trek game.
I only started working on Star Trek Online in 2012, but I kept an eye on the development of the game and often went to the floor where it was being developed to see what the people were up to. The movies starting from 2009 and the fact that we acquired this license reignited my interest in Star Trek. I watched the original series and other parts of the series while we were working on the corresponding in-game content.
MeinMMO: How does it feel to be involved as a fan of Star Trek in the continuous development of the Star Trek universe?
Nick Duguid: I feel honored. I love everything about Star Trek, the good, the bad, and the cheesy, and we try to respect all of that while we work on the game. One of the coolest aspects of working on Star Trek Online is this mix of recreating things we’ve seen in the series or in the movies while also coming up with our own ideas to further expand the universe.
For example, recently we rebuilt the Khitomer Conference Hall from the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. It has always been Klingon, but we looked at how we could bring Klingon architecture into the year 2400 and asked ourselves how a noble Klingon hall might look. There are still elements from the era of “The Next Generation”, but we also tried to incorporate a more modern design and nicer materials.
MeinMMO: You have been a fan of Star Trek for about 33 years now. How does that help you in designing game content? For example, when you develop new areas.
Nick Duguid: Although we are all fans of Star Trek in the team, some of us have a deeper knowledge of the series and films. Interestingly, this information varies for all of us. I, for example, have a pretty poor memory when it comes to things like characters, episode titles, or entire episodes until someone explains things a bit, and then I suddenly say, “OH! That one episode with this __.”
But when we start brainstorming ideas for new stories, we are also the ones who contribute things like, “Hey, in that one episode, they do something related to our idea; we could possibly incorporate that.”
It’s really a lot of fun when we can integrate various things from the history of Star Trek in a way that never happened in the series. Since the game is set in the year 2410, we can draw from the entire history of Star Trek and take something from one series and then combine it with something from another series.
MeinMMO: Where do you get your inspiration when you create a new level or map? Is it the original series, The Next Generation, or another series?
Nick Duguid: We take all series and movies as reference. When we design something we have seen in one of the series, we go through all episodes that feature that thing. We take some screenshots and try to recreate it as closely as possible. When we build something entirely new, we often look for something in the series that is comparable to take as a starting point. Or we design something that’s completely different from the series but spice it up with small details that players recognize while playing.
When you see something and recognize it, you understand it, and if not, it’s just another detail in the environment. For example, take Khitomer. The overall structure of the rooms and halls was completely redesigned by us, but we also incorporated details from Klingon interiors we’ve seen in the series and films.
In the large conference hall at the end of the map, there is a large, hexagonal Klingon symbol high up on the back wall. This symbol was inspired by a hexagonal window on Kronos One in Star Trek VI. And the railings on this map originate from the Klingon courtroom in that film.
MeinMMO: Do you think it makes a difference to design a map for Star Trek Online if you are a fan of Star Trek? Would you design a map for another game differently or perhaps choose a different approach?
Nick Duguid: I think I would approach a game based on another series or movies the same way. The difference is that most other franchises do not have twelve feature films AND nine television series to draw from. One of the advantages of Star Trek is that there is so much to use.
However, our other games – Neverwinter and the still in development Magic: Legends – also have deep background stories they are based on. However, the concept art is a little more important here as there are fewer visual references.
MeinMMO: How does a new map become a typical environment from Star Trek? Are there certain elements that make everything feel like a scene from one of the episodes?
Nick Duguid: That really varies and depends on what we are currently working on. Sometimes we create the interior of a ship, other times we work on a forested planet, and then again we design a nebula or celestial phenomena. The interior of a ship would be based on a set from the series (as opposed to effects or an exterior shoot), and here it’s primarily about having a consistent visual language.
Everything must be visually consistent. Federation things are mostly shiny, clean, warm, and bright. Klingon things tend to be darker and dirtier, with more red lights, spikes, and so on. We actually try not to build a “set”, but it should feel like a real place. When we were working on the expansion Agents of Yesterday, it was difficult for us to make things look both authentic and like the futuristic spaceship it was intended to be.
When you look at a scene from the original series, for example, you see a corridor that consists of painted plywood. Should we make our interiors look like they are made from plywood? Or do we assume that the original intention was for them to be made of metal? Or plastic? In the end, we found the compromise that we would make the walls out of metal, but they are matte and do not reflect, making them look a bit more like the plywood of the original sets.
MeinMMO: Is it difficult as a Star Trek fan to work with other designers who see things a bit more “pragmatically”? I could imagine there are discussions, for example, “This could be designed easier, but that wouldn’t represent what Star Trek is all about.”
Nick Duguid: We definitely design the game around Star Trek, so it rarely happens that gameplay conflicts with Star Trek. But we are first and foremost a game, and the game must definitely be fun.
That said, we often have discussions where someone suggests something, and someone else (that’s often me) says, “Okay, but we didn’t see that in the series.” In those cases, gameplay is revised to fit better, or we find something else to refer to so it makes more sense.
MeinMMO: Have there ever been elements or features that you blocked from entering the game because you believed something like that would never happen in Star Trek?
Nick Duguid: Everyone on the team here is a Trekkie, including our superiors. No one is here to make Halo or Mass Effect. We are here for Star Trek. I can’t recall anyone ever suggesting something truly outrageous. But as I just said, we often have discussions like that, but they mostly concern small details.
I am an Environment Artist and not the team leader, so I can’t really “block” things that are to be included in the game. I’m afraid I can’t name a real example. These discussions are everyday, but once a decision is made, we just move on.
MeinMMO: As a big fan of Star Trek, why do you think the franchise is so special and significant, and how do you try to incorporate this into the game?
Nick Duguid: Star Trek offers us a hopeful vision of the future. I think that’s what has kept it alive for so long. I’m not working on the story, so I think less about it when creating something for the game. My job is to support that story as best as I can.
MeinMMO: If you had a wish for Star Trek Online, what would it be? Maybe a huge “Open World” like in Warframe or something else?
Nick Duguid: There are plenty of things I would love to work on in the game, but if I had to wish for one thing for Star Trek Online, it would be for the game to still be going strong in another decade.
MeinMMO: Thank you for the conversation.
The MMORPG Star Trek Online does without the classic fantasy scenario. If you like that, MeinMMO presents here 7 MMOs and MMORPGs without the classic fantasy setting.
