Star Trek: Starship Creator

The game style of Star Trek: Starship Creator allows for players to create their own starships, equipping it with technology from the Star Trek universe. This includes elements such as warp drive, space probes as well as weapons such as phasers and photon torpedoes. The player also selects the crew that man the starship; these are pulled from across the franchise, and includes characters such as Spock, James T. Kirk and Worf. Some of the characters, such as Rachel Garrett from "Yesterday's Enterprise", had their biographies expanded for the game. This biography was specifically taken into account and expanded upon by Robert Greenberger in the book Star Trek: Enterprise Logs.{{cite book|last1=Greenburg|first1=Carole|title=Star Trek: Enterprise Logs|date=2000|publisher=Pocket Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-671-03579-2|page=236}}

There is also the ability to import photos into the game to create new characters, as well as writing the related biographies. This was intended so that players could include themselves on the crew. The equipped starships are then sent out on missions which earn credits that can then be used to buy new equipment or crew for the ship, or purchase a new starship and begin once again.{{cite news|last1=Kirschner|first1=Suzanne Kantra|title=A starship of your own|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-157122066.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116061531/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-157122066.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 16, 2018|access-date=August 14, 2016|work=Popular Science|date=February 1, 1999}} The game includes the option to run in background mode, so that missions can be undertaken while the user conducts other tasks on their computer. This was described as "stealth mode" in official descriptions of the game.

The starships featured in the game are a cross section from all of the television series seen so far. The Constitution class appears from Star Trek: The Original Series, while the Galaxy class seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation is also present. The Defiant and Intrepid classes appear, having been in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager respectively. Also in the game is the Miranda class, which first appeared it in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the Sovereign class which was introduced in Star Trek: First Contact.{{cite news|last1=Bassave|first1=Roy|title=CD-ROM review: Software lets you design, staff your starship|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-53162527.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117075247/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-53162527.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 17, 2018|access-date=August 14, 2016|work=Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service|date=November 3, 1998}}{{cite web|title=What exactly can you do?|url=http://www.simonsays.com/subs/txtobj.cfm?areaid=44&pagename=screenshots|website=SimonSays.com|publisher=Simon & Schuster|access-date=August 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010924193311/http://www.simonsays.com/subs/txtobj.cfm?areaid=44&pagename=screenshots|archive-date=September 24, 2001}}

Starship Creator was developed by Imergy. It had previously created other multimedia software products based on the Star Trek licence, including the Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual.{{cite journal|title=The New York Cyber Sixty|journal=New York Magazine|date=November 13, 1995|page=54|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=beQCAAAAMBAJ&dq=imergy+%22star+trek%22&pg=PA55|access-date=August 14, 2016}} It was published by Simon & Schuster Interactive. Starship Creator was designed with input from Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, Rick Sternbach, and Doug Drexler,{{cite web|title=Star Trek: Starship Creator|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/star-trek-starship-creator|publisher=MobyGames|access-date=August 14, 2016}} who were responsible for many of the technical aspects of the television series seen up until the release of the game.{{cite web|last1=Miller III|first1=Randy|title=Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Seven (Blu-ray)|url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/65544/star-trek-the-next-generation-season-7/|publisher=DVD Talk|access-date=August 14, 2016|date=December 2, 2014|archive-date=January 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125050346/http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/65544/star-trek-the-next-generation-season-7/|url-status=live}} Writers such as David Alan Mack were responsible for the creation of the missions seen in the game.{{cite news|title=Mack, David (A.)|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3414600193.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114095646/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3414600193.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2018|access-date=August 14, 2016|work=Contemporary Authors|date=January 1, 2005}}

James Lileks reviewed the original release of the game for the Star Tribune. He criticised the lack of end product to the game, in that there was no point at which it was completed. He described it as "It's just a thing to goof around with, if you're so inclined and have no life."{{cite news|last1=Lileks|first1=James|title=New Trek title lets you (yawn) build starships|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62466601.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328022253/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62466601.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 28, 2016|access-date=August 14, 2016|work=Star Tribune|date=January 2, 1999}} The German magazine GameStar gave Starship Creator a rating of 30%, calling it an "idiosyncratic piece of software" that would irritate gamers, and is only of interest to Star Trek fans who want to debate the differences between starship classes. PC Games, another German magazine, gave the game a score of 27%, saying that it was a good idea overall but the graphics execution and unimaginative gameplay resulted in a poor game.{{cite web|title=Star Trek: Starship Creator Reviews|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/star-trek-starship-creator/mobyrank|publisher=MobyGames|access-date=August 14, 2016|archive-date=April 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420090159/http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/star-trek-starship-creator/mobyrank|url-status=live}} The review in Macworld gave the game a rating of three out of five and criticised the lack of gameplay once a mission was launched, describing the player as a "mere spectator".{{cite news|last1=Gowan|first1=Michael|title=From Goofy to Gory, Macworld Reviews 48 Ways to Play|url=http://www.macworld.com/1999/02/games/games.html|access-date=August 14, 2016|work=MacWorld|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021001113255/http://www.macworld.com/1999/02/games/games.html|archive-date=October 1, 2002}}

Scott Udell of Computer Games Magazine gave a score of three out of five for the Deluxe version and said that "Despite the clunkiness of its software technology, Starship Creator is still a lot of fun, although probably only for those really into Treknology".{{cite web |last1=Udell |first1=Scott |title=Review - Starship Creator Deluxe |url=http://www.cdmag.com/articles/024/073/starshipcd_review.html |website=Computer Games Magazine |publisher=Strategy Plus, Inc. |access-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050320040324/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/024/073/starshipcd_review.html |archive-date=20 March 2005 |date=17 November 1999 |url-status=dead}} Joseph Szadkowski reviewed the Deluxe version of the game in February 2000 for The Washington Times. He said that while he enjoyed the experience on "some weird level" as he "really enjoyed taking a back seat and watching scenarios unfold", but suggested that it would have been far more popular with improved graphics and a greater emphasis on action. Boys' Life described the game as "Everything non-Trekkies never really wanted to know about 'Star Trek'. For die-hard fans only."{{cite magazine|title=Games|magazine=Boys' Life|date=May 2000|page=14|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nfwDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22star+trek%3A+starship+creator%22&pg=PA14}}

{{main|Star Trek: Starship Creator Warp II}}

The game was re-released as a "Deluxe" version in late 1999.{{cite news|last1=Szadkowski|first1=Joseph|title=Trekkers Build Own Starship|url=|work=The Washington Times|date=February 5, 2000}} This added three new ship classes, the Akira, the Oberth and the Prometheus class. It also included seven new missions, as well as the ability to send two ships on a mission at the same time. It also added the ability to customise the registry numbers on the starships created by the user.{{cite web|title=Star Trek: Starship Creator|url=http://www.simonsays.com/subs/txtobj.cfm?areaid=44&pagename=starship_index|website=SimonSays.com|publisher=Simon & Schuster|access-date=August 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000917084442/http://www.simonsays.com/subs/txtobj.cfm?areaid=44&pagename=starship_index|archive-date=September 17, 2000}} The official website also contained the downloads to add the main characters from the Star Trek: New Frontier series of books to the game.{{cite web|title=NEW Frontier|url=http://www.simonsays.com/subs/txtobj.cfm?areaid=44&pagename=frontier|website=SimonSays.com|publisher=Simon & Schuster|access-date=August 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020120101244/http://www.simonsays.com/subs/txtobj.cfm?areaid=44&pagename=frontier|archive-date=January 20, 2002}}

The following year, Simon & Schuster released a sequel entitled Star Trek: Starship Creator Warp II. The sequel added some new classes of buildable starships and was backwards compatible, which allowed for importing of starships created in the original Starship Creator,{{cite web|last=Savignano|first=Lisa Karen|title=Star Trek: Starship Creator Warp II: Review|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=23634&tab=review|publisher=Allgame|access-date=September 19, 2013|archive-date=November 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117090234/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=23634&tab=review|url-status=dead}} as well as exporting vessels to the multi-player mode of the 2001 game Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars. Because of this function, the sequel was often packaged with Dominion Wars.{{cite web|last=Geryk|first=Bruce|title=Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars Review|url=http://uk.gamespot.com/star-trek-deep-space-nine-dominion-wars/reviews/star-trek-deep-space-nine-dominion-wars-2781401/|publisher=Gamespot|date=June 29, 2001|access-date=September 19, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817091549/http://uk.gamespot.com/star-trek-deep-space-nine-dominion-wars/reviews/star-trek-deep-space-nine-dominion-wars-2781401/|archive-date=August 17, 2013}}

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Starship Creator

Category:1998 video games

Starship Creator

Category:Windows games

Category:Classic Mac OS games

Category:Video games developed in the United States

Category:Simon & Schuster Interactive games

Category:Single-player video games