Gaming in the Star Trek universe

May 4, 6:30 AMRPG ExaminerMichael Tresca

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Star Trek, with its rich history and detailed universe, lends itself well to gaming. With the new movie coming out, what better time to start playing in the universe trekkies world over know and love?

For all the information one could possibly need on Star Trek, StarTrek.com features everything from a database on aliens, starships, and technology to overviews of every episode in the Star Trek canon.

There's a long and uneven history of Star Trek in computer games, concluding with Star Trek: Legacy by Bethesda Softworks, which was not well-received.

Online, there are a variety of role-playing games to choose from. Star Trek: A Call To Duty is one of the most versatile role-playing games on the internet, offering players the chance to assume the role of a Starfleet Officer using a variety of methods - chat-based role-play, newsgroup posting, or play by e-mail. For those who prefer a more graphical representation of the Star Trek universe, Star Trek Online is the first Star Trek Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. At least, it will be when it finally launches. The release date is still to be determined.

Star Trek: The Role-Playing Game was published by FASA and is no longer in print. It was deemed canon prior to the arrival of Star Trek: The Next Generation and featured several interesting departures from what is now established Trek lore. FASA published a huge amount of material for the setting. It was followed by Star Trek: The Next Generation Role-Playing Game by Last Unicorn Games (LUG). LUG lost the license to Decipher, who produced several books for a different version of the Star Trek Role-Playing Game before losing the license in turn. Today, Armadillo Design Bureau, Inc. owns an open-ended license that allows the company to publish Star Trek supplementary gaming material in a variety of existing and popular systems, including GURPS and d20 games, under the title Prime Directive.

If gaming doesn’t satisfy your Star Trek fix, the official Star Trek convention in Parisppany, New Jersey definitely will. It takes places at the Hilton Parsippany on July 31 through August 2.