A True Classic Returns: The Official Starships Collection Issues 60 and 61

It's only the third ship we've seen from The Original Series but without question the SS Botany Bay is going to please a lot of fans.

Marking 60 issues of the series, the aging DY-100 freighter "lost in space from the year 1996" is perhaps as legendary as the original USS Enterprise of the Kirk era. One of the few starships built for the '60's show, it marked the arrival of one of Star Trek's greatest villains, Khan Noonien Singh (and not that one from Into Darkness).

So in my mind the image I had of this one was a plain, grey design with minimal detail as per the ship we saw (or think we saw) in Space Seed. Now fortunately the Eaglemoss team have avoided pimping her out to the level that we saw in the remastered episodes from a few years ago so there aren't any multiple panelling tones, a tanning of the hull or an excess of fiddly details. What we have here is a close reproduction of the original in all it's grey glory.

The length of the hull (to the top of the rear fins) as well as the top of the cargo pods is rendered in metal while the pods and the rear stabilisers are in the less weighty plastic. The basic colour is that one-tone grey with some of the upper hull panels highlighted in a darker grey but that's as far as colouring goes and it's a massive contrast against the Norway Class we'll come to shortly. Aside from the colouring the only other detailing that does exist on the Botany Bay is the name tag just beneath the submarine-esque conning tower.

The underside is particularly sparce on detail; no darker greys, no marking, no, well, anything to be fair. It's probably the easiest "bottom" review of all time (please no jokes) but that's not the real winner here. The overall weathering effect is exemplary, more-so coming so close to the equally well-weathered USS Kelvin special. The effect of nearly three centuries of space dust and debris has been well captured on the model on every surface and makes up for that spartan undercarriage very easily. 

One thing I was disappointed about on my model which might not be on all those produced was the fitting of the pods to their metallic lid piece. There's a bit of a gap between the two sections which is noticeable as is the space between the tail-fin section and its metallic top section. That's also the point where the stand clips in and it's very sturdy considering it's rear-clipping position that slides around three little raised hull blips. Nice fit, good position and well held so no worries of collision with this one.

What I do suspect is that there could be a second version of this one made in the future (Ben Robinson, take note) to replicate the remastered version which is featured equally as prominently in the magazine. The colour scheme and detailing is different enough that I think fans would jump to have a second freighter highlighting the change in technology between the model and the CG. 

The magazine is pretty good too. Acting as a companion more to the Khan story than the ship itself we do have the usual opening section exploring ship features, the story of the Botany Bay and Space Seed itself before launching into an excellent design section and then finally the evolution of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and the origins of the landmark movie. One note I do have is that the plan views included here seem to be a mash-up of the CG and original versions of the Botany Bay so we have a brown colouring with minimal detailing - I think it would have been better to keep the images aligned with the model rather than the wonders of 21st Century computer tech. Also, the choice of the image for the back cover is lacking this time. Better to have picked a top view?

Our next ship from The Original Series will be the Antares and to date these original ships are turning out to be a revelation. The USS Enterprise was more hit than miss but still looks damn fine. The Bird-of-Prey was amazing and this third arrival has firmed up my belief that these are just as exciting to receive as the ships from Enterprise. Just an FYI to all collectors if you've not already looked, the ISS Enterprise from Mirror, Mirror is now in the Eaglemoss shop. Priced £9.99 just be aware that the addition of postage will bump it up to at least £12.94 if you don't select same day dispatch.

OK so onto the last of the First Contact Alex Yaeger-designed ships, the Norway Class USS Budapest. As fans will know it's the only one of the four designs from the movie that doesn't appear anywhere else because the CG model was corrupted at sometime after production. As things go this makes the ship a real Star Trek rarity due to its lone appearance but that hasn't meant any less attention to detail on the 61st model in the series.

For note the model of the Botany Bay actually appeared more times on screen (as the Woden in The Ultimate Computer) but that was reused footage so they both only made one proper turn on the screen. I wasn't looking forward to the Norway Class that much and I recall that Ben Robinson said this was his least favourite of the four and I can't see why because it's potentially the most impressive of them all.

As surface detail goes it's almost on overload. Every inch of the surface has something to look at, to examine and to take in and we mean every single inch. The metal versus plastic unity means only the engines and underside of the saucer/wedge are in the lighter material but the two work really well here and are fitted very snuggly. The wedge top could do with a little more definition around the escape pods and the Voyager-esque recess at the front but it does carry the hull panel lining and some well-defined windows. My only other dislike is the lack of detail on the (tiny) deflector dish buried in the centre of the primary hull. 

That very hull also bears a two-tone scheme of grey and a green/grey/yellow in certain parts. We do have the thrusters and the phaser banks clearly marked and at the centre, protected by the "claws" of the engineering hull, the tiny bridge module. I almost overlooked it on first glance because it's so well hidden but look even more closely and you'll spot that the windows of the observation lounge have been painted in.

There's also two impulse engines to the rear of the wedge, painted rather than translucent however but the real top detail here is on the underside of that primary hull. With an interesting concave curve, two hidden shuttle-bays and a surface which reveals a lot of hidden intricacies on the medium cruiser. 

I've said a few times that this underside detail has been neglected and that there are only a few where it's truly on par but here it's the best bit of the whole ship and wonderfully recreated. The markings on that underside are crisp, well defined and give it a very unique finish that I've not seen on any other Starfleet ship.

Edging out the primary hull through to the raised engineering section and onto the pylons we have some red Starfleet pennants and trimming that extends out onto the pylons and onto the twin warp engines tipped with translucent bussard collectors. Two engines that are precisely parallel and well built I might care to add. Good to see these have been applied straight and true and there's no horrific bubbling or even a slight kink to raise a Vulcan eyebrow in dismay. 

But if you want to have a grumble it has to be the delta symbols on the engines. Take a closer look, compare them to the plan views and you'll spot that two of them are mirrored. Now the plan view has them all the "standard" way if viewed from above or below but if you think about other ships they do point to the front with the thinner leg of the delta to the outer edge. Which is right? I'd say the ship.

That engineering section is small and does lose some panelling definition for the sake of window markings which is a little disappointing given that the rest of the hull maintained the structure lines. I can see that it would have been horribly cluttered with the red trimming as well as those windows so it was probably a good call to make.

Truth be told there's quite a bit of decalling right across the already packed hull surface here whether it's ship registry or just hull marking,  it must have been one of the more difficult to implement in the factory. Just note too that there's no ship registry on the top of the wedge. The only identification of it being the Budapest comes from the dual names and numbers on the pylons, the two names on the underside of the hull and the large registry which sits, unusually, within a darker arc of hull plating to the front of the ship. 

Comparing to the plan views the ship is damn close on accuracy with even the port and starboard red/green lights marked out. There are some minor markings on the warp engines missing but they're so insignificant to the overall effect it's barely worth a mention.

Stand positioning is again to the rear and very stable since the clip rests around the metal pylons for the warp engines so no issue of them bending after a few years on display. Actually it's very sturdy indeed given that the warp engines project back and sideways on two struts that sprout away from the main hull. 

The magazine offers zero surprises in the way of the ship overview and can only ever regurgitate the story of First Contact and some of the details already noted with the other three ships established in that movie. Keeping with that theme the magazine dives into eight pages of costuming which seems very relevant given a recent Titan Books release and it means that First Contact is probably the most detailed live production the collection has covered in 61 issues. Not just by magazine pages either, I think it may be the single production which has provided the most models too. Those pages on the costuming are OK but the book does it at a much higher level of detail.

So bye bye November and two A grade entries. To be fair I wasn't excited by the news of the Norway Class because I already had Steamrunner which is in my top three of all time for starship design. However I've been very pleasantly surprised by the result, perhaps a bit more due to the fact it was seen only once due to a corrupt computer file.

So what's up next? Well for December we'll be seeing the Voth Research Vessel from Voyager's Distant Origin and then back to The Original Series and a ship that may well be unique in the collection as it first properly appeared in The Animated Series and then returned in the remastered Charlie X, the Antares. Given how great those older ships are looking it's definitely the one I'm most interested to see in a month's time.

A good month for the Starships Collection? What do you think?

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Shoot the Runner: The Official Starships Collection Issues 54 and 55

OK. Let's deal with the fallout first.

For those people in the UK who subscribe, this week was somewhat trying as Saturday came and went, the Bank Holiday vanished, Tuesday and Wednesday fluttered by and then the Steamrunner Class issue 54 hit news shelves....without a single subscriber seeming to receive their ship.

So for a few days we subscribers were reliant on quality pics and the solid opinions taken by those who got it off the shelf. It just made us even hungrier to see her for ourselves because everyone was saying she was damn good. 

Apparently this delay was due to some stock issues (with issue 55 perhaps?) but they did start to ebb out over the weekend accompanied by a lovely flyer stating that the cover price of each issue is going up to £10.99 from issue 56. Happy days. I suppose it was inevitable but couple with the fact that the issues were late and you could drop into a newsagent for a copy from the 3rd September it will surely have left a few people a little disgruntled. I've also spotted the continued frustration that binders are in horrifically short supply. I'm starting to horde issues and I hope they turn up soon. Please!!!

Now as some of you who I regularly chat with across our media platforms will know, I'm a big fan of the Steamrunner, on occasion referring to her as the juggernaut of Starfleet. She's a truck, pure and simple. Thick hull, encased nacelles and shoulder-pads that would make an 80's pop video embarrassed. I love her which means that the gripes I have with this model really bug the s**t out of me.

OK. First off my stand is appalling. The clear plastic peg barely fits the base and since the morning of unboxing she's been wobbling like your auntie at her 50th birthday party. One minute fine and the next all over the floor with a little difficulty standing back up. The weight distribution is a little iffy with this being a rear grip on the nacelle pylons but where else you could have put it is a difficult question to answer. Secondly the underside of my primary hull (saucer/wedge shape bit) doesn't quite fit right. In fact when I opened the box I had to clip it into place and still there's a bit of a lip and a gap.

Ok, phew, that's out of my system so let's press on. I LOVE this ship. Marked out as the USS Appalachia from First Contact, Mike McLeod on Twitter was blown away by the "insane" level of detail on the ship and add to that the fact that for the first time ever the windows on the hull actually aligned with the recesses they were supposed to. Given the two issues I had with this model I got past caring about them as fast as it's taken you to read this paragraph. Seriously this is one mega model and if the Norway and next month's Sabre Class ships are anywhere near as good, the First Contact fleet could well be the pinnacle of the collection.

That level of hull detail is, as Mike so rightfully noted, absolutely insane. Not only are we getting perfect window alignment on the metal top of the primary hull but there's a subtle aztec pattern going on there plus a ton of lifeboat hatches and decals all spot on and just A-grade all the way. Even the tiny, tiny writing on the nacelles bearing the Federation name is letter perfect (looking at you Akira Class) and there's even small ship registry markings right at the tips of the engines. I just love the result here.

Given the scale we have translucent bussard collectors buried in the saucer plus blue clear venting on the nacelles themselves. This might have the most coloured plastic parts on it as the impulse engines are also in the same plastic as the collectors. To the rear of that saucer the two shuttlebays are clearly marked out - ok they're numbered and it's a grumble that the doors aren't etched out a bit better but I'd suspect that's a factor in the production process that couldn't be achieved. Mind, whoever is responsible for overseeing the decalling needs a medal because the precision here is quite exemplary, I'm most impressed with the lining around the pylons and just how straight an edge had been achieved. 

The only significant single piece of plastic is the primary hull underside and even that has sublime detail - the aztec pattern, the windows, the hatches with the only let down being that you can see the join line around the edge (sigh). The bottom of the tiny secondary hull is also plastic but you don't really notice until you spot the crease through the deflector dish but that doesn't ruin any of the effect. This is a total 100% must have for your collection and I expect this is going to be damn hard to find very soon.

Heck I could go on for hours about this ship because she is firmly one of my all-time favourites in the franchise and definitely one of the (I repeat) THE best examples of what this collection can and has produced in the last two years. So to the magazine. To be fair I've skimmed it because the ship is flipping awesome and I've spent too much time just drooling over those compact, heavy-set lines to really care.

I jest my friends; the magazine is a perfect companion to the Appalachia, explaining the design process in making her a more tactical ship than one built for exploration. A smaller size ship than something like the Enterprise-E, the class takes some leads from the Defiant and its trends are echoed across the First Contact fleet designed by Alex Jaeger. Comparing the ship to the plan views in the pages of issue 54, the two are virtually idential. There's a bit more lighting on the illustrations but overall, for once, the two marry up pretty well.

Indeed, Alex's design process for this notable class is detailed here with a lot of drawings I'd never glimpsed before today. None of the thought processes even compare to the final design I have to say because she really is one of a kind. Also there are some visions of ships that might have - but ultimately didn't - appear in First Contact. Now that's a real treat for fans as we don't tend to see a lot of this kind of stuff!

It seems that this is very much Alex Jaeger's issue as we get a superb analysis of how the Borg assimilation process was designed. If you think about it, we'd never actually seen someone being assimilated until First Contact. There were some slight hints and minor fiddlings when Picard was being converted in The Best of Both Worlds, Part II but aside from that we'd never seen anything with any real substance. I've come across some of this before in a few "Making of..." books from the '90's but this is certainly a good refresher with some top quality sketches to illustrate the possibilities of the process on screen.

Closing out is the Appearances page. Now, why oh why do NONE of the pictures on this page have a Steamrunner Class ship in them?! Most odd. I think that someone got confused with the one at the top which features the Borg Cube in destructo-mode. There's a Sabre Class there but that's next month...!

Righty; to issue 55 and the D'Kyr Type Vulcan ship from Enterprise. This is only our second Vulcan ship to date and I'm thinking that we're potentially only going to get one more in the form of the T'Plana-Hath from (nice link this) First Contact.

We do have some aztec-ing here with a two-tone dusty red/brown paint scheme. Luckily it's not the torrid muck brown of the Malon Freighter and is much more thinly painted allowing the detail of the scheme and the nuances of the hull much more chance to shine.

The thing is that this month the D'Kyr just gets eclipsed by the Steamrunner Class. Any other month and she would be a winner. I like the design, the smooth lines, the minor window detailing here but she pales in comparison to the accompanying Federation ship.

The hull does have some class touches here with different levels of plating, that distinct curved aft section and the vertical warp ring. Sadly it doesn't fold flat nor do we have any translucent sections to reflect the purple hue of the engines online however the replica of the CG ship is still first class. I'm no Vulcan fan and wasn't blown away by the Surok Class some time back but here I think the scale has worked in Eaglemoss' favour allowing a much better and tighter model to be produced. One thing that was avoided probably due to their size was making the impulse engines translucent but given how big they are on the ship I can guess why they didn't.

Here we can really get to see what the surface of the ship is like and even get a glimpse (if somewhat basic) at the unusual centrally-docked support craft within that warp ring. She's also a lot lighter than the chunky Steamrunner and one with a higher percentage from plastic than metal. Only the upper hull is in the harder material with the whole of the rest of the ship (including the ring) made from plastic. It works well with the seam traversing the centre of the upper and lower sections avoiding a lip and almost fading into the lines of the ship. Comparing stand fittings, she's very firmly in place, gripped on the warp ring and the base fits perfectly with the clip stand. No issues to report ladies and gents - in fact it's the same fit style as the Surok Class.

While she is a good and well built model, the D'Kyr just doesn't inspire me as some of the other ships have. Quality-wise she's great and there's no bends or wobbly bits I need to glue or be careful not to wiggle. I can see she's much more of a "completist" ship than an essential however lovely. I just don't know of a lot of people who will be relishing the chance to get hold of this one after some of the other more significant alien craft to say the least.

Issue 55's magazine supplement covers the usual basics with a nice rear shot of the D'Kyr type so we don't get a repeat cut and paste of the front cover which has been appearing a few times recently. Covering the class appearances during the prequel series with the usual assortment of screencaps fills out the profile section easily. The plan views match up very well, again, with the model but I will continue to champion the need for more labelling. Between three angles there are just seven (SEVEN!!!) points noted and one of those is "Main Bridge" twice. Poor, poor, poor.

John Eaves' work gets the focus this time in the always impressive design section of the magazine as usual detailing the origins of the ship which in this case aren't totally straight forward and owes a little something to the US Navy. There's a good bit of time devoted to the support craft too and this does make up for the fact we never really got to see her in any detail during the series. She'll go don as another of those "captain's yacht" concepts I suspect!

A real gem of the issue is the piece tackling the reformation of the Vulcans within the Enterprise story. The race are incredibly different to the people we know from The Original Series and the subsequent series of the '80's and '90's which made for some great viewing. I'm giving this bit of the mag a real thumbs up and I hope they do more deep-dives into cultures particularly from the prequel show as the series moves forward. At the very least Eaglemoss have managed to keep this issue 100% relevant to the ship and its builders rather than venturing into offshoots as has happened a couple of times.

The onscreen appearances do look, as you would expect, to Enterprise and round out a good solid and informative issue. September has brought two very good, well-sourced and well-produced ships and magazines. I honestly can't complain and if I've missed a typo somewhere what the heck; it doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things. I'm sure that while there have been some unexplained (!) delays to the latest two issues no-one can be put out by what they have received. Top grade, Eaglemoss and well done on a superb month's work. No pressure then for next month's Sabre Class (at a slightly higher price) I'm sure....

What did you think to issues 54 and 55? Were you as impressed as I was? Comment below or chat on one of our media platforms!

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Fluid Movement in an Alien Domain

One more online Star Trek game has broken cover in the form of Alien Domain. 

Not just limited to the GameSamba site, it's also available to play via the wondrous portal that is Facebook and is currently in beta testing so it's not 100% finished but there's enough going to get a good idea of where this is heading. Be warned though, I'm in a grumpy mood after reading Savage Trade.

Let's nail off the backstory first. It seems that those naughty, naughty Species 8472 aliens from fluidic space weren't given the ass-kicking we thought in Scorpion, decided that we weren't that friendly after In the Flesh and have been amassing their forces ever since in anticipation of returning to the franchise - sorry - in anticipation of a larger attack. Forgoing their "Undine" moniker from Star Trek Online, Alien Domain is immediately setting itself firmly away from that gaming powerhouse but frankly that's where I think my dissatisfaction begins. Luckily though I realised early on I was in a negative frame of mind and contacted the Powers that Be to help give me a more balanced opinion on the game. You know why? Because everything has two sides and it's very important to me that we hear all the angles. While listening to me grumble might be super-entertaining, it's not very constructive. Check me out being all adult here.

Explained the very helpful GameSamba Vice President of Content, Brendon Lindsey; "The game has been in development since early 2014. In terms of the background/setting taking place in fluidic space, and after Voyager, that was a decision based on many factors. Ultimately, it came down to the idea that we could kind of work in a new area most other Star Trek games haven't really explored much, and as fans of the franchise working with the Star Trek team to craft a new story, a "new" setting, and come up with some of the new characters and species we have in the game was just too awesome to pass up. 

"For the game itself, we went with this style of game primarily because of its widespread appeal not only with players in the US and Europe, but also globally. Web-based strategy games like this are really popular worldwide, and to date there have been very few sci-fi themed ones that have been released; usually it's fantasy or medieval. It works well with Star Trek, as these types of games are about exploring new areas, and moving further into the unknown."

Alien Domain seems like a brilliant concept when you hear the background and therefore an experience that should grip social gamers across the globe so, let's skip forward a bit in time, use a handy wormhole and drop into fluidic space to start a whole new mission of exploration. This is gonna be "way cool" and we get to kick Species 8472's posterior into the bargain. Hand me the mouse, get me on the internet and let's be on with it. After registering and some fancy gubbins intro, you can pick to start out either as a Starfleet officer or a Klingon warrior. Game on people, I'm going Federation.

OK, so off I go on my continuing mission. The first system (1.1) is the expected hand-holding walk-through. You get a redesigned Constitution Class starship to start up your fleet and explore while various photogenic Starfleet officers walk you through the features of the game.

Now with Online I actually like the design of the characters and the environments. They're very expressive, clearly created by fans for fans and feel at least a little lived in. Here for some reason all the Starfleet characters are in skin-tight spandex variations on The Next Generation season one/two uniform and also look like they've been hired from the CGI modelling agency. That depletes its credibility and starts to make Alien Domain look like a cheap child of the franchise. Certainly in respect to the female characters there appears to have been some "sexing up". Why it's aiming for such a market is beyond me, I thought, as I wouldn't associate this image with Star Trek.

"Because of the setting of the game, there aren't any recognizable characters -- unless you count some of the ships." noted Brendon, "Later on we may introduce some in the form of simulation missions, but we didn't want to make the game rely on existing characters to succeed. 

"As for "sexing up" the guiding characters, I think that may be putting it a little too extreme. Yes, some of the main guide characters may be drawn attractively (in this case I'm assuming you mean Jenny Snow (right)), but we have a mix of old and young non-playing characters in the game. We also worked with CBS to stay within the guidelines of design, so we have nothing over the top. But in the end, we are trying to appeal to that grey space where fans and non-fans mingle, so some degree of attractiveness in art is part of getting players into the game."

As it progresses though there's a horrid sense of repetitiveness that doesn't abate. You reach a planet, you fight some ships, you gain some rewards, you travel to the next planet and start again. Early on this does happen a lot as you march through the first 20 or 30 level-ups. At that point you might start to fight real people rather than the computer's generated adversaries. The only times that you seem to do anything different is when you can return to your space base, collect resources and upgrade buildings in a similar way to a lot of games ever. The base does offer the chance to update your ships with technology - which in itself can also be individually enhanced - and also build additional ships and as you reach certain levels other options open up to improve your facility and abilities. Of course the resources you have access to (metal, crystal, deuterium and synergen) all vary in the amounts you can collect and store which makes managing that a delicate balancing act itself especially since yoou seem to accumulate metal and crystal at a ferocious rate.

It is a worthy note that the first few ships I've encountered in the spacedock included the Sabre Class and the Steamrunner Class both of which are canon as opposed to the initial provision of the rebooted/super-Constitution Class. That's where Online certainly has another advantage in that you have a lot of chances to interact with characters, space battles, away missions and the chance to really indulge in a Star Trek experience. Here the action is very two-fold and there really aren't any big surprises once you're into the flow of the game.

Clearly those behind Alien Domain have been reading their Freemium Handbooks carefully as a lot of the better features and abilities are limited to those who have forked out for the VIP Access or various packs available in the game store. There is a tidy little bonus which you can build up over the course of seven logins (and not necessarily seven consecutive days) and also you can pick up additional little aids by staying online for longer per daily session. This does, in fairness, keep you playing for the want of the next prize although I was easily swayed offline after several attacks.

Brendon totally understood my perspective on the game and certainly all the head-scratching which had led me to wonder what Alien Domain actually was. "With the game, our goal wasn't to create the ultimate fan game that encompassed everything Star Trek stood for, with lots of characters and stories from the shows." he said, "Other games are trying to do that, and it would have created too much competition for the same groups. What we wanted to do was to create a game that could appeal to a broader audience, and help introduce Star Trek to people and places it hasn't traditionally had a lot of fans in. 

"There's this stigma among non-fans or casual fans that if it's a Star Trek game (or really any super established property), they're never going to be able to enjoy it, or they're going to feel like they're missing out if they play. So we wanted to create something based on Star Trek that we felt could bring those people over the threshold, and serve as an easy-to-play, casual entrance to the brand from which they could later on explore other entities.

At the same time, we do know Star Trek fans are going to check the game out, and we do want them to enjoy it. That's part of why we created the setting and story the way we did -- to give fans something they can get out of the game. And even without the doses of nostalgia or the more subtle/political aspects from the series being really present, a lot of fans do enjoy the nature of Alien Domain."

To be fair this is perfect Facebook game fodder. There's not a lot to it and it's easy to get ensnared into the simplicity of the game after a very short time but it's just not got that Star Trek feel to it. Even the chat feature doesn't drive me to want to play this any more than I need to in order to review the game and I'm starting to grasp at straws to say why you should play it. The next kick was just how elitist I found the squadrons with notices specifically saying they didn't want anyone below a certain level and kicking anyone out that doesn't fit. I just found this another reason to turn off. I want to play and get more involved but if others want to get funny then I'm off. Surely these can't be true fans rather hardened gamers more interested in levels and numbers than the true Star Trek spirit. 

I approached Brendon over this and it's good to know they are very aware of their audience and what's going on; "I haven't seen a lot of instances of it, but like any game we have had our share of bad eggs. Our community and GM team is pretty active in monitoring the community interaction and responding to players, though, so if anyone is experiencing anything too bad I'd suggest to share with them and they can help you out. 

As for community reaction, so far overall it's been great. We have a large rate of new players staying in the game after they start, and many of them continue to play. As for the last part of the question, we do have a good proportion of Star Trek fans, but I would say most of them tend to be more casual fans (who have maybe watched the various series but only a bit here and there), or are from overseas and are fans of the newer movies but had only heard of the original shows existing in mentions. What's cool is we've gotten a lot of those types of people sending us messages after they start playing that they're now getting copies of the older series on DVD or digitally and are going to check it out because they want to learn more about Star Trek now that they're kind of involved with part of it.

OK OK, here's one - it might get people to take a second look at Star Trek. That's it. I just can't see hardcore fans touching this especially if they've already (just) tried  Online.

Brendon seemed to think along the same lines and I really did value his honesty when I asked him about the game and if it would be able to compete against the aforementioned Online; "Really if a game like Star Trek Online is your type of game, then there's no real reason to play this instead. 

"This is definitely a more casual type of game, and they aren't really competitors in terms of an audience. With client games, there's a higher barrier to entry, and also a higher need for a rig that can play it. Web-based games like this can be played on just about any Internet-enabled laptop or PC these days (and any device that supports Flash), and you can login and play instantly, no matter which device you're on."

So actually it's not for those of us who've touched Online. Perhaps it's something that fans who have joined the ranks since the arrival of the JJ movies could well enjoy with it's pacing, heavy focus on space battles and stylized game-unique characters. I believe this is probably the area it'll do the best business with the more hardcore remaining securely with their Online personas.

The game is currently in open beta testing so there won;t be any wipes and your data is perfectly safe if you fancy giving it a bash. Already there are lots of plans to improve the game and take it forward as Brendon closed off with some tempting morsels; "There's quite a few! We have some new faction PVP modes coming in the relatively near future, and we also have some cool things planned that pit players from different servers against each other. Moving forward we're definitely focusing on things for existing players and high level players to do to keep them entertained, and we are always monitoring new player activity to see what new features may be good to add for their enjoyment."

Even as I'm putting this together I've been dipping in and out of Alien Domain just to see what I can get and I suppose that does indicate that Brendon and GameSamba have "won" me over to some degree because it is very easy to drop in and pop out again during the day. You're not constricted to time and the chance to have a quick battle can be very tempting just to kick you up to the next level.

There is nothing revolutionary here. It's gaming by numbers but, as has been said, this is absolutely a casual gaming experience that might act as a gateway for new fans to explore the outer fringes of the Star Trek franchise before diving into the more intricate levels of the shows.

Star Trek: Alien Domain is available now to play either via Facebook or through the GameSamba website. Big thanks to Brendon Lindsey for his time in putting this article together.

Are you a big Alien Domain player? Are you already hitting past level 30 and taking the battle back to Species 8472? Let us know below and tell me where I've got it all wrong!

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The Finest of the Fleet: The Makings of a Great Starship

Should we rate Starfleets ships by the amount of firepower they pack and how big the explosions they cause are? In my opinion; No. There are better ways to measure a great craft and thanks to reading a recent piece on What Culture, I think I'll take up the challenge and have a look...

The article in question, while massively overusing the word "badass" did make me think of a couple of things as I clicked through the pages. While I have mixed feelings about the choices on the list, it got me thinking about what makes a great starship? Is actually being "badass" such a great thing when referring to Star Trek which, fundamentally, is supposed to be about exploration, seeking out new life and boldly splitting infinitives for five years (or three if you get axed)?

What makes a starship something that you look forward to seeing on the screen in an episode or a movie? Is it firepower that makes them memorable or is it something they did or were involved with that makes them simply awesome.  I've run down some examples to help me along the way to see if we can access the greatest starships in the history of the Federation (that we know of).

Straight away lets get back to our roots as there can be only one "great" design if we're honest with ourselves. That honour has to go to the original Matt Jeffries designed Constitution Class vessel that took the crew through 79 episodes of The Original Series. It's the design that influenced everything after it. The basic principles would be revamped in the movie era Enterprise as well as the later Excelsior, Ambassador and Sovereign Classes, to some degree the Galaxy Class and even in the style that formed the basis of the USS Vengeance in Star Trek Into Darkness. Of course JJ Abrams would have the original updated as the central vessel for the 2009 reboot just for good measure proving just how important that style was to the franchise.

It's a brilliant concept that also brought about the transporter to avoid landing her among other things. It was the backbone of Starfleet throughout The Original Series (namely because it cost less to reuse the model or buy kits from AMT) and survived a few fairly lethal encounters. Whatever generation of Star Trek we're watching there's always something in the styling of a Starfleet vessel that brings you back to the beginning. Impressively the upgrade that the class received in the movies made it even better many would argue, confronting even more serious threats from the Reliant and Khan and later a cloaked Klingon Bird of Prey. Inside the style of the bridge reflected the slightly militaristic direction of The Original Series and the films where reds and whites were replaced with metallics and greys - with the exception of Star Trek V which looked as though the Enterprise had jumped about 75 years of decorating evolution. A true classic and an icon of science fiction. There's one in the fleet museum y'know (Relics) so it must be important!

While it is physically similar, the Excelsior Class we first saw ready for field tests in The Search for Spock is truly one of the landmarks of the whole of the franchise. While the Constitution Class bowed out in The Undiscovered Country "The Great Experiment" would become the 24th Century workhorse as the Constitution Class had in the 23rd. It would show up in numerous episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine as well as three movie appearances. The last of these, with some additional bodywork, would be as the Enterprise-B. Altered so as not to damage the fabric of the original Excelsior model, this silhouette would  only appear again in the Deep Space Nine episode Paradise Lost as the USS Lakota. 

Minus the controversial transwarp drive it turned out to be a pretty decent starship and hinted at the shapes of things to come with its larger, more streamlined hull and advances in technology. In her day the Excelsior Class was the sign of the future and the first in the chain to link the designs of The Next Generation to The Original Series.

Staying with a theme, the Enterprise-D chalks up on my list not because of its design but because of its purpose. The shape of the ship harks back to the classic saucer, secondary hull and nacelles that both the Excelsior and Constitution classes displayed but they were flying in more hostile times when the threat from the Klingon Empire and other species was a lot more severe. Times changed and the Galaxy Class reflected this. The smoothed styling belayed a certain calmness in the fleet but inside was the clear distinction that made this a seminal Starfleet craft. Reflecting the more explorative and apparently less dangerous nature of The Next Generation, families were now onboard and the ship was designed around more luxurious desires and requirements. Effectively a spacebourne city where its crew wanted for nothing it mirrored the time in which it was designed in the real world - the 1980's and the affluence of the period. Fitting that it's replacement would be a much more compact battleship as the 1990's evolved and in the Star Trek universe the threats that appeared to have faded away returned and new ones arrived. 

The Galaxy Class was limited in numbers. According to early reports and the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual there were only six constructed but over the years we would see more than that number in the battle scenes of Deep Space Nine alone. To date we've seen Enterprise, Yamato, Odyssey, Venture, Challenger (Timeless) and there must be a Galaxy somewhere. According to Memory-Alpha there are 10 Galaxy Class ships in the battle to retake Deep Space Nine featured in Sacrifice of Angels which suggests the initial six were supplemented at some point with another batch of at least seven. Looking back, the class was far from perfect, suffering shield failures, dodgy holodecks, warp core breaches and three of the class ended up destroyed in the space of seven years - and if it was such a safe universe with a ship for exploration filled with husbands, wives and children for the long journey ahead why would you need to make it separate in two and have a Battle Bridge? Would you want your kids on here given the safety record?! 

Anyway, it seems that the realisation that families in space was not a good idea with the Galaxy Class vessels used to act as lead ships for battle groups in the Dominion War. This belays that they could easily be switched to different roles however their styling continued to announce that this was not their best suitability. A factor that the Sovereign Class clearly mirrored in its more military, minimalist, family-free concept. The reason for omitting that class? It's an evolution of form and also the Sovereign Class never really had anything unique about it in the big scheme of things - and can you recall ever seeing a second ship of this class on the screen?

The Constitution Class is a great because of its classic and influential design, Galaxy Class opened up the path to long exploratory missions but if we were to look back at the blog which inspired this piece, I would have to agree that the USS Defiant is definitely a "badass" - and I promise that's the last time I'll use that word here. Simply an awesome ship that went against every single concept of design and form that the Enterprise of the original show had laid down and started from scratch. It was compact, heavily armoured, fast, overgunned and overpowered and built for war. Cleverly a line of dialogue in The Search, Part I covered that minor issue, noting that the Defiant had been built to counter the Borg threat and had been mothballed once it had passed. It's firepower was soon on show and totally different to anything before. 

The phasers punched holes in the opposition from the first time she decloaked in anger and the Defiant also received quantum torpedoes to deal with whatever came in its way. There would be at least two other escort-class vessels seen in Deep Space Nine - the Valiant and the Sao Paulo which would be renamed as the Defiant when the original was destroyed by the Breen. It came close to an equally strong pummelling at the only encounter it ever had with the enemy it was designed to beat - the Borg. For me this is one of the ultimate starship classes. Unique, unusual and one of the selling points that made the third Star Trek series a cut above.

If we're sticking with unique, the USS Prometheus was certainly that. Featuring in just one episode of Voyager and also glimpsed in the final shot of the final episode of the final season of the same show, I would add it to the list of great starships because, like the Defiant, it pushed the boundaries. The quad-engines were nothing new because we'd seen them before on the Stargazer in The Battle during The Next Generation's first season and neither was the more elongated shape. Aside from the fact it managed to get stolen by the Romulans it's the only Starfleet ship that can split into three distinct vessels during Multi-Vector Assault Mode. The Enterprise-D could separate into a battle section and a saucer section lifeboat but these three ships were all controlled from the bridge of the primary hull. The bridge was somewhat spartan in comparison to other Starfleet vessels but additional sets were never the most detailed or "crewed" during the TV shows. The fact Message in a Bottle was one of the finest Voyager episodes certainly helped ensure that this would be a highly memorable ship that remains utterly unique across over 700 episodes. 

Talking of Voyager I begrudgingly have to add it to this list of the best starships in Star Trek's history. Why? It adapted. Over the seven seasons the Intrepid Class ship was stranded in the Delta Quadrant it underwent some serious modifications, gained a super-shuttle and got blown to smithereens more than once. Let's not forget that Voyager was a test bed for a lot of new technology including bio-neural gel packs, variable geometry (folding) warp engines which, apparently, meant that it could get away with going above that clumsy, plot-killing Warp Five Speed Limit and received the odd Borg upgrade along the way. Not only did the ship end up with Borg alcoves in a cargo bay but also used the technology to develop an astrometrics lab. The ultimate upgrade however had to be the ablative armour and transphasic torpedoes she received in Endgame. 

Small she may have been but Voyager did well to survive seven years in the wilderness and encountered situations that even a Galaxy or Sovereign Class ship might have cowered at. Add to that time travelling  the odd fleet of Borg cubes, being stolen or boarded and even facing off against another similar Starfleet vessel, the Equinox. Voyager actually hints at the future designs of Starfleet vessels (which the Equinox and Enterprise-E also indicate) - more compact, efficient, saucer and secondary hull directly connected without the "neck" section. Certainly more sleek than its predecessors but still able to pack a punch the Intrepid Class . Also it had the neat trick of being able to land which almost trumps the ability to separate into lots of bits. For adaptability there can be no question that this class and one lone ship in particular easily win. They probably also win the award for losing the most shuttlecraft ever.

So there we have a fairer selection perhaps - a legendary design, the workhorse of the fleet, the explorer, the warship the one-of-a-kind and the Boy Scout starship. Each includes features which mark it out against the rest and also are present in many respects in later vessels - especially in the form of the Constitution Class. These vessels in my opinion are the best examples of Starfleet design and operation across the whole franchise. I had considered adding the Steamrunner Class in here just because from a design point of view it's a complete break from anything else. No other ship even comes close to its design but aside from that and appearing in a few battles in the background it's not made its mark. Surprised I didn't include the NX-01? While it was "the first" it's design in the Real World was due to the nature of the original Enterprise of Kirk's era and therefore I skipped it. Sorry if you were looking for it!

I would have liked to include the Dauntless due to its quantum slipstream drive and just cool design but that wasn't really a Starfleet vessel (grrr) although it pretended to be. The Vengeance was a beast in every sense of the word and considering how much it was lauded it lasted barely an hour of screen time before taking a plunge to Earth. That's not good in terms of future development!

Again though you can see the design links which would "suggest" the Starfleet heritage of the Dauntless in her lines and even while stupidly big, angular and overgunned, the Vengeance is merely an adaptation of the alternative universe rethink of the original Constitution Class design. In comparison to the ships on the blog that inspired me, I think this is a better reflection of abilities, function and style rather than focusing solely on how much firepower a ship has which was not the point of Star Trek. Hopefully I have provided a good range of the "greats" and why they stand out above the rest.

So is there a class or ship I've missed that had a big impact on the Star Trek universe and deserves a place here? Is there one I've missed or is this a fair reflection on the various incarnations of the franchise?