CONSORTIUM: New Star Trek inspired game series

[greatbird]

Hi there everyone!

My name is Greg MacMartin, and I've been a true Trek fan for 30 years....are there any among you that feel as I do, that the true vision of "Star Trek" is being utterly destroyed by JJ Abrams and Paramount? They are fun films, but for them to bear the name "Star Trek" is preposterous!

Gene Roddenberry (the "Great Bird of the Galaxy") imagined a future where we have evolved beyond our destructive and primal tendencies and learned how to truly work together and explore the Galaxy in peace, learning and growing.

The previous film, and, it seems even more with this new film, seems to relish in the fact that it's not bound by this vision at all, and can instead be darkened and turned into a giant sci-fi action franchise that has little more than a passing resemblance to Roddenberry's creation.

The more our society embraces darkness, the more desperate the need to envision and work towards CHANGING this and offering a bright and positive vision for all of us to work towards.

Now...I'm new here, and I certainly don't want this to come across as spam, so I will be very honest: I've been making video-games for almost 20 years now, and have been hard at work (at my company Interdimensional Games Inc) for the past 6 years on a totally original new game series. We're a totally independent, 10 person operation with a ton of passion and belief in what we're doing. The first game in the series we are making is small but different, original, engaging and immersive.

It is called CONSORTIUM, and it's truly inspired by Trek in many different ways. (playtesters have gone on record to mutter the words "so Star Trek!" when playing through the game.)

-CONSORTIUM takes place in an alternate universe 30 years from now, a place where we have managed to solve many of the problems humanity is currently facing. We have literally built the world and lore itself to feel as if it could be a realistic "stepping stone" to the original Star Trek universe as envisioned by Roddenberry. The world of CONSORTIUM isn't perfect, but it's a giant step in the right direction.

-The entire game takes place in a giant futuristic Jumbo Jet, cruising at 45,000 feet. In many ways, it feels like you're on-board the Enterprise...

-The organization called the "Consortium" is like Star Fleet, in as much as it's a peace-keeping force with teeth, truly designed to protect and nurture. In the world of CONSORTIUM we have colonized the Moon AND Mars, and Earth's orbit is teeming with activity.

There is much more, but I would invite any and all of you that might be interested to check out our Kickstarter campaign. There is a 7 minute pitch video that introduces our game to the world... due to our small, independent nature and due to the fact that this is a brand new I.P, we are not getting anywhere near as many views as we need, and are in desperate need of far more traffic. In case some of you DO truly like what we're doing, please help spread the word!

(...in truth, my personal dream is to literally one day make a Star Trek interactive narrative series taking place on-board the Enterprise....)

Thanks everyone, and I look forward to hopefully contributing to this community in the future!

[Deks]

I agree with the perception that the latest Trek movies seem to have veered off from the initial premise of 'evolved Humanity' and peaceful exploration/discovery for the purpose of imposing a more 'action oriented' setting and ignoring the underlying notion of Trek as it began in early TNG.

Its probably because current day Humans have been mostly exposed to the idea that without heavy action, good set of explosions, etc. you cannot make a 'good movie'.
Well, at least, that's how Hollywood seems to perceive things - couple with the possibility that they don't really try anymore.
Most of what Trek did lately was Humans not using technology to problem-solve, but to shoot their way out of most situations... and while I will agree that Trek universe is not populated solely with 'evolved Humanoids' - the amount of hostility presented seems to overpower everything else.

If a certain dose of realism is to be injected, a technologically advanced society that goes out into space is very likely to do so in a unified fashion.
Most of the time, Trek seems to project a notion of a current-day socio-economic system, surviving so far out into the future when it comes to alien races, even though they are technologically advanced.
A lot of people on this board alone (let alone the writers of Trek) have a very hard time wrapping their heads around a non-monetary economic system because it clashes with the system we currently live in.
I mean, WE (in real life) already have the ability to get rid of money and automate the heck out most of the things with the technology we have today (we already had this ability for decades), while majority of jobs are completely unproductive to society in general.

Anyway... I'll have a look at the game you are promoting as it sounds interesting.

[FPAlpha]

Word of advice.. do not insult or demean a big part of the Trek fandom by claiming "I've been a true Trek fan for 30 years....are there any among you that feel as I do, that the true vision of "Star Trek" is being utterly destroyed by JJ Abrams and Paramount? They are fun films, but for them to bear the name "Star Trek" is preposterous! "

You are no more a "true" Star Trek fan than me who enjoys Original Trek and New Trek.. you Sir have just lost a potential customer and interested person by displaying that attitude and therefore i've barely read the rest of your post.

[Deks]

No one here claims they are a 'true Trek fan'.
Some are merely stating that Trek veered off into a different direction over time that doesn't appeal to all of us like it apparently does for the 'mainstream'.

[Kelthaz]

^ I think the dude saying that he's a "true Trek fan" is claiming that he's a "true Trek fan". That's kinda how English works.

[King Daniel]

Fans keep confusing Rodenberry's TNG-era ethos with that of The Original Series. JJ Abrams' version of Trek fits in perfectly with Gene Rodenberry's original concept of a fun action-adventure show in space.

Really, go back and watch those original episodes. There was a HELL of a lot of destruction and fighting!

[Mr. Adventure]

^ There was plenty of philosophy, debate, celebrations of humanity and mercy and etc. in the original series.

[King Daniel]

Yet it always involved fighting. Just like the last movie did, only now it looks a lot more spectacular. There was nothing in it that undermined anything in original Trek - in fact, JJ's movie had the most ethnically-diverse cast in all of Trek history. Just look at all the background characters on the Kelvin, Enterprise, at Starfleet. A united Earth, out in the stars. They didn't preach about it like Shatner's Kirk did, they just showed it.

[Deks]

King Daniel Into Darkness wrote:

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Fans keep confusing Rodenberry's TNG-era ethos with that of The Original Series. JJ Abrams' version of Trek fits in perfectly with Gene Rodenberry's original concept of a fun action-adventure show in space.

Really, go back and watch those original episodes. There was a HELL of a lot of destruction and fighting!

Except that, even when compared to TOS, JJ's movies seem FAR more in line/focus with current perception of 'lots of destruction, action and little to no solid story filled with glaring plot holes'.
TOS was far from perfect (TNG included), but even it had its moments and managed to explain numerous things using problem-solving and science as opposed to 'lets destroy everything'.

I personally don't like the direction JJ's Trek took.
At least to me, it seems mind-numbing like most other Hollywood movies (and I understand that this perception is not shared by everyone).

I'm sad to see nuTrek not taking things more into the direction of the ideas that Roddenberry implemented for TNG.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Deks wrote:

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I'm sad to see nuTrek not taking things more into the direction of the ideas that Roddenberry implemented for TNG.

Well, they're not remaking TNG, they're remaking Star Trek, so I don't really see where the problem is.

[Kelthaz]

Ugh, take this shit back to the Trek XI+ forum where it belongs.

[nightwind1]

Kelthaz wrote:

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^ I think the dude saying that he's a "true Trek fan" is claiming that he's a "true Trek fan". That's kinda how English works.

And the fact that he said the films claiming the name "Star Trek" was "preposterous".

And then goes on about how his totally "original" game is so much like Star Trek.

Pretty much turned me off of checking it out, as well.