Game "Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury" What happened?

[MCKurland]

In 1997, Interplay announced a new game that was to be a technological breakthrough, Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury. It would feature an original story by D.C. Fontana, groundbreaking motion capture technology to recreate the characters as they first appeared, completely new environments from the Enterprise to Vulcan, and the voices of the original series actors reprising their roles. It would be the "Star Trek" video game of all time. But, in 1999, the plug was pulled. I wish to know what anyone else knows about this game that never came to be, and I also wish that CBS and Paramount could find a way to finish this project and let all of us finally enjoy it.

 

[MCKurland]

There's more to the plot than what's on this poster.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I think that the game was a victim of changing times. At the time, I think Interplay was undergoing financial difficulties, and lots of staff left and as the game was expensive to make, decided they couldn't really commit to it. From what I hear, they underestimated just how much it would cost them. And also by that time, the gaming landscape started to change dramatically with both technology and the types of games people were playing, and adventure games were starting to become more of a niche. So, a game of that type which was very expensive to make, just wasn't financially viable for a company experiencing difficulties.

It's unfortunate, but I think this is the game that sank Interplay. They're still around, but they're really a shell of their former self.

Here's an interesting link where one of the programmers tells the story behind it.
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/09/former_interplay_programmer_te.php

 

[SPCTRE]

My answer to your poll would be "I totally would find it fascinating from a genre history perspective, but it's not going to happen".

I also wish that CBS and Paramount could find a way to finish this project and let all of us finally enjoy it.

That is not going to happen for several reasons - generally speaking, unfinished games are a rights/licensing nightmare. It's not feasible to just pick up the code, finish and release it. (If the code is even intact/still exists!)

Especially since in this case
1) one of owners/creators of the unfinished code of the game has since gone under, resulting in the rights changing hands
2) the original publisher that made a licensing deal with Paramount in the first place has gone under
3) there was a lawsuit issued after the project got canceled (anecdotally, it was related to employees working on the project not getting paid) that expressly ruled out use of assets created during production
4) the audience for a game targeting TOS (as opposed to current Trek IP such as the reboot movies and STD) is too narrow to justify the legal and administrative work required to even begin untangling said rights/licensing nightmare - regardless of the state the unfinished game was left in when development ceased

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I saw the thread title on the front page and that small bit of tiny hope that somethig had happened with this sprang from nowhere.

 

[MCKurland]

I saw the thread title on the front page and that small bit of tiny hope that somethig had happened with this sprang from nowhere.

If the word is spread, then the amount of hope will spread as well. And as Spock always said, "There are always possibilities."

 

[MCKurland]

My answer to your poll would be "I totally would find it fascinating from a genre history perspective, but it's not going to happen".


That is not going to happen for several reasons - generally speaking, unfinished games are a rights/licensing nightmare. It's not feasible to just pick up the code, finish and release it. (If the code is even intact/still exists!)

Especially since in this case
1) one of owners/creators of the unfinished code of the game has since gone under, resulting in the rights changing hands
2) the original publisher that made a licensing deal with Paramount in the first place has gone under
3) there was a lawsuit issued after the project got canceled (anecdotally, it was related to employees working on the project not getting paid) that expressly ruled out use of assets created during production
4) the audience for a game targeting TOS (as opposed to current Trek IP such as the reboot movies and STD) is too narrow to justify the legal and administrative work required to even begin untangling said rights/licensing nightmare - regardless of the state the unfinished game was left in when development ceased

I see your points, but I wish to see it completed primarily because it was the last time the entire original series cast would be reunited. (DeForest Kelley died in 1999 and the game was still in limbo.)

 

[captainkirk]

Considering that unreleased material from the 1998 game Jurassic Park: Trespasser continues to surface I do still have some vague hopes for this, but I highly doubt anything will ever see the light of day.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

The story I was told by a friend who was a producer at Interplay at the time (he later worked on Starfleet Command) was this:

Interplay had cash flow problems, and they decided to do a quickie Star Trek game that would bring in some cash and finance the further development of Vulcan's Fury. So they took the team working on Vulcan's Fury and put them on, I kid you not, Star Trek Pinball. Unfortunately, Star Trek Pinball was a complete and total failure, it didn't solve the cash flow problems, and Interplay ended up having to let most of the team go. Some, like my friend, were able to latch on to other games, like Starfleet Command.

As for the work done on Vulcan's Fury, I was told it was all landfilled -- the model work, the voice work, the computers themselves, all of it. It's gone.

That was the first-hand account I was told.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Do we at least have a complete plot synopsis?

 

[Ronald Held]

There must be some interest in having this game completed based on the many threads about it.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Do we at least have a complete plot synopsis?

I guess D.C Fontana would only really know. But based on information out there, the script was incomplete. I don't think they really were far enough into production to really know where it was going.

And apparently only 5% of of the game was completed before it was abandoned. So, even if you could find and release what was done, you'd still have very little, and any of the art and animation would likely have to be redone anyway.

 

[captainkirk]

There must be some interest in having this game completed based on the many threads about it.

The problem is that as @Allyn Gibson said above, as far as we know everything made for the game is gone for good. And even if it wasn't, the only thing salvageable would be the voice recordings.
Of all the failed Trek projects, this is certainly the most tragic. Just compare the images in the OP with this one from the 2013 game:
https://static.gamespot.com/uploads..._169_videoreview_startrekthevideogame_320.jpg
Now obviously if the game had been finished they probably wouldn't have looked quite as good, but it's still highly impressive for its age.

 

[TheAlmanac]

The problem is that as @Allyn Gibson said above, as far as we know everything made for the game is gone for good. And even if it wasn't, the only thing salvageable would be the voice recordings.

Getting "new" dialogue from the TOS cast in character would still make for quite the salvage.

 

[1moreRobot]

Kenneth Allen, project lead for the game, posted some interesting videos on youtube, including some gameplay and footage of someone having a face casting made. He made some interesting behind-the-scenes remarks in the comments. Definitely very interesting reading. Here's a link to one of the videos you all willl find interesting (and dont forget to delve into the comments):

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[captainkirk]

Getting "new" dialogue from the TOS cast in character would still make for quite the salvage.

Definitely. But I was responding to this idea that pops up every time the game is discussed, which is that if all the 3D assets were found the game could be finished with those.

Kenneth Allen, project lead for the game, posted some interesting videos on youtube, including some gameplay and footage of someone having a face casting made. He made some interesting behind-the-scenes remarks in the comments. Definitely very interesting reading. Here's a link to one of the videos you all willl find interesting (and dont forget to delve into the comments):

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The walking animations kind of remind me of the re-animated Keevan from The Magnificent Ferengi, but the facial animations are excellent. I've seen animation in modern games that doesn't look as good.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

The story I was told by a friend who was a producer at Interplay at the time (he later worked on Starfleet Command) was this:

Interplay had cash flow problems, and they decided to do a quickie Star Trek game that would bring in some cash and finance the further development of Vulcan's Fury. So they took the team working on Vulcan's Fury and put them on, I kid you not, Star Trek Pinball. Unfortunately, Star Trek Pinball was a complete and total failure, it didn't solve the cash flow problems, and Interplay ended up having to let most of the team go. Some, like my friend, were able to latch on to other games, like Starfleet Command.

As for the work done on Vulcan's Fury, I was told it was all landfilled -- the model work, the voice work, the computers themselves, all of it. It's gone.

That was the first-hand account I was told.

I remember many years ago here on Trekbbs a few of us went about looking to find out what actually happened to the game, and a few actual game devs who were working on it stated on their various sites at the time, that they one day headed into work at interplay only to find the building and business had gone into liquidation and all the pc snd work stations that were being used to make interplay game were taken, wiped and sold on to pay the creditors, and STVF was on those machine with many other unfinished games, and the reason no voice work or the game itself has ever surfaced was because it all happened in the space of a night, and nobody at the time got a chance to backup or make ant copies of anything, which if true means it's is indeed long gone, including all the voice work from the original cast.
Sad i know.

 

[Ronald Held]

Is there a complete script in existence? If so plus the voice files exist how many people have the skills to recreate this game?

 

[Owain Taggart]

Sad i know.

That is indeed sad. I think what makes this game so legendary is the promise the game held, combined with the fact that first two games were so good and the fact that it just disappeared. Did D.C Fontana ever publish a novel based on this like she said she would?

Is there a complete script in existence? If so plus the voice files exist how many people have the skills to recreate this game?

From my link above:
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/09/former_interplay_programmer_te.php

"They had a working demo of the bridge and Scotty cutting through the door, you know, five minutes of play, and pretty much nothing else. There was a large scale plan for about the first half of the entire game, at which point the script itself had petered out. They admitted from the beginning to me that they didn't have the full script. ...

At the time I left, I didn't see any indication that the producer had resolved the issues with getting the rest of the script worked out. This is so close to Hollywood that, you know, when you don't have the script, you don't have anything. You have to start with the script.

 

[captainkirk]

That is indeed sad. I think what makes this game so legendary is the promise the game held, combined with the fact that first two games were so good and the fact that it just disappeared. Did D.C Fontana ever publish a novel based on this like she said she would?

From what I remember of previous discussions, there are too many legal issues over who owns the story that it wouldn't be worth trying to sort out.