The Star Trek: Voyager game we’re working on is a 1^st person action game. Activision has chosen us to handle the Voyager license because of our outstanding track record in these type of games. Activision, Raven Software and Paramount are working together closely, making sure the game reflects the series’ integrity and is worthy of the Voyager name. So far, Paramount is extremely pleased with our efforts. This game will be one of Raven’s best thus far. The curtain will be unveiled at E3 this year in LA. Till then, "mum’s the word."

Since I can’t discuss game play issues at this time (again, wait till E3) I’ll focus on what I can talk about that will separate our game from the rest of the pack: authenticity, accuracy, and attention to detail - they will all contribute to this game’s signature. It will be our first Star Trek title out of the gates so you know we’re going to make it shine. Our designers are working hard on creating the most exact virtual duplicate of Voyager’s layout possible. We’re using photos, illustrations and blueprints for the many different locales seen in the Voyager episodes. Many of our current screenshots have been mistaken for scanned reference photos by other Ravenites. I’m sure Star Trek fans will be very satisfied with the amount of quality art and detailed design they’ll find aboard our Voyager. Rest assured, there will be many various locales other than the Voyager to explore – the majority of which will be extremely dangerous and challenging. I’m sure gamers, hardcore and casual alike, will find this game extremely enjoyable to play and find appreciation for the finer points of game design we’re achieving on this title.

It is first and foremost an action game - but at the same time, the game stays true to the compelling stories and the strong character influences that have helped make the series such a success. So we’re making an action game with a strong story line and characters you will really care about - something Raven Software excels at. I can’t give out any screenshots or details on game features, enemies or story line at this point - but if what we have so far is any indication, I can pretty much guarantee a game that will be ten times better than Klingon Honor Guard was. I can’t really compare our Voyager project to other Star Trek related games without giving something more than that away. Then evil badness would fall upon me….

The majority of our production team worked on Heretic II, Hexen II and the Hexen II mission Pack: Portal of Praevus and the newer faces here have already passed their grades. There are quite a few of us and I’ll try not to forget anyone J - But first, I have to mention that Raven has recently added a new office wing - and the Star Trek: Voyager development team calls it "home." Well, actually it’s referred to as Starfleet Command around here…

Okay, here’s the rundown

Brian Pelletier: Project Lead – Recent Project Lead on Heretic II and a fellow comic guru.

James Monroe: Programming Lead – He’s the local answer man and has been known to share his jellybeans.

Chris Foster: Design Lead – Helping to make brave new worlds to game in. Watch out for his claymore….

Les Dorscheid: Art Lead – The man with the eye for detail and the keeper of the coveted 7 of 9 stand-up.

Kevin Schilder: Sound Engineer – Composer, mood setter and sound effects weaver. "Energize."

Brian Shubat: Animator Lead – Low-Poly King and the guy behind Corvus’ acrobatics. He likes to climb stuff.

Tom Odell: Level Designer – Michelle Pfeiffer’s secret lover. Oops….

Kim Lathrop: Artist – Star Trek authority and Brak impersonator extraordinaire.

Ste Cork: Programmer – Our latest UK import and biggest Dew addict.

Josh Weier: Programmer – Wunderkin Glory Coder. Manga fan. He doesn’t suck.

Mark A. Nelson: Artist – Professor and comic artist. Remember the first Aliens Comics? Yeah, he’s THAT old. J

Mike Gummelt: Programmer – AI coder and our other ST authority… likes to torment Kim on occasion.

Jeremy Statz: Level Designer – Has the same car stable as John Carmack, but at 1/12 the scale. Who knew?

Mike "Oz" Schulenberg: Level Designer – Lord of the Lava Lamp from the Land of Oz, errr…Texas.

Jeff Lampo: Artist – Making technobabble gadgets is his newest hobby.

Yes, it will support multiplayer and most likely be hosted by public servers. More on that at a later date….

I watched the original (syndicated) series as much as I could – my favorite ones were the "mob" episodes. I kind of lost interest when sci-fi cartoons caught my attention: The Herculoids, Thundarr the barbarian, Space Ghost and Starblazers. As a kid, I probably was more interested in the Star Trek animated series more then the original. I got into TNG pretty heavily from the start. It just kept getting better and better every season. What a great cast of characters. I missed the boat on DS9 – still trying to catch up on that one. Voyager has been as addicting as TNG was – not from the start, but the past two seasons have been great. Drone, Year in Hell and In The Flesh are probably my favorites so far…. Any I’ve missed, I just borrow from Kim. He also has all the animated Batman episodes on tape. Superman, too. What a guy….

I’ve been animating at Raven for the past three or four months, off and on. I started by helping out on Soldier of Fortune and eventually joined up with the Voyager team. It’s hard to move away from the 2D work I enjoyed on Heretic II, but modeling and animating have been really fun. It’s like going back in time when I used to sit around posing all my action figures and looking at how their poses could convey emotion and personality. I’ve spent years drawing this stuff, now I get to sculpt it and make it move. Very cool. BTW, we use SoftImage as our primary animation platform.

Music? DMB, Creed, P Gabriel, Sting, Live… Every day, all day. It varies on what I’m working on, I guess. Comics are a big influence – primarily the art. I’ve got a few artists that no matter how bad or stupid the story is, I’ll still buy the book for references. Mike Mignola, Joe Madureira, Dave Johnson, Geoff Darrow, Adam Hughes, Steve Rude, Kevin Knowlan and Bruce Timm to name a few. Luckily, most of their comic assignments have had great stories, mostly because of their story-telling styles. Animated films are also a big inspiration, hand or computer rendered. I’ll watch all of our Disney movies as many times as my 6-year-old will. Really looking forward to Tarzan and Iron Giant. I won’t touch on Star Wars, or I’ll ramble on even more than I already have. Tangents? What’s a tangent?

It’s been great. This is a dream come true. I’ve heard it said that only 5% of this nation’s workers are happy and satisfied with their job. I know I’m one of them. I feel very blessed to be here.

My biggest achievement (besides my kids) has been working on Heretic II. What a great experience that was. I’m extremely proud of the work we all put into it. I’ve also done some freelance artwork for many different people over the years, including TSR. I did some inking for some minor comic publishers, too.

Heretic II - because we went against the grain to make a 3^rd person perspective shooter-action game. They said it couldn’t be done - it’d be clunky and slow like other 3rdPP games on the market. We proved them wrong. A few other companies are doing the same thing. With Heretic II, we’ve helped raise the bar of excellence in game design. Not everyone has to like 3^rd PP shooters, but they can’t deny that our game is fast and furious.

I’ve also helped a bit with Soldier of Fortune, but it’s been marginal. Mostly with the interface design and some modeling and animation. What they’re doing is quite literally, shocking. Every few weeks I get a glimpse at SoF’s latest features and find myself amazed at what I see. Wait till E3 for that one too.