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How star trek artists imagined the ipad… nearly 30 years ago, there are a lot of similarities between apple's ipad and tng's mobile computing..

Chris Foresman - Sep 10, 2016 9:30 pm UTC

One interesting characteristic of Star Trek: The Next Generation —one that separated it from the original series and most of the early films—was its widespread use of smooth, flat, touch-based control panels throughout the Enterprise-D. This touch interface was also used for numerous portable devices known as PADDs , or Personal Access Display Devices. These mobile computing terminals bear a striking resemblance to Apple's iPad—a mobile computing device largely defined by its smooth, flat touchscreen interface.

To understand the thinking that led to the design of the Star Trek PADD, we spoke to some of the people involved in production of ST:TNG (as well as other Star Trek TV series and films), including Michael Okuda , Denise Okuda , and Doug Drexler . All three were involved in various aspects of production art for Star Trek properties, including graphic design, set design, prop design, visual effects, art direction, and more. We also discussed their impressions of the iPad and how eerily similar it is to their vision of 24th century technology, how science fiction often influences technology, and what they believe is the future of human-machine interaction.

From "electronic clipboard" to PADD

The Star Trek films, beginning with 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture , had sizable budgets for set design, props, and special effects. However, the original Star Trek series from the 1960s didn't have the resources to fill starships with buttons, knobs, and video displays.

According to Michael Okuda, original Star Trek art director Matt Jefferies had practically no budget. "He had to invent an inexpensive, but believable solution," he told Ars. "The spacecraft of the day, such as the Gemini capsules, were jammed full of toggle switches and gauges. If he had had the money to buy those things, the Enterprise would have looked a lot like that."

Because Jefferies was forced by budget restraints to be creative, however, the original Enterprise bridge was relatively sparse and simplistic. "Because he did such a brilliant job visualizing it, I think the original Star Trek still holds up today reasonably well," Okuda said.

Similar budget constraints meant creative solutions were required for ST:TNG as well. "We had a much lower budget than the feature films did," Okuda told Ars. "So, for example, I looked at the production process of making a control panel, and I said, 'How can I make this as inexpensive as possible?' Having made those decisions, 'now what can I do to make it as futuristic as possible?'"

What could be simpler to make than a flat surface with no knobs, buttons, switches, or other details? Okuda designed a user interface dominated large type and sweeping, curved rectangles. The style was first employed in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home for the Enterprise-A, and came to be referred to as " okudagrams ." The graphics could be created on transparent colored sheets very cheaply, though as ST:TNG progressed, control panels increasingly used video panels or added post-production animations.

"The initial motivation for that was in fact cost," Okuda explained. "Doing it purely as a graphic was considerably less expensive than buying electronic components. But very quickly we began to realize—as we figured out how these things would work and how someone would operate them, people would come to me and say, 'What happens if I need to do this ?' Perhaps it was some action I hadn't thought of, and we didn't have a specific control for that. And I realized the proper answer to that was, 'It's in the software.' All the things we needed could be software-definable."

What Okuda realized is that with physical hardware interfaces, each function has to be designed into the interface from the beginning. But by imagining that software could re-configure the interface as needed, the writers were able to imagine any function that needed to advance the plot, and the production artists could create a "software" interface to perform the specific action.

Since the props weren't real functioning devices, no real code needed to be written. "We were considerably freer to imagine, 'What if you do this? Or what if you just touched that and it changed into a helm panel?'" Okuda said.

Still, the design of the user interface on the various control panels was influenced by user experience considerations. "What I tried to do was create something that, at a distance, looked like it had a macro-level organization," Okuda told Ars, "and when you got closer, there appeared to be an additional overlay of organization on top of that. The viewer would imagine, looking at it, 'If I study this close enough, I could figure out how to fly a starship.'"

Avid viewers may remember that officers on the original  Star Trek took notes or signed off on orders using what were referred to as "electronic clipboards." These rather bulky-looking (by today's standards) boxes had a sloped top with a large area for writing with an attached stylus, as well as a few light-up buttons. Lt. Uhura often used one in her role as communications officer.

For ST:TNG and beyond, Starfleet used touchscreen PADDs. The thin, handheld devices used the same interface as the control panels and computers on the Enterprise-D. "The idea was that we wanted to make them sleeker, slimmer, and way more advanced than the electronic clipboards were on the original series," Okuda said.

But PADDs were much more powerful than electronic note pads. "We realized that with the networking capabilities we had postulated for the ship, and given the [hypothetical] flexibility of the software, you should be able to fly the ship from the PADD," Okuda said.

Star Trek dreams

Like the PADD, Apple's iPad and other iOS devices are designed largely around the idea that the software defines how the device can be used. "Nothing compares to the almost alive interface of the iPad," Doug Drexler told Ars. An ardent reader of science fiction from the age of 10, the iPad's touch interface was something he had long expected. "I think my attitude was, 'It's about time!'," he said.

"I think that anything that has no apparent mechanism yet delivers a big punch is either futuristic or, if you are from the Middle Ages, magic," Drexler explained. "Advanced alien devices on the original Trek series often had no discernible mechanism. So touch interfaces seem like magic. It's also slightly eerie, as you have the sensation that this thing is aware of you."

Even Okuda was impressed with how natural and fluid the interface of the iPad feels in use. Actions that involved complex post-production effects on a PADD actually seem easy on an iPad, he said. "There are a lot of things that are very easy to do in a prop, but actually very difficult to do in reality," he told Ars. "For example, pinch to zoom—that was relatively difficult to do even as a visual effect. It's implemented brilliantly on the iPad and the iPhone."

Drexler said that to him, the iPad is "eerily similar" to the PADDs used in Star Trek . "We always felt that the classic Okuda T-bar graphic was malleable, and that you could stretch and rearrange it to suit your task, just like the iPad," he said. "The PADD never had a keyboard as part of its casing, just like the iPad. Its geometry is almost exactly the same—the corner radius, the thickness, and overall rectangular shape."

"It's uncanny to have a PADD that really works," Drexler said, unlike the non-functional props made for the TV series and later films. "The iPad is the true Star Trek dream," Drexler told Ars.

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Pocket-lint

Forget ios - star trek padd puts lcars on your ipad.

Fanboy trekkies, prepare to to boldly go where no man has gone before - to the App Store to download the new Star Trek iPad app.

Actually, the app has been live for a day or so now - so many men have probably gone there but you get the point.

The Star Trek app turns your iPad into a PADD (Personal Access Display Device) and puts the LCARS OS right in your lap, as well as providing you with a wealth of Trek goodness thanks to the (still growing) Star Trek database. That mean character bios, alien info, ship details, episode guides and more.

But it's the LCARS platform that will have most Star Trek fans excited, especially as the UI is even incorporated into real-world programs such as Twitter and Facebook - you can read the latest news from the Star Trek Facebook page and Star Trek Twitter feed all within the app.

"We came up with this proposal because, as Star Trek fans, with the launch of the iPad, technology finally hit the point where we could simulate the PADD device," said Eric Shapiro of ArcTouch who developed the app.

"Then the question was: how do we transport people today into that future universe, and that’s where the conversation with CBS began."

Shaprio managed to get the approval of Michael Okuda, the official designer of the LCARS computers displays used in TNG, DS9 and Voyager - so if it's top level clearance you're after, this is it.

The Star Trek PADD app is in the App Store now, and costs £2.99 .

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Make It So: Hands-On With Official <cite>Star Trek</cite> iPad App

CBS Interactive has launched an official Star Trek PADD application for the iPad . The 190-MB program contains a browsable library of Star Trek information presented with a distinctive user interface modeled after the Federation's LCARS software environment. And because we're Star Trek nerds, we thought we'd take a look. You know, for science.

[partner id="arstechnica"]The information that users can read in the PADD application appears to be the same that is hosted in the database on the official StarTrek.com website. The database entries are organized into categories, which include characters, species, vessels, places and episodes. It draws details from all canonical *Star Trek *sources, including the movies, television shows and animated series.

Selecting a category will cause the application to display a massive alphabetical list of associated entries, which unfortunately isn't particularly comfortable for casual browsing. There doesn't appear to be a way to further filter a category by other parameters. I wanted to be able to browse the episode list by show and season, for example, but such functionality isn't provided.

Does Everyone Know About This Grain but Me?

The breadth of the database is fairly impressive -- it has entries on a wide range of topics, including some that are highly obscure or only mentioned in passing during the series. For example, there is an entry about coffee (they still drink copious amounts of it in the 24th century, especially Captain Janeway) and Bob Hope (a favorite of the 22nd-century Enterprise crew).

Despite the breadth, we noticed a few odd omissions. The character section of the database, for example, has a lengthy entry about Porthos -- Captain Archer's pet beagle -- but sadly lacks an entry about Spot, Data's pet cat. Another very serious and disappointing oversight is the lack of an entry about quadrotriticale, a high-yield hybrid of wheat and rye.

The individual entries tend to be concise and less encyclopedic than the equivalent entries at community-driven resources like Memory Alpha and Wikipedia. The style and format of the PADD database entries make the application handy for simple reference, but it's much less useful than the wikis if you want more substantial background information and insight into historical events of the Star Trek canon.

The longer entries have some basic cross-linking so that you can dig into other entries, but not nearly to the same extent as Memory Alpha. Similarly, it has less supporting graphical media. There is at least one thumbnail for most of the episodes, but a lot of the other informational entries lack images.

For example, the entry about warp drive, which consists of only four sentences, has no graphical accompaniment. By comparison, the equivalent entry at Memory Alpha has a complete history of human and Federation warp technology development and several images.

The Truth Is Just an Excuse for a Lack of Imagination

In addition to information about the *Star Trek *universe, the database also has entries about actors, writers and other people who were involved in the making of the show. This is useful if you happen to be watching *Total Recall *and want to check the entry about Marc Alaimo to confirm your suspicion that your favorite Cardassian megalomaniac is in the '90s Schwarzenegger flick. Seriously, Gul Dukat and Captain Jellico (Senator Kinsey, for the Gaters) appearing in the same movie is more than a little bit creepy.

On the other hand, the fact that the application basically breaks out of character by including entries about real-world topics might disappoint the Star Trek purists.

Matt Jancer

David Nield

The application has a built-in search feature that allows you to type in a query with the iPad's on-screen keyboard. The application will display entries that match the query. The search feature worked relatively well, but the standard iPad keyboard looks terribly out of place in the LCARS environment.

I Love Classic Century Design!

The application's real novelty is the presentation, which is designed to mimic Star Trek consoles. The LCARS graphical elements are used effectively, but there are a lot of superfluous animated elements that have no functional behavior in the context of the application.

This makes it difficult at times to know which parts of the screen are user interface elements and which are just flashy embellishments that were added to contribute to the *Star Trek *aesthetic. Readability is also negatively impacted by the eccentric layout and narrow fonts. But let's face it: Nobody wants an LCARS interface for the usability -- it's all about the atmosphere.

In addition to the brightly colored curves and other distinctive LCARS visual elements, the application also gives you the sounds of Star Trek . It emits a constant stream of blipping, buzzing and background noise of the kind that you might hear on the bridge of a starship or in main engineering. Some users might find the constant noise distracting, but I found myself intrigued by the soundtrack.

When you tap the screen, the application will respond by playing Majel Barret voice clips captured from the show (Barret is Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's wife, best known for her roles as Nurse Chapel, Lwaxana Troi and the voice of the ship's computer).

The audio clips are used rather loosely in the application, sometimes with comical results. Tapping a part of the screen that is nonfunctional will result in a negative response selected at random. One that comes up infrequently is "this unit is not a replicator." I laugh every time.

If you stop using the application and let it idle for a little while, it will switch into a sort of screensaver mode that rotates between a map of the Enterprise-D and what looks vaguely like an animated warp core diagnostic. You can exit the screen saver by tapping.

Where is the hamster wheel? (Click to enlarge.)

Perhaps Today Is a Good Day to Download

The program is an iPad exclusive, which means that it's probably not coming to the Android platform anytime in the near future. This may tempt Android users to switch to the iPad ... for about 0.68 seconds.

The Star Trek PADD application is a fun gimmick, but the $4.99 price is a bit much for what you get. If you are keen on the Ferengi third rule of acquisition (never spend more for an acquisition than you have to), you will find that you can get better value by simply opening a web browser and navigating to Memory Alpha or Wikipedia.

That said, the application is not a bad purchase for a hard-core Star Trek enthusiast who enjoys a little bit of starship atmosphere. As a huge fan, my effort to resist was futile. I think the amusement I got from the voice clips was enough to make it worth the cost and effort of downloading. But that's just because my neural pathways have become accustomed to those sensory input patterns.

The developers could probably make the application more appealing to a broader base of Trek fans if they threw in more content or decreased the price a little bit. Let's hope that they make it so.

You can download the PADD app in the App Store.

See Also:- 10 Apps You Should Download for iPad 2

• It’s Time for Mobile Music Apps to Grow Up
• 9 iPad Music Apps to Rock Your World

Angela Watercutter

Eric Ravenscraft

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STO Gateway is Now Available

By PWE_BranFlakes | Mon 10 Dec 2012 12:00:57 PM PST

We are proud to announce that the beta of the STO Gateway is now available on Holodeck!

As revealed in this Dev Blog , this new feature allows players to remotely access their in-game status information via their desktop, tablet, or smartphone. In its initial release, the STO Gateway will allow players the ability to view their player status and equipped items, ship status and equipped items, bridge officer status and equipped items, and accolades. This list of features is only the beginning of what’s possible — there will be more features and functionality to come.

To access the STO Gateway, visit gateway.startrekonline.com from your computer, tablet or smartphone's internet browser.

Also, please see our STO Gateway forum threads here and here . Note that posts here should be in English only as the Developers are watching these threads. Also, the Gateway is currently only available in English but will be available in French and German in the future.

We hope you enjoy the initial offerings of the STO Gateway and we welcome your feedback, input and suggestions.

Link to the forum post

sto-news , sto-launcher , star-trek-online ,

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iPad Release: MMO Tap Play for Star Trek Online, City of X, and World of Warcraft

• Thread starter LastLine
• Start date Sep 9, 2010
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macrumors 65816

• Sep 9, 2010

macrumors regular

I don't have time to game anymore but I would have liked that when I was a heavy WoW player. Congratulations on getting it in the store. You might want to change the link on your page to regular http. Not all browsers redirect the itms protocol.  

macrumors 6502a

As a WoW player on my iMac i3, I really like what you are doing with this App. Did I hear you right on You Tube that you are working on an iPhone app too? I couldn't hear what you said very clearing as the microphone was either off to the side, or behind you.  

I bought your App, since you have a special price this weekend, but it won't download from the App store.  

Dillenger said: I bought your App, since you have a special price this weekend, but it won't download from the App store. Click to expand...

Dillenger said: As a WoW player on my iMac i3, I really like what you are doing with this App. Did I hear you right on You Tube that you are working on an iPhone app too? I couldn't hear what you said very clearing as the microphone was either off to the side, or behind you. Click to expand...

• Sep 10, 2010

LastLine said: Just as a thought does your iMac run leopard or higher? If so I'd love to hear your feedback on performance as we've only ever Tested on intel Macs. Click to expand...

Dillenger said: The app downloaded so that is taken care of. I haven't really had the time to use it, but will give it a go this evening as out guild will be running a few instances. as far as the iPhone app, Hmmm, I'm still thinking on that one. Yes, I have a iMac Intel i3 so I really can't say about it working on any other Mac's. Click to expand...

I had an opportunity to try your app out tonight, and it's pretty impressive for the first version. One thing I cannot get to work though is the green PTT and Ventrillo. The key binding keeps going to the letter T even tough on my regular keyboard it is set up to the control key.  

The PTT key is set to T within the app. You will need to change it in your settings. Sorry. We do plan to allow customisation in a future version however  

• Sep 11, 2010

LastLine said: The PTT key is set to T within the app. You will need to change it in your settings. Sorry. We do plan to allow customisation in a future version however Click to expand...

• Sep 12, 2010

Dillenger said: Ok, it would be a great option to consider though. Click to expand...

LastLine said: Yep - no arguments there - and it will come (whether it will be to allow the choice of 2 or 3 options, or complete control is TBC). It would have made it into release one, however due to the fact we both work and completed this project in our spare time and annual holidays we had a very limited development time. As we weren't sure how well the app would be received we decided to release it as it is now to see if anyone even bought it! We'll be working on the next patch soon though as it's a spare time thing I can't even begin to give an ETA yet, but be assured it will arrive BTW: New YOutube Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXD7eT2_j1Q Click to expand...

Dillenger said: Excellent!, The more I use Tap Play the more I really like it. Some really cool graphics around the keys would be very nice too, or maybe making it skinable. Click to expand...

• Sep 13, 2010

LastLine said: Thanks for the feedback - can I ask which game it is you're playing it on? I take it Warcraft from how you talk? Yeah - we're not fully happy with the graphics there but we're not quite sure what we want to do with it - any suggestions? I would encourage people who like the app to leave an iTunes review too, even if only short - it helps our moral here no end We updated our Youtube by the way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXD7eT2_j1Q Click to expand...

Dillenger said: Yes, a WoW player. (I wish there was a Mac OS version of Star Trek) Regarding the graphics, is it possible to make it skinable? or maybe have an option of different skins the end user can choose from? I left a review for you on the App store? Just curious, how many people have bought the this app so far? Click to expand...

• Sep 14, 2010

LastLine said: We're in the region on 'dozens' , might not sound lot but given we've not spent on advertising we're happy so far. We plan on putting some initial profit into advertising but our own financial situation doesn't allow that comittment until the end of the month. We're starting work on the podcast scene soon but I'd definitely encourage people to spread by word of mouth, it sounds shallow but the more people that buy the more time we can afford to put into future editions if that makes sense (more income from this = less overtime shifts at work = more development time) I'm not quite sure what you mean by skinnable, but if you mean to add your own creation in I don't really see that as being possible within the developer guidelines. That said, in time, we intend to add more skins in - that's a definite task, we've got to get things pinned down on the current release first but following that we have plans for: City of Heroes (conceptualisation stage) Klingon skin for Star Trek A couple of Warcraft alternatives - we have no designs for these yet but know we want them there EVE - possibly. We also want to run a competition to 'design a skin' but we've nowhere near enough users just yet as to be able to justify that, we'd get a couple of entries at most so far. But yes - more skins is in the near future. Do you have any ideas to share? If so we'd love to hear from you clarkeapps(@)gmail.com Click to expand...

Hm, I see what you mean - though I must confess I can't see a reason that you'd really want to - y'know, other than 'just because'. I'm not saying no, I just can't fathom why yet.  

• Sep 15, 2010

LastLine said: Hm, I see what you mean - though I must confess I can't see a reason that you'd really want to - y'know, other than 'just because'. I'm not saying no, I just can't fathom why yet. Click to expand...

Dillenger said: Ahh, but you could do some really neat stuff like load a WoW screen shot in the background, or a cool WoW landscape, etc.... What were your thoughts about the MMO game - Second Life as it is playable on both the Windows and Mac OS platform? Click to expand...

LastLine said: Fair point. Maybe down the line. Regarding second life? Maybe - I'm not familiar with the game beyond knowing it exists and the general premise - any chance you can outline how you see it being used. Click to expand...

I'll look into it. Anyway - for the next hour (give or take) from 19.00GMT we'll be demoing the app on [Stream Ended] If you decide you like it - you can download immediately from http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tap-p...387723212?mt=8 Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to sound on Ustream so it'll be video only but hopefully it'll help any of you who are sat on the fence about it. I'll be running through a range of PvP, daily missions nad general playing around - the sort of stuff I do in a general evening's gameplay. Sorry about the low light, unfortunately I can't do much about it.  

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Star Trek PADD App Available Today

The future is now, as 24th century technology meets 21st century mobile devices in the form of a Star Trek PADD app. Available today from CBS Interactive, which developed it in conjunction with CBS Mobile and ArcTouch, the official Star Trek PADD (Persona

The future is now, as 24th century technology meets 21st century mobile devices in the form of a Star Trek PADD app. Available today from CBS Interactive , which developed it in conjunction with CBS Mobile and ArcTouch , the official Star Trek PADD (Personal Access Display Device) app features an impressive, interactive database of Star Trek television show information, ranging from characters and ships to alien worlds and an episode guide, as well as Star Trek images, including a faithful reproduction of the LCARS interface, plus a recognizable computer voice, familiar Star Trek sounds and more, all spanning from The Original Series to Star Trek: Enterprise .

Additionally, fans can keep track of the latest Star Trek news and interact with fellow Star Trek fans from the official Star Trek Facebook page and Twitter , both of which are directly integrated into the apps.

“ Star Trek fans are passionately involved with all things Star Trek ,” said Rob Gelick, SVP and GM, CBS Mobile. “Through this app, both die-hard Trekkers and casual show enthusiasts are able to delve into a rich array of computer sounds, images and Star Trek -related information.”

Three particularly passionate Trek fans played pivotal roles in the inspiration of the Star Trek PADD App: Eric Shapiro, Denise Okuda and Michael Okuda . Shapiro, of ArcTouch, developed the app, while Michael Okuda was in charge of the computer interface designs of the Starships Enterprise as part of his job as scenic art supervisor and technical consultant on TNG , DS9 , Voyager and Enterprise , and Denise Okuda was a graphic artist and video/computer graphics supervisor on DS9 , Voyager and Enterprise .

“I am a huge Star Trek fan,” says Shapiro, who co-founded ArcTouch in 2009 with Adam Fingerman after a career spent at Apple, where they worked as product managers on what eventually became iOS. “My dad was a fan, and I think I’ve been watching Star Trek since I was born, which was two years after the original show started in 1966. I have been to several conventions and I’m lucky my wife is just as much of a fan. At my first startup, one of my employees got me the book Make It So: Leadership Lessons from Star Trek. I'm not saying I'm Captain Picard , but one can always dream.’

And why now for a Star Trek PADD app? “We came up with this proposal because, as Star Trek fans, with the launch of the iPad, technology finally hit the point where we could simulate the PADD device,” Shapiro replies. “Then the question was: how do we transport people today into that future universe, and that’s where the conversation with CBS began.” A highlight of the process came when Shapiro and the ArcTouch team offered a demonstration of the app to the Okudas. “(That) was one of the most nerve-wracking moments,” Shapiro recalls. “Michael was the official designer of the LCARS computers displays used in TNG , DS9 and Voyager. Getting Michael and Denise’s approval is a huge feather in our cap.”

And, indeed, the Okudas were duly impressed. “My favorite part of the Star Trek PADD app?” Michael Okuda asks, repeating a question just posed to him. “I love being able to use a functional implementation of my LCARS interface style to browse through actual Star Trek information. Back when the PADD first appeared on TNG , none of us imagined that today we’d be able to hold the real thing in our hands. But the Star Trek PADD App, running on your iPad, is an actual miniature, handheld, touch-sensitive, 24th-century-style computer screen.”

Adds Denise Okuda, “The Star Trek PADD app shows that yesterday’s visionary science fiction can become today’s real-world technology, thanks to the brilliance of today’s scientists, engineers, programmers, and designers. The Star Trek PADD app is a little piece of Star Trek’s future brought to life. It’s not only authentic Trek, but it’s fun, too.”

The Star Trek PADD app can be purchased for $4.99 on the App Store for the iPad.

Star Trek Timelines 12+

Missions through space & time, tilting point media, designed for ipad.

• 4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
• Offers In-App Purchases

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Description.

Explore the Final Frontier in the ultimate Star Trek™ strategy RPG, STAR TREK TIMELINES. Join Starfleet and save the Alpha Quadrant from temporal anomalies which bring together heroes and villains from all of Star Trek history. STAR TREK TIMELINES is the first mobile game to include ships and characters from the new series Star Trek: Discovery! PLAYER REVIEWS “Absolutely Amazing! Finally a good Star Trek game on iOS!” – 5/5 Stars “One of the best Mobile games I have played!!” – 5/5 Stars “Great game, especially for fans of Star Trek” – 5/5 Stars “For Trek Lovers of All Timelines” – 5/5 Stars FEATURES
 ● ASSEMBLE YOUR CREW from hundreds of characters from Star Trek, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, each with their own unique skills and abilities
 ● COMMAND ICONIC STARSHIPS, including the USS Enterprise, Voyager, Defiant, a Klingon Bird of Prey, the Borg Cube, and many more ● ENGAGE YOUR ENEMIES in stunning 3D ship battles with exciting PvE play or in PvP Battle Arena where you’ll test your crew’s mettle against the best captains in the galaxy. ● EXPLORE THE GALAXY, gaining influence among a dozen factions, including the Federation, the Maquis, the Dominion, the Terran Empire (TOS: “Mirror, Mirror”), and the infamous Section 31 
● CLIMB THE LEADERBOARDS and win rare rewards with special event missions. 
● STUNNING GRAPHICS bring the 24th century to life in the most immersive and thrilling Star Trek experience available STAR TREK TIMELINES © 2017 Disruptor Beam, Inc. STAR TREK ™ & © 2017 CBS Studios Inc. © 2017 Paramount Pictures Corp. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Version 10.1.1

With 10.1.1 we’re introducing bugs fixes and quality of life improvement to the game, and more: - Improved User Flow for Equipping Quipment In Various Features - Visible Statistics For Quipment on Equip Screen - Reduced Vibrance of VFX on Immortalized Crew - 5 QP Earned on Failed Continuum Missions - New Voice Lines in Continuum and Intro Screen - Improved Fleet Boss Battle Performance - Voyage Replicator Rations Reward Replaced with Honor - Various UI Adjustments and bug fixes

Ratings and Reviews

1.2K Ratings

Super fun game, kinda focuses on pay to win but can be played slowly for nothing

Developer Response ,

Thanks for the excellent review! We're glad you're enjoying Star Trek Timelines. Live Long and Prosper.

The game keeps on freezing and the menu would not work. Screen freezing. Booted my ios restart game and re downloaded not very happy right now.

Thanks for your feedback. I'm sorry to hear about your issue. If you open a support ticket with our player support team they will be happy to help you further if they can. http://sttsupport.disruptorbeam.com

Timelines Star Trek

Very good game. I love it.

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• Shipment of Dilithium $129.99
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'Star Trek: Infinite' grand galactic strategy game lands on Mac

Players can select from four distinct factions: the United Federation of Planets, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, or Cardassian Union. The role of faction leader holds significant sway in determining the outcome, as each faction offers a unique approach to the game's progression.

Star Trek: Infinite delivers an authentic Star Trek experience where players' leadership choices shape the narrative. Align with the Federation to recruit iconic captains like Picard, Janeway, Sisko, and Data, or choose other factions for well-known characters like Gowron, Makbar, Garak, and more.

Players choose from a range of starships tailored to their faction and character. Options include the Federation's Intrepid and Defiant class ships, Cardassian Galor class vessels, Romulan D'deridex , and Klingon Negh'Var battleships. The Enterprise -D can be unlocked and added to the Federation's fleet via a unique Star Trek: Infinite storytelling system.

Star Trek: Infinite is available on Steam for $29.99 or $39.99 for the deluxe edition. It is available for Apple Silicon, and will run on just about any Intel Mac made after 2016.

Wow, they really didn't try to hide the roots, did they?  If it wasn't for the clearly Star Trek races I'd have just said that's Stellaris.  Seems like it probably could have just been a DLC.

Honkers said: Wow, they really didn't try to hide the roots, did they?  If it wasn't for the clearly Star Trek races I'd have just said that's Stellaris.  Seems like it probably could have just been a DLC. No, they didn't — it was officially described as such: "Star Trek: Infinite is built upon the core systems of Stellaris, leveraging the deep and complex system and making them its own. Aspects of these systems have been streamlined and simplified to better resonate with the Star Trek franchise."

Alas, even though the game’s universe is limited to the alpha quadrant , the [humans] still calls it Infinite… 👀🙈 —the Dominion will not be pleased!

Players can select from four distinct factions: the United Federation of Planets, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, or Cardassian Union. Wait, no Minbari or Centauri Republic? Oh, wait.... :D

Pfff bought it on steam... 29.99 wasted...

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Star Trek Online

Originally posted by {BOA}StonerMk2💀 : Ive played a majority of the game by myself, as for the "raids" and then like i dont believe any of it is required to be completed (that i can remember anyway). So yeah id say if all your looking for is story content and whatnot its perfectly fine and doable solo.

Originally posted by calvin1969 : Unlike most other MMO's STO is mainly solo really. To level you can do story line missions solo, I would say this how how most/all people level up. I'm not even sure if you can group to do these. Though probably can. End game there are no raids as such. The most comparable thing is group finder for getting reputation rewards. Mostly groups of 5-10 ships or ground combat, short missions lasting 15-30 minutes. Most people que solo. Developing your char, with traits, ship officers and such like is what most people do. Also research and manufacture is done solo. If you like Star Trek I think you will enjoy the story missions and kitting out, flying ships. It's a very solo game imho. You can join a fleet (guild), most people do and there are benefits, but again most join and continue just to solo, though you can obviously chat and do things with fleet mates, there is no requirement to, from the game at least.

Originally posted by calvin1969 : As I have commonly read, you can get most everything in the game for free, takes time (a lot), but people often say spending a bit can really help make game more convenient. But no need to spend any money if you dont want to.

Originally posted by Vogelmeister : Originally posted by calvin1969 : As I have commonly read, you can get most everything in the game for free, takes time (a lot), but people often say spending a bit can really help make game more convenient. But no need to spend any money if you dont want to.

Originally posted by calvin1969 : Unlike most other MMO's STO is mainly solo really. To level you can do story line missions solo, I would say this how how most/all people level up. I'm not even sure if you can group to do these.

Originally posted by n3mes1s : Originally posted by Vogelmeister : Have any of you played this game solo? Is it still an enjoyable experience if you skip all the MMO stuff and don't care for endgame gear and raids?

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