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The mission is simple: stay alive for as long as possible. Six new officers take their respective seats on the starship’s bridge as two men hurry to brief them on their positions.
This was the scene at Albuquerque Comic Expo (ACE), where attendees could join in the Artemis Bridge Simulator experience set up by hacker space Quelab.
Artemis Bridge Simulator is a game designed to simulate the roles of crew members on the bridge of a starship. Players assume the roles of crew members who interact with each other and the captain in order to carry out combat operations.
Members of local hacker space Quelab, a work space where those interested in computers and digital art can meet, worked to build a set that replicated the bridge of the USS Enterprise, the famous starship of the Star Trek television series. The set was complete with flashing lights, a reclining captain’s chair, a large projection screen and six touch-screen monitors for playing the Artemis Bridge Simulator game.
Quelab President Greg Moran said ACE was intended to be the testing ground for the setup.
“I think it was a resounding success,” he said. “All of the feedback we got from both crew members and the facilitators (was positive). Everybody had a great time.”
Moran recounted an experience in which one captain asked the engineering officer to speak in a Scottish accent to more accurately emulate the Star Trek experience.
Though Quelab member Aaron Birenboim said he was not a major contributor to the event, he said he helped build the set when he could.
“We built a fairly large set and built it out of fairly heavy two-by-fours and plywood,” he said. “It really does look like a starship bridge.”
People could sign up to play the game once for free, and pay $5 for each additional playthrough.
One participant, Jason Tieu, said he enjoyed the experience.
“I was having flashbacks to my life in the ‘90s — staying at home and watching Star Trek,” he said. “I felt at home.”
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The Artemis Bridge Simulator let Tieu experience the game as though he were part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) crew.
”I immediately thought about Geordi La Forge (the engineer) from TNG,” Tieu said.
The line for the game was long, with each session lasting thirty minutes. By Saturday evening, all available Sunday slots had been booked.
Though the Artemis Bridge Simulator is owned by ACE, there have been a lot of requests to exhibit at other events, Moran said.
While there’s no word on when or where the simulation will make its next appearance, it seems there are plenty of crew members ready to beam up when it returns.
