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Star Trek Fleet Command
The Away Teams feature in Star Trek Fleet Command allows players to send unassigned officers on specialized missions across the galaxy, earning unique rewards based on the success of these assignments. To access these missions, players must unlock the Shuttle Bay through research and construct the building. These missions range in rarity from Common to Epic, offering increasingly valuable rewards. Officers’ traits play a critical role in boosting success and critical rewards, with traits being unlocked and upgraded using Trait XP earned from assignments. Additionally, the feature introduces a new research tree to enhance these missions, adding depth and strategy to gameplay.
With Phase 2, the feature gained even more strategic depth through the introduction of traits for officers. These traits allowed previously unused officers to become more valuable by assigning them to missions where their traits directly impacted the outcome. This update shifted the focus from core stats to traits, giving players greater flexibility in managing their roster. It also paved the way for future content, enabling the introduction of officers designed specifically for Away Teams, ensuring their value even if they weren’t strong in ship roles.
ROLE
UX Designer
TEAM
UX Team
Duration
10 months
01 – THE CHALLENGE
The development of the Away Teams feature in Star Trek Fleet Command presented significant challenges, primarily focused on creating an intuitive and user-friendly interface while managing the overwhelming amount of information required to display. The system had to balance clarity and functionality across various aspects, ensuring players could make informed decisions without feeling overwhelmed.
Phase 1:
The initial design required an interface that could handle a large list of assignments, each with its own rarity, rewards, and slot types, while also providing players with the option to reset assignment slots using resources. Additionally, it was necessary to display the entire roster of officers with their key stats (Attack, Defense, Health) to calculate the chance of success for each assignment. Balancing the display of this information without overwhelming players was a critical focus.
Key mechanics also needed to be integrated seamlessly. For example, the critical bonus rate was initially set at a flat 10%, requiring the interface to show both normal and critical success rates, each offering different rewards. Assigning stronger officers could push the success rate above 100%, triggering a multiplier to increase rewards, which also had to be communicated clearly. Furthermore, displaying the duration of assignments and the synergy between officers was essential to help players make informed decisions. Balancing these elements while maintaining a user-friendly system was the most significant hurdle during this phase.
Phase 2:
The introduction of traits in Phase 2 added another layer of complexity and strategic depth. The interface had to incorporate new assignment-specific traits without cluttering the already busy officer carousel, which displayed critical details like ship hangar, power levels, and officer types. This challenge demanded innovative solutions to ensure that players could access all necessary information without feeling overloaded.
To address this, the design team utilized the top-right corner of the officer cards to display trait information. Assignments could feature up to four traits, while officers could have up to three traits. A trait map, represented by dots, was introduced to efficiently convey whether:
- An officer had a specific trait.
- That trait was unlocked.
- The trait was still locked.
This compact, visual approach allowed for the clear communication of trait details in a small space, ensuring players could easily understand their officers’ capabilities and make strategic choices without being hindered by a cluttered UI. The solution successfully balanced the need for detail and simplicity, ensuring the feature remained accessible while enhancing gameplay depth.
02 – FRUSTRATION
Phase 1
Players expressed frustration over the lack of incentives to unlock and upgrade officers, as they had limited opportunities to effectively utilize them in their rosters. Without a functional need for additional officers, there was minimal motivation to invest in packs containing new officers or resources for upgrades. This lack of utility also discouraged participation in officer-related events, except when the rewards were directly tied to increasing power. Consequently, the underutilization of idle officers significantly diminished the excitement and strategic depth associated with collecting and upgrading them.
Phase 2
Prior to Phase 2, the frustration around underutilized officers persisted, as only core stats like Attack, Defense, and Health were deemed relevant for assignments. This left many officers without a meaningful role in gameplay. Compounding this issue, players faced challenges in completing Epic assignments, which often required the use of Epic officers—the same officers typically stationed on their ships. The necessity to remove these key officers from their ships for 1-2 days created a conflict between fulfilling high-value assignments and maintaining a strong fleet. This imbalance reduced the appeal of investing in or engaging with officer-related content and events, further limiting overall player engagement.
Together, these issues underscored the need for a more rewarding and balanced system that would make officers more versatile, valuable, and integral to gameplay.
03 – GOALS
The goal of the Winthor Anywhere project was to overhaul the software, focusing on creating an intuitive and easy-to-use system. This involved making the software lighter to reduce hardware requirem
Phase 1:
The Away Teams feature was introduced to provide players with a meaningful and rewarding way to utilize the many idle officers that could not be assigned to ships due to the limited capacity of fleets. With only 80 officers actively used across a maximum of 8 ships, out of a total of 239 available officers, a significant portion of the roster remained idle. Away Teams transformed these unused officers into valuable assets by offering assignments that yielded rewards and boosted player power. This system not only solved the issue of idle officers but also encouraged players to invest in new officers with each monthly release, enhancing gameplay depth and driving continued engagement with the game.
Phase 2:
Phase 2 expanded on the concept by introducing traits, adding a deeper level of strategy and value to the unused officers in players’ rosters. These traits, based on the rarity of the officer, significantly increased their value and provided greater incentives for players to invest in their entire inventory. By tying traits directly to the critical success chance of assignments, players could achieve more valuable rewards through strategic planning. Additionally, this phase introduced officers designed specifically for Away Teams, allowing players to invest in officers tailored for assignments without requiring them to excel in ship roles. This innovation expanded the possibilities for future content and further enhanced the overall gameplay experience.
04 – RESULTS
The introduction of the Away Teams feature in Star Trek Fleet Command brought a transformative solution to the long-standing issue of idle officers, turning them into valuable assets through a well-designed system of assignments. By creating a feature that utilized the full breadth of the player roster, the game provided a sense of purpose and utility for officers beyond the limited capacity of ships, fostering deeper engagement and encouraging investment in acquiring and upgrading officers. The feature also enhanced the overall user experience (UX) by adding an intuitive, strategic layer that complemented the existing gameplay systems.
Phase 1 addressed player pain points by introducing assignments that offered reward diversity and catered to varying levels of player progression. The design struck a balance between clarity and functionality, ensuring that critical information—such as success rates, officer synergy, and reward multipliers—was accessible without overwhelming the player. The seamless integration of this new feature into the existing interface highlighted the game’s commitment to a streamlined UX, reducing friction and improving the overall playability for users of all skill levels.
Phase 2 expanded on these foundations by introducing traits, adding significant strategic depth to the feature. By aligning officer traits with the critical success chances of assignments, the system rewarded players who carefully considered roster composition and planning. The use of visual cues, such as trait maps on officer cards, ensured that this new complexity was presented in a clear and accessible way, maintaining a clean interface while increasing the strategic engagement of the feature. Players now had the opportunity to make more meaningful decisions, enhancing both their sense of agency and long-term investment in their rosters.
From a game design perspective, the Away Teams feature created new pathways for content scalability. By enabling the introduction of officers designed specifically for Away Teams, the feature allowed for flexible content updates that could cater to different play styles, including those focused on assignments rather than ship battles. This flexibility also enriched the game’s meta-strategy, ensuring that the player ecosystem continued to evolve with new challenges and opportunities.
Overall, the Away Teams feature significantly improved the gameplay experience, making every officer feel purposeful and rewarding players for strategic planning and roster management. The combination of thoughtful UX design, strategic depth, and content scalability has positioned Away Teams as a cornerstone feature, driving continued player engagement, increasing the value of in-game content, and enhancing the overall longevity of the game.
PHASE 1
PHASE 2
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