From Star Trek Game Information
This interview with Peter Calabria of Mad Doc Software took place on the 31st May 2001.
Armada Universe: Peter Calabria, Lead Artist at Mad Doc Software, takes a break from his work on Star Trek: Armada II to answer a few questions for us.
Hello Peter, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Can you to tell us a little bit about yourself.
Peter Calabria: No problem. I've got plenty of time to kill. Just kidding. I'm the lead artist at MadDoc and I head up the 3D/Animation side of our team. With a little design advice thrown in as well. I've been around in this biz for about 10 years now.
Armada Universe: When did you first know that you wanted to do this type of work for the gaming industry?
Peter Calabria: I didn't. I kind of just fell into it. After I graduated from college (MassArt) I wanted to go into the illustration field, as that is what I have always done. Anyway, after freelancing for a while, I answered an ad looking for fantasy illustrators to work for a computer game art house. The company was called Kinetic Arts and we mainly did artwork for a game company called Legend Entertainment. Maybe you've heard of them? I've been in this biz ever since, learning as I go.
Armada Universe: Could you tell us about some of the previous projects that you've been involved with?
Peter Calabria: Oh boy. It's a big list. I did a lot of work for Legend for their adventure games, I've also worked with Boffo Games, Reality Bytes, Looking Glass and Irrational games. For Legend in no particular order (the order is however I remember them!) Eric the Unready, Fredrick Pohl's Homeworld (not the recent 3d rts one), Spellcasting 101,201 and 301, DeathGate, Mission Critical (with Michael Dorn!) Callahan' Crosstime Saloon and The SuperHero League of Hoboken. Hodge and Podge, and the Space Bar for Boffo Games. Dark Vengeance for Reality Bytes Deep Cover for Looking Glass, The Lost and Freedom Force for Irrational games. Wheh, out of breath...
Armada Universe: How did you come to work for Mad Doc Software?
Peter Calabria: A friend of mine from Looking Glass told me about it, and as I wasn't happy where I was, I contacted them, and came aboard.
Armada Universe: What areas of Star Trek: Armada II are you directly involved with?
Peter Calabria: I am managing the art direction for the new ships and stations, as well as putting in my 2 cents for design and wherever else its needed, as I am one of the resident Star Trek fans on site. I've designed most of the new ships and stations, and given direction on the others.
Armada Universe: How many fellow artists are currently working on Armada II?
Peter Calabria: There are 5 of us. 2 mainly concentrate on 2d work, such as textures and user interface, while the other 3, myself included, work on the 3d end, modelling and texturing.
Armada Universe: What, so far, has been the most enjoyable aspect working on the Armada sequel?
Peter Calabria: Being a ST fan, it has been real fun to work on something that I really enjoy, But the most fun has had to be getting to make up new designs for ships for the races that haven't been seen anywhere before.
Armada Universe: Do you have to clear your artwork with Paramount?
Peter Calabria: Yes, all new designs must be approved before we can use them in the game. But they have been great, and everything has gone by without a problem.
Armada Universe: One of the new races in Armada II is species 8472. Not very much is known about this race so much of the artwork centred around it is entirely new. Could you tell us a little about the creative process you used to come up with artwork for this race?
Peter Calabria: They are one of the races that is much more fun to work on for me because so little has been shown on the shows. I can't go into too much detail, as I don't want to spoil anything from the game. But I think everyone will be very pleased with what the designers and I have came up with for them. They are very different in terms of gameplay and look and feel from the rest of the current races.
But to answer your question, we went through a brainstorming session to try and hammer out what we wanted them to be like. How to make them fun to play but different from the existing races. And also how to make them look cool. From there I did sketches for the designs, went back to the designer for approval, and then made any changes that were needed to make them fit. After final approval from Paramount, I started building the models. I think the first of them, the bioship, was shown at E3.
Armada Universe: How many completely new designs did your team come up with for the well known races: Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, and Borg?
Peter Calabria: Well, we added at least 8 new ships to the all of the races from the first game. Plus all of the existing artwork from Armada1 that we will be using is being re-done, i.e. new models and textures. For the Cardassians, there were only 2 that were from the show the rest are MadDoc's, same for Species 8472.
Armada Universe: What are your thoughts on what the modding community has been able to accomplish with Armada I?
Peter Calabria: The modding community has been great. They've really taken the game and made it their own, giving it a much longer life than any other game in the genre.
Armada Universe: It's been established that one of the goals of Armada II is to make it even easier to Mod for than the original. Can you tell us anything that you've been involved with to help realize this goal?
Peter Calabria: No, my part is very much like a modder, in that I make new ships and textures. I can say that it has been very easy to get the new stuff up and running.
Armada Universe: We know that you will be updating all the existing ships from Armada I with new models and textures. Do you plan to do the same with the existing weapon effects? Will photon torpedoes be changed to more accurately reflect how they look in the show?
Peter Calabria: In a perfect world where time isn't an issue, I would say "Yes, we will make everything as accurate as possible". Unfortunately, we don't have the time to touch every little detail. We will get to everything we can, but we have to have priorities, and for me, making the ships and stations look better and more true to the show is more important.
Armada Universe: After the game is released do you plan on releasing hard point maps for the new (or existing) ships and stations for the mod community?
Peter Calabria: No.
Armada Universe: Are you a fan of the Star Trek Universe? Do you watch any of the shows?
Peter Calabria: Yeah, I guess you could say I'm a fan. I've seen pretty much all of ST:TNG and DS9. I haven't seen too much of Voyager, but I've been trying to catch the reruns!
Armada Universe: We'd like to thank Mr. Calabria for taking the time to do this interview. Be sure to check out our collection of Armada II screenshots and see the stellar art work that is being put into the game.
