In 2000, Genetic Anomalies and Activision created Star Trek: ConQuest Online, a collectible themed strategy game set in the Star Trek universe. A few years earlier Genetic Anomalies had created what is arguably the first digital trading card game, Chron X, and with ConQuest Online, they were expanding the genre with licensed content from a popular franchise. Also, moving beyond the trading card metaphor, the designers decided to represent the game”s collectibles as digital renderings of gaming miniatures.

More than 150 collectible pieces in ConQuest Online, consisting of still-image renderings of 3D mesh models, represent characters, weapons, and ships from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Faust Logic created most of the 70+ character figures used in the game.

Many of these figures needed to capture the likeness of popular recognizable characters from Star Trek and were especially challenging to create. Additionally, for some of these, the actor portraying the character had to give final approval. (That’s right, Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, and others had to give their ok on their miniature counterparts.) Fortunately, the figure models were rendered from a fixed viewpoint, which made it possible to map faces using images captured from show videos. While many of the models hold up well in full 3D, models of recognizable characters only worked from a particular viewpoint.

Although well received, Star Trek: ConQuest Online never established enough traction with players to create the kind of long term collect and play ecosystem required for titles in the trading card game genre. Activision shutdown the game servers after only a year or two of activity.