The excitement continues to build as Star Trek Online entered closed beta less than two weeks ago. For part one of a two-part series on space and ground combat in Star Trek Online, Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich stopped by to specifically discuss how ship-to-ship combat plays out in the final frontier.

What role will ship type, speed, maneuverability, story, and tactics play in battle, and can your friends join in your encounter or instance at any time? As importantly, how will Star Trek Online preserve the "bridge drama" and atmosphere that has made Star Trek space combat so compelling for generations?

"We really tried to slow the pace of combat down to the point where you could be worrying about your shields, you could be worrying about: 'Okay, I've got to go into defensive mode for a little bit to get myself back into the state where I can jump back into battle,' and allow you to play with your power levels, allow you to worry about positioning. So we did many, many iterations to kind of slow the pace of combat down to try to get that: 'This one thing went wrong, how am I going to react to that one specific part of combat?'"

More in our latest Star Trek Online space combat Q&A with Craig Zinkievich.