For the second time this week, I am writing about sci-fi. It is also the second time I’ll get to mention Star Trek, CBS, The Orville, Hulu, Disney, Stage 9, and finally cry in a ball over the last one in the list. You see, back in 2018 CBS figuratively kicked something special to death in the form of lawyers. That special thing was Stage 9, a Star Trek: The Next Generation experience where you can walk around a fan-made NCC-1701-D in a video game. Some official games have done little bits of this with Voyager and a bit in Star Trek: Online. However, nothing on this scale.

Stage 9 allowed you to sit in Jean-Luc Picard’s chair, stand at Warf’s station doing whatever Warf did, and so much more. You could, and still can if you have the download files, use the turbo lift to go from the main bridge down to the battle bridge. Yes, in Stage 9 the Galaxy-class Enterprise D could detach the saucer from the nacelle as happened in TNG episode two, Encounter at Farpoint. However, I’m not here to talk about Star Trek, Stage 9, or CBS doing something so awful it almost beats green-lighting Star Trek: Discovery.

I am, however, here to talk about something I first spoke about a few months back The Orville: Interactive Fan Experience. This was Messy Desk Interactive‘s second go at a fan experience of a highly popular sci-fi show that I hold dear. Sure, Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame is the head of the show Messy Desk is recreating; however, I have previously spoken about people who despise the man but love The Orville. To know the passion behind what Messy Desk has done before, and now seeing what they have done in just a short few months is breathtaking.

I’m about to get a bit sappy about this, though that’s the point of these “interactive fan experiences.” Once the game had loaded up and played The Orville theme music, I was filled with glee. Nothing could describe the feeling I was waiting for as I fiddled with the settings to run reasonably in this hot summer weather. After all the stumbling about in the settings, changing my character to my preferences, and then a bit more fumbling as the music begun to get on my nerves at the default volume, I stepped into the buggy wonderment I enjoy so much.

This is the issue with amateur developers doing a passion project; there will be a lack of QA testing for every bug or glitch. So I stood in what was meant to be the Captain’s quarters, though I was standing in space instead; thus falling infinitely, but at a greater speed that one would normally. This is strangely a Messy Desk staple now, as I see the same in Stage 9 when I first boot it up. The simple solution has been to either whack the graphical settings up to the max, or pause the game waiting for it to load. I often opt for the latter than the former.

Now I was standing in Ed Mercer’s bedroom on the USS Orville at Union Point. I had to stand there, not for any lag issues or crashing. I was soaking up that this plucky little exploratory-class vessel, in an afterthought for Fox (now Disney), was something I was standing in and could walk around. This is why games are toys, sandboxes, and adventure playgrounds, they are the stuff of our dreams; this little piece of it was a reality. I could walk around the USS Orville.

So I moved on through the quarters, finding doors that are either labeled “Storage,” or “Coming Soon.” But now and then I’d walk up to a door, hear the woosh of it opening, and discover that finding a lovely little Kermit the frog sitting on Ed’s desk made it… real? That’s what I think Messy Desk did well with Stage 9 and are doing with The Orville. The attention to detail is second to none because it is hardcore fans making something for the fans. Even the inside jokes are perfect for the fans to chuckle at.

If you were to head back to Stage 9, find Commander Data’s room and look around; you’ll find a small hologram of Natasha Yar. Here in The Orville, for now, you’ll find Ed’s little wooden bi-plane, Kermit, and apparently, a big gun. I’m sure moving forward Commander Grayson’s suite will have– Well, nothing as most character’s don’t have these types of trinkets. Bortus may have an egg, Claire may have a few kids toys, and Dann might have a futuristic iPod of some kind.

Moving forward was the bridge. This is the one that made me stop, it wasn’t a tearful moment but a moment of being taken back by Union Point sitting straight ahead of me. Between Union Point and I was where the command crew sits, where a majority of the show takes place, and I was stood in the doorway. What makes these moments weirder is the complete lack of people in the default build.

The same happened in Stage 9, to stand just outside the turbo lift behind Warf, looking down on the bridge I’d seen hundreds of times. Looking on as these literal sets from TV shows I adore flashed, bleeped, and blooped; realizing “Oh, I can touch that,” I was apprehending the notion I could walk up to Ed’s chair and sit at it looking out into space. I could look up into the sky-light to see more space. This little piece of fantasy was and is still touchable.

This was nothing next to sitting down in Lieutenant Malloy’s seat, pressing buttons, and noticing out the corner of my eye something moving. Much like Stage 9, you can fly the mammoth of make-believe space tech and engineering, ultimately animating them into life at the end of your fingertips. This is all I want. I don’t need to kill a prostitute in some supposed Red Dead Redemption 2 DLC, I need a little slice of fantasy brought to life.

What I’ve already mentioned is only a slice of what is in the “game,” if we can call it that. You can already access the conference room, Bortus’ quarters, Sick Bay, Science Bay, Shuttle Bay, the Mess Hall, and the E-sim where Claire and Isaac go on a date in season 2. Yet there is still more to be added. Many of the doors in the two main corridors have “Coming Soon,” splashed across their control panel.

The Orville: Interactive Fan Experience is available now over on Steam for free (in early access). Unlike Stage 9, which fell to copyright issues; Messy Desk doesn’t have to hide from the terrible big bad wolf. Or it seems, in this case, mouse, as Seth MacFarlane said: “Goddamn we love our fans,” when the Interactive Fan Experience was announced.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.