Thanks to the popular television series, Battlestar Galactica has quickly risen through the ranks of treasured science fiction icons in North America. Now, due in no small part to the partnership of NBC Universal with Bigpoint, Battlestar Galactica Online will be making its way to computers as a browser-based game. GamersInfo.net recently had an opportunity to tour the newly established Bigpoint office in San Francisco and was given a guided tour through the early build of Battlestar Galactica Online, with Heiko Hubertz, CEO and founder of Bigpoint GmbH, leading the tour.

To understand why Bigpoint is creating this game and others, such as The Mummy Returns, it helps to understand Bigpoint’s strategy.

“Localization is not enough,” Hubertz said. “To be successful as European developer outside of Europe is not easy.”

Launching a U.S. office and growing it rapidly was the company’s first step. Then, partnering with companies like NBC Universal and potentially major online portals like MySpace and Yahoo also signals the company is investing heavily from within familiar North American intellectual property, instead of just making square content fit into a round market. Hubertz thinks social games and console games are a core of the U.S. market.

“This [American] market is huge and the fastest growing in the world,” he said.

Enter a fast-paced, arcade-like, accessible browser-based online action/combat game that is Battlestar Galactica Online.

The version of Battlestar Galactica OnlineI saw was a pre-alpha build that focuses on the latter part of the second season from the TV series. As Battlestar Galactica Online takes place within the world of existing Battlestar Galactica canon, with some artistic license to deviate from — or to be more precise, add to — the established story. In fact, to ensure the designers in Germany — where the entire television series hasn’t been aired yet and is not yet as popular as it is stateside — had a consistent feel for Battlestar Galactica, the American office sent them the entire boxed set of Battlestar Galactica so they would understand the lore inside and out.

Visually, it’s hard not to be impressed with what Bigpoint’s already done with the Unity engine at this stage of game development. Ship energy contrails are luminescent; bullet and missile tracers are clear and bright in the depths of space; metallic textures glisten in the dimness; and asteroids appear craggy and dangerous — not like, say, a flying baked potato. It’s easily one of the most graphically impressive browser-based games I’ve ever seen.

The design considerations that come into play for Battlestar Galactica Onlineare interesting because the source material is what it is. There will be no in-cockpit view for either side, in part because the Cylon ships are cybernetic organisms like the Cylons themselves. There will be some avatar customization available, but I’m not sure how many ways you can customize the faces and bodies of a Cylon when there are only 12 models in the original storyline.

It’s appropriate that the demo took place in deep space, since all combat and most of the gameplay occurs in that realm. More than 1,500 players can make themselves at home in a single instance on a server, although Hubertz did mention the server can technically handle as many as 5,000 players. That’s a positive sign that, on the server side at least, Battlestar Galactica Online can comfortably handle large-scale combat situations and PvP battles.

Not all of Battlestar Galactica Online will be focused on space combat, as some unannounced gameplay elements will take place away from the interstellar environment, but one element that is known and is critical to gameplay is the hangar. In the hangar, you can customize your ship with supplies, weapons, defense, buffs and debuffs. Crafting will not be available from the start but will eventually play a role within Battlestar Galactica Online, which likely will entail taking the raw elements and debris captured in space and creating useful items from them.

On the flipside of the coin, the demo was limited in the options and gameplay that can be featured, which leaves a lot of questions left to be answered. So far, the Cylon Raider and human Vipers were the only ships available to demo. Even if a lot of details remain to be revealed, one thing that is certain is that the player will not be given a pilot’s license from Bigpoint to fly battlestars, the equivalent of a capital ship. Collision detection wasn’t implemented yet, so the small cruiser ships passed harmlessly through the dangerous-looking battlestars and space debris.

Looking at the bigger picture, it’s not yet known “whether the game will be cross-platform or not,” according to Hubertz. As a Unity title, however, Battlestar Galactica Online should be playable on any computer capable of handling the minimum specifications. Some other interesting questions that remain are, if the game is based on season 2 of the Battlestar Galactica series, will it progress to season 3? Can players deviate at all from the storyline based on user-driven stories or actions?

On the revenue side, it’s planned that players will be able to participate in the game freely without being compelled to purchase microtransaction-able goods, such as weapons and munitions and cosmetic customizations. Just as important to most players: Most items available for sale will not be any that cannot be earned in game and won’t tilt the field to the item-buyers advantage.

Battlestar Galactica Online, especially when seen as a browser-based title, shows a great deal of early promise, even if the game’s focus is on the look and feel of the brand name in the context of an accessible action game. Looking ahead to the horizon, Battlestar Galactica Online is confirmed be going live starting on the SyFy website before the end of the year. Expect more coverage from GamersInfo as this exciting game gets closer to taking flight online!