Cryptic flacked its upcoming gameplay debut (and webcast) to the Associated Press, and the wire was a taker. Yesterday, the AP moved an interview with Jack Emmert, Cryptic's chief creative officer, and he gives gamers an idea of what to expect, what not to expect, and a little of how the deal went down when they acquired the title from Perpetual Entertainment.

Or, well, the license, because there is nothing developed by Perpetual that's going into the game. "We took no assets," Emmert said. "There was nothing to be had, to be honest. We're building everything from the ground up."

Emmert also assures us Sunday will be a bonafide gameplay reveal. "You're going to see the actual game working and functioning," said Emmert. "This isn't renders. This isn't concept art. Everything that people will see on Sunday is going to be taken right from 'Star Trek Online' as it stands today, so hardened people should know that a release date might be closer than they think."

If you don't want to read the whole thing, here are the high points:

? The game will be set a few generations following the last Star Trek film, so no Kirk, Picard or other familiar faces in the game.

? "There might be a ship called Enterprise flying around, but it's probably not the same ship anymore," Emmert said. Worlds and galactic locations familiar to fans will also be in the game.

? Characters can be created from existing Star Trek races, or new alien species can be invented altogether.

? "There's going to be tons of space to investigate," says Emmert "We have a great system for exploration, which will allow for almost infinite possibilities."

Star Trek Online is Ready to Beam Up [Associated Press, via Blue's News]