The History of the Service Record Simulator
The Star Trek Service Record Simulator was originally designed in 1999 as an add-on to the game "Starship Creator" and was at first a database for personalized characters who would then serve on starships as created in Starship Creator. A service summary was thereafter maintained in the customized crew profile created within Starship Creator.
​​In 2002, the Star Trek Service Record Simulator was expanded to create actual records for the characters within Starship Creator. These records were originally PowerPoint presentations with the record pages designed based on actual military service record pages from United States armed forces military personnel records.
An Officer Service Record Cover from the original PowerPoint version of the Star Trek Service Record Simulator
In 2004, following the publication of Star Trek Star Charts: The Complete Atlas of Star Trek, the service record simulator incorporated a role-playing aspect where characters and ships could now travel the star systems of the Federation, as depicted in Star Trek Star Charts.
Between 2009 and 2012, the Service Record Simulator was developed as an on-line website which was considered a Beta version of a possible real-time role-playing game. During this period, the game was reviewed by Simon & Schuster for possible publication as a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Certain elements of the Service Record Simulator were later incorporated into the MMORPG Star Trek Online.
A Crewman data card from the original
Star Trek Service Record Simulator website
Originally, this role playing operated in tandem with the missions played in Starship Creator; however, by 2006 the Starship Creator CDs no longer functioned properly following the release of the Windows Vista operating system. After this point, the service record simulator become solely a stand alone role-playing game.
The original Star Trek Service Record Simulator website was live from 2012 to 2015 and became inactive following the withdrawal of Simon & Schuster from the MMORPG development project. Between 2015 and 2019 the Service Record Simulator was completely redesigned to incorporate information from Star Trek Enterprise as well as redesigning the service record pages to appear period specific based on eras as seen in the Star Trek franchise.
The Star Trek New Horizons mod as seen in the space empire expansion game Stellaris
In 2021, following the release of the Star Trek New Horizons Stellaris Mod, the Star Trek Service Record Simulator was redesigned again to incorporate role playing where characters with service records would serve onboard ships and other assignments as appearing within an active game of Stellaris.
​The new Star Trek Service Record Simulator underwent an Alpha and Beta test between 2022 and 2024 and came online for public access in January 2025.