(written from a Production point of view)
Thomas Marrone (born 30 August 1983; age 40), also known under his nickname "ThomasTheCrypticCat" in gaming circles, is the Associate Art Director for Cryptic Studios' Star Trek Online computer game.
He was the lead 3D artist on the Sutherland-class, the Reliant-class, and the Ross-class for Star Trek Online, the latter having been designed in collaboration with the StreamPunks' "Clear Skies" Star Trek Adventures tabletop RPG group. Additionally, he designed the Sutherland-class and the Ross-class, and modeled the Reliant-class based on concept art by Hector Ortiz.
Marrone worked with Star Trek: Picard production designer Dave Blass to diversify Starfleet and to provide additional starships for the fleet in the season two premiere and end episodes, "The Star Gazer" and "Farewell". Because of his participation on Picard, Marrone was asked by series colleague Doug Drexler to contribute CGI art for the Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar series, eventually starting doing so in way of the January entry in the 2023 edition.
Due to his prominent position on the game, it did not come as a surprise that he was selected by Ben Robinson to become an associate project manager for the 2020/21 Star Trek Online Starships Collection display model/magazine partwork publication by Eaglemoss Collections. The publication was cut short however, due to an insufficient response at retail, [1] but not before several of Marrone's game designs/builds had seen the transition from the digital-only to the physical realm as display models.
Marrone has also consulted with the rest of the production design team on the exterior design of the Sagan-class USS Stargazer, likewise introduced in Picard's second season. (Star Trek: Picard - Season Two Blu-ray special feature: "The USS Stargazer").
Star Trek interview[]
- Star Trek home video format special features:
- PIC Season 2 Blu-ray/DVD special feature, "The USS Stargazer" (2022
Bibliography[]
- Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendars
External links[]
- Thomas Marrone at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Thomas Marrone at X (formerly Twitter)
- Thomas Marrone: My Life at Warp Speed at YouTube