Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birth of the Federation

Windows (Windows 95/98 / ME / 2000 / XP)

genre

Turn-based global strategy

Game mode

Single and multiplayer (5 players, LAN)

control

mouse

system advantages
preconditions

Pentium or AMD 200 MHz
16 MByte RAM
graphics card with 2 MB video RAM
160 MByte hard disk space

1 CD

German

information

MS Gamingzone server offline

The computer game Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birth of the Federation ( BOTF for short ) is a turn-based global strategy game based on the Star Trek series Spaceship Enterprise - The Next Century (English Star Trek The Next Generation ).

BOTF was developed by MicroProse and was released in 1999.

Two patches appeared in quick succession immediately after the release that brought the game to version 1.02.

The game can be played both in multiplayer and against the computer, whereby the general level of difficulty, which is largely regulated by cheats in favor of the AI opponent, can be set via the game options at the beginning of each game.

With the Fan Ultimate Editor it is possible to change game settings. A lot is possible, from the size of the galaxy, the number of systems to the individual ship values.

Empires

Five great empires can be commanded in Birth of the Federation : the Federation , the Klingons , the Romulans , the Cardassians and the Ferengi .

federation: The federation consists largely of humans and is at home in the Sol system. It is characterized by both special diplomatic skills and extensive research. The Federation ships have much stronger shields than those of the other races.
Klingons: The Klingons are a warlike people who live in the Qo'noS system (spoken: Chronos). They have very good martial and tactical skills, which also affects the ships' weapon systems. Contrary to the canon, only a minority of the Klingon ships can be camouflaged.
Romulans: The Romulans are from the Romulus system. The special features of the Romulans are their excellent secret service and their ship camouflage. Only from technology level 4 in all areas are the Romulans a serious opponent, since from this point on, various high-quality special buildings such as the Phoenix facility and the astrophysics academy are available.
Cardassians: The Cardassians are at home in the Cardassia system and have relatively weak ships, which should not be underestimated due to their superior hull strength and radiation weapons. In addition, they have an excellent secret service and a relatively loyal population, which can easily be kept morally under control even in conquered areas by the so-called re-education center , a special building of the Cardassians.
Ferengi: The Ferengi are a merchant race who are only interested in financial profit. This is also noticeable in the high credit income. As a wise saying goes, "Never do business with a Ferengi" and this is also reflected in the game as the Ferengi benefit most from non-aggression or friendship contracts as they generate the highest revenue from trade routes. Although they have some of the weakest ships in terms of shields, hulls and radiation weapons, but not the torpedoes, they can buy many of these weak ships through high foreign trade income and also maintain comparatively huge fleets, which other races cannot easily do.

Small breeds

In addition to the big five empires, there are also small races. The setting of these can be positively influenced by credits (currency). They then (mostly) join this empire. The AI tries that too, of course. Even if a race has joined an empire, that small race can be bribed. Alternatively, one can also proceed militarily. Small breeds can be selected in the start settings.

Sequels

Open source games by amateur programmers from the BotF fan base have been in development for a number of years. They are designed as a kind of unofficial sequel with a similar gameplay. B. Star Trek: Supremacy and Birth of the Empires .

Multiplayer

Since the end of support for Birth of the Federation in the MSN Gaming Zone several years ago, the availability of well-known points of contact for BotF multiplayer games has been severely limited. However, the game offers various modes to play independently of these so-called lobbies on the Internet. On the one hand the direct IP connection to another computer and on the other hand via a so-called Virtual Private Network such as LogMeIn Hamachi or Kali .

Since the end of 2007 / beginning of 2008 it has also been possible to play via the eWarZone, a freeware program that is similar to the MSN Gaming Zone and supports various DirectX 7 games. BotF does not have its own lobby there, however, and the other games lobby must be used.

In general, when playing online, it should be noted that BotF uses ports 2300 TCP, 2350 UDP and 47624 TCP, which may have to be enabled in the firewall or forwarded in the router .

BOTF on Linux

Since patch 1.02 it is possible to play Birth of the Federation using Wine under Linux . An appropriate configuration of Wine, as well as some Linux knowledge required.

Individual evidence

↑ Star Trek: Supremacy PC Game ( English ) In: Gamespot . Retrieved February 7, 2010.
↑ Birth of the Empires 0.71 . In: software directory . heise online . Retrieved June 8, 2010.

Web links

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birth of the Federation at MobyGames (English)
Star Trek: Birth of the Federation in the Star Trek Wiki Memory Alpha

[1] Star Trek: Supremacy PC Game ( English ) In: Gamespot . Retrieved February 7, 2010.

[2] Birth of the Empires 0.71 . In: software directory . heise online . Retrieved June 8, 2010.