Star Trek: Birth of the Federation

Asmodean · February 16, 2000, 16:33

Hi All...

Can anyone tell me if this game is worth checking (note that I am an avid Start Trek fan). Is the gameplay any good ? Is it a durable game - i.e. would it keep me hooked
over a longer period of time.
And finally - would I still be able to find it in any shops/stores (I´ve noticed at the Hasbro web site, that it is not available for purchasing on-line.

Asmodean

Sith Knight · February 16, 2000, 17:15

Haven't played it, but I heard a lot of people say it sucks. I'd recommend you get Starfleet Command, but dont take it from me, listen to what the other people have to say about it.

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FEAR IS COURAGE
ANGER IS HAPPINESS
HATE IS LOVE
SUFFERING IS RELIEF

SITH LORD IS WATCHING YOU

War4ever · February 16, 2000, 19:35

i have it and its a great coaster

thats about it though...... wish i hadn't wasted my money but i have friends who love it........

Qilue · February 17, 2000, 10:05

Birth of the Federation if not taken too seriously can be fun. Artificial Idiot is a mega-cheater.

Sith Knight, I played Starfleet Command for about 20 minutes before 'extreme boredom' set in and haven't played it since.

TigToad · February 17, 2000, 16:48

I played Birth of the Federation more than most people it seems, tho no where near like a SMAC addiction. My opinion was it was quite a fun game once you got passed the learning curve on the small things that make/break your ability to command. (Making sure you allocate your research and citizens, etc).

However, it gets EXTREMELY annoying late into the game with micro management. It has a build que system similar to Masters of Orion II, only people allocation isn't as simple to see at an instant, and you have a lot more colonies all of which build different things at different tech levels. It gets very hard to get 'new' colonies to be able to compete with old ones or alliance factoins (you get the Vulcans on your side odds are good you'll never have a scratch built colony that can touch that one).. for that reason the 5 empires aren't really balanced (Federation and Ferengi have a diplomatic advantage and the Romulan ships are just better than everyone elses). I never did win with the Klingons, tho I did win with the Cardassians somehow.

I played it several times, won the game a few times, tho more often than not found i Just played the first 50 or 100 turns of a game and then started over, it wasn't a game that grabbed me enough to go back and reload a save file.

On a scale of 1-10 as a TBS, I'd give it a 6. Keeping it open to all game types I'd give it a 5. If you like TBS's a lot you might get a kick out of playing it if you can find it on sale somewhere.. last I checked, Best Buy still had it in stock. But I wouldn't pay more than $25-$30 for it if that.

If you're a huge trek fan, the coolest part of the game is checking out all the minor races planets and such, however, after you've seen em all, that loses its flavor too. (Get the Vulcans, Betazoids, and that race that speaks in sayings and you pretty much win a game).

Tig

War4ever · February 18, 2000, 16:34

as to me as well.... which is why i got SMAC.... although really its a poor mans civ on the moon

Asmodean · February 19, 2000, 01:05

Okay, thanks TigToad.

I think i´ll give it a whack. Somehow, the idea of a TBS in space sounds very appealing to me.

Asmodean