posted 05-29-99 07:49 PM ET            

However, the interface is a bit clunky. The build queue is only 4 items deep, and you aren't alerted when a system has finished working through it's queue and moved on to Trade Goods. Also, there is no mouse-based scrolling (aside from double clicking the map), which is a major pain. The zoomed-out map is too zoomed out to be useful, but the scrolling problems make the zoomed in map hard to use. Also, colonizing is hard. I've only played a few games so far (all of which I quit because I was getting my butt kicked), but I have yet to establish a decent colony. The only time I get good systems other than my home system is when I can convince the minor races to join my empire. I can't tell if I'm getting beaten because I'm not very good or because the AI is cheating.

The combat interface is kind of cool. It is 3-D, but you don't have complete control. For each round, you can only give broad orders like "Charge", "Circle", or "Evade", and your ships try to carry them out. I've had some cool battles like this, where my guys won through superior tactics (although that was mostly accidental ) but also really stupid battles where I've had my ships hand around like sitting ducks why they were trying to pivot to implement the order I had given. It's sometimes hard to tell how your ships will do what you ask, so controlling them is a bit tricky.

posted 05-29-99 09:34 PM ET            

recomended:
200 MHz proc
32 mb Ram
8x speed cd-rom
I could give ya the multi-player if you ask nice.

posted 05-30-99 08:10 AM ET            

Could anyne tell me how the game's balanced ? Is there a race that tends to be more powerful than others or vice versa ?
Is there a large or small chance that one race dominates the others, in such a way that none of the other can pose a threat to it anymore ?
Does it look a lot like Master of Orion 2 ?

posted 05-30-99 01:01 PM ET            

As for the other races, I can only relay what's in the manual:

Kligons are the preeminent warrior race. Their ships are solid all around and designed for aggressive tactics. They also have three designs that can cloak. They can also maintain twice as many ships as the other empires before it starts to drag on their economy. As I said I haven't played them, but they seem to be the one-trick ponies of BoF--they can fight, but aren't great at anything else.

Cardassian ships are nearly as good as Klingons but are designed for more conservative tactics. Cards have two specialities: espianage and subjegating minor races. While the Klingons may be better at the actual fighting, the Cardassians really know how to get the most out of a slave laborer. Ask any Bajoran.

The Ferengi, as one might imagine, specialize in making money. They're second to the Federation when it comes to diplomacy and a distant third when it comes to espiage (and that's because the Fed and Klingons have no aptitude for it whatsoever). The Ferengi fleet, ship for ship, the weakest, but thier ships are cheap to build and maintain.

posted 05-30-99 09:42 PM ET            

The Ferengi always to seem to be a major player, probably due to all the cash they can throw around. Buying production comes pretty cheap in this game, and bribes go a long way to enhancing diplomacy. I've seen minor races in empires bail on thier patron to join the Ferengi, and bribes like that don't come cheap.

The Feds can also expand pretty quick, but it depends on which minor races are around.

On the other hand, Klingons always seem to lag behind, but that's more an impression than a pattern.

posted 06-01-99 12:17 AM ET            

Diplomacy is also completely turn based and simultaneous. Each turn you can send out proposals, and the other races can choose to respond to them next turn if they want. This is very convenient, because if you get a proposal from someone ("let's go to war with the klingons!", for example) you have a chance to look at the rest of the game before you decide ("hmmm... I don't have a big enough fleet, I'd better not..."). You can also change your answer before the turn is over, in case you change your mind.

Strategic movement is simultaneous, too, so it can be hard to force someone to engage you, because they are moving their fleets at the same time. Each turn, you can say "go here", but when your ships get there next turn, the enemy may have moved away.

posted 06-01-99 12:32 AM ET            

Decent game that could have been great.
It definately has the "one more turn" thing going for me, but it is hindered by its interface, which is not the best, and several odd bugs(I had the Sheliak bombarding one of my systems once(I was the Cardassians) and it told me the Cardassians were bombarding the systems).

The AI seems a bit weak on proper force allocations(for me, either way too weak(a destroyer vs. a star base) or way too strong(10-15 ships against an undefended planet).

Basically, I'll be playing it for a bit, but the verdict is still out.

posted 06-01-99 02:53 AM ET            

The game gives much too much power to the Feds due to their Diplomacy bonuses. It was meant for the Feds to win. Proof: Start all factions at 1. Play many minor races. Convince those races with 5+ tech rating, Dilith, and ship yards to your side. Poof. Roll over those enemies with your superior ships. This is what the AI does to you, so its what you have to do to them to stay even. Setting the game to easy just buys you enough time to get 2 minor hi-tech races so that you can roll over the opponents.

Don't bother with troop transports on planetary assaults. Pile on the ships and wipe them off the face of the earth. AI colonizes poorly, but colonies won't matter. Just getting AI races. Burn the buggers, and build outposts to enable you to get all the enemy planets...

Sorry... I finding I am disappointed with the lack of strategy or thought put into the game.

posted 06-01-99 06:26 PM ET            

You don't need that many ships to fry a world. And I *HATE* minor races... They kept the Cardasians, Romulans, and Feds alive when i was playing as Feringi. Wiped out their home worlds and colonies without having more than 3 command cruise class and 6 fast, but couldn't touch the minor race worlds with 20 Troop Transports, 20 Command Cruisers and 34 Fast attack class ships. Most of the ships would die, all the transport, against MINOR races whose pop was only between 200 to 250, and had only 3 planetary batteries. Suck suck suck! But when I took those home worlds, they had lots more there, and higher tech for Roms and Feds. Make sense? Nope.

Turning the Minor races OFF (as they disgustingly throw out the balance to the races that can deal with them well), and you almost have a game. Except its too slow and EASY to win, as its easy to take a major race planet from the 8 games I have played since buying it.

BotF will be a waste of money except to die hard Star Trek Fans. Even die hard Galatic Conquest Strategy game fans (like myself) will find that as soon as the eye candy value wears off, so does the game's enjoyment. This is certainly shelf ware, and unlike some others that get retired for a while, won't be coming back for a repeat try.

Now I am going to have to wait for Sid's Moo3. Sigh. 2 more years for that... Well, there is always Moo, Spaceward Ho!, Pax Imperia, Acsendancy, and maybe even Moo2...

posted 06-07-99 07:00 PM ET         

I was hoping for some scenarios or pre-made maps but there were none to be found. I was also disappointed with the "tutorials" where you have to print the Adobe Acrobat files. I prefer strictly online tuorials a.l.a. Imperialism II.

Also, I was hoping for a more that just 2 victory conditions. Domination or Vendetta? No democratic solutions like Global Peace?

As well, the minor races should be allowed to evolve into major ones over time. As it stands they just kind of hang out in their own little sector and join whomever and when someone gets them mad, declare war.

I guess the overall atmosphere is captured, but the reporting structure seems kind of lacklustre. The way the borders/disputed zones etc are set up is good.

Also, the research tree takes forever when you balance it out over the types (it took me almost 40+ turns to get 2 uurelated techs) and with the absence of any sort of time indicators except for what turn you're on, it makes the whole gameplay seem a little unbalanced (in the time it takes to circumnavigate the medium galaxy I can only have 20 conversations with another race? I liked the immediate conversations a la SMAC and MOO2 and none of this subspace delay crap).

posted 06-09-99 01:35 PM ET            

There are some good ideas here. The minor races do add something -- they react differently to different empires, they each have a special buidling they can build, etc. Borders are tracked, and you can have "contested sectors" between empires. You can give up your claim to those sectors or demand that somebody else give up his. The five major races have distinct abilities and special buildings (although they aren't all that well documented). I like the way they handle terraforming a system -- each system has multiple planets, but you can only use the ones you have terraformed.

Bad:

The interface is a little clunky. Reporting isn't what it should be, especially in the area of fleet management. Minor races can be too powerful. Developing colonies takes to long -- the only way to really develop is to spend money (which you do get plenty of, at least) to buy production. The documentation is too sparse, although it isn't horrible.

Overall:

posted 06-09-99 07:01 PM ET         

Also, just when I was soaring ahead of the other major races in all the other categories, I got attacked by the Calamarain and all my systems suffered heavy damage. Sounds kind of convenient to me.

It's okay, but the turns sure take a long time, even at the very beginning.

posted 06-10-99 07:07 PM ET            

I've found that in order to bombard you have to de-cloak a round before. If you set you ships toward their destinations and de-cloak a round before they arrive, you should be cool.