Post by Keith Heitmann on Mar 26, 2005 20:10:12 GMT -5
I was getting a little bored so I broke out my old copy of SFCII and installed it. The graphics aren't state of the art any longer but they are still pretty decent given that it's at least 3-4 years old.
I've been playing a Klingon campaign so far and I've been in one of those situations where I make a little headway and then get smacked down and have to start over with a lesser ship. Still lots of fun and pretty good action with all the weapons in Star Trek for the Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ships. They've also included a few "new" empires to spice things up. There are even a few "monster" units (bosses) roaming around that have to be dealt with from time to time.
You select a grid to move to and if there is a mission shown you click on the one you want if there is more than one possibility. Missions could be an encounter with a monster, patrol, shipyard defence, shipyard attack, convoy escort, convoy attack, deep space encounter and "peace in our time."
In many cases you'll face off against the same number and type of ship that you are currently commanding but sometimes you may find yourself out numbered or outgunned by more powerful ship. You can run if you don't like the odds or take too much damage.
You have to deal with the controls of the ship while engaging in battle and maneuvers. Your ship has set limit of power available, and all systems draw from this so you have to balance things between shields, weapons, science equipment.
Your ship usually has a small compliment of marines for a start and you can get more, larger ships will hold more but they cost more points to buy at a stardock. You also need keep your ships supplied with repair parts, missiles, and shuttle craft. There are several versions of missiles some are slow or fast. You can get better missiles at a higher cost. Shuttles need to be replaced if you use them as converted wepons or decoys during battle. Shuttle can be used for "assault" and carrying marines to take a target, or as a scatter pack missile launcher with one load missiles, a decou that can be deplyed to draw off enemy missiles, or as a suicide ship to crash into a target.
There are also transporter bombs that can be bought and deployed in battle. These are essentially mines deployed by the transporter in the path of the enemy ship which become active when your ship is at a set safe distance. These can do some heavy damage if you get one or two in the path of a fresh enemy correctly.
You also have ECM and ECCM for missile defense and offense. These help fend off seaking enemy missiles or to penetrate the enemy ECM. You can adjust system power to enhance ECM or ECCM.
Shields are your first line of defense and draw the most power except for weapons. You have to keep checking these as they take damge and reinforce damaged or dropped shields or protect them by turning so that shield is not exposed to enemy fire.
In some missions you fly alone, but if you buy a second ship you'll have a wingman. In other missions you will have allied ships of either the same race or alien race joining the battle with you. If you own a second ship you can issue it commands if you want it to do something specific otherwise it will fight on its own attempting to maintain whatever formation you have set.
Eventually if you play long enough and win enough points you can buy more powerful ships and end up with a small squadron of dreadnaughts. You can only have three ships owned by yourself that you can directly control. You can even jump your command to one of your other ships that you own if want or if your current ship is out of action or about to be destoyed.
The missions can be a little repetitive and the campaign grid map is large enough that you will have to play a long time to win enough of them to win the campaign. Each section of the grid displays a color ofthe race that controls or a gray neutral color. If you win a battle in a grid it usually becomes yours, but occasionally it becomes neutral and requires further action.
The sound effects are authentic to the Star Trek series from the photon torpedoes and phasor fire, to the plasma bolts and disruptor fire. The new alien races have a few special weapons of their own that have a rather dazzling effect and can do some heavy damage.
Explosions are catastrophic in both looks and sounds as the targets ship blows apart in a brilliant flash and thundering sounds.
The battles can be rather short, I can often sneak a good dozen or more battles in the matter of an hour.
I've been playing a Klingon campaign so far and I've been in one of those situations where I make a little headway and then get smacked down and have to start over with a lesser ship. Still lots of fun and pretty good action with all the weapons in Star Trek for the Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ships. They've also included a few "new" empires to spice things up. There are even a few "monster" units (bosses) roaming around that have to be dealt with from time to time.
You select a grid to move to and if there is a mission shown you click on the one you want if there is more than one possibility. Missions could be an encounter with a monster, patrol, shipyard defence, shipyard attack, convoy escort, convoy attack, deep space encounter and "peace in our time."
In many cases you'll face off against the same number and type of ship that you are currently commanding but sometimes you may find yourself out numbered or outgunned by more powerful ship. You can run if you don't like the odds or take too much damage.
You have to deal with the controls of the ship while engaging in battle and maneuvers. Your ship has set limit of power available, and all systems draw from this so you have to balance things between shields, weapons, science equipment.
Your ship usually has a small compliment of marines for a start and you can get more, larger ships will hold more but they cost more points to buy at a stardock. You also need keep your ships supplied with repair parts, missiles, and shuttle craft. There are several versions of missiles some are slow or fast. You can get better missiles at a higher cost. Shuttles need to be replaced if you use them as converted wepons or decoys during battle. Shuttle can be used for "assault" and carrying marines to take a target, or as a scatter pack missile launcher with one load missiles, a decou that can be deplyed to draw off enemy missiles, or as a suicide ship to crash into a target.
There are also transporter bombs that can be bought and deployed in battle. These are essentially mines deployed by the transporter in the path of the enemy ship which become active when your ship is at a set safe distance. These can do some heavy damage if you get one or two in the path of a fresh enemy correctly.
You also have ECM and ECCM for missile defense and offense. These help fend off seaking enemy missiles or to penetrate the enemy ECM. You can adjust system power to enhance ECM or ECCM.
Shields are your first line of defense and draw the most power except for weapons. You have to keep checking these as they take damge and reinforce damaged or dropped shields or protect them by turning so that shield is not exposed to enemy fire.
In some missions you fly alone, but if you buy a second ship you'll have a wingman. In other missions you will have allied ships of either the same race or alien race joining the battle with you. If you own a second ship you can issue it commands if you want it to do something specific otherwise it will fight on its own attempting to maintain whatever formation you have set.
Eventually if you play long enough and win enough points you can buy more powerful ships and end up with a small squadron of dreadnaughts. You can only have three ships owned by yourself that you can directly control. You can even jump your command to one of your other ships that you own if want or if your current ship is out of action or about to be destoyed.
The missions can be a little repetitive and the campaign grid map is large enough that you will have to play a long time to win enough of them to win the campaign. Each section of the grid displays a color ofthe race that controls or a gray neutral color. If you win a battle in a grid it usually becomes yours, but occasionally it becomes neutral and requires further action.
The sound effects are authentic to the Star Trek series from the photon torpedoes and phasor fire, to the plasma bolts and disruptor fire. The new alien races have a few special weapons of their own that have a rather dazzling effect and can do some heavy damage.
Explosions are catastrophic in both looks and sounds as the targets ship blows apart in a brilliant flash and thundering sounds.
The battles can be rather short, I can often sneak a good dozen or more battles in the matter of an hour.
