Page 2
THE LAYOUT
Your screen view is at about a 45-degree angle looking down at the "board." It is quite comfortable and has no drawbacks. At the bottom of the screen are control panels and a map to direct the action. The mouse controls all the action really, though key commands can be used. It takes a while to get the strong points of strategy but it is fun learning. In about 5-6 hours you will have cut your teeth on it on the EASY level, the first of three.
You get an animated video of every segment of the campaign. The recognizable voices are those of Michael Dorn, Worf, and Patrick Stewart, both as Captain Picard and the Borg clone Locutus. There are several other voices used for the many replies to your mouse clicks. It is an improvement to the flight simulators that seem to have four repetitive reply voices. All of the graphics are first class and can be run on any slow machine. The game can also be sped up or slowed down.
Fig. 3. Klingons Under AttackTHE MISSIONSYou can re-map keys if you wish, but you will really use the mouse only for speed. Graphics are fully adjustable similiar to other combat sims. Even at lower resolutions you will find no fault with the over all look. You can switch from the board view to close ups of the action in full screen and view all the details of the stations and vessels.
You start with a given number of ships after a briefing as to your objectives. The key is to build up you resources and gain strength so you can effectively battle opponents. You soon learn the sequence of things to build to accomplish these goals. It is no more complicated than Monopoly. You "buy" with dilithium and "build" ships and stations. Unlike chess where you start off with a maximum strength and have a battle of attrition, you begin with very little and construct.
Dilithium is the key element that makes everything possible. There are dilithium moons that must be mined in order to increase you power to build things. You must construct freighters that mine them and process the ore in station you must build. Your tally increases faster if you more mining ships but the key to this is concurrent activity; you need to keep track of all our pieces to ensure maximum productivity. When building fighting ships from the shipyards, you can also enhance their power by building research and science stations. With enough dilithium you can then construct imperial-size shipyards to produce the heavy weight starships.
