Star Trek: Starfleet Command III
is a blatant grab for popular appeal. Not only has it remained faithful to the more popular elements of Star Trek, including the Next Generation setting, it's also significantly reduced the number of tactical options available in the game. Compared to its predecessor, it ships on one less disc and with a manual one-third the size. Also lacking is a cardboard table describing weapon ranges and accuracy. Rather than eight playable factions, there are now four, only three of which are playable in the campaigns. Ships now have four shield facings instead of six, eschewing the hex-based nature of the original combat system. Fighters and carriers have been removed, and although the smaller shuttlecraft still remain, they too have less exotic capabilities than before. Decoys and pseudo-torpedoes are gone. Players are no longer able to target incoming projectiles in an attempt to destroy them or reduce their effectiveness, nor can tractor beams be used to temporarily keep missiles at bay. There aren't even any missiles.
Combat primarily revolves around the use of shields and positioning the ship during combat to take full advantage of them. Each ship has four shield arcs that are able to absorb damage before failing, recharging at a slight rate throughout the course of a battle. It's also possible to reinforce one particular arc. Not only does that individual segment become stronger, any damage that it suffers is spread out among the three other arcs. A successful captain can ensure that the majority of the damage that he or she receives is dealt to the shield, rather than directly to the ship's hull. Offensively, position is also the key to victory; each weapon typically has a limited field of fire, meaning that a vessel has to remain mobile to take advantage of its full arsenal. Turning to bring additional weapons to the fore has to be balanced with protecting one's own weakened shields while targeting exactly that section of the enemy's. Range is also an important consideration as the accuracy and damage potential of weapons tend to decrease with distance. Accuracy is also affected by the angular velocity between the two vessels at the moment of fire, a new addition to the series that, for the first time, takes full advantage of its presence on the computer platform. As ships increase in speed and become closer to one another, shearing off at disparate angles, the angular velocity increases, making shots all but impossible, allowing smaller ships to exploit hit and run tactics. All of this makes for a tremendously intriguing game.
There are many additional tactical options for players to attend to during the course of battle. Tractor breams can be used to lock onto enemy vessels, removing angular velocity for easy hits, or even be used to push a ship into an asteroid and destroy it. The opposing captain can use a similar beam to repel that of the first, breaking the connection before any harm is suffered. Individual ship components can be targeted, not only with weapons, but also with away teams that can board an enemy if the facing shield is down. These boarding parties can even attempt to capture the craft. Shuttlecraft can be launched to pester the enemy with light weapons or draw enemy fire. Advanced movement techniques are also available. A high-energy turn can allow a ship to change orientation on a dime, although taking advantage of it too often can result in engine failure. Craft can also engage their warp drives to move at high speeds, although this necessitates the dropping of shields, in a concession to game balance over franchise accuracy.
However, energy is no longer a substantial consideration. In previous games in the series, energy was distributed from a common pool. Not only did weapons and shields draw from it, but also moving, using tractor beams and advanced sensors tapped into the available supply. This factor overshadowed everything a player chose to do. No longer, it would seem, as Next Generation ships have power to spare. While it's possible to tweak the amount of energy allocated to primary and heavy weapons, as well as the shields, there's seldom any reason to do so. Movement and other actions no longer seem to require any energy at all, so as long as the ship has a warp core analogous to the amount of weapons and shields on board, no thought has to be given to energy. Only when the craft's engines are damaged beyond repair is any consideration necessary, but by then, victory is often out of reach.
Get it at
The Underdogs
In order to make the game run under dx9 and above, you need to install this patch
After doing that, the game needs a fixed Exe file to run with out a propper CD-rom.
you can get it
Here
*** please note,
this is not in any way support of piracy, but the game is considered
Abandonware so it is completly legal. have fun.
* This post has been modified
: 15 years ago
