Fans of the old tabletop wargame "Starfleet Battles" or of the computer game version "Starfleet Command" should be excited about the upcoming release of the latter's sequel. Titled "Starfleet Command Volume II: Empires at War," it will feature on-line play in a massively-multiplayer persistant arena. Below is an excerpt from a review I found at
http://www.cheek.org/sfc/index.htm which describes the on-line system they have planned.
Starfleet Command's great combat engine had the potential to make this a great game. Unfortunately, it's rock-stupid AI and nonsensical campaign engine kept it from reaching it's full potential. That combined with the limited cooperative play it shipped with, and the complete lack of a cooperative, on-line campaign option made it fall far short. If the sequel manages to redress these shortcomings as the review suggests, they may have a real hit on their hands. I can hope, anyway.
Multiplayer Metaverse:
Another big feature that has been added to the sequel is an online version of the single-player campaign. Taldren plans to host multiple campaigns on different servers at any given time, each with specific game rules and races available. The dirty work is all done in-game; all you need to do is select Metaverse under multiplayer options, and the game will connect you to Won.net and walk you through creating a free account (assuming that you don't have one already).
Once you are logged on and have selected a game, you will be asked to create a character and choose a starting planet. You will start out as a low ranked officer with a small ship; higher rank and a better ride will come as you earn more prestige.
From there you can pretty much travel wherever you want, although Morris advises that it is a good idea to stick to your empire's interior sectors (and easier missions, such as convoy defenses and pirate raids) until you manage to earn some prestige. Once you do have some prestige you will be able to bid on a better ship.
"As players progress they will likely move to a border sector near one of the empires rivals," Morris explains. "Things really heat up as players fight over territory weakening the defenses of a sector until it falls. These battles not only affect the player by giving them prestige, but also increase the empire's economy, increasing the amount of ships built by the empire. This is important to players as the ships built are put on auction. Players bid prestige to jockey for the newest and best ships in the empire."
Of course the biggest draw in the multiplayer Metaverse is other players. You will not be the only person defending your empire—you will be able to join fleets composed of other players in order to pool your resources and better achieve your empire's goals. The game interface will allow you to chat, hold secret meetings, and recruit other players into your fleet. A single campaign may take weeks or even months to play out, and you will be able to log on, catch up on current events, and fly a few missions whenever you want.
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Sabre, a.k.a. Rojo
(S-2, The Buccaneers)
[This message has been edited by Rojo (edited 08-16-2000).]
