Hey everyone, im new here and i have question. Ok first of all i heard that you cant play BOTF online anymore, is this true? or is there another website still hosting it? i have never played online before so i just want to see how it is. Thanks!

Hey HaloDude, welcome to the forums!

It is still possible to play online, but you - and the person you want to play against - first need to download and install a program called eWarzone. The download link is at the top of that linked page.

Once you've installed the program, load it up and select Birth of the Federation; it should be the second game in the list that appears. Then, create a username and password for yourself, and log in.

You'll see several numbered boxes, possibly with some other peoples names in them. These boxes are rooms where people are playing games. Click on one of the empty boxes, any one of them, and your name will appear there. Tell your friend(s) to enter the same room as yourself, then choose someone to host a game. That person will need to click on the "launch" button that appears at the bottom-right-hand corner of the screen. The game *should* then automatically load for everyone once the host has entered the game settings. (Map size, number of minor races, etc)

If it doesn't work, try clicking on utilities dx port test and make sure everything checks out. An Alternative program is to use Hamachi, which is a program that I personally much prefer over eWarzone, but it also leaves you open to certain security risks so isn't always the best option. If you need to use Hamachi, make sure you know who it is that you're playing against to minimise the risk. Make sure you turn on Hamachi's security features as well. It will ask you whether to turn these features on during installation.

Good luck.

Hey thanks so much for the help! ill check them out, me and my friend have been wanting to play BOTF online forever! all we need now is a 2nd cd....

No you don't.

Sign up to This Website, then sign in and check out their download section. You should see a link in there called "Birth of the Federation 1.0 Backup" - click this link, then download the file in there and save it to an easy-to-find location. (I like to put it in my BOTF folder)

Next, read This Post for information on how to mount BOTF as a ghost drive on your computer. You need to download and install a program such as Daemontools or Alcohol, but there are links in that post and info on exactly what to do. I'd recommend Daemontools but it's your choice.

Since all the data from the CD is copied to your hard drive, you don't need the CD to play - or even install - the game. This also eliminates the seek times needed to find data on the CD, so the game will run faster. It does NOT however fix the terrible memory leak that BOTF has - nothing can fix that.

ArmadaFleetCommand (AFC) actually used to be our parent forums - we split away from them last year after we had problems with the servers - and we remain on very friendly terms with them. I'm a member myself, and Jigalypuff, the owner of these forums, is also one of the AFC admin. AFC is pretty much the only BOTF community there is online, so you'll find plenty of game info, mods, and people who are willing to try multiplayer with you on there. There are currently 7530 members afterall. Make sure you explore the other parts of the download section - there are some fantastic mods and tools available, as well as several official and unofficial game patches. Make sure you update your game to version 1.02, and I'd recommend the Ultimate Dominion mod if you want to try a mod, or the Ultimate Editor if you plan on making any of your own changes to the game.

Have fun.

Hamachi is probably the easiest. Both host and client (mates) download hamachi and install and one of u makes a server room, name and passy all u need to enter to make it. Then you all join it. Then you all start the game (make sure all ppl have same files and patches installed) and go to mp then lan options. You should be able to see the host and join, you shouldnt need to enter any ip's.