Hey there Boxxy, welcome to the site!

As far as I know, Jade's answers are correct. BOTF had many problems, but this is down to the fact that the game was likely rushed. It was the last game made by Microprose afterall, so they did everything they could to make sure it was released on time, before their company fell around their heads. Sadly, they failed to turn their company round with the game, and Microprose is no longer with us.

Many of the faults of BOTF1 were simply because of poor programming - there are several mods that aim to put right the various niggles of the game. However, pobody's nerfect, and there isn't (Yet) a mod that solves EVERY flaw of the game. That's the purpose of BOTF2.

The game is gonna be released very soon, you'll see a time frame of 5-7 weeks batted around a lot, although as Jade said, it is more likely to be 4 weeks by now - this isn't definite though, i'm just a poster like you, i'm not one of the devs, so I can't say the date for sure. It is definitely soon though, so you joined the site at the right time!

BOTF2 is meant as a complete remake of BOTF1. That said, I doubt even after all the hard work that is being put into it, that it will be 100% perfectly free from bugs. You may not have heard this, but the release date comes at a price - the game will NOT be going through BETA testing! (It won't be play-tested! 8O)

It is gonna go straight to general release, because apparently the devs got fed up of requests to join the play testers!

This means that any possible bugs will be found by Joe Bloggs, rather than dedicated play testers before the general release. At least it means that we get the game soon though!

Right then, as to your questions, obviously, the game is a complete rework. New screens, new graphics, hell, it even has new music! As far as I know, it is going to be in a windowed screen - the music will be run from a built-in media player, so if you don't like the music, you can simply play your own. This may have changed though, I really don't know the details for definite.

There will certainly be more options for increased playability, and it will be aimed to be as in-depth as possible. It isn't being designed solely for hard-core gamers though, coz it would be nice if newbies could play as well. Therefore, you'll find your own way of playing the game, and many of the options will be selectable.

The Borg. Feared. Evil. Merciless. Now they are after you! Jade is right, the Borg will be random. You could play an entire game without them appearing. You could play a game and have them appear on turn 2. It will be totally random, but the more advanced you are (Ie. the further you are into the game/more tech you have) the greater the risk of invasion.

You could play the game by keeping at a lower tech level to avoid assimilation, whilst your enemies get obliterated, or you could charge ahead and hope to defeat them with technology. It is up to you.

The Borg wil start off by sending in a single scout ship, probably a Sphere. If you defeat it, eventually, the Borg will send in something bigger. Again, if you defeat it, a bigger ship will eventually appear - possibly even several of them.

If they manage to assimilate a system, that system will become Borg, and they will be able to build their own ships in that system. from that point on, they will spread, and your only hope is to remove them from the Galaxy. You wil not be able to communicate with them. Remember, resistance is futile.

I believe this is how Species 8472 and to a lesser extent, the Sphere builders will also work.

The victory conditions will be different, that is for sure. Some people want more conditions, some people want less. Some want all to apply, whereas others want them to be 'comply with one and you win' type affairs.

It will likely be customisable, so that as many people are happy with the game as possible. What these conditions are exactly though, you'll have to wait and see.

...

If you fancy a look at how the game has progressed so far, take a look at the Database in the downloads section - the Database is the official help system for the game. Whilst the downloadable version is far from complete, it'll give you an idea of what to expect. Oh, and keep an eye out for the joke in the Klingon section!

By the way, if you want to download BOTF1 so you can play it again, go to this link:



There are two versions of an iso copy of the game - be warned though, if you have not bought the game, it is illegal to download it! 8O

It'll let you play BOTF1 without the game disk.

Please don't ask me how to use it though, I haven't got a clue. Sign in (With the same username/password as this site - the addy i've given you links to the parent site for this website) Ask around on the website if you need help, you won't get your head bitten off! There should be a help forum on the site somewhere anyway.

Hope this helps, and happy posting!

(Soorry this post is so long )

Can't give you anymore than that

Ahh...just making sure you know the law, I mean, you wouldn't want to break it...would you? 8O

Sorry the post was so long - I tend to get carried away sometimes.

If you have any other questions, i'll be happy to <Try> and answer them for you. And if I can't answer them, i'm sure one of the other guys will be able to, or we'll be able to point you to someone who does.

I know you've only just gotten round to downloading BOTF, but if you want to start modding the game, the downloads section of armadafleetcommand.com has pretty much all the mods you'll ever want:



There is also the tools section that has various editors and things so that you can make your own changes or even mods:



And finally, if you weren't able to get BOTF working properly, there is a patches section:



Have fun.