Hello everybody. I am brand new to this site, and I just found out about the development of the sequal. I ahve some questions about this whole thing.

-Are there any demos out for BOTF 2?
-What are the words on an actual release date?
- What's the deal with three different versions of this game being created?
- when the actual game is finished, how can I acquire a copy?
- anything else anyone would like to share with me.

I understand that I sound like an idiot for asking these questions, but I have been gone from home for a long time, and I had no idea of the development of this game.[/b]

Welcome.

I would suggest you read the stickies at the top of the forum for info and also read up alot on topics in each forum to see how far its progressed.

The info is there to see all you have to do is find it which isnt hard.

So you ended up in Iraq after all that did you Lars? It is good to see you are still alive and well. As an extension of what Lars is asking - What is the most important thing a newbie could do to help the game? Some 3D work on minor race ships? Cover art for the collector's edition box set? Recycle used dilithium for the star ships?

The best thing ppl can do to help is to spread the word and to post the link to this site on other forums. More fans = more presure to press on with development.

Lol the best thing a newbie can do is contact the devs - IF they have any skills that they believe would be an asset to the game.

I'm talking modelling, programming, texturing, writing, and so on here. Whilst enthusiasm helps, you generally need more than that to get a game off the ground.

...



...Kinda. it depends on the game in question really. Each developer is going down a different path and some have decided to release tiny examples of what they have done rather a full-blown demo, or are simply waiting until their game is more compelte before letting the public get their grubby mitts on it!

Here's some useful links for you though:
Graphical user Interface Demo
MStrobel's Star Trek: Supremacy




Again, it depends on the individual programmer. We're certainly not expecting the game(s) to be out anytime this year.

We're looking at the end of 2007 onwards for the releases.



BOTF2 started off as a single project. This project started just over 2 years ago. However, due to reasons that i will not go into, Gavin - the lead programmer - dissappeared. No emails, no messages, nothing.

In his absence, Jigalypuff decided that he would take over from Gavin - but Gavin did not leave behind ANY of the work that had been done, and without any way to contact him, Jigalypuff couldn't gain access to it. This meant that Jigalypuff had to start from scratch.

Jigalypuff's game is known as New Beginnings, and he started working on it some time around January-March of this year.

A few months later, MStrobel found the site. MStrobel had already created a sci-fi Empire-building game as a college project. When he came across these forums, he realised that his program could be made into a BOTF-style game, and after recieving massive support for the idea from the forums, he set to work on converting, updating, and expanding his program into a full-fledged game. He has called his game Star Trek :Supremacy.

A demo of the map generator for Supremacy is available from the link above.

Whilst all this was going on, another project was in the works, but this one was completely separate from ours. BotE - Birth of the Empires - is a project led by a group of Germans. They have been working on their game for quite a long time, but their forums only came about at roughly the same time as Jigalypuff started working on New Beginnings. They worked on getting the basics of their game working before they opened it up to the public.

A fully-fledged demo of BotE IS available - but most of it is in German. As a compromise, the BotE team has now linked up with these forums to expand their user base and to help translate their game. The translation files are available through links on the BotE forums of this site.

If you want to download a copy of BotE, you will have to sign up to their forums, however. SirPuteskuchen feels very strongly about this matter, and otherwise I would send you a copy of it myself.

The last project - Star Trek: Allegiance - is being created by Nemitor_Atimen. (Formerly known as General_Nemitor)

His project has only be publicly known for about 3 or 4 weeks, although I have been personally advising him on it for well over a month.

Allegiance is based on a pre-existing web-based browser game, and therefore only requires reprogramming, rather than completely building from scratch. This means far less work is needed - and theoretically means the game will be out much sooner.

Allegiance will possibly be the first of "our" projects to be out, although I imagine BotE is the closest to full release simply because they already have a working demo out.




Thankfully, it'll be very easy to download copies of the game(s).

I don't know how SirPuteskuchen will arrange the distribution of BotE, but any game released via armadafleetcommand will be distributed freely. Armadafleetcommand basically has unlimited bandwidth, so that isn't going to be an issue.

It will also be free because recieving payment for the game is illegal. Afterall, we do NOT have the licence for Star trek, and never will. BOTF2 in all it's forms are fan-based games - they're games that are by the fans, for the fans.

The moment a single penny exchanges hands for this game, we are breaking the law, and risk potential legal suits and closure. No one wants this to happen so the game will be completely free.

I imagine many other people will distribute the game(s) via their own networks, P2P, and so on as well, so I honeslty doubt there will be any problems.




Yeah, links will help you get an idea of what has been done so far.

The BOTF2 Database
The Model GalleryThe INCOMPLETE Random Events
The Music (Click The Grey Download Now Button At The Top-Left Of The Screen To Continue The Download)

I hope that's enough info.

The next question I have is about the actual gameplay now.

- Will there be any new playable races to be added?

- Can we expect maybe some more classes of ships for the playable factions?

-

disregard my last post. I just looked at the BOTF2 Database and answered those quetsions for myself. Don't tell me we're getting rid of the Ferengi as playable race.

The ferengi will not be a playable race but now classed as a minor race.

Bummer, then I think I will have to change my wonderful Icon to my other favorite race.

you can always mod them in.

Exactly, one of the main problems of BOTF as a game was how difficult it is to modify.

The various BOTF2 projects are being made by modders who know themselves that the game needs to be as moddable as possible. Whether this means you will need to mod the files manually, or you need a special program to do this, or whether the program will do it for you, will be up to the individual programmers to decide, however.

The Ferengi will be in the game, but only as one of the 140+ minor races.

I can live with that. I don't really understand the whole modding thing that much anyway.

well, Allegiance wont have conventional modding.

though it will be partially moddable.

Check out the parent site of these forums if you want to learn more about modding the game.

Armadafleetcommand.com

Modding BOTF for the first time can be a nightmare, but the more you do it, the more you will understand.

All you really need to know is how to use a nice little program called the Ultimate Editor, by DCER. This program is available from the downloads section of the site in the link above.

The Ultimate editor is capable of extracting and modifying all the files that you want changed, allowing you to change ship stats/costs, structure stats/costs, graphics, models...pretty much anything.

There are plenty of mods availabel on the site for you to try out as well. The Ultimate mod (It's on version 3, I believe) is highly reccommended.

So Lars, Are you caught up yet?

Glad to see your face in the new avatar. So are you Cardassian or are you Iraqi?

PS: Be safe. It is almost as dangerous as Mesa Arizona over there. As soon as we get the transporters are online we will beam you and your away team out.

A Cardiassian????

MY Birds will be ready to gather more scrap for us to use! lol

In answer to your original post questions; I have downloaded MilkShape 3d and begun to help with the list of models needed for the game. See under Jobs and Positions at the link below and look way down to the list of models needed in the first post. This modeling is not for everyone but if you have some time and interest it is fun to learn. This is a way to help bring the game to fruition and be a part of the community. It is currently 34.13 dollars US to purchase this program online. There is info. on other programs under 3D Programs in the Forums. Try the free downloads to see if you have what it takes. There are a lot of sites that can teach you how to use this program. This is cheap compared to a game these days. When you play your work becomes part of the final game and the game comes out sooner.

http://www.botfii.armadafleetcommand.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1014

Well,
I've been out of the loop for a while. Getting busy here. Anyway, for the most part, I am caught up now, thanks for the information. I hope that there is some way that I can contribute, but I have very little skills in designing, or programming, but if there's something else I can maybe to just let me know. I hate this country. I can't wait to leave. I'm ready to beam out anytime.

Lars;

Were with ya buddy. Hang in there and keep your head down!

Where do you hail from ?

I hail from Duluth, MN. The beautifal Lake country.

Excellent, A neighbor..well kinda.. lol Plus a Viking and Wild fan as well I wager!

I do like the vikings, but honestly I don't care much for hockey. For the most part, I don't really follow any sports whatsoever, but I do like football. Unfortunately the Vikings aren't having a very good season from what I hear, but what else is new anyway? I am yet to see the vikings not struggle through a season just to get into the playoffs. It's kind of a bummer.

lol kinda like my Doncos.. I mean Broncos... lol

so you get any time to even play a game of Botf there?

I do get enough time for play here. I payed a lot on amazon for the damn thing. I had read about the game about a year before it came out in a game informer, but I didn't even own a computer back then. Finally, I just started thinking about star trek video games after I got sick of playing Star Wars stuff, and I ended up buying botf, starfeet command 3, armada 1&2, and then elite force and the expansion. The one I play the most is botf, right now i am working on a campaign as the cardassians. The romulans have been eliminated, and that was the only empire on my side. Right now I am trying to defend against the fed, ferengi, and the kilingons at the same time. My biggest problem is the federation. Somehow, they always manage to build an incredible fleet, and launch an offensive against two of my planets. I can't build defense forces fast enough to make a difference. It is annoying.

To be blunt: the AI cheats. It gets bonus resources you don't.

Unfortuanately its too late now. It got to the point when all three empires attacked me at the same time. I lost everything and had to start over. I just started a new empire last night with the romulans. Let's hope they work out a little better. Their ships seem a lot stronger than the cardassian ones though, and the cloaking device helps.

With any fleet ( except the Feds) you can basically take over the Universe, depending on your settings. I started on impossable.. was blasted into dust 30 40 times.. then went to easy. got a feel for the game and worked my way up.. Now I play impossable mode level1 begging, minors many, randoms off Large Illregular Galaxy.... I just like the challenge!! lol

The AI cheating is a polite way of saying you have NOOOOO chance.... So you got to learn how to beat it Kinda like when Kirk cheated death by changing the rules. While I do not change the rules I do my building a bit different.. Example.. Join a troop transport with a colony.. then set them to terraform... done in 1 turn. there are other tricks you can do, but I do not know them all.

hopefully others will give you an idea has to how they play... Fleet or ship battles.. I use basic military tacktics. That and pratice..

Okay Okay lol the Secret is that the game was designed with basic flight patterns from WW1 WW2 bi-plane attack patterns. And since the game is locked into these patterns multiplayer to Ai Must abide by these same rules.. lol

Hope that helps some..

Hawk

It absolutely does. Hopefully, I will be able to adjust my tactics to be successful tonight after work. So far so good anyway.

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I am testing this whole insert image program. I hope it works.