Guide to Ultimate Mod  |  Tutorial

For the first time ever, the classic Star Trek: Birth of The Federation computer game is going to get some new, fully solid, functional, textured  ships. It has never been done, because no-one has ever discovered how to do it, because the original makers, in their infinite wisdom seemed to make the game virtually unmoddable. In league with Jigalypuff we've kicked this game's ass and made a little bit of history, going where no-one has gone before, and breaking down that solid brick wall that none had ever managed to penetrate. But boy was it tough, it was super tough, and took months of work, and a lot of trail and error. But, like many others who still fondly play this game, we love BOTF. It is quite simply the best Star Trek computer game available. Take control of one of five major empires, the Federation, Romulan SE, Klingons, Ferengi and Cardassian Union, and conquer the galaxy eliminating your rivals. Its the finest blend of strategy, strategy, strategy, diplomacy, intelligence, micro-management, war (lots of war), and oh, did I mention strategy...? - and its fantastic in mulitplayer mode against yours pals across the internet.

Unfortunately the makers Microprose have long since dissolved, and between the many rumours of other gameshouses taking on a sequel, nothing has ever transpired. There are many patches and mods available, but nothing substantial. They mainly concentrate on stats, and adjusted settings and artwork, but with Ultimate Mod I wanted to introduce new ships, such as the Constitution which was criminally omitted from the Federation shiplist in the original. Also, I wanted to brings in a few more minor races to recruit (and conquer), such as the Breen to name one.

Later I will discuss how this mammoth task was achieved, for now, take a look at what you're going to get with Ultimate Mod.

ULTIMATE MOD 2 is here. FOLLOW THIS LINK TO DOWNLOAD IT

NEW FEDERATION SHIPS

The original Federation ship (Left) next to the new list:

No existing game models have been removed entirely from the list (apart from some type II variants), for example, only one Galaxy will now appear (it became available too early in the original game in my opinion), now you get the Ambassador Command Cruiser I, (and you have to wait until tech 7 for the Galaxy). The original  Ambassador Light Cruiser slots has been filled with a new Medium Cruiser designation, catering for the Excelsior and later the Intrepid. This is how I've worked around the problem, because its not possible to add new ships without replacing existing ones in the list. It's basically been a lot of fiddling and experimenting to add/replace/juggle existing ships and their slots in the code, with my new list.

The overall challenge has been maintaining game balance. Each empire has specific advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses. One primary Federation advantage was the early arrival of the Galaxy Command Cruiser at tech 3, which far outgunned any ships of rival powers at that tech level. The advantage remains, but this time using the Ambassador, (for the tech 3 era is approximate to TMP era). Also, the Cardassian's early advantage was having the largest home system. Even though all the planet populations have changed (and been upgraded) they still retain the largest system.

DAEDALUS CLASS

SOYUZ CLASS

CONSTITUTION CLASS

EXCELSIOR CLASS

CENTAUR CLASS

INTREPID CLASS

AKIRA CLASS

PROMETHEUS CLASS

KIROL CLASS (Cardassian ship)

RANOR CLASS (Cardassian ship)

VALDORE CLASS (Romulan ship)

D'KYRI CLASS (Ferengi ship)

BREEN WARSHIP (Neutral Minor race ship)

OTHER SHIPS THAT FEATURE

T'LANI CRUISER: The T'Lani replaces the Acamarians. The model of the T'Lani ship is just a reuse of the Tamarian Defender, because in the show the same model was used for the ships of these races.

NEW RACES

Race Name: The BREEN		Race Speciality: Weapons
System Name: BREEN		Special Structure: Breen Weapon Centre
Race Replaced: The SHELIAK		Structure Value: 100% Weapons Research
Spacefaring: Yes. Breen Warship		Homeworld Type: Polar, Large
Race Info / Diplomatic Report:		Sympathy: Enraged to All Empires.

Race Name: The TELLARITES		Race Speciality: Industry
System Name: TELLAR		Special Structure: Engineering Union
Race Replaced: The ANTICANS		Structure Value: 100% Industry
Spacefaring: No.		Homeworld Type: Terran, Large
Race Info / Diplomatic Report:		Sympathy: Uncooperative. Receptive to Feds and Roms.

Race Name: The GORN		Race Speciality: Economy
System Name: GORN		Special Structure: Gorn Trade Alliance
Race Replaced: The SELAY		Structure Value: +5 Trade Routes
Spacefaring: No.		Homeworld Type: Desert, Large
Race Info / Diplomatic Report:		Sympathy: Icy

Race Name: The T'LANI		Race Speciality: Bio-Tech
System Name: T'LANI		Special Structure: T'Lani Bio-Tech Institute
Race Replaced: The ACAMARIANS		Structure Value: 100% Bio-Tech Research
Spacefaring: Yes. T'Lani Cruiser.		Homeworld Type: Terran, Large
Race Info / Diplomatic Report:		Sympathy: Neutral

Race Name: The TANUGANS		Race Speciality: Energy
System Name: TANUGA		Special Structure: Tanugan Outpost
Race Replaced: The TAKARANS		Structure Value: 100% Energy Research
Spacefaring: No.		Homeworld Type: Terran, Medium
Race Info / Diplomatic Report:		Sympathy: Neutral

Race Name: The PARADAS		Race Speciality: Intel
System Name: PARADA		Special Structure: Security Group
Race Replaced: The CHALNOTH		Structure Value: 40% Internal Security
Spacefaring: No.		Homeworld Type: Jungle, Large
Race Info / Diplomatic Report:		Sympathy: Icy

ADJUSTED HOMESYSTEMS

Homesystems planet types and populations have been boosted (or reduced), adjusted and rebalanced. Cardassia retains the advantage of having the largest system..

NEW EMPIRE STRUCTURES

Structure: ASDB Complex
Race: FEDERATON		Structure Value: 100% Propulsion Research
Replacing: Genesis Research Lab. (100% Bio-Tech)		Description: The Advanced Staship Design Bureau specialises in developing new and advanced innovations in warp propulsion. The installation of this facility will ensure the Federation is at the cutting edge of warp research...

Structure: Particle Fountain
Race: ALL EMPIRES		Structure Value: +2 Dilithium (One per empire)
Replacing: Romulan Singularity Plant		Description: This new revolutionary mining technique employs a low frequency graviton disruptor beam, fired at a planet's surface from an orbital platform. It is a cheaper and more productive method for the extraction of dilithium rich deposits, for ultimately it can double the output of previous mining technologies.

MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES

Ships etc

Changed Cardassian Destroyer Class Netel to Hideki Class
Changed Romulan Destroyer Class D'ridren to D'Raniden Class
Changed Romulan Battle Cruiser Class D'dredar to D'Drexon Class

A few tweaks to starship/ damage hit points, shields etc. Slightly enhanced armaments for Outpost II's and Starbases II's - and stronger shields. 

Corrected spelling to USS Odyssey (was Oddysey)
Corrected spelling to USS Cassiopeia (was Cassiopea)
Corrected spelling to USS Bellerophon (was Bellerphon)
Corrected spelling to USS Endeavour (was Endeavor)
Corrected spelling to USS Merrimack (was Merrimac) alt. spelling anyway
Corrected spelling to USS Brattain (was Brittain)

Dozens of new Federation ship names have been added to better reflect real Trek ship names (eradicating many of the original games unprouncable Japanese names), and to cater for some of the new ship classes (such as USS Constitution for the Constitution Class, USS Voyager for the Intrepid and so forth...)

Unrest

Klingon Unrest Structure 'Police State' changed to 'Execution Day'

Ferengi Unrest Structure 'Festival of Fun' changed to 'Reinvestment Plan'

Stars and Planets

Some star names have been changed. They are:

Vega, (was Eden)
Narendra, (was Mirirdian)
Chintoka, (was Balosnee)
Surata, (was T'Lani -now a race)
Omekla, (was Parada -now a race)

Planet populations have been slightly amended, concentrating on the most valuable planet types: Terran, Oceanic, and Jungle.

Polar largest possible is 100
Jungle largest possible is 220
Volcanic largest possible is 80
Terran largest possible is 255
Barren largest possible is 100
Desert  largest possible is 80
Oceanic largest possible is 200

Other similar enhancements have been made, such as:

Large Terran planet pop max of 125 now tops out at 255
Small Y population values were 15, 20, 25, or 30, they are now 20, 25, 30, and 35
Likewise other general planet pops have been raised by similar small increments.

Morale

Better Cardassian morale for relationhips/treaties
Less moral penalties for the Feds when they subjugate a system (-10 is now -5)
Less moral penalties for the Feds when they bombard a system (-5 is now -3)
Less moral penalties for the Feds when they declare war on an empire (-10 is now -5)
Less moral penalties for the Feds when they break a peace treaty (-20 is now -10)
Greater Klingon morale when bombarding systems, subgugating systems, declaring war etc.
Slightly improved morale for Romulans when they sign peace treaty, and all empires (except fed which is already high), when they sign an alliance treaty.

KNOWN ISSUES

1. One new minor race is the Breen, who replaced the Sheliak. With them, and the others, the old Diplomatic Report voice-overs are heard when the race is first encountered. For now this can't be changed, ignore it.

2. All new ships CANNOT fire phasers. This is a problem that as yet cannot be resolved. It is the one reason I haven't added more ships, and why, if this problem isn't fixed, I will be reducing some of the number of new ships. For example, it makes for unfair constests when 9 Akira Class Heavy Cruisers come up against 9 Warbirds. The Akiras are only armed with Photons, and wouldn't stand much of a chance. For now these new ships are in to cosmetically enhance the game, and due to long demand. I will wait to see how the ships are received in the mod, how they perform (especially in groups) and what the overall opinions are.

3. The new empire structures will become available at the wrong requisite techs. For example, the new Fed structure states in the science screen that it requires Propulsion 7 - that is how I've programmed it, although it becomes available at Biotech 4 (the old Genesis Research Lab tech). I am aware of the probable solution, suffice it to say it is complicated, but I am working on the problem.

CREDITS

Dafedz Ultimate Mod by dafedz (also known as capt_picard_05 on the Zone for BOTF Multiplayer), and also known as The Red Admiral in modelling circles. 
website- www.trekmania.net

email- here

CREDITS
----------------

-Jigalypuff was a solid supporter of my mod since day one, and his assistance has been great and sincerely appreciated. And Jig has an uncanny talent for tracking down old and obscure software (from the Botf creation era) that was necessary to correctly convert these models.

-Some of the textures for existing Federation and Klingon ships are new refined textures, created for the Texture Mod, created by Jeremy.

Email
jpritcha@uoguelph.ca

-Chingwa (from the Remnant Board) (AKA Ghlynn at AFC) for offering very helpful assistance on how to more efficiently order and structure the texture list. Without his input the textures would probably be a lot poorer, utilizing incompatable palettes at lower resolutions. Many thanks Chingwa!

-Captain Chao, for his collaboration with Jig, and useful input in textures and hob code management (he's still working with us on the phaser problem)

--Joker, for his always very informative guides to some of the hexing techniques that I often had to reference in the creation of this mod

More info can be found in the Readme file supplied with the Mod. If you desire information regarding how much of this is was done, I recommend you follow this link for Jokers excellent tutorials on hex editing.

DOWNLOAD ULTIMATE MOD | TUTORIAL ON HOW THE SHIPS WERE ADDED

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