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Star Trek Starfleet Command II: Empires at War: FAQ

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GENERAL QUESTIONS

1. When was Star Trek Starfleet Command II: Empires at War released?
2. What are Star Trek Starfleet Command II: Empires at War' system requirements?
3. Who made this great game?
4. What's the latest version?
5. Is there a demo for Star Trek Starfleet Command II: Empires at War?
6. How are missions created, and what sorts of tasks will players be charged with?
7. In the official description of the game, it is mentioned that the multiplayer metaverse includes thousands of players in a single campaign. How does this work?
8. Can players jump into an existing metaverse campaign?
9. What are the multiplayer options?
10. Where are the cheat codes?

GAME QUESTIONS

1. I can't keep up with the pace of the game. Can I slow it down?
2. Am I limited to four weapon group presets?
3. Does the Hull Integrity meter measure how much "life" remains in my ship?
4. If the phaser capacitor control marker is set to the midway point, will it still charge to full power?
5. I can't tell if an enemy ship's plasma weapons are charging, because I can't get close enough without them firing on me.
6. How can I minimize my risk of taking damage?
7. My defensive systems are overwhelmed by the number of missiles inbound for my ship. What can I do?
8. How can I defeat a Weasel?
9. Should I fully counter an ECM or ECCM shift?
10. Is using a Repel beam the only way to defeat a tractor beam?

GENERAL QUESTIONS ANSWERS

	1. When was Star Trek Starfleet Command II: Empires at War released? December 20, 2000.

	2. What are Star Trek Starfleet Command II: Empires at War' system requirements? These are the system requirements listed on the boxes: Minimum System Requirements: Pentium® III 500Mhz processor or better without 3-D accelerator Pentium® II 350Mhz processor or better with 3-D accelerator Microsoft Windows® 95/98/2000 operating system with DirectX 7.0 (included) 64 MB RAM 550 MB of free hard drive space 4x or faster CD-ROM drive Microsoft® compatible mouse and keyboard Compatible with D3D supported video cards Multiplayer supported (up to 6 players) via TCP/IP, MPlayer, or Flipside.com.
	3. Who made this great game? The game is being developed by Taldren and 14 Degrees East. The game is being produced by Interplay.

	4. What's the latest version? The latest official patch is 2.0.3.6. Download it here.

	5. Is there a demo for Star Trek Starfleet Command II: Empires at War? Yes! Check out our downloads section.

	6. How are missions created, and what sorts of tasks will players be charged with? Missions are based on so many factors that I can't list them all here. They include map positions, sector strengths, and ship classes. You can embark on many different missions including convoy raids, planetary assaults, and ambushes.

	7. In the official description of the game, it is mentioned that the multiplayer metaverse includes thousands of players in a single campaign. How does this work? Basically you are playing two different games when you play the metaverse. The strategic map will hold potentially thousands of players moving around a large map looking for an encounter. When players or AI ships meet, they are transported to a briefing before fighting a battle in our traditional tactical game. When the battle is over or all the ships have exited, you are transported back to the strategic map, and the results are shown on how you affected the universe.

	8. Can players jump into an existing metaverse campaign? Yes. You can join campaigns already in progress.

	9. What are the multiplayer options? There are as many as five different types of multiplayer connections available to you depending on your computer setup. Buttons that are blacked out are not available on your system. Dynaverse II- Logon to the Dynaverse II experience using a flipside.com account through your pre-established Internet connection. The Dynaverse II is an online campaign where you may join a Cartel or Empire and participate in the active defense of it. It includes special missions that can be either a multiplayer or single player experience. The Dynaverse II is an immersive experience provided free 24/7 to purchasers of SFC. Standard Multiplayer- Logon to gamespyacade.com for standard multiplayer games. Gamespy acrade is a free matching service, available 24/7, which allows you to find an opponent from the Internet Community. LAN TCP/IP- This multiplayer option requires an installed TCP/IP protocol, and is for use over an available Local Area Network (LAN). If TCP/IP is not installed, this button will be blacked out. LAN TCP/IP games can support up to six players. LAN IPX- If you are running on an IPX-based local area network (LAN), you can choose this type of multiplayer setup. The IPX protocol must be installed, otherwise this button will be blacked out. IPX games can support up to six players. TCP/IP- This requires an installed TCP/IP protocol. If you are using a modem to connect to an Internet Service Provider that supports TCP/IP connections, you need to run Dial-Up Networking before you start Starfleet Command. Direct TCP/IP games can support up to six players.

	10. Where are the cheat codes? Yes! Check out our cheats section.

GAME QUESTIONS ANSWERS

	1. I can't keep up with the pace of the game. Can I slow it down? The pace of the game may be changed; in single-player, games may be changed while in play by using the "[" and "]" keys. If you are new to the SFC universe or just prefer a more leisurely paced game, use the "[" key to slow down the passage of time in the game. If a game speed of 1 is still a little too fast, single-player games may be paused by using the Pause key on your keyboard to give you even more time to familiarize yourself with the controls. When it comes time to speed up the pace of the game, use the "]" key to pick up the pace. You cannot change the pace of the game during a muliplayer game. The host will choose what game speed you will play at during the setup of the game.

	2. Am I limited to four weapon group presets? Not exactly. Many people use one of the four available weapon group presets as an "all weapons" group. This is unnecessary, however, as an "all weapons" button is already built in. The "R" key which brings you to Red Alert status also selects all weapon systems, so if you're already at Red Alert then just think of the "R" key as the fifth weapon group, and save the other four for different groupings.

	3. Does the Hull Integrity meter measure how much "life" remains in my ship? The Hull Integrity meter does not truly measure the "life" remaining in your ship, rather it measures the BPV remaining in your ship. The BPV of a ship is a calculation of the ship's value in a battle; so there is a heavy weight placed on weapons, and to a lesser extent, energy producing systems. Keep in mind that a ship can become unstable and explode with systems still left in tact. Therefore, the meter may not ba at zero when a ship explodes. In addition, a large scale 'Alpha Strike' type attack is more likely to destroy a weakened ship than a Mizia attack.

	4. If the phaser capacitor control marker is set to the midway point, will it still charge to full power? The phaser capacitor control is often misunderstood. If the marker is set to the midway point of the capacitor, it will still charge to full power. However instead of taking one turn to completely charge, it would take two turns (assuming no phasers are fired) to reach full capacity. If the marker were set to 1/4 of the total, it would take four turns to fully charge the capacitor (again assuming no phasers were fired). This is a handy tool that can be used to free up energy from the power hungry phasers when not needed, for other uses such as ECM.

	5. I can't tell if an enemy ship's plasma weapons are charging, because I can't get close enough without them firing on me. Use a probe to check the status of the weapons. Just as the probe reaches the ship, and only for a second, your sensor display will show you the status of the target's weapon systems just as if you were close enough for your onboard sensors to show you that information.

	6. How can I minimize my risk of taking damage? Here are two ways to minimize your risk of taking damage: Remember to use the tactical MFD, which shows a schematic of the target ship and the status of its weapons. If you're within transporter range of the target, then you're close enough to see if it has weapons charged that will be in arc of your downed shield. If possible, try to execute the raid during a turn. If you time it just right, the shield that is lowered to transport the marines will not be the one facing the enemy when transport is complete. Finally, maximizing the damage done by your raids doesn’t always equate to hitting one system at a time with all available transporters. Rather than focus all your marines on one system, it’s better in many situations to distribute each wave of raids over many different systems. Although you are less likely to completely destroy a given weapon or system in this way, you will usually succeed in partially damaging some of them. This presents the enemy with a hard choice: spend precious repair parts on partially damaged weapons all over the ship, or save the spare parts and live with a lower overall combat effectiveness. Either way, it’s an advantage for you.

	7. My defensive systems are overwhelmed by the number of missiles inbound for my ship. What can I do? If you can place a mine between your ship and the path of the incoming missiles, the missiles will trigger the mine's proximity fuse as they pass through its detection area. The resulting detonation will destroy all missiles in the blast radius.

	8. How can I defeat a Weasel? Nothing ruins a plasma captain's day like a wild weasel. Launching those deadly plasma torpedoes only to see them trail off and impact harmlessly into a shuttle can be a frustrating experience. Fortunately, there are some tactics you can employ to defeat the weasel. A ship cannot deploy shuttles while its being tractored. You can use this to your advantage by closing to tractor range and "anchoring" the target before firing your torps. This has the additional benefit of keeping the target from outrunning the plasma and diffusing it, and is doubly effective if you turn your own ship so as to pull the target into the torpedoes. A ship can only have so many shuttles, so it's to your advantage to try to make the target waste the weasels as often as possible. One way to do this is by making use of pseudo torpedoes. The target can't really afford to guess whether a torpedo is real or not, so incoming pseudos may trick the enemy into launching a weasel. Another technique is to avoid launching all your torpedoes at once. If you alternate, firing one or two at a time, then you will still have the rest ready to go once the weasel is used up.

	9. Should I fully counter an ECM or ECCM shift? Sometimes you don't have enough power to fully counter an ECM or ECCM shift. In fact, it's not always desirable to counter the enemy's EW levels point-for-point. Take for example this situation: you're facing an enemy ship which has four points of ECM, meaning that four points of energy are being expended to produce a 2-shift to fire through; bad odds for your weapons. By spending only one point of energy on ECCM you can drop that to a 1-shift. And by expending one more point on ECM, you present the enemy with the same 1-shift. The bottom line is that for 50% less power you have made the odds even.

	10. Is using a Repel beam the only way to defeat a tractor beam? Using a Repel beam isn't the only way to defeat a tractor beam. Conducting a successful Hit and Run raid focused on the enemy's tractor will also do the job. Similarly, if you are the one doing the tractoring, taking out the enemy's tractor system will prevent him from breaking your Hold beam with a Repel beam.