Some Kind of Star Trek: October 2023

Tuesday 24 October 2023

Infinite Possibilities

Paradox Interactive have an illustrious history when it comes to simulation management with winners such as Cities: Skylines and Stellaris under their belt.

2023 adds one more to their repertoire with Star Trek: Infinite. Stellaris fans will recognise it instantly since it is, for the most part, a reskin of that well-played PC game.

Platers choose their initial power from the Federation, Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians before embarking on a galactic expansion. The ultimate aim is to either win on a points victory by the mid-27th Century or manage to absorb different civilisations through diplomacy or conquest. If you're also familiar with the long-running mobile game Fleet Command then this is similar but on steroids and without the need to wait days to complete upgrades or fork out continuously for more parts. Ok, there may not (at launch date) be as many ship or recognisable character options available but I suspect there's more satisfying results in the gameplay.

Just to take the Federation as the example here, players start off with a series of worlds and can then expand through exploring with science vessels and building starbases, mining stations, observation posts and research facilities to build up abilities and resources. Starbases allow for the building of fleets and through research paths you can be commanding fleets of Galaxy Class vessels to defend your borders.

So as you make your way into the game it’s important to build up those resources be they minerals, energy, dilithium or even experience to help progress a growing civilisation. Players can send out colony ships to settle new worlds but be careful what you find as some of them may be more inclined to join with an opposing power than settle for the welcoming arms of the Federation. Don't get hung up on the map being canon-accurate either as it will naturally change a lot over the course of the game and races will not necessarily spawn their societies in the same parts of the galaxy as they did in a previous game. It does mean you can't anticipate where to head out and survey and adds back in the mystery with every new game.

Players will also be joined by a series of familiar faces including Picard, Riker, Sloan, Data and Janeway but these are little more than images of the characters with them adding little to the gameplay. Indeed, the only two that do offer some additional features are Picard and Janeway who are essential to the completion of the Borg mission strand.

The main Mission Tree does divert your empire off into different paths and the benefit of repeat playing is finding out just where these can take you. Do you track a journey where the actions of Section 31 are prioritised or do you tread a more peaceful and open adventure? The choice is yours.

One of the benefits of the Federation Mission Tree is ticking off the tasks to unlock the USS Enterprise-D and her crew which in turn leads to the Enterprise-E. Deep Space Nine can be acquired if players can bring Bajor into the Federation too.

It’s definitely a game that takes a lot of trial and error with some goals becoming out of reach if certain characters die or territory is lost. Take too long on searching the galaxy for example and Picard may have aged himself out of contention to encounter the Borg.

The space combat sequences are very basic if truth be told and more of the gameplay is to be found in scrolling through your planets for potential upgrades of populace resettlement to a more successful colony. Keeping your people happy and occupied makes for a more content Federation and at the same time assists in helping you look like a good place to live. Be careful not to overexpand though as it will stretch resources so players might want to wait before adding another couple of starbase. Perhaps open dialogue with the Bolians or Trill and bring them aboard to stabilise your stats otherwise the Cardassians or Klingons might see territory ripe for the invading.

If you’re looking for a first person, action adventure Trek then this is absolutely not going to tick a single box. This is all about planning, patience and tactics. When to expand and where, what travel lines you can open up and how you can link the different parts of the Federation together for the benefit and security of all.

I can guarantee that if you are into that management style game then be prepared to sink a fair few hours into it. Yes, there are ‘issues’ with the timeline in that uniforms don’t change depending on the century or that you could be using Excelsior class when you'd be lucky not to be retiring a Constitution III Class. Really the size of the ship is more of a guide to how advanced your civilisation has become and the calendar sort of becomes irrelevant in terms of "factual" Star Trek history. It actually becomes more of a reminder of just how long you have until that peace accord wears off and you can get attacked again. You will inevitably go through a lot of planetary governors, scientists, admirals, spies and generals all of which cost resources to purchase. Repeated plays (and regular saves!) will help you hone skills and also utilise parts of the game you may never have touched before.

If you've never played Stellaris then Infinite might seem overwhelming initially and the tour at the start is frankly atrocious. I dived in, paddled a bit and took some risks on my first game just to see how the whole thing worked. It was well worth it and on the restart I scored a win with the Federation although slightly hollow as the Cardassians invaded Earth and Vulcan at the exact same time I integrated the final society.

Expansions seem to be a possibility too and even with the initial game there are two options, the slightly more expensive offering a Klingon voice pack and the California Class among other titillating extras.

I'm not a huge PC gamer and have only Cities: Skylines as experience when it comes to Paradox Interactive but in terms of this one I'm hooked in if only to try all of the scenarios and outcomes. I'm even invested in seeing where I can shave down time or put more effort into one direction than another just to see if the end result is more favourable. If you want something that will make you think, has decent enough graphics and sets itself in the Star Trek universe then this is well worth the price at under £30 and will provide hours of thought and gameplay. Just be prepared for the mental onslaught at the beginning and you'll be fine.

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Friday 20 October 2023

Shuttle Run: Lower Decks Yosemite

The go-to shuttle for Lower Decks, the Yosemite is yet ANOTHER of the lost models Eaglemoss teased but never released.

Now in the hands - and warehouses - of Master Replicas this is only the fourth craft to be boxed and shipped (four as both the Titan and Cerritos received mid and XL editions).

A classic boxy design, there are immediate echoes of the Galileo from The Original Series which are much more evident when you get to see this one up close. There's also the callback to the TNG shuttle windows with the drop edge around the name, that lovely drop forward window but sadly no blast shield!

There is tragically one huge, almost gut-wrenching error on this one. Possibly the biggest mistake in Eaglemoss history and you have to wonder if this is one of the reasons it never made it to the website. The registry is wrong. Apparently - and I can’t confirm this - there are two versions. One with the 75567 number and this one with 77567. However, if we move past a decal which can be corrected, this is still a pretty fine model from Lower Decks.

The Yosemite is superbly detailed aside from this with prominent yet simple panelling across its hull. Minus point though since the panel lines are decals and when you’re up close it’s very evident that not all of them fully line up with the recesses in the bodywork.

It’s also in a plain white colour, avoiding the standard live action aztecing which potentially adds to that visual blockiness. The windows are indeed blacked out to avoid having to detail the interior and Eaglemoss have finished it off with a simple yellow stripe and bold, blocked colour again for the impulse engines and bay door to the rear.

For the engines the bussard collectors and end tips are coloured plastic although there are translucent elements for the warp grilles and a further stripe of yellow to finish off. Simplicity works perfectly here with the Yosemite coming out as a real winner thanks to the minimalistic animated realisation. Ok, the registry is annoying but I have to let it go given the circumstances of its release however the fact that these models have been found and made available more than counters it.

Stand positioning is very stable with the Yosemite sitting on a flat clear plastic "holder" plugged into the standard black base. As one of the few main line shuttles it is massively off scale from every other ship yet it's just one of those that deserves to be out on a shelf thanks to its rare nature.