Star Trek: Birth of the Federation (also known as Star Trek: The Next Generation: Birth of the Federation and Birth of the Federation) is a 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by MicroProse Alameda and published by Hasbro Interactive. The game was initially released in 1999 for Windows personal computers.
The game is set in the Star Trek fictional universe, specifically related to Star Trek: The Next Generation. The player takes control of one of five civilisations, either the Federation, Ferengi, Klingons, Romulans or Cardassians. Thirty other races from the Star Trek universe are included as minor races in the game. In addition to the strategy mode of the game, Birth of the Federation also features a 3D combat mode which uses the Falcon 4.0 engine.
The game's release was intended to tie-in with the film Star Trek: Insurrection. Birth of the Federation received average to good ratings from critics, who praised the look of the game but were critical of the AI of enemy factions, the research technologies and the time it took to play. It was compared to other games such as Master of Orion II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.
Gameplay
The game is a 4X turn-based computer strategy game set in The Next Generation era of Star Trek, with only starships and races from that series and movies. There are no ships or races from The Original Series or Star Trek: Voyager unless they appeared on The Next Generation. For example, the Romulan Warbird from The Next Generation appears, but the Romulan Bird of Prey from The Original Series does not. There are also separate screens for empire research, colony management, intelligence and diplomacy which are all accessed from a right-click main menu.
Space Battles are turn-based, and allow for the player to issue orders to individual vessels. The player then watches the two sides follow their respective orders at the same time.
The player is also required to manage resources for their empire. At an individual system level, the player must manage energy to power structures, food to feed the population and industry units which determines how quickly ships and structures can be constructed. Across an empire, the player must also manage credits which allow for structures and ships to be instantly constructed, to support ships beyond the maximum allowed by the population and to be used as gifts or bribes. In addition to population, the number of starships that an empire can build simultaneously is restricted by the number of dilithium refineries it owns.
Factions
Although the title of the game is Birth of the Federation, the player can choose from five major powers: The Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Cardassian Union, and the Ferengi Alliance. Each minor race adds a unique ability to the empire that controls them, for example the Bolians allow the player to construct a building which increases the effectiveness of spies in the game, and the Betazoids (with their telepathy) boost the effectiveness of counterintelligence.
The 3D battle sequences used the Falcon 4.0 engine, with each vessel rendered fully. Microprose previewed the game alongside Star Trek: Klingon Honour Guard at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, in May 1998.
The release of Birth of the Federation was intended to coincide with the theatrical release of the film Star Trek: Insurrection. Birth of the Federation was released on May 25, 1999, in the United States,
Reception
The game received average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Mark Hill's review in PC Zone praised the turn based strategy mode, but described the battle sequences as "somewhat lacking". After one week, it dropped to tenth place, and then moved out of the top ten altogether in the week after that.
In 2017, PC Gamer ranked the game among the best Star Trek games.