Star Trek: THE BATTLE FOR THE ALPHA QUADRANT (version 2.1)

By kobayashi a.k.a. Patrick Choo  (email: pchoo@netvigator.com)


1.01 INTRODUCTION
-----------------
This scenario requires Fantastic Worlds.  To use it, after 
unzipping, move the folder "trek" into the civ2/scenario 
folder. If the sound folder comes in a seperate zip file, it 
must be moved into the "trek" folder.

There is an optional planetary screen, city.gif, which should
replace the same file in the main civ directory. Make sure you
rename the original city.gif (like to Ocity.gif) or move it to
a safe place.

Star Trek and all things to do with Star Trek are copyrighted 
by Paramount so this scenario is not to be used for commercial 
purposes as I don't want to be sued.

From now on the scenario will be referred to as ST:BAQ.

The civilpedia and advice files are fully updated for ST:BAQ 
so I won't go deep into the stats and abilities of different 
units and improvements. You'll probably enjoy discovering 
everything yourself when you play more than reading it here. 

REMEMBER: USE THE CIVILPEDIA and CLICK HELP REGULARLY!


1.02 BRIEFING AND OBJECTIVES
---------------
It is the 23rd Century and different races are just beginning 
to discover warp drive, and explore and colonize the vastness
of the Final Frontier - Space. As per the events depicted in 
Star Trek - First Contact, the BORG have arrived (not next to 
Earth thankfully) but in this time-line the Enterprise-E does 
not go back in time to save everyone from assimilation. A 
battle for domination in the Alpha Quadrant then ensues.

The Objective - Kill the BORG and Destroy the other two major 
races. You need 15 objective points to win decisively. The game
begins in March 2200 and ends in June 2362. This is equivalent
to 650 turns of three months each. 

If you ultimately find the game staring too slow you can:
 a. toggle the scenario flag
 b. set reveal map to mercernary
 c. set player to no human
 d. hit return a hundred times (or how ever many times)
 e. save as a scenario TREK1

but from my experience, the BORG are not nearly as menacing as
the states of war are automatically cancelled if you do this. 
You shouldn't do this on your first game or you'll miss all 
the messages from turn 1-100.


1.03 HOUSE RULES
----------------
There is a stupid bug in the game engine which allows you to 
take any advance the AI player has after the AI has agreed to 
trade a specific advance with you. Do not choose any advance 
other than the one offered - this is considered cheating and 
besides it will spoil the game.

Do not rename any cities as some of them are required for
events to occur.


1.04 KOBAYASHI NO-WIN SCENARIO
------------------------------
Version 2.0 onwards will contain an option to include a 
positive feedback advantage for the BORG which will make the 
game much harder to win. Under the no-win challange, the BORG 
do not kill ground units, they assimilated them into the 
collective. This means that the BORG become invincible once 
they get the upper hand. The no-win option is not active when 
the scenario is installed.

To activate the no-win option, rename Events.txt to OEvents.txt
and then rename NEvents.txt to Events.txt To deactivate the
no-win option, simply reverse the process. Rename Events.txt to
NEvents.txt and then rename OEvents.txt to Event.txt.

THE NO-WIN OPTION IS VERY VERY DIFFICULT. IF YOU FEEL YOU ARE
EXCEPTIONALLY GIFTED, YOU MAY TRY SKIPPING THE BASIC SCENARIO.
OTHERWISE, I RECOMMEND LEAVING IT TILL LATER. ON THE OTHER 
HAND, PLAYING THE BASIC SCENARIO FIRST MEANS YOU WILL NOT HAVE 
THE CHALLENGE OF PLAYING THE NO-WIN OPTION WITHOUT PRIOR 
KNOWLEDGE.

Personally, I was able to achieve all 15 objective points by
Sept 2312 (451 turns), and I did it without using Geneisis.
But then I made the game and I know where everything is.


2.01 MAIN TRIBES - FEDERATION (Earth = 3 Objective Points)
-----------------------------
ST:BAQ has three main tribes or races meant for the player.

The FEDERATION believes in expansion via peaceful means where
possible. A medium difficulty race to play, alliances and
peaceful expansion is the way to go before the fast research 
capability kicks in. In the true time-line, the Federation is
supposed to ally with the Neutrals and protect them. In ST:BAQ
you can play them anyway you like.
   
Advantages:    

Eventually able to develop the 'Democracy' type of government.
              
Federation Ships have the best defense profile (other the BORG)
              
Federation begins knowing where Vulcan (of the Neutrals) is.

Federation has ONE super attack unit that can be discovered.

Federation has the least research before getting a starship.

Disadvantages: 

No tribe specific wonder. 
              
No ships with cloaking abilities.


2.02 MAIN TRIBES - KLINGONS (Qo'Nos = 3 Objective Points)
---------------------------
The KLINGONs are a warrior race bent on subjugating the 
quadrant with brute force. This is the most straight forward
race to play, just research and attack.

Advantages:    

Klingon Ships have the best attack profile (other the BORG)
              
Able to build the Klingon Academy Wonder = best ground forces.

Klingons have ONE super defence unit that can be discovered.
              
Some mid-game Klingon ships can cloak.

Disadvantages: 

Klingons are not given an advanced government which they can 
naturally discover. Thus corruption will become a major problem
as the Klingons expand.


2.03 MAIN TRIBES - ROMULANS (Romulus = 3 Objective Points)
---------------------------
The ROMULANS are a secretive people who will resort to any 
means of expansion. In my opinion, the hardest of the three 
to play. You need to make good use of their super-spying 
abilities and stealth craft.

Advantages:    

Many Romulan Ships have the ability to cloak, including 
freighter, thus it is the only race that can do supprise
amphibious assaults.
              
The Tal'Shair (Romulan Intelligence Service) is a Romulan 
wonder.
              
Eventually able have the 'Imperialism' type of government.
This allows advanced infiltration teams which are equivalent 
to spies under communism.
              
Only Romulans can build plasma torpedoes. They are available
before cobalt devices and they are cheap.

Romulans may develop the MindRules advance for a telepath unit.

Disadvantages: 

Cloaked ships can't attack ground units.
              
Romulans have no Soverign/Neg'var equivalent.

Takes the longest time to get the first starship.


2.04 OTHER TRIBES (No Objective Cities)
-----------------
One minor race is the ORIONs. Their economy relies on 
trading with the strong and raiding the weak. Their default
government is Syndication (Democracy in Civ2).

The other minor race is the NEUTRALS. They are the un-united 
remainder of the quadrant. Although militarily weak in the 
first half of the scenario, they quickly become the most
scientifically advanced race. Their default government is 
Seperatism (Despotism in Civ2)


2.05 THE BORG
-------------
The Borg are not meant for playing. You will have a very boring
game in which you are sure to win if you play the Borg. Only
AI limitations give the other races a fair chance to survive. 
The Borg can have the collectivism (Fundementalist) type
government so choosing a higher difficulty level really makes 
them powerful. The Borg understand only two things - Tri-cobalt
devices and the Genesis Torpedo so make sure you learn to speak
their lingo as fast as you can. 

Borg technology is not meant for the other races and any 
attempt to acquire Borg specific technology may result in the
acquiring race being destroyed. Incidently if you have the 
Memory Prime (Great Library) Wonder and another race is 
destroyed by their greed for Borg tech, you will be destroyed 
as well. On the same note, if you give your race specific 
advances, like Excelsior Design, to any other race, you are
also giving it to whoever has built Memory Prime.


3.01 TERRAIN
------------
Most of the ST:BAQ map is empty space(Ocean) and as you may have
guessed by now, unlike the Masters of the Orion scenario, this 
is an island type game where you need starships to travel 
between planets. Ground units cannot walk in outerspace.

Generally the M-type planets (blue or green) have an abundant
balance of resources and energy sources and are ideal for 
colonising. They also have a breatheble atmosphere and ample 
water.

          food,  minerals, energy,

Class M1    2       0        1
Class M2    1       2        0 
Class M3    2       1        0

Other planet types are H,I,J an K. 

Class H planets are very hot arid planets with some mineral 
deposits. 

Class D1 and D2 are rocky planets which more attractive than 
Class H planets. 

Class I planets are frozen planets on which no food can grow. 

Class K planets are reasonably productive planets. Like Mars, 
they have M characteristics but no atmosphere. 

Class J planets are gas giants which can produce a bit of food

You can generally guess what resources a planet might have by 
looking at the colour of the planet. The Suns and asteroid 
fields are not planets but offer good minerals and energy.


4.01 ADVANCES
-------------
The ST:BAQ tech tree generally conforms to canon Trek tech 
except where the dynamics of the CIV2 engine forces some 
creative additions. Unlike Civ2, there are no epochs. The 
tech icons come in five flavours:

Weapons - an armour clad figure firing a weapon on a turquoise
background

Infotech - represented by ones and zeros on a rich blue 
background

Space Travel - represented by the Apollo Capsule on a black 
background
  
Academic and Science - represented by the atomic symbol on a
green background

Social - represented by the man/woman symbols on a weak blue 
background

Ship designs always require a design specific advance and 
should not be traded away too easily as these designs are race 
specific. Always click help and search the civilpedia when in 
doubt.


5.01 STARSHIP UNITS
-------------------
The Federation starships tend to have stronger defensive 
capabilities while the Klingon starships have better attack 
stats. The Romulans have more balanced starships, many of which
are cloaked. The Neutrals and Orions also have their own ships 
but they are generally inferior and there are less designs to 
choose from. 

The majority of starships are 'carriers' although there are no 
aircraft except for probes. It is very useful to launch and 
retrieve probes from your starships as probes have exceptional 
range and can detect hidden dangers.

The general rule for Starship stats for a generation of designs
are as follows but are not written in stone:

                Attack     Defense
Federation        X          X+1
Klingon           X+1        X-1
Romulan           X          X
Cloaked           X+2        X/2


5.02 CLOAKED UNITS
------------------
Cloaked ships are submarines. Many Romulan ships and a few 
Klingon ships have the cloaking ability while Federation ships 
can never cloak (because of the Treaty of Algeron). Because
they cannot use active sensors without giving away their 
position, cloaked ships cannot see what is happening on a
planet. This applies even to cloaked ships like scouts which
can detect other cloaked ships. Also take note that cloaked 
ships stay cloaked perpetually and cannot attack land units. 
If you never used submarines much before, you should also be
warned that cloaked ships are not invisible when they move.


5.03 COBALT DEVICES AND PHOTON ARTILLERY
----------------------------------------
The bi-Cobalt and tri-Cobalt devices are cruise missile type 
units with a very short range but a heavy punch. They can also 
operate for two turns before running out of gas. Besides 
probes, cobalt devices are another essential item to carry on 
your starships.

One special unit which warrants mentioning is the photon
artillery unit, which is a land based carrier or a mobile 
airbase. It can refuel and fire missile units and has Aegis 
level protection against missiles. It is also wonderfully 
convenient as a land based transfer point for moving cobalt 
devices from city to city since cobalt devices have a very 
short range. However, due to the limitations of a game engine,
they will not 'drag' missiles along with them when they move.

While we're on the subject, airbases in ST:BAQ are called 
forward bases and appear as blue moons. While airbases are not 
often used in CIV2, they are important in ST:BAQ because of the 
miserly range of cobalt devices. When they are active, there is
a bright yellow strip of light running from the north pole to 
the south pole.


5.04 SCISSORS-PAPER-STONE SYSTEM
--------------------------------
The ST:BAQ system of space units is such that different ship
types are given complimentary abilities and weaknesses much 
like in the StarCraft Brood War ground-air balance scheme. 
This forces players to build fleets of more than one ship 
design for maximum effectiveness. A very good diagram 
explaining how different classes of starships are balanced 
is found in the file README.GIF.

REMEMBER: OPEN THE FILE README.GIF FOR REFEENCE. But in case
you don't, in brief:
  
   only scouts and probes can see stealth craft
   only scouts can destroy probes and missiles
   stealth craft cannot attack ground units


5.05 CODES UNDER MILITARY ADVISOR (F2)
--------------------------------------

Carry x  = Can ferry x number of ground units
SR       = Short Ranged Craft
Kill SR  = Can Intercept Short Ranged Craft
C-2      = Can See 2 Spaces
IgnZOC   = Ignores Zone of Control
IgnODP   = Ignores Orbital Defence Platforms
Bm       = Beam-In Attacker
Cloaker  = Cloaked Ship
Cob      = Can Carry Cobalt (and Probes)
LR-Bm    = Long Range Beam-In Attacker
Fast     = All Squares are Roads
x2vsMob  = 1.5x Defence vs Fast Units
x2vsMis  = 1.5x Defence vs Cobalt Devices
Coastal  = Not Used
No Sup   = Not Support Needed under Collectivism
Sensors  = Can Spot Cloaked Ships


6.01 KNOWN BUGS AND OTHER DIFFICIENCIES
---------------------------------------

I can't find where to change some menu items, so for example
you still have to choose airlift or press 'L' to use the 
null-space catapult.

A asterisk appears next to the First Contact wonder in the 
build menu very early, long before Rodinium, the advance that
makes it expire has been discovered.

At one point, the advice box says "we should research XX so we
can build Battle Drone". Only the BORG will get Battle Drone.

In version 2.0, the Power graph doesn't work now that each turn
is 3 months.

The French appear in the guillotine sequence after you are the
only race left in the quadrant.

For MGE players, the triple objective cities will not register,
so just kill everyone without worrying about the objectives.
You may also have less diplomatic options but this does not
affect the game significantly.

There is a very small chance that the BORG actually will
research all the way to the other races ships if they control
most of the map. You would probably have given up long before 
that.

Special thanks to my chief tester, Kevin Leung who discovered 
among other things: global warming, schism of empires and the 
inability to build the genesis torpedo because of a missing 
advance. - these have been fixed.


7.01 CREDITS
------------
I can take credit for doing all the trek specific art - like
the starships, Borg units and space stations. They have a 
little kb marked at the top left corner. Most of the other 
units and icons were taken or modified from existing sources.
My apologies- in the many rounds of re-editing, initials of 
those who did the original unmodified art were lost although 
more than one had the initials jc. Many were modified from the
scenarios in FW as I'm sure you'll recognize.

Any art that I drew myself you can use without asking me. Since
other people's little initials were erased when I did my 
scenario, I only ask that ST:BAQ is mentioned in the readme if 
any of my art is used.

Many useful suggestions were offered by John Valdez, including
the need for more events, leading to version 2.0.

Many thanks to tips posted on Scenario League without which 
this scenario would have turned out to be a fiasco like my  
first attempt. Special commendations to the following articles.

Advanced Scenario Design   by Leon Marrick
The Barbarian Paper   by William Keenan
FW Advances Slot Properties   by William Keenan
Using Improvements and Wonders   by Michael Daumen
Using Your Units   by Michael Daumen


8.01 UPDATES
-----------
Let me know if you find inappropriate messages or other 
inconsistencies. Suggestions for rebalancing are also welcome.

Changes in version 1.1 to 1.3 include

a. K'vort is now given carrier status (it was supposed to be)
b. Trek type terminology when choosing difficulty level
c. Update of the Borg reply when you try to negotiate
d. Added some events relating to the BORG
e. Borg is now more of a menance and attacks earlier
f. Addition of random Ion Storms
g. Addition of 4 tribe specific units and a few tribe specific
   events
h. Updated some city names and other inappropriate terms

Changes in version 2.0 - Jan 2001 were major:

   The scenario storyline which was not ready for version 1.x
   has finally been coded into the scenario. The events.txt 
   file is huge now and the scenario unfolds in chapters. 

   The KOBAYASHI NO-WIN option is now available for anyone
   who wants a new challenge after playing the game in its 
   original specifications (See 1.04).

a. Sword of Kahless no longer goes with the first ship that 
   leaves orbit.
b. Defiant had submarine ability removed so it could attack
   ground units. Defiant no longer makes the helicopter sound.
c. Starbases hit points increased to 4, this solved the 
   'Fedeation AI doesn't build starbase' problem. Also makes
   starbases viable until the end as defensive structures.
d. The Interface windows has been changed to blue so you can 
   tell it is version 2.x
e. It is now easier to spot unexplored space. Previously, both
   explored and unexplored spaces were different shades of 
   black.
f. The scenario now ends after about 160 years or 650 turns.
   Each turn is now three months instead of one in keeping with
   the Star Trek time line.
g. There are now objective points, 3 per planet and 15 points 
   are needed to win decisively.
h. Ion Storms will no longer attack ground units. But they will
   attack short-range units now.
i. A few non-unit sounds: spy, build-city, civil-disorder and
   buy, were changed to trek-themed sounds.
j. One new unit, the derelict, was added. 
k. Most starships now cannot be built by the Borg even in the
   unlikely case where they research the right advances.
l. I didn't know that frequent use of nukes can still cause 
   global warming even when pollution is eliminated. Global 
   warming messages have been updated accordingly.
m. Minor tinkering with graphics, stats and messages.
n. This file has had its width narrowed so it prints properly.

Changes in version 2.1 - May 2001 were minor:

   Mostly added stuff which I developed for ST:Dominion War.

a. updated several units icons from ST:DW
b. BAQ now uses the shield icon for fortified troops
c. LCARS type city.gif added
d. people are now starfleet people.
e. interface screen look has been improved and is no longer 
   blue.
f. my e-mail has been changed
g. starting units are not fortified so you will jump to your
   starting city at the start.
h. fixed some references to the original improvements and typos
   in the pedia.
i. The advice files have been updated so they work properly.
  
I'm finally satisfied that any further changes short of starting
from scratch would only result in a very marginal improvement. 
So I wouldn't be expecting an update anytime soon if I were you.
 
Possible changes I am considering in the next version are:

  Energy Barrier graphics around the map perimeter.

==============

A Final Note to fellow Star Trek Enthusiasts:

"I'm a fund manager, not a software professional." 
I think I have done my best to portray the Star Trek Universe 
accurately while squeezing the maximum out of the Civ2 game 
engine. I hope that you enjoy the scenario.

Having three playable races has extended the playability of the
scenario but this has limited me to using mostly AI-friendly 
units as the AI is always controling two of the major races. It
has also limited the number of different starships that each 
race may have - thus no Miranda, Nebula, Intrepid, Akira, 
Steamrunner, Norway, Saber, Centaur, New Orleans class ships.
There was also no room for the Cardassian Union or Ferenggi 
Alliance. My newer scenario, Star Trek: Dominion War has been 
released and has many of these things as you only play as the
Federation in that scenario.

The "Clydesdale" freighter is a beautiful SFC ship I borrowed. 
All other freighters, the Romulan "Hawk" scout and "Vulture" 
cruiser, and the generic "Patrol" cruiser were borrowed from 
other games or invented out of neccessity. The cargo-pod is 
actually a Kazon-Ogla cruiser which I digitized but could not 
use. "Sunseed" is a concept created by Diane Duane.



Live Long and Prosper.

