Star Trek: Starfleet Command III
Windows - 2002
Description of Star Trek: Starfleet Command III
Starfleet Command III is an excellent sequel to Starfleet Command II, arguably the best strategy game based on Star Trek franchise ever made.
While it "dumbs down" many features to attract casual gamers, it still packs enough options and addictive gameplay to merit our Top Dog tag. Since the closure of developer Taldren, many fans of the series as well as ex-Taldren employees have been churning out new patches and mods to make the experience even better.
Adrenaline Vault's superb review has the lowdown: "Starfleet Command III is a blatant grab for popular appeal. Not only has it remained faithful to the more popular elements of Star Trek, including the Next Generation setting, it's also significantly reduced the number of tactical options available in the game.
Compared to its predecessor, it ships on one less disc and with a manual one-third the size. Also lacking is a cardboard table describing weapon ranges and accuracy. Rather than eight playable factions, there are now four, only three of which are playable in the campaigns. Ships now have four shield facings instead of six, eschewing the hex-based nature of the original combat system. Fighters and carriers have been removed, and although the smaller shuttlecraft still remain, they too have less exotic capabilities than before. Decoys and pseudo-torpedoes are gone. Players are no longer able to target incoming projectiles in an attempt to destroy them or reduce their effectiveness, nor can tractor beams be used to temporarily keep missiles at bay. There aren't even any missiles.
Combat primarily revolves around the use of shields and positioning the ship during combat to take full advantage of them. Each ship has four shield arcs that are able to absorb damage before failing, recharging at a slight rate throughout the course of a battle. It's also possible to reinforce one particular arc. Not only does that individual segment become stronger, any damage that it suffers is spread out among the three other arcs. A successful captain can ensure that the majority of the damage that he or she receives is dealt to the shield, rather than directly to the ship's hull.
Offensively, position is also the key to victory; each weapon typically has a limited field of fire, meaning that a vessel has to remain mobile to take advantage of its full arsenal. Turning to bring additional weapons to the fore has to be balanced with protecting one's own weakened shields while targeting exactly that section of the enemy's. Range is also an important consideration as the accuracy and damage potential of weapons tend to decrease with distance. Accuracy is also affected by the angular velocity between the two vessels at the moment of fire, a new addition to the series that, for the first time, takes full advantage of its presence on the computer platform. As ships increase in speed and become closer to one another, shearing off at disparate angles, the angular velocity increases, making shots all but impossible, allowing smaller ships to exploit hit and run tactics. All of this makes for a tremendously intriguing game.
There are many additional tactical options for players to attend to during the course of battle. Tractor breams can be used to lock onto enemy vessels, removing angular velocity for easy hits, or even be used to push a ship into an asteroid and destroy it. The opposing captain can use a similar beam to repel that of the first, breaking the connection before any harm is suffered. Individual ship components can be targeted, not only with weapons, but also with away teams that can board an enemy if the facing shield is down. These boarding parties can even attempt to capture the craft. Shuttlecraft can be launched to pester the enemy with light weapons or draw enemy fire. Advanced movement techniques are also available. A high-energy turn can allow a ship to change orientation on a dime, although taking advantage of it too often can result in engine failure. Craft can also engage their warp drives to move at high speeds, although this necessitates the dropping of shields, in a concession to game balance over franchise accuracy. However, energy is no longer a substantial consideration.
In previous games in the series, energy was distributed from a common pool. Not only did weapons and shields draw from it, but also moving, using tractor beams and advanced sensors tapped into the available supply. This factor overshadowed everything a player chose to do. No longer, it would seem, as Next Generation ships have power to spare. While it's possible to tweak the amount of energy allocated to primary and heavy weapons, as well as the shields, there's seldom any reason to do so. Movement and other actions no longer seem to require any energy at all, so as long as the ship has a warp core analogous to the amount of weapons and shields on board, no thought has to be given to energy. Only when the craft's engines are damaged beyond repair is any consideration necessary, but by then, victory is often out of reach.
Starfleet Command III features three campaigns that weave a single story, and as such, the menu screen suggests rather authoritatively that players approach them in chronological order. Taking place shortly after the return of Voyager from the Delta Quadrant and before the upcoming film entitled "Nemesis," the Federation and the Klingon Empire are constructing Unity Station together at the edge of the Neutral Zone bordering on Romulan territory. Players will experience life as a captain on each side of the conflict, which takes place in the Dynaverse 3 setting. In simple terms, Dynaverse 3 is a reactive map, made out of hexagons, that's constantly populated with action and events. This means randomly generated missions are created fairly intelligently, based on the sector in which an encounter takes place. A captain might receive a distress call from a ship or convoy escort duty in friendly territory.
On the other side, his or her role might be to attack a convoy of the enemy. Repeated victories in a hex might shift the balance of power, moving it from one faction to another. All of this builds prestige for a player, who can then use it to command ever-larger vessels. It's also possible to refit a ship with different equipment, tailoring it to suit the goals of a mission or the individual tactics of a captain.
The scripted scenarios of the campaigns take place over the world of Dynaverse 3, meaning that between special events, players are free to take on other missions and engage in other roles, although there's often not much time before they're automatically summoned to the next plot specific mission. Despite the loss of some of the more interesting and exotic features, the core game that made the other offerings in the series so fascinating still remains; after all, many who played Starfleet Command II never advanced to the point where they could truly take advantage of all it had to offer.
While battles are still riveting, the nature of the beast has slightly changed. As it's more difficult to incapacitate and destroy ships' systems, there's never that same sense of danger or elation that pervaded earlier matches. Fast kills are now a thing of the past, and even dreadnoughts are forced to stand toe to toe with their enemies for more than two exchanges. In a sense, combat is even more strategic now, even if it's not possible to disable a foe with a single deluge of missiles after a clever ruse.
Despite being targeted at more casual fans of the Star Trek franchise, the numerous rough edges in Starfleet Command III make it hard to recommend to that demographic, as it hasn't yet received enough polish. As Taldren has typically shown great resolve in addressing such issues through patches, it might be a compelling product for those new to the genre in the near future - even if it now falls short out of the box.
Advanced players and long time fans of Starfleet Battles will rue the simplifications of the rule set, though the great sense of online community still remains and the impressive Next Generation environment will undoubtedly pull them into the game. While many of the design decisions will certainly alienate those on both sides of the fence, Starfleet Command III remains a "must have" for fans of the series. It's Star Trek, and it's good."
Review By HOTUD
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
JD 2023-04-16 1 point
GOG version works for me with 1 change on Widows 10 version 21H2. It crashed 100% of time on first Klingon mission before. Only problem I see now is that the stretch effect in warp drive makes ship invisible instead of stretched.
Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Star Trek SFC3
Right click SFC3.exe and select properties
Go to compatibility tab and enable "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select Windows 8 from the drop down menu.
spookieman 2022-01-07 0 point
I would not be that harsh with GOG.There are the only digital distribution platform that sells not rent games.A lot of old games that no one believed that will work on modern systems ,work with the GoG version.And they are constinuosly patched.If they do not work today they will work one day.And if they do not work you can refund them.I advise you to encourage platforms like GoG because they are a rare bird.
Thrakhath 2021-10-04 0 point
gog version sucks. they once again bought an abandoned game to try and suck in more money. best part.. it doesn't run . good job gog. glad i kept my downloads
AlDaja 2021-09-12 1 point
POSSIBLE FIX!
I believe I may have found a "backdoor" solution to getting the GOG version of the game to work in combination with my W10fix, dgVoodoo and the SFC Launcher as it is supposed to, full screen. You may lose the starfleet delta cursor with this option and be settled with the computer cursor, but I successfully tested the game and it worked without issue as far as I can tell thus far.
Give it a try, and let me know if it worked for you.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/starfleetcommandforums/viewtopic.php?p=132#p132
AlDaja 2021-09-12 1 point
Sadly guys/gals, the GOG version is not pure gold...I hate to say I told you so, but I did post on their site several weeks ago urging them not to release this game until they found a universal solution for ALL Windows 10 configurations...they released it anyway.
Look, some of you are ace-level computer geeks, that's cool and all, but what works for you won't work for everyone and without a complimentary troubleshooting guide (which GOG should have provided) for each possible Windows 10 set-up this game as they have presented it, is a bust. They also modified the application files (Why???), beta patch and god knows what other files to make this work on whatever version of Windows 10 they tested on. The W10 Fix I offer over at Mod DB may work for you, but not for every set up. The fix was and is intended for the CD version of the game in combination with the Taldren v534_b all language patch.
picard 2021-09-11 -1 point
GOG version works perfectly without any shamanism so just go "acquire" that.
Picard 2021-08-09 0 point
Works (for me) on Win 10 with dgVoodoo2. The trick is to set the game to windowed mode in sfc3.ini and then uncheck the "disable Alt-Enter..." option in the DirectX tab of the dgV2 control panel. Then, use the Alt-Enter shortcut in-game to make the game fullscreen. Videos will play in a small window but that's a small niggle.
TokyoGaijin 2021-07-18 0 point
This does NOT work at all!
Barebones install on Win10: Black screen with just the cursor and music.
Win10 Patch - Throws an exception, and a rather nasty one at that.
The other "work-arounds" that are mentioned here - pure garbage! One of them is detected as a trojan. The other doesn't patch a single thing. Nothing works to get this to play on Windows 10.
DO NOT download this game, I'm sad to say. Nothing will get this work and you'll brick your computer trying. Stop while you're ahead and just install this on VirtualBox if you can manage it.
Darkwolf 2021-06-14 1 point
ISO download doesn't download as an ISO file, so I'm confused on how to install it.
Filter21 2021-05-30 0 point
everytime I try to start the game it keeps telling me I need direct x,
joshu033 2021-04-16 -1 point
Win 10 Fix, DX9 Patch, Black Screen but with a Debug Window reading, "Someone threw the following string: Unable to find texture by index". Any assistance would be appreciated.
Rajive 2021-03-10 1 point
If you got the black screen issu you can use the win 10 fix + dgvoodoo2. You have to copy the .dll from the MS folder into the game main folder.
You can also check "SFC3 Configuration Setup for Windows 10 V1.0" on moddb, it has the whole procedure to make it work on windows 10.
Strubdog 2021-03-06 1 point
Was able to get it to run, but it's in windowed mode sadly. I'm ran the DX9 Patch and am using DJVoodoo2 with it. I placed the files in the MS/X64 into the main game folder. Also run it as 16-bit, compability mode for windows xp and as administrator. It should work, but in windowed mode.
Strubdog 2021-03-06 0 point
I have similar issues. After the cinematic, I get a black screen with the cursor. I also hear music in the Background. I have download dgvoodoo and the dx9 patch. No change. I have also run it as 16-bit and as the administrator. Any help would be appeciated.
Steven451 2020-12-25 0 point
i had lil prob with black screen if you do maybe if stop patching at x8.1 would work for you did for me screen is decent size and not full screen hope it helps
RedDragon 2020-08-26 0 point
I got the program to install and got the patches done. now when i load the game all i get is a black screen with no audio. anyone have any thoughts. windows 10 64-bit.
Mythris 2020-07-23 -2 points
I'm sorry I don't have better instructions but I worked on it so long I don't know exactly what fixed it.
Couple of notes though
I couldn't get it working on Win 10x64 2004 without enabling 16-bit color combatibility mode. No other compatibility mode was selected.
I also had to download the dgvoodoo wrapper and install all of the .dll files in the MS folder into the game folder...I messed with the voodoo config a bit to get things working. Hopefully somebody can take these tips and make a more coherent guide :(
What I can tell you though is that through some means I was able to get it working today...so there is hope...
Nog 2020-06-22 -2 points
Download rip and scanned, came up clean. Followed suggestion and went to moddb for jan_b all in one mod, downloaded and scanned, found a trojan embedded in zip.
Phos 2020-04-14 0 point
I also get the following Error Message:
Unhandled Exception! in Version 1.00 Build 435
SFC3.exe caused an EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module at 0023:000007F4
EAX=000007F4 EBX=0019BFB8 ECX=04C92BC0 EDX=04D2BF18 ESI=04C91860
EDI=00000000 EBP=0019BF64 ESP=0019BF4C EIP=000007F4 FLG=00010202
CS=0023 DS=002B SS=002B ES=002B FS=0053 GS=002B
Playing on Win 10 with the Win10 fix and direct x9 Patch installed
Please help
JJ Oliver 2020-03-29 1 point
says it has to be 16 bit color mode... how do i make it not in full screen if i cant get to a menu?
notplayingyet 2020-03-26 -1 point
received this error:
Unhandled Exception! in Version 1.00 Build 435
SFC3.exe caused an EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module at 0023:000007F4
EAX=000007F4 EBX=0019BFB8 ECX=04DD0B00 EDX=04CEAE78 ESI=04CF63F8
EDI=00000000 EBP=0019BF64 ESP=0019BF4C EIP=000007F4 FLG=00010202
CS=0023 DS=002B SS=002B ES=002B FS=0053 GS=002B
please help!
LoQtus 2020-02-08 0 point
Got the following error...
Unhandled Exception! in Version 1.00 Build 435
SFC3.exe caused an EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module at 0023:000007F4
EAX=000007F4 EBX=0019BFB8 ECX=04F2AC90 EDX=04F0D998 ESI=011A9920
EDI=00000000 EBP=0019BF64 ESP=0019BF4C EIP=000007F4 FLG=00010202
CS=0023 DS=002B SS=002B ES=002B FS=0053 GS=002B
kg 2020-01-21 3 points
cdkey: (these are zeros) 0000-0000-0000-K28K verified working .
1. mount iso and install, *do not* install directx8.x or the online svc.
2. apply patches (downloaded under comments section). i did the win 10 fix first. the win10 fix is a manual patch, and the directx9 patch is an installer.
For the blackscreen menu error: rightclick shortcut and run as admin to launch instead of regular dblclick launch on icon..
display is kinda messy on mine, it wont fullscreen. I find resolution 1280x1024 works best, but its not perfect.
also i use jan_b's all-in-one mod on mods db.
goodluck
random weeb 2019-12-18 0 point
The Direct X9 fix doesnt work atleast for me, what am i supposed to do if it says that it cant find any installation of the game?
imadoctornotagamer 2019-12-09 -1 point
i cannot get this to run. tried a desktop / laptop, windows 7 / vista respectively.
/w the (679 mb) iso version, i get cd key needed (0000-0000-0000-2K8K not working)
the (242mb) ripper, i run the install & it results in direct x 8 error - crash @ startup.
help?
Jaricho 2019-08-14 0 point
@AgeOfChange - If you didn't find a solution, try this. In your sfc.ini, at the end of the [UI] listing put: MakeItSo=1
This what CD owners put there to make the game stop repeatedly asking for CD.
Very annoying.
Santius 2018-07-12 1 point
Well the down load dosen't work oh well will have to look for a copy of the game that dose .
AgeOfChange 2018-02-13 0 point
I just found a way this may seem odd but I downloaded the ios and the rip one unpacked the iso installed the game from that installed the rip and copied that to the installed iso one and it worked I must of needed something in both files it works now so I'm happy.
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