Recently revisited "A Final Unity".

It took some effort and trial and error to get the game going on Windows Vista, but last month I did, and I've been playing it on and off since. To this day, I still enjoy it immensely, perhaps even as much as I did when I first played it back in 1995. I can't get over the amount of detail and attention the development team put into all aspects of the game. All the different lines of dialogue, the extensive amount of information available in the ship's library computer, the nicely drawn graphics and environments that still appear easy on my eyes even on a high-definition display... and I could go on. Yes, the game could stand some improvements, but then again, what game, Star Trek or otherwise, couldn't?

What may come as a surprise to some is the main issue I feel needed the most attention isn't the tactical interface (I'm in the minority here, but I loved the complexity, design and amount of control the tactical interface allowed for), but astronavigation. It seems like a lot of effort went into creating the Kridnar Navigation Block. I can't even begin to estimate how many star systems can be traveled to in the game. Each star system, too, has various combinations of planets, moons, the occasional subspace anomaly and sometimes a deep space station/comm relay/outpost. Only four planets out of who knows how many that are in the game can be beamed down to though and they all pertain to the main storyline.

This always struck me as odd. Every time I decide to revisit this game, I stare at the incredible number of star systems present in the Kridnar Navigation Block and wonder why go through all the time and effort to program all these unique star systems with information into the game (and why have a countless number of them show up as "unscanned", unless you choose to visit them)? It makes the game feel a little empty... or incomplete. You're given the freedom to travel to any destination in the Kridnar Navigation Block, yet there's never anything to do once you get there, unless it pertains to the main plot. I can't help but wonder if the development team intended on putting in a few extra places a player could visit as a reward if he or she took the time to explore, and who knows, maybe such extras do exist, as I've never invested the time in visiting every sector in the game. All that I've ever found is the very rare, Ferengi Marauder, but that's it.

For those out there that have played the game or still do... has this ever kind of bothered you, too, that there are hundreds upon hundreds of different destinations in the game... yet the only ones that lead anywhere are the ones that pertain to the main story (aside from starbases)?

 

I have great memories of this game- felt just like being in an episode. Would be interesting to revisit but SO MANY OTHER GAMES TO PLAY.

 

This is an amazing game. This and Birth of the Federation are the best Trek games by far, honorable mention to 25th Anniversary and the first Elite Force. I wonder why they never made more games like "A Final Unity" that make you feel like you're actually in the middle of an episode. "Star Trek: Bridge Commander" is decent I suppose, but the gameplay is kind of lacking and as a result I've never really made it far into the story.

 

I looooved Birth of the Federation and we had crazy, day-long LAN parties multiplaying it... BUT! I never finished it. I really miss it. I wish someone would make a decent-quality remake.

 

This is a fantastic game. I got the game running on a Linux box running DosBox, made the game very stable. I'm truly impressed by the level of detail in the game.I always loved relieving Geordi and running engineering myself. If you overheat the engines, you get some fun computer dialog.

I've often wondered if there were easter eggs in the game. One that I've noticed is that if you enter the coordinates "6-6-6" into the nav computer, you get a system deep in Romulan space that goes by the biblical name for hell (it's been awhile since I played it).

Good game though

 

Been a fan of this game since the first time I put the disc into the CD-ROM drive. I haven't been able to play it in years, I know that I could get a different system to make that possible, just lacking in the time and effort to do it.

Many games have tried, but this is the only one, in my view, that actually captures the feel of a Trek episode. (Granted, a really long one, or 3-4 regular sized ones)

There were some decent moments for the characters, some of the missions seemed like they had natural main characters to them. Mertens Station was Geordi's, Morassia was Worf's, Frigis was Riker's, Allanor and the Unity Device were Picard's. Not that you couldn't choose other characters to give a more central role on those missions (Except for the Unity Device) but one of TNG's greatest strengths was its ensemble. No game captured that better than A Final Unity.

 

I think the ability to actually explore countless new worlds - including beaming down - is the only thing lacking for obvious development reasons.

Procedurally generated worlds are one solution to the problem of limited dev resources, but they're only now coming closer to actually presenting viable, interesting environments worth traveling to. (Case in point: The upcoming No Man's Sky.)

Back when AFU was in development, procedural generation wasn't a viable solution, so what we got was a very limited set of explorable worlds, all linked to the main campaign.

 

DosBox (plus specific adjustments to be sure the game rules).

Some personal disappointments:
- The automatic course setting and engaging...of course, you could interrupt it yourself, but it's would be more fun to do it all by ourself.
- The Chodak looks too much cartoonish.
- The plot of the Enterprise captain tested by a mysterious advanced species...that was already in Judgment Rites.

 

I've tried DosBox before and was never successful.

I don't have the Judgement Rites already did this issue, since I played AFU first.