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| FIXME **This page is not fully translated, yet. Please help completing the translation by replacing the German ingame texts with English ones.**\\ //(remove this paragraph once the translation is finished)// | ====== Star Trek: Armada ====== |
| |
| ====== Star Trek - Armada 1 ====== | |
| ===== Downloads ===== | |
| * [[http://armadafiles.com/files/armada/official-releases/patches/star-trek-armada-12-patch/details|Star Trek - Armada 1 - Patch 1.2]] | |
| * [[http://armadafiles.com/files/armada/mods/patches/star-trek-armada-patch-1-3-project/details|Star Trek - Armada 1 - Community Patch 1.3]] | |
| * [[https://github.com/elishacloud/wiki-attachments/raw/master/dxwrapper/Games/Star%20Trek%20Armada%201/Armada-fix.zip|DirectDraw wrapper]] | |
| ===== Info ===== | ===== Info ===== |
| Armada is a real-time strategy game in which you build fleets of starships, explore weapon systems, for four different parties, but without a complicated economy, such as in [[Stronghold Crusader]]. In particular the special weapons offer a rich strategic moment. Basically, it's all about overpowering the enemy with good attack tactics and a good selection of special weapons. In multiplayer, however, you quickly notice that macro management also contributes a lot to who wins and who doesn't. | <block classes right info> |
| | {{ :games:images:armada1logo.jpg?200 |}} |
| | **Multiplayer Information** |
| | * Internet play: via [[..:network_terms:VPN]] |
| | * LAN play: yes |
| | * Lobby search: yes |
| | * Direct IP: no |
| | * Play via [[..:game_tech:Gameranger]]: yes |
| | * [[..:gaming_theory:Coop]]: yes |
| | * Singleplayer campaign: yes |
| | * Hotseat: no |
| | </block> |
| | ==== Overview ==== |
| | Armada is a [[..:gaming_theory:real time strategy]] game in which you build fleets of starships, research weapon systems and all that for four different parties, but without a complicated economy, such as in [[Stronghold Crusader]]. In particular the [[.star_trek_armada_1:special_weapons|special weapons]] offer a rich strategic moment. Basically, it's all about overpowering the enemy with good attack tactics and a good selection of special weapons. In multiplayer, however, you quickly notice that [[..:gaming theory:macro management]] also contributes a lot to who wins and who doesn't. |
| |
| The storyline starts after the Dominon War and covers the four races Borg, Federation, Klingons and Romulans. While the first tries to assimilate the Alpha Quadrant (and take possession of the Omega particle), the Federation fights against those very attempts. The Romulans also have an interest in the Omaga particle. The Klingons, on the other hand, are driven by Toral, who tries to install himself as ruler with the help of a fake sword of Kahles. | The game was developed by [[..:publishers:Activision]] and also released by them on 22nd of March 2000. It is actually the last game being developed by Activision itself. After //Star Trek: Armada// Activision did not develop own games any longer, working only as [[..:publishers|publisher]]. The game got a re-release on [[..:gaming platforms:GOG]] on 13th of December 2021. It is based on an altered engine derived from the engine of [[Battlezone 1998|Battlezone]], the [[en:game_tech:Storm3D engine]]. Text files from the game also reference [[Dark Reign - The Future of War|Dark Reign: The Future of War]], which suggests at least a partial inheritance from this game, too. |
| |
| The game was released by Activision, but after some disputes with Paramount (represented by Viacom) they returned the license for Star Trek games in general. For this reason, Armada and the other Star Trek games from Activision will no longer be distributed. Therefore the game is not available at [[https://www.gog.com/|GOG]] or other retailers. Therefore, only the second-hand trade remains, e.g. via [[https://www.ebay.com|eBay]] or [[https://www.amazon.com|Amazon Market Place]]. | The storyline starts after the Dominion War and covers the four [[.star_trek_armada_1:factions]] [[.star_trek_armada_1:factions#Borg]], [[.star_trek_armada_1:factions#Federation]], [[.star_trek_armada_1:factions#Klingon|Klingons]] and [[.star_trek_armada_1:factions#Romulans]]. While the first tries to assimilate the Alpha Quadrant (and take possession of the Omega particle), the Federation fights against those very attempts. The Romulans also have an interest in the Omega particle. The Klingons, on the other hand, are driven by Toral, who tries to install himself as ruler of the Klingon Empire with the help of a fake Sword of Kahless. |
| ===== Installation ===== | |
| As always: Install, patch, if necessary copy crack over. Patch 1.3 should be applied after patch 1.2. The installer from the CD is unfortunately not the fastest and the game tends to have sound bugs on XP. On XP it runs in principle. Basically you should either install the game regularly or at least copy it. For the details, see below. For a fresh installation the patches should be applied. Depending on whether you use 1.2 or 1.3, the crack for the single player might be useful. 1.3 also allows widescreen resolutions and fixes a few bugs beyond the 1.2 patch. And last but not least, it removes the CD check, so you don't need a crack anymore. If you want to play 1.2 with crack, you should make a backup of the ''armada.exe'', because network games don't work with the cracked version. The English version has much better unit messages and cutscenes. | |
| ==== Win 9x/ME ==== | |
| At least under Win 98 it is almost mandatory to install the game. On a fresh Win 98 Armada does not run from a copied folder. So install it regularly and apply the patches. Under Win 98 the 1.3 patch doesn't work. Therefore, keep a pre-installed version to be able to copy it over. The game comes with its own installer, which (especially on older computers) takes quite a long time to install the game, but that's normal. The game requires DirectX, but this is included. If you install the game, then the first major problem may already occur during the installation. Under Windows ME, I've found that the moment you click "Change Directory", the installer freezes the entire system. In this case it is necessary to copy the game manually by simply copying all the files from the ''setup'' directory of the installation CD to a directory named accordingly, //with the exception of the data directory//. The contents of ''data'' must be in the same directory as the rest, but without the directory ''data'' containing it. Only its contents. In this case the patch cannot be installed normally, because the information from the registry is missing. Then you have to get the corresponding files from someone else and copy them in manually (the patch installer looks in the registry for the path in which Armada should be installed, but it doesn't exist with manual "installation"). Therefore it is recommended to install the game completely at least once and to apply the patch 1.2. Then you can simply compress the game directory as it is and store the archive. On LAN the game might work without patch 1.2 if the other players play the same version. But patch 1.2 fixes some annoying problems of the game (e.g. units can now be handled better than before). It's definitely worth it. Only the AI is somehow totally overprivileged, in difficult mode, and medium mode (you'll quickly notice that when you switch to 1.2). It then cheats at the tech tree and the construction time/-cost. | |
| ==== XP ==== | |
| Here you can install, patch and crack everything straight forward without any problems. I don't know if a pre-installed version is still running without an installation, if you use patch 1.3. The difficulties here are more with the sound problems. If you leave the DirectX settings as they are by default, the sound will stutter, or the sounds will be chopped or not played at all. This can be fixed by turning off the sound acceleration or setting it to the lowest level. You can do this with the tool ''dxdiag'', which you can start by ''Run''. However, it is advisable to set this back after playing, as otherwise the sound will be stuttering in other applications (e. g. VLC). If you want to get a Win-98 version 1.3, you can do the installation on XP & Co. and save the resulting directory. With that you can use the instructions above. | |
| ==== Win 7 ==== | |
| There are no more sound problems here (at least not with patch 1.3), but on some systems there are graphics problems in the main and campaign menu. Sometimes the textures from the previous menu are displayed, so that the buttons are no longer visible. The combination Win 7 x64 + Nvidia driver version 320.49 causes problems. But an update fixed that. Apart from that it works quite well. | |
| |
| The only requirement for playing: Run it with XP SP 2 or 3 compatibility mode and with administrator rights (or fall back on [[Runas Spc]]). After that, however, it runs pleasantly smoothly on current systems. With [[GameRanger]] you can even play Armada via internet under Win 7. The only problem are occasional crashes when the game has been running for a while (not only multiplayer is affected). However, there are more and more signs that this has something to do with the Windows updates in the background. Most problems with sudden crashes obviously occur when updates are searched for in the background or when the notifier reports that updates have been found. It is recommended to turn off the update service for testing purposes. Experience shows that crashes only occur after a while. 3 PC opponents on easy are no problem considering play time. An 8 player map with 7 PC opponents on medium or heavy takes sufficiently long to be confronted with the problem in general. In principle, a loss of progress (partly) can only be avoided by frequently saving (this also works for non-campaign rounds). How this works in multiplayer is still untested. | {{:en:games:star_trek_armada_1:campaign_example.png?direct&250 | Image of a campaign mission}} {{ :en:games:star_trek_armada_1:super_weapon_fired.png?direct&250|Super weapons rig havoc}} {{ :en:games:star_trek_armada_1:multi-player_example.png?direct&250 |Multi-player gives additional game-player experiences}} |
| ==== Win 10 ==== | |
| There's more to be done here: | |
| - Install as usual, | |
| - install Patch 1.2, | |
| - install Patch 1.3 and | |
| - Copy DirectDraw wrapper to the game directory. | |
| It is possible that the game cannot be started via the starter (''slaunch.exe''), but directly via the binary (''Armada.exe''). In addition it can happen that Armada "takes a few rounds", i. e. the screen turns black, then the splash screen appears again, until the actual game finally comes up. | |
| |
| On Windows 10 1909 it seems like it is impossible to join an existing LAN game. You can see it in the ingame match browser but when trying to connect to it, the attempt fails. | ---- |
| ===== Graphics ===== | |
| The game is basically a bit sluggish when it comes to control. But you can compensate with lower resolutions, especially on slower systems. It doesn't look so great, but it's certainly more pleasant than dropped inputs and slow reactions. The 1.3 patch gives the game 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions in addition to the original 4:3 resolutions, if supported by the hardware. On current systems, however, one can enjoy the full range. | |
| ==== Graphics settings ==== | |
| There's basically not much to explain. Most of it is like in other games: | |
| * ''Grafikmodus'': Resolution and color depth. | |
| * ''Grafiktreiber'': If you have multiple graphics cards or drivers installed, you can choose one here, but usually there's no choice anyway. | |
| * ''Andere Schriftart verwenden'': With this, Armada uses graphic fonts, not standard fonts. Standard, of course, is displayed faster. | |
| * ''Video-Sequenzen'': Should the current events be displayed as a video sequence in the lower right corner of the window or not? If not, the window content is simply overlayed with an icon. Reduces the load on the computer if the game jolts. | |
| * ''Grafikdetails'': It should be clear what this is for. The higher, the better it looks, but the more system resources the game requires. | |
| ==== Increase zoom ==== | |
| One small annoyance can be remedied if one is not completely satisfied with the standard overview. Armada starts by default zoomed in quite far, which in my opinion doesn't help the overview of the events at all. In principle, you can now adjust this zoom by holding down both mouse buttons at the same time. (It's a bit bumpy, but once you got the hang of it, it works. First the right button, then the left one, in between make sure that you don't move the mouse.) But you can also adjust this setting in the ''RTS_CFG.h'' file. There you can find this line: | |
| |
| ''float OVERVIEW_INIT_HEIGHT = 1000.0;'' | [\_**Star Trek: Armada**\_] [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Game Play]]\_] [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Technical Support]]\_] |
| |
| That is the value of how far the game starts zoomed out when a match or campaign mission is loaded. I usually use the maximum value here because everything else is kind of silly. Who likes to limit themselves unnecessarily? You can set the maximum value in this line: | [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Units]]\_] [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Hero Ships]]\_] [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Ship Types]]\_] [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Stations]]\_] [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Station Types]]\_] [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Special Weapons]]\_] [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Factions]]\_] [\_[[.star_trek_armada_1:Modding]]\_] |
| |
| ''float OVERVIEW_MAX_HEIGHT = 1000.0;'' | ---- |
| |
| The values ''1000.0'' are deliberately chosen in this example. If you set more, parts of the map start to disappear. At least with the default settings. You can also increase the clipping area by adjusting the ''ART_CFG.h'' file accordingly. The line with: | ==== System Requirements ==== |
| | The installer mentions the following minimum system requirements: |
| | * 32 MB RAM, |
| | * 50 MB Swap Space, |
| | * 4 MB Video RAM. |
| | ==== Game Play ===== |
| | See [[.star_trek_armada_1:Game Play]] on the subject. |
| | ===== Purchasing ===== |
| | After a [[star_trek_games#sales|law suit]] Star Trek games from Activision were no longer distributed for quite some time. In the meantime [[https://www.gog.com/game/star_trek_armada|GOG re-released it]], so the game is once again legally obtainable from a retailer. |
| | ===== Installation ===== |
| | This section focuses on the GOG version of the game (as this is probably the prefered version today) on modern Windows. If you want to know how to get the CD version to run or wanna use the GOG version on older Windows versions, have a look at [[.star_trek_armada_1:installation|the installation article]]. |
| | ==== The GOG Installer ==== |
| | The game is installable comfortably with the GOG installer on any Windows from XP on. You should not encounter any problems with the actual installation. Once the installation is completed, you will not need a CD or any other kind of system to prove you have the original game. So once installed, you are always already good to go. |
| |
| ''float FAR_CLIPPING_PLANE = 1400.0;'' | Be aware: The GOG version 1.2 is **not** compatible with the CD version 1.2. So just from comparing version strings you cannot see if all players have compatible versions. See section [[#Hashes of the Different Versions]] for a comparison of the binary hashes. |
| |
| is the reason why you can't see anything on the map after a certain distance. You can set it generously to ''20000.0''. Then you can extend the ''OVERVIEW_MAX_HEIGHT'' accordingly. Normally it is sufficient to be in the range of 5000. With this you can already see practically the whole map. | The re-release from GOG is not just a simple copy of the old game. They did fix some problems with the original game and added some tools for tweaking and [[..:network_terms:IPX]] play. It comes only in the English localization, but differs not in game contents. The game already comes declared as version 1.2 (although some of the fixes certainly would have allowed for an increase of that number to 1.2.1). The GOG version original only allows for 4:3 resolutions up to 1600x1200. The GOG version works well without any additional steps to be taken, except maybe applying the 1.3 patch (adds widescreen support). See next section on that. |
| | ==== Patch 1.3 ==== |
| | The patch to version 1.3 actually only consists of one file, //WonInterface.dll//. This file replaces the original one. Once you replace the original file with the patched version, the game will declare itself as version 1.3 and allow for a lot of additional resolutions to be set in the graphics settings. The patch also adds an in-game editor mode switch (typing ''edit'' in the chat will activate it, but that requires the map editor files). Too long //PATH// variables and too much RAM will also not be an issue any longer. |
| |
| At this point, a warning needs to be given: According to the larger overview this of course requires more computations from the system, so that the CPU load will increase and the game may start to jolt. Especially if many fog and other elements have to be rendered, the game jolts even on current computers. | Be aware, that the selection menu for the available resolutions now behaves a little bit different. To fit in the additional resolutions, the menu items are packed together closer, which makes them overlap with one another a bit. This leads to the strange behavior, that the menu items can only be selected properly, when hovering in the upper half of a menu item. You can clearly see, if 1.3 was applied in this menu, because the item labels (e.g. //1920x1080x32//) are displayed in the upper half of each selection item box. |
| ==== Scroll speed ==== | |
| If one uses such zoom levels, one will notice very quickly that even at maximum scroll speed, the scroll is sufficiently slow. This can be changed by turning up the parameters ''FAST_MAX_SCROLL_SPEED'' and ''MAX_SCROLL_SPEED'' in the ''RTS_CFG.h'', e. g. to 20. This is not only useful when zoomed in, but also at higher resolutions, e.g. when playing on full HD. The scrolling always feels a bit slow then. | |
| ===== Sound settings ===== | |
| The sound settings are interesting, because Armada causes problems with WinXP and 2000. The unit messages and notifications sound choppy, in Armada 2, for example, the music even breaks off all the time. So if the following tricks don't work and the sound still sounds terrible, just set the speech volume to 0. It doesn't have to be, if it sounds crappy anyway. | |
| |
| This error can be partially overcome by turning off the sound acceleration. To do this, enter the command ''dxdiag'' into the ''Run'' field of Windows. This should open a window that offers settings for DirectX. On the tab ''Sound'' you should see a slider bar with the description ''hardware acceleration'' which you set to ''No acceleration'' (far left) or ''Minimum acceleration'' (second position from left). This often helps, or at least reduces the effects a bit. But there are also two other methods that do exactly the same. | The patch installer will not find the GOG installation folder by itself (different registry key are used for that information, than used to be used for the CD version), so you will have to pick the folder manually. |
| ==== Windows 2000 ==== | |
| ''Start'' -> ''Settings'' -> ''Control Panel'' -> ''Sounds and Multimedia'' -> ''Audio'' tab -> ''Advanced Audio Properties'' -> ''Performance'' tab -> ''Hardware acceleration'' to second lowest value, two times ''OK''. | |
| ==== Windows XP ==== | |
| ''Start'' -> ''Settings'' -> ''Control Panel'' -> ''Sounds and Audio Devices'' -> ''Volume'' tab -> ''Advanced'' in section ''Speaker settings'' -> ''System performance'' tab -> ''Hardware acceleration'' to second lowest value, two times ''OK''. | |
| |
| If you rarely play Armada, you can reset the slider afterwards. It can happen that the sound will be quite awkward in other applications, such as media players. There is one last recommendation: The problem can be solved partly by installing new sound drivers. Just try new drivers for the sound card. Maybe you can solve it this way. | You can find the 1.3 patch [[http://armadafiles.com/files/armada/mods/patches/star-trek-armada-patch-1-3-project/details|here]]. |
| | ===== Hashes of the Different Versions ===== |
| * ''Musiklautstärke'': Self-explanatory, I think. | As written above, different versions of the game will not find one another on the network, as they check the //Armada.exe// (and some other files) for compatibility. In order to see what version you have, you can check for the MD5 or SHA1 checksums. These come directly from original versions of //Star Trek: Armada//: |
| * ''Effektlautstärke'': Turn down the gun noise if you want. | ^ Version ^ MD5 ^ SHA1 ^ |
| * ''Sprachlautstärke'': This allows you to adjust the volume of the units when they are clicked and commanded. | | CD 1.1 | ''65C1CF851729C4551C68566E541760B8'' | ''4DD242EB9FE1234B9FCD769A904497FCDDCCB453'' | |
| * ''Soundkanäle'': Controls how many sounds can be played simultaneously. On older computers this was good to reduce the CPU load if the game jolts too much. But it shouldn't be a problem today. | | CD 1.2 | ''882F958F5E57C33A89E246F92FD8E3BC'' | ''7CDC9E1DE94AC6DF32325DBDCDF98D2B8D964C30'' | |
| * ''Stereo'': Also self-explanatory | | GOG 1.2 | ''75E9B46B9765B17B11AE810B781D365A'' | ''8BA398C022A0B68BBA5ECA35F46AFEDAC78E8764'' | |
| * ''Einheitensprache'': If the faulty sound gets on your nerves too much, you can turn off the speech output of the units completely. | Other variations e.g. with some sort of NoCD crack applied, will have different checksums. However, different languages do not seem to have different game files that are checked for compatibility. So a German 1.2 version can be played very well in conjunction with an English version. |
| * ''Audioalarm'': This allows you to set whether notifications such as finished productions or attacks are also reported acoustically (e.g. "We have a new ship for the fleet"). | ===== Known Problems ===== |
| ===== Game settings ===== | There is a number of [[.star_trek_armada_1:known_problems|Known Problems]] with Armada. Most of them can be solved. If you want to play Armada on Windows XP or Windows 2000, you will definitely want to have a look at them. |
| * ''Schwierigkeitsgrad'': Clearly, that's the level of difficulty the AI poses in single-player missions. | ===== Game Improvements ===== |
| * ''Spielgeschwindigkeit'': In both the single player and multiplayer modes, this determines how fast the game runs. By the way, there is no difference between the slowest and the second slowest setting (I don't know why, but I tried it...). If you change the speed while a multiplayer game is running, of course this will affect all other players. That is, no matter who makes the change, it will be done to everyone (it's logical, otherwise the games wouldn't be able to run synchronously). | There are several options for improving the game experience. See [[.star_trek_armada_1:Tweaking the Game]] on the matter. |
| * ''Scrollgeschwindigkeit der Maus'': Should be self-explanatory. | ===== Mods ===== |
| * ''Scrollgeschwindigkeit der Tastatur'': Also clear. | |
| * ''Maustasteneinstellung'': This determines whether commands are given with the left or with the right mouse button, or whether units are selected. Personally I prefer the left setting (default is right). | |
| * ''Maus-Kamerasteuerung'': This allows you to specify whether the map can also be zoomed with the mouse or rotated. If you click with the right and left mouse button simultaneously on a free area of the map and keep it pressed, you can zoom the map by dragging the mouse up and down, and rotate the map by moving the mouse left and right. If you press "H", the settings are normal again, and you will end up at your starting position. The settings can also be done with the keyboard (more precisely the numeric keypad): | |
| * ''*'' for turning to the right | |
| * ''/'' for turning to the left | |
| * ''+'' to zoom in | |
| * ''-'' to zoom out | |
| * ''Director's Cut'': When it's turned off, the ships stay in place, making selection easier. When the Director's Cut is on, the ships perform a dogfight during the battle. | |
| ===== Singleplayer Campaign ===== | |
| ==== Fun Facts ==== | |
| * Very often, there is the possibility to steal enemy construction units. This can be very beneficial. The apax is the combination of the three/four final buildings, the Transwarp Gate, the weapons of mass destruction of Klingons and Romulans and the Temporal research station. Freezing the area, opening a Transwarp Conduit and sending in a Phoenix or an Jah'eng Ship leaves the enemy defenseless while striking a massiv blow. | |
| * In some missions there is a rather easy way to reach the map goal or achieving certain tasks like not going around the long way with the dilitium freighters intended for the Ferengi but sending them right trough the read nebula. | |
| * On the very last mission the player is supposed to destroy the Omega containment facility. It is however sufficient to get its shields down, e. g. with the Federation's Nebula class' shield distruptor. On the other hand it is not possible to overtake the station. You can bring down the stations number of crew to 1 (e. g. using Psychonic blast of the Romulan Shadow Class multiple times) but once you kill the last crewman, the game simply resets the crew number to ten. | |
| ===== Multiplayer games ===== | |
| ==== General information ==== | |
| === Use correct version === | |
| A basic requirement for armada and multiplayer games: You need an //uncracked// Armada version to play Armada in multiplayer! Neither in the net, nor on LAN (even if all play the same cracked version) a game will be possible. You won't see a single open game otherwise. The 1.3 patch is better here. Then the game //in singleplayer// doesn't require the CD anymore, but still works on the network. So much for the warning. Since the [[World Opponent Network|WON network]] has been closed down, classic online gaming is no longer possible without tools. [[VPN]] is an adequate solution for this problem. | |
| === The CD is required === | |
| On the other hand you need the CD (also with 1.3 patch cracked to 1.2). You need at least one original CD, for five or more players even a second CD. But this can also be a CD image, because the copy protection doesn't deserve the name. It doesn't matter who inserted the CD. It doesn't have to be the creator of the game. But the CD **must be inserted before loading the game**. Otherwise Armada asks for it after clicking on ''Join'' which sometimes ends in a nice graphic bug. Occasionally it turns out that a later insertion does not result in the desired result. But sometimes it's enough to just insert the CD after the first request, and it still works. Since this is ultimately all a dice roll, it is best to have a CD inserted right from the start. Ideally you arrange, who's inserting the CD. Instead, you should have inserted an image or a CD prophylactically. | |
| === (Windows-)Firewall(s) === | |
| As usual, firewalls don't necessarily make life easier here. Especially the Windows firewall doesn't show up at first because of the query. But in the background it certainly is there. So until you have confirmed at least once that the game is allowed to access the network, nothing works. For example, you see an open game, but you can't reach it. That applies equally to server and client. | |
| === Asynchronous matches === | |
| Armada has a certain tendency to produce (allegedly) asynchronous games. So you play for a while and at some point you get the message that the game is asynchronous. Unfortunately this happens often enough, but not always. In principle, this means that the same thing doesn't happen to all players. While player 1 has ship X at position Y, player 2 has ship X at position Z. This can be mitigated by granting the game more data rate. To do this, edit the ''net.ini'' in the root directory of Armada and increase the values for ''MaxBandwidth''. More than standard 4 kb/sec. should already be in there with today's DSL connections and especially via LAN. | |
| ==== Open LAN game ==== | |
| To create a game in the LAN, you must follow the menu path ''Multiplayer'' -> ''LAN (TCP/IP)''. In the menu ''Multiplayer'' you should //not forget to enter the username// (at the top of the text field). It just sucks when the player "Player" plays on a map x times. Now you should see the multiplayer menu with the other players and possibly open games. With ''Create game'' you can start your own game, with "Join" you can join an already open game. If you participate, the server creator has to take care of the settings. You can ask him via chat if he could do this or that setting. Since this is not very interesting, here is a little guide to the server: As soon as you click on ''Create game'', you will be asked for the name of the game. This should be chosen meaningful, especially if several games are open at the same time. The password is optional and only recommended if you want to play privately. Then everyone who wants to join must know the password. If you leave the field empty, no password will be requested. | |
| ==== Internet play via GameRanger ==== | |
| Meanwhile, the game no longer works via the net with on-board resources, since the internet game ran via [[World Opponent Network|WON]]. Instead there is the possibility to play the game via [[GameRanger]] on the internet. To do this, a CD must be inserted per four players (also with Crack...) and GameRanger must be started from an admin account. If you try to start the game from a user account with admin rights (usually with password request), GameRanger seems to take too long and throws the following error message: ''Anti-Virus or Firewall software is blocking/interfering with GameRanger''. It has nothing to do with FW or AV, but the problem has to be solved by starting GR directly from an admin account. Admin rights alone are useless, but are also not necessary from the admin account. A test in combination with [[Runas Spc]] is still pending. In addition, port 16000 (UDP) must be forwarded by the router NAT, or the computer on which the game is to run must be in the DMZ. Apart from that, everything goes relatively smoothly. | |
| ==== Internet play via WON (obsolete) ==== | |
| This section is now 100% obsolete and is only here for historical reasons. So you probably should skip to the next section. On the net it was almost the same as on LAN, only that the menu way is different, and you can chat with the others who are not yet in a game. The menu path here was ''Multiplayer'' -> ''Internet''. You'll have to think up a username that nobody else has and assign a password for it. Of course you have to remember the password, because otherwise you won't be able to get into your own account anymore... I recommend to check the box Remember password, if not several people are playing Armada on your computer. After that it's the same as in the LAN game. Only the opponents are usually much better than the AI. By the way, the immediate match is nothing else than playing against the AI, as if it were humans (creating with server and so on). | |
| ==== The Multiplayer Settings ==== | |
| In the players list you can see a column with ''Teams''. You can group people together in teams that you have defined in advance. These teams are binding until the game is over. The other variant is that you only define the teams in the course of the game by allying players. You have to press the ''Alliances'' button and then there are no more teams, but alliances, which you can enter but also dissolve... If you want to go back, press the same button again, but now it's called ''Teams''. The advantages of alliance games are that you can play the game to the bitter end, because alliances do not automatically mean that after defeating the opposing faction the game is over. The remaining players can still regroup and play against each other. Especially for very good players it's popular to first eliminate the easy opponents and then take care of each other. | |
| | |
| You can also set the color by clicking on one of the color blocks below the player list. The first player in the list can choose the color first. If, for example, green is already occupied by the host, you cannot select this color. | |
| | |
| On the right side only game-related settings can be found: | |
| * ''Gametype'': can be either normal or head to head. When head to head, only one player plays against the other. | |
| * ''Max Players'': This is important if you want to limit the number, to not make the game too laggy. A game of 8 players is usually really slow and tends to be asynchronous. | |
| * ''Ping Filter'': You can use it to filter out people with high pings. So it has no influence on the LAN. This can only improve the game quality on the Internet. | |
| * ''Game open'' or ''closed'': When closed, the game is no longer accessible to others. Good whenever you're already complete and don't want any more new players. | |
| * ''Dilithium'': Determines how much dilithium each player has at the beginning. I recommend to be generous, because then the game starts rolling faster. But if there is a lot of time on a LAN, it's not wrong to take less. | |
| * ''Crew'': An essential factor in shipbuilding can be that you run out of crew. Borg in particular quickly have the problem that they have cubes ready for use, but if they use the holding beam too excessively, the crew quickly goes to zero and building new ships/equipping the old ones no longer works. If the value is very low, this can happen very quickly to the rest of the crew. It depends on whether you want more resource management, or more resource battle. | |
| * ''Max. Officers'': This determines the maximum number of officers/centurions/energy nodes you have at the beginning. This limits the maximum number of ships and stations you can build. If you run out of officers, you either have to build new quarters in the star bases, or if you can't, you have to build a new starbase. There is no more than the set upper limit without new stations or quarters. Resource management again... 999, for example, makes less sense, because a game shouldn't even go that long, or it only becomes stupid when you have infinite moons and players dig themselves in. | |
| * ''Units'': Determines which units you have at the beginning. | |
| * ''Standard Units'' means two construction ships and one base | |
| * ''Map Units'' means the units that have been defined for the map (so it depends) | |
| * ''Minimal Units'' means exactly one construction ship. Do not use in conjunction with bots. They all will gather in the lower left corner of the map instead of simply starting the match normally. | |
| * ''Super Side'' means a construction ship of every race. Do not use in conjunction with bots. They all will gather in the lower left corner of the map instead of simply starting the match normally. | |
| * ''Techtree'': Determines the order of building to build certain ships/stations/weapons. | |
| * ''Standard Tech'': All special weapons have to be researched before you use them, the high-value stations can only be built if you already own the lower ones. | |
| * ''No Super Weapons'': The weapons of mass destruction of the Romulans and Klingons cannot be built, nor can the Transwarp Gate of the Borg or the Temporal Research Station of the Federation. | |
| * ''No Science Ships'': The science ships Nebula (Federation), Shadow (Romulan), Fek'hir (Klingons), as well as Diamond (Borg) cannot be built ( these are the ones with 4 special weapons each). | |
| * ''No Special Weapons'': There's no such thing as special weapons. Personally, I just find that boring. | |
| * ''John's Special'': You can build all ships, but apart from the science ships, all other ships have no special weapons (not to be researched either). The special weapons of the science ships have to be researched, and there is no research station for the normal ships. | |
| * ''Free Tech'': You can build anything by techtree, but you don't need to research anything. No research stations are available. | |
| * ''Super Side Tech'': You need a base for the shipyard and the science station. Everything else as usual. | |
| * ''Give Units'': when engaged, allies may donate all ships to each other except the construction ships. | |
| * ''Infinite Moons'': If "on," all dilithium moons are inexhaustible. But then most players tend to build indiscriminately, which is not tactical. | |
| * ''Ferengi'': If ''on'', Ferengi ships will come and steal the ships without propulsion or crew. Can really get on your nerves when an almost fully functional ship disappears just because the propulsion has failed. | |
| * ''Directors cut'': Units don't stay still during battle but do some sort of dogfight. | |
| * ''Select Map'': Choose another map. | |
| * ''Minimap shown'': Sets whether you can see the map in advance or not. | |
| * ''Placement'': You can determine the starting positions of the players yourself, or they can do it too if you set it to ''Fixed''. ''Random'' let's the PC select the starting positions randomly. | |
| * ''Show All''/''Show Available''/''Show Allies'': This allows you to set who is displayed on the minimap. All is default. Available ones are those with which you could form an alliance (unfortunately the AI never does). ''Allies'' shows only friends. | |
| * ''Shroud on, Fog on'': Here you can set whether the "Fog of war" is used (=fog) and whether the map has to be explored before you can see the unexplored places (= shroud). | |
| ==== Exiting Multiplayer - but correctly ==== | |
| It may seem trivial at first. You just leave the match when you're not up for it anymore. But there are two different methods, which have completely different effects for the remaining players. When you give up, all your units are actually removed from the game and you're completely out. However, if you abort a mission, you will be out, but a medium AI will take your place. | |
| | |
| It does not make a difference on LAN whether someone has hosted the game when they quit or not. If the server ends the game, someone else will take its place. So the game creator has no reason to stay in if he doesn't feel like it anymore. Depending on the way he leaves, the game continues with or without AI replacement. Somebody else takes over the server function. Via [[GameRanger]] it turned out, however, that you have to give the game a moment until it has passed the server role to someone else, before you click on "Quit to Windows" at the end of the score screen. If you're too fast here, the game also closes down for the other players. So as a host you have to wait a few seconds before quitting the game. This may also depend on the data rate at which you are connected. Such a behavior has not appeared vie LAN, yet. | |
| ==== Maps ==== | |
| There's not much to say about maps. There are a lot of them, and that's the first problem: Maps all have to be placed in the ''addon'' directory of the Armada installation. However, if you have too many of them, Armada crashes every time you try to create a server. It doesn't matter whether it's Internet, instant use, or LAN. At least that's what happened to me. If a player doesn't have a map, Armada downloads it automatically from the host. And that goes even quite fast, especially since Armada maps are not excessively large. So don't panic if you have an exotic map where you're not sure if the other players have it. Just select, and you're good. The rest is done by Armada itself. In the meantime you're not hindered by the download. You can see the download status as well. | |
| ==== Mods ==== | |
| * [[https://www.armadafleetcommand.com/get-files?cw_action=fileview&file_id=412|Dark Alliance 2]]: 12 playable races in 4 alliances and some new features | * [[https://www.armadafleetcommand.com/get-files?cw_action=fileview&file_id=412|Dark Alliance 2]]: 12 playable races in 4 alliances and some new features |
| * [[https://www.nexusmods.com/startrekarmada/mods/44/?|The Millenium Project]]: New models, textures, maps, etc., but remains compatible with the single player. | * [[https://www.nexusmods.com/startrekarmada/mods/44/?|The Millenium Project]]: New models, textures, maps, etc., but remains compatible with the single player. |
| * [[https://www.armadafleetcommand.com/get-files?cw_action=fileview&file_id=1749|Star Trek vs. Star Wars Conversion Mod]], adds the New Republic, the Imperial Remnant and the newly established Federation. There are also some scenarios that can be played. | * [[https://www.armadafleetcommand.com/get-files?cw_action=fileview&file_id=1749|Star Trek vs. Star Wars Conversion Mod]] / [[https://www.moddb.com/mods/star-trek-vs-star-wars-total-conversion/news/star-trek-vs-star-wars-for-star-trek-re-released|Re-release for GOG version]], adds the New Republic, the Imperial Remnant and the newly established Federation. There are also some scenarios that can be played. |
| ===== Game Play ====== | ===== Screen Shots/Windowed Mode ===== |
| ==== Nebulae ==== | The game makes it a bit difficult to create screen shots under older Windows versions. The ''Print'' key works only, once you are in windowed mode or at the score screen at the end of a match. By default, the game is in full screen mode. To switch to windowed mode (or back to full screen mode), press ''ALT'' + ''Enter''. This however, only works when in a match or single player mission. Once you are in windowed mode, you can safely end the match and get to the menu. As long as you are in windowed mode, you can use the ''Print'' key and insert the taken screen shot into your favorite graphics editor. |
| There are five different nebulae with different effects on your ships. | |
| ^ Depiction ^ Name ^ Effect ^ | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_cerulean_nebula.png?nolink&200 |}} | Cerulean Nebula | Shields and weapon systems are inactive, units inside are hidden from outside scans. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_metaphasic_nebula.png?nolink&200 |}} | Metaphasic Nebula | Increases shield energy, repairs ships systems.| | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_metrion_nebula.png?nolink&200 |}} | Metreon Gas Nebula | Decreases shields, damages ships systems after there failure until total destruction of the unit. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_mutara_nebula.png?nolink&200 |}} | Mutara Nebula | Renders sensors and shields inoperative, hides units inside from outside scans. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_radio_active_nebula.png?nolink&200 |}} | Radioactive Nabula | Deactivates life support systems, so the crew slowly dies, until the ship is empty. | | |
| ==== Other Map objects ==== | |
| ^ Depiction ^ Name ^ Effect ^ | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_asteroids.png?nolink&200 |}} | Asteroid field | Blocks the way, can only be overcome with worm holes, phase cloaks or transwarp gates. There are two variations of it, the stationary and the mobile version. The mobile version has asteroid belts moving on fix paths, often with small gaps to have a chance of getting through. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_black_hole.png?nolink&200 |}} | Black hole | Ships without active propulsion systems (damaged, deactivated by special weapon, empty ship) which are too close to their gravity wells are sucked in and destroyed. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_dilithium_moon.png?nolink&200 |}} | Dilithium moon | Primary source of dilithium, besides captured and own ships. Starting amount of dilithium is 20.000 units. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_infinite_dilithium_moon.png?nolink&200 |}} | Infinite dilithium moon | Same as dilithium moon but holding infinite resources. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_ferengi_approaching.png?nolink&200 |}} | Ferengi | Not actually map objects, but not part of a real faction. When a ship is adrift (no crew, damaged/deactivated propulsion) the Ferengi will attempt to steal the ship (salvage). If they succeed in getting to the border of the map, the ship is lost. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_planets.png?nolink&200 |}} | Planets | Planets are depicted by big planet like graphics in the background of the game grid. Star bases placed in their vicinity increase crew faster than usual. If this is the case can be seen by a blue instead of green representation when placing a new star base on the map. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_wormhole.png?nolink&200 |}} | Wormhole closed | This is the closed depiction of a worm hole. There is always a pair of worm holes, never one alone. One side is connected to the other side of each pair. Allows ships to travel to the second one, when sent into the first. During a short period of time while traveling through a worm hole, ships cannot be commanded. | | |
| | {{ :en:games:armada_1_wormhole_open.png?nolink&200 |}} | Wormhole opened | This representation is used, while a ship is traveling through the worm hole pair. The depiction is the same on both ends. | | |
| |
| ===== Screenshots ===== | On modern Windows systems ''ALT'' + ''WIN'' + ''PRINT'' will make a screenshot with the Xbox Game Bar functionality. This however won't work in the menus. The resulting screenshot will be a black rectangle, not contents aside from that. This also goes for the score screen at the end of a match. |
| You create them with ''CTRL'' + ''ALT'' + ''Z''. But it only works in the game, not in the menu. This means that you can't take screenshots from the final list (stats). However, for some it works that you switch the game with ''ALT''+''Enter'' into the window-mode when you are still in the game, and then just make the screenshot with Windows. It's cumbersome, but you get a result. You just have to switch early enough, because ''Alt''+''Enter'' doesn't work in menus. | |
| ===== Controls ===== | The functionality mentioned in the manual (''CTRL'' + ''ALT'' + ''Z'') apparently does not always work reliably. Depending on your keyboard layout it may be different (e.g. on a German keyboard it is ''CTRL'' + ''ALT'' + ''Y''). |
| Armada itself has quite an efficient control if you know how to use it. Almost everything in the game is accessible via shortcuts. All special weapons can be triggered via the F keys. Units can be combined with ''CTRL''+''<number key>'' to squads of maximum 8 units and then directly selected as a squad by pressing the corresponding number keys. Saves a lot of time, especially since you often lose track of single units in the heat of the battle, because all ships of the same class are (optically) indistinguishable. | |
| ===== Screen Shots/Windowed Mode ===== | |
| The game makes it a bit difficult to create screen shots. The ''Print'' key works only, once you are in windows mode. By default, the game is in full screen mode. To switch to windowed mode (or back to full screen mode), press ALT + Enter. This however, only works when in a match or single player mission. Once you are in windowed mode, you can safely end the match and get to the menu. As long as you are in windowed mode, you can use the ''Print'' key and insert the taken screen shot into your favorite graphics editor. | |
| ===== Web links ===== | ===== Web links ===== |
| | * [[https://discord.gg/cMEAPCv|Star Trek Armada Discord]] |
| * [[http://www.treknews.de/treknews/newspro-treknews/static/99211817649831.php|Review and also some links to Armada]] | * [[http://www.treknews.de/treknews/newspro-treknews/static/99211817649831.php|Review and also some links to Armada]] |
| * [[http://www.pcgames.de/Star-Trek-Armada-PC-16107/Downloads/Star-Trek-Armada-v11-d-5955/|Armada - Patch 1.1 (official)]] | * [[http://www.pcgames.de/Star-Trek-Armada-PC-16107/Downloads/Star-Trek-Armada-v11-d-5955/|Armada - Patch 1.1 (official)]] |
| * [[https://github.com/elishacloud/dxwrapper/wiki/Start-Trek-Armada-1|DirectDraw wrapper project page]] | * [[https://github.com/elishacloud/dxwrapper/wiki/Start-Trek-Armada-1|DirectDraw wrapper project page]] |
| * [[https://web.archive.org/web/20020610192407/http://www.strategyplanet.com/starmada/technicalhelp.shtml|Former Strategyplanet page]] | * [[https://web.archive.org/web/20020610192407/http://www.strategyplanet.com/starmada/technicalhelp.shtml|Former Strategyplanet page]] |
| | * [[https://armadamodding.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_Armada_Modding_Wiki|Armada Modding Wiki]] |
| | * [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1S1ekEBS9urWHjkFkLBBIzoNSE8R61OG|Let's Plays of the whole singleplayer campaign]] |
| | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulTHfqcUu60|Online Multiplayer Gameplay]] |
| | * [[https://www.aaai.org/Papers/Symposia/Spring/2000/SS-00-02/SS00-02-004.pdf|AAAI Technical Report SS-00-02, Warp Speed: Path Planning for Star Trek®: Armada]] |
| | * [[https://www.aaroncurley.com/debugging-patching-star-trek-armada/]] |
| | * [[http://www.calrissian.com/star_trek_armada.htm|Star Trek Armada @ Calrissian.com]], a real retro page concerning Armada 1 & 2. |
| ===== Network ===== | ===== Network ===== |
| The game offers only the [[World Opponent Network|WON]] servers for the Internet game and in the LAN it searches automatically for open servers. Unfortunately it is not possible to enter an IP address. This requires LAN games, or games via VPN, or via [[GameRanger]]. The port forwarding for routers below make little sense, apart from GameRanger. Known ports that the game used at some point: | ==== General Information ==== |
| * 2300, 2936, 2937 (TCP) | See also [[.star trek armada 1:Setting Up Matches]] on more details. |
| * 2350, 2550, 2902, 2927, 13365, 16562, 62223 (UDP) | === LAN/VPN Play === |
| So it doesn't seem to be just the DirectPlay area that is used, but something more. The usual DP-Ports can be found [[https://support.microsoft.com/de-de/kb/240429|here]]. | The game uses [[..:game_tech:directx#DirectPlay]] for communications. Be sure to open those ports on //all// players computers, as the game is [[..:network_terms:Peer to Peer]]. |
| |
| For GameRanger it is sufficient to forward port 16000 (UDP). | If you want to limit the forwarding to only a handful of ports, then it might suffice to open ports 2300 and 47624 ([[..:network_terms:TCP]]) as well as 2350 ([[..:network_terms:UDP]]). Tests with Wireshark suggest, that these ports are the only three, that are actually required to be forwarded (unconfirmed). They are used by all involved players. |
| | === IPX === |
| | Similar to the already mentioned TCP/IP connection, via LAN/VPN IPX is also an option. And, when using an IPX server, not even a VPN is required. For more details on how to set up an IPX connection, see [[en:games:star_trek_armada_1:setting_up_matches#using_ipx|Using IPX]]. |
| | === Gameranger === |
| | For GameRanger it is sufficient to forward port 16000 (UDP) only. |
| | === Former WON Network (Obsolete) === |
| | The game offers only the [[..:gaming_platforms:world_opponent_network|WON]] servers for the Internet game (not available any longer) and in the LAN it searches automatically for open servers, using [[..:game_tech:directx#directplay|DirectPlay]]. Unfortunately it is not possible to enter an IP address. This requires LAN games, games via [[..:network_terms:VPN]], or via [[..:game_tech:Gameranger]]. The port forwarding for routers below makes little sense, apart from GameRanger. Known ports that the game used at some point: |
| | * 2300, 2936, 2937 ([[..:network_terms:TCP]]) |
| | * 2350, 2550, 2902, 2927, 13365, 16562, 62223 ([[..:network_terms:UDP]]) |
| | So it doesn't seem to be just the DirectPlay area that is used, but something more. |
| | |
| | ==== GOG vs. CD Version ==== |
| | The game checks its own binary file (//Armada.exe//) before entering multiplayer menus. Only games with the same checksum will find each other on the network. That is the reason why the original CD version cannot find GOG matches and the other way around. Also cracks and other altering of the binary will require having the same alterations present at all players sides. |
| | |
| | The CD version is known to be rather unstable on network play. Frequent desyncs are not unheard of. The GOG version also suffers from those problems, but apparently to a far lesser extend. Also the GOG version comes with an [[..:network_terms:IPX]] wrapper, that allows IPX network play via [[..:network_terms:UDP]]. Both have a tendency for descyncs, so it does not really matter if you use IPX or UDP. |
| | ===== Downloads ===== |
| | * [[http://armadafiles.com/files/armada/official-releases/patches/star-trek-armada-12-patch/details|Star Trek - Armada 1 - Patch 1.2]] |
| | * [[http://armadafiles.com/files/armada/mods/patches/star-trek-armada-patch-1-3-project/details|Star Trek - Armada 1 - Community Patch 1.3]] |
| | * [[https://github.com/elishacloud/wiki-attachments/raw/master/dxwrapper/Games/Star%20Trek%20Armada%201/Armada-fix.zip|DirectDraw wrapper]] |
| ===== See also ===== | ===== See also ===== |
| * [[Star Trek games]], | * [[Star Trek Games]], |
| * [[Star Trek - Armada 2]] and | * [[Star Trek - Armada 2|Star Trek: Armada II]] and |
| * [[Star Trek - Armada 3]]. | * [[..:mods:star_trek_-_armada_3|Star Trek Armada 3]]. |
| |
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