By Maasenstodt and Jiggalypuff
7 March 2004
Author: Joker
Category: Mod
Year Published: 2004
Available From: BotF Cooperative
Score
Style: 4
Substance: 4
Synopsis
The Building Mod is currently the most mature mod still being developed and it is perhaps the
best balanced for all styles of play.
As soon as you begin installing the lastest version of the Building Mod, you know that a great
deal of work has gone into it. The installer itself is simply wonderful and seems to work better
than previous versions. While some of the grammar could be cleaned up, it provides the user with
as easy of an experience as could be hoped for. The integrated videos are fun, the assistance it
provides in the event of a botched installation is quite helpful and the readme file is as good
as any provided with mod out there and provides an excellent overview of the changes inacted.
Once you start the game, the opening scenes depict battles between the Klingon-Federation
Alliance and the Dominion. Just having a new opening sequence makes you feel like your playing
a whole new game. Each race also has new and unique videos and pictures that provide a new
experience. The effort expended on these changes alone could lead one to believe that Joker is
either single or unemployed. Were he the later, someone should give the man a job because someone
who can put so much effort into such a project is rare in the least.
The actual Mod itself makes a large number of changes in a number of areas. Probably most noticable
upon first playing is the lowering of production costs, allowing you to have new colonies and
fleets up and operational quickly. This change, along with much faster terriforming and the
larger number of structures that each colony (and home world, for that matter) start with, makes
colonizing new worlds a very attractive venture, although if you are the type who enjoys slowly
building your colonies then this may not be such a good thing. This is not to say that empire
growth is significantly faster than normal, since science costs remain prohibitive and ship ranges
stay within norms.
Ship changes make the development process more realistic, with each race having areas of focus.
The Romulans, for instance have, three classes of strike cruisers to better emphasize their
importance to that empire. The Building Mod lessens the number of weapons per vessel, making
kills a bit more challenging. Along with lower maintenance costs and faster production, big,
long fleet engagements are much more likely. What is more, and as is typical of the Mod, the
ships are significantly better balanced.
The changes to structures are fewer excepting for the production changes already noted. With a
few exceptions, most special structures remain as they are in the unmodded game. Perhaps most
notable are an increase in morale boosting structures and perhaps a lessened defensive capability.
Along with the changes to fleets, this allows for much more aggressive play.
For multiplayer gaming, the Building Mod seems to be only behind the T10 mod in allowing for faster
gameplay. With its focus on T1, however, its take is quite different, making it a good alternative
to the T10 mod. For single player gaming, the results are mixed. In testing, the AI does not
expand as aggresively as in some other mods though it does build, mass and use fleets as well as
any other mod out there. Overall, the experience is better than the unmodded game since the fleets
are likely to challenge users yet the endgame is less time consuming. The Building Mod does
increase the game's pace and doesn't allow for higher starting tech levels or random events.
In conclusion, this is an superb piece of work from Joker. The Mod's production values are top
notch and the effects are subtle but well crafted. Although it is quite a hefty download and
you need to get it through the eDonkey P2P network, it is well worth the wait. Get it and try it
out as soon as you can - there's nothing else quite like it. Maasenstodt considers this mod to
be the stalwart of the BotF modding community and in Jiggalypuff's opinion, this is
without a doubt the best mod available.
|