The game is a
4X turn-based computer strategy game set in
The Next Generation era of
Star Trek, with only starships and races from that series and movies. There are no ships or races from
The Original Series or
Star Trek: Voyager unless they appeared on
The Next Generation. For example, the
Romulan Warbird from
The Next Generation appears, but the Romulan Bird of Prey from
The Original Series does not. There are also separate screens for empire research, colony management, intelligence and diplomacy which are all accessed from a right-click main menu. Space Battles are turn-based, and allow for the player to issue orders to individual vessels. The player then watches the two sides follow their respective orders at the same time. The player is also required to manage resources for their empire. At an individual system level, the player must manage energy to power structures, food to feed the population and industry units which determines how quickly ships and structures can be constructed. Across an empire, the player must also manage credits which allow for structures and ships to be instantly constructed, to support ships beyond the maximum allowed by the population and to be used as gifts or bribes. In addition to population, the number of starships that an empire can build simultaneously is restricted by the number of dilithium refineries it owns.
Factions Although the title of the game is
Birth of the Federation, the player can choose from five major powers: The Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Cardassian Union, and the Ferengi Alliance. Each minor race adds a unique ability to the empire that controls them, for example the
Bolians allow the player to construct a building which increases the effectiveness of spies in the game, and the
Betazoids (with their telepathy) boost the effectiveness of counterintelligence. == Production ==