Star Trek has not had the best of luck when it came to computer games. Despite their number over the past... what, two or three decades? Anyway, most Star Trek games ranged from merely passable to gods-awful. The only consistent trait was that the voice actors involved were often joined by the actors from... whichever Star Trek show the game was about.

Back in the days of Windows 98, Microprose brought out a Star Trek game called Birth of the Federation. As a turn-based strategy game, it was pretty much the only one ever developed that had any solid replay value. It is, in my opinion, the best Star Trek game ever made. (This is my opinion because first person shooters rarely grab me. I am aware that many believe those Voyager-based games kick ass.)

Alas, BotF does not work properly on XP. Even with the patch, it tends to freeze up at random intervals, rendering obsolete the occasional urge to bring peace to the galaxy as the Federation, conqour it as the Klingons, or help it realize that I should be in charge as the Romulans. (The Ferengi and Cardassians rarely held my interest for more than fifty turns a game.)

A few days ago I found Birth of the Empires. The games discussed on the website are being made entirely by players that happen to know how to code. So far, they've been doing a damn fine job. I just played this thing through the night without noticing, and it's still only in the alpha stage. Many of the things that bugged me about Microprose's original have been updated or wiped where appropriate.

For most of my life, Star Trek and Star Wars have sat on each oend of a seesaw, and one has held my attention far more than the other. I suspect Trek is on the rise once more.