No doubt the most complex space combat simulation games ever released, and one the most complex games in general, Star Fleet 1 packs an amazing amount of gameplay and realism less than 200KB of space.
In a plot and gameplay inspired by Star Trek games that were floating around almost every mini-computer and mainframes in late 1970s, Star Fleet lets you command a spaceship and undertake various missions to defend the earth from the aliens Krellan and Zaldron. Every ship system is modeled in meticulous detail-- a must play for all every armchair commander. The version of the game here is the first official release version by Interstel, after it was incorporated by Trevor Sorensen in 1986. The game itself, however, began selling as early as 1981 by Cygnus, back when it was still a "garage sale" operation.
Definitely as must-play for every armchair commander.
Review By HOTUD
English 
Comments and reviews
Hex Edit Energy Cheat for "Star Fleet I: The War Begins!"
I've been playing "Star Fleet I: The War Begins!" (version 2.1) quite extensively over the course of the past few months. I've managed to make it to "Vice Admiral" rank (level 9). Ranks 1-6 were a breeze, rank 7 was a bit difficult, and rank 8 was difficult but winnable.
Rank 9 seems to be impossible! I've been stuck on the first mission of rank 9 for ages now (you need to win 5 missions with a required efficiency rating/percentage per mission to advance to the next rank in the game). I've played numerous missions at rank 9, and even a few at rank 10 (by temporarily "promoting" myself using the game's built in "Personnel Manager" feature), but those two ranks seem to be almost unwinnable.
The Krellans almost ALWAYS seem to move when I take a shot (using phasors OR torpedoes), yet ALWAYS seem to hit me regardless if I move or not. The Zaldrons are the MOST ANNOYING enemies of all. They are always cloaked so that you have NO idea of where they are, yet they seem to ALWAYS know what quadrant of space that you're in... following you around the galaxy like a dog on a leash! They randomly and spastically pop in and out of your current sector at will, screwing up any strategy that you may have planned, as well as your shield power configuration strategies.
Of course, if you attempt to start a battle in a sector with 3 or more enemies (which is a MUST in order to win the mission with the required efficiency rating/percentage within the allotted time frame), they knock down your shield power (and total power) extremely quickly. And, too many trips back to the SINGLE starbase that you have in ranks 9 and 10 costs you even MORE mission time/days resulting in running out of time to complete the mission. Not to mention, the difficulty of actually LOCATING the SINGLE starbase at those rank levels.
Starting a mission (and being resupplied at the single starbase) at ranks 9 and 10 with the game's default of only a total of 5000 energy points seems to be unwinnable.
Hence, I finally decided to break down and utilize Captain James T. Kirk's "Kobayashi Maru" Star Fleet training scenario tactics... CHEAT! I REALLY didn't want to do this (as in my NOT so humble opinion KIRK IS A CHEATER!), but it's the ONLY way to make the game enjoyable for rank 9 and 10 missions in order to normally advance your rank. Yeah, I could go ahead and just keep playing rank 7 missions... but DAMMIT JIM, I want to get PROMOTED (I feel like Ensign Harry Kim in Star Trek: Voyager LOL)!
So, without further adieu, a hex edit cheat for version 2.1 of the game that changes the starship new mission energy from 5000 to 9999, and the starbase resupply energy from 5000 to 9999. Note that you will need a hex editor, know how to use it, and the hex offsets listed below are ONLY for version 2.1 of the game (release date August 18, 1986). Also note that I didn't search for the hex offsets for the "Small Memory" version of the game (which includes the file "OVS.EXE"), ONLY the hex offsets for the "Large Memory" version of the game (the files "SFI.EXE" and "OVC.EXE").
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Star Fleet I: The War Begins! v2.1 Energy Cheat
===============================================
For use with version 2.1, release date August 18 1986.
Changes the starship new mission energy from 5000 to 9999, and the starbase resupply energy from 5000 to 9999.
Starship New Mission Energy
---------------------------
Filename: SFI.EXE
Filesize: 51,584 bytes
Hex Offset (0 Based): 5B43
Hex Value (Byte Swapped): Change 8813 to 0F27
Starbase Resupply Energy
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Filename: OVC.EXE
Filesize: 31,360 bytes
Hex Offset (0 Based): 3235
Hex Value (Byte Swapped): Change 8813 to 0F27
ENJOY and HAVE FUN!
-------------------
Rich ¥Weeds¥ Nagel
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Anyhow, with the new mission and resupply energy levels set to 9999, the game STILL requires a LOT of strategy at ranks 9 and 10, but AT LEAST it's WINNABLE. I'm SURE that ranks 1-7 will probably be WAY too easy with these increased energy levels, so you probably will not want to use this cheat for games at those ranks.
WOW STUMBLED ON THIS GAME, BRINGS BACK MEMORIES, AND WHEN IT ASKED FOR A WORD IN THE BOOK I WAS CERTAIN THIS WAS THE GAME I HAD AS I HAD THE BOOK
sheldon cooper would love that game :))
you should use the game with DOSBox SVN
Hi There, I get an error File not found line 242. I did the rename of TMP to SEQ.NUM and TMP.DAT to SF.PER but now that I am a Lieutenant JG now of my missions are being recorded so I am unable to go beyond Lieutenant JG - RANK 2... Does anyone know what file it is looking for to allow for continuous promotions? Let me know. Thanks Craig - BUYSELLLS
I have done all of the above mentioned instructions and the game continues to bail on me after entering the correct word/page sequence. I am at a loss on how to proceed.
The best 160kb game I’ve ever played. Takes me back to when I had my Commodore PC-10!
HELLO, I have a PROBLEM, AFTER THE FINALS THE FIRST MISSION OF RANK 2 CA M'ECRIT MY SCORE WITH THIS MESSAGE "FILE NOT FOUND IN LINE 242" AND CECI PRESS ANY KEY TO RETURN TO THE FREEDOS SHELL..., CAN YOU CORRIGER THIS PROBLEM?, THANK you !!!!
to avoid the crash and to resume the mission you have to rename 2 files after your mission:
TMP.DAT to SF.PER and TMP to SEQ.NUM
Then it should work.
So played the game once, worked great, but dropped me after I checked how I did on first game. Not a big deal. So restarted it, goes through the intro, and after it for the word for the copy protection, and then asks if the word I entered is correct, it goes black and says something about needing to sign in as "manager"
Anyone have a clue what I should do? Don't see anything about that in the D-fender stuff.
went back to play says I have sign on as manager to reset data files, help
I have a copy of the Star Fleet I manual.
I setup my Last name and password like it said, but when I go to log back in it doesn't recognize my last name, saying File Read error, you must sign on as MANAGER to work on or reset the data files.
I knew I still had my original box of this game when I played it on my commodore 64, so looked through some boxes in my attic and found it and everything was still in it. OFFICER'S MANUAL, OFFICER'S MANUAL SUPPLEMENT, Quick Reference Card and the piece of paper I wrote my name and password on. I still have commodore 64 and my cousins 128. My GF and I at the time played it all the time.
Copy protection:
WORD Word # Line # Page #
------------------------------------------------
the 1 1 22
there 1 3 29
mines 1 9 40
messages 1 13 22
must 2 1 81
you 2 2 93
are 2 4 29
simulation 3 1 16
the 3 1 31
have 3 6 80
messages 3 9 36
most 3 20 87
subterranean 4 2 8
will 4 4 25
the 4 4 33
males 4 8 8
mission 5 1 6
intelligent 5 3 8
service 5 3 11
and 6 3 21
computer 6 3 29
find 6 7 67
is 6 8 32
star 7 2 22
award 7 8 83
decorations 8 2 11
star 8 2 16
fleet 8 2 22
fleet 9 2 16
these 9 2 30
laid 9 2 41
will 9 10 37
two 9 15 8
be 10 2 20
queen 10 6 8
greatest 10 22 7
command 11 5 5
retrieved 11 13 40
zaldron 12 1 9
six 12 8 45
special 13 16 32
Where can I get a copy of the manual? This "Word Lookup" protection is irritating.
I LOVE you people. My entire floor was addicted to this game in college. It took me forever to remember the name of the game and now that I've found it again...Christmas!
Excellent Smithers....Excellent.
Which file should I use in D-Fend?
No comment nor review for this game at the moment.