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Like others have said, Neverwinter Nights (1 or 2) can give you this. NWN2 has fairly steep hardware requirements for what it offers, but a easier to use toolset. BUT these use 3.0/3.5 rules. I've been playing D&D since the old "red box" days. 3.0/3.5, while better in defining the mechanics that 1 or 2 ever did, can be a real bear to run encounters at of higher levels, or large encounters. I'm awaiting the arrival of the 4th edition with some trepidation, but also eagerness. there are a lot of things that are jsut very cumbersome in the current version. If they can streamline D&D while keeping the feel, I'm all for it. If I want super exacting rules I will play a game of Star Fleet Battles http://www.starfleetgames.com/ . But when playing an RPG, I really want more easy to use rules that allow a story to be told more readily.

Why is it so hard to make a good Star Trek game?

Licensing, publishers and profit.

A good game will not sell well enough.

The classic example is the Starfleet Command series (SFC), the best of which is Starfleet Command: Orion Pirates - which is an excellent trek game.

Starfleet command was originally developed by Taldren and Quicksilver. Licensing is quite complicated, involving the Amarillo Design Bureau (makers of the paper strategy game Star Fleet battles (SFB) - http://www.starfleetgames.com/ ... and Paramount pictures of course.

Taldren went down when for Starfleet Command 3, they caved to publisher pressure (Activision) to make a more populist game. They completely ruined everything that was great about SFC (mainly being based on SFB).

SFC was the only good trek game I ever played. However it is too complicated to be successful on the large scale. People want nice simple mindless games.

The complex strategic naval simulations of SFB/SFC are just too much for the modern gamer who is accustomed to the "twitch" style FPS which generally involves little thought.

Why is it so hard to make a good Star Trek game?

The market doesn't want one, licensing, publishers and profit.

Obviously things need to change from turn based to RTS, but I'd like to see it. Maybe a combination of SF Battles and Pirates! That would rock.

Star Fleet Battles (SFB) is a tactical wargame of starship combat designed by Amarillo Design Bureau (ADB). Although based on the original Star Trek episodes from the latter half of the 20th century, SFB divirges from the original source material to provide players with an intricate and well-balanced selection of races, starships, and weapons. An admittedly complex, but well-designed system of rules governs the interactions between ships, and allows players almost unlimited flexibility in making command decisions.

Play is conducted on a two dimensional hexagon grid with die-cut counters (or miniatures) representing ships, terrain, fighters, etc. The most common scenario is a duel consisting of two players; however, there is no limit (except time) to the number of players or ships which may engage in simultaneous combat. At its heart, SFB emphasizes speed and maneuver coupled with the timing and rhythm dicated by the weapon systems of the ship(s).

For more info, visit the SFB homepage at: http://www.starfleetgames.com/

I recommend any game by Avalon Hill or Steve Jackson Games.

Illuminati is a favorite.

Diplomacy is a blast! It's like Risk, but without the ramdomness of dice. This game is ALL about making/breaking alliances.

I used to really like a game Avalon Hill used to make called Titan. They don't make it anymore though and it's hard to find now.

Star Fleet Battlesis always a fun game if your up for reading binders upon binders of rules. I never bothered learning any other rules than for the Starfleet vessels though.

Star Fleet Battles

Continuing going way off topic, but that episode of Voyager contradicts quite a few of TOS episodes, most notably Balance of Terror. It also contradicts quite a few early TNG episodes, especially early ones.

Of course I like to think of SFB as a true star trek product. Its far more internally consistant than anything recent, and is a nice extension of TOS alone. (Also I note that all combat in SFB is at warp speeds, almost entirely because of the bridge commmands in BoT)

What's more, is that one episode was penned by another author you may have heard of in which he mingled concepts of his own distinct mythology with that of trek-lore. ...and which is generally regarded by fans of both series as a horrible idea.

I suppose a few gamers in Austin think it was a pretty good idea, but that's about it.