With Star Trek Starship Creator: Warp II, from Simon and Schuster Interactive and Imergy, you must create your own ship, name it, man it then embark any one of 35 missions offered. This program features a nice set-up but sputters when it tries to engage the warp engines.

Warp II is the third generation of this title, adding several new features the former ones missed. There is a mission creator, which utilizes drag and drop technology (just like the design phase of the program) to allow you the flexibility of going beyond the missions contained in the game. There is a new class of ship: the B’rel Bird of Prey. You can send ships out on a cooperative mission, import a photo into the program and create your own officer (using family, friends or pets), you can even export your ship and crew into the upcoming (fall 2000) PC release Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Dominion Wars.

Creating your ship is easy. You begin with 42,500 credits and a series of hull designs to select from. Whatever you pick will cost you credits. For example, the Intrepid class ship (built during the Borg/Cardassian/Maquis altercations) will cost 38,990 credits with parts included. You can then go into the customizable phase, changing your warp engine, saucer or even hull design. A wire frame blueprint that can be rotated in any direction, allows you a final look at your ship before construction. Once the ship is built, you assign it a registry number, give it a name - both are printed on the hull of the ship - and crew the vessel.

For Star Trek fans, picking your captain is a delight. There are pictures and profiles for most of your favorite characters from the television series. How about putting Barclay in charge? Maybe Commander Data deserves a command slot. Or pick from Chakotay, Janeway, Crusher, Kira Nerys, Odo, Neelix, Miles O’Brien, Picard, Riker, Pulaski or Troi. If none of these sparkles your imagination, you can import your own JPEG photo into the program, slap a uniform (spanning from early Star Trek shows to The Next Generation style) on him or her and then create your own bio while adjusting skill ratings to reflect the type of captain you want him or her to be. For a little fun, you can even create Fido, the dog-faced captain.

Drawback number one to the program is the manual. It is a 4'x3' double-sided poster that makes quick and easy referencing a chore.  One side is the Mission Creator command guide, the other (conveniently printed upside down so you can lift it off the wall and read the reverse side - and yes, using the word 'convenient' is sarcasm) is the easy-to-follow instructions for the ship design functions.

Once you have everything in place, you can embark on a mission. However, don’t think you will be able to control the ship. Once you have selected all the components for your outfitting, the ship flies on its own. There is a log readout so you can see how the ship is doing, the graphics are a little poor - flat images on a map overlay. And the only accompanying sound is music. Successfully complete the mission and you will earn more credits to re-outfit your starship.

This game had great promise, but falls just a little short of achieving a sustainable orbit. The gameplay is fine up until the mission. There is variety, to be sure, and the interface is very user-friendly. There are facets of the program that are fun, but there isn’t enough of them. Perhaps when Dominion Wars is released and you are able to export your creation and its crew, this will be a must-have program. But for now, Scottie, beam me out of here.

Star Trek Starship Creator: Warp II is a hybrid program, capable of play on either PCs or Macintoshs. The program is not rated, but contains no violence and should be considered appropriate for most age groups.

Install: Medium - not too much in the way of excitement - though the title may suggest it - is offered here.

Gameplay: 7. This program is not taxing on a computer system simply because most of the 'action' is still static. Missions can be run in real-time or accelerated time, but offer little interaction.

Graphics: 6.5. Three-dimensional graphics create the illusion of entering this unique universe.

Sound: 7.  The sound consists mostly of the Star Trek computer voice, a few computer dings and music.

Difficulty: 8. The program is somewhat intuitive, and when you get to the mission phase, other than having outfitted your ship properly, there is little you can do.

Concept: 8. The idea behind this program is solid.

Overall: 7. The name is a little deceptive. You really don’t create a ship. You select a hull and then add the equipment you deem necessary to complete missions. The gameplay in the mission phase is of the ‘sit back and watch’ variety.