We're back with our final progress report of the year. We're pleased to announce that we'll soon begin work on the final campaign for the BCMM SFC3 port, which should enter development shortly.
Now onto our report.
Talking to ChatGPT\Ollama
We've showcased something rare in games, and please note that this is purely a technical demo. It demonstrates live integration of ChatGPT\Ollama inside the game.
A LCARS-style communication window (native look and feel) sends player input through BCMM's IPC layer to an external process that communicates with OpenAI\Ollama. The generated response is then …
We're back and restarting BCMM development after our short break. So what's new?
More Performance Gains
We're still squeezing more out of Bridge Commander, and the latest results speak for themselves.
This month we're showcasing a 35-ship battle - the same scale most YouTubers use for their videos - except instead of a slideshow, BCMM runs it at 120+ FPS.
Full video demo is included below.
Discord Integration
We've added new Discord features, including two fully optional settings:
Mirror Window (for Streaming):
Creates a mirror window, so Discord can capture the game even when DX7 causes issues.
This month our focus was on campaign development for Bridge Commander, alongside new engine optimizations to better handle disruptor-based ships.
Romulan Campaign
We’ve completed the Romulan Campaign, bringing all 17 missions plus one epilogue mission into BCMM.
Next up: the Federation Campaign, featuring the USS Mako, an Intrepid-class vessel.
Performance Tweaks
Some claimed that BC couldn’t handle many high-poly ships with 2K textures, let alone handle disruptor-based ships, which were notorious for turning the game into a slideshow or PowerPoint presentation.
What we’ve demonstrated -- through both low-level and high-level engine tweaks -- is that the game …
As we approach the closing chapters of the Romulan Campaign, we are beginning preparations for the next great adventure: the Federation Campaign.
We are excited to introduce you to the hero ship of this story — the U.S.S. Mako, an Intrepid-class vessel.
U.S.S. MAKO — NCC-81729
Ship History (Synopsis)
Captain: Vincent Stark Executive Officer (XO): Commander Kenneth Teszlar Science Officer: Lieutenant Jamieson Clark Tactical Officer: Lieutenant Tamara Howard Helm: Ensign Byron Lansing Chief Engineer: Lieutenant Commander Ardira Ghali
Commission and Mission
The U.S.S. Mako was commissioned on Stardate 50234.9 at the Utopia …
This month our focus was on the campaigns in Bridge Commander.
New animations
Ever wanted to see the Great Barrier from Star Trek in BC? Now you can — check the sneak peek here:
Romulan Campaign
We've continued working on the Romulan campaign. See the promos below:
New Maelstrom Save/Load system
Ever since BC was released -- and especially with added mods -- the save/load system in the campaign has been unstable. Why? Because BC tried to serialize the whole universe, literally.
BCMM has now implemented a new save system to replace the existing one, which no longer has …
Q: Where did BCMM originate from? A: BCMM was originally conceptualized by bridge modder Lurok91 back in 2011. His vision laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the foundation of this project.
You can read his original post here to see how the idea began.
Q: What is BCMM trying to accomplish? A: To modernize Bridge Commander for the 21st century — not just with visuals, but with architecture, systems, and gameplay depth.
Q: Who are the BCMM developers? A:Adonis, Blackrook32, Cordanilus, Darkthunder, Jb06, Lurok91, and Mario.
Q: What sets BCMM apart from other mods? A: A tight-knit group …
This month, our focus has shifted from raw performance to exploring new frontiers within Bridge Commander. And when we say new frontiers, we mean pushing the game's boundaries in ways few thought possible.
Romulan Campaign Development Begins
After a long pause, development on the Romulan campaign is finally underway again. Several missions have already been completed, though only three have been revealed publicly so far. You can check out teasers below:
NIF Format Experiments
Cordanilus has been experimenting extensively with the NIF format, achieving groundbreaking visual effects. Check out the results here:
It’s been a while since our last update—since November, in fact! Life has been hectic, but we’re officially moving forward with the Romulan campaign. Expect update videos in the coming months as we make progress.
On the backend, I’ve been focused on performance upgrades for BC whenever time allowed. Meanwhile, Blackrook and Cordanilus have been working on their own (somewhat secret) projects. One notable task Blackrook is tackling is AI voice casting for the Romulan campaign, building on the experience gained from the Klingon campaign.
As I've mentioned in previous articles, BC is a very old game. It uses an old game engine called NetImmerse and runs on a single core. That cannot be changed. Without any optimizations or tweaks, you cannot achieve ship battles larger than 30–40 ships on an average computer without the game turning into a PowerPoint presentation.
You might ask yourself, "What if I get a better GPU or CPU? Will that help?" Not in the slightest.
What is the bottleneck, and can anything be done about it?
Well basically, it was to help out an old friend, Lurok91.
I always admired Lurok's work and was asked to take up developing BCMM. I thought his work deserved to be brought out and developed to its fullest potential. Before this time. I was in contact with many retired modders who were either lurking or keeping tabs on the BC Community. I've always kept mods given to me to evaluate. I had Lurok's original "unadulterated" BCMM works from 2012 and 2017.
I've always had a "vision" for modded BC, pushing the game beyond its original parameters. Looking towards my favorite …