10 ms·

The Ur-Quan Masters

216 points by mariuz 5y ago

thesuperbigfrog 5y ago
The Game Developer's Conference talk with Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III (GDC 2015): https://youtu.be/Napx0MjivCM https://youtu.be/Napx0MjivCM
abider 5y ago
Oh wow, the fond memories I have of playing my brother in SuperMelee. I can't believe that after 10 years of being largely dormant an update was released a few months back. I'm excited to try this out! If ever I can muster the spare time, I'd love to work on an extension/framework to allow this game to be network playable. Ahhh thanks for the trip down memory lane!
nine_k 5y ago
If you missed Star Control II back in 1990s, try this. It has a wonderful storyline with a few forks. A number of space-faring civilizations, each with its own history, some related and intertwined. (Also, remember: owls are not what they seem. Be sure to collect more lifeforms and buy more info to find out.) Also, it has a great original soundtrack, and one of the most beautiful soundtrack remixes (as a part of UQM rework).
- LanternLight83 5y ago
  Have you got any links related to those reworks?
  - loarabia 5y ago
    This should be the music rework. http://www.medievalfuture.com/precursors/music.php http://www.medievalfuture.com/precursors/music.php
themodelplumber 5y ago
It was fun to play this game a while back. The grand quest-style narrative is awesome. BTW speaking of retro space games, I'm looking for something like an upgraded / more fleshed-out version of Space Trader (F-Droid, previously Palm OS), without any real-time combat elements (periodic combat wins/losses/side-effects as a draw-random-card type of effect are OK, but fundamentally I got a business to run in outer space here). Anybody know whether something like that exists? (The closer I can get to checking the 30wma on asset prices in a given sector, the better)
danielodievich 5y ago
This game is my all time favorite because: a) I played it obsessively with my brother in all combinations, giggling and swearing at the same time. Shofixti vs Shofixti or the Spathi farting and being chicken is awesome b) It was one of my first programming projects for just myself. I wrote a random team generator and am still quite proud of it. c) I got my children to play it on the modern laptop and they loved the Melee just as much as me and my brother did The sense of humor, the complexity of the storyline, all the easter eggs, it is just a wonderful game.
- r00fus 5y ago
  Do you still have the source for your team generator?
- shadowgovt 5y ago
  I encountered the original Star Control on the Sega Genesis (terribly underperformant.. I went back to play it a few years ago when I had my hands on the cartridge and a physical Genesis, and I did not remember the frame rate being that low). I didn't even find out they had made a sequel until I got to college. Burned several weekends playing it. I can't imagine people having played through it back when you didn't have guides on the critical path... Playing so far in only to find out that the galaxy has a clock ticking against you must have been incredibly frustrating. But that was the style at the time, and it is a brilliant game.
  - talloaktrees 5y ago
    also played on the Genesis and I definitely remember the framerate being low! compared to when I played Star Control 2 on PC a few years later
  - jonathanlydall 5y ago
    Original came with a huge map in the box and which showed all the regions of control as they were at the time the precursor facility was initially discovered. This would give you good inspiration on areas to check out. Then you would very likely encounter the Melnorme as you searched for resources and they would give you the clues you need. Then it’s just a matter of making notes from all the aliens you talk to and following up on leads. My brothers and I managed to finish the game in 1992 with no guides.
pavlov 5y ago
Brilliant game. The original developers are now making a sequel, 30 years later: https://www.dogarandkazon.com/ https://www.dogarandkazon.com/ (We don’t talk about SC3. Legend were nice people I’m sure…)
- rideontime 5y ago
  Have you played Origins? It was off my list entirely for multiple reasons until he made up with Paul & Fred, now I'm just wondering if it's any good.
  - splonk 5y ago
    Starcon2 is probably my favorite game of all time. As mentioned above, Starcon3 never existed. I've played a couple hours of Origins and just couldn't get into it, although you can definitely see their attempts to get the writing close to the Starcon2 style. I keep on thinking I should try it again, but just can't get motivated to do so. Maybe tonight...
  - reincarnate0x14 5y ago
    Origins was pretty bad and came off like a needlessly slavish and underwhelming copy of SC2 with little interesting added. Comically for as little of the SC2 storyline as they ended up using it could have just as easily been "Galactic Civilization Explorers" or whatever and probably been better trying to do its own thing.
  - lots2learn 5y ago
    I played through SC Origins and the expansion. It's a decently fun game and I'd say worth playing. But the writing is definitely not up to par with SC2.
- shaunxcode 5y ago
  any idea what language/tool they are using? It looks fascinating.
- EarlKing 5y ago
  Moreover, they regularly post over at https://www.reddit.com/r/uqm2/ https://www.reddit.com/r/uqm2/ and run regular development streams over at https://www.twitch.tv/pebby https://www.twitch.tv/pebby .
jonnycomputer 5y ago
Wonderful wonderful game.
mtviewdave 5y ago
The original Star Control was one of my favorite games. It came out when I was in college and my friends I spent many hours playing the Amiga version in our dorm room. I happened to know a developer at Accolade who asked if I had any ideas for new ships in the sequel they were planning. I sent an email that seems to have inspired a couple of their ships. Here's a blog post I wrote up about it a few years ago: https://daveschreiber.com/2016/03/17/my-small-role-in-star-control-history/ https://daveschreiber.com/2016/03/17/my-small-role-in-star-c...
- prawn 5y ago
  Were the Ilwrath in the first game? Their cloaking ability might've been influenced by one of your suggestions?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - kragen 5y ago
    Yeah, they were. IIRC they were sort of optimized for attacking Earthlings, whose missiles were useless at long range when they were cloaked and which couldn't turn fast enough to counterattack at short range or accelerate fast enough to escape.
    - splonk 5y ago
      That was the idea, but in practice the zoom level and auto-centering of the combat screen meant that a good Earthling player could probably eventually win at long range. At close range the Earthling could turn quickly but couldn't output enough damage or accelerate to escape fast enough before the Ilwrath could kill it.
      - Pigalowda 5y ago
        Earthling is slower than Ilwrath which can also fan out the flame thrower and destroy incoming missiles. Alliance should follow up with Shofixti after the Earthling is destroyed by Ilwrath.
pvg 5y ago
A while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18734808 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18734808
el_seano 5y ago
I've described this game as if Mass Effect were written by Douglas Adams in the 16-bit era.
- Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
  Mass effect was clearly inspired by SC2&3.
afavour 5y ago
I think this was the most engaging video game I have ever played. Not because it’s actually amazing by today’s standards but I was the right age (must have been 12 or so) for it to catch my imagination perfectly. To this day I maintain that the alien races are some of the most inventive I’ve seen in any media, the storyline more compelling. That said, I’ve not played it since (beyond some melee games via Ur Quan Masters) because I suspect it won’t live up to my memories. But man would I love to see a sequel (there was one but none of the original team were involved).
- VonGuard 5y ago
  It did, indeed, have amazing alien races, extremely unique and original. Everything from the crystaline Chenjesu to the Used-to-steal-humans-and-probe-them-but-they're-not-aliens-they-are-pan-dimensional-beings Arilulaleelay, to the cowardly Spathi, to cryptic Melnorn. Play it again. It holds up. Maybe even more so! I recently did an interview with the lead maintainer on this project, for the MADE's podcast. Very timely, and coincided with a major update last year, the first in a long while. https://art19.com/shows/the-madecast/episodes/f64c139a-5d76-4d5c-bdc9-62c524bcbac6 https://art19.com/shows/the-madecast/episodes/f64c139a-5d76-...
  - afavour 5y ago
    Oh man, I’d kind of forgotten the Arilou plot. What an incredibly smart play on the “little green men” trope. I suppose another reason I haven’t played is that I already know the plot back to front. I want to know more about the Orz (another subplot that fascinated me). Hell, I wanted to know if there was anything more to be learned about what happened to races like the Gg (the fact that I remember such minor plot points twenty years later speaks volumes). I was very disappointed when I heard that the sequel wasn’t going to touch any of that.
    - thesuperbigfrog 5y ago
      Did you ever find the Black Spathi Squadron?
    - 5y ago
jfzoid 5y ago
An absolute classic. Happy campers are the best.
thanatos519 5y ago
My 8-year-old loves this game!
quartz 5y ago
I still have the giant fold-out hyperspace map at home somewhere from Star Control II and I think I have the DRM ring for Star Control I too! What a great set of games. Playing 2-player melee on a single keyboard on my friend's 386 was so much fun.
jfb 5y ago
I loved this, but I was a bigger fan of Starflight, which I would love to see a slightly updated version of -- not a full reboot but just ... more visual detail on the planets, maybe some 3D effects.
- Falkon1313 5y ago
  I liked Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula, and played it long before I heard of Star Control 2. But being from 1989, it could use a bit of a modernization remaster. I found the combat crazy difficult the last time I tried to play it, but maybe that can be fixed with the right Dosbox settings.
- mcphage 5y ago
  I loved Starflight so much growing up. One of my favorite gaming stories—on a planet near to where you start, you can find an artifact that claims to solve all of the problems you have in the game. And artifacts in Starflight have silly names like "Whining Orb" or "Black Egg". So when this artifact was named "Red Herring", I didn't think much of it. Sadly, it took 50.1 cubic meters, and your rover can only carry 50 cubic meters. I spent a while trying to figure out how to pick that up. Years later, when I learned what the phrase "red herring" meant, I was like "sonofabitch!".
interroboink 5y ago
I've spent many hours playing this game (: So nice that the original authors were able to maintain the rights to everything except the name (Star Control), so they could open-source the entire thing. Good on them for doing it. I also loved playing Archon, another Paul Reiche game. There was a time when having "multiple gamplay modes inside a bigger game" was more of a thing, and Star Control definitely had that, with the little resource collection lander, alien conversations, hyperspace navigation, and space fight melee mode. I feel like nowadays it's standard to just make one hyper-polished gameplay mode, and stick with it for everything, but I liked that variety. Perhaps instilled in my from the early days with Archon.
- aidenn0 5y ago
  There's a famous and influential game designer who claims having one really good element trumps lots of "just good" elements. I've seen that quoted a lot, but don't feel like searching on my phone. I disagree, but think it's part of why that tend has happened.
  - mcphage 5y ago
    There's a category of broad video games, with a ton of different systems, none of which are very deep. Like Minecraft, or Animal Crossing. I think those support your disagreement as well.
  - aidenn0 5y ago
    Aha, it's Sid Meier's "Covert Action" rule, discussed here[1] by someone who seems similarly as skeptical of it as I am. [edit] Reading that article more, it goes on to discuss ludologists vs. narratavists. It seems like SC2 that has the strategy as strongly narrative (the developers reported that they originally had procedurally generated planets, but ditched it because it wasn't as fun), while the tactics are more ludological(is that a word?) in the sense that many battles are random, so you'll have to play the matchups you get. 1: https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/whats-the-matter-with-covert-action/ https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/whats-the-matter-with-covert-...
poser-boy 5y ago
Just started playing for the first time last month using the voiceovers from the 3DO version. Despite being before my time, I found it extremely engaging. Clearly a classic, and with the open-source engine release, eternal. Download and play now if you haven't already.
Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
Star Control 2 is the best video game of all time, period. If you are a newcomer, play it without internet spoilers, that's part of the fun. Finding a rainbow world gives such burst of joy, you just can't compare it to anything else.
drfrank 5y ago
If you want to influence the direction of the sequel to Star Control II currently under development it seems that you can do so on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/uqm2/ https://www.reddit.com/r/uqm2/
zestyping 5y ago
Such great memories! Star Control II was an unparalleled experience. I got the shivers when I entered hyperspace. I was scared shitless when I met the Kohr-Ah. And so many the other alien races constantly cracked me up! Do not forget to *enjoy the sauce*!
Zardoz84 5y ago
I the only guy that when first time played Mass Effect, thought that they take a lot from Star Control 2 ?
anarticle 5y ago
The writing in this game is one of the best of all time. Deep plot, lots of fluff/worldbuilding, fun exploration and progression. Not to mention the plot moves ahead with or without you. Worth a play, great in the 90s, and now you have it for free! Even better now with voices. The lore surrounding the Ur Quan is so dark and well fleshed out. Note, the company (toys for bob) that made this went on to make a billion dollar toy called Skylanders. Fred and Paul are cool guys. https://www.dogarandkazon.com https://www.dogarandkazon.com all hail dogar and kazon
flancian 5y ago
I know Star Control II relatively well, even though I have not played it yet, thanks to the CRPG Addict: http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2019/03/game-321-star-control-ii-ur-quan.html http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2019/03/game-321-star-control... I can highly recommend this blog for detailed, quality writing on computer RPGs from all ages. It is one of those internet works of love that keep on giving. I'm happy to see this open source version come up!
chpatrick 5y ago
I think it's a really fun game, and it's interesting how the stories of the alien races kind of move on their own regardless of whether you interact with them or not. The core game loop with the resource harvesting is a bit grindy and it was made before journals were invented so you have to keep track of everything in your head or on paper, but it still holds up I think.
tibanne 5y ago
This is my favourite game ever.
Pigalowda 5y ago
Absolutely fantastic game. Remember to have a pen and paper ready for the long game. And after you lose a couple times you can search for the walkthrough (try without it at least once)
haspok 5y ago
I have to make amends to Fred & Paul because of dogarandkazon.com - I was following the original case there a few years ago (you know what I'm talking about) and I was extremely sad because it seemed that they engaged in that copyright issue just to make sure nobody else could make another Star Control game again - but it looked like they weren't interested in making one themselves either... But today I learned that they were not just pretending, but are actually working on a sequel! I am so happy, here is bright and smooth. Campers are the best!
AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
I tried playing through UQM/SCII a couple years ago (massive props that the game is available in most Linux distros and you can simply search your standard distro repos for `uqm` to get up and running), but could never get very far. Evidently I'm simply not playing the game with the correct sense of urgency. I spend the first couple months of in-game time gathering resources and exploring, and at some point the Ur-Quan invasion reaches me and I literally can't progress any further, because alien ships start making a bee-line for me and annihilate me in combat.
- forgetfulness 5y ago
  You aren't given notice by the game, but you have a pretty narrow window to build a few ships from the first alien race you ally yourself with; their ships can kite the heavy ships from the Ur-Quan with extreme ease, you're pretty much set for the game if you have three.

216 points by mariuz 5y ago

The Game Developer's Conference talk with Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III (GDC 2015): https://youtu.be/Napx0MjivCM https://youtu.be/Napx0MjivCM

abider 5y ago

Oh wow, the fond memories I have of playing my brother in SuperMelee. I can't believe that after 10 years of being largely dormant an update was released a few months back. I'm excited to try this out! If ever I can muster the spare time, I'd love to work on an extension/framework to allow this game to be network playable. Ahhh thanks for the trip down memory lane!

nine_k 5y ago

If you missed Star Control II back in 1990s, try this. It has a wonderful storyline with a few forks. A number of space-faring civilizations, each with its own history, some related and intertwined. (Also, remember: owls are not what they seem. Be sure to collect more lifeforms and buy more info to find out.) Also, it has a great original soundtrack, and one of the most beautiful soundtrack remixes (as a part of UQM rework).

LanternLight83 5y ago
Have you got any links related to those reworks?
- loarabia 5y ago
  This should be the music rework. http://www.medievalfuture.com/precursors/music.php http://www.medievalfuture.com/precursors/music.php

themodelplumber 5y ago

It was fun to play this game a while back. The grand quest-style narrative is awesome. BTW speaking of retro space games, I'm looking for something like an upgraded / more fleshed-out version of Space Trader (F-Droid, previously Palm OS), without any real-time combat elements (periodic combat wins/losses/side-effects as a draw-random-card type of effect are OK, but fundamentally I got a business to run in outer space here). Anybody know whether something like that exists? (The closer I can get to checking the 30wma on asset prices in a given sector, the better)

danielodievich 5y ago

This game is my all time favorite because: a) I played it obsessively with my brother in all combinations, giggling and swearing at the same time. Shofixti vs Shofixti or the Spathi farting and being chicken is awesome b) It was one of my first programming projects for just myself. I wrote a random team generator and am still quite proud of it. c) I got my children to play it on the modern laptop and they loved the Melee just as much as me and my brother did The sense of humor, the complexity of the storyline, all the easter eggs, it is just a wonderful game.

r00fus 5y ago
Do you still have the source for your team generator?
shadowgovt 5y ago
I encountered the original Star Control on the Sega Genesis (terribly underperformant.. I went back to play it a few years ago when I had my hands on the cartridge and a physical Genesis, and I did not remember the frame rate being that low). I didn't even find out they had made a sequel until I got to college. Burned several weekends playing it. I can't imagine people having played through it back when you didn't have guides on the critical path... Playing so far in only to find out that the galaxy has a clock ticking against you must have been incredibly frustrating. But that was the style at the time, and it is a brilliant game.
- talloaktrees 5y ago
  also played on the Genesis and I definitely remember the framerate being low! compared to when I played Star Control 2 on PC a few years later
- jonathanlydall 5y ago
  Original came with a huge map in the box and which showed all the regions of control as they were at the time the precursor facility was initially discovered. This would give you good inspiration on areas to check out. Then you would very likely encounter the Melnorme as you searched for resources and they would give you the clues you need. Then it’s just a matter of making notes from all the aliens you talk to and following up on leads. My brothers and I managed to finish the game in 1992 with no guides.

pavlov 5y ago

Brilliant game. The original developers are now making a sequel, 30 years later: https://www.dogarandkazon.com/ https://www.dogarandkazon.com/ (We don’t talk about SC3. Legend were nice people I’m sure…)

rideontime 5y ago
Have you played Origins? It was off my list entirely for multiple reasons until he made up with Paul & Fred, now I'm just wondering if it's any good.
- splonk 5y ago
  Starcon2 is probably my favorite game of all time. As mentioned above, Starcon3 never existed. I've played a couple hours of Origins and just couldn't get into it, although you can definitely see their attempts to get the writing close to the Starcon2 style. I keep on thinking I should try it again, but just can't get motivated to do so. Maybe tonight...
- reincarnate0x14 5y ago
  Origins was pretty bad and came off like a needlessly slavish and underwhelming copy of SC2 with little interesting added. Comically for as little of the SC2 storyline as they ended up using it could have just as easily been "Galactic Civilization Explorers" or whatever and probably been better trying to do its own thing.
- lots2learn 5y ago
  I played through SC Origins and the expansion. It's a decently fun game and I'd say worth playing. But the writing is definitely not up to par with SC2.
shaunxcode 5y ago
any idea what language/tool they are using? It looks fascinating.
EarlKing 5y ago
Moreover, they regularly post over at https://www.reddit.com/r/uqm2/ https://www.reddit.com/r/uqm2/ and run regular development streams over at https://www.twitch.tv/pebby https://www.twitch.tv/pebby .

jonnycomputer 5y ago

Wonderful wonderful game.

mtviewdave 5y ago

The original Star Control was one of my favorite games. It came out when I was in college and my friends I spent many hours playing the Amiga version in our dorm room. I happened to know a developer at Accolade who asked if I had any ideas for new ships in the sequel they were planning. I sent an email that seems to have inspired a couple of their ships. Here's a blog post I wrote up about it a few years ago: https://daveschreiber.com/2016/03/17/my-small-role-in-star-control-history/ https://daveschreiber.com/2016/03/17/my-small-role-in-star-c...

prawn 5y ago
Were the Ilwrath in the first game? Their cloaking ability might've been influenced by one of your suggestions?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- kragen 5y ago
  Yeah, they were. IIRC they were sort of optimized for attacking Earthlings, whose missiles were useless at long range when they were cloaked and which couldn't turn fast enough to counterattack at short range or accelerate fast enough to escape.
  - splonk 5y ago
    That was the idea, but in practice the zoom level and auto-centering of the combat screen meant that a good Earthling player could probably eventually win at long range. At close range the Earthling could turn quickly but couldn't output enough damage or accelerate to escape fast enough before the Ilwrath could kill it.
    - Pigalowda 5y ago
      Earthling is slower than Ilwrath which can also fan out the flame thrower and destroy incoming missiles. Alliance should follow up with Shofixti after the Earthling is destroyed by Ilwrath.

pvg 5y ago

A while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18734808 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18734808

el_seano 5y ago

I've described this game as if Mass Effect were written by Douglas Adams in the 16-bit era.

Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
Mass effect was clearly inspired by SC2&3.

afavour 5y ago

I think this was the most engaging video game I have ever played. Not because it’s actually amazing by today’s standards but I was the right age (must have been 12 or so) for it to catch my imagination perfectly. To this day I maintain that the alien races are some of the most inventive I’ve seen in any media, the storyline more compelling. That said, I’ve not played it since (beyond some melee games via Ur Quan Masters) because I suspect it won’t live up to my memories. But man would I love to see a sequel (there was one but none of the original team were involved).

VonGuard 5y ago
It did, indeed, have amazing alien races, extremely unique and original. Everything from the crystaline Chenjesu to the Used-to-steal-humans-and-probe-them-but-they're-not-aliens-they-are-pan-dimensional-beings Arilulaleelay, to the cowardly Spathi, to cryptic Melnorn. Play it again. It holds up. Maybe even more so! I recently did an interview with the lead maintainer on this project, for the MADE's podcast. Very timely, and coincided with a major update last year, the first in a long while. https://art19.com/shows/the-madecast/episodes/f64c139a-5d76-4d5c-bdc9-62c524bcbac6 https://art19.com/shows/the-madecast/episodes/f64c139a-5d76-...
- afavour 5y ago
  Oh man, I’d kind of forgotten the Arilou plot. What an incredibly smart play on the “little green men” trope. I suppose another reason I haven’t played is that I already know the plot back to front. I want to know more about the Orz (another subplot that fascinated me). Hell, I wanted to know if there was anything more to be learned about what happened to races like the Gg (the fact that I remember such minor plot points twenty years later speaks volumes). I was very disappointed when I heard that the sequel wasn’t going to touch any of that.
  - thesuperbigfrog 5y ago
    Did you ever find the Black Spathi Squadron?
  - 5y ago

jfzoid 5y ago

An absolute classic. Happy campers are the best.

thanatos519 5y ago

My 8-year-old loves this game!

quartz 5y ago

I still have the giant fold-out hyperspace map at home somewhere from Star Control II and I think I have the DRM ring for Star Control I too! What a great set of games. Playing 2-player melee on a single keyboard on my friend's 386 was so much fun.

jfb 5y ago

I loved this, but I was a bigger fan of Starflight, which I would love to see a slightly updated version of -- not a full reboot but just ... more visual detail on the planets, maybe some 3D effects.

Falkon1313 5y ago
I liked Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula, and played it long before I heard of Star Control 2. But being from 1989, it could use a bit of a modernization remaster. I found the combat crazy difficult the last time I tried to play it, but maybe that can be fixed with the right Dosbox settings.
mcphage 5y ago
I loved Starflight so much growing up. One of my favorite gaming stories—on a planet near to where you start, you can find an artifact that claims to solve all of the problems you have in the game. And artifacts in Starflight have silly names like "Whining Orb" or "Black Egg". So when this artifact was named "Red Herring", I didn't think much of it. Sadly, it took 50.1 cubic meters, and your rover can only carry 50 cubic meters. I spent a while trying to figure out how to pick that up. Years later, when I learned what the phrase "red herring" meant, I was like "sonofabitch!".

interroboink 5y ago

I've spent many hours playing this game (: So nice that the original authors were able to maintain the rights to everything except the name (Star Control), so they could open-source the entire thing. Good on them for doing it. I also loved playing Archon, another Paul Reiche game. There was a time when having "multiple gamplay modes inside a bigger game" was more of a thing, and Star Control definitely had that, with the little resource collection lander, alien conversations, hyperspace navigation, and space fight melee mode. I feel like nowadays it's standard to just make one hyper-polished gameplay mode, and stick with it for everything, but I liked that variety. Perhaps instilled in my from the early days with Archon.

aidenn0 5y ago
There's a famous and influential game designer who claims having one really good element trumps lots of "just good" elements. I've seen that quoted a lot, but don't feel like searching on my phone. I disagree, but think it's part of why that tend has happened.
- mcphage 5y ago
  There's a category of broad video games, with a ton of different systems, none of which are very deep. Like Minecraft, or Animal Crossing. I think those support your disagreement as well.
- aidenn0 5y ago
  Aha, it's Sid Meier's "Covert Action" rule, discussed here[1] by someone who seems similarly as skeptical of it as I am. [edit] Reading that article more, it goes on to discuss ludologists vs. narratavists. It seems like SC2 that has the strategy as strongly narrative (the developers reported that they originally had procedurally generated planets, but ditched it because it wasn't as fun), while the tactics are more ludological(is that a word?) in the sense that many battles are random, so you'll have to play the matchups you get. 1: https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/whats-the-matter-with-covert-action/ https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/whats-the-matter-with-covert-...

poser-boy 5y ago

Just started playing for the first time last month using the voiceovers from the 3DO version. Despite being before my time, I found it extremely engaging. Clearly a classic, and with the open-source engine release, eternal. Download and play now if you haven't already.

Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago

Star Control 2 is the best video game of all time, period. If you are a newcomer, play it without internet spoilers, that's part of the fun. Finding a rainbow world gives such burst of joy, you just can't compare it to anything else.

drfrank 5y ago

If you want to influence the direction of the sequel to Star Control II currently under development it seems that you can do so on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/uqm2/ https://www.reddit.com/r/uqm2/

zestyping 5y ago

Such great memories! Star Control II was an unparalleled experience. I got the shivers when I entered hyperspace. I was scared shitless when I met the Kohr-Ah. And so many the other alien races constantly cracked me up! Do not forget to *enjoy the sauce*!

Zardoz84 5y ago

I the only guy that when first time played Mass Effect, thought that they take a lot from Star Control 2 ?

anarticle 5y ago

The writing in this game is one of the best of all time. Deep plot, lots of fluff/worldbuilding, fun exploration and progression. Not to mention the plot moves ahead with or without you. Worth a play, great in the 90s, and now you have it for free! Even better now with voices. The lore surrounding the Ur Quan is so dark and well fleshed out. Note, the company (toys for bob) that made this went on to make a billion dollar toy called Skylanders. Fred and Paul are cool guys. https://www.dogarandkazon.com https://www.dogarandkazon.com all hail dogar and kazon

flancian 5y ago

I know Star Control II relatively well, even though I have not played it yet, thanks to the CRPG Addict: http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2019/03/game-321-star-control-ii-ur-quan.html http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2019/03/game-321-star-control... I can highly recommend this blog for detailed, quality writing on computer RPGs from all ages. It is one of those internet works of love that keep on giving. I'm happy to see this open source version come up!

chpatrick 5y ago

I think it's a really fun game, and it's interesting how the stories of the alien races kind of move on their own regardless of whether you interact with them or not. The core game loop with the resource harvesting is a bit grindy and it was made before journals were invented so you have to keep track of everything in your head or on paper, but it still holds up I think.

tibanne 5y ago

This is my favourite game ever.

Pigalowda 5y ago

Absolutely fantastic game. Remember to have a pen and paper ready for the long game. And after you lose a couple times you can search for the walkthrough (try without it at least once)

haspok 5y ago

I have to make amends to Fred & Paul because of dogarandkazon.com - I was following the original case there a few years ago (you know what I'm talking about) and I was extremely sad because it seemed that they engaged in that copyright issue just to make sure nobody else could make another Star Control game again - but it looked like they weren't interested in making one themselves either... But today I learned that they were not just pretending, but are actually working on a sequel! I am so happy, here is bright and smooth. Campers are the best!

AdmiralAsshat 5y ago

I tried playing through UQM/SCII a couple years ago (massive props that the game is available in most Linux distros and you can simply search your standard distro repos for `uqm` to get up and running), but could never get very far. Evidently I'm simply not playing the game with the correct sense of urgency. I spend the first couple months of in-game time gathering resources and exploring, and at some point the Ur-Quan invasion reaches me and I literally can't progress any further, because alien ships start making a bee-line for me and annihilate me in combat.

forgetfulness 5y ago
You aren't given notice by the game, but you have a pretty narrow window to build a few ships from the first alien race you ally yourself with; their ships can kite the heavy ships from the Ur-Quan with extreme ease, you're pretty much set for the game if you have three.