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Star Control II/ Ur-Quan Masters

proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
I've been playing the Ur-Quan Masters version of Star Control II and am absolutely loving it. I was tipped off to it from an episode of the Watch Out For Fireballs podcast. It took me a few fake starts to figure out what to do, but once I got the hang of it, I've been having a huge amount of fun.
One of my favorite games as a teen back in the '80's was Starflight. SCII was hugely influenced by that game, but took it way beyond. The dialog is fantastic, and the voice acting in the Ur-Quan Masters version is hilarious. I've just barely started with the game, but am hooked.
I'd love to hear what any of you who've played it think about it.

Comments

  • TheElfTheElf Member Posts: 798
    edited December 2015
    One of my favorite games ever. Been a long time since I last played. All I can say is don't spoil anything for yourself. A walkthrough would really kill the fun I think.
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    Yeah, I'm playing it pretty blind. I'm having fun just going out and exploring the star systems local to Sol right now, trying to raise a bit of cash to get my ship built up a bit. I've only encountered a couple of other races so far (the Spathi are hilarious!)
    My favorite thing so far is the exuberant yet passive-aggressive commander of the Earth star base. It's tempting to bring back small loads of materials just to hear what snide comment he'll have for me
  • TeflonTeflon Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 515
    Have not played it but from what I heard it is great. Recently I have seen longplay and it was awesome.
    Dudes who says happy campers are so cute and their addictive voices still lingering in my ears :smile:
    http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=njgHMxzwDLU
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    I think I may start my game over. I'm only about an Earth Year into the game and my little corner of the Galaxy is getting overrun by peaceful (not at all peaceful!) beings that look kind of like fancy lollipops. I did finally read the manual (which is some great reading , btw. The background story is worth reading even if you don't plan on playing the game) and I think I may have missed a few opportunities to get up to strength a little quicker.
  • ReibornReiborn Member Posts: 156
    THE ULTIMATE EWILLLLLL!!!!!
  • TheElfTheElf Member Posts: 798
    Well, you can if you want, but the probe problem always happens. I mean, you can do something about it later in the game, but they're always a huge pain in the bum in the beginning.
    Great, now I think I'm going to have to download this.
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    I did decide to just forge ahead. I'm incrementally building my ship up, so they are getting a bit easier to take out.
    I feel like I am making no progress so far, just collecting minerals and hauling them back to base, occasionally fighting. I think I need to not treat this game like I would BG or similar games...I have the tendency to explore every nook and cranny I can, but the SCII map is so huge it's going to take years!
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    Only thing that has ever kept me from playing this game has been the fact that the combat just seems very difficult, unless you were a fantastic Asteroids player. And I find Asteroids to possibly be the most annoying video-game ever made. Which is too bad, because the rest of the game seems perfect.
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    I have to admit I've already put it on cyborg mode, so combat auto resolves. I was getting really frustrated with combat. I might try switching back to manual mode after I get built up a bit.
  • TheElfTheElf Member Posts: 798
    Yeah, you can have combat on auto. Also, once your ship's as fast as it can get, you can pretty much avoid it entirely, as you'll be able to outrun everyone.
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    Ah....there is AUTO combat in Star Control 2?? Best news I've heard all day....
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    And you can get Ur-Quan Masters for free! I'm playing it on my crappy rooted Kindle Fire, but have it loaded up on my PC as well.
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    procco said:

    And you can get Ur-Quan Masters for free! I'm playing it on my crappy rooted Kindle Fire, but have it loaded up on my PC as well.

    Indeed, I've had a copy for a long time, but my god, thinking about that kind of combat jammed into what is otherwise such a cerebral game had me running for the hills. The combat in this game SHOULD be on auto if you are interested in it as an RPG. The Super-Melee mode is there for the people with far more skill than I (I think I won 3 out of 10 battles).
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    the funny thing is, the RPG/adventure part of the game was what was tacked on to the combat game
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    It's my understanding that Star Control 1 was really nothing but Super-Melee and a story just to have an excuse to have different enemy ships. It is rather shocking that the sequel ended up becoming one of the most revered PC games of all-time.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    I've never played this game and every time I see the thread title with "Ur-Quan" I think it's about the Quran.
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850

    I've never played this game and every time I see the thread title with "Ur-Quan" I think it's about the Quran.

    Ur-Quan Masters is the sub-title of the original Star Control 2 game, but it is the proper title of the open-source re-make (not much of a re-make as a straight port that doesn't require DOSbox actually). The original Star Control was made completely superfluous the moment the sequel was released.
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    Do I need to be concerned about the number of crew members I'm gong through? Seems like every time I leave Sol I lose like 50 or 60 of me guys. I didn't think too much of it, until the starbase commander mentioned that he only has about 2000 men to spare before they become very expensive. Uh oh. I've already killed off a thousand or more :cold_sweat:
  • TheElfTheElf Member Posts: 798
    There is a way to solve your manpower problem...
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    Good to know....
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    Paul Saunders of Loading Ready Run played this game on stream at Twitch.tv. It was... interesting.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RImOhPAUd58
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