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Star Control 2 Released Under the GPL
Jagasian writes "The classic computer space adventure role playing game known as Star Control 2 has been officially ported from its obsolete mono-platform source code to modern multi-platform C++/SDL source code. The game is open source, and compiles and runs on Linux! The alpha release binaries are available for download now!"
I can only suggest the great wealth of links located at dmoz. There's pretty much everything you need to learn about the series and then some.
Finally we have the source to do what I've always wanted to in SC2.
Annhilate those goddamn space harpies. OOOOOH I hated those with all of my Ur-Quan might. WHY THOSE SPACE WENCHES WILL QUAKE IN THEIR BOOTS when I uhh, get my hands on that source...
(proceeds to downloads and launches fighters for good effect.)
We used to play this game as a drinking game in college. During melee play, the loser would drink. It became so much more interesting when drunk players would have a Pkunk yell "idiot," "moron," "dork," "worm," etc. at them. Things sometimes got heated and hilarious at the same time.
Now if it were network aware so that two people wouldn't have to huddle onto the same keyboard (or one person with a joystick), I would be a happy man indeed.
Incidentally, the full game had some of the best humor I have ever seen in a game. Truly timeless.
It's too bad SC3 sucked so much.
- I don't need to go outside, my CRT tan'll do me just fine.
I can get rid of my floppy/zip DOS bootup combo with its freakish combo of memory managers and drivers. I spent two days putting this jerry rig together just so I could reminisce.
When I was in first year, we picked up this game just before midterms... My entire floor lost about a month to it!
Now, they hit me with it again, at the most intense point in my year!... Oh, the carnage...
I wonder how many cool articles like this get pushed aside for the never ending anti-MS crap.
On a side note: Given that it's Open Source, I wonder if they'll accept mods to it? The CG FX in the 3DO version was excellent, but I'm curious what the modern generation of 3D artists today could do to update the artwork in it. As silly as it sounds, I know some peeps that'd probably jump at the chance to create their own 'art-pack' for that game.
"Derp de derp."
I mean, wtf? Are they bundling KDE with it?
Chris Nelson is the main person responsable for the port; Fred and Paul (known among SC fans as "The Creators") are not very involved wit the port. It's a port of the 3do version, not the PC version - meaning that there's speech, and the 3do music (the pc music can be enabled with a commandline switch, though). That also means that the wonderful ending of the PC version is not implemented yet, but it probably will be. It's currently alpha, and there are quite a few bugs - it's actually impossible to win due to collision-detection issues, but I've gotten extremely close to the end. There is also a project underway to create new versions of the music; some of the original authors of the music are involved. The developers don't plan on making any major changes to the game (this should come as a relief): this release will focus on fixing all of the bugs, but otherwise staying as true to the original games as possible. The main ways in which they are straying from the real game is by integrating the 3do and PC versions a bit; the same story, and most of the same graphics, will be used. The name, "The Ur-Quan Masters", has to be used instead of "Star Control" due to trademark issues.
So, download it and *enjoy the sauce*!
"But really, I think life is just a game of Mao Nomic." -Purplebob
I usually lurk, but had to make an account for this occasion..here's my take.
Star Control 2 is perhaps one of the finest space exploration games ever made, which in itself is an unfortunate but highly defendable opinion simply because the number of similar games in the last decade can be counted on one hand. Many other games have similar traits, or implement their respective characteristics with much greater finesse, but so very few have the triple-threat of exploration, combat, and humour, with a double helping of back-story and plot unravelling thrown in just for a balanced intellectual meal. Many fans of SC2 (and loathers of SC3) would say another important feature, or rather omission, is that there is no colonization involved. Your mission is to seek out new life in order to liberate your own, not clutter the galaxy with fleshy pink bipedal mammals. Why devalue the property?
The 3DO conversion of the PC game was done by Crystal Dynamics, and they will forever have my respect for not getting a single thing wrong. Any and all changes were made for the better, enhancing the game to 120% and bringing it into the fold of higher technology. The control system was further simplified from keyboard pecking to the minimalist selection of three buttons plus two shoulders of the 3DO pad. The menu system was replaced entirely with graphics instead of text, and most efficiently combined all three planet scans into one action! Yay! Also the planet lander windows were greatly enhanced for size and visibility, though it is still impossible to cross the north or south pole of any planet. And who can deny the coolness of the huge foldout starmap? That is, if you were lucky enough to get a complete copy of the game with map intact.
Naturally the graphics have a greater colour depth, and are truely a treat if you can experience them with an S-Video cable. Usually in a CD-ROM version the added storage space for extra additions like FMV and bad voice acting is a horrific experience, but the treasure of this game is the amount of time, effort, and obviously big bucks that was poured into dubbing every single line of dialogue in full aural regalia. No corners cut, no drunk actors, no scratchy sound mixers, this is giving the characters LIFE! And sweet mother of mercy, YOU CAN FAST-FORWARD AND REWIND EVERY CLIP! Who can spare six minutes to hear an Utwig whine about his favourite shroud being at the dry cleaners? We've got a galaxy to save!
If you're anything like me (and I'm a big demographic, so you probably are), music makes all the difference to the enjoyment of an adventure and of life in general. The 4-channel Amiga MOD's of the original have a lot of charm and nostalgia for me personally, and indeed most of them are fully intact, but at a higher sampling rate. It's really the new remixes that make you boogie and bounce in your chair, rockin' across Hyperspace, or exploring the cold vacuum of a lifeless planet that's WAY too far from the nearest starbase.
The full beauty of Star Control 2 is in how well it plays. Whether it's your first time exploring, or one of dozens where you know the star systems by memory, the time spent adventuring feels well spent, even when the game might come to a sudden but not unexpected end. Best of all, it leaves you hungry for more after the final credits roll. Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford created something splendid here, and their names join the hallowed elite of game creators. There is much much more to this universe, both in the past and the future. Only time will tell if more faithful chapters in the story of our Captain see the light of day, or perhaps they may delve into the past of the Milieu and Precursors.
I recently just converted some machines at work to Linux, so this is a big bonus for an RPG fan like me.
In my opinion the news item isn't emphasizing enough that this is still an alpha. Not everything is working yet and crashes are still frequent.
The real fans will still like it, but for the full experience, you might want to wait for at least a beta release.
We actually thought it was to early for a Slashdot announcement, but I guess it was inevitable. The timing couldn't have been worse though, as for some (probably malicious) reason, a large number of files from various SourceForge web sites seem to have been deleted.
Also worth mentioning is that the source for this port came from the 3DO version, and not the PC version (this means there are differences, such as spoken dialogs), and that the final release will include (optional) remixed tracks by the original artists.
*enjoy the sauce*
Serge van den Boom
from the Ur-Quan Masters core team
So yea. Check it out.
Wah!
Must not forget Master of Orion (Microprose) and X-COM: UFO Defense (Microprose). Might as well throw in the whole Wing Commander series, too (WC1 & WC2 + their expansions, Privateer, Academy and Armada... leave WC3+ alone).
MOO, MOM, and X-COM are among my favourite games of all time... I still play all of them on a regular basis.
It didn't "emulate" a 3do, it was a 3do..
3do was founded by trip hawkins (of EA fame) as a company that would liscense out the hardware to whoever wanted to manufacture it. Essentially it would have eliminated the number one geek gripe about consoles - proprietary hardware. The system was to be "open", as far as development was concerned.
Panasonic, Goldstar, Creative Labs took up the challenge (there were others too), but not seeing any of the software liscencing pie, wound up charging upwards of 800$ for the earliest units. By the time they came down in price, it was all over.
Of course, it wasnt to be merely a gaming console, either, but the elusive "convergence" device. Video CD, Audio CD+G, PhotoCD, etc.. VideoCDs utter failure in north america also contributed to its death.
There were other neat design features that frankly didn't work. Like daisychained controllers. Player 2s pad plugged into Player 1s. Thing is, if Player 2 was winning, Player 1 could easily unplug him..
Still, it has its place in history. It was the first console solely based on CD, and it did have more than 3 good titles.
A lot more, if you count vivid videos 3DO porn line-up.
I still fire mine up from time to time to play the most accurate arcade translation of Street Fighter II, Samurai Shodown. If not for the pricing, it really could have had the position the PSX eventually took.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Starflight was released in 1986. It featured CGA graphics (EGA later?), diplomacy, 80 star systems, 5 races, simple trade interstellar and planetary navigation and a plot that games today can't touch. Published by Electronic Arts.
Starflight II: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula, released in 1989, this was a worthy sequel. It featured more star systems, more sophisticated diplomacy, VGA graphics, moderatly complex trade and additional plot elements. Published by Electronic Arts.
Star Control, published in 1990 was a pretty cool melee game. It offered a few ships you could fly around, develop strategies for and have realtime battles with either against an opponent or an AI. Published by Accolade.
Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters, published in 1992, was what Starflight 3 should have been. It had many elements of the starmap of Starflight, many of the underlying plot elements and game engine of that series with the Star Control melee combat grafted on.
Starflight 3: Mysteries of the Universe, yet unreleased, is an Open project with many of the original Starflight crew, Binary Systems, aiding in consulting or programming.
Here's what I want to know: Is there any official link between the Starflight and Star Control families? Was there swindling involved? Was I deprived of a Starflight 3 I would have paid double for vs. a Star Control? Why oh why? As far as I'm concerned, the Open Starflight 3 will be great, no matter what, but the real Starflight 3 that seemingly "almost was" would have been worthwhile.
Apologies for the long rant it took to get here. Any responses appreciated.
Pardon me, I think I hear the Uhl whispering in my head.
The game is 10 years old - play the original and tell me it feels older than six or seven. Seriously, it ran on a 286 (but faster on a 386), had nice VGA graphics (pretty advanced at the time), and digitized music (mod). That was completely unheard of - if games had music, it was adlib, and the pc beeper was still being used with regularity. It was the first game to support the GUS. I still have my GUS in an old computer just for playing SCII (sure, it had SB support too, but the GUS's hardware mixing sounds much better.) SCII was EXPANSIVE. The install was almost as big as Doom which came out years later.
Of course, being "advanced" isn't what made the game great. The game was great because of every single thing in it. It had simply the best story/plot of any videogame ever made - funny, inspiring, deep, suspenseful. On par with a good sci-fi novel. The aliens were damn cool. All of them. Noble and flawed heros, salesmen and scoundrels, tragic tourtured villans. The music and artwork were outstanding. The gameplay was fun, involving, diverse and never dull or repetative (the way far too many RPGs are).
It is unarguably the best game ever in it's genera - one of the best videogames ever on any list, and in my completely non-humble opinion, the best videogame ever written. It will probably the best that will ever be written (unless Toys for Bob makes a legit sequel, in which case, it could be topped).
It pains me terribly that there are people out there that have not played through this brilliant, amazing piece of work. Their lives are lacking in ways that they can't even begin to imagine.
I truly believe it's one of the worlds great tradgedies that there aren't more quality space-RPGs. There is SO much area there to explore, yet so few games are produced in that genera. It's really quite sad.
The GPL version is pretty damn functional considering it's the first alpha release. Give it a whirl - or if you haven't played it before, wait until you can get a version that can be played to completion.
... "Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the w
I was in 11th grade when SC2 came out. There were a lot of SC1 fans in my school, so we were all aware of its impending "release." Of course, like many income-deprived 16-year-olds, that just meant we waited for someone to get us a pirated copy. Five floppies, if I recall correctly. Even downloading ISOs takes more effort.
Well, I played the game for only ten minutes before I decided that I would not make a copy. I would go to the store that very day and buy it off the shelf. I'd beg my parents for the money if need be (didn't have to =). There was simply no way I could live with myself otherwise.
A game that gives me so much enjoyment; that constantly surprises at turns with the authors' wit, style, art, and code; that achieves a balance that I've rarely seen before or since. How dare I insult them by by ripping off their hard work? It makes so little sense that it's nauseating. It would be like meeting [insert celebrity: say, Carmack] and gushing about how you love their [whatever] and then mugging them in the alley when they leave. After all, they have plenty of money in the bank.
I have not stolen a piece of software since then. Even those who don't think piracy is "wrong" cannot escape the fact that it's usually crass, ungrateful, self-centered, and unattractive. Especially if you ended up enjoying or benefiting from the software.
Isn't it ironic that SC2 is now Free Software? Well, only somewhat. That the project exists shows the game's immense popularity -- yet sales were dismal. From Accolade's perspective, the product was not too successful. Paul and Fred leave Accolade, and the license gets farmed out to a second-class subcontractor... resulting in the abysmal Star Control 3.
---
Dum de dum.
Freedom is not the license to do what we like, it is the power to do what we ought.
Unfortunately, the project was put on ice and never completed; the Accolade development studio was acquired by Infogrames and it gradually shut down over the following few years.
The project itself was quite ambitious and well received by many of the early previews. It was not being developed as a strategy game, though, so it could have sat oddly with some of the old fans. I think the game had a lot going for it, considering it was done by the same company and the designers of previous Star Control games.
In the end it became just another fatality of the games industry battleground.
Still, it's nice to see that the legacy of the series lives on. Long live Star Control!
Jouni Mannonen | Game Designer, Consultant