So back in the mists of history, there was this fun, if short, action/strategy hybrid space game, called Star Control. Two space empires would clash over a small galactic map, taking over planets, to build more space ships - each race could only wield their signature type - and then fight over a tactical map with rudimentary Newtonian gravity.
It was popular enough that a sequel was made: Star Control 2. This expanded the original vastly, by introducing resource gathering on a massive level, having an actual plot (not that complicated one but fantastic in it's 1950's space pulp spirit) and great writing and characterisation, and improved graphics.
Basically, you are Captain of a Precursor spaceship, that returns to Earth after several decades spent on a top secret exploration mission - only to find that Earth is under a planetary slave shield. The evil Ur-Quan have won the galactic war, and all races are now their thralls, or locked on their homeworlds under such shields. Now it's up to the player to reform the old alliance, reinvigorate the defeated races and defeat the Ur-Quans once and for all!
This is done primarily by flying your massive ship to various planets, then using a small lander to land on the planet and gather mineral resources, which are then converted to fuel and other ships and so on. The galaxy is a vast and hostile place, and it's entirely possibly to strand yourself far from Sol, or to lose your ships in combat. When you meet aliens that you cannot parlay with, the game switches to a tactical battle map where asteroids or planets might hinder your lines of fire. Each race has a signature ship, that has two attack functions, and they behave quite differently. Mastering how to utilize each is a must for victory, and not all ships can defeat all opponents. In a pinch, you can utilize even your mothership in combat, but if you lose it, it's game over.
It's a criminally underrated, fantastic piece of classic gaming - brutally hard until you master the various ship controls, has a fairly clever plot that throws some nifty twists yourway, and literally oozes that spirit of old sci-fi pulp.
Luckily for modern gamers, there's a legal fan remake, called Ur-Quan Masters, that works on modern machines:
http://sc2.sourceforge.net/
It has a lot of options to tinker with, for veterans, and adds additional music, and mixes the best of the graphics from various SC2 versions. For new gamers, the initial resource gathering can be daunting, as you need to harvest dozens and dozens of planets. But have no fear, as there's a save game editor that you can use to give yourself a nice headstart:
http://forum.uqm.stack.nl/index.php?topic=4672.0
I recommend that you only use it to give yourself moderate amount of RU's every now and then, so you can more freely explore the galaxy. The plot isn't served on a plot, and the secondary function of harvesting systems is the encounters, that then start moving the plot.
Five J stars of excellency! Give it a spin!
It was popular enough that a sequel was made: Star Control 2. This expanded the original vastly, by introducing resource gathering on a massive level, having an actual plot (not that complicated one but fantastic in it's 1950's space pulp spirit) and great writing and characterisation, and improved graphics.
Basically, you are Captain of a Precursor spaceship, that returns to Earth after several decades spent on a top secret exploration mission - only to find that Earth is under a planetary slave shield. The evil Ur-Quan have won the galactic war, and all races are now their thralls, or locked on their homeworlds under such shields. Now it's up to the player to reform the old alliance, reinvigorate the defeated races and defeat the Ur-Quans once and for all!
This is done primarily by flying your massive ship to various planets, then using a small lander to land on the planet and gather mineral resources, which are then converted to fuel and other ships and so on. The galaxy is a vast and hostile place, and it's entirely possibly to strand yourself far from Sol, or to lose your ships in combat. When you meet aliens that you cannot parlay with, the game switches to a tactical battle map where asteroids or planets might hinder your lines of fire. Each race has a signature ship, that has two attack functions, and they behave quite differently. Mastering how to utilize each is a must for victory, and not all ships can defeat all opponents. In a pinch, you can utilize even your mothership in combat, but if you lose it, it's game over.
It's a criminally underrated, fantastic piece of classic gaming - brutally hard until you master the various ship controls, has a fairly clever plot that throws some nifty twists yourway, and literally oozes that spirit of old sci-fi pulp.
Luckily for modern gamers, there's a legal fan remake, called Ur-Quan Masters, that works on modern machines:
http://sc2.sourceforge.net/
It has a lot of options to tinker with, for veterans, and adds additional music, and mixes the best of the graphics from various SC2 versions. For new gamers, the initial resource gathering can be daunting, as you need to harvest dozens and dozens of planets. But have no fear, as there's a save game editor that you can use to give yourself a nice headstart:
http://forum.uqm.stack.nl/index.php?topic=4672.0
I recommend that you only use it to give yourself moderate amount of RU's every now and then, so you can more freely explore the galaxy. The plot isn't served on a plot, and the secondary function of harvesting systems is the encounters, that then start moving the plot.
Five J stars of excellency! Give it a spin!
