Startopia picked up by GOG

[Vix]

Startopia is now available from GOG. I can finally ditch the CD! This is an excellent space station simulator/builder from MuckyFoot. I have successfully run it on my Vista machine for years... have yet to try to get it on my windows 7 netbook because the CD was giving me fits.

[Paingod]

F***ing awesome.

Of all my "old" games, this is the most played and the one I've most hoped would be preserved in digital-download format.

[LawBeefaroni]

Loved Startopia. Still play the soundtrack CD that came with it all the time.

May have to pick this up since it should fit in well to my current gaming limitations of mostly short bursts.

[JonathanStrange]

Heh, a fun game that was almost never mentioned, at least as far as I recall.

I don't need GOG though as I have my older pc still up and running for these oldies...but I can see its usefulness when I retire the new PC.

[hepcat]

oh yeah, i'm in.

[IceBear]

Heh, a fun game that was almost never mentioned, at least as far as I recall.

I don't need GOG though as I have my older pc still up and running for these oldies...but I can see its usefulness when I retire the new PC.

I installed it on my new PC from CD; no need to keep an old machine around just for it

[Paingod]

Heh, a fun game that was almost never mentioned, at least as far as I recall.

I don't need GOG though as I have my older pc still up and running for these oldies...but I can see its usefulness when I retire the new PC.

I installed it on my new PC from CD; no need to keep an old machine around just for it

Agreed. Runs just fine on Windows 7. I got to the Kasvigorian mission before I got distracted by MechWarrior Online.

[JonathanStrange]

I've actually dozens of old games and an "old" PC takes up very little room - Startopia's not all by its lonesome, in other words.

[IceBear]

I figured as much. As much as I would like to have an old machine I don't have the space for it and luckily all the old games I have wanted to play I have gotten to work on my current box or gotten the GoG version. I actually have my Startopia cd version installed right now but still bought the GoG version

[Vix]

Oh and there are extra fan made missions over here on Startopia Post. I also went to the trouble of tracking down one of my favorite user made missions on the Wayback Machine: Zogcorp - Galactic Zogburgers.

[LordMortis]

It's still sitting my my CD Drive from when this game was mentioned a few weeks ago. Then I got distracted by Warlock... Then I got distracted by Endless Space...

But the original disk still works find on 7 Home Premium x64. I remember the install screen looking a little odd and having fears, but the game plays like a charm.

[Freezer-TPF-]

Tempted. Is it more on the casual side of the difficulty scale, or do I have to optimize layouts using graph paper, motion studies, and advanced fractal theory?

[Sepiche]

Tempted. Is it more on the casual side of the difficulty scale, or do I have to optimize layouts using graph paper, motion studies, and advanced fractal theory?

Pretty casual for the most part. As long as you have enough of building x or enough workers for your buildings things tend to work themselves out.

[LordMortis]

Tempted. Is it more on the casual side of the difficulty scale, or do I have to optimize layouts using graph paper, motion studies, and advanced fractal theory?

Pretty casual for the most part. As long as you have enough of building x or enough workers for your buildings things tend to work themselves out.

This was my experience as well, but I never went that deep into the game. As far as I played, invasions were never that difficult to ward off and your helper prepped you for them before they ever came. I also never had to play with the other levels like the biodeck(?), much.

[Paingod]

I would rate the game as a casual experience. There's a learning curve - but as stated - all you really need to do is watch what the patrons and residents of your station need and supply it. Is your medical bay full of people waiting for service and there's only one doctor working? Hire more doctors. Are your doctors all working diligently, but the waiting room is still full? Build a larger/second medical facility - and clean your damn station - people only get sick in droves through filthy rooms and trash. Are people piling up outside the restrooms, waiting to pee? Build more Lavatrons.

The biodeck was a great resource area, though. I always made sections and areas to create every plant from every biome and pools for people to play in. My only annoyance was cleaning up after asteroid hits.

[Sepiche]

Yeah I love the biodeck.. it's almost a game unto itself.

For anyone that hasn't tried it, the top deck on the station is basically a garden level where you can grow plants of different types and where people come to relax on the station. You have control over the height of the terrain as well as heat and moisture, and with those you can create a number of different environments. Each race has a type it likes, and each type gives you distinct plants which give different resources you can use in a number of ways.

It's a lot of fun though and when it was released it was way ahead of it's time.

[Chaz]

I'm now debating if I want to pay GOG $6, or if I should just plan on using my old CD copy and buying from them if it ever detonates or whatever.

[Paingod]

I'm now debating if I want to pay GOG $6, or if I should just plan on using my old CD copy and buying from them if it ever detonates or whatever.

Honestly - I think the CD is 400mb or so (I can't recall). You could simply burn an ISO image, store it in your HDD, mount it as needed, and never need the disc again. I've been thinking about doing this with some of my older games and software that I don't see myself wanting to dump... but I'd need to pick up a new hard drive for it, maybe set up a little RAID 1 or something to protect it.

[Kraken]

Is the gameplay scenario-/campaign-based or sandbox? How does one win/lose? How much gameplay and replayability does it have?

Or am I demanding too much from a $6 game?

[Vix]

The scenario based campaign is 10 levels (not counting tutorials) which vary in complexity. There is a sandbox mode. There is also of user made missions which sometimes are a bit buggy. As for replayability I have pulled it out and replayed the whole game several times (I like city builders...). So your mileage may vary.

As for the disk... I tried copying mine into .iso but the program I use refuses to recognize the Startopia disk. I guess I should try another .iso converter.

[LordMortis]

The first few scenarios are pretty short. Nothing like say a Children of the Nile but the game experience is a lot different. You are taking care of only a few patrons by comparison. It's a lot more like Dungeon Keeper than anything else. It did a pretty good job of creating a Dungeon Keeper on DS9 feeling.

[Unagi]

I hadn't thought of it that way, but that's pretty spot on.

I gotta go find my CD for this. What a fun game. Hell, it's just fun to close those huge firedoors, if I recall.

[Unagi]

Is the gameplay scenario-/campaign-based or sandbox? How does one win/lose? How much gameplay and replayability does it have?

IIRC, the main game starts you off in the donut shapped starbase, but you are just in one 'pie slice' of the whole ring, everything else is closed off with huge security walls. As you progress through the tutorial and stages of the game - you are unlocking more and more sections of that ring (can't recall if it was about securing them, paying for them, or being able to power them). And each section of the ring has a few floors to it as well (outside ring, middle, and inner ring.

You could lose if the station was boarded by aliens that you couldn't fight off. or I think it could also get overrun with filth/space disease.
If I recall, the ultimate goal (I could be wrong about it's ultimateness) was of getting some hippie-like aliens to find nervana in the arboretum. I'm forgetting something though, as I'm sure that's not entirely right.

[Chesspieceface]

Is the gameplay scenario-/campaign-based or sandbox? How does one win/lose? How much gameplay and replayability does it have?

Or am I demanding too much from a $6 game?

Get it. Its exactly your thing.

[Paingod]

Unagi is close. Very close. The Wikipedia article has some info, too.

• The starbase has 16 segments. When you start, you own 1 segment. Opening new segments has a variable cost depending on the mission.
• Each segment has three layers:
  • Work: Power Storage, Factories, Docking Bay, Stardock, Berth (sleeping pods), Recycler, Medical, Prison, Security, etc.
  • Leisure: Love Nest, Hotel, Motel, Shopping, Gambling, Bars, Dancing, Rides
  • Bio: Harvest crops, "Park", Religion, Raise/Lower land, Raise/Lower Temp, Raise/Lower Humidity, Raise/Lower water level.
• You've got 10 missions. Each mission plops you into a brand new base with different objectives. Some confine you to one or two segments, some require you to produce X items in Y time, others need combat and expansion, prisoner reform, etc.
• You can skip the 10 missions and just go right to sandbox mode, or play through them in order, or replay one you like.

Combat:

Spoiler:

Combat consists of setting waypoints and increasing their "tactical value" - the higher the value, the more combat-ready rresidents will go there to fight. Residents, in order of combat effectiveness, are: Greys, Salt-Hogs, Targ, Kasvagorians. Security Bots also join in the fight, but are ponderously slow. If an enemy crosses into your area, they're assigned a very low tactical value and a couple of people might take pot-shots at them. You can increase this value to send more people after them.

Taking over a segment from an enemy involves clustering your forces near a door and using your security bots to breach it. Once breached, your objective is to push into the segment, prevent the enemy from closing the door, and get your security bot to their control panel in order to "turn" the segment over to your control. When you turn a segment, all the rooms and items inside become yours as well.

Defending against an attack involves stopping the enemy security bots from taking over your control panel and resealing the door to prevent further hostile action.

The last mission does involve some kind of nirvana achievement, but you've still got the sandbox mode to work in after - or replaying anything you liked, or trying player-made content.

I still have to admit, that despite the age of the game - when it's installed and jacked to the highest visual settings it still looks pretty good. The aliens are kind of low-poly, but when you're zoomed out you hardly notice. It's just a thriving throng of them.

[baelthazar]

Did the original release have HD, widescreen resolution options? Because I was super happy and shocked to see them available in the GoG release!

[Sepiche]

Nope.

After Muckyfoot went under one of the developers released an unofficial patch that added some better lighting and other features, and it looks like that or something like it was incorporated into the GoG version. There's also apparently some limits on room size that I don't remember being in the original game.

[Daehawk]

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know my visitors are bored!! Stop telling me this unless you allow me to build the damn Love Nest OR ANY UNBORING ACTIVITY for them to visit or do!!!!!! Stupid game.

I tried SpaceBase but for some reason I could not enjoy it or even get started successfully.

[Paingod]

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know my visitors are bored!! Stop telling me this unless you allow me to build the damn Love Nest OR ANY UNBORING ACTIVITY for them to visit or do!!!!!! Stupid game.

Boring's gonna boring... but you should always have some kind of basic leisure available to build on Deck 2, and I think creating a "pool" on Deck 3 can provide some relaxation.

[Daehawk]

I cant get to other decks.

[Paingod]

Must be the first mission then? I want to say Page up/Page Down lets you cycle up and down decks, or maybe 1/2/3?

If that's the case, I think work can entertain the Salthogs. Make sure they all have jobs and a place to sleep. It's okay for them to be bored in that one.

[Sepiche]

The campaign unlocks new things like decks and buildings as you go along, but there are still references to those things. Just keep going along in the campaign, or start a sandbox game and it will all open up.