Ur Quan Masters (Star Control 2)

[marcusjm]

Think Spore got me into this Space game mode. It lead me to installing this old classic.
I haven't played SC2 for ages and I am wondering if anyone here has good startup tips.

[qp]

You mean Star Control II right? RIGHT?

[marcusjm]

And here I thought I would be faster .

[Daehawk]

If I recall correctly I started out by going to the star right beside Sol and mining a planet there till I upgraded my ship a bit.. Sirius is it's name I believe.

[marcusjm]

I get killed by those damned Drones as soon as i try to leave Sol. Where do you find weapons in Sol?

[Peacedog]

I get killed by those damned Drones as soon as i try to leave Sol. Where do you find weapons in Sol?

You need to get good designs from the Melnorme traders, swapping for biological data. Onfce you do, you just buy them with credits at the space station.

Your first order of business should not be weapons though - it'll be awhile before the Precursor vessel is combat worthy (but down the road, whoah baby). You should load up on engine boosters and turning thrusters - you need to maximize both as soon as possible. Favor speed over turning speed at first. You;ll be able to run away from scary dark blobs in space and stick to resource gathering.

[marcusjm]

Thank you Peacedog. It was such a long time so I had forgotten all about the start phase.

Where do you encounter those traders btw?

Btw I can really recommend this Ur Quan Masters edition. It's much better than most of the DOSBox emulations of old games. This feels quite solid, if you get past the old graphics .

[Psychotrain]

Check Alpha Centauri for the traders. They are normally hanging around the gas giants I think.

[Peacedog]

Check Alpha Centauri for the traders. They are normally hanging around the gas giants I think.

The traders actually visit a specific set of stars; this is the most easily accessible given it's proximity to sol. Note that they could very well be hanging around in high planet orbit, i.e. you may need to approach some planets and get zoomed in to find them.

Remember that you trade for parts/upgrades in a specific order - so you can't skip something you don't like for something you do. But that's fine, you want most of the things they sell you anyway (granted, they'll sell you some designs that are later eclipsed by other designs they sell you). The lander upgrades are especially crucial.

[Bakhtosh]

You can get the Spathi on Pluto to join you. That's a pretty good ship to use against the probes and the Iilwrath ship that attacks you early on. I usually don't put any weapons on the precursor vessel until much later. Until you get the landing craft upgrades, you're going to need a lot of crew and at least one extra landing craft. If you don't mind a little save & reload, you can go to mercury and try to pick up the biggest and rarest elements (I think you need to bring some radioactives to the space station anyway).

[Bakhtosh]

I'd recommend going into melee mode and practicing with the Earth ship and the Spathi ship. They're the only ones you'll have available for a while. Practice specifically against the drones.

One of my first ventures is usually to the home of the probes to get them deactivated.

Finding some of the rainbow worlds is also good for credits with the Melnorme Traders.

[Greybriar]

Anyone wanting to play The Ur-Quan Masters a.k.a. Star Control 2 can download it free of charge from its official website.

[Daehawk]

Finding some of the rainbow worlds is also good for credits with the Melnorme Traders.

I thought those were only in SC 3?

[LordMortis]

Oh. Count me as excited. A friend had SC2 years ago. I loved it even though I didn't get to play it much and picked it up myself years later. I never could get it to work.

[TiLT]

Remember to also install the official music remixes! (I'm one of the composers)

Btw, don't try to leave the Sol system before finishing your initial encounters with Commander Hayes. The chance of encountering a probe in hyperspace is normally about 1% every second, unless you leave Sol before fixing the space station. If you do that, the chance is 100% every second! Also keep in mind that the starting 1% increases to 2% and even 3% over time. Don't spend too much time looking for the source, or you'll be overwhelmed. If necessary, purchase the information you need to locate it.

[Dan_Theman]

Finding some of the rainbow worlds is also good for credits with the Melnorme Traders.

I thought those were only in SC 3?

SC3 DIDN'T HAPPEN. Understand? IT NEVER EXISTED.

Thank you. Have a nice day.

(and rainbow worlds were indeed found in SC2, by the way )

[LordMortis]

Dammit. Forgot to download this last night. Must send myself a reminder.

[Max Peck]

Now available as a free download via Steam.

[Daehawk]

Thats quite a thread necro there. 16 years. wow. And thanks.

[Hipolito]

marcusjm, qp, Peacedog, Psychotrain, Baktosh, Greybriar, TiLT, Dan_Theman ... we lost a lot of good men to the Syreen call.

[Hrdina]

marcusjm, qp, Peacedog, Psychotrain, Baktosh, Greybriar, TiLT, Dan_Theman ... we lost a lot of good men to the Syreen call.

It's pretty disturbing to see a familiar name, then learn their profile says "Last active: Wed 15 Apr 2009".

[Daehawk]

Doesn't seem that long ago. I know the names and avatars both still. Least they ring a dusty bell in my head.

[raydude]

Welp, I got sucked back into this game. Managed to convince Fwiffo to join Team Federation of Worlds and now I'm off to find more minerals to slurp up.

[Daehawk]

I own SC3 but Ive tried a handful of times and it doesn't grab me. I think its that silly tiny planet thing...or at least it doesn't help.

[raydude]

I own SC3 but Ive tried a handful of times and it doesn't grab me. I think its that silly tiny planet thing...or at least it doesn't help.

You sure you're not confusing Star Control 3 with Star Control:Origins? SC3 used puppets for the aliens and turned resource gathering into colony management. Origins has the 3D planets you roam around in.

[Daehawk]

I own SC3 but Ive tried a handful of times and it doesn't grab me. I think its that silly tiny planet thing...or at least it doesn't help.

You sure you're not confusing Star Control 3 with Star Control:Origins? SC3 used puppets for the aliens and turned resource gathering into colony management. Origins has the 3D planets you roam around in.

Ooops! yes you're right it was Origins. I did love SC3..not as much as SC2 though.

I played the original Star Control on Sega Genesis. id rent it. I never liked the rotating map though.



I didn't get SC2 for a good while after it released on PC. I ended up getting the SC1 & SC2 collection box at a sale in Electronic Boutique. I cant recall the date. probably years after that collection released. It came out in 1994 so I maybe got it around 1996. I fell in love with it. Enough to finish it and it was huge too. i had to write locations and mark stuff on the huge included paper map. And I was able to not cheat and still beat that final boss ship.



SC3 I loved a bit less. I think Because it took my ships and aliens you knew and sent them off to some new area. I guess they had to keep it fresh. I didn't mind the alien heads. I kinda liked them. Finished it as well. Not sure I found all the rainbow worlds but maybe I did.



I always think of replay SC1 and have tried but I dont get past returning home or the next system. I think because my brain knows its such a HUGE game to play and explore I just dont have the same get up to do it...or patience.

I wish Origins or any space game had the mining for resources on planets that the Genesis version of Starflight had. I wish we had a updated Starflight. I loved the ship traveling in it and scanning for minerals and mining them. Finding lost dead colonies of alien civilizations on planets was a big plus as well. As well as trying to find old Earth. Nothing has ever come close to this game in my mind for that stuff. Even SC2 had minerals above ground which was and is still silly to me. Origins is even worse.