The Ur-Quan Masters: Open-source remake of Star Control II | Hacker News Reader

The Ur-Quan Masters: Open-source remake of Star Control II

theurquanmasters.com

181 pointsreidrac60 comments

I played Ur-Quan Masters for the first time earlier this year. Despite its age, I found it to be one of the finest games that I'd ever played. The story, in particular, is just perfect, and has just the right mixture of seriousness and comedy, very much in the same style as another (even older) classic, Starflight. Being able to build the game from source and read through the code was a nice bonus.

I highly recommend checking it out; if you can get over the rather dated graphics and gameplay mechanics then you'll find this to be a real gem.

It is one of my most favorite games, and it definitely still holds up.

I honestly consider it to be the best video game of all time. It holds up surprisingly well, which is pretty amazing since it's from more than 30 years ago.

*20. Started in 2002. Made me panic at my age for a moment ;)

edit: oh SC2 is 30, you may have been meaning. My bad.

Agree it is literally the best PC game ever made.

Other contenders for that such as Half life, Deus ex, Morrowind all inspired slews of successors but SC2 is inimitable

I agree. It's one of my all-time favorites.

I've tried playing through it a couple times. I always get into a sort of permanent game over mode where the Ur-Quan have started to invade my airspace and I don't have ships capable of fighting them off because I've been gathering resources.

I do wish there was some way of turning off the in-game timer that triggers the invasion and let people progress at their own pace. I gather it was probably a "feature" at the time that the game story progresses whether you, the player, are progressing it or not...but it's hard to soldier on after the second or third restart and dozens of hours lost.

My suggestion is to read the walkthrough and enjoy it! there are some massive things going on through that whole section of the game, and you really get the idea that you're one really small speck in a whole universe.

if you haven't read (one of the many) walkthroughs yet, go ahead and find some interesting things just being a fly on the proverbial wall.

Star Control 2 is a game where the game is incidental, and the real hero is the story writing.

I had a retail box copy of Star Control 2, and it came with a big fold-out map of the star system, with points of interest highlighted. If you play without the advantage of that guide, it is understandable if you struggle. They intended for you to have some guidance.

I think I still have that map in a box somewhere. What a great game.

My brother brought home a stock of copied floppies back in the day. The had a number written in sharpie on them, that was it. I had a notebook with all sorts of notes and drawings. I think having that map might have ruined the experience a little for me.

If memory serves, the map just subtly highlighted stars where there was something more than mere resources to be found. It could be backstory, useful items, dangerous enemies, etc. The marking was so subtle that I didn't even notice it until my second playthrough, when I was deliberately trying to discover more stuff.

This also was what stopped me from ever completing the game, even back in the 90s when it was still Star Control 2. I am not really a fan of games that force an arbitrary timer on the player, it feels like a holdover from the bad old days of coin-op arcade machines.

A while back I discovered a fork of Ur-Quan Masters which includes a time dilation feature that seems like it might make the game more fun to play, although I haven't tried it yet simply because I don't want to start playing and realize once again that I'm being punished for exploring and forced to start all over again: https://uqm-mods.sourceforge.net/

At least in Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mass Effect 2 when this same thing happens it's based on a trigger, so as long as you know the trigger you can go do the mission immediately. Alas in Star Control 2 the timer is counting from the beginning so the game leaves you little choice.

> I am not really a fan of games that force an arbitrary timer on the player, it feels like a holdover from the bad old days of coin-op arcade machines.

I like it in RPGs, when it’s well-done. It improves immersion for me, when there’s not just talk about urgency, but actual urgency.

But one of the games where I loved it most, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, people complained a lot about it.

After my first few playthroughs, I was so much faster, and had far more time than I needed, and I always wished I could go back to knowing less and being back under time-pressure.

I do not like it for non-RPGs or games with "RPG elements" like X-Com.

If you're talking about the original X-Com, there's no hard time limit. The game gets more difficult over time, but you can never lose purely by playing too slow. Notably, the aliens never attempt to infiltrate Russia, so you can never lose by complete infiltration of the Council of Funding Nations.

I meant mechanics like in Enemy Within where every action you do brings certain events closer.

Awesome seeing this here. Star Control II still ranks as my favorite game of all time.

When I was younger I hacked a new star system into the code with my girlfriend's name, then gave it to her to play and discover. Here's a post showing how - the content got a little mangled due to forum changes over the years but is still decipherable: https://forum.uqm.stack.nl/index.php?topic=1596.0

This follow up shows how to add a new Melnorme trader to our system: https://forum.uqm.stack.nl/index.php?topic=1597.0

Never got around to tailoring his dialog, but the idea was to add myself as an easter egg character offering a hot tip and witty dialog.

Not sure I knew yet what procedural generation was, but found it clever how each solar system is generated from a random seed derived from it's X/Y coordinate.

Did she get around to playing and discovering it?

The original team is working on a sequel: https://pistolshrimpgames.com/uqm2/

Wow, they totally gave up on the trademark dispute? That's a shame.

I can't decide if I really do or really don't want to read Lee Hutchinson's "Umgah slashfic"

I am sad because Paul Reiche III has left the project, though it seems he did write a story before leaving -- https://pistolshrimpgames.com/2023/09/uqm2-update-summer-202...

From Fred:

"Well, after 30+ years working with Paul, I would never speak for him, but he got to a point where his focus was fractured and he couldn't do justice to any of his competing interests. He stuck it out with us long enough to deliver the story/worldbuilding side and now, as always, he's trusting me and the rest of us to bring it home. Will he be able to return? Unknown. Is he still my best friend? For sure."

https://old.reddit.com/r/uqm2/comments/16h50qp/uqm2_update_s...

I love this game to death. I didn't discover it until the late '90s, but it's just tons of fun, despite (without walkthroughs) requiring multiple playthroughs to get enough "virtual clairvoyance" to beat.

On top of that, the super-melee mode is a plenty-fun spacewar alike for two players.

I am not a fan of the space combat, but barring that this is a fantastic game that I discovered very late on in my adulthood. The sense of adventure and exploration is unmatched IMHO.

Interesting, the combat is one of my favorite parts. I'm curious what you don't like about it, if you have reasons you can give.

I played the Sega Genesis game with duels and you actually used all the abilities of every ship in the various matchups. In this game, 90% of the ships are worse than your flagship, like so much worse it isn't even fun to experiment with them.

Yeah, it's either crushing everyone with an invincible upgraded flagship, or mastering the delicate art of the Secret Spathi butt-torpedo strafing run and save-scumming whenever you accidentally lose your 1 Spathi ship.

I loved the melee mode in the original Star Control for the combat, and I love Star Control 2 for the exploration and the story.

Ah, interesting, yeah that's fair tbh, most of them are pretty terrible choices.

I typically enjoy using all of the mushroom guys, the spathi, the one really advanced race that's not the ur quan, the ur quan and the pkunk? But even those, most of them yeah just aren't very good.

Yeah, the combat doesn't do it for me either. But the rest of the game more than makes up for that.

Combat part of SC is what prevented me from playing, its extremely bad. If you want a point of reference try StarSector.

Splattercatgaming: Starsector Is the King of Sci Fi Open Galaxy RPGs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvrkZxyayO8

Hey! My friend alerted me to this thread, but it's been a really nice read seeing everyone's experiences with the game.

I'm one of the team working on the sequel now! If you have questions or want to learn more, please come join us: https://pistolshrimpgames.com/get-involved/ - we have a pretty active Discord, we've released our Super Melee prototype freely, and we are even making and releasing a pretty neat (I'm biased) gameplay engine that the whole thing runs on. People have made their own ships and even their own games with it!

Check out the new nightly of DosBox as well it's got a really cool new adaptive CRT monitor emulation that seems to do the right thing for EGA and VGA monitors. Also includes 3dfx Vodoo support now as well.

Do you have a link to this? I looked on their site and Sourceforge but didn't see anything about it.

He probably meant this fork https://dosbox-x.com/

Be still my heart. Star Control II and Ultima 7 were my childhood version of Balder's Gate 3 is to this generation. No single aspect of those games was impressive for its time per-say, but the sum of the parts was an incredible experience. Star Control II felt like I was playing the perfect Star Trek RPG.

From memory (and, in my mind, with perfect inflection):

"Avatar! Know that Britannia has entered into a new age of enlightenment. Know that the time has finally come for the one true lord of Britannia to take his place at the head of his people. Under my guidance, Britannia will flourish, and all the people shall rejoice and pay homage to their new.. Guardian. Know that you too, will kneel before me, Avatar. You too, will soon acknowledge my authority. For I shall be your companion. Your... provider. And.. your master!"

Notably the combat in U7 was kind of lackluster compared to previous iterations, but overall it's absolutely my favorite out of the entire series.

U7 was amazing!

My heart still belongs to Ultima V though! Meditating at the Shrines, developing virtue, learning how to talk to people ("NAME", "JOB"), truly formative experience for me.

Got lost without the current day walkthroughs but it was about playing, not winning...

The Ur-Quan Masters - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30066445 - Jan 2022 (130 comments)

Wasn't Mass Effect sort of a soft reboot of SC2? I played SC and SCII to death when I was a young 'un, many afternoons wasted blowing away friends with weird alien technology. I had one buddy who had mutant reflexes who would just bap the hell out of EVERYONE with his Arilou skiff.

I don't think Mass Effect was exactly made as a SC2 reboot, but it definitely captured the same feeling. That's the only thing that was able to get me through the wasteland of a modern-style narrative "AAA" game. Never managed it before or since.

Both games have a mutual influence in Starflight.

I haven't played SC but ME feels a bit shallow. I played the trilogy and yes there is a ton of material but each material seems as if can be expanded into a DLC.

At a GDC session, ME team acknowledged that they were heavily inspired for this title by SC2.

Did not know that. Huh!!

Yes, Mass Effect did much better job with that story, so does StarSector. I tried playing SC and SC2, but every time jerky, low resolution and unfun arcade space battle gameplay part turned me off. StarSector is Star Control done right.

Splattercatgaming: Starsector Is the King of Sci Fi Open Galaxy RPGs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvrkZxyayO8

Its only $15 https://fractalsoftworks.com for hundreds of hours of fun.

Has somebody tried to Emscripten the super-melee side of it and allow peers to battle using a browser? That'd be awesome :)

There is an HD mod for The Ur-Quan Masters - UQM-MegaMod. It is beautiful and really improves the experience with redrawn graphics and crisp fonts.

Star Control 2 is still one of the best stories and universes/settings ever.

Would you mind articulating the elements that make this particular story and setting uniquely good?

> Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

wait, wait, no that's something else. hang on.

> Are you kidding? Epic space battles, mystery, exploration, enslavement, hegemony, monsters, ancient doctrinal conflict, escapes, revolution...

“Hold! What you are doing to us is wrong! Why do you do this thing?”

And Frungy! The game of kings!

Frungy!

Why it's an extraordinary adventure with an interface of magic, stunning high-resolution, 3D landscapes, sophisticated score and musical effects. Not to mention the detailed animation and special effects, elegant point 'n' click control of characters, objects, and magic spells.

Are you a bot? Like... 3D landscapes and magic spells, what?

I played the original game this was based on, and loved it. One of the best games ever made IMHO. I'm kinda glad this exists and has the kind of long-tail life most properties SHOULD be allowed to have.

What's particularly cool about this project is that since the game is fully open source, it's just available as a package in standard Linux distros. Like, in Fedora, just do 'dnf install uqm' and you've got it.

Played it many years ago while trying out the few open source games that where out there and loved it, especially the sound track and voices.

It's not a remake, it's based on the original source code.

I also like retro gaming and run a decently sized DOS gaming account on Instagram.

But why is a 2002 remake of a 1992 game interesting to HN?

Why post this again now when the previous post a year ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32426892) gained no votes or comments?

Support your submission with a comment.

I too dislike the link only, no comment submissions. Particularly those that are just a Wikipedia page with no added context.

I agree, I also prefer HN submissions about older stuff to come with some kind of commentary, to place it in context.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com