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Star Control 2 (1992; PC, 3DO)
Choose Your Own Space Adventure
The late 1980s to early 1990s was a time of experimentation for the PC industry. Many of the genres that would become indicative of the platform saw their start here, along with developers trying out brand new designs.
Star Control 2 was the obvious sequel to Star Control 1: a game built on ship versus ship battles. For the sequel, the developers wanted to expand the scope of the game. Now taking place in the entire universe, it featured procedurally generated star systems to fill the massive game space, alongside set areas in which the story could occur.
The story involved the player returning to Earth to find it conquered by the evil race of aliens known as the Ur-Quan. With help from a space station orbiting the planet, the player had to explore the universe to find allies, rebuild their alliances, develop their flagship, and take on the Ur-Quan and their underlings.
Star Control 2 was one of several games that kept its story moving using an in-game timer. Time advanced as the player explored, and if the player was not careful, possible allies could be wiped out, and a fail state occurred if she or he took too long. To keep the story focused, specific events would appear at fixed dates to clue the player in about what they should be focusing on.
The design of the game was split among three basic systems, all connected via the persistence of upgrading the player’s ship. Exploration was all about the player and the universe. The player was given free rein to pick a direction and start exploring, with the only limitation being the fuel supply. Each alien race had a different part of the universe as their home territory, and they would try and engage with players if they crossed into it. Outside of our solar system, the planets that you would find were procedurally built based on various conditions that affected landing.
If the player landed on a planet, the situation switched to the player controlling a simple lander to collect resources and specimens. The planet’s conditions would determine the overall threat level: From thunder strikes, fire, earthquakes, and more, players had to weigh the risks of what planets to visit. Usually, the more dangerous the planet, the better the resources. Sometimes you could find a treasure planet in the universe that had the best resources, but no hazards to deal with.
The lander itself had a health status based on the number of crew using it. If the player wasn’t careful, she or he could go through an entire crew or destroy the lander, requiring them to purchase a new one. The resources that you could gather would be transformed into currency to spend back at your home base. Even rarer was finding live specimens to capture, which could be traded for permanent upgrades from one of the game’s alien races.
There was strategy involved in going out on expeditions in the universe. You needed to take enough fuel to allow you to head out and return, while knowing that you would be spending more every time you landed on planets. Expert players knew to be picky when it came to just dropping down on any old planet. But one planet containing the rarest resources could make the entire trip profitable.
Returning from Star Control 1 was the combat system, which also could be played separately in Super Melee mode. Every alien ship was uniquely designed and offered different strengths and weaknesses. In Super Melee mode, each player could create a fleet out of any ship in the game to do battle with friends. The one ship that was unique to the campaign was the capital ship.
The capital ship represented the player’s power and progression curve throughout playing the game. At the start, the player would have barely any fuel and only a limited crew, and the ship turned like a glacier and was just as fast. Using the resource units acquired, the ship could be upgraded so long as there was room to install modules. Play well enough, and the player would be able to increase every attribute to turn it into the greatest ship in the universe.
Even the mere act of increasing the turn radius and speed was enough to make the player feel powerful. If the player wanted to see the game all the way to the end, the capital ship would have to be able to take on the game’s strongest alien ships.
Star Control 2 gets on this list for being one of the first examples of the “Go where you want, do what you want” style of open-world games. More important, the game managed to deliver the thrill of the space simulation genre without the learning curve or baggage that came with it.
The space simulation genre has grown in popularity thanks to both a focus on flying ships and the player having complete freedom within the game space. However, just like the grand strategy genre, it could be very overwhelming for new players to learn. These games tend to drop the player into the middle of everything without much guidance.
For the more complicated games, the player also must figure out how to pilot a ship. Some of the best space simulators feature a realistic physics engine to simulate what it would be like to fly a spaceship.
Even though Star Control 2 took place in space, it did not focus at all on the sim aspect, but more on adventure. When I spoke to Paul Reiche and Fred Ford, the creators of Star Control 2, they both talked about being avid fans of science fiction and said that they wanted to make a game about just exploring the universe. Upgrading a ship and exploring planets were easy actions to follow, and the game’s story pushed players outward into space.
Despite the easy learning curve, Star Control 2 was a challenge for new players. Just trying to find your way around the universe could be troublesome in and of itself. One wrong move with your lander could cost you the time that you would want to have to go out and look for more resources. As already said, the game was built on story events happening, and there was a literal end date when the Earth got destroyed.
Perhaps the best reason to check out Star Control 2 is the fact that it’s been free since the early 21st century. Ur Quan Masters is a fan-supported version of the game that runs on modern PCs; with the blessings of Paul and Fred.
Even though many games promise the universe to the players, Star Control 2 is one of the few that is approachable to everyone and lets people live out their sci-fi dreams.
