The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

The Kohr-Ah are moving through the galaxy killing everyone.  I assume I've lost this game and must start over.  What did I do wrong?  Did I take too long in game time?  Did I do something to "trigger" this event?  What should I try different next time?

You took too long. You've got 4 years, and can get 1 year extension.
Don't spend too much time gathering resources, and only collect what's worth the trip. And don't leave the game unpaused when you're away from your computer.

in one version the melrome would tell you the time limit.

There is a time limit (Duh, everyone else just said that), but here's some advice when you began the next game:  

Use the Melnorme trader a bit more.  I buy almost all my fuel from him.  He sells information, but I like exploring. Sure you won't be getting much tech. upgrades, but you don't need a dreadnought to win the game.  By doing this, you save money for fuel and men at the starbase.

Explore the galaxy.  There will be some hostile alien species, but the ones that aren't will help a lot.  Allies will give you items (hint: important), blueprints and pilots for their ships. This is a start on the way to win the game.  

This has got me bummed.  I waited for months for this game to come out back in the early 90's.  I played it in college but couldnt win it because my monitor wasnt working properly.  Forgot about the game until recently then started playing again.  I didnt think I was wasteing too much time.  I had a few allies but I needed a few more.  I got the superbomb from the Utwig, but didnt know what to do with it.  And just when the game was getting really good the Kohr ah start their rampage.  Perhaps I need to set up what Ive done and do it all again faster.  Im kinda pissed now.  Ive been trying to win this game for over 10 years now!! >:(

Don't let the game defeat you. :)

the game isn't over unless they kill them all. in some ways they help you win the game faster (note:samatra will be harder though).

I've never tried to defeat the Sa-Matra when the Ur-Quan start killing everyone.  Does it move around in the middle of the Koh-ra circle?

No, the sa-matra stays put.

Is it possible to extend that limit through some config file or do you have to fix the source and recompile?

To me that is the biggest design flaw of the game. Its the reason I stopped playing it years ago. I was thinking of giving the game another chance in case its easily fixable.

It is - but its buried in the forums somewhere...  :-/

Anyway - this post is here to encourage you to try it again. If you do it right - you have about 5 years before the Kohr-Ah start killing everyone. Once you beat the game with the time limit - I am sure you will never think of taking it off again.

plus you can extend it ingame.

^^^^

That's right.  Two of the races you meet will help you out after you help them, thus giving you an extra year before the Kohr-Ah start slaughtering everyone.  If you play carefully and cherry-pick your planets (don't bother with any that have tectonics or weather higher than 3 unless it's loaded with radioactive/exotic materials), you should have plenty of time to beat the game even without the extension.

There's a hostile territory near the Sol system where you start. It is completely loaded with resources and enemies. If you can keep yourself from getting surrounded, you can get rich very quickly.

Or you can get surrounded and salvage the wrecks of enemy ships after you burst yourself out of the siege.

Take Fwiffo and go blast up some VUX.  They're easy to beat with Spathis.  But I wouldn't dare mess with the Ilwrath without a Jugger or Avatar.  

Agreed.  The VUX are far easier than the Ilwrath, who can cloak and thus avoid most of the danger of a BUTT missile or Earthling nuke.  However, a few planets in Ilwrath space are rich in exotics and are well worth the risk of fighting a few battle groups of Ilwrath if you have a ship suitable for dealing with them.

How is the Samatra harder?

the spathi kills illwrath easy just takes a long time. 2.as to how it makes the samatra harder is that 1.it may stop the pkunk and yehat from helping you. 2.you will have less ships if they get to your races to fast.

oh dang, I thought the battle was gonna be harder, yes I stat around for like 2 years gametime to see if it was different =\ dang

lol. it might be worth it to see the bad ending if you haven't allready.

If you get the hang of it, Thraddash Torches are awesome for killing Ilwrath, and for killing a lot of other things too, and for a relatively low cost. It's particularly appropriate to use Torches against the Ilwrath given the plot event that happens to those two races.