The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Is there a way to make the quasispace portals automap somehow? that is, once you pass through a QS portal it will change its name (for the next time you are in QS) from "unknown" to "Portal to XXXX:XXXX"?

Ideally you could just set a destination and it would automatically plot the shortest course through both local and QS... (with an option to choose shortest time or least fuel course on the rare occasion when the two differ)

Right now mapping it requires an external map (printout of a map), and that often leads to unintended "cheating" (since you use the same map from previous game / you download a map that already has those marked and thus don't spend the time and fuel to map it properly in game every game).

I also think the arilou in their homeworld would just give you all the data for the portals when you visit them, (maybe add some text describing that) so that the portals all give an exit destination coordinate once you visit the arilou, rather then having you test each and every one.

I suppose you should be able to do that with a little hacking. However, I don't see the point; all you need to do is jot down the co-ordinates for the portal in QS and the corresponding destination in HS; that's 15 items of the XXX:YYY -> AAA:BBB format. Finding the right portal from your notes is easier than flipping through them in-game anyway.

That would be convenient, and would only take a little more time to do. Just calculate the direct route, routes through all 15 portals and choose the fastest or cheapest one. As the current autopilot system works in terms of fuel, I think it would be easiest to use that.

Randomizing the portals each game would solve this? Not sure if it can be done?

Randomization? A good idea, but it's not necessary.
Mapping the portals can be done as in the Ultronomicon QuasiSpace article (here (http://uqm.stack.nl/wiki/QuasiSpace)) - using the coordinates, specifically the x-coordinates. And note the HS endpoint after its general location (ex. bottom right corner/middle of X race's space etc.). They - almost all (all but one) - lead to points of interest in HS after which they can be mapped.
And taltamir's idea about having the game plot the shortest way is not something I'd like - I like to figure it out myself.

I think it would be nice to have the exit point displayed whenever you move your cursor over the quasi-space porals. It would certainly be convenient and save me the requirement of an external map of the points.

I actually loved jotting down items on paper that I learned in SC2/UQM . I usually spent some time reloading a saved game in quasispace just mapping all the points. No loss of fuel for me there and that's what savegames are for, right? Of course, I'd still have to be able to read back my own handwriting after that, but that's a minor detail. ;D

Hmm, I thought I had an account on this forum from before. All I can remember is asking someone about the Mycon and responding to a thread saying I also used a Fury to take out the Sa-Matra.

Anyways, I made this in JavaScript:
http://hannil.freehostia.com/portals.html

well, figuring out the shortest route by yourself is nice and all, but supposedly it takes WEEKS to travel around in hyperspace... and it is EXTREMELY easy to make the calculations, I actually used to do them with a big map and a ruler. But its a waste of time for you to do it personally... think of it as delegating the task to your subordinates...

thats cheating...

Well you can easily find the coordinates yourself and make a list by just exploring QuasiSpace and entering the different portals.

Yes, do this if you are playing the game for the first time.
Or use this spoiler-free table:
http://uqm.stack.nl/wiki/Secret_Correspondence (http://uqm.stack.nl/wiki/Secret_Correspondence)

Wait, what?

So... is it also cheating to remember the solutions to puzzles from your last game and be able to go straight to, say, the planet with the Syreen shuttles instead of visiting all the possible ones?  Is it cheating to remember that you can find radioactives somewhere other than the dangerous Mercury, and go there instead?  Or to get Eluders while you can (knowing you have a limited window) or to know where to go to get the Mycon to go to Organon (despite the fact that the dialog that tells you where to go, isn't there)?

Let's say those things are cheating, because you're using OOC knowledge to help you and the actual character wouldn't do those things (unless he was lucky).  Is it cheating to spend time in Melee fighting Druuge (or Slylandro) ships so you'll be able to beat them when it comes up (or to carry over skills from the last time you did it)?  Remember, IC, you wouldn't necessarily know anything about the ships and their weaknesses, or have any experience fighting them.  You're basically using OOC knowledge and skills to help you win if you do this.

In other words, are you defining "cheating" as "experience"?

This is cheating, of course! The game isn't meant to be played like this.
Experience from the previous game should merely mean that you are more skilled at Melee and general procedures.

I'm guessing speedruns are a terrible, terrible thing, then.  :o

Yes, they ARE.  :-X

just to clarify, when I originally said that is cheating i was refering to using the wiki to find the locations where quasispace portals exit...

Normally you would map it manually... which is what I did my first game. However mapping it automatically would have been ALOT nicer. Especially for the average user (play the game once and then never again)

Okay.  This:


sounded like you were saying that about using your own maps from previous games, too, and equating that with using the wiki.