The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

The Ur-Quan Masters Re-Release => General UQM Discussion => Topic started by: alkador on January 20, 2011, 03:05:00 pm



Title: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: alkador on January 20, 2011, 03:05:00 pm
Hello everyone,

After reading and hearing about the game I came upon the Ur-Quan Masters, installed the game, gave it a spin. I think I got most figured out but after getting my ass handed to me in battle I figured i'd look up a manual of sorts. Can't really find one to be honest, I checked the wiki, google search and this forum. Is there a sticky I missed or somesuch obvious?

I really just need a few pointers, been exploring planets and filled up my cargo bay, went to earth, fled the scene when the drone told me he was getting his buddies. So now I'm just kind of wondering what to do. Hyperspace comes with battles I can't win, can't get more cargo, etc.

So a beginners guide of some sort would be greatly appreciated, this game looks awesome so I really want to continue =)

Thanks in advance,


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: Novus on January 20, 2011, 03:45:25 pm
A manual is included with the game; it can also be found here (http://sc2.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/sc2/tags/version_0_6_0/sc2/doc/users/manual.txt?revision=2620).

You may find it useful to explore the vicinity of Earth a little more closely; you should have enough time to achieve something useful before enemy reinforcements arrive.


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: Tog on January 21, 2011, 02:05:58 am
A manual is included with the game; it can also be found here (http://sc2.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/sc2/tags/version_0_6_0/sc2/doc/users/manual.txt?revision=2620).

You may find it useful to explore the vicinity of Earth a little more closely; you should have enough time to achieve something useful before enemy reinforcements arrive.

Have you tried the melee mode? This is a good place to get a feel for the different ships and how they interact with each other.

The precursor vessel is pretty weak at the beginning. The earthling cruisers aren't the best ships either. At first, you'll probably want to rely the Spathi ship that you get when you talk to Fwiffo on Pluto. Spathi ships are awesome once you get good at it.


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: Alvarin on January 21, 2011, 10:10:26 am
That's spoiler! let the guy have the thrill of discovery, he asked f or directions, not walkthrough!


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: alkador on January 21, 2011, 01:21:19 pm
Alright, thanks for the replies people (and the small spoiler, but I bet I get to discover enough myself ;) )

Reading the manual as we speak, I'm positive I got a fighting chance after that, once again thanks for the prompt replies and wish me luck =)


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: Tog on January 22, 2011, 12:19:02 am
That's spoiler! let the guy have the thrill of discovery, he asked f or directions, not walkthrough!

Sorry. I just assumed that he was getting killed by the Illwrath at the beginning of the game (wait--is that a spoiler too? :)) I can see that being a tough battle for someone who has never played any version of SC before.


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: Lukipela on January 22, 2011, 10:12:32 am
Sorry. I just assumed that he was getting killed by the Illwrath at the beginning of the game (wait--is that a spoiler too? :)) I can see that being a tough battle for someone who has never played any version of SC before.

Well, he states that after being threatened by the probe, he left Earth alone and just went off mining, only to be beaten by enemies in hyperspace. Thus he probably hasn't encountered either of the things you mention yet, since they happen after you visit Earth.


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: storyyeller on January 25, 2011, 01:39:18 am
My first time playing, I didn't even figure out the controls before the Illwrath killed me. After restarting it, I managed to get through it by random button mashing.


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: alkador on January 26, 2011, 07:09:25 pm
** Possible spoilers **

Just a lil' update here, have been thoroughly enjoying the game, having spend around.. 20-25 hours or so. One thing I noticed, I tried the alien crafts I got so far (spathi, orz, pkunk, thraddash, arilou, zoq-fot-pik, human also of course) but never used any of them after the test run. As soon as I had the weapons upgrade for the Vindicator I didn't bother, now I have every upgrade and I just carry the spathi ships as spare crew and some other alien ships for aesthetics ;)

I'm wondering, is there any (obvious) use for them that I missed or are they 'early game' combat ships or something? I maxed the Vindicator speed and side-thrusters rather early, after that the other ships were just uh.. fun new stuff, not really useful.

Just finished the Ultron quest thingie, busy with the Shofixti quest, have loads of RU and already bought all the One-eyed (multron?) aliens had to offer. I read something about the Uhr-ah starting a mass genocide quest thingie after an X amount of time, so just fearing I might get owned by that.. Really happy with the Quasi-space travel, man travelling took so long, wish I found out earlier.

So bottomline; Combat turned from running a hellish gauntlet to one/two shot kill (unless I accidentally crash into a planet or its a ur-quan or something strongish), scouring the galaxy for the quests I heard about (gotta do something about those bird aliens, shofixti quest, found a big bom, ) Don't even bother with materials since I got nothing to do with them (except for fuel and crew). Finding it very hard to actually quit the game, always doing 'just one more planet', then end up finding something else.. distracting.

Oh and of course a big thanks to the people responsible for all this fun, both to the original creators and to those who polished this gem up again! =)



Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: onpon4 on January 26, 2011, 07:47:18 pm
** Possible spoilers **

Just a lil' update here, have been thoroughly enjoying the game, having spend around.. 20-25 hours or so. One thing I noticed, I tried the alien crafts I got so far (spathi, orz, pkunk, thraddash, arilou, zoq-fot-pik, human also of course) but never used any of them after the test run. As soon as I had the weapons upgrade for the Vindicator I didn't bother, now I have every upgrade and I just carry the spathi ships as spare crew and some other alien ships for aesthetics ;)

I'm wondering, is there any (obvious) use for them that I missed or are they 'early game' combat ships or something? I maxed the Vindicator speed and side-thrusters rather early, after that the other ships were just uh.. fun new stuff, not really useful.

Just finished the Ultron quest thingie, busy with the Shofixti quest, have loads of RU and already bought all the One-eyed (multron?) aliens had to offer. I read something about the Uhr-ah starting a mass genocide quest thingie after an X amount of time, so just fearing I might get owned by that.. Really happy with the Quasi-space travel, man travelling took so long, wish I found out earlier.

So bottomline; Combat turned from running a hellish gauntlet to one/two shot kill (unless I accidentally crash into a planet or its a ur-quan or something strongish), scouring the galaxy for the quests I heard about (gotta do something about those bird aliens, shofixti quest, found a big bom, ) Don't even bother with materials since I got nothing to do with them (except for fuel and crew). Finding it very hard to actually quit the game, always doing 'just one more planet', then end up finding something else.. distracting.

Oh and of course a big thanks to the people responsible for all this fun, both to the original creators and to those who polished this gem up again! =)



The one-eyed aliens are the Melnorme. Also, it's Kohr-Ah, not Uhr-ah. :)

As for your question about the usefulness of ships, many players prefer to use them rather than the flagship even when the flagship can be maxed out, sometimes because they feel that it's more fun that way.

(click to show/hide)


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: oldlaptop on January 26, 2011, 11:07:13 pm
Escort ships can be very useful for instances where you don't want to risk the flagship, or when the flagship is flying unarmed/poorly armed for some reason. They also come in handy for certain enemy vessels, the Spathi Eluder especially so (try it on either (cyborg) Ur-Quan!).


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: Death 999 on January 27, 2011, 05:43:58 pm
Also, even a maxed out flagship is not an excellent matchup for some enemies, like Druuge. They can get in shots, sometimes several; if you pick the right counter, it's very likely they won't.


Title: Re: New to Star Control - The Basics?
Post by: jucce on January 27, 2011, 07:40:27 pm
But the flagship is kind of overpowered though, maxed out (which isn't hard to do) nothing except the
(click to show/hide)
can stop it.