The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

What is by you the best Star Control game  ???

I would vote "None", because there is not a Star Control made by me, and if there was, it wouldn't be the best. :P

[Alo Bolan!] Aren't SC2 and UQM the same game? UQM is a SC2 port from 3DO to the modern systems. Also, SC4 was never completely finished. I found your poll quite odd.

And where is the little flash game from last year?

Okay. I will edit it. Also, you can speak on Croatian language, but others would not understand what you are speaking. I am from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Witch one?

Ne brinite. Mi vas razumijemo.

The one Atari ordered to be made in just 4 days so that it could keep the Star Control trademark.

Why is Star Control 3 even an option?

Providing a mock option in polls is almost a tradition on the Internet, see, for example, the CowboyNeal options on Slashdot.

Why? So it's clear how far behind it really is. If it were not even an option, it would not show anything.

As for myself, I can't quite vote. SC1 has, I think, more replayability, and I'm way into the 'replay' end of things. Of course I haven't been able to play it since its source is long lost.

But definitely one of those two - 1 or 2.

I see Star Control 3 as an average game since I've seen worse games, so I'll give it a chance. However, as we often compare SC3 with its predecessor, we can clearly see the tragedy. When it comes to Star Control 1, I've been searching for DOS version for an year or two. Found nothing, but I guess it can possibly still be found in other versions since I've managed to get one last summer. It was Sega Genesis version, but emulation speed was just pathetic. It ran far too slow. I believe Amiga version can be found too, I'll snoop around, maybe I find something.

Agreed. Alone, SC3 is not be a bad game despite its -not few- flaws. Hell, if SC3 was not SC3 but a game totally unrelated to the Star Control saga with its own aliens, etc. sure it would have been much more loved.

SC1 by alone is quite fun. However, it gains a lot when you play it after SC2/UQM, knowing much more about the background of the different races, etc.

Found it! SC1 DOS version available for download.
http://www.freegameempire.com/games/Star-Control
Runs perfectly in DOSbox, but...
I was surprised to find out it has some horrible simplified sounds.
I remember Genesis version had a much better, more SC2-like sound.

A somewhat more legit version is available at gog.com (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/star_control_1_2). Basically, the Amiga version of SC1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsWIYQfMpPw) has sampled sound effects (which are reused in SC2) and MOD-style music, while the PC version uses a sound card or PC speaker to generate some rather crude sound effects (and different music). The Genesis version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmk46DzCcak) has most of the samples and FM synthesises the music. The Commodore 64 version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vDK-BVrrpg) is horrible, but that's mostly because of the limitations of the platform.

I also seem to recall one of the Creators vehemently disclaiming all involvement with the C64 'port'...

I like Full Game mode in Star Control 1. Why it is not a part of Star Control 2?

All the 8-bit versions were outsourced to various British developers, who seem to have read the manual for the original game and then done something vaguely similar.

Vaguely indeed. Just take a look at ZX Spectrum version
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/14/StarControl-ZXSpectrum.png)
Red Dreadnaughts? TFB would never commit such a crime.

At least it looks like a Dreadnought despite the color. Have you seen the Cruiser in that version? Or the fact that the Mycon are on the Alliance side? Yeah...

Well, the creators aren't getting cash for either version, so I'm not sure if it's more "legit" per se. Though I suppose it is technically superior.

The purple one is supposed to be Chenjesu?!

I expect that Atari's lawyers will find a way to demonstrate that they have the legal right to distribute SC1 and SC2 through GOG. Remember, these are the people who published a minigame made in a few days on their website to prevent the Star Control trademark from expiring.

Either way, I doubt that GOG is knowingly violating copyright, unlike most abandonware sites, hence the "somewhat more legit" bit.

I remember this comment by Fred Ford from way  back:
The royalties required might have only been for SC3, but otherwise, GoG would have needed to negotiate with both Atari (Accolade's successor) and Fred and Paul.
Though maybe the people running Atari at the moment doesn't realise that.

And that minigame seems like a textbook case of "token use", so that wouldn't hold up in court. So I'm not so convinced of the competence of these lawyers.
Ironically, licensing SC1 and SC2 to GoG might constitute actual use of the Star Control trademark...