The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Hello Star Control Fans!

I just wanted to drop in to let you know about a free Star Control II Super Melee tournament we are hosting on August 13th between 1PM and 6PM at Game Over Videogames @ The Park North Shopping Center in San Antonio, Tx!

Besides hosting the tournament just for fun and bringing the Star Control community together this tournament will also be video taped and sent to Toys for Bob! Not only will they be able to enjoy the tournament with us but also use the footage to convince "the powers that be" that Star Control 3 should be the next project that Toys for Bob should work on! Let's show them (Activision) how much fun this phenomenal game can be! If you have any questions post here and I will try to answer as quickly as possible. Also for more information or directions to the tournament site you can call 1-210-366-4263.

The rules are simple:

1. Each match will have teams of 150 points or less until the finals which will have teams of 200 points or less.
2. The Thraddash have been banned from the tournament.

The Prizes:
1. $75.00 gift certificate to Game Over Videogames
2. $25.00 gift certificate to Game Over Videogames
3. A possible congratulatory certificate of some sort from Toys for Bob! I've been talking to Alex Ness about this but, This is not confirmed yet!

Thanks for taking a look and hope to see you there!!!!

Very nice news!
One question, though - why is Chmmr banned and why Thraddash not?

After speaking with Alex Ness about what ships to ban (if any) we both agreed the Chmmr should be banned due to the ship's over-powered nature. It's got the three escorts, the tractor beam, and the laser.

One could win just using the tractor beam and escorts not to mention the pounding from the main laser.

Even though the Thraddash have the after burner special weapon it still takes more skill to successfully use it in a match than does the Chmmr's special weapon and escorts.

That was the only reason for the ban on the Chmmr.

Chmmr is not over-powered against experienced hands. It's tough, but it also costs 30 points. Druuge can dispatch it alone, and both Shofixti and Kohr-Ah are easily capable of eliminating the zapsats, which makes the thing pretty weak.

On the other hand, while Thraddash isn't incredibly powerful, it has a huge potential to be abused in a way that makes the game tedious. Humans are not stupid enough to fly into a trail of fire left by it, but most ships are unable to catch up with it while it's using its afterburner, which means many battles will take forever as a skilled player shoots at the other player with the peashooter.

Also, question: why isn't the tournament just online, using UQM's net-melee? To say nothing of those who live on the other side of the Atlantic, it would be too much hassle to drive or fly from Michigan all the way down to Texas just for a little SC2 tournament. You could even still record the tournament by using a combination of webcams and screencasting software (like HaperCam and CamStudio) if the tournament is online. I suppose it's technically not the "original" SC2 then, but it's close enough if you ask me.

I would not be opposed to holding a tournament online. I think that's a fantastic idea but this tournament is a part of our Classic Gaming Festival that we hold once a year. That's the only reason that 1) we are not holding it online and 2) we are using the 3DO version instead of UQM.

Plus the idea is to gather people together in a group setting to play. Online play is great but it diminishes the social factor which is something I'd like to capture on film as well as the actual gameplay.

I actually play both versions quite a bit and while I would like to use UQM (It's is a much more refined version) over the 3DO version but since the whole festival is about celebrating classic console games in all of their glory…we will be using classic console systems to play games.

As far as the Chmmr being banned from play…seeing as this tournament looks to draw not only experienced players but also those new to the game I still feel it’s too powerful. I agree that a skilled Druuge, Shofixti, or Kohr-Ah (As well as others) player can take them out. I believe we will see a mix of more first time players and less experienced players at this tournament. To make it fun, competitive, and enjoyable I wanted to make sure there are no super unbalanced matches. I’ll run a few more examples (Like a team of 5 Chmmr vs. a 150 point team) and if it feels good…I’ll consider removing the ban.

Sorry this tournament is not online but if this event goes well that might be the next step for us!

What a fantastic initiative! If I lived within cooey of San Antonio, I'd be there.

About the ships, The Chmmr is perhaps not as overpowered as you think it is. Some would argue the Kohr-Ah to be stronger. You would be far better off banning the Thraddash which can be abused to the extent that your tournament will be ruined. Especially if you want people to take it seriously and compete hard. If you just want a fun day out then it probably doesn't matter.

I would suggest you drop by the online melee lobby and chat to some of the folks there. I would think that they are actually far more experienced with player-vs-player melee than Alex or anyone else at TFB. they would certainly suggest that the /Traddash is banned.

All the best though! Do keep us posted on how it goes.

So the Thraddash to be banned due to the abuse of the after burners instead of the overall power of the Chmmr?

I will drop by the online melee lobby and throw out some questions. Thanks for the advice. Ultimately I would prefer not to ban anything but after playing with the Chmmr a bit more (I usually only play them in the adventure, not melee) I feel they may be good for the beginners afterall. The experienced players will be able to find a way to take the Chmmr out while the beginners might have an easier time with the Chmmr. The Thraddash may end up getting the boot after all. I'll talk to the online group and then make a decision.

Thanks for the support so far everyone!

I think this is a splendid idea and a good initiative. As others have said, talk to the melee players on IRC, a lot of them can be found on this forum or the SCDB (http://www.star-control.com/community/index.php) as well, where an actual strategy game based on melee has been played (http://www.star-control.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=230). You might also want to look into using the Balance Mod (http://wiki.uqm.stack.nl/User:Shiver/Balance_Mod), not necessarily for your tournament but for fun.

Essentially, I think they'll tell you that there are plenty of ships that can wipe the Chmmr out, whereas the Traddash has too long a range and can just needleprick you to death over and over again.

Let me know when you're happy with what you've got and I'll update PNF front page (http://star-control.com/index.php) and see if that helps you attract anyone.

Thanks for the info Lukipela!

I tried going over to the SCDB and registering to start a thread but was unable to interact with the confrimation check (The one where you sort the races to get registered) so instead I've played a bit more with the Thraddash and absolutely see how much they could be abused. Oi!

So to save time (which I'm running out of) I have decided to ban the Thraddash due to those pesky after burners and keep the Chmmr in play. I myself have played against the Chmmr with other ships and even though it was difficult I was able to take them out with strategy. I have to say...those Druuge are very useful in dispatching those Chmmr. :)

So with that being said...I have edited my original posting to include the new ban on the Thraddash and all details are now finalized. I would greatly appreciate any help provided by putting this event up on the Pages of Now and Forever! Even though this tournament is for the Classic Game Fest I want this to be a success to help Toys for Bob in their crusade to make a new Star Control!

Hopefully I'll be able to find someone to do a great Zoq-Fot-Pik impression for the commentary...I'd like to have them commenting on the best recorded matches. I hope to have it in the same type of format as many of the top fighting game match videos. Something like the gameplay taking up 70% of the screen and the other 30% devoted to the actual players playing and the Zoq-Fot-Pik commenting on the action.

Thanks again everyone for the info!

Updated the newsfeed, hopefully that will help. Sorry to hear about your registration issues, make sure to read carefully into which box which aliens go (it varies). If you stil can't get in, PM me and I'll see what Ican do.

Trust me when I say it has nothing to do with knowing which aliens go where. :) I've been playing Star Control II since it's 3DO release and watching Star Trek...too long perhaps. The registration issue was probably my browser as I couldn't drag and drop anything. So I couldn't even make the choices if I wanted to. :) I'll get Google Chrome or Firefox up and running and give it another go.

A few days ago I couldn't even log in there at all, and I could do the drag and drop. Then it started working again. So it wasn't just you.

What a splendid idea. I give you my best support and wishes it goes well. It would be interesting to play on the original 3DO version. Unfortunately Texas is about one continent and ocean too far for me, so you don't have to worry about me coming to eat all your prizes. While you are there, do recommend #uqm-arena on freenode to the folks. We have received a bit more activity as of late, but unfortunately it could be a lot better.

I recommend this: Tell your new players that the Chmmr is weak to Druuge. I first found Star Control by playing in a live tournament, and was able to dispatch the Chmmr immediately after being told to use Druuge for it. Even a beginner can win that match if both of the players are new to the game.

Hmm, maybe I could organize one for Assembly 2011?

No reason you Scandinavians can't have your own. You sure;y have the critical mass of fans there

Killer idea though it would be better if held in New York :p

Judging from this map (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?oe=UTF8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&vps=1&jsv=265c&msa=0&msid=111291044097813934938.00048dbf63d529e5bd78f), Cleveland or Chicago (or for that matter Helsinki or London) would be at least as good.

yeah but Judging from where I live, NY is a much better place for it :)

From my personal experience I'd dare to claim the best place would be Moscow. SC2 is REALLY big in Russia.

I remember playing hotseat melee with a coworker from Russia. We did a draft game, and he picked a dreadnought first. I warned you about dreadnoughts, bro! I warned you!

First of all thank you for all of the great input and help on this event from the best forum out there! The event is just a week away and I wanted to post a link to our Facebook page so for anyone (possibly) needing directions, info, rules, or anything else they could find out there or at least post a question to get it answered. You can post questions here but the most up to date rules, comments, and other info can be found there. Anyways, enough of my jibber-jabber....

http://www.facebook.com/gameovervideogames#!/event.php?eid=169232959812437

Again thanks for all of the assistance from the community and I hope we can see some of you there!

The tournament is about to start here in San Antonio! Unfortunately we don't have much of a turnout. :( I'll be posting links to the video on our youtube channel once it's been edited. Thanks all for your help!

I'd like to say thanks. We already got your first visitor to the arena. It seems you did a good job advertising us! How was it?

The tournament seemed pretty small at first seeing as we only had about 14 entries but there were some absolutely epic battles! One of the matches went on for 20 mins! Best thing about all of this is the crowd was very receptive about the idea of making the video to send to Toys for Bob and we got footage direct from the game play, video of the contestants playing, and exit interviews of some of the players! With all of the footage we collected I'll be able to get a full DVD of great Star Control 2 footage! The crowd was very excited to be there and we had many loud moments with oohs, aahs, applause, and yelling. :) Anyways, I should have the video done soon but as soon as I do I'll put a link up here so everyone that's interested can view it. Thanks for all the help from everyone!

That sounds really great! 14 participants doesn't sound that bad at all. Looking forward to the footage!

--Eino

Yes, 14 is a magnificent number. We usually have 1/4 of that.

I've heard of Star Control 2 thanks to the staff at Game Over Videogames.  Since then, I've found the Ur-Quan Masters, and I was there at the tournament.  The matches looked very intense and were really fun to watch.  I've managed to finally get the game to work on my laptop, and I am already hooked.  I like to thank UrquanMaster042 for getting me interested in the game.  So far, I can see how a new entry could work, and I hope we do get a new game in the franchise one day.  Thanks again for getting me interested.  :)

You usually have 3.5 people? :-\

As an average that's not far off unfortunately :(

We start with 6, but one has to go do something, someone else has a computer crash and Oldlaptop has to quit half way through because of his internet connection.

I just finished putting all the matches together into a tournament reel. Whew...Two and a half hours of non-stop Star Control 2 crazy melee antics! :)

Since it is so long I may have to split this up some before getting a chance to upload it to youtube, facebook, etc. But I just wanted to let you all know that the main part of the job is done and I am burning the footage to DVDs right now as I type. It should be on it's way to Toys for Bob within a week or so. Hopefully it'll be online soon after that as well. I may or may not put the exit interviews up online. It was done more for Toys for Bob but would you guys like to see them? If so let me know here and I'll put them up if anyone is interested.

I'll report back with some links soon!

It's fair to say that we'd all like to see everything you've got!

Part one is live on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3HaV5Lqzo0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3HaV5Lqzo0)

I'll post the other links as the vids get uploaded!

Interesting stuff. So most people were playing the game for the first time?

Correct. We had a few that knew the game inside and out though. At least three of the entries were solid if not outstanding players. One of the matches in the 3rd or 4th part goes on for 20 mins due to some very clever Vux usage at the end. :)

As promised here are the links to all 10 parts of the tournament video! These are all on YouTube so here goes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3HaV5Lqzo0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3HaV5Lqzo0)
PART ONE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5kE0jYNAc8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5kE0jYNAc8)
PART TWO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYkuMKMScQ0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYkuMKMScQ0)
PART THREE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4BY5yrct2U (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4BY5yrct2U)
PART FOUR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD4vAco1W18 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD4vAco1W18)
PART FIVE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb1kvMOP7Ts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb1kvMOP7Ts)
PART SIX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVj2VAe2cac (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVj2VAe2cac)
PART SEVEN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dV5e-CtM_s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dV5e-CtM_s)
PART EIGHT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFvy2WVidEo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFvy2WVidEo)
PART NINE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDlVTn5a_VI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDlVTn5a_VI)
PART TEN

Of course let me know what you think either here or on YouTube! In parts 9 and 10 I have my exhibition match with
the winner Gabe. I'm the skinny white dude wearing the Lego Indiana Jones shirt. :) I thought I did alright but
either way...it was a blast! Thanks for all of your support in this! I'll post any results from my communications
with Toys for Bob concerning what they think of the video, interview opinions, or results with Activision!