Try OpenGameArt if you need sound effects.

There are other free games "inspired" by some original game that started
with art and sound from that original, but have created free replacements.

E.g. OpenTTD can use sound from the original TTD-CD, but has OpenSFX
as a free replacement for sounds.
So, look around what other free games have done, e.g. Ufo2000,  UFO:AI, FreeOrion etc.
Also, see FreeSounds.

We don't maintain the Debian packages ourselves.

I looked more closely into this issue, and found more infos at
http://packages.qa.debian.org/u/uqm.html :
they have 0.6.2.dfsg-4 as the latest version, but under "testing" or "unstable".

I.e. you get the new version only if you have set up your system accordingly,
or you request a specific version by hand.

The debian-packages for uqm are still the old version 0.5.0,
binary as well as source-packages.

See http://packages.debian.org/cgi-bin/search_packages.pl?keywords=uqm

Have there been problems updating them to v0.6.2 ?

I'd love to see .. an attempt to randomize the game.

As suggested in http://uqm.stack.nl/forum/index.php?topic=2781.30 "Ideas for after 1.0",
an option for randomizing just the contents of starsystems with a different random seed
than the one currently used would be quite simple.
This would not alter the starmap, so the speech with hints about all the alien races
could be used unaltered.

Now that v0.6.2 is out, what is planned next on the way to v1.0 ?

-HaJo

I have lots of devices (sphere, helix, spindle, utwig bonb (can't find utwig) , Umgah and Burvix casters,
taalo shield, and warp pod), but I am not sure how to win the game.

To win the game, you must destroy the Sa-Matra (do you know its location ?).
For this, you need the utwig bomb improved and built into your ship, by the Chmmr.
This work will need two weeks to complete.
To 'activate' the Chmmr, you need the sundevice, from the mycon.
To deploy the bomb you also need the talking pet, from the umgah.

So it looks like you still have a fair bit of travelling to do...

-HaJo

I am stuck on getting the Spathi to join me because all the choices when they ask me for the secret cypher are wrong...

You can meet a very helpful Spathi right in the Sol system...
Do you talk (and listen! ) to the starbase-commander after each of your trips ?

-HaJo

During melee,I have trouble with the planet, i.e. I don't know where it is when offscreen.
So I would like a radar-view of the battlefield, instead of the animated captain.

-HaJo

I was wandering what would happen if you tried to defeat the Sa-Matra with out all of the necessary tools.

Each fleet in the ring guarding the Sa-Matra has 10 extra ships more than normal fleets,
so it is not easy to penetrate these guards...

-HaJo

The weapon is in posession of  a very powerful ally

Maybe they are not yet an ally

The distraction is in the posession of a not-so-powerful not-so-much-enemy

Who possesses whom :-)

-HaJo

you'd start out as a single race and build up

That sounds like any ol' 4X-game in space, like Master of Orion, etc.
Nice, but that is completely different from SC2, not just some mod...

-HaJo

[only one]

the "Save Game Editor", here it is: http://www.uploading.com/?get=Q3U98YOH

you can find the saved game editor at my site @http://dickweed.0nyx.com/downloads.htm

There is really only one same saved game editor ?

-HaJo

Yet another update: I've added in a Quasispace fuel calculation and portal display
1) Load the map.
Hence forth, every stable version of the starmap will be compressed.
This compressed version is a mere 29k

The download-link does not work, and the map-CGI gives errors, like
* "XML Parsing Error: not well-formed  Location: http://uqm.chumbucket.org/image/starmap.svgz"
* Error: Star name not found!

Has this project been moved / archived somewhere else ?

-HaJo

After entering the number and clicking on the "Start download"-Button,
I get an error "Invalid file code"

-HaJo

keep in mind how much RU it will take to make the Vindy a serious contender.

That would not matter much if both sides have a flagship + 12 ships.

This would be nice to compare the performance of different Vindy-configurations.

-HaJo