I have searched for my Starflight I game but remembered that it was not the PC EGA version I had, but the C-64 version!

And that is gone with the computer a few years ago...   :-(
bye
Michael

I read somewhere that Microsoft has stopped supporting Win98 this past summer and they stopped supporting Win95 back in 2001.  Basically, IMHO, thats reason enough for me to tell folks who are running those OSes and having problems to upgrade to 2000 or XP    May not apply to this project, but when my friends ask, I ask them what OS they are running?  Win98?  Oh I'm sorry, have you thought about upgrading?  

Never touch a running system unless you have a *really* good reason to do it. My upgrade cycles started with MS DOS 5.0 to MS DOS 6.22 (skipping 6.0, 6.1, 6.2 and avoiding all the hazzle with compress programs that I never use anyway) and then to windows 3.11 (skipping 3.0, 3.1 and only to be able to play Allied General), then to windows 95 C (skipping Windows 95 A and B). And that really only for FAT 32.

I currently actually consider to go up to Windows 98 SE (skipping Windows 98)  - maybe a year or so.. ;-)
bye
Michael

Well there's a fan project making Starflight 3 here's the link: http://www.starflight3.net Starflight 1 and 2 were the granddaddy of all non-linear sci-fi space exploration games. Boy I remember my old brother playing the second VGA release of SF1 going to the second planet in the Arth system doing mining to earn enough MUs to get his ship maxed out. Anyways there was quite a few races that Starflight 1 and 2 had that were slimiar to ones in Star Control 2. The Elowman were a race of plants that were the blood enemies of Tryann a lizard race who drove the Elowman off their original homeworld.  The Delewe were a race of depressed, pathatic bipeds who play a role in solving a puzzle in Starflight 2.  Humma Hummas were a race of slugs who were considered to be the trademasters and ambassbors of the Leghk sector.  In Starflight 1 the Uhlek were the biggest !@#%#! with their warships even when you maxed out your ship would kick your butt throughtly.

Elowan and Thrynn were their names...

There was a VGA release of Starflight 1? Never heard of it, but I can´t even remember if the version I played was EGA...
bye
Michael

We're using SDL to handle all input; under Windows, that should forward to DirectInput.  If DirectInput can't see your joystick, UQM can't.  If it can, then it should.  If it can't, then there's a bug in SDL somewhere.

I tried today with the original SC1 and the original SC2 and in both games I´m able to use the Joystick.

If "theres a bug in SDL somewhere" then can I do something about it on my system or is this something that had to be changed in the game?
bye
Michael

After playing with the UQM 0.3 a while (and now putting it on hold until 0.4 comes out) I felt a renewed interest in my old games that have nearly vanished under the dust on my shelves and found Starflight 2.

Is it only coincidence that the Spemin race of Starflight 2 look like the Umgah and act like the Spathi of Star Control 2? ;-)
bye
Michael

I get the impression that this Dnyarri is more powerful than the originals, due to the umgah enhancements beyond the repair.

You are right:

Dnyarri
This evil alien race consists of small, grayish
creatures resembling a cross between a
toad and an unhealthy mushroom. The
Dnyarri’s unassuming aspect belies its true
nature as one of the most hostile and dan-gerous
species in the galaxy, because each
Dnyarri possesses psychic compulsion men-tal
powers. With these powers, a single
Dnyarri can hold an entire planet
enthralled. A Dnyarri mental command is
so strong that only one race, the extinct
Taalo, had been able to resist its power.

This is from the Star Conrtol 2 Resrouce file that came with the Star Control 3 package with SC1 and SC2 on one CD-ROM.
So a Dnyarri able to control alone an entire species and it´s entire fleet within the species sphere of influence is certainly stronger than the original "1 Dnyarri controls 1 planet".
bye
Michael

Forget about the last question: When I ran UQM without the fullscreen command I could easyli stop and copy the lines as they ran through, they are:
Initializing SDL (pure).
SDL driver used: directx
SDL initialized.
Initializing Screen.
Set the resolution to: 640x480x16
Initializing SDL audio subsystem.
SDL audio subsystem initialized.
Initializing MixSDL mixer.
MixSDL using driver 'SDL_audio'
MixSDL Mixer initialized.
   opened dsound at 44100 Hz 16 bit stereo, 4096 samples audio buffer
Initializing sound decoders.
Sound decoders initialized.
0 joysticks were found.
       'lbm/scclrtab.ct' -- 8722 bytes"

So 0 Joysticks were found means that I´m out of luck?

That is strange as even the old SC 1 still runs fine on my PC and detects the same Joystick.
bye
Michael

Remember, the Taalo homeworld was on the opposite side of the galaxy from the revolt.  Also consider that it's hard to think clearly when you're in extreme pain.  It's much easier to just lash out instinctually at the enemy (especially when the enemy is small, soft, and squishy and you are a giant carnivorous catepillar).

Was the revolt on the opposite side?
I understood that the Dynarri controlled ALL races of the Sentient Milieu, thus nearly all the Galaxy and that the Ur-Quan as their favourite slaves would then be found everywhere in the galaxy at the time of the revolt.
bye
Michael

meep-eep,
i blew the dust off of the floppies from my old version, loaded them up, and i have the cheat, so i guess its the older version. unfortunately i think there are some other bugs in that old version, as i never could beat the game (it would lock at various times going into/out of hyperspace). the question is, how do i get the 'newer' old version?
thanks in advance for assistance.
Al
amalventano@sc.rr.com

You could look for Star Control 3 on Ebay or Amazon. At least in Germany SC3 included 2 CD-ROM on which one had SC1 and SC2.
bye
Michael

Also, the Ur-Quan were all being compelled by the Dnyarri when they "killed" the Taalo.  They wouldn't have known about the device.  It's assumed that the heart of the Sentient Milleu (and thus, the Dnyarri Empire) wasn't in this area of the galaxy, and that the Ur-Quan's first doctrinal war occured on the opposite side of the galaxy.  The Dnyarri had been sub-sentient for so long, they didn't need to look for relics to protect themselves.

I meant the time between Kzer-Za (the person, not the race) finding out that pain frees the mind for a short time and the years it took until the Dynarri finally were defeated. This was not a fast war, as the stories in the game mention special devices like "excruciators" to be worn by the Ur-Quan which were specifically developed to give them constant agony and waves of pain to remain mentally free. In that time, knowing that the Taalo were immune to the Dynarris powers and constantly suffering from *MAJOR PAIN* why did they never come to the thought to find out why the Taalo were immune and how they could achieve that power as well (even if they did not know about the device one of the first things I would have made would be to thouroughly search the Taalo homeworld).

I looked into the Profile, but unlike other forums I could not
find an option which would allow me to automatically be notified
about all new posts in thread in which I also posted.

The only way I am able to do it is within the thread click on notification.

Does such an option like the one I mentioned first exist on this board?
bye
Michael

I still run Windows 95 (although version C or OSR 2.5 which is more similar to Windows 98 than the earlier versions of Windows 95).

I can confirm that the original Star Control  1 and 2 run fine if you use the DOS-Mode and the version 0.3 of UQM runs also.
bye
Michael

Thankyou.
bye
Michael

I think this was brought up before, and was considered by the core team to be a Bad Idea^TM due to the logistics of distributing said funds to the people involved..

But I could be wrong, or times may have changed.

You always could fight a doctrinal war about the "Sa-Matra" ;-)

...
Even though the Shiva Furnaces are more advanced than your standard Dynamo Units it's not always a good idea to replace all your dynamos by them. Shiva Furnaces and Dynamo Units actually don't do quite the same thing.
Dynamo Units affect the delay between recharge of your energy, while Shiva Furnaces affect the amount of energy gained each recharge. The energy regeneration counter starts at 10, and every DU adds -2, to a minimum of 4. (so more than 3 DU's is never useful).
The energy regenerated per recharge starts off at 1, and every SF adds +1. There's no maximum other than the amount of SF's you can carry on your ship.
Put into a formula:
energy per time unit =  (#furnaces + 1) / (10 - 2 * (min(#dynamos, 3))
To get the fastest recharge rate, follow this guideline:
- If you have less than 4 slots available, choose all furnaces.
- If you have 4 or more slots available, choose 3 dynamos and the rest furnaces.
(If you have exactly 4 slots available, the configuration doesn't matter for the recharge rate, but as the recharges come in smaller portions when using dynamos, you can often make use of it sooner then).

But doesn´t that formula ignore that shiva furnaces add 60 to the combat energy and dynamos only 30 (at least that is what the docking yard screen displays when I equip the ship).

So they would not only recharge more per time unit, but you also start with more energy from the start?
bye
Michael