Star Control: Origins - Star Control reboot from Stardock

[NoSoup4you]

How were the DLCs? I played this at launch, and by the end of the base game I was already just lurching over the finish line out of duty. The game was ok, but lacking some of the mystery and atmosphere of SCII... Not sure if it's because the game is that much worse, or because I'm an adult. I did like the aliens and dialogue overall, except for the excruciating starbase commander.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The first DLC added a new alien race, complete with dialogue animations and all, but they're only spoken to once and make no further appearances or impact.

The second and third DLCs mostly added backstories to less relevant factions in the sector (like what the pirate factions were doing) and added more background to The Measured. The final DLC felt like a rush-job and revolved around Earth's expansion into new systems, and the pushback they're getting.

Their quality dropped at a pretty sloping rate. If you had trouble finishing the game due to lack of interest, then the DLCs won't do anything for you.

 

[TheDiceMustRoll]

Brad has a whole thing where his main interest is this whole singularity, project your consciousness across the universe sort of thing and he tries to bolt it onto Star Control, a dorky, Star Trek with more shooty thing, and its not always great.

 

[NoSoup4you]

The integrated DLC doesn't even make sense for this type of game... It's not very replayable. But hey, I'm kind of in the mood, and it's either this or fail to endure SC3 for the third time.

Thinking about it, a big part of what I missed about SCII was the serious parts. Stardock recaptured the whimsy pretty well, but that's all they got. The old game actually felt lonely (mining an empty system with ambient music) or even scary at times (discovering quasispace, realizing the fate of the Taalo, etc.) Everything here is an upbeat adventure. It also seems a lot more linear despite being "open world," i.e. it more obviously feels like a series of generic fetch quests. The only significant discovery I remember having with Origins was wondering WTF those unbeatable ships in Arcturus were.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

Haha, you dummies. Even the creators knew the shitty combat was the core of star control 2. Cyborg mode is for retards who need a helmet to go outside, according to the creators.

That doesn't mean it's the most enjoyable part, but it's obviously the part of the game every other part is there to support. You upgrade your flagship to do better in combat, you get allies with different ships to do better in combat. You fly around to different places and get into combat, then get ships to do more combat in, or resources to make you more successful in combat.

I thought the Ur Quan masters was bugged when I first played it, I figured it was meant for slow computers and the combat was running at 10x speed or something, but no, that's how it's supposed to be...

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

You could win any computer ship with Shofixti (without using Glory Device) when you got good enough.

 

[infidel]

Ok, I've finally got around to playing Origins for an hour and now I know why I wasn't hyped for it for all these years since I've heard about it. It's the fucking Stardock. They have that Stardock look that they seem to adore (or maybe the artists keep Brad hostage) but I hate. Cheap plastic 3D art with "modern" UI that they have since... 2003?

Yeah, the buttons were a bit different. But look at 2006 and notice that blue and white UI:

And all of their games look the same ever since. That feels so lifeless somehow.

The second thing that I hate is music. Nevermind that it's all remixes, nevermind that one of the original composers is doing it. The original DOS version had great MOD music, very gritty and punchy due to the technology limitations. All the samples have low attack and decay, there's no reverb, very distinct aggressive sound.


EDIT: 3DO version. The drums are nice and punchy, the arp synth is still good. I disagree with the overall mix somewhat and the backs have been moved further to the back, it sounds worse but still okay:


Compare that to this:

Sounds very soft and FM synthy, lacks any aggression except a little in the drums. I feel like they should've capitalized on the original sound instead of the 3DO version.

And lastly, I hate how it's 2021 but you just can't automatically mark down planets that you've visited and cleared, how many resources are left there if any and what objects have you found (with some exceptions in captain's log). Not to mention that you can't scale UI fonts. So far the experience is a bit worse than the original gameplay-wise. Sure, it's all playable but they've lost so much of the soul in the transition, another bland mediocrity. They're promising some graphic upgrades soon but I'm not hoping it'll get better.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[LESS T_T]

"Star Control IV": https://www.stardock.net/article/509866/star-control-winter-2022-status-update

Greetings!

It's been awhile since we've done an update so I figured it would be a good time to tell you where things are.

Before Covid, we had started porting Star Control: Origins over to XBOX One. However, all that went out the window when the pandemic hit since you can't take the kits home and everyone was working from home.

However, this past Fall we were able to get restarted on it and we now have the game in pre-certification for XBOX One. The plan is to release that this Spring or Summer and then see how demand goes. Assuming it does well, we'll move to a PS4 version of it and potentially even a Switch version (though that might be tough since our engine was based on x86 assumptions and the Switch uses a completely different hardware set).

We also have the tentative design for what is internally referred to as Star Control IV. Now that all the IP disagreements have been cleaned up we can design a new Star Control game without any uncertainty as to what is and isn't kosher. Future Star Control games will come out for PC and console at or near the same time which allows us to have a bigger budget.

Right now, our studio has its hands full with 3 different major game projects in progress including Galactic Civilizations IV and two unannounced games that you'll hear more about later this year. So it'll be a bit before we can return to Star Control but we have toyed with the idea of putting out a stand alone new Star Control fleet battle game if there's interest.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them here.

 

[Zarniwoop]

"Star Control IV"

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Kind of surprised tbh. Was under the impression Origins didn’t sell very well, especially since they had to pull it from storefronts for a few months.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I thought star control origins was ... OK? I expected to hate it but it was fun for what it was.
Guess I'm sorta looking forward to this.

 

[LESS T_T]

https://www.stardock.com/games/article/514936/star-control---fall-2022-status-report

Star Control - Fall 2022 Status Report​

Greetings, best friends!

As always seems to be the case, we are way behind schedule. Between the recently announced SINS OF A SOLAR EMPIRE II and the release of Galactic Civilizations IV and a big, unannounced game in development, we have had our hands full.

Star Control: Origins news!

First, the good news. Star Control: Origins - Ultimate Edition, has been ported to XBOX Series X. We just need to go through the final steps of pre-certification, then certification in order to release. We have a tentative release date of February 2023.

This updated version will include a number of improvements to the game visually and include some balance changes.

We are also in pre-production for what is tentatively called Star Control IV but marketing will figure out a final name. The internal discussion is whether to make the game set in what the internal lore refers to as the Scourge where we learn to appreciate the service the Scryve were providing to our little corner of the galaxy or whether to fast-forward to a further place in time.

When When When?

So one thing we learned from Star Control: Origins is that story-scripted games, in the age of YouTube, has some challenges. Why play (and buy) a game if you can watch the story?

Being able to watch a story play out on YouTube isn't to say that narrative based games are doomed. Look at how well Elden Ring has done this year. What it does mean is that future Star Control games are likely to have a lot more GAME in them and less scripted story to them which I think is a good thing as it allows for a lot more replayability.

We have a number of Stardock franchises whose fans want attention such as Ashes of the Singularity and Elemental. It took us 12 years to get back to Sins of a Solar Empire. What I can say is that we will definitely be making more Star Control games we just don't know when.

One idea we had was a spin-off involving Jeff and the Mowlings (well mostly Jeff with the Mowlings being in there). Think of Populous with you playing as Jeff and the people being Mowlings. But that would be difficult to market and creating new brands would be tough (calling it Star Control: Adventure of Jeff doesn't really ring well).

Next Up

So next up will be the XBOX Series X version of SCO. If that does well we'll do a PS5 version. And if that does well then it'll make a good case to make another Star Control game sooner rather than later.

Star Control II: Ur-Quan Masters News

Next month will be the 30th anniversary of the release of Star Control II. Accolade was the original publisher, we were merely the inheritor of that mantle and so the focus instead will be on the amazing creators of the first two Star Control games, Paul Reiche and Fred Ford. We hope to have more news soon! Stay tuned!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

For those wondering, the 1.5 patch is an Beta opt-in on Steam, offering better textures and performance.

No ETA on when it's going to be officially released - they've been working on it for over a year.

 

[tritosine2k]

(...)

The second thing that I hate is music. Nevermind that it's all remixes, nevermind that one of the original composers is doing it. The original DOS version had great MOD music, very gritty and punchy due to the technology limitations. All the samples have low attack and decay, there's no reverb, very distinct aggressive sound.


EDIT: 3DO version. The drums are nice and punchy, the arp synth is still good. I disagree with the overall mix somewhat and the backs have been moved further to the back, it sounds worse but still okay:



(...)

Good stuff is out there:

 

[infidel]

Good stuff is out there:

That's pretty neat, esp. the bass line in the last track. I could swear I heard almost the same bass sound in the tracker days. But their drum machines really need some work, very bland sounding. Are these in any way related to the original composers?

 

[tritosine2k]

Good stuff is out there:

That's pretty neat, esp. the bass line in the last track. I could swear I heard almost the same bass sound in the tracker days. But their drum machines really need some work, very bland sounding. Are these in any way related to the original composers?

Established artists in their own genre, I just happen to know these tracks, also this sounds like they took inspiration (?)

 

[infidel]

also this sounds like they took inspiration (?)

Could just be the closeness of rhythm and drum samples. And the general quirkyness of their synths.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Norfleet]

I wanted to try this, just to see what it was like, but it just plain didn't run, immediately crashing at startup. I regard this as a fail at the most basic level.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I wanted to try this, just to see what it was like, but it just plain didn't run, immediately crashing at startup. I regard this as a fail at the most basic level.

Not compatible with your commodore 64, eh?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'll have to admit I'm late to the party on this one - but the v1.5 v1.62 patch for Star Control: Origins has finally been released!

Star Control: Origins v1.62 Update Addresses
Crash Reports and Updates Balance
For full details, see the changelog!
In a galaxy as vast and varied as the one in Star Control: Origins, we can't always see everything. That's why we appreciate whenever our incredible community shares their crash reports with us! We do our best to get into the game quickly and fix the problems so that we can ensure your experience protecting the galaxy is a fun one.
In v1.62, we address some issues that caused some strange crashes, including one that would trigger when your lander was destroyed while carrying cargo, or one that occured when you enter certain systems after 10 or so minutes of playing.

While we were working on things, we discovered that the Commander went missing from our German, Russian, and Chinese versions of the game - whoops! - so we made sure to get her back in there. Who else are you going to turn to for advice when things get dicey? Well, we suppose there's always Wymdoo...
Check out the changelog at the bottom of the post for full details on the update. Thanks for sending in your reports - we appreciate all your help in making Star Control: Origins the best game it can be.

Star Control: Origins v1.62 Changelog
Fixes

• Fixes a crash if your lander gets destroyed when it has cargo
• Fixes a crash that happens on some systems after 10 min of playing
• Fixed graphic corruption when loading a game form within a game
• Fixed a crash when exiting planets
• (1.62) Fixed an issue where the commander didn't show up in German
• (1.62) Fixed an issue where the commander didn't show up in Russian
• (1.62) Fixed an issue where the commander didn't show up in Chinese

Balance

• (1.62) Sped up the Earthing ship when in a solar system
• (1.62) Fixed the turn radius in hyperspace

I was expecting a longer changelog, but that's because this is only the changelog from v1.6 to v1.62. The long-in-the-tooth v1.5-update was renamed to 1.6 and was released two months ago, back in December. Strangely enough that doesn't have a changelog, but they say this:

The v1.6 update makes significant improvements to the game’s rendering technology. Players will enjoy finer details and smoother framerates when talking to alien leaders, while also gaining boosts in performance thanks to reduced memory usage. Ships benefit from this visual overhaul with more detail and an overall better performance during battles.

In addition to the visual improvements, v1.6 reduces the game’s memory usage by about 40%, depending on the player’s graphics card and computer system.

“These improvements make it so that the finer details can be more appreciated by players across the board,” said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock. “The performance boosts and reduction in memory usage will improve the overall visual experience for everyone, whether you’re running a cutting-edge system or something that’s a little older.”

No word on whether they actually fix the broken gameplay content present in v1.43. That may require... a replay.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

One notable change - the offline installer shrunk down by 3 gigs in size.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Just noticed that the game has been updated to a 1.62.9-version, but I can't find a changelog for it.