Starflight vs Mass Effect

[octavius]

I haven't played any of those games yet, but I stumbled upon this blog - http://www.emagill.com/rants/eblog036.html - comparing the two.

Interesting comparison of the two game. I especially liked this part: "[in Starflight] alien diplomacy and resource gathering are more important than learning the backstory of your engineer,"

Any codexers who have played both games? How do you compare them?

 

[Lyric Suite]

http://groups.google.com/group/starflighttlc

Just because the link in the original article doesn't work (at least it doesn't for me). Wow. Had no idea they were making something like this. Yet, i wonder what they mean by this:

"The original gameplay has been largely preserved while updating the gameplay to meet the expectations of modern gamers."

 

[Overweight Manatee]

Interesting. Sounds a lot like a precursor to Star Control? Will check out when I get a chance.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

Next article

Elite VS SW:TOR

 

[zeitgeist]

http://groups.google.com/group/starflighttlc

Just because the link in the original article doesn't work (at least it doesn't for me). Wow. Had no idea they were making something like this. Yet, i wonder what they mean by this:

"The original gameplay has been largely preserved while updating the gameplay to meet the expectations of modern gamers."

Here's a two thousand word essay on the subject:

 

[Metro]

Guess I'll have to read it since I can't even imagine why they'd compare the two. ME is an action/shooter with RPG elements. Starflight's one and two are adventure games combined with trading sim mechanics.

 

[Monk]

The first point is difficult to consider for ME because, as Metro implies, it's not a trading sim.

The second point (about aliens and other areas being full of surprises) is notable, though, as that might ME much better.

 

[Faustian Covenant]

Starflight isn't a trading sim any more than star control II is a trading sim, and you can't even trade all that much. Either one is much more of an RPG than ME. If ME claims to be an RPG then it is a fair comparison, and ME fails in comparison in basically every way.

Saying it's a precursor to star control is not only correct but acknowledged within the game itself in a way that's obvious if you've played both. The biggest difference is combat which is done in an arcade style in SC. In SF it's more about upgrading your ship and disabling enemy systems and you might fight several enemies at once.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS LOLOLOLOLV I AM AN APOLOGIST BUT STARFLIGHT KILLS ME EVEN THOUGH THE FOCUS IS DIFFERNT

STARFLIGHT ACTUALLY HAS EXPLORATIONG AND IMPROVING YOUR SHIP IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE SOME BROS WILL FUCK YOU UP IF YOU TRY TO WRECK THERE SHIT WITH A WEAK SHIP PLUS YOU CANT CARRY THE RESOURCES OR EXPLORE THE SURFACE

I PLAYED STARFLIGHT ON YTHE GENESIS OH YEAH NO POPAMOLE THERE DECENT PORT AND THEN THE URQUAN STAR CONTROL TWO PC UPDATE LOLOOLOLLOL FROM MY POINT OF VIEW STAR CONTROL WAS DUMBED DOWN A LITTLE IN SOME WAYS THERE WAS NO CREW TRAINING AND SHIP UGRADING WAS LIMITED AND PLANETARY SHIT WAS LESS COMPLICATED AND LESS OPTIONS IN SCANNING AND LANDING ON PLANETS

ME HITS SOME OF THE EXPLORATION SHIT BUT ONLY JUST TO GIVE US STARFLIGHT FANS A COCK TEASE WITH NO PAYOFF

OH AND STARCONTROL 2 AND STARFLIGHT ARE ACTUALLY BETTER GAMES TOO NOT REALLY TRADING SIMS BUT GAMES WEAR CURRENCY IS IMPORTANT

 

[sgc_meltdown]

Why an indie dev doesn't make a new space exploration and trading thing along the same vein I don't even know.

Yes I know about Infinity. God dammit it's going to be an mmo. Why would you waste procedural generation like that?

 

[Zomg]

I was butthurt when I played Starflight after SC2, they ripped off almost everything for SC2 including the tone and style.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS OKAY I RED THE BLOG

DECENT STUFF I AGREE WITH ALMOST ALL OF IT ALOT OF MY FEELING ABOUT FAG EFFECT

BROS BTW GENESEIS STARFLIGHT PORT IS BROTASTIC

ALSO ON TOP OF THIS I TRIED THE NEW STARFLIGHT THING AND GOT SO PISSED OFF I ALMOST SHIT IN MY PANTS AND PUNCHED THE MONITER BROS IT HAD A TUTORIAL AND I FUCKING HATE LAME TUTORIALS AND I JUST WANTED TO EXPLORE AND SHIT AND MAKE MISTAKES BROS IF I AM GONNA TOLERATE NEWFAG SHIT AT LEAST DONT GIVE IT OLDSCHOOL PRETENSION

 

[BLOBERT]

BRO ZOMG STARFLIGHT WAS FIRTS WASNT IT OR AM NOT ONLY DRUNK BUT RETARTED!!!!!

 

[sgc_meltdown]

starflight is a 1986 game

that's before colors were invented you know

edit:edited

 

[Zomg]

I was saying I played SC2, then SF, and I was butthurt because I was an SC2 fan and I thought it was a sui generis game, not so it was a clone with different minigames.

I DID NOT PLAY THEM IN ORDER OF CREATION BUT RATHER THE OPPOSITE, I HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT SO ANY PARSING ALGORITHM WILL DEDUCE THE CORRECT MEANING

 

[malko_sundervere]

 

[sgc_meltdown]

Posture is such a classy way of saying Bluff.

 

[Jaesun]

Was this Prosper's first game he designed (dialogue wise)?

 

[BLOBERT]

BRO ZOMG I READ YOURN POST WRONG IAM SORRY BUT YOU NEED TO BLAME SMOLOV

LOLLOLOL BRO SERIOUSLY MY BAD YOU WERE TOTALLY RIGHT STAR CONTROL TWO IS A TOTALL RIPOFF MORE POPAMIOLE IN SOME WAYS

I THINK WE BOTH GRANT FORGIVENESS BECAUSE THIS TYPE OF GAME IS AWESOME AND MORE PEOPLE SHOULD MAKE IT

 

[BLOBERT]

BRO IF I REMEMBER RIGHT POSTURE MEANT HOW YOU ASKEDTHE QUESTION IT COULD BE THREATENING OBSREUQUTIOS OR FRIENDLY WAY MORE DEEP THAN NEWSCHOOL POPEMOBILE

 

[sgc_meltdown]

bro well it's all in the delivery

Now Good means Naive virgin, Neutral means Dane Cook, and Evil means Soap opera sociopath

 

[santino27]

I liked Starflight when it came out more than I liked Mass Effect when it came out.

So, uh... I guess there's that. Seems a bit arbitrary of a subject for an article, even an article that is several years old now.

 

[Metro]

I can't remember Starflight 1 all that well but 2 was definitely more about trading/exploration/diplomacy (which usually required trading the appropriate specialty item) than it was about combat. Obviously for a late 80's game the combat was very simplistic and -- as others said -- is mostly just about upgrading your shields and weapons.

While you could play it aggressively the only optimal/required times for combat was against the G'nunk (if I'm recalling that name correctly), the Spemin (once you got the tech to disable their shields or whatever) and the possessed dudes at the end (but you could just run away from most of them). So while combat definitely played a part, most of your time was spent trading and talking (which, again, usually required trading the appropriate item to open the key dialogue branches). [Again that's SF2 -- maybe the first was radically different] So... yeah... it was about trading~ Okay, and exploration, too. It's not a pure trading sim, nor did I call it that. It's a combination of adventure game and trading sim. I suppose you could argue it had RPG elements but that's stretching it in regards to the ship and crew (you picked the obvious race appropriate to the position and just maxed training in that particular skill set). Still, great game(s). I highly recommend them to anyone who hasn't played -- just make sure you get a .gif or some other image of the star map that came with each game for the sake of navigation.

 

[phanboy_iv]

Played Starflight 1 on the Genesis as a youngster, and it blew my frickin' mind at the time. Loved it. Massive, complex game.


Mass Effect I played about 30 minutes of. Got bored.

 

[Morkar Left]

This has the closest feel to the original SF series: http://code.google.com/p/rlprospector/

It's basically SF without the mainplot and good dialogs but with added complexity in gamemechanics, randomization and more interesting exploration. In regards to story and dialog I hope he will include something like that.

The SF remake the lost colony has or had a massive delay in production and I don't like the art style and atmosphere at all

My dream game would be SF with the ship upgrade system, char advancement, living world and gfx from Space Rangers 2. These combined with combat like I-War and I would probably die in front of my pc because of starvation.