kyrub
Augur
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2009
- Messages
- 347
Starship Unlimited (SU) is a pretty old, 4X game in space, developped as indie by 1 person (IIRC), later sold to a company. I think it is quite unknown (but I am sure there are some codexians who know it?). It has got some good reviews (8.0 on Gamespot), but it never becasme a hit and it seems to be totally forgotten today.
First, SU was usually classed as a RT game with pause. This is more or less a mistake, or it's true to the same extent as for X-COM games, where you have a RT strategy level, but combat is turn-based. When you enter the combat in SU, you are automatically paused for every single ship movement. That's as turned based as can be.
Starships Unlimited is a strategy game in space, but it is oriented not on planet development or diplomacy, but on ships. It's only highlight is its COMBAT SYSTEM, which is most original and fun to play. I wonder - was this system ever replicated in another game?
On this screen you see an encounter of enemy ships. I'll try to explain the originality of SU combat with it.
Every ship has its drive, its front and rear shields (dotted circles around the ship), it has its weapons, that are demonstrated by different geometric shapes around the ships (conique, circle, conique segment etc. - explanation below).
This is quite normal in most space 4x games, where you move and shoot, deal damage etc. What makes the big difference in SU? You cannot move wherever you want. The movement of a ship can follow a few distinct patterns only - sort of special manoeuver. Your ship may move straight (simplest pattern), or suddenly turn away, back away, rotate etc. You choose the manoeuver at the beginning of the turn, your enemy does as well. Then both manoeuvers are executed simultaneously. If during your manoeuver you gain a fire opportunity (your enemy steps into one of the attack geometric shapes, think of weapon range), the turn stops, and you may fire your weapons. You need to have your weapon re-charged by your drive, obviously, before firing again.
This simple mechanics creates thrilling combat situations and options. You may tail your enemy and try to shoot through his rear shields (which are usually weaker). You may need to avoid the same from him with a special manoeuver. Sometimes you are able to wound enemy ship from one side and you need to strike again on the spot, sometimes you try to finish a broken enemy who is trying to overdrive and flee.
Many of weapon types come into the equation: will you mount a gun (conique range field), a wave weapon (circle range that can hurt from both sides of the shield at once), or even the energy weapon, that has only small conique segment but it strikes very hardly? You may launch small fighter groups that attack independently, you may even mount a special ram device to physically ram and destroy your opponent - this one is probably the hardest and the most satisfying option!
And to top the great features: the manoeuver variants are not granted from the beginning. They represent the skills of your ship's crew. The more experienced the crew, the more variants are available. So your ships begin with very simple skills and can be easily out-manoeured in first combat. This gives a plenty of nice situations...
So (if you share a bit of my enthusiasm for these features) - why the hell the game never became a hit? Because anything outside the combat is not half as good as the combat itself. Planet management, Research, Diplomacy, all is basic or even badly executed (you get economically punished for building up new colonies, bleh). But, what really spoils the show: the game does not give you a lot of opportunities to do its best part - to fight with enemy ships! It's ultra disapointing. The battles are unforgettable, but they are rare. I had 1 massive battle (like the image above) in 10 hours of gaming, grrrr! Incredible. It's like HoMM without big fights.
First, SU was usually classed as a RT game with pause. This is more or less a mistake, or it's true to the same extent as for X-COM games, where you have a RT strategy level, but combat is turn-based. When you enter the combat in SU, you are automatically paused for every single ship movement. That's as turned based as can be.
Starships Unlimited is a strategy game in space, but it is oriented not on planet development or diplomacy, but on ships. It's only highlight is its COMBAT SYSTEM, which is most original and fun to play. I wonder - was this system ever replicated in another game?
On this screen you see an encounter of enemy ships. I'll try to explain the originality of SU combat with it.
Every ship has its drive, its front and rear shields (dotted circles around the ship), it has its weapons, that are demonstrated by different geometric shapes around the ships (conique, circle, conique segment etc. - explanation below).
This is quite normal in most space 4x games, where you move and shoot, deal damage etc. What makes the big difference in SU? You cannot move wherever you want. The movement of a ship can follow a few distinct patterns only - sort of special manoeuver. Your ship may move straight (simplest pattern), or suddenly turn away, back away, rotate etc. You choose the manoeuver at the beginning of the turn, your enemy does as well. Then both manoeuvers are executed simultaneously. If during your manoeuver you gain a fire opportunity (your enemy steps into one of the attack geometric shapes, think of weapon range), the turn stops, and you may fire your weapons. You need to have your weapon re-charged by your drive, obviously, before firing again.
This simple mechanics creates thrilling combat situations and options. You may tail your enemy and try to shoot through his rear shields (which are usually weaker). You may need to avoid the same from him with a special manoeuver. Sometimes you are able to wound enemy ship from one side and you need to strike again on the spot, sometimes you try to finish a broken enemy who is trying to overdrive and flee.
Many of weapon types come into the equation: will you mount a gun (conique range field), a wave weapon (circle range that can hurt from both sides of the shield at once), or even the energy weapon, that has only small conique segment but it strikes very hardly? You may launch small fighter groups that attack independently, you may even mount a special ram device to physically ram and destroy your opponent - this one is probably the hardest and the most satisfying option!
And to top the great features: the manoeuver variants are not granted from the beginning. They represent the skills of your ship's crew. The more experienced the crew, the more variants are available. So your ships begin with very simple skills and can be easily out-manoeured in first combat. This gives a plenty of nice situations...
So (if you share a bit of my enthusiasm for these features) - why the hell the game never became a hit? Because anything outside the combat is not half as good as the combat itself. Planet management, Research, Diplomacy, all is basic or even badly executed (you get economically punished for building up new colonies, bleh). But, what really spoils the show: the game does not give you a lot of opportunities to do its best part - to fight with enemy ships! It's ultra disapointing. The battles are unforgettable, but they are rare. I had 1 massive battle (like the image above) in 10 hours of gaming, grrrr! Incredible. It's like HoMM without big fights.
Does anybody know SU?
Have you had more luck, enjoyment while playing it?
Was this original kind of combat ever replicated in another game (space or fantasy)?
