OT: Any idea where I can find Stars! resources?

[Renegade 13]

I know people are (for the most part) preoccupied with the SE5 demo, but I was hoping someone could point me towards some resources for the original 1995 Stars! I'm having a little trouble getting past the basics, and looking through a couple tutorials would probably lift the veil of my ignorance. Normally I'd be able to find such things on my own, but oddly enough, Google will not search for the word "Stars!" with the exclamation mark included. As such, I get millions of results that include the word "Stars" and nothing that relates to the game!

[crabby]

http://www.starsfaq.com/

Might be something on their that will help.

[frightlever]

Stars! rocks. IMO it does resources better than any other game of its type.

[Wade]

Where can others download 'Stars!' ? I do not see the game download at the mentioned site.

[Atrocities]

You have to buy Stars still.

[LordAxel]

and goodluck finding it. I searched for a long time and found a complete copy. Its hard to find bc it was primarily a download then regist code game. Your best bet is ebay on a similiar site.

[StarShadow]

Wade:

Email me at s_wolfe22@hotmail.com and I'll help you find a copy of Stars!

[frightlever]

My version came on a 31/2" floppy but the demo was a download. Maybe that changed. It would probably be free by now if they (the Microsoft Excel programmers that wrote the game - god bless them) hadn't sold the rights. The sequel never went anywhere and all we have left are the memories. Well and the game.

Ya know after my SEV demo disappointments I might just go play another game of Stars! against the computer. Now THERE was a game that got the interface right. Over ten years ago!

[Renegade 13]

A complete version of Stars! is easy to find if you know where to look. Now, to legally obtain a copy, that's a little more complicated.

Since many here seem to know and love Stars! I'll just ask my questions here! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

1. Factories and Mines: What are their respective purposes? I presume that Mines mine Ironium, Boranium and Germanium from the surface of a planet? Factories?

2. Resources: What are they, how are they generated and what are they used for?

3. Minerals: Planets each have a certain concentration of the various minerals, but are these minerals ever depleted by mining, or is it like in SEIV where mineral miners, etc do not actually deplete the planet's supply of whichever mineral?

That's all I can think of at the moment, but I'm sure I'll have more later. Any answers will be greatly appreciated. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Suicide Junkie]

Factories increase build rates, much like additional people do.

Mines increase the rate at which you dig buried minerals up into surface minerals.
There are a fixed amount of minerals which you can see by the length of the darkened mineral bar. The percentage value/concentration is how easy it is to extract them with your mines.

[Hugh Manatee]

Since many here seem to know and love Stars! I'll just ask my questions here!

<i>1. Factories and Mines: What are their respective purposes? I presume that Mines mine Ironium, Boranium and Germanium from the surface of a planet? Factories?</i>

yup, mines pull minerals out of the ground, you can only operate as many mines as your race's population settiungs allow, but you can build as many as you want up to that planets limits. Factories are the same only they generate additional resources instead of minerals.

<i>2. Resources: What are they, how are they generated and what are they used for?</i>

Resources are your population working, curency or credit, it builds stuff and you can allocate a portion of it to research. Part of your resources are generated by your population, most are generated by factories. You can see how much either will generate by looking at your race file.

<i>3. Minerals: Planets each have a certain concentration of the various minerals, but are these minerals ever depleted by mining, or is it like in SEIV where mineral miners, etc do not actually deplete the planet's supply of whichever mineral?</i>

The higher a concentration(the diamond on the mineral graph) the more of each mining will pull up, minerals do deplete over time. The solid bar represents how much of that mineral you have currently. The genesis device will reset a planets mineral concentrations randomly once they are depleted(if you chase down the mysterious trader that is)

[Gandalf Parker]

Actually one of the Stars sites (I forget which one) had a full copy that he had permission to offer. It was an earlier version but I think it was still patchable forward.

The serial numbers for nultiplayer are getting hard to find but there are conversations with the owners to fix that problem also.

There is a Stars usenet newsgroup which is very helpful.

[Artaud]

frightlever said:
My version came on a 31/2" floppy but the demo was a download.



I can still remember the happiness I felt when that 3.5'' floppy arrived in my mailbox!! I played Stars! relentlessly, sometimes printing out maps of my empires to take to work and study. I have fond memories of launching mineral packets at enemy worlds and creating gigantic minefields.

There was a patch that made the graphics even better, and actually pleasant to look at. Unfortunately my 3.5'' floppy got corrupted and I never got around to replacing it.

I wish I could find Stars! for sale again.

While waiting for the new version, Stars! Supernova, I discovered a 100-turn demo of a neat little game called Space Empires IV. I played it and was blown away. I decided I HAD to have the game IMMEDIATELY.

[StarShadow]

"While waiting for the new version, Stars! Supernova, I discovered a 100-turn demo of a neat little game called Space Empires IV. I played it and was blown away. I decided I HAD to have the game IMMEDIATELY. "

Me too! Stars! was my very first 4x space game.

[Artaud]

My first was probably an oldie called Empire, back when I got my first computer, a 286 with a CGA monitor, shortly after I got married. After that, I think, was the original Reach for the Stars.

Wonderful memories!

Getting back to Stars!, I spent countless hours with that game. Wow--I could conquer the galaxy! All that great gameplay on a 3.5'' gloppy disk! I think I remember there being an email mailing list for Stars! players. Strategy endlessly debated, potential improvements discussed, etc.

There was eventually a Stars Supernova website that I used to post on from work. With screen shots, features described, etc. We were so passionate about having the game see the light of day! But the developer--it was a 1 or 2 man operation--was not able to find a publisher, so the story went. So the game died.

[Captain Kwok]

My first game really in the genre was also Empire, but like in the late 90s when I found it in my employer's old computer stash. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[StarShadow]

Actually, it was a 3-man team. They did manage to find a publisher, unfortunetely the publisher put the game on the back burner, so to speak, and never released it. Even more unfortunately, the original team couldn't afford to buy back the publisher's rights and find a publisher who was actually interested in releasing the game.

[Dizzy]

I have an original copy of Stars that is in mint condition. I played it mb a few times and lost interest... it was too far over my head for my casual interest at the time.

How much $$$ is someone willing to part for it?

[frightlever]

So is there actually a finished version of Stars Supernova out there somewhere?

[Renegade 13]

From everything I've heard, no there is not.

[StarShadow]

Unfortunately no. Although the game was in the late beta stage, and was being beta tested, it's a shame no one 'leaked' their beta copy though.