A remix of The Urquan Masters HD (aka the open-source, hi-res version of Star Control 2) which fixes some outstanding bugs, edits some of the settings and backgrounds, makes the game easier to use and run for end-users, and also enables the use of the higher-quality remix music from the precursors remix project. All props and respect go to the original UQMHD crew, as well as to the original UQM crew and to the original developers of Star Control 2, Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III. This is a simple .zip file, just unzip wherever you want and run uqm.exe or the 'The Urquan Masters.bat' batch file. Nothing to it. Enjoy! Changelog included below - click read more. First time players: read the included 'tips for newcomers.txt' or read the details section below.
Changelog
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1.12 - final version:
* Corrections to Talking Pet subtitles based on 3DO voiceovers
* Further reduced galaxy map snap so that it was less annoying for dealing with stars which're very close to one another eg. Vela
* Fixed syreen dialogue and edited syreen voiceover to remove annoying narrator voice
* Fixed credits speed
* Corrections to intro and end sequence timing
* Correction/reordering to ending slides (explosion)
* Removed utwig credits voiceover (as none of the other races have voiceovers for this section, it feels wrong)
1.10:
* Corrections to mycon subtitles based on 3DO voiceovers
* Added the hi-res ship pics to supermelee ('alt' at ship-choice on main menu) - work by Zenzmurfy, Schizoid and myself
* Fixed the dumb bug where the planet textures and sun corona would 'pop' onto the screen half-a-second or so -after- seeing the solar system pre-draw.
* Subtitle formatting consistency updates to thraddash, slylandro, talking pet, utwig, safe ones
1.09:
* General code comment updating
* Correction to UQMHD code on display of past Orz conversation summary
* Corrections to Vux, Slylandro, Utwig, Starbase, Pkunk dialogue based on 3DO voiceovers
* Minor correction to UQMHD options code
* Update to remix pack 4 rmp
* Update to credits
* Updated menu delay values so it no longer takes an age to (a) fill up your fuel tanks (b) fill up your crew (c) search through your saved games.
* Changed main menu so that game restarts if music type is changed (otherwise music will not change), as it does with a resolution change
* Updated previously-unusable acceleration value on the starmap and fixed autopilot cursor snap so that trying to autopilot to Sol no longer selects Sirius all the damn time when not zoomed in.
* Removed erroneous word from delivery for utwig dialog ('together' pointed out by Brytag (thanks!))
* Resampled all utwig dialog down to 11khz to match tone of all other original voiceovers
* Correction to fluctuating volume levels between dialog lines for shofixti
1.05:
* Added code so that some solar systems do not have nebulae.
* Further nebulae and star generation tweaking.
* Added 5 nebulae variations.
* Small starbase speech fix.
* Correction to UQMHD code (previously was not using all available nebulae).
1.04:
* Corrected speech files - previously had taken a naive approach to updating based on uqm vanilla changes.
* Changed solar system star draw algorithm to be more atmospheric.
* UQMHD Remix now uses it's own folder to store savegames and settings, so that it doesn't read the default settings from a previously installed version of UQMHD. If you've got previous savegames, you'll need to copy the %appdata%/uqmhd/save folder to %appdata%/uqmhdremix/save.
* Removed 'partial pickup' code for planet lander - now you only pick up the whole unit, or you don't. This re-engages a small strategic element of planet-landing which was removed by the partial pickup stuff, that being the need to check your supply hold and see whether you were going to lose out if you picked up a large bit of materials in the small amount of space you had left. Keeping keenly aware of this made the difference between a light load and a heavy one, in the original UQM.
* Further adjustments to nebulae.
1.00 - 1.02:
* Better detection of correct fullscreen resolutions (previously was broken for desktops using 5:4 ratio resolutions)
* Copied the updated english dialogue, credits, intro and ending text across from UQM vanilla
* Includes the remix music and enables the remix music on the intro and ending sequences
* Changed the volume options so the dialogue is more audible against the music
* Corrected a bug related to building the game in VS2013
* Game now autocorrects resolution factor (2x, 4x) based on screen resolution
* Optimized SSE2 release build - faster on both older and newer equipment.
* Remix music is now the default, 3DO music still selectable if preferred. This excludes the beginning and ending sequences which have the remix music, because the UQMHD team somehow broke the code which overwrote the intro/end sequence locations if you had installed the remix packs.
* Graphical menu and planet-scan options are the default, as they feel more 'game'y and less technical. I didn't originally like the 3DO graphics, but the hi-res versions are really good.
* Log is now outputed to uqm.log, not the console.
* Toned down the nebulae significantly - they were interfering with gameplay mechanics, and in my opinion, the atmosphere of the game.
* Removed dev files from the release, for easy identification of which files are relevant to end-users. This included the currently-half-finished features like russian, finnish, japanese support - mainly so that the user doesn't get a second-rate experience in those languages and hence be fair to the original devs working on them.
* Added some .txt instructions for newcomers.
Tips for Newcomers to Star Control II
------------------------------------------------------
First of all, the keys are:
Menus:
up, down: flick between options
Enter: Go down one menu level (into the currently-selected option)
Space: Go back up one menu level (out of that option)
Navigation:
Up: Thrust
Left, right: Turn
Space: Go to options
Fight:
Up: Thrust
Left, right: Turn
Enter: Fire main weapon
Right-Shift: Fire secondary weapon
Esc: Escape
Planet lander:
Up: Thrust
Left, right: Turn
Enter: Fire stun weapon
Esc: Leave planet
Starmap:
Left, right, up, down: navigate
Enter: select auto-pilot destination
Page Up or Keypad +: Zoom in
Page Down or Keypad -: Zoom out
All areas:
F1: Pause
F10: Quit game
Space: Menu
Keys can be edited by editing the content/menu.key and content/uqm.key text files.
Tips:
* Check a planet's stats before going down. A highly volatile planet can destroy your lander. Keep a finger on the Esc key when you land!
* Planet landing consumes 0.5 units of fuel. So, don't waste your energy.
* Yes, your ship is really slow and clunky to start off with. You will upgrade it! Buy as many turning jets and thrusters for your main vessel as soon as you can.
* Talk with everyone, about (almost) everything - be smart.
* This isn't like one of those new games, where everything's recorded for you - you're going to have to keep notes.
* Stun planetary creatures to gain biodata. Biodata can be used to... wait, that'll spoil something. You'll find out.
* Save your game! Often. And use different saves. Often people don't get through this game the first time - you may end up starting from the beginning again. The reasons for this will become obvious as you play through. You don't need to supply a name for the savegame, just hit enter and it will use the date.
* Explore.
* A couple of ships have secondary weapons that combine with other buttons -
Both fire buttons together - Orz
Secondary fire + movement - Supox
