Stars!

Hi!
I still do. The active community you can find on starsautohost.org http://www.starsautohost.org/stars.htm

When you'll be tired of GalCiv, you can visit us there for a real non-cheating challenge - just the game interface, your wits, and other persons to beat or cooperate with them.
BR, Iztok

Heh, problem with that game is that their can be borderline cheating when a player uses in-game limits with "chaff" (MANY MANY single laser scouts)

Or players trade techs by constantly conquering and reconquering planets

Or use the exploit to fill up empty transports / colony ships with colonists created from thin air

I still have the game actually. I also have some modified game files to change up some and indirectly create new components, hulls, and starbases. Heh, even took the time to create an entire Star Wars themed version with several weapons and techs and such rebalanced the way I thought seemed more fair. Heh, I also tried giving the Settler's Delight Engine a 1000% fuel consumption at any speed warp 3 or above. Slowed down those #$^#$%#& from expanding!

Nothing like sending 200000kt of resources at warp 13 towards an enemy planet thus completely obliterating the colony and making it ripe for recolonization since resources will already be there!

Supposedly, the creators of it were working on a second one, Stars!: Supernova Galaxy, but all I've seen of it is just a trailer for it, not sure if it was actually finished or not.

Hi!

problem with that game is that their can be borderline cheating when a player uses in-game limits with "chaff"

There are quite some known limitations in the game, because Stars! is a 16-bit program. And because they are known, most game hosts bann or severely limit their usage. Also using Autohost to host games limits their usage even more.

Or use the exploit to fill up empty transports / colony ships with colonists created from thin air

In version 2.7i that was solved. There were two additional patches after that one, that solved many more "exploits". We have a complete section in AH forum dedicated to remaining ones. But nobody uses them in games. Because the one that uses them can not look at his picture in a mirror and says "I won a game by cheating." One needs to be our community to belive how strong that "bond of honor" can be.

I also tried giving the Settler's Delight Engine a 1000% fuel consumption at any speed warp 3 or above. Slowed down those #$^#$%#& from expanding!

So you're a stars!'s beginner. Anybody higher would say "Hey, free planets and tech!"

Supposedly, the creators of it were working on a second one, Stars!: Supernova Galaxy

Unfortunatelly that's dead project, for 3+ years already. The game got only to early beta stage, but got cut because of lack of funding. Pitty, it was really promising.

I still have the game actually, if anyone wants the latest game version, I can send it to you with a working serial number

One can download the game from many sites - it's only one 1.5MB zip file. The serial numbers for new players are what we lack off. Currently the game is in "will be in retail again" status, so the serial number generator Ron (webmaster of Autohost) got from developers can not be used legaly. And no, he'll not issue them until that "will be in retail" is solved. That far goes our "bond of honor".

BR, Iztok

Unfortunatelly that's dead project, for 3+ years already. The game got only to early beta stage, but got cut because of lack of funding. Pitty, it was really promising

It would be nice if the company would release the source code the way Activision did with Call To Power II, so the community could continue improving the game. Unfortunately, few companies understand the benefits of altruism, they just see dollars going down the drain. Pity.

So you're a stars!'s beginner. Anybody higher would say "Hey, free planets and tech!"

Heh, no, I am far from a beginner, I bought the game back when it was still v1.x and ran it on Windows 3.1

I just played it so much that I actually did get tired of playing it. I started modding it though recently to change things up a little. I wanted to play a juggernaut one game just for sh**s and grins, so I started modding it to dramatically favor me since I tended to favor being the "Jack of all Trades", thus having no need for advanced radar. I modified some of the Mystery Trader components so that only a JoaT could use them and made the Enigma Pulsar 0kt with 1% fuel consumption at warp 10. Like I said though, that was just to make it extremely in my favor just for the fun of it.

If you want to see some of my actual balanced games that change some, if not all, components and hulls are easily useable just by using my modified Stars!.exe file. For example, my Star Wars themed one is name Stars!SW.exe

The hardest part with modding them is getting the A.I. to use the correct components in slots so that you both have the same capacities. The other downside of modding the game is that when you start with ships that I raised the amount of engines in it, it won't be able to get anywhere since it's under-powered. Fortunately, I was able to fix most of those.

Anywho, send me an e-mail address via this forum or via my e-mail: Email and I'll gladly send modded games that are either more balanced original everything, or rebalanced with many many changes... Yes, I was very very bored one night and sat down and renamed EVERYTHING in my Star Wars mod

Oh yeah, one of my lightly modded games replaced a hull with one called a "Mobile Space Station", or something like that, just imagen a HUGE ship capable of holding as many weapons as an Ultra Station and being able to do EVERYTHING any ship can do (mine, lay mines, transport, built-in penetrating scanner), and you basically have it. Downside is that it's so powerful, if you don't make one first, you're screwed once another race starts sending it. I say 'it' instead of 'them' because I made sure to make it cost so much so as to make it a real project.

Hi!

I just played it so much that I actually did get tired of playing it.

I know what you mean. As I'm fully dedicated to the game I'm currently in, I usually take a break several weeks long, after one Stars! game with live players is finished.

In 1.x version the HE was really the monster. Now it's more of canon-fooder. Well, not in small universes. Ther it still rocks. Am just playing one, with two vets and one intermediate in small sparse slow-tech game. Knife fight almost from the time of contact. Decoys, misleadings and risky moves being the standard, expect the unexpected being the main motto.

If you're intersted in tasting the adrenaline rush every time when you get the new turn, yelling profound words , or congratulating yourself of succesfully executed trap , join us again. Well, I had to warn you though: nowadays the beginner has to be able to get 25k resources at 2450.

BR, Iztok

Hi!

It would be nice if the company would release the source code

It's quite complicated. The developers have the rights on the code, but publisher had the rights on the graphics and patially on the code. Since they didn't part as friends...

IIRC the developers never officially abandoned the project. They just need a publisher with $?00k founds and it would be out for sale. Yeah, that simple

BR, Iztok

It's quite complicated. The developers have the rights on the code, but publisher had the rights on the graphics and patially on the code. Since they didn't part as friends...

Heh, what graphics? They weren't exactly mind-blowing.

If you're intersted in tasting the adrenaline rush every time when you get the new turn, yelling profound words , or congratulating yourself of succesfully executed trap , join us again. Well, I had to warn you though: nowadays the beginner has to be able to get 25k resources at 2450.

Yeah, I've tried to play once with other players, but the problem is that it takes so long to play a game like that with others since it a "Turn" isn't like taking turns as with GalCiv2, but are simultaneous turns, as in everything happens for everyone all at once.

My weakness is minerals usually, and definately NOT resources, since I've been experimenting with making races that are almost relying solely on remote mining. It gives me the ability to enhance every other aspect of the race, but has an initial slow start until more miners get up and running. The nice thing is that since Homeworlds never go below a 10kt concentration, I can stick a few hundered or more miners and not have anymore problems with getting resources.

One of my races, that relied heavily on remote mining, was a JoaT (20% max. pop. boost), made 15 resources per 10 factories, and could have 25 factories per 10k colonists, was able to produce almost 6000 resources when fully populated with max. factories built.

Stars was a great game. I always thought it was fun playing as one of those races that live on starbases.

Too bad supernova never came to be, but that was vaporware from that start even though I posted that on their forums i was flamed for what eventually became true.

Hi!

Heh, what graphics? They weren't exactly mind-blowing.

What I heard was the code could be made public, but without accompanying graphics would be next to useless. OFC I could be wrong. I've not been even remotely close to the development team at that time.

One of my races, that relied heavily on remote mining, was a JoaT (20% max. pop. boost), made 15 resources per 10 factories, and could have 25 factories per 10k colonists

That kind of race would be successfull in large games with slower development, that would be expected to last 100+ turns. Nowadays games are quite short: an usual one scenario is one player/party grows quite big, kills some neighbours, grows even bigger and soon others agree game's over, well before turn 100.

"Turn" isn't like taking turns as with GalCiv2, but are simultaneous turns

That could be something one needs to adjust and start anticipating moves from other players, not just react to what one sees currently. However that anticipation could be pretty hard on a human processing power. It's more a game of guessing.

BR, Iztok

That kind of race would be successfull in large games with slower development, that would be expected to last 100+ turns. Nowadays games are quite short: an usual one scenario is one player/party grows quite big, kills some neighbours, grows even bigger and soon others agree game's over, well before turn 100.

Well, I beg to differ, a 100 turn game seems awfully quick for Stars! since I usually spend the first 10 - 20 turns finding and colonizing planets, then several more turns getting my planets up to par.

Stars was a great game. I always thought it was fun playing as one of those races that live on starbases.

I would agree that some aspects of the Alternate Reality races are good, such as being able to remote mine colonized planets. The problem is that they relied heavily on population and later in the game, it becomes way to easy to just blow up the starbase and take as many enemies out with you as you can, or try and run.

That kind of race would be successfull in large games with slower development, that would be expected to last 100+ turns. Nowadays games are quite short: an usual one scenario is one player/party grows quite big, kills some neighbours, grows even bigger and soon others agree game's over, well before turn 100.

Well, I beg to differ, a 100 turn game seems awfully quick for Stars! since I usually spend the first 10 - 20 turns finding and colonizing planets, then several more turns getting my planets up to par.

Stars was a great game. I always thought it was fun playing as one of those races that live on starbases.

I would agree that some aspects of the Alternate Reality races are good, such as being able to remote mine colonized planets. The problem is that they relied heavily on population and later in the game, it becomes way to easy to just blow up the starbase and take as many enemies out with you as you can, or try and run.

Hi!

Well, I beg to differ, a 100 turn game seems awfully quick for Stars!

That's why I warned you about begginers "standard" 25k @ 2450. In older Stars! days a race that was able to get 25k resources in 50 turns was considered a "monster". Now that achievement is recomended to be competitive in beginners games. Nowadays good players in games with ~40 planets per player field Armageddon BBs around turn 60, and Anti-Matter Pulverizer Nubians around 70. When that happens, whoever who's not able to build Nubians in next 5 or so turns will have his a.. kicked badly. But I'm describing a "plain vanila race to nubians" game not everybody likes to play. Slow tech, "crippled" races, weird rules is what I like, and am not alone in that. On AutoHost there's quite a lot of new game announcements each week, and if one can't find the game that would suit him, he can create his own.


BR, Iztok