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Let's Play The Ur-Quan Masters
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Chapter 0: Prologue
Part 1: Introduction and a trip to Mercury
Welcome to Let's Play The Ur-Quan Masters!
Without further ado, let's jump into the intro sequence:
(Fun fact: you can't pause during the intro, so I had to go through it about half a dozen times to get all the text and screenshots!)
Earth and her partners in the Alliance of Free Stars...
Against the evil Ur-Quan and its Hierarchy of Battle Thralls.
...and the Ur-Quan were winning...
Meanwhile, on the edge of the known frontier, an amazing discovery was made...
far beneath the surface of an unexplored, alien world...
Filled with the technological wonders of an advanced alien race, the Precursors...
Who vanished a thousand centuries ago.
But then the main Ur-Quan fleet broke through the Alliance's defensive line...
Isolating the planet, stranding the scientists a hundred light years away from Earth.
They waited hopefully for a rescue vessel...
which never came.
We, the survivors of the research mission have colonized this world.
We continued our investigation of the underground city...
And we have discovered its purpose...
It is a factory.
But there aren't enough materials to make a complete vessel.
We can finish only the skeleton of one starship.
But that must be enough --
Because YOU must captain the vessel...
And return to Earth!
Find out what has happened over these many years...
Tell Earth of our plight!
And if the war with the Ur-Quan still rages...
Fight for Earth and the Alliance, as well as you can...
So begins The Ur-Quan Masters, with our intredpid hero Zelnick, of the starship Vindicator, having arrived in Earth's star system after twenty years of absence during a huge war. Our first priority, naturally, is making contact with Earth.
But first, let's take a moment to explain the Solar Navigation screen!
The main window is, naturally, filled with the solar system, with all its planets, and any ships that may be in the system. Our ship, the Vindicator, can be seen right at the bottom. Up top we have the systerm we're currently in, next to that system's galactic coordinates.
On the right, we have a display showing the status of our fleet. At the top is our fuel supply (10, which isn't enough to get anywhere notable outside of the solar system). Below that is the Vindicator itself, currently a pretty sorry excuse of a skeleton ship. In the space to either side of it is our personal fleet, which can consist of up to twelve ships. Currently, we only have one Earthling Cruiser. Below all this is our current Crew complement of 50, followed by a grey rectangle indicating the full-ness of our cargo (currently empty).
Below that is the current date. Since our last run ended at the end of August 2158, we have a little over three years to complete the game.
Now, before we go to Earth...
We're going to swing by planet Mercury for some out-of-order business. Specifically, a little Metagaming told me that we're going to need some radioactives soon, so I'm gonna pick them up here in advance.
This is the Planetary Orbit screen. Most of the information on the planet is unimportant, but a couple things are relevant to our interests:
GRAVITY: This determines how much fuel it will cost to deploy our lander to the planet. Mercury is tiny, so it will cost us a paltry 0.7 fuel units.
TEMP: High temperatures mean that we'll have to deal with planetary hot spots, which can damage our lander, costing us valuable crew. at 165 degrees, Mercury is definitely a threat in that regard.
WEATHER: This refers specifically to dangerous electrical storms. A high weather rating means that our lander may be struck by lightning, again draining us of human lives and possibly destroying our lander. A rating of 3 or higher means that we are in some danger, and 6 or higher means we're better off not even touching the planet until we are protected from lightning. Fortunately, Mercury has no inclement weather.
TECTONICS: Another danger of planet exploration, this indicates the frequence of hazardous earthquakes on the planet's surface. Going on the same scale as weather, Class 3 indicates that we're in at least some degree of danger here. However, we're just going to risk it.
On the map below, the colored dots indicate different kinds of resources we can harvest. The different colors indicate different values of resources. I won't get into all of that now, but the orange dot near the middle is a deposit of radioactives, which is what we're after.
Here we are on the surface of the planet itself. You can see the hazards of mercury's high temperature - those fires appear and disappear at random, and crawl randomly across the surface. Not somewhere you'd want to spend a great deal of time.
In the bottom-right corner, we have the lander status display. The green dots indicate twelve of my crew who have gone down in the lander - damage to the lander will kill crew, and when all twelve crew are killed, the lander is destroyed. That's how most things work in this game: Crew = HP. The red bar is my storage for minerals to bring back to the ship, and the blue bar is my storage for data on alien lifeforms - more on that in a future entry.
I snag the two deposites of radioactives and beat a hasty retreat, having netted 32 units of Uranium. That out of the way, it's time to go check out Earth!
Hmm, Earth doesn't seem to be quite how we left it! Furthermore, that mysterious red dot is rapidly approaching our vessel!
Upon contact, we are treated to our first, er, conversation:
Meet the Ur-Quan
The Ur-Quan are the big bad guys of the galaxy. Humans have been at war with them for years, as they spread through the galaxy, enslaving races and turning them into battle thralls to fight alongside them. They are bad news, and now we are encountering them at Earth!
UR-QUAN
This drone-vessel speaks with the voice and authority of the Ur-Quan.
You are trespassing within Ur-Quan space.
This world, Earth, may not be approached for any reason.
Nor will hostilities against our orbital platform be tolerated.
In addition, your ship does not respond to standard Hierarchy identification transmissions...
...and is therefore deemed to be... independent.
This is not permissible -- only subservience shall be tolerated.
This drone now leaves to inform the Ur-Quan of your transgressions.
You are commanded to remain here and await the arrival of the Ur-Quan.
Disobedience will be punished.
And with that, they're gone. Looks like the war isn't going as well as we had hoped!
NEXT TIME: Figuring out what happened to Earth, and some more nonsense in the Solar System.
<< | ^^ | >>
Chapter 0: Prologue
Part 1: Introduction and a trip to Mercury
Welcome to Let's Play The Ur-Quan Masters!
Without further ado, let's jump into the intro sequence:
(Fun fact: you can't pause during the intro, so I had to go through it about half a dozen times to get all the text and screenshots!)
Earth and her partners in the Alliance of Free Stars...
Against the evil Ur-Quan and its Hierarchy of Battle Thralls.
...and the Ur-Quan were winning...
Meanwhile, on the edge of the known frontier, an amazing discovery was made...
far beneath the surface of an unexplored, alien world...
Filled with the technological wonders of an advanced alien race, the Precursors...
Who vanished a thousand centuries ago.
But then the main Ur-Quan fleet broke through the Alliance's defensive line...
Isolating the planet, stranding the scientists a hundred light years away from Earth.
They waited hopefully for a rescue vessel...
which never came.
We, the survivors of the research mission have colonized this world.
We continued our investigation of the underground city...
And we have discovered its purpose...
It is a factory.
But there aren't enough materials to make a complete vessel.
We can finish only the skeleton of one starship.
But that must be enough --
Because YOU must captain the vessel...
And return to Earth!
Find out what has happened over these many years...
Tell Earth of our plight!
And if the war with the Ur-Quan still rages...
Fight for Earth and the Alliance, as well as you can...
So begins The Ur-Quan Masters, with our intredpid hero Zelnick, of the starship Vindicator, having arrived in Earth's star system after twenty years of absence during a huge war. Our first priority, naturally, is making contact with Earth.
But first, let's take a moment to explain the Solar Navigation screen!
The main window is, naturally, filled with the solar system, with all its planets, and any ships that may be in the system. Our ship, the Vindicator, can be seen right at the bottom. Up top we have the systerm we're currently in, next to that system's galactic coordinates.
On the right, we have a display showing the status of our fleet. At the top is our fuel supply (10, which isn't enough to get anywhere notable outside of the solar system). Below that is the Vindicator itself, currently a pretty sorry excuse of a skeleton ship. In the space to either side of it is our personal fleet, which can consist of up to twelve ships. Currently, we only have one Earthling Cruiser. Below all this is our current Crew complement of 50, followed by a grey rectangle indicating the full-ness of our cargo (currently empty).
Below that is the current date. Since our last run ended at the end of August 2158, we have a little over three years to complete the game.
Now, before we go to Earth...
We're going to swing by planet Mercury for some out-of-order business. Specifically, a little Metagaming told me that we're going to need some radioactives soon, so I'm gonna pick them up here in advance.
This is the Planetary Orbit screen. Most of the information on the planet is unimportant, but a couple things are relevant to our interests:
GRAVITY: This determines how much fuel it will cost to deploy our lander to the planet. Mercury is tiny, so it will cost us a paltry 0.7 fuel units.
TEMP: High temperatures mean that we'll have to deal with planetary hot spots, which can damage our lander, costing us valuable crew. at 165 degrees, Mercury is definitely a threat in that regard.
WEATHER: This refers specifically to dangerous electrical storms. A high weather rating means that our lander may be struck by lightning, again draining us of human lives and possibly destroying our lander. A rating of 3 or higher means that we are in some danger, and 6 or higher means we're better off not even touching the planet until we are protected from lightning. Fortunately, Mercury has no inclement weather.
TECTONICS: Another danger of planet exploration, this indicates the frequence of hazardous earthquakes on the planet's surface. Going on the same scale as weather, Class 3 indicates that we're in at least some degree of danger here. However, we're just going to risk it.
On the map below, the colored dots indicate different kinds of resources we can harvest. The different colors indicate different values of resources. I won't get into all of that now, but the orange dot near the middle is a deposit of radioactives, which is what we're after.
Here we are on the surface of the planet itself. You can see the hazards of mercury's high temperature - those fires appear and disappear at random, and crawl randomly across the surface. Not somewhere you'd want to spend a great deal of time.
In the bottom-right corner, we have the lander status display. The green dots indicate twelve of my crew who have gone down in the lander - damage to the lander will kill crew, and when all twelve crew are killed, the lander is destroyed. That's how most things work in this game: Crew = HP. The red bar is my storage for minerals to bring back to the ship, and the blue bar is my storage for data on alien lifeforms - more on that in a future entry.
I snag the two deposites of radioactives and beat a hasty retreat, having netted 32 units of Uranium. That out of the way, it's time to go check out Earth!
Hmm, Earth doesn't seem to be quite how we left it! Furthermore, that mysterious red dot is rapidly approaching our vessel!
Upon contact, we are treated to our first, er, conversation:
Meet the Ur-Quan
The Ur-Quan are the big bad guys of the galaxy. Humans have been at war with them for years, as they spread through the galaxy, enslaving races and turning them into battle thralls to fight alongside them. They are bad news, and now we are encountering them at Earth!
UR-QUAN
This drone-vessel speaks with the voice and authority of the Ur-Quan.
You are trespassing within Ur-Quan space.
This world, Earth, may not be approached for any reason.
Nor will hostilities against our orbital platform be tolerated.
In addition, your ship does not respond to standard Hierarchy identification transmissions...
...and is therefore deemed to be... independent.
This is not permissible -- only subservience shall be tolerated.
This drone now leaves to inform the Ur-Quan of your transgressions.
You are commanded to remain here and await the arrival of the Ur-Quan.
Disobedience will be punished.
And with that, they're gone. Looks like the war isn't going as well as we had hoped!
NEXT TIME: Figuring out what happened to Earth, and some more nonsense in the Solar System.
<< | ^^ | >>