Stellar Frontier

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (October 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Stellar Frontier

Developer(s) Drengin.net
Publisher(s) Stardock
Designer(s) Doug Hendrix, Neil Hillis, Brad Wardell
Engine 2D
Version 1.2 RC 5, 6, 7
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, OS/2 (Unsupported)
Release date 1997 (North America/Worldwide)
Genre(s) Space simulation
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s) N/A
Media Download
System requirements Internet connection
Input methods Keyboard, mouse

Stellar Frontier is a multiplayer space strategy/shooter game made by Doug Hendrix in 1997 and later licensed by Stardock. The game is a limited free-to-play game, but players can purchase activation codes to unlock the Stellar Ace bonuses that gives better ships to the player. It was one of the first games on the TotalGaming.net subscription package. There have been no official updates since 2003. Efforts were made to open source the game but these have not been successful as of July 2006.[citation needed] The main nexus (see below), run by Stardock, has been shutdown as of August 4, 2006.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

Stellar Frontier is a 2D top-down space shooter game where you are in command of your own starship. The player chooses a race to fight with (the four standard races are: Arcean, Drengin, Terran, and Pirate) and the objective is to "conquer the system" by taking control of the key planets. However, many players enjoy playing the game just to fight other players, these players usually do not bother to "conquer the system". Stellar Frontier can be played offline (against the computer), on a local intranet, or on the Internet.

The "warp drive" in this game is called Q-drive. Q-drive stands for Quantum Drive. Speed is calculated by c (EX: 0.65c, Q-drive speed ranges around 1.00 to 3.00, 3 being the max in the stock game).

Lag can be a big factor on "Player VS Player" fights. Lag is factored on ms (EX: 062ms, usual server lag level). Extensive Lag coverage is on GAIN.

There can be as many as 100 AI on the server. When the game was released, many said that the AI was the most advanced of the genre (Sci-Fi RTS).

The current revision is 1.2RC (5,6 or 7). Any 1.2RC# will work to be able to play online. Older versions will tend to process errors since those versions are heavily outdated.

[edit] Internet play

Players play in servers that are hosted on the "Nexus". The main online nexus is served by Stardock. The nexus's address is sf.stardock.net. Anybody can join in the online game at any time.

If the nexus happens to be off-line, there are 2 choices: Stardock's Backup nexus (sf-x.stardock.net), or the 3rd party SFDC (Stellar Frontier Development Center) nexus (nexus.game-server.cc). Players can switch nexus if there are no servers on that particular nexus they are on. Another way to play is keep one's stats on one nexus, and then change the nexus address, then select server, then change nexus address again without pressing Refresh, then press OK.

On August 4, 2006, Stardock Systems turned off the NEXUS at sf.stardock.net permanently.

On July 31, 2007, The game became Freeware, the codes are now provided free for the locked parts of the game. Instructions for getting a code is provided on the main site.[1]

[edit] Main races

As of Stellar Frontier version 1.2, the standard races of the game are as follows:

  • Arcean
  • Drengin
  • Terran
  • Pirate

Old races from before the Stardock purchase include Demoians, Venusians, and Martians.[citation needed]

[edit] NPC races

  • Torian

[edit] Free playable ships

The Ships for Non-SA users
The Ships for Non-SA users

The following ships are available in the game. The player must meet a rank requirement to use each ship, with a higher requirement for more powerful ships.

  • Freighter
  • Scout
  • Destroyer
  • Cruiser
  • Battleship
  • Dreadnought

[edit] "Stellar Aces" ships

The Ships for SA users
The Ships for SA users
  • BattleCruiser
  • Marauder
  • Starbase

[edit] Ranks

All ranks are universal for all the races; there are no race-specific ranks for each race. The online ranking is listed from lowest to highest as follows:[2]

  • Cadet
  • Ensign
  • 2nd Lieutenant
  • 1st Lieutenant
  • Senior Lieutenant
  • Lieutenant Commander
  • Commander
  • Captain
  • Senior Captain
  • Fleet Captain
  • Commodore
  • Rear Admiral
  • Vice Admiral
  • Admiral
  • Fleet Admiral
  • Emperor
  • Deity

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stellar Aces on Stellar Frontier : Drengin Network
  2. ^ The list of Stellar Frontier ranks is available for viewing at any time during the online setup menu.

[edit] External links

Official
Other