Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula is a video game developed by Binary Systems and published by Electronic Arts as the sequel to the successful Starflight. It was originally released in 1989 for IBM PC compatibles. Amiga and Mac versions were released in 1991.

The game is a combination of space exploration, role-playing, and strategy in a futuristic setting. The player commands a spaceship capable of traveling to the game world's 150 solar systems, communicating with or attacking other spaceships, and landing on planetary surfaces which may be explored with a crewed rover for plot clues, minerals and alien lifeforms. Game mechanics and the overall look and feel closely resemble the earlier Starflight game, but many new features are introduced including an interstellar trade-based economy, new sentient alien races, and new spacecraft accessories and artifacts. The player is tasked with discovering the ultimate source of the advanced spacecraft technology and unlimited fuel supply which provide a military advantage to the Spemin, a hostile alien race threatening to annihilate or enslave humanity. A major part of the game consists of earning enough money to pay for spaceship upgrades and crew training by engaging in interstellar trade and barter with various alien cultures at their planetary trading posts.

Reviews were somewhat mixed. Computer Gaming World designated it the "role-playing game of the year" in 1990 and praised its playability and vast, immersive, scope. Some reviewers criticized the graphics and sound quality, the handling of saved games, or the repetitive nature of the player encounters.

Gameplay

thumb|left|Landing to collect minerals is a typical activity in the game but not all planets are equally hospitable.

The player begins the game in a space station called Starport Outpost 1 with a meager allotment of funds for outfitting a spaceship and training crew members in the skills needed to operate it. Crew members are chosen from one of five races, each of which possesses certain strengths and weaknesses, and are assigned to the positions of captain, science officer, navigator, engineer, communications officer, and doctor. Aside from the captain, specialized training is available for each position at a cost that increases in proportion to the amount of training received. Training raises the proficiency at which crew members perform their duties and reduces the number of errors they make.

Spacecraft engines, lasers, missiles, shields and armor are available for purchase at levels ranging from one through five, each successive level representing an increase in the power and the cost of the item. Also available for purchase are cargo pods that expand the spaceship's storage capacity, jump pods (single-use devices capable of almost instantaneously transporting the spaceship to any point within the region), and blasto pods (single-use torpedoes with considerable destructive power). Additional training and spaceship accessories may be purchased at any time throughout the game.

Development

T.C. Lee programmed fractal graphics routines which provide unique topography for each planet in the game.

Originally published for IBM PC compatibles, ports to the Amiga and Mac by MicroMagic were released in 1991.

Reception

Gameplay reviews were mixed. Computer Gaming Worlds editors commended the game's designers for creating "a universe with so many cultures, personalities, options and plot twists that it is easy for players to suspend their disbelief". A 1994 survey in the survey of strategic space games set in the year 2000 and later gave the game four stars out of five, stating that it was "still a good buy if you can find it used or in a bargain bin". Amiga Action wrote that "the blend of RPG style gameplay and space trading is unparalleled and should appeal to most". Dragon reviewers Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.

The game's graphics and sound also received a mixed reception. Chris Lombardi wrote in Computer Gaming World that "the game's graphics are very strong, and in many ways improved over the original game". Info praised the "exceptionally good" music and sound in the game's Amiga version. Amiga Action wrote that the "graphics and sound remain fairly prehistoric" and CU Amigas reviewer stated that the "run-of-the-mill visual effects and music" must be "accessed from the disk every time certain actions are performed"

Computer Gaming World awarded Starflight 2 their role-playing game of the year award in September 1990. The magazine's editors wrote that it "offers ample reward for exploration, utilizing curiosity, managing resources and carefully handling trade and negotiation. It expands the notion of role-playing beyond the traditional limits of computer games".

Starflight 3 went through an unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign in 2018 on Fig.

See also

  • Star Control II

References

de:Starflight#Starflight 2