Star Controller

In every release of The Ur-Quan Masters, there is another executable file called uqm-debug, used for debugging the game and used for testing the game functionality itself.  I haven’t used it extensively but I do remember a time when someone told me about a debug key.

There is a key that can be mapped to have the player’s ship instantly upgraded, cargo filled and ships added.  The main purpose isn’t for cheating through the campaign.  It is for traversing through specific areas and testing code updates and modifications without limitations from the game itself.

I remember a few years ago when 0.5.0 was the latest version, I discovered a mod that allows players to view the spinning ship videos that were in the original 3DO version of Star Control II. The original UQM builds do not support these ship spin videos due to additional legal issues.  This modification allows a key to be designated as the info button which plays a video of the ship in the Super Melee and Shipyard screens.  The mod even allowed the Crystal Dynamics promo to be played at the menu.

It was around this time I discovered the debug key.  All I had to do was press a key and my ship would be instantly upgraded with a full crew complement and cargo.  The escape pod isn’t instantly added and is given to the player at the beginning of the game anyways.

The captain’s ship has numerous upgrades and includes cargo such as the Talking Pet and Utwig Bomb.  It has powerful blasters but no point defense laser.

I did have some fun cheating through the beginning of the game.  I left space and was attacked by various Slylandro.  I blasted each of them effortlessly.  I even took on the Thraddash and the Ur-Quan and Kohr-Ah surrounding the Sa-Matra.  Unfortunately, it was surrounded by infinite Ur-Quan.  Since I didn’t have the escape pod first time around, I was stuck at this point.  I still had to free the Chmmr, enhance the bomb and tell the Talking Pet to get rid of most of the Ur-Quan and Kohr-Ah surrounding the Sa-Matra.

Another perk from the debug key is that any star selected in the starmap on Auto-Pilot, the flagship instantly teleport to that location.

This is a good place to mention that the starmap is searchable; in the starmap, press the / key, and type the first few letters of the star name; it will try to find a match and tab can be pressed to scroll through different names with the same starting letters.  It’s an amazing convenience to remember the names and not the numbers.  Unfortunately, I discovered this fact after I finished the game; I used to write down coordinates and refer to the UQM Wiki frequently.

So, how can this debug key be enabled?  Here’s what I did, thanks to the advice from the UQM forums.  Keep in mind that this is geared towards the Windows version of UQM.

1. Go to http://uqm.stack.nl/files/snapshots/ and download the latest content update.  Do not extract the file!  Simply place the zip file in the content/packages directory where UQM is installed.
2. Download the latest Windows release binary.  Extract uqm.exe to the installation directory and overwrite the original uqm.exe.
3. Download the latest Windows debug binary.  Extract uqm-debug.exe to the installation directory and overwrite the original uqm-debug.exe.
4. Create a file called override.cfg in the config directory containing the line: debug.1 = STRING:key F4. On my Windows XP laptop, it was located in C:\Documents and Settings\anthony\Application Data\uqm.  It should be the same directory as keys.cfg
5. Launch uqm-debug.exe and either start a new game or load a saved game.  Press F4 and the ship will be instantly upgraded.

So, that’s some info about what can be done with uqm-debugging.  I wouldn’t recommend using it to play through the entire campaign; there’s a lot to experience and the game has a great design with great dialog to experience.  It’s better to consult a walkthrough to know more about what to do next in the game; it helped me progress through the game more smoothly and I still experienced the entire adventure without feeling too confused.

I’d like to thank everyone on the UQM forums and everyone else who helped me out with getting the debug key working.

I wonder what else UQM-Debug can do…

Links
UQM Forum: Debug Key in UQM
UQM Subversion Snapshots

Tags: Cool Stuff by Anthony Suarez
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While Crystal Dynamics had games planned for the 3DO console, they released a demo disc containing 8 options:

• Gex (trailer only)
• Off-World Interceptor
• Samurai Showdown
• Total Eclipse
• Star Control II
• The Horde
• Cyberclash (trailer only)
• Pataank

After the disc is inserted, the Crystal Dynamic trailer is played, showing a decent amount of SC2 footage along with the other games.  When the menu loaded, I heard Chauncey (Kirk Cameron) from The Horde say “I have no home, sire.  I was raised by a kind herd of wild cows”, followed by the techno music from the Cyberclash trailer.

In the demo, only Super Melee is playable.  Both sides are only set to one team called “Demo Team”.  The team consists of a Ur-Quan Dreadnought, Thraddash Torch, Chmmr Avatar and Yehat Terminator.  The teams cannot be changed, or renamed.  When selecting a ship, the C button can be pressed to play a video that briefly describes it.

The second game by Toys for Bob that is on this disc is The Horde.  It was made for DOS, Sega Saturn and the 3DO.  The DOS version does not have full motion video; it is replaced by still images from the video.  This is also one of the oldest games I have seen they are credited as “Toys for Bob”.  TFB’s name appears again in the intro video to the full version.
There is something that makes this demo stand out from the others:  The player can save and load, which is interesting since I can’t think of any console game demos that allow saving, especially for this generation of consoles.  I admit that I haven’t played through The Horde much to explain it deeply; I’ve only played this demo and watched some gameplay videos on YouTube.  Kirk Cameron plays the main character Chauncey.  He saved the king from choking to death.  In return, he gives him a farm in the Shimto Plains and his mighty sword, the Grimthwacker.

The game does have a resemblance to Harvest Moon in the sense that the player must make profit from the land.  However, the player has no direct control over plants and is not required to sow seeds.  In each phase, the player must use whatever money they have to arrange traps, fences and bait to protect the land and ensure that the villagers do not get eaten.  As the player progresses, the player can purchase new items and pay taxes.  Chauncey is not a skilled fighter; the sword he wields is incredibly large and he spins in a circle whenever he attacks; he becomes dizzy and vulnerable to attack if he spins too much.  Maybe I’ll look into The Horde some more if the opportunity pops up.

I also found a very interesting easter egg on this disc.  If no buttons are pressed at the menu, the Crystal Dynamics trailer will automatically play and go back to the menu.  If the player presses the start button (or the play button as it’s labeled), it will briefly show the credits for the demo disc and a group picture.

There are two names that catch my attention.  The first one is Alex Ness under “Testers”.  This is when he started at Crystal Dynamics.  He has also tested the Japanese version of Star Control II.  I wrote about it before and it’s definitely worth reading.  Alex is now Producer at TFB.  His hard work, sense of humor and his down-to-earth writing style has brought great joy to the company and to all of us whenever he writes anything for us to read.

The second name that caught my attention is Steve Henifin.  He is credited under “Sound”.  He is currently working at Silicon Knights as a music composer. Some of their games include Eternal Darkness, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and Too Human.   Silicon Knights is a Canadian video game developer.  They are also working on an unannounced project.

Unfortunately, I’m not able to quickly recognize anyone in the photo below.  If you see anyone you know, please let me know.

So that’s what Sample This is like.  I wanted to concentrate more on TFB’s content.  The credits were an unexpected surprise; I was just trying to skip the video when the credits popped up.  I saw Alex’s name and I just had to take a screenshot of it.  It’s definitely a great addition to anyone’s video game collection.  Has anyone played The Horde before or recognize anyone in the photo or credits above?

Links
The Horde intro
Star Kosotororu II

Tags: Cool Stuff, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Videos by Anthony Suarez
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