Talk:Starflight

Untitled
Need to add sections about Starflight 2 and Starflight III
 * Reid 08:48, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Is the link to Greg Johnson correct?

Andete 09:12, 2004 Dec 23 (UTC)

Screenshot
What platform is the screenshot from? It's too nice to be from the DOS version. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 18:41, Mar 18, 2005 (UTC)

And out of all seriousness, it's too ugly for the Genesis version. Silly me, the caption says Atari ST and Amiga.
 * Looks exactly like the DOS version to me. --HunterZ 21:45, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

Circular Link
The link to Binary Systems redirects back to the Starflight page. Should it be removed? --HunterZ 03:15, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Commodore 64 Release Date
I got the MS-DOS EGA 16-color version for Christmas in either '86 or '87 (the first store-bought PC game I ever owned). I'd have to dig out the box (which I still have) and check to be sure, but I seem to remember mentions of the C64 version in the booklet describing how to run the game (a fold-out book with green text on white cardstock I think). In light of this, I'm surprised to see MobyGames' listing the C64 release date as 1989: http://www.mobygames.com/game/starflight/release-info - can anyone confirm this? --HunterZ 21:18, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Though I don't recall the exact date, the Commodore 64 version of Starflight, I can confirm that it was released in 1989. The C64 was actually in the works before the IBM PC version began; development lasted approximately one month before Binary Systems & Electronic Arts decided to shift 100% to the IBM platform. I don't see how there could possibly have been any mention of how to run the C64 version in 1986/1987. --Kercso 20:25, 10 August, 2010

Wow, right from the horse's mouth. My memory must have been bad! --HunterZ (talk) 01:07, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

"We"?
Who is this "we" that is constantly referred to in the article?
 * Good question. It looks to me like the Races section in the article may have been plagarized verbatim from somewhere else without credit. I've added a citation needed tag, but personally I wouldn't object if someone wants to rewrite or even remove that section. It really doesn't come across as very encyclopedic anyways. --HunterZ 15:27, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

The races section is verbatim from genesis version of the games manual pages 103-105.

External Link
I updated the fan-site link to the most complete and frequented Starflight resource I have been able to find. If anyone feels that there is a better one, feel free to update it. Crescentnebula 19:10, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Open-Endedness
"Starflight is widely regarded within the game industry as being one of the games responsible for pioneering the open-ended gameplay featured in modern games such as the Grand Theft Auto series."

I deleted this, because the same definition applies to all RPG-like games of the time: Ultima, Elite, Alternate Reality, etc. GTA is a much less linear style of game in comparison. It isn't clear the Starflight is "widely regarded" as a precursor to modern open-ended games in any case. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.134.226.55 (talk • contribs)


 * Good move. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 16:14, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

the screenshot
the screenshot IS from the dos version, but not from starflight.. somebody uploaded a picture from starflight 2 (see www.mobygames.com)
 * No, it is from Starflight. Look at the date in the picture. It shows 4620, the time Starfligt took place. Starflight II plays 19 years later at 4639. -- Bhaak 07:42, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

category for games
Category:Star Trek-style starship simulators may be about to be deleted. I understand some of the concerns raised, though. At some point in the future, perhaps we can think about some alternate category names, to group together all games like this one, which have some form of plotline, and unique game depth, and which create some sort of in-game type of "universe" with a whole set of interactions. this seems (to me, at least, IMHO) to mark a significant subgroup in this genre. feel free to weigh in at the cfd discussion, by the way. thanks. --Steve, Sm8900 (talk) 14:35, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

SFX and music
Did Starflight have sound effects? Did it have music? Maybe I just missed it, but I didn't see mention either way in the article.

ScooterJohn (talk) 18:20, 18 January 2008 (UTC)


 * The PC version of the game did not have any music other than that played in the opening screen. This theme is, however, the one most strongly identified with the game. No version of the game had music during gameplay. There were some PC speaker quality sound effects in all versions.

Some fixes
I've fixed a few things...

- The Captain isn't necessarily the Player Character; I've changed it to be just another of the positions to be filled.

- Reworked the species listing. Also, there are only five races available for crew selection: Human, Velox, Elowan, Thrynn, and Android. (For some reason the article said six.)

- Referenced Starport by name instead of just as "Interstel HQ".

- Fixed some small spelling errors and rewrote a few sentences here and there.

The "ATV" was called the "Terrain Vehicle" in the DOS version I'm familiar with (and it also could not be upgraded at Starport, only replaced if lost), but this might be different in the other versions so I've left it alone.

Jesternaut (talk) 05:11, 10 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I wrote that stuff about the ATV. I've only played the megadrive version, so its important to clear this up. This article focuses on the original release, so your suggestions are good ones. Johnnyfog (talk) 12:25, 10 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Your rewrites look great to me. And as far as I'm concerned, the Sega version has just as much of a place in the article as the original DOS version, so long as the unique aspects of each are made clear.  I'd offer to help parse it all out, but I have (literally) about five minutes of experience on the Sega version and even that was... holy cow, more than a decade ago.  (I'm getting old.)  The DOS version, on the other hand, I still enjoy re-playing from time to time to this day, despite its primitiveness -- hooray for DOSBox! Jesternaut (talk) 06:50, 11 September 2008 (UTC)


 * This article could really benefit from some sources. If you recall any magazines or websites mentioning this game, you might was to post a reference. Johnnyfog (talk) 13:24, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

References to Fan Projects Added in "Legacy" Section
I am one of the project team members on the Starflight III Project. This morning I added a few references to major fan-based projects I was aware of, as well as links leading to those projects. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Capi3101 (talk • contribs) 14:54, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Colonizable Planets?
First off, I brought that subject up because I was getting incorrect info and wanted to see if yours was better, which it has been. You are more precise, even though you don't need all the artifacts you may as well put them all up. Also I've noticed you have a colonizable planet in orbit 5 of system 149,133. I have tried this planet luckily that was my first uh oh so I was only fined 100 MU but it is uninhabitable due to violent storms the planet in orbit 4 is O.K.. I will update the planets conditions as I explore also I am talking about StarFlight on Sega Genises. Or it has some relation to it. Mystickknight (talk) 18:38, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Reference material
Several reviews of Starflight may be located at amr.abime.net. You might also check Archive.org's Computer Magazine Archive, which hosts numerous publications from around the time this game was released. JimmyBlackwing (talk) 15:48, 28 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the links! I'll take a look at those soon. —Torchiest talkedits 21:26, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

GA promotion comments
Thank you for improving such an interesting piece of gaming history and for being the guinea pig for my first GA review. For the road to FA, I believe the Development and Reception sections need expansion to be considered comprehensive. There are dozens of reviews for this game which must be considered. The legacy also needs expansion, and probably to be split into subsections for the sequel, other games it inspired, and fan games. Here are two reliable secondary sources that deal with the fan games:. And here is another fan game that appears to have never finished, but might be worth mentioning. Great work on this article, and I look forward to working with you again in the future. --Odie5533 (talk) 03:39, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Whew, thanks for the epic review, and thanks for the having the patience to help me work through all the issues. This game is a treasured memory for me, and I'd love to take it to FA in the future. Look forward to more collaborations.  Great review for your first time. —Torchiest talkedits 04:24, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Three DOS releases?
FYI, Mobygames shows evidence of two releases of Starflight 1 for DOS:
 * Album-style box with CGA and Hercules support only
 * Conventional box with EGA/Tandy support added

I own a physical copy of Starflight 1 with EGA/Tandy support, but it's in the album-style box with a green sticker added to show the EGA/Tandy support. I suspect the conventional box release may contain the exact same game version as mine, and that mine was probably an early release of the EGA version while they still had the original album-style boxes around (hence the added sticker).

I would be interested to know if anyone has information about the EGA/Tandy release versus the original release, including whether it fixed or added any bugs. I can say that the EGA version is missing some animations that are in the CGA versions, like the spinning moon on the title and the docking bay doors opening/closing. I don't remember how Tandy fared, except that I think Tandy doesn't even get a discrete menu option at startup (it's activated when choosing one of the other options while running on a Tandy - don't remember which). --HunterZ (talk) 01:29, 15 April 2019 (UTC)


 * I remember having an album-style box with Tandy support. I believe it lacked EGA support.  It may or may not have had a sticker.  An eBay search finds album-style boxes listed as "IBM & Tandy" but without the green sticker and without any mention of EGA.  Based on my memories and on available evidence, I agree EGA support was probably added later.  And interesting question is whether or not Tandy support was present in the initial release.  There is evidence to suggest that the Tandy support was present prior to the EGA.  Specifically, with Tandy graphics the title screen animations are present.  I suspect the Starport door animation is also present, but I have not verified that yet.  With Tandy graphics, you may select either "RGB" or "Color TV or Composite" graphics, depending on your monitor type.  Tandy graphics came from the IBM PC Jr, where they were called CGA Plus.  Mpb2 (talk) 16:51, 19 February 2022 (UTC)


 * Update: On eBay, I found an album-style box with a grey sticker that mentions "Tandy" and "Color graphics adapater" support. The sticker does not mention EGA.  Mpb2 (talk) 16:58, 19 February 2022 (UTC)

Legacy -- "STARFLIGHT: Tales From The Starport Lounge"
I added a bit about the new book set in the Starflight universe, including how Greg Johnson helped provided background info and one of the stories was written by Robert Silverberg.

Review
207.229.139.154 (talk) 19:34, 29 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Jeux & Stratégie nouvelle formule #5