Starsiege - Best Mech Combat Sim ever.
by James Hamar · in General Discussion · 02/25/2002 (2:13 pm) · 27 replies
Well, i have owned SS since I bought my first personal computer back in 1997. I remember walking through the electronics section of a Wal*Mart in my area and seeing the SS box. I said to myself "I really wanna try out my new computer with some cool games, but is this one worth it?" I never heard of it, because I was so illiterate. I was very scared of throwing down around 45$ for a game i never heard of. But anyways, I decided to take a chance, and I bought it, brought it home and installed it.
Three years later, after uninstalling it, reinstalling it, playing it, neglecting it, and all of that, I finished the human campaign, and the cybrid campaign. All i have to say, is that I never have felt so engrossed in a computer game in my life. The voice of Mark Hamill as Harabec, to the frantic defense of Caanon in the final missions - I have never felt such a part of the game.
I remember also, when I first tried the multiplayer on my 56k modem. I never knew what playing online was like. But before I knew it, I was getting my butt handed to me by the veterans of online play. I slowly evolved over a few weeks time, and decided to join a squad one night. I entered a 187th recruiting server, and applied. I beat them. I have no idea how i did it, but I beat them. I became a low ranking member of a grand community of gamers, and a low ranking soldier of one of the best SS squads at the time.
I remember the chaotic battles, creating formations, changing firing chains mid-fight, and realigning my shields to deflect electro magnetic cannon fire from the reactor on my Herc (Mech.) I finally decided that 187th, who was beginning to fade at the time, was not the best choice for me. ( I was one of the highest ranking players in the squad )
I then joined RAGE, an elite squad who specialized in CTF battles, and friendly tourneys against brother squads. They enforced honorable play, outlawing some of the cheaper weapons, to encourage more skill based play. I had a lot of fun playing along side them, and learned a lot in the principles of leading a squad. But again, one of my closest friends in the squad was being kicked out for some false reason, and I decided to join him.
So anyways, we created the Lunatic Pilots, Razorback and Aragorn. This was my first experience of leading a squad, and it was hard work. We lasted for over a year, and at a time, probably the most respected and feared squad in the Starsiege universe. We dominated many smaller squads, and had challanges, wars, matches, treaties, and everything you would expect in real life. I felt like the prez of the US when I was playing the game, because every decision i made as a leader in-game, would impact other people, and other squads, and the community. (to a point)
The entire point of this post, is to express my experiences with a GOOD game, and to thank Rick Overman, and Tim Gift, and ALL of Dynamix for making the best damn game i have ever owned in my entire life. Period. If anyone wants to know what a good game is, I suggest looking for it. It contains probably one of the most provocative plots, and it battles Star Wars (yes THE Star Wars) for its sheer depth and interaction. It also was home to over 3 years of my online life, and has been a gate to many great friendships i have shared online.
In conclusion - after giving the history of my involvement with starsiege - i would just like to rethank Dynamix for putting out such a great game, and a great series, and to thank Rick and Tims and Phil for setting up GG ---> You guys make our crazy ideas come to life, and into something that is worth working at to achieve.
James Hamar
Three years later, after uninstalling it, reinstalling it, playing it, neglecting it, and all of that, I finished the human campaign, and the cybrid campaign. All i have to say, is that I never have felt so engrossed in a computer game in my life. The voice of Mark Hamill as Harabec, to the frantic defense of Caanon in the final missions - I have never felt such a part of the game.
I remember also, when I first tried the multiplayer on my 56k modem. I never knew what playing online was like. But before I knew it, I was getting my butt handed to me by the veterans of online play. I slowly evolved over a few weeks time, and decided to join a squad one night. I entered a 187th recruiting server, and applied. I beat them. I have no idea how i did it, but I beat them. I became a low ranking member of a grand community of gamers, and a low ranking soldier of one of the best SS squads at the time.
I remember the chaotic battles, creating formations, changing firing chains mid-fight, and realigning my shields to deflect electro magnetic cannon fire from the reactor on my Herc (Mech.) I finally decided that 187th, who was beginning to fade at the time, was not the best choice for me. ( I was one of the highest ranking players in the squad )
I then joined RAGE, an elite squad who specialized in CTF battles, and friendly tourneys against brother squads. They enforced honorable play, outlawing some of the cheaper weapons, to encourage more skill based play. I had a lot of fun playing along side them, and learned a lot in the principles of leading a squad. But again, one of my closest friends in the squad was being kicked out for some false reason, and I decided to join him.
So anyways, we created the Lunatic Pilots, Razorback and Aragorn. This was my first experience of leading a squad, and it was hard work. We lasted for over a year, and at a time, probably the most respected and feared squad in the Starsiege universe. We dominated many smaller squads, and had challanges, wars, matches, treaties, and everything you would expect in real life. I felt like the prez of the US when I was playing the game, because every decision i made as a leader in-game, would impact other people, and other squads, and the community. (to a point)
The entire point of this post, is to express my experiences with a GOOD game, and to thank Rick Overman, and Tim Gift, and ALL of Dynamix for making the best damn game i have ever owned in my entire life. Period. If anyone wants to know what a good game is, I suggest looking for it. It contains probably one of the most provocative plots, and it battles Star Wars (yes THE Star Wars) for its sheer depth and interaction. It also was home to over 3 years of my online life, and has been a gate to many great friendships i have shared online.
In conclusion - after giving the history of my involvement with starsiege - i would just like to rethank Dynamix for putting out such a great game, and a great series, and to thank Rick and Tims and Phil for setting up GG ---> You guys make our crazy ideas come to life, and into something that is worth working at to achieve.
James Hamar
About the author
#3
The story and gameplay are a lot better than the Mechwarrior series. Does anyone know if there is going to be another Starsiege game developed? The last one left a lot of questions unanswered.
02/25/2002 (6:21 pm)
Earthsiege was the first game I bought for the PC:). I liked Starsiege the best out of all of the games in the Starsiege Universe. Mission Force:Cyberstorm is probably a close second. The story and gameplay are a lot better than the Mechwarrior series. Does anyone know if there is going to be another Starsiege game developed? The last one left a lot of questions unanswered.
#4
I heard it had some pretty cool stuff like voice commands and stuff. I've never really liked Mech games since they are too "linear". You're in a massive suit with little freedom to move around, and too much auto-guided weaponry really makes things almost too "guided".
I like open-ended games!
02/25/2002 (6:25 pm)
I think from Jeff's comments it's a series that's canned until some sort of interest in the game-type increases.I heard it had some pretty cool stuff like voice commands and stuff. I've never really liked Mech games since they are too "linear". You're in a massive suit with little freedom to move around, and too much auto-guided weaponry really makes things almost too "guided".
I like open-ended games!
#5
Missles and guided mines were for newer players, (or people that were really cheap, or dumb) but they were easily countered with a signal jammer of either electronic or thermal missle types.
Other non guided weapons often did more damage to shields, (which missles lacked power against.), or just plain out did more damage to everything.
The game allowed you to pick either route, but weapons that required aim rewarded you better for your practice.
And the Hercs moved at a decent rate, even though the slower tempo of gameplay made it seem as though they were fast.
You were too busy strategizing on the way to the enemy, to worry about how fast you were going, or whatever to notice.
02/25/2002 (6:44 pm)
SS had weapons for newbs and veteran players.Missles and guided mines were for newer players, (or people that were really cheap, or dumb) but they were easily countered with a signal jammer of either electronic or thermal missle types.
Other non guided weapons often did more damage to shields, (which missles lacked power against.), or just plain out did more damage to everything.
The game allowed you to pick either route, but weapons that required aim rewarded you better for your practice.
And the Hercs moved at a decent rate, even though the slower tempo of gameplay made it seem as though they were fast.
You were too busy strategizing on the way to the enemy, to worry about how fast you were going, or whatever to notice.
#6
Think about it. Create a simple Tech Demo with great on-line gameplay. Make sure it is a blast to play. Then start layering on the story line with every new release and update. Soon, you would have an amazing, thriving community that would galdly pay to keep the project alive.
A bunch of the best developers on this site should take this project on.
Jeff Tunnell GG
02/25/2002 (7:13 pm)
Don't get me wrong. Now that we are not part of a huge corporation, I think the big fightin robot genre is a great place to be. The market for that type of game is not big enought ot support spending $3.5MM, but it certainly would make a GREAT living for a dedicated group of people that are good enough to make a game that people would be able to subscribe to.Think about it. Create a simple Tech Demo with great on-line gameplay. Make sure it is a blast to play. Then start layering on the story line with every new release and update. Soon, you would have an amazing, thriving community that would galdly pay to keep the project alive.
A bunch of the best developers on this site should take this project on.
Jeff Tunnell GG
#7
02/25/2002 (8:57 pm)
I have to agree, StarSiege was a prime example of great design and execution. I was never a fan of mech games, but the storyline kept me hooked. Loved every minute of it. I bought it after I had played Tribes for over a year and Blake Hutchins talked me into it. :)
#8
(TM,R,All rights reserved,Use-this-name-and-pay) game?
Such a game would rock. I'd love to see one that focuses
on a single player game with RPG elements (like Battletech
Cresent Hawk's Inception from way back).
02/25/2002 (10:07 pm)
Isn't there a company here doing some kind of Mech (TM,R,All rights reserved,Use-this-name-and-pay) game?
Such a game would rock. I'd love to see one that focuses
on a single player game with RPG elements (like Battletech
Cresent Hawk's Inception from way back).
#9
02/26/2002 (12:21 pm)
Jeff has a great idea. But one question, seeing how everything is copyrighted by Dynamix, and dynamix is gone -- does Sierra get all the rights to the Hercs/Tanks/storyline?
#10
Jeff Tunnell GG
02/26/2002 (1:35 pm)
New story. Sierra owns all of the old stuff. Its actually a lot of fun to create a new world.Jeff Tunnell GG
#11
Fasa owned them, but they went out of business.
You know what I want to see?
A Shadowrun RPG game for the computer. Shadowrun had probably the coolest setting of any RPG I have ever played.
02/26/2002 (1:43 pm)
I'm pretty sure Microsoft owns all the rights to Mech/Mechwarrior games.Fasa owned them, but they went out of business.
You know what I want to see?
A Shadowrun RPG game for the computer. Shadowrun had probably the coolest setting of any RPG I have ever played.
#12
02/26/2002 (2:21 pm)
Someone might say that this project has been taken on :)
#13
02/26/2002 (3:05 pm)
Vortex Games was going to try and revive the StarSiege/mecha theme with Titan Storm. Vortex is mostly comprised of NTDF people (an old StarSiege clan). But unfortunately, I just found out the other day the project is in the toilet. :( Hopefully someone can pull it off and make it to the finish line. 
#14
However for some reason I remember Starsiege somewhat poorly. I believe this was for two reasons, the European (uk) distribution for the product was dire, I think we got tribes a year late (but at least it was bundled with starsiege). And didn't it have some serious speed / accelerator issues to begin with?
My point being, I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable on this genre of games, and I never really played SS due to these flaws, showing the 'delivery' of the game can have as much affect as the quality of the game itself.
But you have peaked my interest enough to go install it. There hasn't been a decent mecha game in ages (i've even resorted to console versions argh!, Armoured core ain't to bad though), so it'll be nice to play a decent one I'd missed ;)
As another point, the backend mechanics of these games seemed to be based off of the paperback versions, which of course earthesiege (to my knowledge) never had. The heavy gear system is really impressive from the tabletop perspective (HG1 was just the HG system bludgeoned into the mechwarrior mechanics, HG2 was pretty true to it), a fine example of building game mechanics IMHO.
02/26/2002 (3:21 pm)
I've always been a great fan of the 'Mech(a)' games. All the battletech / mechwarriors (which by my count is ~13 games now), it was a shame the license moved between II and III. I was a great fan of heavy gear (the first was disappointing, but II was extremely underrated). I still have all the Earthsiege / Cyberstorm boxes on my shelf :)However for some reason I remember Starsiege somewhat poorly. I believe this was for two reasons, the European (uk) distribution for the product was dire, I think we got tribes a year late (but at least it was bundled with starsiege). And didn't it have some serious speed / accelerator issues to begin with?
My point being, I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable on this genre of games, and I never really played SS due to these flaws, showing the 'delivery' of the game can have as much affect as the quality of the game itself.
But you have peaked my interest enough to go install it. There hasn't been a decent mecha game in ages (i've even resorted to console versions argh!, Armoured core ain't to bad though), so it'll be nice to play a decent one I'd missed ;)
As another point, the backend mechanics of these games seemed to be based off of the paperback versions, which of course earthesiege (to my knowledge) never had. The heavy gear system is really impressive from the tabletop perspective (HG1 was just the HG system bludgeoned into the mechwarrior mechanics, HG2 was pretty true to it), a fine example of building game mechanics IMHO.
#15
Great game, but it was as bad as counter-strike is now.. the cheaters killed the MP.
02/27/2002 (11:47 am)
Starsiege, had some serious multiplay problems, especially in the form of cheating.Great game, but it was as bad as counter-strike is now.. the cheaters killed the MP.
#16
02/27/2002 (4:52 pm)
How did they cheat with Starseige ? Seems like you would need the source code, did they release that?
#17
02/27/2002 (7:45 pm)
I've played Tribes the past 2 years and I STILL play to this day :) By far the best online game ever created!
#18
I really liked Starsiege because of the way it was set up.
It was designed so that you had to think when fighting as opposed to just blasting away like in the Mechwarrior series. The concept of shields really changes the formula of giant robot games.
Now instead of generic "armor" you have to worry about 2 very different defensive systems and it forces you to either balance your firepower between 2 different weapon types or learn to work with a team like the Giant/Demon team-up in Cyberstorm.
Shields also explained why someone would build a machine 4 stories tall in an era with hand held anti-tank rockets. The Battletech/Mechwarrior concept doesn't really make sense when you think about it. Since the mech is the biggest object on the battleground EVERYONE will be shooting at it. Shields explain why the vehicles in Starsiege are capable of surviving on a futuristic battlefield.
02/27/2002 (8:47 pm)
Would anyone else be interested in working on a Starsiege style game? I really liked Starsiege because of the way it was set up.
It was designed so that you had to think when fighting as opposed to just blasting away like in the Mechwarrior series. The concept of shields really changes the formula of giant robot games.
Now instead of generic "armor" you have to worry about 2 very different defensive systems and it forces you to either balance your firepower between 2 different weapon types or learn to work with a team like the Giant/Demon team-up in Cyberstorm.
Shields also explained why someone would build a machine 4 stories tall in an era with hand held anti-tank rockets. The Battletech/Mechwarrior concept doesn't really make sense when you think about it. Since the mech is the biggest object on the battleground EVERYONE will be shooting at it. Shields explain why the vehicles in Starsiege are capable of surviving on a futuristic battlefield.
Torque Owner Jeff Tunnell
Jeff Tunnell GG