Space Rangers 2 Reboot to be released by Stardock

[Stark]

And IN ENGLISH even! I hope they don't fix the poor translation, though; it's part of the charm. Huzzah!

So anyway, SR2 came out ages ago, and the English distributor didn't localise any patches past 1.3. The West has thus missed out on added content, bugfixes and sundry improvements. There has recently been an expansion pack released in Russian, containing more RTS map, more missions, more ships, etc, and it's actually coming out for English-speakers on Stardock's digital distribution thingo, Impulse!

This is the most awesome news ever. Now we can get the benefit of the extra stuff the Russians have been keeping to themselves!

For those that don't know, Spak Ragnars 2 is a RTP space game, involving a dynamic war, a dynamic economy, 50-odd NPCs doing the same thing you are (and bajillions of standard guys who can't take quests etc), and totally awesome adventure elements. The player takes on the role of an eponymous Space Ranger to help out in the war against the big evil robots, but they can do whatever they want, from questing to piracy to trade to bounty hunting to working with the military. The universe responds to everything a player does, and being random-seeded each time it's a new war with a new balance of power every game. It even has tweakable difficulties for each game element, so you can totally play the way you want. I suck balls at trading, so I can turn down the market sensitivity and make the NPC traders dumber! Bookish trader types can either turn down the robots or turn up the Coalition troops, or just improve the research time for the Coalition to develop new technologies.

It's the only game I've played where you can be a pure trader and invest money in the construction of military ships and bases to assist the war effort (they even name them after you), or take out massive loans from Business Centre Fatman to fund a career of piracy (until the truckers union gangs up on you) or become a 'Hero' by being damn nice to everyone and delivering Evil Robot Bits for research all while there's a crazy spacewar going on with attacks and counterattacks and all kinds of awesome stuff. And it's like $20!

[weemadando]

FUCK YES!

Now, finally an excuse to get this game that everyone has been raving about.

[Stark]

In case anyone was wondering, this game won't have Starforce. Stardock doesn't ship games with DRM, and only the original retail box from Cinemaware (the English licenceholders) used Starforce.

And come on, you can lead a squadron of battleships and Ranger NPCs into battle against a giant flying pyramid right after resolving a Mad Max pizza competition!

[Bounty]

Wonderful news. Well, "wonderful" if the improvements are worth it. I never bothered with the RTS bits, is there enough new stuff outside of them to get the new version?

[Stark]

Wonderful news. Well, "wonderful" if the improvements are worth it. I never bothered with the RTS bits, is there enough new stuff outside of them to get the new version?

Yeah, I turned them off too. Stardock haven't released an itemised list of what's in there, but jsut the stuff I read about the 1.7 patches in Russian is worth the $20. Tomorrow when it appears in their store there will be more info; in particular there is some new type of player ship and tech available.

[Andrew_Fireborn]

Might have to give it a shot.

I mean if Stark likes it, it has to be a shining example of gaming. Plus ya know, helping a developer who's actually doing things the right way.

[Losonti Tokash]

Holy shit, this game sounds awesome. I'll definitely get it, but what are the graphics like?

Edit: And don't accuse me of being too lazy to click the link; I'm at work and can't go surfing game websites. D:

[Hotfoot]

The graphics are servicable. I won't lie, it's a top-down (effectively) 2D game for most of it, except for the lousy RTS parts. However, the ships and combat look cool, so it's definitely worth a look-see.

Not only did Stark like it, I like it too. How much better can a game get?

(It's not super-awesome, but it's pretty keen, and for $20, you can't possibly go wrong wasting time with it)

[Bounty]

I'm glad the graphics aren't trying to be ZOMG shaders n bloomn DX14!!!; it means that everything apart from the ho-hum RTS sections runs smooth as butter on pretty much any computer. And it looks more than good enough, you'll never go "hang on, is that an enemy warship or an icon?".

And that's good, because the gameplay more than carries it. None of the mini games are perfect, but there's a lot of them and they're never less than amusing.

[Joviwan]

This game looks strikingly similar to Masters of Orion 2 in aesthetic and feel. Is it by the same people or something?

[Stark]

This game looks strikingly similar to Masters of Orion 2 in aesthetic and feel. Is it by the same people or something?

It's RUSSIAN. Guess.

And I don't know if you've played MoO2 recently, but it looks pretty much nothing like SR2 except 'has planets' and 'has spaceships'. It's not a strategy game, it's a top-down Elite/Freelancer thingo in a proper dynamic universe where everyone speaks 'space language' and that's why the translation is so bad.

[Ohma]

I'm assuming that Jovi meant Star Control 2? Maybe?

May have to check this out, my only problem with SR2 was that at some point during the early game (regardless of what class I was trying to play) the system I was traveling to would be conquered by Dominators and I'd be promptly atomized like, four seconds after I arrived in system.

[Stark]

Yeah, that's why the game is awesome. Keep an eye on the news, know where the evil robots are, and don't hang around when they show up. 'Dynamic' doesn't mean 'only dynamic in ways that help the player'. You can also get totally cut off behind enemy lines when the only allied system in range is taken; but it's awesome burning past the robots, refuelling at the star and killing your engine to make it to the next jump into allied space.

Amusingly, they often follow you. Hope you jumped to a well-defended system! Do you actually hang around a small group of systems? I end up travelling all over the Coaltion irrespective of what I'm doing; usually quests and a bit of piracy and theft. Flash and his econ +20 moves around a lot too - the worst situation is when the robots attack when you're in the middle of a battle already. At least the pirates all run away! The wormhole robot makes it hard to avoid them all, but staying away from border systems or contested systems isn't that hard. Flash would say that the best money in drugs, weapons and medical supplies are in those risky systems, but he's a lucky guy when it comes to never being spawned on.

[Ohma]

I guess I'm just unlucky. What happens to me is that I'll be in transit to another system (I'm very careful to avoid occupied systems early on unless there's a counter attack underway) and when I arrive it will have been conquered (once while I was playing SR1 this happened and the superevilbigbadbossspaceship was there along with its buddies ).

[Stark]

Yeah wormhole systems are dangerous too, sometimes the superpyramid guy comes out and schools everyone...

[Joviwan]

This game looks strikingly similar to Masters of Orion 2 in aesthetic and feel. Is it by the same people or something?

It's RUSSIAN. Guess.

And I don't know if you've played MoO2 recently, but it looks pretty much nothing like SR2 except 'has planets' and 'has spaceships'. It's not a strategy game, it's a top-down Elite/Freelancer thingo in a proper dynamic universe where everyone speaks 'space language' and that's why the translation is so bad.

"Aesthetic and feel", not "game mechanics and flavor." I was looking through some of the screenshots on the official site (I THINK it was official, at least), and the ship design and effects look like some of the stuff from Moo2, just turned 3D. Without actually playing it, I can't give more comparisons than that, but anyway. It was similar enough for me to ask.

Either way, I've gotten a strong hankering for "epic space war trading awesome ships things, in space" recently, so I might check this out.

[Steel]

Well it looks like the reboot expansion (either on its own or as part of the complete pack) is only available in North America. Anyone know when that will end or how to get around it?

[Stark]

There are always ways.