| Stellar Frontier | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Drengin.net |
| Publisher(s) | Stardock |
| Designer(s) | Doug Hendrix, Neil Hillis, Brad Wardell |
| Engine | 2D |
| Version | 1.2 RC 5, 6, 7 |
| Released | 1997 (North America/Worldwide) |
| Genre | Space simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Ratings | N/A |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS/2 (Unsupported) |
| Media | Download |
| System requirements | Internet connection |
| Input methods | Keyboard, mouse |
Stellar Frontier is a multiplayer space strategy/shooter game made by Doug Hendrix in 1997 and later licensed by Stardock. The game is a limited free-to-play game, but players can purchase activation codes to unlock the Stellar Ace bonuses that gives better ships to the player. It was one of the first games on the TotalGaming.net subscription package. There have been no official updates since 2003. Efforts were made to open source the game but these have not been successful as of July 2006. The main nexus (see below), run by Stardock, has been shutdown as of August 4, 2006.
Contents |
Gameplay
Stellar Frontier is a 2D top-down space shooter game where you are in command of your own starship. The player chooses a race to fight with (the four standard races are: Arcean, Drengin, Terran, and Pirate) and the objective is to "conquer the system" by taking control of the key planets. However, many players enjoy playing the game just to fight other players, these players usually do not bother to "conquer the system". Stellar Frontier can be played offline (against the computer), on a local intranet, or on the Internet. The "warp drive" in this game is called Q-drive. Q-drive stands for Quantum Drive. Speed is calculated by c (EX: 0.65c, Q-drive speed ranges around 1.00 to 3.00, 3 being the max in the stock game). Lag can be a big factor on "Player VS Player" fights. Lag is factored on ms (EX: 062ms, usual server lag level). Extensive Lag coverage is on GAIN. There can be as many as 100 AI on the server. When the game was released, many said that the AI was the most advanced of the genre (Sci-Fi RTS). The current revision is 1.2RC (5,6 or 7). Any 1.2RC# will work to be able to play online. Older versions will tend to process errors since those versions are heavily outdated.
Internet play
Players play in servers that are hosted on the "Nexus". The main online nexus is served by Stardock. The nexus's address is sf.stardock.net. Anybody can join in the online game at any time. If the nexus happens to be off-line, there are 2 choices: Stardock's Backup nexus (sf-x.stardock.net), or the 3rd party SFDC (Stellar Frontier Development Center) nexus (nexus.game-server.cc). Players can switch nexus if there are no servers on that particular nexus they are on. Another way to play is keep one's stats on one nexus, and then change the nexus address, then select server, then change nexus address again without pressing Refresh, then press OK. On August 4, 2006, Stardock Systems turned off the NEXUS at sf.stardock.net permanently. On July 31, 2007, The game became Freeware, the codes are now provided free for the locked parts of the game. Instructions for getting a code is provided on the main site.[1]
Main races
 |
This page or section is a candidate to be copied to a gaming wiki. Articles on video games should not list minutiae or give a detailed description of how to play the game. Such topics should be moved to a gaming wiki, such as StrategyWiki, Encyclopedia Gamia, or GamerWiki. If this article can be edited into an encyclopedic article, please do so and remove this message. |
As of Stellar Frontier version 1.2, the standard races of the game are as follows:
- Arcean
- Drengin
- Terran
Old races from before the Stardock purchase include Demoians, Venusians, and Martians.
NPC races
- Torian (Only mentioned in a dialog for 1 scenario, was also added as a race with others in Anaxis' Galactic Civ mod)
- Pirate (4th playable race)
Free playable ships
- Freighter (Minimum Rank Required To Use: Cadet)
- Scout (Minimum Rank Required To Use: Cadet)
- Destroyer (Minimum Rank Required To Use: 2nd Lieutenant)
- Cruiser (Minimum Rank Required To Use: Commander)
- Battleship (Minimum Rank Required To Use: Commodore)
- Dreadnought (Minimum Rank Required To Use: Vice Admiral; Default stats: Power 4, Shield 4, engine 3, Volume 5,500)
"Stellar Aces" ships
- BattleCruiser (Minimum Rank Required To Use: Fleet Captain - not available in all servers; Default stats: Power 5, Shield 5, Engine 4)
- Marauder (Minimum Rank Required To Use: Cadet; Default stats: Power 5, Shield 4, Engine 3)
- Starbase (Minimum Rank Required To Use: Fleet Admiral; Default stats: Power 6, Shield 7,
Engine 4, Volume 25,000)
Ranks
All ranks are universal for all the races; there are no race-specific ranks for each race. The online ranking is listed from lowest to highest as follows:[2]
- Cadet
- Ensign
- 2nd Lieutenant
- 1st Lieutenant
- Senior Lieutenant
- Lieutenant Commander
- Commander
- Captain
- Senior Captain
- Fleet Captain
- Commodore
- Rear Admiral
- Vice Admiral
- Admiral
- Fleet Admiral
- Emperor
- Deity
References
- ^ http://www.stardock.com/products/sf/admiral.html
- ^ The list of Stellar Frontier ranks is available for viewing at any time during the online setup menu.
External links
- Official
- Other
- Stellar Frontier Central - Player-maintained website with Stellar Frontier news, information, downloads, etc.
- A Stellar Frontier blog - A player-written blog that talks about the game and tells what is happening in the SF community
