| Stellar Frontier | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Drengin.net & SF.net |
| Publisher(s) | Stardock & SF.net |
| Designer(s) | Doug Hendrix, Neil Hillis, Brad Wardell, Chris Valleriani, Matt Hoffman, Nathan Hart Allen |
| Engine | 2D |
| Version | 1.3.4.1 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Linux with Wine_(software) |
| Release date(s) | 1997 (Worldwide) |
| Genre(s) | Space simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | N/A |
| Media | Download |
| System requirements | Internet connection |
| Input methods | Keyboard, mouse |
Stellar Frontier is a multiplayer space strategy/shooter game made by Doug Hendrix in 1995 and later licensed by Stardock. It was one of the first games on the TotalGaming.net subscription package. The game is now open source and a small team (SF.net) have taken the role of releasing new versions. Though the Stardock nexus is down, there is now a new nexus located at nexus.stellarfrontier.net[1]. A new release has been born as of December 30, 2008 that contains multiple updates. More information can be found at http://StellarFrontier.net. [2]
Contents |
Mankind had barely gotten faster than light travel when the Drengin Empire and the Torians had arrived in the Sol System. Each race wanted full control of our solar system which was merely part of a larger goal for domination of the galaxy. They had possessed faster than light travel for centuries and their weapons were very powerful. Luckily, we had the home field advantage and more importantly, the Drengin and Torians were age-old enemies... Enemies that only had a small foot hold in Sol.
As a lowly Ensign in the Terran fleet you will command a small star ship charged with ridding the Sol System of its invaders. Once you have done that, you will take your fleets to new star systems and begin the process of bringing Earth’s presence to new frontiers. As time goes on, you will move up through the ranks until you are an Admiral at which time you will be able to decide what types of ships our space stations build (until then, you’ll have to make due with whatever EarthGov gives you.)
If all goes well, you will liberate the galaxy from the tyranny of the Dregin and Arceans and bring a long lasting peace to our people. [3]
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 4.00, 4 being the max in the stock game).
Lag can be a big factor on "Player VS Player" fights. Lag is factored on ms (EX: At the moment 062ms is the lowest lag possible.). 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).
Players play in servers that are hosted on the "Nexus". The main
online new online nexus is served by Stellarfrontier.net. The
nexus's address is nexus.stellarfrontier.net. Anybody
can join in the online game at any time.
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.[4]
On November 18, 2008, The game source code was released, as well as a new nexus being born (stellarfrontier.net). The game is now open to modifying by coding means, and a small group of coders have started working on a new release.[5]
On December 30, 2008, The new Stellar Frontier client & server is born, and is now back to operational status. The game no longer requires a code, and the game is deemed totally freeware with no code needed.[6]
As of Stellar Frontier version 1.3, the standard races of the game are as follows:
The following ships are available in the game. The player must meet a rank requirement to use each ship, with a higher requirement for more powerful ships. Each two ranks gained, a new ship is available to the user to use. The Marauder & BattleCruiser in pre 1.3 has been balanced to fit the new ship scematics as the game is now freeware.
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:[7]
This page needs to be split into subpages.
Please add some links to the Table of Contents and split this page to separate pages, then remove this template.
Split into subpages
This page needs to be split into subpages.
Please add some links to the Table of Contents and split this page to separate pages, then remove this template.
Stellar Frontier | Table of Contents |
Walkthrough
| Stellar Frontier | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Drengin.net |
| Publisher(s) | Stardock |
| Designer(s) | Doug Hendrix, Neil Hillis, Brad Wardell |
| Engine | 2D |
| Latest version | 1.2 RC 5, 6, 7 |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Space simulation |
| System(s) | Windows |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Media | Download/CD |
| System requirements (help) | Internet connection |
| Website | http://www.stardock.com/products/sf/ |
| Input | Keyboard, mouse |
Stellar Frontier is a multiplayer space strategy/shooter game made by Doug Hendrix in 1997 and later licensed by Stardock. It was one of the first games on the TotalGaming.net subscription package. There have been no official updates since 2003. The game has a 2D Top-down view. 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 4th, 2006.
Contents |
Stellar Frontier is a free (unless you want lasers and better ships), fast (local play), and fun top-down space shooter where you are in command of your own starship. You choose a race (the four standard races are: Arcean, Drengin, Terran, 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 game's genre (Sci-Fi RTS).
The current version/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.
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 4th, 2006, Stardock Systems turned off the NEXUS at sf.stardock.net permanently.
The game uses Bitmaps as the main source of pictures. Usual game space would take up 70 MB HDD space. All the ships are made out of a long bitmap file (EX: The Drengin Marauder uses the file SF-D-MA.bmp), which builds the frames required to make the ship look like it's turning direction. (36 frames). Planets do not have a 36 frame count, but Asteroids do have frames. The starfield is a 1024x1024 bitmap.
Servers are made from a .DAT file, and is semi-complex to build a "mod" out of these files. It is required that port 20001 is to be open while hosting servers. Ports 20001 to 20009 have been reported to be used as server ports as well.
Ship BMP Build:
Legend:
R = Race (D,A,T,P are the stock race letters)
Number symbol = The 2 initals in which some of the scenario files
call (EX: SB is a Base)
   | Stellar Frontier Central - Stellar Frontier > Home |
| | PoSH - ProBoards.com - Free Message Boards |
| | Stellar Frontier .NET - Stellar Frontier - Make your mark in the final frontier...space |
| | Stellar Frontier : Release Code - Stellar Frontier Source Code - Released |
| | New versions can be found at SF.net - Stellar Frontier - Make your mark in the final frontier...space |
|
|
Wikis
Search
