It's finally over for SQO

yevoc42

It's with mixed feelings that I post that the publisher that's hosted StarQuest Online for the past 3(?) years is going under.  The server still was up last time we checked, but it's not being kept up by a company anymore.  As soon as the dude running the comp feels like it, the server for the game will go down permanently.

The writing was on the wall back in late 2009 when the devs threatened to shut down the servers unless emergency donations were made.  Eventually a publisher was brought onboard to help, but the developers jumped ship not long after the publisher started running the game on one of their servers.  Ever since then, the game's been paralyzed in terms of adding new content or fixing the numerous bugs that always plagued us devoted players, as the publisher didn't have access to the source code.

There's been drama, good times, and bad times along the way, but I think all of us who played StarQuest Online (SQO) will be sad to see it go.  It certainly executed a lot of things poorly, but the gameplay potential behind SQO was enormous, and the game constantly called you back unlike anything else once you saw what the game could do in theory.  It truly was the ultimate sandbox space MMO, and it was certainly a decade ahead of its time.  No game's gameplay comes anywhere close to the depth that SQO offered.  Because of that, it's been really hard for me to feel impressed by any MMO I've played since. I strongly suspect we won't see this kind of depth again for many years to come.

 

Rest in peace, Starquest Online.  May your spiritual successor arise sooner rather than later.

 

 

 

Caldrin

The game was a great idea but was super clunky and very outdated before it even released.. I always hoped the devs would try and develop a new version of the game in a new engine.

Pax_Zin

It's been years, I know.. I too have been waiting for the update.  There was a lot 'right' with the game, and so much more 'wrong' with it.  Even as I've dabbled with Unreal Engine, I wondered with this game could have been adapted to that platform, and still maintain the mechanics (intent) of the original game.  

Just the idea of 'instancing' elements into a more compartmental system would have smoothed out a lot of the gameplay.  Overall physics (astrogation, gravity wells, etc..) could have been trimmed and adjusted with just a few keystrokes.  Character/ship creation/development could be rendered using Maya or Blender.  

So much of these were simply not available at the time.  I know there were a lot of people wanting access to the code, just so that they could streamline the gameplay, improve graphics, etc.. And nothing says that some of those same people couldn't collectively contribute to a total remake of the game, using UE.  

Even to the point of running the game on steam, with regional servers to accommodate regions of the world to optimize game-play or language barriers.  

There's just so much more available by 2021 standards.  It was a great game, with a great concept.  And it's too bad that it fell out of the sky like it did.  Just my thoughts as I dig back into history, to see what ever became of SQO.

Pax_Zin

Been a few years, and I still miss this game.  Apparently, Nexeon isn't doing much with it, so I'm going out on a limb here.  

Who says that its can't be another indie game?  A new look, a new title, a new generation of players.

I doubt anyone will see this post, but what does it hurt?  After some dabbling with Unreal Engine, and seeing just how many games are coming and going, this one still held a place for me.  

I came across a video about a Starship Simulator that is in early development, and in the Kickstarter phase.  I don't know if it's worth it to try to cooperate with them, or create something more like SQO from scratch.  

The thing that attracted me to SQO in the first place was the multi-player crew aspect.  It was less about the 'training' that was tedious, but necessary at the time, and more about having an international group of players joining in, and having some fun.  

Even with the griefers, the glitches, the sometimes difficult interface, the game was still 'good'.  Who says, that using a more stable platform such as Unreal Engine, that the same 'fun' could be implemented, and easily patched, updated, modded, etc... with today's tools?

It was what? 20 years ago when this game was in it's hey-day?  Look at all of the crap that has come and gone, and not one single game like SQO.  Think about it, with what we have today, we could have 'droids', to fill in the roles of repair, or manning a station.  Back then, I remember playing on a 256k modem.  Servers have come a long way since then.  Graphics!  Not those polygons we had, but animation so life-like, you'd swear you were watching a camera feed.  

Again, I doubt anyone will see this, but if you are interested in 'old times' or just saying 'hey', hit me up on Facebook.