Official FAQ

[Pistol Shrimp Games]

Is this Steam release different from prior releases of The Ur-Quan Masters?

This release includes a few things which are not default settings in other releases, like voice over, 3DO music, and other minor changes. No source code has been modified. We also wanted to bring the game to Steam to reach the millions of players who use it as their game library of choice.

What is the current status of The Ur-Quan Masters IP?

Paul Reiche and Fred Ford personally own the Copyrighted content in The Ur-Quan Masters, including the story, characters, setting, and copyrightable elements of the gameplay. "The Ur-Quan Masters" Trademark is also registered to Paul Reiche and Fred Ford. This free release has been made possible by their decision to license their copyrighted content as open source back in 2002.

[roguefrog]

Thank you for bringing this incredible game to Steam for free.

[DizzieDawgie]

Do you plan to bring the macOS and Linux versions to Steam?

[Itharus]

I'm confused... wasn't there already a huge open source remaster thing going on for years? Did that get shut down? Does this have any association with the original devs? What's going on here?

[Rider]

lol I still have my 3DO copy of this game. I played this game nonstop for a long time. I even still go back and play it when I get in the mood to. Nice to see it making a comeback.

[Jack Benny]

It's cool this is on Steam for free but the "Free Stars" name threw me off. You might want to have a discussion with Paul and Fred about the IP though, because they did not release the copyrights to the content and characters when they made the source code free.

[Pistol Shrimp Games]

We are Pistol Shrimp, a game development studio formed by Paul Reiche, Fred Ford, Ken Ford, and Dan Gerstein. Yes, this is us and our IP. :)
Read More[www.patreon.com]

Originally posted by Jack Benny:

you might want to have a discussion with Paul and Fred about the IP

Originally posted by Itharus:

Does this have any association with the original devs?

[Itharus]

Originally posted by Pistol Shrimp Games:

We are Pistol Shrimp, a game development studio formed by Paul Reiche, Fred Ford, Ken Ford, and Dan Gerstein. Yes, this is us and our IP. :)
Read More[www.patreon.com]

Originally posted by Jack Benny:

you might want to have a discussion with Paul and Fred about the IP

Originally posted by Itharus:

Does this have any association with the original devs?

Well in that case, you lot are awesome.

SC2 is one of my all time favorite games ever (had it on the 3DO).

[gussmed]

I played SC2 on the PC, and years later bought a used 3DO just to play it again. On this one subject, I'm a <bleeping> cultist.

EDIT: Is there a resource page around for various versions of the printable map? I've got a PNG of the original and PNG of a slightly-revised version with more readable star names. I'm wondering about other, later versions.

The web pages that used to host such things appear to be gone.

[76561199638954475]

Originally posted by Pistol Shrimp Games:

We are Pistol Shrimp, a game development studio formed by Paul Reiche, Fred Ford, Ken Ford, and Dan Gerstein. Yes, this is us and our IP. :)
{LINK REMOVED}Read More

Thank you all for a most excellent game, and I am so very excited about the sequel! I can't wait to continue to be baffled regarding the rules of Frungy, what kind of equipment is needed to play, how many players per team, or what the current rankings are in the Frungy league. I'm sure there will be a few other interesting bits as well.

Originally posted by gussmed:

I played SC2 on the PC, and years later bought a used 3DO just to play it again. On this one subject, I'm a <bleeping> cultist.

EDIT: Is there a resource page around for various versions of the printable map? I've got a PNG of the original and PNG of a slightly-revised version with more readable star names. I'm wondering about other, later versions.

The web pages that used to host such things appear to be gone.

The Pages of Now and Forever seem to have a solid list here:
{LINK REMOVED}http://www.star-control.com/starmaps.php

[76561199638954475]

Originally posted by jsd3306:

The Pages of Now and Forever seem to have a solid list here:
{LINK REMOVED}http://www.star-control.com/starmaps.php

Pfft "link removed". Google "pages of now and forever starmap", the website should be the top result and clearly (hopefully?) legit.

[Itharus]

Originally posted by gussmed:

I played SC2 on the PC, and years later bought a used 3DO just to play it again. On this one subject, I'm a <bleeping> cultist.

EDIT: Is there a resource page around for various versions of the printable map? I've got a PNG of the original and PNG of a slightly-revised version with more readable star names. I'm wondering about other, later versions.

The web pages that used to host such things appear to be gone.

OMG memory unlock. I loved that printed map that came with the 3DO version <3. Man... games arrived in style back in the day. Nice box, nice manual, usually random extras like maps, lore booklets, artwork, sometimes randomly stationary... good stuff. Steam sucks in comparison. Poor kids these days :-/

[Jack Benny]

Originally posted by Pistol Shrimp Games:

We are Pistol Shrimp, a game development studio formed by Paul Reiche, Fred Ford, Ken Ford, and Dan Gerstein. Yes, this is us and our IP. :)
Read More[www.patreon.com]

Originally posted by Jack Benny:

you might want to have a discussion with Paul and Fred about the IP

Originally posted by Itharus:

Does this have any association with the original devs?

Ahhhh, well don't I have egg on my face :) Thanks for making one of the greatest games of all time!

[gussmed]

Originally posted by Itharus:

I loved that printed map that came with the 3DO version <3.

It was very nice AND functional. Besides giving you some idea of where to find some races, the guidance for one of the quests involves reading that map for a location that matches the description of where to find the beastie.

Originally posted by jsd3306:

Pfft "link removed". Google "pages of now and forever starmap", the website should be the top result and clearly (hopefully?) legit.

Found it. It's the same list I remember seeing before. IMHO the best version is map #3. It preserves the aesthetic of the original map, including the important star colors and star sizes, but makes the star names easier to read since they're cyan instead of dark blue.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Why no Mac version? Especially since you said there are no source code changes, so you could probably just grab the .app from SourceForge, modify any assets you need to, and upload it. I could understand if you didn't post it because you had source code changes and are unable to build a Mac version yourself, but it already exists out there, so why not just upload it here?

[Prah]

Will you release this on GOG.com (formerly known as Good Old Games)?