Star Con
Don't Pay For a Pre-Release Just Yet
As of October 5th, 1998, Accolade flushed
StarCon down the crapper, citing that it is "under re-evaluation" to better fit the gaming
market. In my opinion, it is DEAD. Here's some why's:
The first person flying shooter market
is glutted with two heavy hitters, Descent:
Freespace, and X-Com Interceptor.
Additionally, the Wing Commander series has historically
enjoyed dominance in this overcrowded genre. So, the question is, why would Accolade give up
common sense and clamber into an overcrowded market with a hearty, "Me too!" and absolutely
no experience (at ALL) in first person flight sims? If StarCon is to ever see the light of day,
it had better be something fantastic, or it'll be another Wing Commander clone. (Additionally,
Colony Wars II is coming out for the Playstation; if StarCon was supposed to be a Colony Wars
killer, it probably wouldn't fare well versus the sequel).
Star Con was described as a
"Deeds, not words" game by Scot Amos, Head Designer of Star Con (as of October 8th, Mr. Amos
left Accolade). To me, this means a "Fly here and shoot this" level of dialogue, the same
ho-hum debriefing found in every other Flight Sim. Fans of the Star Control series (even SC3,
I suppose) are not only used to dialogue and fascinating alien races, but expect and crave it.
Star Control is not about finding pretty alien ships and blowing them up. Accolade appears to
have remembered that, but only after sinking money on a boondoggle.
The story looks awful. Why reintroduce the Crux at all, given that they were eradicated
at the end of SC3 (the Crux formerly stands at a membership of 2 races, one represented by the
moronic Plexor, and the other, the non-sentient Daktakakpak. Clearly, Accolade has introduced new races,
which everybody expects in a Star Control game. Why, however, recycle one of the worst plots
to befoul the series? Uncreativity will not be rewarded by the public. (Additionally, Star Con was
not to be a 4th in the series -- it's a spin off. Why, then, use ANY of the Star Control plot?)
New ships are appealing, certainly;
everybody should realize that the current League ships are 50 years or more out of date. A
redesign is not out of the question -- but why scrap all the recognizable features of League
ships? In a 3D flight sim, I can't think of a more powerful ship than an Arilou Skiff; its
gravity and thrust negating drives would be superior in a flight sim. I think, however, the
transition from overhead to 3D would be staggering, and would lose everything that makes
HyperMelee in Star Control uniquely enjoyable.
So, Star Con may be history. In my opinion, good. If Accolade does decide
to put it back onto the assembly line, perhaps they'll consider putting out something uniquely
theirs.
Jerry Hinn
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