About to try to beat Star Control 2...no spoilers!

[The Troglodyte]

No offense, but that Yehat dialogue was sort of... cringy.

You think that’s bad, you should hear my real-life attempt at talking with a Scottish accent! My wife says it sounds more like a pirate, AARG! In my defense though, I took plain speech and ran it through the first Scottish accent generator I could find. And to flip the script, how would you have written those lines?

[Quasispatial]

And to flip the script, how would you have written those lines?

Now that's bein' a good question ye be askin', Human. The problem is being that some o' yer sentences be seeming pretty odd, so I be needin' ta change yer meaning some. I make no promises that me words be perfection, captain, but fer what t'is worth, ye have me own versions below.

1): "Aye, captain. Things be progressin' well fer our part as well. We be havin' a little trouble wi' tha fighter swarms, but we be knowin' a few tricks from tha last war. Jus' point us at tha nearest enemy an' watch tha fireworks."

2): "That's bein' over twenty brave revolutionists, captain. Veep-eep an' Meep-eep is bein' particularly notable. This bein' a proper war council, I'll be sparin' you tha details, but know that each an' every crewmember is ready ta do their part in tha battles ta come."

3): "Ye should ne'er underestimate tha power of a Terminator, captain. Our vessel may be tha smaller bird, but that dunnae make us helpless. Ye may find that we can fight back wi' equal fervor, assumin' Reep-eep be gettin' tha hang o' those shield controls."

4): (Honestly, I was bein' rather unsure as to yer meanin' wi' this one, captain. Then I be realizin' that yer usin' tha old version, an' that it be havin' a diff'rent image ta tha new un. I should just be sayin' that if this was bein' a problem, tha Terminator design would nae have stuck around fer all these years.)

(Me advice fer ye is bein' that ye should nae go so heavy on tha changes. Give yer translater less credit, captain, an' try ta write it yerself tha next time. Tha converter yer mentioning be causin' more harm than good.)

[The Troglodyte]

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Captain’s Log – Apr 17, 2158 – HyperSpace {585.0 : 621.3}

So far, so good. We exited the Sol System, activated the Portal Spawner, traveled for a few days and entered portal 12 at QS coordinates {520.0 : 540.0} and have arrived on the other side right we had anticipated… in dead center of Ur-Quan space!

There’s no sign of any hostile ships in the area, but that will soon likely change as we begin upturning stones in the systems nearby. We will begin with the closest star. Hopefully, we’ll be able to jump from star to star without arousing too much in terms of our whereabouts. Or better yet, hopefully the first place we check will contain the dreaded Sa-Matra.

We will set course for Theta Crateris. Captain out.
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(Meanwhile…) (today is switching things around day!)

And to flip the script, how would you have written those lines?

Now that's bein' a good question ye be askin', Human. The problem is being that some o' yer sentences be seeming pretty odd, so I be needin' ta change yer meaning some. I make no promises that me words be perfection, captain, but fer what t'is worth, ye have me own versions below.

These were great, Spatial! I wasn’t sure if you were going to respond so directly to my request, and I’m pleasantly surprised that you did, and I liked the way you rewrote the lines, making them your own. Superb!

4): (Honestly, I was bein' rather unsure as to yer meanin' wi' this one, captain. Then I be realizin' that yer usin' tha old version, an' that it be havin' a diff'rent image ta tha new un. I should just be sayin' that if this was bein' a problem, tha Terminator design would nae have stuck around fer all these years.)

Were you referring to this line?

Captain Yeep-eep – “Aye, lest time mah neck was so sair I cooldn’t fly fur a week!”

I was trying the convey the idea that just like the Syreen require their foot to fire their weapon...

Captain Teela – “Well, sir, to be frank, you don’t have to depend solely on your foot in battle to fire your main weapon!”

Captain Fwiffo - “I get it! ‘Solely!’”

…in the same manner, I was comparing that with the way the Yehat turn left and right over and over as they steer their ship:



I may be highly influenced by watching so many combat simulations at cyborg settings, where the constant pivoting back and forth tendencies of the human pilot showcases the repetitive head turn from the Yehat pilot. Peculiar that many of the ships tend to be ran as if they’re one-man fighters, with essentially one person directly controlling the outcome of the battle.

(Me advice fer ye is bein' that ye should nae go so heavy on tha changes. Give yer translater less credit, captain, an' try ta write it yerself tha next time. Tha converter yer mentioning be causin' more harm than good.)

I’ll have to give it a go at some point, and I’ll try to use your examples as a guide.

[Quasispatial]

4): (Honestly, I was bein' rather unsure as to yer meanin' wi' this one, captain. Then I be realizin' that yer usin' tha old version, an' that it be havin' a diff'rent image ta tha new un. I should just be sayin' that if this was bein' a problem, tha Terminator design would nae have stuck around fer all these years.)

Were you referring to this line?

Captain Yeep-eep – “Aye, lest time mah neck was so sair I cooldn’t fly fur a week!”

I was trying the convey the idea that just like the Syreen require their foot to fire their weapon...

Captain Teela – “Well, sir, to be frank, you don’t have to depend solely on your foot in battle to fire your main weapon!”

[image removed for the sake of space]

…in the same manner, I was comparing that with the way the Yehat turn left and right over and over as they steer their ship:

[image removed for the sake of space]

I may be highly influenced by watching so many combat simulations at cyborg settings, where the constant pivoting back and forth tendencies of the human pilot showcases the repetitive head turn from the Yehat pilot. Peculiar that many of the ships tend to be ran as if they’re one-man fighters, with essentially one person directly controlling the outcome of the battle.

Indeed I was. However, I seriously doubt the Terminator's steered with head motions. That would be quite ridiculous. What I believe is that the turning of the head observed on screen is a reflection of the Yehat captain quite literally looking in the direction they're turning to better see where they're going. Now, there's no need to whip one's head back and forth when one's just making small adjustments, so the actual combat screen is evidently a little bit... misrepresentative within the simulator. If the "turn your head to see where you're going" design was a real problem, however, it would have been redesigned in the decades since the ship model's inception.

Anyway, glad to hear you liked my lines. I think they turned out fairly good, all in all, and I'm looking forward to seeing your next attempt.

[The Troglodyte]

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Captain’s Log – Apr 19, 2158 – Theta Crateris – Yellow Alert

We made it to Theta Crateris without running into any hostiles, but as we approached our designated star, it would seem that we’ve already aroused the curiosity of the locals, but we should be able to move from here to the next system without reverting back to the point where we first entered this region of space.

However, I’ve already placed a portal point for this position of system entry, well… considering:



The Theta Crateris System is a red dwarf star with 4 planets, all within the cold zone:

Planet 1 – Medium Purple (1 Ur-Quan)
Planet 2 – Medium Green (3 Ur-Quan)
Planet 3 – Small Orange (3 Ur-Quan)
Planet 4 – Green Gas Giant (1 Ur-Quan)

Yikes! With every planet containing at least one set of Dreadnoughts in far orbit, this isn’t exactly going to be a picnic! Fortunately, we’re much better equipped to take on lots of Dreadnoughts if we have to (especially with the might and muster of the Vindicator) and it looks as if we’ll probably have to… so we’ll proceed accordingly, but we’ll do so by at least luring them towards us and letting them follow, so at least that way we can be a little more selective in our engagements, (which are usually unavoidable as we depart from a planet) and we’ll also learn if there are more Ur-Quan vessels nearer to the planets out of sensor range, since they’ll undoubtedly give chase as well.

On our journey to this system, I had a little bit of time to read up on the Crater Constellation. ‘Crater’ is a Latin word that means ‘cup’, ironically, and its story comes a story in Greek mythology in which Apollo had a pet crow that he sent to go get him a drink of water because after all we all want our pets to get us our drinks (like the time I tried to teach my dog to bring me a beer) but after the bird gets the water he spilled it because, well, it’s kind of tough to carry a whole cup of water with just your beak! Anyway, he found a snake instead and his little bird-brain thought, “Snake? Water? Is there really that much of a difference?” so Apollo goes, “What’s this you’ve brought me?” and the crow replies, “Uh… a cup of water?” so Apollo got pissed and threw the crow, the cup and the snake into the sky, where they got stuck or something. History lesson over.

There is no indication of the Sa-Matra on sensors, but we can’t assume it isn’t here until we explore the entire system. We have added a planetary exploration path: 3-1-2-4

We will set course for the 3rd planet, or more precisely, we’ll set course to pass close by the planet to coax the Ur-Quan into pursuing us… which shouldn’t be too difficult, but the difficulty will be to keep them at a “safe” distance once they become aware of our presence. Zelnick out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 19, 2158 – Near Theta Crateris IV – Yellow Alert

I need to make an addendum to my previous log entry, because as we continued monitoring the Ur-Quan’s movements, it became apparent that there were 4, not 3, Dreadnoughts in far orbit around the 2nd planet, leaving the 4th planet completely open… or so it appeared at that time, so we switched targets and altered course for the 4th planet, but as we’ve neared it, short-range sensors have revealed 4 Dreadnought patrols orbiting the gas giant, with a 5th warship group peeling off to move to another location.

However, they are still unaware of us, so perhaps we can at least explore the ice giant’s moons without Ur-Quan intervention. For all we know, the Sa-Matra could be in orbit right under our nose, and these Dreadnoughts are in orbit to aide in guarding it, but we can’t know for certain until we find it. We have added an exploration path: m4-m2-m1-m3-P

We will set course for the 4th moon. Captain out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 19, 2158 – Theta Crateris IV-d – Yellow Alert

We have entered orbit of a Purple World with class 4 tectonics and 2 base metals, but no Sa-Matra, so we’ll be moving on.

We have set course for the 2nd moon. Zelnick out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 19, 2158 – Theta Crateris IV-b – Red Alert

Well, that didn’t take very long. After we had finished up around the 4th moon, we set course and moved towards the 2nd moon, but our proximity to the nearby Dreadnoughts has alerted them to our presence and they’ve moved to intercept. Fortunately, we made it to the 2nd moon and have entered orbit on the far side, temporarily eluding the Ur-Quan’s sensors… at least until we decide to leave orbit.

The moon itself is only an Azure World with class 4 tectonics and 8 base metals, so it looks like we can’t put off any further a possible confrontation with the Ur-Quan, but I’m still thinking we can avoid direct contact… for now… maybe.

We will set course for the 1st moon. Captain out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 19, 2158 – Theta Crateris IV-a – Red Alert

We barely made it to the 1st moon with loads of Ur-Quan right behind us! Confrontation with Dreadnoughts seems inevitable at this point, but for the meantime, we slipped into orbit just before they could power up their weapons, and we’ve scanned the moon; an Azure World like the previous, but this one has class 6 tectonics and 5 base metals.

We will set course for the 3rd moon. Zelnick out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 19, 2158 – Theta Crateris IV-c – Red Alert

We got lucky again! We barely managed to kick the Vindicator into high gear in time to avoid the Ur-Quan, which are now visible in range of our short-range sensors as they come from the rest of the system from all directions.

We circled around the system and zeroed in on the 3rd moon when we had the chance, which now puts us in orbit of a Pellucid World, which is rather unremarkable except for a single unit of exotic minerals. I guess we have just enough time to send down a shuttle to take a look before the Ur-Quan arrive.

We will send down the Lander shortly. Captain out.
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Captain’s Log – Summary:

We scooped up 5 Tzo Crystals, but we’d better depart soon; sensors are showing large amounts of Dreadnoughts coming into view! Let’s get out of here!

We will set course for the gas planet. Zelnick out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 20, 2158 – Theta Crateris IV – Red Alert

Our good fortune has continued to shine, but I think our luck is about to run out. We’ve checked out the planet, just in case we might find the Sa-Matra, but it’s pretty par for the course in the gaseous planets realm, and Sa-Matra-free, so we’ll be moving on.

We will set course for the 2nd planet. Captain out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 21, 2158 – Theta Crateris II – Red Alert

The planetary escape maneuver worked! We lassoed those poor Ur-Quan around like a cattle rustler by moving our ship to the top section beyond the gas planet and then circled back under half impulse speed and continued our course and allowed for our momentum to bring us beyond planetary range.

Usually, any ship following would catch up as we fired up the main impulse engines, but the distance we put between ourselves and the Dreadnoughts allowed us to gain enough speed before the Ur-Quan had left planetary range into system-wide view, and we proceeded to the 2nd planet -- an Iodine World with class 5 tectonics and 5 base metals. No Sa-Matra though, so we’ll be moving on.

We will set course for the 1st planet. Zelnick out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 22, 2158 – Theta Crateris I – Red Alert

This technique is working very well, If I do say so myself! We left the 1st planet as the evil horde of Quans was just beginning to arrive, so we gave them the slip again!

We made it to the 1st planet, which is a Vinylogous World with 3 common minerals and 8 base metals, but nothing else of interest, like a big huge battleship or something, so we’ll continue onwards.

We shall set course for the 3rd planet. Captain out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 22, 2158 – Theta Crateris I – Red Alert: Battle Stations

Ok, so I maybe I spoke too soon. We, I mean I, didn’t take into account that the Ur-Quan heading towards the planet were still lagging behind, but as it turns out, by us departing so early after our arrival to the innermost planet that it gave just enough time for the Dreadnoughts to catch up on the outside of the planet, surprising us with an ambush in the process!

Not that it really mattered all that much; the Vindicator handled up on the four Dreadnoughts with surprising ease with the powerful Hellbore Cannons, especially considering how the Ur-Quan are unable to deploy their fighters with our Point-Defense Laser in place, so there was no need to bring in any of our escort fleet for assistance, since we made need every able-bodied crew members when we starting tangling with the Kohr-Ah… or perhaps the Sa-Matra itself!

We will continue towards the 3rd planet. Zelnick out.
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Captain’s Log – Apr 22, 2158 – Theta Crateris III – Red Alert

We have just entered orbit of a Metal World with class 4 tectonics, 3 corrosives, 7 base metals, 4 precious metals and 4 radioactives.

Well, I guess it’s pretty safe to say that the Sa-Matra is not in this system, so we can officially mark this one off the list, so… it’s on to the next one!

We will set course for Gamma Crateris, but we may have to blast our way through a few Ur-Quan on our way out of the system. Captain out.
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[krulle]

Honestly? At that point in fighting the Ur-Quan, I never used PDL modules. Let them send fighters. The BumpingTool had a fire power that tore the Dreadnought into shreds, and the red dots seemed less like fighters, more like life capsules.
Incidentally, that brought down the health of the ship too, making the shredding even faster.

And most of the life capsules gto shredded due to my shots going for the Dreadnought and passing through the life capsules.

[Quasispatial]

Honestly? At that point in fighting the Ur-Quan, I never used PDL modules. Let them send fighters. The BumpingTool had a fire power that tore the Dreadnought into shreds, and the red dots seemed less like fighters, more like life capsules.
Incidentally, that brought down the health of the ship too, making the shredding even faster.

And most of the life capsules gto shredded due to my shots going for the Dreadnought and passing through the life capsules.

It is a tactic. Personally I use a single PDL for deterrent purposes. Less annoying to fight the 'Quans if you don't have to worry about a swarm of fighters suddenly showing up from off-screen or something, and the fighters do have the rather notable attribute of limiting your movement options, which I find is really their primary attribute against faster ships.

[Draxas]

Absolutely agree with QS. I always hang onto one PDL, just to avoid the aforementioned offscreen ambushes by fighter squadrons. It's not as if the process of demolishing Dreadnoughts is noticeably slower if you have a full spread of homing hellbores anyway.

[krulle]

Well, the BumpingTool is so powerful by that time, that I only start the propulsion if the enemy spawned very close to me, to create some distance....

[The Troglodyte]

Honestly? At that point in fighting the Ur-Quan, I never used PDL modules. Let them send fighters. The BumpingTool had a fire power that tore the Dreadnought into shreds, and the red dots seemed less like fighters, more like life capsules.
Incidentally, that brought down the health of the ship too, making the shredding even faster.

And most of the life capsules gto shredded due to my shots going for the Dreadnought and passing through the life capsules.

It is a tactic. Personally I use a single PDL for deterrent purposes. Less annoying to fight the 'Quans if you don't have to worry about a swarm of fighters suddenly showing up from off-screen or something, and the fighters do have the rather notable attribute of limiting your movement options, which I find is really their primary attribute against faster ships.

Life aboard the BumpingTool was at the very least more interesting with the denied PDL approach! Captain krulle’s battle reports must’ve been very interesting. I still agree with Quasi for reasons already mentioned, but I can also see the advantages of being able to easily overrun a crew depleted Dreadnought by moving away from the fighters and hitting those Ur-Quan with everything you’ve got on the flipside!

Absolutely agree with QS. I always hang onto one PDL, just to avoid the aforementioned offscreen ambushes by fighter squadrons. It's not as if the process of demolishing Dreadnoughts is noticeably slower if you have a full spread of homing hellbores anyway.

Indeed, especially considering in my own recent battles, each Ur-Quan fell from two quick taps from my fire button, which launched 5 projectiles during each volley, guided by multiple auto-tracking modules to help most, if not all, hit their target. Ka to the boom.

I’ve also wondered, why doesn’t the Ur-Quan launch a few fighters regardless? I know if I were in their shoes I would; detection of the PDL shouldn’t nullify fighters usefulness altogether. It at least gives my enemy something else to contend with, no matter how futile. Besides, it’s still a drain on power to activate the PDL, and if you’re lucky, you might catch them slipping and get in a few cheap shots if you release a few here and there as you look for an opening. I’ve used this strategy rather effectively against cruisers during my old SC1 days, who get put in the position of wasting energy against a couple of fighters (and further waste if the fighters have enough separation from each other that a premature activation of the PDL only takes out one) versus saving energy to launch a missile while your Dreadnought can come barreling in from the opposite side, although I’ll admit it is much easier to overtake a cruiser than a fully-equipped vindicator.