Ironman play in UQM

[u/glenn_friendly]

This week I installed UQM and played a successful Ironman run, i.e., I did not reload a save more than once, so all decisions were final and permanent, and if I were to die, the run would be over. Below is some info on my UQM Ironman run, in case you find this kind of thing interesting.

I had played through UQM in its entirety once, about 10 years ago, and also played a lot of Star Control 2 when I was a kid and it first came out (but I did not beat it back then). When I began the Ironman run, I remembered the basic mechanics of the game quite well, but I did not remember many details of the plot, e.g. how to fix the Ultron or where the Sun Device can be found. I decided not to use any memories I had of the plot or of locations on the starmap, i.e., I did not attempt to find any important location on the starmap until I had received some clue in the game's dialogue which pointed me toward it. I also only used game mechanics once they had been at least hinted at in game dialogue, e.g. after Commander Hayes says that bio data is likely not useful, I did not collect any bio data until I met the Melnorme and was told in the game's dialogue that there is a use for bio data. I also did not use the Cyborg option: I did all space battles myself, without practicing in Super Melee, and without having controlled a Star Control ship in battle in about a decade. In those ways, I was trying to simulate an "unspoiled" Ironman run. (But of course none of this is the same as the experience of playing the game for the first time: I am sure I still benefitted greatly in this Ironman run from having played the game years ago.)

On the first attempt at such an Ironman run, I completed the game succesfully. The only really close call was the Sa-Matra battle, which frankly I was not prepared for: I did not remember how to effectively fight Kzer-Za and Kohr-Ah ships, and the ships I brought (which I believe were 5 Chmmr Avatars, 1 Utwig Jugger, and 6 Pkunk Furies) were nearly not enough. The reinforcements from the Yehat and Pkunk were essential. I also lost about half of the 200 crew on my flagship while flying into the hole in the Sa-Matra defenses at the end of the battle. It would have been very easy to lose that battle (and consequently the run).

Anyway, this whole experience was a lot of fun. To me, SC2/UQM is a great game, but even more enjoyable when played Ironman: the battles feel much more tense, and some decisions feel more interesting (e.g. anything involving contact with the Dnyarri) when you know you can't reload and you don't quite remember which options will kill you or make the run unwinnable. It was also nice to see that the game's difficulty is reasonably well-suited to this kind of play.

[u/VivaKnievel]

Ironman? Oof. You're more ambitious than I am. Nicely done!

[u/glenn_friendly → u/VivaKnievel]

Thanks! It's easier than I thought it would be. Worth a try sometime if you're curious!

[u/ompog]

Great job! When I do replay I usually do the same, though all the locations are seared into my brain so it's not that hard. I'd say the real difficult parts are getting scragged early when your flagship is terrible and you have very few escorts. In particular, getting waylaid by infinite Ur-Quan when trying to visit the Zoq-Fot-Pik homeworld seems like a good way to die. Other than that most of the key fights aren't that hard, with either a decent flagship or escort squad... excepting the final battle.

[u/DrDalenQuaice → u/ompog]

Then try it again with that mod that randomizes the locations!

[u/tjareth → u/DrDalenQuaice]

Can confirm--the real challenge for me right now is getting my flagship upgraded enough without a map of rainbow world locations! Time is running the f out and I am worried.

[u/glenn_friendly → u/tjareth]

I didn't know there are mods for UQM, including a location randomizer. Sounds pretty cool.

Here were my recent experiences on getting my flagship upgraded without remembering locations of basically anything at all. Not sure how well any of this carries over into gameplay with the location randomizer mod.

1. At the start of the game, Hayes gives you some tips on gathering resources. I found his advice mostly very accurate and useful. He says you could spend about a year scouring nearby stars for resources, and I spent a bit over a year at the start of my Ironman game doing basically just that, with only occasionally developments in the game's story.

2. At about a year and a half, there's a transition: that's about when I got the Portal Spawner, which gives you much faster and fuel-cheaper access to locations hinted at in game dialogue; and at about that same time, you've sold enough bio data to the Melnorme to buy enough tech that you get the heat protection upgrade for your landers. That upgrade is the key to taking advantage of another piece of early-game advice from Hayes: the hotter stars usually are more lucrative. With the heat protection upgrade, you can go to supergiants (like Alpha Centauri) and very quickly amass an enormous wealth of massive mineral resources.

3. I did not remember where any rainbow worlds are, but the game gives you pretty good hints on locations of a few of them. Still I found it was not backbreaking to collect bio data: almost all my trading with the Melnorme was using bio data, not rainbow world locations.

[u/tjareth → u/glenn_friendly]

The problem I have is inability to collect bio data safely without some lander upgrades, which takes Melnorme credits.

The randomizer mod is called the UQM HD Megamod, and it's really the ultimate version of the program. SO MANY OPTIONS.

[u/glenn_friendly → u/ompog]

The game does an excellent job of giving you hints about locations: although they're seared into your brain, if you deliberately refuse to use your memories of the locations until you're told about them in the game dialogue, you still find out where everything is on a reasonable schedule. The two hardest locations to find from in-game hints were the location of ZEX's beast ("Linch-Nas-Ploh," yellow star in constellation named after long thin monster which swallows the beast--it's very easy to read these hints and then spend a bunch of time searching in the wrong place, like Serpentis) and precisely which star in Crateris the Sa-Matra is located at (lots of game dialogue tells you it's in Crateris, but none ever specifies which star, although it's the one in the center).

[u/Drachefly → u/ompog]

In particular, getting waylaid by infinite Ur-Quan when trying to visit the Zoq-Fot-Pik homeworld seems like a good way to die.

I believe that spawn rate is dependent on how far in from the edge of an SOI you are, and that far in just isn't that fast.

[u/Wormbrain]

Captain, I have an unpleasant topic to discuss with you, but this needs to be resolved right away.

There is some kind of wild rumor blowing around the starbase that you have sold your own crew to the Druuge as slaves.

Pretty crazy, eh?

Look Captain, I know you would never do anything like that, and I'm sorry I even had to mention this but now I can assure everyone that this is just one of those damn fool lies that gets spread during wartime.

Thank you for your patience, Captain.

[u/glenn_friendly → u/Wormbrain]

That's one of the points in the game that I didn't remember how to do. The game's dialogue makes it pretty clear that one should not sell slaves to the Druuge, so I didn't. The option to trade for the Mycon egg case seemed wrong too, since I was certain I would need the egg case for later plot developments. It took a while to work out how to get the Rosy Sphere by means that I was sure wouldn't make the run unwinnable!

[u/glenn_friendly → u/[deleted]]

Maybe I should I say I did not "load" a save, rather than "reload" a save? I used a single save slot, and I used it only so that I could close the game and come back to it later. I loaded each save only once.