Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    Yeah but... I initially rejected it because you can't do a loop
    (I was playing F18 a lot at that time)
    
    Since then I've ready the novella, and now understand how to play
    it.  Makes a lot more sense that way.  Very impressive 3d graphics.
    And the stereo sounds as things sneak up from behind you...
    
    -dave

Yea, I've been just flying around ooohing and aaahing.

I started to read the Novella last night and your right, I think it'll
all make sense after that!


John

    Always interested in hearing about new arcade-type games.  A questions
    though...does the inevitable copy-protection allow you to make backups
    or is it something more sensible (as in "look-up-a-word").
    I've had two game disk (using the idiotic "scramble-the-disk" method)
    bomb on me (one after only three loads)l and I absolutely refuse
    to buy any programs that can't be backed up.
    
    Thanks,
    
    

    I don't StarGlider II myself (didn't think StarGlider I was that
    great) but someone on Usenet was complaining that the disk itself
    is copy protected, you need a second disk just for high scores since
    they are stored in some strange format and the game still asks you
    to look up a word. He seemed pretty upset about it.
    
    tom

    I haven't been able to make a backup of mine yet.  In fact, it'll
    probably be difficult to do anyway. This disk is bootable on both
    the AMIGA and the ATARI ST. Both versions on the same disk.
    
    
    					Jim
    

Psuedo copy protected. As said it works on both Atari and Amiga.

I tried to make a backup but got  "Not a DOS disk" and from diskcopy
just read errors...


John

    
    Picked up SG II this weekend.  It's wonderful.  Everything SG I
    should have been.
    
    Fantastic smooth scrolling 3D solids.  Jez San is a genius.
    
    The game is quite engrossing, too.. sort of like Adventure in space.
                                                        
    
    PS:  Read the novella included.  It's hilarious, and essential to
    understanding the game.
    
    Ed.

    I just got StarGlider II as a birthday gift from my dear sweet wife.
    I'm quite impressed with the game.  This is really well done.  It
    even comes with a cassette tape recording of the game's theme song.
    (Plays between games...  Sounds like a fully orchestrated weekly
    TV action show theme.  Nice touch.  :-)
    
    Anyway, I've only had one complaint so far.  That's with the stupid
    disk format.  I can't make a backup copy of the disk.  Furthermore,
    when I try to save a game, it won't let me save it on the master
    disk... or any other disk.  When I give it a blank disk, it says
    "not an mumble-mumble disk... would you like to reformat?"  I answer
    "yes", but the format always fails.  Note that I'm putting the blank
    into DF0:.  That may be the problem, as I noticed I had to power
    down after playing the game before I could boot from my 1.3 floppy.
    Looked as if StarGlider II monkeyed with DF0:... maybe mounted it
    is a strange way.
    
    Any ideas?  Would it work if I put the data disk into DF1: instead?
    
    
    					John

both me and my roomate succeeded in saving to df1:

John

    I first formated a blank disk under 1.2.  I booted the game disk.
    Started playing. I depressed F10 to save the game. Got the "master disk"
    error message.  Put in the blank 1.2 formated disk. It told me it was
    not the proper format disk. Then special disk formating continued after
    a few Q/A. When done, it asked me for a file name. I complied, and it
    returned me to the game. I tried to load the saved game. It did so
    sucessfully. 
    
    
    I got Starglider II at System Eyes and they had backed up a copy of it.
    I can't remember what they said they backed it up with though. When I
    get out that way I'll ask them again. Or may be if one of you
    Amigites are in that vicinity, you might ask them and report it
    here.
    
    Crazy game... got to keep away from it. I'll leave it for the
    kids. It's another a time eater.
    
    ...Rich
    
    

I read on USENET this morning that it can be backed up on a ST with
some utility.

John

    or in theory on an Amiga with Project D's omnitool that can backup
    ST and MS-DOS disks.
    
    -dave

That was it!  Project D!

John

    Re: .9
    
    John, 
    	What did you do to save to DF1?  I tried putting a floppy in
    DF1: and hitting F10.  The game still tries to save to DF0: and
    comes back with the 'no-no' message.  I've tried this with the master
    disk in DF0 AND with NO disk in DF0.  I also tried it on several
    disks, but they weren't empty.  (I figured that wouldn't matter,
    since the game says it reformats the disk anyway.  Maybe that's
    my problem.)
    
    
    					John

I'm pretty sure it was DF1:?!?  Guess I'll try again tonight and see.

John

What does it take to get the title music for SGII?  I get the title graphics, 
but no sound on my 1MB A2000?  The game sound works fine.  Do I have a bad 
disk?

Thanks,
Sam

    My turn:
    
    I'm not very thrilled with the game.  I get irritated with games
    that make you read long books to figure out how to play them.  The
    guick reference card is a disaster.  Why don't the supply one that
    shows the keyboard?  That makes it a lot easier to look for vital
    keys in the middle of heated play.
    
    Yes, the game is very smoothe, and the graphics are somewhat
    impressive.  Actually, I was disappointed by the graphics.  They
    went to great effort to create so many different 3D solid modelled
    objects.  The problem is that they look like crap because the game
    runs in Lo-Res.  Most the time, the objects look like little blobs
    off in the distance.  Why couldn't they have gone to a higher
    resolution?  If they had, the game would have been much better.
    I almost feel that detailed bit-mapped sprites would have been better
    if they have to do it in Lo-Res.                             
                                                                 
    "Icarus Destroyed"                                           
                                                                 
    Get used to seeing that.  I've seen it a lot.  It would be nice
    if it told you WHY.  It also would be nice if it let you continue
    from where you left off, but it doesn't.  Back to square one every
    time.                                                        
                                                                 
    As for the music.  I let the game sit for a while (after the Icarus
    had been destroyed for the upmteenth time).  When I came back, there
    was a credit graphic on the screen, listing the games designers.
    I hit the space bar and the music started.  From then on, the music
    played every time the title graphic appeared.                
                                                                 
    Bottom line:  Maybe I will grow to like this more.  For now, I find
    it hard to give it the phenominal rating that everyone seems to
    be giving it.  It's good...but the best is still yet to come.

    Well, it's back to the shop for another copy.  Mine refuses to load.
    Yet another case of screwball copy protection! (ugh!)  The game
    only loaded about 50 percent of the time.  If you had a disk in
    df1: it wouldn't load.  Now it refuses to load at all.
    
    Randy
    

    Perhaps this is a result of my bad review???

    Well, the store gave me a new copy.  Guess what?  It won't load
    at all!  The workbench requester just keeps flashing on the screen.
    
    I called Rainbird.  They said to send it back and they will replace
    it.  They also said that older machines seem to have problems with
    their disks.  It won't load on either my old A1000 (with new drives)
    or my new A2000.
    
    Why? Why? Why?!  They use a special format AND the 'look up word'
    copy protection.  Isn't one sufficient?  This is the ONLY piece
    of software that I own that refuses to load.
    
    Ugh!
    
    Randy
    

Re: .20

>    Why? Why? Why?!  They use a special format AND the 'look up word'
>    copy protection.  Isn't one sufficient?

The special format is due to the fact the disk is both an Amiga bootable
disk and an Atari ST bootable disk.  I guess that it is just happy
accident (for the game designers) that the disk cannot be copied.

Personally, I think they've gone overboard.

    re:.21
    
    I believe it can be copied as a ST disk.  It's just that most Amiga
    backup programs assume the protection scheme is some modification
    of an Amiga disk format, not a ST disk format.
    
    But that makes it double copy protected on the Amiga.
    
    -Dave    

    re .17
    
  > As for the music.  I let the game sit for a while (after the Icarus
  > had been destroyed for the upmteenth time).  When I came back, there
  > was a credit graphic on the screen, listing the games designers.
  > I hit the space bar and the music started.  From then on, the music
  > played every time the title graphic appeared.                

    This doesn't seem to work for me.  I have a basic 512k Amiga A500.
    Can everyone else get the title music?  Maybe I have a bad disk?
                                          
    Enjoying the game very much apart from this.
    
    Peter

    I just got my replacement copy in the mail.
    
    It won't load on my A1000.  I'll try it on my A2000 tomorrow, but
    I'm not expecting much.
    
    This is still the ONLY disk out of hundreds that I own that will
    not work.
    
    Ugh!  Glad I'm going on vacation...
    
    Randy
    

    For Sale:
    
    Starglider II.  Includes box, all documents.  $25.
                                                     
    If you can get it to load (the dealer seems to have no problem on
    all of his systems) it's yours.                  
    
    Randy Dearborn
    MK01-2N25
    264-5090
    HYSTER::DEARBORN
    

    Curiously, Randy's copy of StarGlider II won't load on my machine,
    either.
        John Sauter

    I just bought a used copy of Starglider II at the Memory Location's
    consignment corner ($20).  The were out of new copies, even if I wanted
    one.  Anyway, I got the original disk, novella, and play guide, but not
    a hint as to how to invoke any feature from the keyboard.  Can anyone
    supply me with the missing information?  Meanwhile, I've figured out
    how to select weapons, invoke stardrive, invoke tractor beam, etc.  How
    does one find and enter the tunnel system on Apogee?  I haven't gotten
    past that planet's surface yet, and therefore can't pick up better
    weapons, etc. 
    
    Thanks in advance, I'm dying to get on with defeating those Ergons!
    
    John

    After reading the novella, etc, I've been out in space collecting
    pirate cargo, etc. However, with or without the cargo, I can't persuade
    anything to happen in the service bays in the tunnels. Are there
    some where nothing happens? How do I persuade the inhabitants to
    give me the goodies? Do I need cargo for this?
    
    (Entries to tunnels are through tops of one of the two domed
    structures. They come in blue and red topped varieties. I think
    the red-topped ones were the entrances).

    It shouldn't matter which side you go in.  If you've tried, you know
    that you can stop in the middle of a tunnel, turn around, and go the
    other way, so the color of the entrance only signifies which port it is
    (if you're into memorizing or writing them down).  When you dock (pull
    completely within the cube, there should be writing at the bottom of
    the screen, saying such things as "If you give us a mechanical whale,
    we'll give you a diamond" or something.  If you come in to a tunnel,
    and there are bouncing bombs or fire and flees, tractor beam them and
    then collect them.  You should also do this to one of the little
    transports (forgot the name) because it contains the professor.  Just
    follow one of the little dudes and collect him.  Hope this helps.
    
    --mikie--
    
    P.S.  Do you have any trouble making save disks?  I took mine back (no
    replacement) because it wouldn't save (essential to winning the game).
    

    About this "Docking": I go into the service bay completely and either
    just sit there or try to put the icarus on the ground. Absolutely
    nothing happens. You refer to a cube. I have not really examined
    the shape of the service bay. It's just a small area with a door at each
    end which I blast to open. Am I missing a docking point or something?
    
    I have never been alive ling enough to need to save, so I do not
    know whether it works or not....
    
    

    	Ok, I see (hee hee) I wasn't paying attention...
    
    You haven't made it to the docking bay yet.  You're still in the
    tunnel.  You know how there are "forks" in the tunnel?  Well, you've 
    got to keep going and explore all of those.  You will end up going 
    down a part of the tunnel and entering a large cube shaped room.  If
    you're still on whatzawhozits (the planet you start out on), then it
    will welcome you and tell you how to make the bomb.  
    
    	The doors you blast open are still part of the tunnel.
    
    	The weapons I spoke of are at bays on other planets.
    
    --mikie--
                                                       

    Re: Docking
    
    If I remember correctly, not all of the bays have stuff in them.  I've
    been able to find more than one service bay on every planet I've
    visited, but some were empty.  
    
    
    					John