Space Rogue Classic Reviews

ever wanted a mix of ultima and elite? well, here you go.

The shit we put up with and somehow enjoyed.

an opening world ! what a real adventure!!

Rocking it old school in this surprisingly brilliant space sim

One of my all time favorite games, it was ahead of its time, having a storyline, and upgrading your ships, it doesn't age entirely well, but is still a fun play. Although the drawback is that you are missing the fairly needed instructions and map that would have come with the game. but searching the internet I am hoping to find them. The original manual is on this forum which is awesome, but I seem to remember the map and a list of button commands for the game. still looking.

This game... Seeing this show up on steam is something i've been waiting for. This has memories of losing entire weekends locked in my best friends room playing this running on caffiene and sugar. This was when a game could actually suck you in and keep you coming back for more. It was ahead of its time, factoring in gravity and physics. that said... i'll give you a little tip. when you encounter a titan class when running..... keep in mind they dont maneuver well and a sun has one hell of a gravitational pull.

I think it is safe to say almost anyone playing this 30+ year old game is either reliving their youth, doing research or lost a bet. But it IS remarkable how far ahead of its time this game was: Space exploration across 8 star systems, the ability to land on planets, speak to inhabitants, make money through trade, upgrade your ship, play video games within a video game (hive). Not to mention space based combat featuring optional newtonian physics and a good story/opportunity to be found where you get to be the hero. All in a DOS based game that didn't assume users had a mouse or even a sound card. This is the spiritual parent of so many modern games... Elite Dangerous, X4: Foundations, Stellaris, No Mans Sky, Avorion. But despite the fancy graphics, I find most modern space games too complicated. The magic of Space Rogue was its simplicity and the fact that it was equal parts space exploration, space combat and ground based interactions. Some hints: Don't use the games original save/load system. Instead, start up the game using "Play Space Rogue Classic in DOSBox Daum". DOS BOX has the ability to take a snapshot of the game state at any time by hitting ALT + F5. This allows you to save anytime you want without having to be in the cockpit. More important you can load your last save at anytime by hitting ALT + F9 (even during the startup video). Thus you can continue where you left off without having to go find an online copy of the manual to get past the ownership verification question. Hit ALT + ENTER to toggle between fullscreen and windowed. You need the window if you want to access DOS Box's Menu. Using the menu, you can have up to 8 save slots. DOSBox can also let you limit the CPU speed using the CPU menu. At certain points in the game, you may need to lower the cycles in order to run from guards and monsters. I used "fixed 150". Once those moments pass, you can set it back to 3000.

I was really happy to see this game come on steam. It´s one of those I remember fondly from my childhood as being one of those that had good immersion (or what was at those times considered "good immersion"), and it´s nice to relive those memories. Since it an ages old game, compared to these days the UI is horrendeous to use, graphics are very dated and the usual you can expect from a "classic game", but that´s what this is to me, a classic. And classics are classics for a reason. Along with Wing Commander and Elite, it was one of those that started a so far life long fascination with with space sims and the life of a opportunistic space trader who´s not afraid or above of doing a little fighting or piracy, atleast when there are no watchful eyes present. It´s not going to blow you away if you don´t have a certain fondness for what it was back in it´s day, but it´s a nice trip down the memory lane of gaming.