Starblazer II News Place
Welcome to the Starblazer II News Place! The latest news on Starblazer II can be found here. The current news will always be found at the top of this page (right here), while links to each successive update will be found below.
11-14-22 Update
12-05-22 Update
3-24-23 Update
4-16-23 Update
4-16-23 Update
A BETA version port of Starblazer II for 32-bit Windows is now available. A server EXE is present, which allows you to launch a server on the ports indicated in svrcfg.ini, and then using main.exe, you can connect to the IP address in clientcfg.ini (using the same ports, and you can also set a screen resolution). If you wish to play over the internet and not merely over a LAN, all players must port-forward the addresses in the ini files. Download
3-24-23 Update
Yes, we're still alive! Starblazer II is alive and well and to that effect, we have both a playable demo and a video! The demo allows two machines to play together if connected via a serial port, though it requires a fairly speedy Pentium. We've been very busy but are overjoyed to finally have something to show off. We also have the tagline of Starblazer II prepared: YOU ARE CAPTAIN WILL STARBLAZER
Download link
Also make sure to keep your eyes peeled for STARBLAZER DX, an enhanced and improved version of the original STARBLAZER: 2000 A.D., coming soon!
12-05-22 Update
Sorry for the gap since the last update, the development team has been very busy both with designing art, coding the game, and writing the script. This update is a big one - astute readers may have noticed a new “STARBLAZER” logo on the website, now a fully 3D rotating model. That logo was rendered using our new software rasterization engine - Slipstream, which has been written specially for Starblazer II, with a focus on speedy performance, based on the industry-proven design of OpenGL.
The game has shifted focus from sprite scaling to 3D polygons, though the general hardware target (and gameplay style) is still the same. Our next update will feature early gameplay (likely an on-rails dogfighting demo) and animation. Music and sound effects are also in the works.
Finally, here’s a preliminary render of a 3D model to be used for one of the capital ships.
The entire development team thanks all readers for their continued interest in Starblazer II and more information will soon follow in due course. The website will also be reorienting around Starblazer II as development matures.
11-14-22 Update
Development on Starblazer II has officially commenced! Ideas for the game have been tossed around since April, with development starting and then tapering off in August, but a team for Starblazer II has finally been formed! This game is no small departure from the original, being a 32-bit game designed for a 486 or better with local bus graphics, joystick or mouse, CD-ROM, and SoundBlaster.
Above is extremely early footage of the gameplay, compiled using the Open Watcom compiler, which is tentatively in use. Obviously, the graphics are extremely rudimentary, but the basic starfield, laser bolts, and enemies (which are explodable) can be seen in our sprite scaling style. A preliminary HUD is also present, showing off the cockpit of your FX-1 starfighter, which is flown throughout most of the game.
To finish off the article, here’s a GIF of our full-motion-video engine in action. That’s right, Starblazer II will feature FMV cutscenes to advance the story! Back in late June, I wrote a simple and performant FMV codec using RLE and color cells that supports 160x100 15FPS 256-color video within the data rate of a single-speed CD-ROM (a 10 minute video - albeit one that was kind to the compressor - took only 24MB!), and that codec will be in use for Starblazer II. Speaking of, the Starblazer II CD-ROM will also include a rewrite of the original Starblazer, utilizing the seldom-used 160x200 16-color VGA mode.
We’ll try to push out frequent updates on the development process, but please bear with us as this is a massive development project that we are embarking on. It’s a huge effort, but we’ll try to be transparent throughout. Development updates may be as little as a brief text blurb and a screenshot or two, or as much as a small trailer. We also hope to have playable demos for major development milestones. See you at the next update!
- The Starblazer II Development Team