Game:

Starflight (1986)

Duration: 9:54

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Starflight

Developer: Binary Systems
Release Year: 1986
Genre: RPG / Simulation
Platform: PC
Edition: US

mobygames.com: The story begins on the planet Arth, a haven for the survivors of the Old Empire. Arthian society is highly unusual since it is composed four highly-sentient species including the insectoid Veloxi, the plant-based Elowan, the reptilian Thrynn and the humanoid Humans. There are also Androids which no one on Arth can remember how the Arthians acquired the technology to build them. The races all get along and Arthian society is stable and peaceful, inclusively. Due to heavy radiation, the inhabitants have been forced to live beneath the planet's crust for centuries. In recent times, the radiation has finally dissipated from the atmosphere, allowing the population to dig their way back to the surface. While digging, they unearth long-lost technology belonging to Arth's original settlers. The inhabitants of Arth have recently discovered two things: first, that they were once a colony world of Earth; and second, Endurium, a crystalline mineral that fuels interstellar, faster than light (superphotonic) flight. An independent company on Arth called Interstel has arranged with the Arth government to not only build space ships but also to build an orbiting space station. From this space station, Interstel is hiring crews for space ships and is dispatching these crews and ships to mine for resources, particularly Endurium, and collect any interesting life forms and artifacts. In addition, Interstel employees are instructed to seek information about Arth's history, alien artifacts, and planets with optimum environments for colonization. Early in the game, Arth scientists discover that stars throughout the local region of the galaxy are flaring, and the home planet of Arth is in danger. By following clues given in Interstel announcements and through contact with alien races in space, the crew discovers an Old Empire starship adrift in space. An endlessly repeating distress call has been transmitting from the ship for over a thousand years. Before the fall of the Old Empire, a scientific expedition known as the Noah 9 left Earth in search of Heaven, a paradise world to which humans could immigrate. The expedition never arrived, leaving a fleet of Mechan ships forever waiting for their arrival. Once their coded questions are answered correctly, the Mechans assume that the crew is, in fact, the long-awaited Noah 9 and that the Mechans "race" is actually based on the same kind of androids the Arthians are familiar with. Further investigation leads the crew to Earth, the home world of the Old Empire. The planet lies in ruins and is devoid of all life, but contains information about the history of Old Empire and its fate. Additional clues are found in the Four Seedlings, a quadralaterally symmetrical system made up of four suns. Centuries ago, the leaders of the Old Empire realized something was causing hostile aliens to flee from the center of the galaxy. The greatest minds from each of the races gathered at this location, where they discovered that the Crystal Planet was slowly eradicating all life. In a last act, they sent a human named Commander McConnell to end it, but he failed. At the start of the game, the Crystal Planet is slowly moving through the galaxy. The planet causes nearby stars to flare up and destroy all life in the system. The player must explore solar systems, gather clues, and find special artifacts that grant access to the Crystal Planet, ultimately destroying it before the player's home system flares. Commander McConnell's last journal entry can be found on the surface of the Crystal Planet; in it, he shares his discovery that Endurium is actually a race of living, sentient beings who are being burned up as fuel for interstellar travel. Because their metabolism is extremely slow due to their crystalline makeup, they are not even aware of outside life and have come to view other races as a virus. The game is won after the player successfully plants an artifact on the Crystal Planet's surface and retreats back into space, causing the planet to explode, though the game can still be played after the Crystal Planet is destroyed.