Spacebase startopia extended edition update#
Spacebase startopia extended edition series#

Even if you find the little hints that tell you what grows what, I never discovered the optimal number of aliens to tend to the plants. There are tooltips that tell you what terrain grows what items, but the game doesn’t take the moment to explain how production works there. You hire aliens to tend to it, grow plants, and harvest them, but it tells you nothing about running it properly. One of my major points of frustration with Spacebase Startopia is its unwillingness to really go into any depth explaining things. It’s really not the best way of doing things, but the staff menu can’t be sorted by species. I went by the rule that if I saw an accommodation go unstaffed, I’d just hire more of that alien.

Keeping track of your staff is an absolute pain because they have needs too, so they’ll screw off to take care of them whenever they get pissy. As for the bio deck, it’s not only the place where aliens go to get back to nature, it also produces supplies for you to manufacture in the factory.Īlong the way, you have to hire various aliens to keep these places running alongside your SCU… er, FUZZY drones. Arcade, discos, gambling dens, fancy hotels anything that can be bathed in neon goes there. You put your security, recycling, and security stuff down there.

The sub deck is the workhorse of your donut. There’s also a sandbox mode and co-op and competitive multiplayer options.

Spacebase startopia extended edition series#

The game is separated into a series of missions, each with a different focus and main objective. You place accommodations to try and meet the needs of the aliens that visit and sponge all the energy (money) out of their pockets. Most of the buildings are present with slight alterations, and the space donut is comprised of three levels: the sub level, the fun deck, and the bio deck. You had to juggle their needs while also dealing with other space issues like garbage and plagues. You were given the difficult task of keeping aliens from different backgrounds and different social levels happy on the same floating space donut. If you’re unfamiliar, Startopia was a space station management game that takes heavy inspiration from the cynical humor of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s still an endearing and memorable title for many reasons, but it doesn’t quite nail the landing. It turns out, I wasn’t in love with it anymore. I then picked it up again when it was re-released digitally by Square Enix. I made it a goal to find a copy, and eventually pulled one out of a bargain bin. I originally came across the title as a demo and was transfixed.

It was created by Mucky Foot, essentially a spin-off of Bullfrog patron saint of weird management games. Startopia might not be as odd of a choice as you’d expect. Two Point Hospital is a modernized Theme Hospital, Evil Genius 2 is an updated Evil Genius, and you can take your pick of RollerCoaster Tycoon renewals.

Spacebase startopia extended edition update#

Simply looking at the game can tell you that, yep, this is Startopia.Ī lot of old managerial games are seemingly getting the update treatment. The aliens are new, there’s no sexy love-alien brothel, and things have been renamed, but the list of similarities dwarf the differences. Sure, it’s got a new paint job and things got rejiggered. Make no mistake, though, this is Startopia. Looking over the marketing however, you’ll find a suspicious lack of mention for the original or a word about what it considers itself. On the surface, it is definitely some sort of remake/reimagining/remaster of 2001’s Startopia. Spacebase Startopia is a bit of a weird thing.