Star Saga: Two - The Clathran Menace: Summary and Rating

     

Star Saga: Two - The Clathran Menace

United States

Masterplay (developer and publisher)

Released 1989 for DOS, Apple II, and Apple IIGS

Date Started: 7 December 2024

Date Ended: 25 January 2025

Total Hours: 32 (1.9 winning games)

Difficulty: Easy (2.0/5), although tough to rate with this sort of game

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)   

    

Summary:

    

Like its predecessor (Star Saga: One - Beyond the Boundary), The Clathran Menace is a hybrid between a computer game and a board game. The computer keeps track of your inventory, health, statistics, and location, while you use a physical map to plot routes across the galaxy and physical books, with about 1,000 numbered sections, to read what happens. When you finish, you have both played a game and read a novel. You play one of six space explorers with both a personal quest and a general quest to understand and stop the slow advance of the Clathrans (a reptilian species) across the galaxy—all while the mental stresses caused by a widening "Dual Space Interphase" are causing havoc back on the Nine Worlds, including Earth.

   

The game involves a lot of reading, exploration, and trading, but not much in the way of traditional RPG mechanics. There are no probabilities associated with combat: either you have the right equipment to defeat the enemy or you don't. You get to choose where to go, but otherwise the character dialogue and choices are completely scripted—and, with a few exceptions, identical to every other player. The game is meant to be played with between 2 and 6 players who take turns of 7 "phases" each, but it can be played solo, and I did that for most of my experience. 

    

****

       

I was a bit exhausted when I finally got to the game's ending passages, although that was in part due to my decision to play it twice in a short time period, for which I can hardly blame the authors. Still, the basic format of the Star Saga games is not for me. I kept wishing the same plot were grafted onto a more traditional RPG like Starflight or Star Control, with proper combat mechanics, actual risk, and a more traditional inventory. I rather like the trade mechanics, though I'm not sure the game needed so much of it. I respect the opinions of players who enjoyed the multiplayer aspect of it, but I'm glad that I finished it by myself and saved my game-playing time with Irene for games that have a bit less reading and more action. We've been playing Descent: Legends of the Dark (2021) lately, and it has the same characteristics of being both a board game and a computer game, in both cases, I frequently find myself wishing that they had just gone all-in on one or the other.

         

To the extent that Star Saga is a "computer game," we have to confront the fact that it isn't really much of an RPG, lacking traditional character development and combat mechanics. Both the character and ship get stronger with purchases of weapons and defenses and the acquisition of special skills, but it's an odd sort of "development" given that combat is always about hitting a certain threshold. It would be as if in a traditional RPG, you always lost battles against orcs when you had a short sword, then always won the moment you acquired a long sword.

      

A random battle with a Clathran convoy. Having acquired the right items, I will never lose such a battle again.

     

Yet, to me, the most disappointing aspect of the series is not the lack of traditional RPG combat mechanics but the lack of any significant role-playing choices. The player has a lot of choices when it comes to directing the character to various places, but essentially none when it comes to deciding what the character will say or do. Moreover, even in the limited choices the player does get—what planets to visit in what order—he or she gets the same text, with the same dialogue, as every other player. That rather damages the illusion of the six characters as unique individuals with unique perspectives and motivations.

   

On the positive side, I praise the plot and the imaginative characteristics of the alien worlds. It was never boring to arrive on a new planet and start learning about its culture and history. The story is derivative in places, but the authors are aware of this and did it deliberately. I'm a tepid science fiction fan at best, so I'm sure a lot of references went completely over my head. I also liked the logistics of plotting trade routes, but again this is hardly an RPG staple.

     

I don't think the GIMLET works well with this type of game, so I'm going to skip the detailed analysis by category. Suffice to say that it naturally does best with the "Game World" (7) and overall nonlinear gameplay (5), but worst in traditional RPG mechanics like character development and combat. I had trouble applying some of the categories; are there really "NPCs" in those passages or just "Encounters"? I did my best, and it scored a 32 in total, one point higher than the first game, though I don't think that's significant. There are some variances in the categories between the two games, but they likely have more to do with my using different thought processes when applying the GIMLET categories and less to do with any real differences between the two titles.

       

It's nice to know that people were using "artificial intelligence" as spuriously in 1989 as today.

     

Vince DeNardo and Chris Lombardi reviewed the game in the September 1989 Computer Gaming World and agreed with me that it is "unfortunate" that the computer handles all combat. They note that there is more combat in Two than in One, "and the frustrations of not being able to pick and choose weapons and tactics [is therefore] magnified." They also lament the fact that if you lose a combat, you can't tell what sort of weapon, defense, or skill might help change the outcome; you just have to buy everything and hope for the best. They further note that non-combat skills are used less than in One. This is also true. I wondered at several points why I had bothered to acquire certain skills. I'm not sure "Darthan," "Flying," "Jump'r," "Sensaround," "Deresha," "Mellomia," and a variety of other skills ever played a role. I was confused until the end about the distinction between "Chameleon," "Illusion," and "Ghost" when it came to stealth.

   

The reviewers played with multiple players over several sessions, and they had some issues where some players spent multiple turns primarily trading while others spent the same turns primarily reading, creating a somewhat imbalanced and disjointed experience. However, their overall feelings were positive, and they thought it was equal to the first game. The same basic sentiments are found in the January 1990 Compute! review and the May 1990 Games Machine review. No one really liked the combat; everyone thought the text was well-written and addictive. Looking at pictures of the box and contents, I'm almost sorry that I played this all electronically. I might have enjoyed moving the game piece over the map (something for which I did not find an electronic analog) and marking up pages in the physical books. The setup is impressive just to look at, and even if I liked the game less than I did, or didn't like it at all, there's a sense in which I'd still have to admire it.

      

The writing was almost always good, but the sheer amount of text got to be a bit much.

      

The two Star Saga games were the only titles from Masterplay Publishing Corporation, the Florida-based company founded by Mike Massimilla and run by Andrew Greenberg. Production costs were expensive, and the first two games did not sell well enough to justify the third planned title. For 35 years, therefore, fans have tossed and turned at night, kept awake by their gripping questions about the Masters, why they hate and fear humanity, the Message, the Core, the fate of Vanessa Chang, and the true source of Flame Jewels.

   

For those sleepless fans, I have happy news: Mike Massimilla's daughter discovered my entry on Star Saga: One back in 2023. She alerted her father, who wrote to me and offered to share the story that would have been presented in Star Saga: Three. I present it gratefully below, only lightly edited. According to Mr. Massimilla, the game never went into production..

        

*****

    

Synopsis of Star Saga: Three - The Return of the Masters

By Mike Massimilla with contributions from Walt Freitag

    

In Star Saga: Three, the Explorers continue to encounter alien races, some still living and some only by their relics and ruins. These encounters are overall stranger than in the previous games. They are conveyed using abstract and psychedelic reality-bending styles of science fiction, as in the early George R.R. Martin short stories. The old races and ruins tell of an ancient cataclysmic war and a dominant race of psychic Masters. The war destroyed many planets and threatened all life in the galaxy. The Masters put an end to the war, using genetic technology to enslave the vicious Clathrans and pacify everyone else.     

Since then, intelligent races have not traveled far from their home worlds. There have been no recent wars, just limited trading and terraforming. This has been no accident: it was the effects of the Masters' intervention. The Masters kept tabs on any race that might be ambitious or threatening, and they took steps to limit that race. In most cases, they did this by modifying the race's genes. The Clathrans were genetically modified to be subservient police. They surveyed the galaxy, reported back to the Masters, and either weakened or exterminated any races deemed dangerous. The Space Plague that decimated the human worlds and led to the establishment of the Boundary was an example of this treatment. Many of the oddities of the races the players have met can be explained by the Masters' meddling.  The Masters were determined that Galactic War would never occur again.

The gameplay in the main portion of Star Saga: Three focuses on assembling sufficient technology to enter the Galactic Core, where the Masters live. The Core has a nearly impenetrable surface. Any matter that attempts to pass through disintegrates. The old races that live near the Core are said to have knowledge and abilities that can be combined to build a Core Ship. This has not been done in a long time.

Meanwhile, the dream about the Message becomes more insistent, and not only for the Explorers.  Humans back on the Nine Worlds are experiencing the Dream and speculating about what it might mean.  Even worse, the widening Dual Space Interphase is causing disturbing psychic episodes. People are anxious, confused, and occasionally violent. Society is at risk of falling apart. To save humanity, the Explorers must enter the Core, meet the Masters, and deliver the mysterious Message.  

Complicating the situation, the Explorers encounter a political conflict between two factions of Masters, more accurately known as Archaegenitors. There are not many Archaegenitors left, but they are powerful.  One faction sees humanity as a threat that must be destroyed at all costs. This faction, with the Clathrans doing their bidding, is symbolized by the green-scaled dragon. The other faction believes humanity is carrying the Message referred to in ancient texts, vital to the future of the galaxy. This faction is broadcasting psychic calls for humans to come to the Core. The Explorers meet various aliens aligned with each faction.  

Following various clues (a tip from a friendly alien race, an advanced tracking technology, etc.) the Explorers discover Vanessa Chang—still alive! She has been trapped in stasis on a ship she built trying to make it into the Core. The ship fortunately got caught in a time eddy, as it likely would have been pulverized. (The time eddy brings to mind the unfortunate planet stuck in a time loop; how did the Masters arrange that?) The Explorers rescue her, and she joins the expedition. More accurately, we should say that the Explorers join her. She provides important technology, history, and map coordinates.

Eventually, by getting enough help from the planets they visit, the Explorers upgrade Vanessa's Core Ship with everything they can. Small scale tests near the Core's surface look promising, but it's impossible to know for sure. In case they fail, the Explorers leave instructions behind for the next crew to attempt the mission. Taking the plunge, their ship slowly approaches the Core's surface. Space and time flow into a new dimension—a psychic one? Their minds expand, and they are through.

At this point, the game's finale begins (about a quarter of its total content). There are changes in game mechanics as the Explorers are now traveling together. Instead of separate exploration and trading, this segment poses problems requiring simultaneous actions by different crew members (whether played by one or multiple players). These are somewhat like multiplayer escape room mechanics, but as in previous Star Saga segments, they are based on narrated problems rather than abstract puzzles. There are no dead ends (getting stuck), and still no deaths.  (The printed books contained some red-herring death passages.)

Before the final chapter, the Explorers have to complete a quest that requires traveling back to the outer parts of the galaxy.  Fortunately, the Core Ship is capable of passing through Space Walls. No one is quite sure how Space Walls work. One of the old races recalls that they were created by a doomsday weapon used in the Galactic War.

Finally meeting with the seemingly all-powerful Archaegenitors, the Explorers learn that the Masters can no longer reproduce or travel outside the Core. The Masters have been able to perpetuate their race with cloning and genetic engineering, but each generation is physically weaker and less numerous. Moreover, they are extremely sensitive and poorly adapted to the widening Dual Space Interphase. [Ed. I thought the opposite was true about the Masters, but I didn't get a chance to clarify this with Massimilla. He might have meant "narrowing," or I might be confused about what "widening" means here.] They hope to eventually find a solution to further extend their lifespan, but their efforts thus far have been unsuccessful. Life for them is now difficult and painful.

The Masters ask for permission to examine one of the Explorers. An analysis of human DNA solves the mystery of the Message: it is humanity itself. A mostly forgotten farsighted faction of ancient Archeagenitors engineered humans to be their eventual successors. Humans were given enhanced intelligence, the desire to explore, hardiness to withstand danger, and an exact copy of the Archaegenitors' psychic genes. The closer the humans travel to the Core, the more powerful their psychic abilities become.

Given the revelation that humans are the Masters' descendants, the Masters unite in support. They agree to put the fate of the galaxy in human hands. They will train the Explorers how to use the genetic technology and how to command the Clathrans.  However, the Masters warn that keeping watch over the galaxy is no easy task. What, they ask, do the Explorers think is the best course of action for the future?  Will they:

      

• Continue the Masters' legacy, using the genetic engineering throughout the galaxy to ensure peace? Or:

• Abandon the genetic technology and let life go its own way, even if that might again someday again lead to galactic war?

     
Meanwhile, the widening Dual Space Interphase threatens everyone. Maybe a solution can be found if all the races of the galaxy work together.

The End

    

*****

   

Chet again. I like it. I think it would have wrapped up the series nicely. Again, it draws from existing tropes about "ancestor races" without precisely copying them. It leaves the players with a major role-playing choice at the end. I'm curious how that would have been handled with multiple players, as I'm curious about how the turn-based gameplay would work once the players are united with Chang. It's possible that the authors hadn't worked that out before they abandoned the project.

   

A March 1990 Computer Game World article about the pending sale of the franchise.

     

My understanding is that as Masterplay dissolved, they sold the rights to Star Saga to Cinemaware, which did nothing with them and was itself out of business a year later. While the rights were for sale, Andrew Greenberg was interviewed for a brief September 1990 Computer Gaming World piece. It's a curious interview, as in the space of just a few lines, Greenberg says that the company's decision to support the Apple II, which was incapable of advanced graphics, partly accounted for poor sales, but then he goes on to reject the idea that graphics are needed or even desirable for the game. To me, especially since they also released it for DOS, the more likely explanation is that the $80 price tag (around $200 today) was too steep for most players, and that the hybrid nature of the gameplay didn't appeal to them.

   

As we discussed in the opening entry, Mr. Greenberg died in 2024 at age 67. His negative experiences with Sir-Tech on Wizardry led him to become an intellectual property attorney. He was beginning this career in Tampa at the same time he was running Masterplay. Mike Massimilla, who did most of the programming, became a software engineer for a variety of industries. Rick Dutton and Walt Freitag wrote most of the game text; Dutton went to medical school and became an anesthesiologist; Freitag remained active in the CRPG community through online forums and has worked in a variety of industries. I thank Mr. Massimilla and Mr. Freitag for offering the conclusion to the story even as I think that modern technology might offer new life to the franchise should they wish to pursue it.