CGA-2026-04 🕹️🚀🧑🚀 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Space Rogue
Hello there, space rogue! It's time to dock with the mothership, put a glide in your stride and a dip in your hip, and report to us about your adventures.
Did you play Space Rogue? Did you uncover the mysteries of the universe? Did you conquer Hive? Did you forget to fill in the friendship book? Tell us about your experiences! Or if you didn't play, tell us why this title didn't pique your interest.
In a couple of days, we will leave behind the life of a pirate, trader and bounty hunter, disembark from the Jolly Roger and hoist the Jolly Roger for a life of a pirate, trader and bounty hunter, this time in Sid Meier's Pirates!, a game so brilliant that it deserves an exclamation mark.
See you on the salty seas! Or not, if my lookout spots your vessel before yours spots mine, and my master gunner is on top of their game. Arrrr.
CGA Announcement: We have officially ejected the cartridge for Space Rogue. No worries if you're not done -- there is still plenty of time left in the month to play!
This topic is for people to share their parting thoughts and experiences. Spoilers are NOT required to be hidden for this topic, so if you're reading this before you've finished, be careful about reading any comments here.
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In the insert cartridge topic, I defended Space Rogue for design decisions which might feel outdated now but which, I argued, were perfectly fine back when the game was first released. But there is one feature which I very much grew to dislike.
When you die, the game just quits. No menu, no option to load a save file. Not even enough time to read the fluff text. Just a quick slap in the face and goodbye.
It feels needlessly harsh. Especially when you didn't die in space combat, but because you tried to talk to the wrong person at the wrong time, or just walked into the wrong room. Unpredictable instakills are not fun, especially if they throw you out of the game. It was way too tempting to stop playing whenever I was kicked out, rather than going through the hassle of booting up the game again.
I had less free time this month than I had hoped, so I admit to making the game a little easier for myself. Not only did I use a copy of the trading table found in this Space Rogue walkthrough, but I also made use of a hex editor and this save file editing guide when I got stuck with almost no shields left, my weapons damaged, and no way to get them repaired. And while at it, I also added a couple of thousand credits to my account, as I was tired of repetitive merchant life and wanted to proceed with the story.
I think the game might have been easier if I had a mouse. I never learnt to control the ship with my trackball, so I was left performing space flight manoeuvres with a keyboard. Every encounter with an enemy was an exercise in finger dexterity.
And yet, the game still instils awe in me. I know the 3D simulation is crude and the plot a little plain at times, but each successful docking and deep space jump still feels like a religious experience to me, and the game does feature a bunch of wonderfully diverse characters and situations. It's all really well written, occasional typos and all, making it feel like a living universe to me.
It'll be fun to contrast Space Rogue with Sid Meier's Pirates!. The game design ideas are in many ways very similar. But there is a clear difference in focus and execution.
I played this for several hours, but did not get very far at all. I played the C64 version, which sounds like it was easier to set up compared to the DOS one. Saving to disk worked, and with the hacked cartridge version I used even loading times were not too slow.
I traveled back and forth between the 2 stations in the first area the whole time though. I didn't get out of that first region. The shame!
I got my license and did the side quest the NPC gives you in the blue station, but other than that there wasn't much in the way of story. Making money was very difficult. I started with 1500 credits, and when I stopped playing I had 1300, after several trips. Less than what I started with! Although I did buy extra cargo pods. I messed up by buying "anagathics" for 200 cr and they spoiled on the short trip. A few NPCs ripped me off, partially because I didn't know what to ask them. I bought a strange item, some sort of contact lens set, from an alien. It cost 250 cr and had no effect at all.
The trading part of the game felt terrible for making money. Compared to Elite, where the commodities are mostly fixed for particular locations and prices fluctuate slightly, here the items vary greatly, are limited to just a handful each trip, and only a couple make actual profit. Going from the blue station to the green one, I don't think there are any profitable items. And if the green station doesn't have titanium or some other commodity that earns a profit, you can make a couple of trips with nothing to show for it.
I wasn't brave enough to try trafficking contraband, which some characters have hinted as being a quicker way to make money. I remember you could buy forged cargo papers from an NPC at some point. According to a tips page I read, the order you have legal / illegal goods in your cargo hold can also affect getting caught.
One time I got attacked by pirates on a trip between stations. I couldn't hit them at all with my lasers, and then they (eventually) killed me. Maybe I was doing it wrong, but the only way to see where your enemies are is to turn on the tracking feature, but if you do that, you can no longer shoot lasers! I don't think I hit a single enemy.
I tried going through the wormhole near the starting point too, but after a few attempts falling back out I was unable to progress there. I managed to stay on track until near the end once, but my ship's hull didn't last the journey and I got a game over with the end in sight. There is probably some trick to it. Maybe I need more practice, or better shields.
The space stations are sadly fairly empty things. They have all these interesting layouts and places to sniff around, but they don't contain anything worthwhile. You hunt through peoples bedrooms or wander through locked areas, but there's nothing there to find.
I definitely have fonder memories of playing the game in the early 90s than playing it this time round. It feels very grindy. Something like Ultima IV (say) has obtuse parts, but the NPCs give you clues as to what you're supposed to do. Exploration of the overworld is fairly easy, so if someone says "speak to this guy in Minoc", you can just hike over there. Getting into fights naturally gets you gold, and for a long time it's easy to win fights unless you are very ill-prepared. Here the NPCs are random on the space stations, so it's possible to miss dialog there. After a few goes round I think I had spoken to everyone. Even then, the clues were not very helpful.
Since I was stuck in the first galaxy, I couldn't find out much more. Exploration is hampered by the 3D part being too tricky for me, or maybe I've not upgraded my gear enough, which exposes the grindy aspect of the trading and its small amounts of cash. Fights in 3-D were impossible and netted me nothing but game-overs. Shield damage was expensive to repair, and ate into my meager reserves. Again, U4, the King will heal you to 100% for free, making the early game easy to get through.
If I were to ask for a remake or update of this, I'd like more areas in the first galaxy. I'd also like free ship repair early on, maybe at one of the newbie stations. I'd change the trading so there were always things that were profitable available. I'd also add some better clues as to what to do. I'd put some stuff in the space stations too, to make exploration worth it. Even basic one-off items you could trade for cash would be an improvement over nothing at all.
So yeah, I used to really like this game in my memories, but I don't think it has aged very well. Too slow to get going, and early balance is not nice. I'm pretty sure it gets better after that, but after 5-10 hours it had gone nowhere, and I don't have infinite time to pour into these games any more.
I've never played Elite (1984), but would like to give it a go some time. After playing 1,000+ hours of Elite Dangerous, I'd love to see how it compares to its progenitor(s).
Wing Commander would be another fun one to try. Despite being a little uncertain on Star Citizen, I do think it's really cool that both creators are still trying to make the best space games they can.
I'm jealous. I too was planning to play Space Rogue and Pirates! on my C64(s), but alas, both my tape deck AND my disk drive have developed some issues. As it stands, I'm left with four C64s and no way to load anything.
Which might actually be good, as I really should start by upgrading the power supplies. Using 40-year-old PSUs is a one-way ticket to a disaster, or so I hear. I just haven't felt like doing anything about it, because every time I start to think about it, I end up dreaming about a mod that could add an SD card reader, then realise that I could just buy a new C64 instead (like the recently released Ultimate), then remember that I don't have a suitable monitor or CRT TV to really get the authentic experience, then realise that if I were to buy one I'd have to find a place for it, then end up planning a total house renovation. And I'm not sure my wife would approve.
It's actually a quest item that I think is needed at one point to proceed in the story. But you of course couldn't have known at that point in the game.
Yeah, it can be a bit confusing.
Page 19 of the manual says this about the tracking feature (Target Acquisition Computer): "For beam weapons, the TAC checks for a clear, line-of-sight path to your target. If the target lies out of the path, is too far away, or is blocked by another object, your TAC will stop the beam weapon from firing. This prevents needless discharging of the beam weapon's batteries (and embarrassing attacks on friendly ships that fly unexpectedly in your path)."
Perhaps you were moving too slowly? Page 25 of the manual: "Move through the wormhole as quickly as possible. Corrosive gases within the hole damage all known classes of hull armor." It also makes a note that there is a null damper to counter this effect, with the previous owner of the ship having added the helpful words "the black market" in the margins.
I agree, it felt more grindy than I remembered. I wonder how much of this feeling came from "having to" play through the game in a month. Normally, I would take several months to get through a game like this, with long breaks in between gaming sessions. Or, alternatively, sometimes I can just get "in the zone" for general grinding in games that I love, and can spend a couple of evenings just doing repetitive tasks and really enjoying it. I didn't get there with Space Rogue this time around. I think the last game that really activated that desire in me was Sekiro. I don't really remember what I was trying to achieve, but I remember spending hours and hours just running the same loop in that game. Probably chasing some achievement or item or both.
Early on this month I was considered creating a web based good samaritan service, where any Space Rogue player could upload their save file and the system would repair their ship (modify the save file). But as there wasn't much activity in the insert cartridge topic, I thought no one was likely interested in the game, so there would be no point.
And it wouldn't of course have helped you if you played on a C64 like a real pro!
Since you mentioned the Ultima series, do you think that it has aged better? And which entry in the series do you think has best stood the test of time? I've actually been quite surprised that no one has (I think?) so far nominated any Ultima game for CGA.
Regrettably, I did not get a chance to start off Space Rogue. This month ended up being a particularly busy one for me.
We’re about to start up the Backlog Burner though, so I’m hoping to play it (alongside Pirates!) then.
I'm sorry.
I come to you, hat in hand, making this post as an act of contrition.
I bought Space Rogue at the beginning of the month (also Pirates!) and then never bothered to actually play. I won't say I was busy, even though I technically was, it was just with other games. I don't usually have a ton of time to game and the time that I did have was utterly sucked up by this other game. Space Rogue was in the back of my mind the entire time, but I just didn't want to go through the learning process of it.
Anyway, I apologize for my lack of participation. I'm often somewhat bad at this, usually only playing our monthly games for a couple of hours, but I didn't even touch this one at all.
I have to admit to have struggled with this one. Of all the games featured so far, this one has been the retroiest of them all. I stumbled over the controls, the interface, and just getting Dosbox to behave. When I tried looking up video guides, I found that I was just watching other people stumble around instead of me.
Then I went back and properly read the Insert Cartridge thread, and it turns out that @vili did an excellent job of explaining exactly what to do, and how to get started. Thanks vili!
I sort of left this one for the last minute, so I admit I don't have too much to say. I did complete the introduction: getting my pilots license from the green goblin man, buying big weapons, and having a vacuum cleaner cauterize my leg.
As for how I spent the rest of my credits, I stocked up on extra cargo bays and loaded them with titanium. Everybody needs titanium, right? Sure enough, I made a cool profit on the first sucker I found out in the black.
I then met Sir Eld, who recognized me for the established merchant I am. We did a little quid pro quo, nothing to worry about there.
I returned to the first station and jammed out with some video games. Have you folks tried Hive? I made it to level 3, until I got swarmed on the very last mound, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. So close...
At that point, I accidentally found myself in a restricted area -- I must have jimmied the lock somehow while leaning against the wall. Somebody tipped off the guards and I found myself flung out into space.
That's where I've ended for now. I intend to play some more, though I don't know if I'll do another comment. It took me a while to get into the groove, but I seem to be on my way now.
I do think this is the kind of game I might enjoy vicariously by watching an experienced player. So if anybody has any suggestions of Let's Plays or similar, I'd be interested in checking them out.
I would say this series of videos is probably the best out there.
Thanks for the link. It's funny that this also opens with him having to look up the controls. That appears to be a universal experience.
I'm on episode four now, and he's definitely more adept at the game than I was. I like the smuggling gameplay. That seems like a more exciting way to do cargo runs than just moving titanium.
Wow...Space Rogue, really?
I might be one of the few people who bought the Macintosh port. Still have the box somewhere, complete with the disk and faux spacecraft owner's manual with ersatz coffee-cup stains on the cover.
For the time, the spaceflight graphics were pretty revolutionary and the plot nice and dense, in my opinion. (Not so by modern standards, as others have pointed out.) I finished the entire game, working as a trader.
(I was just godawful at Hive, though; despite many attempts I think I only managed to earn money back once. Thematically, Hive was very reminiscent of John Steakley's novel 'Armor'.)
I was excited to try this one, but I think I knew that deep down some of my love of old DOS games was rose tinted nostalgia and this game showed that was true. I had a hard time getting into it and some of its novel game mechanics didn't live on for a reason. I didn't get too far because I had a rough month that didn't give me a lot of time, but I still think I'll give it another shot in the future so I am glad I picked it up and participated.
Hey everyone, sorry I've been missing the last couple of months. I was feeling a bit burnt out regarding gaming, so I decided to take a little bit of a break from CGA.
I'm hoping I will find my motivation to rejoin next month!