Star Saga: One - Beyond the Boundary - I Am Stone Bearer

With foreknowledge from previous play sessions, I plot a course to take me to the known planets, collecting some weapons and armor along with an extra cargo bay and the 3-bay drone. Satisfied in my preparation, I fire off towards sector 133-G, Frog Leg Nebula Astroid-1 (FLN-1). Ignoring all other stops, I come to orbit FLN-1 fairly early in my journey.

As soon as I arrive, I pick up the radio signal I read from my aunt's last note. It closely matches the cryptic patterns in Verse 5 of my tribe's Ancient Writings. To think, my aunt was so close to finding the stone, and now I anticipate to finish what all Stoneseekers have quested for in no less than a year.

Arriving at FLN-1, I discovered a barren asteroid. The signal was coming from deep within. After some searching I found a hatch, shut, frozen. Guess I'll just have to blast it open.

I turned my weapons systems on the hatch, blowing it right open. Beyond the hatch I found a tunnel. As I headed down, I thought back on the generations that came before me, and how close I am to discovering what each of them sought. It felt a little too easy.

At the end of the long passage, the floor leveled off, and I found myself on an alien ship. The radio signal was accompanied by high levels of radiation. The source of both is beyond the door to the captain's quarters. Radiation is too high for me to enter without a Super Space Suit. Looks like I'll need to explore a bit more.

Attempting to build a Super Space Suit out of thin air.

Partially defeated, I head off into the unknown in search of a space suit able to withstand the intense radiation. Once again, using my knowledge of the game, I know that Corbis is an easy source of Super Slip. The Primordial Soup can be retrieved from Bugeye. In my search, I land on other planets to collect some quick abilities, equipment, and cargo. Eventually, I'm able to build the Super Space Suit.

Wearing my new suit, I head straight back to FLN-1. Inside, I find a reptilian alien staring at me with glazed eyes, around his neck... the Core Stone!

Using the Flexion Glove, I retrieve the stone. I've completed the hardest part of my quest; now I must get back. Instead of heading back directly, I take some time to explore other planets in search of the components for the tri-axis drive. I know this is next after returning to my people. I'm lucky enough to find Fiyar, and gain an easy Warp Core. The last item I need is a Gradient Filter, which I end up getting after returning to Atlantis.

Upon my arrival, I'm greated with such jubilence that I regret my feeling that I want to leave again. The elders suggest I must take on the next step of my quest with the stone. It was always planned that the person to find the stone must also find its purpose. I must head towards the galactic arm, beyond the fringe, where the stone was found by Soulsinger. My next step, build a Tri-Axis Drive Booster.

I run a quick smuggling mission from Wellmet, re-enter the Nine Worlds, and am rewarded with a Gradient Filter. I then build the extra drive, and am ready to continue my journey into the arm. The only obstacle left is the planet Outpost. Just for fun, I head right over and can't even get through the first set of defenses.

It seems I don't quite have the fire power yet, so I gather the Hyper Beam, Technology Nullifier, and Ship Shield Generator. This with my other equipment is enough to see me through. Once again I reach the end of the first game. I'm going to spend some time exploring the planets to see what else I can find, but I don't expect anything more to appear for Corin.

Final Score: 4445
Turn: 290

* * * * * * *

I'm still learning much about Star Saga and how much is taken into account. While exploring, I've tried to jump plot points since I know the hidden actions. Some are always available without learning the action codes first hand. Here's what I've learned this time through:

• Any of the codes for building items are always available.
• Digging up the grave of Vanessa Chang's crew member on Koursh is locked because my character doesn't know the location to dig.
• However, finding Vanessa Chang's lost ship on Gazan doesn't require learning about it on Koursh, and doesn't require knowing High Darscian. So long as the automated defenses can be handled, this is definitely a good early stop for the Hyper Beam and 8-Bay Drone.
• Using a location based action code is not possible if your character isn't there.
• Using a build code without all the items will fail.
• Actions can fail completely, especially when the action is not repeatable, but is selected multiple times.
• The smuggling mission from Wellmet can only be started if your character has breached the boundary.
• The bomb on Arthlan that I avoided with levitation will also be avoided if the character has Whurffling (fore-sight). I'll get a character to trigger it at some point if it's possible.
• So far, my character hasn't died, and I wonder how hard it really is to find the game over screen alluded to in the manual. I have a feeling it's much easier to die in the second game.
• Exploring a location once isn't always enough. After the Swamp Monster on Organu is defeated, it's possible to encounter a Big Swamp Monster, which is tougher. I wonder how many similar locations exist.
• Even though I had the same equipment in the final battle, the values for each one was a little different. Could it be that arriving early meant the defenses weren't built up as much? I'll have to look into this a bit more.