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    Federation Quest 1: BSS Jane Seymour

    Game » consists of 3 releases. Released 1990

    A sci-fi action game with a first-person perspective. The player must fix a series of starships with failing systems before they explode, contending with runaway alien lifeforms throughout.

    ST-urday #004: Federation Quest 1: B.S.S. Jane Seymour

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    Mento

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    Edited By Mento  Moderator

    ST-urday's going to keep going down this Eurotrash hole for the time being, looking at the sorts of unique products coming out of my home continent in the late 80s and early 90s. We're back in the UK with Gremlin Graphics as it turns out, the developers behind the adaptations of board games Space Crusade and HeroQuest - the former was covered during the Estival ST Festival and the latter's definitely on the upcoming list. They acted as publishers for this particular game: the developer was a guy named Dr. Dinosaur. Yeah.

    As for the past week, well, it's been a period of highs and lows. The passing of Satoru Iwata is a heavy blow that this industry, let alone Nintendo, won't be quick to recover from. It's a common observation that the higher up a corporate chain a person gets, the less they seem like a human; every public appearance they make is carefully crafted and stilted so as to not to lose face or seem weak in front of investors and millions of consumers. Iwata cared more about the games he was producing to ever let any of those corporate charades get to him, and dared to be silly in his frequent appearances in the Iwata Asks and Nintendo Directs his company would regularly produce. Dude always came across as genuine, and I hope Nintendo carries on in that spirit. Please understand.

    On the flip side, between Contradiction: Spot the Liar! and Rocket League, we've had a lot of fun with GBEast coverage this week. And I was concerned there'd be nothing to show this month, smack dab in the middle of the Summer slump. Here's hoping next week will be just as entertaining; between SGDQ (check out my write-up for a Wiki Project concerning SGDQ if you haven't seen it yet) and Rick and Morty season 2 on the 26th, I just need to hang in there for another six days. I suppose there is that Metal Gear Solid 4 playthrough I've been putting off...

    Federation Quest 1: B.S.S. Jane Seymour

    No Caption Provided

    Federation Quest 1: B.S.S. Jane Seymour (US title is "Spacewrecked: 14 Billion Light Years From Earth") is one of those games that, from all appearances, seems steeped in obtuse rules and mechanics, but is actually deceptively straightforward. You do need some direction before playing it though, which is why I'm here (or perhaps the wiser choice would be an online copy of the manual). There's a lot to unpack, but let's just start with the title.

    I believe the Federation Quest series was meant to be a multi-part series of dungeon crawling games with a sci-fi theme. Think something like Captive, which I covered a little while ago in a Brief Jaunt: the mechanics of Dungeon Master, just with a handful of modifications to make it work in a sci-fi setting. I don't know how well this first game did, but it probably says something that there wasn't ever a Federation Quest 2. B.S.S. Jane Seymour is the setting of the game: a spaceship that was briefly lost to the Federation for over a year after being hit with the radiation from a nova before reappearing with failing systems and still a considerable amount of distance to go before reaching Earth (no Event Horizon hell dimensions, fortunately (or unfortunately?)). The player is one of the surviving crew, and must systematically repair each ship in BSS Jane Seymour's fleet (there's twenty, so that's twenty "dungeons") until they can get the transporters back online and can head over to the next one. The flagship at the very end of the chain is thought to have enough fuel to make the trip back home to Earth, though it'll also be the closest to full meltdown in the time it'll take to get there.

    Of course, it's never that simple. Captured alien specimens have escaped and are rampaging across the ships, crewmembers have mentally deteriorated due to sustained cryosleep and are now psychotic madmen and every ship is continually losing power to vital systems, including life support. There's a ticking clock to every mission, though fixing a few key systems gives you some breathing room to fix the rest. While it's all a little confusing and stressful with that time limit and your limited means to defend yourself from hostiles, each of the twenty ships follow a similar repair process and you'll get into the swing of things quickly enough.

    It's also distinctly less "RPG" than other games in the genre as your character never goes up levels or gets stronger: rather, the goal for each mission is to explore the ship, repair the key systems with coolant and move onto the next one. It's simply that items and geography get shifted around, tougher monsters are present and more systems begin on the fritz as you get further along. It's an odd format for a game - an action-adventure game with a dungeon-crawling format that emphasizes your role in the story as an engineer and mechanic with limited martial ability. It's a bit like EA's Dead Space in that regard, and almost as spooky when the lights go out.

    Welcome to BSS Jane Seymour! As title screens go, this seems a little thrown together.
    Welcome to BSS Jane Seymour! As title screens go, this seems a little thrown together.
    You get this cool little docking animation before the game drops us back to the main menu.
    You get this cool little docking animation before the game drops us back to the main menu.
    This is the main menu. You also come here to save/load the game, and there's even passwords if you don't have a formatted save disc handy. We can also select our avatar here: there's Arnold Schwarzenegger, or...
    This is the main menu. You also come here to save/load the game, and there's even passwords if you don't have a formatted save disc handy. We can also select our avatar here: there's Arnold Schwarzenegger, or...
    Téa Leoni? Let's stick with the Terminator. I suspect I'll need the muscle.
    Téa Leoni? Let's stick with the Terminator. I suspect I'll need the muscle.
    The game just dumps you in the hangar and lets you get on with it. It does at least give you a handful of useful items right off the bat.
    The game just dumps you in the hangar and lets you get on with it. It does at least give you a handful of useful items right off the bat.
    We have a pass key with a limited amount of power, a goshdarned gun and a mysterious book.
    We have a pass key with a limited amount of power, a goshdarned gun and a mysterious book.
    Oh. Cute. Well, while I'm here, might as well explain this interface. Your face, heart and ECG all tell you different things about your status: face is HP (or
    Oh. Cute. Well, while I'm here, might as well explain this interface. Your face, heart and ECG all tell you different things about your status: face is HP (or "stamina") and gets progressively more skull-like as you take damage (what did I tell you all last time when playing T2? Skull HP gauges forever). Heart displays the effects of radiation or poisoning and the ECG changes if you've been performing strenuous activities, like fighting or running around too much. Your health comes back gradually, but not as quickly if you're stressed or poisoned.
    Hydroponics is one of the many
    Hydroponics is one of the many "non-vital" room types you can come across while exploring the ship. While vital to any star voyage, there's nothing we can do here: it simply serves as dungeon dressing.
    There are many terminal rooms on the ship, and they act as great hubs because of how vital they are for information. The player has a map, a database of the creatures/crewmembers they might meet and a diagnostics window that tells you how all the ship's systems are doing, but all three can only be accessed from within one of these rooms. A room that can be interacted with has its own symbol on the bottom taskbar, which in this case is using the terminal. As long as I'm in here, I can access it.
    There are many terminal rooms on the ship, and they act as great hubs because of how vital they are for information. The player has a map, a database of the creatures/crewmembers they might meet and a diagnostics window that tells you how all the ship's systems are doing, but all three can only be accessed from within one of these rooms. A room that can be interacted with has its own symbol on the bottom taskbar, which in this case is using the terminal. As long as I'm in here, I can access it.
    The map fills in as you explore, of course, and uses a very easy-on-the-eyes grid model. Rooms also have number and color codes to help distinguish them.
    The map fills in as you explore, of course, and uses a very easy-on-the-eyes grid model. Rooms also have number and color codes to help distinguish them.
    The room codes tie into the ship's systems. There's a lot of information feedback here, but essentially the golden items are the
    The room codes tie into the ship's systems. There's a lot of information feedback here, but essentially the golden items are the "master" systems, while the greys underneath each of them are their "slave" systems. By fixing the golden one, you also fix the greys attached to it. I'll just quickly whizz through these: Bio Control involves the ship's lifeforms, which isn't so important on its own but if Cryogenics or Stasis Fields start failing, they'll unleash their contents (insane crewmembers and aliens, respectively) on the ship, which will be a big issue for us. Life Support is self-explanatory, and easily the most important to fix first. The galley serves food, making it a free-healing zone, but only if it's operational. Lighting is self-explanatory (hope you have a flashlight if it goes down), malfunctioning doors mess up the passkey system and rad filters are, in addition to being rad, necessary to prevent radiation poisoning. The rest are information-based, and if they go down you'll get less info from the terminal rooms. Phew!
    Despite all that, our directions are clear: we need to find flasks (and the manufacturing room to create more), fill them with coolant in the laboratory and then head to the various rooms that house those master systems and repair them with the coolant. There's a few more wrinkles to take care of, but we'll access that bridge when we come to it.
    Despite all that, our directions are clear: we need to find flasks (and the manufacturing room to create more), fill them with coolant in the laboratory and then head to the various rooms that house those master systems and repair them with the coolant. There's a few more wrinkles to take care of, but we'll access that bridge when we come to it.
    Ah, the game's other big headache: robots. The player can have up to six robots following them at any given time. They have multiple applications, not least of which is additional inventory space, and can also be programmed to go off an perform repairs and other tasks while you focus your efforts elsewhere.
    Ah, the game's other big headache: robots. The player can have up to six robots following them at any given time. They have multiple applications, not least of which is additional inventory space, and can also be programmed to go off an perform repairs and other tasks while you focus your efforts elsewhere.
    While each bot is purpose-built - the sensor droid here will inform me if enemies are nearby with its built-in lifeform detector - they can be given additional command routines via data cartridges you find lying around. I'll set this little guy to follow me for now, but it's worth keeping in mind that almost everything in the game eats power while turned on and the ship can only recharge so much while it's in disrepair like this.
    While each bot is purpose-built - the sensor droid here will inform me if enemies are nearby with its built-in lifeform detector - they can be given additional command routines via data cartridges you find lying around. I'll set this little guy to follow me for now, but it's worth keeping in mind that almost everything in the game eats power while turned on and the ship can only recharge so much while it's in disrepair like this.
    I just so happen to have a Medical cartridge I found next to the droid, so now it'll heal me whenever I ask it to. Also, this red herring? Don't worry about it. It's not important.
    I just so happen to have a Medical cartridge I found next to the droid, so now it'll heal me whenever I ask it to. Also, this red herring? Don't worry about it. It's not important.
    That reclin-o-bed sure looks comfortable. If all the cabins look like this, I think I understand why everyone went insane. You might've noticed that the text side-bar has been yelling at us for a while about the missing energy flux decoupler - the ship can't really be fixed without restoring power first. Fortunately, that's what that thing in the middle of the room is.
    That reclin-o-bed sure looks comfortable. If all the cabins look like this, I think I understand why everyone went insane. You might've noticed that the text side-bar has been yelling at us for a while about the missing energy flux decoupler - the ship can't really be fixed without restoring power first. Fortunately, that's what that thing in the middle of the room is.
    It's a large item, so I can't carry it in my inventory: I can only hold or wear items that size, and the latter only if it's something I can put on (like a spacesuit). Fortunately, my robot chum's a little burlier than I am.
    It's a large item, so I can't carry it in my inventory: I can only hold or wear items that size, and the latter only if it's something I can put on (like a spacesuit). Fortunately, my robot chum's a little burlier than I am.
    Hooray! This is one of the intermediary steps we needed to take of first. The initial dungeon makes it easier by putting it and the power room close to where we start, but future dungeons won't be quite so accommodating.
    Hooray! This is one of the intermediary steps we needed to take of first. The initial dungeon makes it easier by putting it and the power room close to where we start, but future dungeons won't be quite so accommodating.
    Regardless of how fixed some systems are, there'll still be rooms like this one where the lights don't work or there'll be too much background radiation around. With a flashlight it's not a problem, but you have to find one first.
    Regardless of how fixed some systems are, there'll still be rooms like this one where the lights don't work or there'll be too much background radiation around. With a flashlight it's not a problem, but you have to find one first.
    I do have one. The game's generous this early on. I also have a lifescanner, a knife for when my gun runs out, a funnel which makes moving coolant around easier and... that's a flamethrower. Huh. Maybe I'll just take that with me...
    I do have one. The game's generous this early on. I also have a lifescanner, a knife for when my gun runs out, a funnel which makes moving coolant around easier and... that's a flamethrower. Huh. Maybe I'll just take that with me...
    Our first alien! Greedo here isn't a big threat, but I've already expended my handgun ammunition and have gone mano-a-fisho with this boxcutter. You can see that I've taken a few hits. An explanation for how weapons work: all weapons produce a crosshair on the main window, which jiggles around a lot as you try to line up a shot (because you're terrified, you see). As long as the crosshair is in within the monster's sprite when you fire, it counts as a hit. It makes for the worst FPS ever (a year before Wolfenstein 3D even!) but it's an interesting mechanic for this genre.
    Our first alien! Greedo here isn't a big threat, but I've already expended my handgun ammunition and have gone mano-a-fisho with this boxcutter. You can see that I've taken a few hits. An explanation for how weapons work: all weapons produce a crosshair on the main window, which jiggles around a lot as you try to line up a shot (because you're terrified, you see). As long as the crosshair is in within the monster's sprite when you fire, it counts as a hit. It makes for the worst FPS ever (a year before Wolfenstein 3D even!) but it's an interesting mechanic for this genre.
    When enemies die, they leave behind... a typo and a not-so-well tended gravestone? This game likes to have its fun, imminent threats of disintegration aside.
    When enemies die, they leave behind... a typo and a not-so-well tended gravestone? This game likes to have its fun, imminent threats of disintegration aside.
    Medibot here can patch me up. I sort of wish I'd remembered about the flamethrower during that fight, but switching weapons in your inventory happens in real-time and I was kind of busy.
    Medibot here can patch me up. I sort of wish I'd remembered about the flamethrower during that fight, but switching weapons in your inventory happens in real-time and I was kind of busy.
    The recharge room is a great find. As well as recharging my energy weapons - there's one on the floor there, conveniently - I can also recharge some other things.
    The recharge room is a great find. As well as recharging my energy weapons - there's one on the floor there, conveniently - I can also recharge some other things.
    Stuff like my flashlight, my robotic companion and even door passes. The way door passes work is that each door requires a certain amount of door pass
    Stuff like my flashlight, my robotic companion and even door passes. The way door passes work is that each door requires a certain amount of door pass "power" before they'll open. The higher the security clearance, the more power the pass needs. Key cards don't expire, but they will eventually drop to "red" making them useless until recharged.
    Since I have a few full
    Since I have a few full "white" door passes now, I can continue past some of the security doors in the previous corridor. i'd really like to start finding one of the four Master system rooms before I start losing lights and oxygen.
    No real reason for this screenshot. I just wanted to show off these ugly carpets again. The game has some decent graphics for 1990, but these
    No real reason for this screenshot. I just wanted to show off these ugly carpets again. The game has some decent graphics for 1990, but these "MS Paint spray tool" floors aren't doing it for me.
    Robot's about another two or three cartridges away from attaining sentience. That isn't a thing, but he sure is a little polyglot these days. I've now installed a Comms cartridge and given him a sci-fi walkie-talkie, so if I want to I can go send him around the ship to do tasks and report back to me. This is actually essential in some scenarios, as the background radiation will be too high to go myself.
    Robot's about another two or three cartridges away from attaining sentience. That isn't a thing, but he sure is a little polyglot these days. I've now installed a Comms cartridge and given him a sci-fi walkie-talkie, so if I want to I can go send him around the ship to do tasks and report back to me. This is actually essential in some scenarios, as the background radiation will be too high to go myself.
    Finally, I find a laboratory. I haven't found the manufacturing room yet, so I can only use the two flasks I've found so far, but I start filling them up post-haste. This filler will actually scan the flasks for imperfections first: the coolant is lethal to the touch, so as a safety measure the computer won't accept any flask that isn't perfect. It means there's a small chance (that increases the more you use a flask) this thing will reject and destroy any flasks you give it. Annoying, but if there's a manufacturing room nearby it's not the end of the world.
    Finally, I find a laboratory. I haven't found the manufacturing room yet, so I can only use the two flasks I've found so far, but I start filling them up post-haste. This filler will actually scan the flasks for imperfections first: the coolant is lethal to the touch, so as a safety measure the computer won't accept any flask that isn't perfect. It means there's a small chance (that increases the more you use a flask) this thing will reject and destroy any flasks you give it. Annoying, but if there's a manufacturing room nearby it's not the end of the world.
    I've also found Life Support, which means I can finally start fixing this place up.
    I've also found Life Support, which means I can finally start fixing this place up.
    To fix a system, you need to inject with it as much coolant as you have to fill up that bar in the middle there. Your odds of successfully fixing the system is based on how broken it is and whether you have an applicator (that funnel thing in my inventory), a repair kit (which is necessary, and fortunately also nearby) and a robot with a repair cartridge.
    To fix a system, you need to inject with it as much coolant as you have to fill up that bar in the middle there. Your odds of successfully fixing the system is based on how broken it is and whether you have an applicator (that funnel thing in my inventory), a repair kit (which is necessary, and fortunately also nearby) and a robot with a repair cartridge.
    I finally find a manufacturing room a little while later and start producing flasks. You can only hold five at once, but the robot can also carry some extra. Now back to the lab to fill these up...
    I finally find a manufacturing room a little while later and start producing flasks. You can only hold five at once, but the robot can also carry some extra. Now back to the lab to fill these up...
    While the systems continue to deteriorate as I mess around looking for flasks, I do at least have some means of fixing the ship now. It's simply a matter of finding the rest of the system rooms and carting coolant back and forth. I can program my robot to do the same if I want to speed things up.
    While the systems continue to deteriorate as I mess around looking for flasks, I do at least have some means of fixing the ship now. It's simply a matter of finding the rest of the system rooms and carting coolant back and forth. I can program my robot to do the same if I want to speed things up.
    There's also alternate decks, with more dangers and more vital rooms to find. But I think I've uploaded enough screenshots for today.
    There's also alternate decks, with more dangers and more vital rooms to find. But I think I've uploaded enough screenshots for today.

    That's essentially how every mission goes in BSS Jane Seymour: the player has to quickly establish a foothold, find a number of items that range from crucial (flasks, pass cards, a weapon) to handy (an applicator, a communicator, robots) to downright pointless (crappier weapons, that dumb guidebook joke). As there's no RPG mechanics and no merchants, there's no reason to hang onto anything you don't need. It's a game about efficiency and exploration, and you're always bouncing between one objective or another. It does mean that the game gets a little repetitive - especially as every solution is the same - but there's a clarity that comes with always having some clear target to work towards. The game can also do some mean things with the "established route" once it gets further in, like hide the flux whatsit on the opposite side of the ship and turn all the lights off.

    It's an interesting experiment, using the constraints of this very specific real-time first-person format with which to create a game that's really more like a sci-fi puzzle/strategy affair with some action and exploration thrown in. The sort of curiosity I purposefully began this feature to highlight, in fact.

    (Back to the ST-urday ST-orehouse.)

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