Hi there. My name is Brian Rubin, and I run a thing called Space Game Junkie. I also, for the past several years, have been helping Trevor Sorensen and a bevy of playtesters bring a new version of the 1989 game, Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander to life. It's been a hell of a journey, my first time helping on a game to this extent, and I've learned a lot.
Originally, when Star Fleet II was released in 1989, it was in a less-than-stellar state. Pushed to an early release by its publisher, the game was buggy, broken, and incomplete. The game's primary developer, Trevor Sorensen, patched the game for two years after its release, but the damage had been done. Called "The Worst Game of All Time" by some outlets, more people remembered the game for what it couldn't do rather than what it did well.
Fast forward to 2018. Trevor gets his 486 -- on which he still programs the game -- up and running and begins working on an updated version of the game. In early 2020, I began streaming the game in earnest, feeling bad that I'd never given it a fair shake. Eventually, I was sucked in by its gameplay, its complexity, its nuances, and its AI. The game starts small, relatively easy, and slowly builds in complexity across its seven ranks. Wherein you begin commanding a lone battlecruiser, you'll finish your campaign commanding the entire fleet.
Bringing this to Steam and GOG was a monumental feat. Hundreds, if not thousands of hours of playtesting, tons and tons of bugs squashes, dozens of new features and so much more. It's such an achievement I don't quite have the words for it, beyond what's already been written, of course.
Yesterday, we launched the game. My first launch ever. Up until this point I'd just been a critic, a curator, a "content creator" that judged other people's work. Now I was helping BRING someone's beloved work to the masses, and it was terrifying. I got no sleep, and yet I still streamed the thing for over three hours, somehow.
My hope is that people will discover the magic in this old, barely-graphical game. It's a majestic thing, with layers upon layers of gameplay just waiting to be explored, and I for one am enjoying seeing people discover its nuances for the first time. Thank you for reading my rant, I was told I should write about my journey with this thing, so here we are.
