Help me remember the title of a space adventure/combat/exploration PC game from the early 1990s.

January 12, 2009 10:10 AM

I'm trying to remember the title of a space combat and exploration shareware game for the PC from the early 1990s.

I remember playing a space adventure/combat/exploration game in the early 1990s, perhaps around 1993 or 1994. It was on PC and was shareware. The graphics were VGA quality. You controlled a spaceship from a top-down, birdseye perspective. You navigated with a coordinates system, so you'd find out a certain planet would be at (say) coordinates 25, -65. You'd then head over there and do whatever you had to do. At one side of the screen (perhaps both) were some control panels, part of which was a viewscreen that showed you the head of the pilot of any other spaceship you spoke to.

I can’t remember anything about the missions you had to do, but I do remember that the objective of the shareware demo was to achieve some kind of warp capability. You ended up halfway across the galaxy and were greeted by a strange yellowy white alien. Then the shareware demo ended. I never had the full game so I never knew what happened next.

I’ve been racking my brains for the title, does anyone else remember it? If I see a screenshot I will recognise it instantly!

posted by greycap to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Kind of in the Nettrek vein?
posted by johngoren at 10:13 AM on January 12

Solar Winds?
posted by nasreddin at 10:19 AM on January 12

Almost certainly Solar Winds.
posted by jedicus at 10:21 AM on January 12

Wiki page here.
posted by nasreddin at 10:21 AM on January 12

That was quick! Yes, it's Solar Winds. Thanks for putting me out of my misery.
posted by greycap at 10:24 AM on January 12

Thank god you asked this question and these wonderful folks had an answer. I too was trying to remember the name of this game just three days ago.
posted by Tullius at 1:57 PM on January 12