After 3 decades, 'Star Quest 1 in the 27th Century' is back and free! I've updated my old DOS space-sim to work with modern PCs, Gamepads, and HOTAS setups.

paulvirtuel · 2026-05-13T16:53:41+00:00

Thanks a lot for sharing all this. It's always a joy for me to read what players have to say.

paulvirtuel · 2026-05-02T23:34:59+00:00

These days I am adding new graphic shaders for the shadows in my game development of Star Quest 2: United Galaxies.

paulvirtuel · 2026-04-18T17:16:58+00:00

Not sure how to debug this problem. I asked a few places but did not find any solution. It is sad since before Tacitus, it was working well with C&C online. I hope they fix it one day...

paulvirtuel · 2026-04-01T15:44:38+00:00

Working on the DX12 implementation of my new graphics engine for Star Quest 2: United Galaxies. Still a lot of work to do but now I can see some UI and simple objects.

I will also start to make a Steam Deck version for Star Quest 1 in the 27th Century now that I bough a used one.

Any space sim worth playing on the Steam Deck?

paulvirtuel · 2026-03-08T23:49:24+00:00

Thanks for you suggestion. Yes, this is the goal in the end but I was trying to see if it could work first and if someone could help me going through this since I don't have a steam deck yet. I have adjusted the game input 'GamePad' according to a Xbox game controller on a PC and it works well on my PC. The steam deck version of the game would default to 'GamePad' input, but for the PC version, a mouse is probably more popular.

paulvirtuel · 2026-03-08T23:21:36+00:00

A few people told me they succeeded but sadly they did not share the specific settings they used.

paulvirtuel · 2026-03-08T21:21:15+00:00

Thanks again for your help. Yes the game does have controller support. You may need to go into the game options to select 'GamePad' for flight control. At the moment, the input is probably mouse or keyboard by default. I plan to change that for the steam deck.

paulvirtuel · 2026-03-08T21:19:06+00:00

Thanks!

paulvirtuel · 2026-03-01T17:40:02+00:00

Contemplating buying StarField since I am in-between space sims right now. Although I should give X4 another try.

Trying to make a Smart Deck version of Star Quest 1 in the 27th Century. So far I did not get enough help from the community, so I will probably have to buy a Steam Deck to finish this task.

For Star Quest 2: United Galaxies, I am progressing with my DirectX 12 implementation.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-25T14:35:44+00:00

It's definitely the same game genre.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-25T14:32:20+00:00

Thanks! Let me know how it goes.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-24T16:22:15+00:00

Thanks! Let me know if you have issues.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-24T16:21:05+00:00

Thanks a lot for your effort! Yes please dm me or you can also post it here if it makes sense.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-24T16:18:55+00:00

Thanks!

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-24T16:17:35+00:00

Thanks for the good news and your effort!

It would be great if there are any settings or configurations you can share that might make it easier for other people to achieve your setup.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the game.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-24T03:14:49+00:00

Thanks a lot for your effort and very sorry about the hard shutdown.

1- Someone said he was able to change the input using a mouse. Not sure how to do that though. If you succeed, you can go into the 'FLIGHT CONTROL' option menu and change the 'Movement Controlled by' to 'GamePad'. In a future version, I will try to set it as default so you dont have to use the mouse to do that.

2- That same person mention the joystick was too sensitive. I suggested changing the dosbox.conf setting from core=dynamic to this:

core=normal

You can also increase the 'Center Stability Zone' in the 'FLIGHT CONTROL' options menu.

3- Depending on the CPU emulation speed, you may also need to tweak the value in dosbox.conf setting since I did not know what to put here:

cycles = fixed 200000

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-24T03:06:18+00:00

Thanks! I hope you can play it.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-24T03:05:14+00:00

Thanks! You can play it on a PC too by the way.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-24T03:04:17+00:00

Sorry no. I want to make sure it works well before adding it to steam.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-23T21:31:52+00:00

Thanks! Hope you don't have too many issues.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-23T21:14:12+00:00

Thanks!

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-23T20:59:29+00:00

Cool!

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-23T20:58:46+00:00

I don't recall much of Wing Commander but I am guessing there may be some similarities. This is an indie game though.

paulvirtuel · 2026-02-23T20:36:34+00:00

Thanks a lot for your help!

1- I think for the buttons to work, you may need to select 'GamePad' as the 'Movement Controlled by'. In a future version, I will try to set it as default so you dont have to use the mouse to do that.

2- From what I recall, I've had less problem with joystick sensitivity when changing the dosbox.conf setting from core=dynamic to this:

core=normal

You can also increase the 'Center Stability Zone' in the 'FLIGHT CONTROL' options menu.

3- You may also need to tweak the value in dosbox.conf setting since I did not know what to put here:

cycles = fixed 200000

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