Editing Star Control II (section)

{{short description|1992 video game}}
{{redirect|Sa-Matra|the village in India|Samatra}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Star Control II
|image = Star Control II cover.jpg
|caption = MS-DOS cover art
|developer = [[Toys for Bob]]
|publisher = [[Accolade, Inc.|Accolade]]<br />[[Crystal Dynamics]] (3DO)
|producer = Pam Levins
|designer = [[Fred Ford (programmer)|Fred Ford]]<br />[[Paul Reiche III]]
|series = Star Control
|released = '''November 1992:''' MS-DOS<br>'''1994:''' 3DO
|genre = [[Adventure game|Adventure]], [[shoot 'em up]]
|modes = [[Single player]], [[Multiplayer video game|multiplayer]]
|platforms = [[MS-DOS]], [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer|3DO]]
}}

'''''Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters''''' is a 1992 [[Adventure game|adventure]] [[shoot 'em up]] [[video game]] developed by [[Toys for Bob]] ([[Fred Ford (programmer)|Fred Ford]] and [[Paul Reiche III]]) and originally published by [[Accolade, Inc.|Accolade]] in 1992 for [[MS-DOS]]. The game is a direct sequel to ''[[Star Control]]'', and includes [[exoplanet]]-abundant star systems, hyperspace travel, extraterrestrial life, and interstellar diplomacy. There are 25 alien races with which communication is possible.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sa-matra.net/quotes/|title = The Sa-Matra - Star Control 2 Quotes}}</ref>

Released to critical acclaim, ''Star Control II'' is widely viewed today as one of the greatest PC games ever made.<ref>{{cite web |website=Ars Technica |title=Video: How Star Control II was almost a much more boring game |first=Lee |last=Hutchinson |date=23 October 2018 |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/10/video-how-star-control-ii-was-almost-a-much-more-boring-game/}}</ref> It has appeared on lists of [[List of video games considered the best|the greatest video games of all time]].<ref name="bestclassic2" />

The game was ported to [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer|3DO]] by [[Crystal Dynamics]] in 1994 with an enhanced multimedia presentation. The [[source code]] of the 3DO port was licensed under [[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]] in 2002,<ref name="oreilly2005">{{cite web|last=Wen|first=Howard|date=August 11, 2005|title=The Ur-Quan Masters|url=http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2005/08/11/ur-quan.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316091529/http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2005/08/11/ur-quan.html|archive-date=March 16, 2016|access-date=October 22, 2020|publisher=[[O'Reilly Media]]}}</ref> the game content under [[Creative Commons license|CC-BY-NC-SA-2.5]]. The 3DO source code was the basis of the open source game ''[[The Ur-Quan Masters]]''.

A sequel, ''[[Star Control 3]]'', was released in 1996.