Startopia

Startopia
Startopia	2001
Spacebase Startopia	2021

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Startopia is a singleplayer and multiplayer free-roaming camera building and simulation game in the Startopia series.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc 2 DRM^{[Note 1]}. Removed in the official 1.01b patch, but still has a disc check.
GOG.com
Steam

SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected releases).

Demo

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Move, delete or rename files^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\Video`. Move, delete or rename `eidos.bik` and `startopia.bik`.

Patches

The 1.01 Patch updates the retail version of the game to the latest version.

The 1.01b Patch is merely an alternative to the 1.01 patch for troubleshooting purposes.

There is also the semi-official 1.02 Patch which requires either 1.01 or 1.01b to be installed already (it was created by a former Mucky Foot employee).

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\startopia.ini^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/243040/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Profiles^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/243040/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Stretched image when compared to 4:3. See the WSGF entry or use AlphaYellow's FOV Fix.
Multi-monitor		Stretched image when compared to 4:3. See the WSGF entry or use AlphaYellow's FOV Fix.
Ultra-widescreen		Stretched image when compared to 4:3. See the WSGF entry or use AlphaYellow's FOV Fix.
4K Ultra HD		Stretched image when compared to 4:3. See the WSGF entry or use AlphaYellow's FOV Fix.
Field of view (FOV)	Use AlphaYellow's FOV Fix to set a custom FOV value.
Windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
High-fidelity upscaling	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Frame generation	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Ray tracing (RT)
Color blind mode	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Input

In-game control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Controlled via sliders.
Controller
Controller support

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech				Fan translation; download.
French				Retail only; download for digital releases.
German				Retail only; download for digital releases.
Italian				Retail only; download for digital releases.
Spanish				Retail only; download for digital releases.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		4
Online play		4	GameSpy services have been shut down;^[3] see GameSpy for workarounds.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		Z3D User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.

Issues fixed

Enable intro videos

Applies if Startopia isn't in the expected install path (as with the Steam distribution)

Edit configuration file^{[citation needed]}
Edit `<path-to-game>\startopia.ini` Under the `[Intro]` section, set `IntroPath=<path-to-game>\Intro\`. Trailing slash required.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7
Software renderer

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	GameSpy

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95B	98, ME
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 450 MHz	Intel Pentium III AMD Athlon
System memory (RAM)	64 MB	128 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	300 MB	400 MB
Video card (GPU)	8 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.0a compatible	32 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ This version of SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (243040) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
↑ Pricing | GameSpy Technology

[3] This version of SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]

[gamedir-4] 2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Proton_path_note-5] 3.0 ^3.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (243040) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[4] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[5] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[6] The app ID (243040) may differ in some cases.

[7] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[8] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[6] Pricing | GameSpy Technology

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

[3]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	Mucky Foot Productions
Publishers
2001-2009	Eidos Interactive
2009-2020	Square Enix
2020-present	My Little Planet Ltd
Retail re-release	Sold Out Software
Release dates
Windows	June 15, 2001
Reception
Metacritic	86
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Free-roaming camera
Controls	Point and select
Genres	Building, Simulation
Art styles	Cartoon
Themes	Sci-fi, Space
Series	Startopia