Starflight

Sometimes we have game in our childhood that reminds us of all of the wasted hours and lost potential in one's life. Sometimes, these games are the most fun and most memorable also.
Star flight was one of those addictive games. I still have the flux chart, somewhere in my garage. The best thing about this game was upgrading the starship and making trades while running your own show. The main downside was the graphics and the repetitive nature of the space exploration.
The beginning of the game is difficult because protection for the ship is someone limited.

Each hostile encounter usually eats up your armor which requires extensive and expensive repairs. Until you can get shields that are both light and self regenerating, the game is difficult to say the least. The most time saving factor of the game is the various wormhole parts of the map that can take you instantaneously from one location to another without use of fuel.
Fuel is very limited in the game and usually requires mining on a nearby fuel planet. After a certain amount of time, the time and delay comes tedious. The plot becomes slow moving if there is not enough generation of economic resources. Between about three hours and 12 hours into the game, the monotony of paying the bills and running from hostiles becomes mundane.
The best part of the game was exploring on the map. The interface was similar to many of its kind in during the day. With the V G A graphics and 16 colors it was one of the best games of its time. After a while, the shuttling back and forth between the space station and further reaches of space were kind of a drain.
If you are willing to endure the tedious nature, it becomes fun as the ship is upgraded enough to handle the day to day difficulties of staying alive, and making enough money for fuel to travel to far and away destinations.
It's good to keep an old machine around to play these games. Given the high level of text graphics today and the high level of real time adventure, we don't have much tolerance for old style graphics. If any of you out there are inclined to relive old memories, this is one that you are sure to enjoy.