StarQuest: Star Warrior, first released in 1980, pushed Epyx’s RPG engine into new terrain—literally. Set on the occupied planet Fornax, players become a “Fury,” a lone warrior in force-shielded armor, waging a one-person rebellion across 63 square kilometers of enemy territory. Unlike the confined dungeons of its predecessors, the battlefield is open and strategic, with real line-of-sight, terrain cover, and range-based visibility. Missions include total destruction or targeted sabotage, but with only an hour of in-game time, careful planning is critical. Players can customize their armor loadout—balancing weapons, shields, sensors, flight capabilities, and healing systems—all constrained by a 2,500-credit budget. Energy is shared across systems, adding tactical depth to every move. Whether blasting skimmers, dodging turret fire, or slipping through sensor blind spots, Star Warrior delivers a tight blend of sci-fi action and strategy. As the second StarQuest title, it cemented the series’ shift from dungeon crawl to planetary insurgency.

Both Star Warrior and Rescue at Rigel were originally part of the Dunjonquest Series (of Temple of Apshai fame), and were rebranded into their own StarQuest series/universe.  The engine was still the Dunjonquest engine, and these were set in the same universe as Starfleet Orion and Invasion Orion, although they’re not promoted as sequels. Instead of treating this title as a simple space simulator from the early eras of computers, we’d like to suggest leaning into the libertarian tones of the original author/founder (Jon Freeman) and how this game and especially the manual expressed those sentiments.   Ideas for this title range from:

1. Reimagine the Strategy RPG where you can choose what kind of justice you want to mete out – hero, outlaw, or extremist.
2. Animated Series or Graphic Novel – we’ve toyed with these ideas for the entire Dunjonquest series as well.  If you’re a writer or illustrator, reach out to us as we’re anxious to explore this route.
3. Split-Screen Hybrid game ala Halo Anniversary, or run the tame as a training sim inside a modern version.
4. There are hours of interviews with Jon online; and you may be able to reach out to him explore this as a commentary on the culture of the time, as well as how game design was done.
5. Leaning hard into the taxation/representation themes.  Make it a Libertarian Satire game, combining something like Papers, Please and Star Warrior, but from the other side.  You’re a government official trying to suppress rebellion.

There are a myriad of other possibilities too.  We’d recommend having a read of the manual, as well as this extensive write-up (and especially the comments) at the CRPG Addict site.