Editing Star Control (section)

=== Porting and compatibility ===
[[File:Classic Game Postmortem- Star Control (16552069930).jpg|thumb|Paul Reiche III, Fred Ford, and Rob Dubbin give a postmortem of the game's development at [[Game Developers Conference|GDC]] 2015.|left]]

The number of visible colors was a major technological limitation at the time, and the team created different settings for [[Color Graphics Adapter|CGA]], [[Enhanced Graphics Adapter|EGA]], and [[VGA]] monitors.<ref name="GDC2015" /> A separate team ported a stripped down version of the game to the [[Commodore 64]], [[Amstrad]], and [[ZX Spectrum]], which meant reducing the number of ships to eight, as well introducing new bugs and balance issues.<ref name="retrogamer14">{{cite web |author=Szczepaniak |first=John |date=2005 |title=Control & Conquer |url=http://publicaciones.retromuseo.com:8123/Revistasv1/Retro%20Gamer%20%5Ben-UK%5D/retro%20gamer%20%5Ben-uk%5D%20014.pdf  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706201713/http://publicaciones.retromuseo.com:8123/Revistasv1/Retro%20Gamer%20%5Ben-UK%5D/retro%20gamer%20%5Ben-uk%5D%20014.pdf |archive-date=July 6, 2019 |access-date=October 20, 2020 |publisher=Retro Gamer Volume 2 Issue 2 |pages=85–87}}</ref> Additional problems were caused by the number of simultaneous key-presses required for a multiplayer game, which required Ford to code a solution that would work across multiple different computer keyboards.<ref name="GDC2015" />

''Star Control'' was ported to the [[Sega Genesis]],<ref name="sega16"/> in a team led by Fred Ford.<ref name="youtubex"/> Because the Genesis port was a cartridge-based game with no battery backup, it lacked the scenario-creator of the PC version, but it came pre-loaded with a few additional scenarios not originally in the game.<ref name="EGM22">{{cite web|author=Staff|date=May 1991|title=Behind the Screens at Accolade Software|url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_Issue_022_May_1991/page/n35/mode/2up?q=star+control|access-date=October 20, 2020|publisher=Electronic Gaming Monthly|page=36}}</ref> Where the PC version featured synthesized audio, the team discovered the digital [[MOD (file format)|MOD]] file format to help port the music to console, which would become the core music format for the sequel.<ref name = "GDC2015"/> It took nearly five months to convert the code and color palettes,<ref name = "EGM22"/> leaving little time to optimize the game under Accolade's tight schedule, leading to slowdown issues.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 15, 2001|title=Emails from Fred Ford|url=http://www.classicgaming.com/starcontrol/history/fford4.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010515133200/http://www.classicgaming.com/starcontrol/history/fford4.shtml|archive-date=May 15, 2001|access-date=October 20, 2020|website=IGN - Classic Gaming}}</ref><ref>[http://uqm.stack.nl/files/chat/tfbchat-20070613-clean Log of the 2007-06-13 IRC session with Toys for Bob]: "The same goes for the Genesis version of SC1 where we did a quick port with the intention of optimizing it for speed, but they though (sic) having a 12megabit cartridge was a much better selling point".</ref> Released under Accolade's new "Ballistic" label for high quality games, the game was touted as the first 12-megabit cartridge created for the system.<ref name="sega16">{{cite web|author=Galway|first=Benjamin|date=August 14, 2006|title=Genesis Review - Star Control|url=https://www.sega-16.com/2006/08/star-control/|access-date=October 20, 2020|publisher=Sega 16}}</ref> The box art for the Sega version was adapted from the original PC version, this time re-painted by artist [[Boris Vallejo]].<ref name="retrogamer14" />

The Genesis port was not authorized by [[Sega]].<ref name="GDC2015" /> Frustrated with Sega's licensing requirements, Accolade decided to [[Reverse engineering|reverse engineer]] the console to disable the code that locked out [[License|unlicensed]] games.<ref name="legal_book">{{cite book |last=Graham |first=Lawrence D. |url=https://archive.org/details/legalbattlesthat0000grah/page/112 |title=Legal Battles That Shaped the Computer Industry |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1999 |isbn=1-56720-178-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/legalbattlesthat0000grah/page/112 112–118]}}</ref><ref name="Georgetown">{{cite journal |last=Cohen |first=Julie E. |author-link=Julie E. Cohen |year=1995 |title=Reverse Engineering and the Rise of Electronic Vigilantism: Intellectual Property Implications of "Lock-Out" Programs |url=http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1814&context=facpub |url-status=live |journal=Southern California Law Review |volume=68 |pages=1091–1202 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102203014/http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1814&context=facpub |archive-date=2013-11-02}}</ref> This allowed Accolade to port several games to the Genesis from their previous list of releases, including ''Star Control''.<ref name="977 F.2d 1510: opinion">{{cite court|litigants=Sega Enterprises Ltd. v. Accolade, Inc.|court=977 F.2d 1510 (9th Cir. 1992)|url=http://openjurist.org/977/f2d/1510|archive-date=September 21, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921172514/http://openjurist.org/977/f2d/1510}}</ref> Sega responded by suing Accolade for [[copyright infringement]], but the appeal court found that reverse engineering was a [[fair use]] exception to copying the code without Sega's authorization.<ref name="Reverse Engineering: An Industrial Perspective">{{cite book |last1=Raja |first1=Vinesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4sXDWGuatcC&pg=PA199 |title=Reverse Engineering: An Industrial Perspective |last2=Fernandes |first2=Kiran J. |date=2007 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing|Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=978-1-84628-856-2 |series=Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing |pages=199–201 |issn=1860-5168 |access-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304151008/https://books.google.com/books?id=K4sXDWGuatcC&pg=PA199 |archive-date=March 4, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="977 F.2d 1510: opinion" /> The ruling set an influential [[precedent]], allowing other instances of reverse engineering to continue without penalty.<ref name="book">{{cite book |last=Stuckey |first=Kent D. |title=Internet and Online Law |publisher=Law Journal Press |year=1996 |isbn=1-58852-074-9 |pages=6.37 |ref=CITEREFKent2001}}</ref> Sega eventually settled the lawsuit in Accolade's favor, making them a licensed Sega developer.<ref name="Ultimate History of Video Games">{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Steven L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTrcTeAqeaEC|title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World|date=2010|publisher=Three Rivers Press|isbn=978-0-307-56087-2|location=New York|oclc=842903312|ref=CITEREFKent2002|author-link=Steven L. Kent|access-date=October 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624183529/https://books.google.com/books?id=PTrcTeAqeaEC&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=June 24, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>