Star86 (partially found massively multiplayer online game; 2011-2014)

The game's logo.

Status: Partially Found

Star86 was a 3D MMO developed by Drumleaf, primarily being aimed at children.^[1] Sometime before 2013, the game was first launched as BigLittleBang in 2011 during its private beta session.^[2] The primary focus of the game was to encourage players to make their own music using various instruments that can be collected in various worlds.

Gameplay

A promo image for the game.

The game was a 3D platformer that involved players exploring the galaxy and visiting various planets. Each planet had its own set of instruments that can be collected and used for making music. The systems also had collectable currency which could be used to buy ingame items, ranging from character accessories, to pets and modules that were used to customize the player's spaceship. The game had a premium currency (Called "Gold") that can be used for items not normally bought for the regular currency. Whenever a planet was entered, players had the option to play a navigation minigame where the player could avoid asteroids and collect instruments as they progress. Said minigame could be skipped just by porting the shuttle. Music could be made through a feature known as "dubble studio". Players could use this feature to make their own songs and place them in their spaceship. In addition, to compose music, a sequencer must be bought off from the store.^[3]

There were three playable avatars that the player could choose from, and they were referred as "dubbles"; these avatars are named Doo, Ray, and Mee. The dubble the player had picked would become permanent and couldn't be changed. Some planets also had their own minigame. For example, the zombie planet would usually host a tag minigame where players try to avoid getting tagged by an infected player, and another in the food planet where players could avoid ice cream-shaped creatures known as "foodzillas".^[4] Players could also customize their spaceship in the ship building yard feature using modules that could be bought from the shop. The interiors of the module could be customized with furniture and decorations as well.^[5] More decorations could be bought in the shop. In addition, players could also customize their space shuttle in a similar manner to the spaceship modules. The space shuttle can be controlled in the navigation minigame.^[6]

Though the game was mostly free to play, it offered premium membership that would let players gain access to other features that were inaccessible to regular players. This includes being able to buy premium-exclusive items regardless of currency, being able to explore the Water and Motorway planets, being able to add an unlimited amount of modules on their space ship, and making their own movies. There were three purchase options; 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months of membership.^[7] Premium members were also granted 125 gold every week, as well as being able to hang out in an area known as the VIP Zone.

Closure and Availability

On July 26th, 2014, Dubble Scoop editor Toodlepip had announced that the game will no longer be made playable. The main reason for its closure is due to the lack of money needed to run this site. An event leading to the shutdown was hosted for players to upload any screenshots, videos, fanart, and other forms of medium that would be placed inside the memory capsule. In addition, membership payments would also be put to a halt, and some players with an active membership would be refunded.^[8] After the announcement was made, the game was finally closed for good on the midnight of July 31st.^[9]

With the game's existence having mostly fallen into obscurity, no known build of the game has resurfaced anywhere, and all of its assets were never preserved. A lot of accounts related to the game have not been active since the game's closure. Outside of various scattered screenshots and videos, all that was left of it are some official music, as well as a huge majority of songs that were made by various players. That would eventually change when on August 29th, 2022, Lost Media Wiki user Malai wrote a post on the blog The Dubble Archives that one of its mods, Joker, informed them that they recovered a portion of the assets from the game from their hard drive, which includes all of the game's scripts, as well as, but not limited to, various models of the characters, planets, and props. A few game scenes, alongside other assets, currently remain lost or are in a different format. The staff running The Dubble Archives confirmed that they have plans to make the game work again by recreating the server.^[10] The assets can only be accessed through the archive's discord server or by downloading the ZIP file.

Another game by Drumleaf, Universe City, seemed to have borrowed a lot of assets from Star86, but the game itself was probably never released.^[11] outside of screenshots and its core aspect involving taking jobs such as a doctor and astronaut, little is known about it.

Gallery

Images

Screenshot of the website.
Screenshot of a player in universe city, one of the worlds that could be visited ingame.
Inside a user-built spaceship.
Another screenshot.
World map.
Customizing a spaceship.