History VideoGame / Startopia

* RecycledInSpace: Bullfrog's game design synthetised [-{{IN SPACE}}-]!

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Crimes vary from 'attempted extermination of all sentient life in the galaxy' to 'appeared in terrible low-budget sci-fi film'.
** AllCrimesAreEqual: The jail time is the same for all of them too.

* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: The Memau, in a not-so-subtle ShoutOut to the ''Alien'' movies.
** One random event even name checks the ''Nostromo'' as it brings aboard a lifeboat full of sick crew members who will all explode and release Skrashers if not treated quickly enough

* TheGreys: One of the in-game races. They're employed as your medical staff. VAL says they're sorry about that [[AlienAbduction abduction]] and [[AliensStealCattle cattle mutilation]] business, and they hardly ''ever'' do it now.
** Several of Greys appear to have had relatives who died during the UFO crash-landing in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

** And their criminal records involve such gems like "[[Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace Invented nine ridiculous plans from outer space]]" and "[[ThePhantomMenace Pretended to be a phantom and menaced people]]".

** Arona Daal is basically [[Literature/{{Discworld}} CMOT Dibbler]]. He even uses the 'cutting my own throat' line occasionally. His name comes from Arthur Daley, a similar character from the British TV series ''{{Minder}}''.

* {{Expy}}: Arona Daal, of [[Literature/{{Discworld}} CMOT Dibbler]], with elements of ''{{Minder}}'s'' Arthur Daley.

* LukeIAmYourFather [[spoiler:Arona Daal]] claims this in the ending sequence. Which is rather odd, when you consider [[spoiler:VAL effectively implies the player's home planet is Earth.]] Most likely a ''StarWars'' parody.
* MatterReplicator In the game any non-living, non-moving mater (no droids) can be replicated, but doing so is less efficient than buying it from a trader or manufacturing it.

* RealTimeWithPause

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Used and averted, all aliens breath the same air without complaint and synthetic food can be eaten by all species. However, some species will find certain biodeck environments highly unpleasant and specialist food can cause problems if eaten by some species. There are also diseases that can be caught by any of the aliens races, but hit some races harder than others.

''Startopia'' is a surprisingly complex game, with [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything the developers programming things to happen that the player might not realize]]. An extremely thought-out [[http://www.rakrent.com/rtsc/rtsc_startopia.htm game guide online]] that details many of these, and many of the tropes below.

''Startopia'' is a 2001 simulation game where the player is tasked with the administration of a [[RingWorldPlanet toroidal space station]] in the aftermath of a galactic war. It met mediocre reviews, but became a cult classic. The developer, Mucky Foot, was founded by ex-Creator/{{Bullfrog}} employees.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://startopia.wikia.com/wiki/Startopia_Wiki Startopia Wiki]]

* HeyItsThatVoice: Both VAL and Arona are voiced by William Franklyn, the voice of [[Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy The Guide]] through radio seasons 3-5.

** Several of Greys appear to have had relatives, who died during the UFO crash-landing in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

* OurAngelsAreDifferent: The Dahanese Sirens.
* PauseScumming: Pauses freezes all the action, but navigation between decks and all camera controls are still on. This allows to look for [[TimeBomb Time Bombs]] left by stray saboteurs, for as long as it takes.

* StarfishAliens: The Oroflex. A giant tentacled plant/animal hybrid that [[NaughtyTentacles eats people, giving them strong feelings of love and happiness in the process]], and spits them out.

* GRatedSex: The Dahnese Sirens run G-Rated brothels: they hover in the air and beam sparkly love magic to their clients, who levitate during the encounter. Then there's the Oroflex, a sort of NaughtyTentacles Tilt-O-Whirl that looks alarming and disturbing, but the customers appear to enjoy it, having their "love" and "fun" stats boosted.

* ImAHumanitarian: Although not in the strictest sense. Energy is used to make synthetic food and you can recycle anything you can teleport into energy, crates, litter, bombs, corpses..

* ArtificialStupidity: If a rival administrator is kicked off the station many guests will simply wait around for everything to start back up again. Unfortunately this means that many of them will die as there needs increase rather than simply leave the station.

* TheMonolith: The introductory sequence is lifted from ''[[TwoThousandAndOneASpaceOdyssey 2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', but with a donut replacing the bone.

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Used and averted, all aliens breath the same air without complaint and synthetic food can be eaten by all species. However, some species will find certain biodeck environments highly unpleasant and specialist food can cause problems if eaten by some species. There are also diseases that can be caught by any of the aliens races.

* SingleBiomePlanet: The garden-like Biodeck can be set for a range of moisture and heat settings. Each race prefers a different one, though they all get along with the median state.

** Sometimes computer terminals show [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Screen_of_Death blue screens]], guess the future has windows.

* {{Disneyfication}}: In the data files, the Oroflex was originally called the ''Orophux''. Given that its a thing that gives ''massive'' stat gains in 'Love'...

This game is now available on Website/GOGDotCom.

** And their criminal records involve such gems like "[[PlanNineFromOuterSpace Invented nine ridiculous plans from outer space]]" and "[[ThePhantomMenace Pretended to be a phantom and menaced people]]".