SC2 is indeed one of the best games ever.
I was a bartender in those days and I'd come home from work around 3-4am. While the rest of the house was spleeping, I was playing SC2 until sunrise.
Sometimes I knew what to do next, but I remember being lost most of the time. I resorted to scanning every planet one by one to find the next clue. If you're familiar with the game, you realize the enormity of such an undertaking. When I finally found that next clue, it would invariably point to somewhere clear across the galaxy. Just getting there was always an adventure.
My memory's fuzzy but IIRC you had to plan your route to a distant destination with rest stops along the way because you never had enough fuel. Running out of gas in deep space = bad. If you did, you'd sit there and wait for a random resupply ship. Most often, out of gas or at full burn, you'd come under attack. Everyone had a favorite ship, and losing one was positively devastating.
Eventually, I had a friend print a walkthrough from the internet - such as it was at the time. I had to. I otherwise never would've scored with that Syreen.
edit: changed 'bratender' to bartender - although maybe that would've been a better job
