VGA Planets

Last updated
VGA Planets
Developer(s) Tim Wisseman
Platform(s) DOS, Macintosh, Web
Release 1992
Genre(s) Turn-based strategy
Mode(s) Multi player

VGA Planets is a multi-player space strategy war game originally released in 1992. The game simulates combat in space between galactic scale empires. It follows the 4X game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate) model: The players start with a home world, and have to build spaceships, explore the galaxy, colonize planets, mine minerals, build up their industry.

Contents

The game is set in the "Echo Cluster" where 11 different races fight for control. It was one of the first indie games to become commercially successful. [1] It was notable for being played via email, without a central server: [2] each game of up to 11 players is handled independently, with the players sending their orders for each turn to the computer which manages that game. [1]

A hosted web version is now available.[ as of? ]

History

The game was originally released in 1992 but became well known as a play-by-mail game [3] in 1994 with version 3, although the prior version 2.2 was already played worldwide. Version 3 allows up to 11 players to join, each of them leading one of the 11 possible races. In 1994, the game was distributed as shareware, which could be purchased for $15 [4] and registration was free. [5] Although games could be set up directly by any group of players, a common way to find groups was to post and answer game invitations on the Usenet group rec.games.vga-planets. [5] [2]

The predefined races are modeled after Star Trek , Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica , though custom races can be created with special tools. Each predefined race has some special powers and specific fields of expertise (for example: Cyborgs can assimilate native races into colonists; Robots are expert minelayers; Birdmen excel at spy tactics and cloaking).

VGA Planets follows the 4X game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate) model: The players start with a home world, and have to build spaceships, explore the galaxy, colonize planets, mine minerals, build up their industry, etc. The game has no built-in victory condition: the players have to agree on one before starting a game.

VGA Planets 3

Clients up to version 3.0 were DOS programs; from version 3.5 on there were clients for Microsoft Windows. In addition, there are cross-platform third-party tools, including clients written in Java. A third-party Linux client named "GNOME War Pad" is also available. [6]

VGA Planets 4

This is an expanded version of the original, with many new races and many new rules, expanded fleet combat - and the addition of ground combat units.

VGA Planets 5

This new browser-based version, based on version 4, was supposed to be published in 2011, but in February 2012 was put on hold indefinitely. [7]

VGA Planets Nu

In May 2010 a new project was approved by Tim Wisseman [8] called VGA Planets Nu to rebuild the version 3 game with modern web-based technology. The Nu project was developed over the course of 2010 and was released for live games in November 2010.

VGA Planets Nu is a remake of the version 3.0 game which runs on the web in a web browser or via the mobile app. The Nu project aims to overcome the technology challenges found in the older VGA Planets 3 versions which do not run on modern technology and create many barriers to entry for new players. Players sign up and can start playing immediately.

This is now the most common way to play VGA Planets.[ citation needed ]

Original gameplay

The gameplay for both version 3 and 4 uses three programs: a master program that allows the creation of a universe with the desired characteristics; a host program that acts as a server; and a copy of the client program for each player. [9]

First, the host sends a file with the initial conditions to each player. The client program allows the player to view data about the game and make decisions. Once the player has finished giving orders for the turn, either the client program or an external helper program takes the data, creates a turn file (usually with a .TRN extension), and sends it to the host person, who feeds all the turn files into the host program. The host processes all the turns and creates new status files (usually with a .RST extension), which are then sent back to the players. This process can be fully automated (the host can be an automatic server).

At the time that the game gained popularity, LANs and the Internet were not generally available to the public, so VGA Planets was primarily played via dial-up bulletin board systems (BBS), gradually moving to email as a PBEM as it became more widely available. The turn files and the game status files were transferred to and from the BBS or by email manually. This required games to have a regular hosting schedule.

Reception

Computer Gaming World in 1993 and 1994 noted VGA Planets 3.0's "clunky" interface and lack of single-player AI, but approved the "great deal Mr. Wisseman is giving the computer gaming public" for $15, and his "constant striving to improve his product". The magazine recommended that "anyone who enjoys spaceploitation" should try the game, [4] stating that it "is very similar in feel to a play-by-mail system but without the cost and wait". [12] A May 1994 survey in the magazine of strategic space games set in the year 2000 and later gave VGA Planets 3.0 four stars out of five, calling it "excellent ... easy to learn, tough to master". [10] Another article in the issue described 3.0 as "a wonderful blend of Reach for the Stars , Master of Orion and Diplomacy ". [13]

In June 1994 VGA Planets was named a Finalist (Honorable Mention) for Computer Gaming World's "Online Game of the Year" award, losing to Multiplayer BattleTech . It was the first PBEM game nominated for the award. [11]

The game sold more than 50,000 copies. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Freeciv</i> Open-source turn-based strategy game

Freeciv is a single- and multiplayer turn-based strategy game for workstations and personal computers inspired by the proprietary Sid Meier's Civilization series. It is available for most desktop computer operating systems and available in an online browser version. Released under the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later, Freeciv is free and open-source software. The game's default settings are closest to Civilization II, in both gameplay and graphics, including the units and the isometric grid. However, with a lot of multiplayer games being played in longturn communities, rulesets and additional variants have evolved away from the original ruleset. Freeciv is playable online at Longturn.net, fciv.net, freecivweb.org and some temporary private servers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Play-by-mail game</span> Games played through postal mail, email or other digital media

A play-by-mail game is a game played through postal mail, email, or other digital media. Correspondence chess and Go were among the first PBM games. Diplomacy has been played by mail since 1963, introducing a multi-player aspect to PBM games. Flying Buffalo Inc. pioneered the first commercially available PBM game in 1970. A small number of PBM companies followed in the 1970s, with an explosion of hundreds of startup PBM companies in the 1980s at the peak of PBM gaming popularity, many of them small hobby companies—more than 90 percent of which eventually folded. A number of independent PBM magazines also started in the 1980s, including The Nuts & Bolts of PBM, Gaming Universal, Paper Mayhem and Flagship. These magazines eventually went out of print, replaced in the 21st century by the online PBM journal Suspense and Decision.

<i>Master of Orion</i> 1993 video game

Master of Orion is a turn-based, 4X science fiction strategy game in which the player leads one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing technology, exploring and colonizing star systems.

<i>Netrek</i> 1988 video game

Netrek is an Internet game for up to 16 players, written almost entirely in cross-platform open-source code. It combines features of multi-directional shooters and team-based real-time strategy games. Players attempt to disable or destroy their opponents' ships in real-time combat, while taking over enemy planets by bombing them and dropping off armies they pick up on friendly planets. The goal of the game is to capture all the opposing team's planets.

<i>Stars!</i> 1995 video game

Stars! is a turn-based strategy, science fiction 4X video game, originally developed by Jeff Johnson and Jeff McBride with help from Jeffrey Krauss for personal use, initially released as shareware for Microsoft Windows in 1995. A retail version was later produced for, and published by Empire Interactive, with developer Jason Gaston added to the team for quality assurance testing, although the shareware version continued.

Atlantis is a free open-ended multi-player computer moderated fantasy turn-based strategy game for any number of players. It is played via email. The game world is populated by many races and monsters. Players may attempt to carve out huge empires, become master magicians, intrepid explorers, rich traders or any other career that comes to mind and interact with other players in trade, war and alliances. There is no declared winner of the game, players set their own objectives, and one can join at any time.

<i>Age of Wonders</i> 1999 video game

Age of Wonders is a 1999 turn-based strategy game co-developed by Triumph Studios and Epic MegaGames, and published by Gathering of Developers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4X</span> Genre of strategy-based video and board games

4X is a subgenre of strategy-based computer and board games, and includes both turn-based and real-time strategy titles. The gameplay generally involves building an empire. Emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of military and non-military routes to supremacy.

<i>Spaceward Ho!</i> 1990 video game

Spaceward Ho! is a turn-based science fiction computer strategy game that was written by Peter Commons, designed by Joe Williams and published by Delta Tao Software. The first version was released in 1990, and further upgrades followed regularly; the current version, 5.0.5, was released on July 8, 2003. It has received wide recognition in the Macintosh community, for example being inducted into the Macworld Game Hall of Fame.

Starfire is a board wargame simulating space warfare and empire building in the 23rd century, created by Stephen V. Cole in 1979.

<i>Imperialism II: Age of Exploration</i> 1999 video game

Imperialism II: Age of Exploration is a turn-based strategy computer game developed by Frog City Software and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) in 1999. It is the successor to the 1997 game Imperialism. In Imperialism II, the player starts as ruler of a 16th-century European country, and must build an empire.

<i>Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero</i> 1989 video game

Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero is a 1989 adventure game/role-playing game hybrid, designed by Lori Ann Cole and published by Sierra On-Line for MS-DOS. It is the first game in the Quest for Glory series, and has been credited for being a genre-defining game, as it tried to mix graphical adventure gaming with role-playing-like elements such as statistic building that would actually affect the ability to accomplish certain parts of the game. The game has a satirical and silly tone. Ports for the Amiga, Atari ST, and NEC PC-9801 were released in the early 1990s. A VGA remake, titled Quest for Glory I: So You Want to Be a Hero, was released in 1992 for DOS and later in 1994 for Mac OS.

Rebel Space was the second play-by-email game offered as part of a major commercial online service. It ran on Prodigy from 1992 to 1995. The game was developed by Stormfront Studios, designed by Don Daglow and programmed by Mark Buchignani.

<i>Space Quest III</i> 1989 video game

Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon is a 1989 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line, and the third game in the Space Quest series. Players assume the role of Roger Wilco, a lowly space janitor, who becomes involved in rescuing a pair of computer programmers from a sinister video game company. The game received positive reviews from critics, and contributed further to the series' commercial success for Sierra. A sequel, Space Quest IV, was released in 1991.

The Star Fleet computer games are starship tactical combat simulations originally created by Dr. Trevor Sorensen in the late 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xconq</span> 1987 open-source strategy video game

Xconq is an open-source computer strategy game. This multiplayer video game was first posted to comp.sources.games on 9 July 1987. Xconq is released as free and open-source software under the terms of the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later.

Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy video games, first released in 1991. Sid Meier developed the first game in the series and has had creative input for most of the rest, and his name is usually included in the formal title of these games, such as Sid Meier's Civilization VI. There are six main games in the series, a number of expansion packs and spin-off games, as well as board games inspired by the video game series. The series is considered a formative example of the 4X genre, in which players achieve victory through four routes: "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thousand Parsec</span>

Thousand Parsec (TP) is a free and open source project with the goal of creating a framework for turn-based space empire building games.

Alan Emrich is best known as a writer about and designer of video games, who coined the term "4X", contributed to the design of Master of Orion and Master of Orion 3, and wrote strategy guides for video games. Before the rise of video games, Emrich wrote about and designed board games and organized conventions about them. He currently runs a small game publishing company and lectures in game design and project management. In 2001 Emrich received the Blomgren / Hamilton Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement from ConsimWorld.COM.

<i>Heroic Fantasy</i> Play-by-mail fantasy game

Heroic Fantasy is a computer-moderated, dungeon crawl play-by-mail game. It has been active since 1982 when it was published by Flying Buffalo. The initial edition involved nine dungeon levels. Flying Buffalo published subsequent editions due to challenging gameplay initially, eventually limiting the game to four dungeon levels with a fifth outdoors level where players can assemble an army and capture one or more castles. The game is open-ended; gameplay continues until players decide to stop.

References

  1. 1 2 Tringham, Neal Roger (2014). Science Fiction Video Games. CRC Press. p. 393. ISBN   9781482203899 . Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 Pantuso, Joe (1996). The Complete Internet Gamer. Wiley. p. 183. ISBN   9780471137870 . Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  3. ↑ McFedries, Paul (1995). "VGA+Planets" The complete idiot's guide to Usenet newsgroups. Indianapolis, Ind.: Alpha Books. p. 221. ISBN   9781567615920 . Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 Cirulis, Martin E. (October 1993). "In Cyberspace, Everyone Can Hear Your Modem Scream". Computer Gaming World. pp. 106–107. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 Maloni, Kelly; Baker, Derek; Wice, Nathaniel (1994). Net games : your guide to the games people play on the electric highway. New York: Random House Electronic Pub. p. 53. ISBN   9780679755920 . Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  6. ↑ Di Pentima, Lucas. "GNOME War Pad Site" . Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  7. ↑ "StarCube is currently on indefinite hold until the development team can be rebuilt."
  8. ↑ "Tim Wisseman gives his blessing to the VGA Planets 3 Remake - Planets Nu". planets.nu. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  9. ↑ "How to Play - VGA Planets 4 @ GRG Zone". www.grgzone.com. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  10. 1 2 Brooks, M. Evan (May 1994). "Never Trust A Gazfluvian Flingschnogger!". Computer Gaming World. pp. 42–58.
  11. 1 2 "Announcing The New Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World. June 1994. pp. 51–58.
  12. ↑ Cirulis, Martin E. (February 1994). "The Year The Stars Fell". Computer Gaming World. pp. 94–104.
  13. ↑ Foster, Ted (May 1994). "A Little Piece of Vulcan, A Little Piece of Sol". Computer Gaming World. pp. 158–164.
  14. ↑ Geryk, Bruce. "History of Space Empire Games". GameSpot . Archived from the original on December 3, 2001. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.