New game - Far Horizons - galactic strategic role-playing From: ram@eskimo.com (Rick Morneau) Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000 I've just finished initial testing of the software for a game called FAR HORIZONS. Far Horizons is a strategic role-playing game of galactic exploration, colonization, and conquest designed by me for play-by-email. My goal has been to design a game that let's a player play the role of a species as realistically and as enjoyably as possible. Compared to similar games, Far Horizons is somewhat modest in its scope, since its goal is realistic role-playing, rather than Monty Pythonesque space opera. Each ship, even the smallest, has a name, and your fleets are likely to be rather small. In combat, individual ships may be completely destroyed or may only be partially damaged. If damaged, they can be repaired or salvaged. To make matters worse, ships get old and eventually have to be replaced or retrofitted. In Far Horizons, you can build normal colonies, cash-generating mining colonies, or especially lucrative resort colonies. You can also wage war. However, conquering and then controlling an enemy planet is not easy, and the conquest is rarely permanent. Destroying all life on a planet, though, is relatively easy. Grandiose battles between humongous fleets are extremely unlikely in a game of Far Horizons. If you're interested, you can obtain a copy of the current draft of the rules at the following ftp site: Ftp Site: ftp.eskimo.com Directory: ~ram/pbem OR /u/r/ram/pbem Filename: FHRules.Z Uncompressed, the file is about 132 kbytes in size. If you have any helpful comments or if you would like to play in a game, please contact me at ram@eskimo.com. I am hoping to run a test game for about 10-20 players, with a turn time of one-week-or-less, for about 30-40 turns. I'm a retired software engineer and I'm doing this only for fun, so there will be no charge for playing. To whet your appetite, here is the introduction to the Rules: FAR HORIZONS is a strategic role-playing game of galactic exploration, trade, diplomacy, and conquest. The first two editions were designed for play by postal mail. This third edition, in addition to being a considerable improvement over the earlier ones, has been modified for play by electronic mail. At the start of a game, each player controls an intelligent species and the home planet on which it lives. As the game progresses, you can explore nearby regions of the galaxy and establish colonies. As you range farther and farther from home, you will encounter other intelligent species. These encounters can be hostile, neutral, or friendly, depending on the participants. Interstellar war is a distinct possibility. FAR HORIZONS, unlike some similar games, has been designed to make role- playing as easy and practical as possible. In addition to being a rich and realistic simulation, there are no true victory conditions - the game is played solely for enjoyment. However, at the end of the last turn, final statistics for all species will be sent to all of the players so that they can compare their relative strengths and weaknesses. Thus, rather than requiring a massive bloodletting as in some other similar games, it's possible for a peace-loving species to effectively "win". Still, those who enjoy a more aggressive game, or those who wish to role-play an 'evil' or warlike species will not be disappointed - FAR HORIZONS does not discriminate against anyone - it simply tries to be as realistic as possible. Regards, Rick *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= =* Rick Morneau ram@eskimo.com "Whenever you're in a hurry, =* *= Denizen of Idaho, USA slow down!" - me *= =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* -- *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= =* Rick Morneau ram@eskimo.com "Whenever you're in a hurry, =* *= Denizen of Idaho, USA slow down!" - me *= =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* Up