PBEM v93 number 6 From: gl8f@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) Date: Fri, 05 Nov 1993 02:25:28 +0000 ====================================================================== @@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@ @@ @@``````````@@ @@``````````@@ @@`````````````` @@@@ @@@@`` @@`` @@`` @@`` @@`` @@`` @@``@@ @@ @@`` @@@@@@@@@@@@ `` @@@@@@@@@@@@ `` @@@@@@@@@@@@ @@`` @@ ``@@`` @@```````````` @@``````````@@ @@```````````` @@`` `` @@`` @@`` @@`` @@`` @@`` @@`` @@`` @@`` @@@@@@@@@@@@ `` @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@`` @@`` `` ```````````` `````````````` `` `` ====================================================================== A Fanzine for Free Computer-Moderated Play-By-Electronic-Mail Wargames ====================================================================== volume 93, number 6 november 5, 1993 ====================================================================== Greg Lindahl, Editor gl8f@virginia.edu ====================================================================== Table of Contents: Opening Stuff o The Editor's Corner o Short Summary of Available Games Articles o Olympia II: The New Beginning Greg Lindahl Regular Features o Game Descriptions & Information o Archives and subscriptions by email o Hints regarding sending electronic mail to other networks o What's this "ftp" thing anyway? ====================================================================== The Editor's Corner ====================================================================== Well, again we are late, and again I received no articles from outside my head. Alas. However, I decided to break one of my rules and write about a game that hasn't been released to the general public. Generally I have learned to try to avoid them until they are finished, but in this case, Rich Skrenta has a perfect track-record, so we'll talk about him anyway. I need articles. Send me an article. I know where you live. Anyone want to write an article about Arena? Celestial Empires? A summary of the Judgment Day beta-test? If you don't want to write articles, you might be interested in moderating some games. Both Judgment Day and Celestial Empires are games in search of moderators. To do the job, you'll need to have enough computer savvy to compile the programs as well as deal with moderate amounts of email. -- g ====================================================================== Short Summary of Available Games (full information down below) ====================================================================== Arena --- fantasy arena combat game. In beta-test, with occasional service interruptions and bugs still being found. Atlantis --- An open-ended economic/strategic fantasy game. Russell is looking for someone to complete the code for version 2.0, but version 1.0 source is available and at least one group is running a (currently closed) game. Celestial Empire --- a more complicated space-opera game. There 2 games running. New games start occasionally. Dougal Scott is looking for a moderator to take over running these games. Diplomacy --- Play Avalon Hill's Diplomacy boardgame by email. There are 1000+ players involved in ~200 games, with new games starting frequently on several automated email servers. Galaxy --- An economic/strategic space-opera game. There are around 500 players involved in a dozen or so games. New games start occasionally. Robert Novak is starting lots of games at the moment. Judgment Day --- A simple strategic game of economics and warfare, set in the "modern era": tanks, plans, and atomic bombs. Beta-test finished, looking for moderators to run more games. Olympia II --- Open-ended strategic/economic fantasy game. Currently in alpha-test, which means that the current game world will be destroyed when the "real" game starts. Phoenix --- described below. You can ftp the rules, but no game positions are currently available. Sports Simulations --- a variety of different electronic leagues are available. Each game generally does one or two seasons per year. Decentralized games --- a couple of games are available which are designed for a few players, and the moderation programs are available so you can run your own games. For more information on any of these games, please wade through the "Game Descriptions and Information" section below. It lists ftp sites and the addresses of the moderators. The sports simulations and decentralized games listings are located in the "PBM List", which is a separate document. ====================================================================== Olympia II: The New Beginning Greg Lindahl ====================================================================== A few hundred of you were lucky enough to play in the first incarnation of Olympia, an open-ended strategic/economic game set in a fantasy setting. In theory that was a beta-test of the system, but the game was ended after a year of play because a few players had "broken the bank" -- exploited some design flaws to the extent that they were too powerful to continue the game. Now Olympia is back again, but this time as Olympia II. And it's gone from betatest to alphatest, which means that the current universe will definitely be restarted when the game is finished. However, this actually is progress, because the author, Rich Skrenta, has taken what he learned from Olympia I, and has made a thousand and one changes to the game, making it much better. I think that this is an excellent example of learning from history. Among the changes are a revamped economy and military system. In Olympia I, the economy had few or no limitations on production, so investments paid off handsomely --- exponentially. In Olympia II, all forms of production have limits, so you can only grow exponentially if you can expand to fill a larger and larger area. Most items in the game can not be sold for cash except to other players. This provides an additional limitation to growth. Finally, the number of mountains, which are required to quarry rock, is limited. This means that players who wish to build buildings such as towers and castles must compete for mountains. The military system is also much improved. Olympia I allowed players to train each individual man with a variety of skills, and equip them with a variety of equipment. However, the combat formulae were not well-known, and changed several times. Most players were confused about what the best strategies were, and several became upset when they lost battles when they thought they had the upper hand. Olympia II has made soldiers a commodity item, with only certain combinations of training and equipment allowed. The formulae for the combat system are all published, and there are a number of interesting tradeoffs available, depending on how much time you have to train an army, what materials you have available, what sort of defensive structures you might be fighting in and around, and so on. Not only is the new system more interesting, but it seems much more fair than the old system. In addition to revamping the two aspects of the game that showed major flaws, many other things were fixed. The map now has more detail than before, and many hidden features can be found through exploration. Olympia I had much less information available, and it was much easier to acquire. The current system makes it much more likely that fewer players will know about a given location. Exclusive knowledge gives players a much larger stack on "their" territory, and makes them more competitive. The process of training characters with skills was also changed. In order to acquire advanced skills, a character must do research in a tower, which must be built (or captured). This change eliminated the tendency in Olympia I to train lots of characters in every skill possible, because training a character was relatively inexpensive and only required money as an input. It also requires that a player intending to do research build a structure which is vulnerable to attack by neighbors. It remains to be seen how well these systems will work together, and the game isn't finished yet, but I am certainly enjoying myself. Oleg the Loudmouth lives on, quietly. ====================================================================== Game Descriptions and Information ====================================================================== FTP Site: ftp.erg.sri.com username: anonymous Directory: pub/pbm Contains back-issues of this magazine, source for Galaxy, and rules for a whole bunch of games. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FTP Site: ftp.cp.tn.tudelft.nl username: anonymous Directory: pub/pbm The same stuff as sri.com, often a little more up-to-date. European users are encouraged to use this site. ====================================================================== Game: Arena Type: fantasy arena combat Duration: open-ended Turns: as often as you like GM: srt@aero.org Email server: arena@sun-dimas.aero.org Status: up and running , turns every 12 hours Description: Arena burst forth from Scott Turner's fingers after he looked at a Dungeon Masters turn. It reminds me a lot of the ancient microgame "Melee" designed by Steve Jackson: you begin with a set number of points, and use them to design a gladiator. Unlike Melee, you then send your gladiator off to combat with a set of orders, and the battle is fought without human intervention. Winners grow stronger. Right now the game is in beta-test. The GM asks that you only fight a few battles per day. The rules are available from the ftp sites. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Game: Celestial Empire Type: strategic economic/military space-opera Duration: close-ended, 30+ turns Turns: one per week GM: Dougal.Scott@fcit.monash.edu.au Status: occasionally starting new games Description: Players compete to capture worlds which produce many different types of resources, of which different amounts are needed to manufacture various items. The author, Dougal Scott, is currently running several games, and he periodically starts new ones. The rules may be ftp-ed from yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au in the directory /pub/celemp. After you've read them, if you still want to join a game, send your name to Dougal.Scott@fcit.monash.edu.au. He's also looking for a new moderator to take over running his games, because he is graduating. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Game: Diplomacy Type: email version of Avalon Hill's pure strategy game Turns: frequency varies from one per day to one per 2 weeks for different games. Email Server: judge@morrolan.eff.org HELP in body of message, Email Server: judge@u.washington.edu the subject is ignored. Description: The Diplomacy Adjudicator is a fully computer-moderated gamemaster for Avalon Hill's Diplomacy boardgame. To get more information from the moderator, send email with the word "HELP" in the body of the message (the subject is ignored) to judge@morrolan.eff.org. Some information is available via FTP from milton.u.washington in the public/misc subdirectory. All of the information up for ftp is also available via the email server. There is also an older diplomacy Judge at judge@u.washington.edu, which is not starting any new games but has lots of standby positions available. Diplomacy is probably the biggest PBEM game out there, with 214 games going as of September 15, a 70% increase over the past year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Game: Galaxy Type: strategic, economic/military, space opera setting Duration: typically 50-80 turns Turns: typically 1 or 2 per week GM: rnovak@nyx.cs.du.edu (Robert Novak) GM: bampton@cs.utk.edu (Howard Bampton) GM: rwallace@vax1.tcd.ie (Russell Wallace) Email Server: galaxy-request@acca.nmsu.edu, Subject: HELP Description: The game typically takes place on a 100x100 2D map, with a few hundred planets and 20 to 50 players. Players compete to capture planets, which can be used for economic expansion. You may purchase technology in several different areas, allowing your ships to fight harder and move faster. Galaxy turns range in size from 10kbytes early in the game to 100-200kbytes late in the game. The rules and source code are available for ftp. You can write to humans who run games; they start games occasionally and also have standby positions. They are: rnovak@nyx.cs.du.edu bampton@cs.utk.edu rwallace@vax1.tcd.ie Howard Bampton has a variant called "blind" galaxy. You can ftp the source for it from cs.utk.edu:/pub/bampton. There is an automated email server which runs some mailing lists related to Galaxy. You can talk to it by sending email to galaxy-request@acca.nmsu.edu with the word "help" in the subject. Note: in the subject. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Game: Judgment Day Type: strategic economic/military, present day setting Turns: one per week GM: rwallace@vax1.tcd.ie (Russell Wallace) Status: beta-test finished, looking for a moderator Description: Judgment Day is a game for up to 25 players. Each player controls an empire which can build weapons and attack each other. When the nukes start flying, remember to duck and cover. The source code is available at the ftp sites or from Russell. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Game: Trax Type: Abstract Strategy Turns: ?, unlimited duration GM: Mel Nicholson Status: Currently accepting players Email Server: munch@soda.berkeley.edu (with "help" in subject) This is an automation of Smith's abstract strategy game Trax. The server maintains a ladder and facilitates competition and informal play. For information, mail munch@soda.berkeley.edu with the subject "help". ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports games and Decentralized games are on the PBM List, distributed separately on the Internet, and at the end on CompuServe. ====================================================================== Archives and subscriptions by email ====================================================================== PBEM is archived for ftp at "ftp.erg.sri.com" and "ftp.cp.tn.tudelft.nl", or check archie or use Veronica to look for gopher sites, of which there is at least one, cic.net. I have a mailing list that distributes the magazine, but I would prefer that you obtain it via Usenet or CompuServe or whatever. ====================================================================== The remainder of this magazine doesn't change, and isn't of interest to most readers anyway. Skip it. ====================================================================== Hints regarding sending Electronic Mail to other networks ====================================================================== OK, so now you're wondering, "I'm using FidoNet or CompuServe or FoobieBlech and those email addresses he keeps on talking about sure look funny to me!". Welcome to the modern world of networking. See, there's this big amorphous network called the Internet that lots of other networks, like FidoNet, CompuServe, DELPHI, America Online, GEnie and (soon) Prodigy are hooked up to. And you can send email between all of them, if you know the right incantations. Often size or cost limitations will keep you from being able to play games on another network, but at least you can send me letters to the editor or articles. Compuserve: If your ID is [76515,1122] then your canonical Internet address will be 76515.1122@compuserve.com -- notice that the comma has become a period. To send mail from CompuServe to the Internet, you use this sort of address: >INTERNET:gl8f@virginia.edu Compuserve users have to pay extra for mail to or from the Internet. If you're a flat-fee user, the cost is 5 cents per 2500 characters, minimum 15 cents, but the first $9 per month is free. This can add up to a bit of money if you send frequent messages, or get into a Galaxy end-game where your turns are large. In addition, the maximum size for a given message is 50kbytes, and most Internet games do not split their game turns into pieces if they are too large. But you can try. Diplomacy and ARENA, for example, should definitely be ok in size, and Diplomacy games with no press don't send that many messages. America Online has an 8kbyte limit on email messages, so it isn't very useful. Their addresses look like: username@aol.com I don't know anything about DELPHI, other than that their addresses look like username@delphi.com Prodigy has a gateway under construction, but have yet to work out a mechanism to charge their users for sending email back and forth. Their addresses will look like username@prodigy.com GEnie's addresses look like this: username@genie.geis.com. The maximum incoming message size is 900kbytes, but the biggest outgoing message is 50k or 2500 lines, as limited by the GEnie message editor. GEnie doesn't charge extra for Internet email. FidoNet addresses, such as "Dale Webber at 1:105/55.0", look like dale.weber@p0.f55.n105.z1.fidonet.org in Internet form. To send email to the Internet from FidoNet, send normal netmail to the user UUCP, and then on the first line of the message, put the line: To: gl8f@virginia.edu Unfortunately, unless your FidoNet BBS is hooked directly to the Internet, they ask that you keep email under 10kbytes and only occasional. Ask your sysop for more information. I can mail you a list of public-access Unix sites with Internet email capabilities. Just send me a short note, using the above info, to "gl8f@virginia.edu", and I'll mail a copy back. ====================================================================== What's this "ftp" thing anyway? ====================================================================== ftp is an acronym for "file transfer protocol", and it is only directly available to the privileged few who are directly hooked to the Internet using heavy-duty hardware. There is a way to use ftp via email, and if you can get email to me, I will send you a document explaining how to use it, or send email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com, with an empty Subject: line, and the word "help" in the body of the message. The Dutch ftp site, ftp.cp.tn.tudelft.nl, has a way for you to retrieve any of its files via email, either by sending it mail or telneting to it. To get the helpfile either : telnet ftp.cp.tn.tudelft.nl 2001 MAIL <your mail address> HELP (for small help file) or SEND HELP (for big help file) or INDEX (for the index) QUIT or mail to pbm-server@cp.tn.tudelft.nl with the following body : BEGIN HELP or SEND HELP or INDEX END ====================================================================== PBEM is published monthly. Please redistribute it far and wide, but do not modify or delete any articles. Write me if you want to redistribute it in other forms; such permission is easy to obtain. For example, some old articles are being translated into German. PLEASE CONTRIBUTE! Our focus is primarily on free wargames, but we're interested in articles about anything relevant. Up