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Beyond The Stellar Empire
''Beyond the Stellar Empire'' (or ''BSE'') is a play-by-email (PBM) game. Originally published by Adventures By Mail, ''BSE'' was an open-ended "space opera" with a single available game that began in playtesting in 1981. According to Stephen Marte, during the mid-1980s, like "'' Tribes of Crane'' and ''Midgard'', ''BSE'' asthe stomping ground of many of PBM's best power gamers". The game had two variants, one monitored by Game Masters who imposed artificial constraints, and another without constraints. Gameplay took place on a vast space stage where mega-corporations formed the dominant organizing framework, alongside various other groups that players could join to pursue tasks to advance, collaborate with other players, and progress to more senior positions such as space colony governors. ''Beyond the Stellar Empire'' placed #5 and #11 for Best PBM Game of the Year in 1987 and 1988, respectively, in ''Paper Mayhem'', a magazine for play-by-mail games. In subsequent years, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adventures By Mail
Adventures by Mail is a company that published play-by-mail (PBM) games. The company was founded in 1981. It published various PBM games including ''Beyond the Stellar Empire'', '' It's a Crime'', and '' Monster Island''. History The company—based in Cohoes, NY—began publishing PBM games in 1981. Paper Mayhem 1993. p. 9. In 1982, the company hired another gamemaster, Michael Popolizio. In the January–February 1985 issue of ''Paper Mayhem'' magazine, the company announced a significant expansion of one of their main PBM games, ''Beyond the Stellar Empire'' (''BSE'') had occurred the prior December. They asserted in 1993 that they were the largest PBM company in the United States. At the time, their game offerings included ''BSE'', ''It's a Crime'', ''Monster Island'', and ''Quest''. In 1983, readers of ''The Space Gamer'' voted Adventures by Mail the top PBM publisher of the year, due to the popularity of '' Warboid World'' and ''Beyond the Stellar Empire''. Adventures by Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Space Gamer
''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. The magazine is no longer published, but the rights holders maintain a web presence using its final title ''Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer''. History ''The Space Gamer'' (''TSG'') started out as a digest quarterly publication of the brand new Metagaming Concepts Metagaming Concepts, later known simply as Metagaming, was a company that published board games from 1974 to 1983. It was founded and owned by Howard Thompson, who designed the company's first game, '' Stellar Conquest''. The company also inven ... company in March 1975. Howard M. Thompson, the owner of Metagaming and the first editor of the magazine, stated "The magazine had been planned for after our third or fourth game but circumstances demand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rimworlds (play-by-mail Game)
''Rimworlds'' is an open-ended, science fiction, play-by-mail (PBM) game. History and development ''Rimworlds'' was an open-end computer moderated, play-by-mail game with a space-based setting. ''Rimworlds'' was published by Palace Simulations Inc. Schell 1986. p. 10. Jon Ogden was the designer. Cale 1985. p. 9. A reviewer in 1985 likened it to the game ''Beyond the Stellar Empire'', combined with ''Universe II/III''. The game had a player limit and was "sold out" with a wait list as of April 1986. Turns were run weekly. Gameplay The purpose of the game was to develop a Rim Empire from a colony. ''Rimworld's'' setting, or The Rim, comprised four clusters, each with 1,560 sectors. Each of the game's six federations had a planet–a Ringworld–or a starbase. Players could create spaceships, starbases, colonies, and Starteams—or colony variants. In combat, ships had offensive tools such as phasers and single use photon torpedoes, as well as shields and other tools for defense ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beyond The Quadra Zone (play-by-mail Game)
''Beyond the Quadra Zone'' (or ''BQZ'') is an open-ended, computer-moderated science fiction, play-by-mail (PBM) game. It was published by Quest Games, Inc. History and development ''Beyond the Quadra Zone'' was a mid-complexity, open-ended, science fiction PBM game. Editors 1984. p. 57. One reviewer called it a "power game". Hainly 1985. p. 25. Quest Games, Inc. published the game, which drew from the design of ''Universe II''. It was computer-moderated with some human assistance. Gameplay The game setting is outer space in the year 2615. Webber 1984. p. 6. As starship captains, players explored space and collected resources. Beyond the charted regions of space, the uncharted "quadra zone" was newly accessible for exploration. Editors 1984. p. 23. The elements of gameplay included combat. Reception A reviewer in the Summer–Fall 1984 issue of ''Gaming Universal'' rated the game "excellent" at four of five stars, stating "I recommend ''Beyond the Quadra Zone'' highly." In lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GAMES Magazine
''GAMES World of Puzzles'' is a puzzle magazine formed from the merger of Games and World of Puzzles in October 2014. The entire magazine interior is now newsprint (as opposed to the part-glossy/part-newsprint format of the original ''Games'') and the puzzles and articles that originally sandwiched the "Pencilwise" section are now themselves sandwiched ''by'' the main puzzle pages, replacing the "feature puzzle" section. (They are still full-color, unlike the two-color "Pencilwise" sections.) Like the original ''World of Puzzles'' (which is now discontinued), the answer key is now at the rear of the magazine. The new combined title remained on the same 9-issue-per-year publication schedule as the original ''Games''. Games ''Games'' magazine (ISSN 0199-9788) was a magazine devoted to games and puzzles, and it was published by Games Publications, a division of Kappa Publishing Group. History Games was originally published by ''Playboy'' (debuting with the September/October 1977 i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-player Characters
A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster or referee rather than by another player. In video games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer (instead of a player) that has a predetermined set of behaviors that potentially will impact gameplay, but will not necessarily be the product of true artificial intelligence. Role-playing games In a traditional tabletop role-playing game such as ''Dungeons & Dragons'', an NPC is a character portrayed by the gamemaster (GM). While the player characters (PCs) form the narrative's protagonists, non-player characters can be thought of as the "supporting cast" or "extras" of a roleplaying narrative. Non-player characters populate the fictional world of the game, and can fill any role not occupied by a player character. Non-player ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |