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The Ur-Quan Masters
''The Ur-Quan Masters'' is a 2002 open-source fangame modification, based on the action-adventure science fiction game ''Star Control II''. The original game was released for PCs in 1992 and ported to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1994. It has been frequently mentioned among the best games of all time, with additional praise for its writing, world design, character design, and music. After the ''Star Control II'' copyrights reverted to creators Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford, they licensed their content to their fan community under the GNU General Public License, to keep their series in the public eye. The open-source development team remade the 3DO version as a port to modern operating systems, and allowed fan-made modifications to add improvements absent in the original release. Released under the title ''The Ur-Quan Masters'' (the subtitle of the original game), the modified remake has since been downloaded nearly two million times, earning critical reception as one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toys For Bob
Toys for Bob, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. As the creators of the award-winning ''Star Control'' and ''Skylanders'' series, the studio originated as a partnership between Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford (programmer), Fred Ford. They had separately attended the University of California, Berkeley in the late 1970s, before entering the video game industry in the early 1980s. They later met through mutual friends in 1988, when Reiche was seeking a programmer to develop ''Star Control'' for Accolade (company), Accolade. This led to the creation of their partnership in 1989 and the debut of ''Star Control'' in 1990. The release was considered a landmark science fiction game and led to the 1992 sequel ''Star Control II'', which greatly expanded the series' story and scale. ''Star Control II'' is celebrated as one of the List of video games considered the best, greatest games of all time and is featured on several "best of" lists for music, writing, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video Game Modding
Video game modding (short for "modification") is the process of alteration by players or fans of one or more aspects of a video game, such as how it looks or behaves, and is a sub-discipline of general modding. Mods may range from small changes and tweaks to complete overhauls, and can extend the replay value and interest of the game. Modding a game can also be understood as the act of seeking and installing mods to the player's game, but the act of tweaking pre-existing settings and preferences is not truly modding. Mods have arguably become an increasingly important factor in the commercial success of some games, as they add depth to the original work, and can be both fun for players playing the mods and as means of self-expression for mod developers. People can become fans of specific mods, in addition to fans of the game they are for, such as requesting features and alterations for these mods. In cases where mods are very popular, players might have to clarify that they are r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spacewar!
''Spacewar!'' is a space combat video game developed in 1962 by Steve Russell in collaboration with Martin Graetz, Wayne Wiitanen, Bob Saunders, Steve Piner, and others. It was written for the newly installed DEC PDP-1 minicomputer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After its initial creation, ''Spacewar!'' was expanded further by other students and employees of universities in the area, including Dan Edwards and Peter Samson. It was also spread to many of the few dozen installations of the PDP-1 computer, making ''Spacewar!'' the first known video game to be played at multiple computer installations. The game features two spaceships, "the needle" and "the wedge", engaged in a dogfight while maneuvering in the gravity well of a star. Both ships are controlled by human players. Each ship has limited weaponry and fuel for maneuvering, and the ships remain in motion even when the player is not accelerating. Flying near the star to provide a gravity assist was a common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Action Game
An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform games. Multiplayer online battle arena and some real-time strategy games are also considered action games. In an action game, the player typically controls a character often in the form of a protagonist or avatar. This player character must navigate a level, collecting objects, avoiding obstacles, and battling enemies with their natural skills as well as weapons and other tools at their disposal. At the end of a level or group of levels, the player must often defeat a boss enemy that is more challenging and often a major antagonist in the game's story. Enemy attacks and obstacles deplete the player character's health and lives, and the player receives a game over when they run out of lives. Alternatively, the player gets to the end of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accolade (company)
Accolade, Inc. (later Infogrames North America, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher based in San Jose, California. The company was founded as Accolade in 1984 by Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead, who had previously co-founded Activision in 1979. The company became known for numerous sports game series, including ''HardBall!, Jack Nicklaus'' and ''Test Drive''. By the early 1990s, Accolade saw critical acclaim for '' Star Control'' (1990), as well as strong sales for ''Bubsy'' (1993). However, Sega sued Accolade for creating unauthorized Sega Genesis games by reverse-engineering the console's boot-protection. Accolade won the case on appeal, overturning an injunction from the lower court that had interrupted their sales and development. The founders soon left the company. The new chief executive, Peter Harris, attracted new investment from Time Warner. The following year, Accolade president Jim Barrett replaced him. He focused on existing franchises hoping ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classic Game Postmortem- Star Control (16552069930)
A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''classic'' car) or a noun (a ''classic'' of English literature). It denotes a particular quality in art, architecture, literature, design, technology, or other cultural artifacts. In commerce, products are named 'classic' to denote a long-standing popular version or model, to distinguish it from a newer variety. ''Classic'' is used to describe many major, long-standing sporting events. Colloquially, an everyday occurrence (e.g. a joke or mishap) may be described in some dialects of English as 'an absolute classic'. "Classic" should not be confused with ''classical'', which refers specifically to certain cultural styles, especially in music and architecture: styles generally taking inspiration from the Classical tradition, hence classicism. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Paper Shotgun
''Rock Paper Shotgun'' (also rendered ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun''; short ''RPS'') is a UK-based website for reporting on video games, primarily for PC. Originally launched on 13 July 2007 as an independent site, ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was acquired and brought into the Gamer Network, a network of sites led by ''Eurogamer'' in May 2017. Its editor-in-chief is Katharine Castle and its deputy editor is Alice Bell. Contributors ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was founded by Kieron Gillen, Jim Rossignol, Alec Meer and John Walker in 2007. All four were freelancing for Future Publishing, and decided they wanted to create a website focused entirely on games for PC. Gillen announced that he would no longer be involved in posting the day-to-day content of ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' in 2010, focusing more on his work with Marvel Comics, but would continue to act as a director and occasionally write essay pieces for the site. Rossignol founded his own game studio Big Robot in 2010, but also continued ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ur-Quan
The Ur-Quan are a fictional race of predatory alien caterpillars in the '' Star Control'' series of video games, created by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. Introduced in 1990, the Ur-Quan are the primary antagonist of the first game, leading a galactic empire that seeks to enslave Earth. They reprise their role in ''Star Control II'', which expands on their history as former slaves who since vowed to fiercely defend themselves. During the game, the Ur-Quan enter into a civil war over their ideology, giving Earth an opportunity to defeat them. In ''Star Control 3'', which was developed by a different team, the Ur-Quan ally with Earth against a different antagonist and their role is scaled back. They appear once again in ''The Ur-Quan Masters'', the 2002 open source remake of ''Star Control II.'' Reiche and Ford developed the Ur-Quan based on the concepts for unique spaceships in ''Star Control''; their insectoid appearance was inspired by a ''National Geographic'' photo of a cate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Action Game
An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform games. Multiplayer online battle arena and some real-time strategy games are also considered action games. In an action game, the player typically controls a character often in the form of a protagonist or avatar. This player character must navigate a level, collecting objects, avoiding obstacles, and battling enemies with their natural skills as well as weapons and other tools at their disposal. At the end of a level or group of levels, the player must often defeat a boss enemy that is more challenging and often a major antagonist in the game's story. Enemy attacks and obstacles deplete the player character's health and lives, and the player receives a game over when they run out of lives. Alternatively, the player gets to the end of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video Game Graphics
A variety of computer graphic techniques have been used to display video game content throughout the history of video games. The predominance of individual techniques have evolved over time, primarily due to hardware advances and restrictions such as the processing power of central or graphics processing units. Text-based Some of the earliest video games were text games or text-based games that used text characters instead of bitmapped or vector graphics. Examples include MUDs (''multi-user dungeons''), where players could read or view depictions of rooms, objects, other players, and actions performed in the virtual world; and roguelikes, a subgenre of role-playing video games featuring many monsters, items, and environmental effects, as well as an emphasis on randomization, replayability and permanent death. Some of the earliest text games were developed for computer systems which had no video display at all. Text games are typically easier to write and require less proce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dialogue Tree
A dialogue tree, or conversation tree, is a gameplay mechanic that is used throughout many adventure games (including action-adventure games) and role-playing video games. When interacting with a non-player character, the player is given a choice of what to say and makes subsequent choices until the conversation ends. Certain video game genres, such as visual novels and dating sims, revolve almost entirely around these character interactions and branching dialogues. History The concept of the dialogue tree has existed long before the advent of video games. The earliest known dialogue tree is described in "The Garden of Forking Paths," a 1941 short story by Jorge Luis Borges, in which the combination book of Ts'ui Pên allows all major outcomes from an event branch into their own chapters. Much like the game counterparts this story reconvenes as it progresses (as possible outcomes would approach n where n is the number of options at each fork and m is the depth of the tree). Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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