MP Biz/Space Games -- Your Old Favorites

[DanS]

This is my second foray into Tradewars 2002. The first one wasn't very involved, but this one is quite cool--to get in at the start.

Of course, this got me thinking about other multiplayer business games set in space. For instance, M.U.L.E. is a true classic that I remember fondly and still play from time to time on abandonware.

Others have mentioned VGA Planets, which I could never get to work right, but was one of the first graphical client/server games that are similar to this genre. If anybody is interested, I would be willing to see what the state of the art is on VGA Planets.

Of course, Pirates! has a feeling like Tradewars 2002, if you have a successful plan, although it isn't multiplayer, and is not set in space. I play that on abandonware too (although my projector doesn't seem to like changing resolutions to 800x600 of the C64 emulator).

Walk down nostalgia lane and give me your faves!
[This message has been edited by DanS (edited April 20, 2001).]

[CapTVK]

quote: Originally posted by Dan Magaha FIRAXIS on 04-22-2001 12:20 PM I'm glad that folks are enjoying TW2002. I can remember the first time I really started playing it, I was hopelessly addicted. I'd log on to dozens of area BBS's and play in several games at once. I remember one version of the game had these warp generators you could buy where you could change the warps into or out of a sector, my friend and I build a monster planet and essentially killed all the warps in or out of the sector =) As far as other space trading games, obviously Elite is the original, and one of the games I used to love the most, and then there was PSI-5 Trading Company, and a couple of others. Pirates goes without saying =) Dan Firaxis Games, Inc.

Everyone should play MULE at least once in his life, after almost twenty years it still has the shame charm it did at the start. I'm surprised nobody made an internet version of MULE yet.

PSI-5, I remember that from the good old C64. Selecting your own crew for the journey was cool. I only wished there was a bit more meat to it storywise. A plot device here and there would have helped. It usually got down to charging up the batteries, shutting down non-essential systems, keep going at top speed and keep blasting away at pirates.

I Played the cassette version of PSI-5, did the disk version offer any extras?

[DanS]

Wow, Elite brings back some memories. Was there a version before the C64 version?

Never played PSI-5 Trading Company...

Does anybody remember a board game called "Cartel" or something? I think it was from the 70s.

Cap: unfortunately, I have not seen a M.U.L.E. over IP remake, and I looked at length at one time. We couldn't use anything like VNC (a remote control app--shows the whole screen remotely), because the emulators use DirectX and wouldn't pass along the graphics overlay with the screen...
[This message has been edited by DanS (edited April 22, 2001).]

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

I'm glad that folks are enjoying TW2002. I can remember the first time I really started playing it, I was hopelessly addicted. I'd log on to dozens of area BBS's and play in several games at once. I remember one version of the game had these warp generators you could buy where you could change the warps into or out of a sector, my friend and I build a monster planet and essentially killed all the warps in or out of the sector =)

As far as other space trading games, obviously Elite is the original, and one of the games I used to love the most, and then there was PSI-5 Trading Company, and a couple of others. Pirates goes without saying =)

Dan
Firaxis Games, Inc.

quote: Originally posted by DanS on 04-20-2001 10:30 PM This is my second foray into Tradewars 2002. The first one wasn't very involved, but this one is quite cool--to get in at the start. Of course, this got me thinking about other multiplayer business games set in space. For instance, M.U.L.E. is a true classic that I remember fondly and still play from time to time on abandonware. Others have mentioned VGA Planets, which I could never get to work right, but was one of the first graphical client/server games that are similar to this genre. If anybody is interested, I would be willing to see what the state of the art is on VGA Planets. Of course, Pirates! has a feeling like Tradewars 2002, if you have a successful plan, although it isn't multiplayer, and is not set in space. I play that on abandonware too (although my projector doesn't seem to like changing resolutions to 800x600 of the C64 emulator). Walk down nostalgia lane and give me your faves! [This message has been edited by DanS (edited April 20, 2001).]

[Zealot]

Well, I did the download of M.U.L.E. once, but it had a CRC error, or something. Is it really worthy? What is the game about, anyway?

[DanS]

Zealot: on my personal web site, I wrote the following:

"M.U.L.E. is one of the best multiplayer games of all time. Up to four people colonize a new world in space. The players compete in a simple market simulation in three commodities (food, energy, smithore) and one
"cash crop" (crystite). M.U.L.E. shows that complexity is massively overrated and that good game companies focus on gameplay. I would love to hear from anybody who has figured out a way to play M.U.L.E. over the internet. A good game of M.U.L.E. lasts about an hour."

It is worth your time, IMO.

[Urban Ranger]

Another very good space trading game is Omnitrend's Universe. It's very cool. Not only you need to make a living trading but you need to solve an intriguing mystery as well.

M.U.L.E. is simply awesome. Four human players can play on an Atari 800, but only 2 on the C64. Not only the players compete against each other, they must also cooperate. If they don't, the colony fails and everyone loses.
[This message has been edited by Urban Ranger (edited April 24, 2001).]

[Marko Polo]

I really loved M.U.L.E at C64. Me and my friend played it countless hours. I still miss it after all these years..

[Urban Ranger]

You can use the keyboard to play but most people won't. Sucks compared to using joysticks.

[DanS]

"but only 2 on the C64"

Not so. Two on joysticks, two on keyboard. Four total. 4 player MP on the C64 really was awesome.

I would like to play a game that deals with things like scarcity and other market realities with the same kind of intelligence and simplicity that made M.U.L.E. so fun and the replay value so high.
[This message has been edited by DanS (edited April 24, 2001).]

[Thoth]

quote: Originally posted by DanS on 04-20-2001 10:30 PM Others have mentioned VGA Planets, which I could never get to work right, but was one of the first graphical client/server games that are similar to this genre. If anybody is interested, I would be willing to see what the state of the art is on VGA Planets. [This message has been edited by DanS (edited April 20, 2001).]

VGA Planets....I used to love that game. If you set up a game here I'll definitely be playing.

[Garth Vader]

I played VGA Planets for a couple of years. It was taking up a lot of my time but I didn't quit until guy who ran the server that I was playing on quit doing it.