VGA Planets

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VGA Planets
Developer(s) Tim Wisseman
Platform(s) MS-DOS, Apple Macintosh
Release date(s) 1991

VGA Planets is an multi-player space strategy war game originally released in 1992. The game simulates combat in space between galactic scale empires.

One of the first commercially successful indie games,[1] VGA Planets was notable for being played via email, without a central server:[2] each game of up to 11 players is handled independently, with the players sending their orders for each turn to the computer which manages that game.[1]

A hosted web version has been available since November 2010.

History

The game was originally released in 1992 but became well known as a play-by-mail game[3] in 1994 with version 3, although the prior version 2.2 was already played worldwide. Version 3 allows up to 11 players to join, each of them leading one of the 11 possible races. In 1994, the game was distributed as shareware, which could be purchased for $15[4].

In the early 1990s, games were primarily hosted on dial-up bulletin board systems (BBSes), but they could be set up separately by any group of players. The Usenet newsgroup rec.games.vga-planets became a common place for players send or respond to game invitations.[2][5]

The game is set in the "Echo Cluster" where 11 different races fight for control. These races are modeled after Star Trek, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, though custom races can be created with special tools. Each predefined race has some special powers and specific fields of expertise (for example: Cyborgs can assimilate native races into colonists; Robots are expert minelayers; Birdmen excel at spy tactics and cloaking).

VGA Planets follows the 4X game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate) model: Players start with a home world, then must build spaceships, explore the galaxy, colonize planets, mine minerals, and build up their industry. The game has no built-in victory condition: the players have to agree on one before starting a game.

VGA Planets 3

Clients up to version 3.0 were DOS programs; from version 3.5 on there were clients for Microsoft Windows. In addition, there are cross-platform third-party tools, including clients written in Java. A third-party Linux client named "GNOME War Pad" is also available.[6]

VGA Planets 4

This is an expanded version of the original, with many new races and many new rules, expanded fleet combat - and the addition of ground combat units.

VGA Planets 5

A new browser-based version was under development, but was put on hold in February 2012 and has been dormant since then.[7]

VGA Planets Nu

In May 2010, Tim Wisseman approved a new project[8] called VGA Planets Nu to remake the version 3.0 game with modern web-based technology. The Nu project was released for live games in November 2010.

Original gameplay

Gameplay for versions 3 and 4 uses three programs: a master program that allows the creation of a universe with the desired characteristics; a host program that acts as a server; and a copy of the client program for each player.[9]

First, the host sends a file with the initial conditions to each player. The client program allows the player to view data about the game and make decisions. Once the player has finished giving orders for the turn, either the client program or an external helper program takes the data, creates a turn file (usually with a .TRN extension), and sends it to the host person, who feeds all the turn files into the host program. The host processes all the turns and creates new status files (usually with a .RST extension), which are then sent back to the players. This process can be fully automated (the host can be an automatic server).

At the time that the game gained popularity, LANs and the Internet were not generally available to the public, so VGA Planets was primarily played via dial-up bulletin board systems (BBSes), gradually moving to email as a PBEM as it became more widely available. The turn files and the game status files were transferred to and from the BBS or by email manually. This required games to have a regular hosting schedule.

Reception

Computer Gaming World reviewed VGA Planets 3.0 in 1993, calling it "easy to learn and manage" and describing its $15 shareware fee as a "great deal." The reviewer noted the game's "clunky" interface and lack of single-player AI, but recommended that "anyone who enjoys spaceploitation" should try the game.[4] In February 1994, the same reviewer said the game was "very similar in feel to a play-by-mail system but without the cost and wait".[10]

A 1994 survey of strategic science fiction games called VGA Planets 3 an "excellent exploration and galactic combat game" with "a growing number of fans", rating it four stars out of five.[11] A strategy guide for the game in the same issue described it as a "wonderful blend of Reach for the Stars, Master of Orion and Diplomacy."[12]

Later that year, Computer Gaming World selected VGA Planets as an honorable mention for "Online Game of Year", noting it was the first BBS game to be nominated for the award.[13]

The game had sold more than 50,000 copies by 2001.[14]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tringham, Neal Roger (2014). Science Fiction Video Games. CRC Press. p. 393. ISBN 9781482203899. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pantuso, Joe (1996). The Complete Internet Gamer. Wiley. p. 183. ISBN 9780471137870. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  3. ↑ McFedries, Paul (1995). "VGA+Planets" The complete idiot's guide to Usenet newsgroups. Indianapolis, Ind.: Alpha Books. p. 221. ISBN 9781567615920. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cirulis, Martin E. (September 1993). "In Cyberspace, Everyone Can Hear Your Modem Scream". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. pp. 106–107. ISSN 0744-6667. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  5. ↑ Maloni, Kelly; Baker, Derek; Wice, Nathaniel, eds. (1994). Net Games. Michael Wolff & Company. p. 53. ISBN 0-679-75592-6. A popular multiplayer galactic BBS war game and one of the first that is played offline with full VGA graphics.
  6. ↑ Di Pentima, Lucas. "GNOME War Pad Site". Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  7. ↑ "StarCube had been on indefinite hold since February 11, 2012. ... [Revival of the project is very unlikely now"]
  8. ↑ "Tim Wisseman gives his blessing to the VGA Planets 3 Remake - Planets Nu". planets.nu. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  9. ↑ "How to Play - VGA Planets 4 @ GRG Zone". www.grgzone.com. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  10. ↑ Cirulis, Martin E. (February 1994). "The Year the Stars Fell". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. pp. 94–104. ISSN 0744-6667. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  11. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (May 1994). "Never Trust a Gazfluvian Flingschnogger!". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. pp. 42–58. ISSN 0744-6667. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  12. ↑ Foster, Ted (May 1994). "A Little Piece of Vulcan, a Little Piece of Sol". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. pp. 158–164. ISSN 0744-6667. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "Announcing the new Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. June 1994. pp. 51–58. ISSN 0744-6667. Retrieved 6 May 2026. Tim Wissemann's VGA Planets deserves special recognition for being the first BBS game to be nominated for this award. Award winners have always represented simultaneous multi-player gaming rather than PBEM, simply because it's harder to accomplish, but the editors felt that the impact of VGA Planets made it worthy of an Honorable Mention in this category.
  14. ↑ Geryk, Bruce (August 2001). "History of Space Empire Games". Gamespot. Archived from the original on 3 December 2001. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
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