Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (
More info?)
On 11 Mar 2005 05:42:13 -0800, "magnate" <chrisc@dbass.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
>
>WARNING: this is an INCREDIBLY addictive game. I've never really
>understood why - it has average graphics (they were average when it
>came out in about 1991!), negligible context/backstory, no AI, poor UI
>and a fairly limited set of build & deployment orders. But somehow it's
>the most compelling multiplayer space 4X I've ever played. It pretty
>much wrecked my degree scores (with some help from Civ 1).
>
>I've not tried version 4 - it's been in beta for about ten years now,
>which must be some kind of record, but there are still plenty of people
>playing version 3 as PBEM. Both the client and server side programs
>were rewritten by the user community in the mid 90s and are greatly
>improved. You want to look for a "phost" game (pronounced pee-host, the
>server-side improvement), and I recommend the VPA client although there
>are many to choose from (VPA runs very nicely under dosemu, and phost
>runs in Linux too). Look on alt.games.vga-planets for help (there is a
>separate group for VGAP4), or go to www.vgaplanets.com to buy it. Most
>clients will look for a registered executable, though there is a
>crippleware version to try before you buy.
>
>Because v3 has been around for about 12 years now, there are a vast
>number of mods and utils which can add a lot of value. New ship
>designs, galactic maps, combat viewers and simulators etc. etc. The
>game uses the Dom2 model for turn-based combat: all players' moves are
>executed and then enemy ships in the same location will fight after
>movement, and the combat replay ("VCR") is in your message list the
>following turn. Given the chronology I should have said Dom2 borrows
>the VGAP model, though Dom2 improves it a bit (some spells can result
>in combat before movement etc.).
>
>Thinking about the gestation of VGAP4, it's very interesting to compare
>the reputation of VGAP creator Tim Wisseman with someone like Derek
>Smart. Tim has carefully avoided setting and missing deadlines, getting
>entangled with publishers, making a plonker of himself on usenet and
>pissing off his potential customers. As a result, he's been working on
>the next version of the game for over ten years, and you know what -
>nobody minds!
>
>CC
I played version 3 a number of years ago. I recently got back into it
playing version 4. Its still in beta, but very playable with a number
of people hosting games.
It still doesn't have great graphics, the learning curve is steep, but
I really am enjoying it.
I must say that Stars! never grabbed me. I played it a number of
times, and just never really enjoyed it.
I know people who will swear its the best 4x game out there. Just
differences of opinion, I guess.
The truth of the matter is, that both of them (Stars! and VGAP) are
definitely strategic games. Both can take months to play in
multiplayer mode, and offer a lot of diplomacy and depth of play.
Mac
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