Galactiwars II

History

Don Arnel had a hit space game in Galactiwars. He also had a great business going at Logicom, which had become one of the very top third-party developers for The Major BBS. But another developer in South Florida, Mike Murdock of M. B. Murdock & Associates also had a hit space game: Galactic Empire. Empire was built on top of Murdock's previous Galactic Raiders game, which was a fun text space shoot 'em up. Empire added some Political-Economic simulation, and Arnel took note.

Unfortunately, time constraints, or technology issues, or perhaps even a gentlemen's agreement stalled the development of Galactiwars II. The game never saw the light of day, and Logicom moved on to more profitable matters.

The source code, never finished, was lost when Don Arnel destroyed all of his last backups from the Galacticomm era.

Fun fact: The original asking price of the game, $365.25, equates to an Earth year - 365 and 1/4 days.

Game Information

Galactiwars II is a sophisticated multi-player space war game with real-time interaction. The game actually has two distinct modes of play. Flight mode puts you in direct control over a ship of your design. You will navigate the universe for suitable planets to set up colonies, blasting away at anyone who should get in your way! The second mode allows you to manipulate the economies of the planets you have settled. As the Emperor you will have many decisions to make to keep your people happy, as well as maintaining an adequate defense, should enemy forces try to take over. Below are just some of the features you'll find that make this one of the most exciting games ever developed for The Major BBS!

• Players can custom design their own starships. From a standard scout class ship (3 hulls), to a Battle Star (over 125 hulls!).
• Ships weapons include tachyon torpedos, hyperspace missiles, lasers, and fighter ships.
• Ships can be docked at planets for repairs and design changes.
• Scanners to locate nearby planets or star systems, and other ships in your area.
• Onboard computer gives analysis of planet and star system data such as: Diameter, density, gravity, orbit, atmospheric pressure, and habitability index.
• Communicate with other ships over 3-channel radio, each with 999 frequencies.
• Universe spans 1000 by 1000 light years, and can consist of up to 2000 starsystems - each with up to 6 orbiting planets.
• Planetary management includes: Assigning labor, manipulating commodities, surplus trading of stockpiled goods, arms production, and much more.
• Planets have auto-defense systems for when you're not around.

Gameplay

The game would have been a text-mode game, similar to Galactic Empire. Commands would be issued via a command line. Prompts and menus would be provided as appropriate, depending on the mode the player was in.