Galaxy: Alpha [Intergalactic Games]

[GrimFinger]

According to issue # 38 (September/October 1989) of Paper Mayhem magazine, more than 7 months of redesign and reprogramming, and another 3 months for the empire re-set, Galaxy: Alpha was then running on a 4 megabyte Atari ST with two 60 megabyte hard drives. The software was written in "C," with sections of the player data base applications having been done with Regent Base II.

[Ramblurr]

TWO 60MB drives? WOW. That is some serious power.

[Barzimeron]

She Who Lives in Shadows Thanks you for leaving your Homeworld's coordinates on this primitive system for her espionage teams to locate. As you no doubt know by now 5 Alpha Class Battle Fleets and 1 Zate Class Transport Fleet with 3500 Ground Force Legions have already started to convert your population into followers of the Path.

Praise be to She and all followers of the Path... Oblivion to all who do not follow the Path!!!

[GrimFinger]

So, Barzimeron, which empire did you control in Galaxy: Alpha? The Disciples of the Shadow Path?

Share your memories of the game with us, if you will.

[Barzimeron]

LOL.. Yeah. God did I love that game. Still have a lot of my stuff. Some how I lost all my turns though. Loved reading those things.. Best part of a week was getting them in the mail.. And going crazy trying to solve the puzzles.. First one I ever tried was the Pi one.. Lost 4 systems before I really read the values..LOL. Boy did he like making you pay if you did not read/think...

[GrimFinger]

The puzzles were all over my head. I solved one, I think, but only after a veteran player of the game gave me the correct solution to submit.

So, why not go through your "stuff," and provide us a list of what you still have. Do you have any of your old turns left, at all? Or are they all lost to the sands of intergalactic time?

[GrimFinger]

GALACTIC DATABASE REF: PSI DRAGONS (general access)

The horrible mind blasting chaos creatures known as Psi Dragons are thought to be one of the many foul sorcery based weapons used by the Vor'Koon (Empire of Everlasting Darkness). Physical/Psi based weapons are useless against them due to their origins within the primal Chaos that swirls between the transfinite planes of the multiverse. Ancient records from those times report that Psi Dragons drover all beings around them into raving madness, and even disrupted the basic physical constraints of their surroundings by their very presence. These creatures are rumored to travel in a strange fashion that allows them to enter even sealed areas, through any angle within that area. Nothing further is currently known.

[GrimFinger]

Here is an in-game message from the game moderator. It was contained within one set of turn results for the game of Galaxy: Alpha. For nostalgia's sake, former players of Galaxy: Alpha are invited to enjoy this small snippet from the past of play by mail gaming.

------------------------------------------]

HI Charles, so how was you Xmas? As Mike may have mentioned I take two weeks off at Xmas(my only vacation during the year). Your attact against Scotts Star Base would have gone better if you had more Ground Force units (you had no reserves, so I couldn't send in any backups...). You can't capture a world with fleet assets only... You can destroy all installations from orbit but you need on-site spotters to call in orbital strikes. You lost all of your ground units to Scott's Warriors early in the battle. You also need to list the planet number and the exit fortress block from now on. My system can key on either X, Y. M, Starname or the index number (number and letter). The reason you need to list the starname and index is a back up (if you transpose even one number I can't find the system...) You made that mistake three (3) times this turn but because I had the starname and index I was able to find the systems you listed. I have no history for the Federation Systems Alliance (#505) Thomas Nelson didn't write one up. I can tell you that 505 is the largest Empire in Alpha galaxy (2000+ star systems) that's followed by #594(1500+) and then #135(1000+). Processing depends on your position in the two cycles. Alpha Cycle is run roughly every 2-3 weeks. Beta is run every 9-10 days. Alpha Empires on the Beta cycle are linked into my system software which keeps track of when the last turn was mailed out(and an average mail time for that area(plus 3 days). Each turns arrival date is also entered into the system. This determines in what order turns are processed, and which cycle they are processed upon. This can change form turn to turn. To stay on the Beta cycle, turns need to stay in their "slots" in the system or another Empire receives that "slot". Since I'm the only GM on this end, I have to make the best use of my time possible. Take it easy and have fun.

BJ

[GrimFinger]

GALACTIC DATABASE REF: JYR'RIT (general access)

The ancient insectoid race known as the Jyr'rit are thought to have been one of founding members of the Assassins Guild. Scattered ancient records seem to indicate that just before the covert war between the Guild and the Houses of the Krulang Krang, the Jir'rit had developed a multi-space booster system that would have allowed a TSEC to destroy a system protected by what is known as a Matrix Shield. Ancient legends speak of the Jyr'rits travel to many extra dimensional locations, one of which is rumored to have lead to the development of this shield cracking technology.

Further access to this data file is ** RESTRICTED **

[Barzimeron]

Hey you guys have any Deathglobe or Sorcery turns.. I would LOVE to see what they got to play with..