[MUD-Dev] MUD timeline

[__Deric___ at yahoo.com]

--<cut>--
Note: This message was written via the list web archives.  There is
no guarantee that the claimed author is actually the author.
--<cut>--
Original message: http://www.kanga.nu/archives/MUD-Dev-L/2000Q1/msg00574.php

> At 11:23 AM 3/8/00 -0600, Moreland, John wrote:

>> Orb Wars was a team-based competition game where differing types
>> of mages fought for control over the different orbs in an arena.
>> You could either play it using ASCII representation or very basic
>> graphic front-ends.  Oddly enough, it would feel very familiar to
>> the Shooter folks who play stuff like Tribes/Unreal Tournament
>> etc.  The game felt alot like Hack or Rogue except that you had
>> very clear victory conditions, and the games were fairly short.
>> I actually don't remember if your mage "persisted" through the
>> battles.

> The alpha/beta versions didn't offer persistance, but the later
> versions did.  Although in the sense of that game score was all
> that mattered.

Points were what won campaigns but various other statistics were
tracked such as wins, losses, kills and deaths which players were
concerned with.

Man, I still miss this game- it is probably my all time favorite.
If it were ever to come back, it would have to be completely
rewritten as it was coded in a proprietary GEIS language.

The game was just brilliant from a design perspective.  It was a
great mix of genres - action, strategy, and role playing.  It
offered an incredible amount of depth with a large variety of spells
to cast, objects to use, and monsters to slay for loot.  Players
created their own maps and submitted them to be used in the game.

As a reward for winning contests, your wyzard's statistics would
increase slightly and you could reap the benefits of this in future
matches for the rest of the campaign.

I saw an interview with Elonka Dunin of Simutronics from about a
year ago where she mentioned the game, noted that people had asked
if they were going to bring it back, and suggested it wasn't
entirely out of the question that the game would return someday.
Still, I wouldn't hold my breath as it would be hard for it to be
commercially viable considering today's crop of games.

  > hold wand
  > touch sphere
  > nnnn
  > wav s
  > wav s
  > wav s
  > wav s
  ** Orb Wars has bit the dust.

-Fiendly da Illusionist, trapped in an indefinite suspended animation. 

_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev