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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2011 20:11:51 GMT -6
One of the games that I don't see mentioned often is Space Quest by Paul Hume and George Nyhen, published by Tyr Gamemakers Ltd in 1977. This is the same company that published Bushido in 1979. I imagine the reason it doesn't get mentioned is that I believe it had a very small print run.
A unique feature of 1977 was the 'look and feel' spreadsheet lawsuit between Microsoft and Borland. Tyr reacted to these lawsuits by creating their D&D in space clone using a D30 instead of a D20, otherwise you would recognize this as a D&D game. There are seven renamed 3d6 abilities (the extra is PSI, the 'magic' equivalent), three races, and five character classes. A scifi game wouldn't be complete without star ship, space travel, and star system creation. Another familiar D&D trope is the included monster section, that has random encounters that can occur while traveling between star systems as well encounters in-system or a planetary surface.
I thought I would include it for completeness. Does anyone else remember/play this game? To preserve my copy, I have scanned and created a PDF of the rules.
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Post by bluskreem on Sept 11, 2011 19:49:00 GMT -6
To be honest I have never heard of the game, but does sounds pretty intriguing. Don't suppose you could share some more details? My googling has only resulted in Sierra fan sites.
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Post by erroneousgrog on Sept 13, 2011 10:27:46 GMT -6
Yes, I bought a copy of Space Quest at a convention and ran a campaign using it back in the day. The back has some eratta for errors and alterations in the rules. I scanned and enlarged my copy to letter size for easier reading. I remember the 20 Suns Combine quite well, which the players are supposed to be a part of as explorers. I have a the campaign material still. I should scan it for my site. The space ship design was really cool. The algebra for mapping space and travelling between stars might have turned off some people. Cool game all round and we had some fun with it. Your the only person I've ever met with the rules. Greg :-)
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Post by kesher on Sept 13, 2011 13:15:07 GMT -6
I've never heard of the game, but that's awesome.
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Post by DungeonDevil on Sept 15, 2011 2:44:33 GMT -6
I've indeed heard of them, but the text is veeerrrryyy elusive. I might have seen a mention of it in the blogosphere someplace.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2011 13:44:10 GMT -6
The back has some eratta for errors and alterations in the rules. I scanned and enlarged my copy to letter size for easier reading. Greg, My copy doesn't have any eratta; would it be possible to get a copy of that? Now it makes me wonder if there were multiple editions... Mark
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Post by badger2305 on Sept 18, 2011 21:18:56 GMT -6
I believe there were two editions; a search of the 'web ought to reveal some reviews and further details. I know my copy is around here somewhere...
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Post by coffee on Sept 28, 2011 13:45:06 GMT -6
If all goes well, I should have a copy of this soon. It's a used copy, obviously, but I'm really looking forward to it.
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Post by DungeonDevil on Sept 28, 2011 18:59:03 GMT -6
Congrats! I look forward to reading a juicy line-by-line analysis with a complete bibliography, footnotes, commentarial apparatus and scribbled marginalia. I've read about in out on the intrawebz and it sounds wicked Old School. I'd love to know how it is different or like Space Patrol (1977) and Starfaring (1976), two other OS SciFi games I've got.
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Post by coffee on Sept 30, 2011 13:20:06 GMT -6
I'd be more qualified to compare it to Traveller, but I'll see what I can do...
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Post by coffee on Oct 12, 2011 3:13:00 GMT -6
Got my copy today.
Not very far into it yet, but I like what I see.
Favorite line so far, from the 'Equipment needed to play' section:
A calculator or table of squares and square roots, or a slide rule.
(emphasis added)
I'm definitely going to bring along a slide rule if I ever run this! (Probably my Versalog, but a good K&E would do...)
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Post by erroneousgrog on Nov 11, 2011 10:48:08 GMT -6
The back has some eratta for errors and alterations in the rules. I scanned and enlarged my copy to letter size for easier reading. Greg, My copy doesn't have any eratta; would it be possible to get a copy of that? Now it makes me wonder if there were multiple editions... Mark Hi Mark, Sorry I did not respond sooner. Yes, my copy has second edition printed on the bottom right hand edge of the cover and page 1 below the illustrations. So there must have been at least two print runs. After the entry for 0.1283 KRANG: SPACE KARATE Bonus for the buyers of our second printing Theres a 1/2 page of text clarifying various rules. I'll contact you privately. Greg
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Post by Mike on Feb 18, 2012 7:55:56 GMT -6
I had this game back in the day. I remember it being darn good - and, rather than needing a slide rule, I found it much easier than Traveller. But maybe I didn't understand it...
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Post by Falconer on Feb 18, 2012 10:28:34 GMT -6
I doubt I would ever use Space Quest as written, but one feature I would gladly lift from is its spell lists. It has one for mutates (espers), one for technics (engineers), and one for biotechs (medics).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2012 13:01:03 GMT -6
I contacted FGU to try to get a line to Paul Hume, see if I could get a new copy. I was told that Hume is not fond of the game, considers it an inferior work and does not want it reprinted.
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Post by coffee on Feb 18, 2012 20:48:31 GMT -6
I don't have a scan, but I have a copy. If anybody wants to buy it, make me an offer. (PM's, please; let's not derail the thread like I often do.)
Why am I selling? I just don't like it. Every type of character has spells, as has been noted before. It seems far too fantasy for a science fiction game (even given Clarke's law). It just strikes me as way too complicated for my purposes.
But if somebody else wants one, let me know.
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Post by llenlleawg on Nov 15, 2012 9:29:35 GMT -6
Sorry for the thread necromancy (or, perhaps more fittingly, sorry for the rogue biotechnics!), but I have to add that I have very happy memories of this game. I'll admit that this is partially because I was never, and still am not, very much a hard-core science fiction fan. As a result, the fantasy quality of the whole thing was more an asset than a distraction. The game provided a setting which was just plausible enough to allow for a variety of adventures, both "dungeon crawls" (given the collapse of the interstellar civilization after the I-forget-the-principal-villainous-race-caused destruction) on strange worlds as well as "wilderness crawls" facing monsters in N-space.
There were interesting rules which made the weapons and armor restrictions of D&D make sense in the space fantasy world, e.g. that biotechs (the healer/cleric stand-in) made a special vow to protect life, that mentates (the psionics class, essentially the MU stand-in) would take dangerous feedback from using energy weapons, and that technics (a sort of technological "druid" who had an almost mystical connection with technology) would limit their destructive use of technology. It allowed the spacers and warriors to shine where they should.
I also enjoyed the fact that N-space actually took you into another dimension, albeit a dangerous one, filled with space monsters and dangerous races, including the above-mentioned-but-now-forgotten-in-name aliens. This allowed for a division between the "weird" realm of space sharks and whatnot from the "normal" world of alien planets.
Finally, while I played Traveller back in the day, I must admit (and on this forum, with shame, I suppose) that I never really "got" it. My experience with science fiction was so firmly influenced by Star Trek (and later by Star Wars) that Traveller seemed, at the time (i.e. the later 70s) an odd vision of sci-fi. I know now that I was looking at it in an unhelpful way, but in one's youth, the idea of playing a 30-40-somthing Marine veteran trying to pay off his ship didn't seem all that interesting. However, playing an androgynous trilax with a mystical/sympathetic power over machines seemed like great loads of fun!
I never owned a copy of the game, and I would love to see one again, if only for nostalgia's sake! Thanks for the memories!
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Post by kesher on Nov 16, 2012 13:26:30 GMT -6
Awesome.
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Post by kesher on Nov 16, 2012 13:29:29 GMT -6
Also awesome.
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Alex
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Post by Alex on Nov 16, 2012 16:35:29 GMT -6
Add me to the list of "never heard of this, but it sounds kule."
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2012 20:40:35 GMT -6
I'll go against the grain here. One vote for Traveller being a great game! With three little books and a wealth of imagination? I created an entire universe!
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18 Spears
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Post by 18 Spears on Nov 16, 2012 22:48:13 GMT -6
Right on! The rules create a framework for just about any space opera type of science fiction setting. A little time and a lot of imagination and creativity is the key!!!
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Post by llenlleawg on Nov 17, 2012 2:58:32 GMT -6
I'll go against the grain here. One vote for Traveller being a great game! With three little books and a wealth of imagination? I created an entire universe! Not so much against the grain, I think. At least for my part, I agree with you. Traveller is a great game. My point above was simply that it did not speak to me much at all when I was younger. It was likely a result of the kinds of science fiction that appealed to me as well as my (lack of) exposure to certain science fiction that stood behind and made sense of the world. Even so, the implied world, protagonists, technology, etc. of Traveller is not so easy to grasp onto when the primary referents are Star Trek and Star Wars. Even Space:1999 would have a happier home in something like Space Quest, I think, than Traveller (given the weird, mystical encounters and the rather unscientific, in un-Traveller, idea of the Moon hurtling through space at speeds faster than light!). All that said, those who *did* get Traveller have probably done more with it than the rather minimal impact of Space Quest on the world of gaming.
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Post by Vile Traveller on Nov 17, 2012 20:54:24 GMT -6
There comes a very noteworthy point in a gamer's life when his Traveller characters are younger than he is ...
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 18, 2012 6:19:27 GMT -6
There comes a very noteworthy point in a gamer's life when his Traveller characters are younger than he is ... Ouch. I can't believe I never thought of it that way. Curse you! I should ban you from the boards for making me feel old. On the plus side, if I was a dragon I'd have better hit points by getting older.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2013 20:00:49 GMT -6
Sorry that I started this topic and then disappeared. I still think that this is a very interesting game and I'm sorry that Paul doesn't want to see it reprinted. To me it has lots of historic significance.
For example, the first look and feel lawsuit was filed by Microsoft against Borland at the time for their spreadsheet program that looked the same as the Microsoft product if you were looking over someone's shoulder. The relevance of that is that Space Quest was designed to use a d30 to avoid the d20/D&D look and feel. It was clearly a D&D in space clone with character classes and all; monsters could even appear in the ship while you were in transit.
It had a wonderful star system generation process that used a variation of Bode's law (which we now know know isn't true). I particularly liked the race classification codes that reminded me of the James White Sector General novels.
I think this would be a fun game to reprint with modernized rules and a disclaimer to tell everyone that the star system generation rules were designed to maximize the creation of habitable planets.
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 9, 2013 5:29:04 GMT -6
admin voice
Several posts here with the sole purpose of asking for illegal PDF sharing. I deleted the references. Please do not do this. Proboards will shut this place down.
/admin voice
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