Some time after Asimov started, I got the Standard Galaxy code to work on a machine at UTK. Clarke (a nod to Glenn's Asimov game) was a fairly typical game for the time from the player's perspective. I manually ran an order checker on orders I had in hand the day before I ran turns. Players thus got an idea what orders were completely wrong if they submitted orders ahead of time. Galaxy V3 was released while Clarke was in progress, but the game was not upgraded to it.
Zeus was, as far as I know, the second Blind galaxy game. Since it was based on a substanitally modifed version of the orignal Blind code, I have retroactively decided that it was a Blind version 2.00 game. This game was played with Standard Galaxy version 2.x rules (i.e. cargo capacity, weapon mass, col cost mat to produce). Zeus had an order checker (but not forecaster) for most, if not all, of its run. A double blind message forwarding system was a part of the game's features (a first for galaxy games). Compared to today's Blind Galaxy games, some major features were missing (fleets, races seen last turn being remembered, nearly all the options); however many parts of the game have not changed at all since then (wrap around maps, GM interface, the guard concept, lack of knowledge of the number of players or their sizes in the game).
I started two games- Pluto and Neptune after Clarke had completed. These games both had a full time order checker, and shortly after they started had a primative version of the forecaster. Since Galaxy version 3 (V3.3, I think), was in widespread use by this time, the Blind code was enhanced to emulate most of the critical functionality found in Galaxy version 3 (other than the @, q, f, z, and y commands). When fleets were added to the standard galaxy code by Kevin Pankhurst for version 3.4, Blind Galaxy followed (V2.40). The 2.40 version of the Blind code was a substantial improvement over the older code from the GM's standpoint as well, since a filter was no longer needed to translate orders into a format the executable could read. V2.40 was rapidly replaced with 2.41 and 2.42 due to stability problems Partial techs (V2.43) showed up in these games just in time for the endgame (around turn 50 for Pluto). Much of the Blind Galaxy code was written while these games were running. Other than some esoteric features, these games were, after the 2.40 code upgrade, just like today's Blind Galaxy games.
Rob Novak started several Blind games around this time as well- Ares (never completed), Hera (I ended up running the last turn or two of this game) and possibly a few I don't remember/know of.
Roger Dingledine started several games in mid 1994- Herald, Crimson, Scythe, and test (I think).
Herald started in mid August, 1994 with 25 players. Due to various real life events, the game lasted nearly 4 years (until April 1998). All but 3 of the species were extinct on the last turn (two became extinct on that turn). One of these empires has nearly been crushed by its neighbors several times, only to come back to fight another day. A second empire took heavy losses in the 80s, topping it off with a loss of more than 120 systems in a single turn on turn 88.
When Pluto was nearly over, I started up two new games- Mars and Apollo. Mars was the first game I know of where the winner was forced to fight it out to the bitter end, as the last remaining hostile empire valiantly fought it out to the last ship (which went on a 30+ turn jaunt across the galaxy for its last flight). Both Apollo and Mars were the first games to include the Partial techs code from the start (athough little use was made of it).
Apollo completed in May of 1997. It is one of the longer galaxy games (due to slow run dates towards the end). Five species made it to the end. All of their respective players started the game, interestingly enough. The eventual winner did not have a commanding position for much of the game.
In November 1996, I decided to stress test my code a bit more than normal, and start three new games. Several features to lessen the load on the GM have made their appearance in these games- passwords mostly work; forward ability listings can now be generated automatically; empire name changes are more automated (possibly completely?), and an experimental version of the z command (in version 2.46). In addition, the code should be subtantially more bug free, as it is being checked with Purify, which has turned up a few boo-boos (before they crashed on a Linux box). All of these games have finished.
Hermes was the first of the three to end, with a three way allinace calling it quits after killing off all the competition. One of the winners has written a summary of the game from their perspective.
Nike was the smallest of the three games (and the smallest game I've ever run), but still took a while to complete. It, like Mars, ended when only a single species was left alive.
Uranus, like many galaxy games, ended with either a whimper or a bang depending upon your perspective. During many of its last 10 turns, half the species were inactive (including the 2nd place player). This probably didn't change things, but it can be disappointing to the eventual winner. Peter Roberts' summary of Uranus.
There was a Blind game, BedlamII which started in May 1997. No other data on the game is available on it.
In November 1997, I started a single game rather than the more typical two or three that I would when I was down to one active game. This was to see if fewer games at a time would result in more players (it did- Athena is the largest game I've run!). Several species have gone by the wayside, and several vetrans are back in the saddle and conquering worlds! Athena concluded after a number of twists and turns in alliances- more than is typical. See also its summary.
In March 1998, I started Hercules, a 20ish player one turn a week game. Hercules is over, see this summary, and my superficial GM notes.
November 1998 saw Bernhard Schmidt join the list of Blind GMs with the starting of Andromeda (2 turns per week) and Pegasus (1 turn per week).
Andromeda was fairly small (14 players) and won by someone other than Bernhard! It was a very entertaining game, even if I didn't win it, either. The Andromeda page.
Pegasus finished with a win by Spacewizards.
With Apollo's conclusion, and to celebrate (?) the conclusion of my third decade, I started Cronus. This is a 20ish player game, on a very compact map (I made some major changes to parts of the galaxy creation code to make creation easier; this was a stress test). The Cronus page.
August 1999 sees Bernhard's 3rd (?) game starts- Cepheus. It is an odd game in the sanse that there are zones of stars and zones of blackness many, many light years across. Four major clusters of worlds exist.
December 1999 sees me beat on the galaaxy creation code a bit more to produce what may be better handicapping code, and start Prometheus. Prometheus has 25 players, and eventually ends with "The" (a three player team) winning on turn 64. Ah well, at least their homeworld was bombed before it was all over. Bernhard was not the winner of this game, although he lived much longer than many players. The Prometheus page.
April 2000 sees Bernhard's next game, Cassiopeia start. Another odd game. Each player started in a cluster of roughly a dozen to a score of stars. There are large gaps (20+ LY) between clusters.
June 2000- Gemini starts with two player teams. This idea appears to have been a failure, as a very large number of the players went to NPC status early in the game.
October 2000- Eris starts (2 turns/week). Bernhard opts out of playing this game. An atypically small number of NPC's happen.
December 2000- Bernhard starts Ash- a game with a huge NPC controlled world.
Janurary 2001- Howard retires from actively playing Galaxy.
Over to the games page, with links to various game specific information.
Back to my Blind Galaxy Page
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