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                       Galactic Bloodshed
                         (working title)


                               by

                         Robert Chansky























































Overview This game was originally inspired by  the  Unix  wargame
Empire.   In Empire conquest is represented by the amount of ter-
ritory a player occupies as well as the resources and  workforces
he  posesses.   Galactic  Bloodshed  is  much  the  same in these
respects, as are many other games.  But, where Empire takes place
on one world, Galactic Bloodshed employs many seperate worlds for
players to explore and exploit.  In this way  the  game  is  more
versatile than Empire, and there are many more avenues to explore
in game development.  Finance, cooperation and war  (of  course),
development  of  technology,  and randomizing factors will all be
important areas of the game.  While free trade  would  ordinarily
be  difficult in a simulation constrained by the mechanics of in-
terstellar travel, Galactic Bloodshed will circumvent this by in-
troducing  various  'shortcuts'  to  travel.  Among these are FTL
vehicles, instantaneous transport devices,  and  a  smaller-than-
scale travel distance for starships.  Another factor to stimulate
free trade is the economic leverage  inherent  in  the  disparate
races and cultures that arise from evolution (or creation, which-
ever you happen to believe [more on  this  later]).   Thus  goods
such as priceless art treasures, examples of fiction, technologi-
cal discoveries, new strains of food animals,  etc.(the  list  is
endless)  can  all  be carried in a starship of limited capacity.
Communication is possible between races via  long-distance  radio
(telegrams).   Opportunities  for  profit  can be utilized by any
player.  While the game is designed primarily to be  peaceful  in
intent  (the  name is sarcastic), it is necessary that there also
be an alternative to friendly competition.  Thus war and conflict
are  born.   In  addition  to trade cargoes a ship can also carry
destructive capacity.  this can represent anything  from  nuclear
weaponry  to  propaganda, and when unloaded it can be devastating
to its intended target.  Ships, planets, and people  all  can  be
mobilized  to  preserve  their  culture's  manifest destiny while
curbing another's expansionist imperialism.  The above so far  is
assuming  that  each culture in the game develops along the lines
that our own seems to be.  This view is a narrow one  considering
the disparity of even the one known planet we have to model.  The
technologically dominant European culture of Earth  arose  merely
by  chance,  and it is equally possible that another, differently
motivated culture could have come about in its place -- a culture
that,  perhaps,  uses  the  principles  of  magic, mind power, or
prayer to influence its environment in the same way that machines
and  such  are  used  today.  We have only theoretical experience
with such methods, but they are nevertheless  applicable  to  the
workings  of  the  game.   Instead of developing newer and better
machines these cultures may explore  the  possibilities  of  more
complicated  and powerful spells, a greater unity of the mind and
the body, or a transcendant understanding of God.  Lasers and nu-
clear weapons clash with the concentrated might of a racial mind,
while the magic spells of another culture might vy with the power
of  a  god.  It is possible for any game to become unbalanced, as
one player becomes more experienced in the game  and  forces  the
others  to  extinction.   This  can  easily  happen with Galactic
Bloodshed as well.  Randomizing factors are necessary to keep the
game balanced, without reducing playability as well.  I introduce
Berserkers, wandering death machines attempting  to  destroy  all
life,  as one such option.  These devices can be randomly created
anywhere (or alternatively built at a central  base  which  could
serve  as  a  quest to destroy for the players) to deal crippling
blows at important supply routes.  They can be directed anywhere,
or  programmed  to  move  randomly or towards the most advantaged
player.  But this is not the only option; many factors  can  con-
tribute  to  keeping players on their toes.  Someone may invent a
supernova device (effectively ending the game...) and use  it  on
your  system;   a  viral plague may break out;  A gamma-ray laser
aimed at one of your planets may  render  its  population  nearly
sterile;   Rival supernatural beings may choose your territory in
which to 'duke it  out';  your  scientists  may  invent  a  self-
reproducing machine which immediately proceeds to convert all the
resources of your system into copies of itself.   Any  number  of
things  may  happen.   Progress  on Galactic Bloodshed so far has
been fairly steady; and I hope to  have  a  working  multi-player
copy of the game (ver 0.9) up by the beginning of the summer.

        Robert Paul Chansky
DataMuseum.dk

DKUUG/EUUG Conference tapes

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