Starfleet Orion
Encyclopedia
Starfleet Orion is a 1978 science fiction
strategy game
written and published by Automated Simulations (who would become Epyx
in 1981). It appears to be the first space-themed strategy game sold for microcomputer systems. The game was originally written in BASIC
for the Commodore PET
, but later ported to other early home computer
platforms including the TRS-80
and Apple II. The game was something of a success, leading to a string of successes for the company, notably the major "hit", Temple of Apshai
.
The game came about in a roundabout fashion when Jon Freeman
joined a Dungeons and Dragons game being hosted by dungeon master
Jim Connelly. Freeman was an experienced gamer, a regular contributor to GAMES Magazine
and author of A Player's Guide to Board Games. Connelly had purchased a PET computer to handle "bookkeeping" during his D&D games, and was interested in finding ways to make some of the money back. The two collaborated on Orion; Freeman coming up with the basic concepts of the game and Connelly coding them up. The game was completed just before Christmas 1978.
Orions "Battle Manual" tells of the meeting of the Interstellar Union of Civilized Planets, or simply Stellar Union, and a group of planets colonized hundreds of years earlier by a forgotten breakaway group. The action takes place in an isolated corner of the expanding Stellar Union's space, allowing the two forces to be fairly evenly balanced as the much larger Union only can only muster a small number ships in the area. The game came with twelve pre-rolled scenarios based on this canon
, each increasing the number of ships and their variety, eventually ending in a battle with seven ships on one side and nine on the other, the later being named the titular "Starfleet Orion".
The playfield was a thirty-two high by sixty-four wide grid of possible locations. The map could contain ships, stacked on the same grid space if needed, as well as planets and other objects. The game was turn based, with the two players taking turns at the keyboard to enter their commands, which were then carried out simultaneously. Each player controlled one or more ships, and the game continued until one or both were destroyed, or escaped by flying off the playfield.
Ships were powered by a single energy source whose power had to be divided up among the many parts of the ship, including drives, shields and weapons. Each ship was armed with a beam weapon whose chance to hit a target was based on the target's size and the "beam quality" of the firing ship. The amount of damage caused by a hit was reduced with distance, making it primarily a short-range weapon. In addition, ships were also armed with missile
s or torpedo
s for long-range fire. Missiles would fly to a location in space relative to the ship after movement and then explode regardless if there was a target in that location. Torpedoes were fired in a particular direction (the eight cardinals) and would explode if they passed within two grid spaces of any other material object (everything except torpedoes). Some ships also included fighter
s equipped with missiles or torpedoes, which allowed spoiling attacks. Generally the Stellar Union ships had more missiles, and the Orion ships more torpedoes.
Additionally, ships were equipped with a tractor beam
that allowed them to push or pull on material objects, allowing complicated strategies of pushing or pulling on opposing ships to throw off their aim. For instance, a torpedo aimed at a ship that was expected to be "due left" after the movement phase could be avoided by the target by pushing the opposing ship a few locations down. The distance a ship could be pushed or pulled was a relative measure of the strength of the beam and the mass of the target. This meant larger ships could spoil the aim of smaller torpedo boats using this method, while smaller ships would be better off simply using their drives to move themselves. Another useful strategy to use the tractor beam to quickly push fighters into range of their targets, at "speeds" their own engines could not achieve.
The game originally shipped on cassette, and required the users to type in the scenario and save it to a separate data tape before playing. The pre-rolled missions were outlined in a separate "Battle Manual", which also included short stories introducing the game world and the individual missions. This process was greatly improved on the diskette versions, which had the games saved out as data files that could be loaded up by name. Users could also create their own scenarios using the separate "
The complex setup and requirement for two players was an obstacle to casual play, which led Freeman and Connolley to address this and quickly release the single-player Invasion Orion
. In this game the combined human forces faced the "Klaatu", an extremely powerful alien race. The power of their ships made up for the basic AI the game used, which essentially consisted of the Klaatu ships driving directly at the humans, firing all the way.
The Starfleet Orion game manual includes the complete source code
, which may allow for a port to modern systems.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
strategy game
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
written and published by Automated Simulations (who would become Epyx
Epyx
Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983...
in 1981). It appears to be the first space-themed strategy game sold for microcomputer systems. The game was originally written in BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
for the Commodore PET
Commodore PET
The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
, but later ported to other early home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
platforms including the TRS-80
TRS-80
TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
and Apple II. The game was something of a success, leading to a string of successes for the company, notably the major "hit", Temple of Apshai
Temple of Apshai
The Temple of Apshai is a computer role-playing game from Epyx. The game was first released for the TRS-80 in 1979, then the Apple II and Atari home computers in 1980. In 1983, it was released for the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, and IBM PC compatibles. Even later it was made available with...
.
The game came about in a roundabout fashion when Jon Freeman
Jon Freeman
Jon Freeman was an influential computer game industry figure of the 1980s and early 1990s. He was a co-founder of Epyx and Free Fall Associates and the spouse of game programmer, Anne Westfall...
joined a Dungeons and Dragons game being hosted by dungeon master
Dungeon Master
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Dungeon Master is the game organizer and participant in charge of creating the details and challenges of a given adventure, while maintaining a realistic continuity of events...
Jim Connelly. Freeman was an experienced gamer, a regular contributor to GAMES Magazine
GAMES Magazine
Games magazine is a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles, and is published by Games Publications, a division of Kappa Publishing Group.-History:...
and author of A Player's Guide to Board Games. Connelly had purchased a PET computer to handle "bookkeeping" during his D&D games, and was interested in finding ways to make some of the money back. The two collaborated on Orion; Freeman coming up with the basic concepts of the game and Connelly coding them up. The game was completed just before Christmas 1978.
Orions "Battle Manual" tells of the meeting of the Interstellar Union of Civilized Planets, or simply Stellar Union, and a group of planets colonized hundreds of years earlier by a forgotten breakaway group. The action takes place in an isolated corner of the expanding Stellar Union's space, allowing the two forces to be fairly evenly balanced as the much larger Union only can only muster a small number ships in the area. The game came with twelve pre-rolled scenarios based on this canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
, each increasing the number of ships and their variety, eventually ending in a battle with seven ships on one side and nine on the other, the later being named the titular "Starfleet Orion".
The playfield was a thirty-two high by sixty-four wide grid of possible locations. The map could contain ships, stacked on the same grid space if needed, as well as planets and other objects. The game was turn based, with the two players taking turns at the keyboard to enter their commands, which were then carried out simultaneously. Each player controlled one or more ships, and the game continued until one or both were destroyed, or escaped by flying off the playfield.
Ships were powered by a single energy source whose power had to be divided up among the many parts of the ship, including drives, shields and weapons. Each ship was armed with a beam weapon whose chance to hit a target was based on the target's size and the "beam quality" of the firing ship. The amount of damage caused by a hit was reduced with distance, making it primarily a short-range weapon. In addition, ships were also armed with missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
s or torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
s for long-range fire. Missiles would fly to a location in space relative to the ship after movement and then explode regardless if there was a target in that location. Torpedoes were fired in a particular direction (the eight cardinals) and would explode if they passed within two grid spaces of any other material object (everything except torpedoes). Some ships also included fighter
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
s equipped with missiles or torpedoes, which allowed spoiling attacks. Generally the Stellar Union ships had more missiles, and the Orion ships more torpedoes.
Additionally, ships were equipped with a tractor beam
Tractor beam
A tractor beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. Since the 1990s, technology and research has labored to make it a reality, mostly at microscopic level. Less commonly, a similar beam that repels is called a pressor beam or repulsor beam...
that allowed them to push or pull on material objects, allowing complicated strategies of pushing or pulling on opposing ships to throw off their aim. For instance, a torpedo aimed at a ship that was expected to be "due left" after the movement phase could be avoided by the target by pushing the opposing ship a few locations down. The distance a ship could be pushed or pulled was a relative measure of the strength of the beam and the mass of the target. This meant larger ships could spoil the aim of smaller torpedo boats using this method, while smaller ships would be better off simply using their drives to move themselves. Another useful strategy to use the tractor beam to quickly push fighters into range of their targets, at "speeds" their own engines could not achieve.
The game originally shipped on cassette, and required the users to type in the scenario and save it to a separate data tape before playing. The pre-rolled missions were outlined in a separate "Battle Manual", which also included short stories introducing the game world and the individual missions. This process was greatly improved on the diskette versions, which had the games saved out as data files that could be loaded up by name. Users could also create their own scenarios using the separate "
BUILDER" program, saving them to tape or disk.The complex setup and requirement for two players was an obstacle to casual play, which led Freeman and Connolley to address this and quickly release the single-player Invasion Orion
Invasion Orion
Invasion Orion is a 1979 science fiction strategy game written and published by Automated Simulations . It was a single- or two-player sequel to the original two-player Starfleet Orion, which had been published late in 1978...
. In this game the combined human forces faced the "Klaatu", an extremely powerful alien race. The power of their ships made up for the basic AI the game used, which essentially consisted of the Klaatu ships driving directly at the humans, firing all the way.
The Starfleet Orion game manual includes the complete source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
, which may allow for a port to modern systems.