Well when I heard there was a B5 inspired game in development I couldn`t believe it. I was sent a massive e-mail a week ago detailing a game called Explorer 2260. So of course I checked up with the developer and guess what. It`s true. The details below tell you all about the game.

Name: Explorer2260
Type: 1st person 3D trade/ simulation game set in approx 2250+
Details:

1. Light-sourced 3D (texture mapped if I can get my head around the C2P routines and the like). Any assistance/ advice would be VERY welcome. Planets will have textured surfaces (If you've seen Subwar2050, the floor is represented in more or less the same fashion as I want, except that instead of fading to black in the distance the surface will become less detailed with distance)

2. Well over 100 ships you can use, each with special abilities, and thousands of weapons/ add-ons. All ships have different HUDS/ Cockpits/ command centres/ crew sizes etc. I give details about the hyperspace ability of ships here. Please read the section on Hyperspace travel for more details:

I. Shuttles:Short rangle but can enter atmospheres.
No hyperspace capability except through jump gates.

II. Long Range Shuttles: Capable of hyperspacial travel over short distance. Large shuttles have jump engines.

III. Traders:bulk carriers, only larger ships have integral jump engines.

IV. Military ships:Fighters(light/ medium/ heavy)
Cruisers(Battleships/ dreadnoughts/ etc)
Capital ships(Heavy cruisers, destroyers etc)

V. Explorer Ships:Ships designed for deep space exploration and mining. Integral jump engines and mineral processors. Mapping of unmapped systems, including naming planets etc WILL be possible directly or via probes.

VI. Attack ships:Ex-military or black market ships owned by
civilians/ bounty-hunters/ raiders.

VII. Any more suggestions?

Smaller single person ships will be controlled by the player directly. Larger ships will require the player to oversee tasks done by the crew and actively participate in the running of the ship. Sectors will contain raiders and civillian/ military ships under CPU control which will be able to interact with the player, either requesting escort/help off players with good records or running from players acting as raiders/ bounty hunters. Ships which are either too large, or not equiped, for atmospheric entry WILL NOT be able to enter atmospheres without damage/ destruction. The same is true for planets with high gravitation wells: large ships which would snap due to tidal forces WILL. Mapping probes and mining equipment will only be available for certain ships and from specialist retailers.

FLEETS: This is an idea I've only just got my head around; in games like Frontier fleets are really just individual ships which happen to be heading for you at the same time. The way I will be attempting goes something like this: Command Ship - Ship 1 Ship 2 - Wingman Wingman etc...

Each ship maintains it's intelligence routines but it follows 'orders' from the Commans Ship (really just adjustments to the intelligence routines) The player can command a fleet or be part of one; he/she MUST follow the orders of the command ship! (in and escort or military fleet for example)

The ship control system will be COMPLETELY configurable by the user.

The weapons available to you will depend on your ship type, size, which race made it, where you buy them from (legal/ black market etc). The weapons will also change over time in their availability, power and price.

3. Military You must follow mission orders exclusively: your in the army now! You do a 1 year stint before having the option to leave or continue. Ranks/ medals/ etc are awarded when deserved. As you progress through the ranks you can be put in command of larger ships/ stations (yes: STATIONS) Failiure to complete missions will affect the rate at which you gain promotions/ awards. The difficulty will be configurable in the game options. Missions WILL NOT be simply 'kill someone' or 'photograph somthing else' but will consist of everything from routine patrols up to planetary attacks depending on the location and political situation (point 6 below)

4. Trading: trade between thousands of worlds and hundreds of races. Trade will be done in local markets or via the IIN (see 5 below). What is available will depend on the locaion and size of the host port as well as the current social/ political situation (See 6 below) and WHO it is you'r trading with (Legal/ Black Market etc)

5. Interstellar Information Networks (IIN): a collection of information systems/ bulliten boards/ markets and communication facilities which can be used on large capital ships, planets and space stations. IIN will allow the player to look for markets to trade on/ find out who to find for a bounty/ reply to requests for escorts and more or less everything else you could ask for. I intend to allow the player to POST items on the IIN, advertising job opertunities/ escort requests and other bits and pieces Only the communication net will be available to military members.

6. Dynamic universe model (this is a hard one but I think I can do it): The universe changes around you depending upon the time and actions of yourself and the characteristics of the races around you: if you discover a violent race hell-bent on galactic domination you may well destroy the universe! It is also possible that you could be working for a government one day and a member of an independant outpost the next! Expect the unexpected, especially when you least expect it. The characteristics of the races, and the general trends the game takes will be editable via seperate datafile editors.

7. REALISTIC (Not Brabens realism but NEWTONIAN realism) physics. All the research I will be doing will be put on the IIN. (Hell, I,ve got access to one of the largest collections of academic books in England, why not use it for something productive for a change?)

8. Company deals: you can finance you'r explorer ship or trading route by teaming up with a company; if you find a planet stuffed with quantium40 you will get rich overnight, if you never find anything you go bankrupt. You will also be able to fund others to do work for you via the IIN.

9. All interstellar travel will be done through hyperspace. These are the basics: As the distances between star systems are so great it is necessary to make use of an alternative space called Hyperspace. Hyperspace is a dimension in which time and space are related in a different way to time and space in normal space: distances of many lightyears can be covered in hours. To enter hyperspace a ship must create a 'Jump Point'; a connection between this universe and hyperspace. Due to the huge energies involved (a recent theory stated that this COULD be possible: you must enlarge a quantum loop, split it and... well you get the idea: you need a load of energy) small ships can not carry the jump engines; they must use jump points situated near planets. Once in hyperspace a ship must follow a beam transmitted by the local jump points (like a lighthouse) to find to the position of it's destination in hyperspace. The process is then reversed: the ship creates a jump point into normal space (or sends a signal to a jump point to do so) and then exits hyperspace.

10. All the data on hyperspace/ space flight etc that I include in the game (along with my theories and research) will be accessable on the IIN.

11. Possible (ONLY JUST POSSIBLE) connection mode: two players can exist in the universe! This would be VERY difficult because of the massive amount of data which would have to be sent/ recieved.

The requirements:

-Amiga 1200/ 4000 (AGA) ONLY: sorry but the ECS will not handle the display. -68030+ recommended STRONGLY, I may well optimise the game for 68030+ code. -4Mb ram (May rise or fall, it depends on how well I can code some nasty bits) -Hard Disc ONLY (prob 20Mb+).

Now you know why I didn`t think it was true. But it is and if you want additional info check the web site at:-

• Digital Anarchy Software

Also he is looking for some user input into what you would like to see in Explorer 2260. So if you want to talk to him e-mail:-

Chrisjcs.man.ac.uk