

				VGA Planets V3.0


   VGA Planets is one of the hotest, fastest growing online games around.
 It is not your typical door, in fact, you must find a third party door in
 order to make play easier on a BBS. What VGA Planets is is a Space Based
 Conquest Game. But this is not your ordinary Space Game, this is a
 commercial quality game. It makes games like Trade Wars seem like somthing
 of the past.
     VGA Planets is just that, VGA. Instead of logging onto a BBS and
 playing your turn there, you simply download your "Result" file, make
 your moves offline, then upload your "turn" file. The Host will then run
 their "host" program, processing all the turns, fighting the battles, and
 everything else involved.
     Game play is very complicated, and it is not a game you can just jump
 into without reading the docs. There are many many variables that come
 into play and even after playing now for over 2 months, I'm still
 learning things.
     There are 11 Races to choose from. Each race is based on a race that
 has either been on TV or the movies. They are:

     The Feds	     - Star Treks Federation
     Lizards	      - Based on a Star Trek Race, can't remember the
			    name of them.
     Bird Men	     - Based on the Star Trek Romulin Race
     Fascists	     - Star Trek Klingons
     Privateers	   - Not sure, but a race of Theives
     Cyborg	       - Need I say more <G> the Borg
     Crystal People       - I believe a Star Trek Race
     Evil Empire	  - Star Wars Empire
     Robots	       - BattleStar Galactica's Cylons
     Rebels	       - Star Wars Rebel Alliance
     Colonies	     - BattleStar Galactica's Colonies of Man

     Each of these races have a special advantage. For instance, the
 Birdmen, Facists, and Privateers all have Cloaking ships. The Robots,
 Rebels, Colonies, and the Empire all can build fighters in space. These
 are really minor advantages, and each race has one special advantage that
 only they have. For instance, Since I am playing the Rebels in one game,
 their special advantage is called Rebel Ground Attack, which is basically
 a sabatoge mission. A rebel ship can not be attacked by a planet, so they
 are able to unload a small team which really reckes havoc on a planet.
 Another example is the Empire, Which has the "Dark Sense" and can look at
 planets and ships over long distances and tell what is there.
     Each race of course has it's downfall. Several races are really weak
 until they are able to build "tech" levels. These races have to play
 careful in order to stay in the game long.
     Unlike allot of Space games, Economics is a MAJOR part of this game.
 Each planets has only a limited supply of minerals in which to mine, and
 putting too many mines on a planet can and will cause the local
 population to revolt (kinda an Environmental movement) You need to manage
 your minerals and build freighter to move them to your Star Bases in
 order to build more ships. While this may sound easy, believe me, it is
 not. In one game I'm in, I have over 40 Planets to manage and it takes
 almost an hour to figure out my turn.
     Fighting also plays a part ( of course, it would be no fun without
 it) What is nice about the battles, is you get to watch a "VCR" file of
 it. When you get your "result" file, you will be able to Watch the battle
 as it took place, In full VGA !! This really adds a nice touch to an
 outstanding game.
     There is really no way I could cover all aspects of this game. But I
 can tell you it is worth the download. You can play it over a BBS, a LAN,
 a Network (like FIDO, INTERNET) or even locally on your computer. I
 really thing you will be impressed.


