Void War Wins Game Tunnel Multiplayer Award

In the past a lot of sites used to hand out Simulation of the Year awards about this time. Unfortunately many have dropped that category or merged it in with action games or something along those lines. GameTunnel, a site that highlights independently developed games, still has a Sim category, and they've announced their winners for 2004. There only seems to be one space sim there, but Void War won in the Multiplayer category. Congratulations! You can find more on the game here. Even players with the demo version of the game can play online.

Void War Conducting Weekly Games

Unfortunately we missed the boat for this week, but Rampant Games has announced that weekly games of Void War are now being held. The events take place Thursday evening at 7:00 pm Pacific US time.

To play, simply click on the multiplayer button in the launcher, and click on the game appearing in the list with the word "Rampant" in the name (depending on whoever is hosting... it might not always be me). Double-click on that line, or select it and click on the "Connect Now" button. We'll be switching the game types around as needed.

Winners Selected In Void War Contest

This was a really tough one. Many people sent in a lot of great submissions that detailed very touching space sim moments. Eventually we had to narrow it down to top contenders and pick somewhat randomly. Don't feel bad if you didn't win, we plan to eventually put many of the submissions in a future Mail Bag for others to see. Let us know if you don't want yours included, but most everyone sent in good submissions to be proud of. And the Void War winners are... Edmo Suassuna, James Lillian and Tim Nguyen.

Here is Edmo's moment:

My favourite Space Sim moment was probably terrible at the time, but I fondly recall it. My first computer was an used 386 my father bought, and in it's HD there was WC1. I knew very little about computers, and nothing about pc games. I started the game, amazed with the images and the blips that came from he pc speaker. I talked to the people in the bar, tried the sim a few times and decided it was time to leave my mark on that killboard.

My first mission was probably very hard for my meager skills, but I triumphed after a couple of tries. I talked to the other people in the bar again, thrilled with the imersion and interactiveness of it all. Then I proceeded to the second mission.

Spirit and I went on the escort the Drayman mission. I didn't know about the autopilot key, no manual. So I flew with the cargo ship, and as Spirit tried to keep formation, she crashed at the 'sport so many times that she simply blew up and died!

The big moment is: I was so immersed and caught up with the game that I actually despaired! When I returned to the Claw and attended her funeral I was even more distraught! I expected my fellow pilots to be mad at me for letting Spirit die, and stopped playing for that day.

I will never forget the level of emotional involvement I got from Wing Commander after 2 missions! I think it is a great moment indeed, and that it summarizes the greatness of the WCU. I've had many others, but this was special.

My favorite space sim moment is from Privateer. It falls under the category of “Crap!” and gets your heart rate elevated. In Privateer I flew the Centurion (as I guess most did). You are exploring way out from civilization and enter an asteroid field. Then a bunch of Kilrathi show up and want you dead. So you have 2 options, fight the Kilrathi (and probably die) or hit your afterburners and pray you can dodge the asteroids! There’s nothing like watching your back shield being shot out while dodging rocks whizzing by your cockpit at max kph! And then you reach that jump point and hit hyperspace to get away! (Hoping you are not jumping into something worse!)

My most favorite space sim moment was in Wing Commander IV. It was one of my first, if not the first, space sim I have ever played. I remember playing through and getting to the Border Worlds' mission where you had to drop Vagabond and Sosa off at the Comm station. It was my first time through so I was still a bit shaky on flying. I auto-piloted to the station and immediately cloaked. As I closed in on the radar buoy, I got a missile lock. I uncloaked and fired my missiles and destroyed the buoy. Then I locked onto the comm station and fired the two MIPs.

By then, I received a message from Pliers telling me I was about to get some company. As if on cue, three Hellcats showed up on my radar. I switched my guns to the stormfires and took them head-on. I destroyed one Hellcat as the other two flew right by me. I flipped my Avenger to take on the two remaining Hellcats. Just as I finished flipping, I saw the two Hellcats bank right into each other and go up in a blaze. "What luck," I thought and started to concentrate on the laser mines.

Unfortunately for me, three more Hellcats came up and started pounding away at me. I turned to take them on at about this time the cutscene showing Vagabond getting shot popped up. Then, Sosa came out in her MIP. I was starting to get a bit panicky 'cuz my shields were gone now and my armor low. I decided that if I was gonna go down I was gonna take someone with me. So I turned and went head-on with one of the Hellcats, blasting away with my guns. Of course, its shields and armor were still full while mine were almost non-existent. I ended up ramming into the Hellcat and received the dreaded "cracked screen of doom" (that's what I called it anyway). What little was left of my armor went bye-bye and I watched as my ship twirled in space giving off explosions and finally turning into space dust.

Yes, it was a failed mission and yes, I had to do it again but I'll never forget how insane that battle was and how those two Hellcats in the beginning flew into each other.

Void War Contest: Final Reminder

This is your last opportunity to e-mail us for a chance to win a free copy of Void War. To qualify, you must send us your name and a description of your favorite moment in a space-sim (any series).

Monday Reminders: Void War Contest

Don't forget to email us if you'd like a chance at a free copy of Void War. Don't forget to include your name and a description of your favorite moment in a space sim to qualify! The contest will end in a couple days, so email right away. There is a demo of the game available to download now here.

Void War Copies Up For Grabs

To celebrate the game's release, Jay Barnson from Rampant Games has kindly donated three copies of their WC-inspired space-sim Void War for us to give away. We're going to make you work for your chance to win though - you'll actually need to email us! Just send us your name and tell us your favorite space sim moment. It doesn't even have to be from Wing Commander. Our favorite three answers will win copies of the game.

Void War Interviews And The Latest Shot

A pair of sites have recently conducted interviews with Jay Barnson, lead designer for Void War. Game Chronicles Magazine did a thorough interview about many aspects of the game, and GamePike questioned Mr. Barnson about the origins of the game and overall setting.

Void War is somewhat experimental in a lot of ways, and probably owes more of an ancestry to games like Asteroids, Spacewar, Descent, and Wing Commander. We do have pick-ups in Void War, however, which will inevitably draw comparisons. But while I was loathe to put them in at first because they were 'unrealistic' - quite frankly they increased the fun and challenge of the game by an order of magnitude, so they were just The Right Thing To Do.

Void War Trailer Now Available

Early last month we ran a brief preview of an upcoming game called Void War. The game engine is loosely based on Wing Commander and they hope to include a multiplayer feature supporting up to 32 players. Now the game's developer Jay Barnson from Rampant Games has written to let us know that a trailer video for the game is available on the official site.

Space Sim First Look: Void War

Jay Barnson and Rampant Games are currently producing a new space combat sim that draws a lot from past Wing Commander experiences and should include some exciting action. Void War has a single player game with a compelling storyline, but a lot of attention has been paid to large multiplayer battles. Although the game engine has been loosely based on Wing Commander, inertial concerns and physics mechanics have an influence on the craft and alter flying to a certain degree. The multiplayer areas are rich with asteroids, planets, space stations and other debris to spice up the environment. Teams or individual players can fight for dominance in these arenas. They hope to support up to 32 players. Mr. Barnson is a huge Wing Commander fan and cares about the space sim genre quite a bit. Void War will attempt to add features to the space landscape so that it is not always as lifeless as the real thing can be. The Rampart team is frantically working to get into beta at the moment, but we hope to arrange a drawing for a few copies of the game when things solidify a bit. Here are a few sample screenshots.