Game types other than just flat out deathmatch would be nice too.

Perhaps a capture the bridge mode might be interesting, where you fight over the bridge but have to be careful of what weapons you use directly around the bridge? Given time I could probably come up with a couple other ideas too.

That is what I was thinking, adapt a mainstream device and see if we can't find some uses for it. As it is we're limited to keyboards, or sometimes mice if we have the sight remaining but many of us myself included don't and I can understand if many people with some sight left find them more trouble than they're worth.

It's an unfortunate position with audio games. Audio games don't use other input methods because very few people have them, and nobody has them because very few audio games use them. I was lucky enough to have owned a joystick from my time as a sighted gamer, otherwise I might well not own one of those either.

That is what I meant by joystick, I already had one because I used to be able to play sighted games and wouldn't have bought one just for audio games probably.

As to GMA's Trek game, I think we would be better off with more work on USA Games' Star Trek Final Conflict. It needs a little refining and fixing a couple glitches with damage and AI, but other than that has far more potential. It's a lot more immersive and you don't have to dodge those dratted planets which was a serious failing in Trek 2K in my opinion.

I considered sound editing software too.

As to multiplayer LW, I know several mainstream sub games had multiplayer but they tended to be a little richer than LW. Somehow LW feels a little too mathematical to me, the other games you were never quite sure a lot of the time if you would be detected in single player and one in fact had a "towed array" of sonar sensors you could deploy to boost your sensitivity in addition to the active ping. The limit in this interestingly was that you couldn't go above half speed until it was either retrieved, or cut whereupon you lost the ability to use it entirely.

I believe multiplayer games require specialist coding, and either the use of a server (as Che martin does for Rail racer), which can cost money, or some other methods which can be problematic and not as good. I do have to wonder though, with Gma having shown so litle progress over the last two years, ------ what have! they been doing?

I can't really comment on sub games Cx2, sinse the only one I've ever played (or really heard about), in this genre is in fact Lone wolf, but it wouldn't surprise me if it does work on a slightly over-precise game logic, sinse some other audio games I've come across certainly have.

Server side software and such and server to boot. Yes expensive, and time consuming. So they charge. In Medal of honor a player usually hosts the game server side. They do it for awhile for fun and drop out off the radar screen when they get tired of it. The games is one of those games you jump into and play awhile and jump out. There are clubs or clans as they call it, where a group teams together. Some ask for donations to help pay for the server and software and message boards.  I had planned on at least a turn based multi-player where you drop in to play. I really hate to tie up my computer as a hosting server and leave it on 100%. So I will find away to get around that if I can. Self server server on the web site my ISP provides if I can make it work. Time comsuming. A mud is on a server side machine but the machine is there anyway and Mud software takes very little upkeep and space and bandwidth I guess once it is running.

Ah, that would make sense. the majority of games I've heard of are things like world of warcraft, which obviously do have their dedicated servers running, and being funded by player subscriptions. I believe che martin has something of this sort in mind for the online audio rpg business.

As multiplayer shades or Gtc would be, ----- as has been said, drop in and drop out style, then it would be possible for Gma if they have the coding skills.

\Just a simple question though, for a turn based game, obviously the players don't have to all physically turn up and be connected to the game in order to play it, ------ couldn't it run on a website? like an online quiz?

Obviously there might stil be hosting and space issues, but I'm guessing not as many as for an entire online game where.

Yes Dark you are correct. A player shows up for thier turn - they see it is their turn - makes their move and the turn moves to the next player. I can do this as soon as I figure a way around my ISP and data writing problem. I may get another host company that allows that. But my ISP host is free now and I've learned something I need to try out and still stay in Javascipt and may work with my current ISP. The problem with that style of turn based game is it is slow, especially if a player just quits. But they are fun. So I could have a bot take over or they just loose their turn still everyone has to wait until the computer decides something is wrong and a player didn't turn up.

In a Mud you know when another player is there. In the old style mud, you only know if another player has been there. Lots of difference in the code and game control and is like a open turn based thing. It is always your turn. LOL! And is probably what I will end up eventually doing as the code is easier.

I should have the computer generated multi-player combat card game done this weekend as text and add sound a bit later. So that for me is a great start on a more complicated thing in Javascript. It should feel like a multi turn based game thing as you feel like you are playing against true opponents - and you are - but it is just the computer.

The best kind of game is one where you can jump in and jump out - like a mud - but with the sound effects and a game engine where you have to be real active and not so deep that it could take weeks to learn how to play well. Hard balance. As a hobby game creator I can only get so big in the code for now. So I try and get crafty with the game and have quite a few of them for now.

The mainstream strategy Alpha Centauri I believe had a play by email option, it was essentially a futuristic version of Civilisation even developed by the same guy who headed up the original team for Civilisation itself.

As to muds, all you need is some type of Telnet client. If you can look around whatever help, support and/or community resources exist for Hal and find a Telnet client that will work well with Hal then you can use it for muds I believe, the only real advantage to a mud client is it offers the ability to put some commands into shortcut keys and so on.

Dark, yes it is like "Oh Hell". You must get exact bids to progress. I changed it as the round always plays lowest cards first so you bid that way. Doesn't really matter that much, but makes it more interesting I think. 32 cards and 4 players makes bidding tricky. I dropped back to this style game as it is easier to code and just as fun. As I was studying bidding a hand of spades and working out the computer play of rounds I saw this gets complicated quickly. This game is just as fun as there is much more than I had imagined that needs to be dona and able to do. The computer players have just as hard a time as you getting their bids right. You have a bit of advantage as you see their bids before you bid.  I think it will be fun. The sound aspect may get a bit boring after awhile as it could get repetitive. So I will have two version to host - one with and one without sound. Then I will make the same game with a space based theme to draw other players.

Muds are fun. What I didn't like was the command set in Mariani is huge for ship commands. Will take some practice. I enjoy the shorter interesting game that is quick to come up to speed on and full of things to see and interaction - I F style Mud like the one from the old days. I may eventually work on something like that. I would make it so players interact and try and impede others progress and team for area control in a turn based Mud style. It is always your turn kind of game that is multi player as I mentioned before. Code would be easier I think with that style. I'm not there yet though and not sure it can be done. I would think so though at some level to start with.

Well, you could use something like the audio quake server system, right? That would work too.

Okay, I'll have a look, I was always a fan of those sorts of card games, though I'll admit that in my case, oh hell wasn't just a poetic name lol!