TCP/IP Begin: A Multiplayer Tactical Starship Simulation
The 1980's brought a shareware space combat game known as Begin by Tom Nelson and Mike Higgins. This game, offered a simple yet compelling tactical starship simulation where a player was pitted against one or more computer opponents, each with the same resources and abilities. The AI was very strong and would demolish most new players in a fair fight.
For many years players of this game dreamed of playing against their friends, because the computer ignored a few subtle tactics, especially in close combat. Also the game was very deterministic: in fact the only places where simulation utilized randomness were the torpedo speeds and which systems were damaged after a shield-penetrating hit. Thus, playing against friends could determine who was the better player, rather than who got lucky.
Finally I took it upon myself to modify the assembly code to make it into a multiplayer game.
Download Begin2: A TCP/IP Tactical Starship Sim (Win, Mac, Linux)
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If you have never played before, please take the time to visit
Ben Hallert's Begin Webpage for a guide how to play, and a walkthrough showing how to defeat the computer in a single player game.
The official multiplayer chatroom is accessible from a website as well as through the server lobby program. And a list of servers looking for players is here.
The original authors have contacted us in the Begin Yahoo! group, so go there to see the latest news from active members of the Begin community. For the readme included with the multiplayer starship simulation visit the latest README.
The package also includes a shipeditor so you can customize the ships that you play with online or in single player.
Here are some example pictures of games that actually occured online:
Begin 2 Mode
Begin 1.65 Mode
