vili's recent activity

  1. Comment on CGA-2026-04 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿš€ INSERT CARTRIDGE ๐ŸŸข Space Rogue in ~games

    vili
    Link
    How's everyone doing with the game? For anyone interested, here are a couple of interesting podcasts related to Space Rogue. I have linked to the podcasts' own websites, but you should be able to...

    How's everyone doing with the game?

    For anyone interested, here are a couple of interesting podcasts related to Space Rogue. I have linked to the podcasts' own websites, but you should be able to find these also on YouTube or your favourite podcast app.

    • Paul Neurath - Interview by the Video Game Newsroom Time Machine is a 2021 interview with Space Rogue's creator Paul Neurath where they talk about his entire career in the video game industry. If you want to skip to the Space Rogue parts, they start at around 16:45, but the whole interview is well worth your time, as the earlier parts talk about projects that led up to Space Rogue, and the later parts of course go on to talk about his hit game series Ultima Underworld, Thief and System Shock. Among other things, I learnt from this interview that Neurath didn't write Space Rogue primarily for Commodore 64 as I had thought, but the Apple II system.

    • Origin Story by They Create Worlds is an excellent history of Origin Systems, the company behind Space Rogue, Wing Commander and the Ultima series. Space Rogue bits start at around 44:00, but if you have any interest in video game history, this really is a wonderful episode on Origin Systems.

    As side quests, I can also highly recommend:

    • Wing Commander also by They Create Worlds is a great look at the history of the Wing Commander series, which owes plenty to Space Rogue. Space Rogue itself is briefly discussed from 33:30 on, but again, if you have any interest in Wing Commander, the whole episode is well worth your time.

    • Ultima Retrospective (YouTube playlist) by Noah Antwiler / The Spoony Experiment is a series of videos about the Ultima series and one of my favourite things on YouTube. This is not really about Origin Systems or the making of Ultima, but a personal reflection on the games themselves with humour that either works for you or doesn't. It very much works for me.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on Meet Orpheusโ€”A hopper mission built to hunt for life in Martian volcanoes in ~space

    vili
    Link Parent
    While I share your disappointment, I don't think that this is quite a fair statement. NASA needs to prioritise its programmes based on budget constraints and expected scientific return. The...

    NASA continues to ignore the possibility of current life on Mars

    While I share your disappointment, I don't think that this is quite a fair statement. NASA needs to prioritise its programmes based on budget constraints and expected scientific return.

    The general scientific consensus has been that the Viking landers did not discover strong enough markers for life. While this doesn't mean that no life currently exists on Mars (it doesn't even mean that the Viking experiments didn't discover life), it does mean that directly following up on those experiments hasn't been a high enough priority to justify additional resources. In a sense it's a probability game, and there are currently better odds for gaining results from other approaches.

    The focus has shifted to understanding the planet's environment, partly because the confusion around the Viking lander experiments showed us that looking for life may be too difficult without first understanding the environment in which it might exist. So, NASA has instead been focusing on things like water, methane, organic molecules, geochemistry, and other such markers that indicate habitability and potential biosignatures. Once we know to what extent these exist on Mars, and where, we have a better chance of designing experiments to directly search for life.

    I would say that NASA has continued to search for life on Mars after the Viking missions, even if it has done so indirectly.

    9 votes

  3. Comment on How to find (a) new music (community)? in ~music

    vili
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    I too feel it's more difficult to get excited about new music as I get older. But every now and then, something still pops up that hits so hard that it becomes a part of my identity. For...

    I too feel it's more difficult to get excited about new music as I get older. But every now and then, something still pops up that hits so hard that it becomes a part of my identity.

    For discovery, I currently follow these through my RSS reader (links are to websites, not the feeds):

    These are also good sources for discovery but don't have easy RSS feeds:

    I'd like to widen my horizons to more international music, but it's challenging to find good sources, especially ones with RSS feeds. I'd love to hear if anyone has recommendations for publications to follow from their region of the world. Can be in any language.

    I use Spotify and like how easy it is to keep track of new releases from my favourite artists, as it gives me a list of new releases from artists that I follow. It doesn't seem to be filtered in any way, just sorted by date. I check it every Friday.

    In general, I have found that using a streaming service doesn't force one to listen to playlists or bend to the algorithm's wills. I primarily listen to albums, so I just use Spotify's search function to find specific releases and pretty much ignore all algorithmic suggestions. Although, I do find the automatically generated artist compilations ("This Is X") useful when getting to know an artist I haven't listened to before. As for playlists, I rarely listen to those, and when I do, I strongly prefer human curated lists as opposed to ones Spotify generates automatically.

    8 votes

  4. Comment on Iโ€™m traveling internationally for the first time and could use tips! in ~travel

    vili
    Link Parent
    I think films in the Netherlands arenโ€™t typically dubbed unless they are childrenโ€™s films, so if you pick a film thatโ€™s originally in a language you speak, you should be ok. Just make sure itโ€™s in...

    I think films in the Netherlands arenโ€™t typically dubbed unless they are childrenโ€™s films, so if you pick a film thatโ€™s originally in a language you speak, you should be ok. Just make sure itโ€™s in the main room.

    Maybe also check if the Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin is open or if its permanent collection is available somewhere. Itโ€™s my favourite place in Berlin with its exhibits of the history of German cinema (think Metropolis, Nosferatu, Marlene Dietrich, and so on), but I think they closed it a couple of years ago for renovation or something.

    3 votes

  5. Comment on Iโ€™m traveling internationally for the first time and could use tips! in ~travel

    vili
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    I donโ€™t know about hostels, but most hotels I have used around Europe allow you to leave your luggage with them after you check out, and pick it up later. Railway stations and such also often have...

    I donโ€™t know about hostels, but most hotels I have used around Europe allow you to leave your luggage with them after you check out, and pick it up later. Railway stations and such also often have coin operated storage units. But check ahead of time to avoid disappointment.

    I know nothing about cars but if you like statues (statues are a bit like cars, just with less movement and typically with fewer wheels, right?), I would highly recommend the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. The Munch museum is also great, and I hear they have expanded it recently. My favourite thing in Amsterdam was the stunningly beautiful Tuschinski Theatre, an old cinema well worth watching a film in if you love architecture and cinema.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Industry initiative launches Euro-Office as true sovereign office suite in ~tech

    vili
    Link Parent
    European countries have for some years now been talking about digital sovereignty, referring to a goal of reducing their dependence on foreign technology, such as Chinese hardware and American...

    European countries have for some years now been talking about digital sovereignty, referring to a goal of reducing their dependence on foreign technology, such as Chinese hardware and American software and data services. Back in 2021, a group of European prime ministers wrote an open letter about this, and it has either directly or indirectly led to some legislative work such as the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act.

    The perceived need for digital sovereignty has only increased recently as trust towards the US as a reliable partner has eroded, the influence of largely American tech companies in both public and political spheres has become an issue, and the world in general has been less predictable. Many companies and individuals are now considering European alternatives to software, services and devices that they have previously been happy to get from non-European providers. Euro-Office is a part of this sea change.

    The concept of digital sovereignty is older of course, but I would say that it's become part of the political discourse in the past decade or so. Back in the 90s we also talked about the somewhat related independence of cyberspace, as if governments had no sovereignty over the internet.

    It's not unique to Europe or the west, of course. China has its own concept of cyber sovereignty, and I'm sure other countries do as well.

    11 votes

  7. Comment on CGA-2026-04 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿš€ INSERT CARTRIDGE ๐ŸŸข Space Rogue in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    I honestly don't know. But some games were indeed pretty creative about it! Our next month's title, Sid Meier's Pirates!, allowed you to play but made the game very difficult. Zak McKracken threw...

    I may be wrong about this, but if you get the copy protection wrong, does it maybe remove items from your inventory? I want to say it did something evil like that, but maybe I am mixing up games.

    I honestly don't know. But some games were indeed pretty creative about it! Our next month's title, Sid Meier's Pirates!, allowed you to play but made the game very difficult. Zak McKracken threw you in pirate jail and gave you a lecture. Earthbound increased difficulty and, I believe, erased your save files towards the end of the game. And while not a game, the first IBM PC virus was supposedly also an attempt at copy protection.

    How do you play games on a 3DS that require keyboard inputs? Do you have a virtual keyboard on the second screen with touch input?

    1 vote

  8. Comment on CGA-2026-04 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿš€ INSERT CARTRIDGE ๐ŸŸข Space Rogue in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    I've been thinking about what I wrote above about the game's "rough edges" and I wonder if I was entirely fair to the game, or the era in which it was made. After all, for all of my examples,...
    • Exemplary

    I've been thinking about what I wrote above about the game's "rough edges" and I wonder if I was entirely fair to the game, or the era in which it was made. After all, for all of my examples, there is a simple solution that exists in the game and alleviates the issues. It's called "saving the game".

    We have perhaps grown accustomed to thinking about a game save as analogous to pausing or stopping a film. It halts a linear process and allows us to later continue where we left off. If we fail in something, we expect the game to throw us back into a previous state and we can try to proceed again.

    In many older games, the save feature wasn't just that. It was much more an actual game mechanic that you needed to master. You were often expected to keep multiple save files, try things out, and return to earlier saves as you tried to figure out what works and what doesn't. Instant deaths and unwinnable game states were acceptable design because you could always go back to an earlier save.

    Games in this sense weren't linear, but a network of paths that you were expected to puzzle your way through. Something like the King's Quest series by Sierra is a prime example of this type of game design. Learning when and where to save, and how to manage your save files, was part of the game design.

    Another thing that I've been thinking about while playing Space Rogue is the manual. As some of you may already have noticed from previous months, I love game manuals. I very much miss them. Because a good manual serves multiple functions.

    On the most fundamental level, a manual is an instruction book, it tells the player how to play the game. Back in the 80s, you couldn't just assume that players knew even the most basic gaming concepts. If you sold more than a hundred copies, your game would almost certainly be someone's first gaming experience. So, everything, and I mean everything, needed to be spelled out. One of my favourite examples is the manual for Sid Meier's 1984 flight simulator Spitfire Ace, which goes as far as to literally tell the reader that the sky is blue (see here, the last paragraph in the Game Display section).

    The manual is also part of the game world and part of the game mechanics. As I'm playing Space Rogue, I frequently pause the game to check something or other in the manual. Which faction did this ship type belong to? What was supposed to exist in this solar system? What was the command to switch to Newtonian flight again? And so on. While it's a bit tedious as I only have the pdf copy provided, back in the day, with a physical manual, it would have felt more natural. I wouldn't have needed to break the immersion and alt-tab out of the game itself. The game would just sit there, either paused or running patiently, as I consulted my manual and notes. And since I'm a spaceship pilot, of course I have a manual that I need to refer to!

    It helps your imagination to fill in the gaps. These days, we are approaching near photorealistic representation in games and a practically infinite space into which developers can add lore and other information to enhance our immersion. Soon, we'll have AI assisted systems that can generate anything that developers don't have the resources or priorities for, be it higher graphical fidelity, an endless number of NPCs and dialogue options, background lore that gets generated on the spot based on developers' parameters, and so on. But back in the 80s, resources were very limited, and much more had to be left to the player's own imagination. Despite being billed as a "cinematic experience", playing Space Rogue is still closer to reading a book than it is to watching a film. You need to use your imagination. Rather than a passive recipient, you are very much an interactive part of the act of creation. The manual is there to guide you in this process. It shows you what things should look like or stand for but can't because of the limited tech, and it tells you about the flavour and intricacies of the world that the game code just can't give you. It's your prompt partner in this double act improv performance.

    The manual is also copy protection. Both literally and figuratively. Space Rogue requires you to type in a specific word from a specific page to load your game. But you would also lack all of the context and information that I talked about above if you didn't have the manual, rendering the game almost unplayable. When it comes to the literal copy protection, I don't actually think the GOG or Steam versions require you to fill in the correct answers (at least I don't see any difference in the game if I don't), but back in the day, a copy protection like this was a good way to prevent piracy. By the end of the 80s, the technology to copy a game was quite commonplace even at home, but copying a manual was trickier. And while you could download a pirated game from the internet relatively quickly (a matter of minutes), downloading a scanned or even typed manual would take much longer (a matter of hours), as it would have been a much larger file. And since you paid for your online connection per the minutes used, you were probably better off just walking into a game shop and buying the damn thing.

    2 votes

  9. Comment on Inside the โ€˜Michaelโ€™ overhaul: $15 million reshoots, removing child abuse allegations and whatโ€™s in store for sequels in ~movies

    vili
    Link Parent
    It is not just any accuser, though. It is Jordan Chandler. If I count correctly, there have been four major instances of child molestation accusations against Michael Jackson that create the image...
    • Exemplary

    So what, because one of the accusers is banned from appearing or being mentioned, that means the entire ending has to be cut? They can'r dub over his name, or use CG to change his face, or swap out his actor? It sounds more like someone changed their mind about touching the subject.

    It is not just any accuser, though. It is Jordan Chandler.

    If I count correctly, there have been four major instances of child molestation accusations against Michael Jackson that create the image problem where many associate his name with the word "paedophile".

    These cases are:

    1. Jordan Chandler (1993): I will write about this shortly.
    2. Gavin Arvizo (2005): This one went into a very public trial, at the end of which Jackson was found not guilty on all 10 counts. For anyone wanting to protect and profit from Jackson's legacy (let's call this entity "the Estate", although it might not be entirely accurate), it is easy to point to this verdict as a proof of innocence. Or it would be, if not for the shadow cast by the Chandler case.
    3. Wade Robson and James Safechuck (starting in 2013): These posthumous allegations have been dismissed by courts more than once, both for technical reasons and for lack of evidence. Where the cases currently stand, I don't really know, but at this moment at least the Estate can point to these unsuccessful court actions and dismiss the claims. Or they should be able to do that, if not for the public perception shaped by the Chandler case.
    4. The Cascio family (2026): The latest posthumous accusations come from a family who were quite close to Jackson. This is the same family friend who immediately after Jackson's passing claimed the singer had recorded multiple tracks with him, three of which ultimately got selected for Jackson's first posthumous album. Now, the problem with those tracks is that they don't really sound like Michael Jackson. There has been a lawsuit and the tracks have since been removed from later pressings of the album. Depending on how the Estate can and wants to play this, they could in theory point to the family as having lied already once about their involvement with Jackson, and pretty much dismiss the molestation accusations that way. Or at they could, if it wasn't for the shadow of the Chandler case. (Also, I have no idea what has been going on between the Estate and the Cascio family over the years but there is potentially a whole other can of worms there which belongs to an entirely different story, so I won't go into that.)

    So, the Estate might not really have an image problem if it wasn't for the Jordan Chandler case. And the problem with that case is that it was never publicly resolved. Jackson denied any wrongdoing but was advised to settle out of court, and he did so, supposedly to protect his health and finances, and somehow thinking that he could go on with his life and career. But the lack of a definite "not guilty" verdict forever marked him as a child molester in the public eye.

    Now, I don't know what the film that they are making was originally going to be like. Or what the final version will be like, for that matter. But based on what I have read, I had assumed that the original concept of the film was a very definite attempt by the Estate to change the public perception about the Jordan Chandler case by telling Michael's (or the Estate's) side of the story and prove him, or at least portray him as, innocent. To manufacture that public verdict of "innocent". Because if they could do that, if they could make the Jordan Chandler shadow go away, it would help them clear Jackson's name entirely. All of the subsequent accusations would be viewed through a very different lens.

    I was actually quite looking forward to seeing how they were going to attempt this act of image re-building.

    That said, I want to finish by noting that while I have written about these allegations here as if they were just legal cases and an "image problem", they are of course not just that. I have no idea what really happened, but if any abuse occurred, I hope the survivors find justice and peace. These are things that no child, or adult, should endure. At the same time, these are also serious accusations against a global icon who means so much to so many people.

    10 votes

  10. Comment on CGA-2025-12 ๐Ÿดโ€โ˜ ๏ธ๐Ÿ๏ธ๐ŸŒ REMOVE CARTRIDGE โ๏ธ The Secret of Monkey Island in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    I feel vindicated. (As a reminder, Ron Gilbert aka GrumpyGamer was the creator of Monkey Island. Not that his opinion necessarily matters more than anyone elseโ€™s when it comes to matters of taste....

    I know I've been the annoying weirdo who insists that the best version of The Secret of Monkey Island is the original EGA version

    I feel vindicated. (As a reminder, Ron Gilbert aka GrumpyGamer was the creator of Monkey Island. Not that his opinion necessarily matters more than anyone elseโ€™s when it comes to matters of taste. But still. Vindicated!)

    1 vote

  11. Comment on CGA-2026-04 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿš€ INSERT CARTRIDGE ๐ŸŸข Space Rogue in ~games

    vili
    Link
    I must admit, the game is a little bit rougher around the edges than I remembered. A couple of design choices that have I noticed in the early game which wouldn't really pass muster today include:...

    I must admit, the game is a little bit rougher around the edges than I remembered. A couple of design choices that have I noticed in the early game which wouldn't really pass muster today include:

    • Of the two systems that you can jump into from the starting system, one doesn't have any repair services for your spaceship. As your hull can take quite a bit of damage when you go through a Malir gate (especially if it's your first try), you can end up in a limbo state where you are still alive but can't get back into civilisation as you can't survive another jump.

    • Pressing J immediately jettisons all cargo. There is no confirmation step for this action. While it's conceptually quite funny when you accidentally throw all of the manure that you are carrying into the face of a pursuing enemy, that single key press can cost you dearly if you were carrying something more valuable.

    • Some of the cargo types spoil easily and I believe it's totally random when they do so. I have learnt to avoid purchasing spoiling cargo: manure, seaweed, hybrid grain, anaghatics, antibiotics and radioactives (!) are all subject to spoilage.

    • Also, for a major game release, there are surprisingly many typos in the dialogue texts!

    I first encountered Space Rogue on my friend's computer in the early 90s. "What's that?" I asked as I walked into his room and saw him hunched over his computer screen. "Oh, just a new game that I got," he said, casually walking around in a space station and talking to some characters in a bar. He then boarded a spaceship and whoa, we were suddenly in full 3D space! And as if that wasn't enough for my young mind to be blown, we saw two spaceships and some laser action. "They are attacking you!" I gasped. "Naah, it looks like they are fighting each other," he replied. We followed the dogfight until one of the ships got destroyed.

    A game where you can walk around in space stations, talk to all sorts of people and aliens who don't seem too interested in you, fly freely in an incredible 3D space simulation and observe other ships engage in space battle that doesn't involve you in any way? It felt like anything would be possible in this game. That this universe wasn't centred around you and instead existed for its own mysterious reasons.

    But I hadn't cycled 15 km (about 10 miles, or 0.00000010026881 AU) on gravel roads and across a hilly forest landscape for this. We had been planning to play the strategy game Empire, and that's what we would do. And so, the end of that dogfight was the last time that I would see Space Rogue for a very long time.

    Over the ensuing years, an image of the game (my friend's character standing inside the space station) would pop into my head every now and then, but I had no idea what the game was called. I don't think I had ever asked my friend and we weren't in touch any more. He had gone to study in another part of the country, and a little later I would move out of the country entirely. Every couple of years the image of the character in a space station would return to me and I would try to find out what the title of the game might have been, but I always came back empty handed. All I had in my head was that space station, the 3D dogfight, and the impossibly rich universe that I had assumed in my head.

    In the late 2000s, I reconnected with my friend and a couple of years after that, the image of the character in that a space station came back to me again. I asked my friend if he remembered what game it might have been. He told me that it was probably Space Rogue. And it was.

    It was a weird feeling booting up the game. A game that I had thought about so often over almost two decades. A game that I had built up in my head into something that would have been impossible to create in 1989. And yet, I wasn't disappointed. I really liked Space Rogue, even if I didn't finish the game -- I don't remember why in this particular case, but I'm quite good at not finishing games.

    And here we are now. Another almost twenty years later, and I'm playing Space Rogue again. And so are you (perhaps). Thank you for doing the insane thing and voting for a largely forgotten game that is far clunkier than anything that we have been playing so far! I hope you find our archaeological expedition into buried treasures (and mixed metaphors) interesting and perhaps even see a brief glimpse of that rich universe and the endless possibility that I had built in my head. And which, in a sense, actually does exist in the game. Although you do need to work for it a little bit more than with more modern titles.

    4 votes

  12. Comment on Where can I learn about the actual science behind Artemis II? in ~space

    vili
    Link
    Maybe you have already seen these, but: Everyday Astronaut has a 14-minute video called Artemis II: Everything You Need to Know which is a fairly good overview of the crew, the service module, the...

    Maybe you have already seen these, but:

    9 votes

  13. Comment on Suggest media in which the antagonist is an idea or an abstract concept rather than a person or intelligent entity in ~talk

    vili
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    I would say that a significant portion of literary fiction centres around abstract antagonistic forces. I've been thinking about Patrick White's novel Riders in the Chariot recently, so I'll use...

    I would say that a significant portion of literary fiction centres around abstract antagonistic forces.

    I've been thinking about Patrick White's novel Riders in the Chariot recently, so I'll use it as an example. The antagonist there is social conformity, cruelty that disguises as normality, and the type of suburban mindset where difference from cultural norms is not tolerated. The novel's four main characters, the titular riders, each have access to a spiritual experience that connects them to William Blake's mysticism and the Judeo-Christian mythology on which it was based (and which he partly rebelled against), allowing the four to see the world differently from others. Because of their difference, they are ostracised, seen as outsiders and harmed in various ways.

    If you are looking for more of a genre fiction example, Philip K. Dick is the first author to come to mind. His antagonists usually are things like epistemological uncertainty and ontological instability, where reality starts to break down, identity becomes fractured and you can no longer trust your own senses. For concrete pointers, I would recommend Ubik where the primary antagonist is a spray can that is also late-state capitalism and God. Or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, where the antagonist ultimately is the kind of entertainment and addiction that offers an escape from suffering but in the process steals not only your soul but also your reality and selfhood.

    7 votes

  14. Comment on CGA-2026-04 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿš€ INSERT CARTRIDGE ๐ŸŸข Space Rogue in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    Thank you for writing into my (our) friendship book, Iceman! We seem to be quite similar gamers. I just remembered that in my school we used to give stickers as thanks, so you will get this...

    Thank you for writing into my (our) friendship book, Iceman! We seem to be quite similar gamers. I just remembered that in my school we used to give stickers as thanks, so you will get this beautiful yellow star sticker as a sign of my appreciation: โญ๏ธ

    If you like Elite: Dangerous but have never tried the original Elite, I would definitely recommend giving it a go one day. It's remarkable how similar the two are despite the 30 years that stand between them. While Space Rogue's flight systems are also pretty good (for their era anyway), there is something magical about the original Elite. That the whole game can fit into just 22kb is also simply mind blowing. For comparison, my insert cartridge post for this topic is also about 22kb.

    An IBM compatible DOS computer is a perfectly valid answer, although I think the 80286 (Intel 286) from 1982 was the last 16-bit processor that Intel developed, so you'd be limited to something like that. You couldn't run the original Doom, for instance. Space Rogue might still run on it though, so you'd be all right. In the early 90s, about half of the computers in our school's computer room were still 286s.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on CGA-2026-03 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿ•Œ๐Ÿ”” REMOVE CARTRIDGE โ๏ธ Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    I actually used save states quite liberally towards the end of the game, even if I had made use of healing services (and hot springs, and wonder balls) throughout the game. After a couple of...

    Suffice it to say that this might have entirely negated the frustration I avoided through save states?

    I actually used save states quite liberally towards the end of the game, even if I had made use of healing services (and hot springs, and wonder balls) throughout the game. After a couple of misplaced jumps that threw me out of the castle and forced me to re-repeat sections that I had already cleared, I just didn't feel like spending more time with areas that I already knew. Especially as I'm not particularly fond of platforming challenges when playing with a controller that I find somewhat cumbersome (I played the game with a Miyoo Mini Plus, which I realised is just a little too small for my hands).

    Had there not been a time pressure to finish the game by the end of the month, and had this been 1992 when it probably would have been the only game that I could afford for a couple of months, I would certainly have been ok with this game design decision. But in today's world, with all the time pressures and responsibilities and competing entertainment, I'm glad I could take the easy way out. We are indeed living in the future.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on CGA-2026-03 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿ•Œ๐Ÿ”” REMOVE CARTRIDGE โ๏ธ Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    I don't think this is the only time this game flirts with rather adult themes. It does include unemployment induced alcoholism (there actually seems to be something of a persistent undercurrent of...

    a coy, off-color adult joke being shoved into an otherwise kid-friendly game

    I don't think this is the only time this game flirts with rather adult themes. It does include unemployment induced alcoholism (there actually seems to be something of a persistent undercurrent of class struggle satire?), features women in the bar that are if not prostitutes at least adult-only hostesses, and so on.

    But probably the sequence that most raised my eyebrows is the one with the Red Riding Hood. When you find her, she breaks down crying that she doesn't want to go back to the shop as the shop keeper makes fun of her and ties her up. Or so the English translation goes. I was a bit concerned about her well-being, so I thought I'd check the Japanese original to see if she's doing better there.

    Oh boy. As far as I can understand, in the original, she describes not only being tied up tight with a straw rope (ใ‚ใ‚‰ใชใ‚ใงใ—ใฐใ‚ŠไธŠใ’ใ‚‰ใ‚Œใฆ), but she says that she is actually beaten with a hundred lashes of a whip (ใƒ ใƒใง็™พใŸใŸใ). And then, most disturbingly, she finishes with the vague and suggestive "In addition to that, he does this and that too..." (ใใฎไธŠ,ใ‚ใ‚“ใชใ‚ณใƒˆใ‚„ใ“ใ‚“ใชใ‚ณใƒˆใ‚‚โ€ฅโ€ฅ)

    The original Little Red Riding Hood is a folktale that is often interpreted as an allegory of rape and abuse, and may indeed have its origins in a more explicit version of such a tale. Whether the developers considered this, I don't know, but the choice of the character's name is definitely quite suggestive, considering what she is saying about her treatment.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on CGA-2026-04 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿš€ INSERT CARTRIDGE ๐ŸŸข Space Rogue in ~games

    vili
    Link
    The CGA Friendship Book Let me try something a little different for this month's topic: a thematic "friendship book". These were all the rage at my elementary school around the time Space Rogue...

    The CGA Friendship Book

    Let me try something a little different for this month's topic: a thematic "friendship book". These were all the rage at my elementary school around the time Space Rogue came out, so I thought it appropriate to create one here.

    The basic idea was that your book contained questions for friends to answer so that you could learn more about them. And you of course wrote your answers into other people's books with the singular hope that their book would somehow find its way into the hands of that one cute person you had a massive crush on and who would see your Incredibly Clever Answers and would finally come to talk to you since you were too terrified cool to talk to them yourself.

    I'm not sure we know each other well enough to have developed secret crushes yet, but maybe this friendship book can change that!

    Iโ€™d love to hear everyoneโ€™s answers to my friendship book questions. That said, I of course understand if you don't want to share too much. Feel free to skip any questions or all of them, or invent new ones. And you are more than welcome to participate in the friendship book even if you don't plan to play the game, or don't even know what CGA is!

    ๐Ÿš€ Captain's Log

    Your Callsign: What name did or will you choose for your character in Space Rogue? How do you usually choose your name in games?

    Pilot's Choice: Are you a controller, joystick, mouse, keyboard, motion detection or touch screen kind of person when it comes to gaming? Something else? Has this changed over the years? Do you have a specific input device / model that you love the most?

    Your Origin Story: Are you more of a slow-paced RPG player (like Ultima) or an adrenaline driven action gamer (like Wing Commander)? Space Rogue offers both: which are you more looking forward to?

    ๐Ÿ‘พ Deep Space Probes

    Previous Missions: Space Rogue is typically described as combining Elite and the Ultima series. Are you familiar with those games? What about the Wing Commander series that it directly influenced? Did you know about Space Rogue before CGA?

    First Flight: What was the first video game that you remember making you feel like you were actually in a three-dimensional space (outer space or just a room or anything where you felt you "were there")?

    A World to Call Home: Is there a planet, space station or other location in any space game, film, book or other piece of media that feels most like "home" to you?

    Your North Star: When games offer you the choice between great personal gain with the detriment of NPCs' wellbeing and the opportunity to help NPCs while losing something yourself, what do you usually go for or how do you make the decision?

    ๐ŸŒ Mission Control

    Preferred Mission Type: What flavour of scifi do you like the most? Hard science fiction, space opera, science fantasy, social and political exploration, focus on tech? All of the above? Something else?

    Liftoffs: What are your thoughts about human space exploration in the real world? Do you follow current space programs? Will you be watching Artemis II's journey to the moon and back?

    Docking Procedures: If you were going to be assigned to work on a lonely space station for a decade and could take just one 8-bit or 16-bit system and fifteen freely chosen games for it (plus the equipment to run it all), which device would you bring for your entertainment?

    3 votes

  18. Comment on CGA-2026-04 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿš€ INSERT CARTRIDGE ๐ŸŸข Space Rogue in ~games

    vili
    Link
    CGA Announcement: We have officially inserted the diskette for Space Rogue. Use this topic to get set up for the month, help other people get set up for the month, and start playing! If you would...

    CGA Announcement: We have officially inserted the cartridge diskette for Space Rogue. Use this topic to get set up for the month, help other people get set up for the month, and start playing!

    If you would like to be added or removed from the Notification List, please PM u/kfwyre.

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    5 votes

  19. CGA-2026-04 ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿš€ INSERT CARTRIDGE ๐ŸŸข Space Rogue

    ~games Text 3586 words
    But First, These Brief Messages If you were a hip gamer back in 1989, your first point of contact with our game of the month, Space Rogue, might have been this video ad (timestamped) that explains...

    But First, These Brief Messages

    If you were a hip gamer back in 1989, your first point of contact with our game of the month, Space Rogue, might have been this video ad (timestamped) that explains exactly why Origin's new space adventure is the hottest thing in gaming right now. Or you might have marvelled at this magazine ad.

    I'm starting with these ads because the game is currently on sale on GOG! The sale ends in just two days, so get it while the getting is good! And while there, consider also grabbing Sid Meier's Pirates! Gold Plus (the 1993 remake) and/or Sid Meier's Pirates! (the 2004 remake) for our next month's gaming, as both are also heavily discounted. Thanks to /u/J-Chiptunator for the heads-up!

    All of these do exist on Steam as well, of course, and don't cost much even when not discounted. I will write more about platforms and general availability later. But now, back to our regular programming.

    Introduction

    So, this is what it's come to. You in the pilot's seat, surrounded by the vast emptiness of cold, dead space. A row of cryptic console buttons. A user interface that seems to come from an entirely different era, if not species. One wrong move, one mistaken button press, and you are probably dead. Great. Just great.

    It's not even your seat, or technically your spaceship, just something that you stumbled into when the aliens blew your crewmates into smithereens. You are the sole survivor, alone on board the Jolly Roger (who the hell named this ship?) and now seriously evaluating your life choices.

    Go to space, they had said. Space is exciting, it's fun, it's different, they had insinuated. You specifically remember the poster screaming that it had "everything for everyone".

    Bullshit.

    Instead, you find yourself hunched over the console with a thick manual in one hand and a glass of the galaxy's worst gin in another, trying to figure out how this piece of crap Jolly Roger functions. You don't feel jolly at all. Or roger.

    Just as you are about to give up and slip into cryogenic sleep for the next thirty days until that vacation in the Caribbean, you notice something buzzing on a side table. It's the quiet, gentle buzz of a smallish electronic device. Friendly, inviting. You pick it up and the screen lights up. It's a warm, welcoming glow of an e-reader. It is here to help. The page it opens simply reads:

    Welcome to Space Rogue

    In my CGA lobbying post, I wrote that although Space Rogue was a fairly major release at its time, for modern tastes, it can feel a little clunky, perhaps difficult to get into. It is not only the oldest game that we have played so far, but also the first one on our list that was designed with a personal computer and its keyboard in mind, rather than something that would be controlled purely with a controller, joystick or mouse. If you are not familiar with this era or style of gaming, it may take a bit of a mindset adjustment to get going.

    I will try my best to help you get started without too much headache. Just trust me that there really is a very good game in there, in fact one that has been voted as one of the best Commodore 64 games of all time. It is a galaxy spanning scifi RPG that mixes the space sim combat of Elite and Wing Commander with the adventuring of Ultima and Mass Effect. A game that combines some of the best of late 80s design while paving the way for what was to come.

    ๐Ÿ“š Reading materials

    Although the game starts with a cutscene that sets up the story, it still very much expects you to take a look at the documents that originally came in the game box. As so often with games of this era, these are not "supplementary" materials but an actual part of the game. Both Steam and GOG releases should contain the following:

    • Quick Reference Card
    • Novella (Stars of Opportunity)
    • Manual
    • Map
    • Ship Models

    With GOG, you should be able to download the files directly from the website. With Steam, the Manual shows up in the "Additional Content" section of the game page, while the rest can be found in the game's installation directory under the directory "Bonus Content".

    The original game box also included an advertisement for the game-within-a-game arcade hit Hive!, but the GOG and Steam releases seem to not have it. You can find a copy here. And you can also find all of these documents in one package on scribd.com, although the manual there lacks colour and the reference card is for the Amiga version.

    That's a lot of materials, I know. But you don't need to study them all at once. Here's what I suggest you do:

    ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Start by figuring out how to control the ship

    Once you are through the opening cinematic, begin with the Quick Reference Card and its section titled "Commands Used in Space Flight". This will teach you how to move your ship in the cockpit view. Don't worry about the dashboard information right now, just concentrate on controlling the Jolly Roger. You should be safe to experiment at this point as you are in empty space and no one is going to be bothering you. I personally use the WASDZXC keys, but I know some prefer mouse controls.

    When in the Cruise Flight mode (the default mode), the STOP key (S or 5) is very handy. It stops all of your turning and rotation immediately. Learn to use it.

    ๐Ÿ’พ Saving and loading the game

    Note also the Quick Reference Card's section titled "Saving the Game". In addition to remembering the keyboard command Ctrl+S, it is important to keep in mind that you can only save when you are in space. It's a good idea to save before docking at bases.

    You need to give your save game a name. Remember that name because you need to type it again when you want to load it. You can only load games when starting the game. Loading a game asks a copy protection question that requires the manual.

    If you forget your save file name, you can find it in the game's installation folder as a SAV file.

    ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿš€ Suggested first actions

    Next, take a look at the section called "Quick-Start Instructions", still in the Quick Reference Card. It is like a tutorial, telling you what to do first so that you get used to the game's UI. For you convenience, below is what is says, together with my additional notes:

    What to do first

    You start the game deep in the Karonus star system, [which is the site of the magnificent Hiathra Starbase and the historic MiCon I mining station. Piracy has been virtually wiped out in this sector.] To get to the nearest starbase, follow these steps:

    1. Plot a course. Press N for navigation mode, then use the joystick, mouse or keyboard cluster [i.e. arrow keys] to select the CHART command. Press Return. Move the cursor across the map of the Karonus star system until you find Hiathra Starbase: the green square symbol at coordinates 13,19. Press the space bar.

    2. Select the HELM command. Autopilot will guide your ship to the new coordinates. [As you move, you may notice the interface telling you about messages or space ships. You should be able to ignore these and just let the autopilot move you to your destination without interruptions.]

    3. If a ship attacks you on the way, the journey stops. Select COCKPIT to fight the battle. Press T to target the enemy, and the space bar, joystick button or mouse buttons to fire a weapon. Consult the next section for other commands. [But I think the chance of being attacked here is very low.]

    4. After your ship arrives at its destination, select COCKPIT to return to the space view. Press T to activate your targeting computer. It tells how far you must travel to the starbase and in which direction. Move your ship so that the arrows on the edge of your viewscreen are centered and point inward. The starbase should appear onscreen as two pyramids connected by a light-colored axle. To dock at the base, manoeuvre your ship to touch the axle [which is the bright part inside of the station, or the top tips of the two pyramids. Don't fly too fast, as you need to be traveling at 20 m/s or less (the number next to the letters CF or NF in the bottom left of your dashboard) for docking to succeed. Also don't fire at stations as they will deny docking -- if you do it by mistake, pop out and return the next day.]

    5. At the base, walk around [using arrow keys or WASD or mouse], talk to everyone [pressing ENTER and selecting TALK when facing them] you meet, and buy some cargo [and inspect signs, items, closed doors and other things by pressing ENTER and selecting INSPECT while facing them]. You're on your way....

    ๐Ÿช Learn more about the game world

    After you have explored the Hiathra Starbase a little bit, it's a good time to learn more about the world in which the game takes place.

    The novella gives you background information about your character and the world. Unlike the intro cutscene, the novella also gives you a goal. It's worth reading not just for the flavour but also for the information and guidance that it provides.

    The manual also gives you background information about the universe. Take a look at these three sections to better understand the world that you inhabit:

    • Information about the setting (41-46)
    • Descriptions of location types available to you and hazards to avoid (36-38)
    • Information about game mechanics (47-48)

    Additionally, take a look at the map provided and figure out where you are.

    ๐Ÿš€ Master your ship

    After you have an idea of the world that you inhabit, start to learn everything you can about your spaceship. While this is an RPG, you will actually not be levelling your character; instead, you will be upgrading your ship. So, sooner or later you should know the Jolly Roger inside out. At the very beginning, avoid combat and hazards and instead get accustomed to:

    • Your cockpit view (pages 3-7)
    • The two flight models (page 8)
    • How to dock at bases (pages 10-11). Keep in mind that you cannot land on planets.
    • Navigating within a solar system (pages 21-23)
    • Wormhole travel between systems (pages 24-25)
    • Space hazards to avoid (38-39)

    It is also a good idea to leaf through the rest of the manual, and to check out the hand-written notes that the previous owner of Jolly Roger jotted down. Once you get the hang of flying and docking and encounter some enemies, pause and read the remaining sections about combat and ship types.

    ๐Ÿ‘ Early game tips

    In case you feel a little aimless and/or overwhelmed, here are some further tips for the early game:

    I can't buy weapons or shields for my ship!

    Before you can purchase those, you need a pilot's licence. You can get it from the Imperium Representative at Hiathra, the station you docked at first if you followed the quickstart instructions.

    Where do I find the answers to the pilot's test?

    The game just assumes that you know these things. It's not a copy protection measure or anything. The answers are:

    3.26, O, F=ma, Imperium

    How can I get more information from the people I meet?

    In addition to the dialogue options that are given, you can sometimes (if the option "Other" is given) ask people about topics using keywords that you type in. Try to ask about places and people you have heard of. Sometimes people can have interesting things to say.

    What to do after Hiathra Starbase?

    In addition to the Hiathra Starbase, the system you are in at the beginning also has the MiCon I mining station. It might be a good idea to visit it. Maybe you can even make some money ferrying cargo between the two?

    How can I afford anything?

    There are various ways to make credits:

    • Trading: identify places where certain goods are cheap, buy those goods and take them to other places where the same goods are more valuable. Ka-ching.
    • Piracy: You can raid merchants and other ships and steal their stuff (but see below).
    • Bounty hunting: Instead of or in addition to bothering merchants, you can hunt down pirates for bounties (but also see below).
    • Professional gaming: In theory, you can make quite a bit of money playing the game-within-game Hive. However, it takes a long time, so I wouldn't bother.
    My name's Guybrush Threepwood, and I want to be a pirate!

    Yikes! Don't sneak up on me like that!

    Now, Thriftweed, keep in mind that your actions have consequences. There are factions in the game (Imperium, Merchant Guild, Pirates) and those factions react to what you do their members. Attack a merchant ship, and merchants won't be happy about it. Same with the others. This affects how other ships interact with you and what NPCs are willing to say to you.

    At the same time, the more battles you win, the higher your reputation will be. People will know about you. Admire you. But also perhaps hunt you down to increase their own reputation.

    Where the hell is the main story?

    You won't really stumble into the main story until a little later in the game, so feel free to explore the world at first on your own. But if you want to get to the main plot quicker, the novella offers a hint.

    You might remember that your character is slightly fixated about Duchess Avenstar. You also happen to know what system she is in. Perhaps go and find her?

    However, you need to be "a seasoned warrior" before she takes you seriously. You need to have some reputation. So do also read those combat pages in your ship's manual and practice your space fighting skills.

    Nebulae and other space hazards keep destroying me!

    Well... Space Rogue sort of exists in a universe that conforms to Berkeley's ontological theory of subjective idealism. By which I mean, things only exist if you perceive them. And you only perceive them in front of you. Which means, hazards only get generated in front of your ship. Therefore, if you fly backwards, you can't really bump into hazards. Just keep in mind that this is clearly a philosophical statement and not a tech limitation or a bug.

    ๐ŸŽถ Music

    Space Rogue has little sound and no soundtrack, apart from the Japanese versions which are no longer available. In case you would like to listen to some music while adventuring, I have put together a Spotify playlist of tunes that might work. You can find it here. I hope you like it. You might be able to convert it to your preferred streaming service somehow.

    Historical Context

    Developed by Origin Systems towards end of the golden age of the Commodore 64 and Apple II, Space Rogue was something of a pioneering hybrid that bridged the gap between the space flight simulator genre, led by titles like Elite, and the deep narrative-driven RPG systems found in Origin's own Ultima series. The game was marketed as the first of Origin's "cinematic experiences" and while I don't think Origin ever used that marketing term again, their wildly successful and quite cinematic Wing Commander series launched a year later and in many ways stood on the shoulders of Space Rogue.

    Space Rogue was created by Paul Neurath, who later went on to found his own company that developed a number of influential titles such as Ultima Underworld I & II, Thief I & II and System Shock 1 & 2. Meanwhile, a young Origin Systems designer by the name of Chris Roberts was quite influenced by Neurath's work and took its combination of 3D space flight and cinematic storytelling to create the Wing Commander series. These days, Roberts is perhaps even better known from his crowdfunded in-progress magnum opus Star Citizen, which in many ways seems to continue the Space Rogue legacy.

    Game Information

    Platforms & Versions: The game was originally released for Commodore 64 and Apple II. It was later ported to Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, FM Towns, Macintosh, PC-9801 and X68000. The versions are largely the same, with minor graphical differences, apart from the Japanese releases, which feature some music and improved cutscene visuals.

    Genre(s): Space combat simulator, RPG

    Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

    Stores: GOG and Steam. Note that the game is sold as "Space Rogue Classic". Don't confuse with the unrelated game from 2016 called "Space Rogue".

    Game Setup

    The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game.

    On Windows and Linux, the game should run directly from Steam and GOG without problems.

    On a modern Mac, you likely need to extract the DOS files and run them in a DOSBox emulator.

    For other versions and platforms, I'm afraid you are on your own. But do tell us if you decide to do something funky like run it on a C64 or hunt down and emulate an FM Towns or a PC-9801 version!

    It's recommended that you:

    • Share which version of the game you're playing
    • Share what hardware you're playing it on
    • Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
    • Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
    • Ask questions if you need help

    Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

    • Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
    • What about its system or era?
    • What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
    • What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
    • What are you expecting from this game in particular?

    Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

    • Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
    • Ask for help if you get stuck.
    • Offer help to others.

    It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

    Important

    • Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

    • Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

    
<details>

<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.

</details>

    FAQ

    What is CGA?

    Colossal Game Adventure (CGA) is Tildes' retro video game club.

    Each month we will play a different retro game/games, discuss our thoughts, and bask in the glorious digital experiences of yesteryear!

    Colossal Game Adventure is a reference to Colossal Cave Adventure. It's one of the most influential games of all time, one of the first text-based interactive games, and one of the first games to be shared online.

    What do we want to do with this group? Play influential games; interact with each other through text; and share the love for retro games online!

    It also abbreviates to CGA (because we love chunky pixel art), and its name communicates the Colossal amount of fun and excitement that we have with retro video Games in our shared Adventure of playing them together.

    Do I have to sign up?

    No. Participation is open to all.

    There is a Notification List that will get pinged each time a new topic goes up. If you would like to join that list, please PM u/kfwyre.

    Are there restrictions on what/how to play?

    Each month will have a focus game or games that will guide our discussions. Beyond that, there are no restrictions. The philosophy of CGA is to play in a way that works for you!

    This means:

    • Choose whichever version of the game you want.

    • You can use cheats, save states, mods, etc.

    • You can watch a streamer or longplay instead of playing it.

    If you have already played a game and want a different experience:

    • Try a randomizer or challenge run.

    • Play a different version of it.

    • Play a related game (sequel, spiritual successor, something inspired by it, etc.)

    There is no wrong way to participate in CGA, and every different way someone participates will make for more interesting discussions.

    What is the schedule?

    Each month the Insert Cartidge topic will be posted on the 1st, while the Remove Cartridge topic will be posted on the 28th.

    Nomination and voting topics will happen in March and September (every 6 months).

    Schedules are also posted then.

    All CGA topics are available using the colossal game adventure tag.

    What do Insert and Remove Cartridge mean?

    Inserting and removing cartridges are our retro metaphor for starting and stopping a given game or games.

    The Insert Cartridge topic happens at the beginning of the month and is primarily about getting the game up and running.

    The Remove Cartridge topic happens toward the end of the month and is primarily about people reflecting on the game now that they've played it.

    There are no hard restrictions on what has to go in either topic, and each can be used to discuss the game, post updates, ask questions, etc.

    12 votes

  20. Comment on Fan-translation projects - thirty-three years of history in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    Our last two CGA games have in fact relied on fan translations! We played the RPG racing game Racing Lagoon in February, and this month's Game Boy title Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for...

    Our last two CGA games have in fact relied on fan translations! We played the RPG racing game Racing Lagoon in February, and this month's Game Boy title Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) also needed a fan translation, as it has never been officially released outside of Japan.

    Which reminds me, if there are any Japanese speakers here, some of us have been scratching our heads about the game's closing lines and would appreciate any help understanding the text!

    It's incredible to see the love and passion of people translating these games.

    3 votes