bicker@cbnewsi.att.com (The Resource, Poet-Magician of Quality) (06/22/91)
Archive-name: games/ce/cosmic-encounter-archive/1991-06-18
Archive-directory: albert.gnu.ai.mit.edu:/ce/ [128.52.46.31]
Original-posting-by: bicker@cbnewsi.att.com (The Resource, Poet-Magician of Quality)
Original-subject: "MONTHLY" Posting
Reposted-by: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN)
This will eventually become a monthly posting, but as we're getting new
readers all the time, I'll post it once a week or so for a little while.
CE NEWSGROUP/MAILING LIST/ARCHIVES SOMEWHAT MONTHLY POSTING
(last updated: Thu Jun 13 11:38:33 EDT 1991)
The CE Newsgroup, rec.games.board.ce, is intended for the discussion of
Cosmic Encounter, a board game first developed by Eon Games, then
briefly distributed by West End Games, and now is being re-developed
and released by Mayfair Games. The newsgroup includes discussions of
rules questions, new powers and game variations, and game materials.
The newsgroup is linked to a mailing list, which has been operating for
about 2 years, so that people who cannot gain access to the newsgroup
can still participate. An archive of important information and
materials related to the game is also maintained.
Cosmic Encounter
================
The Game itself is rather simple: Each player has a "home system" with
5 planets in it, and 20 tokens, which start the game evenly distributed
across the 5 home planets. The object of the game is to establish
bases on 5 foreign planets. A base is any number of tokens on a single
planet. Opposing players may both have a base on the same planet.
Cards are dealt and the order of play is established. Then the first
player is directed by a colorcard to the system in which s/he must make
her/his first attack. S/he designates which of the home bases there
s/he'll attack and deploys 1-4 free tokens to a cone representing the
attack field. Each side in the challenge can ask other players to ally
with 1-4 free tokens.
Then each main player plays a challenge card faced down (challenge
cards include attack cards numbered from 1 to 40 and compromise cards.)
After cards are revealed the card number is added to the number of main
player's and allies' tokens on that side of the challenge...higher total
wins. If a compromise card is played it indicates that that side
loses, but the player who played a compromise card takes consolation
cards from her/his opponent's hand. If both players play a compromise,
the have 1 minute to make a deal.
Winning tokens on the offense get to establish a base on the planet
attacked. Winning allied tokens on the defense gain their owner
rewards, either new cards or free tokens. Winning main player tokens
on the defense get nothing. All losing tokens go to the "warp" where
they're not free for use.
Each player is entitled to a second challenge if their first challenge
is successful. Then play continues around the board.
However that's not it...each player has an alien power which lets
her/him break a rule in a particular way to her/his benefit. There are
cards in players' hands that grant temporary or instantaneous powers,
such as freeing tokens from the warp, re-establishing home bases, etc.
There are cards that act to multiply an attack card played. And many
more game extensions that give CE it's character and it's
unpredictability...that's what makes the game so exciting!
Furthermore, there are many game extensions that add additional twists
to the game (moons, lucre, alternate hexes, praw, flares, ...) Many
additional powers and new game extensions have been invented by CE
players, some of which are available through this archive (see below).
Mailing List
============
The newsgroup is linked to a mailing list, so those without access to
rec.games.board.ce can participate in discussions as well as those who
do. To subscribe to the mailing list, email your request to:
cosmic-encounter-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu or
ce-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu
To post a message to the mailing list, email your submission to:
cosmic-encounter@gnu.ai.mit.edu or
ce@gnu.ai.mit.edu
or email it to bicker@hoqaa.att.com with the following magic words somewhere
in your message:
Submission: CE
Note that the capital S in Submission must apprear in column one, not
on the subject line. Also, make sure you keep the spacing correct.
Messages posted to the mailing list are posted to the newsgroup, then
all messages posted to the newsgroup are sent to them members of the
mailing list.
Archives
========
The CE Archives can be accessed through anonymous FTP on
pogo.gnu.ai.mit.edu. To get a file from the archive enter the command:
ftp pogo.gnu.ai.mit.edu or
ftp 128.52.46.30
At the login name prompt enter "anonymous". Then at the password prompt
enter your email address.
Then, at the ftp> prompt enter:
cd ~ftp/ce
Then use ftp commands to list (ls), download (get) and upload (put)
files. A guide to using ftp is available elsewhere.
To access the CE Archives via email, send email to ce-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu
with the magic words somewhere corresponding to the file you want
somewhere in your message in your message. Make sure that you
reproduce them exactly as is, with the capital R in Request in column
one, and make sure your spacing is exactly as shown. One request per
email message. (The email address for requests will soon change to
ce-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu. Makes sense huh? :> )
Archive Contents
================
filenames
magic words description
----------------------------- ------------------------------------------
MANIFEST
Request: CE MANIFEST will get you this file
NonEonAl.ps.sh
Request: CE NonEonAl.ps.sh will get you the PostScript version of
the Non-Eon Alien Power Cards that Darin
put together for us
NonEonFlares
Request: CE NonEonFlares will get you the text of the flares for the
powers in NonEonAl.ps.sh
WashU.1.raw
WashU.2.raw
WashU.3.raw
Request: CE WashU.1.raw
Request: CE WashU.2.raw
Request: CE WashU.3.raw will get you a cleartext description of many
Non-Eon alien powers, complete with histories,
flares, and comments.
CE-convert.sh
Request: CE CE-convert.sh will get you the shell archive
containing the program that reads
Cosmic Encounter powers and flares in a
"raw text" format and produces alien
power cards and flare cards in
PostScript format
PS-headers.sh
Request: CE PS-headers.sh will get you PostScript files which
print materials for Cosmic Encounter
(card backs, cards, cones, hexes,
lucre, moons, power cards)
PS-examples.sh
Request: CE PS-examples.sh will get you a set of prototype PostScript
files demonstrating the use of the templates
found in PS-headers.sh
Hazards
Request: CE Hazards will get you a summary of Matt's add-on
hazard cards
asteroids.sh
Request: CE asteroids.sh will get you the rules and PostScript
files to create the game extension
"asteroids" created by Andrew Plotkin
Prisoners.sh
Request: CE Prisoners.sh will get you the rules for playing CE
with Prisoners, Prisoner-related powers,
and a PostScript file to print prisoner
rulings
RulesClar
Request: CE RulesClar will get you a summary of rules clarifications
Digest1
Request: CE Digest1 will get you a digest of the neatest stuff
to come from the mailing list over its first
19 months, except the other stuff in the
archives
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any additions/corrections to this file, please email them to
ce-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu.
--
Brian Charles Kohn AT&T Bell Laboratories Quality Process Center
Quality Management System E-MAIL: att!hoqax!bicker (bicker@hoqax.ATT.COM)
Consultant PHONE: (908) 949-5850 FAX: (908) 949-7724
-- MSEN Archive Service file verification
albert.gnu.ai.mit.edu
total 1886
drwxrwx--- 2 31032 user 512 Jun 13 15:03 asteroids
-rw-rw---- 1 31032 user 45623 Jun 13 15:00 Prisoners.sh
-rw-rw---- 1 31032 user 44921 Jun 13 14:59 PS-examples.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 ftp user 137216 Jun 7 08:51 irc.balance
-rw-rw-rw- 1 31032 12 6476 Jun 5 23:41 MANIFEST
drwxrwxrwx 2 ftp user 512 Jun 5 22:27 PS-examples
drwxrwxrwx 2 ftp user 512 Jun 5 20:49 Prisoners
-rw-r--r-- 1 9272 user 159565 May 22 00:09 ftp.list
-rw-r--r-- 1 31032 user 8351 May 21 19:40 asteroids.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 31032 user 116649 May 21 19:40 PS-headers.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 31032 user 23295 May 21 19:40 CE-convert.sh
-rw-rw-rw- 1 31032 12 41181 May 21 14:21 NonEonFlares
drwxrwxrwx 2 31032 user 512 May 21 14:18 PS-headers
drwxrwxrwx 2 31032 user 512 May 21 14:17 CE-convert
-rw-rw-rw- 1 31032 12 163459 May 8 17:33 NonEonAl.ps.sh
-rw-rw-rw- 1 31032 12 30431 May 1 16:23 WashU.3.raw
-rw-rw-rw- 1 31032 12 32281 May 1 16:23 WashU.2.raw
-rw-rw-rw- 1 31032 12 32768 May 1 16:22 WashU.1.raw
-rw-rw-rw- 1 31032 12 28274 May 1 14:03 RulesClar
-rw-rw-rw- 1 31032 12 12070 May 1 14:03 Digest1
-rw-rw-rw- 1 31032 12 27285 May 1 14:03 Hazards
found cosmic-encounter-archive ok
albert.gnu.ai.mit.edu:/ce/