Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Fritz Bronner, Michael McCarty |
| Publisher(s) | Interplay |
| Release date(s) | 1992, 1993 |
| Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS |
Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space (BARIS) is a space simulation and strategy game for the PC, designed by Fritz Bronner and published by Interplay in 1992. The game is a computer adaptation of an earlier board game called "Liftoff!", also designed by Bronner. The player takes on the role of head of the space program for either the USA (NASA) or the USSR, dictating every aspect of the race to land on the moon, such as training and screening astronauts, designing hardware, and plotting routes and missions.
Some of the statistics (cost, weight, etc.) for space hardware have been adjusted to improve game balance, and many aspects of the game are generous simplifications. Still, BARIS includes most of the approaches to the Moon that were seriously considered (Apollo/Soyuz, Gemini, Direct Ascent [though the direct ascent capsules are different from the historical proposals]), plus a few others (Voskhod, and reusable minishuttles). So even simplified, the game offers a variety of ways to get there, each with its own advantages and drawbacks, and offers surprising replayability. You actually watch your missions run, and the game features movies showing the missions, from liftoff to splashdown.
The game was often criticized for being too difficult, with many more failures and much higher casualties than were actually experienced in the Space Race. This was partly due to a couple of issues that were fixed in the final patch for the original (floppy) version, and partly because the reasons behind some of the game rules are difficult to fathom at first. For instance, a piece of hardware (a capsule, say) can be researched up to a particular level of reliability. Its reliability will climb 1% per use thereafter (either as a dummy or manned mission), up to a total Max Safety. If a catastrophic failure occurs, the hardware's reliability drops to, say 50%, and you can't research back to where you left off--you can only research back to your Max R&D. Many complain about that last bit, yet without it the game balance would be thrown off tremendously--there would be little disadvantage to flying Gemini/Voskhod, and those would become the unquestioned #1 choice to go to the Moon.
Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space was re-released on CD-ROM in 1993; this version included 500 megabytes of mission movies, including archival footage from the space program. It also made the game a bit less difficult, especially for the American player. Lastly, it added two new multiplayer modes: Modem and Play-by-Email. (Note: The game doesn't seem able to actually use the modem in Windows, even when running in DOSBox.)
[edit] Future of the game
There has been talk of a sequel or spinoffs from the game. An official project has been started on SourceForge [1] to port the game to Win32, Linux, and Mac. There are several attempts in progress to write spinoffs to the game, including one named "Blast Off!" in tribute to the board game "Liftoff!". Check the BarisWiki [2] link below for more information and the latest updates.
[edit] External links
- Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space at MobyGames
- Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space at Home of the Underdogs.
- Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space at Abandonia.
- Raceintospace - Work currently being done on porting the game to Windows, Linux, and Mac.
- The Docking Module - A fan site hosting many BARIS resources.
- BARISWiki - Troubleshooting, enhancement requests, and other BARIS info
