Re: CRAP Poll # (Infinity - 6): Bring It Back!

On Wed, 18 Jun 2025 15:37:43 -0000 (UTC), rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
(Ross Ridge) wrote:

Anssi Saari  <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

Something a little more obscure: Microprose's Lightspeed. The idea was
simple, prep an area of space for refugees from earth, make alliances
and murder off whoever you don't like. But in practice the game was
pretty simple and silly. But done right it might be something a little
more approachable than a full 4X game.

I'm not sure what you liked about Lightspeed but you can find a
fair bit of that game in X: Beyond the Frontier and it's sequels.
Make friends/enemies while expanding your (business) empire.  The X
series doesn't have the "silliness" of Lightspeed/Hyperspeed, but I
think that's a good thing as it was rather juvenile at times.

I don't have quite the fondness for the franchise as Anssi Saari did,
(and it's been quite a while since I played either game) but I think
some of the appeal of the games was its meta-plot; from what I recall,
you were sent into a sector of space to prepare it for future human
colonization. A good deal of your activities were about preparing the
region for that goal; as Anssi wrote: "make alliances and murder
anyone you don't like". This also had a benefit of giving the game
some closure that titles like Elite, Privateer and the X-games lacked.