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  • Getting back, or into, Empire as a blind player

    From kline.zachary@gmail.com@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jan 29 22:05:51 2018
    Hey all,

    This group seems to be more or less dead, aside from the game announcements, but I figured I'd at least say Hi and see if anyone's around.

    I have known of Empire off and on for years, as it's one of the few 4X-style games I can play as a totally blind player. The basic CLI client is mostly accessible, and with the proper screen reader I'm able to parse most game information.

    I had some fun on one of the Blitzes a few years back, though don't remember which one. I'm interested in getting back into the game in general but wonder if I'll have much competition to speak of.

    I was honestly a newbie when I played last, and I hope my somewhat increased patience nowadays will translate into somewhat better success.

    Ultimately I hope I can help out the Empire community in some way, if only because it's a shame to see this game with so few players. It's definitely unique, and I very much appreciate the accessibility, so to speak. :)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Markus Armbruster@21:1/5 to kline.zachary@gmail.com on Mon Feb 5 06:58:43 2018
    kline.zachary@gmail.com writes:

    Hey all,

    This group seems to be more or less dead, aside from the game
    announcements, but I figured I'd at least say Hi and see if anyone's
    around.

    Hi!

    I have known of Empire off and on for years, as it's one of the few
    4X-style games I can play as a totally blind player. The basic CLI
    client is mostly accessible, and with the proper screen reader I'm
    able to parse most game information.

    That's pretty amazing.

    I had some fun on one of the Blitzes a few years back, though don't
    remember which one. I'm interested in getting back into the game in
    general but wonder if I'll have much competition to speak of.

    I was honestly a newbie when I played last, and I hope my somewhat
    increased patience nowadays will translate into somewhat better
    success.

    Ultimately I hope I can help out the Empire community in some way, if
    only because it's a shame to see this game with so few players. It's definitely unique, and I very much appreciate the accessibility, so to
    speak. :)

    We haven't had a proper thematic game in a long time. Serious problem.
    You could try Wolfpack Fever[*], which gets a few players pretty much
    every time.

    We should discuss what could be done to keep Empire alive, but right now
    I got to run. Later!


    [*] http://www.wolfpackempire.com/fever.html

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From drake.diedrich@gmail.com@21:1/5 to All on Thu Mar 1 18:38:48 2018
    Hi Zachary,
    I think we wrote a few times back then, probably for Riverworld Blitz. Obviously I don't check in often either. Someone poked me yesterday about empire.

    It's been years since I actually played, and yet, I'd still like to finish making a functional robot player and related tools. Tuned right, they might be suitable to at least practice game mechanics against. The independent tools might be useful with
    screen readers. I think with the modern lack of players, any mid-sized game will need robot players to fill the map and replace the inevitable dropouts.

    -harmless

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Arrakis@21:1/5 to All on Fri Mar 2 16:59:13 2018
    Bloody hell!

    I can't even figure out how to run this g*damned Google piece-of-****ing
    sh*t newsgroup software. Is this even WORKING? Does anybody CARE?

    Those are separate questions, BTW. Ignore the second. Nobody cares if you care.

    Anyway, I can't even remember how to post, and this guy's gonna play BLIND?!

    (Hey, wait a minute...this could work out okay....)

    Yes. We could ALL play blind. YES.

    - Arrakis (...and I wouldn't cheat. I would not. No I wouldn't. Shut up.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Arrakis@21:1/5 to Zachary Kline on Fri Mar 2 16:50:38 2018
    On Monday, January 29, 2018 at 9:05:52 PM UTC-9, Zachary Kline wrote:
    Hey all,

    This group seems to be more or less dead, aside from the game announcements, but I figured I'd at least say Hi and see if anyone's around.

    I have known of Empire off and on for years, as it's one of the few 4X-style games I can play as a totally blind player. The basic CLI client is mostly accessible, and with the proper screen reader I'm able to parse most game information.

    I had some fun on one of the Blitzes a few years back, though don't remember which one. I'm interested in getting back into the game in general but wonder if I'll have much competition to speak of.

    I was honestly a newbie when I played last, and I hope my somewhat increased patience nowadays will translate into somewhat better success.

    Ultimately I hope I can help out the Empire community in some way, if only because it's a shame to see this game with so few players. It's definitely unique, and I very much appreciate the accessibility, so to speak. :)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Andy Valencia@21:1/5 to Arrakis on Fri Mar 2 20:04:40 2018
    Arrakis <mbothum@mail.com> writes:
    I can't even figure out how to run this g*damned Google piece-of-****ing
    sh*t newsgroup software. Is this even WORKING? Does anybody CARE?

    Find news reader (NNTP) software for your machine.

    Google "Eternal September".

    Think hard, config your software, hopefully you will reach
    a higher level of happiness.

    73's,
    Andy

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From duelge@yahoo.com@21:1/5 to Arrakis on Mon Mar 5 14:24:38 2018
    On Friday, March 2, 2018 at 6:59:14 PM UTC-6, Arrakis wrote:
    Bloody hell!

    I can't even figure out how to run this g*damned Google piece-of-****ing
    sh*t newsgroup software. Is this even WORKING? Does anybody CARE?

    Those are separate questions, BTW. Ignore the second. Nobody cares if you care.

    Anyway, I can't even remember how to post, and this guy's gonna play BLIND?!

    (Hey, wait a minute...this could work out okay....)

    Yes. We could ALL play blind. YES.

    - Arrakis (...and I wouldn't cheat. I would not. No I wouldn't. Shut up.)

    Ah, empire. "back in the day". I'm almost like to try playing again, just for old time's sake. Of course, i'd have to find an old copy of empclient, hope that I still had some "muscle memory" about how to play (such as scavenging those single civs and
    food in the first few turns, doing the math to optimize quick tech and cargo ship production, etc.) Yikes ... what the hell am i thinking? how was that even fun.

    Oh, yeah, it was fun because of the people that posted. Like Mirkwood, Suboceana, Metallica, etc. Even that dimwit Arrakis could get a laugh occasionally.

    Sad what happened to Subby. I remember thinking we (the empire community) ought to get together and fund some kind of scholarship in his name. Wouldn't that be something, a scholarship named after an obscure internet game, based on the entertainment
    qualities of Douglas Pitters alter ego?

    Ah, but I reminisce. Oh, and i'm not 20 anymore.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bukauski@comcast.net@21:1/5 to All on Fri Mar 9 19:10:07 2018
    Not to mention finding or recreating all of the old tools used to optimize economic performance. Looking back, I think my various conquests were merely a stepping stone to the game I really enjoyed, one of finessing vast, oddly shaped and absurdly
    connected territories.

    The people, the posts, all were stuff of legend. Cerebral, eloquent, biting and hilarious... oh the flame wars, trolling others before it was even a thing and staying up late either anticipating the need to defend against an imminent attack, or launch
    one because you're tired of seeing those ?'s on your map and wondering which one is a bank, warehouse or airfield.

    -Ken / Redline

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)