Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1077x1387, 816 KB) This image is cover art for a computer or video game, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the games publisher or developer. ...
A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ...
The Logic Factory is a video game development company responsible for Ascendancy (1995), a turn-based science-fiction strategy game for the PC, The Tone Rebellion (1993), and a few other projects. ...
Video game publishers are companies that publish video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer. ...
Virgin Interactive was a successful and influential British video game publisher. ...
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The Battle for Wesnoth turn-based strategy, released under the GPL. A turn-based game, also known as turn-based strategy, is a game where the game flow is partitioned in well-defined and visible parts, called turns or rounds. ...
4X refers to the genre of strategy games which deal with building an empire, with four primary goals: To explore, to expand, to exploit and to exterminate. ...
In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ...
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Background
Ascendancy is a 4X science fiction turn-based strategy computer game for DOS. It was released in 1995 by The Logic Factory. 4X refers to the genre of strategy games which deal with building an empire, with four primary goals: To explore, to expand, to exploit and to exterminate. ...
Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...
It has been suggested that Turn-based tactics be merged into this article or section. ...
A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ...
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1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Logic Factory is a video game development company responsible for Ascendancy (1995), a turn-based science-fiction strategy game for the PC, The Tone Rebellion (1993), and a few other projects. ...
The game has you decide who to play as from a variety of alien species, all with unique evolutionary traits and personalities, in a galactic struggle to try and become the dominant life force, so that you might ascend, or evolve into a higher plane of existence. It is your job to further the industrial, technological, and social growth of your chosen civilization through such acts as exploration and colonization of other planets and solar systems, construction both on the surface of planets and in orbit, and research.
The primary concern of technology in the game is spaceship-related, although it also concerns new methods of planetary defense and development. As such, the design of spaceships for your civilization to travel the galaxy in is fairly complex, by 1995 standards. One must create engines, generators, weapon systems, a sufficient hull, an orbital shipyard (ships in the game cannot break through the atmosphere; they instead launch colonization or invasion pods at planets), and a special starlane drive, in order to travel between solar systems.
The starlane drive is the technological breakthrough in the game that allows for travel between solar systems. It stablizes the wormholes, known as starlanes, that link solar systems together, and allows for travel through them.
Play style is similar to the Master of Orion series. The primary display of the game bears a similarity to a three-dimensional map. The display can be "zoomed out" to show a rotateable model of the galaxy, detailing each solar system by their star, the starlanes inbetween each solar system, and what, if any, civilizations inhabit each solar system. At its most "zoomed in", it will show the surface of a planet, which is a globe of varying size and topographical makeup. The topography is expressed as various colored squares. White squares are general purpose, green squares are best used for food production, red squares are best used for factories, blue squares are best used for research facilities, and black squares are uninhabitable. Another occurrence, one that is usually found on uninhabitable planets, are the ruins of ancient civilizations. These can be excavated, and when they are, they will grant you the knowledge of one immediately available technological advancement at random. Master of Orion (MOO or MoO) is an interstellar turn-based computer strategy game that was released in 1993. ...
2-dimensional renderings (ie. ...
The game has won a handful of awards, including Best Strategy Software in November 1995 by PC Gamer magazine, and the Codie Award for Best Strategy Software in 1996. PC Gamer US April 2005 cover PC Gamer is a computer games magazine founded in 1993. ...
The CODiE awards is a yearly award issued by the Software and Information Industry Association for excellence in software development. ...
Gameplay
AI (Artificial inteligence) release problems Ascendancy, by its very nature, was not capable of multiplayer games and so the focus was on single player against AI opponents. When the game was released, it had such poor AI that the game was almost no challenge to the player. An AI patch was later released online (See external links), however since this game was released in 1995 when not many people had access to the internet most players never applied this patch. With the patch the game was much more playable and challenging. It never received the popularity and praise it should have because of that. Hondas intelligent humanoid robot AI redirects here. ...
A Patch can refer to several different things: A piece of fabric. ...
Power consumption release problem There is also a problem with power consumption of enemy ships. They appear to work off of the same power use across the current star system. So instead of each ship using power according to their actual expendature, all ships of the enemy are drained at the same time any ship from that species expends power. This seriously tilts the advantage over to the player. This might have been fixed by the bug patch at Logic Factory's web site linked below. However due to the way they released their patches - if you run the antag patch - then you aren't really sure if the antag patch incorporates what was released in the bug fix patch. However, the Antag patch seems to load with the same version number as if you load with the bug patch - so hard to tell. Kudos for the original publisher still hosting the patches 10 years after release however.
Unique features Ascendancy featured an early 3D galactic map which allowed starships to travel in a more realistic galaxy than in games such as Master of Orion 1 & 2 (a very similar 3D map was adopted for Master of Orion 3). The system map of Ascendancy where all combat and ship movement was done was also presented in a three dimensional manner. The game also averaged much fewer ships than the games of Master of Orion and other popular series, rarely having more than 30 ships allocated to any specific race. Master of Orion (MOO or MoO) is an interstellar turn-based computer strategy game that was released in 1993. ...
The graphical user interface was very innovative, and introduced a predecessor to mouse gestures; moving the mouse pointer into screen corners enabled an exit menu. This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ...
A spiral mouse gesture in the computer game Black and White. ...
The 1999 game Homeworld was widely praised for its innovative three-dimensional control system, which happens to be almost identical to the one used in Ascendancy. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...
This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...
Ascendancy is remarkably playable 10 years after production. Few games maintain playability after a few years have passed but this is a remarkable exception.
Species There are 21 species battling for supremacy of the galaxy in Ascendancy, each possessing a unique ability. Most are active (such as the Arbryls) and can only be used at set intervals, while others are passive (such as the Minions) and continually influence gameplay. The Arbryls are tree-people who evolved on a huge eden planet containing only plant life. They are peaceful, slow-moving, and highly intelligent. They are not used to conflict and their philosophy is towards isolationist. They can usually be found standing perfectly motionless for huge amounts of time, thinking their tree thoughts, pondering the world.
The Arbryls can disrupt the flow of space. They can block all star lanes entering their colonized systems. The Balifids evolved on a hospitable but competitive world where they developed the ability to disarm and win over their competitors. Other creatures instinctively feel protective of Balifids. The Balifids have a huge capicity for fun--they take nothing very serious and are friendly and curious. Despite their naive and harmless image, the Balifids are deeply intelligent and highly perceptive. They survived as a species because of their keen awareness of the outlook and motivations of other creatures.
Balifids are disarming diplomats. They can force all aliens to make peace with them. The Capelons are masses of flowing fibers who can rearrange their bodies quickly to assume any shape. They evolved on a highly predatory world where their camouflage and shape-shifting were useful for catching their scarce, elusive prey before competing predators could. They eventually developed the power to repel competing predators as an extension to their camouflage ability, making themselves so unnoticeable that the threatening being forgets what it was thinking about, allowing the Capelon to make an escape.
They can make all their colonies invincible for one day. The Chamachies are able to discover major breakthroughs quickly when under duress - stress heightens their scientific abilities and amplifies their determination, much like adrenalin heightens physical abilities. In the past a huge, highly advanced alien vessel passed through their system. The aliens discovered that the star lane engry points in that system had drifted into an unstable configuration, and that the forces released from the cataclysm would destroy everything in the star system. This sent the Chamachie society into a frenzy of scientific and technological advancement.
The Chamachies are brilliant scientists. They can immediately achieve any discovery they are pursuing. The Chronomyst are a deeply religious and philosophical race who spend much of their time in trance-like meditations exploring inner space. When one with their god, they can float through time and space at a different rate than that experienced by those not ascended. They have discovered a way to use this to access star lanes and accelerate through them.
The Chronomyst can change the rate of time passage. They can move quickly through star lanes. The Dubtaks are a race whose entire scientific knowledge was primarily stolen from other races. They are opportunistic and seek alliances through which they can attain more knowledge without actually having to research anything themselves.
The Dubtaks can copy scientific research from other races. Instant healers Teleporters Planet nurturers Telepathic diplomats Clairvoyants Hostility diverters Rapid reproducers Supreme planet invaders Expert builders Super astronomers Black square dwellers The Shevar are a warlike race who desire nothing less then the destruction of all other life in the galaxy. Seen as the antithesis of peaceful races such as the Mebes, contact with this race almost always leads to war.
The Shevar can drain and destroy life. The can sap the energy from enemy ships. Builders of indestructible ships Energy doublers Travel disruptors
Cheats Cheat Mode The cheat mode can be activated if is present a file named NOUGAT.LF in the game path. Planet Screen - I - completes current project
- O - max planet population
- R - bring alien colony under your control
- SHIFT + M - adds 1 to maximum population
- T - create colony on uninhabited planet
Research Screen - E - finish current project
- D - gain all researches
- F - forget all researches
Galaxy Map - 1-7 - cycle through playing empires
- 8 - starlanes and planets are revealed
- ALT + E - steal technology
- C - shows status of the galaxy
- L - shows all starlanes
- S - all stars are revealed
Gallery Image File history File links Ascendancy_city_view. ...
Image File history File links Ascendancy_galactic_species_view. ...
Image File history File links Ascendancy_diplomacy_view. ...
Image File history File links Ascendancy_3dmap_view. ...
External links - Official homepage
- Ascendancy at MobyGames
- Home of the Underdogs: Ascendancy - Abandonware site. Here you can download the full game as well as the manual.
- Ascendancy at Abandonia - also an Abandonware site. Offers a review, the manual, box scans and downloads (including AI patch).
- Antagonizer AI Module - a free add-on module, The Antagonizer, for experienced Ascendancy players who want a greater level of hostility and difficulty.
- Trascendancy Project - a tiny fansite which offers an updated MODguide, useful links & other related resources
- Ascendancy Messaage Board - a closed down message board run by a couple fans.
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