 Screenshot (from SSCX Star Warzone). SubSpace is a two-dimensional space shooter computer game. This freeware game incorporates quasi-realistic zero-friction physics into a massively multiplayer online game. The action is viewed from above, which presents challenges very different from those of a three-dimensional game. The game has no built-in story or set of goals; players may enter a variety of servers, each of which have differing objectives, skins, sounds, and graphics. Image File history File links This is a screenshot from the SubSpace computer game. ...
Image File history File links This is a screenshot from the SubSpace computer game. ...
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. ...
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. ...
Freeware (also called gratis software or free as in beer software) is computer software which is made available free of charge and is not free to be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed. ...
Since antiquity, people have tried to understand the behavior of matter: why unsupported objects drop to the ground, why different materials have different properties, and so forth. ...
A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) is a type of computer game that enables hundreds or thousands of players to simultaneously interact in a game world they are connected to via the Internet. ...
The rewrite of this article is being devised at Talk:3D computer graphics/Temp. ...
In computing, a server is: A computer software application that carries out some task (i. ...
In computing, skins and themes are custom graphical appearances (GUIs) that can be applied to certain software and websites in order to suit the different tastes of different users. ...
This article is about compression waves. ...
The term graphics is the use of visual elements to inform and illustrate particular information in pictorial form of photographs, drawings, line art, graphs, diagrams, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings, or other non-text images. ...
Client confusion
SubSpace utilizes a client-server architecture. Initially, the game existed as a server and client both provided by the creators, but these applications are used less and less for the game. The original SubSpace client has been almost completely supplanted by the Continuum client. The original server software (though heavily modified) is still the most used. Client/Server is a network application architecture which separates the client (usually the graphical user interface) from the server. ...
Continuum is the primary game client for the SubSpace computer game. ...
Game dynamics
Gameplay SubSpace is divided into different "zones", or servers, to which the player can connect. A zone usually has a main "arena", in which a certain game is played. Many, such as SSCX Star Warzone and SSCX Extreme Games, are warzone flagging zones, in which one team (called a "frequency") must capture and hold all the flags, which resemble small spheres, in the zone for a predetermined amount of time to win. Others such as SSCU DeathStarBattle are a flagging game, but with the battle taking place in the famed Death Star, which must be defended in order that the flags are not taken by the other team. A variation of this (played in the most populated zone, SSCU Trench Wars) is turf flagging, in which the flags are stationary. Other zones involve a powerball like SSCX Powerball, which resembles soccer; a team must attempt to get one or more powerballs, which appear in the default graphics set as small orange balls, into an enemy goal. Some zones are free-for-all (or "melee") zones, such as SSCX Alpha West SVS and SSCX Chaos Zone SVS. In these type of zones, the only objective is to kill enemy players. An arena is a circular or oval shaped public space (akin to a classical amphitheatre), designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. ...
A team comprises any group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. ...
A flag is a piece of coloured cloth flown from a pole or mast, usually for purposes of signalling or identification. ...
A sphere is a perfectly symmetrical geometrical object. ...
In typical game play, players attempt to move towards a goal through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling (running with the ball close to their feet); by passing the ball from team-mate to team-mate; and by taking shots at the goal. ...
Look up ball in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
In Association Football (soccer), the term goal refers to both the result of a score and the physical structure that defines when a score has occurred. ...
Zones are organized into arenas, with certain arenas designated as public arenas being the main areas of gameplay. However, sub-arenas exist in most zones. Many sub-arenas are used for hosting events where different maps and settings than those present in the main arena(s) are needed. There are frequently arenas for players to fight and practice without interference from other players. Many squads have their own private arenas as well. A squad is a small military unit subordinate to an infantry platoon. ...
Weapons
 This screenshot from SSCX Omega Fire shows the game's various items and weapons. A player can fire a number of different weapons at enemy players. The basic weapons, bullets, bombs and mines, require energy to use. This energy is also used to power a ship's shields; if a player's energy drops below zero, he dies (and is usually immediately respawned). In most zones, a player's energy constantly recharges. This forces a player to carefully evaluate his or her ability to attack based upon how much damage the player's ship can absorb. The maximum energy levels of ships and other settings, such as maximum ship thrust and speed, can be upgraded with "prizes" or "greens", which are small green boxes that can upgrade (or downgrade) a ship that runs over them. Greens can also give the player special items such as "Thor's hammer" (essentially a bomb that flies through walls), "repel" (pushes nearby enemies, enemy mines & fire, etc. away from the player), "rocket" (gives the player greater speed for a short time period) and others. Again, the available weapons vary greatly by zone. Image File history File links This is a SubSpace screenshot showing the items that can be obtained in-game. ...
Image File history File links This is a SubSpace screenshot showing the items that can be obtained in-game. ...
The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ...
0. ...
Massive ordinance air-burst bomb. ...
U.S. Army soldier removes fuse from a Russian-made mine to clear a minefield outside of Fallujah, Iraq. ...
Statue showing a Gallic shield with a butterfly boss. ...
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newtons Second and Third Law. ...
Speed (symbol: v) is the rate of motion, or equivalently the rate of change of position, expressed as distance d moved per unit of time t. ...
Thor carries his hammer and wears his belt of strength in this illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ...
Massive ordinance air-burst bomb. ...
Competitive play Many SubSpace players are organized into squads. These squads serve the same purpose as clans or teams do in other online games and allow players to cooperate and improve their skills, as well as to become more familiar with fellow players. In addition, many squads compete in competitive leagues hosted by various zones. These leagues are typically run like professional sport leagues, with a preseason, regular season, and playoffs for the highest-ranked squads. Dueling is another favorite pastime of many SubSpace players, and many zones have separate arenas for this purpose alone. A squad is a small military unit subordinate to an infantry platoon. ...
This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
In an organized sport league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. ...
woot wootA playoff in sports (North American professional sports in particular) is a game or series of games played after the regular season is over with the goal of determining a league champion. ...
[[Media:Example. ...
History SubSpace evolved from Sniper, a project to test the effects and severity of lag in a massively multiplayer environment over dialup connections. After its creators realized its viability as an actual game, public beta testing began in 1996 and it was released commercially in fall 1997 with a list price of US$30 for unlimited play. It required no monthly or hourly fees. The game was developed by the United States branch of now-defunct Virgin Interactive (abbreviated VIE, for Virgin Interactive Entertainment). Lag often refers to delays experienced in computing communications, however it may also apply to written or other forms of communication. ...
In telecommunication, the term dial-up has the following meanings: Dial-up access, typically to the Internet A service feature in which a user initiates service on a previously arranged trunk or transfers, without human intervention, from an active trunk to a standby trunk. ...
Software testing is a process used to identify the correctness, completeness and quality of developed computer software. ...
1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...
1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The United States dollar, or American dollar, is the official currency of the United States. ...
Virgin Interactive was a successful and influential British video game publisher. ...
While in the beginning the game only offered four playable ships, a couple of servers, and limited numbers of maps, during a costly and extensive testing period the game developed depth and replay ability unrivaled by many games before and since. When the game was eventually officially released, it was not a commercial success due to poor marketing and the relative newness of the massively multiplayer online genre. In addition, after two years of playing for free, many core players were so addicted that when the beta ended, they refused to pay for a game that they had beta tested for two years and instead developed a software crack (by CLASS) and later SubSpace v1.35 client (by Sage386) to bypass the CD check. The server software had been distributed with the commercial release, so a few independent servers not run by VIE appeared and gathered a small following. Once VIE went under in 1998, many of its remaining US assets were purchased by Electronic Arts, but the SubSpace license was not. This caused all of the commercially hosted servers, including the official VIE servers, to eventually go offline permanently, and independent servers became the only choices. The community lost a lot of players, but continued to survive. Definition: Software cracking is the modification of software to remove encoded copy prevention. ...
Class ASCII art NFO header by a!b. ...
Interference colors. ...
1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) is a leading video game developer and publisher. ...
Within a short amount of time, many cheats - most notably Twister (by Sage386) - appeared, and eventually a new client and associated software was developed primarly by the players PriitK (who also happens to be one of the co-creators of Kazaa and Skype) and Mr Ekted (Frontend), arresting the cheating epidemic. The client, named Continuum, is now the only client allowed to connect to most servers. In addition to the security improvements, Continuum added increased media and gameplay capabilities. Continuum is closed source; the source code will not be released (ostensibly for security reasons, although see also security through obscurity). Cheating is a common aspect in multiplayer, online computer games. ...
Twister is a cheat program for the computer game SubSpace. ...
Kazaa Media Desktop (once capitalized as KaZaA, but usually left as Kazaa) is a controversial peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol. ...
Skype (IPA pronunciation: to rhyme with stripe) is a proprietary peer-to-peer internet telephony (VoIP) network, founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, the creators of KaZaA and competing against established open VoIP protocols like SIP or H.323. ...
In their most general meanings, the terms front end and back end refer to the initial and the end stages of a process flow. ...
The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ...
Source code (commonly just source or code) is any series of statements written in some human-readable computer programming language. ...
In cryptography and computer security, security through obscurity (sometimes security by obscurity) is to some a controversial principle in security engineering, which attempts to use secrecy (of design, implementation, etc. ...
Ships
 The standard ships of SubSpace. Within any given zone, a player can choose between up to eight different ships (l-r in picture): Warbird, Javelin, Spider, Leviathan, Terrier, Weasel, Lancaster, and Shark. Image File history File links This is the default set of ships for the SubSpace computer game. ...
Image File history File links This is the default set of ships for the SubSpace computer game. ...
Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta space probe on March 2, 2004. ...
Many zones restrict the available ships. For instance, in the SSCX Powerball zone, gameplay is comprised of two teams, a Warbird team and a Javelin team. A player can also spectate the game (known as spec mode). Spectators can choose to spectate a specific player, a special item (such as a ball or flag), a fixed point in space, or they can roam the map. They can have the ability to see cloaked ships, change teams, and chat normally; in essence, they are participating in the game without actually playing it.
In the original incarnation of SubSpace, most zones (namely those on the VIE servers) used many of the same settings; each ship had at most one or two unique abilities, but the mechanical differences between them were trivial. With the ability to infinitely customize zones, many zone creators have deviated from this established model. However, a few zones still use these original settings (approximately), and are identified as SVS, or "Standard VIE Settings".
Following is an explanation of each ship and its original role in the game. In the Continuum era, these roles generally apply only to SVS zones, as many of the more popular zones use their own settings.
Warbird The Warbird was often considered to be the bread-and-butter ship of SubSpace. It has an effective combination of speed, agility, energy recharge, and firepower that satisfies newbies and veterans alike. As such, it is generally the ship of choice to drive a turret (series of ships attached to another teammate) because of its maneuverability. Beyond that, however, it possesses no special abilities.
Javelin Like the Warbird, the Javelin does not possess any special abilities. Still, it does differ from the Warbird slightly. The Javelin can attain a faster top speed and has a slightly higher recharge rate. However, it also achieves those at the cost of slower acceleration/deceleration and rotation speeds, thereby making it less maneuverable. Its speed makes it an adequate choice for turreting, although it is rarely used in that role.
Spider Slightly slower and less maneuverable than the Warbird, the Spider's primary purpose is covert operations. It was originally the only ship equipped with a cloaking device, making it invisible to any enemy not using XRadar.
While this proves advantageous in creating an element of surprise, it does not come without its tradeoffs. Enabling the cloak creates an energy drain, causing a slower recharge rate. To be rendered completely undetectable, both visually and on radar, a Spider pilot would also have to enable Stealth as well, further dropping the recharge rate. Plus, the ship cannot stay cloaked while firing its weapons. And, of course, Cloak and Stealth can both be foiled by a nearby ship using XRadar.
Leviathan Perhaps the clumsiest ship in the game, the Leviathan also packs the heaviest punch. It is the only ship capable of firing Level 3 bombs (all other ships can only achieve, at most, Level 2). The Leviathan cannot outrun, and can only sometimes out-maneuver, any other type of ship. It also suffers from a relatively slow recharge rate, which is crucial since L3 bombs require more energy to fire. However, a skilled Leviathan pilot can be deadly. Two well-placed L3 bombs in succession should be sufficient to kill any ship.
Terrier The Terrier is generally comparable to the Warbird in terms of speed and agility. However, it possesses a unique ability: it is the only ship equipped with double barrel guns, allowing it to fire two bullets at a time and four with Multifire (instead of one and three, respectively, with all other ships). Since the bullets are fired in a wider swath, the likelihood of hitting the target is increased. However, energy is essentially used twice as fast as a normal ship, since twice as many bullets are being fired.
Weasel The Weasel is one of the more interesting ships because it possesses two unique abilities. First, it is the only ship capable of firing EMP bombs and mines. Upon sustaining a hit from an EMP bomb, a ship will not only take normal damage, but its recharge rate will also be frozen at zero for a few seconds before returning to normal. EMP bombs and mines look different from normal bombs and mines, although they do not require extra energy to fire. They are also the only bombs which do not dispense shrapnel. The Weasel also has the innate ability to see mines on its radar screen. However, in terms of speed and maneuverability, only the Leviathan is slower. EMP redirects here. ...
Shrapnel is the collective term for fragments and debris thrown out by an exploding shell or landmine. ...
Lancaster Roughly comparable to the Spider's speed and agility, the Lancaster has one particularly strategic ability. Its bombs innately bounce off any surface, such as a wall or asteroid. A bomb will bounce once before turning into a normal bomb. It will explode upon contact with an enemy ship, regardless of whether it has already bounced or not. The bouncing bombs open up plenty of possibilities for firing at something not directly in your line of fire.
Shark The Shark is the newest ship, added to the game during the retail release of SubSpace (previously it had existed as the UFO, a special ship only a sysop could receive - this functionality remains). Essentially, it is a more maneuverable Spider. It has the ability to cloak, although the same energy constraints as the Spider apply.
Zones
 Some examples of sub-arenas in SSCU Trench Wars. Click on the picture for more information. Download high resolution version (993x704, 172 KB)Screenshots of the game Continuum, showing various game modes. ...
Download high resolution version (993x704, 172 KB)Screenshots of the game Continuum, showing various game modes. ...
Customization As mentioned above, a zone is a server to which players can connect using a client. Perhaps the most attractive feature of SubSpace is the extremely high degree of customization that zone sysops can implement. Almost every element of the game can be replaced, from the ship graphics to colors and sounds. Apart from a few basic settings, the game settings, such as ship speeds, energy levels, and such, can also be changed. This allows a vast variety of zones to exist. The Continuum client and server developments such as ASSS (A Small SubSpace Server) have made many new customizations possible.
Zone administration Zones are traditionally administered by a hierarchy of staff members. Typically, a server host pays for and maintains the zone server. In addition, there are several levels of access within zones: A hierarchy (in Greek hieros, sacred, and arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people. ...
- Sysop (System Operator)
This is the highest level of access available. Sysops can modify all zone settings and access lists, as well as control players in the zone. A SysOp is short for system operator, and is a commonly used term for the administrator of a bulletin board system (BBS) or special-interest area of an online service or, historically, the operators of any computer system, especially a mainframe computer. ...
- Smod (Super Moderator)
Smods have a very high degree of access. They can modify most access lists and have access to user commands. However, they have little control over zone settings. Moderator can refer to one of the following: neutron moderator moderator (communications) - Message Board Moderator The chairperson of a church court in Presbyterian churches (see Moderator of the General Assembly). ...
- Mod (Moderator)
Mod is the lowest official level of access in zones. Mods can ban users, although they have limited control over access lists. They have some ability to discipline, control, and reward users in the zone. Moderator can refer to one of the following: neutron moderator moderator (communications) - Message Board Moderator The chairperson of a church court in Presbyterian churches (see Moderator of the General Assembly). ...
- Other
Many zones have other, non-official levels of access. For example, zones that host leagues often grant referees a limited degree of access to moderator commands and abilities. A football (soccer) player is cautioned by a referee A referee is a person who has authority to make decisions about play in many sports. ...
Almost all zones also utilize bots to remove players with excessive lag and to perform mundane tasks such as storing prized items, giving game results, and maintaining equal teams. ASSS makes possible server-side modules which can accomplish much more than traditional bots. Bot may refer to: Internet bot: a type of computer program Larval Bot Kill Bot Bot, Tarragona: a small municipality in the comarca (county) of Terra Alta, Tarragona province, Catalonia, Spain video game Bot, see Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, small, bloblike creatures that jump about and have no...
Lag often refers to delays experienced in computing communications, however it may also apply to written or other forms of communication. ...
Server The two most prominent SubSpace server applications are Subgame, and ASSS, both downloadable from the Server Help site.
Subgame is derived from the original VIE server software and runs natively only on Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Windows is a range of operating environments for personal computers and servers. ...
ASSS [1] is open source and can potentially be run on any platform. It was designed for use on Linux and other unix/like operating systems, but can be configured for use on Microsoft Windows.
The server takes its settings from numerous files; server.ini and server.cfg are the two most important. These configuration files store the startup configurations and main arena settings for the zone, respectively. The main .lvl and .lvz files are important as well. Lvl files are level or "map" files, usually created with an editor such as SubSpace Map Editor (SSME). Lvz files are compressed files that contain graphics or sounds and configurations to replace or add to the game's default media. Large servers may have dozens or even hundreds of these files, as many subarenas use settings and graphics different from those of the main arena(s), and so require different .lvl, .cfg, and .lvz files. news.txt is another important file that contains news and information regarding the zone. There are other files useful for administration, such as sysop.txt, smod.txt, moderate.txt, and vip.txt, which store the lists of players with server access, obscene.txt, which stores a list of obscene words to be blocked by the game's chat filter, and restricted.txt, which keeps a list of playernames not allowed in the zone. A file in a computer system is a stream (sequence) of bits stored as a single unit, typically in a file system on disk or magnetic tape. ...
Configuration files are used to configure the initial settings for some computer programs. ...
In computer science, data compression or source coding is the process of encoding information using fewer bits (or other information-bearing units) than a more obvious representation would use, through use of specific encoding schemes. ...
Computer files can be divided into two broad categories: binary and text. ...
Billing The counterpart to the server application is the billing server. This server, which stores player data and scores and links zones together, is named for its originally intended function (in VIE's Subgame server) to store records of who had paid for the game and, therefore, was allowed to play it. Obviously, once VIE went out of business, this function was no longer necessary. Billing servers now serve many additional functions, such as proving a network-wide ban service superior to the one built into Subgame and allowing players in different arenas or zones to chat with each other over chat channels. There are several large biller networks for SubSpace. By far, the largest is SSC, which is the de facto official biller. It is owned by PriitK, the creator of the Continuum client. However, space on this network is limited, and many have criticized it for alleged favoritism and a lack of updates. Consequently, several large alternative billers exist, including SSN, and SSP. De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without...
Directory servers Directory servers comprise the final piece of the server "puzzle". These servers are much like Domain Name System servers; they maintain lists of zones and their IP addresses and port numbers, allowing clients to connect. The Domain Name System or DNS is a system that stores information about hostnames and domain names in a type of distributed database on networks, such as the Internet. ...
An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a unique number, similar in concept to a telephone number, used by devices (usually computers) attached to a network to refer to each other when sending information through a Local LAN, Wide area WAN or the Internet networks. ...
In computing, a port (derived from seaport) is usually a connection through which data is sent and received. ...
Software compatibility The Subgame server software and Continuum client are both Microsoft Windows-only programs. This is partially due to the game's heavy reliance on DirectDraw. A Linux version of the SubSpace client, called Snrrrubspace, was under development, but not completed. ASSS is compatible with all major operating systems. Microsoft Windows is a range of operating environments for personal computers and servers. ...
DirectDraw is part of Microsofts DirectX API. DirectDraw is used to render graphics in applications where top performance is important. ...
Unix systems filiation. ...
In computing, an operating system (OS) is the system software responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic system operations. ...
See also Screenshot (from Mechanized Skirmish) of Middlemoor Online. ...
This is a list of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), sorted by category. ...
External links - SubSpace Central, a site providing game news and resources.
- SubSpace Downloads, a massive collection of game-related files.
- SubSpace Base, news, links to zone homepages, downloads and other information about SubSpace. The Continuum client can be downloaded here.
- beginners.SubSpace.net, a beginner's guide to SubSpace.
- Server Help / Server Help Forums, a resource for zone staff.
- ASSS, a small subspace server by Grelminar.
- CLIT, Continuum Level / Ini Tool by 2dragons and Bak.
- The MobyGames entry for SubSpace
- SSQDB, a bash.org-like database of in-game quotes.
- Trench Wars, the site of the most popular zone, SSCU Trench Wars.
- Death Star Battle, the site of the ever popular Star Wars based zone, SSCU DeathStarBattle
- Premier League, the oldest league known to SubSpace/Continuum currently hosted in SSCX Chaos/League Zone SVS
- Chaos Zone SVS, a free for all kill or be killed zone, SSCX Chaos/League Zone SVS
- Alpha Zone SVS, the original SVS newbie/beginner zone, SSCX Alpha West SVS
- Powerball, a soccer type zone where you defend and score goals, SSCX Powerball
- Extreme-Games, Large zone, mainly flagging, but also dueling, and events
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