The Orion Nebula (game)

This article is about the play-by-mail game. For other uses, see Orion nebula.

The Orion Nebula

Publishers	Orpheus Publishing Corporation
Years active	January 1990 to April 1991
Genres	Role-playing, science fiction, space opera
Languages	English
Players	unlimited
Playing time	unlimited
Materials required	Instructions, order sheets, turn results, paper, pencil
Media type	Play-by-mail

The Orion Nebula is an open-end, mixed-moderated, play-by-mail (PBM) space opera. It was published by the Orpheus Publishing Corporation in January 1990 after playtesting. The game was playable by postal mail, email, and CompuServe. The game was a space opera on a massive intergalactic scale. Exploration, economics and combat were elements of gameplay. Players could roleplay various positions including: Starships, Cities, Starbases, Ground Parties, and Black Markets. The game tied for 8th place in Paper Mayhem's Best PBM Game of 1989.

History and development

The Orion Nebula was an open-ended, mixed moderated PBM game published by Orpheus Publishing Corporation.[1] The publisher launched the game in January 1990 after playtesting in 1989.[2] Email and postal mail were orders options.[3] Players could also use CompuServe for orders.[2] In its September–October 1991 issue, the editor of Paper Mayhem announced that Orion's Nebula and its publisher were no longer running.[4] The company's president stated in a letter to the editor that the game stopped in April 1991 due to financial issues and offered the game for sale.[5]

Gameplay

The Orion Nebula was a space opera with a massive intergalactic setting.[1] Exploration, economics and combat were elements of gameplay.[6] Although open-ended, the game had due dates for turn orders to enable simultaneous turn processing.[3] Each turn comprised 150 time points of 2.25 hours each.[3]

Players could roleplay various positions including: Starships, Cities, Starbases, Ground Parties, and Black Markets.[3] Additional options of government types affected availability of spaceships and other factors.[3] Groups of ten or more players could also custom-design a government type prior to game start.[7]

Reception

In its January–February 1990 issue of Paper Mayhem, the game tied for 8th place in the Best PBM Game of 1989 listing along with Continental Rails, Duelmaster, and Fleet Maneuvers.[8]

See also

• List of play-by-mail games

References

1. Marte 1990. p. 4.
2. Marte 1990. p. 7.
3. Steel 1990. p. 4.
4. Webber 1991. p. 3.
5. McGee 1991. p. 4.
6. Marte 1990. pp. 4–6.
7. Grubb 1990. p. 17.
8. Editors 1990. p. 1.

Bibliography

• Grubb, Larry (May 1990). "Forming a Government in the 'Neb'". Flagship. No. 25 (U.S. ed.). pp. 17–18.
• Steel, Donal (April 1990). "First Looks: The Orion Nebula". The D2 Report. No. 3. pp. 4–6.
• Editors (January–February 1990). "Best PBM Game of 1989". Paper Mayhem. No. 40. p. 2.
• Webber, David (September–October 1991). "Where We're Heading". Paper Mayhem. No. 50. p. 3.
• McGee, John F. (September–October 1991). "Letters". Paper Mayhem. No. 50. p. 4.

Further reading

• Cottelesse, Steve (November–December 1989). "Orion Nebula: The Game of the 90's". Paper Mayhem. No. 39. pp. 37–39.
• Cottelesse, Steve (January–February 1990). "Orion Nebula – The Game of the 90 's Part II". Paper Mayhem. No. 40. pp. 32–35.
• Cottelesse, Steve (May–June 1991). "Orion Nebula – The Game of the 90 's Part II". Paper Mayhem. No. 48. pp. 32–35.
• Marte, Stephen (March 1990). "The Orion Nebula". Flagship. No. 25 (U.S. ed.). pp. 4–7.