astronomy

Reach for the Stars (video game)

Reach for the Stars (video game) is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Reach for the Stars (video game) rather than just read about it. In short: Reach for the Stars is a science fiction strategy video game. It is the earliest known commercially published example of the 4X genre.

Key takeaways

Reach for the Stars (video game) belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Reach for the Stars (video game) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Reach for the Stars (video game) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Reach for the Stars is a science fiction strategy video game. It is the earliest known commercially published example of the 4X genre. It was written by Roger Keating and Ian Trout of SSG of Australia and published in 1983 for the Commodore 64 and then the Apple II in 1985. Versions for Classic Mac OS, Amiga, Apple IIGS, and MS-DOS were released in 1988. Reach for the Stars was strongly influenced by the board game Stellar Conquest. Many of RFTS's features have direct correspondence in Stellar Conquest. The player commands a home star in the galaxy, and then expands to form an interstellar empire by colonizing far-off worlds, building powerful starships, and researching new technologies. Graphics are minimal, yet the tactical and strategic elements provide countless rich combinations for colony development and interstellar warfare. The software's AI also offered a challenging opponent in single-player games. It is not uncommon for a Reach for the Stars game to take over twelve hours to complete in single-player mode and 24 hours with multiple players.

Gameplay In Versions 1 to 3 the player starts off with one planet that has Level 1 technology and a middle-level environment. Three types of ships are available:

Scouts – very inexpensive, incapable of fighting or carrying colonists. These can be used as a low-cost, low-risk means to learn the composition of unknown star systems or the locations and makeup of enemy fleets. Transports – incapable of fighting, but can carry colonists. Warships – incapable of carrying colonists, but can fight.

Starting players have limited funds, and have to decide where to invest the funds (technology upgrades, ships, or environmental upgrades). Upgrading a world's planetary environment, for example, means that its population grows more quickly, improving production; this is a mixed blessing, however, because if the population grows beyond the maximum allowed for that planet, the costs to feed the population skyrocket. Building a lot of ships early can win a player the game, if the player finds his enemies' home planets before they manage to upgrade their military technology; on the other hand, it can lead to a loss if the player's opponents upgrade first and attack with superior ships. Each turn is divided into two sections – a development phase, and a movement phase. In the development phase, players work on planetary production, deciding what each planet will produce that turn. In the movement phase, players have the option to send ships to other star systems to explore, colonize, or conquer. Because the game evolves along so many different axes of possibility, the game offers tremendous replay value. It is quite possible to save a game on the first turn, and have it play out differently each time it is restored. A bug causes human players that do nothing to become wealthy while computer opponents fight each other. The designers added a feature that causes the computer opponents to attack the human at 20,000 credits.

Reception

Computer Gaming World in 1983 found Reach for the Stars quite user-friendly and enjoyable, with the single flaw of a lack of notification of natural disasters, which could not fit onto the disk space available. The computer AI and customization of each game were particular highlights of the review. In a 1992 survey of science fiction games the magazine gave the title five of five stars, praising it as "arguably the best science fiction game ever released ... a product still worth playing". A 1994 survey of strategic space games set in the year 2000 and later gave the game four stars out of five, stating that "a worthy update would no doubt raise this game again to 5-star status". Compute! in 1986 called the game "a particularly fine simulation of galactic exploration, combat, and conquest", noting that players needed to balance several different priorities to succeed. It concluded that Reach for the Stars was "one of the better games on the market this year". inCider in 1986 gave the Apple II version three stars ("Above average") out of four, stating that while the game was "exciting", "[i]t's unromantic to say that much of the rest of the game is a matter of juggling numbers, but that's the truth". Jerry Pournelle of BYTE wrote in 1989 that the Mac version of Reach for the Stars was "certainly the best implemented" version of Stellar Conquest. The game was reviewed in 1994 in Dragon #211 by Jay & Dee in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Jay did not rate the game, but Dee gave the game 3½ out of 5 stars. The Macworld 1988 Game Hall of Fame named Reach for the Stars runner-up to Trust & Betrayal: The Legacy of Siboot in the Best Role-Playing Game category, calling it a "well-implemented" scenario of economic empire building in outer space. Norman Banduch reviewed Reach for the Stars in Space Gamer No. 69. Banduch commented that "Reach For The Stars is a most addictive game. After player 10 to 15 hours a week for several months I still find it hard to save the game and go home. It offers a wide variety of set-up conditions and victory conditions, and play is never the same. The computer is a tough foe. Even after the is mastered, there are enough options and random variables to keep it from going stale. I cannot recommend it enough". Bob Ewald reviewed Reach for the Stars in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 77. Ewald commented that "all things considered, I really enjoyed the game. I feel parts of the combat system are illogical, but the game as a whole is great". In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Reach for the Stars the 51st-best computer game ever released.

Sequel

A sequel to Reach for the Stars re-written for the Windows platform was released on September 14, 2000, by developer Strategic Studies Group and publisher Strategic Simulations, Inc. In 2005 Matrix Games, working alongside Strategic Studies Group, updated the 2000 release; this updated version was released in 2005.

Books A series of books was written in 2018 by the game company Greentwip, called Interstellar, Anatomy and The Garlan Wars. While its publication is still ongoing, it is being said that a TV channel would produce cinematographic films out of the books. This happened after Greentwip's founder got deep into the story and proposed to give a better and linear approach to all the species that the game aims to deliver to the player, in order to become a better "pure Sci-Fi" experience.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Reach for the Stars (video game)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Reach for the Stars (video game) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Reach for the Stars (video game) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Reach for the Stars (video game) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Reach for the Stars (video game)

In research: Reach for the Stars (video game) appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Reach for the Stars (video game) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Reach for the Stars (video game) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1983 video games, 4X video games, Amiga games, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Reach for the Stars (video game) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Reach for the Stars (video game) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Reach for the Stars (video game) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Reach for the Stars (video game) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Reach for the Stars (video game) in simple terms?

Reach for the Stars is a science fiction strategy video game. It is the earliest known commercially published example of the 4X genre.

Why does Reach for the Stars (video game) matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Reach for the Stars (video game)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Reach for the Stars (video game).