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From: Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: Gamplay "mechanics" you don't like?
Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2025 10:26:59 -0500
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On Tue, 7 Jan 2025 11:32:17 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On 1/3/2025 7:24 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>> XF5700 Mantis
>
>Wow, that *is* impressive! a space sim at a time I really liked them* 
>from a company I really liked, that I never even heard of!


In fairness, it was only /published/ by Microprose, and even then it
was published under their budget/partner label, "Microplay". The game
itself was programmed by Paragon Software, who are perhaps more
famously known for their GDW-licensed CRPGs like "MegaTraveller",
"Space 1889" and "Twilight 2000". 

     [What, you never heard of those either? Imagine that. It's 
      almost as if Paragon's games just weren't very memorable... 
      or good]

Microprose eventually bought the struggling company outright, and they
went on to make two half-way decent games, "BloodNet" and "Challenge
of the Five Realms". I believe XF5700 was the last game they made
independently.

The Microplay brand never got much marketing oomph; it's where all the
smaller, less-likely-to-be-successful games were banished. Still, I
recall seeing "XF5700 Mantis" on store shelves for a good while
(probably because the game wasn't selling, but still...). Like many of
Paragon's games, it was conceptually interesting, but it wasn't well
implemented. It just wasn't a game I -or seemingly most people-
enjoyed playing.


>* I still like space sims, but I think it's been closer to 50/50 these 
>days, and the big names seem to disappoint more than the smaller ones. 
>I didn't care for SW Squadrons or Elite Dangerous for instance, but 
>loved Everspace and Rebel Galaxy Outlaw.