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The tactical game in the same universe.
 
To describe Fire On The Suns!, I'll use a a couple quotes from their webpage:
 
"FOTS is a free pbem game of interstellar exploration, expansion, and conflict. "
 
"Fire On the Suns (FOTS) is not a video or computer-graphics game. FOTS is a computer-assisted and human-moderated electronic boardgame. We use spreadsheets to do our mapping and word processors to write our orders. You don't need to learn a whole new set of codes or any special way of writing your orders to play. A pbem-server is not currently used to process orders and our GMs are encouraged to interact with their players on a daily basis. Purchase of the FOTS CD is not required to participate in our free pbem games."

 

7/2/2008 - Another new URL - www.fots.cdgroup.org

 

4/26/2003 - URL of the FOTS website updated to http://www.fire-on-the-suns.com/

 

1/30/2003 - It has been a while but here is the latest press release on FOTS:

    The long-awaited Fire On The Suns: Colony Development technical manual has been released as a $3 pdf file. This book is a compilation of materials included in other tech manuals and contains no artwork hence the reduced pricing. However, the book does contain a significant amount of new material and, in total, has descriptions for over 350 specific technologies designed to improve the output of your colonies. 

    Fire On The Suns: Psionics has been placed on the back burner and will likely be released as part of Fire On The Suns: A Blaze of Glory, the RPG supplement for creating characters and adventures in the Fire On The Suns Universe. FOTS ABoG is currently being playtested as a future d20 release on the OpenRPG Open Development II server. 

    Early results are extremely promising. Early sales of Todd Zircher's Fire On The Suns: Tactical Command 2nd edition are also extremely promising and Ellis & Company Publishing plans to release several additional supplements for TCOM2 modeled off FOTS The Quintera Cluster War and FOTS The Xaban Cluster products which are nearing release. This has delayed, slightly, releases of additional Fleet Books for TCOM 1st edition. Todd has also developed a node for TCOM or TCOM2 for use on the OpenRPG server for face-to-face combat between opponents via the web. 

    In addition to everything else Todd has been working on, he recently delivered the latest update of the FOTS Battle Engine program (v4.0). The new program allows customizable critical hit tables amongst several dozen other options opening up literally thousands of new possibilities for FOTS weapons and GMs. The new BEv4.0 is currently in use in several of Greg Ellis' games. Greg is, of course, the designer and copyright holder of the basic FOTS systems. 

    Last, but certainly not least, Fire On The Suns New Technologies Volume 4 has been released as a $3 pdf file. Much like Colony Development, this newest release has little artwork, but over 200 new technologies described for the Fire On The Suns Universe. FOTS New technologies Volume 5 has also been compiled and completed and will likely be released in February 2003.

 

8/22/2001 - FOTS: Colony Development and FOTS: Psionics continue to be delayed. The good news part of the bad news is that all artwork is now available for FOTS: Colony Development and it is currently being reviewed for the need for additional examples. We do expect that it should be out by the end of August rather than the end of July as originally expected. Psionics is in final edit and is also expected to be released by the end of August or the middle of September.

 

7/9/2001 - A press release from Greg, New Tech # 3 is releases and lots of upcoming stuff announced:

          Ellis & Company Publishing is pleased to announce that "Fire On The Suns: New Technologies Volume 3", the fourth supplement for the Fire On The Suns scifi campaign game system, was released today in print and pdf versions ($20.00 print; $5.00 pdf).

          NTV3 introduces 218 additional defined technologies, including several new race design options, to the FOTS Universe - from Abrasive Materials Science through Wraparound Semi-Autonomous Combat Energy Fields - in 86 pages including 14 full-color rendered images. The supplement's format has been changed to allow easier and more convenient printing by up-sizing the content to standard 8-1/2x11 format.

          Ellis & Company Publishing also announced plans to publish "Fire On The Suns: Colony Development" and "Fire On The Suns: Psionics" by the end of July following a brief delay incurred by a shortage of quality artwork for inclusion in these supplements. Work is also continuing on "New Technologies Volume 4", "The Quintera Cluster War", "The Xaban Cluster", "Vampire Wars", "Tactical Command 2nd Edition", and several other supplements planned for release later this year. Also announced were plans to issue a series of "Fleet Books" for the FOTS Universe.

          "The new books are planned to be similar to those done by Ground Zero Games for Full Thrust or an old product named SeaTac, now out of print, but originally published by TriTac Games," said Greg Ellis, spokesman for and President of Ellis & Company Publishing. "But with the fleets done with FOTS stats and designs."

          Ellis & Company Publishing also publishes the "Dark Skies" and "Dark Suns" games by Eric Henry and has recently been running a new FOTS-based game entitled "Fire On The Suns: Challenger".

          "FOTS: Challenger is our version of the Survivor TV game show," Greg said. "Eight players fight for control of a Key and a Gate leading out of a pocket dimension they've been shoved into by the highly-advanced Keepers. Only one player can possess both the Key and the Gate and thus win the game by getting out of the pocket dimension. The game runs very fast compared to our big games, and that generates a lot of excitement and tension between the players."

          FOTS: Challenger Game 1 is set to begin within the next 10 days. FOTS: Challenger Game 2 is still taking signups and has 3 positions left to fill.

 

4/25/2001 - An update from Greg Ellis:

          Ellis & Company Publishing has released several new supplements for the Fire On The Suns Universe. These supplements extend the numbers of defined technologies in the game to well over 12 hundred. The supplements released thus far are;

          New Technologies Volume I - From acidic atmosphere condensers to wild weasels, this supplement contains 220 defined technologies for use in games based on the FOTS Universe. Price: $5.00 pdf, $20.00 printed

          New Technologies Volume II - From advanced bombardment techniques to wormhole resistant engineering, this supplement presents another 200+ defined technologies for use in the FOTS Universe. Price: $5.00 pdf, $20.00 printed

          Biotechnology - Poorly understood this supplement attempts to define what is and is not biotechnology in the FOTS
Universe and how it works in that context. In addition to presenting nearly 100 defined examples of biotechnology, this supplement also presents 5 new example races plus new details on the Hee'Dra and the Swarm.

 

          On schedule for production in May/June is New Technologies Volume III which will include over 200 new defined technologies. In addition, slated for July/August are Colony Development and Psionics, practical treatments of the myriad technologies which aid in the development and enhancement of colonies in the FOTS Universe, and a compilation of defined psionic talents. Personnel, a compilation of defined technologies for "personnel" enhancements is scheduled for a September release. A full V_MAP-based standard game setup for FOTS is scheduled for the 4th quarter of 2001.

          Recent enhancements to the FOTS CD include an upgrade to the Battle Engine combat program, capable of handling individual ship, gunboat, fighter, and missile combat between thousands of opponents simultaneously, a new and enhanced Sector Manager program for players and GMs, an enhanced Mapgen program for mapping the ever-expanding FOTS Universe, and a newer and snazzier version of Racegen, our exclusive program for randomly generating alien races, now including a new and updated generation system and government and society generation algorithms. Also now available is our new "free" Alien Name Generator which can be accessed off the FOTS website.

          Future FOTS supplements planned are The Quintera Cluster War, and The Xaban Cluster, smaller supplements which will present GMs with pre-generated races, ship stats, fleets and empires for rapidly creating a new game or for dropping into an existing game. Vampire Wars, The Creator War, and several other projects are also in development and slated for release sometime in 2002.

 

          The FOTS website is currently undergoing an extensive redesign and reconstruction so please pardon our dust.