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(formely known as "Sceptre of Shalimar QBasic Version").

-- Orion's Sphere is a Role Playing Game set in the Sceptre of Shalimar Universe. It takes place on the same world as Sceptre of Shalimar, but at an earlier time (a century before Sceptre of Shalimar). More information will come soon... This Web Site is brand new and I've not had the time to completely put it all together yet...


How did you come up with the name "Orion's Sphere"?

-- "Orion" is actually a group of Stars visible in the Northern Hemisphere at night in the Winter months (from around September to around March), exact times and dates vary depending on where you are (your longitude and latitude).
-- In Sceptre of Shalimar, Orion is a lengendary historical figure among the Crystal People. Thats how I came up with the Name. You'll find out exactly what Orion's Sphere is when you play... (I'm not going to give that one away!). The Crystal People live in Crystal City, in the NorthEast corner of Centaria. You can visit them in both this game, and in Sceptre of Shalimar. Centaria is the continent you are on when you start either game.
-- There's also a really cool turn-based empire building strategy game by Microprose (now Hasbro Interactive) called Master of Orion II, which probably contributed to me thinking of this name. I used to play Master of Orion and later Master of Orion II for hours on end (still do, occasionally). If you like the Sci-Fi Space genre (Star Trek, Babylon 5, etc) you really ought to get a copy of Master of Orion II. The game's a few years old, but still great even by today's standards.


Orion's Sphere : How the project began

-- Sceptre of Shalimar was originally programmed in Basic, first using AmigaBasic, for the Commodore Amiga series of computers, then later using QBasic for MS Dos (IBM Compatible Computers). Due to "out of memory" errors, and also program speed issues, I started the project over in C++. But the QBasic program was a nice little game, and a good example for programmers, so I kept it up on my Web Site as a download under the name "Sceptre of Shalimar, QBasic Version". I've worked on the QBasic program again from time to time, but my main focus was (and still is) on getting the C++ program finished.
-- Having two different programs (one C++, one QBasic) with the same name ("Sceptre of Shalimar") proved to be VERY confusing to many people. So I decided to change the name of the QBasic version and release it as a different game. After much thought, I finally decided on the name, and Orion's Sphere was birthed...
-- I have recently learned some new tricks for QBasic, which will allow me to get around the "Out of Memory" errors and actually finish the game. This new knowlege has greatly raised my enthusiasm toward this old QBasic program, and I am now determined to finish it.

Downloads:

...coming soon


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This page was created by Seth Hopkinson (last updated 10 Nov 2000).