E.O.S.: Earth Orbit Stations | |
---|---|
Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
Producer(s) | Joe Ybarra |
Designer(s) | Karl Buiter[1] |
Platform(s) | Apple II, Commodore 64 |
Release | 1987 |
Genre(s) | Simulation |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
E.O.S.: Earth Orbit Stations is a space station construction and management simulation video game developed by Karl Buiter for Electronic Arts.[1] It was released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II in 1987.
The game focuses on both the material and economic challenges of building a permanent, fully functioning space station in geocentric orbit.[2]
The game is set in 1996, and the player is given various selected scenarios to fulfill. These scenarios consist of mundane tasks such as setting up a simple space station, to developing and supplying a specified amount of high-grade, zero G pharmaceuticals, and to being the first to contact alien life. The game is also a cutthroat strategy game in multiplayer, as players compete over finite resources and resource management.
Computer Gaming World in 1987 gave the game a mixed review. While the single-player portion was praised, the review felt the game had too high a learning curve to be really suitable for multiplayer. The user interface was particularly bothersome, described as "a textbook case of how not to design a window/menu/graphics interface." The documentation was similarly described as poorly organized and cryptic.[3] In 1992 and 1994 surveys of science fiction games the magazine gave the title two-plus stars of five, calling it "An interesting failure ... the logistics just are not that much fun".[4][5] Compute! reviewed the game more favorably, stating that "EOS offers a level of challenge unusual in space-related software. To succeed at this game requires careful thought".[6]