The Cosmic Balance

The Cosmic Balance is a game created by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1982. It was a computerized turn-based version of tactical combat simulation very similar to the Star Fleet Battles pen-paper-map-counter game. While Star Fleet Battles was explicitly set in the Star Trek universe, The Cosmic Balance was not. That said, the first (and closest to a tutorial) scenario in the game re-created a meeting between Starship Enterprise and USS Reliant, a-la Wrath of Khan.

Ship design is an exercise in resource management, with power, drives, defensive systems, and weapons all vying for a finite amount of hull space.

It allowed a list of weapons including:

Light PhasersHeavy PhasersSeige PhasersDisruptorsPhoton TorpedoesLight Seekers (drones)Heavy SeekersFighter Squadrons (a swarm of robot shuttles)

In addition to this, the player could set the firing arc of all the direct fire weapons (the bigger the arc, the more space the weapon consumed.)

External Links

* [http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/46084-13-space-games-ship-design-cosmic-balance] a discussion of ship design in The Cosmic Balance