Cosmic Encounter soundtrack available online

One of my favorite parts of the Cosmic Encounter Online experience has always been the unique sounds created by composer Mark Sutton-Smith. In addition to all of the alien noises and in-game sound effects, Sutton-Smith also created the longer passages that are heard when a player joins the lobby. I knew that these were often switched around by the CEO design team, but, until recently, I did not know that those passages were, in fact, meant to form a larger musical story.

Well, now I know ... and so will you when you visit this page and see that Sutton-Smith has made his Cosmic Encounter score available for download in MP3 format.

Too cool. I especially like the chapter titles ... "Contact" ... "Negotiations." Too cool — did I mention that already?

Show your Xmas spirit with a nice table-flip

Many weeks later, this essay over at McSweeney's still makes me laugh (and, in gaming terms, it's not a huge stretch to replace "Risk" with "Cosmic Encounter."

My favorite passage:

I hate Risk. I have for many years now. I hate that you still like Risk. I hate that you guilt me into playing with you because no one else will. I hate that you do the accents of the countries you're attacking from.

And their "Hamlet: Facebook Edition" isn't bad, either ...

2/26/07: CE boardgame deal is "DOA"

Here's an interesting slice of history I came across while combing through the archives of the old site: in late February of last year, a potential deal for retailer FunAgain Games to become the new publisher of Cosmic Encounter was declared to be non-functioning by original CE designer Peter Olotka.

As disappointing as that announcement was, what we didn't know is that the near-future held some better news. It was about six months later that Fantasy Flight Games announced at GenCon that it had acquired the rights to publish a CE boardgame.

Hey, it got 22 comments the first time ...

Back in November of 2006 — the days of the original Blogmic Encounter site — I posted the photo above in one of those "I really feel like I should post something moments." I figured it would generate maybe a few chuckles and one or two comments. "Hey, look! Beer and Cosmic Encounter!" I never gave it a second thought.

Instead, it turned out to be one of the most popular things I ever posted in roughly 30 months of Cosmic Encounter-related writing. I still have no idea why, although it is sort of a cool image.

Who the hell knows, as the kids say.

Zombie. Cosmic Encounter. I get it!

Okay, now here's a real zombie who enjoys Cosmic Encounter.

The image above is gleefully reproduced from Walking Dead #53, published by Image Comics. If you can't quite make out what all the fuss is about, click on the image for a bigger version.

Walking Dead is actually a pretty entertaining read. Head on over to the Image site and check it out.

Spy shot! Cosmic Encounter on the Xbox!

Ah, there's nothing quite like using a bit of shaky Blair Witch-style footage to add verisimilitude to a blog post.

One of my Blogmic spies — I use Bothans; they're great — just checked in with a hidden-camera shot of the proposed Xbox Live Arcade version of Cosmic Encounter (click the image for a larger version). It looks great, and, better yet, it actually plays! I believe that's Macron getting set to attack Clone ... ah, you just can't beat the classics.

But let's not get too excited: the entire project is in a bit of a slowdown mode for now. I believe our friends in the movie industry refer to it as Development Hell. There is, for all intents and purposes, no real timetable at all for CE to be released into the Xbox wilds. That could change, but, for now, murky spy photos is the best we can do.

Cosmic Encounter Online 2007 champions

(Ported over from the old version of this site for historical purposes)

• January: AP
• February: AP
• March: AP
• April: Praxis
• May: Tmax
• June: AP
• July: IOexception
• August: Tmax
• September: NezMaster
• October: Tmax
• November: Tmax
• December: NezMaster

"You know you're a CE Online player when ..."

1. You've been yellow-boxed by Sarry;
2. You know what "tab through Dork" means;
3. You've had Peter call you a "swine";
4. You know that m-ric is a noun (bonus point: you know who that noun is named after);
5. You begin to play the CE boardgame, but realize you've forgotten how to move your ships yourself.

Anyone else got some good ones ... ?

League history: Misfit League

(Part of a series recording the history of league results at Cosmic Encounter Online)

Name: Misfit League
When: July-August, 2007
Sessions: 12
Format: Specially-built combos were used, each featuring an alien that would theoretically be at a disadvantage when facing the other three. A win with the "misfit" alien was worth 2 points; a standard win was worth 1.
Final standings: See image
Finalists: BigShidder, Franco, Greg, Praxis
Winner: [??] This information is currently missing

League history: Reincarnator League

(Part of a series recording the history of league results at Cosmic Encounter Online)

Name: Reincarnator League
When: June-July, 2007
Sessions: 8
Format: Combos were used, each featuring Reincarnator, CEO's newest alien. Also, the finals were played with a first-to-win-twice format
Final standings: [??] This information is currently missing
Finalists: BigShidder, Barrok, Franco, Tmax
Winner: BigShidder

[placeholder for old league results]

[this is just a place-holder for these old league results; I want to format them in prettier fashion ... May 1, 2007 was the date of the original post]

Christmas League
Winner: Amatecon
Finalists: Zxzxi, Vanquisher, TheDukester
Best record (wins): Zxzxi (10 wins in seven sessions)
Best record (percentage): Amatecon (.750).

Combo League
Winner: Captain Dave
Finalists: Sleepy Weasel, AP, Zxzxi
Best record (wins): Zxzxi (10 wins in eight sessions)
Best record (percentage): Zxzxi (.526)

Summer Mini-League
Winner: AP
Finalists: Sarry, Shadowlight5, Zxzxi
Best record (wins): AP (16 wins in eight sessions)
Best record (percentage): TheDukester (.438)

Winter Crunch
Winner: Sleepy Weasel
Finalists: Yuropa, Zxzxi, TheDukester
Best record (wins): Yuropa (15 wins in either seven or eight sessions)
Best record (percentage): Sleepy Weasel (.444)

Things I wish I'd written first ...

Yehuda's gaming blog, which we linked to once before, recently featured an all-time top 10 boardgames list. Coming in at a solid #3 was your friend and mine, Mr. Cosmic Encounter!

My favorite line from the description of CE:

"My mantra is that all games are better the closer they are to Cosmic Encounter."

Amen, brother! Preach it!

Four more great CE Online combos

Following up, here's the second half of Blogmic's eight-combos-by-eight-authors survey. Again, these combos are presented in no particular order:

Warp Controllers, by Zxzxi
Aliens: Void, Healer, Vacuum, Zombie
A simple concept, but also a combo that is challenging for each alien. I also like that this is a warp-themed mix that does not include Warpish.

Guess Again, by Sarry
Aliens: Ghost, Calculator, Loser, Sorcerer
The name says it all: each of these aliens can throw a spanner into the works without a second thought. One of my favorite aspects of Cosmic Encounter is that the best-laid plans can suddenly go awry after a timely play by an opponent.

Defense for Its Own Sake, by Fiddler
Aliens: Macron, Mutant, Trader, Philanthropist
This is my favorite "damned if you do" combo. Really, there's no good reason for any of these four aliens to want to play an active defensive ally role ... but, on the other hand, if no one plays any D, is the game going to be over before you know it?

Trauma for Trader, by TheDukester
Aliens: Trader, Virus, Anti-Matter, Pacifist
What the hell, I'll throw in one of my own efforts. This was the second combo I ever created, if memory serves, and it's still my favorite. I like the "alien disadvantage" theme for combos, and Trader is definitely in a pickle here. He can't give any Ns to that winged hippie, he can't unload super-low pods to Anti, and he probably shouldn't give Virus anything above an 8. Good times.

Eight great CE Online combos (part I)

There are dozens of pre-set alien combinations currently available at Cosmic Encounter Online, and I think I've finally managed to play them all at least once. And, frankly, some of them are much better than others. Which ones, though? I'm glad you asked.

As a public service, Blogmic has identified eight great combos (by eight different authors) that are most definitely worth playing. You can thank me later ...

Here's the first half of the list (in no particular order); check back later for Part Deux:

Pod Suckers, by Bill
Aliens: Filch, Philanthropist, Trader, Vulch
I'm not sure exactly why, but this is the combo I've played the most. Maybe it's because pod-control is one of the most intriguing aspects of CE to me? Whatever the case, this is a fun one to play, no matter which alien you draw.

Survivor: CE, by Sleepy Weasel
Aliens: Vacuum, Sapient, Machine, Dictator
This one plays exactly as it's advertised — a brutal struggle to stay out of the warp. Every time I've played it (probably six or so times), at least one alien has lost its power and then been a victim of the Mobius Trap. That's just good, clean fun.

Good Samaritans, by AP
Aliens: Philanthropist, Empath, Sapient, Healer
There's plenty of hippie-themed combos out there, but this version is unique in that it does not include our old friend Pacifist. Maybe that's what makes it click? Either way, I've found this to be a well-balanced test for each of the four contestants.

Out of Sight, by Peter
Aliens: Laser, Ghost, Sorcerer, Void
The great thing about this combo is that it was created on the fly as a favor to a visiting game-developer. But, hey, it turned out to be a pretty interesting mix! I played this about six times on the day it was created, and every time it was entertaining.

5 reasons Reincarnator is a great CE Online alien

In many ways, Reincarnator is the perfect Cosmic Encounter Online alien. Here’s five reasons why:

1. He’s random and chaotic. Thirty years ago, the designers decided to build Cosmic Encounter around a foundation of randomness and chaos.
2. He’s a blast to play, even when you’re losing (in some cases, especially when you’re losing).
3. He is a potential building block for future CEO features. The CEO design team can take what they learn from building Reincarnator and possibly apply it to future features such as "join in progress" or "get 3, pick 1."
4. He will generate enough buzz in the lobby that CEO is almost guaranteed to gain some new membership subscriptions.
5. With Reincarnator, you’re never going to be out of the game.

That last one is actually the most important factor to me. I’m a firm believer that the most important rule ever written for Cosmic Encounter is the one that allows you to retrieve a ship from the warp to begin your turn, ensuring that no player — no matter how hopeless the situation — is ever actually eliminated from a game.

Reincarnator reflects this rule in a lot of ways. No matter how desperate the situation might look, this is an alien power that ensures you will never be truly eliminated. Think about switching to Warpish when the warp is full … or switching to Trader when your foes all have huge hands … or switching to Pacifist when your hand is full of Ns. I’m sure you get the idea. This is a power that can take you from the outhouse to the penthouse in a matter of just a couple of turns.

It was, officially, the best game EV-AH!

... or at least the longest.

Mystique, Serfuge, Subby, and myself just completed a one-hour, 31-minute marathon game at Cosmic Encounter Online (where games might "normally" take 10 to 20 minutes). It was a solo-wins-only tournament game, which impacted the game play a great deal.

After about four potential wins canceled by the Emotion Control pod and about three potential wins for Anti-Matter zapped into oblivion, Subby finally won with a 30 to 23 play while already controlling the EC.

It got so bad at the end that we weren't getting any defensive rewards — we had 57 of the possible 61 pods in our hands at one point.