20 years!

I realized recently that I’ve probably been working on NXS for about 20 years!

I mean… 20 years, man.  That’s a long time.

Don’t get me wrong; I haven’t been *actively* working on it all that time.  The game has been relatively fully-formed and gathering dust, as they say, most of that time.  I’d drag it out of the closet occasionally, and strong-arm one of my friends into playing a game or two.  Or I’d get a burst of enthusiasm and work furiously on one of the three computer versions.  But all-in-all, from conception to today, it’s been about 20 years.

Putting it out in front of the general public.  Actively trying to get eyes on it.  3D printing a prototype.  Those are pretty big steps for me, and I’m excited to see it happening.

A bit on the history of NXS

I was inspired to create my own strategy board game because of the work of two men who I met many years ago.

They invented a brilliant game called Terrace.  Like so many others, I’d seen the game sitting on a table in the background of Ten Forward on Star Trek: TNG.  I thought it was a prop until I spotted it in the store of a local science museum (OMSI).  I was thrilled to discover that it was not only a real game, but that it had simple and elegant rules that belied a complex and deep game.

I was even more excited to discover that the inventors (Buzz Siler and Anton Dresden) lived quite close to my home town.  I fired off an email, like any good fan-boy, gushing about their wonderful game, inquiring about a computer version, etc.

As it turned out, they were very close to releasing a computer version.  Buzz was kind enough to invite me to come over to his home and try it out.  I met him and Anton, and gave them my impressions of the computer version.  They were even kind enough to give me a pre-release copy (on floppy disk, ah the good old days).

That experience stuck in my brain for a few years.  If these local guys could create their own strategy game, why couldn’t I?

Thus the kernel of the idea that became NXS was formed.