CONTENTS:
Timeline
1. History/Early Subspace
2. The Beginning of the end
3. Subspace Council
4. Into the 21st Century
5. To 2025 and beyond!
^topTimeline
06.01.1995 - Sniper is created as a DirectX project
02.18.1996 - SubSpace opens for Public Beta
01.05.1997 - Release: SubSpace: v1.34
09.13.1997 - Release: SubSpace: v1.35
11.27.1997 - SubSpace: The Internet Game ships
12.19.1997 - JeffP and Rodvik leave VIE
01.15.1999 - VIE Shuts down SubSpace servers
09.21.2007 - Release: Continuum 0.40 (by: PriitK)
02.05.2013 - Steam Greenlight project started
07.03.2015 - Release: Subspace Continuum released in Steam
^topHistory/ Early Subspace (December 1995 - October 1997)
Continuum was originally known as Subspace. Subspace itself began as a project by programmers Jeff Paterson and Rod Humble. They were attempting to create a demonstration product for their employer, Virgin Interactive Entertainment (VIE) to show the viability of Internet gaming. The very early versions of Subspace were called Sniper. With a somewhat working program in the form of online asteroids, the alpha test for Subspace began for selected people in December of 1995. After a few months, in March 1996, the beta test began for the game. With the only advertisement for the game as a few messages on a games newsgroup, the early community rapidly expanded.
Originally with only one zone, four ships, and no squads, Subspace became a hit among it's small but loyal community. In those days, players would give suggestions directly to the programmers themselves and many even made friends with the programmers. In fact the idea of repels was a player suggestion. Soon it was time for the test to end. As word of the impending end of the VIE test was spreading, the players who loved the game so much begged and pleaded for it to continue. Happily the programmers complied.
Soon after, rumours spread that Subspace was going to a pay model. The general agreement was $10/month with a small initial fee for the software itself. The players were getting scared, but month after month nothing happened. During the summer of 1997 the greatest days of the beta test were happening, the population tripled in mere months, and now there were easily 1500+ people playing during peak times. Subspace was saved from going pay during that time by Pepsi, which gave a bunch of money to sponsor Subspace.
^topThe Beginning of the end for VIE (October 1997 - November 1998)
In October 1997 Subspace changed forever as the game finally went pay. The final plan was just the initial purchase of the game with no monthly payments. All of a sudden you could only play for free as someone named '~Demoxxx' (xxx = a number). Even with piracy being rampant, more than half the population quit forever never to be seen again. The pay version saw the addition of the Shark as a permanent ship (before it was the ship that only the VIE Programmers could use and was the super sysop ship), and of course the biggest change of all: the addition of the server program free to all players.
Players could now make their own zones and make the changes to the game they always wanted, but this also meant that VIE would probably depart soon with the possibility of a central server also fading. This provided a beautiful opportunity for cheaters to run rampant, although for the time being the VIE servers with their more secure software would be safe. Finally this meant what the players feared most, a fragmentation of the community. The difference between Subspace and other Internet games such as Quake was most evident in the community. Whereas Quake players generally did not know each other and people randomly played everywhere, in Subspace no matter what zone you were in you were always able to talk to friends.
Over the next year, zones such as Star Warzone, A Small Warzone, Extreme Games, Death Star Battle, and a few others appeared on the stage. However, also at this time, Subspace was on the decline. Although the new zones were slowly picking up players, the main VIE zones were slowly dwindling away. Players who had played since the beginning were moving on and it looked as though Subspace's days were numbered. In November of 1998, a historical moment in Subspace's history occurred. Although the players were more or less prepared for it, VIE finally pulled the plug on their servers and with that Subspace changed forever.
^topSubspace Council (November 1998 - 2000)
With no more central billing server, and without the more secure version of the server client that VIE used, SS was in shambles. iNet quickly asserted itself as the central billing server for most of the old VIE zones that were now housed in different servers around the world. The VIE zones were now called SVS or Standard VIE Settings. The population dropped, and the greatest of the new zones had stabilized around 80 players during peak times. At this time there was no guarantee that the zones would not languish in obscurity. The population reached an all time low at around 450 people on peak times during early 1999. Without the VIE server, cheating was now rampant everywhere and some of the most popular zones turned inwards and towards the old policy of maintaining a private list of players allowed to enter. Eventually that very same policy allowed for these zones to forever languish in population size. The stage was now set: Subspace would die and fade forever into obscurity, unless something miraculous happened.
That something came in the form of Baudchaser, a player who started the SSCx project. With the additional creation of the SS Council, every zone in Subspace was asked to join under the banner of SSC under the central billing server of iNet. SSCE (Pro League server), SSCU (iNet), and SSCX (a US West Coast server) were created. A server upgrade was given to the SSCx participants and some of the major cheats were blocked, but still there were gaps. Then the second miraculous event happened. During 1999, a single programmer decided to step up and single-handedly create something which in effect saved Subspace, this is where our story really begins. The programmer's name was PriitK, a player in Trench Wars. He had just created BanG, a system for banning players that cheated among other things. It was with this invention that Subspace finally began a turnaround. In addition to the security improvements, Continuum added increased visual and gameplay capabilities.
^topInto the 21st Century (2001 - 2020)
The 2000s saw a flourishing landscape for Subspace/Continuum. Further Continuum releases helped to keep the game stable, with the last release (.40) coming in 2007. While the Zone populations would never hit their all-time highs of the VIE days, Continuum still held a respectable userbase with active play, for several years. Development continued on server software as well as a wide array of "bot" programs to help supplement the core features of the game server software, as well as adding extra useability and gameplay features for the arenas within each zone.
While a few zones began to falter and shut down in the 2010s, there were still several zones that retained enough of a population to survive, and thus Continuum began to earn the title of "longest running mmo". In an effort to renew visibility of the game, a project to greenlight Continuum to be released on Steam was initiated in May of 2013. Several hurdles, like proving ownership of the Continuum game client, needed to be overcome in order to get the Steam release greenlit. This was a multi-zone collaborative effort, and was eventually successful in satisfying all of Steam's submission requirements. Continuum was finally released on Steam in July of 2015. Due to this renewed visibility the game saw a decent influx of both new and returning players joining the ranks of subspace pilots. Zones and players became hopeful for the future of Continuum, and this most recent success lasted for some time. However, while approaching the 2020s, the effects of the steam launch all but vaporized, and the state of the game returned to that of uncertainty.
^topTo 2025 and Beyond! (2025 - ?)
While there were some game population spikes during the pandemic, the status of Continuum remains uncertain while traversing through the 2020s. Where there were once enough zones in the client's list to necessitate the use of a scroll button, there are now barely 15 zones online. With less than 5 of those ever breaking double-digits in their population, unless there is a special event being played that brings players out from the woodwork. Players leaving the game occured for several reasons. Many got busy with life obligations and could no longer log onto the game. Many left due to intense zone staff politics, or in-fighting. Others just felt disenfranchised and decided to call it quits. Whatever reasons players had for leaving this game, it has resulted in a very small community. Despite being in such a state, the few remaining active zones have kept the flame of Subspace/Continuum burning, and are dedicated to keeping this game alive. Going on 30 years, there is still a wide variety of gameplay to engage in, and a lot of fun to be had in Continuum.
^topTimeline
06.01.1995 - Sniper is created as a DirectX project02.18.1996 - SubSpace opens for Public Beta 01.05.1997 - Release: SubSpace: v1.34 09.13.1997 - Release: SubSpace: v1.35 11.27.1997 - SubSpace: The Internet Game ships 12.19.1997 - JeffP and Rodvik leave VIE 01.15.1999 - VIE Shuts down SubSpace servers 09.21.2007 - Release: Continuum 0.40 (by: PriitK) 02.05.2013 - Steam Greenlight project started 07.03.2015 - Release: Subspace Continuum released in Steam ^topHistory/ Early Subspace (December 1995 - October 1997)Continuum was originally known as Subspace. Subspace itself began as a project by programmers Jeff Paterson and Rod Humble. They were attempting to create a demonstration product for their employer, Virgin Interactive Entertainment (VIE) to show the viability of Internet gaming. The very early versions of Subspace were called Sniper. With a somewhat working program in the form of online asteroids, the alpha test for Subspace began for selected people in December of 1995. After a few months, in March 1996, the beta test began for the game. With the only advertisement for the game as a few messages on a games newsgroup, the early community rapidly expanded. Originally with only one zone, four ships, and no squads, Subspace became a hit among it's small but loyal community. In those days, players would give suggestions directly to the programmers themselves and many even made friends with the programmers. In fact the idea of repels was a player suggestion. Soon it was time for the test to end. As word of the impending end of the VIE test was spreading, the players who loved the game so much begged and pleaded for it to continue. Happily the programmers complied. Soon after, rumours spread that Subspace was going to a pay model. The general agreement was $10/month with a small initial fee for the software itself. The players were getting scared, but month after month nothing happened. During the summer of 1997 the greatest days of the beta test were happening, the population tripled in mere months, and now there were easily 1500+ people playing during peak times. Subspace was saved from going pay during that time by Pepsi, which gave a bunch of money to sponsor Subspace. ^topThe Beginning of the end for VIE (October 1997 - November 1998)In October 1997 Subspace changed forever as the game finally went pay. The final plan was just the initial purchase of the game with no monthly payments. All of a sudden you could only play for free as someone named '~Demoxxx' (xxx = a number). Even with piracy being rampant, more than half the population quit forever never to be seen again. The pay version saw the addition of the Shark as a permanent ship (before it was the ship that only the VIE Programmers could use and was the super sysop ship), and of course the biggest change of all: the addition of the server program free to all players. Players could now make their own zones and make the changes to the game they always wanted, but this also meant that VIE would probably depart soon with the possibility of a central server also fading. This provided a beautiful opportunity for cheaters to run rampant, although for the time being the VIE servers with their more secure software would be safe. Finally this meant what the players feared most, a fragmentation of the community. The difference between Subspace and other Internet games such as Quake was most evident in the community. Whereas Quake players generally did not know each other and people randomly played everywhere, in Subspace no matter what zone you were in you were always able to talk to friends. Over the next year, zones such as Star Warzone, A Small Warzone, Extreme Games, Death Star Battle, and a few others appeared on the stage. However, also at this time, Subspace was on the decline. Although the new zones were slowly picking up players, the main VIE zones were slowly dwindling away. Players who had played since the beginning were moving on and it looked as though Subspace's days were numbered. In November of 1998, a historical moment in Subspace's history occurred. Although the players were more or less prepared for it, VIE finally pulled the plug on their servers and with that Subspace changed forever. ^topSubspace Council (November 1998 - 2000)With no more central billing server, and without the more secure version of the server client that VIE used, SS was in shambles. iNet quickly asserted itself as the central billing server for most of the old VIE zones that were now housed in different servers around the world. The VIE zones were now called SVS or Standard VIE Settings. The population dropped, and the greatest of the new zones had stabilized around 80 players during peak times. At this time there was no guarantee that the zones would not languish in obscurity. The population reached an all time low at around 450 people on peak times during early 1999. Without the VIE server, cheating was now rampant everywhere and some of the most popular zones turned inwards and towards the old policy of maintaining a private list of players allowed to enter. Eventually that very same policy allowed for these zones to forever languish in population size. The stage was now set: Subspace would die and fade forever into obscurity, unless something miraculous happened. That something came in the form of Baudchaser, a player who started the SSCx project. With the additional creation of the SS Council, every zone in Subspace was asked to join under the banner of SSC under the central billing server of iNet. SSCE (Pro League server), SSCU (iNet), and SSCX (a US West Coast server) were created. A server upgrade was given to the SSCx participants and some of the major cheats were blocked, but still there were gaps. Then the second miraculous event happened. During 1999, a single programmer decided to step up and single-handedly create something which in effect saved Subspace, this is where our story really begins. The programmer's name was PriitK, a player in Trench Wars. He had just created BanG, a system for banning players that cheated among other things. It was with this invention that Subspace finally began a turnaround. In addition to the security improvements, Continuum added increased visual and gameplay capabilities. |
^topInto the 21st Century (2001 - 2020)The 2000s saw a flourishing landscape for Subspace/Continuum. Further Continuum releases helped to keep the game stable, with the last release (.40) coming in 2007. While the Zone populations would never hit their all-time highs of the VIE days, Continuum still held a respectable userbase with active play, for several years. Development continued on server software as well as a wide array of "bot" programs to help supplement the core features of the game server software, as well as adding extra useability and gameplay features for the arenas within each zone. While a few zones began to falter and shut down in the 2010s, there were still several zones that retained enough of a population to survive, and thus Continuum began to earn the title of "longest running mmo". In an effort to renew visibility of the game, a project to greenlight Continuum to be released on Steam was initiated in May of 2013. Several hurdles, like proving ownership of the Continuum game client, needed to be overcome in order to get the Steam release greenlit. This was a multi-zone collaborative effort, and was eventually successful in satisfying all of Steam's submission requirements. Continuum was finally released on Steam in July of 2015. Due to this renewed visibility the game saw a decent influx of both new and returning players joining the ranks of subspace pilots. Zones and players became hopeful for the future of Continuum, and this most recent success lasted for some time. However, while approaching the 2020s, the effects of the steam launch all but vaporized, and the state of the game returned to that of uncertainty. |
^topTo 2025 and Beyond! (2025 - ?)While there were some game population spikes during the pandemic, the status of Continuum remains uncertain while traversing through the 2020s. Where there were once enough zones in the client's list to necessitate the use of a scroll button, there are now barely 15 zones online. With less than 5 of those ever breaking double-digits in their population, unless there is a special event being played that brings players out from the woodwork. Players leaving the game occured for several reasons. Many got busy with life obligations and could no longer log onto the game. Many left due to intense zone staff politics, or in-fighting. Others just felt disenfranchised and decided to call it quits. Whatever reasons players had for leaving this game, it has resulted in a very small community. Despite being in such a state, the few remaining active zones have kept the flame of Subspace/Continuum burning, and are dedicated to keeping this game alive. Going on 30 years, there is still a wide variety of gameplay to engage in, and a lot of fun to be had in Continuum.
|