was similar to Blue Byte's portal software, the Blue Byte Game Channel, due to Richard Lyle having written much of the latter. However, as time has progressed GameCQ has developed into a completely different entity. The GameCQ system deals with all login requests, as well as session information and chat abilities via a process called the MetaServer. When a player connects to one of the available servers, details are passed between the MetaServer and the selected game node so as to authenticate that user. The game servers themselves are processes which are loaded with a game map. These can range from a single solar system to a collection of them linked by jumpgates. If one map is connected to another and both are located within separate servers, the MetaServer will facilitate the transition and authentication. DarkSpace has two forms of game mode, Scenario and the MetaVerse. Scenario being a single process loaded with a map that contains one solar system, and will rotate to the next based on win conditions. The MetaVerse on the other hand is a collection of multiple processes running multiple maps linked to one another, this can be expanded whenever required based on the player base expanding or shrinking. The game client and server are a product of the Medusa engine, which is Palestar's own proprietary engine. Notes References DarkSpace Manual DarkSpace Fiction and Lore DarkSpace History External links DarkSpace Main Site Palestar Developer Website Engine and game source code on GitHub 2001 video games Science fiction video games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Windows-only games Space massively multiplayer online role-playing games Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy games Lua (programming language)-scripted video games Commercial video games with freely available source code Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Got Game Entertainment games