battlestar

battlestar [-r] [file]

-r
    Restore a saved game from file (defaults to Bstar.sav)

Battlestar is a legendary text-based adventure game from the early Unix era, inspired by the Battlestar Galactica TV series. Players take command aboard the Galactica, navigating its labyrinthine corridors, battling relentless Cylon robots, and scavenging for vital parts to repair the faster-than-light (FTL) drive.

The gameplay relies on simple, intuitive commands entered at a prompt: directional moves like north, south, east, west; actions such as get <object>, drop <object>, attack, read <sign>, and quit to save progress. Random encounters with cylons drain energy or steal treasures, while keys unlock doors and phasers provide firepower. The objective is to collect five phaser blueprints, assemble a superphaser, and destroy the Cylon mothership.

Scoring rewards exploration, combat prowess, and efficiency, with high scores saved to a hall of fame. It's a staple of BSD and Linux games collections, evoking nostalgia for terminal hackers. Playtime varies from minutes for experts to hours for newcomers discovering hidden rooms and strategies.

Requires a standard terminal; screen must support full cursor addressing.
Save files are not portable across systems.
Quit command auto-saves before exit.

Assemble 5 phaser parts, build superphaser, destroy Cylon mothership.

n/s/e/w: move; get/drop <item>; attack; read <sign>; quit (saves).

Developed in 1980 for 2.9BSD by John S. Pezaris and Edward Wang at Columbia University. Included in BSD distributions since 4.2BSD; ported to Linux via BSD games packages. Remains largely unchanged, preserving original ASCII art and logic.

rogue(6), nethack(6), hack(6), adventure(6)