The Ogre/GEV/Shockwave Cyberboard Gamebox
Version 1.0

Welcome to the Ogre/GEV/Shockwave Gamebox for Cyberboard documentation
I have used a "Frequently Asked Questions" format to (hopefully) make things clearer

Please read it through as it may forestall particular problems.

Dotted throughout this document are useful links.
All of them provide a good resource for Ogre, Cyberboard and PBEM.

I constructed this HTML for 800x600, but it should still look ok in other resolutions

Click here to return to front page

Click here to go to the Ogre webpages



Questions from Newbies: Questions from Veterans: For everyone:


What is Ogre ?

Rather than have me babble on about cybertanks and boardgame and "best-thing-since-sliced-bread", may I instead direct you to:
The Ogre Resource webpages at Steve Jackson Games
It contains all the information you could possibly require and is the best place to find anything (and everything) Ogre related.
Somewhere in the depths of The Ogre Resource webpages (yes it is that big a resource) is a link to Henry J. Cobb's The Ogre FAQ which, among other things, contains the OGREverse mailing list.

Unfortunately, if you have to ask this question you are going to run into a major stumbling block regarding the obtainability of the Ogre rules.
(see: How do I use this gamebox ?)


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What is GEV ?

GEV or "Ground Effect Vehicle" is a commercial add-on pack from
Steve Jackson Games for the original Ogre game.
It contains new units, new counters, new rules and a new playing board.


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What is Shockwave ?

Shockwave is another commercial add-on pack from
Steve Jackson Games for the original Ogre and GEV games.
It contains new units, new counters, new rules and another new playing board (designed with the GEV board in mind).


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What is Cyberboard and how do I get it ?

Cyberboard is a freeware Play By Email utility by Dale Larson for Win95/98/NT that allows you to play boardgames via email and the internet.
It uses a graphical interface (just like having the game in front of you) and your moves are communicated to your oponent via email.
It incorporates dice and a record/playback moves facility.
Don't mistake "free" for "amateur", this utility is extremely professional in design and execution.
The Cyberboard webpage explains things far better than I could.

To obtain the Cyberboard PBEM player please go to The Cyberboard webpage

Other Cyberboard resources are available at:
Walter O'Hara's Play By Email Emporium and
Chris Fawcett's Yankee Air Pirates Homepage

Cyberboard provides a platform to play the game but the game itself is contained in a "gamebox"
(see: What is a gamebox ?)



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What is a gamebox ?

A gamebox is a "box" full of goodies for the game you want to play using Cyberboard.
It contains the boards and playing pieces necessary to be able to construct a "scenario".
The player would select pieces and boards from the gamebox and create a scenario (all within Cyberboard).
It's from these scenarios that games are played.
Hopefully, the gamebox creator has provided you with enough material to be able to construct most forseeable scenarios.
If it isn't in the gamebox (or you run out of pieces) - you can't use it !

Each player in the game requires the gamebox (as the scenario and game files are just small Cyberboard data files), and game files are exchanged when turns are completed.

There is also a Cyberboard gamebox designer program that comes with the Cyberboard player program, which allows you to construct your own gameboxes.
This is what I used to construct the Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox.
Please remember, though, that most games are subject to copyright laws and permission must be sought before you distribute your finished gamebox.
Believe me, it's a lot simpler to ask first - it can save a lot of heartache in the future.
If the game company won't help you help them, go and do a gamebox for a company that respects it's customers.

NOTE: Unlike a "real" gamebox, a Cyberboard gamebox does not normally contain the rules !
The idea behind a Cyberboard gamebox is to allow you to play the game on the internet NOT replace the game itself.
(Unless its a game you have created, that is)


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How do I use this gamebox ?

Wow - this is one deep question !!

If you are brand spanking new to playing using Cyberboard, I highly reccommend the tutorial by
Walter O'Hara
The Tutorial might seem a bit daunting at first (it's not, it's actually well written) this is because Cyberboard is so versatile.

If you`ve used Cyberboard before, please remember that there are Ogre track boards to keep an eye on the condition of the Ogres during gameplay.
I`ve even provided a separate board to mount them on ingame.

As in all things, it's best just to jump in and "get comfortable".
I've included a small Ogre scenario to get you started.
Play a game against yourself to aclimatise you with using this gamebox's features.
Then have a "practice" game against a friend to iron out any multiplayer problems you may encounter.
If your still unhappy let me know where your falling down.

Of course this gamebox is not much use without the Ogre rules.
I am afraid I can't help anyone here.
To my knowledge they have been out-of-print for a long time now.
It's a shame, but I don't think Steve Jackson Games feel there will be enough sales to justify another print run.
(Although they do recognise and support the following that Ogre has generated over the years)
I`m sure they'd love to do it but, unfortunately, the player base isn't what it used to be.


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What does this gamebox provide ?

With this gamebox you get:

  • The counters and playing board of the Ogre game.
  • The counters and playing board of the GEV expansion.
  • The counters and playing board of the Shockwave expansion.
  • Extra counters
  • Ogre damage sheets (and somewhere to put them ingame)
  • Board markers
  • One starter scenario

With this gamebox you don't get:


What you might get in the future:

  • New scenarios
  • New maps
  • New units and counters
  • A messageboard
  • A list of opponents


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Who can I give this gamebox to ?

You can give it to anyone you want to play against or someone you think might be interested in it.
(You don't even need to already have Ogre to obtain this gamebox, although this would be pretty pointless).
The Ogre/GEV/Shockwave Gamebox for Cyberboard is FREEWARE.
This means you don't have to pay anything to obtain it or use it.
It doesn't mean that, because you didn't pay for it, you can do what you like with it.

Please observe these conditions for giving this product to someone or making it available for download:

Please understand I am not a control freak, but I do want to centralise support for this gamebox.
I would like people to know where this came from and how to get support for it.
I also need to gauge popularity and useage, to see if its worth my while updating.

I will take a very dim view of anyone selling this gamebox.
I could have made this shareware or commercial myself, but that would have gone against some of my personal beliefs.
If you feel an urge to give money over this gamebox, give it to your favourite charity instead.
Or you can send the money to Steve Jackson Games and say: "Now reprint Ogre, because there's still money in it".

If you are not happy with any of this then may I suggest you play Todd A. Zircher's V_Map PBEM Utility version of Ogre instead.


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Can I make scenarios for the gamebox ?

Please do !
This is what it's all about !
You have Cyberboard and you have the Ogre/GEV/Shockwave Gamebox, so you have all the pieces you need to create Ogre/GEV/Shockwave Gamebox scenarios.
Creating scenarios is catered for within the Cyberbaord player program.
Don't forget, though, that whoever you give the Ogre/GEV/Shockwave Gamebox scenario to needs the gamebox as well (or the scenario won't work).
You don't need permission from anyone to distribute homemade Ogre/GEV/Shockwave Gamebox scenarios, as the *.gsn and *.gam files don't contain any copyright material - that sort of thing is in the gamebox itself.
It would be nice, though, if you could stick to the text format I`ve used in the starter scenario included in the zipfile.

I`d be delighted if you would send them to me so I can pass them on.
I will support any scenarios sent to me and if you have a recorded game, that's even better !


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How do I get new scenarios ?

A good place to start is the
The Ogre Resource webpages
A whole section is dedicated to scenarios.
Multi Gev/Shockwave map combinations (ie: Last of the Red-Hot Coelacanths and Operation Newspaper) are impossible to reproduce with the Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox at this time, unfortunately.

New scenarios are also posted on the The Ogre Resource webpages message boards.
There is a particular message board for this type of thing.

As for scenarios created for the Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox, hopefully from my webpage.
Remember that a scenario presented in this fashion can still be adjusted (ie: counter placement) to suit the players, before the game starts.
The good thing here is that you should have all the "right" counters to play that scenario picked out, (either on the map or in the Tray Boxes) - no more can be added.

Any Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox scenario I have sent to me I will make available on my webpage (unless instructed by the authors to do otherwise).
Of course this all depends upon the users of this gamebox and whether I get sent anything.
I am relying on user support myself here.
If nobody sends me anything - I can't post it, it's as simple as that.
That's not to say I won't do Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox scenarios myself and post them, but if nobody wants them then what's the point ?


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I have an idea to improve your gamebox, what do I do ?

Let me know !
I am eager for new ideas and helpful suggestions.
(If you also want to say how much you like it, I don't mind :-)

No idea will be dismissed out of hand.
If your idea is incorporated in an updated gamebox, then I'll credit you.


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How do I contact you ?

This is probably the easiest bit of the FAQ to answer.

You can visit my
webpage
This is the best place to start as that's where the support will be.
The kind of stuff that will be there all depends on what people want.

Or you can email me
Please don't send me anything attached to an email bigger than 100 kb, unless you've warned me first.
I don't want to put anyone off sending me anything, it's just I live in the UK and if I can schedule my major internet time at the weekend it's much cheaper for me.


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About the Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox

I found out about Cyberboard early 1998 and I was amazed at what it could do.
I started to adapt Ogre (my favourite boardgame) to Cyberboard, purely as a personal excercise, and found out that using the Cyberboard Gamebox Editor was remarkably easy and even I could easily surpass what I first thought was achievable.
Things started to snowball, creatively, Ogre became Ogre and GEV, and it was a logical step from that to Ogre and GEV and Shockwave.
So over a two month period the Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox was created.
I`d enjoyed some correspondence with Dale Larson (the Cyberboard author) over this time, and because he seemed to appreciate my efforts and be incredibly supportive, I decided (unilateraly) to make it available to other would-be players.
It was released onto the internet soon after and was immediately pulled off again at the request of
Steve Jackson Games due to copyright infringements.
Warnings had been sounded by things Dale had said and the fact that Todd A. Zircher's V_Map PBEM Utility had a licence for it's Ogre game, all of this I ignored in my enthusiasm.
This was the darkest time and if it hadn't had been for the encouragement of Dale Larson and the understanding of Steve Jackson, that would have been that.
As it was Steve Jackson kindly informed me of the right way to do things, and a licence to distribute the Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox was sought.
After a couple of false starts here we are in 1999, with a licence.
HTML documentation was added, the Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox internal documentation was updated and here we have a (drumroll maestro, please) licenced Ogre/Gev/Shockwave Gamebox.

As you can probably tell I tend to waffle a lot :-)

Thanks for your time in reading this (if you ever got this far, that is)


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