Editing Spasim (section)

==Gameplay==
[[File:Spasim gameplay.jpg|thumb|right|Screenshot of gameplay; the screen at the top shows the player's view of a space station, while the bottom half of the screen displayed details about the ship's position and direction.]]
''Spasim'' is a multiplayer [[space flight simulation game]], in which up to 32 players fly spaceships around 4 planetary systems. Players are grouped into teams of up to 8 players, with 1 team per system; players add their names to the rosters of the four teams, named Aggstroms, Diffractions, Fouriers, and Lasers, each with a different type of spaceship from ''[[Star Trek]]''.<ref name="GS"/><ref name="Video"/> Players control their ships in first person in a 3D environment, with other ships appearing as wireframe models. There is no [[hidden-line removal]] implemented on the models, meaning that the models appear see-through and the player can see the wireframe of the "back" of an object as well.<ref name="GS"/> The positions of the planets and other players relative to the player update once a second.<ref name="GGG"/> Players can fire "phasers and torpedoes" to destroy other players' ships. ''Spasim'' was intended to include an educational component; players enter instructions to move their spaceships using [[polar coordinates]], e.g. altitude and [[azimuth]], along with acceleration, while their position in space is given in [[Cartesian coordinates]].<ref name="Bowery"/> Players can switch their perspective between their ship, their starting space station, and torpedoes they have launched, in addition to changing the angle and magnification zoom of their camera.<ref name="Video"/> All controls are entered via single-key text inputs.<ref name="Bowery"/>

The gameplay of the original version of ''Spasim'' is focused on space flight and combat.<ref name="Bowery"/> An updated version of the game was released a few months after the initial release that added strategy and resource management; each team's planet has resources, population levels, and standard of living. Players spend their planet's supply of "anti-entropy" on powering their spaceship or managing their planet. Teams compete or cooperate in order to gain enough resources to reach a far distant planet. Mismanaging a team's resources or over-reliance on combat causes dissatisfaction on the players' planets, and can lead to a "planetary proletariat revolt" which greatly reduces the planet's population and resources.<ref name="Bowery"/><ref name="Video"/>