Introduction by Brent M. Hendricks

At some point during the development of NetSpades, I realized that a major rewrite was in order. I wasn't happy with the client/server interactions, and I wanted to add some features which just wouldn't work within the current infrastructure. So I began to formulate grandiose plans for NetSpades v5, but continued to work on the 4.X series. A little later, I began to contemplate adding the ability to play Hearts as well as Spades. But why stop there? Why not develop a general framework for playing networked games? And so my plans have developed into what I called NetGames.

Just before I was going to announce my new project on SourceForge, I happened across Rich's announcement and plans for an online gaming system. It was to be in the same vein as Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone, so he named it the Gnu Gaming Zone(GGZ). His goals and plans were so similar to mine that I suggested we merge projects and collaborate. He readily agreed, and the GGZ was born.