2Q ZIFF-DAVIS^ 32 REVIEWS TRESPASSER; JURASSIC PARK • GRAND PRIX LEGENDS . CAESAR III • SHOGO January 1999 GAMING The #1 PC Game Magazine SID MEIER'S ALPHA CENTAURI Plus More War & Core! 10 Top Systems We Rate the Best Big-Name PCs How to 51^ 29 Scorching New Games! TOTAL ANNIHILATION: KINGDOMS HOMEWORLD AGE OF EMPIRES II BRAVEHEART CLOSE COMBAT III 'www.gtgaines- Flesh-eaOng Fleeclies! Unileail niudomUies! Bane-gpindlng Greeteps! Other heroes have swords, chainsaws, and vaporizers to doal with their monstroos enemies. In Oddworid. all you've got is gas. Ahe now has the ahility to possess his own farts and blow his enemies away! It's a power he's going to need if he's going to stop the Glukkon Meat Barons from making Soulstorm Brew - the only beverage made from real Mudokon tears and bones. Fart possession. No other game has it and frankly, we're not sure any other game would want it I Test Drive Off-Road 2, the only 4-wheeling experience thats guaranteed to get you high. ■ Hutnnier eiclusive- The only place you'll drive the wortd famous Hummer ■ Awesome Soundtrack Featuring: Sevendust, Gravity Kills, and Fear Factory Dual SlMck° Analog Controllo- support- Vibration so real, you risk whiplash! ■ World Tour mode- Blow away your competiHon in any of 6 different track classes to open hidden tracks mid buy new vetudes and/or upgrades. ■ 12 gnarly tracks in 6 real world locaHons- Go muddoggin', spray rooster taTs, blow snow, churn up sand and surf- or bash, crash and smash your opponents into boulders, trees, edits or mud pits. ■ Choose from 20 kSlervehtcIes!- Including ad your favorite off-road behemoths- Do(^e‘ Ram, Ford Eiplorer?' Jeei^ Wrangler, Ford F-IS07 Chenowth (fflV), Jeep. Grand Cherokee, Dodge’ TRei and more.. For your free Test Flight, download the demo at www.accolade.com To order direct, cal] 1.800.24S.7744 '1‘Ji U-J Race from the Alps to the beaches of Hawaii Catch serious air off insane jumps 'Road mayhem at its best! PliiySlalion Test Drive Off-Road is a registered trademarii of Accolade, Inc. ©1998 Accolade, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are of thtir respecOve companies and are used under license by Accolade, Inc. PlayStation’ and the PlayStatioit” logos are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Hummer’ and the vehicle’s grille de^gn are the registered trademarks of AM General Corp. Go to #055 @ www.computergamlng.com/lnfolink Am mjTjiI iTlffl If 1 EPIC ACTION FIGURES Go to #267 @ www.cbmputergaming.com/lnfolink Bigger Game World. Improved Combat Al. Comprehensive RPG System. FALLOUT 2: A POST-NUCLEAR ROLE PLAYING GAME ©1998 Interplay Produclions. All rights reserved. Fallout, Interplay, the Intel ploy logo. Black Isle Studios, the Black Isle Studios logo, and "By Gamers, For Gamers." are trademarks ot Interplay Productions, All rights toservod. WindowsQ!)95 and Winclow5®98 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. All other Iracionifirks and copyrights are properties ol their respective owners. maiVin tebai se Rogue Squs noodMonsiet gtapKics ca ROGUE SQUADRON HAVE BEEN - SELECTED TO iLEAD the ROGUE Squadron in COMBAT AGAINST THE EMPIRE. HERE'S YOUR DRAFT CARD m Your draft card? A 3D accelerator card, of course. It’s the mandatorv hardware necessary for you to enlist in a brand new, rapid-fire Star Hiirs air combat experience - Rogue Squadron 3D. Immerse yourself in tlic role of Luke Skywalkcr, leader of the Rebel Alliance’s elite air corps, as you pilot a broad range of well-armed srarfighters. From X-wings, Y-wings and A-wings to snowspeeders. I the evil Empire in over 15 missions (day and night) - each spanning the vast i'/flr Jl{irs al shuttles and more. Strap in, young Skywalker. It’s the fight (and flight) of your life. Go to #185 @ www.computergaming.com/lnfoIink COMPUTER JANUARY 1999 No. 174 r-rfiT The #1 PC Game Magazine NC WORLD FEATURES 72 Strategy Blowout Think you're the greatest strategist since Rommei anti Napoieon? Weli, you'il soon be able to test your mettle in the lastest batch of strategy games, including the highly anticipated TOTAL ANNIHILATION: KINGDOMS. We've got the scoop on 29 hot new games in this giant featurel PREVIEWS Building the Perfect Game it takes much more than just thinking up an idea and programming a few lines of code to make a great game. To make matters even more complicated, each game genre imposes a different set of concerns to consider. Our editors take a dose, inside look at game design in five genres. Plus, we give you legal advice about starting your own development company. Redline This is one driving game that deariy falls in the action category. You'll crash, bump, and collide your way to victory — if you're man enough to handle it 54 Hired Guns Will this new perspective on squad-level, first- person combat breathe some fresh air into the tired action genre? 58 This year's crop of UGMs is cheaper and better than ever before. Our tech experts, Dave Salvator and Loyd Case, give you the lowdown on getting a great rig that will make your games shine — without breaking your wallet in the process. Ultimate Game Machine Start Your Own Game Company .246 README System Shock 2 Jane's A-10 Confirmed Kill Anachronox Daikatana and Much More! HARDWARE Hardware News 276 Loyd Case What the hell does Lord of the Rings have to do with hardware? 280 Killer Gaming Rigs 283 Intel Socket 8 OverDrive 286 Monsoon MM-1000 Planar Speakers 286 AQ force RS Wheel 288 Intel Celeron-A 333 288 Logitech Soundman Extreme Speakers 289 Proton 750i Monitor w/Speakers 289 Intensor Seat 292 ThrustMaster NASCAR Sprint Wheel 292 ViewSonic 15-inch LCD Monitor 296 GAMER'S EDGE Rainbow Six Our strategies will help you defeat any terrorists the game can throw at you 368 Scorpio's Mail Scorpia answers your toughest adventuring questions 372 Gamer's Edge Tips Tips for CREATURES 2, SHOGO. THE PEOPLE'S GENERAL, THE OPERATIONAL ART OF WAR, INDEPENDENCE WAR, FINAL FANTASY VII, AND PANZER COMMANDER 1.2 376 Rainbow Six DEPARTMENTS Johnny Wilson Is the PC game industry as myopic as it seems? 21 Denny Atkin The best and worst in gaming, 1 998 edition 24 Terry Coleman BLACKSTONE CRONICLES, and why a good story makes a great game 27 On the CG-ROM Demos, tools, and goodies on CD 30 On the Web Recommended reading on GameSpof and CGW Online 34 Letters Email missives and submissives 39 Reviews Introduction 30 i Reviews Index Three months of game ratings 305 Hall of Fame The greatest games of all time 380 Top 100 Readers rate the top games 382 Greenspeak Complain, complain, complain 384 REVIEWS Action Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero 308 Shogo 312 Klingon Honor Guard 316 Trespasser Jurassic Park 318 Return Fire 2 322 Simulations/Space F16 Multirole Fighter/ MiG 29 Fulcrum 326 Combat Flight Sim 330 Pro Pilot 332 Adventure/Role-playing Morpheus 334 Hexplore 336 Rage of Mages 338 EBKIHHi Grand Prix Legends 340 Need for Speed III 342 Madden 99 346 Front Office Football 348 NCAA Football 99 350 Caesar III Strategy/Wargames Caesar 111 352 Age of Empires Expansion Pack: The Rise of Rome 354 Knights and Merchants 356 Axis 8i Allies 358 Entrepreneur Corporate Expansion 360 War Along the Mohawk 362 Puzzle/Classics Creatures 2 364 ISOO A.O.- 900 A.D. 1200 A.D. 300 A.D. 600 A.D. 2000 0.C. 3000 B.C: 4000 e.c. COLONIZE THE PLANET AND BEYOND Retrace the steps of mankind across the globe. Build orbital space colonies and add speed to your arsenal. Discover and harvest vast oceanic resources to grow immense underwater empires. COMMAND, DEFEND, AND CONQUER Command powerful armies and make every social, economic and political decision. Deploy over 65 beautifully-detailed units, 7000 years worth of weaponry, and over 100 technological advances. AcliVisioH Introducing the Next Generation of the Greatest Strategy Game Series of All Time. CALL TO POWER More units, buildings, Wonders and technologies ■ Vast new realms: Space and Sea ■ Fully-animating, hi-res, 16-bit graphics Ail-new strategies. Including unconventional warfare ■ Breakthrough time-saving interface ■ Enhanced diplomatic and trade options Scenario Builder - internet and UN Multiplayer ■ All-new Wonders of the World in stunning cinematics COMING SOON TO SonwareForPCs.com WWW.aCtivisiOll.COm Go to #145 @ www.computergBmlng.com/infollnk Civilization; Call to Power &i 1998 Activision, Inc. Activision Is a registered trademark and Call to Power Is a trademark of Activision, Inc. CIVILIZATION computer games E 1991-1998 MIcroProse Soltware, Inc. CIVILIZATION Is a trademark or registered trademark of MIcroProse. Inc. or Its affiliated companies. This product Is made and sold under license from MIcroProse. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. 'The STB Velocity 4400 has surpassed the Creative TNT^as TNT card of choice. With fastet^penformanoB, TV-out, and a low price, the STB- Velocity 4400 might very well be the beSt TNT to date.„go for the Velocity inst^^^of the^Creative." 'The first word that comes to my mind when descdbing NVIDlA's new TNT 3D graphic a^elerator iSiWOW! The visual quality and frame rates. .vwere astounding." I m 01 hi tf tistB teml mmi 4M' b I mdiMl «l sn iiM, k M liri> ■ of ^ cind G200. All of Ire I'irig; .rtvazond.com • RIVA TNT "'' 1 28-bit 3D/2D and video accelerator • 1 6MB of memory for resolutions up to 1 920x1 200 • 250MHz RAMDAC for refresh rates up to 1 6 OH 2 • Output to monitor or TV (s-video & composite) • Windows 95, 98, NT and OpenGL support • Lifetime warranty and unlimited toll-free support • Available for AGP and PCI bus ;2VIDIA STB products are available at: www.stb.com r coMPjsfi -ffgij- BaCbage's .'SJt -I Go to #167 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink S1998 Westwood Studios. Inc. Lands ol Lore is a registered trademark and Westwood Studios is a iradeniark of Westwood Studios. Inc. 3Dfx and the 30jx logo are registered trademarks of SDfx IMeractive Inc. Alt rights reserved. Beyond the portal lies the most powerful Lands of Lore* experience yet. The Journal automatically chronicles your quest by identifying spells, describing creatures encountered, cataloguing magical recipes, showing skill levels and automapping your location. E urope 1940-1941, the German war machine has just conquered alf of France. Hitler's hordes look out across the English Channel to the White Cliffs of Dover and are ready to cross and bring Britain to her knees. Only one obstacle remains in their path-The British Royal Air Force! and creators of the famous Steel Panthers'” series, have teamed up n across ttie Scramble! Send up fighters to intercept incoming Direct hit! Check damage assessment on Individual Channel. Luftwaffe raids. targets— airfields, railroads and industrial facilities. with TalonSoft" to deliver a revolutionary new strategy wargame. combines an intensity and variable depth of play never experienced before in a computer wargame. ■lu ©Copyright 1998 TalonSoft Inc., RO, Box 43730, White Marsh, MD 21236 Call (410) 933-9191 or visit our web site at WWW.tBlOIISOftiiCOm TalonSoft's Battle of Britain™ is a registered trademark of TalonSoft Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respeclive holders. Go to #242 @ www.computergamlng.com/lnfolink Bad Moon Rising A Primer on PC Game Industry Myopia T he year was 1985. The Atari 2600 generation was dead, its only eulogy an incredible urban legend of E.T. cartridges buried in an Arizona land- fill. PC game publishers were scrambling for money to put out a few meager titles, and CEOs from game pub- lishers laughed loudly at the new 8-bit game machine from a playing card company in Japan, "Don't they know that the home game- machine market is dead?" smirked one such CEO (no longer in our business) at a Consumer Electronics Show when Nintendo unveiled its first entertainment system. But the last laugh was on the PC game industry, as well as on the retailers that laughed at Nintendo's initial contacts. Before the 8-bit days were over, Nintendo of America sold 30 million NE5 systems, making it the most popu- lar video game system ever. Nintendo won the battle for young- ster's hearts with a combination punch that included: a) ease of use. b) quality control standards, c) mar- ket inventory control, d) controlled price devaluation, and e) aggres- sive marketing, The PC game industry has grown (in terms of revenue earned, titles offered, and units sold) over the years, but has never had the phe- nomenal success experienced by Nintendo in the 8-bit market, Sega in the 16-bit market, and Sony in the 32-bit market. It seems like each time around, the merry marketing minions in the console world have to learn the old lessons anew. Lessons that the PC game market has never learned. There have been enough lamen- tations in this column about the lack of a stable platform and the implications of that lack upon ease- of-use, so I'll avoid that rant. wants to get the product "out of herel " Console makers build in a definite QA time and actually have gamers play the games in order to get an idea of play balance. How long has it been since you felt that a game had been "play balanced" prior to shipping? The most important secret to Nintendo's (and later, Sega's, and later. Sony's) success was inventory control. There was a time when I, as a free-market advocate, sneered at the monopolistic control of the market by the console manufaaur- ers as repressive. Yet I know this much; They would never have placed 3,700-f- titles on the market (as PC game publishers did in 1 998; see the article on holiday J^oad is the way that ieadeth unto destruction. y-Gam/ng Messiah However, the second point is some- what related to that issue. It's diffi- cult to have bug-free software with- out a standard machine to run that software on. That standard machine does not exist in the PC world, no matter what Mr. Gates' hucksters try to sell us. Yet we could and should learn a lesson from the con- sole world's quality assurance efforts. Too often, our development teams in the PC world work past the time when a program was scheduled to be mastered, and the product testing is conducted in a frenzied rush because the producer December Game Sales Source: PC Oatj 1 Yes KGsme Titles UnitsSddaDec Decffei«me Dec '92 1,139 3,623,552 5117.110,351 $375,660,339 Dec '93 1,315 4,384,174 $144,544,479 $636,667,875 Dec '94 1,835 4,694,400 $190,054,285 $808,011,857 Dec '95 2,266 7,018,760 $235,217,720 $914,741,525 Dec '96 2,420 8,958,603 $279,883,330 $1,072,306,763 Dec '97 3,150 11,751,269 $313,031,040 $1,293,621,614 Dec '98 (Est.) 3,780 14,101,522 $344,334,144 $1,409,918,197 glut in last month's Read.Me). In fact, you could always tell when a console machine was reaching its last legs because the manufactur- ers would increase the allotment of titles allowed to each licensee. In the PC world, we claim that we can regulate ourselves, and every year we promise that we'll do /ewerand better titles. And every year, the number of titles offered goes up. This means, inevitably, less retail shelf space as titles push and shove for attention; less marketing/advertising money per title as they attempt to get your attention; and (the spirit of a previ- ous point) less time for shaking down and fine-tuning individual products. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard someone say, "We're going to make fewer, but higher quality products," I'd be able to upgrade my computer annually without working. In the console world, manufac- turers knew they could continually was a powerful weapon in fighting the shelf wars and it made certain that the products it released wouldn't ding the brand. In the PC world, we simply attempt to create branding on the fly. Put out a few clunkers? Change the name of the publisher. Botch the first release? Put up a patch or promise to get it right in the sequel/gold/special edition. The Big N guys understood that lousy products meant a lousy reputation. The PC game guys tend to think their customers suffer from amnesia. From the vantage point of a long-time (some say too-long) editor in this business, I think the PC game market is the closest to the Atari experience of 1984 that we've ever been. We're over- leveraged, understimulated, and oversated, if we don't start learning the lessons of sales curve past, 1999 is (in the ill-fated vernacular of Yogi Berra) going to look like deja vu all over again. i-r drop the retail price of the machine as long as they could produce it more cheaply. This would allow more machines to penetrate the mass market as the prices (as well as costs) dropped. In the PC game world, we keep seeing development budgets rise and retail costs drop. As it is, retailers are selling at near- zero profit and making their money from cooperative advertising and gimmicks. Where is the incentive for quality if the retailers make their money with or without a sale? The ex-preacher in me wants to say, "Broad is the way that Ieadeth unto destruction" when I see the pathetic situation at retail. Nintendo used aggressive mar- keting. It understood that its brand h CS www.computergaming.c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 A '» c;i Environmental Audio’* bv CREATIVE* Half-Life supports a variety of 3D cards, but one is not required. first and foremb^ must-buy title of the sead - PC Gamer ‘‘A dizzyiiig marriage of non-stop action and narrative.f ^ - Co m p ute r G a m i n g Wojl^f “Tour de Force.. .a symphoni|^j|l|MdA£f>^ ' actidft, drama, adventure and stmv^’ - Unified Gamers Online ?L|fe is the best D game in existence.” -PC Gamer UK “Half-Life restored my faith in gaming.” -Gamespot “Oh...my...God.” -Adr^feline .V O'EV ElO P I D STUDIOS W W W ,,S I E R fi A S T U 0 I 0 S . C O M VALVE © 1998 Sierra On-Line, Inc.,® and/or™ designate trademarks of, or licensed to Sierra On-Line, Inc., Bellevue, WA 98007. All'rjghls reserved. ^9JlfIV3lv^L.LC. All ^tsjfiserved. Valve anrt^tha Vaive logo are trademarks of Valve LLC-.This product contains software lechnology licensed from Id Software, Inc. ("Id Technology''), Id %tinol.dnfe I995ltd So{^ace,,iijc. D)fect3p is^ifradelnaflji ,.8>id y^oft^nd Windowd are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporatfon. OpenGL js a trademark of Silicon Graptiics Computer Systems. ' Goto#182 ® www.compufik^amingicom/infoUnk f„ What Rocks, What Bites k Look at the Good and Bad in Gaming: 1998 Edition T his lime last year I gave awards in this column celebrating the best and worst of the year's gaming trends. Since the column was focused on sims {I've since been unleashed on the entire industry by the powers that be at CGWl, the awards were named after the superb F-15 Eagle and the anemic Brewster Buffalo. Those aren't really appropriate for more genera! lauds and criticisms, though, and I resisted Thierry "Scooter" Nguyen's suggestion to label trends as "Da Bomb" and "Hella Gimpy." So without further ado, let's look at 1998's utilitarianly named Gaming Ups and Gaming Downs, Gaming Ups One trend that hasn't gotten much attention but which deserves appreciation is the upsurge in mis- sion editors being included with games. Special kudos to Activision for including the actual mission development tools for games like BATTLEZONE on game CDs. Even if you don't want to create your own missions, these editors mean you'll find a wealth of extended game- play opportunities on the Net. Similarly, applause to Microsoft and Activision/Parsoft for making the formats for their planes avail- able. We're looking forward to a wealth of cool add-on planes for COMBAT FLIGHT SIMULATOR and FIGHTER SQUADRON. Wonderful gaming experi- ences — and huge crowds — were found on Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone, Jane's Combat.Net, and Blizzard's battle.net. We're happy to see services like Game- storm adopt more realistic pricing models ($9.99/month is a killer deal for what it offers), but the mass-market future is with the companies who offer free play and make their money off selling boxed games or online advertising. Kudos to AMD for the K6-2 processor with 3DNow! tech- nology, which offers Pentium II- level performance for Socket 7 computers. I wouldn't actually choose the processor myself (I put in my decade as an Amiga user — I'm allowed to be main- stream now), but you can be sure that the great prices on Pentium I! and Celeron systems are more due to the competition from the likes of AMD than to any gen- erosity on Intel's part. The drop in system prices is a mixed "Up." It's great that we can buy top-of-the-line gaming Gaming Downs The biggest bummers of 1998 were when great games didn'tseW in a market in which some utter crap has posted huge numbers. BAHLEZONE and F22 ADF are prime examples, BATTLEZONE— which got a five-star CGW review — sold about one-tenth the number of copies that DEER HUNTER sold. C'mon, there's 300,000 of you reading this. Let's all go buy copies of BATTLEZONE right now. Put down the mag and make a statement about good games. {And no. I'm not on Activision's payroll. You're thinking of Jeff Green.) Another downer was the licensing frenzy around ancient arcade titles. BATTLEZONE might have sold better If It hadn't been saddled with the moniker of a dusty old arcade game that most of us grew bored with after about five quarters. Jeers to Intel for doing its best to defeat overdocking by power- between the OpenGL and DirectX camps have petered out. but the fact remains that novice gamers are still faced with games support- ing various combos of Direct3D, OpenGL, and 3Dfx Glide, Hey Microsoft — why not add a "plug- in" architecture to DirectX6 that would allow companies like 3Dfx to add new 3D features without waiting for a major DirectX revi- sion? Then we could put propri- etary APIs to bed once and for all. Four million bucks spent on DOMINION: STORM OVER GIFT 3— our industry's equivalent to the S40 million poured into Ken Starr's foray into erotica writing. Just think — Ion Storm could have spent that money sprucing up their facili- ties (maybe they could use another row of $4,000 seats for their THX- equipped in-office theater). The obligatory flame goes out to every company that released a game that needed patches to be good. How many gamers will never know that RAINBOW SIX, iF/A-18, Finish the games, then ship them. This trend could kill our industry. PCs for under $2,000 now, and that the surge in power will make for even more impressive games. But that has to be frustrating to folks who've found their Pentium 233MMX systems to be already on the anemic side. A surprising Up was Windows 98. Sure, the upgrade was unnec- essary for most Win 95 users. But after spending a few months with the operating system, I've been very impressed with its stability and ease of {re)installation. Finally, cheers to the developers of HALF-LIFE and RAINBOW SIX, who showed us that 3D shooters can be about more than fast reflexes and cool lighting effects. users in its latest Celeron and Pentium II revisions. While we're happy that unknowing consumers won't be as easily taken by dealer- remarked processors, we're sad to see savvy users prevented from getting extra game performance out of their systems. If this really is to protect consumers and not just a marketing decision, how come almost every user who tried to overclock a Celeron 266MHz to run at 400MHz (or even at 448MHz) was successful? The conspiratorial- ly inclined might suspect that processors are being anrferclocked by Intel for marketing purposes. Another downer was the 3D API confusion. The heated exchanges and Ml TANK PLATOON II ended up being good gaming experiences? Finish the games, then ship them. This trend could kill our industry. Raspberries to the developers of every DOS game released in 1998. DOS is dead, Jim. Move on. The biggest downer of the year was Dani Bunten Berry passing on. She was a talent who ranked right up with Sid Meier. Her M.U.L.E. and SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD helped keep me sane in college. She practically invented multiplayer gaming. And she was a funny, gracious, and def- initely interesting individual. The industry will miss her, and the loss of her talents is one that all gamers share. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 /computcrgammg.c THE INTERNET’S GAME SUPERSTORE B- // GREAT PRICES ON THESE TITLES & MORE 1 - 800 - 610-2614 VIP CODE: CGW4 WWW.GAMEDEALER.COM Lots of Information Prompt Delivery $4.00 Shipping* 0 HAi L r-L 1 r c 1^9 nm ENEMY INFESTATION HALF - LIFE FALLOUT 2 NHL '99 WINDOWS MACINTOSH t; PLAYSTATION NINTENDO SEGA^ Fox 1-212-387-8021 International 1-212-358-9100 251 PokAve South New York, NY 10010 *$4.00 rate US Priority Mail, US orders only. Additional shipping methods are avoiloble. ** All orders placed before January 30, 1999. © 1998 ActionWorlil, Inc. All rights reserved. The Gome Dealer lego, The Internet's Gome Superstore and I Ploy Gomes are trademarks or registered trademarks of AciionWorld, Inc. in the IIS ond other countries. All ether trodemorks belong to their respective owners. Go to #295 © www.computergaming.com/infoiink SPACE MARINES* vs. THE FORCES Of CHAOS GATE* is squad-level, turn-based tactical ! action that's utterly uut nf this wnrid! Cummand a squad of up to 2D Space Marines'* and pursue the evil Chaos Space Marines'* through the Warhammer'* 4D.0.D0 universe! > PURSUE the campaign immediately, or take>on randomly generated missions to gain experience and acguire , items of power. Whichever you choose — prepare for'the unexpected! • CDMMANO the vehicles nf the Wabhammer® 4D.00D universe: Predator tanks. Rhino APCs. Land Speeders and Dreadnoughts. wommf tfiNDOWS‘35 CD-ROM '©1S98 Strategic Simulations. Inc. All ilglils reserved. The SSI logo Isaregislercd irndemaiR and CHAOS GATE is a trademark ol Strategic SImulaliorts. Inc. Artwork and Imagery 01998 Games Workshop Lid. Warhammer. Games Workshop and Space Marines arc rcgislcrod trademarks and Ullrartiarines. Predators. Rhino. Deadnoughts. Terminators artd Oevastalors are trademarks ol Games Workshop Ltd. Windows ts a registered trademark or trademark of Microsolt Corporation in llie United Stales and/or other courttries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respeclive holders. Co to #1 32 @ www.computergaming.coin/lnfolink WWW.CHADSGATE.COM Played a Good Book Lately? BUICKSTONE CHRONICLES Is a PC Page-turner T here are few things in iife more satisfying than curl- ing up next to a fireplace with a cat in your lap, a bowl of fresh Cheez-lts at your side, and a really good book. If you spend as much time on planes and trains as I do, you find other ways to enjoy your favorite authors. Listening to Wiiliam Gibson read Neuromancer on tape once heiped me through a particu- larly turbulent East Coast flight. And the iate Roger Zeiazny's recital of A Night in the Lonesome October is as close to the consum- mate Halloween entertainment as you're iikeiy to find this side of Beia Lugosi's ghost, But one way I've rarely been able to enjoy my favorite books is when they've been transiated into games. Part of this is a lack of vision on the part of game pro- ducers: The same sort of get-the- license-first thinking that gives us bad Batman movies aiso gives us bad Spider-Man games. Because the peopie in charge think the audience for these products must be the juvenile market, the prod- ucts themselves suffer from being dumbed down. One would think, however, that mysteries and thriiiers wouidn't have this problem since the audi- ences for these stories range from young aduit and upward. How- ever, the only game of signifi- cance based on a literary work in the past few years was 1 HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM, Vl/hile that game garnered critical acclaim — it was CGWs adven- ture game of the year in 1 996—1 HAVE No MOUTH bombed at the box office. Legend in the Making Help is finally on the way. Legend Entertainment has teamed with horror novelist John Saul to do a game based on the author’s best-selling The Blackstone Chronicles, which shouid be avaii- abie about the time you read this. One of the reasons that THE BLACKSTONE CHRONICLES fares bet- ter than attempts by other high- powered authors (such as Michaei Crichton's somnambuiistic AMAZON) is that the game was developed essentially as an addi- tional novel in the series — much like Raymond Feist's BETRAYAL AT KRONDOR (Dynamix, 1993). needless abstractions of games like THE 11TH HOUR. As you journey through your father's asylum — now converted to a museum — you're confronted by the horrors perpetrated by your father in the name of psychological research. The more facts you dis- cover, the more you must deal with his iegacy as well as your own unsavory past. Moreover, you can never be really sure exactly how much is real and how much is your imagination; Can this reaiiy be your father's ghost speaking to you? Is your son actually in danger? Did you somehow help put him there? Aside from the whodunit aspects of the game, BLACKSTONE is particuiariy powerful in its depic- tion of psychological treatments. For example, it's one thing to read about some random individual undergoing electroshock therapy. BLACKSTONE's puzzles derive naturally from the plot line, a refreshing change from games like THE 11 TH HOUR. The RIVEN crowd will swoon over BLACK- STONE's sumptuous graphics, courtesy of Presto Studios (THE JOURNEYMAN PROJECT series), and game- starved fans of tradi- tional adventures will enjoy the tightly woven and atmospheric story, which at times struck me as even more enjoy- able than the books. What impresses me most is that the puz- zles — the heart of any adventure game — derive naturally from the plot line, a refresh- ing change from the It's quite another to have your character strapped into a chair dur- ing the game, trying to find a way out as the clock ticks down to the initiation of flowing current. It's the pacing of the game — sometimes thoughtful then switch- ing to stark immediacy — that makes BLACKSTONE work as a PC thriller. As adventure games try to reinvent themselves in the post- MYST era, this is one game that can really appeal to both main- stream and core audiences. My hat's off to Legend and to Mindscape for publishing this one. Maybe one of these days we'll be able to argue whether A TALE OF TWO CITIES for Windows 2001 is better than Super-DVD FAHRENHEIT 451 . We can only hope. A ii.computergaf7iing,< COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 O 1998 CalBway2000. Inc. All rights reserved. Gateway and Ihe Gateway slyirzed logo arolradomarks.and Oealrnalion and Field Mojse are registered trademarks ol Gateway 2000, Inc. The Intel Irrside Logo and Intel ara registered trademarks, and Celeron is a trademark ol the Intel CorporaLcm. All other brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks ol Iheir respective companies. All prices and conligurations are subject to change without notica Of obligation. Pncesdorot include shipping and handling or any other applicabla taxes. Many Gateway products are engineered to Gateway specifications, which may vary Irom retail versions ol Iho software and'or hardware in lunclionahty, performance or compalibilrty. 1. Maximum data Iransfor rate dependent upon cetlain vanables, incjugmg panicular moderns wlh vrh'ich you are conimunicatino, telephone lines, communicalions soltware and communicaiions protdcois. 2. Calf 1-8(jO-GATEWAY or wnte us at Gateway Terms & Conditions, RO. Box 1951, North Sioux City, St? 57049-1951 tor a free copy of our If home entertainment is your game, Destination® XTV is the ultimate thrill. It’s an ultra-high resolution monitor. It’s a DVD player for movies in pure digital clarity. It’s a high-end audio system. A game station. Internet access. Even a PC. Simply put, it combines an intense set of features for performance that’ll leave you breathless without ever leaving your living room. Desfinafion^ eicATsays Destination XTV 27" Television • Ultra-high Resolution — 600 Lines Progressive Scan • Dual Mode Screen Optimization • Digitolly Enhanced & Line Doubled TV Output • 181-Channel, Cable-ready TV Tuner Installed • On-screen Control of VCR, Stereo & Other AA/ Devices DVD Player • Full Pixel Density DVD Playback • C-Cube High-Performonce Hardware MPEG Decoder • Dolby* Digital Output • Plays Audio CDs. PC Games and Applications Digital Audio System • Creative Audio High-Fidelity Wavetable Sound • High Signal-to-Noise Ratio with Integrated Speakers • Three Audio Inputs with Analog and Digital Outputs Came Station • Supports Microsoft® Windows®OS-Based Games • Internet MultiPlayer Gaming Support • High-Performance 3-D Graphics Internet Access • Fast Internet Access with Installed SSK'Technology Modem • High-Resolution Clarity on Ail Sites • Data, Fax, and Visual Caller ID Alert PC Features • Latest Technology Intel* Celeron™ Processor • 3.2GB Storage Capacity • Cordless Keyboard and Field Mouse* Universal Remote ■ Microsoft Windows 98 • Microsoft Home Essentials™ Software • Gateway Gold™ Service’ $1999 or As low as $56/month for 48 months’ Internet access provided by gateway.net^'^ for $14.95/mo.^ Home Theater Upgrade-$999 ■ 36" Television (35.5" Viewable) ■ Boston Acoustics® Digital Theater™ 6000 Dolby® Digital Surround Sound System Celeron' Let’s talk about your Gateway call 1-800-846-8571 www.destination.com ON THE CC-ROM Make Time Fly Climb In, Take Off and Blow Stuff Up on the CD-ROM WORLD WAR II FIGHTERS Fiy as an /^encan or German fighter in the demo of this amazing sim from Jane's If you liked Ubi Soft's FI Racing Simulation, take this out for a spin F ighter jocks are in for a treat this month. We bring you an exclusive demo of the CG-Choice winning Total Air War. Get a taste of a real dynamic campaign as you try to secure the Sudanese border in less than 12 hours. If your tastes run more toward classical planes, then fire up the Jane's World War II Fighters demo. You’ll get alternating missions as either American pilots attacking a town, or a Luftwaffe ace trying to intercept said Americans. WWII Fighters will be the game to show your friends how powerful your new computer is, thanks to the beautiful 3D engine. If you're more of a driver than a flyer, take a spin in Ubi Soft's Monaco Grand Prix Racing Simulation; you get to race two tracks in this demo from the people who brought you FI Racing Simulation. Fans of Sid Meier's classic Railroad Tycoon will want to see If Phil Steinmeyer (designer of the first two Heroes of Might & Magic games) can recreate that old Sid magic with the demo of Railroad Tycoon II. You can either try to become a multimillionaire from the period between 1 870 to 1 905, or you could try to make a railroad that connects Cape Town and Cairo. Once you've mastered those two scenarios, you can fiddle with the map editor and lay out your own scenarios; you can't save in the demo, but at least you can brush up on the skills necessary for map-making. Action gamers, be sure to load up Vigilance, the Golden EvE-style shooter where you play one of three agents sent out to assassinate a base commander. Once you've exhausted the single-player In the demo, you can hook up for a multiplayer deathmatch via H.E.A.T. Finally, if you own a copy of Warlords III: Dark Loros Rising (a CG-Choice winner from last issue), you can install the three new Red Orb-created scenarios. PRODUCT NAME PLATFORM 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball W95 Dark Side of the Moon video W95 Dead Reckoning W95 Dominant Species W95 Monaco Grand Prix Racing W95 Railroad Tycoon II W95 TEN W95 Total Air War W95 Vigilance W95 WWII Fighters W95 DirectX 5.2 W95 Warlords III: DLR scenarios W95 DIRECTORY/DEMOS EXECUTABLE NASCAR pinball pinball.exe dark side dsom.mpg dead reckoning setup.exe dominant sp setup.exe monaco mgprs_d6.exe RR tycoon setupex.exe TEN setup.exe TAWdemo setup.exe vigilance setup.exe WWII fighters WWI1FightersDemo.exe directx dx5eng.exe wldlr scenarios *.w3s How To Use the Disc ■he CD is Autoplay-enabled and should begin upon loading it into the CD-ROM drive. Otherwise, from the Start Menu in Windows 95 and type D:\RUN-ME (where D is the letter of your CD-ROM drive) to run it straight from the CD. You may type D:\INSTALL to create a CGW program group on your Windows desktop for future fun. Many demos require the disc to be in the CD-ROM drive in order to run; therefore, we recommend installing the demos from our disc. To Get the CD-ROAA T o subscribe to the CD-ROM version of the magazine, call (303) 665-8930. If you already receive the magazine without the CD, you must wait until your current subscription expires before receiving the CD version. Please address subscription complaints to cgw@neodata.com. Neodata is a magazine fulfillment house that is not owned or operated by Ziff-Davis. a. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 / .computergaming. c 1 Empire, this official Expaosion Pack also includes features four new campaigns and production queues to I Pick, 01998 Miciowtl Coi| Presenting the Age of Empires Expansion: The Rise of Rome. Age of Empires is now going where you always and punishing Fire Galley— all on new and challenging jiik wanted it to go: Rome. In addition to the Roman maps. Plus, this highly anticipated Expansion Pack the legendary civilizations of Palmyra. Macedonia, and Carthage, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Test your mettle with new units like the crafty Camel Rider, powerful Scythe Chariot, fearless Slinger, carefully plan your historic civilization's growth. So visit www.microsoft.com/gamcs/aoccxpansion and start extending Age of Empires into a new era of world domination. Microsoft @ 1998 ActirMon, Inc. All r^bb men^ SPECIAL OPS STEALTH-SQUAD COMBAT IN 40 INDOOR/OUTDOOR MISSIONS. BATTLES IN HOSTILE SCI-FI CONDITIONS - CflCTFR COMBAT ACTION WITH ACTIVISION'S FROM OUTER SPACE TO SWAMP ZONES. iHu I Ell ALL-NEW DARK SIDE ENGINE. AHACKS ON INTELUGENT ENEMY FORCES THAT ADAPT TO YOUR TACTICS. ON THE WEB Go Get It Online Plug In for the Latest News, Reviews, Demos, and Strategies F or the best in gaming, turn to the experts at GameSpot and C6W Online. You'll find a wealth of news, reviews, and previews as well as cool demos and hard-core strategies for all the hottest games. You'll also find excellent technical advice and game-based hardware reviews from technical guru Loyd Case, Don't waste time or hard-earned cash — when you need accurate information, read what the pros have to say at www.gamespot.com. Hot Previews For the latest previews, turn your browser to GameSpot, where we've got extended previews of the industry's hottest upcoming games. We also keep our eye out for those sleeper games that sneak under the radar or just won't fit in the pages of Computer Gaming World. Here is a sample of some of the previews you can expect at GameSpot. Heroes of Might and Magic Hi Now that you've no doubt read CGWs early preview of Heroes of Might and Magic III (in the December "Holiday Hot 100" issue), goto GameSpot, where you'll find a longer preview with even more detailed information on the game's campaigns, each of the 1 6 new hero types, the 8 castle types, and descriptions of the more than five dozen new monsters and spells. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri GameSpot Aptitude Test Our biggest feature this year is our GameSpof Aptitude Test, a compilation of 160 questions that will test even the most devoted computer game fan's knowledge of games. This is the first test of its kind, covering a decade of games and designers. We've got all sorts of questions, including multiple choice, analogies, matching, audio and visual questions. Think you know games? Think again. Take the 6a/ne5pof Aptitude Test and see if you're a master of game knowledge or just a thumb-twiddling neophyte. Designer Diaries For the latest news on the most anticipated games of the coming year, check out GameSpots designer diaries, accounts of game design from the developers themselves. You'll find monthly updates on Diablo II, Dark Reign II, and other hot titles. W e've got some of the best talent in the business working hard to bring you the ultimate strategies for the toughest and most-played games. Our strategy guides include detailed campaign or mission walkthroughs, complete unit and weapons descriptions, general tips, and multiplayer strategies to upset your smug online enemies. You'il find detailed guides on Half-Life Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Dune 2000 Commandos StarCraft Age of Empires: Rise of Rome and More GameSpof has an online exclusive with Firaxis Games to be the first one to play the full-featured beta of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. We go into detail about the gameplay, technology, units, and diplomacy, and even score an interview with the game's designer, Brian Reynolds. Black and White Peter Molyneux's newest game is Black and White, and GameSpot executive editor Ron Dulin has the full scoop. We bring you a multipage preview and never-before-seen screenshots. As one of the first games in recent years to benefit from Molyneux's full attention, this will be a game to watch. GameSpot Columns GameSpot is just crammed with gaming goodness, not the least of which are our very own columns. Our editors sound off on every conceivable subject, including the state of game music, Ultima IX's growing pains, how Saving Private Ryan changed one editor's wargaming experience, and whether genre classifications are really useful anymore. K'iVJ A COMPUTER gaming WORLD - JANUARY 1999 /.computergaming.c Eniichi kiivut Ingdunn II •\ncl TliaTryhun ^.iis l>fd,tr.1dnn^Arks imd InleraeUv; Music I rri'd UAoC^vKoHnichKtlvc IVUglc>'li<£*AIL<i(lic< irAdemAils ora prop iidrriHpectMei^neis. OIPOSHnrerACtlveMl^lc, Inc. AUrt^ts lescn'K DEStOnED BY "flUvOIkCHAn Wai^s You thought the Ftyhtans were 'T', history. But the nightmare has just begun. Now, In the sequel to the critically acclaimed Seven Kingdoms, the Fiyhtans are back with a vengeance — smarter, stronger and more savage than ever. And there's more to contend with. Twelve different nationalities to save from the Fiyhtans and control under ^ your rule. More role-playing elements to make your strategies more complex and the action more exciting. . New 3-D graphics to take you deeper into the ‘ Seven Kingdoms experience. And a revolutionary I random campaign generator to assure that no J two games will ever be the same. , ^ Don't say we didn't warn you. / ^ NEWS UPDATE liiapf/fllBii®' Victor T^lBVERLAST'.f/a'rfyn- Sean "Hawk 5 " Ranagan TF\wr y^ TEAMPLAY lillirMu * ^ itktiy f ilii nafariiiii Rasct ii iiJtkeiSmrN K RmskM J AMD^l $250,000 IKT CASH AMD PniZESl To Sign Up» or For More Info, Go To : www.pgl.com 1 NVIDIA, I^L and tha combination (hem HKii Sadistic ures C an you stop ads that show games that are "coming" but we have to wait for a year for them? Or do you guys print them to satisfy some sadistic pleasure? It's inhuman to have to wait for so long for a game you like! Do the same for those stupid ads that say, "What if you found out that..." or "Get ready for an adventure that will..." and really unoriginal, lame, movie poster-like advertisements. Rick T Singapore Via the Internet l^'e enjoy cruelty as much as the next crowd of stunted adolescents, but there are better ways to do it than with ads. Besides, our deal with the suits is we don't tell them who can't advertise, and they don't tell us what we can't cover. Works out pretty well. If you feel tormented by it though, so much the better. COMPUTER GAMING Tho HI PC Game Magazine Editor-in-chief Johnny Wilson Executive Editor Ken Brown Managing Editor Joe Vallina Features Editor Denny Atkin (Simulations) Reviews Editor Terry Coleman (Wargames) Technical Editor Dave Salvator (Hardware) Associate Editor Jeff Green (Adventure, Sports) Associate Editor Robert Coffey (Aaion, Strategy) Assistant Editor Allen Greenberg CG-ROM Editor Jack Rodrigues CG-ROM Assistant Thierry Nguyen Editorial Intern Kenneth Johnson Gossip Editor Unda Y. Fan Contributing Editors Scorpia (Adventure Games). Charles Ardai (Interactive Fiction), Loyd Case (Hardware) Founder Russell Sipe Art Director Dan Fittpalrick Associate Art Director Steven Wanezyk Production Director Carlos lugo Production Manager Martin Walthall Like Fine Whiners You guys get better and better. I just read through the December issue's Hot Holiday 100, which took me forever because I kept going to the sites to check them out fully. Don't get me wrong — the article was superb. It's just that you guys wrote it so well that it left me hungry for more. I've just gotta pick up, oh, say, half the titles now! Keep up the fantastic work. — 5 Helton Via the Internet Thanks. Working on that issue was like birthing a sperm whale. of the 1 01 St Airborne Division Association, It was pointed out that the patch is owned by the Department of Defense. It would have taken forever to receive approval/disapprova! from the government on use of the patch. Nobody that I spoke with there had a problem with the use of the patch. My father and I both love the game and in no way believe this does any injustice to the 101st or its outstanding military history. Tim brought a demo to the reunion that was well received. I spoke with some of the Normandy Vets who were amazed at the detail and accuracy of the weapons, terrain, etc. The 101st Speaks! A letter writer in your December issue asked why Empire dropped the screaming eagle from its ads for the 1 01 st Airborne in Normandy. My father hosted the 101st Airborne Division Reunion in Omaha, Nebraska, this year. I attended the reunion where I met did Tim Brooks, ISI, and Carrie Cowan, Empire. We discussed the legalities of using the 1 01 st patch with representatives — Terry R. Zahn, Jr. Airborne/Air Assault Via the Internet Thanks for clearing up the mystery, Terry. Of course, there are always dissenting opinions.... Electronic Prepress Group Manager Michele Kellogg Assistant Manager Tamara Gargus Technician Roger Drake Address questions and leedfaack to: CGWEdilorial, I3S Main St., JAth Floor, San Frandsco, CA94105. Of you may contact us via: Phone: (41 S) 357-4900 Editorial Fax; (415) 357-4977 CGWIetters6zd.com Web site: www.coniputergaming.coni Associate Publisher Suzanne Reider (415) 357-4915 East Coast Sales Manager Laura Pitaniello (212) 503-4851 East Coast Sales Assistant Megan Moran (212) 503-3926 Southwest Sales Manager Pat Walsh (949) 851-2556 Southwest Sales Assistant Sandy Marclniak (949) 852-5914 Midwest Sales Manager Marci Yamaguchl (415) 357-4944 Silicon ValleyJNorthwest Sales Manager Dru Montgomery (415) 357-4925 Marketing Manager SatSharma(41S) 357-4935 National Account Rep Joann Casey (41 5) 357-4920 Advertising Coordinator Leslie Ventimiglia (41 5) 357-4930 Assistant to the Publisher Linda Fan (41 5) 357-5425 Account Representative Tallie Conner (41 5) 357-5226 Address inquires to CGW Advertising. 135 Main SL, 14th Floor, San Francisco. CA 94105; or qII (41 5) 357-5398, fax (415) 357-4999. Vice President Jon Lane Business Manager Cynthia Mason Associate Business Manager Shelley Dickerson Executive Director, Marketing and Research Randy Cohen For subscription service questions, address changes or ordering information, qII (303) 66S-893D widiin the U.S. and Canada. All other countries call (303) 604-7445 or write to Computer Gaming Worfd. P.O. Box 57167, Boulder, CO 80322-7167. The one year (12 issue) subscription rate is $27.94 in the U J., and $43.94 outside the U.S.; the rale (or one year (12 issue) subscriptions with the monthly CD-ROM is $42.94 in Uie U.S., and $58.94 outside the Ui. Checks must be made payable in U5. oirrency only to Computer Gaming World. Back issues can be purcha^ Tor $8 in the tl5. and $10 outside the U.S. (CD-ROM version not available). Prepaymenl is necessary. Checks must be made payable in U.5. cunency only to Computer Gaining World. Mail your request to BacJi issuers, ZD. Ire.. P.O. Box 531 31, Boulder, CO 80322-3131. We periodically m^ Bsts ol our oislomers available to malers olgooA and services that may interest yoa If do not wish to receive such mailings, please write to us and inckjde a copy of yexjr maling labei. / .computergaming, ( COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 ZIFF-DAVIS INC El The 101 St Sucks! I recently purchased a copy of 1 01 st Airborne in Normandy from Empire Interactive without waiting for a proper review from your magazine, and 1 paid the price. Simply put, I expect better game play from a shareware program! The designers must not have bothered to check out classic turn-based tactical games like the ones in the X-COM series, Jagged Alliance or even Wages of War. They have to go and re-invent the wheel and did a lousy job at that! The equipment and weapon allocation was horrible, the interface was not well thought out, and that's even before 1 got into the plane and started the game! From the sound effects of soldiers walking or running, ! felt like my whole unit was comprised of one-legged pirates. Enemy A! is one of the dumbest 1 have encountered and overall, there are no infantry tactics to speak of, either from the computer or the way I could deploy my men. This is ridiculous. Just once, I thought I could get away without waiting for the magazine review and take a chance on the latest turn-based wargame, since they are so few and far between. ! was wrong. Reynold Wong Vid the Internet Our review of the title will appear next month. DEP'T. OF CORRECTIONS W e regret to inform of a couple of, urn, "factual irregularities" in the December issue. In the 3D card roundup, we listed Guillemot's Maxigamer Phoenix as being an AGP part when, in fact, it was the PCI version, which still performed just fine. The second glitch was not so much an error, but an undiscovered work-around for getting Logitech's WingMan Force joystick to work with rudders. We've learned from our readers it will work with rudders, but you have to unload the Logitech control applet. Of course, you're then limited to the default button assignments. But you can probably set up the sim to recognize them. Other than that, we hardly screwed up anything last month. That is, if you don't consider that reference to Jimmy Stuart as a young Scottish Grand Prix driver (pg 1 84). And we thought Jackie Stewart delivered such a wonderful performance in It's a Wonderful Life.... Chairman and CEO Eric Hippeau Chief Financial Officer Timothy O'Brien Presidents ZO Publishing Claude P. Sheer ZD Market Intelligence Bob Brown ZD Comdex and Forums Jason Chudnofsky ZD Brand and Market Services Terri Holbrooke ZD Internet Productions Dan Rosensweig ZD Education William Rosenthal ZD Television Larry W.Wangberg Senior Vice Presidents Rayna Browt) (Human Resources) Daryl R. Otte (Planning and Development) Vice Presidents Steve Gladyszewski (Information Services) J. Malcolm Morris (Generai Counsel and Secretary) Mark Moyer (Controiier) Tracy Nadi (Human Resources, Operations) Treasurer Thomas L. Wright Corporate Sales Joe Gillespie (Executive Vice President) ZD Media Network Jeff Bruce (Executive Director) Scon Murphy (Executive Director) Rita Burke (Managing Director) ZD Brand and Market Services Brooke Correll (Vice President, ZO Brand Marketing) Michael Perkowski (Vice President, Client Marketing) Elda Vale (Vice President, Corporate Research) Herb Stern (Vice President, ZD Brand Management) Gregory Jarboe (Director, Corporate Relations) President Claude P. Sheer Executive Vice Presidents Don Byrnes Chris Dobbrow Jack Dolce Al DiGuido Thomas McGrade Michael J. Miller Senior Vice President Nancy Newman Vice Presidents Bob Bader, John Dodge, Kathleen Goodwin, Roger Herrmann, Jonathan Lane, Eric Lundquist, Jim Manning, Charles Mast, James F. Ramaley, Paul Somerson, Mark Van Name . Sam Whitmore Executive Director, Licensing Gertrud Borchardt Director, Benchmark Operations Bill Catchings Director, ZD Labs Lauren Black Editorial Director, New Products Bill Machrone COMPUTER GAMING WORLD (ISSN 0744-6667] is published monthly by Ziff-Davis. Copyright 0 1998 Ziff-Davis. All Rights Reserved. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission. If you want to quote from an article, write to Chantal Tucker, One Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5802, or fax 212-503-5420. ZIFF-DAVIS SOFTBANK company Computer Gaming Worldk not affiliated with IDG. Audit Bureau of Cirathlions AUOiTEO For reprints, please call Ziff-Davis reprints at (800) 825-4237. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 /.computcrgaming.c Rigor Motorist SS!:;^ R llK^&MSlkm IP 1 ^^ m M O R ElU M ITiSI^I ■■BmRElWaRlfDS □evaurer: Zerg Heavy Strike fiyct VENOMOUS cne.4^r)jpE spawnf'c to CNt«3R>.E CNKNnSS WITH A OtSCt^POE r.lF nORPOBJM|i: '-^OINON. Lurker: Zerg Heavy Support Beast l_UMBCR»NO HUUK, CAPASL-E OP SURKCJWINS ANO ATTACKINtS V'RCIM ire UNOSROROUNO UAIP. Terran Fieid Surgeon BATTI-EPICUD SUPPORT UNIT SPEClAl-IZINO IN eMCROCNCV MEDICAL. CARE. Valkyrie Bomber: Terran Missile Frigate HSAVr SUPPORT 3MIP. □ rOR WIOE AREA DAMASE. MORETMISSjONS9BB|| Miiiiiii I lull 01 Cofsaif: Pfotoss Support Fifihtar’ Aiff'-ra'Am assauu) uott cicjuipp^o WITH NEUTRON ruARlMI ANO OlSRUr Web generator. ^ Oark Archan; ProtQss Psionic Entity PaWFRfIJI, TNEROY BEING WIT ABlUiry TO lAKE poesEseiON UNITS THROUSH MINO UaNTRI Go to #266 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink FIRST LOOK! Space Case SYSTEM SHOCK 2 Pushes The Boundaries Again Now that we have computers fast enough to play the 1 994 classic, SYSTEM SHOCK, some of the original developers are creat- ing a sequel that wilt throw down the gauntlet again. For those who didn't play it, the action/adventure hybrid brought toads of innovations, including a true 30 engine, sophisticated physics, and the ability to lean, crouch, climb walls, crawl through shafts, and look up and down. Looking Glass Studios combined these features with an elaborately detailed space sta- tion populated with mutants, cyborgs and a malevolent central computer. Our December, 1994, review awarded the game four and one-half stars, calling it "one hell of an immersive experience in a fully realized 3D environ- ment." The sequel will retain much of the flavor of its ground-breaking predecessor, says the game's lead designer Ken Levine. You'll explore a cyberpunk-style space ship with an invento- ry, weapons and special skills including psionics and data hacking. You'll be able to lean and pull yourself up onto ledges, and 5 there will be more to r interact with, he I says. The game is £ broken into levels i by ship decks, i but the world is 3 persistent, so A you can leave an ammo clip on one deck, and come back later to retrieve it. The queen of malevolent mainframes, SHODAN, is back, but in a very different role (with even more "air" time than before). It's your job to kick the crap out of her robotic minions and shut her down. Expect plen- ty of resistance from motion-cap- tured mutants and cyborqs. One of the main criticisms about SYSTEM SHOCK wa^ that it tacked a sense of character development. The designers are working to improve this with role-piaying-style character depth. It begins with an innova- tive in-engine character-genera- tion system. You visit a recruiting office on Earth to choose one of three basic character types; Navy, Marines, or Secret Ops. After choosing your character type, you'll head to the starbase of that service. You develop your character there by choosing from missions during your period in the service (similar to the old paper RPG Traveller)- The game is being developed in a partner- ship between Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games. They're using a modified version of Looking Glass' Dark Engine, which is being used for THIEF: THE DARK PROJECT. The engine supports 16 bit color; COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 You'll find of corpses on ship. Note ^ Psionics mu^ function displaj to the rigm jlimpse at Engineering dynamic, colored lighting; a particle effects system; and objects with multi- ple translucency. Irrational is also building multiplayer support into the game. They haven't released hardware requirements yet, but we do know the game will require a 3D card. We'll continue to follow the game's development as it nears its Warthog O ur spies recently infil- II v I I trated the Austin, I _ _ Texas-based I Skunkworks of Jane's r spies recently I trated the Austin, Texas-based Skunkworks of Jane's Combat Simulations. We were expecting to find the team dili- gently working on LONGBOW III— the version rumored to be so detailed it would not only feature trees, but anacondas hanging from their branches. Rather than hearing rotor blades, the staccato "brraaack" of an Avenger cannon rattled the room, as an A-10 spewed depleted-uranium shells into the carcass of a Soviet-built tank. Instead of seeing a Longbow, we found a Warthog. JANE'S A-1 0 will let you fly the ugly but deadly ground attack jet flying a variety of missions, including strike, close air support, search and destroy, and escort tasks. Perhaps most interesting is the inclusion of a Forward Air Controller mission which will let you fly your Warthog into the war zone, identify targets, call in air strikes, and watch the deadly results. We uncovered a few more details during our recon, such as force-feedback support that will let you /ee/theA-lO's Avenger cannon, and support for cooperative multi- player missions over Jane's Combatnet. We even overheard optimistic murmers of a February ship date. We're assembling our team now for a deep cover recon mission, and expect to have full details on the sim in next month's issue. -Denny Atkin Re-Confirmed C Kill k ONFIRMED KILL, the World War II massively multiplayer ^ flight sim which graced CGWs cover way over three years ago, is finally nearing takeoff. I recently put in some stick time in the beta version at Eidos' offices in San Francisco, and I'm pleased to report that this is coming together as one of the most innovative online sim designs in recent years. And best of all, a variety of adjustable mission settings make the design accessible to new pilots (a necessity for a successful online sim) while still main- taining the depth and accuracy demanded by experienced hard-core sim fans. Rather than the persistent online contests found in most other online sims, CONFIRMED KILL will let gamers recreate historical missions and campaigns, such as island-hopping in the Pacific, the Battle of Midway, and the potential German invasion of the UK. Human pilots will team with Al fliers to create realistic force balances. Most intrigu- ing, though, is an adap- tation of the Flying NIGHTMARES 2 Commandant map which will let squadron commanders view recon of enemy territo- ries and direct pilots to take out specific targets. An honor- point system will encourage realistic and sportsmanlike gameplay, and as pilots gain points they'll be eli- gible for promotions and medals. CONFIRMED KILL is scheduled to be playable as a free open beta on TEN at www. ten.net by the time you read this. ^ — Denny Atkin ' ^ COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999i v.computergaming.( GAME UPDATES Ambitious Anachronox Tom Hall's Homage to SquareSoft Is Progressing Nicely F ans of console-RPGs such as FINAL FANTASY VII should keep an eye out for ANACHRONOX when it hits the shelves in late 1 999. We got to see ION Storm's pre- mier RPG, and it's looking pretty good. While the game utilizes the QUAKE li engine, it's almost a complete overhaul. For one thing, the art is a lot more colorful, and the game is played from the third-person perspective. The most profound changes are in the role-playing elements added to the engine, including dialogue and a new combat system. Veterans of FINAL FANTASY VII and CHRONO TRIGGER {the two SquareSoft games that influenced ANACHRONOX) will be at home with the combat sys- tem. The game's plot spans several planets and dimensions, and you'll be controlling three out of seven available party characters at any given time. The other interesting addition is how editable the ANACHRONOX engine will be. Like id, Tom Hall plans to release the materials that let you edit items such as camera shots (all cutscenes use the game engine), dialogue, and weapons and items, In effect. Hall is hoping that ANACHRONOX is treated both as a game and as a set of RPG tools, where people can create their own RPG if they have the time to commit to it. We'll keep you posted as the game progresses. features including auto-aiming crosshairs. The — Thierry Nguyen crosshairs won't be necessary all the time, especially if you're using some of the more powerful, magical weapons such as the staff that summons a gigantic demon that immediately slays the nearest being. Summon this charmer without an enemy nearby and kiss your time- travelling butt goodbye. With Ion Storm polishing up the single player game and heading full bore into the multiplayer, DAIKATANA should be out by late Spring. — Robert Coffey Dai katana Shoots for Spring T he bad news is that DAIKATANA continues to be delayed. The good news is that all that time actually is going toward making the game better. And from what we’ve seen, it seems to be paying off. The shift to the QUAKE II engine is now complete and the results are simply beautiful. Huge, stunningly lit levels should be the rule in this title, particularly in the menacing medieval castle spotlighted during the Eidos Press Day. Currently, the expanded design team is going through every level on a room by room basis, adding unique features, interesting objects, and animations. According to John Romero, "The goal is to have something cool in every room." Given the enormous nature of the levels, it's a daunting, but admirable, task. Ion Storm's work on the Al was ably demonstrated in a demo that had enemies using cover and teamwork to slay every gaming editor that tried to beat it. We hope that the monsters in the finished product will be just as nasty. Pretty much every feature included in the ambitious original design document exists in the game, as well as new COMPUTER GAMING WORLD* JANUARY 1999 /compulergamiiiR.c Build and Program Your Own Robots Lego .My Robot Former CG\N Technical Editor Mike Weksleris the associate producer ofEidos' CONFIRMED KILL. L ego MindStorms has re-defined the smart toy category. With arr ingenious convergence of Lego accessories and the home computer, MindStorms allows a user to create autonomous, computer-controlled robotic devices ranging from environmental explorers to battle tanks. These aren't just motorized Lego cre- ations — these are robots that actually react to their environment with the aid of touch, light, and tem- perature sensors. They can seek the safety of a dark corner; negotiate small obstacles; or act like simple pets that just roam about freely. You program the robot in two easy steps. The icon- ic. drag 'n drop interface is easy to use and looks more like puzzle-building than programming. When you're through, you beam the program to the robot's "brain" via an infrared transmitter attached to your serial port. The robot is now ready to be unleashed into the world. In a couple of hours a computer savvy, mechanical- ly inclined user can begin building simple robots. To build something more advanced like a Mars Pathfinder could take several hours or days. While not particularly complicated, the sheer vol- ume of the kit can be daunting. There are more than 700 Lego pieces in the kit, including the RCX comput- er brain; two touch sensors: one light sensor (rotation and temperature sensors are available separately); two motors; a software package including a setup program and tutorials; and complete documentation, in addition, you can augment the kit with nearly any Lego pieces, including the Lego Technic series and three special MindStorms Expansion Sets. The system does have a few drawbacks, though. First, the MindStorms software runs at 640x480 which makes it hard for a user to work with a large RCX program in the programming environment. Additionally, the interface is in 256 colors, so the user has to switch the computer's graphics mode down to 8bit. The RCX transmitter uses a serial port so the user may have to unplug a modem or other accessory. Also, some users have reported that they occasionally have to re-download the firmware to the RCX. The iconic programming sys- tem does not seem to use all of the capabilities of the RCX hardware as some advanced programmers may wish to use the "Not Quite C" scripting lan- guage to access programming variables. Finally, having five separate memory areas in which to store RCX programs in a user's robot may not be as effective as having one large memory area. Anyone who grew up with Lego and knows how to turn on a computer would have a great time building and programming robots with MindStorms. It's the rare computer toy that is non- violent, appeals to kids and adults alike, and is truly fun to play with. — Mike Weksler u Programming your creations is simple with this drag-n-drop interface. You then beam the program to the robot via infrared, and he's ready to roll. Requires a Pentium 90 or belter using Windows 95/98. O LEGO MindStorms. $200. 800-243-4870. www.legomindstorms.com O COMPUTER CAMINO WORLD » JANUARY 1999 A Welcome To Blackstone Asylum Fasten your straight-jacket. It’s time to immerse yourself in the chilling world of John Saul’s Blackstone Chronicles'- An Adventure in Terror - the first collaborative effort between NY Times best-selling author John Saul and Legend Entertainment. Stunning 24-bit artwork surrounds you in the evil that is Blackstone Asylum - where tortured spirits from the past offer you the only hope of saving your missing family. And your sanity. Bon appetit. jQ[j|^ www.Blackstone-Chronicles.com ipUEGEND John Saul's Blacksione Chronicles: An Adveniine In Terror ©1998 lAntlscspe, Inc. All rignts leservM. John Saul’s name and likeness are lire piopeny q 1 John Saul, The original novel 'The Blacksloi>eCnronicies’®1997 John Saul. UsedunacrlicensebyMinrJscape, Inc. in conjunctton with Legend Enlenammenl. Windovrs is a registered Irademark or irademaik ol Microsoft Corporation in the United Slates and/or other countries. All other Iiademaiks and copyrights are the properly ol Ihcir restwclive holders. , Go to #191 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink Sir-Tech Shutters Publishin Canadian Group Continues Development On Two Games P ioneer role-playing publisher Sir-Tech Software closed the doors of its U.S. publishing operation on October 14, 1998. The New York-based company was largely a victim of the changing marketplace for PC games. Since its foundation in 1981 with the publica- tion of such games as GALACTIC AnACK and WIZARDRY: PROVING GROUNDS OF THE MAD OVERLORD, Sir-Tech successfully marketed a handful of releases per year and was one of the first companies in the PC market- place to establish a success- ful licensed franchise in Japan (including WIZARDRY manga and a WIZARDRY TV series). The company also published German-based Attic Software's DAS SCHWARZE AUGE series of computer RPGs as REALMS OF ARKANIA in the U.S. In recent days, Sir-Tech weathered huge losses from numerous sources: distribu- tor bankruptcies: the failure of theTelstar line of UK products in the U.S.: and several hundred thousand dollar losses on X-FIRE, an Internet-capable game that never reached a viable performance level. Now, the company's Canadian develop- ment division will continue as Sir-Tech Canada and is expected to finish WIZARDRY and JAGGED ALLIANCE 2, the latest products in Sir-Tech's most successful two franchises. Norm Sirotek, one of Sir-Tech's co-founders, commented on the bittersweet nature of the company's history by quoting his father, Fred Sirotek's favorite statement about the publishing business: "[The software market] is akin to standing with one foot on a banana peel and the other foot in a grave, while drinking champagne and eating caviar." Thus passes the end of a pioneering era. — Johnny Wilson Interplay Cuts Back I nterplay laid off about 10 percent of its worldwide staff— approximately 50 people — in late October. The cuts followed Interplay's dismal financial report for the quarter ending September 30. The company reported a net loss for the quarter of S15.1 million (compared with a net loss of S5.5 million for the same period in 1997). The company attributed the loss to "ship- ping delays for FALLOUT 2 and lower than expected sales for WILD 9." Anonymous sources close to Interplay say that blaming FALLOUT 2 for the company's woes is like "Blaming the 7/fan/cdls- aster on the last life preserver being late to hit the water." The worst casualty in the cuts was Tribal Dreams, which was eliminated. The in-house development team responsible for OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS had been working on STAR TREK: SECRET OF VULCAN FURY, a title the gaming press had greeted enthusiastically. Meanwhile, EARTHWORM JIM 3D and MESSIAH were both pushed back to the middle of 1999. STAR TREK: KLINGON ACADEMY, STAR TREK: NEW WORLDS, and STAR TREK: STARFLEET COMMAND all remain unaffected by the cutbacks, according to Interplay. Interplay's closure of Tribal Dreams SECRET OF VULCAN FURY. See GameSpot w the Papyrus Exports NASCAR Jobs to Russia . -.apyrus Design Group laid off 15 * J members of its art team recently I and outsourced their work to an art house in St. Petersburg, Russia. Papyrus is best known for Its high-end NASCAR, INDYCAR and GRAND PRIX I LEGENDS racing sims. Director of art I production Vlad Starzhevsky, who has I been at Papyrus for more than five ; years, said that about 20 artists in St. ; Petersburg produce substantial amounts of art for his company. "These guys completed 1 1 tracks for NASCAR 99, some of which are better than the I ones done by our U.S. artists," . Starzhevsky said. Only four artists remain under Starzhevsky in the U.S. office. Papyrus general manager Igor Razboff said that the Russian artists know little of U.S. auto racing. "But all that the artists need to do is re-create buildings and other structures from piaures," he said in an interview with GameSpot. Razboff formerly owned the art house (Animation Magic) in St. Petersburg where Papyrus is now out- sourcing its art. He has been working with Papyrus since March of 1998. The I Watertown, Mass.-based developer is I down to a trim 60 employees. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD ■ JANUARY 1999 /.compotefgaming.com Dragons Reign in Blue Fan^s Strategy/RPG Hybrid D RAKAN might be the latest game to put you in the dragon's seat, but it won't be the last. Blue Fang Games, the company headed by former Papyrus pros Adam Levesque and John Wheeler, is developing a strategy/role-playing game that lets you play one of five types of dragons, DRAGON HOARD will feature a 3D world that lets you fly around from a third- person perspective. You'll fight other dragons and fantasy creatures, collect gold to increase your hoard, gain prestige and knowledge, and influence other races to do your bidding — all to become the most powerful dragon in the land. In the game’s universe, dragons wield great influence over people, places and events, You decide how you want to play; You can use your power to subjugate the humans, ruling an area by fear and intimidation. Or you can choose to work in more positive ways to help the lesser races succeed, and as a result, worship the dragon for its wisdom and aid. You must become the most powerful dragon in the world, defeating all others, to win. The game will feature both single and multi-player modes. Former Papyrus Design Group members Adam Levesque and John Wheeler founded Blue Fang Games in July, 1 998. Levesque was the producer/designer and Wheeler was the technical lead on NASCAR RACING and NASCAR RACING 2, They are joined by another former Papyrus mem- ber, Lou Catanzaro, and a business development director from AT&T, Hank Howie. Boston-based Blue Fang is currently attempting to secure a publish- ing deal for the title, which is expected to ship in 2000. For more details, check out the company's Web site at www.bluefang.com. — Ken Brown Cavedog Marks New Online Territory 'Boneyards' Seems Modeled After Blizzard's Battle J^et C avedog Entertainment has announced the launch of a free online gaming service called Boneyards. The service, apparently modeled after Blizzard's successful Battle.Net, will let gamers chat and compete in Cavedog games such as TOTAL ANNIHILATION. After an initial beta test in November, the service should be live by the end of '98. Boneyards will offer a ladder and ranking system, company-sponsored tournaments and custom user profiles. The service will also report scores automatically to a host of Internet gaming services. In addition to TA, Boneyards will also let users play a new game called GALACTIC WARS, based on the TOTAL ANNIHILATION universe. In GALACTIC WARS, players join one of two warring forces fighting for control of SO- TO interconnected worlds across a galactic map. After selecting a planet, players fight TA-style battles with one or more human opponents from the enemy force. Daily tallies will measure each side's progress towards their goal of taking over their opponent's home world. Future Cavedog and GT games will also support the new service, the company reports. These include TOTAL ANNIHILATION; KINGDOMS (this month's cover story), AMEN: THE AWAKENING, ELYSIUM and GOOD & EVIL In addition, Cavedog indicates it has no plans to discontinue online, mul- tiplayer TA on other online services. Owners of TOTAL ANNIHILATION can download the Boneyards front-end for free from www.cavedog.com. — Ken Brown Playing Lately CCW Surve y Here's what you're blowin g the most time on. Last Month Months on Chart 1. StarCraft (Cendant Software) 1 S 2. Might and Magic VM3DD) 2 5 3. Quake II (id Software/Activlslon) 3 8 4. Unreal (GT Interactive) 6 4 5. Final Fantasy VII (Eidos/SquareSoft) 4 2 6. Diablo (Blluard/Condant) S 20 7. Age of Empires (EnscmblcIMIcrosoft) 4 8 8. Heroes II, Price of Loyalty (300/New World) 9. Mech Commander (MIcroProse) 10. Batticionc (Activision) Bsted OH a monthly survey nulled to CGW lubtolbort. ThU diffon fmm Iho roodm' onroll 'etwi/ly ranSInp* In Iho Top roo PC Data Bestsellers Last Month 1. Deer Hunter II 3-0 (GT Interactive) 2. Deer Hunter (GT Interactive) 2 3. Need For Speed 3 (Electronic Arts) 4. Barbie Nall Designer (Mattel) 5. Madden NFL 99 (Electronic Arts) 6. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Red Storm Ent.) 7. Cabela's Big Game Hunter (Activision) 6 8. StarCraft (Cendant Software) 1 9. Rocky Mountain Trophy Hunter (GT Interactive) 5 10. Oiablo (Cendant Software) 3 rho top-solUo]; pc gamot ai of Oaober. talculatod by PC Osl v.computergaming.c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD ■ JANUARY 1999 YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR THE HOTTEST GAMES IN DEVELOPMENT Redline On Foot or Behind the Wheel, Cruise Red Asphalt in a Bumper-to-Bumper Blaster by Bob Lindstrom B umper-smashing colli- sions, gear-grinding maneuvers, fiery acci- dents, and crazed drivers with murder in their eyes — nothing matches the sheer exhilaration of a Los Angeles freeway commute. For those of you who don't get that daily blast of life- threatening road rage, Accolade's upcoming car combat game, REDLINE, will give you a white- knuckled chance to get behind the wheel and to smash, careen, col- lide, and crush. And it won't raise your insurance rates. REDLINE travels that red ribbon of high-impact highway previously Redtine GENRE: Action RELEASE DATE: Q1 99 DEVELOPER: Beyond Games PUBUSHERtAaolade driven by such games as CAR WARS, TWISTED METAL, and CARMAGEDDON. What REDLINE adds to the action are breathtaking. 3D- accelerated, go-anywhere environ- ments. And. instead of being locked behind the wheel, REDLINE requires you to put shoe to pavement at strategic moments to wreak destruction on foot a la QUAKE II. If You Can't Shoot 'Em, Smash 'Em Gamers will face yet another apocalyptic future in REDLINE. Gangs of racing vandals, including the Red Sixers, Templars, and Lepers threaten society. Your objec- tive is to get into a "good" gang and run the bad guys into the mud through a series of missions, each with specific goals. Every car is equipped with weaponry (side and/or front firing depending on the vehicle) for tak- ing on enemy cars and on-foot snipers — not to mention unex- pected ordnance and traps. You tear around the huge levels sailing over obstacles and pulling boot- legger turns while evading or fac- ing off with nasties in their mur- der machines. If you don't happen to like the weapons in your jalopy, hop out, fire a special lightning weapon at another guy's street rod, shoot the owner when he staggers out, and then steal his car. Brutality and felony — how can you beat that? Judging from the four missions that 1 got to preview, REDLINE is going to be a graphic wonder. The epic scale of the environments makes this game the Titanic car combat. These are spaces so large they dwarf a mere four-car accident. The gameworld is rich with expansive stretches, eye- boggling heights, endlessly twist- ing city streets, and exotically sculpted interiors. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 /.computergamlng.c If You Can't Smash 'Em, Shoot 'Em Sure, you can cruise the countryside smearing enemies across the blacktop and doing impromptu body work with a grenade gun. But if you want to complete a mission in REDLINE, you'll have to park the car, lock and load, and hoof it. Besides, it's easier to line up a Templar with your gun barrel than with your license plate. When on foot, REDLINE becomes another first-person shooter. Still, the ability to wan- der the grandiose proportions of an indoor stadium or climb the towering walls of a military installa- tion makes this a shooter of epic scale. There aren't too many games in which you stop to enjoy the view, but I found myself doing just that while making my way to the tallest reaches of a Red Sixer encampment. Familiar design conven- tions popped up in the pre-alpha I played. Health, weapons, and ammo are tucked around the countryside; interior settings hold puzzles that involve finding special rooms, throwing switches, or destroying equipment. Nothing much new there. One nifty effect is a stunning "screen shake." When you trigger a massive explo- sion, the entire screen rattles wildly while you simultaneously lose your footing or bounce around behind the wheel of your car. It adds a whole new level of immersion and challenge to a shooter. If You Can't — Oh, Just Blast Everybody The robust single-player missions would make a satisfying enough experience, but REDLINE also features a multiplayer mode. Compatible with IPX, TCP/IP, and direct serial port connections, multiplayer REDLINE includes special deathmatch set- tings that minimize the strategy of soli- taire missions and permit groups of bad drivers to wreak maximum havoc as quickly as possible. Once you and your hell-driving colleagues have joined in cyberspace, you can form teams for coop- erative destruction against another team of human opponents. High Octane in the Tank All of this splattering joy comes at a price. Accolade currently recommends at least a Pentium 200 with 3D acceleration (although the game will run without a graphics accelerator). While the version i looked at wasn't opti- mized for speed, three of the four missions moved along effec- tively with a Pentium 150 and a Voodoo^ accelerator in low- detail mode — the only mode available in this preview program. Frankly, I found myself wondering if the low detail was an accurate description of the set- ting. it's hard to imag- ine how much better REDLINE could look. After reviewing half a dozen real-time strat- egy games and plod- ding through the most recent first-person shooter, it's easy for your typically blood- drenched and bored software reviewer to become blase. Although the pre-alpha I had was far from optimized and far from finished, REDLINE jump-started my enthusiasm for the possi- bilities in action sims. When it’s released, REDL/NE looks like one game I'il be playing for sheer enjoyment. Bob Lindstrom hates to admit it, but he's been playing computer games since the pre- Jurassic days of SPACE WARS and PONG. Despite his love of fast action, however, he has never intentionally crushed a pedestrian against a wall while driving around the streets of Los Angeles. BREAKING AND ENTERING Infiltrating huge fortified encampments will thrust you right into the midst of tiie enemy— if you're clever enough to get inside. CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN 'Hiis towering mountain is typical of REDLINE's enor- mous enwronments. But don't worry, you won't have to climb up there... you'll have to drive up there. Rub Your Bumper and Pat Your HihkI I f you think the headlong driving of Redune adds up to just anotiier arcade game, you'll be thinking out of the other side of your head once you get behind the wheel. The futuristic settings may be pure imagination, but the vehicles boast their own realism that drives REDLINE out of no-brainer land and into fantasy sim territory. Even though the physical models for each car were still being adjusted in our prewew version, these weapon-dad babies took a deft hand to successfully navigate through twisting streets and straight into armed enemies. The design team has wisely made compro- mises toward the cause of fun. In the preview, REDLINE's vehides could take considerably more damage than your used Yugo, for Instance. But there's none of the indestructible spin rolls and survivable lO-story drops as in tiie pure arcade radng of CARMAGEDDON, for example. REDLINE takes itself more seriously— without taking itself too seriously. The upshot is that there is a lot to do behind the wheel. First, you obviously have to steer that car and tweak its speed— a tricky business in tile frequently dose quarters of a REDLINE enwronment To make those tight maneuvers, one finger has to dive at the Space Bar to yank the parking brake and execute a spinning "bootlegger" turn. When you recover from the turn, you'll want to nail that sniper on your tall, so you stab the firing key vrith a second finger. Oops, you haven't got the best weapon, so a third finger flies out to the Change Weapon key. If you want to line up the shot with an aerial view, tiiatis another key: if you want to strafe, that's another key; and if you want to slow dowa that's another key. Finally, if you want to glance around your vehide or fire weaponry up and down, you'll need to have one hand on the mouse to smoothly alter your POV or direct your aiming reticule, whidi leaves you with only five fingers to speed tjqie your way to survival. In short whetiier playing with a mouse, key- board, or joystick, I quickly found myself run- ning out of fingers. Short of buying an odd- looking and probably very expensive pros- thesis, it will take some time to master just the driving phase of REDLINE. Hopefully, the inter- face will be stieamllned prior to release. «omputergaming.( COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 WORLD Go to #201 @ www.computerganiing.com/infolink iigaSoli Nein(xKs. Inc All (ignts lesenM Vigilance. HEAT, the HEAT logs. SegaSoli. end die ' tradcmortis ol SogaSofi NetwoiKs, Inc Ml oUier logos se t»e properly o( ttier respecliee o ■rmlni THE REHL UnnERLUORLD LUelcomE to the Here and natu. LUhere the enemy is scum. But human scum. Rs fast, sly and lethal as you. LUhere stealth Is as Important as firepoLuer. LUhere you can actually lank the enemy In the eye. Rnd Luatch him look hack. Forget Hell. This Is the real underujorld. ■ Real-Luorld counter-terrorist missions ■ B Unique player characters In single player mode ■ an unique player characters in multi-player deathmatch mode ■ Duer MD ujeapons and PoLuer-ups ■ Ground-breaking photo-realistic graphics ujith the all neuj RnyChannel aD engine For a free demo, visit www.vigilance.com Hired Guns Get a Whole New Perspective on Squad-based Combat — First Person by Robert Coffey I hat can a first- f person shooter do ' to distinguish itself these days? On the visual front, virtually every title has jaw-dropping 3D graphics. Deathmatches, capture- the-flag, and fortress-type varia- tions are part and parcel of the multiplayer options in most shooters. Shotguns, rocket launch- ers, and some big-ass guns — what game doesn’t have those? After a certain point, it all starts to look and play the same. But HIRED GUNS, slated for a spring 1 999 release, might just provide the breath of fresh air that the shooter genre is looking for, Team Player While HIRED GUNS' futuristic, evil corporation back-story isn’t going to win any awards for origi- nality, the game breaks from the shooter ranks with its focus on squad-level combat. Gamers will directly control the actions of a four-man squad of mercenaries out to topple a trio of — here it comes- -evil corporations. Gamers an olav ns inv af '■h'j 'vhilc giving jrdem c •.rr r".i. HIRED GUNS' unique appiuditi is immediately apparent in the main game screen. A full third of the monitor is filled with the active character’s perspective. Along the bottom of the screen are three smaller windows, each reflecting the current view of the other team members. In the upper-right portion of the screen, at a garishly lit city, the other team members have infiHratecI their objectives and await further orders. GENRE: Action RELEASE DATE: Q2 '99 DEVELOPER: Oewl's Thumb Entertainment PUBLISHER: Psygnosis you'll find a game interface that allows you to control your team. If you prefer to have a full-screen view of the active character, it's just a toggle key away. Available orders include: Patrol, Hide, Snipe, and Cover. Your forces can also be instructed to go into "Fury" mode, during which they will just run randomly around a level, firing at any enemy they come across. Further determining the behavior of your "squaddies" is an Al adjuster that will color their threat responses based on three nrioritie<;' health orders, and ^hiprrjxo'; ;se; u -'jotcti h''ir hoaiti^ nnr! ihey'li lerteai after lakii'ig a certain degree of damage. Mercenaries with a high order priority will walk into certain death if you order them to do so. Those meres that have been given a high objective priority will focus their actions on fulfilling mission goals. The game interface will also allow you set group formations for your squad of meres, includ- ing Diamond, Tight, and Line configurations. Additionally, a rally button will instruct your private army to make every effort to reach the active char- acter's location. All Together Now Coordinating your team’s actions and fully using its unique abilities will be a key to success in HIRED GUNS. As an example of team play, you may face a situa- tion in which an enemy sniper is preventing you from entering a building. You'll have to instruct one member to attack the sniper with suppression fire so that other members may enter the building. But which member do you use in these situations? If you need to access a computer inside the building, you'll want to make sure 'h‘ :vhnrg gets in so it can inter friCi- jvith the computer system. If you expect incapacitating dark- ness, you'll want the mercenary with infrared vision inside the building instead of occupying the sniper. This emphasis on using the full team should be the rule rather than the exception since the design team is promising to build what they call "tactically engag- ing levels," Powering all this is the ubiqui- tous UNREAL engine, so you can expect smooth gameplay with glittering graphics — provided you've got the hardware. The early build I saw was striking, with the action in each window sporting MOON SHOT With the UNREAL engine driving the game, you can expect lots of stunning graphics like these. richly saturated color and sinooth- as-milk frame-rates. But don't expect the gameworld to look that good for long — Devil's Thumb is making a concerted effort to fill the environments with highly destructible objects. Destroying those objects should be a snap, given that you'll have a projected 1 7 weapons at your dis- posal. Of the weapons I saw, the most impressive was the sniper rifle. This rifle features an incre- mental zoom for targeting ene- mies at different distances and will take out most bad guys with a single, skull-shattering shot. Due to be on store shelves by mid-year, HIRED GUNS could bring a level of strategy and coordina- tion heretofore lacking in first- person shooters. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 /.computerganiing.c i/^d( you io ^zcAkh^csi<k Wiik JokK ^0/Vv«K0? Vw'*^ ■f'\\ f/// ■ V For more infot*iTTll;ronF on how to enter the DaikatanatDeathmatch Contest go toj^S^ www.daikatanaifom / www.mplayer:eoin . www.eidosinteractive.coin or check out the February is^e of Computer GamingfW(irltl Si/ # Sponsors: COMPUTER GAMING WORLD iNTElinET IDOS EIDOS Interactive is a registered trademark of EIDOS, Pic. ©1998 EIDOS. ION STORM and DAIKATANA names and logos are trademarks of Ion Storm, L.R ION STORM logo and DAIKATANA logo Copyright© 1997, 1998 Ion Storm, L.P. All other trademarks are the property of their perspective owners. All rights reserved. Go to #153 @ www.computerganiing.com/infolink Ii'$ (iAVN«. JltSi n-.ov«S aJ\ <1 sAiffs you'vz A,<^ULr-e<l {rof^ {koSi. olk^tr WO^^i ZV^h. <o CU^ it A-^M, lb /lK<l ou( (./jy£>uV« i( ((SvA.«S www.dalkatana.com l»93 Eioot ION STORM and DAIKATANA iHuncs and logm aie uadamaika o( Ion Slwin. L.R ION STORM logo and DAIKATANA logo Copyrrglit« 1997. laonvo. Inc.Tho 30li Inlerncoye logo i» a rogifteieO IradamarK ol 3DI« lnlai<icln«. tnc.in oie USA and in oRior solocl couninos. All nghla loseived. MeieolMiiaanigisleiodlraacmaiKolEldo;. Pic.Ci Ion Slonn. LP.AII ilghu rasafved.O I99d 3Dli Inlei /‘(JL-Jtii eiDos Today thousands of people you've never met before will begin training to kill you. wdi^ou Lt r«£v<|y.f^ Go to #156 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink ■tTM&© 1999 Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Some Fight for Freedom With Petitions and Pleas. BraveheartV'^ real-fime 3D strategy engine offers unparalleled combat realism with hundreds of controllable on-screen warriors. BRAVE HEART Based on the award-winning motion picture starring Mel Gibson. Go get Q taste of clan war at www.eidosinteractive.com eiDOs INTERACTIVE Go to #150 @ www.computergaming.com/inrolink ftatiics www.eidDsinteractive.cDm 4 . PlfiyStation What if LEGOS* came with the option to moont LASERS and CRUISE MISSLES? IN WARZONe aioo, yDu won't choosE from pre-made units like in typical strategy games. You'll build them from scratch, resulting in over 2,DDD different vehicle designs.’^ So, if you want an action-laden, blast- nf-a-game that requires your own intelligence (as much as that of the artificial variety] then grab some blocks and start building your meal ticket to the future. j^arzbijf ElOCf ' Pujj^dn Stodios 1998. ■- and Published by 6idos Interactive ISSa'.'Afli VtaySwion ttic logos a0 trademarks of Sony Computer entertalntnent tnc/ ijstened^rademai'k of FROM TRE CREATORS OF SYSTEM $ SnPdk through the darkness on 12 treacherous missions. Use stealth, cuT^ningand UTiique weapoTiry to sunave in a sinister^world where shadows are your only ally,^ • “ trust is not an option , and confrontation results in death! www.lglass.com www.3dfx.com For More Info, Oaeolt Out \WAV. eidosimteria^l K(3Qm- SHOCK" AWD HLTIIVIA'" UNDERWORLD" ‘'Thief blazes a new trail.’ — Compurcr Games Strategy Plus ‘■‘'Thiel' may very well define a new standard lor interactiori and immer sion.”- PC Gamer '■‘'The atmosphere and gameplay make tnis one stand alone.’ • Computer Gami)ig World 12TlugelVIissions With multiple CDvironments. Advanced Enemies can sec hear, speak and li fn l" cnii.ifl olnt Tnu i' '' sound alarms. Stealthy Gameplay / brings a tiew dimension to first person action. I . Your Af^enal Includes: blackjack, swords fire arrows, ^ water ari'ows, rope, 2 arrows and more! eipps hlnatlnu bintjncit SoHhi. IIC Uu Mn Wt. til Itwntd. iiMi WtrKlm a I ItgdeMk ol liiln. FlC. IM: Ih D«t ftotnl ii i liMwk d UsnlnH toleit«i»>Hl Soltwr. UC b IMii^ U't SlKkn Splci>St»:t.UDiH.«>dIMnniM<ictr«Muikt<il(lKtfHiclrii.lic.ttl/«l(SaMlrnHls«hi(IU(ln.1M][llilMmcti»lwi>ntjdesark(f»lilnl(wlm.iK. WWW.eidOS Interact I Ve.COm Go to #273 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink !f you’re gonna get the most acciiaiiiied epic rpg ever created for the PC, you’d better Because Final Fantasy VII is still in high d6!tTI3lld. And there’s no better season to play good guy and save the world. ©1997, .1998 Square Co., Lid, Final Fanla^nd^uaroSoftafe reglstg^l^a'clemarks of Square Co., Ltd, All Rights Reserved. EIDOS and ElOOS Interaclive are trademarks of El^S, Pic. © 1998 EIDOS laflS/irizb o ’^•fsa Stunning — Next Generation ever found in an RPG Computer Gaming World Beautiful graphics, hlSg6 Now for the PC. ' i ^ J ■ ;.!7 ■ ft ^ “a unique and fascinating experience yon can't get from any other game” — Computer Games Strategy Plus unique gameplay” 90% raiing — PC Gamer ^eioos www.eidosinteractive.com Get the demo! Go to #277 @ www.coitiputergaming.com/infolink new-life blood into the real-time strategy genre with a game that will have players on the edge of their seats." -Imagine Games Network "Commandos is a great game!" -Gamecenter - v' I "Slick, Different, and Innovative" -Computer Gaming World A genuinely original game of tactics, planning, and precision." -Gamespot Comraiuidos.’ Behind Enemy Lines and Eidos Interactive are trademarks ol Eidos Pic. ©1998 Eldos. All tights reserved. www.eidosinteractive.com Go to #276 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink Civ II Multiplayer Gold 101 Civ IkTest ofTime 101 Civ II Multiplayer Gold 101 Civ IkTest ofTime 101 Early Intelligence on the New Wave of Strategy Games Machines 158 Metal Fatigue 144 Point of Attack 2 151 Populous 3 Ill Roller Coaster Tycoon 161 Seven Kingdoms II 134 ! Shadow Company. ^.....115 Shogun: TotalWar. _ 123 Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri 1 01 W hat will it take to relieve the strategy genre from the grip of mediocrity? Let's face it, strategy games have been plagued by a host of me-too titles, brain-dead Al, useless features for the sake of having features, and a degree of pretension on the order of calling yourself The Artist Formerly Known as Ginger Spice. Thankfully, it seems as though the coming year will feature games less concerned with following trends than with setting Star . Star Trelc New VVorldSuj«»™»^^ ...... Total Annihilation; Kingdoms 74 •„ : War of the Worlds 1 40 Warhammer: Rites of War 1 40 : Warzone 2100 155 them. Sure, every game and its sequel is hopping aboard the 3D bandwagon, but the good titles strive to get something out of 3D other than a nifty buzzword to paste on the box, HOMEWORLD promises to^^edefine 3D strategy gaming by throwing in the Z axis along with gMd ol' X and Y, and SHADOW COMPANY makes use 1 ; of hardware a^eleration to create realistic environments that enhance its gritty, squad-based combat. Whiie real-time games still domi- nate the genre, this looks to be the TOTAL ANNIHILATION: KI^O^ THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Total Annihilation: Kingdoms Cavedog's Fantasy Free-for-AI! Offers Tag-Team Excitement Genre: Real-time Strategy Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Cavedog Entertainment Publisher: GT Interactive www.gtinteractive.com by Johnny L. Wilson A s a preadolescent, I had a fascination for "professional wrestling." I may use the term advisedly, but the performers were paid and some wrestling occasionally took place. I wasn't all that enthusiastic about the one-on-one matches, but I could get really excited over the tag-team matches. Tag-team matches, for those of you who had more refined tastes than the young Johnny Wilson, were those in which a wrestler in trouble could touch the hand of his partner outside the ring and change places with him. This would, of course, shift the balance of the match by bringing fresh blood into the ring to take the place of the beleaguered grappler. The atmosphere was further charged by the fact that one of the two-man teams was always the "good guys," the play-by-the-rules guys; the other team was the "bad guys." the cheat-if-you-can guys. It was melodrama. It was adrenaline-pumping excitement to an impressionable 10-year old. It worked. TOTAL ANNIHILATION: KINGDOMS is a fantasy tag-team match on a global scale. It’s melodrama. It's excitement. It works. Like some classic tag-team grudge match, TA: KINGDOMS features two good kingdoms (Aramon and Veruna, representing the powers of Earth and Water respectively) against two evil kingdoms the good kingdoms escalate warfare with gunpowder while the evil kingdoms up the ante with sorcery. In multiplayer terms, it's easy to imagine double crosses and stabs in the back. The global wrestling ring comes to life in a four- player struggle for domination. In single-player terms, the game features one continuous story from beginning to end, but you'll have to change sides (as the gamer, not as a character within the story) from time to time in order to experience the entire story. Designer Clayton Kauziaric likes to think of the story as a novelized perspective. When you shift sides your view- point changes, complete with differences in inter- face art and music, as well as different units, spells, and powers at your disposal. Since the mage-kings (the com- mander units) of the four kingdoms are the off- spring of the same immortal mage-emperor, the storyline in TA: KINGDOMS adds the (Taros and Zhon, represent- ing Fire and Air). The wrestling ring comprises an entire world called Darien, where ambient magic called "mana" powers everything. The kingdom of Aramon resembles a magical version of the Roman Empire — benevolent imperialists — while Veruna is more cos- mopolitan (think Venice during Marco Polo's era). Taros seems a near-demonic depiction of totalitarianism (complete with landscapes from hell), while Zhon has all the chaos of a sorcerous Third World nation set on a primitive continent. All four civilizations use magic, but COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • JANUARY 1999 if.computergaming.com spice of sibling rivalry to the standard good guys versus bad guys conflict. In This Corner... The combatants in TA: Kingdoms differ greatly from the contenders in TOTAL ANNIHILATION. Whereas the original incarnations ofTA allowed for the rapid addi- tion of new units, constantly expanding the size of army orders of battle, TA; KING- DOMS will ship with about 160 different units and the downloadable units will not be released as often. TA: KINGDOMS displays charac- ters and vehicles in a larger format than did its predeces- sor, a nod to gamers who complained that it was difficult to discern physical differences between many of the units inTA. The games differ also in how they treat those units. TA treated units like expend- able minions; TA: KINGDOMS will use a new experience point system to actually reward gamers who conserve their units. For example, your swordsmen THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES begin fairly weak, but if you manage to keep them alive long enough, they can reach parity with high-level units. Units can improve in movement rate, armor class, weapon strength, mana ability, and building speed, among other factors. TA: KINGDOMS will also feature a limited number of some units (certain heroes and dragons) that, once lost, cannot be rebuilt. These characters or unique units will be introduced via narrative twists and should have the potential to shift the balance of play. Another intriguing balance shifter in TA: KINGDOMS is the appearance of deities. Any time a player builds a temple dedicated to a particular deity, there is a ran- dom chance that the god will take form as an avatar and participate in battles. Of course, such an incarnation may well presage a counterbalancing appearance by a rival deity. The game differentiates the four kingdoms not only in terms of units but also in terms of build cycles. In addition, the king- dom of Zhon has units with the capacity to self-replicate. They won't be able to engage in battle as they clone themselves, but the self-spawning capacity provides an awesome power, nonetheless. Other units will have built-in immunities to certain forms of attack (particularly the undead creatures who can be harmed only by magical attacks). Unlike the amazing disappearing dead ofTA, corpses in TA: KINGDOMS will remain persistent for a time during the battle (the exact duration of this persistence has not yet been determined). As long as the corpses remain, high-level priests from Aramon and Veruna can resurrect the units. High-level sorcerers from Taros or Zhon, however, can reanimate the units into zombies or skeletons. The naval units for TA; KINGDOMS are particularly impressive. War galleys, men-of-war, and fire ships abound, complete with animated oars, flowing pennants, turning rudders, and billowing sails. Partisans of ancient naval warfare will be disappointed that the game doesn't allow ramming or shearing (when a lighter, faster ship runs alongside the hull of a heavier, slower ship, breaking off its oars to reduce its speed and maneuverability prior to ramming it). The naval warfare Is closer to that of the Byzantine Era, when projectile weapons and Greek Rre were becoming the order of the day, and rams had a tendency to break after one use. More important, all ships in the game have a variable trans- port capacity, adding to logistic flexibility and the art of maneuver. One other unit that enhances the play in TA: KINGDOMS is the Mage Healer. The Mage will have a healing radius and will automati- cally begin to restore hit points to damaged units within that radius. Of course, the opposition will have its corresponding tag-team part- ner: certain advanced undead units that will be able to sap strength from any unit entering their vampiric radius. ^.computergaming.c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 (3ruw slniiKjcr hy 1)uililiti(j do/cns of :i5i' Fiicililk-^ or workinij <jn oslounriiiHj ■’Sci'ii'l Pfoii'i'ts" lh;il I'nsuro unique l>onLisi'5 lor your loetion... oiid you. Use k'lnilnmiers lo roise iind lower the hind, nlterinq weolher p.iMerns ;ini the course of rivers. Moke the piniiel more suitahle for you or luirsher for your O|j|)otienls. ^200 AD. Whul's It’ll ol’ irivilizalion lias lauded oti a niyslorious alien [itanel. And il’s up to you to chart the Talc oF humafiily. Which oF seven r)uverniii(j Faclions will you choose to lead? r.ach has its own strengths and weaknesses — and its own agenda. Il’s legendary Sid Meier strategy ganie|)lay taken to a whole new level, .lust don’t lorgct lo watch your hack. Gel the Full story find demo at www.alfihacenlauri.corn Explore. Discover. Build. Conquer. For The Future OF Mankind. THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Tipping the Scales At... In TA, you had to extract metal and collect energy. In TA: KINGDOMS, you have an abstract economy based upon mana (the ambient magical energy, which represents the limited resource in the game) and the attendant drains on that energy pool in terms of units of time and units of labor. Every unit in the game either builds or consumes mana. You don't have to mine or process this energy, just use it. The sacred sites rank as one of the game's most valuable assets. Gamers will have to find the sites within the gameworld, but finding them makes a significant amount of mana become available to your kingdom. You can use mana to sum- mon creatures or heroes, construct additional buildings, or prepare mas- sive armies for an all-out offensive. According to the design team, the shift in approach to resources was based on the feeling that the econo- my in TA didn't work. "When you're just getting started," says Kauzlaric, "theTA economy makes sense and seems to work, but 20 minutes into the game, resources cease to mat- ter." The mana-based zero-sum economy means that there will always be trade-offs in the game, but you won't have to micromanage mining and ecology operations in order to keep funding your troops. Within a given radius of influ- ence, each unit capable of con- struction can build certain units. Gamers won't be overwhelmed by irrelevant build menus on which half of the units are "grayed out" as inapplicable to the current situ- ation. The build menu (buttons on the left-hand side of the screen) displays only those units or build- ings eligible for construction within a given situation. Once you choose a unit or a building and its location, you see a ghost image of what's being built in that spot. You can also stop construction (or summon- ing) at any point in time. The construction capability in TA; KINGDOMS is particularly important in one regard. In TA, gamers were susceptible to early rush attacks. TA: KINGDOMS allows you to quickly build fortifications to thwart early aggressors. Stone walls will hold off an assault of archers or swords- men, forcing your opponent to build up ballistae, cannon, catapults, siege engines, and/or trebuchets prior to making an assault. One caution, though: It’s possible to build fortifications such that you virtually pen yourself in. A major difference in Al will quickly become evident when gamers first boot up TA: KINGDOMS. While TA used a mathematically correct line-of-sight that factored in terrain effects, TA: KINGDOMS has expanded that to make the line-of-sight changes in terrain and eleva- tion more perceptible and satisfying. Ironically, the actual calculations are less realistic, but the resultant pathfinding, peeling back of fog-of-war, and missile range seem more realistic as you play. When you fire catapults off a cliff or order archers to shoot down a slope, you now sense more readily that you’re getting increased line-of-sight and range. You didn't always feel that in TA. Sometimes, perception is reality. Another difference is that the state-based Al will respond according to the unit's need. If the unit is being defeated, the Al is smart enough to retreat. If the unit is supposed to attack, it will keep exploring until it finds something to attack. If the unit is supposed to patrol, it will patrol (via gamer- designated way- points) until it finds something to attack. Instead of being scripted only to respond, the Al-controlled units will react according to where they are in the game. In one playing of the game, we watched a jungle ore from the Zhon army traverse the entire map and kill every enemy he encountered without any instructions from us. The program took it and ran. Wearing the White Trunks... Some gamers will never be happy with the prebuilt scenarios in a game. Fortunately, TA: KINGDOMS provides a map and mission editor that will enable you to build your own maps for both single-player and multiplayer action. The best news is that the mission editor uses a scripting language that allows for random events, timed events, and custom victory conditions for both single- player and multiplayer encounters. For example, you could script an epiphany from a hostile or friendly deity or even a full-scale invasion by an Al kingdom for a certain point in a multiplayer battle. More important, TA: KINGDOMS will be fully functional with Boneyards, Cavedog Entertainment's new online gaming service. Boneyards will provide not only matching services for TA: KINGDOMS foes, but also a persistent envi- ronment (something like a competition ladder, but with more fiction) in which those battles will make sense in the larger scheme of things. As of press time, Boneyards was being tested with such a system for TA, called GAtACTIC WARS. For me, as that 10-year-old wrestling fan years ago, the best part of any tag-team match occurred when all four combatants jumped into the ring and chaos reigned. The hapless referee would try in vain to break up the melee, and you knew that the bad guys would get in some cheap shots while he wasn't looking. TOTAL ANNIHILATION: KINGDOMS looks as though it will offer lots of entertaining, impressive chaos and plenty of opportunities for those of you who enjoy playing the bad guys (you know who you are) to get in some cheap shots. In short, "Let’s get ready to rumble!" Q3IZ7 COME TO THE CANNONADE Whether in the midst of sieges or open-field war- fare, you'll appreciate the firepower offered by the ballistae, cannon, and trebuchets in the game. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD ■ JANUARY 1999 5putergaming.com Mi&ittsofL Say hello to Microsw Sidewinder' Precision Pro and Game Pad. Your one-way ticket to better play. Unbeatably accurate and reliable, you'll command the game In a way you’ve only dreamed about. Of course, buttons can be fully customized. And with their ergonomic design, you'll find the buttons exactly where you want them. At your fingertips and under your thumb. The perfect place to kick some serious butt. Game Pad PrecfsionPro 0 1 098 Mcrceofl CorpDQlioa Al li^ reserved MicrcsoA and SidsWindar ara ettner registered ttademarte or trademams ol MicrosoR Corporation in the United Slates arid olher countries. 0 1998 Electronic Arls. John Madden Football and EA SPt^TTS are trademarke or regislerad Iredemarks ol Eledronic Arls in the US. ancKx ether covntrtes. Al rl(^ reserved ORicialv Licensed Product ol the National FOolbal League Players. O 1996 Players Inc.'Tbe PLAYERS INC logo Isa registered traderForlc o< the NFL Piayeis. NF^ Malsiiats 0 1 996 NFLP. Want more? Visit microsoftcom/SideWinder 3CDS PACKED WITH HIGH QUALITY SOUND AND VIDEO * FULL 360“ OF MOVEMENT IN 6 UNIQUE WORLDS WINDOWS 95/98, MAC OS COMPATIBLE LIVE ACTION VIDEO INTENSIFIES AND REALISM Copyiiglit © 1998 Piianha Interacllve Publishing. H AWAKE? Decipher the riddle of the neurographicon.a pod-like time machine that preserves dreams forever. Upon exploring each pod, you experience its prisoners' tragic lives through their dreams, ghosts and vislons.The experience will have you quickly confusing the surreal with the real and sacrificing your own dream time for Morpheus time. “Morpheus is a gorgeous looking game. Players will have more freedom to explore than that offered by slideshow-style games such as Riven." -Digital Entertainment Online "A solid adventure game experience wherein die sum of die ports add up to an engrossing, challenging whole." -JustAdyenture.com ‘'Charts new territory in the deep, moody, engrossing nature of the story and the breatinaking beauty of die graphics.” -Adrenaline Vault demos latest info free stuff WWW.MQRPHEUSGAME.CQM Go to #137 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Close Combat III Third Time's a Charm by Terry Coleman Genre: Real-time WWII Release Date: Q1 '99 Developer: Atomic Games Publisher: Microsoft www.microsoft.com/ H istorians constantly argue over which battle of the Revolutionary War was the most significant, or whether Lee could have won at Gettysburg on the second day if he'd pressed harder, or whatnot. When it comes to the eastern front of World War II, however, most of the arguments focus on minutiae because the big themes of the conflict are pretty much free of debate. When the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa, they set in motion the sin- gle largest land conflict in history. Over the course of four years, tens of millions were captured, wounded, or killed. The very names of the battles still resonate, even more than a half-century later: the des- perate defense of Moscow; the bitter, protracted siege of Leningrad; the turning point at Stalingrad; the largest tank battle in history at Prokorovka; the liberation of Warsaw; and the sacking of Berlin. Most of the great boardgames and computer wargames of the past three decades cover this monumental conflict from either an overall strategic or a middle-ground operational viewpoint. CLOSE COMBAT III, true to its name, gets its hands dirty at the grunt level. Even more than A BRIDGE TOO FAR, CLOSE COMBAT III succeeds at por- traying the chaos of the battlefield. But it never gets unmanageable and is always engrossing. Part of this is due to the situation: Almost every kind of WWII battle you can imagine was fought on the eastern front. Still, it's a tribute to the design that a system started as pri- marily an infantry-oriented simulation now easily handles the vast number of tanks, half-tracks, artillery units, and other military hard- ware that took center stage for much of 1941-45. The Al doesn't simply maneuver these war machines competently, it also uses them adeptly to exploit Its terrain advantages, especially in building-to-building fighting — at least in the scenarios that have been finished at this point. If you thought that enemy firepower was deadly in A BRIDGE TOO FAR, you'll be running for cover here almost from the time you boot the program. The Germans have tanks galore and a well-developed command structure to go with a core of veteran troops. The Soviets counter with heavier tanks, lots of antitank guns, and the dreaded human wave tactic. The first time Last Dance at the Volga At medium view, you get a better idea of how desperate the Soviet situation is. Note the gray German tank to the left of the screen, closing to support tiie 88mm antitank guns. In extreme dose-up, you get an idea of how aggressive the German Al is; though I might have waKed for more units, the Germans have racked up quite a body count Keep in mind that staying in this view too long invites disaster since you miss the big picture. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • JANUARY 1999 WWW, computcrgamlng.com THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES you sacrifice dozens of Soviet soldiers to take an objective, you'll reel from the slaughter. Eventually, though, you realize that this was the mindset that Soviet commanders — and soldiers — actually had during the war. My hat is off to the designers for not shy- ing away from this unpleasant truth. All the Amenities CLOSE COMBAT III comprises more than 20 battles and a dozen campaigns, covering everything from small engagements to the entire war in the east. Despite the game's incredible scope, there Buildings In CLOSE COMBAT III vary greatly in size, shape, and materials, which makes a huge difference to troops trying to use them for cover. ^ Close combat hi handles gullies and other depressions better than its predeces- sors — and certainly much better than the typ- ical RTS game. Pacing is tough to execute in any game, but here the units' movement rate over dirt roads, paved roads, and even rail lines seems to be just right. [4|This German half-track has gotten too far ahead of its support for its own good. it's about to be roasted by... S' . . .this T-34 flamethrower tank. While flamethrowers are a bit expensive for you to requisition, the design team seems to be obsessed with them. 6 A medium German tank in camouflage. Given its present location, this vehicle might have been better left in the woods offscreen. ' 7 i While its fixed gun can be a problem at times, this German tank destroyer is perfectly poised to nail the Soviet tank ahead. ' 8 - A Sherman tank, given to the Soviets via lend-lease from the U.S., has the sense to wait for a good shot: The tank’s commander knows he'll probably get only one. 9 These infantry are armed mostly with rifles and submachine guns. If a German tank ventures too near, how- ever, those soldiers who pass a morale check can assault the armor up close. 1 0 Since both sides fielded powerful antitank guns, those units almost always get targeted early in CLOSE COMBAT HI. 11 By leaving the strategic window active you can see the overall battle at a glance without having to zoom in and out frequently. /.computergaminjj.t COMPUTER GAMING WORLD - JANUARY 1999 Meet the Microsoft'^' Sidewinder’” Force Feedback Wheel and the processor. And with Game Controiler Software you can program Force Feedback Pro joystick. Feel the force of every game action buttons to the actions in the games. Did we mention you can use in the palm of your hand, thanks to a colossal 16 bit, 25 MHz them with over eighty games? BucWe up. You’re in for a bumpy ride. Microsoft Urban Assault " comes free with the Force Feedback Pro. Microsoft Monster Truck Madness'“2 and Microsoft CART Precision Racing'“come free ©1998 All rights reserved. Microsoft, Monster Truck Mndnoss, Precision Racing, Sidewinder and Urban Assault are either registered IrademarKsorlradomarks o( Microsoft Corporation l ' United I andfor other countnea. /« uanp^l^ ' W'rS iNToxicf^^^f^/^i.eTety rne amp comki Force Feedback Wheel Force Feedback Pro Joystick with the Wheel. Want more? visit microsoft.com/SideWindei THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Atomic for Power, Turbines for Speed (With apologies to Adam West) S ome wargame designers — Norm Koger, for one — create games from ail periods of history. Keith Zabalaoui and his crew at Atomic Games have stuck to simulating the battles of WWII, but they have a lot more range than they get credit for. Besides, I know Zabalaoui is still dying to do a Starship Troopers game. .. The V FOR VICTORY series was ahead of its time in many ways, combin- ing the familiarity of boardgame conventions with better functionaiity and a generaily easier learning curve. Sure, the games were turn- based, but for operational-ievel games, it's yet to be ^ proven tiiat real-time action is better. These were some of the first SVGA games, not just for strategy/war ^ games, but for any genre. The best of these was UTAH BEACH (reieased by 360 Pacific in 1993), a marvelous, tense look at D-Day that holds up a half-dozen years later. It's still available on CD in THE COMPLETE WARGAME COLLEaiON from SSI. Later games in the series added technicai innovations, but as games they were handi- capped by their settings. After the demise of 360 Pacific, Atomic entered into a relationship with Avaion Hiii. The two companies had somewhat different ways of approaching game design, but the tensions worked positively in OPERATION CRUSADER, easily the best PC game set entirely in Nortii Africa. At this point Atomic's Ai did a much better job attacking than defending. Since the best "mobile defense" in Crusader was to counterattack, the computer opponent acquitted itself pretty well— making this worth buying if you can find it Maybe Hasbro wiii consider reprinting this as part of an "AH computer ciassics" coiiection. The aeative tension between Avaion Hiii and Atomic became outright dissonance in STALINGRAD, not at aii based on the old AH boardgame. The operational-level scenarios worked fine, but the iate addition of a 400- meter-per-hex scale for some parts of the fighting within the city simply didn't work. As a contest between two human generals, however, this is still a good game. CLOSE COMBAT, Atomic's first game for Microsoft inspires respect more than pieasure. it often feeis as though the game were running under its own steam— the last thing you want in this kind of game since hard<ore wargamers are notorious for being control freaks. This time Atomic got it right and truly captured the flavor of small-level WWII combat The psychological profiles are 'VH y. more fleshed-out in CLOSE COMBAT: A BRIDGE too '' FAR than in the original, and the game works better on *¥ I every level— particularly for multiplayer action. If you ' don't already have this in your collection, you're missing a real treat (but it's not too late to drop a hint for ^ Christmas). With the success of this game and the upcom- ing sequel, it's doubtful we'll ever see the Atomic folks . S. going back to turn-based games— which is a real shame since the/ve shown they can do both. are things the design doesn't yet allow for. You don't see — as occasionally happened in real life — units being outfitted for summer campaigns but having to fight in the snow. Because the bat- tles are short and sweet {a boon for multiplayer action), you don't deal with trying to paradrop supplies into the surrounded German Sixth Army at Stalingrad. But these are quibbles, and there are plenty of other games if you want to be Guderian or Zhukov. If, however, you want to be a small-unit commander moving up through the ranks of the German or Soviet army, there's no better place to be — at least on the PC. CLOSE COMBAT III INVASION OF THE ANTS CLOSE COMBAT III does a wonderful job of showing the Soviet's human-wave tactic in action: It can be especially effective when employed with camouflaged troops in the snow. doesn't require a Pentium II 400 or the hottest 3D accelerator on the market. What it does require is a cool head, a love of challenges, and a desire to immerse yourself in the grittiest land campaign in history. I’ve been critical of many real-time wargames in the past few years because the "real" was too often missing. CLOSE COMBAT ill is as close to looking down a gun barrel as most of us want or are likely to get. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1 999 iputergaming.com me N T 8 U C H A B L E ^ '^RnTTu mor>T" \m riCiiT moDgel^ P^Play any of 19 smoothly animated, live video characters. Controlled in real time) each - cha ra cter is modele d from a highly talented martial artist with a unique fighting style, making for some of the most realistic combat ever. . ^ . Available at your local retailer or call Power Media at 503 - 684.8232 www.powermedia.com THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Homeworld This Sci-Fi Strategy Game Pushes the Boundaries of 3D Space by Robert Coffey D id you ever want to jump out of your Excalibur star fighter in a WING COMMANDER game and start calling the shots instead of just taking them? Did you ever wonder just who was drawing up the mission plans in TIE FIGHTER? Did you ever think to your- self, "I can come up with a better strategy than this" in DESCENT; FREESPACE? Well, you Commander Adama wanna-be, HOMEWORLD may be the answer to your prayers — serving up heaps of epic space combat in which you create and command huge fleets of space vessels instead of just pilot them. As leader of an entire civilization fleeing from adversaries who have driven you from your adopted home, you'll traverse space in a desperate race to find the legendary planet of your origin: your homeworld. Battlestar Fantastica The first thing you'll notice about HOMEWORLD are the graphics. Visually, the game should be stunning. Using virtu- ally every 3D trick in the book, the design team has created a vibrant, living world In the cold expanses of deep space. The universe brims with richly detailed space ships, fields of bobbing asteroids, and beautiful, shifting nebulae. SHOOTING STARS HOMEWORLD's free-moving camera allows for some breathtaking perspectives of battie. Here, a wing of scout ships moves in to finish off tiie enemy. Adding to the game's graphic appeal is its zoom feature. Pull out for a wide view and you'll be able to take in every ship in the sector — zipping fighters trailing ion streams, gently spin- ning research stations, enemy bombers peppering the hull of your massive mothership with exploding plasma bombs. Zoom in tight and you can ride right behind a wing of attacking fighters, all the better to ogle the glowing engines and brilliant explosions, Beautiful and dramatic, the action in HOMEWORLD could run the risk of work- ing against its playability since gamers may neglect their strategic duties to marvel at the splendor of the gameworld. But odds are that won't happen since HOMEWORLD seems poised to give gamers some of the most innovative strategy gam- ing in a long time. Just the addition of a truly three-dimensional world promises to open up all sorts of new strategic challenges. You'll be able to flank enemies from above and below as well as from the sides, but surrounding a key enemy target should prove more daunting given that those targets will have more avenues for escape than in a traditional game. Viewing your position from various angles will be vital to your success, so HOMEWORLD Utilizes a camera with a full 360 degrees of freedom. This lets you whip from a view high above your moth- ership to just below it in a heartbeat. Should you need to check on scout ships far from your primary position, you'll be able to call up the strategic map of that sector and click on those units to be instantly transported to their position. Getting There From Here Directing the actions of units in a true 30 environment presents a slew of challenges not present in other games. Given that your monitor is a two-dimensional device, you can't select a unit and actually click on a point in space; How does the unit know where on that plane you want It to go? Should it move straight ahead or five miles deeper? To its credit, the design team at Relic is doing a good job developing an interface that doesn't get in the way of enjoyment yet allows gamers to control their forces with precision. As in most real-time strategy titles, units in HOMEWORLD can be gathered into groups by simply clicking and dragging a box around them. Groups can be of an unlimited number and can be assigned to hot-keys. For the tricky business of moving units, you'll simply press the M key, which calls up a graphic overlay of a large dish representing the horizontal plane the selected units currently occupy. Clicking anywhere on that dish sends those units to that point. To send them to a place either above or below that point on the plane, you'll have to press another key. This will allow you to move your cursor off the original plane and triangu- late a destination for your units. In print it sounds clumsy, but in practice it's quick and effective. in fact, a great deal of the interface relies on using the key- board. Gamers who have never used hot-keys for actions in games such as STARCRAFT will probably have some adjusting to do. Keys are used not only to direct movement, but also to call up the COMPUTER GAMING WORLD - JANUARY 1999 /.computergaming.com THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Form and Function Formations promise to be as integral to gameplay in HOMEWORLD as they are in MYTH. You should be able to send squadrons of Interceptors in wedge formation to penetrate and scatter an enemy's forces before you follow up with a solid line of heavy Corvettes to pound the enemy into oblivion. Formations operate intelligently as well. If you tell a group of Defenders to go into a sphere formation with your mothership, the Defenders will arrange themselves around the mothership rather than trying to force the enormous mothership into being part of the sphere. Deep space noticeably lacks terrain, so you won't be able to count on mountain ranges and the like to provide defense for your forces. Instead, defense will hinge largely on your deployment of units. You'll need to place your more valuable and vulnerable scanners, research stations, and mothership in the center of a growing fleet. Lighter, quicker craft — like Interceptors and Bombers — will need to patrol the edges of your "base" to extinguish or severely wound attacking forces. Defenders will be particularly handy. While they're almost useless as a mobile, attacking force, they are formidable when they stick to guarding your assets. And there will be some environmental phe- nomena you can exploit for defense: You can charge gas clouds, for example, to create Impassable electrical fields — or to give a devastating shock to enemy harvesting vessels. Research in the game will be accomplished via modular research stations. Unlike in other games in which specific buildings research specific technologies, the THE BIG PICTURE, PART II Whether rendering shifting neb- ulae or brilliant explosions, HOMEWORLD's 3D-accelerated graphics give the game a unique epic feel. DRAWING A LINE IN SPACE The strategic use of formations will play a big part in deciding tiie outcome of battles in HOMEWORLD. Here, a squad of Interceptors lines up by its moUiership before making a sweep of the sector. research station will be responsible for all scientific advancement. Research may be slow at first, but you can increase your speed by building additional station modules. As the research structure grows, so will your research speed. Alternately, you may research more than one technology by assigning different research tasks to separate station modules. New technologies will enable you to create new ships, develop better weapons, and access even more technologies. Poised for an early 1 999 release, HOMEWORLD has the potential to be a breakthrough title among real-time strategy games. By fully utilizing 3D technology it will add a whole new dimension to the genre. strategic map, to set unit posture for guarding and the tike, and to select formations. SCIENTIFIC MEinOD Multiple research modules will let you Investigate several technologies at once or accelerate inquiry into just one. /.computefgaming.c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Microsott ©1998 Microsoft Corporation, Ad rieits reserved. Microsoft is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation, Introducing Microsoft' Combat Flight Simulator. With the same stunningly realistic flying experience Flight Simulator is known for, only this time it’s the I940's and there's a war on. Join the Allied or Axis forces, choose your fighter, and fly missions in the Battle of Britain and the Battle over Europe. But don't expect a sight-seeing trip. Sure, the Eiffel Tower, Royal Albert Hall and other historically accurate landmarks are there in heart-stopping 3-D graphics. Unfortunately, with black smoke pouring through the shattered cockpit of your P-47D you won't see much. And if that isn't thrilling enough, bring in thousands of planes from the Internet and engage in deadly dogfights over scenery imported from Microsoft Flight Simulator. That's not all. Combat Flight Simulator also supports multiplayer and force feedback technology. So when you pull G's attacking the enemy, and the engine of your Spitfire cuts out, you'll know just how it feels. After all, nothing beats the feeling of flying a historic WWII fighter. Except, of course, filling it full of lead and watching it plummet pitifully to the ground. Collect your orders and find out how Microsoft Flight Simulator owners can get a S10 rebate at www.microsoft.com/games/combatfs THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Fleet Command Jane's Tests the Real-time Waters With This Naval Warfare Game by Denny Atkin N obody knows weaponry like Jane’s Information Group, the book and magazine publisher that has documented weapons of mass destruction for most of this century. Jane's Combat Simulations— a cooperative venture between Electronic Arts and the original Jane's— has built a similar reputation for accurately portraying weapons systems with titles like LONGBOW, F-1 5. and 688(1) HUNTER/KILLER. Now that Jane's Combat Simulations has risen to prominence in the simulations market, it is turning its sights to strategy gaming with FLEET COMMAND, a real-time naval Genre: Real-time Strategy Release Date: Q1 '99 Developer: Sonalysts Publisher: Jane's Combat Simulations warfare strategy game. FLEET COMMAND is an interesting hybrid; Although the game features a command interface that's no harder to use than your typical COMMAND & CONQUER clone, the battles aren't simplified and abstracted as they are in most real-time strategy games. You'll watch your attacks play out in a 3D window that seems ripped from a flight simulation. You'll see the influence of the group's simulation experience in how the bat- tles play out as well— all the weapons systems for each vehicle are individually simulated. www.janes.ea.com Not Sub-standard This simulation influence isn't surprising when you realize that FLEET COMMAND'S developer is Sonalysts, which has been creating tactical and weapons-platform simulations for the Navy for a number of years. Jane's 688{l) HUNTER/KILLER, a nuclear attack submarine slm, marked Sonalysts' entry into the consumer simulation market. The developer had planned to follow that product with a detailed Aegis missile cruis- er sim. As that sim evolved, the designers realized that, since they had to simulate an entire carrier battle group anyway, they had the workings of an interesting tactical strategy game. The weapons roster in FLEET COMMAND includes the major naval and navat/aerial weapons systems for 1 9 countries. With the inclusion of ocean maps for the entire planet, there's literally a world of possibilities for potential missions. Whether you want to play out a melee between American and Russian carrier groups, restage the battle for the Falkland Islands, simulate a Middle East hostage rescue, or create a hypothetical regional conflict between India and Pakistan, the appropriate maps and tools are here. The game equips each force with a fairly complete lineup of current-technology ships and aircraft. The United States, for instance, features carriers, missile cruisers, destroyers. Marine assault craft, nuclear attack subs, and a wide variety of other ships. On the aviation side, the U.S. has F-14Tomcats, F/A-18 Hornets, EA-6B Prowlers, S-3 and ES-3 Vikings, E-3 Hawkeyes, and a variety of helicopters. Other vehicles are available when appro- priate: If you have a Marine assault ship in your force mix, you'll also have AV-8B Harriers andAH-1 SuperCobras. And land bases will give you access to P-3 Orion antisubmarine warfare aircraft. You don’t need to be a military buff or a wargamer to be able to command these forces. Telling one unit to attack another is as simple as clicking the unit, then clicking the target. If the target Optivns Dtfint Million CLEAN AND SIMPLE You give commands to your forces by clicking on a simple tactical map; a detailed 3D window displays the selected unit - FOUL WEATHER FIGHTING The game features dramatic weather effects; to improve your view you can swap the tactical and 3D windows. 60«4 H I 01 Dffpth; 34B TYPE UNKNOWN If a ship or aircraft hasn't been identified, it shows up as a simple, generic polygonal view. A. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • JANUARY 1999 .'.computerfi.afTiing.com THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES UUNCH BREAK Smoke and missile trails highlight the launching of a surface-to-surface missile that's about to send an enemy auiser to Davy Jones' locker. SILENT RUNNING A nuclear attack sub- marine slides under the ice. When you have subs at your disposal, you'll be able to give them orders only when they come to communications depth. ICON SEE YOU If you prefer, you can replace the NATO unit symbols with ship and plane icons. 1 CUSTOM COMBAT The editor in RJET COMMAND includes a number of handy shortcuts, including one that creates an entire carrier battle group with two clicks. unit is in weapons range, your unit will fire; if not, your unit will move into range and then open fire. Of course, you can also manually select weapons systems, choosing, for instance, among AIM-1 20 AMRAAM, AIM-9 Sidewinder, and the 20mm cannon when you send an F/A-1 8 against an air target. With a Ticonderoga class cruiser, you'll find available guns; cannons; SAMs; torpedoes; and Harpoon, TLAM, and TASM missiles. To get the most out of your forces, you’ll want to understand the strengths of each unit and weapon. This is where the Jane's connection comes in. Basic information on a unit's status and capabilities appears when you select it. If you need more data, just press the appropriate key and you can get full performance information and descrip- tions from Jane's Fighting Ships. Jane's All the World's Aircraft, and other publications put out by the company. The game will have scalable realism. For instance, with the difficulty settings dialed up, it will take a specific amount of time to ready aircraft and helicopters for launch. Putting a plane on Alert 5 status will let you launch it within 5 minutes of game time, but it takes 25 minutes to prepare a plane for Alert 5. Gamers looking for a more immediate experi- ence will be able to set the game so that it takes 30 seconds, not 30 minutes, between selecting a hangared plane and launching it. Of course, even if you're playing with full realism, you'll be able to accelerate time when there's no action. Looks That Kill FLEET Command's tactical map control interface is austere. You have a choice of NATO unit symbols or simple unit icons, displayed on a topographical map of the combat theater. But the game is far I from plain. A 3D win- dow in the bottom- center of the screen shows a detailed view of the selected unit. And I mean detailed: FLEET COMMAND features texture-mapped 3D terrain, moving seas, and highly detailed 3D vehicles. When you fire a weapon, it shoots from the appropriate location on your ship or plane, complete with semi- transparent smoke trails; and vehicles display damage when they get hit. You can swap the 3D window into the top half of the screen (normally occupied by the tactical map) if you want a close-up look at the destruction you cause. The game will sup- port Glide, Direct3D, and OpenGL 3D cards. The 3D interface doesn't give you an unreal- istic advantage when it comes to identifying the enemy. If you've detected a unit but haven't sent in a recon flight to identify it, the unit appears in the 3D window as a generic ship or aircraft shape. This anonymity is impor- tant because many missions will require you to make an ID before firing on the enemy. And beware — that plane coming at your carrier battle group may well be a civilian Airbus. Scripted, but Not Predictable FLEET COMMAND will include three mis- sion types; training, single mission, and cam- paign. At this point in development, while the campaigns are actually single missions, they're very long-running ones in which you'll have to achieve multiple goals before winning the battle. Although the missions are prescripted, the game should still offer long-term playability. FLEET COMMAND includes a very sophisti- cated, yet easy-to-use mission editor, which should help spawn numerous add-on missions on the Internet. Even the built-in missions are good for multiple replays since the editor supports multiple levels of random- ness. You can set a number of types of ships and aircraft in a task force and set percent- age chances — not only for which ones will appear, but also for where they'll appear. When you replay, therefore, you may find yourself facing a dramatically different force mix approaching from a different area of the map. This system offers the creative control of scripted missions, while giving players the unpredictability of a dynamic campaign. In multiplayer mode, up to nine sides can be present, and there are intriguing opportunities for teamwork. For instance, you might set up one player to handle an aircraft carrier and its planes, while another player handles the other ships in the same battle group. Jane's is concerned that gamers realize FLEET COMMAND is a strat game, not a sim. But the title has the potential to have very wide appeal. Strategy gamers looking for a more in-depth experience than the typical click-fest will find it appealing. The systems modeling is so deep that the game will likely appeal to the wargaming crowd, and sim fans can look at it as a "third-person" naval sim. However it's classified, it's a breath of fresh air in a me-too market. v I'.computergaming.c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Civilization: Call to Power Can Activision Remake CIVILIZATION in its Own Image? Genre: Turn-based Historical Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Activision Publisher: Activision www.activision.com by Terry Coleman I n 1 997, Avalon Hill, motivated by a need for cash flow and a desire to strike a blow at MicroProse — which it had long consid- ered to have ripped off one of its most prized franchises — licensed the computer rights for ADVANCED CIVILIZATION to Activision. Since SIO MEIER'S CIVILIZATION II was one of the few MicroProse titles making a ton of money over the past three years, the MicroProse folks in Alameda protected their investment by suing for copyright infringement. MicroProse delivered its legal masterstroke by pur- chasing Hartland Trefoil's boardgame company, the original designers of the Civilization boardgame, effectively ending any claim Avalon Hill had to the title. Vi/hen the litigious smoke settled, Avalon Hill had lost all rights to ADVANCED CIVILIZATION, including the boardgame rights (which it had held in North America for 1 7 years). The more than $400,000 settlement that Avalon Hill had to pay in legal fees hastened the end of the company. Activision came out of the suit ahead, as it gained the rights to publish CIVILIZATION: CALL TO POWER and at least one add-on product. As one for- mer AH employee said, "Can you imagine Activision going to MicroProse before all of this and asking for rights to pub- lish a CIVILIZATION competitor to Meier's game? They'd have laughed [Activision CEO] Bobby Kotick out of the state." The irony of all this is that MicroProse and Avalon Hill are now both owned by Hasbro, so something might eventually happen with ADVANCED CIVILIZATION. In the meantime, however, we have CALL TO POWER, and it's a good thing that the legal posturing is over, because Activision's CIVILIZATION is so obviously based on Meier's game that any lawyer would be muttering "look-and-feel lawsuit" in his or her sleep. Just imagine the three-quarter perspective of SID MEIER'S CIV II in 16-bit color, with bigger sprites a la AGE OF EMPIRES, and you have a good idea of the game's layout. The varying time scale, with turns representing fewer and fewer years as you enter the modern era, is left virtually unchanged. Even now, the pacing and the flow of the game is ClV-like, so the design team has nailed at least one aspect of its intended audience. Wonder of Wonders Several things have changed from Civ II, however. The Great Library is now reduced to essentially a Civilopedia, and a lot of your other favorite Wonders of the World are either footnotes or missing altogether. The good news is that the new Wonders of the World are interesting, and there are a lot more of them proportionally later in history — which is when a typical CIVILIZATION II game tends to slow down a bit. The Global E-Bank network, for example, serves much the same function as Adam Smith's Trading Company in CiV II, except that it increases your funds in the 21 st century. The most controversial of the new Wonders will undoubtedly be the Emancipation Proclamation. You see, CALL TO POWER is the first COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • JANUARY 1 399 v.computcrgaming.com 7 L’/v^tJ " ,,r ,7;rl'L’''-^ nroi<-^n- 1'^''“''^ yet!'- ■HHHKiiii . .... - Microsoft Motocross Madness" comes free with the Freestyle Pro. 0 1996 All righls reserved. Mctosoli. Motocross Madness, SMoWirflor aro either regislerad tradamarKs or trademarks o1 MictosoH Corporation in (he United Slates and/or oilier countries. Welcome to the Microsoft' Sidewinder’ Frees^e Pro joystick. Now you can throw yourseif into the action. Literally. Every on-screen movement is controiied with your own movement, it’s caiied motion- sensing technoiogy. Accurate and highiy responsive, not to mention works with your favorite games. It’s programmable buttons and super siick design fits your hand iike a giove. Which is handy when you're throwing yourseif from one side of the room to the other. Freestyle Pro Want more? Visit microsoft.com/SideWinder Deception! Terrorist action has seriousip injured Gourron. ^s a member of the Klin^on Honor Guard, pou must take revenue. Hnd pou must be su/ift and merciless. U/ith 10 grisly ureapons in your arsenol, revenue will be yours. Powered by the Unreal " engine, you've never seen the KUn^on world lihe this. This violent. This bloody. Today is a ^ood day to die. THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES game in a long time to deal with the emotionally charged insti- tution of slavery throughout history. While some gamers may find the idea repugnant, slavery hardly seems out of place in a game in which every civiliza- tion can blithely go around nuking one another. In CALL TO POWER, using slave labor is cheaper than using your own popu- lace, but the temptation to do so lessens with more enlightened forms of government. The Emancipation Proclamation effectively ends slavery as an institu- tion, not only gaining victory (and moral) points for your side, but also likely wreck- ing the economy of your enemies. It's a bold stand, and whether it will work with CIV fans remains to be seen. Still, you have to admire Activision's guts in not taking the politically correct route (just think how often SS units have been con- veniently left out of WWIl games). In any case, CALL TO POWER lets you toggle off slavery, just as you can any other major item in the design. Let's Get Religion! The freshest things in CALL TO POWER aren't so much the new units — Leviathan Heavy Tanks, for instance, are just a variation on units found in every sci-fi strategy game from COMMAND AND CONQUER to TOTAL ANNIHILATION — as the new government types. Most of these take their inspiration from some unpleasant aspea of history generally ignored by games. My favorites are the Ecotopians, a bizarre group that seems to idolize the "Free Love" period of the 1960s but is prone to outbursts of extreme violence — sort of "Greenpeace meets Islamic Jihad," according to lead designer William Westwater. In addition to norma! tactics, these ecoterrorists can set off an LSD-like bomb in an enemy city — which tends to render the city somewhat ineffeaive, whether or not it goes into revolt immediately. The Ecotopians even have their own anti- Wonder, a Genesis device that remakes all life on the planet in a new image (though without, as yet, the cool special effects from Star Trek: Wrath of Khan). Religion also rears its head, with clerics that are similar to the priests from AGE OF EMPIRES. In addition to simply converting enemies to your side, clerics can drain an enemy city of gold, entice its population to Living in the Real World T he design team for CALL TO POWER comprises some of the biggest CIVILIZATION freaks I've ever met Like me, they would be etemaily happy playing the main campaign of what project director Cecilia Barajas called “the most replayable game ever made." Problem is, CALL TO Power goes further through history than even CiV n->from 4000 B.C. to A.D. 3000. Not everyone these days has the time or the patience for a 40- hour game— especially for multiplay. Activision plans a battie.net-type server, ActivLink, to host OUJL TO POWER Internet games (whether this service will be live by the time the game ships was unclear at press time). The game should support LAN and direct modem linkup as well. One thing the design team is still hedging is exactly how turns will work In multiplayer format One possibility is to do everything in simultaneous turns, as in WARLORDS III. But CALL TO POWER pushes around more information per turn titan WARLORDS ever dreamed of, with high-res graphics to boot Regardless, Activision intends to have a number of scenarios playable in an hour: an ambitious goal, and an obvious attempt to appeal to the AGE OF EMPIRES crowd. Let's hope it works. revolt, and other nasty things, all in the name of organized religion. By the way, the advanced unit of the cleric in CALL TO POWER is the televan- gelist, every bit as creepy as that sounds (unless I have one, of course). War and Peace Since Activision doesn't have access to the source code for CIV II, it may be hard for the company to match that design's sophisticated diplomacy system. But the designers have implemented a fairly detailed menu-driven interface to let you trade land or goods for cash or mili- tary units. We imagine they'll continue to play-balance this system and integrate it into the economic model right up until the game ships. Combat, on the other hand, is already well fleshed out. Unlike CIV II, CALL TO POWER gives you advantages for attacking or defending with a stack of units, including combined arms modifiers — like those in WARLORDS III, but not as detailed or realistic as in THE OPERATIONAL ART OF WAR. As you go further into the future, you get more high-tech units, such as a futuristic U2-style spy plane, which may be based on the rumored Aurora of the U.S. Air Force. In general, there seems to be greater emphasis on recon units that help to lift the fog-of-war. In another departure from classic CIV, units can utilize a more active defensive posture, and some units even have — gasp! — ranged combat. Will all of these changes from classic CIV lore work? It's hard to say, though I'll freely admit I had a good time with the beta. The play bal- ance is the thing here, since many of your tried-and-true CIV strategies will need tweaking if you are to survive in this New World order. I'm still a bit skeptical of the game not ending until A.D. 3000, because it smacks of a cheap attempt to end-run SID MEIER'S ALPHA CENTAURl. My main concern, however, is that Activision, with its recent track record for shipping incomplete products, takes the time to finish this promising game. Then we can spend more time arguing the merits of Ecotopian versus Fundamentalist governments and less time down- loading patches. [S3U li fl HARRIET TUBMAN'S FRIEND? Abolitionists get their due in Call TO POWER; shown is both an early water- color painting and the final computer- generated art UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE The Ecoterrorist, the Slaver, the Comhat Engineer, and the Infector (who specializes in biological warfare) show how much the units differ from those of CIV II. iTlIik COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 w.computergaming.com THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Civilization II IVIultiplayer Gold Edition Mining for More Gaming Treasure Y ou have to feel a little sympathy for the folks at MicroProse. Here they are, with a new version of one of the greatest games of all time, wondering exactly how far they can stretch the design. Do too much that's unfamiliar, and you risk alienating the more than 1 million fans of SiD MEIER'S CIVILIZATION II. Add too little that's new, and you have what one CGkV editor called "a multiplay- er patch for a two-year-old game." Since they do plan to charge money, it's nice that CIV II MULTIPLAYER GOLD will at least be comprised fully of 32-blt code: so long, WinG. It also supports TCP/IP, IPX, LAN. and even play-by-email, complete with standard and simultaneous turns, with an optional timer for each gamer. Our experience when playing multiplayer was that some of the sce- narios worked rather well, but it's hard to finish a full campaign game. To be fair. Civ il works much better with four to six people than MOO II ever did, and while it isn't as smooth as AGE OF EMPIRES, you have by far more diplo- macy. You can't simply rush into the middle of the map and start bashing away. Even for solo players, this might be a good buy because you get classic CIV II (which now runs faster), plus a number of additional scenarios. Since Hasbro seems to be giving the team plenty of time to work out the kinks, this game should avoid the problems associated with 1995's CIVNET. — Terry Coleman Genre: Turn-based Historical Release Date: Q4 '98 Developer/ Publisher: Hasbro/MicroProse www.microprose.coni Sid Meier's Aipha Centauri it's Worid Building at its Best as You E ver wonder what happened to the colonists who left Earth at the end of CIV II? ALPHA CENTAURI gives you the chance to find out. In the game a group of U.N. colonists crash-land on a mysterious planet, and seven factions splinter off from the group — each seeking to settle the planet according to its own principles and ethos. With factions includ- ing God-fearing fundamentalists, radical militarists, planet-hugging consen/ation- ists, and money-loving capitalists, there should be a splinter group to appeal to every type of strategy gamer. An enormous tech tree lies at the heart of ALPHA CENTAURI. Researchable technologies are based on plausible science, not the more fanciful stuff of something like, oh. Lost in Space. Research will yield a host of new options affecting your sociological structure, your Settle the Final Frontier ability to exploit the planet, the units you can build, and other factors. The unit-building feature is particu- larly noteworthy: As you discover new technologies, you'll be able to customize the units you wish to produce. Choosing from various chassis, weapons, armor, energy sources, and special items, you can create exactly the sort of machine you want. Gamers will have to juggle their unit creation wish list between what they want a unit to have and what those features will cost. Multiplayer games should be fascinating as each side churns out custom units that their opponents have never imagined, let alone seen. — Robert Coffey Genre: Turn-based Sci-Fi Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Firaxis Publisher: Electronic Arts Civilization II: Test of Time Will CIV Be in the Muck Without Meier? O K, you already have one CtV II title in production — CIV II MULTIPLAYER — SO of course you add another. Huh? What's more confusing is that no one at MicroProse seems to know where this product is going. MicroProse hinted that it might develop Alpha Centauri scenarios: It's not nice to take shots at Sid Meier (or his next game) just because he's gone, folks. Aside from the attempts to add a little 3D and some animation to the three-quarter CIV II perspective, little else seems new here. MicroProse can't even guarantee that TEST OF TIME will support multiplay. Part of the problem is that the management has insisted that every product in the CiV II line be backward compatible. With that kind of thinking, it's no wonder we have this muddle instead of a potential CIV III. The only reason not to give up on this product is that Mick Uhl, who gave us the excellent CONFLICTS IN CIVILIZATION add-on, heads the project. We wish him luck. — Terry Coleman Genre: Turn-based Historical Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: MicroProse Publisher Hasbro/MicroProse www.microprose.com www.computcfgaming,< COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 A THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WE'VE EVER SEEN IN A PC GAMING TITLEl" - COMPUTER GAMING WORLD |J4yE BEfM ^qiNG jp’p^y: YOU ARH ALONi;, WASni:i) ASHORK ON INC.ICN'S REMOTE RESEARCH ISLAND, SITE ll, IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE I.OST WORLD E X I* E I) I'l 1 O N . REFORE YOU LIES A DENSE, T R O E I C A L J U N 0 L E FILLED WITH E R E 11 I S I O R I C CARNIVORES THAT ARE VERY MUCH ALIVE. YOUR ONLY CHANCE OF SURVIVAL IS TO USE YOUR WITS TO BATTLE THE RELENTLESS WILD LIFE WITH A N Y r I I I N C YOU CAN G E F Y O U R HANDS N . THE EVOLUTION OF 1ST PERSON H-D GAMING. w w \v' . I' u i; s p A s s F K . (.: o m Real-time body impact physics blow oft arms, legs, and even headsi Hunt up to 15 bther players, in one of', tliree muiiiniayer deathmaibbrnodes. www.turok.com 1 THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Imperialism II: Age of Exploration Holy Bismarck, Batman! It's More Expansionist Than the Original! Genre: Turn-based Historical Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Frog City Publisher: SSI www.ssionline.com by Robert Coffey and Terry Coleman G amers who desire grand strategy gaming face a tough decision this year: Figure out which of the tangled mass of CIVILIZATION titles is most worthy of attention and play it, or forgo the confusion and just play IMPERIALISM II. In this instance, the simpler choice may turn out to be the better one. Brave New World For those unfamiliar with the title, the original IMPERIALISM offered the usual mix of expansion, exploration, and exploitation typical of the genre, with the added fun of being loosely set in the period that spanned from the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution to the ascension of Teddy Roosevelt and Otto von Bismarck. While IMPERIALISM II retains its predecessor's classic style of gameplay, the designers of the game have intro- duced so many additions, changes, and modifications that in many ways it's more of a new game than a sequel. When you start IMPERIALISM II, one of the most basic changes immediately becomes apparent — or should that be un- apparent, since fully half of the randomly generated map is now shrouded in black. In order to emphasize the sense of explo- ration and discovery appropriate to the game's time frame — from the 1 6th to the 1 9th century-— everything except the Old World portion of the map is hidden until you, acting as ruler of one of the Old World nations, discover and explore the New World. Certainly, this use of fog-of-war is a lot more realistic— especially in a psychological sense — than the "is there a tree beyond the next pixel, because I forgot to bring the map from the orbiting starship?" so common in recent tactical strategy games. Besides, Columbus thought he found Cathay, not a new continent; you should experience the same potential confusion and sense of wonder when playing the game. This, however, brings up one of the few flaws in IMPERIALISM 11: The Far East is conveniently ignored, even more so than in many western civilization-centered histories (no wonder Nehru felt com- pelled to write History of the Worlditom a different perspective). You don't worry about trading with China or trying to muscle in on Venice's spice trade through Arabia; they sim- ply don't exist. Maybe they'll magically reappear in IMPERIALISM III? Military and Civilian Strikes In any case, once the New World is discovered, you'll be able to colonize, exploit, and conquer what- ever you find there. But be forewarned that you're going to face stiffer competition here than in the first IMPERIALISM. This higher challenge will come courtesy of a much tougher com- puter opponent. Rival, computer-controlled countries will recognize threats and ally to defeat you. While the Al in IMPERIALISM fell apart in the later stages of the game, this new version promises to fight you to the end. And not just through direct attacks, either. The Al will disrupt your trade routes, thus wrecking your economy, starving your citizens, and- costing you the game. You'll need all your cun- ning to win, because smallpox occurs in the New World (to Terry Coleman's great lament) only as a "rare" random OFF TO UNIVERSITY Research is much more developed than in the original IMPERIAUSM, for both civilian and military units. A COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 /.computergamlng.com THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES few extra tons of the crystalline sweet stuff, everybody's fried crab- apple pie suffers, workers revolt, and now you may be the one falling behind in the economic race. All of these factors require that you keep a critical eye on not only your trade routes, but also the changing political landscape— the dynamics of which are the best part of IMPERIALISM N's design. If you go isolationist, as the United States did early in this century, you risk losing the game, as well as missing out on all the fun. Giving Orders None of the additional depth and new and delightful ways to screw one's neighbor in IMPERIALISM II would help much if the game weren't also easier to play than the original. On that front, we've seen evidence that the game is moving toward a more streamlined, user-friendly interface that will make managing your budding empire less cumbersome. In particular, the number of screens you have to deal with is being reduced — so that you don't have to click on the factory, then the worker, then back to the main interface — and those that remain are being better organized for functionality (for instance, all the Diplomatic options are now on one screen). Right-clicking on menu items will give you more detailed infor- mation on those items, and most of the menu buttons will have hot text for instant, capsule explanations. One visual treat from the first game, the turn-by-turn newspaper that announced game developments, is gone, having been replaced by a succinct sum- mary box. While we'll miss the kitschy stories and the period flavor the newspaper provided, we agree with the design team that the fiction often obscured the real game info from the gamer. Finally, a helpful tutorial will ease newbies into the game and should also be useful for introducing IMPERIALISM veterans to the new gameplay. What few quibbles we had with the original seem to have been answered in this well-thought-out sequel. IMPERIALISM II looks more challenging, easier to play (especially multiplayer), and more replayable than any of its "conquer the world" competitors that are likely to release this year. We're ready, and we promise a steam train in every town and a flintlock musket in every house. So you better trade with us. Or else. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD ■ JAMUARY 1999 ^ event. You'll have to wipe out and other- wise abuse that native population through hard work — Cortez would have been proud. You'll also need a technological edge. Frog City is making a concerted effort to revamp the tech tree for this game. Even its kindest critics were forced to admit that Imperialism's tech tree left a lot to be desired, especially for veterans of MASTER OF ORION and CIVILIZATION II. Whereas the original had all countries progressing at more or less the same speed, IMPERIALISM II will let you outpace your adversaries. The advantages to this should be apparent the first time your steel- sided steamships sink an armada of wooden ones. A handy menu will let you pick research priorities and then suggest technologies to research in order to meet your goals. About the only thing we miss here that we enjoy in similar games like CIVILIZATION II is the sense of technological brain- storms. There seems to be only one research path in IMPERIALISM II to each discovery. So, there's no reason — in the long run, anyway — not to research everything, some- thing that never really happens in real life, where the Tom Edisons and Nikola Teslas of the world make intuitive leaps and let someone else worry about going back and filling in the gaps. Aside from any concerns of perceived "realism," this can be a huge gameplay issue — although IMPERIALISM II mostly makes up for this by allowing you to develop a spy network and lift research nuggets from your enemies (and your friends). Of course if you get caught playing Mata Hari, you risk losing Most Favored Nation status with your crucial trading partner, and you might even precipitate a huge war that costs everybody money. Finally, it's harder to crack the formula that keeps your nation of workers happy and productive, since there are just too many outside factors that you can't predict. Say, for example, that you're building your mercantile empire around being the largest producer of crab apples in the world. Suddenly, one of your trading partners enters a war with a country that hap- pens to be your main source of sugar. Unless you've had the foresight to stockpile a n gaming ZONC ■ tf. How far are you willing to go to keep your men alive? There are no rule books. No how-to guides. You've got to use your head, improvise, and change your tactics at a moment’s notice. Are you up for the challenge? 1941 to 1945. Four grueling years of war. Four dramatically different seasons. From mind-numbingly cold winters to impossible-to-budge muddy springs. Every weather change comes with a new set of problems. You won’t make it if you aren’t prepared. Microsoft As the front-line commander, all eyes are on you. Ask your soldiers to do something silly and you can expect a mutiny. But with every battle you win, their morale gets better. Bringing a whole new meaning to survival of the fittest. As the war drags on, the technology gets better. You can choose between rocket artillery, off-map artillery, flamethrowers and 80 different vehicles, to name just a few. Not to mention over 300 squad types and 60 different kinds of soldiers. Take your troops from the open field tundra to Berlin. Maps are bigger and based on actual aerial photographs with amazingly accurate elevation detail. The maps may be historic, but the outcome of the war is unwritten. Will history repeat itself? Day one. You’re a low-ranking commander. But keep your troops from fleeing or getting killed and you’ll soon find yourself advancing in rank and commanding more units. www.microsoft.com/games/closecombat tires December 31, 1998 Diamond mail ll.1,.2MB XP Monster 3D Go to #284 @ u|ww.computergaming.com/infolink I rrsi iff purer uu We carry hgEidreds gfegraphic cards all atThei TWISTER AND SHOUT From a safe distance, a shaman calmly watches villagers run so-eaming from the hurricane she has summoned. BEACHFRONT PROPERTY The planets in POPULOUS: THE BEGINNING run the gamut from dark and foreboding to blanketed in snow to this world's scarlet sea and sky. THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAAAES www.computergaming.com Populous: The Beginning Aspiring Deities Never Had It So Good by Robert Coffey T he more we see of this game, the more we can't wait to get our hands on it. Richly imagined visuals, innovative gameplay, and an oddly charming personality utterly unlike any other game are certain to set POPULOUS: THE BEGINNING (POP;TB) apart from the "me-too" games flooding the real-time market. The best news is that by the time you read this, POP: TB should be hitting store shelves. Spreading the Good Word A prequel to POPULOUS I & II, the original god games, POP: TB takes place prior to your deifica- tion. As a shaman with a yen to become the all-powerfu! master of time, space, and dimension, you must become the sole monotheis- tic focal point for 26 different planets in order to achieve your goal. Sure, you can attract and convert followers, but who wants to take the time to do that when you can summon Angels of Death, call forth lightning strikes, or raise up enormous, devastating volca- noes to get rid of pesky nonbelievers? The game's developer. Bullfrog, is strongly empha- sizing the use of magic in POP: TB's gameplay. Although gamers will build structures and raise armies, it's the strategic use of spells that will decide the outcome of most scenarios. This is particularly evi- dent on one planet where you have no followers or villages and must conquer three rival shamans and their villages with nothing more than your magic. Fortunately, the spells you'll have at your disposal are more than up to the task. In addition to those already mentioned, you'll have a hurricane spell, an erosion spell that proves cataclysmic for coastal settlements, a land bridge spell perfect for reaching islands, and more. Aside from their more obvious uses on offense, spells will figure largely in strategic maneuvers. For instance, because the gameworlds are rendered in true 3D, you can use the erosion spell to carve passes through mountain ranges that are biocking your forces, Similarly, the land bridge spell will raise an impassable wall between two peaks. Genre: Real-time Fantasy Release Date: Q4 '98 Developer: Bullfrog Publisher: Electronic Arts The design team has focused on variety and entertainment when it comes to creating the missions. As a result, expea POP: TB to happily stray from the real-time strategy path. Fog-of-war exists on just a few planets and only as the result of a rival shaman try- ing to obscure your vision. This makes sense — as a demigod, you should be able to see a whole planet. One-shot spells exist on many of the planets and are generally the key to viaory, Success on one of the later worlds will hinge on casting the single-shot Armageddon spell, summoning all shamans and their units to a gladiator-style pit. The last one standing wins. The use of terrain in POP: TB will be just as important as the use of spells. Higher elevation will extend your shaman's spell range, so you'll want to get your alter ego on top of the highest elevation whenever possible. Put your shaman in a tower on top of a hill and you can cover an enor- mous amount of real estate. God's Country POP: TB promises to look and play like no other real-time strategy game. Its 3D graphics are more than a nod to a trendy buz- zword; they aaualiy affea game- play. On the most basic level a 3D world totally alters the multi- player game. Think about it' — most multiplayer maps start gamers out in different corners of a big, square grid, leaving them vulnerable to attack on just two sides. But with POP: TB's truly global worlds, piayers are essentially exposed on all fronts. If the beta is any indication, the game should be visually stun- ning. with whimsical, almost Dr. Seuss-ian buildings; dramatic spell effects; and worlds awash in brilliantly hued skies and gen- tly lapping crimson oceans. The lively animations of your follow- ers are especially entertaining, whether they're stomping terrain flat before building, chopping wood, spinning helplessly in a hurri- cane, or desperately running away from a flood of lava. Since the earlier POPULOUS games are considered classics by most gamers, POPULOUS: THE BEGINNING will have a lot to live up to. Odds are it will. For strategists starved for something fresh, POP: TB may well be manna from heaven. ilauvb iJuil-'ilauJi uia ivuilliiy iuj* ;/yiJ4 iiii iiia DO U unil aWa iiia iVaiJil liij'auijh ilialj* . U'7'3 lu7aYila\uii>ij4i3:J:>, IjidU/ sjUa ‘i'iiay'li uilaajpi la Ua ilia 'LaiJuaaliilaJ WalJ^ iai* iiiaiii asuia Ilia au-aJa! uujjis i-juJi iijiU JasJ U3 liAs MyLiuJ ‘i'V iiaA'jaj, vyiUj U^jiiaiiiiila.ai iliiaa ai iiiiufiaiia iiav/ dliila-jaa. BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD: DO U. Whoa, check it out! Beovis and Bati*head are everywhere! On the PC goll coone in "Bnnghole In One", on PlayStation* game console with "Get Big lit H&!:yweed", and now ready to go wherever you go on Nintendo*6ame Boy*! Beovis & Bi/n'heed™OoU 01998 MTV Nelworte. All RighU Reservod 'MTV Music Teievisjoii'. 'Beovis 6 Butt-head' and all related logos, tides Oislrtliutod by GT Interaclivo Soltwaie Coip. GT andlheGTlogaareliademothsoTCTIrnetactive Sottware Cioated by The lllutnitt Gaming EntortaHiraeniInc. Nlnlondo. Gome Boy end Iho olliciet sonls sro regislerod trademarks el Nintendo of America Inc.t) 1989 Nintendo of Anienca. Behind you lie the gntes to the stronghold of New Jollis, the Inrgest city in nil of South Vormis. you stnnd in the central Qunrter before the legendnry Big Rocs’ Cnfe. The Duke hfis decinred n stnte of mnrtinl Inw until the brignnds . thnt hnve been terrorizing his Innds nre defented. \ Grent riches nnd fame Bwoit the heroes thnt succeed, nnd their nnmes shnil be sung by troubodours throughout p * the Innd. Adventure nnd Glory nwnit you in this Rndicnl New Online Role-pinying Gnme. • Over 200 Rnce/CInss combinntions • Scores of shops with thousands of items • Intricate plot lines, not just hack and slash • See what your character sees in a 3D world • Hundreds of magic spells that you can alter to suit your needs Go to #070 @ www.computergaming.com/infotink THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Shadow Company Is This the Real-time Squad Game We've Been Waiting For? by Robert Coffey T his could be the game COMMANDOS should have been. That game disappointed many gamers by promising real-time, squad-based combat but delivering action that was more of an elaborate puzzle than anything involving tactics or strategy. If SHADOW COMPANY follows up on the promise evident in the pre- alpha version we saw, it could satisfy gamers who are hungry to lead small squads in realistic, combat-intensive operations. look lor more on Shadow Company .gamcguides.com Soldiers of Fortune The premise behind the game sounds like a Chuck Norris movie: You and your small band of mercenaries, recruited by a less than ethical corporation, are left behind in hostile territory after a pri- vate war goes sour. Vowing revenge on the traitors who hired you, your team fights its way back to civilization. Visually, SHADOW COMPANY is striking, even at this early stage of the game's design. The gameworld is realistically detailed, with units, objects, and vehicles all rendered in 3D. Yep, you're going to need hardware to run this one. As in an increasing number of games, you view the gameworld via a swooping, panning cam- era a la MYTH. A smooth zoom function lets you pull out for a bird's-eye view of a mission site or move in tight to facilitate detailed movement of your troops. The game will be bro- ken up into campaigns, and missions will feature multiple objectives. A typi- cal mission may have you first take out a small base in order to obtain heavier weapons, then shut down an airstrip, and conclude by having your team wipe out the bases of two war- lords. These are fairly hefty mission goals, espe- cially when you consider that you've got only a three-person team. Often outmanned and under- armed, you'll need to maneuver your band of hired guns deftly, using cover, stealth, and brute force appropriately. Genre: Real-time Modern Era Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Sinister Games Publisher: Interactive Magic www.imagicgames.com THE BIG PICTURE Zooming the game camera out as far as possi- ble gives you a quick picture of the lay of the land and helps you plan your approach. GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS The good news is the dried-out riverbed let this mercenary sneak up on the bad guys. The bad news is the terrorist has the advantage of higher ground in the ensuing firefight Tools of the Trade Fortunately, there should be lots of items at your disposal to help ensure success. Weapons will include rifles, explosives, and grenade launchers: and you'll also have access to scuba gear, flak jackets, wire cutters, binoculars, and starlight goggles. For trans- portation, you'll be able to make use of boats, tanks, snowmobiles, and helicopters. Missions will take place in a variety of environments. Expect to take on bad guys in deserts, on tropical islands, in savannas, and on frozen tundra. These locales are more than window dressing; they will come alive with dynamic, physics-based weather effects including rain, wind that affects bullet trajectory, and snow in which you'll leave footprints. It's hoped that the characters in SHADOW COMPANY will be more than the glorified puzzle pieces that populated COMMANDOS. Early indica- tions are very encouraging. Sinister Games is promising individually scripted Al for each character, ensuring that each responds differ- ently in a given situation. While the pre-alpha I played obviously hadn't implemented most of the Al, I was happy to see team members inde- pendently return enemy fire when they were shot at — you won't see that in COMMANDOS. The game will feature 12 primary mercenaries along with several reserves, and each unit will have his or her own skills and abilities, though all will have the ability to crawl, run, climb, and patrol. While mission design and Al are vital parts of any strategy game, they are going to be abso- lutely crucial in SHADOW COMPANY. Unfortunately, the extremely early preview build 1 played showed only the very beginnings of these elements. If Sinister Games can create varied, challenging scenarios peopled with smart player characters and enemies alike, SHADOW COMPANY could be one of the sleeper hits of the coming year. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • JANUARY 1999 A www.southpeak.com 'A/ A <s 'S' V O. ^ A O » v^. ^ -v. b: ~ ^ ■==■ % O ^ -i' , : ^ :jK J0> ' -i A O ■^- "S. ^ V ■7 A ^ ^ ^ ■7 ' \s\ 0 7^ 0 > „, C v^ 0 C ® X O 'S' ^ . \n ^ c > Tl z ^ z ^ />7 .r Q I t ni A 7 . 5 I ° E m PI ± 0 z PI < 2 ni n " * “ ? 5 ***■ W *> ^ 7 ^ o ^ r- 67 i' / ° •T '’ Diiik Side 01 Ihe Muon is .1 (le('|i-s|)ii<e S(.i-li iiilveiiliite lliul will iniiiieise yon In 'jfio" ol <i)iii|)k'l('lv seniitlesh. iiifiedilily riMlislic, motion picUire-qiialily !;iiiniiit;. Video riiiiLlIt,. WIN 95 CD-ROM AN EXPLOSIVE HOLIDAY VALUE! BY GAMERS. FOR GAMERS." www.interplay.com DESCENT: FREESPACE available now at a NEW LOW PRICE! "Fans of the space shooter genre will have 'This Is one mighty fine space combat sim." a field day with DESCENT: FREESPACE. " . CNET Camecenter ■ PC Gamer "It simply looks fantastic with a fast frame-rate, beautiful ship designs and special-effects galore." - Online Game Review "FREESPACE's fantastic effects, excellent gameplay, and well-designed interfaces could make it a serious contender for the space-combat crown." - Camespot Inlerplay logo and "By Gamers. Foi Gamers.' aio I Volition logo are trademarks ol Volition, Irx;. pre^rty ol their respeesve owners. \j Parallax voi.cor.- Software DESCENT: FREESPACE DHE GREAT WAR: 01998 Volilion. tnc. All Righls Reserved. Doscenl. Descant: Freebee The Great War, Interplay, the trademarks ol Iniorvlay Productions All Rignis Reserved. Parallax is a trademark ol Parallax Software Corporalion. Alt Rights Reserved. Volition and Ih All Righls Rcserved.Windows®95isa fagislered trademark ol Microsofi Corporalion All Righls Reserved, All other Itademarks and copyrghls are the Go to #066 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Age of Empires II Your Adversaries Get a Lot Brighter in the Dark Ages Improving the first game’s weak Al has been a top priority for the design team at Ensemble. Villagers will automatically yield to those dropping off resources, and they’ll get out of the way of advancing troops. Military units will look smarter and fight better, according to Terrano. They can be told to guard a unit or a building, and you can set differing levels of aggressiveness for those units. In aggressive mode, your units will attack and pursue anything they see. In defensive mode they will engage attackers and then return to their positions. In addition, units will take advantage of targets of opportunity. Paladins, for example, will ride to the range of their line-of-sight to spear a villager. Computer opponents should play smarter as well. In AGE OF EMPIRES, computer players had a preset strategy in each game. In AGE II, opponents will react to what's going on in the game. If they see an opportunity to build a wonder, they'll do it; if they realize they need to tear down your wonder; they'll try to do that, too. Even better, they'll make or break alliances based on their purposes. "Our goal is to make the experience much closer to playing a human player," Terrano says. Formations will add a new dimension to AGE II, but the design team is still working on implementing them. In most cases, the Al will select a default formation based on unit types. These will usually consist of columns and lines, with archers automatically taking position behind swordsmen or pikemen. You can also form a phalanx or wedge, or you can form a box around a unit such as a trade cart or priest. The team is experiment- ing with custom formation options, as well. Instead of artifacts, AGE II will feature relics. Relics confer special benefits on their owners, such as inspiring soldiers on the battlefield or generating gold in churches. Terrano envisions relics offering a +2 attack for those units in possession of them. Genre: Real-time Strategy Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Ensemble Studios Publisher: Microsoft www.microsoft.com JAPANESE VILLAGE Male and female villagers tend a farm, blacksmith shop, stable, and mill. by Ken Brown T he racket you hear next to the Central Expressway in Dallas, Texas, is the sound of AGE OF EMPIRES II being nailed together. The work crews at Ensemble are building battering rams, cannon galleys, unit formations, and castles to prepare for a late spring assault. Here's the latest on what to expect, straight from Lead Designer Mark Terrano. Age of Enlightenment The game's basic premise and interface remain the same. You'll pick 1 of 1 3 civiliza- tions and lead it through four ages to build a wonder or to soak the Earth with the blood of your enemies. A new option — Regicide — offers a different victory condi- tion by letting you play capture the flag with a royal. All of the pathfinding and unit Al is being rewritten. Units will be smart enough to find their way to any accessible location, Terrano says. Units will also stay together if you group them, so defensive units can escort trade goods or reiiG. All units will have equal pathfinding, so the computer player won't have the upper hand. Siege the Day Castles should play a pivotal role in the new game. The castle is a large military facility that will enable you to build the special "superunit" unique to each culture. Castle assaults require siege weapons such as battering rams, trebuchets, mangonels (similar to a stone thrower), and bombard cannon. Unfortunately, the game cur- rently won't let you put archers on the walls, but you will be able to garrison troops in towers. Finally, look for high jinks on the high seas. You'll have new war- 'ship types that shoot cannon, blast Greek Rre, or ram other ships. New boarding ships are like the priests of the sea: They can be used to take over enemy ships. Since the new trade boats will hold hundreds of units of goods, piracy will pay off. So, avast ye scalawags! Prepare to surrender your gold for the coming of the new AGE. www.computergaming.com COMPUTER GAMING WOHl.D « JANUARY 1999 A “DragonFire will raise the bar for RPG/ Adventure games.” — GameCenter “Sierra pulled out all the stops for this beautiful game.” - PCFan YDSEISdiX E ©1998 Sierra On-Line, Inc, ® and/or designate trademarks of, or licensed to Siena On-Line, Inc., Bellevue, WA 98007. All riglus reserved. lixplorc the depths of'Aihmris. There lies the answer to an aneient prophecy and rhe key to rhe kingdom. Come face to face with Hydras, Minotaurs and a myriad of creatures magically brought to life. 4lERR/y Original music soundtrack album also available. Free preview at \wvw.QG5.com. Orders 1.800.757.7707 Prepare to use sword, dagger, axe, and bare fists to defend the rcalm-and your life. QyEif.&ORY U FL A Ci %m Y I R-E • Over 25 spectacular • lOO’s of hours ofgameplay spells and 70 unique i in exquisite 16'bic color characters to face in multi- player or solo challenges ■ CD surround sound and fully orciiestratcd score in • Over 1 00 exotic srcrco locations to explore with many sub-quests • Available on PC & Mac Go to #077 @ www.computergamlng.com/infolink Signature and finishing moves, taunts, and rants Over 60 of the top WCW and NWO superstars The most realistic PC wrestling game ever! iliimti. WCW~an Go to #289 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAAAES Shogun: Total War Become the Biggest Warlord on the Block in 16th-Century Japan by Alan Dykes A thousand years before Machiavelli established the rules for dictatorship in 16th-century Italy, a Chinese military genius and philosopher by the name of Sun Tzu established the rules of generalship. His manuscript, The An of War, brimmed with useful tidbits like, "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." I mention this venerable strategist because SHOGUN: TOTAL WAR, a game set in feudal Japan, uses some of his principles in its overall design and — believe it or not — its artificial intelligence routines. So you’ll have to be careful: The enemy has gone to school. T- Throne of Blood SHOGUN: TOTAL WAR, set In Japan between the 1 5th and 1 7th centuries, combines almost RISK- style strategy and tactical real-time warfare. Playing the part of a Daimyo, or feudal warlord, who controls a small part of one of Japan's three main islands, your ultimate aim is to become Shogun — absolute warlord ruler of Japan. The game is all about diplomacy and espi- onage as well as war, allowing you to train both diplomats and ninjas. The diplomats will soothe ruffled neighbors and form alliances, while ninjas will infiltrate opposing fiefdoms for the purposes of spying, sabotage, or assassination. You can, of course, be defeated while trying to attain your goal, but in accordance with the game's style, your sons are your extra lives. Shadow Warriors While the strategic element Is all about intrigue and alliance, the tactical element gives you direct control over Japan's leg- endary samurai warriors, along with some disgruntled, armed peasants. Taaical battle scenes, at first glance, resemble those in DARK OMEN or MYTH, but once I played the game the differences became obvious. First and foremost, this has to be the most expansive real-time battle scenario yet seen in a game. Creative Assembly claims the game will let you move up to 3,000 units at once, each with limited individual Al. This is a tad misleading |t ' " .fssfe DEATH AT DAWN Cavalry and foot soldiers ready them- selves for battle as tiie enemy's banners peek over a dis- tant hilltop. Genre: Hybrid Historical Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Creative Assembly Publisher: Electronic Arts CLASH OF11TANS Wftii armies num- bering into the thousands, SHOGUN: TOTAL WAR will fill even the largest of monitors with epic battles. since these units move in columns, each with its own leader and flag. But when battle is joined at close quarters, they eventually split into melee groups just as real sword-and-spear troops would do. Well-motivated troops, on the other hand, will stay together when faced with a cavalry charge. The tactical battle screens are graphically expansive and lavishly picturesque, with a real heroic feel. There is complete control over camera movement on all planes, granting you total visual control of your armies at all angles. You can set you troops in squared, deep columns or stretch them in long lines with ease. In fact, unit formations can be a tactical tool: Spread out some of your troops in a long, thin line on lop of a hill and you may fool your enemy into thinking you have more men there than you actually have. This allows the rest of your troops to gain an advantage. One neat feature lets you cre- ate an avenue in a column of men to allow another through. With this feature, you can send a col- umn of archers forward sup- ported directly behind by hal- berdiers. Then, if the enemy charges your archers, you can order the archers to sepa- rate a man apart and send your infantry through to form a barrier of steel in front of them. During this period in Japan the Portuguese and the Dutch began to arrive and trade. They brought firearms and Christianity, not nec- essarily In that order. While the Portuguese sold guns only to Japanese converts, the Dutch sold to everyone, and some point dur- ing the game, these outside forces will come into play. You'll then have to decide whether to become a Christian Daimyo or to remain faithful to Shintoism. Be ready to deal with the consequences of your decision. Either way SHOGUN: TOTAL WAR is looking very tasty indeed, and potential Toshiro Mifunes should look for it in the new year. Hail COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • JANUARY 1999 i ftiSK-Y STRATEGY In between the huge, real-time tactical battles. Shogun play- ers will deploy troops, spi«, and ninjas via an interface that bears a striking resemblance to a RISK board. CUNNING AGILE ROBOTS From bold and brulal to cautious and shy, these \draIlY infected robots use their brains as well as their bullets. Robots attack and defend in teams, summon backup help, retreat, hide and sometimes just sweep the floor. Descent 3’s all new Fusion Engine blasts you seamlessly from inside to outside. Melding a flight-sim engine with a room-based, structural engine allows the action to race on at full speed, with no interruptions, indoors...and out. DUAL-ENGINE INTRODUCING SoftwareForPCs.com MERCILESS WEAPONS From the Flame Thrower to the Black Shark, show no mercy as you crush enemies, set them on fire and watch them suffer. BEST MULTIPLAYER OUT or THE BOX Descents arrives fully optimized for Internet play over a modem. Remember the intuitive simplicity of Descent 1 and 2 network olav? Now it’s THAT FA5V SPECULAR LIGHTING Now you can lurk in the shadows and sneak up on your enemies. Specular and reflective surfaces allow for incredible special effects that portray Descent 3 in an all new light. P 0 1. Y G ON A G C U R A T E COLLISION DETECTION All objects have mass, velocity, moments of inertia, and other real-world properties. Blow off a robots arm and watch it bounce off a wall and fall to the floor. Launch a missile and see your enemies rocked back from the blast impact. GAME TECHNOLOGY Go to #067 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink DE SCE IMT.3 Turn Your World inside out FOR MORE INFO. COLLl •□□□•INTeRPLAY Interplay logo, Taniruni, the Tantrum logo, ’By Gamers. For Gamers." ore trademurksorinte/play Productions. All other copyrights and trademartts are llie ptopetty of their respective owners. coming Wargasm . iPIQl Download the demo at www.wargasm.net Lock-and-Ioad: December 1998. £> 1998 Infogrames Entertainmeni, Inc./Digital Image Design, Ltd. Go to #115 ® www.computergamlng.com/lnfolink THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAflAES Combat Mission A Fighting Phoenix Emerges From the Ashes of Squad Leader D esigner Charlie Moylan likes to be different. Because he loved the Macintosh, he designed FLIGHT COMMANDER for that platform, even though all his fellow designers told him you really couldn’t make money that way. As vastly Improved graphics and processor capabilities led to a new generation of high-end flight simulators for the PC, Moylan decided he would rather make turn-based flight-combat games. After it became apparent that he and Avalon Hill weren't seeing eye-to-eye on the specs for COMPUTER SQUAD LEADER, Moylan removed any traces of copyrighted Avalon material from his design and launched into COMBAT MISSION. What he has achieved thus far is potentially the best tactical WWII game we’ve seen. COMBAT MISSION Is more playable than TIGERS ON THE PROWL and more realistic than games like the upcoming SHADOW COMPANY, and it sports a better interface than STEEL PANTHERS. Genre: Turn-Based WWII Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer/ Publisher: Big Time Software www.bigtimesoftware.com Zero to Sixty COMBAT MISSION is not your typical turn-based varia- tion on Panzerbtitzor PANZER GENERAL. Each player issues orders — movement, suppression fire, retreat, and the like — to his units; once all orders are entered, they're executed simultaneously for both sides during an action phase that represents one minute of actual time. The action phase idea isn't totally new. It has been used before in boardgames in which each side secretly plots moves. The advantage here is that the computer handles all of the tedium, resolving initiative, morale, and casualties where necessary. What's more, this is the first time we've seen this attempted in a WWII game on the PC — a genre for which this approach is eminently suited. As your soldiers move around in the 3D terrain, avoiding equally 3D tanks and minefields, you feel as if you are playing a table- top game over terrain that you’ve sculpted by hand — except this is better. The dam- age model tracks projectiles even after they've missed the intended target: They could damage terrain, take out civilians, even cause friendly fire casualties. Moreover, the game seems to have no trouble handling tricky vertical (y-axis) lines of sight, even when a unit is partially obscured by slopes or terrain. We have no worries about the Al, since Moylan is one of the best in the business at creating a tough computer opponent. The subject matter has been done before, but this is such a different take on WWII combat that even jaded old grognards at CGWare looking forward to this one. Now excuse me while I go lube my '88. — Terry Coleman .COmpuUrgaming.com COMPUTER GAMING WORLD ♦ JANUARY 1999 A vjjun'f yjm/ i, JFJ IJ/F \- ADOieinic locMieed Martin approved Itlplit model ■ and avionics - ■ ° Fast SDIx" snpporl, np to 1024 x 708 wM Vondno2~[lncreaildewlOiSUl , ^ • FmipInteracilvaODvlrinalGOClipli '''AM : § Over 45 stand alone slogle-player; ? cooperaOve missions unrestricted views ol Oie action % Urge-scale Internet play via NovaWorir- go beod-to-aead with over 120 F-IO MnlOrole Fighters, MIG-20 Folcrions" and F-22 Raptors"' GO TO #094 @ www.coinputergaining.com/infolink BiOWAitE' w.Interplay.com 01998 BtoWate Corp. All rigWs rosorved. BALDUR’S GATE, FORGOTTEN REALMS, the FORGOTTEN REALMS logo, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADSO, mo ADSO logo and IhoTSR logo a/e trademarks olTSR, Ino.. a subsidiary of Wizards of Iho Coast, Inc,, and are used by Inierplay under nconse, Inlarplay, the Interplay logo and ‘By Gainers, For Gamers," are trademarks of Intorplay Productions, All rights reserved. The BloWare logo is the trademark ol BloWai^ Corp. All rrghls reserved, ExclusNoly licensed and disiributed by Interplay Producllons. All other copyrights and tradornnrks era the property of Iheir rospacIM otvniits, - - Go to #163 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink The most anticipated RPG of the year In the FORGOTTEN REALMS ®, we’ve lived through foul pestilence, vicious battles, exorbitant taxes, and even the occasional dragon. But when HE showed up, things really started gening ugly. Prepare to be immened into a world of intrigue and mystery on a perilous quest to rescue a storied land from impending war. Even your own soul is at stake as you and a party of adventurers become ,• entangled in a dangerous riddle of betrayed alliances, dark prophecies and murder, % Will you become the unlikely hero of the story, or merely another of its unfortunate casualties? iS Before you answer, the big guy here might have something to say about it. ^ • Explore an immense, ^ inlricaic game world ' from ' ,s I ' cloud-covered mountains & ' ' rain drenched plains to dark ' \ catacombs & abandoned temples - ■' ^ 4 i all meticulously rendered in lush, ' / i6-bit SVGA graphics. ■Ir t : Invoke more than loo spells - Freeze enemies with an icy J blast from a Cone of Cold, or incinerate them with a searing ■ stream of magical flame. ' > ■ ,. v- ' •■=1 ’ 1 'I ^ T? Push your leadenhip skills r y. , to the limit as you guide a ^ ' party of up to six characters, ‘ • I each with a personality that affects gameplay. ^ ^ Don't let your stubborn V ^7 fighter pummel the arrogant j' j V- ^ thirf - you may need their . V^' .. teamwork in your next battle. ' I' t ;i'i Create your-character from - , ‘ six AD&D"^ races and 26 different classes and subclasses. You control every attribute, down to skin and hair color, weapons, and armor - all accurately depicted on-screen. ‘ -T ’ x '5 " '"' i THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Fighting Steel Polish Your Long Lance Torpedo T he lines between ship simulators and wargames always blur a bit, par- ticularly because reflexes — at least in games — are not quite so impor- tant at sea as they are up in the virtual clouds. We'll still claim FIGHTING STEEL as a naval wargame, because it requires that you think in terms of commanding task forces rather than captaining an individual vessel. If you insist on reliving your bygone GREAT NAVAL BATTLES (GNB), there is plenty of micromanagement available here. (Thankfully, you don’t have to play SimShipFireman as you did in the too-combustible GNB3.) But the good news is that FIGHTING STEEL de-emphasizes that level of manage- ment. Rather than require you to run around and do everything from load- ing torpedoes to identifying the radar contacts yourself, the game has you concentrate on the giving of orders. To that end, the interface has been modified since our last visit with the game (C6W#170), so that you can more easily command your formation of ships. Not every vessel will snap to as quickly as you'd like, however, and that reveals a particularly nice design feature; Everything depends on crew quality. Mediocre crews not only take longer to zero in on a designated target, they also reload more slowly than crack crews, and they tend to drift out of formation. So, especially during night battles, you can easily create the chaos of a WWII naval battle in FIGHTING STEEL with no real increase in complexity for the gamer. The areas in and around the Pacific depicted in the game so far appear almost too evocative of the gray seas they represent — they're a far cry from the liquid ripples of TOTAL ANNIHILATION: KINGDOMS. Nonetheless, the 3D ship mod- els show promise, and it seems as if SSI will require a 3D card for this one. Once the more than 100 ship classes are ready to go, they'll sail through campaigns for both the Japanese and Allies during the years 1941-43. Before you complain about the time limitation, keep in mind that it reflects a reality the Japanese faced; If they could not win by the end of 1 943, they were simply going to be ground down by the weight of the U.S. industrial war machine. Also, FIGHTING STEEL focuses strictly on sur- face ship combat — no subs and no aircraft carriers — and that doesn't leave a whole lot to simulate after 1 943. Given SSI's trumpeting of its integrated LIVING BATTLEFIELD series, however, I wouldn't be surprised to see a carrier battle or three in some future product. Current plans are for FIGHTING STEEL to support IPX. TCP/IP, and LAN — a very good thing, since this game is most likely to hit its stride when played online. Most real-life naval battles were essentially over in an hour or less. FIGHTING STEEL, like most games of this type, has a default speed a bit faster than real life, and it's easily adjustable. You can thus spend more time contemplating your stately maneuvers than Admiral Flalsey ever had, or you can navigate on the fly while trying to sink your buddies over a lunch break. This game is taking almost as long to finish as it took for MacArthur to return to the Philippines, but it looks as if it will be worth it. — Terry Coleman Genre: Real-time Naval WWII Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Divide By Zero Publisher: SSI www.ssionline.com COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • JANUARY 1999 ilk IU 0 VALQ 6 IC res '-Miuyra OR onnriW 'W, oinMAiK. ‘nirciBtR*iMeEinlKiMecnnBlinRilidi*feiniRBr«BmiK GO TO r/12S @ www.computergaming.com/infolink E]0®°2© FULCRUM SHROUDED IN SECRECY DEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN UNTIL NOW... • FDgM model tested by ViirlPrllilioillio, Russian MIE-2Stestpllot/cosnionaut • Fast and fnrious 3Dtn'“ supported combat wtth hiph deflnitlon graphics (1024 x 768 witbVoodoo2") • Highly detailed Interaetise cockpit • B dilterent camera views tor excepHonal situational awareness • Over 40 stand alone shigte player/ cooperative missions • Large-scale Internet play via NevalVorld"- go head-to-head with over 120 F-1B lUnltlrole Hghters", MIE-2S Fidcrums and F-22 Raptors" 34 different car}*os and 59 engine from around the World. 1024 X 768 graphics in '16-bj color. Up to 300.000 pi»jyt*on .on the screen at once. ' 40 different tycoons all share one |{oal|^ han^rupting .you. •New York to South ir 2000. It can take ynu iMi^^c^manual laborer to power- ijltiiaillid^ire. It can >ake you ■ well-adjusteil, w^ to an ob&e»se«l« single* I tl'lr*:' * '» » a a plane* car or r:^^bpj^i^i^^Shec,|^bw^Ttns b -a r£«l Rame ^h Cfvlhai^j ,t.|o 'Wvolve railroads. w^hiii^^^'butlientic. froi^t the period wi l)tPoanc|^.cithe*itQ|[erlaced within the i;<^ei •tJesign ajid interface. A.I. wtfnSdiwn. 9 /ctbas^. ph real people. And liThiiiapBpIt^^t-^Y ^^sibd on satellite pho- .io^j|'ft 6 s kJ.'S. Geolo|>ical '$utvey -iind tftb^%i>iiYies). ; J ' • ; ;•;> - 3 -, - jj Don’t gel- ll^'^^^<Station.- 7 Jeff Gordon is pushing NASCAR racing to the extreme ~ shattering records and winning races at ai electrifying pace. And now, he’s climbing into the drivers’ seat of another lifelong passion: gaming. Bu as co-designer of Jeff Gordon XS Racing, he’s putting more into the game than just a name. Instead Jeff is creating a unique and exciting racing experience unlike anything you’ve ever seen. An extremt racing experience that takes you into the future of speed, and leaves all other racing games behind Developed by Windows® 95 PC CD-ROM ASC Games® is a registered trademark of American Softworks Corporatlor ® 1 996 American Softworks Corporation. Jeff Gordon® XS Racing'** is a trademark of ASC Games®. ® 1996 JG MotorSporta Inc. Developed by Real Sports. ® PepsiCo, Inc. 1996. FRITOS ® is a registered trademark used by FritO'Lay, Inc. ® 1995 PEG Limited Partnership and PEG 97 Limited Partnership. Windows® 95 Is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All rights reserved. Two-fl www.leffgoriionxsracing.com Go to #116 @ www.computergaming.com/lnfoNnk THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Seven Kingdoms II It's SEVEN KINGDOMS All Over Again—Only Really Different Genre: Real-time Fantasy Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Enlight Software Publisher: Interactive Magic www.iniagicganies.com The More the Merrier The ambition behind SEVEN KINGDOMS II is going to be hard to miss — there's more of everything. The developers have added new civilizations — the Carthaginian, Roman, Celtic, and Indian — as well as new units, including cavalry, archers, chariots, and elephants. Gamers can also expect to see civilization-specific units, such as ninjas for the Japanese. A role-playing element has also been added in the form of heroes. These spe- cial units will appear in the course of play and can be carried over from one campaign scenario to the next. Heroes should be powerful assets to anyone's army — able to greatly influence any battle whether by innate skills or by their ability to carry powerful artifacts. Among heroes' abilities, expect to see spell-casting, increased offensive or defensive prowess in combat, and lead- ership bonuses. This population explosion goes beyond just those units available to the gamer. The Fryhtans from the original SEVEN KINGDOMS have returned, with 1 0-1 5 entirely new Fryhtans tossed into the mix. In fact, the Fryhtans have a far greater role in SEVEN KINGDOMS II than they did in the first game. The new game begins with the world overtaken by the monsters. It is up to the gamer to prevent the enslavement and subjugation of mankind by toppling the Fryhtan rulers, often with the assistance of computer-controlled humans. On the other hand, should you by Robert Coffey W ith its refreshing de-emphasis on combat and its strong focus on economics, construction, espi- onage, and diplomatic relations, SEVEN KINGDOMS ranked as one of our favorite games of the past year. While every other cookie-cutter real-time strat game tried to be WARCRAFT II or AGE OF EMPIRES with different costumes, SEVEN KINGDOMS wasn't afraid to be different. Now, with the ink still wet on a new five-year deal with Interactive Magic, designer Trevor Chan and Enlight Software are hard at work on SEVEN KINGDOMS II. think the Fryhtans are horribly misunderstood, take solace — this time around you'll be able to play as a Fryhtan commander. Random Acts of Violence while the original game was nonlinear, some gamers longed for a campaign. Interactive Magic has responded to those wishes, but in a way that shouldn't alien- ate fans of the first game's open- ness. SEVEN KINGDOMS II will ship with a random campaign genera- tor, which will link together sev- eral scenarios, each with its own objectives. This should ensure that no two games of SEVEN KINGDOMS II WILL play the same. While this feature wasn't imple- mented in the extremely early pre-alpha I played, it's an intrigu- ing concept and, if executed properly, should give the game heaps of replayability. You may well need all that replayability to fully explore all the new research and espionage options. In addition to all the sciences from the original game, gamers will now be able to research farming, spying, advanced military units, advanced mining, advanced manufacturing, and other subjects, Each nation- ality will apparently also have its own new research upgrade. There should be advanced ax-throwers for the Vikings, advanced Druid magic for the Celts, advanced chariots for the Egyptian — an advanced something for everyone. As large a part as spying played in SEVEN KINGDOMS, you can expect even more in this sequel. Espionage techniques must now be researched, with spies having to undergo training at their version of Mata Hari University. Spies should be more powerful units and will also be able to camouflage themselves. With all these changes, additions, and enhancements, look for SEVEN KINGDOMS II to be every bit as addictive and strategically deep as its predecessor. T<d'.7 COMPUTER CAMINC WORLD » JANUARY 1999 ki.computefgaming.com Try It on a Pentium U Slop up 10 a whole new level of gaming intensity. With a Pentium^' 11 processor processor powering your computer, suddenly you'll see your favorite games scream to life like never before. The InleP' Pentium II procc,s,sor helps bring huge sound, fast action and 3D realism to today's most cutting-edge games. New titles like Half-Life'" from Sierra Studios are specifically designed to take advantage of the incredible performance of the Pentium II processor. Visit our Web site to find out even more about how the Pentium I i processor can make your PC gaming a whole new e.'cpcrience. See the latest software at: www.intel.com/software iny. The Computer lnside.’“ THIS GAME 'Will KICK YO'UR STRATtGY-lO'VING BUTT WW'W.MEIBO'URN£HO'US£.CO'M/KKNO download the demo, prove us wrong KKND2 KROSSFIRE 6 1998 Beam International LTD. Meltiourne House la a registered trademark of Beam International LTD. All Rights Reserved Multioiiriii-IloiiMC Go to #281 @ www.computergaming.com/infoiink THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Genre: Real-Time Sci-fi Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Quicksilver Publisher: Interplay www.interplay.com Star Fleet Command Star Fleet Battles Finally Makes It to a PC N early 20 years ago. an enterprising engineer licensed the Star Trek Technical Manual as source data for a science-fiction tactical starship combat boardgame he was developing. Word quickly got around that Star Fleet Battles (SFB) was as close as you were likely to get to being Captain Kirk — or Captain Kang of the Klingon Empire or a secretive Romulan commander. As time went on, however, the boardgame added so many complex rules that it nearly collapsed under its own weight. Luckily forTrekkers, Interplay's STAR FLEET COMMAND brings the classic SFBio the PC, replac- ing the often tedious impulse system of the boardgame with a thought- fully paced real-time movement. This is no space sim, Vulcan-boy: You maneuver your fleet of starships via mouse and hot-keys through a panoramic view very much like that of Star Trek: Wrath of Khan. Those who wish to go phaser-happy may find themselves on the short end of a photon torpedo, because this is one game that actually models energy use (you have to recharge weapons), critical hits, damage control, and crew quality. Since we last wrote about STAR FLEET (C6LV#166), new races from the boardgame — Lyrans and Hydrans, among others — have been added to the official Star Trek universe with Paramount Pictures' permission, which means more starfaring races and cool sci-fi weaponry to play with. More than 100 differ- ent ship hulls of vari- ous races are planned for the game, so that you can cruise near the Neutral Zone with a souped-up Romulan War Eagle, take on diplomatic missions in an Enterprise-c\ass Federation Heavy Cruiser, or hide in a nearby nebula in your sporty new Orion Pirate Raider. STAR FLEET now fully supports DirectBD, and it's possible that there will be a software-only solution as well (after all, you'll want to make the galaxy safe for Klingons even on your laptop), but Interplay isn't guaran- teeing this yet. The Al is still being tweaked as we go to press, but the multiplayer mode already works. Plans are to have support up to four gamers by LAN and IPX. The only concern I currently have is how well the Dynaverse (dynamic universe) campaign will turn out. It's certainly ambitious to let gamers pursue their own careers in an open-ended game, and if Quicksilver and Interplay can pull it off, we could have the Star Trek computer combat game we've always wanted — even if we did have to wait two decades. — Terry Coleman SilUJSi MULTIMEDIA SPEAKERS ii.computergaming.c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Dungeon Keeper 2 More Murder, Mayhem, and Evil— All the Things We Hold Sacred Genre: Real-time Fantasy Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Bullfrog Publisher: Electronic Arts D eep down inside you know it. Admit it. You're tired of getting along, sick of doing the right thing, disgusted at bending over backwards in order not to rip the delicate fabric of civilized society. But you can help only so many little old ladies across so many streets before you're gripped with an urge to shove that ungrateful hag smack into the semi rumbling down the road. Damn it, after a certain point you needXo be evil. Thank God for Bullfrog and DUNGEON KEEPER 2 (DK2}. Casting the gamer in the role of a malevolent, dungeon-building fiend, DK2 promises to provide a more than adequate outlet for all those antisocial War of the Worlds Mars Attacks and Earth Fights Back W e've been interested in WAR OF THE WORLDS ever since GT first announced it. Based on H.G. Wells' science-fiction classic, this title just might invade software stores in time for the holidays. We sure hope so. Invading Martians, resourceful Englishmen, steam-powered weapons, nonlinear gameplay — what more could you want from a game? Unfortunately, we haven't been able to see a build of the game for about two months. This much we do know; Gamers will be able to play as either side, British or Martian. As you'd expect, each side will have a unique set of units. Martian forces will use their advanced tech- nology while the British will rely on late 19th-century steam technology to power their units. While both sides will have to gather and manage resources, this tendencies. Bullfrog is wisely not tampering too much with the original game, focusing their efforts instead on enhancing and growing the title. Gamers will still con- struct dungeons full of torture chambers, gold hoards, and Horned Reapers, only now they’ll be able to toss brutal Black Knights and Queens of the Nest into the mix. New spells to combat the forces of good include a wall and creature toppling Tremor spell, and a costly Turncoat spell that will convert enemies and get them to stab their for- mer compatriots in the back. DirectSD will allow for flashy lighting and texture effects, while full support for LAN and Internet play will let gamers battle other evil geniuses. Best of all, the designers intend to post new levels, creatures, and spells on their Web site after the game's release. Slated for release sometime this spring, DK2 is sure to warm the blackest of hearts. — Robert Coffey ■ ■■ ■ Genre: Real-time Sci-fi Release Date: Q4 '98 Developer: Rage Publisher: GT Interactive www.gtinteractive.com technological disparity will dictate that each side pursue different materials. The game promises to unfold across a strategic map of the British Isles. Instead of battling in a predetermined sequence of scenarios, gamers will marshal their forces, then invade or reclaim sectors of the map. This nonlinear, tug-of-war combat should lend a significant amount of replayability to the game. Battles should be spirited affairs, taking place both day and night and using a wide variety units, including underwater and underground vehicles. Like every game but MINESWEEPER, WAR OF THE-WORLDS will sup- port the latest 3D technology. Gamers with the right hardware can look forward to full 3D-animated objects; dynamic particle effects for fire, fog, and dramatic explosions; and realistic terrain that will reflect battle damage. — Robert Coffey Warhammer 40,000; Rites of War Look Out, It's Warhammer General! Genre: Turn-based Fantasy Release Date: Q3 '99 Developer: Dreamforge Publisher: SSI www.ssionline.com A lot of editors at CGWshare a dark secret: We are Warhammer fanatics. And while we wait not-so-patiently for WARHAMMER: CHAOS GATE (see last issue's "Holiday Hot 100") to get our X-COM tactical-combat fix, we've always wondered what would happen if WarhammerwenX through some bizarre mating with PANZER GENERAL (PG). Well, we finally have our wish — and the offspring is doing nicely. Prestige (from PG) converts easily into Glory Points in RITES OF WAR, and if your victories capture enough headlines, you can build and customize your unit types, weapons, and warrior skills. The simple turn-based PG system seems to cap- ture the flow of the Warhammer Xab\etop game — ■ without the gamer having to pore over endless charts to see exactly what an Eldar using a Psyker spell on a Tuesday night will do to an enemy wearing punk shades. The campaign features more than 70 weapons (all rendered and animated) and two dozen missions, as the Eldar bat- tle the evil Tyranid throughout the explored galaxy, on planetary terrain that covers the gamut from lush forests to ice-covered lands. Multiplayer options include head-to-head and cooperative play for up to four gamers via LAN, IPX, or TCP/IP. We're already hooked, and the emperor hasn't even called on us to save the galaxy... yet. —Terry Coleman Elik COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 www.gt SCBEAMING-FAST DRIVE ANYWHERE 3D RACING. Best graphics ever seen in a racing game. Period. Go from 0 to 60 FPS at the speed of thought! Drive anywhemi Do anythingl 6 degrees of limitless freedom! 8 merciless environments! 8 piayer multiplay! Feel the road in your teedi with advanced physics modeling. Mud! Sand! ice! Snow! And more! ' Available at your local retail store. v Order direct at www.gtstore.com or call 1~800-610-GTJS NEED A HINT? 1-900-CAa*2GT iteracti eare ■•jciCUMn.' Qo.to#184 @ www.computargaming.com/infoilnk SHE'S GOING TO RULE YOUR WORLD WWW.PLANESCAPE-TORMENT.COM FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU FALLOUT" 2 AND BALDUR'S GATE' BRIAN FARGO presents a BLACK ISLE STUDIOS produqion THE NAMELESS ONE "PLANESCAPE; TORMENT" MORTE RICTUSCRIN APPEARANCEBY THE LADY OF PAIN DANSPITZLEY GUIDO HENKEL EDITED I -b^FEARGUSURQUHART SAV AARON MEYERS & CHRIS JONES APPEARANCE BY I DIRECTOR TIM DONLEY PROGRAMMER PRODUCffl KENNETH LEE CHRIS AVELLONE & COLIN McCOMB PROGRAM BY ERIC CAMPANELLA& JAMES LIM EASED ON ROBERT HOLLOWAY & JIM GARDNER 'S GREG PETERSON ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, PIANESOAPE LICENW TSR,1NC COMING 1999 Plancscope Torment & Design; S 1998 Inierplay Produclicms. Alt Rights Roservoo. 0 1998 TSR, ihuTSR logo are Iracicmurks olTSR, Inn. and are used by Inlotistay urKler license. TSR, Inc. is a if Interplay Produclions. Exclusively llconsod and disinbuled by Inierplay Production c. All RIghis Reserved. Plancscapo. the Planescape logo. Advanced Outigeuns & Dragons. Torment, the AD8D kigo, an ubsidiiiry of Wizards ol the Coast. Inc. Inierplay. iho Interplay logo, Black Isle Sludios and Iho Black Ide Studios logo ar All Ollier trademarks and copyrights aie properly ol ihoir respeclKro owners. Go to #261 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink Third Floor: Toys, Hardware, and Asteroids METAL Fatigue's missions play out on a planetary terrain that's 3D in more ways than one. The primary planetary surface battlefield features hills and valleys, and terrain elevation offers significant sighting and range benefits. Where METAL FATIGUE differs from similar games is its inclusion of two more levels: orbital asteroids and a subterranean level. The asteroids make for very cramped battlegrounds, but the real chal- lenge comes in the underground catacomb levels, The cramped environs keep you from taking your giant robots down below, so iv.computefgaming.com THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Metal Fatigue ^ Little Strategy, a Few Giant Robots, and a Touch ofAnime. by Denny Atkin I t takes a lot to stand out in today's real-time strategy arena — more than dropping in a few MECHWARRIOR-style giant robots. The good news is that METAL FATIGUE is more than just COMMAND & CONQUER with giant robots tossed in the mix. An innovative three-level combat arena, a technology salvage sys- tem, and a supposed "rush"-proof setup should set METAL FATIGUE apart from the crowd. Close Com-bots METAL Fatigue's anime-inspired story takes place in the ever- popular 23rd century. The opening cinematic introduces three brothers who encounter an alien robot. After they defeat the robot, a struggle ensues for control of the robot's technology. The brothers split, and each goes to work for a different CorpoNation that is attempting to gain control of technology on the abandoned alien planet of Hedoth Prime. Each CorpoNation has acquired various alien technologies, and the game's three forces will be equipped with distinct weaponry. The basic equipment is similar — each side has tanks and other small vehicles, but the powerhouse forces are giant robots called ComBots. While each side has certain advantages, there's a way to even i things out. if you take down an enemy robot without destroying it, you can salvage its parts and % ’ 1, HEAD FOR THE HILLS Moving your ComBot units to higher vantage points gives them better fire coverage and a wider view of the battlefield. Genre: Real-time Sd-R Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Zono Publisher: Psygnosis www.psygnosis use them on your own ComBots. In fact, salvage plays such a major part of the strategy in this game that you can equip your ComBots with weapons that are designed not to destroy, but rather to amputate. If you see a ComBot toting an attractive weapon, you can tell your unit to holster its long-range missiles and move in to attack with a giant ax or buzz saw. The animations on I close combat are superb, much like a miniature 3D fighting game. Ironically, your I own weapons tech- nologies are the ones your units are most vulnerable to, so you'll want to do your best to keep the enemy from capturing those technologies. THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES this will be your chance to make use of the rest of your force mix (which is otherwise pretty much cannon fodder for the ComBots). Drill through to a cavern under your enemy, build an elevator shaft, and you can bring your units right up into the center of an enemy camp. But be warned— elevators are considered neutral resources, and the enemy can just as easily take the elevator down to attack your subterranean forces. One interesting feature in the game — and one that should be welcome to multiplayer veterans — is the "prebuild” mode at the start of a mission. Each side will be able to set up a fully func- tional base before the mission starts, Although you'll want to expand these bases, they should have strong enough defenses to fend off tank rush-type tactics once the game starts. Missions will fall into three campaigns, one from the vantage point of each brother. The game's Al is being developed by Mark Baldwin of EMPIRE and PERFECT GENERAL fame. The computer- controlled generals will feature a number of distinct personalities, which Psygnosis hopes will help add replay value. The Neuropa CorpoNation may feature an aggressive, militant leader in one game, but the next time around you may face a general who concentrates on hoarding resources and building up forces before attacking. Backed by impressive hardware 3D graphics and the talents of a veteran Al programmer, METAL FATIGUE is an intriguing design. And where else can you get your MECHWARRIOR and STARCRAFT joneses satisfied in one sitting? Jagged Alliance II Happiness Is a Warm Gun I n the old Mission: Impossible series, agent Jim Phelps and crew corrected wrongs in the Latin American country of the week with a few high-tech toys, some really limited scripts, and a lot of latex disguises. In most of the action films of the '90s, on the other hand, said country would be liberated by a small cadre of improbably muscled, incredibly well-armed individuals who have a propensity to torch the villages they save right along with the bad guys. JAGGED ALLIANCE II (JA2) comes as close as any com- puter game we've seen to being a happy marriage of both the cerebral and the action-oriented methods. The intentionally corny storyline reveals that your archenemy, defeated in the first game, has returned — if these ubervillains ever retired, we'd have a lot fewer sequels — and only you have a chance to restore free- dom to the tiny nation of Arulca. You begin "on the Web," trying to recruit mercenaries from agencies that just manage to stay one step ahead of international law. As In the original, each mere has a personality, and getting the right chem- istry in your band of hopefuls is just as important as picking the guy (or gal) with the best stealth or markmanship skill. Pick care- fully, however: Some meres come with a high price tag, and you have to make money with each mission or your organization won't stay solvent. Genre: Hybrid Historical Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Creative Assembly Publisher: Electronic Arts EXCAVATE THIS! The turn-based tad fought over a wide variety of terrain, such as these Mayan ruins. MY A.i.M. IS TRUE The world of JAGGED ALLIANCE II is now high-tech, which means that you find your operatives on secret Internet sites. Combat in JA2 is even more like that of X-COM: UFO DEFENSE than ever (a good thing), as it goes from real-time strate- gic to turn-based tactical once an enemy is sighted. Mercs can now run, climb, and crawl — all moves fea- turing plenty of animated SVGA frames, a far cry from the VGA of the original JAGGED ALLIANCE. The role-playing aspects, one of the main enjoyments of JA, are more fleshed out this time around. In addition to watching your meres improve their stats — or groaning when a mere you've nur- tured for several missions goes down for the count — you have to deal with the local populace, who may either betray you or help you (provided that you remember to bring the letter from their cousin in America). From what we've seen so far, the campaign looks like it could be better than that of the first game. And when you've exhausted your solo replay options, you can outfit squads and take them online to out-covert your mercenary-inclined buddies, — Terry Coleman % . NiGHT ON THE TOWN Nighttime actions emphasize stealth and offer a nice change of pace. A. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • JANUARY 1999 ^.computergaming.com Christmas Eve, 2032. Something awakens within one-third of the Earth’s papulation, turning normal people into cold-blooded killers. Has a deadly biochemical agent been unleashed upon the world? Or is this Armageddon? The world searches for answers but salvation may lie In the hands of one man . . . Bishop Six. He’s the SAS' best-kept secret. Driven by the brutal murder of his family, Bishop’s lust for vengeance knows no bounds. In a massive action/adventure that hurtles you around the world, it's your mission as Bishop Six to aid the resistance efforts struggling to free mankind from the scourge of the Afflicted. The Afflicted invasion has already begun. Your charge to stop It begins this summer. Learn more now at www.cavedoD.coni. TOO BAD IT’S eOlNG TO BE YODR LAST. AST Inleractive Company eittl CmiloiblerbiiP)enLaillirislMOllliiinMMn Ealenjitseol 1u. Cieateitand dHiineilInCiVHlwEiilirtainmeil.CaKdoa (nlertilnnMlaiid Uie Cmdoi EnluUitinenl iMSiiirnislEicd Indcnitlsol HunmncoK Eglnlaimeol Inc. etfsiniimout EDltrtinntBL Isc.MItirtertsHTnt. Bjy/fixTi-ei-i You wsll have a plan. ou will be wrong. You Will love ySUr troops. ■ I imiil MoniA You will attempt the impossible.''"""'"’'"'"''" I Vwill U Cl 1 1 11# ■ You will respect your enemy. y the price, fgu ^[|j fggg ygyf fear. ■•""■'You will be exalteflJ™ YOU wili know what it is to command The most animation in game history • Buy 'Mechs, weapons and piiots to • Should you give your Eiite • Command up to 12 MechWarriors guarantees off-the-scale visual create a unit to your specifications. MechWarriors® long-range weapons against dozens of enemy 'Mechs®, effects. Use salvage from the battlefield or and play it safe? . Elementals, and armored vehicles, : The story line is gripping, arepat eye^M |Blowmg up stuff was never this cool." .: ' M Don Crabb-Chicago Sun Times breakout title for the MechWarrior franchise." -PC Gamer The detail that's been lavished is extraordinary" -PC Accelerator-.^ is, without a' doubt, a true classic." : - ' -PCFormat "If you buy only one real-time strategy game this year, make sure it's this one." -www.combatsim.com ^ ‘ - "In a year of excellent real-time strategy games, 4 has muscled its way to the top." -Boston Globe Available for Windows 95/98. Visit your local retailer or call 1-800'‘695‘GAME day or night (US and Canada). Check out www.mechoommatider.com for News, Toob, links, Nbs, and New Maps* 9.1999 FASA Inlaracbvs. PubSsOed by MicroProse. MICROPROSE is a U.S. reglslersd trademark and HASBRO IMERACTIVE andiha HASBRO IbaERACTIVE logo ate irademaiks of Hasbro or lia afliiiaies. MicroProse is a subsidiary ol Hasbro. BalOeTach, MecnWartior, BaitieMoch and Meed are logistored tiadematka and UeebCommander is a iraOemark of FASA Interactive. Used urxier license. BailleTeeh material copyright 1998 FASA Corporetloii. The FASA Interactive logo design is a nedemark of FASA Iniaraciive, Inc. A« other trademarks are the property of ihalr lespeclive holdars. Go to #225, @ www.computergai7iing.com/infoiink •‘.So|y€ enqaqinq, 3Dpuzzl€sqr^ Icam ■ Lanqu^^^s UNfORTUNAT^LY, THfIR CAMERAS MISSED A fEYT THINGS. jsalMiw® liuiititu dream^catcher" INTERACTIVE EVEHV ONE )iii9s/ra Available at major retail stores www.cgdoniQqQmc.com Copyriqht © 1998 DrcamCotchcr Interoctivc Inc. Ail.oihcr trademarks are properties of their respective owners.. THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Braveheart Kilts, Battle Axes, Evil Englishmen, but No Mel Gibson F ormerly known as TARTAN ARMY, BRAVEHEART has a brand new movie license and some seriously ambitious design plans, If the designers can pull it off, this might be the first game with a movie license that actually doesn't suck. A lot of that promise lies in the fact that BRAVEHEART isn't concerned with trying to re-create or rehash a movie— the focus from the get-go has been on compelling gameplay. You play as a Scottish clan leader in the Dark Ages. With the coun- try's clans torn apart by rivalries and everyone under the cruel thumb of the English, your path to victory lies one of three ways: conquer all the clans, win over enough allies to force a vote and ascend to the throne, or drive those stinking Englishmen off your island. The battle portions of the game are reminiscent of MYTH, with a swooping camera taking in the carnage. The free-moving perspective is even more expan- sive than in Myth, zooming out for a distant bird's-eye view or all the way in to the first-person view of your leader. The game promises to render the fields of war in full 3D, and they should be stunning. Red Lemon is shooting to create battles with liter- ally thousands of animated polygonal units, including swords- men, archers, ladder brigades for scaling walls, catapults, and more. The mayhem should be even more remarkable with the planned weather effects — imagine all those men fighting in a driving rain, slipping and falling in the mud, their war machines mired in muck. The use of formations should add a bit of order to this chaos. Troops in BRAVEHEART can be ordered to form lines, wedges, cir- cles, and more. This will allow you to set a wall of pikemen in front of charg- ing English cav- alry or to put a protective circle of axemen around more vulnerable units. Unit fac- ing will also play a part in determining your success, with units delivering considerably more damage when attacking their enemy's flank or rear. As compelling as the battle sequences will be, there is an additional, larger scale level of strategy to the game as well. Operating from a map of Scotland, aspiring William Wallaces will have to manage their growing number of clans, set supply lines, conduct research, create and move armies, and juggle diplomatic relations. True to the time, the diplomacy model in the game will encourage deceit and backstabbing, even to the extent that leaders can be bribed in the midst of a battle to switch allegiances. Even with these features, there are two more things we hope to see: a save option for the epic multi- player games; and the ability to fight in battle as your leader, not just see through his eyes. In any event, this is an ambitious game with real promise. We hope BRAVEHEART's reach won't exceed its grasp. — Robert Coffey Genre: Real-time Historical Release Date: Q4 '99 Developer: Red Lemon Publisher: Eidos Interactive www.redlenion.com Point of Attack 2 HPS Returns to Its Modern Roots O f the few genuine independents left in the computer gaming industry, no company has stayed more true to its roots than HPS Simulations, publisher of games so realistic and detailed that they can make TalonSoft's BAnLEGROUND series seem abstract. POINT OF ATTACK 2 marks a welcome return to the type of modern-era wargame that gave HPS its start, with the expected database of several thousand weapons from the U.S., Soviet, Chinese, French, British, German, and North Korean arsenals, among others. The scale seems appropriate, at 1 00 meters to a hex, with one- minute turns. If you don't like the scale, you can adjust it. POINT OF ATTACK 2 will also include weapon and ammunition editors, so you can create "what if" high-tech weapons, such as energy weapons. Everything, including the map and scenario editors, should be easier to use than in the original POINT OF ATTACK since the new version has been coded specifically for Windows 95/98, HPS claims that the penetration calculations will be "the most realistic ever portrayed in a combat simulation." Given that the algorithms take into account such minutiae as the air-drag coeffi- cient of each projectile, penetrator hardness, explosive yield strength, slope of defending armor, and even the ogive angle of the projectile's nose cone, we're in no hurry to argue. — Terry Coleman Genre: Turn-based Modern Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer/ Publisher HPS Simulations www.HPSsini5.com www.computergaming.com COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1 999 A ^ ^W||| WTAKE THE HILL THE EARTH , ^ ^TREMBLIWG. BLACK WITH BLOOD. HEAVY FOOTSTEPS , dissolve into a steady RHYTHM OF THUNDEROUS | BLASTS. MINDS AND LEGS | " NUMB. GET TO THE HILL. ^ FIERY ARROWS RAINING FROM ABOV'F. BLACK WAKES WEAVING A SUFFOCATING BLANKET OF FEAR. MY MEN CHOKING THEIR . 4//INAI] BREATHS. JUST MAKE IT TO THE HILL. ' ' ' ii'“} ■' SCREAI^S FROM BEHIND? ARE WE FLANKED? SHADOWS APVANCING LIKE A DEATH SHBqj^Dj THE HILL^. get TO THE HILL. . ^ > O December ^ The Beachhead at Tyr You’re losiDg men. Can ^ou keep your composure? In Myth II: Soulblightcr. panic is your greatest enemy. It’s up to you to remain calm and focused during the frenzy of battle. You devise the strategies. You make the crucial decisions. Move forward with tne mission and risk massive casualties, or retreat and live to fight another day? Time is running out. The wrong decision may cost you half your men. No decision will cost a / n I ^u your entire army. i ll . \ I What’s it going to be? ^ \J F To order Myth II: SoulbJightcr^^|k^ call 1-800-295-0060 or visit our website at Mc.com. Go to #110 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink Forget the box. Forget limits. Forget small. The future of games is online. Massive. Random. Forever changing. Populated by thousands. Real people. Real battles. Real adventures. This is GameStorm. GAMESTORM www.gamestorm.com The best massively multiplayer games. Virtually any networkable CD-ROM game. Award-winning editorial content. Thriving player communities. All in one package, for one price. Unlimited play. $9.95 monthly. First month FREE! KESMAI OOOOQC^^ Air Warriors ill, Aliens''' 3rnine, ’ Varcrafi n --, Diablo™, Claw™, Virtual Featured games include: All the latest news, reviews, Godzilla® Online, Jack Nickisus's Pool'’^.tjescent‘'-',Splatterb5ii™, QUAKE™ l&iI,NetPighter™, features, tips, downloads Online GcffTci;- ^r:;iUiF;ayer Rol6maste.’'™;Magestcrm, Darkness Falls™, Hexen IF'^ Bartlezone™, Total and more from the BattleTech'y, Legends cf Kesr-?'®, Rclemaster™:"he Biadelands’”, Anr!ihii3tion™,Mech Warrior'^ 2, Internet site named Starship Trocpe^s'’''^ casir.--.,-ct-d, Palace, Biiiboard Live^ WarCraft™ II, Postal™ ...and virtually "Best Gaming Site" and board games., .and more! Tri'/!a...and more! any netv/orkable CD-ROM game! by EntertoinmentV/eekly. Go to #197 @ www.computergamlng.com/infolink GameStorm’” is a trademark of and Kesmal* Is a registered trademark of Kesmal Corporation. ENGAGE games online''" is a service mark of Games On-Line, Inc. All rights reserved. SegaSoft™, HEAT” and HEAT.N£T™are trademarks of SegaSoft Networks, Inc.GameSpot™ Is a trademark of GameSpot Inc. All other trademarks, registrations, and copyrights are properties of their respective holders. THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Genre: Real-time Sci-Fi Release Date: Q1 '99 Developer: Pumpkin Studios Publisher: Eidos Interactive www.eidosinteractive.com Warzone 2100 Don 't Just Build Your Forces, Design Them W ith every real-time strategy title scrambling to find some way to distinguish itself, WARZONE 2100 has left it to the player to make the game unique. How? By letting gamers themselves custom design their own com- bat forces. WARZONE 2100 doesn’t veer too far from the tried and true in terms of core game- play — gamers still must explore, find energy resources, research technology, and build units for combat. But when it comes to the units themselves, well, that's where things get different. As gamers acquire technology, they can set out on various research paths to upgrade and develop their forces. Using that research, gamers will be able to construct their units through a three-step design interface. By choosing which type of turret, body type, and propulsion source to use in a vehicle, gamers can build the units they think will be best suited for the mission at hand. With about 400 options from which to choose, gamers will have thousands of possibilities. Fortunately, since you'l be able to delete any obsolete designs, you won't have to pick through hundreds of options each time you build a unit, While individual design characteris- tics will greatly determine a unit’s effec- tiveness, experience will play a part as well. Vehicles will carry over from one mission to the next, gaining experience that will make them perform more effi- ciently. If you take care of your units, you'll be able to put together a skilled, deadly fighting force after just a handful of scenarios. This persistent world quality spills over to other parts of WARZONE 2100. Instead of presenting the gamer with a new map for each mission, the game expands the original map in range. Thus, your base must be developed and protected through a series of missions. This doesn't mean you'll be stuck with the same map throughout the game, however: There will be 38 missions spread across 3 campaigns taking place in valleys, mountains, and ravaged cities. Not surprisingly, WARZONE 2100 has jumped aboard the 3D band- wagon and will feature true 3D terrain and vehicles. Elevation will affect combat effectiveness, with higher units having a decided advantage over forces on lower ground. To keep track of units and battles, gamers will use a free-moving camera that can pan in any direction and zoom. The effect is similar to that of MYTH but is somewhat more intuitive. With the custom unit design, multiplayer matches promise to be inter- esting, Pumpkin Studios plans to support multiplayer games of up to eight gamers over LAN or Internet and is also working on creating a built-in ranking system. Ail in all, WARZONE 21 00 Is an ambitious product, Whether it can fulfill its ambitions remains to be seen. — Robert Coffey COMPUTCR GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Extreme Coi You've been gaming ever since you got weaned on Pong as a kid. Nowypu want a stick that'll do it all. Programmable, g Digital. Analog. Comfortable. Cool. I Different New. I GenX 700 by QuickShot is all that and I more. This programmable stick comes I complete with switches to move between I digital and analog modes for the HAT, f rudder, handle fire buttons.andX&Yaxes. g Plus a 30 rotational handle and a multi- view HAT switch. This stick's super- ’ g ergonomic with a contoured BioThrottle™ I complete with extra fire^uttons. And the I GenX 700 is a really cool metallic purple I color — sure to look perfect anywhere. I Don't forget to check out our streamlined I GenX 500 and 500L — the world's first f| joystick made for lefties! I Punish yourself no more. Enter the I generation of extreme control. I GETTHISSnCK! '.quickshot.' v.computergaming.c GO TO #260 ^.computergaming.com/infolink Manipulate environments in order TO PROGRESS THROUGH SIX TREACHEROUS. MISSION-BASED WORLDS. Morph into four different vehicle TYPES including LAND. HOVER. AMPHIBIOUS AND SUBMERSIBLE. / 3d scalable graphics engine lets the GAME RUN ON JUST ABOUT ANY PC AND TAKES FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE LATEST 3d HARDWARE ACCELERATION WITH FULL V00D002'" SUPPORT. r ^ \. ¥ Tote 18 high-powered weapons including the arc saber, proximity mines, napalm, freon CANNONS AND HIGH INTENSITY LASERS. -ft P.S TJI yr ii- - • Combat evil forces alone or jump ONLINE AND WREAK MULTIPLAYER HAVOC IN AN 8-PLAYER DEATHMATCH. DEMO RATED 5 OUT OF 5 . -GAMESPOT ...THE FINAL RELEASE IS CERTAINLY ON MY MUST-HAVE LIST." ■ . -ADRENALINE VAULT ZIPPCR INWHACnVE] THE VISUALS IN THE GAME ARE STUNNING AND THE GAMEPLAY IS EXTREMELY IMMERSIVE.",' -GAMESLICE Looks to be a killer ADDITION TO THE GAME GENRE." -NEXT GENERATION ONLINE f mm Ik . ^ THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Star TVek ; l\lew Worlds star Trek Enters the Real-time Neutral Zone Genre: Real-time Sci-Fi Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Binary Asylum Publisher: Interplay www.interplay.com I f I'm sorely in need of a Mr. Spock fix. 1 need go no farther than my local pharmacy. There I can wander like a drugged Andorian, blissfully picking up Star Trek paperback novels. Star Trek Band- Aids, Star rreik vitamins, Star TreA- videos (with more than a minute of original footage never before seen on TV!}, and my favorite — Star Trek toilet tissue. Given the franchise's expansion into every universe imaginable in the past three decades, it's hardly a sur- prise to see a TreA spinoff in the real-time strategy gaming genre. The folks at Interplay are being highly secretive about STAR TREK: NEW WORLDS, but in between the usual buzzwords such as "total interaction" and "uniquely immersive," ourTholian spies have dis- covered a few facts. The 3D environment does look nice, with colorful explosions. Even at this early stage, the combat strives for that TreAfeel, as the Fantasy War Sony Goes Into Battle Online Genre: Turn-based Fantasy Release Date: Q4 '98 Developer: Crossover Technologies Publisher: Sony Interactive www.fantasywar.com W hile it /s turn-based, FANTASY WAR isn't simply a rehash of WARLORDS III or HEROES OF MIGHT & MAGIC II. It's a charming online-only design crammed full of idiosyn- crasies. You can, for example, render one of your opponent's leaders "indisposed" for the turn, leaving you free to move an occupying army into one of his minor allies' territories. Play involves up to seven would-be conquerors issu- ing orders for troop movements, spell-casting, hero recruitment, and the like. Once all orders are received, the game's server at Sony processes them simultane- ously, assigning initiative randomly to keep things hopping. In this way, gamers should be spared the usual turn-based tedium of having to wait several ground units hover above the surface and maneuver like land-based star- ships. All the races from the series have the toys you'd expect; Romulan Cloaking Tanks, Klingon Mobile Disruptor Batteries, and Phaser Tanks for the Federation folks. (At press time it's not clear to us whether you'll first have to try to talk your enemies to death before shooting them.) Other touches include tricorder readings for your strategic map, hydroponics facilities to build, and the like. While STAR TREK: NEW WORLDS supports multiplayer action, we're guessing that the mission-based campaigns — full of exploration, planetary exploita- tion, and bad blood — could make this the game that OUTPOST II should have been, with TreA flavor to boot. — Terry Coleman minutes for someone else to move. The simple mechanics encourage fast play. The designers even plan to have a blitz game in which the time limit will be about three minutes per turn: You'll have to prioritize your moves because you just won't have time to do everything once many forces are on the map. For those who like to ponder all the strategic alternatives, however, there is an epic game as well, which resembles a play-by-email game. Combat is brisk, comprising three rounds: ranged attack, any attempts to flank the opponent, and final melee. Morale is a big part, and armies may break and run before losing all their troops — a nice change from the "fight to the last Ore" so prevalent in many recent strategy games. Economics play a big part in FANTASY WAR as well, but it doesn't seem particularly complicated during play. Even in this early stage, this is one of the most promising online games we've seen in awhile. — Terry Coleman Machines Do-It-Yourself Warfare Genre: Real-time Sci-R Release Date: Q2 '99 Developer: Charybdis Publisher: Acclaim www.acclainination.com I f the lousy pathfinding and imprecise unit response of other real-time games has just about driven you away from the genre, you may want to give MACHINES a look when it ships this spring. MACHINES lets you command your forces from both an isometric third-person perspective and a free-roaming, ground-level view, but it will also let you jump into any of your units to steer it, aim it. and fire it. Perfect for missions requiring precise maneuvering, this feature will let you guide vital units deep into enemy bases — dodging defen- sive fire — and actually enter enemy facilities to steal or sabotage technology. Strategists who fear they lack the twitch reflexes necessary to puli this off can rest assured that missions will be designed so that you can also win without having to personally guide your forces. As the sentient machines slug it out across a series of planets in 30 branching missions, you will have to seek out upgrades for your forces. Hardware upgrades for the 1 8 basic machines should pump the unit total up to about 50; software upgrades will increase your scanner range, improve your weapons' firing distance, and make your "unmanned" machines smarter by improving their pathfinding. Night vision upgrades will be vital since the gameworld will cycle through day and night. All of this will be delivered in, what else, glorious 3D, with hardware acceleration required for the game's 3D terrain, the fully polygonal units, and the dynamic lighting and environment effects. — Robert Coffey COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 /, coniputergaming.com ■ao k nov0V/orld ■ est of the extraction point ^ surrounding you. You’re down "to your last few rounds - cold, dog-tired, wounded The only easy day '-^as yesterday. Welcome to Hell> ladies A complete arsenal c to choose from kveapons Motion capture technology brings characters to life :e the enemy over unprecedented distances A Play in either 1st or 5rd person across miles & miles of outdoor environments A Over 40 gut-wrenching missions APremiering Voxel Space® 5 graphics terrain with 52-bit color Aaiissions developed with the assistance of a former U.S, Army Delta Porce Officer FRCe LARBE SCALE MUITI-PLAY HOW PLAYING ON mmsrUMl .. NOVALOGIC ■ !■ U ■ fi b u u I U www/.f!CJtM;c>s’ic.com BOO.a3a.13SS nmaitoviLogic.lw.VwtlSiauandNovjtDgiciiertgr-X'cdlixIemiitsinilfKiUIoitt.Nuviyn'UiK'JlfKMutWailitl'WeiiHiUoltlcMiLoOC.lK 'Intffmlstivn'eiiuiral.PUrernponiiMelvaljpplicalAInlniKllKS.NoviLtgicreeivesUiensMlDcliinfeirielernKolsenijctitrvliint Go to #127 <S www.compulergamlng.com/infolink eIamdjiI Available for Macintosti from Digital Extremes avaiiaDie.at yo direct at store.gtintera ur icti Visit unreal l.gtgames.co m : 1 mMlti^play er patches, f computers Jov the V you can play Unreal. pn'm m ever before! . >r] 1 1 Kj Ti i T •X* 1 'X 1 ^ W M U B U M n M i [ rH 1 M i THE NEW WAVE OF STRATEGY GAMES Roller Coaster Tycoon And Now for Something Completely Different A s a rule, roller coaster games put me off my feed because they tend to remind me of that horrid Disney wire-frame game of a few years ago. Really, it was more like a CAD pro- gram masquerading as a roller coaster game. Well, I'm happy to report that my appetite is quite healthy after spending time looping around in ROLLER COASTER TYCOON. If the title reminds you of MicroProse's TRANSPORT TYCOON, it should: Both games are by designer Chris Sawyer. The difference is that ROLLER COASTER TYCOON never stops being fun. it's a lot like SlMCITY, in that you can keep designing death-defying rides without paying attention to the campaign game— which has a lot of depth— as you research and develop new rides. Simultaneously, you try to keep your customers happy and turn a profit. In fact, the game reminds me a bit of the old THEME PARK, except that it's better looking and a lot easier to play — something the producer proved to me by constructing a towering roller coaster in lesc than 10 minutes, complete with squealing teenagers and people staggering off the ride, tossing their cookies. We're always asking for something dif- ferent, and ROLLER COASTER TYCOON should definitely fit the bill— just bring your own cotton candy. — Terry Coleman Genre: Real-time Carnival Release Date; Q2 '99 Developer: Chris Sawyer Publisher: Hasbro/MicroProse www.microprose.com Long Ago and Far Away Remakes, Secret Projects, and Rumors N ot only are Gary Grigsby and Keith Brors frantically trying to fin- ish up the epic BATTLE OF BRITAIN forTalonSoft {see our "Holiday Hot 100” in last month's issue), they are also underway on STEEL PANTHERS [V. Could this be the title that returns the famed series to the forefront of modern-era strategy games? From what we've seen, the gameplay will be very tactical— to the point where you can con- trol individual tanks. But we're a bit skeptical about SSI's claims that on maximum zoom, one pixel on your screen will equal four inches of real terrain. A new, more accessible interface and point-to-point movement are welcome changes to the design, and the team insists that "unit movement is more dependent upon battlefield conditions than an artificial turn system." Sounds a lot like the initiative-based system used in ACHTUNGl SPITFIRE, which would be fine by us. In any case, don't expect STEEL PANTHERS IV until late 1999. What's Up With, AH, Hasbro? Well, It looks as though the absorption of Avalon Hill by the Boston Borg is turning out better than anyone had a right to hope. Bill Levay, former head of computer game development for Avalon Hill, has evidently accepted a posi- tion with Hasbro for the express purpose of determining which AH games can be easily adapted to the computer. Being a large public company, Hasbro has no official comment on which AH titles might be first in the queue. However, given the obsession of several Hasbro designers with DIPLOMACY and HISTORY OF THE WORLD, don't be surprised to see new and improved PC versions of those titles in the next 1 8 months — maybe sooner if Hasbro's AXIS & ALLIES is a hit (see our review on page 358). On the other hand, it seems that all the AH computer projects that were in development at the time of the Hasbro acquisition are now history: The Pacific version of OVER THE REICH is in limbo, and Big Time Software has turned to COMBAT MISSION (see page 1 27 in this issue). GUADALCANAL is MIA as well, but designer Steve Magestro has formed his own company. Rebel Interactive. While Magestro is being somewhat sparse on details, there's a good likelihood given his history, that he's working on a Pacific-theater WWII game You can ask him yourself at wvvw.reblactive.@aol.com FREEDOM IN THE GALAXY (which graybeards will remember as an ancient SPI board- game), adapted for the PC by MicroProse veteran Jim Syrmfski looks to be down for the count as well. Other Titles on the Horizon The acquisition of Virgin has left a lot of project' in the lurch there as well. Strategy First, however, is still working on MAN OF WAR II which sports much better 3D than the original Expea this sequel in the spring of 1 999. We can't be so sure about ROAD to MOSCOW, saved from purgatory by Interaaive Magic The game certainly looks better (and more playable) than it did more than a yeai ago, but ROAD TO MOSCOW is Such an ambitious projea- -the entire Russian Front of WWII with detailed supply and Al. down to company level — that it could be several months before small details like play balance are ready for the marketn'ace MALKARI, another 1-Magic title, tries to be a tongue- in cheek SEVEN KINGDOMS light, complete with Aztec priests casting spells of doom on incredulous conquistadors. The big question with this real-time New World game is whether the graphics — at this point, looking very 1 996- <an be brought up to speed by the Eastern European developer in time for this game to compete. The SSG folks are still busy with REACH FDR THE STARS fni Microsoft, now slated for the summer of 1 999 But they've also quietly begun work on WARIOrds IV for The Learning ( ompany/ SSI/Red Orb/Whomever. It's likely that this next game in the classic series will not be simultaneous turn-based. What's a stark of undead Ores to do ? — Terry Coleman COMPUTER GAMING WO RLD ■ JANUARY /.computcfgaming.c WELCOME TO YOUR NEW RELlQiON YouTc abauJ lo experienJe a Heretic revelation like o other. Powerfully intense action. Divine 3-D worlds, Almighty weapons and spells. And awe-inspiring hird-Lerson gameplay: a t/uc out-of-body experience. Magical Powers, Spells and Acrobatic Moves to Brandish Undfjrground Civilizations ajnd Sinking Cities to Ex|j)lore Third-Person, Quake ir"-Powered Action to Survive Coopcralive/Deathmatch Multiplayer Battles to Brave SURRE^^DER D Thei HERESY ticlivisitin.ciHn A Look at the Ins. Outs, and Dirty SeCretS of Designing computer Games A The Perfect M uch of game design seems a black art to gamers, whose involvement with the process generally starts with picking up the finished game off the shelf and ends with waiting for an inevitabie series of patches. But what goes on behind the scenes? How do some teams create STARCRAFTs, LONGBOW 2s, and BATTLEZONEs, while others churn out NAMs, DOMINIONS, and SILENT THUNDERS? As we started investigating the topic, we discovered that the process is dramatically different for each genre. Whiie story is design king in a roie-piaying game, it's reaiism that matters in simulations and sports games. Because the process is so different for each styie of game, we sent our editors on separate investigations of five major genres. So join us now as we dive into the trenches and ask the experts, "What makes a good game? And how do the bad ones happen?" A U nleash your creative power with Worldcraft Pro, the professional level-editing suite for today's popular first-person shooters. As the only editor available for multiple titles — including Half-Life, Quake II, Hexen II, and other 3D shooters — Worldcraft Pro offers greater power and versatility than any other product in its class. And, while it is a professional tool — the very same used to create Half-Life — it also contains a user-friendly interface and tutorials that make it very accessible to the beginning designer. y The professional edition of the leading 3D level editor. ► No other level editor offers support for multiple titles. ► Worldcraft Pro's simple yet powerful interface makes it the ideal choice for beginning designers as well as professionals. Worldcraft Pro y Dedicated online community and level exchange center hosted by W0N.net ■2 fiiii ProlBssiaml Layai-Hlina MH ra Worldcraft Pro The Professional Level-Editing Suite wwvv.sierrastudios.com flERR/{ STUDIOS © 1 998 Sierra On-Line, Inc. All Rights ResGrve0^ff|HB^H trademarks of Sierra On-Line, Inc. Valve is a tTademarm^WH Hexen, andHexenll are trademarks or registered trademark .computergaming.coin/infollnk BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • ACTION D eep down inside, it's just ugly. Creative con- straints. Budget constraints. Time constraints. Technical constraints. While fans may see the business of making games as exciting— even glamorous — designers know that the actual process of building a thrill-a- second action game is more con- cerned with solving problems day after day; What will make our game unique? What engine will best suit our needs? Do we need to recode any part so it works better for us? How do we approach multiplayer? What are our competitors doing and how do we respond? Decisions, countless thousands of them. It's a long, tortuous path with stumbling blocks every step of the way. Even an absolute, bottom-of- the-barrel game like NAM is shaped by a seemingly endless litany of decisions. Obviously, in NAM's case they were the wrong decisions, but they had to be made nonetheless. Besides, making the right decisions is no guarantee for success — witness BAniEZONE, one of the best games of 1998, but one of the year's least impressive sellers, Inspiration and Perspiration^. "My partner Sean and I were sitting in an Italian restaurant after deciding to use the MECH- WARRIOR 2 technology for another vehicle-based action game. I was sitting there with an Auto Trader magazine, looking through the listings since I'd decided to get myself a bitchin' '70s Barracuda as a reward for finishing MECHWARRIOR 2 when it hit me like a bolt out of the blue — Why not?" Thus did Zack Norman come up with the idea that became INTERSTATE '76. Before any work can be done on a game, somebody has to have an idea. Inspiration is a tricky thing to pin down and it comes to people in ways as varied as the games that evolve from it. It can MAKING MAYHEM The Blood. Sweat, and Tears of Blood. Guns, and Speed [by Robert Coffey] come from browsing used-car ads or from a sudden flight of fancy. For Alan Patmore of Surreal Soft- ware, developers of the upcoming DRAKAN, it came from a lifelong fascination with fantasy fiction and a strong desire to work on a fantasy game. Flying through an early demo using Surreal's tech- nology, Patmore suddenly thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if you could fly around as a dragon, frying little warriors and eating maidens?" From that point, DRAKAN evolved first as a real- time strategy game before coming together as a shooter with a COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » iANUARY 1999 ACTION • BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME INSPIRATIONAL READING One man's used-car ads are another man's muse. Skimming the Auto Trader led to the creation of INTERSTATE '76 and its sequel, INTERSTATE '82. maiden riding the dragon instead of being eaten by it, Often, other forms of pop cul- ture can trigger ideas. KLIN60N HONOR GUARD was obviously born from Star Trek, while SHOGO: MOBILE ARMOR DIVISION emerged from the designers’ desire to explore the idea of "ROBOTECH meets DOOM." That hybrid idea for SHOGO seemed just too cool to pass up, and when the designers integrated their mutual love of anime into the idea, things really took off, The result is a shooter with a unique look and feel. Once the idea of a game is set, the real work begins. For Norman, writer and lead designer for INTERSTATE 76 and director of the upcoming INTERSTATE '82, that means getting down not just to brass tacks, but to the molecu- lar composition of the brass in those tacks. Norman begins the exhaustive design process by crystalizing the game idea into a three-sentence kernel. After that, even the most basic concepts need to be defined, for INTERSTATE '76, Norman asked himself, "What is a car?" Finding that too broad, he narrowed his focus to the point that he felt it necessary to write page after page answering the question "What is an object?" — that is. What components make up a car? Norman likens this process to a Christmas tree: You start as generally as you can, with the trunk, then work your way up to the branches, the needles, and finally the ornaments. CHANGING HORSES MIDSTREAM Changing the guts of a game by switching engines is no easy task. Originally employing the QUAKE I engine, DAIKATANA made the switch to QUAKE II, and the designers still needed to add lots of their own code. DAIKATANA 2 will make another engine switch, changing to UNREAL. For Gabe Newell, managing director of Valve {makers of HALF- LIFE), it comes down to having a clear business plan to help you make choices about your objec- tives for gameplay, resource constraints, market requirements, and more. "You iterate on those a bunch of times as you work through the design spec, project schedule, test plan, documentation plan, and marketing materials," Newell says. "One important bat- tle to fight is to keep people using the specification process once implementation is underway. You're really tempted to revise what you're going to do without engine and were very impressed by its graphic capabilities. Those issues and the financial aspects of the agreements made the UNREAL engine more attractive." Still, the KLiNGON team had to add some of its own code, particularly to enhance the A! so that enemies would take cover while reloading and act as teammates. Valve did much the same thing with the QUAKE engine when making HALF-LlFE, ending up with a product in which more than 70 percent of the code was its own. Changes like these can contribute to game delays, as in the case of Ion Storm's DAIKATANA, John The only way to maintain perspective is to look at it through the eyes of first-time users." [Ar)drew Goldman. Pandemic Studios] bothering to go back and update the source documents. Madness and inefficiency lie that way." Who’s Driving This Thing? In order to provide the speed, graphics, and unrelenting action that gamers demand, designers need a game engine that can deliver on all fronts. In the realm of first-person shooters, two big engines stand out: QUAKE II and UNREAL. While the creators of these engines are understandably biased in their opinions, it's inter- esting to look at who else uses each engine and why. KLINGON HONOR GUARD uses the UNREAL engine. Producer Alex OeLucia explains his choice this way: "When we were looking at game engines, the only engine available was QUAKE, which didn't have colored lighting and was limited to 8-bit rendering. We saw an early version of the UNREAL Romero says that even after making the switch from the origi- nal QUAKE to QUAKE II in February 1998, the design team had to reimplement many of the changes it had already made to the first engine as well as add countless new ones. At this point, says Romero, "The engine is very differ- ent from the original QUAKE 11 engine, except the network code has minimal changes right now." It might be worth noting that Ion Storm has already committed to switching to the UNREAL engine for DAIKATANA 2. The alternative to licensing an engine is, of course, to develop your own, as Monolith has done with the LithTech engine used in both SHOGO and BLOOD 2. Monolith originally developed LithTech as DirectEngine in con- junction with Microsoft, but the two companies had different ideas on where the product needed to COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Peripherals supported: DirectX, sup joysticks, 3D cards and Force Fcee Dozens of detailed cc varied missions am Stunnins 3D graphics - unbelievably beautiful environments options: VERSIOniniCLUDEO “ Intense Multiplayer action - supports TEAM PLAY & INTERNET NETWORK SCENARIOS • One of the most powerful weapons PLATFORMS EVER CONCEIVED FOR A PD GAME • Command an army (troops, high-tech tanks, GUNSHIPS AND BOMBERS) FROM THE FRONT LINES WHILE FIGHTING RIGHT BESIDE THEM IN THE TRENCHES ' STREAMLINED INTERFACE AND DESIGN MEANS LESS TIME LEARNING AND MORE TIME PLAYING © I93B The 3D0 Coinpanr. All flighis Reseived. Cyclone Sitidios, Uprising, Lead and Deeiioy 3D0. and ilieii lespeciivs logos, are tiedeinaiks or legisieied tiedemaihs of Ttie 3D0 Company in ihe U.S. and/oi oifiei couniiles. All oihei iiodemaiks belong lo ilieii lesiietiive owners. Cydone Studios is a division of The 3D0 Company. 'Coinpuiei Games Siiategy Plus 1997. @1998 3Dfi Inierective. Inc. The 3Dli Inieianive logo is a liademariorregisieied uademaik of 3Dh Interactive. Inc. in the USA and in othei set«l countries. Go to #246 @ www.computergamlng.com/lnfolink 3D0‘ www.3do.com BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • ACTION COMPROMISING POSITION The Star Frefr license brings instant consumer recognition, but at a creative cost. While the KLINGON HONOR GUARD designers could persuade Paramount to allow the blood seen In this shot, the studio categorically ruled out gibs. ‘ You get enough testers who have a knack for going to the most unlikely places in a level. " go and parted ways. Monolith CEO Jason Hall explains his company's decision to develop its own engine this way: "In order to deliver a compelling experience with SHOGO, we needed the speed of QUAKE II, the beauty of an UNREAL Tenderer, and some- thing that had never been done quite right before — an incredible debris and particle system. All this needed to be integrated into one continuous, flexible, easy-to-use system that could be expanded upon for years to come." Currently being used by more than 7,000 developers. LithTech seems to be a real contender in the engine wars. Still, Romero doubts that any one engine will ever dominate the industry because new engines are constantly on the way, with aggressive license pricing and more features. ''Technology," he warns, "keeps marching on!" Pest Control Sloppy coding and buggy products are the bane of any gamer. Despite the assertions of a few Usenet cranks, designers care about their products and don't want to put their names on a buggy game. But according to Andrew Goldman, president and CEO of Pandemic Studios, the team behind BATTLEZONE and the upcoming BATTLEZONE 2, bugs are basically inevitable and often stem [Brandon James, id Software] occur. Valve uses its beta phase principally to detect unexpected configuration problems. Id Software uses outside testers to catch bugs that its rigorous, in- house testing doesn't catch. Brandon James, an id level designer explains, "Everybody out there has a different and distinct playing style. You get enough [testers] who have a knack for going to the most unlikely places in a level and doing the most obscure things and eventually you'll have covered all the paths and areas that an average player will follow." Across the board, designers seem to take the input of their testers seriously, implementing suggestions and changes every step of the way, Goldman observes, "After spending two years on a project you're no longer able to see how new users will react to the product. The only way to maintain an appropriate per- spective is to learn to look at it through the eyes of your first-time users." Those users provide invalu- able feedback. The input of BAHLEZONE testers led to full- world minimaps, the refinement of the game's outstanding interface (see the "Control Issues" sidebar), and the deletion of a virtual cock- pit. In the case of HALF- LIFE, implemented sug- gestions from testers ran the gamut from "Make this ladder more obvi- ous" to "This monster really sucks and needs to be redesigned," When bugs do occur in a game, every designer to a man wants to from trying to accommodate a wide range of hardware, particu- larly 3D cards. "Remember the dark days of sound cards?" asks Goldman. "There was always some sort of conflict that would mess with your life. Now it seems we're in the dark period of 3D cards. Every card supports differ- ent features and is constantly get- ting updated drivers.” if you own a Voodoo Rush card, odds are you're nodding in agreement right about now. To squash bugs before they get in the box, designers subject their games to stringent quality assur- ance (QA) testing as well as beta testing. Activision will have up to 1 00 testers during any given beta cycle, with QA testing lasting in excess of four months. At Valve. QA starts at the beginning of a project to catch bugs the moment they THE UlSION THIMG T o break away from the pack of copycat action games, a title needs to find a way to capture gamers' attention. One thing that makes a game stand out is a strong, clear, concep- tual identity. That's what made INTERSTATE '76 such a breath of fresh air: Its car combat came packaged in a highly stylized, funky, funny 1970s wrapper. According to Zack Norman, "Any game design should be encapsulated in one to three sentences. Every design element should be compared against that ideal. INTERSTATE '76 was '70s muscle cars with guns: Mad Max meets Shaft. INTERSTATE '82 is Mad Max meets Miami Vice." Every creative decision is then fil- tered through the game's concept summary with the intention of creating a uni- fied creative whole. With this philosophy in place, certain design choices almost decide themselves. The widely praised funk soundtrack in INTERSTATE '76 was used because funk had the energy appropriate for an action game, even though it wasn't the most popular music of that time. The same holds true for INTERSTATE '82 and its New Wave soundtrack. Featuring elements of Madness-type ska and B-52s-style surf music, the soundtrack meets the criteria set by the game's capsule concept. COMPUTER CAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 ACTION • BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME I fix them. Most designers follow the procedure that Monolith used for SHOGO: Immediately trying to fix any problem and post a patch on the company's Web site. But Zack Norman sounds a cautionary note: "The harsh realities of corporate America don't necessarily mean we can Issue a patch. If a game has no shelf life, if no one's buying it, it's hard to rationalize the time and expense of reieasing a patch." Hunting Licenses To avoid a quick death on the shelves a title must stand out, and one way to accomplish that is to license a known entity. The idea is that the consumer will be more inclined to buy something they're familiar with and, hopefully, already like. Alex DeLucia, producer of MicroProse's KLINGON HONOR GUARD explains, "When you're try- ing to sell a game to retailers and you present them with Star Trek and Game XYZ, it's easier to sell the Star Trek game since the retail- er knows what Star Trek is. Another big benefit of having a licensed product is cross-promotion." Licensing a known entity does come with limitations, however. DeLucia again: "Obviously, you have to deal with the specific char- acters and back-story. Things like the color of a character's costume or their actions and attitude are very specific and, in most cases, must be strictly followed, Plus, your audience is intimately familiar with the subject matter and any incon- sistencies will be noticed." Considering the rabid nature of some Star Trekiar^s, that's an understatement. Forced to work inside the frame- work of the license, designers make concessions that would not be nec- essary in an original title. In the case of KLINGON HONOR GUARD, MicroProse was forbidden to use gibs and had to demonstrate the need to show blood. On the other hand, a license might backfire on a game. In the case of BATTLEZONE, the license helped the design team focus on some early aspects of development and helped to get out initial word about the title. But in the end — between naming the game after an 18 -year-old coin-op game and putting dated vector-graphic images on the box — Goldman feels that the BATTLEZONE name just cre- ated confusion that hurt sales. Every Bloody Picture Tells a Stot7_ Increasingly, it seems, action games will have to tell a story to compete. Where a shooter could previously get by with a few para- graphs of generic text between chunks of levels, gamers now expect a more complete experi- ence. And they're starting to get it. Nowhere is this experience delivered more compellingly than in the soon-to-be-released HALF- LIFE, which found its inspiration in a Stephen King novella, The Mist. While almost all of the original concept has vanished from the final product, the focus on story- telling has not. Through scripted scenes that occur around the play- er, Immersive action elements that push the plot forward while serving up a steady stream of fresh chal- lenges, and an imaginative, almost cinematic approach to every facet of gameptay, HALF-LIFE makes its story an integral part of the game instead of the excuse for it. G ame characters don't develop overnight. The sequence above illustrates how the body style of Rynn, the protagonist of DRAKAN, evolved. The first model, with its very low polygon count, was ideal for testing, if not for gameplay. The second Rynn served as the foundation for the later versions. She has a slightly higher polygon count but was a little too buff and unfeminine. The third one is the an- orexic Rynn. Surreal was aiming for a lean athletic look, but found this version too waifish. Her legs were also far too long, which interfered with some of her fighting moves. The final model is the one used in the game. The right height, weight, and polygon count, she fits the character personality and is much more attractive than previous versions. At top and left are the skins for Rynn and her dragon companion, Arokh. These skins use multiple high- quality texture maps to get higher pixel density than in other games, which generally use single-texture maps to create skins. The skins are then applied to the models using Surreal's propri- etary texture-mapping tool and, voila, a character is born. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 V n A i< i: II N V. T PACK I : [: x t k i: m i t m: s” Go to #147 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink AcIiVisioN. QUAKf II NL't|j;i(:k I Kxltuiiiltlus (Q1098 Id Sdllwjie. Inc. All Hii{lils Rcscivfld. Oj;ikL'<‘');iiitl llie logo .niu ioijlsi(:i(!il tradoinniksol Id Sollv/ato, Ino Ouakc II and QUAKE II Nclp.ick I Fxtreiiiilios uie Irndomaiks ol Id SolKvaie. Inc. The copyriglil in tins ooiii|)ilaliuii is owned by Id Sollv/are, Inc., as noted. Ceilaiii individual cuinpuiiGiils ul llns praducl are llii* copyiightud iiropeities ut Ilind parties used under license anri as ideiititied v/ilhiii tins pioducl. Oistribuled liy Aclivisiun, Inc. Activision is a rcgisluied trudcniaik ul Activisirin. Inc All otliei itadeniiiiks anil Hade names am lliu pinpeilies ol llieii respeolive owners. HIDING THE PERFECT CAME • ACTION In order to put the pieces together, Valve dealt with countless challenges. How do you make animations small enough that the gamer won't need 256MB of RAM to run them? How do you tell a story without taking control away from the gamer? How do you ensure that all the thousands of little details support the story you're telling? "The answer," says Gabe Newell, "is a mixture of up- front design, careful choices on the creative side to live within the envelope of what was possible from our engine. . .and a lot of really late nights." It's a daunting task but if it's all done right, as it is in Half-Life, the results can be incredible. You Always Kill the Ones You_Loye Ever since DOOM, action titles have all but been required to pro- vide multiplayer options. Designing for multiplayer action presents a whole different set of problems. Brandon James of id's QUAKE III: ARENA team explains, "Our biggest hurdle is to keep the game chal- lenging while trying to give players an equal chance in the match. Balancing out the experiences, effects, pluses and minuses, as well as introducing new weapons, power-ups, and items is necessary to keep a player's interest high." With the QUAKE line moving toward a solely multiplayer game, the id team is focusing more on fighting, survival, and the hunter/ hunted aspect of multiplayer gam- ing than the combat-driven single- player experience. For QUAKE III, id is breaking down the DeathMatch experience and levels into distinrt styles. Some arenas will accommodate larger numbers of gamers while others will suit more one-on-one combat. According to id level designer Tim Willits, "Flow, identifiable areas, freedom of movement, giving or not giving a player control of the level, and multiple entrances and exits to the main arteries or com- bat areas — all these elements play a role in creating a level that's fair and balanced." While these challenges are com- mon in designing multiplayer games for first-person shooters, other games face far different prob- lems. In making the multiplayer components for DRAKAN, Surreal first had to deal with scale, and had to scale back the scope of its multi- player levels in a nod to playability. The second challenge was to figure out how to enable DRAKAN's mix of projectile-based air combat and hand-to-hand ground combat. Again, the smaller levels helped, and the design team found that creating maps for specific multi- player variations further enhanced multiplayer gameplay. The Who.le_Enchilada From the initial idea to the last patch posted on the Internet, designing action games is an almost ceaseless process of recog- nizing and defeating obstacles. In a sense, the design process isn't aii that different from playing a shooter: See the prob- iem, blow it away. Make the right decisions and you can wind up with a classic like QUAKE or you can revolutionize the genre, as with HALF-LIFE. Make the wrong choices, fail to balance multiplayer, or design an interface that requires a prehensile tongue to use effectively, and you'll wind up gibbed by the competition. After playmg MIGHT & MAGIC VI for what feels like the past 15 years, Robert Coffey is looking forward to playing a game where he just shoots things. II he interface is everything in I gameplay. A player needs to be I able to sit down in front of the game and start to play without confusion." So says Andrew Goldman, president and CEO of Pandemic Studios, the creators of BAHLEZONE and the upcoming BAmEZONE 2. Goldman knows how important the inter- face is to overall design, and his games prove it: The Interface in BATTLEZONE was easily one of the design highlights of the past year. Seamless and intuitive, it let the gamer immerse himself in gameplay with- out wrestling with the controls. But BATTLE- ZONE's interface wasn't always so slick. Initially, the game featured a split inter- face; you commanded from an overhead view and then fought in first-person per- spective. The designers soon learned that it made BATTLEZONE feel like two different games instead of the action/strategy hybrid it was meant to be, and they set out to fix it. The integration of the topo- graphical map and the command menus proved to be the key breakthrough. Still more changes occurred over the course of a year-long string of beta testing. As Goldman explains, "As soon as you start to make changes, everything goes out the window. The only way you'll know if new interface ideas work is by putting players in front of a working prototype." Working on BATTLEZONE's sequel has charged the design team to make the interface even friendlier looking and less intimidating. They are focusing principally on decreasing the amount of keyboard gymnastics required to control units and letting the mouse do more of the work. The bottom line is simple: An interface can make or break a game. If it's more of an obstacle than a tool, that game had better also be giving you back rubs and cooking you gourmet meals every night if the publisher hopes to make any profit. MAKING TOOLS From preliminary sketch to early model to final product — ^the evolution of the BATTLEZONE interface. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Robotics Tired of your old 28.8 modem slowing you down? It’s time to move to 3Com U.S. Robotics'" 56K standard modems and PC Cards. They’re proven to connect on average up to 80% faster than 28.8 modems'*’ for truly high speed downloading, streaming video, and near CD-quality audio. So visit your nearest 3Com retailer or find us at WWW ._3 co m.c pm/ 5_6 k ANY MODEM WILL GET YOU ON THE INTERNET. THEN AGAIN, ANY CAR WILL GET YOU ON THE FREEWAY. for more information. Because when it comes makes the difference. 'Caubleolreceivlngelup lo 56 Kbps an3 sendingat upto31.2Kbps. Due to FCCFagulailoiison power output, receiving speeds are llinlled to S3 Kbps. Actual speeds may varic Repuln-s compaliblc phone line and server oquipment. Compile.? with both the determlneil V.yo HU 5fiK standard and x2 technology protocols. Standard olficially determined In February. 1998; ratification expected In September. 1998 'Henderson Communications Laboratories performance tests, (uire 1998. See www.3com,corr|/56k ©1998 3Coni Corporation. All rights reserved. 3Com. the 3Com logo and U.S. Robotics arc registered trademarks and More connected, is a trademark ot 3Com Corporation. More connected!" Go to #1 06 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink Go ahead, laugh now. But pilotforNanoco:ps you’ll find that being small is all about stealth, agility and mally good Not to mention the ability to fly behind the microwave. It’s got nothing, we repeat nothing to do with being cute. Just asl Get Small. Then Get Even. Forages 10 to Adult • www.nanotauimeiitcom • For: lUiimitiii''' I..I..C. All ri^lib rcstrvctl. Niitintiiitimciit'?' I'ly Hiiiiii'i',''iiml Niiiifiuii|>s''’ loj'n.'ttiii: irndtinurks ul iNtiiicilitiiiititiiiJ''' All utliuf UiitluiijikMiinI iratlt Or what’s left of them.: Qation,caU l-877^ET-NANO toft-free ILLUSTRATION: Dan Fitzpatrick BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME • SIMULATIONS F light simulations are arguably the most com- plex of all computer games to create. Where the simple existence of gravity or momentum passes for "real physics" in some game genres, flight-sim designers face a demanding audience that knows not only how real planes fly, but also how real pilots fly them. But designing a sim isn't just about maximum realism. An authentic World War II sim might have you flying 10-hour missions and finishing a three-month career with only three kills. While there’s a niche market that would love that experience, that's not the game most sim players are looking for. And for every sim fanatic who's looking for the maximum in realism, there's a newbie sim player that game designers want to turn into a fan. This gamer needs a plane that's easy to get into without a trip to the local airport for flying lessons. So how do designers balance these demands for play- ability, accessibility, and realism? Flight P lanni ng "I truly believe that highly realistic sims are the most difficult of all games to build, from an engineering standpoint (with the possible exception of massively multiplayer persistent state worlds like ULTIMA ONLINE)," says Andy Hollis, who is best known for his Origin Skunkworks projects, the award-winning JANE'S LONGBOW series, and F-1 5. Hollis has been creating sims since the days of the Atari 800. Hollis outlines the complexities: "First, you have to build a com- plete simulation of a real airplane. Geez, the Defense Department spends millions on this. And it bet- ter be right, or the customers will complain. Then, you have to build a photorealistic graphics environ- ment in which to fly the thing. And it must work well up high from a distance, and down low and close. You just can't play the same kinds of tricks as you can in a 3D shooter. Finally, you have to CRASH COURSE Building a Flight Sim Shouldn 't Be So Tough: You're Just Re-creating Reality. . . [by Denny Atkin] make a compelling mission envi- ronment in which to play the game. Enemies that work together to defeat you, unexpected sub- tleties, and plausible reactions to anything the player does. Basically you have to build a commercial- grade military simulator and a great game all at once. Oh. and did I mention the challenges of Internet multiplayer gaming for a realistic combat sim?" It's enough to make a fledgling sim designer decide that curing the common cold might be easier. Paul Grace, whose projects include CHUCK YEAGER’S AIR COMBAT, the U.S. NAVY FIGHTERS series, and JANE’S WWII FIGHTERS, concurs. \ COMPUTER GAMING WORLD ■ JANUARY 1999 SIAAULATIONS • BUtLDING THE PERFECT GAME HIT BUBBLES This P-38 from FIGHTER DUEL 2 shows the bounding sphere system used to detect which part of an aircraft is hit by bullets. zero,' but once you get far away [from your starting point] they may 'grow' far- ther apart or closer together simply owing to how com- putations get pro- cessed, In some cases you can switch to a higher precision data representation; in other cases you may need to completely recode how the computations are done to pre- vent the problem." In other words, don't quit your day job to develop flight sims if you struggled with high school algebra. "I have to agree with Andy," Grace says, " I don't think there is any more demanding piece of entertainment soft- ware engineering. The environment is huge, the graphics are trending toward photorealism, the frame-rates increase, the gameplay is complex, the sound multi- variate, the Al needs to be flexible enough to handle the ebb and flow of combat." Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, Grace adds. "I think that the demanding nature of the software is why the category is popular." Matt Shaw and Ted Jump are currently working on FIGHTER DUEL 2, Infogrames' latest entry in a series of World War II games that traces its history back to the heyday of the Amiga. Jump's experience mirrors that of Hollis and Grace. "In our opinion, flight simulators have many more difficulties than just about any other genre," Jump says. "The program has to represent everything from your cockpit instrumentation two feet in front of your eyes to a mountain range 40 miles away and everything in between. A vast database of terrain data consisting of both height and texture maps must be maintained and delivered quickly for smooth flight." And just having the proper data doesn't mean you're going to get it right. Jump says. "Owing again to the distances that are required to be manipulated, it is easily possible to create software that causes improper behavior or rendering simply because of how floating-point data is handled. Consider two gauges in the instrument panel that may be only cen- timeters apart. Depending on the compu- tations required to manipulate them in three-dimensional space, they may look and render fine when you are near 'world Preflighl Check of course, the first step in building a flight sim is choosing what you're going to simulate. Recent release trends might make the more conspiracy-minded think that a virtual trilateral commission of flight sim developers gets together and has discussions along the lines of "Okay, last year we all did F-22 simulations. This time let's all do World War II sims." But in fact, the process is a bit more scientific. I asked Andy Hollis how Jane's chooses which platform to simulate. "We look at a number of factors, " Hollis says. "How well-known is the sub- ject aircraft? Clearly an F-1 5 is more well- known than an F-4, and Longbows are more well-known worldwide than any other attack helicopter, in order to appeal to a broad market of players, we want to choose high-profile aircraft that everyone agrees are sexy! Niche aircraft usually lose out here." So if you've been waiting for that F-1 05 Thunderchief or Brewster Buffalo sim, it's time to move on. Next. Hollis says, developers ask how interesting is the role of the aircraft? Aircraft that are pure strikers or pure dog- fighters provide less variety of experience for the gamer. It's better to have lots of interesting situations to play out. "Has the aircraft been involved in (or will it potentially be involved in) note- worthy conflicts? For some historical sims, this is the key question to ask, with the sim being focused on multiple aircraft in that conflict," Hollis adds. Another consideration when choosing a subject is how much real information is A PHANTOM APPEARS This sequence shows how Origin Skunkworks turned a line drawing into a 3D F-4 Phantom. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • JANUARY 1399 IT'S TIME YOU Command & Corejuan i8 a registered troOemork of, and Command & Conqtier Tibenon Sun. and Westwood Studios are trademarks of, West/ood Studios, New “ueteranev” feature enables units to become smarter, faster amt stronger as they become battle hardened uiith combat euperience. Experience the future of global war with new, high-energy weapons and defenses - Jump Jet Infantry, Laser Fences, Disruptors, Houer Tanks, Tunneling APCs, The Firestorm Defense, Mechanized Battle Units and many more. Built-in waypoint system and special drop ship missions let you decide which units to bring into battle. More tactics of sabotage and guerilla warfare - execute conert night missions, set forest fires and destroy bridges - with onigue opportunities in three different enuironments. i Internet play is easier than ever with a streamlined connection and an integrated interface - plus new support for worldwide rankings, ladder systems and Battle Clans~. tim Revolutionary new battlefield physics - Deformable terrain, energy weapon effects, dynamic colored lighting and flying shrapnel - intensifies the realism and excitement. THE STUNNINC SEQUEL TO THE SAW THE FUTURE ORIGINAL COMMAND & CONQUER BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • SIMULATIONS available on the aircraft. Hollis explains, "For 'study' sims, we need to have access to enough real data on the plane to create accurate flight models, complete avionics suites, and interesting realistic mission profiles. Related to this is ready access to the air- craft themselves and the pilots that fly or flew them. Books and pictures are great, but seeing and touching the real thing, and hang- ing out with the people who work with them provides a much higher sense of connection." The last thing that Jane's looks at, Hollis says, is what the other guys are creating. "What is the competitive circumstance? This one is the lowest priority, since we usually don't worry too much DESIGNING FOR MULTIPLAYER O nce you've flown a flight sim against other humans, it's hard to go back to even the best Al opponents. But right now, designers must consider that the vast majority of flight sim pilots are flying solo against the Al. Of the number of pilots who fly sims multiplayer, Andy Hollis says, "I'd peg that as less than 20 per- cent. Of course, they all have Internet access and like to voice their prefer- ences on the Usenet news- groups." Still, that small percent- age doesn't mean multi- player is not a concern for developers. Hollis explains, "Multiplayer hasn't been fully exploited in combat sims. The potential is huge, but there are engineering challenges to be overcome, especially for the more realistic and comprehensive sims. Jane's Combat.net has been reasonably successful, but we have much bigger plans for that." about what the competition is doing, but it's not usually a good idea to be building a product based on a concept that has already been beaten to death — can you say 'F-22'?" Hollis tends to focus on "study" sims, which simulate a single air- craft in great detail. Jane's other development group, headed by Paul Grace, focuses primarily on "survey" sims, which simulate a group of aircraft. "I think there is a bit of a difference when you are building a survey product," Grace explains. "We search for the popu- larity, the romance, the things that seem fun about flight. We also try to pick things of personal interest, hence naval and strategy simula- tions. or just some concepts that we might think would work as a simulation." Kit Planes Once the topic is chosen, it's time to dive in and do the research. How were these planes flown, and more importantly, how did these planes fly? Building accurate flight models for sims is an amazingly difficult task no matter what the topic. But when the planes that you're simulating were last used in battle more than 80 years ago, just pinning down their basic performance can be quite a challenge. Jerome Kluth of Dynamix's RED BARON 3D development team said the team had to consult a variety of sources to get a com- plete set of data on the World War I planes they were simulat- ing. "Our initial source was our staff historian, John Bruning, and all of the historical literature on the subject we could find, includ- ing pilot diaries and autobiogra- phies. as well as books on indi- vidual aircraft." The team didn't stop after the trips to the library, though. "To help put the sometimes colorful descriptions into a more objec- tive form, we used contemporary references, such as Jeff Ethell's pilot reports on various replicas, as well as information from pilots of flying replicas," Kluth OFF THE SHELF Sometimes developers can use off-the-shelf tools in creating sims; KPT Bryce is being used to model land areas in FIGHTER DUEL 2, while aircraft models are built in Lightwave 3D. said. "Information such as top speeds and climb rates was available for most of the planes, but things such as roll rate, turn rate, and structural limitations were mostly available only in a comparative form. Period films and still photographs of aerial combat gave us some measure of objective data, and using the comparisons as a guide, we start- ed by adjusting the most maneu- verable plane and proceeded from there." Matt Shaw says the FIGHTER DUEL 2 team had similar chal- lenges with someWWII planes. "Some aircraft are easy to get flight data on (for example, there are reams of data on the P-51}. Some are more difficult, and for some, the flight data doesn't exist in any form (the Japanese J7W1 Shinden, for example). To get data for the physical models and flight models in FIGHTER DUEL 2, we start by utilizing the vast library of technical data we've been accumulating for the last seven years. That gives us flight perfor- mance data as well as aircraft flight idiosyncrasies. Published reports on how well a particular aircraft performs have to be eval- uated, as they are often subjective and false recollections years after the fact. Furthermore, field modifi- cations to aircraft were quite common in WWII, sometimes dra- matically changing the flight char- acteristics of a particular aircraft model. The addition of metal ailerons to the Spitfire is a good example of this." Sometimes, Shaw says, you've just got to hit the road. "We've COMPUTt;H GAMING WORLD ♦ JANUARY 1999 SIMULATIONS • BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME made many trips to National Air and Space Museum Garber facility, which is local to us, as well as the Chino Planes of Fame Museum In California, and museums such as the Duxford Imperial War Museum in England." Once a flight model is defined, it's time to put it to the test. And who better to test the planes' per- formance than the pilots who've flown the real things? Bruce Williams, the lead project planner for Microsoft's COMBAT FLIGHT Simulator, explains some of the flight testing that went into that product. "We worked closely with pilots from the Confederate Air Force, WWII veterans, and other experts to test and fine-tune the flight models for the various air- craft," Williams says. "Using the same process that we developed for FLIGHT SIMULATOR, we took the software to the pilots, had them try it, and then refined the flight characteristics through an iterative process based on their feedback." With historical aircraft, it's still possible to find pilots who had lots of time at the controls of a plane, but much more difficult to find pilots who are actually cur- rent in those aircraft. "Lad Doctor of the Confederate Air Force was very helpful in this process. He is one of the few people alive who is relatively current in the Spitfire, BM09, P-47, and P-51. He was not a WWII pilot, but his being very current and analytical was a big benefit for us," says Mike Schroeter, flight model designer for COMBAT FLIGHT SiM, With modern planes, finding the information is a bit easier, but it's no less time-intensive. Jane's Andy Hollis says that much of the infor- mation for F-15 and Longbow came from visits to active bases and inten/iews with current pilots. Civilian sims are perhaps the easi- est to find a group of enthusiastic, knowledgeable testers for. Richard Harvey, the project leader for Terminal Reality’s FLY!, says that most of the data for air- craft performance in that sim comes from the aircraft manufac- turers and pilot training compa- nies. but that the developers look to actual pilots for much of the testing. "Of course, one of the best ways to check the data is by having your sim looked at by someone who has actually flown the plane itself. We've been care- ful to build our initial beta team from a core of real pilots, each with thousands of flight hours in everything from single-prop planes to military and commercial jets. frame large enough for the desired resolu- tion, fast and flexible storage, and enough RAM and pro- cessor to have a hyperdetailed elevation model and a city full of rendered buildings? "Today we have to carefully offer detail that can scale into future generations of hardware, but still be enjoyable for the installed base that exists,” Harvey says. "With hardware speeds accelerating at its current rate, you'll see steady Increases in detail level, many times with min- imal software modification." But even if you have the hard- ware to display this detail, the other problem is the sheer amount of storage needed to store photorealistic imagery of large areas. PRO Pilot's Adam Szofran thinks it will be some time before photorealistic imagery is possible. "We need faster machines, more storage, and bet- ter compression technology first, imagine that our goal was to cover the whole world in photo- realistic detail. There are about 150 million square kilometers of land on the surface of the earth. SURREALITY A view over the wing of a real airaaft compared to the same view from Sierra's Pro Pilot 99. P art of the immersion of a FLY's Richard Harvey says, "I flight sim is a convincing believe it’s simply a matter of environment to fly in. hardware catching up. Our 3D Witness JANE'S F-1 5, where top- engines, designed and written by notch flight modeling and sys- our president Mari< Randel, can terns simulation are matched with already handle internal color 3Db(-rendered mountains that depths of 40 bits or more. Our melt like a bad acid trip. Terrain scenery system can handle sub- graphics have gotten dramatically 1-meter data, and our models can better since the advent of 3D handle textures of any size. The cards, but they still don't come biggest problem is; Does the cus- close to the view out of a real tomer have a video card that can cockpit. So when will we get truly handle true color, with a sizeable photorealistic graphics? texture cache on-board, a z-buffer It will jome ime lefore [Adam Szofran. PRO PILOT] realistic terrain) happens ere's a table showing the numbers of pixels at various widths that would be required to cover the land areas of the earth, and how many CDs or DVDs you'd need lo store that data: To cover the land area of the earth with photorealistic textures whose pixels are one meter wide would require about 1 50 tera- pixels (that's 150,000 gigapixels or 1 50 trillion pixels!). If you reduced die resolution of the tex- tures to make them fit on a single 9GB DVD disc, your pixels would be about 128 meters wide, which wouldn't look very realistic." pixel width (meters) gigapixels 1 150.000 2 37.500 4 9.375 8 2.344 [Note: One gigapixel is one billion pixels.] COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Jr Jr /\ yv TEAM UR & "shake your boots commandos I need cover fire here heading upfield bail in hand Suiky realizes she’s target #1 commando Thorn sees his chance to be a hero "don't outrun me Sulky ire got a date with the endzone PsychoCat 'madiyiac Malcomb Tinexo Ferret killed by MadMac JimG killed by PsychoCat. Sulky recovers the ball for YOUR team! miil-tiple arenas lO man;y ways ijo play Capture the Flag the name says it: capture and hold as many flags as you can (or as long as you can minu.'te matciies ±‘as1; one way 'to wins ’tee BaseTag score points by destroying enemy base stations while defending your own & i’ience awoxk. hunt the other learn to rack up kills, then protect weakened teammates or you’ll be overrun ©1998 Mullilude, Inc. FireTeam and the FlreTeam and Multitude logos are trademarks of Multitude, Inc. Cl'' Qameware is a trademark of Andrea Electronics, Inc. All rights reserved. >\ /\ TALK IT UR ^ W V ® Vo. X XI drop an auto-turret to cover our flank” her last kill forced a fumble now PsychoCat's about to draw fire fresh from frying one Ferret MadMac takes heat for the team PibreTeam ■tbnie -team play u-p -to 12 play ears pear game online areal— -time -talli. vyi-tli yoiior -teamma-tes online ■t e am np "talli: i-t u.p oar lose Tjnie Team Flay Feal—Tlme Talli. yuviv , I'l jrete am . c om $59.95 [plus S&H] Includes FC65 Gameware™ headset and unlimited free play. Fo monthly fee. p$t9iF^^TiFe\m “pound it up the right side you ^ruys I 'm just about wasted” BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME • SIMULATIONS “ I truly believe that highly realistic SimS the most difficult of all games ^ to build. ” We are using these testers to veri- fy the performance, feel, and accu- racy of not only our flight models, but aircraft systems as well." Another consideration when developing flight models is that experienced flight-sim players may have different expectations than real pilots. Harvey says, "We'll be adding sim-heavy testers later in our cycle to give us feedback on Mike McGrath, of the RED BARON 3D development team, says, "The A1 is a fair part of the 'magic' of a simulation like RB3D. It completes the immersion of the simulation by adding other active parties into the single-player game — so along with the sensory stimulation, like the visuals and sounds, it lets your imagination run away a little with the idea of existing in the game's universe — making it a more compelling and interesting place to spend time. "For an Al pilot," McGrath con- tinues, "a great deal of effort must be put into making the Al 'believe- able,' in the immersive sense, In addition to being an effective combatant, it has to make mis- takes, and it has to be vulnerable. It doesn't have a joystick, or a throttle, but it must behave as though it does." Jeremy Stone talks about the elements of COMBAT FLIGHT SIM's Al that were designed to make it feel "human" and alive. "Al pilots actually operate their controls, and the aircraft is run through a full physics simulation based on the control positions the Al pilots choose. This is a hard problem and very few products do it. The bene- fit is very realistic aircraft behav- ior, You'll also see humanlike behavior, such as minor course corrections to stay on course and drifting in formation. "Al pilots have a realistic sight- ing model," Stone adds. "There's a definite advantage to trying to sneak up on an opponent, particu- larly in the heat of combat. Factors such as target fixation are also modeled— you'll have an easier time shooting someone down if INSTANT CANYON For PRO PILOT, the Sierra team created an elevation mesh of the entire United States. The number of polygons in just this small area gives you an idea how much data is required. he is hot on the tail of his own target and distracted. The Al pilots also have a sophisticated target selection model, which leads to effects such as great-looking fur- balls and bomber attack or escort missions." Mission Critical There are dozens of other fac- tors that go into creating a flight simulation: building a graphics engine, mission creations, inter- face design, and so on. Missions are a critical aspect: Should they be scripted, branching, or part of a computer-generated dynamic cam- paign? The COMBAT FLIGHT SiM team chose scripted missions because they wanted to re-create historical missions, while the RED BARON 3D team wanted to re- create an unpredictable, dynamic war. Look for details on mission design in my column in next month's C6W. One thing that became evident during the course of researching this article is that it would be hard to cover the development of a flight sim in great detail in 200 pages, much less the limited space of this feature. So look forward to coverage of other parts of the development process in upcoming issues of COW. Denny Atkin has been writing about computer games for 12 years, and yet he's significantly younger than Johnny Wilson. He's currently fighting the Battle of Britian In COMBAT FLIGHT SIMULATOR. the 'feel' from a sim enthusiasts standpoint, but we want to ensure the simulation is sound and solid before then." Pilot Training Once the planes are in place, you need someone to fly them. Unless you're getting in IFR prac- tice for a real pilot's license, flying around alone isn't going to be much fun. So it's up to the flight sim developers to create convinc- ing Al pilots to take the controls of enemy and allied aircraft. 3D REBUILD The long development curve of RED BARON II saw 3D cards rise in prominence before the sim's release. Adding 3D support isn't as easy as some would think— Dynamix spent nearly a year updating the sim to RED BARON 3D. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 «os o£ "°, ^l>is "SriBVwitl. a un ^ encloaed^^^ ^ a of L vo'^ ^^<3^ ve *a^ "" ofe- £ ^douqW V^3„s op, ittle basg nythina ® Pougdt - Xno« -“tepoav-®. X-e ®"t; acUod. .„„ 30. -, .1 mr f qame , of „^,TTVa' 3D0 WWW . armyraen . com blend impressive i^To^i^|tid origii^l gameplay. * . ' j; NextGeneriation www.drakan-game.com ' -y.- ORAKAH Ofdei ol ihB Flame, Psygnosis and itie Psygnosis logo are TM or ® and ©1990-8 Psygnosls lii). AIL fllGHTS RESEFWtD. The filings icon is a trademark of the Interaclive Digital Solhvate Association. Windo\';s’ is either a legislered trademark or trademark ol MIcrosolt Corporation in the United Stales andior other countries. "The flight model In DRAKAN ” on par with. If not better than any flight simulator we've seen PC Accelerator Order of Flame? A fantasy world replete with ever-present danger and the dark remnants of an ancient war. Bonded by an age-old alliance are Rynn, a quick-witted skiiiful warrior and Arokh, her powerful draconian steed. Together they i must embark on a treacherous | journey to defeat a dark piot to destroy the world of Drakan. Experience the thriil of flying through vast, breathtaking 3D worlds. Plaster 50 different hand-to-hand combat weapons employ up to seven different spells and rule the skies with five different dragon attacks. Multiplayer support for up to eight players lets you reign supreme over internet or LAN. 1 BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME • SPORTS Developing a Sports Game Takes Brains, Passion — and a Healthy Dose of Masochism [by Jeff Green] "The simple truth is that obsessions just aren't funny, and that obsessives don't laugh." —Author Nick Hornby, from the book Fever Pitch, explaining why, as a boy, he had no sense ot humor about his soccer fanaticism. W hat makes some- one a great sports game developer? A knowledge and love of sports, of course, A savvy brain for computer game design. And, maybe most important of all, a serious case of masochism. Why? Because of all the computer game genres, with the possible exception of simulations, sports puts you in the unenviable position of trying to please the world's toughest cus- tomer: the know-it-all sports fan. You think we're kidding? Spend a morning listening to sports talk radio. Call up and proclaim, "Brett Favre is an overrated sissy in a weak division." See what kind of response you get. Sports, like poli- tics and religion, engenders a gut- level, intractable set of emotions, opinions, biases, and theories in those who care — and woe be to the person who messes with some- one else's sports reality. So imagine being a game developer. It's your job to create an illusion of sports reality — say, a football game — for hundreds of thousands of football fans (and gaming journalists), all of whom think they understand the game better than you do. You want your game to be as realistic as possible, but you also want it to be fun. You want it to be the most compre- hensive, definitive game ever on the sport — but your company has given you less than a year in which to make it. No wonder that the great major- ity of sports games get mediocre- to-bad reviews. No wonder that, if you judge by Usenet posts, there's never been a truly great sports game ever, No wonder that compa- ny after company thinks it's getting into the sports gaming business, only to give up some time before or after its first product is released. Even Microsoft, with all its resources, is having trouble getting sports games developed right now. How do sports developers cope with it all? We caught up with some of the biggest names in sports gaming, including the folks behind MADDEN, NASCAR RACING, and JACK NICKLAUS, to share with us the joys and headaches of their jobs, and spill some of the secrets of game design. A Never-Ending Design Process_ "It's deja vu all over again." — Yogi Berra Designing any computer game is hard work, but sports developers have a unique set of problems. For the most part, sports games aren't one-time products, but yearly ones that are constantly in development, and constantly being shoved out the door to correspond with real- life sporting seasons. Unlike a game like PREY, for example, the makers of football, baseball, bas- ketball, and hockey games have just one year to design, produce, and hone their product. They can't just finish it "when it's done." For Ric Neil, producer of EA Sports' MADDEN 99, the process is thus simultaneously fast and never-ending. "We never stop working on the game," says Neil. "In reality, as soon as we finish the current game we start working on next year's version. Because we have to get the product done every year, we do not have the luxury of starting from scratch." Think of the process, then, as less like a straight line and more like a circle — perhaps even a race track — with the game constantly spinning around, trying to stay ahead of its competitors, checking in regularly into the pit for updates, technological improvements, bug fixes, and, in some cases, wholesale rewrites. Mike Branham, director of Sierra Sports NFL FOOTBALL PRO 99, describes the process this way: "We start each version with the previous product’s design spec as an alpha spec. Then input for changes and new features get kicked around and tossed in. Then we do a time analysis on the new spec with the changes and new features. Some get killed, but for the rest, we staff the project and get to work." Working on an existing product can be seen as both an advantage (especially if the game is already a good one) and a disadvantage. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Creating J9DU9UB<IX9 at/} BAIJ awesoj APHICS DVD WWW. SO UNDBLASTER.CDM pn in audio. Sound blast dound Blaster® Live!™ changes everything you know about audio. We will surround you with an Environmental Audio"" sound experience so amazingly real, it has to be Live! Create new experiences with a wealth of breakthrough technology that surpasses most Environmental Audio'" by CREATIVE* So Real It Has To Be Live! a'h*'”""'*"™' Hollywood-quality audio equipment. Modify any sound source in real-time using amazing audio special effects like flanger, pitch shifter, echo, and distortion. Record and playback crystal-clear audio using the included digital inputs and outputs. Hear audio with more clarity and vibrance than you’ve ever heard before with hardware accelerated audio streams and multiple speaker support. Experience the ultimate in gaming with Environmental Audio"" support in the coolest new games. Not only will Sound Blaster® Live!"" make your existing games and legacy audio sound so clear, it will be like hearing them for the first time. It’s the audio thrill of a lifetime. To maximize your true surround-sound experience, add the Cambridge SoundWorks® PCWorks™ FourPointSurround"' speaker system. It uses four discrete amplified speakers and a separate powered subwoofer to produce effective surround audio — regardless of room acoustics, player head position, or speaker placement. Now you can experience truly immersive 3D audio. ic ' A" M ’ B~R' I D G ’ E3 SoundworkS PCWorks FoiirPoiiitSiirroiiiiil www.soundblaster.com/experience/ “With the ahility'to 'g. I'eat-time^ ejfects. . ( f 't' ( ( ^ hevy^of^igital ^ I connectors^ and ( (' buddihg support f6r MAX'\ ? ^ tlielitye! iJa,-^ifJnek.”^ .. .vinnek.. ^ , ^ <(!((<(((. ( — M^itjnurjn P|C, pc^obpr 199^ { ( Ma)^imum(PCVe{-dict Ip I f ( f ( ( ( (' '(((((((( ^ “^oiind^qualily t)iai*s lieaky ' ( tmpo^ssi^kfo C at thisKpricel. . ( ( i, E D I T 0 fl S' L ^ Pbssiblpth^bkst'^ ' ( 'buy iti 1 Sound Blaster"’ Live!'“ features: > Hollywood-quality re-creation with an astounding -l20dB noise floor > E-mu’s most powerful audio processor with lOOO+MIPS and 8-point interpolation > Digital I/O card for easy connection to music keyboards and digital audio recorders > Environmental Audio"* — enhances all audio content from the past, present, and future > Livelware program provides updates over life of product > Hundreds of cool new and upcoming tides with EAX " support Cambridge SoundWorks" PCWorks ” FourPointSurround'" features: > Four compact satellite speakers and a powered subwoofer > Rear surround speakers can be placed anywhere with the included tripod stands and wall mounting accessories > In-line master volume control for all four satellite speakers and subwoofer > Delivers discrete 4-channel surround audio with Microsoft® DirectSound®3D and Creative’s Environmental Audio extensions"* games \ C "“C'vi. — PC (Gamef, Qctqber l?98,^ ( ; PCWorks™ (FourPdintSurround"* ( ( c ( ( c ( c ( ( the Live! experience, /dDUduaqxd aifi dA/'j CnZATIVE-Hi You^ll be glued to ge o f t he u n i v er se. .^^uckle up and brace yourself for the visual ride of your life! 3D Blaster® Banshee explodes with rocket-fast 2D performance, startling 3D frame rates, and break-neck video acceleration with an absolutely out-of-this-world price. Its screaming speed comes from the 128-bit ^ 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee” processor, which offers ^ ^ Voodoo2'“-like performance. A full 16MB of ^ lOOMHz synchronous memory and a 250MHz RAMDAC gives you ultra-high resolution and '.rA-.. milHons of colors. With DirectX® Glide® and 3Dfx OpenGL® drivers, tuned for compatibility with the widest range of applications and games, this affordable, easy-to-install graphics accelerator is a must for every PC. It’s a gamer’s dream come true, that doesn’t break the bank! Graphics Blaster® RIVATNT delivers blood-curdling performance. It’s packed with workstation power whether you’re a hard-core gamer or a hot-shot 3D designer. An ultra-wide, 128-bit memory architecture and 1 6MB of high-performance ' l25MHz synchronous memory supported by aTwiN-Texel, 32-bit color 2D/3D engine that ■ij R i'MaXBIT has all the toys: bump mapping, multiple texturing, and even full-screen anti-aliasing. BCfl ^ When you need to work with incredible precision and play games with liquid- smooth speed. Graphics Blaster® RIVATNT is what you’ve been waiting for. 3D Blaster ’ Banshee features: > Complete 2D/3D graphics solution based on the new Voodoo Banshee” chipset from 3Dfx Interactive’’ > Features a full 128-bit graphics engine and Voodoo2’“ 3D rendering technology > 16MB of SDRAM and 250MHz DAC deliver awe-inspiring resolutions, rock-solid refresh rates, and stunning visual quality > Boosts your PC’s performance and provides compatibility with the widest range of applications and games in a single, cost effective upgrade Graphics Blaster RIVATNT features: > World-class 2D/3D, and video acceleration using the RIVATNT processor from nVIDIA® > Ultra-wide, high speed 128-bit memory architecture and TwiN-Texel 3D pipeline deliver mind-numbing speed in virtually any application > 16MB l25MHz synchronous memory and a powerful 250MHz DAC provide incredibly high resolutions and refresh rates for brilliant, vivid images > Perfect platform for the power-user, gamer or graphic designer www.soundblaster.com/eKperience/ f f ( f / < / f I / f (■ f ( f f f (( t , I t ' f , ^ <((((( f i < ((<(<(( f f ( f i (((((<((<.((( (((((< f (((( ( ((((((( C (( C ( ((((((((({ (J (<<((((((( ^ (“Ajie^ m^rcile^slyfputtitig dur( I tp prices, Ye ^ EllIUS' , ( ihappily and'hettrtilyi ‘ i^ecdmtheiid it” ( t ^ ‘ , GamL-.^av l 5 i 98 VUL ( ( (3p B^astpryoo^oo2 ((( (((((.(. ( X ( ( ( ( c ( ( ( c c tX ; (( c ((((((,>, c ( ( c ( ( c ( ( c t c ^ :((((( f c c c ( ' ( ( ( ( C ( c C ( ' :((((( C/ ' ' C ( ( ( ( c : ( ( (. A c 7 . / ■■ ' ' ^ N,. 'v ^ Our ^rop'fncs^//ne-up''u£/7/zes’tbe^/joftest ''chipset available! ‘ V. 's V, \. V V V,. the Live! experience, p^uauaqxB Bip baij if' 1 ^. ' j r . r ( r I r r r r t ( C r ( I !((( f f ((( ( '!(((((((( (j <((((((((( jTjQ < t ((<((( ( fYl (!((<(((( f TT] (((((.((( (,CXX. t “Exceptioftal qifality.(. < ' picture inutility isifah, * ' ^ on h^tii^tliePc^a^ili ' ( television nmmtnrs. / | (■—( aNET.Febl-uary 1.998 ( ^ ^ S-Star 'Ga/ne'^oFth)/- R^vieW ^ ^ Encpt^e lSxr^"2^Y*S^g ( ( ( c c\ ( V'c tTTj ' ( ( ( ( f ( ( ( C (,0 ^ ( c c c c ( c XX ( ( c ( ( c c c coOu : ( C ( ( C^ omn ^ FC-DVD Encbre 5x rV U'q/ Vo. Vaich biovVes 6t hbme.- ^ ^ v. ^ ^ < V V <, V, ’^..v.V A, . heart-pounding cinematic experience is no ionger restricted to the big screen! Buiiding on the award-winning success of Creative’s PC-DVD'“ products, PC-DVD'“ Encore 5X brings the digitai difference right to your home — complete with Dxr'“2 enhanced resoiution capabiiities and Dolby® Digital audio for stunning picture and sound that will absolutely knock you off your feet! Then again, movie playback is just the beginning. PC-DVD'“ also runs all your cool CD’s. And it can access up to 17 gigabytes of information on a DVD-ROM. That’s 25 times more than a CD-ROM! Wifh • Dxr S To ensure the ultimate live experience, simply add Cambridge SoundWorks® DeskTop Theater" 5. 1 speaker system. (c^aTT b-r ■ p g-T ) Now you can experience truly explosive SOUND^J^RK.^ movie theater Dolby® Digital surround sound with five independent speakers and a subwoofer without the high cost of a Dolby® Digital receiver. And like any great film, words hardly do justice to the PC-DVD”" Encore 5X and the DeskTop Theater™ 5.1 speaker system. DeskTop Theater' 5.i PC-DVD" Encore 5x features: > DVD player for your TV - The Dxr*"! board comes with high-quality S-video and composite outputs to connect to your TV > DVD player for your PC - a high-definitlon, resolution-enhanced DVD player on your PC monitor in a fully resizable window > 3rd Generation DVD-ROM drive screaming at 5x DVD speed > Dxr 2, DynamicXtended Resolution™ Technology, movie picture enhancer is comparable or better than some expensive line-doublers Cambridge SoundWorks® DeskTop Theater™ 5.1 features: > Delivers movie theater sound with Dolby® Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround® audio with PC-DVD™ or consumer DVD players > Dolby® Digital decoder amplifier with five discrete compact satellite speakers and subwoofer. No separate receiver required > Creative Multi Speaker Surround™ upmixes stereo to 5.1-channel surround audio > With Sound Blaster® Live!™, it delivers discrete 4-channel surround audio with Microsoft® DirectSound™3D and supported Environmental Audio extensions’” games www.soundblaster.com/experience/ the Live! experience, jSDuauocixa aifj. dA/7 N— » \_/ Live the experience! 'BDUBU9QXB fBAIJ Blfl changing the way you think about your gear. We call it the Live! experience. It’s a totally different way to interact with your PC. It’s a totally different way to stimulate your senses. You’ll be able to transform your ordinary PC into an extraordinary play center at an incredibly affordable price! Head on down to your local dealer and bring your PC to life TODAY! FiFATCR' iJffin.sBCe best suited good choice after $50 maiMn rebate p; BLASTER wmif m > Sound Blaster® Live!'“ > Sound Blaster® Live!” Value > Sound Blaster® PCIIIS $199” $99" $69” ♦ • ♦ • ♦ • > 3D Blaster®’ Banshee (AGP & PCI) $99” * ♦ • > Graphic Blaster^’ RivaTNT (AGP & PCI) $169” • • > 3D Blaster® Voodoo! 12MB Call Now! ♦ > PC-DVD'“ Encore 5x $249” • ♦ > PC-DVD'“ Encore Dxr”! $199”* • • > DeskTop Theater'“ 5.1 $299” • > PCWbrks’"FourPomtSurround ’' $99” ♦ > SoundWorks® ♦ > PCWorks™ ^4999 • ©1998 Cfealivc TeciiiioloQy Lli). All oilier brands ni pioducl names listed am imdomarks nr regisleiod trademarks and are piopedv o their respective tiotdefS. Unreal’ 1998 Epic Megagamns. Inc. All riglits toseivoil. Created liy Epic Megagnmes. Inc. in collabotatioi wilh Oigiial Extremes. Published and ilisiribuled by BT Interactive Software Coip. II VDo'm nel on the nol, call 1.800.938 100D lo more informnlion. All prices listed are estimated street prices anti ore siibjoct lo change willioiil notice. WWW. SOUNDBLASTER. DQM I Work <£ Learn SPORTS • BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME UNDER THE HOOD No, it's not a shot of FIFA 82. Just a "test-bed" shot from the designers of FIFA 99. Before that game you're playing gets all gussied up, it looks something like this underneath. GETTING THERE Another test-bed shot from FIFA 99, this one actually showing some rendered players and a ball. AH.THArs MORE LIKE IT A work-in- progress shot from FIFA 99, showing players' heads tilting up to watch a ball in flight because, given the time constraints, you're largely stuck with what you have. The good thing, of course, is that it gives you a base from which to start, and it allows you to keep refining your vision. Mike Franco, the executive pro- ducer of JACK NICKLAUS: GOLDEN BEAR CHALLENGE (formerly pub- lished by Accolade, now by Activision), puts it like this: "Whenever you finish a game, there is always an 'l-wish-we-had- time-to-put-X-in' lament. With a franchise like JACK NICKLAUS GOLF, those items are always the first to go into the design for the next product. Since we have a version out there that computer golfers are playing, we listen to what they like and what they wish they had." Most designers seemed to agree, however, that no matter how tight the schedule, it's crucial to always keep a fresh perspective. "It is important to start with a blank page," said MarcAubanel, producer of BA Sports' FIFA 99, "because you carry the baggage of a year’s worth of development. We start [each year) by taking a fresh look at the gaming market in gen- eral to look for trends and design improvements in other genres.” Franco agreed. "I actually think the attitude toward a sequel is between refining and starting from scratch. We can't ignore existing users, so we don't start from scratch. However, simply refining last year's product will never do in a highly competitive environment like computer golf." But no matter how lofty your goals, there Is the grim reality of the ticking clock, and the fact that missing a few weeks off the schedule probably means that your game will never ship. This is why the game the consumer ends up with usually isn't quite as ambitious, and doesn't have quite as many features, as the product first described in those glowing sneak previews written six months before the game's completion. "There are a lot of people in the process," said Sierra's Branham. "Development, art, marketing, PR, and management. Various items in the 'wish list' are more or less important to different groups, and a lot of culling and adding happen when these groups get together. In the end, the time and schedule analysis will lock the feature set." Ric Neil at EA perhaps put it best: "The programmers and artists get frustrated with us because we always want more in the game than they can do in a single year. The wish list is a constantly chang- ing document and it grows as every version ships." The Big Dilemma: Realism Versus Gameplay "My initial response was to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized that I had no character." — Charles Barkley A 350-pound lineman running like the wind for 80 yards. Greg Ostertag doing a 360-degree ^we learned the hard way that a ,gan:?e must, be and developed with multiplayer - .. in mind " "[Vance Cook. PGA CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF] BODY IN MOTION Rendering human motion accurately and believably is one of the toughest jobs of the sports game designer. Here's a shot from Sierra Sports' PGA CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF, as the team works on the motion of a female golfer. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 Introducing your new flight simulator. www.sieppaspopts.cain O IBSa Mmiar CinnM, he. PuHstwl liy SKrra Da •Urn, he.® mh) ** AotiimU tredemspkt ol ep BcHiewl lo Storra On ■ Una, he., Bilavua, IW 88007. U rtgftU ranrvnL Onlge It a reghtarad induBvk ol Chpythr Corporatloii. UM, and h nad andar Iheata. Oil GWVSUII CORPOMTHN. Go toii^02 @ www.computergaming.com/jnfolink -.r^ssr -'^n^: . fZ “• i ;‘ . BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME • SPORTS GLUG GLUG Converting TROPHY BASS to a 3D engine has proved to be a tough task for Sierra Sports' fishing group. reverse jam through 4 defenders. Orel Hershiser launching a grand slam off Greg Maddux. Anyone who's ever played any sports game has experienced a moment, if not a million moments, of total disbelief. As you read this, there's a sports gamer out there right now pound- ing on his keyboard, screaming, "Yeah, right!" The most crucial design decision in any sports game is just how realistic to make the game. The big rub — the one that often trips up developers — is that the more real- istic you say your game is and the more real-life rules you say you're going to incorporate, the harder the fans are gonna treat your game if it doesn't fee/ realistic {remember Accolade's disastrous LEGENDS FOOTBALL?). If you opt for greater fantasy, as did NFL BLITZ or an arcade racer like NEED FOR SPEED, gamers will cut you much more slack, but you risk turning off the more "serious" fans of the sport. Somewhere between a hard- core simulation and a pure arcade game is where most sports devel- opers try to place their products these days. But finding that bal- ance is a very tricky business. "This is the hardest part of the job," said FIFA's Aubanel. "We are constantly weighing gameplay con- siderations against realism. We have always biased FIFA playability over realism. In fact, if you look at most sports games, the scores are unrealistically high and the physics models are all accelerated." Most sports game producers tend to agree with Aubanel that there can actually be such a thing as "too much realism." As Steve Letsom, director of Sierra Sports' fishing games put it, "Imagine yourself sitting at the computer for hours on end, not being able to catch a fish. That is like the real world, and it sucksi 1 try to make the user have fun, but be chal- lenging at the same time. It's defi- nitely a hard line to straddle." Straddling that line is where most designers expend the bulk of their conceptual energy — trying to figure out where to implement a sport's rules to the letter, and where to cut corners in order to improve gameplay. "Too much realism can cause some problems," said MADDEN's Neil. "For example, in the NFL, there are usually about one-and-a- half to three minutes in between plays as the players get back to the huddle, and back to action; it would be kinda boring if we put that in the game. We try to keep the fun factor as high as possible without losing too much realism. That is one of the things that makes MADDEN, MADDEN." Vance Cook, the designer of Sierra Sports' PGA CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF 1999 EDITION, concurs: "I think there is such a point as 'too much realism,' but it is a long ways down the line. Customers tend to look for a product that mimics real- ity. I think you take it too far when you simulate all the bad, but realis- tic, elements of a game. In golf, it would be a mistake to make you go find your ball." Again, however, the problem is that what one sports fan thinks is important may not be what anoth- er fan thinks — and this is what leads to the smashed keyboards, bad reviews, and harsh Usenet posts. It's especially true of the more hard-core sports games. As Dave Matson, dirertor of Papyrus' NASCAR RACING 1999 EDITION puts it: "For our fan base, realism is gameplay to a very large extent. Any time the gameplay on the SIMON SAYS PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN You might not actually stand this way while playing golf, but game designers need to study every aspect of their characters' physical structure and movement, as this shot from Activision's JACK NiCKLAUS: GOLDEN BEAR CHALLENGE shows. COMPUTER GAMING WOlUD » JANUARY 1999 DREAM PRODUCTS We asked each designer we interviewed to describe to us the "dream" version of their product. Here are some of the responses. NASCAR RACING "Localized track condi- tions and grip levels down do the centimeter (or finer) that are constantly changing due to rubber buildup and weather changes, and a full field of 43 cars running a dynamic Al based on the same complex physics model as the player." [Dave Matson, Product Director] MADDEN NFL "How about polygonal collision modeling (elimi- nate motion capture) so every tackle and hit is dif- ferent, or maybe a 3D- glasses version, so when you look left and right you see what a player would see. Or maybe an impact suit, so when you get hit hard, you feel it! [Ric Neil, Producer] FIFA "In a perfect world our gameplay logic would have 22 individual players 'think- ing' strategically, and we would have generated motion. This way we could control all aspects of the movement of a player in a seamless animated envi- ronment." (Marc Aubanel, Producer] TROPHY BASS "Ideally, TROPHY BASS would have the lake exactly so that when you went to the real lake, you'd recog- nize it. We'd also like it to have force-feedback fishing poles for every player." (Steve Letsom, Producer] r-J- Go high with jumps and stunts at 60 plus 3D-aecelerated frames per second, and land hard with force feed- back-enhanced collisions and combatl Race fully loaded for combat with over 10 futuristic weapons and shields. '...tlT^pst visually impi arcade combat racing j www.melbournehDuse.cQm/dethkarz Exclusively Distributed by GT Interactive mmlional. Melbourne House is a regisleted Iraderharii DeWkaa & 1998 Beam Inlemallonal. Delbkarz is a Iradenurk ol Beam ^ o! Beam Inlemalional. All rights reserved. Windows Is a leglslBred trateniark ol MIcrosoll Corporallon. Published by Melbourne House and Dlslrlbuled by GT Inleraellve wllhin Ihe United Stales, Go to #181 @ vvww.compwrgaming.com/infolink , THE PERFECT GAME because the technology issues are still very fragile and very new to the fishing group. When we tweak the engines, sometimes we break things, and then we have to find out what happened. It's a much slower process." Licensing can be another thing that bogs down the process. Gamers are increasingly dissatis- fied with a sports game that does not include real player names, real team logos, real schedules, and so on. This licensing costs a lot of money, and it also means that you have to play by the licensee's rules. Sports developers thus don't just have their bosses and the fans breathing down their necks; they have a large governing body, like the NFL or Major League Baseball, hovering over their work and making sure that they're getting everything right. "The NFL approves every version of the game as we finish them," said Ric Neil. "They could deny us approval if they want to." Licensees vary in their degree of involvement according to Mike Branham at Sierra. “Some want to be there from start to finish, with approval and veto all along the way. Others care only that the licensed logo information is cor- rectly displayed. The rest are some- where in between." Multiplayer considerations, once an afterthought are now part of the process from Day 1 with every BUILDIN^ CUT NO CORNERS Sports game designers are constantly trying to find the right balance between realism and gameplay.The folks at Papyrus Design Group lean heavily on the side of realism in games like GRAND PRiX LEGENDS, shown here. screen seems different than what they see on TV, users complain." The answer, then, is to match the game's scope to the targeted demographic. Go ahead and let the ca5 bounce off the walls in NEED FOR SPEED, but cut corners on NASCAR and prepare for an avalanche of flames. Matson again: "By and large, the difficulty and depth of the game is what gives it tremendous legs. You’d be amazed at how many NASCAR sim fanatics will only race at full 1 00 percent distances, which can be over four hours long, without a break. But, hey, that's what the real guys do every week." And for many sports gamers, being the "real guy" is the only acceptable way to play — regard- less of the sport. Perfecting the Product "Par is whatever I say it is. I've got one hole that's a par 23 and yesterday I damn near birdied the sucker." — Willie Nelson Once the developers have their fea- ture set down and have decided on the proper focus, they have to make the game, again with a host of constraints conspiring against them, especially the deadline. This is where good, existing products have the advantage. Marc Aubanel says the process of pro- ducing FIFA is much more stream- lined now, with a few seasons under the design team's belt. "We have approached the development of the game with a more sophisti- cated philosophy. We are getting much better at reusing code that should be reused. We leverage off a lot of common code that works on all three platforms [PC, N64, and PlayStation]. This allows the more than 70 people on FIFA to focus and really become specialists in their areas of responsibility." When a product makes a big technological leap — like the big switch from 2D to 3D that most sports games have gone through the past couple years — the pro- cess can bog down, as Sierra Sports' fishing group is discover- ing this year. "TROPHY BASS 3D and TROPHY MARLIN are longer projects," said Steve Letsom, "because they are 3D and ANATOMY OF A QUARTERBACK Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre goes through quKe a transformation as the artists on Sierra's FOOTBALL PRO 99 piece him together. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Valuable Coupons-For You And A Friend! It's easier than you thought to get yourself and a friend into Internet play with LinKS LS 19991 Rebate From ^ACCESS Just send in this coupon with your original receipt for Links LS '99 along with your name, full address and phone number. Send to: Access Software Inc. 4750 Wiley Post Way, Bldg. 1 Suite 200 Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 One coupon per customer. Offer not valid with any other promotion. Good only on FULL version of Links LS 1999 Edition. Allow 6’6 weeks for delivery. Expires Jan. 31. 1999 Rebate From ACCESS Just send in this coupon with your original receipt for Links LS '99 along with your name, full address and phone number. Send to: Access Software Inc. 4750 Wiley Post Way, Bldg. 1 Suite 200 Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 promotion. Good only on FULL version of Links LS 1 9! Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Expires Jan. 31 , 1 999 1999 «B«I_ _ ways to swing it! Four real world-class golf courses have been stunningly and accurately recreated for desktop play! Along with Pennsylvania's Latrobe Country Club (now in beautiful fall foliage), Links LS ‘99 features the birthplace of golf itself— St Andrews Links Old Course of Bonny, Scotland! Also Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, FL, and the gorgeous red cliffs of Entrada at Snow Canyon in Southern Utah. Internet play is now more exciting than ever with new "Internet Spectators" and Real- Time Voice Chat. Friends (or opponents) can watch you in action from across the internet and contribute real-time advice or criticism. IVvo New Swing Options — PowerStroke mouse swing and 3-Click mouse swing options energize game play with new challenges in addition to our original 2-click mouse swing. New Courses! (Clockwise from top) Entrada at Snow Canyon, St Andrews Links Old Course Latrobe Country Club, and Arnold Bay Hill Club and Lodge. 25 New features! New Tournament Environment immerses you in a tournament atmosphere with galleries of thousands to cheer your every every shot! Realistic details include crowds of people with noises, press cameramen, media vehicles, officials, ropes, grandstands, leaderboards, and camera towers! “Links LS....the greatest PC golf experience possible. Why pick this one? For the avid golfer in the family, Links L5 will be an instant and unkickable addiction. " — PC Games New Links LS 1999 has Here are a few: • St Andrews Links Old Course, Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Latrobe C.C. and Entrada at Snow Canyon • Now with 3 swing options • NEW Tournament Mode— play in front of live galleries • NEW 3D objects for more realistic play » NEW real-time voice chat over the Internet » NEW mode of play (MOP) game designer • NEW specialty shots • NEW caddy book A new iUlode Of Play (iUlOP) Game Designer! Gives you the abiiity Links LS 1999 is compatible with over 25 expansion courses (sold separately) from Access Software to create your own games and swap them with your friends! Unlimited possibilities as you make up your own games! We've even included over 30 new MOPs to get you started in taking your game enjoyment to a higher level! Is It Real Or Is It Links LS '99? Compare the difference between the screen capture and the actual photo taken at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge. www.AccessSoftware.com Go to #079 @ www.computergaming.com/infollnk BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • SPORTS YOUR WIRES ARE SHOWING If you don't get all the details right, the sports fanatic will know. Even the stadiums tiiemselves must be accurately rendered. Here's a work-in-progress shot from Sierra's FOOTBALL PRO 99. person we talked with — because they have to be. Those who decide to add it later usually pay a price. "In products I've been involved with in the past multiplayer has sometimes been added in after the product is pretty much done," said Mike Branham. "We all learn from our mistakes. The multiplayer option is now something that is designed in from the very start." Vance Cook agrees. "We learned the hard way that a game must be designed and developed with multiplayer in mind," Cook said. "FPS: GOLF added multiplayer capabilities much later in the development process. It was more work and less stable than PGA CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF." The end result of working with multiplayer issues from the beginning, accord- ing to Cook, is that "the develop- ment is easier, the product is bet- ter, and it is more stable." Still, it's hard not to get the feel- ing that, given everything else they have to deal with, some developers wish that multiplayer would just go away, "Multiplayer games over the Internet are dicey at best," said Steve Letsom. "This has been the largest problem for me over the last few years. You have to design a very fault-tolerant game, and be able to recover from all sorts of “For our fan base. realism is gameplay to a very large extent, m [Dave Matson. NASCAR RACING 1999 EDITION] issues. Each game has been improved, but we've got a long way to go." Getting It Out the Door "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm. ' — Vince Lombardi You read all the previews. You waited and waited. You plunked down your money. You took the game home — and within five min- utes you found two horrendous bugs. What's up with this? Did they even look at the game before they shipped it? The answer, of course, is yes — but as with everything else in sports game development, the pro- cess is fast and frenetic, and not 1 00 percent guaranteed. Different companies start testing their games at different times, but every- one we talked to agreed that QA (quality assurance) was critical to their game's ultimate success. On FIFA,Aubanel said "we have a test group of more than 30 testers. We test it from Day 1 when we start the design process. QA takes a critical role throughout development. We take beta testers' comments very seriously." TROPHY BASS had "around 100 beta testers," according to Steve Letsom, to make sure the game works properly, but "the real rea- son I like it is to verify it runs on many different configurations." It all sounds great, but the harsh reality is, it's an imperfect process. "As we get close to final," said Ric Neil, "a fix might break some- thing that has been fine for a long time, and since we are short on time it is hard to test every facet of the game." Marc Aubanel, the producer of FIFA, has a more brutally fatalistic response; "The demands put on the development community to make games that do things on the platform that were never thought possible cause a lot of engineering difficulties. Since this is not the control mechanism of a plane, no COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 lives are at stake — so we are allowed a certain amount of free- dom. On FIFA, we never feel that we have shipped with bugs that were serious and would impede anyone's enjoyment of the game." Nevertheless, designers hate, just as you do, when their games ship with bugs, and everyone con- cerned agreed that serious bugs must be addressed with a patch on the Internet now. Any bugs deemed less important can always be fixed in next year's version — a process that, as you know, begins as soon as the previous version goes out the door. End Game "It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I jusf beat people up." — Muhammad Ali Endurance, strength, conviction, and a will to succeed against impossible odds. These are the qualities found in tfte best adiletes, and they're also the ones that dis- tinguish the best sports game designers. Every force is conspired against them; their employers, their budgets, their deadlines, their fans' high expectations. This is not to say that you should feel guilty. This is not to say that you have no right to complain if that football game you just bought is an unplayable piece of crud. Go ahead and complain. Go ahead and complain even if the game is great. That's what being a sports fan is all about. We all have our opinions, and we all think we're right. Those spending their professional lives showing us their versions of the sports we love, well — they might just be the biggest loudest craziest fans of them all. Jeff Green, pathetically, is a Golden State Warriors fan. When he's not crying about that he can be found playing NEED FOR SPEED III, MIGHT AND MAGIC VI, and AGE OF EMPIRES. Gentelmen, Start Your PCs Introducing the NASCAR SPRINT. The best value in its class - from the world leader in computer racing wheels. (under $70 ) OFFICIALLY LICENSED THftVSTmaSTEIl MOTOKiFOKTi See our entire line of NASCAR* racing wheels at www.thrustmaster.com (503) 61 5-3200 ThruslMaster and SPRINT by Thruslmaster are regislered Irademarks oCniruslMastef, Inc. NASCAR* and Ifia NASCAR ntaA aie registered Irademarks o( the National AssociaUon tor Slock Car Auto Radng. Go to #102 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink Free Ijiteroel Game Service 8 Gustomizable Cars with Auttieniic Damage Features 21 Real-io-lile American Track Configurations Shocking m Interactive Jm Animationsflr EVEHY ONE : J -A r M iJ tJL BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • STRATEGY/WAR The Best of Both Worlds When a strategy game comes out, the first question asked is innovation {MYTH and TOTAL annihilation's use of 3D terrain). According to Greg Borrud, director of Pandemic Studios and designer of DARK REIGN II, the dif- ference is all in how you design a game: "Our goals are always to make a game that you can pick up and play, and DARK REIGN II will be relatively simple to under- stand. As you play a game more and more, we want to you uncover the layers of complexity that present themselves as you become a better player.” Rick Martinez, who has designed turn-based strategy/war games— PANZER GENERAL II, among others — and real-time combat simulations (PANZER COMMANDER), thinks the whole turn-based versus real-time game debate is blown out of proportion. "There are situations in which realtime works well — for instance, if you're trying to simulate WWII squad-level combat — but you could make an argument that games such as X-COM or CHAOS GATE do just as good a job. What's important is that your design approach has the proper feel — remarked, "I don't know what business Peter's in, but I'm perfectly happy to be designing games for a living. It's a pretty good life, and after you reach a certain point they feed you pretty well." The irony, of course, is that both men are right. When you consider the number of strategy/war games released each year — more in 1998 than the total number of games, of all genres, released in 1993 — you have to go the extra mile, or parsec, or real-time micrometer, to have a chance at a hit. And gaming legends are not excepted. A t the recent Milia Conference in France, game design legends Peter Molyneaux and Sid Meier — in between bouts of sampling French wine and cuisine for research purposes — each spoke at one of those you-had-to- be-somebody-to-get-standing- room-only-tickets keynotes. Molyneaux began the festivities by going on at length about the trials and tribulations of crafting a piece of interactive entertainment, complete with lots of suffering for your art and giving up years of your life. When it was Meier's turn to speak, he looked up and down the row of dignitaries and [Carl Norman, currently producing HARPOON 4} STRATEGIC MANEUVERS Making a Strategy/War Game That Isn't a CivClone & Conquer "I love the turn- based tabletop HmM is a much petter real-time game on the computer than it ever could have , been as , ., turn-based. and WARLORDS III are all, in a tech- nical sense, turn-based fantasy strategy games (and each was rated five stars by CGW). Yet these three games play quite differently from each other; they require you to master a variety of tactics to succeed, and they offer much more replayability than most of the real- time strategy clones released in the past 18 months. On the flip side, the best of the real-time strategy games have pushed the envelope further in terms of multiplay (the online and network gaming explosion gener- ated by COMMAND & CONQUER and WARCRAFT) and technical always the same: Is it turn-based or real-time? This black-and-white view totally ignores the fact that there are multiple shades of each. For instance, FANTASY GENERAL, HEROES OFMIGHTANDMAGICII, COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 STRATECY/WAR • BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME historical, sci-fi, or whatever — for re-creating the atmosphere you're striving for, and that you don’t get distracted from that focus." Even Meier has struggled with the real-time/turn-based dilemma, half-joking about how he "almost ruined CIVILIZATION." Meier had come down with a terrible case of gamelock playing Will Wright's SIMCITY. "I wanted to design the same thing, but with more compet- itive gameplay," Meier says. "Eventually, I had this game where you were managing multiple cities in a real-time environment. It was really interesting for a little while. Then you'd get stuck in one city, and by the time you got back to the strategic level, you had no idea where you were in the overall game. Once I made the CIV design turn-based, 1 was able to keep the level of detail and the depth of decision-making to where it was challenging, but still manageable enough to be fun." In trying to solve the problem of designing real-time or turn-based games, SSG's Ian Trout (CARRIERS AT WAR, WARLORDS III, REACH FOR THE STARS, and others) offers a solution — at least, one that seems to work for a small developer; "We don't like having all our eggs in one basket. And so, now that we're no longer self-publishing, we tend to develop games for a num- ber of publishers — all of which have different criteria for judging a game. As a result, even though we do mainly strategy/war games, we have enough variety in the styles of games we design to keep our publishers happy — and us interest- ed. And if we're interested, our customers will be." Everything’s Under Control In his classic work, The Complete Wargames Handbook, Jim Dunnigan — designer of more than 100 board and computer games — offers some sage advice: "The key to designing a game is thorough knowledge of all the GETTYSBURG is Std Meier's idea of what a real-time strategy game should be, complete with great multiplay and excellent tutorials. design techniques used in the past. The most common way of getting that knowledge is study- ing and playing a lot of games." While it's obvious from the num- ber of strategy/war clones that migrate quickly to the bargain bins each year that a lot of "bor- rowing" goes on, it's even more apparent that too many designers never get past reinventing the wheel. You wonder, in fact, if they ever leave their coding cube. Almost every successful strate- gy game designer I interviewed kept referring to focus: the importance of having a solid game design concept before the first line of code is written. Watching Steve Barcia work with his team at Simtex, for example, was like revisiting boardgame design sessions at Avalon Hill or SPI in years past. Engineers hashed out algorithms on paper, jotting down formulae on chalk- boards, arguing over which would work better with character design or firepower modifiers or what- not — while Barcia acted as master of ceremonies for the creative circus. "For me, as a gamer, it has to be challenging and addictive," Barcia says. "But as a programmer, I can also step in and come up with an algorithm to model whatever idea we discuss. You have to avoid the temptation to get so complicated that the user doesn't know what's going on. The gamer has to feel he's in control of the situation." Or, as Dunnigan used to say in his game-design seminars, "The game must have the illusion of movement — of something happening — even if the overall situation remains relatively at equilibrium." [Rick Martinez. PANZER GENERAL II designer] Game designers increasingly try to give more bang for the buck with more scenarios, bigger and better units, more editing tools, and optional rules out the wazoo. Who can forget Brian Reynolds' above- the-call-of-duty support of CiV II, crafting one new version of the game after another, even after he left MicroProse for Firaxis? And I can't help mentioning one of my favorites, TOTAL ANNIHILATION, which brought the concept of free downloadable add-on units and maps almost to an art form. Still, more is not always better. PEOPLE'S GENERAL, for example, has “ What’s . impotlant is that your design approach has the r proper ■ feel. and that you don't get distracted fr°ni 'ha* focus." iiv 'j'KRitnn'iNCJ G'AMjv Bvf.h Jf; Goming To JOiiixuARy J999. ResjU3<vm Vouk Copy Tof>Ay. WWW.CAPCOM.COM eCAPCOM CO.. LTD. 199S@ CAPCOM U.SA. INC. 1998 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. RESIDENT EVIL Is3 irad«matli ot CAPCOM CO.. LTD. CAPCOM isa regislered trsdemaik ol CAPC0I.1. LTD. BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • STRATEGY/WAR Even though Dark Reign was long in the making, you can see here that the art team had a good idea of where it was going in terms of unit design. a superior game system wrapped around mostly mediocre scenarios, a handicap that all the edit- ing functions in the world can't overcome. Sometimes, according to Carl Norman, putting the power in the gamer's hands can spring from less-than-altruistic motives: "After listening to gamers complain about different options they'd like to have seen in this game or that, we finally decided in STEEL PANTHERS II to let 'em toggle every damn thing. Of course, some guys complained anyway, but you could tell their heart wasn't in it." Time Flies When You’re Having Fun Ask a game designer about the importance of realism, especially in the context of this genre, and you might expect to hear rhapsodizing about technical brilliance, but everyone I talked with focused on gameplay and on making the game a fun and, it's hoped, replayable experi- ence. One designer who preferred to remain anonymous said, "Nothing annoys me more than a game engine masquerading as a game. There's nothing wrong with being an engineer and developing a cool technical concept, but you have to be a gamer, too — or else nobody's going to care about your game when the next cool technotoy comes out." Sid Meier, the king of playability, is almost as notorious as id Software for saying, "The game will be done when it's done." The really bizarre thing is that Meier also claims to be able to have a working prototype in just a few weeks. Then he tweaks for more than a year. Go figure. Other games come about in a far different way. "DARK REIGN had one of the most bizarre development cycles of U any project 1 have been W on," says Greg Borrud. "When we first started working on the game, our mandate was to cre- ate a fun game and have it out by Christmas. Josh and I quickly assembled a team of designers and we set down to create an RTS game. Because time was not on our side, we worked around the clock and designed the entire game — including all the features, units, story, and missions — in about two weeks. We also started work on cut-scene movies and game music. By the end of that period we took a step back and started to get real excited about the potential of the game. After about five weeks of production, we showed our first public demo at a press day that Activision held in Los Angeles. The game was received incredibly well, and we were able to get a few months' extension to make sure we could get all the cool things into the game that we had designed in these first few weeks. As the game got more recognition, we could ask for more extensions. In the end, the game took a year to make, but most of the final design elements were hatched in those first few frantic weeks of development." While wargames in particular have a small crowd of fans who crave realism above all else, most gamers I know are more interested in historical feel. It's not terribly important whether the Iron Brigade had 997 men or 1 ,007, so long as the unit plays like the Iron In 1989, All Atabek (center) discusses game design with a svelte pair: CGIV founder Russell Sipe and Johnny Wilson (right). Brigade, and not like some generic American Civil War unit. "Gamers like to think they can be Napoleon, so you let them," says CAMPAIGNS OF [Greg Borrud. DARK REIGN] COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 YOU GET TO WEAR COOL THREADS YOU NEVER HAVE TO WAIT IN LINE YOU CAN START YOUR OWN RAT PACK YOU GET TO SAY “FA’ GET ABOUT IT !” ALL THE TIME pU*iPM fr/ fiOM kWK^ I ' ' EV1» Wwjtm* b 1 C EUJOs" A» Bswi inwM. “GANGSTERS ISA NOVEL SPIN ON ATRIED-AND-TRUE GAMING FORMULA” — GAMECENTER.COM Expect a hit! www.eidosinteractive.com eiDOS N T e H C T Finally, you feel wanted. You are THE MAN, the don, the boss. An entire city lays at your beck and call. It's your chance to be a big fish in a big pond. Start swimmin'. '5= In-depth strategic planning and real-time tactical gameplay ■*= Control every aspect of a ! 1 930's-era mob "family" I «= Control a huge virtual world with over 5,000 citizens and I 400 gangsters j Multiplayer support for up i to four players via LAN, I Internet, and EidosGames I via mplayer.com V ORGANIZED CRIME’ A mobster sim. Goto #149 @ www.computergaming.com/lnfoIlnk PrfceJ mi - 4mi, tliere:s HO E/CU5E VioE Eo t>vfV^4 01 jr^eJlneoH Vionne Hr lio|fJovyS |)o'<'in|ao\c| -ttie GHro.rc\l OusS U <JUr '<'lel Srte, Only 42-IS ® X WWW - in' i{erpla^ COI^ IIVCAMCR-S. rOttGAMER-S," Call for more informcliion ©199B Xatrix Enlertainment. All Rights Resetved. Redneck Rampage, Redneck Rampage Rides Again, Redneck Rampage Suckin' Grits on Route 66, Redneck Rampage Possum Bayou, Redneck Dear Huntin'. Interplay, the Interplay logo, 'By Gamers, For Gamers' and 'By Rednecks. Fer Rednecks.' are trademarks ol Interplay Productions. All Rights Reserved. Xatrix and the Xalrix logo are trademarks of Xatrix Entertainment. Ali Rights Reserved. Exclusiveiy licensed and distributed by Interplay Productions. All other copyrights and trademarks are properly of their respective owners. Go to #165 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink STRATEGY/WAR • BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME NAPOLEON designer David Landrey. "The research must be solid, of course. Never forget, though, that the game must be playable above all else. What good does It do to have a game that is praised for its realism but collects dust on the shelf? Awards are great, but I listen more to my customers. From a technical standpoint, I've always focused on the operational-level game, because it shows you things you don’t get from the purely tactical or strategic viewpoints." The value of knowing your audi- ence is just as relevant for fun, fast-paced real-time strategy games from Blizzard and Westwood as it is for realistic turn- based wargames from TalonSoft and HPS Simulations. A lot of the success of these companies comes from the fact that they not only finish cooking their games before they ship them, they also have incredible follow-up. TalonSoft rou- tinely retrofits enhancements onto earlier games in its BATTLEGROUND series, a practice that other com- panies would do well to emulate. a "Modem play should be included because the audience expects it. But that doesn’t mean you can neglect the Al," [Mark Baldwin. EMPIRE DELUXE] "I feel sorry for anyone who can’t. after a little practice, beat 640K of memory in a strategy game." [Mark Herman. Great Battles] It may have been a while since he had a hh, but Crawford could pack more Al in 4K than most current programmers can with hundreds more K of memory at their disposal. All for One and One for All The more check marks there are on the back of the box, the more comfortable marketing folks feel — which generally means that they want real-time designs, because that implies multiplayer. Brian Reynolds was very aware of this when working on SiD MEIER'S CIVILIZATION II two years ago. and so he put multiplayer hooks in the code. "At the time," Reynolds says, "we really wanted to focus on the single-player design, since that's how everyone thought of CIV. But I have to admit it was a lot of fun testing the multiplayer against Sid in his own game. To this day, I wish we’d had the time to get [multi- play] in and working for CIV II before we both left MicroProse." {After more than two years, we'll soon find out if multiplay in CIVILIZATION II is still relevant. See our "Take Command" feature for more on ClV II MULTIPLAYER GOLD.) Meier concurs: "I'd always thought that multiplayer was more hype than anything else... until I played WARCRAFT II with my son (he always enjoys beating Dad) and it occurred to me that you could balance a real-time Civil War game between novices and veter- ans much the same way." When Meier started working on GETTYSBURG, therefore, he integrated multiplay Into the design from the ground up. com- plete with randomly generated scenarios to give gamers who wouldn't know Little Round Top from Rocky Top a fighting chance against armchair Civil War histori- ans. And it's hardly a coincidence that Reynolds and Meier's next game, SID MEIER'S ALPHA CENTAUR), will also include multi- play— even though it's a classic turn-based design. Then there are the games that try to be everything to all gamers. Interplay's Ali Atabek reminisced recently about MAX and MAX 2, but his comments apply to a num- ber of strategy games: "We tried to bridge the gap between turn-based and real-time in MAX, and I thought it worked pretty well. But for multiplayer, things have to move quickly, and if you aren't careful you design a game that doesn't satisfy either the solitary gamer or the multiplayer fanatic." Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened with MAX 2. Flat Cat, Atabek's development group at Interplay, has apparently [earned some lessons, switching to a more cerebral real-time approach for its next strategy game, STAR FLEET COMMAND (see the "Take Command" feature in this issue), which seems to work quite well for both solo and multiplay. In any case, Atabek was designing real- time strategy games such as SIEGE long before they were popular, so we're not terribly worried. Is multiplay here to stay? Undoubtedly it is, but a recent COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Il ■ He went 92 YARDS, BROKE TWO TACKLES, JOKED ONE CORNER AND BLEW THE NOMBERS OFF THE FREE SAFETY. C’MON, LET THE GOY DANCE. Football doesn't get any more real than NFLGameDay '99. This year, we’ve given NFL GameDay ‘99 a stadium full of new features, like all-new graphics and gameplay, brilliant sportscasting by Dick Enberg and Phil Simms, and Authentic Football Intelligence;” a new innovation which has players thinking and reacting just like they do in the pros. NFL GameDay ‘99 by 989 Sports. Take a few snaps and you'll see why it's the best-selling football game around. www.969sports.com BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • STRATEGY/WAR CGH/survey showed that, despite what the vocal Usenet minority might have you believe, more than 70 percent of gamers spend upwards of 90 percent of their gaming time playing solo. Until every strategy/war game has its own battle.net, it's a good thing that tough computer opponents are making a comeback. "than badAI in an RTS game. I can't tell you how many times we have yelled and screamed at 'stupid' units. That's why we made Al — and specifically player orders — one of the key features of DARK REIGN. We wanted players to be able to give their units orders and modify the way they were reacting to the situation. Do you want them to be more cautious or aggressive? Should they retreat when injured? Should they go out and explore the map without you having to constantly micromanage their every action? These are all things we put into DARK REIGN to give the player a lot more control.” When he designed EMPIRE DELUXE, Mark Baldwin had no illu- sions about his Al being able to defeat a human on a regular basis. His goal was simply to craft an opponent that could be unpre- dictable over a reasonably long period of time. In the old Atari days, Chris Craw- ford and Dave Menconi had to BATTLEGROUND HERO NAPOLEON IN RUSSIA, like all of the games in TalonSoft's BATTLEGROUND series, gave a miniatures feel on the computer, while maintaining the beloved micromanagement. tweak theAl for EASTERN FRONT — written in 4K of memory— to make it competitive, a huge task. During playtesting, they found that a bug in the retreat routines for the Russian units actually made them advance after losing. Since the bug made the game tougher, they left it in! This is an example of a "good cheat," because it not only added fun to the game, it was also as close as you could get in EASTERN FRONT to re-creating the "pockets" historically caused by the rapid advance of the Wehrmacht. The lesson for game designers, then, is to worry less about fuzzy logic, neural networking, or other trendy programming, and to show more imagination and passion. The best strategy games — whether turn-based fantasy, cerebral real- time historical, or hybrid grand strategic sci-fi — are made by these famed designers for one main rea- son: In every case, it was a game that they wanted to play. Marketing folks, take heed. Terry Coleman is currently trying to duplicate the 1972 Dolphins' undefeated season in MADDEN '99. Deus ex Machine We could fill a book with discus- sions about Al, but we won't. Still, it's hard to talk about strategy/war design without asking, "What exactly is Al?" Rrst and foremost, it's the computer opponent, which may or may not obviously cheat. Secondly, it's the code that directs the "wingman" routines for those units you don't directly microman- age every second of the game. Finally, Al also covers such mun- dane routines as pathfinding — like for those ships in AGE OF EMPIRES that can't figure out how to sail out of port to the good fishing spots and back. Jim Ounnigan states it flatly: "Al routines are not quite as complicat- ed as they might appear, and they need not take up a lot of space in the program." While some pro- grammers can write tight Al code, methinks that too many designers are taking Dunnigan's words much more to heart than they should. Graphics are nice, but after a while, you get tired of seeing your Ores slam into trees time and again. A few programmers were men- tioned by their peers for writing elegant algorithms and having strong computer opponents, such as Sid Meier (for theAl in CIVILIZATION) and Steve Barcia (for the diplomatic routines in the original MASTER OF ORION). Most programmers, however, are not that impressed by the majority of the Al work they see. "There is nothing more obvious and frustrating" says Greg Borrud, Before he became famous as a Gulf War commentator on Nightline, James Dunnigan designed more than 100 games, including the epic HUNDREDS YEARS WAR on Genie. Inleraclive Digital Soltwars I .a o I •£ ii it # “Reminds You Thflt Adventure di ■At Their Best- Can Pull four H^^rt A| Brain As Solidly As Atiy Motion) P ■Oomputer GaBlng World IP Jacob's Squared, THI&j ■J.C. Hertz, The Kew York Times Likely To Keep You Gluecf Jo Your Computer For Hours At A Time.” -PC Gamer ‘Vastly DiFPef?ht And Thoroughly Entertaining. ■Next Generation The First Adventure Game Where Your Emotions Play With A Your Intelligence San I ARiuM jL-KRtAMFOWaL /> Go to #233 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink GAMES, BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • ADVENTURE/ROLE-PLAYING B oth adventure games and role- playing games are essentially "gated" stories. They are like the old days at Disneyland when you needed separate tickets to ride various attractions. If you only wanted to ride the horse-drawn trolley on Main Street, you needed an "A" ticket (originally valued at approximately 10 cents), If you wanted to ride the Matterhorn, you needed an "E" ticket (orig- inally valued at approximately 75 cents). Without the ticket, you missed the attraction or had to buy supplementary tick- ets at the face value. In adventure games and role-playing games, you need "tickets" to move the stoiy fonward — to get through the "gates" the designers put up. In both types of games, the tickets to more of the story can be either crucial objects in your inventoiy (keys, clues, and "McGuffins"— the powerful or desirable objects obtained by the protagonist in successful quests) or ”must-do" activities completed (puzzles solved, rooms explored, characters met, and conversations held). In role-playing, you can add successful combat and charac- ter development to the tickets you'll need in order for your characters to get through the designer's turnstile and into more of the story, The design issues in adven- ture and role-playing games are basically the same. The problem of world creation, character creation and devel- opment, story development, and the tickets that gate the story are largely the same. Role-playing games simply use more tickets by having combat and character development to rely upon. So, we talked to four prominent role-playing design- ers, believing that their insights to RPG design would apply to both adventure and role- playing games. UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Creating Worlds for Adventure/Role-Playing Games [by Johnny L . Wilson] The World and They That Dwell Therein My preconception in looking at role-playing design was that designers would begin with the universe. Yet, I quickly discovered that technological concerns and psychological concerns outweighed the creation of the game world. 2eb Cook, formerly an Advanced Dungeons S Dragons designer atTSR and now working on a secret project at Interplay, says that he'll work in any universe that sounds interesting to him. "If it isn't interest- ing to you, why would you want to design a game around it?" Since Cook was the demented mind behind TSR’s Planescape environment for AD&D COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 ADVENTURE/ROLE-PLAYINC • BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME PLOT ROAST One key to world*building is deciding the psychological effect you want to create for your gamers. PLANESCAPE: TORMENT, from Interplay, strives for an ominous, unsettling afterlife in a very hostile world. {imagine every real or imagined religion and philosophy competing on a series of planes with an eclectic mix of avatars and incar- nations from each), that philoso- phy is evident within his work. Brian Fargo, the founder and original role-playing mentor at Interplay, feels that designers are tied to the twin paradigms of medieval and science-fiction adventures. "Our industry often gets criticized for not being creative, but whenever anyone strays too far from medieval and science-fiction games, they get hammered." So, assuming that fantasy or science-fiction is a given, Fargo says that the Interplay approach is to start with the psychology of what the game is supposed to accomplish. "With STONEKEEP, for example, the origi- nal philosophy was to go back to the roots of what made role-play- ing accessible and enjoyable. As much as we object to artificiality, there's still a great deal of satis- faction in finding a +2 sword. In WASTELAND, we wanted the gamer to make decisions that didn't have black and white answers — moral dilemmas. Each case has been different." Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Lord British, has undergone a transfor- mation in this process. As he observes, "Myfirstworks didn't have much world-scope thought in them, but I quickly arrived after two or three attempts to a process that works." Lord British complains about the ton of bad fantasy in which the climax involves the hero discovering a magical McGuffin with superpowerful characteristiG. "That," he protests, "is cheat- ing." He believes that one of the most important aspects of role- playing design is having an internal self-consistency and internal depth that will be expressed in the story- line of the universe. "If you're going to develop plot elements or characters or activities, you have to start off with the vision for the reality of the world. That's why I start off with the geographical flora and fauna as well as politiG and philosophy. When I start to tell the story of an ULTIMA, I often start by talking about the social dynamic taking place around the story along with the fundamental politics that set up the story. In my opinion, it's really hard work. The hardest place to start is doing this universe reality backdrop. It may be hardest to start, but it makes it easier to complete with high-quality results. I've seen people start off the other way and they get very quick results, but you run out of clever ideas after several situations or circumstances, and they tend to be random ideas." As a positive example. Lord British com- mended a new dungeon design- er on ULTIMA: ASCENSION named Craig Bolin. Prior to trying to do any particular dun- geon features, Bolin would write a two- page back- ground story. The richness of the approach was incredibly rewarding, according to Lord British, and it paid huge dividends in the final design, Bolin isn't unique in the industry, but he may be relatively rare in putting the background first. Jon van Caneghem believes in Clint Eastwood fashion that a man's gotta know his limitations. According to the pioneering designer of the MIGHT & MAGIC (as well as the HEROES OF MIGHT & MAGIC) series, "Technology is first— what the game can do. Once 1 know what the new engine can do, I start to flush out the game- play and what you can do in the game. From that, I build the storyline and the charaaers— what they're going to be and who they're going to be. Then, we archi- tect the overall story. It may be the opposite of what you expect, but anytime I've gone the other way, it’s never quite fit." Of course, one way to get a rich universe in a hurry is to license a well-established book, film, or paper game universe. Fargo has tried them all at Interplay. He has licensed Tolkien, William Gibson, bad movies, and AOiSD worlds over the years. He states that the writ- ing is much easier in licensed prop- erties because you already know the world and the characters. "As an industry, we haven't done a very good job of creating our own uni- verses, Someday, I'd really like us to set up bibies and universe docu- ments that enable us to do some- thing really rich like Tolkien's Middle Earth." Of course, Fargo also speaks of the limitations of using licensed properties. "The key to any enter- tainment medium is to surprise people. If the licenser is locking you down too much, you can't surprise anyone. In general, you can't be as edgy with a licensed property." in short, most adventure/roie- playing designers expect the universe to be a means to an end. They use the universe to shape the gamer's expectations of the world and their possible actions in that world. Some designers want a rich background to the world and, like PUZZLING REALITY "I think puzzles have a place and I've always liked them. We're going to put more in, but we don't like the kind where the whole screen disappears and a chess board appears. Puzzles must stay in the game engine." [Jon van Caneghem] "A puzzle can never rely on outside information. It has to be discovered within that universe. I also believe that puzzles should have more than one solution. "My main advice is to make puzzles intuitive. Listen to your testers. Designers often get so dose to their products that they think everybody is stupid. You just have to go with it." [Brian Fargo] COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 NOW! www.sierrastudios.com © 1998 Sletra OthUne, Inc.. Bellevue, WA 98007. ® and or TM designate trademarks ol^or llcertsad lol Sierra On-Line, Inc. All Righls Reserved. I-. New Quest Has Begun, R eturn to a land of intrigue and adventure. Lead your band of five characters on - a quest to recover the Tear of the Gods, a mystical relic coveted by a madman bent on spreading darkness across the land of Midkemia. From the dizzying heights of Krondor's Palace, to the haunted depths of a temple dedicated to an evil as ancient as the gods themselves, never before has an RPG given you so much of what you want. 16 -bit color with real-time lighting spells to create and adopt Tactically complex, turn-based combat www.computergamlng.com/infolink J.HE C^FFJCtAJ- SECLWEI- TO THE REST SEU-tHO RPG BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME • ADVENTURE/ROLE-PLAYING ULTIMATE UNDEAD An artist adds ghoulish textures to the 3D wire-frame of a zombie for ULTIMA; ASCENSION. character of Raven, a female character who assists the avatar in the new game. "She said it was like adoies- cent boys writing about a female character.” "I didn't have to do this in the early days of ULTIMA because I was lucky enough to know people in the Society for Creative Anachronism who were the char- acters I wanted to write about. 1 already knew Dupre' and was able to write about the aspects of the reai person. My knowledge of the person served me as the backdrop. After a few years, I began to see the results of creating them by choice instead of accident." Zeb Cook sees the character design and the market as part of a continuum. "The world and the market determine the character design. If it's going to hard- core role-players. I'm gonna use numbers. If you want broad-based appeal, you have to figure a way to reduce the numbers as much as possible." Like the others. Cook sees the system as being determined by style of play. "All systems are built in order to create the style of play I want. If it's going to have a rich story and background, you want to spend big whiteboard in the conference room or JVC's office. Later, they write it down and transfer the details to spreadsheets or Word documents, Then, they erase it and go on to the next detail level. Brian Fargo agrees with van Caneghem. "I like to think about the situations I want to put the character in, and then back up from there. There are a lot of products that have all of these skills and attributes that have such a minimal effect on the uni- verse that they might as well not be there. To me, the attributes and skill sets are the means to the end, my tool for getting there. I'd rather have an RPG with four attributes used incredibly cleverly than 50 attributes not used very much at all." Lord British believes that it is necessary to do background char- acter studies of each principal character in the game. Today, he brings in professional writers to flesh out the characters and dia- logue. Raymond Benson (author of the James Bond novel Zero Minus Ten) did this in ULTIMA VII, and Kim Krizan, coauthor of the screenplay to Before Sunrise (the Ethan Hawke/Julie Delpy film), is doing this for ULTIMA: ASCENSION. Lord British laughs as he recalls Krizan's first observation about the VP OF GNOMES? Interplay's BALDUR'S GATE uses character studies like this portrait and description of Quayle to flesh out game designs. For example, "When asked about his past, Quayle talks for a good hour about his worship of Baravar Cloakshadow, how he is well on his way to mastering sorcery, and just generally how i he is compared to everyone else in the party." Lord British, keep striving to create richer, deeper worlds. Other design- ers develop the world merely as a stage setting. All want to immerse the gamer in the game. Know,_Thy.self To immerse the gamer in a world, however, requires a popu- lated world. To create the charac- ters for the world requires two systems — one to design the player character(s) and one to design the nonplayer characters. Naturally, the philosophies run the gamut from detail to outline in this part of the process, as well. In the world of MIGHT & MAGIC, the possibilities for attributes, skills, talents, races, and social status are all based on what they can do in the game engine. Jon van Caneghem believes that none of factors is going to make a differ- ence to the gamer unless it can be depicted onscreen. He does express one cardinal rule, though. "The (character) name has to be pro- nounceable. I have a mental block that if I can't pronounce it, i lose track of who the character is and where he/she fits." In general, the M&M teams build a map-based flowchart which shows how the characters relate to each other on the basis of their start and motiva- tion. They connect them all on a COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 ADVENTURE/ROLE-PLAYINC • BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME more time in character creation and letting gamers fiddle around with lots of attributes, skills, etc." Characters have to develop. The simple answer as to what levels, skills, knowledge increments, and promotions to give the character is: Whatever works. Fargo observes, "NEUROMANCER could only work with knowiedge additions. Password-oriented stuff and obtain- ing new software was much more interesting than level development or attribute increases." Zeb Cook agrees, but points out that it is better to let the gamer make up his/her own mind as to where the character improves. "The preferred method of character development is to go out and get some generai experience and spend it as you will, as opposed to go out to do stuff and blink, you go up a ievei." A cardinal rule for Cook is to make sure the balance is such that everyone can't be good at every- thing. "Everyone will end up being like Conan. I did the Conan role- playing game for TSR. It wasn't fun. It had an interesting character development system, but nobody wanted to play the sidekicks." Unfashionable Is What Other People Wear Another problem for both adventure and role-playing designers is how detailed to program the nonplayer characters. Lord British indicates that his philosophy on this has changed. "In the earlier days, we tried to mechanically simulate every possible reaction — getting exponen- tially harder and harder with less success. The more we tried, the more mechanical they seemed. Also, we were doing work that wouldn’t be appreciated. Now, we oniy try to simulate what is appropriate to a character. For example, a farmer by Lord British does hint, however, at the future of NPC interaction. He talks about intelligent databases and successful tests with this technology in order to suggest a strategy for having rich, intelligent NPC conversations in the future. He doesn't know when this might enter into the world of ULTIMA, but he does have his dream. Van Caneghem agrees that you shouldn't try to make the NPC sys- tems too detailed. "Since comput- ers don't do personalities and atti- tudes that well, it doesn't make sense to expect them to do what they're not good with." Hence, you see more reaction than evolution in the NPC characters in M&M. Van Caneghem even tries to keep the game's dialogue simple. "M&Mj has the one-key spew. Hit one key and he spills everything he knows. ■ The other extreme is to go through ' lots of layers. I go with the easy one as a rule because you're going t In the earlier days. we tried to mechanically simulate.eva-y possible reaction- — getting exponentially harder and harder with less success. " [Lord British, designer of the ULTIMA series and founder of Origin Systems ASCENSION ROLL'CALL At Origin, artists (ike to put character tests of the NPCs onscreen en-masse to get an idea of the quality and consistency of the artwork. to have to deal with hundreds of characters and huge dialogue trees the field is there for richness. Ail we would do today is have that farmer wave to you and make the world come to life." Lord British points out that this approach allows designers to concentrate on enriching the principal characters of the story and placing the emphasis on their char- acter development. SPRY& SPLASHY MIGHT & MAGIC VII will feature hundreds of NPCs, who will look something like this. www-sierrastudios-com Developer Solid 31) space combat game layed in real-time* It features a built-from- unlimited camera movement within a BD universe* Buti despite all the technology and innovation put in to Homeworldi our main goal was about the hype at all - it's all about the game* unbound strategic play and simply to make B j (coming soon ■"" Ih *'QV| ^ All ears h tj '■eed The Pi, “The Sain •^ekir r' ■ ^eai i Guarne.. ■ 't's '"'’■^t Kid On Y ~'°"' "^'''s ”=’= Solid Gold You'll Be On Your Knees NO HYPE IVlikey Likes It Prepare For The Ride Of Your Life Blistering Brilliance we've Got The Geme The Tid’®> If You've Go pe . d Vai' '='’“'‘' „For One^ Industry pevolution«*"’S , prom A ComP ypUi^ ye>u gnS® ^ 9 tiJJ itch :S--M — ^atGatVectFramMatr.xCo!3Csh.p vecOotProductt*trajectory, shipheading]; shotguns = TRUE; ALL GAME If Cdotprod >= triggerHappy] missileShoottship, =ase GUN^MineL tguni^ •^atG ietVi ectpr vecQ if gun, target}; ■auhcher: Sun}} •'ornivi '^'’ociu, ictt« ‘traj. ol3(sh 'Pheati '"^Siship. 'S]; CQQrd Isys). BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME • ADVENTURE/ROLE-PLAYINC that provide too many hours of digging through conversation with- out adding to play. The constant debate is realism versus fun. In real life, you could guide the gamer through the conversation, but with the computer, it's a pain." Fargo also opts for the belief that NPC programming should focus on the effect rather than try to be too elaborate. "The secret is to get NPCs to do things in the game that will cause you to remember them. So, if an NPC steals something and runs away, you'll never forget that NPC. You have to do things to people in a product that has meaning. I'd rather do four or five things really well than insert elaborate learning systems or anything else in there." Enemy Mine: Combat A1 Combat is important to the role-playing game, but rare in pure adventure games. Lord British has designed a matrix system for ULTIMA: ASCENSION that should add a terrific tactical flavor to the game, but the gamer doesn't deal with the numbers. Van Caneghem loves the details of combat and all of its permuta- tions. "For me, combat has been a critical part of role-playing in M&M because I've found that it's what the computer does best. Even when I played the paper games, combat was the most math-taxing in terms of looking at charts, rolling dice, etc. On the computer, you can take it much further than you ever could on paper. The cardinal rule is that if the gamer can't see the effect of the calculation, there is no sense going through the calcula- tion. For example, I have the random 1 -6 factor. As far as the pfayer I's concerned, it might be no different than a D6 die roll." Cook agrees to some extent, but warns against having combat cal- culations be too intricate. "Combat A( is where ali of the effort needs to be placed. How is this guy going to fight and how are his buddies going to react? ITiat's where the world comes to life. Suddenly, you're fighting a guy and he does something damn sneaky. That's If it isn’t interesting to you, why would you want to design a game around it Y” [Zeb Cook, designer ofAD&D PLANESCAPE at TSR. Inc. and Interpiay RPG guru.} when it becomes real to the player. Guys should be hiding and running away and return- ing with reinforcements." As for the actual technique in accomplishing this. Cook wants theAl to be as unscripted as possible. "Things break down very quickly if you didn't think about all the possibilities of what can happen in advance. The best combat Al considers the world-state or finite state and chooses best response from the parameters of the situation. I'm not talking about a neural network here — those big fuzzy black boxes where I can't fig- ure out what's happening. If we can just create a way for someone to yell "Help" and others to hear and come to his rescue, that would be great." A tremendous amount of effort is spent in creating combat Al in role-playing games, but van Caneghem believes it's worth the effort. "Exploration, character enhancement, and combat all form a circle that continually cycles upward. That little loop of three elements is very mentally compelling. It keeps you going: one more turn, one more map, one more creature. That's the magic that makes computer games addicting, when you connect the circle." Everybody’s Talkin' Finally, the designer must deter- mine the general ways in which the player will interact with the world. For van Caneghem, the interface considerations are the first considerations. He doesn't care about the art, font type, or menu structure in general. He just wants to make sure it's good for gameplay. "You have to make the decision as to when in the game they're going to need the informa- tion, That's why we have the hit- point and spell-point sliders at the bottom of the screen in M&MVI. You could need that info at any time. The other stuff is hidden until you want to access them. On that basis, you make the decisions about interface design." Cook agrees, "The interface is essentially the rules set for the game. Everything the gamer knows about the world is tied up in the interface. In paper games, you want clean simple rules, so the goal of the interface is to have a clean simple way of interacting with the game. The interface must be figured out right away. You can't say, 'Vi/owl This is all the stuff you're going to do in the game' and then ask, 'How are we gonna do that?' I always believe you must start by asking how the player is going to do something. Is there going to be a way for the player to do that without confusing him/her with regard to other things? Knowing what you can and can't do with your interface shapes the way you build your game, Basic game design is about finding all the limits, so you have to choose what you're gonna throw out." The World’s a Stage The goal of every gated story, of course, is to give gamers the sense of having experienced another world. More importantly, the goal of every gated story is to give gamers the sense that they have affected, changed, and transformed that other world. To succeed, there must be a credible world to change, personalities with which to interact, dynamic tension to resolve (whether by conversation or com- bat), and a story to be told. Each puzzle, encounter, conversation, discovery, or deed opens more and more of the story. Nothing happens by chance. Designers have to figure out the right places to construct the turnstiles and the right tickets to collect in order to keep us mov- ing through the story. Now that you've had a glimpse at how four prominent role-playing designers undertake that process, may it increase your chances of success. Johnny L. Wilson has been writ- ing about computer games for 1 7 years. He started playing NHL 99 upon completion of this assignment COMPUTER GAMING WORLD* JANUARY 1999 UNIVERSE • f * • • • A WHOLE NEW I^NIVERSE OE 3D foMBAT SIM MORETHAN45 t;- wimig *\ /f ■ ' '1^' '''’■ifm iiJ s SINGLE AND MULTI- H PLAYER MISSIONS ^ H - ' '■ UNPRECEDENTED FREE «. MULTIPLAYER ACTION ' -¥ 5 ^ L .tA h^.r— — — ^ ' i-- 2471 The Fire. The Cybrids turn on humanity and destroy the Age of Hope. Earthsiege begins. 2605 End of 'The Fire. 7 of Prometheus’s m uncover signs of th 'he daring destruction oon base fails to \e Dark Intellect itself. 1 2602 1 2627 Seutinel Cybertronix unveils Prometheus. A series of defeats forces Earth’s people to withdraw support for the fledgling co/o/iJt’i‘ on Luna, Mars, Venus, and outlying mining stations. The colonists Inception o/tfie C Human Empire. Petresnn I crowned Emperor. 2800 alien technology which shifts the balance of power. Rebels become a legitimate challenge to the Empire. 2652 The Empire and the Cybrids have amassed huge armadas, but no one really knows the extent of the buildup. 2826 Hostilities break out on Mars and Venus. The Emperor unleashes the Imperial Fleet to crush the rebellion. The Cybrids seize the opportunity and launch a massive invasion armada. Starswce begins. 'Clearly the frontrunner in the corning industry-wide mech war...” - OGR.com JOIN US. WWW.STARSIEGE.COM Dynamix AjfllKfiA COMPAUr © 1998 Sierra On-Llno. Inc. All tiyhls reserved. ® and TM designate tradcmarlis i Go to #174 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink Meta-jumpgate discovered to be part of a network of interstellar gates. The Diaspora begins. Humanity begins to spread throughout the galaxy. "Those Who Jumped," the first people travelling through the jumpgate, forsake the security of the Great Human Empire to journey into the unknown. A powerful force of Imperial Knights, the Blood Eagle, appear in tribe space to subdue the Children of the Phoenix for the Great Human Empire. The conflict fractures the Children, as groups break away to form new tribes. This event becomes known as The Splintering. uiOTMi FIRST-PE RSDNM warfare! EB32 I 34DD 3350 ' Starsiege ends. Settlers refer to themselves as a "tribe',' the Children of the Phoenix. They claim to follow the teachings of the renowned warrior Harabec Weathers, hero of the Cybrid Wars. 345D 3455 The Starwolf tribe forms, supposedly founded by renegades from the Children of thf> Phnp.niy anH RInnii Panin *■ ■■■ Tribal culture is now in a perpetual state of war. The Blood Eagle, far from their homes for decades, have come to consider themselves a "tribe." Finding HEHCs impossible to maintain, they adopt the flexible armors used by the many tribes. Blood Eagle forces prevail in the Hepta Ourubis system following use ofecocidal weapons. Starwol losses are high. 353D 3340 Dynamix AJillllKX COMPAnr Out of nowhere comes a game that threatens to surpass both Quake II and Unreal for multiplayer supremacy." JOIN US. WWW.STARSIEGE.COM t998Si«rra On-Line. Inc. All riahisiesefved.®andTM<le$i(|rmo inidenurks ol, or licensed lo Sierra On-Lin , Goto#178 @ www.computergaining.com/infolink 3g3a 1 Rough census by the Children of the Phoenix shows that of the hundreds of smaller, independent tribes, an "alarming number’' have either allied with or agreed to non- aggression pacts with either the Starwolfor Blood Eagle. Already the skirmishes have increased, and bloodfeuds grow more common. Formation of the Diamond Sword tribe under the tutelage of the Enlightened Master. Using innovative strategies and striking with precision and economy, the Diamond Sword rapidly carve out a large holding for themselves. BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • LEGAL ISSUES kay, you've read the stuff on game design, you've got a killer idea, and you're confident you can be the next John Romero. You're sure that if you pitch your idea to the right publisher, they'll cough up an advance to develop it. But how can you keep your brain- child from getting stolen? What You Should Know About Intellectual Property Rights [by Michael H a wa s h] The first thing you need to understand is the concept of a trade secret. Laws vary by state, but all states have two basic requirements for trade secret protection. First, the information must be something that gives the holder a business advantage in the marketplace. Second, reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that the information remains confidential. Typical trade secrets involve not only the specific game idea, but also the means, methods, and tech- niques the developer will use to make the game a commercially viable venture. Trade secrets arise automatically if the above two requirements are met. The trick is not to waive trade-secret protection. One sim- ple way for game developers to make sure they maintain trade-secret protection is to use confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements. Developers should make sure that anyone to whom trade secrets are disclosed has signed such an agreement. By using confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, developers avail themselves of a host of legal remedies if an employee, independent contractor, investor, or some other signatory to the agreement misappropriates proprietary information. You can find examples — both good and bad — of confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements on the Web; simply search for "nondisclosure agreement" or "confidentiality agreement." Many bookstores also carry books with examples of simple confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements. One word of caution: Before you use any agreement obtained from a Web site or book, make sure that a lawyer reviews it. If it turns out the agreement is poorly worded or is otherwise unenforceable, it could end up costing you thousands of dollars in the long run. Some publishers may refuse to sign confiden- tiality and nondisclosure agreements. In fact, the typical submission agreement is the complete opposite of a confidentiality and nondisclosure agreement. Unfortunately for Mv idea <1^ developers, publishers look at so many gaming ideas that if they signed confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, they would expose themselves to numerous lawsuits if they reject- ed one submission and published another based on a similar idea. This is a harsh reality for budding developers, but it must be accepted if you want to try to get a publishing contract. Perhaps the "best way to pro- tect yourself from publishers is to make sure your game is far enough along that you can complete it before they can. If your demo shows gameplay features, the publisher will think more about buying the game than stealing your ideas. But be wary of showing your coolest graphics or features until a publisher commits. And limit the number of people you show it to — be selective about approaching publishers. There are three other aspects of intelleaual property law that game developers should know about: copy- right law, trademark law, and patents. Once a game is in development, every- thing that is created can be copyright protected. Basically, copyright protec- tion arises automatically once an "original effort has been started and some aspect of it has been fixed in a tangible medium." This means that not only is the finished product protected by copyright, but also the various components of the game, including the code, graphics, movies, sounds, icons, documentation, and even the box art. Game developers should keep in mind that copyright protection extends only to the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. While copyright covers existing works, trade- mark seeks to secure a developers' rights in future works by protecting product, line, or com- pany name recognition. Basically, trademarks allow game developers to identify their games with names, logos, or "service marks" and pre- vent their competitors from distributing games that have confusingly similar characteristics. Patents also protect intellectual property, but it is unlikely that patent issues will arise in the context of basic game development. To obtain a patent, you must be the original inventor of a "new and useful process, machine, or improvement." I can't stress enough that this information is no substitute for a lawyer's advice and protection. Even if you are going it alone on a shoestring, you must retain a lawyer who is experienced in software contracts and intellec- tual property rights. On its Web site, the Gathering of Developers (GoD) has posted its Ten Developer Commandments of inside information that all game developers need to know. Commandment Ten is "Get a good attorney." Michael Hawash is an attorney with the Houston, Texas, law firm of Meyer, Orlando & Evans. Wnte him at mhawash@meyerorlando.com. LEGAL RESOURCES • Multimedia Contracts • Multimedia Law and Business Handbook Ladera Press Menlo Park, CA ( 650 ) 854-0642 www2.viaweb.com/laderapress/ index.html COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Tokyo BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME • LEGAL ISSUES H ave you ever talked with your gaming buddies about start- ing your own studio? Well, you're not alone. Many develop- ment companies have been creat- ed informally by a few guys In their den or college dorm room. When a company is formed in this GROW YOUR / Fwadvke on getting yourfitstptbltsJv a contixi. s<« the author's expanded at www.gamespot.cotn. manner, a general partnership has usually been created. More often than not, no consideration is given to basic partnership issues like who owns company assets (including intellectual property), what will happen If a founder leaves, how much say each founder has in partnership decisions, or how the company is going to go about designing games. This is a mistake. If some of these basic questions are not answered when the company is founded, a serious disagreement could destroy the company before its first game ships. I haven't started my own game company, but as an attorney I've helped plenty of clients form new companies. I've also represented clients who wish they'd been more careful when they founded a com- pany without knowing all the issues. In this article I'll outline the four basic entities you might consider if you decide to grow your own studio, and some of the issues you'll need to think about if you take the plunge. I'll also describe the roles of developers and publishers, and explain the dif- ference between self-publishing and signing a deal with a publish- er. This article is by no means com- prehensive, but will give you the ^ basics of how to start making your S own games. i g Basic Business Types jj There are four basic types of i business entities to consider when 2 forming your own development § studio: a sole proprietorship, j general partnership, limited Legal Issues in Forming Your Own Development Company [by Michael H a wa s h ] partnership, or corporation. Each entity has its own advantages and disadvantages. The main difference between all of these entities is the amount of personal liability you will have, as an owner of the com- pany, If something goes wrong. Sole Proprietorship The simplest entity is a sole proprietorship. Under a sole pro- prietorship, a single individual operates the company under his or her name or a fictitious name. If you operate the company under your own name, no state filings are required. If you operate the company under a fictitious name, you will need to file a d/b/a (Doing Business As) disclosure in your state of residence. Once this is done, you are offi- cially in business. By forming a sole propri- etorship, you can deduct your business expenses from your annual taxes. The main disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is that you are personally liable for all your business' financial obligations, including loans, leases, other con- tracts, and tort liability (i.e. liability for intentional or negligent acts or omissions that cause harm to another individual or entity). The second main disadvantage to a sole proprietorship is that it is diffi- cult to get investors to put money in your business because you generally cannot give them any equity in the company. Since most gaming ventures are started by more than one person, successful sole proprietorships are something of a rarity in the gaming business. General Partnership The second most basic business entity is a general partnership. A general partnership is basically a sole proprietorship with more than one proprietor. It is very easy to form a general partnership. In fact, you do not have to file any docu- ments or even formally state that you are creating a general partner- ship, it can just happen! This is because under the law of most states, whenever two or more peo- ple band together for a business venture, it is presumed that a gen- eral partnership has been created unless the partners go through the formalities of creating another type of entity. The practical significance of this is very serious. Whereas you and your partner(s) get to split all profits, you are also personally liable for all of the financial obliga- tions of the partnership. This means that if your venture is unsuccessful, anyone to whom the partnership owes money can hold you person- ally liable for not just your share of the debt, but the entire partnership obligation. Limited Partnership A limited partnership is a type of partnership that, as the name sug- gests. limits the liability of the lim- ited partners. Limited partnerships are designed to allow individuals to invest in partnerships. The liability of a limited partner is restricted to each partner's interest in the partnership (i.e. a limited partner cannot be held personally liable for all of the partnership's debts). However, there must always COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 LEGAL ISSUES • BUILDING THE PERFECT GAME be at least one general partner who is responsible for the entire venture. If a limited partner behaves like a general partner and plays an active role in the business, such involvement can trigger full general partnership liability. There- fore, whereas a limited partnership may be a means of getting your Uncle Bob to help you get started by giving him an equity stake, it is not a vehicle to limit liability for those partners who are going to play an active role in the business. Corporafityis _ The other basic business entity that you may want to consider is a corporation. There are several dif- ferent types of corporations. The main difference between the vari- ous types is how the owners of the corporation (shareholders) are taxed. One specific corporate entity, called an "S Corporation," is particularly attractive to small game-development companies because this type of corporation pays no tax at the corporate level. Instead, each shareholder reports any profit (or loss) on his individual tax return. The disadvantage of S Corps is that they are limited to 75 shareholders. However, this restric- tion usually does not pose a prob- lem to a start-up game develop- ment company that only has a few founders. Although the requirements for forming a corporation vary from state to state, the process is not as complicated as you might think. Basically, all that you have to do is file articles of incorpora- tion with the Secretary of State in the state you want to incorporate. Depending on the state, you may have to pay a corporate tax to stay in business. There are many books and online resources that can assist you in forming a corporation. However, should you decide to go the corporate route, make sure that you have all formal documents and filings reviewed by your accountant or lawyer. Keep in mind that once a corporation is formed, it must behave like a corporation. This means that certain corporate for- malities must be followed, includ- ing: corporate record keeping, no commingling of corporate and personal funds, annual meetings for shareholders and directors, and the observation of sharehold- er voting rights. It you fail to fol- low any of these formalities, cred- itors and others may be able to "pierce the corporate veil" and reach the personal assets of the shareholders to discharge alleged corporate liabilities. There are other types of business entities. However, these four are the basic ones from which all others derive. A lawyer or accoun- tant can tell you about other types of business entities that are avail- able in your state. Have an_Agreement_ Okay, you've read the sum- maries of each business entity, and you think you know which one works best for you. What do you do next? The first rule of com- pany formation is leave nothing to chance. In other words, draw up an agreement that addresses all of the basic issues. It isn't easy to have pointed business discus- sions with friends, but a few ruf- fled feathers early on is better than having a misunderstanding kill the company after months of hard work. At a minimum, have a written agreement that defines the roles of the individual founders and what is expected of them. More often than not, these initial roles will change over time. Therefore, create a mechanism by which the roles of founders can be assessed and modified on a periodic basis. Make sure that all intellectual property rights are owned by the company (see the related article on Protecting Your Idea). This way, no one founder can prevent the project from moving forward if he disagrees with how the company should operate. It is also a good idea to include some provision that will allow the founders to "buy out" a founder who becomes disgrun- tled or leaves. If profits, risks, and responsibilities are going to be shared unevenly by the partners, make sure such arrangements are specifically spelled out in the agreement. Any partnership agreement must be signed by everyone who is going to have an equity interest (ownership) in the new company. Your failure to do so will require all profits to be split evenly between the partners, regardless of who pro- vided seed capital, labor, or part- nership assets. We've covered some — but by no means all — of the issues faced by new game development compa- nies. If you do decide to form your own company, make sure that a lawyer reviews all the documents you intend to be legally binding. Similarly, hire an accountant to advise you on proper business record-keeping procedures. A mis- take made in the business forma- tion stage could have devastating results down the road. Have fun and good luck. I COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 t ACTOR Can'l flub my lines again or ihc director said he'd turn me over to the lion tamers! Okay... "Ei iu Briind?-No, lhars' noi right. "El lu Brunhilda?" Arghh!! j VINTNOR Look ai this! I've got grapes rotting on the vine! With the shipbuilders on strike, I can'l ship my wine to the rest of the Empire. My warehouse is full, and boy do I havg-a hangover.,. I've got to gel to the Tem|)le of Mars to make a sacrifice before tonight's contest in the Coliseum. I think I'm losing my touch. Last night the iions nearly took my head off! If only J hadn't missed^ that last les-son at the Gladiator School... S4|f^ Download the demo At www.sierrastudios.com orwww.caesar3.com ’ -/imM raj Impressions CENTURION March, march, march.. .Goi lo koc}) on ihc lookoui lor ihc Barbarians. Oh yeah, and rumor lia.s ii ihe Carthaginians may be on the iiiovc again. Wail! Is lliai a cai7icl over there? I don't know wliat the world's coming to these days. Young people run wild in the streets,- I'orgeiiing all about the godSr.l ' 'don'rloiqvY where I'm going to find enough Vestal Virgins. this year.... O 1998 Sierra On-I.inc, tnc. (Sp ami/or (lesigi)cUe trademarks of, or licensed lo. Sierra On-Line, Inc., Bellevue, WA 9«0()7. All Kirills Kesorved. Go to #180 @ www.computergamlng.com/lnfollnk -Johnny Wilson Editor-in-ChieI) Computer Gaming World BUILD A BETTER ROME TJind myself continually drawn hack to the ■ game to try just one more tactic. ..To paraphrase Shakespeare's Antony, 'l come to praise Caesar III'. " "a must huyfor any hard core strategy fan ..." -IGNPC g OUT OFIO! “You will find Caesar III a refreshing change from the usual shoot-cm-upfare of this season. In short, 'Hail Caesar!'.” - Online Gaming Review . . . the Caesar scries is a classic that's only getting better with age." - Gamecenter BUILDING THE PERFECT CAME • LEGAL ISSUES RESOURCES Computer Game Developers Association The CGDA offers legal information to members. wvvw.cgda.org Computer Game Developers' Conference The largest conference for game developers. www.gdconf.com Gamasutra Information and techniques for game developers. www.gamasulra.com. Game Developer A magazine for computer game developers, wvi/w.gdmag.com Game Developer's Resourcium Information and resources, including programming and design. www.resourcium.com Game Industry Overview Once you have formed your company, you are in the business of making games. If you are going to sell your games, you need to have a basic understanding of how the gaming industry works, in other words, you must know how games go from an idea to production, publishing, distribution, and into the hands of the consumer. You must also understand how money flows from the consumer back to you, the developer. There are several types of play- ers in the industry. First are the game-development companies that actually make games. These should not be confused with software publishers. Generally, start-up game developers do not publish their own games. Most developers try to strike a deal with a publisher. Under the typical publishing agree- ment. developers concentrate on making games; publishers fund development, see to production, arrange marketing/advertising, and set up channels of distribution. Once the games are sold, either online, at a retail outlet, or by some other medium, the publisher usually shares a percentage of the profits with the developer, com- monly known as a "royalty." Not all game developers are independent. Some publishers have in-house development studios. For example, TOTAL ANNIHILATION'S developer, Cavedog, is an in-house development studio owned by pub- lisher GT interactive. On the other hand. ENSEMBLE, the developer of AGE OF EMPIRES, is an independent studio that has a publishing con- tract with publishing behemoth Microsoft. Likewise, not all game developers seek publishing con- tracts. Some developers, like Bungie Software, the developer of CGWs 1 997 Strategy Game of the Year, MYTH, publish their own games. There are advantages and disad- vantages to self-publishing. One of the main advantages to self- publishing is developers get to keep more of the revenue from the sale of their games. The main dis- advantages are the developer has to deal with a host of production and marketing chores that are nor- mally handled by a publisher, such as development costs, advertising, packaging, and, most importantly, distribution. The decision to self-publish or to seek a publisher is usually determined by one thing: money. If the developer has enough money to produce, publish, and market a game, with a reasonable expecta- tion of recovering those costs through sales, then self-publish- ing could be the best way to go. However, the truth is that most devel- opers rarely have enough cash to do all of these things. For many develop- ers, it's either find a publisher or some other source of money, such as a venture capitalist (very rare these days), or perish for lack of funds. Even if developers have enough money to make a simple game, the realities of distribution often make a publishing contract the most attractive option. This is because a developer simply cannot create a "hit" game in today's market with- out adequate distribution. Since key industry publishers, such as Electronic Arts, Activision, and a few others, control or influence most of the industry's distribution networks, getting a major publisher to back a game is generally cause for joy. Many developers are sur- prised to find out that developing a great game is no guarantee that a major retailer, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, andToys-R-Us, is going to stock the title. Retailers have rela- tionships with specific publishers and independent distributors. If a developer does not have a link to a publisher or distributor, the devel- oper generally has no means of getting games to a major retail outlet. Hence, the chances of sell- ing 200 , 000 - 1 - copies of a game (i.e., "a hit") are virtually nil. Self-Publishing ys. Doing a Deal Here's an example of how the developer-publisher-distributor- retailer relationship works: Let's say you create a first-person shooter based on Norse mytholo- gy called LORDS OF VALHALLA. If you self-publish, you may be able to sell 1 5,000 copies (not as easy as it sounds) through your Web site or through the few retailers with whom you are able to form a relationship. Since you have self- published, you get to keep all or most of the revenue from sales (say, 80 percent). However, if you sign a publishing contract, you may be able to sell 100,000 units (a near hit) just because you reach a wider market and have a much greater advertis- ing budget via your publisher. On the downside, by going with a pub- lisher, you may only receive a 10-20 percent royalty based on the wholesale price of all units sold. Although you sold 100,000 units with your publisher depending on the terms of your publishing con- tract and the price per unit, you may have been able to make more money selling a smaller number of copies as a self-publisher. But this is a very simple example. There are far more factors that go into the decision to self-publish than are mentioned here, such as who pays production costs, the publisher or developer? Nevertheless, the above should give you a general ideal of the various considerations. The bot- tom line is, before you sign a pub- lishing contract, know your options and what you are giving up by foregoing the opportunity to self- publish. Michael Hawash is an attorney with Meyer, Orlando and Evans in Houston, Texas, but he says he doesn't just play games in court. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1 999 1 e wary of the rig that boasts a laundry list of fjr; |.' killer components. That's the lesson learned from ‘ ‘ this year's off-the-shelf portion of our ongoing quest for the Ultimate Game Machine (UGM), We encountered several boxes that seemed to ; have the right stuff on paper, but were marred by rough edges — and even downright instability in some cases. The key to really doing a slam- i dunk UGM box is not only having the right stuff, but integrating all of I those killer ingredients so that they combine to make a greater whole. In this year's off-the-shelf UGM roundup, we've got the Burn, Baby — ' Burn (cost is no issue) and Bang for the Buck (if your wallet can't take a big hit) roundups packed into a single issue so you can do a side-by-side comparison of the two classes of systems. Because memory prices have stayed down and Intel has been aggressively driving down Pentium II prices, both system classes have the same chipset (440BX) and the same processor type (Pentium II). As a result, the performance gap has narrowed quite a bit between the two types of systems. To make the Bang for the Buck roundup a little more interesting, we lowered the price limbo bar from $2,500 to $2,000, and we still got in a well-equipped Pentium IIMOOMHz system with 64MB of memory. A really top-flight gaming rig delivers not only solid performance, but stable drivers all around and the ability to hit on all cylinders right out of the box. In past UGM roundups. Falcon Northwest's mighty Mach V has been one of the very few boxes to consistently deliver on all fronts. But this year, several challengers have drawn a bead on Falcon, and are aiming their boxes squarely at gamers. So who's got the goods? Is Falcon still the way to go? Who will be this year's king of the hill? To find out, read on. most unusable layouts for gaming we've ever seen, Inverness' Super- Micro 750a case is somewhat con- fusing to get into initially, but after popping off the front panel, the case features twin swing-out doors that make all of the box's Innards readily accessible. Inverness' AMI BIOS allows for many low-level tweaks and is easily navigated. Good notables include a ViewSonic PT775 17-inch monitor with a Trinitron tube that features a four-port USB hub. Also, the Aztec Vortex 2 audio board's mixer has a 10-band graphic EQ that allows for more delicate tonal adjustments of the sound coming out of the Cambridge Microworks speakers. One oddity we found was Aber- deen's having a DVD-ROM drive and Kenwood's new CD-ROM drive using Zen Research's seven-beam laser technology. This combination would allow for DVD functionality coupled with very fast game installs, but neither device can write to CD-R or CD-RW. Aber- deen's was the only box to arrive with two read-only ROM drives, Inverness' performance is a little mixed. While it turned in the best secondary graphics 3D Full Throttle Aberdeen Inverness D49G •k 'k'k M -k GameGauge score, it delivered the second slowest primary graphics 3D GameGauge score, owing to the fact that it uses Matrox's adequate, but already dated. Millennium G200. In fact, the initial G200 driver that arrived with the system wouldn't com- plete either the 3D WinBench 99 or 3D GameGauge tests. A driver update fixed these problems, but even with this new driver, Aber- deen's 2D/3D card choice also hurt it in the Fill Rate Torture Test in which it finished last of the sys- tems that completed the test. This card's 3Dfx performance is plenty fast, but a 2D card swap would improve its system, as would a better array of game controllers, Aberdeen's offering has most of the right ingredients, but its rough edges and odd 2D/3D choice keep it out of the winner's circle. Aberdeen Inverness D49G. $5,699. Aberdeen, Inc, Santa Fe Springs. CA. (888) 300-5545. www.aberdeeninc. com PROS: Secondary 3D graphics performance; easy-access case. CONS: Slow 2D/3D graphics board; some setup glitches; so-so controller choices; 17-inch monitor. A new UGM entrant, Aberdeen is a Web-direct system maker whose Inverness D49G system is designed to be the gamer's dream box. Aberdeen has a great looking rig on paper, but in testing, we came across some rough edges, including a nonfunctioning mouse and a faulty graphics driver. But despite these glitches, the Inverness' twin Pure3D lls do turn in the fastest 3D GameGauge score for secondary 3D graphics. In setting up the box we encountered several gotchas, including a cluster of patch cables held together with a tie-lock that connects the 2D/3D board, DVD decoder, and Voodoo^ boards together; it also connects the pri- mary sound card to the DVD decoder. It's not a bad idea to group them together, but they were not labeled nor color-coded. The USB Logitech mouse's driver that ships with the box wasn't installed, so there was no mouse functionali- ty early on. Installing the driver fixed the problem, but it was annoying to initially boot without a mouse. Also curious is Aberdeen's selection of Acer's Future keyboard, an ergonomic split keyboard whose key mapping for cursor movement and insert/delete/pagedown/page- up/home/end keys is one of the ^5 & feeds^ CPU Pentium ll/4S0MHz RAM 256MB SDRAM Motherboard Supermicro BIOS AMI WinBIOS 2D graphics Graphics RAM 8MB 3D graphics PureSDHSU Monitor ViewSonic P775 17-inch Hard drive Seagate Cheetah 18GB CD-ROM DVD-ROM Toshiba 5DM-1102 Removable storage . Zip IDE Primary audio Sound MX200 Secondary audio .... N/A Speakers Cambridge Micro works Game controlier 1 . .. Logitech Wingman Extreme Digital Game controller 2 . . ThrustMaster Rage 3D Keyboard Mouse Modem USR USB Misc. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 i'.computergaming.com Full Throttle Alienware Majestic Binary A ☆ A: A iienware burst onto the scene as one of the few system makers doing game boxes that give Falcon Northwest a run for its money. The first Area 51 box we saw impressed us with its solid performance, and its being ready to rock out of the box. This time around, the Area 51 proved an able performer, but because several of its components were just shipping at press time, we did see some rough drivers, both on its 2D/3D graphics board and on its sound card. The bottom line on the Majestic Binary is that it's a well-performing box with some stability issues. This rig is certainly not lacking for amenities, including Emminent Technologies' LFT-11 magnetic planar speakers with an NAD amplifier, ThrustMaster's high-end F-22 joystick and TQS throttle, and a Diamond modem featuring that company's Shotgun technology, which bonds two 56K modem connections together for a total throughput of 1 1 2Kbits/sec. The Majestic features the SuperMicro case (also found on the Aberdeen box), and once you pull the front panel, dual swing-out doors make the box very accessible. The Area 51 's Award BIOS allows for many low-level tweaks; it even reports both CPU and compartment tem- perature in real-time. It also lets you set an alarm threshold in case things really heat up. Not likely, given Area 51 's six, yes six, cool- ing fans. Strap a pair of wings on this sucker, and it might actually get airborne. In a first for the UGM series, the Majestic arrived with Promise Technology's EIDE RAID (Redun- dant Array of Inexpensive Disks) controller and two EIDE hard- drives. EIDE RAID arrays are a rel- atively recent arrival, whereas SCSI RAID arrays have been around for years. The idea is pretty simple: Two (or more) drives are faster than one, and Alienware runs this array at what's called Level 0, meaning data is "striped" between the two drives to increase performance. So, two 9GB drives actually appear to Windows 98 as a single 18GB volume. And while having two drives doesn't translate into dou- ble the performance, it does pro- vide for a bounce over the tradi- tional single-drive setup. Of course, there is a dark side: You're now twice as vulnerable to hard- drive failure. If one of the two drives gives up the ghost, the array is toast. For a desktop sys- tem, even a high-end killer gam- ing box, RAID arrays are some- thing of an overkill. What's worse. we left all the systems on for over 24 hours, and when we "woke up" the Majestic, the EIDE RAID array's utility had crashed, necessi- tating a reboot. This problem went from vexing to downright infuriat- ing during a heated race in NEED FOR SPEED III when this utility crashed again, taking the unsaved race down with it. Ouch. The Majestic arrived with the CPU clocked at 464MHz. Alien- ware is taking advantage of the 440BX chipset having a "burn-in" memory speed of 103MHz. By setting the system memory bus to this speed, it ups the CPU's clock speed from 450MHz to 464MHz, a 3 percent overclock. The slight bump in speed allows both boxes to be a little more competitive on CPU benchmarks, although it has little effect on 3D Game- Gauge scores. The Area 51's numbers were very competitive, and its overall performance was impressive. In the Area 51 you'll find a great lineup of parts and a box that per- forms well. But this performance is marred by glitches ranging from minor (shaky drivers) to inexcus- able (EIDE RAID utility crashes). Once Alienware works the kinks out of these components, the Majestic will be a contender. Until then, it's a solid box with a couple of gotchas to consider. Alienware Majestic Binary. $6,599. Alienware, Miami, Ft. (800) 494-3382. www.alienware.com PROS: Solid overall performance; easy-access case; great speakers. CONS: Minor driver glitches; unstable EIDE RAID array; monitor sync problem at 5 12x384. CPU Pentium ll/4SOMHz (clocked at 464MHz) RAM 256MB Motherboard .... BIOS Award 4.51 PG 2D graphics ...... Canopus Spectra 2500 Graphics RAM .... 16MB 3D graphics Pure3DIISLI Monitor Nokia 445XPro 21-inch Hard drive Deskstar 14 IDE RAID CD-ROM Mitsumi CD-R DVD-ROM Toshiba SDM-1 202 Removable storage Zip IDE Primary audio Secondary audio . . N/A Speakers Game controller 1 . F-22Pro/TQS Game controller 2 . NASCAR Pro Wheel Keyboard IBM Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Pro Modem Diamond Shotgun Misc. Promise IDE RAID controller. 10/100 Base-T Ethernet Card, NAD amplifier 1 www.computefgaming.t COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 ,, IW/IHJ8 1^P¥ Pity the mortal that tresplsses against you for he shall he set adrift pn rivers of fire and his dwellings laid waste. TheWorlclIs'Vbitrs. Enter the world of Populous’:' The Beginning, where you Are a deity. Control the elements and force the world’s inhabitants to do your bidding. Build civilizations that revere you, and strike down the nonbelievers. Populous: The Beginning, brings it all to life with un])aralleled global graphics that truly deliver the omnipresent view of a deity. View every inch of the u'orld and its inhabitants in swirling real-time. !fsmt mlJ. do iv!iATe\:e! you nish. Withi 3D ertifmae!}: L'l'rhjnyorier. Dodc/ocs: The lers }U'^;ev-2oiUK'!dsfrorojrASLnv!itier(>f^r,^esjndd!sri!!ces. 1 1 ’t’ iontro! r.hee!esie.its. From ro/c to mjn-ejtrn^ .Vt’jr j nvjrny. ij.i’ejd tie wn-et efiutere to help yov h'LV iojnfs of foUowetf ,ind contto! tie oor/d. ©lW8Biillfeii!PnxK».-ii.wIaJ. I\^)ukiu>.niillfc>c:-inJilii:lkjllln«k»iiiifir,i.k'in.Asitn.xi'".'a\! ir.kkin,iiksiiKk'ariiiik;AiisiiritswhiilU-..'V'ii.,\J'iil»i.h.im'sintlii;Urii«xl/or.'ilKTi'.xiiUMi,'>, AH tii.'litN i..'x'r\vit. Ikillfruj isiBi Hlocmmic Ans timii-.itiy. POPVLOVS The BEGinninG AvkhMenow! Pin'nlojJthdemo-il tfiftf.popeloes.net lOiWs Full Throttle Performance Benchmarks Aberdeen Inverness D49G Alienware Majestic Binaty Compaq Presario 5600 Dell Dimension XPS R450 Falcon Northwest MadiV Gateway G450XL IDOT Pro 6amer2 Micron Millennia Alienware Hangar 18 Dell Dimension XPS400 Gateway G6-350 Aberdeen Inverness D49G Alienware Majestic Binary Compaq Presario 5600 Dell Dimension XPS R450 Falcon Northwest MachV Gateway G450XL IDOT Pro Gamer2 Micron Millennia Alienware Hangar 18 Dell Dimension XPS400 Gateway G6-350 Hard Disk CPU32 FPUMark CD-ROM ^2H ■;iai»;^ ESDII^ NA = Secondary 3D Not Present DNR = DidNot Run How We Tested T esting a raft of PCs is a real challenge, but this year we have a great suite of tests that really exercise the systems, Our lead test suite is Computer Gaming World's own 3D GameGauge, which tests 3D game performance using a variety of real games. Also debuting in this issue are the 1 999 editions of Ziff-Davis' synthetic benchmarks. Leading the pack is the heavily revamped 3D WinBench 99, which now adds full support for DirectX6, including multitexturing. There are a number of new scenes that are more repre- sentative of 3D gameplay as well. Also new is WinBench 99, which we use to test standard Windows performance, disk performance, and raw CPU performance, WinBench 99 now splits out the CD tests to a new CD WinBench 99, which now plays back actual CD accesses from real applications, including QUAKE II, and is a more robust test of CD-ROM performance. We ran 3D GameGauge at 800x600x1 6-bit color and 3D WinBench 99 at 1024x768x16, triple-buffered. Triple buffering removes some of the concerns of past versions by allowing a score to be collected that A COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Acompulergaming.coni Full Throttle ■A 3D GameGauge: Primary Score (2D/3D Card) Aberdeen Inverness D49G Alienware Majestic Binary Compaq Presario 5600 Dell Dimension XPS R450 Falcon Northwest MachV Gateway G450XL IDOT Pro Gamer2 Micron Millennia Alienware Hangar 18 Dell Dimension XPS400 Gateway G6-350 (IS W2 - -77,3 77,8 614 m •78,2 44,5 75.5 246.3 469.4 477.8 477.1 446.4 463.9 193.1 478.6 400.9 446.6 181.4 3D GameGauge: Secondary Score (3Dfx Voodoo^ Card) Aberdeen Inverness D49G Alienware Majestic Binary Compaq Presario 5600 Deli Dimension XPS R450 Falcon Northwest Mach V Gateway G450XI IDOT Pro Gamer2 Micron Millennia Alienware Hangar 18 Dell Dimension XPS400 Gateway G6-350 688.2 671.0 N/A N/A 675.8 N/A 360.7 N/A 383.5 N/A 381.1 NA = Secondary 3D Not Present includes the performance of the memory-buffer flip. Note that single Voodoo^ cards cannot run 3D WinBench 99's default resolution, though SLI configurations can. However, Voodoo^ SLI wouldn't run in triple-buffer mode due to driver constraints, so we had to run the SLI cards in double-buffer mode. We've been told by 3Dfx that the DirectXe drivers for Voodoo^ will support triple buffering. If the pri- mary card could support it, we also ran Rage Software's INCOMING at 1024x768, true color {24-or-32 bit color) as a "Fill-Rate Torture Test," We ran at this resolution to pound on the 3D accelerators, and to simulate settings that 1999 3D titles will most likely be using. We tested 2D graphics performance by running WinBench 99's busi- ness graphics WinMark at 1 024x768x32-bit color {24-bit color if the card didn't support 32-bit color). Disk performance was tested using the Business Disk WinMark, while CD-ROM and DVD performance testing was conduaed with the CD WinBench 99. Audio testing was done by running a variety of music and game audio through the audio subsystem. Finally, we ran the movie Contact and the DVD version of JOURNEYMAN PROJECT 3 to see how well the DVD players fared. www.computefgaming.com COMPUTER GAMING WORLD* JANUARY 1999 Full Throttle makes accessibility more difficult than other units, but this unit's innards have a cleaner, more stan- dard layout, and the only mother- board-down component is the Presario's ESS Maestro2 PCI audio chip. And unlike Presarios past, this unit has leading-edge graph- Compaq Presario 5600 ★ ★ ★ ★ D espite being the worldwide number one PC maker, Compaq hasn't paid much atten- tion to gamers — although with its latest Presario 5600, that may be changing. Because it wants to achieve a unique look to its boxes, Compaq is in the bad habit of over-engineering them, which for a gamer can cause headaches rang- ing from annoying to show-stopping. There have been reports of users being unable to get certain upgrade graphics boards to run in Compaqs, and in some of its boxes, Compaq has put the AGP accelerator down on the motherboard with- out an AGP slot, allowing for no upgrade at all. It would seem as though Compaq has been listening. Its latest high-end offering still sports a case with that unique look, which design blunder is that Compaq's case still uses Torx screws, which require you to use a special screw- driver to remove them. Is Phillips- head really so bad? The news does get better once you get inside the box, though, since Compaq has done away with its dreaded mezzanine bus configuration wherein all expansion cards live on this board. Its removal was annoying at best, and a knuckle- buster at worst The Compaq motherboard's layout Is actually pretty clean, with a RIVATNT- based Diamond Viper 550 adorning the AGP slot, and ESS' Maestro2 PCI audio accelerator down on the motherboard. This time around, Compaq's BIOS allows for a few more tweaks than in past boxes, but it's still pretty rudimentary. This Presario’s perfor- mance is actually pretty impressive, placing in the middle across most ZD Benchmarks, the two exceptions being \A/inBench 99's CPU bench- marks, in which it was about the slowest unit tested. However, it was near the top of the class run- ning 3D GameGauge, thanks by and large to its RIVATNT-powered graphics card. Its Maestro2 audio chip can accelerate Aureal's A3D API, and we encountered no com- patibility glitches during testing. Compaq certainly deserves the award for most improved gaming box, but this Presario doesn't ship with game controllers, nor does it include a Voodoo^ board. With the addition of these items and a competent mouse, Compaq may well have a winner on its hands. Compaq Presario 5600. $2. 799. Compaq, Houston. TX. (800) 888-0220. www.compaq.com PROS: 3D GameGauge perfor- mance; cleaner motherboard layout; front-mounted USB/1394 ports. CONS: Case innards hard to access; doesn't include game controllers. to have front-mounted USB ports as well as a single 1394 connector placed behind a flip-up cover. This is a great design idea, though it's not quite completely thought through. Because of the box's mini- tower shape, it'll most likely live on the floor, but these front-mounted ports are toward the bottom of the front-panel (hence, near the floor), and aren't as easy to access as they could be. Other lowlights include what is, hands down, the worst mouse to arrive with any box in this roundup. Compaq seems to want every piece of hardware — from mother- board to mouse — to be Compaq's own. Not necessarily a bad idea, but since there are so many good mice on the market now. it seems silly to cling to this notion, espe- cially when the mouse design it's still using is kludgey and hopeless- ly outdated. Another bothersome ics in the form of a RIVATNT- based AGP board, which, coupled with 128IVIB of RAM and a Pentium ll/450MHz CPU, makes for impressive overall gaming per- formance. This Compaq unit is unique in several features; It's the only rig in the roundup to feature a 1394 (FireWire) controller, and it's the only one Speed f Sr fe^Sy CPU Pentium W450MHZ RAM 128MB Motherboard Compaq BIOS Compaq 2D graphics Diamond Viper 550 Graphics RAM 16MB 3D graphics -WZ-A Monitor Compaq 19-inch with speakers Hard drive IBM Deskstar 14GB CD-ROM N/A DVD-ROM Compaq DVD 2500 Removable storage N/A Primary audio ESS Maestro-2 (motherboard-down) Secondary audio N/A Speakers JBI (monitor-mounted) Game controller 1 N/A Game controller 2 N/A Keyboard Compaq Mouse .Compaq Modem HCF(PCI56k) Misc. Ethernet 1394; front-mounted ports A COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 ^.computergaming.com Full Throttle Dell Dimension XPS R450 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ n a recent meeting with some of the Dell crew, we told them, "Don't take this the wrong way. but one of the best things you do for gamers is that you don't get in the way." In fact, that's one of most remarkable things about Dell's machines is that they are such clean implementations, that what they may lack in flash, they make up for in solid performance and easy upgradabiiity. The new Dimension R450 is no exception, This box arrived ready to rumble, never hiccuped during testing, and performed well. The R450 features a sculpted case that's easily accessed by removing a single thumb-screw. Once inside, all the important plumbing is easy to get to, and the unit's Phoenix BIOS allows for basic system tweaking. This is a well-designed case, be it ever so plain. Other noteworthy compo- nents are STB's RIVA TNT-based Velocity 4400 graphics board, an internal EIDE Iomega Zip drive, and Turtle Beach's PCI Montego II sound card, based on Aureal Semiconductor's VortexZ chip (which means that A3D support is present and accounted for). Dell uses Altec-Lansing's ADA-70 speakers, which are adequate, but not outstanding. In terms of performance, the Dimension was solid across the board. In ZD benchmark testing, the Dell rig fared pretty well. The one notable score is its Business Disk WinMark score, which is unusually high for an EIDE drive. This is a result of Dell's disk- controller driver, which locks down a large chunk of system memory to use as a disk cache during testing. However, when a game's running, this amount of memory for disk caching wouldn't be avail- able, so actual disk performance will most likely be less than this score would indicate. This isn't cheating per se. but it does skirt the line, Dell's CPU scores were toward the bottom of the pack — though you'd never know it to look at its 3D GameGauge score, which was just about top of the class. We saw no image quality problems during testing, and STB's control panel for Direct3D and OpenGL settings allows for some handy tweaks, though you first have to enable the extra settings by editing a registry key. All told, Dell brings a lot together, though a Voodoo^ board and game controllers of any stripe are missing (both are available for custom ordering via Dell's online store). That aside, Dell delivers a great baseline box that you can customize to your liking. Dell Dimension XPS R450. $2,499. Dell Computer. Pound Rock, TX. (800) 999-3355. www.dell.com PROS: Solid performer; dean implementation; no hiccups. CONS: Kind of plain-jane; lacks game controllers or Voodoo^ board. Speeds & feedsj CPU RAM BIOS 2D graphics Graphics RAM 3D graphics Monitor STB RIVA TNT .Dell 19-inch (Trinitron) CD-ROM DVD-ROM Removable storage Primary audio Secondary audio Speakers Game controller Toshiba SD-M1202 EIDE Zip TBS Montego II N/A . Altec-Lansing ADA-70 Keyboard Mouse .Dell Standard 101-key . .Logitech MouseMan-t- Misc. v.computergaming.c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 cFlusion Accelerate your world, Enter the Monster Fusion zioo s wee pst a ke s a t ^ h 1 1 p ; / / w w w. d i a m o n d m m .co m / m o nste r f u s io n ■ Mr mirnri ID 199S Diamond Multimedia Systems, Int All rights reserved. Diamond and the Diamond logo are registered trademarks of Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. Monster blistering 2D and 3D acceleration battlefields. It rips through the most extreme 2D action KjVinaows'TOJ on one graphics card? Pick up Diamond’s at resolutions up to 1920 x 1440. It delivers smoother, new Monster Fusion. It’s the first card to fuse the faster 3D images at 60 frames per second. In fact, blinding speed of 128-bit 2D graphics with intense it even tools your system for faster performance Voodoo 3D gaming power. By harnessing the powerful in other applications. Plus, it includes an explosive new 3Dfi^oodoo'“Banshee technology. Monster Fusion software bundle featuring the latest in 3D gaming, delivers the speed you need to survive on today’s So nuke that slow PC. Pick up some Fusion today. ^Fold These Pages! To find out how we combinedaDgraphics and 3D gaming on > a single card, \ \ bring the (wo edges of this ^ ad together iP dotted lines meetoneanother. a trademark of Diamond Multimedia Systems, Incorporated, esso Junction Avenue, San lose, CA 95134. All other trademarks are the property of their respective ovrrners. Go to #208 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink Full Throttle Falcon Northwest Mach V ★ ★ ★ A A F alcon Northwest is probably the granddaddy of all the bou- tique PC companies. It was the first to offer complete systems tuned to the needs of PC gamers, and every year it seems to get a little better. Falcon Northwest consistently scores well in UGM year after year, and this year is no exception. It's not just the benchmarks, either, In fact, Falcon Northwest placed sec- ond overall in 3D GameGauge scores, edged out only by the Aberdeen rig. Of all the "gamer" rigs we tested, the Falcon Northwest system gave us the least trouble. The only real issue we had was carving up the speaker cable for the over-the-top audio system Falcon sent us. But the company supplied us with a reel of premium speaker wire and a wire stripping tool, a testament to the level of detail demonstrated by the Falcon Northwest crew. The Falcon rig posted stellar mass storage benchmarks across the board, aided by the capabili- ties of the Ultra2 SCSI controller built onto the ASUS motherboard. The Falcon system also posted the highest 3D WinBench 99 scores we've seen. Falcon Northwest also wins the "out-of-the-box" award. After unpacking it and plugging it in, it ran without a hitch. All the DOS drivers were there, DirectXB was up and running, and we had no serious crashes during all our test- ing. About the only odd configura- tion item was the USB version of the CH FI 6 Combatstick. I men- tion this only in irony, as Falcon Northwest supplied a dedicated CH dual port gamecard along with the game port on the Diamond Monster Sound MX200. About the only thing they left out was a DVD drive and hardware decoder. The MachV uses Falcon Northwest's standard midtower case, is quite easy to work inside, and comes configured with two additional cooling fans. It's a good thing, since the Obsidian X-24 can run pretty hot. In addition, Falcon overclocks the system bus slightly, running it at 103MHz instead of 1 0OMHz. Still, we noticed no sta- bility problems during testing. As a final note, Falcon North- west definitely wins the eviction notice award. The AR Cutting Edge is a full Dolby Prologic setup. complete with 200 watts-per- channel amplifier. Since it requires a TV display in order for you to configure it, the Mach V comes with a TV tuner card. The speakers not only sounded clean but easily rocked the rafters with a variety of musical and game material. The bottom line is that every- thing about the Falcon Northwest Mach V works. Despite the com- plexity of Voodoo^ SLl, the Cutting Edge speaker setup, and Ultra2 SCSI, the Falcon system just goes and goes. And the performance is no slouch, either. Falcon Northwest Mach V. $5,999. Falcon Northwest, Coos Bay, OR. (888)325-2661 www. falcon-nw.com PROS: It's fast, it works out of the box. and it's stable. CONS: AR speaker system a nuisance to set up. Speeds & feei^sj CPU Pentium 11/450 (clocked at 464MHz) RAM 128MB Motheihoard ^us P2B-S BIOS Award 4.51PC 2D graphics STB Velocity 4400 Graphics RAM 16MB 3D graphics Obsidian X-24 Monitor ViewSonic MB1 IS 21 -inch Hard drive Seagate Cheetah 9lp CD-ROM Plextor Ultraplex DVD-ROM W/4 Removable storage £IOE Zip Primary audio Diamond Monster Sound MX200 Secondary audio W/A Speakers Advent Edge Prologic System Game controller 1 Jane’s F16 Combat Stick USB Game controller 2 W/4 Keyboard Microsoft Natural Elite Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Modem Optional Misc. -I^f^ EX. COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 .i.compLJtergaming.c Full Throttle Speeds Cr Jreedsj CPU RAM Motherboard BIOS 2D graphics Graphics RAM Monitor Hard drive CD-ROM 14.4GB ATA-33 hard-drive DVD-ROM Removable storage Primary audio Toshiba SD-M1202 ■DOT Pro GamerZ ★ ★AAA I DOT has made a splash in the direct sales scene by positioning itself as the first " Internet-only PC company." Despite this hype, you can order over the phone. Despite its moniker, the Pro Gamer2 is a mainstream system with a single Voodoo^ card thrown in for gamers. The Altec-Lansing speakers are a cut above most mainstream systems, but the rest of the system is pretty unremarkable. The Intel i740-based primary graphics card posted some of the lowest scores in the roundup, conceding last place only in 3D GameGauge and 3D WinBench 99 to the RIVA 128zx on the much slower 350MHz Gateway Bang for the Buck system. The Best Data Voodoo^ card also posted the low- est secondary card 3D GameGauge scores as well, again trailing the Gateway's Voodoo^ scores. We had to check twice to make sure there was a 450MHz CPU in the box. The Pro Gamer2 comes in a fairly typical mid-tower case that's slightly bigger than the Dell XPS tower. In many ways the IDOT sys- tem feels like a classic "screwdriver shop" system. It's built from a rea- sonable laundry list of components, but little effort has been made in integrating the parts into a whole system, For example, despite the presence of the IBM Deskstar 14GB hard drive, the IDOT posted one of the lower Business Disk WinMark scores in the roundup. Another example is the presence of the Altec Lansing speakers that come with very handy USB controls. But when we booted the IDOT system, the USB speakers' driver wasn't properly installed, so we got the dreaded "yellow circle" in Device Manager. DirectX6 was also MIA. A knowledgeable user could get everything up and running over time, but we have to question whether it's worth the effort. Secondary audio /V/4 Speakers Altec Lansing ACS-49S Game controller 1 i\i/A Game controller 2 n/A Keyboard Micron Standard 101 Mouse Microsoft with wheel Modem USRSBKWin Internal IDOT needs to go back to the drawing board and do a better job of understanding gamers' needs and the performance requirements to compete against the big boys. IDOT Pro GamerZ. $3,499. IDOT, Austin, TX. (888)388-4368. www.idot.com PROS: Good speakers, decent audio, no serious glitches. CONS: Slow; not well tuned; mediocre primary graphics. build^attiePC ^ here! Voodoo Banshee Riva TNT Soimd Blaster Live! 3Dfx Voodoo2 IZmb ^»^WWw:4gaTnersx6i^-^ Unlimited choice of hardware & softwares ■ — * GO TO #069 @ www.computer6aming.cojp/infolink ' '' .^CopimgW.imSThoughiOuildlnc.AIlfighlSfesefved.Omeriraaeniarksafepropeniesottheirrespectiveowneis migp .V^VJVVCl^ I f icti ^ VJ mate race rally • anachronox • fifa 99 rsiege tribes • daikatana • madden nfl 99 • trespasser • simcity 3000 • al * inters om: alliance i< vengeance ic II /na rzone rbird mac she. tirr\ pr ill • A|h ■sM^ulous; charn pnp j ‘^recoil • Lrl^TOjPl li*her • drakan • prlnce-^^ jjj^iTTie cities • interstat. ^a^ed reality • star^^ o . .Ui 4 -/-\ * /- 1 —'j -N. ^ JS~e rgasrrt ear ivy ad reality • stars^ • sim h( dkVii'uitl rifice • warbirc/s * UDrCll ' dirk vengeance spasser • anachronox • x-com alliance • ine! rsiege • virtua rally • drakan • might & magii^ )od 2: the chosen • shogo: mobile armor div| 99 • recoil * nnadden powe^. ikan • powe^, ww'w.sauN^LASTER’^coM f~tua comrni )c 2 • hostile Waters • might-^ magic VII • Its a dark cave. Inside your head, you hear your heart pounding. Damp echoes resonate from the slow drip of water. A low rumble. Click — a gun is being cocked to your right. You spin. You duck. You freeze in fear. Bullets tear past you and ricochet from every angle. You can’t see her, but you know exactly where she is. Great games deserve great audio. Look for this logo or visit WWW. env-audio. comi listen! So real it has to be live! <'i) \ifi (njiiir IcduKilaf;)' Environmental Audio" by CREATIVE" Co to #154 © www.computergaming. nd llif CfHiiH logo Iff it|iiiftfd (mJcnutki. Jiid Eirriionnifnul loiJn ii ;i iiadjuurk ol (rfjiirc JedincJofj i.com/mroiinK I liidciniilik Jio Ifto piojittl}' of ihrir rripcciiir ID siipporl En>iionni(ntil Audio I 7 »ilg 1999. Full Throttle Micron Millennia ★ ★ ★ ★ A M icron is a company that’s flirt- ed with doing serious gaming boxes before. Its original Fusion 3D package featured a 3Dfx Voodoo- based board, along with basic game controllers. But the company hasn't quite gotten the message across about its offerings to gamers. And with the arrival of nVidia's RIVATNT chip (which finds a home in this Millennia), putting in a 3Dfx board has become less of an imperative, and is now more important for Glide support. Still, Micron produces a box with a sim- ple, clean implementation that doesn't get in the way of whatever else you want to put in it. The rig features strong components, including Diamond's Viper 550 graphics card, an Intel mother- board, and 1 28MB of memory. In some ways, this box and the Dell Dimension are becoming indis- tinguishable: They both use the same case, the same CPU, the same graphics board, and the same keyboard. But Micron uses different audio components, including the Sound Blaster PC1 128 and, more notably, Monsoon Multimedia's new MM-1000 magnetic planar speakers. For gamers, these choices present a curious trade-off. On the one hand, you've got a sound card that won't support A3D, and only has limited support for Creative's own EAX 3D audio standard. But this sound card talks to a good- sounding pair of speakers that can render two-speaker 3D audio very well. Because Micron and Dell have found the same case maker, both systems' innards are easily accessed, and because they use the same motherboard, system compo- nents are well laid out and easily reached. The case has a pop-off panel that hides the system’s internal EIDE Zip drive, and once you pop the case open, you’ll probably never put it back on. Both systems use Intel's standard Phoenix BIOS, which allows for basic system tweaks, but which lacks the detailed settings of an Award BIOS. Staying true to form, the Micron performs well in most of our tests, with the one exception of its slow Business Disk WinMark score, which was the slowest of the lot. But Micron turned in the fastest 3D GameGauge score by a nose, just edging out Compaq and Dell. The Micron fired right up and gave us no headaches during testing. For gamers. Micron’s Sound Blaster 1 28 gives it something of a disadvantage when compared to Dell, which uses Turtle Beach's VortexZ-based Montego II card. If you changed the sound card, say, to a Vortex2-based board or Creative’s Sound Blaster Live!, the choice between the Millennia and the Dell Dimension would become almost a coin toss (although the Dell Millennia is cheaper). Micron Millennia. S3, 049. Micron, Nampa, ID. (800) 209-9686. www.micronpc. com PROS: Excellent 3D GameGauge performance; clean design; easy access. CONS: Sound Blaster 128; no Voodoo^ ; no bundled game controllers. speeds & SMB 3D graphics Monitor Digital Research 21-inch Hard drive N/A DVD-ROM Toshiba SD-M1202 Primary audio Aztech PCI-338 A3D Speakers Mouse Microsoft with Wheel 56.6 COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 /.computergaming. com Full Throttle Gateway G450XL \ Speeds & feeds'^ 'k ik -k M -A G ateway has long been the supplier of value PCs direct to the customer. The G450XL continues that tradition, offering a Pentium II Xeon system for home users. You would think that a system using Intel's high-end CPU. the 450MHz Xeon, would outpace the other systems. You would be wrong. The key dif- ference between the Xeon and the standard Pentium II is that the Xeon's Level 2 (L2) cache runs at full clock speed (450MHz), whereas the Pentium ll's L2 cache runs at half speed {225MHz). The Gateway actually placed third in 3D GameGauge testing. The Dell system, with the identical video card, but a "mere" Pentium II, ran a tad faster, and even the more limited Compaq fared better. It's true that the raw CPUMark 32 score was some- what higher, but it's also true that raw CPU performance doesn't always mean higher frame-rates. The Gateway was an odd mix of high-end and low-ball parts. The huge Xeon CPU, plus the big cooling duct, took up a vast amount of room inside the spacious full tower case. The Velocity 4400's 2D and 3D perfor- mance kept up with the other system's graphics performance. But the AudioPCI sound chip is a mediocre one, though the Boston Acoustics speakers are top-notch. The lack of a Voodoo^ card was an odd omission for something that's ostensibly a high-end gamer's rig. Even Gateway's budget system had Voodoo^ on board. Still, the Velocity 4400 should do quite well for all but Glide-only titles. The G450XL is well positioned for future expansion. There are two free PCI slots, room for memory expansion, and several free drive bays. In addi- tion, the beefy power supply should provide ample power for even Voodoo^ SLI should you want to add it. It's easy to work inside the case, even with the gigantic Slot 2 CPU installed. The BIOS is a typical Phoenix BIOS, which means you really can't tweak it much. if you have a solid reason to have a Xeon-based system, such as computer-aided design work or manipulating big databases— but want to do some gaming on the side, the G450XL might be a good CPU Pentium II Xeon/450MHz W/S12KB L2 cache ram 128MB Motherboard Intel Spearfish BIOS Phoenix 2D graphics STB Velocity 128 Graphics RAM 16MB 3D graphics Monitor Gateway 19-inch VX900 Hard drive .IBM Deskstar 14GB CD-ROM Philips CDD3610 CD/RW DVD-ROM Toshiba SD-M1202 Removable j\i/a Primary audio Sound Blaster Audio PCI Secondary audio M/A Speakers Boston Acoustics Digital Mediatheater Game controller 1 M/A Game controller 2 M/A Keyboard Gateway Smart Keyboard Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Modem Telepath 56.6 Misc. m/a bet. But don't get Xeon just for gaming; it won't give you any added punch in game performance. Gateway G450XL $3, 700. Gateway Computeis, North Souix City, SD. (800) 846-4208. www.gateway.com PROS: Fast; reasonably stable. CONS: Mediocre audio; no Voodoo^; Xeon no real benefit for gaming. I'.computergaming.c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD JANUARY 1999 Full Throttle L et's face it, there are a lot of us who'd love to drive a Ferarri, but we wind up making our peace with driving a Ford. Usually, a gaming system with a $6,000 price tag and an intact marriage are mutually exclusive. This year the news on the Bang for the Buck front is very good, indeed. Instead of that "Ford" gaming rig being an Escort, it's a Mustang. Thanks to cheaper memory and CPU prices, we have low- ered the price limit on these systems from $2,500 to $2,000 and still, the slowest CPU was a Pentium ll/350MHz, which ain't too shabby, But the real stand-out here was Dell, whose Pentium ll/400MHz with a 16MB STB RIVATNT board took top honors, and even nipped at the heels of the big boys. These boxes do cut a few corners, such as smaller monitors, less memory (64MB in lieu of 128MB), or smaller hard drives. The bottom line is that you can get yourself a very competent gaming box — minus some amenities— that won't leave you wearing a barrel. Alienware Hangar 18 -k-k-A-k-k I n contrast to their well-hung Majestic Binary, Alienware's Hangar 1 8 offers good value at a reasonable price. If it weren't for the headaches we encountered trying the get the S3 Savage3D-based primary graphics card to work, we'd have liked the Hangar 18 a lot better. On paper, the Hangar 18 seems like a great system: It has a reasonably fast CPU, leading- edge primary graphics, Voodoo^ and a compelling audio solution. But the Hercules Terminator Beast AGP graphics card, which uses S3's Savage3D accelerator chip, proved to be an enormous headache. One set of drivers wouldn't run the benchmarks. The next set ran the benchmarks, but wouldn't run the games. The set after that crashed the benchmarks again. We finally got it to run, but even then, we saw dropped trian- gles in 3D WinBench 99. All in all, it's not an auspicious start for a system. The rest of the system seems pretty solid. The Hercules Stingray/2 Voodoo^ card fared better, posting the highest score for a single Voodoo^ of all the systems in 3D GameGauge. The Elan Vital T1 0-AB case has been modified with an additional cooling fan to keep the system humming along. As an aside, this is a great case that's very easy to get inside when you want to add new peripherals. The audio is certainly among the best of the low-end boxes: Cambridge's four-speaker PC Works setup ties in perfectly with the Sound Blaster Live card. The hard drive and CD-ROM seem a little light next to the 12GB/DVD equipped Dell sys- tem, though. But then, tradeoffs are what it's all about in a $2,000 computer, and Alien- ware's set of choices seems pretty reasonable — except for its primary graphics card. In fact, I'd say that the choice of primary graphics is what really hurt the Hangar 1 8's scores. On the surface, the Savage3D seems to be a fast 3D performer. (Its 2D performance is lacking, however.) We had so many headaches try- ing to get the Beast — an apt name if there ever was one — running, that we suggest Alienware find another primary card. Only then would this be a compelling system. Alienware Hangar 18. S 1,999. Alienware, Miami, Ft. (800) 494-3382. www. alienware-pc.com PROS: Strong audio, Voodoo^. CONS: Poor primary graphics; modest mass storage. CPU .Pentium ll/350MHz RAM 64MB Motherboard Soyo BIOS Award 2D graphics Hercules Terminator Beast Graphics RAM .8MB 3D graphics Hercules Stingray/2 Monitor Nokia 17-indi Hard drive EIDE6.SGB CD-ROM Toshiba 6302-B CD-ROM DVD-ROM N/A Removable storage N/A Primary audio SB Live Value Secondary audio W/A Speakers Cambridge 4-channel PC Works Game controller 1 MS Sidewinder Gamepad Game controller 2 MS Sidewinder Joystick Keyboard IBM Standard 101-key Mouse MS Mouse w/Wheel Modem USR Sportster 56K Internal Wjik COMPUTER GAMING WORLD .JANUARY 1999 ;.computergaming-c JU S T DON ' T PLAY THE GAME BE 1 N THE GA ME BE 1 N THE C ;ocK P 1 T 3E 1 N T HE OR 1 VER • S SEAT . BE lift THE HE 40 OF YOUR HERO design by With the UR GEAR helmet and Double Device Technology you can be in control of your racing car with a joystick or steering wheel and still look around at the same time. Pilot an airplane with any device you like and turn your head to see the enemy without touch- ing a key. Be able to see everywhere...indepen- dent of the direction you're going. Fire at will. Be in the game. Be in the head of your hero. Go to #090 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink ■ VAILASLE 4 T : (tabbiicre's Etc • DtSTfiieUITED THROUSH: t.ficrocciilral ()()hc.ld,corti - Electronic tJoulique • Fry's Electronic Cytwiuin Outpost .. AND OTHER HETAiEEFfS For further inforriidtions: www.Linionroiility.corn mveim IT'S THB OtFFBRBNCe BBTWBBN RBALaNP... mw. AMD^ S&Ei Official Speaker of the PGL CHBCa OUT THE MAP PCteMTtST AT WORK... WWW.POWeRei7PARTWgR$.COM © 1998 InterAct Accessories, Inc. A RECOTOM COMPANY. All rights reserved. Advent' and Powered Partners'^ are trademarks of Recoton Corporation. Unreal™ © 1998 Epic Megagames. Inc. All Rights Reserved. Created by Epic Megagames. Inc. in collaboration with Digital Extremes. Published and distributed by GT Interactive Software Corp. ON POW£/?£P PA£TN£/?S! )5^k\DVE\T ered Partners* Available through and or other fine retailers. Escape to a gaming experience like nothing you've ever imagined. With Advent Powered Partners sound systems, you'll feel those relentless Brutes and 15-ton Titans-long before you see them. No doubt Advent's unreal power will save your so-called life. Powered Partners. For intense sound the way it was meant to be heard, and gaming that is absolutely unreal. Full Throttle Dell Dimension XPS400 >V >V :A’ jV > D ell is the undisputed king of the direct sellers, and the XPS400 is a good reason why it has managed to stay on top. This system was a delight to set up, install, and run, and the price point is astonishing. You get a 400MHz Pentium II, 96MB of SDRAM, and solid graphics and audio — all for under $2,000. The only quibble we have is the lack of Voodoo^ and the somewhat cheesy speaker system. The combination of the RIVA TNT-based Velocity 4400 and the 400MHz CPU simply blew away the low-end competition in the test scores. Both the synthetic bench- marks and the 3D GameGauge scores were higher than the other sub-$2,000 systems by a fairly wide margin. The downside is that you don't getVoodoo^ for the $2,000 price. But if you really came across a 3Dfx-only game you just had to play, you could always add a Voodoo^ graphics card. As with all the Dell systems, setup was a snap, and the system hummed along with no major glitches. The only concern we have is that the 200-watt power supply may be anemic if you really start loading the How Low Can We Go? I f you have a fat wallet, it's easy to get a fast system. But what if you don't have a fat wallet? What if even $2,000 is too rich for your blood? We recently went through the exercise of assembling a couple of systems for under $1,500. One used the 300MHz version of AMD's K6-2 and the other used Intel's 333MH2 Celeron-A CPU. In both cases, we were able to build systems— including a 17-inch monitor— that performed reasonably well for under $1,500. Except for the motherboard and CPUs, the systems were identical. Common components included 64MB of PC100 compliant SDRAM, a 5.7GB Maxtor hard drive, a Diamond Monster Fusion AGP board (which uses the 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee chipset), and an Optiquest Q71 monitor. An lOMagic Vortex-based sound card and a set of Cambridge Soundworks PC Works speakers handled audio chores. The K6-2 system ran on an ASUS PSA motherboard, which uses the All Alladin V chipset, whereas we popped the Celeron-A into an Abit BH6 motherboard. Both boards have one AGP and five PCI slots, plus a couple of ISA slots, and should have performance that's more than adequate for most games. If we can build these systems for $1,500, then it's clear that the big resellers should be able to offer decent gaming systems for under $1,500 — or even less. Most sub $1,200 systems we've seen have some serious compromises some- where — either the graphics cards are terribly slow, the speakers tinny, or the monitor minuscule. Of course, another use for a good $1,200 system would be for that second system in your house. That way, multiplayer becomes that much easier. After all, maybe the Ultimate Game Machine setup, has more than one system.... Dell down with a second hard drive and Voodoo^ SLI. (Though the 12GB hard drive should hold you for awhile.) Another concern is that the US Robotics Winmodem is a "soft" modem, meaning that the CPU plays a part when the modem is in use. So if Internet multiplayer gaming is in your future, you might consider upgrading the modem on this guy. Most of our concerns are pretty minor. Overall, the Dimension XPS400 is one helluva bargain, offers unmatched performance in its price class, and should serve as a solid platform for most gamers. Dell Dimension XPS400. S 1,999. Dell Computer, Round Rock, TX. (800) 999-3355. i/vi/viv.c/e//.com PROS: Works out of the box: great price/performance value. CONS: No Voodoo^, cheesy speakers. Speeds €f feeds^ CPU Pentium ll/400MHz 96MB Motherboard BIOS 2D graphics Graphics RAM: 16MB STB Velocity 4400 3D graphics Monitor Hard drive EIDE 12GB NEC DVD-ROM Removable storage Primary audio Secondary audio Speakers Game controller 1 Game controller 2 Keyboard Mouse Microsoft (with wheel) Modem USR S6K WinModem COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 I'.computcrg.nTiing.c Full Throttle Gateway G6-350 A A > A ★ or the Bang for the Buck roundup, Gateway sent us a Pentium ll/350MHz box that's a pretty solid system, except that it marries you to Gateway’s graphics card choice by putting the chip down on the motherboard with no AGP slot for future upgrades. To the company's credit, this flaw is mitigated by the presence of an STB Voodoo^ board, but it's still an unfortunate design decision. The G6-350 is pretty much a garden-variety beige box, but it's accessed easily enough by remov- ing a single thumb screw. Once inside, we made the unhappy dis- covery that this rig has an AGP RIVA 1 282X with 8MB of video memory down on the mother- board. This is unfortunate because there is a design option for graph- ics called "3-way AGP" that allows for a motherboard-down graphics Speeds Cr feec^sj CPU Pentium ll/350MHz ItAM 64MB Motherboard Intel Tolstoy BIOS Phoenix 2D graphics RIVA 128zx w/8MB (motherboard'domn) 3D graphics STB Black Magic 3D Monitor Gate EV700 17-indi Hard drive Western Digital AC26400B 6.4GB CD-ROM i\i/A DVD-ROM Toshiba SD-M1201 Removable storage n/A Primary audio Sound Blaster AudioPCI Secondary audio /V /4 Speakers Boston Acoustics BA635 Game controller 1 None Game controller 2 None Keyboard Gateway 101-key with multimedia controls Mouse MS Mouse w/whee! Modem Telepath 56.6 chip as well as an AGP slot for a future upgrades, but in an effort to keep the price down. Gateway didn't opt for this design. The good news here is that right next to where an AGP slot should be is STB's Black Magic 3D Voodoo^ board, which ably handles 3D graphics chores — although it can't run at 1024x768 double-buffered with a z-buffer. Gateway's audio choices are hit and miss. The hit is Boston Acoustics' impressive BA635s, which are just about the most impressive low-cost speakers we've heard. But the miss is Creative’s Sound Blaster AudioPCI — a revamped version on Ensoniq's very basic PCI audio chip, which supports neither A3D nor Creative’s own EAX standard, and it does most of its DirectSound "acceleration" on the CPU. Gateway gets clearly outgunned by the other two entrants, due in large part to the RIVA 1 28zx's underwhelming performance rela- tive to the Dell's RIVA TNT and Alienware's Savage3D-based parts. Gateway's poor performance is attributable to two things: First, RIVA 1282x's driver doesn't allow V-sync to be disabled, so part of its low 3D GameGauge score is caused by refresh rate issues. Second, RIVA 1282x has about one- third the fill rate of RIVA TNT, and this also shows up in the numbers. However, for secondary 3D graph- ics performance. Gateway was neck-and-neck with Alienware, which also has a Voodoo^ board and a 350MHz Pentium II CPU. In the Fill-Rate Torture Test, the Gateway's graphics driver gave an error message saying it couldn't get a proper texture format. Despite a few bright moments. Gateway's sub-S2000 offering makes too many compromises to be an effective gaming box. With a few tweaks, Gateway could have a winner on its hands, but until it addresses the G6-350's shortcom- ings, you may want to pass. Gateway G6-350. Si, 698. Gateway. North Souix City, SD. (800) 846-4208. www.gateway.com PROS: Easy access; great speak- ers; Voodoo^ board. CONS: Motherboard-down "per- manent" graphics; RIVA USzxno longer stacks up well; weak sound card choice. Kd',7 Bottom Line Time I f you've got the bucks, the prime choke is still Falcon Northwest’s Mach V system. This year Falcon Northwest has shipped us a slightly more conservative system — no RAID array, no DVD drive. Instead, we got a solid, high-performance system that ran without any glitches. As a runner-up, the Dell Dimension XPS450 turned out some solid benchmark numbers and ran flawlessly. About the only thing we'd add to it would be a Voodoo^ card or two. This year's Bleeding Edge award goes to Alienware. We admire its attempt to push the envelope, but we ran into some annoying glitches. The frequent crashes of the EIDE RAID array were particularly worri- some. Compaq gets the Most Improved award, shipping a serious 3D accelerator for the first time, and it can even be upgraded. On the low end, the clear winner is the Dell XPS400. For just under $2,000, you get a 400MHz CPU, RIVA TNT, 1 2GB of hard- drive space, and lots of memory. Again, Alienware gets some nods for trying to push the envelope a bit, but we were quite disap- pointed with the performance and glitches exhibited by the Terminator Beast graphics card. Gateway's low-end system was disappointing because its adequate, but aging, primary graphics can't be upgraded. So if you have a healthy budget, then take a look at the Falcon Northwest Mach V. If you're budget is tighter, the Dell XPS400 looks like a real winner— but you may need to add Voodoo^ .'.computergaming. c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 IN SEARCH OF THE ULTIMATE GAMING MACHINE New CPUs to Challenge Intel A t the recent Microprocessor Forum held in San Jose, California, AMD, Cyrix, and Rise Technology unveiled their 1 999 wares, which were all aimed at delivering more power for less money. Initially the PC price-bar was set at just under 51,000, but now many vendors are talking about sub- 5800 systems, and there's even some talk of sub-$500 systems in the near future. How will system makers pull this off? By trimming every ounce of fat from the sys- tem, and by using highly integrated processors, such as Cyrix's MediaGX, which incorporates both graphics and audio functionality onto the CPU. Intel's forthcoming Whitney chipset will inte- grate an i740 2D/3D graph- ics chipset into the north bridge (the control circuitry and data path between the CPU and main memory), as well as audio and other basic system functionality. These new systems may put a PC on every kitchen counter, but they won't be effective gaming boxes. The good news is that all of this downward price pressure will make mid-level, and even many faster CPUs come down in price. AMD unveiled its next-generation K7 processor core, which will feature a 128KB Level 1 (LI) cache, and a backside Level 2 (L2) cache whose size will range from 51 2KB to SMB. A backside L2 cache has the advantage of not having to share its bus with slower main memo- ry, and can run at the CPU's full clock rate, and K7's L2 clock rate will be programmable. K7 also will support main memory speeds up to 200MHz, thanks to AMD's use of Digital's Alpha EV6 bus technology, which will allow for a peak data rate of 1 .6GB/sec, twice the rate of Intel's current 440BX chipset. The downside here is that K7 will now need its own socket, which AMD has dubbed "Socket A," This presents two prob- lems for AMD: The first is motherboard-maker sup- port; and the second is system chipset-maker sup- port. At press-time, we hadn't heard announce- ments of intended support from either camp, although AMD stated that third-party makers of both products would support K7. AMD will also be making a K7-compatible chipset. K7 also has a revamped floating-point unit that features three superscalar (able to execute more than one command at once) execution units, and is fully pipelined. 3DNow! support is still present, and will help move DirectSD games along if they use D3D's trans- form and lighting engine. Initial speed grades on the K7 will most likely start at SOOMHz and head north after the chip debuts about the middle of 1 999. —Dave Salvator 3Dfx's Power of 2 Campaign Aimed at the SLI-impaired Dfx'sVoodoo^ Scan-Line ^ Interleaved (SLl) configura- I tion packs a serious amount ' of 3D horsepower and still remains the 3D king. But SLl has : been out of reach for some gamers because of its daunting price tag, which was about 5600-700 when Voodoo^ first shipped. Well, it seems that Voodoo^ board-maker Guillemot International is having an SLl fire sale, offering dual 12MB Voodoo^ boards for $229. This fortuitous price drop was precip- itated by the arrival of 3Dfx's own Banshee 2D/3D chipset, as well as nVidia's RIVA TNT chipset, which compare favorably to Voodoo^. But where TNT and Banshee both trail is versus Voodoo^ SLl. Voodoo^ SLl does have a few limitations: First, it will run only in 16-bit color, which for almost all current games is fine, but 1 999 may well be the year game makers switch to using 32-bit true-color artwork, and Voodoo^ will have to dither this down to 16-bit. Also, SLI's maximum resolution is 1024x768, which is plenty for now, but RIVA TNT can run at higher resolutions, and ATI's forthcoming Rage 128 chipset will do the same. What's interesting is that thus far, Guillemot Is the only board maker making the 5229 SLl proposition. Other Voodoo^ board makers such as STB, Diamond, and Creative Labs have all dropped their Voodoo^ board prices, either by straight price drop or with rebate coupons. Other board makers will probably follow Guillemot's lead this holiday season. — Dave Salvator Techwatch 3Dfx Banshee 2 3Dfx's unan- nounced next-generation chip that will be its only offering. We haven't heard of any plans to do another 3D-only part for the PC market, though it still may still design 3D-only parts for the coin-op arcade market. As 3Dfx's flagship (and only) part, Banshee 2 will have to be an aggressive performer, and will most likely have a fill-rate between 250-300IVIpixels/sec, which could well give 3Dfx an edge among 2D/3D chips. ETA: q2 '99 Rendition Rredline Multimedia Accelerator Rendition's next-generation part that will also feature dual rendering pipelines and sup- port all DirectX 6 features. The chip features a 128-bit memory interface, but Rendition breaks this into dual independent 64- bit wide channels, which Rendtion claims will achieve real-world memory perfor- mance 50 percent faster than a 1 28-bit bus alone. ETA: Q1 '99 Direct RDRAM Intel's new memory technology that operates in a multichannel configuration. Initial speeds will most likely be a dual-channel setup running at 1.6GB/sec (800MB/sec per channel). Katmai processors will be able to use either DRDRAM or SDRAM. ETA: Q1 '99 Intel Katmai Intel's next round of CPUs, with anticipated clock speeds of 450 to 500MHz. In additional to the higher clock speed, Katmai CPUs will also feature what Intel has clumsily dubbed "Katmai New Instructions," a name given to avoid calling these new instruc- tion-set extensions MMX2. ETA: qi '99 Intel IA-64This new 64-bit CPU will use a new set of Very Long Instruction Word (VLiW) instructions and use a tech- nology termed EPIC (Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing) to execution of instructions in parallel. ETA: 2000 COMPUTER GAMING WORLD « JANUARY 1999 ■'.computergaming.r Yamaha Speakers Sound Better, Even On Paper. With exclusive YEiiiialia Active Servo Tcclitiology (YST) nnci spruce cotie architecture, the Yamaha YST-MS28 Speaker System Hoods your senses with vivid, spectacular soutid that invigorates games and music. The subwoofer and satellite speakers use superior Yamaha YST technology to produce deep, rumbling bass that no other speakers can match. It brings the menacing approach of a T-Rcx to life with rriglitening conviction. At the heart of the compact, adjustable satellite speakers, spruce cones deliver brilliant highs capable of belting out screaming guitar solos. In fact, Yamaha speakers arc the music industry reference stan- dard; liiey're used in nearly every recording studio in the world. In addition to the excellent .sound, the YST-MS28 gives you two stereo inputs, a heiidphone ouipiil jack, magnetic shielding, convcnienl controls and total compalibility with all computers and game systems. Your ultimate computer system is incomplete without Yamaha speakers. And you can own the YST-MS28 for under $80. or choose any of Yamaha’s other award-winning speakers and sub- woofers. Because as good as they sound on paper, iicaring them is an absolute blast! THE\to\buRCoMPtrrER Should Sound. SYAMAHA for a brochure, call (800)823-6414 ercl. 513 oi 1 . *1998 Yamaha Corporation of America, Consumer Products Division, P.O. Box 6600. Buena Park, CA 90622-6600 SOUNDCARDS MULTIMEDIA SPEAKERS C 0 - R E W R I T A B L E RECORDERS HEADPHONES BUY C OMPjKA >E™ pnlAbilil v miOOCEnijn; Go to #291 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink ligerDirect I N THE LAND OF DARIEN, the noble Kingdom of Aramon again fortifies itself for the continuing onslaught of war. Centuries ago, the once grand realm of Darien was torn into four separate kingdoms. Using tveapons forged from muscle and steel, you’ll amass an army of footsoldiers, horsemen, cannons, catapults and more. Your charge tvill be to control the vast kingdom of Darien. Victory means the return of honor to this once magnificent kingdom. Defeat means an unholy rule that will alter the course of the universe forever. Command the Kingdom of Aramon by swearing your life to uphold the creed of honor. Amass a mighty army of foot soldiers, horsemen, catapults, and siege towers. Build massive castles of stone, wood, and iron to defend against the onslaught of demonic hordes. Charge into battle with weapons forged from of steel and carved from wood. Build ships to carry troops and invade distant shores. Discover the kingdom of Aramon now at www.cavedoq.com ‘(f' Go to #172 @ www.computergaming.com/infollnk The Lord of the CPU The More Things Change... "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. " — J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings S ometimes it seems that the PC on my desk is like the One Ring, Sauron's ring from The Lord of the Rings. Over time, it becomes an obsession, sometimes to the detriment of fis- cal or physical health. It beckons you late at night when you're best off sleeping, but instead you find yourself wandering over to the glowing screen, as if it is beckoning you in some irre- sistible fashion. Someone sug- gests that maybe you don't need that next upgrade and you find yourself snarling, "My precious!" Okay, so I'm exaggerating. In fact, these engines of entertain- ment we call personal computers have become as much a part of our lives as cars were to a previ- ous generation. So it's time to peer into the crystal ball for the upcoming year and try to figure out upgrade strategies. The Best of Times, the Worst of Times As you read this, Intel is readying its successor to the now-venerable Pentium li. The code name is Katmai, and it delivers a slew of enhancements to the Pentium II architecture. It's still pretty much the P6 core at heart, but there’s a radical enhancement to the old MMX technology known as Katmai New Instructions (KNI). We've written about Katmai elsewhere. Suffice it to say that it should accelerate the kind of math needed for 3D geometry calcula- tions 100-200 percent faster than a Pentium II. The good news is that the first release of Katmai will be a slot- one CPU. That means it should plug into most motherboards that use Intel's 440BX chipset. You may need a BIOS update from the board manufacturer, but that's about it. Katmai will initially ship as a 450MHz CPU, with a 500MHz part to ship a bit later. This means that if you've followed my past advice, and upgraded to a 440BX mother- board with PCI 00 compliant memory, you can step up to the next generation CPU from Intel simply by swapping CPUs. So Much for the Good News Late in the year, PC technology will change radically. For the industry, it's good news, because it will generate a whole slew of new upgrades. For those of us that feel compelled to keep up with the Jonses, it's bad news, because it means we'll have to shell out more hard-earned dollars. For one thing, the difference in performance between low-end and and high- end systems will start to get wider again. In the past few months, tech savvy users have upgraded to Pentium II class systems by getting Celeron or /I Katmai can accelerate the kind of math needed for 3D geometry calculations 100-200 percent faster than a Pentium |/ f The Computer Gaining Uorld Reference System O ne of the problems we here at CGIV wrestle with is how to present review information in a usable way. One of the other editors pointed out that it was difficult, for example, to choose a graphics card because the system the cards are tested on would vary from one issue to another. That makes it nearly impossible to compare the performance of one product to another. Because of this, we decided it was time to create a baseline system on which all our hardware reviews would be conducted. So I'd like to present to you the Computer Gaming World Reference System. We'li use this for all our performance-oriented product testing over the next 9-12 months. In the list at right is the gear we brought together for the system. Since our performance-oriented testing, such as graphics cards, will be run on this system throughout most of the year, you'll be able to compare performance of different products in an intelligent way. It's just another way of providing you with the information you need to make an informed buying decision. Intel SE440BX motherboard (Similar to those used by Dell and others) 400MHz Pentium II (By year's end, this will be the entry level CPU) 128MB PC100 compliant SDRAM 10GB, 7200RPM EIDE hard drive RIVA 128ZX-based (Primary graphics card) 12IV1B Voodoo^ (Secondary graphics card) 17-inch monitor 56K modem Vortex-based PCI audio card COMPUTER GAMING WORLD - JANUARY 1999 ii.computcrganiing.c LOYD CASE J^hese engines of entertainment we call personal computers have become as much a part of pp^ves as cars were to a previous generation If Celeron-A CPUs and clocking them up so they glow like the One Ring tossed into a fire. But although the Celeron line will step up to the 100MHz system bus in 1999, there will be no Celeron with Katmai New Instructions. Celeron itself will be chang- ing. Future Celerons will be chip- based, and will plug into — get this — yet another socket format. No, it's not socket 7. It's not socket 8. It’s socket-A. The Once and Future PC One discussion at the Intel Developer forum went into great length on the wonders and bene- fits of software audio. In other words, instead of having a sound card, you'd have the CPU process all audio data. Intel suggested that on a 300MHz Pentium II, "233MHz will be free after audio processing." Gee, and I thought with all these hardware accelera- tors coming out for 3D graphics and audio, we'd finally have some spare CPU cycles for game Al and physics. Intel thinks other- wise, and would just as soon you use those CPU cycles for sound processing — meaning if you want better performance, you pay more money for a faster CPU. Guess what; Soft audio will be targeted for low-end (51,000) systems. Core gamers willing to shell out bucks will of course get a Katmai CPU and a PCI sound card with DirectSound accelera- tion. The performance difference between high end and low end will get even greater. Intel also wants to eliminate legacy hardware — which means no more ISA bus. While this will cause some financial pain for people who might buy a "legacy free" system, it means, in the long run, better performance and easier upgrading. This is one change that I'm applauding. Then there’s Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), RDRAM is a new memory technology that promis- es to speed up the rate at which data is moved between memory and the CPU. Coupled with Katmai's streaming memory technology, we may see system bus speeds of 133MHz, 200MHz, or more. Of course, it means that if you upgrade to a RDRAM- capable motherboard and you want to use RDRAM, you get to throw away all that SDRAM you bought. There is a bit of good news: Those motherboards should also support SDRAM, easing the transition a bit. As 1999 draws to a close, we'll see the appearance of FireWire (IEEE 1394) as a disk interface in PCs, supplanting both IDE and SCSI. FireWire will be faster than either, and can support hot swappable hard drives. To complement this, a new technology called device bay may start to appear on PCs by year's end. Today, installing a hard drive or CD-ROM means turning off the system, opening the case, removing the hard drive, screwing in the new one, and so on. With device bay, you just pop the old drive out from the front of the case and slip in the new one. Power management will change, too. Today, we have fairly crude setups, with modest abilities to go to low-power state. Future PCs will never be completely turned off (like newer model televisions). Instead, when you hit the power switch, the system will go into a very low-power state. Pressing the power switch again brings the system back up. To some extent, you see this today, but the capabilities will be much more sophisticated. The Dawning of a New Age in Predictions So it looks like my general advice to build systems with upgrades in mind may change by the end of 1 999. At that point, it may be better to buy a new PC than to upgrade an existing one. My big fear is that PCs will become like modern cars. Ever try to "tune up" a car with an onboard computer and fuel injection? At any rate, 1 999 will be an interesting time for PC users and gamers. The only thing we can do now is wait to see what pans out and how much thinner our wallets will get. Now, where's that damned volcano? f<d'.v Tech Tips My multiplayer games seem to have some lag over a local area network. Is there anything I can do to improve performance? There are a couple of things you can do. First, If you're using TCP/IP, and you don't have to a network administra- tor to worry about, hard code your IP addresses. If this is an internal-only LAN, you can set the addresses to 192.168.0.XXX, where xxx can range from 1 to 255. Set the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0. Second, unbind your IPX protocol from file and print sharing. You can do this by going into the network control panel and unchecking the boxes for file sharing and print sharing in the IPX pro- tocol property sheet. If you have TCP/IP enabled (and you should), then you'll still have file sharing and print shar- ing, but overall performance during IPX net gaming should improve, since the network Isn't trying to do two things at once. TCP/IP games don't seem to be affected. Help! I just installed Frontpage 98 and now I have problems connecting with CompuServe! Frontpage 98 has the nasty habit of installing an older copy of Winsock, even if you're running Windows 98. The only thing to do is load the newer version of Winsock off the Windows 98 CD. The Windows 98 WINSOCK.DLL file is in the file PRECOPY1.CAB in \win98 on the Windows 98 install CD. You can get it by using the extract command from a DOS window: extract la x:\precopy1.cab winsock.dll /I c:\windows\system (where "x" is your CD- ROM's drive letter). 4 A v.computerganiing.( COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Ouality Mahitars 17” ViewSonic V73 .26dp add; S31S.00 19“ ViewSonic V95 .26dp add: $495.00 . . 21 “ ViewSonic P810 .25dp add: $1,050.00 ikilM'ER cDIIMS’ icffit' mm mi(x ■•kiK-kf! THE "GREY" Intel Pentium II 350MHzw/MMX AbltBHS 1-AGP 5-PCI 2-iSA Slots Intel 440BX Motherboard 51 2K Cache Expandable to 3e4MB SDRAM PC Power Cooling K-1 CPU Fan 64MB SDRAM (PC-100) 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive Canopus SPECTRA 2500TNT 16MB 6.5GB Ultra-ATA Hard-Drive SoundBlaster LIVE! 3D Sound Cambridge 4-Point Surround Speaker/Subwoofer System Toshiba 32X CD-ROM Player ATX Full-Tower Case 300 Watt PS KoolMaxx Video Cooling System 104-Enhanced Keyboard Microsoft Intellimouse PS/2 US Robotics 56KV.90 Fax/Modem Windows '98 Operating System Free Installation & Configuration of Favorite Games/Latest Drivers PRICE: $1,899.00 TRIE "HIVE-Mmp” Intel Pentium II 4aOMHz w/MMX Abit BH6 1-AGP 5-PCI 2-I5A Slots Intel 440BX Motherboard 512K Cache Expandable to 3e4MB SDRAM PC Power Cooling K-1 CPU Fan 128MB SDRAM (PC-100) 1 .44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive Canopus SPECTRA 2500 TNT 16MB Canopus Pure 3D Voodoo2 12MB Witchdoctor TV-OUT 10.1 GB Ultra-ATA Hard-Drive SoundBlaster LIVE! 3D Sound Cambridge 4-Point Surround Speaker/Subwoofer System Toshiba 32X CD-ROM Player ATX Full-Tower Case 300 Watt PS KoolMaxx Video Cooling System 104-Enhanced Keyboard Microsoft Intellimouse PS/2 US Robotics 56K V.90 Fax/Modem Windows '98 Operating System Free Installation & Configuration of Favorite Games/Latest Drivers PRICE: $2,499.00 EiiTiir "BOTTOM UNE: If you've got ihe money to F spend, this is the gaming system tn own." THE AREA.51VR Intel Pentium II 450MHz w/MMX Abit BH6 1-AGP 5-PCI 2-ISA Slots Intel 440BX Motherboard 512K Cache Expandable to 384MB SDRAM PC Power Cooling K-1 CPU Fan 128MB SDRAM (PC-IOO) 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive Canopus SPECTRA 2500 TNT 16MB Canopus Pure 3D Voodoo2 24MB SLI-ModeWitchdoctorTV-OUT H3D Stereoscopic VR Glasses 14.4G6 IBM Deskstar HD (7200RPM) Iomega Internal ZIP Drive 100MB SoundBlaster LIVE! 30 Sound Intensor Sensory Gaming Chair Speaker/Subwoofer System Toshiba 3rd Generation OVD Player ATX Full-Tower Case 300 Watt PS KoolMaxx Video Cooling System 104-Enhanced Keyboard j Microsoft Inteilimouse PS/2 US Robotics 56K V.90 Fax/Modem Microsoft Sidewinder ForcePeedback Joystick Windows ‘98 Operating System ; Free Installation & Configuration of Favorite Games/Latest Drivei^ www.alieixiWare-pc.coivi Tall Free: 1-8aa-494-338B Go to #105 @ wTww.computergaming.com/infolink TWO RECIPES FOR THE ULTIMATE GAMING MACHINE NO HOLDS BARRED COMPOniENT PRODUCT PRICE WEB ADDRESS Motherboard ASUSP2B-LS S294 www.asus.com CPU Pentium IIM50 S497 www.iniel.com Memorv 256MB of Corsair PCIOO SDRAM S424 N/A Disk Controller Built-in Ultra2 SCSI N/A Primary Graphics Canopus Spectra 2500 S199 www.canopu5CQfp.com Secondary Graphics QuantumBD Obsidian X24 S426 www.quanium3d.com DVD Decoder Quadrant Cinemaster S102 N/A 3.5“ Floppy Drive TEAC $20 Hard Drive Seagate Cheetah 18 51,215 www.5eagate.com Backup Iomega Ja; 2 S318 www.iomega.com CD-ROM /DVD Pioneer SCSI DVD-302 S130 www.pioneerusa.com Monitor Sony 50DP5 $1,128 www.sony.com Primary Audio Creative Sound Blaster Live S83 www.soundblaster.com Speakers LFT-11 S500 www.eminent-tech.com Altec Lansing ACS-43 S50 www.altecmm.com Modem 3Com ImpactlQ $200 rr<m Networking Built-in Intel 10/100 Ethernet chip N/A Case Supermicro 750A S1S4 www.supermicro.com Power Supply Turbocool 300 $129 www.pcpowefcoolinq.com Keyboard Logitech Newtoucb $45 www.logitech.com Mouse / Pointing Device Logitech Cordless Wheel Mouse S49 www.logitech.com Action Game Controller Microsoft Sidewinder Freestyle S75 wwv.microsoft.com/hardware Flight Joystick ThrustMaster F22 Pro S129 WWW, thrustmastet.com Throttle ThrustMaster TQS S109 www.ihrustmaster.com Rudder Pedals ThrustMaster Elite RCS S79 www.lhrustma5ier.cam Driving Controls ECO COS 4000 SI, 129 outworld.compusefve.com/homepages/extfeme/ LEAN & MEAN $ 7.484 ) COMPONENT PRODUCT PRICE WEB ADDRESS Motherboard AbitBHB S98 www.abit.com.tw CPU Pentium 11/400 -t- fan S369 Memory 64MB PCIOO SDRAM S109 N/A Disk Conuoller Built-in UOMA/33 N/A Primary Graphics STB Velocity 4400 5134 mvw.stb.com Secondary Graphics Diamond Monster 30 II 12MB S139 www.diamondmm.com Floppy Drive TEAC S20 wwwteaccom Hard Drive IBM Deskstar 14 10.1GB drive 5229 mvw.ibm.com CD-ROM /DVD Kenwood Multibeam S119 wmv, kenwoodcorp.com Monitor OptiquestVTS S345 www.optiguest.com Primary Audio Turtle Beach Montego S94 www.voyetra.com Secondary Audio NA N/A Speakers Boston Acoustics BA635 S99 www.bostonacoustic5.com Modem US Robotics V.90 S113 www.3com.com NeNvorking NA N/A Case Elan Vital TIO-AB $79 www.elanvital.coni.lw Power Supply Built-in, 235W N/A Keyboard Logitech Newtouch $45 www.logitech.com Mouse / Pointing Device Logitech USB Wheel Mouse $22 www.logitech.com Action Game Controller ThrustMaster Rage3D $29 www.lhruslmaster.com Flight Controls CH F16 Combat Stick $79 www.chptoducts.com We have made eveiy effort to ensure that this information would be timely and ' accurate. However, new hardware is constantly being released, and magazine production and distribution involves an 8- to 1 0-week delay. In cases where new products were close to release at press time, we have kept our current top choice so that we recommend only finished products we have tested. Lists compiled by Dave Salvator artdLoyd Case. ^.computergaming.r COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 Let’s talk about yo “Gateway © 1998 Gateway 2000. Itio. All fights resGrved. Gateway and the Gateway stylized logo are trademarks, and Your:)Waro is a service mark of Gateway 2000, Ire. The irttei irrside Logo, Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks and Pentium II Xeon is a trademark ol Iho Intel Corporation. All ollior brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks el their respective companies, All prices and configurations are subiect to change without notice or obligalion. Prices do not include shipping and handling or any other applicable takes. Many Gateway products are engineered to Gateway specifications, which may vary trom retail versions of the sollwarl and/or hardware in functionality, perlormance or compatibility. 1. Gateway purchases will qualily for the Youf:)Ware program by 1) linancirg through a Gateway aulhorized l^ander; 2) purchasing sik months ol galeway.net""- and/or 3) buying an addilional sollware bundle, Trade-in available at any time between the lust day of the 24lh month and the last day of the 49th month alter delivery of Your; Ware product. Trade-in credit is only available if you purchase a new Galoway product. Gateway will give you the average wholesale value on the YouriJWare product, in good condition as determined by Gateway s sole discretion using l^ie then ourreni Orion Blue Book or anolher, similar commercially reasonable Induslry standard determined by Gateway. Other terms and conditions apply. Call our toll-tree number for details 2 Maxiniurn data Irarrs erra edepe^rd^e^nj upon certain variables includino oarticular modems with which you are communicating JcIephoneJines communications sollware angl communications prolocols._ J- Oall 1 ioUU-mjAJ tWAY_or WMte^US ? Terms & C c^nlin'enta'l^UniteB States.:. Ai&ska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico aiiu oaiiaua ^cAUluullla Miiuc, ncyiuv/uiviv., . Myiiuu.,^ . , , ^ , are administered bv PC Technoloqv Services, Inc. See agreements for specific terms and limitations. 4. Loan imancmg available on approved credit through independent tender. Payments based on 48-niohth term and an Annual Percentage Rate as low as 14.9%. Your APR may be higher, 2% access chock fee (S2min./$15max.): not applicable to Gateway purchases. 5, S14.95 galeway.ne- - - - Killer graphics. Killer acoustics. Killer speed. A computer that understands your sensitive side. pentlurn'll xeon...| At Gateway, we have just the computer you need to keep on top of the latest technology and wipe out your gaming rivals. Like the GX-450XL. It’s got an Intel® Pentium’* II Xeon™ processor with 450MHz — the fastest out there — and lots of other great stuff like a 128MB SDRAM, a 16MB graphics accelerator, and a Boston Acoustics® Digital MediaTheater™ sound system. Plus with our YourOWare^**' program' — which gives you the option to trade it in toward the purchase of a new one after two years — you can stay up to speed with the latest technologies. Besides, these features will also come in handy for that other part of your life — you know, the part that occasionally uses a computer for something other than saving the planet from alien invasions. Every Gateway client is unique, and so is every Gateway™ PC. These systems are just examples of what we can build for you. Blastoff I Hyperspace G6-450 ■ GX-4S0XL • Intel’ Pentium^ II Processor 450MHz with 512K Cache •64MB SDRAM • EV700 .28 Screen Pitch 17" Monitor (15.9" viewable) • 16MB AGP Graphics Accelerator • 10GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive • DVD-ROM & MPEG2 Decoder • 3.5" Diskette Drive • SoundBlaster’ AudioPCr''' 64D • Boston Acoustics^ BA635’^' Speokers • U.S. Robotics* 56K^ Voice Winmodem • Mid-Tower Case • MultiFunction Keyboard & Mouse • Microsoft Windows* 98 & MS' Home Essentials’'' Software • Extreme Gaming II Software (Content suitable for ages 17 and older. ) • Gateway Gold*’’' Service’ As low as $59/mo. for 48 mos. or $2098“ • Intel' Pentium' II Xeon"'' Processor 450MHz with 512K Cache •128MB SDRAM • VX900 .26 Screen Pitch 19" Monitor (18" viewable) • 16MB NVIDIA"' RIVA TNT™ AGP Graphics •TV/FM Tuner Card • 16CB Ultra ATA Hard Drive • DVD-ROM & MPEC2 Decoder • Philips’ CD-RW (CD-Rewritable) Drive • 3.5" Diskette Drive • SoundBlaster AudioPCI 64D • Boston Acoustics Digital MedioTheater 3-Piece Speaker System • U.S. Robotics 56K’ Voice Winmodem • Tower Case • MultiFunction Keyboard & Mouse • Microsoft Windows 98 & MS Choice Software • Gateway Cold Service' As low as $112/mo . for 48 mos. or $3999“ Internet access provided by gateway.net’” for $14.9S/mo.' call 1-S00-846-8571 www.gateway.com/yourware Go to #253 @ www.computergamlng.com/infollnk 1 REVIEW • INTEL PENTIUM II OVERDRIVE PROCESSOR More Power, Scotty by Dave Salvator I ntel's Pentium Pro processor enjoyed only a short stint as the company's flagship, getting quickly overshadowed by the Pentium II onslaught. If you got a Pentium Pro-equipped box when they came out, you're probably thinking about upgrading your CPU and motherboard. Well, Intel has another option for you to consider: Xeon, the OverDrive's 512KB L2 cache runs at the CPU's APPEAL: Gamers with Pentium Pro boxes who want more speed without a motherboard swap. PROS: Ups performance about 25 per- cent on games; easy installation; adds MMX. CONS: Still uses Pentium Pro's 440FX chipset no AGP; potential compatibility problems; very expensive compared to other upgrade options. Price: S550 (street) Manufacturer: Intel (408) 765-80 a Socket 8 Pentium II OverDrive. Speed grades for 180MHz and 200MHz Pentium Pros are 300MHz and 333MHz, respectively. Intel says that this OverDrive will be the last one in its product line and will effectively turn a Pentium Pro box into a Xeon machine. Like Intel's full clock speed, which moves things along faster. But also like Xeon, this upgrade option is expen- sive. In fact, you can find a Pentium 11 400MHz CPU and a motherboard for less than OverDrive's $550 cost. On WinBench 99's CPU tests, OverDrive clearly outpaces Pentium 1 PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS 1 WinBench 99 Fro 3D WinBench 99 Pentium Pro 3D GameGauge (8x6) Pentium II 333MHr OterOilve Pro, with an 82 percent speedup in integer perfor- mance and a 66 percent bump in floating-point per- formance. In 3D WinBench 99. OverDrive was 58 percent in the Transform and Lighting test, a CPU- intensive test that measures how fast triangles can be transformed and lit in Direct3D. These numbers seem to make OverDrive a winner, but on 3D GameGauge the 24 per- cent speedup is less impressive. Theoretical performance is fine, but OverDrive's real game perfor- mance doesn't warrant its price tag. After the upgrade, you still have a 66MHz system memory bus, a 33MHz PCI bus, and no way to add AGP. If you can’t part with your Socket 8 motherboard, OverDrive = will breathe new life into your rig. But you'd do better to swap in an AGP motherboard and a new Pentium II processor. REVIEW • MONSOON MULTIMEDIA SPEAKERS MM-1000 Sounds From the Flat by Dave Salvator “I know this violates the laws of physics, but you see, / never studied law . " — Bugs Bunny B ending the laws of physiG seems to be a trend. Getting clean, loud output from satel- lites with two-inch drivers has APPEAL: Gamers looking to soup up their audio. PROS: Terrific overall sound; ample vol- ume: boomin' bass; affordable magnetic planar design. CONS: Volume control doesn't work well; stiil a little pricey compared to Cambridge PC Works and Boston Acoustics 635s. Price: S229 Manufacturer: Monsoon Multimedia (877) PCAUDIO become commonplace, with impressive offerings from both Boston Acoustics and Cambridge SoundWorks. But there's another approach. Using magnetic planar technology licensed from Eminent Technologies (makers of the impressive LFT-lls) along with its own manufacturing process. Mon- soon Multimedia produces a speaker system featuring flat-panel satellites and a woofer/amplifier that deliver impressive audio for a little over $200. Now, this may seem pricey relative to Boston Acoustics' and Cambridge’s offer- ings, both of which are under $100. However, compared to Eminent's LFT-1 1 s, the Monsoons look like a pretty good deal. Setup is pretty straightforward. The only kludge in the design is the "hockey puck" volume control. The sparse documentation claims this control will allow you to control volume and mute the speakers, but I was only able to do the latter, toggling between mute and blastissimo. Even if it had worked as advertised, it's not intu- itive. The controls on the front of the woofer cabinet let you tweak overall volume, bass level, and what Monsoon terms "punch,” which boosts the 55Hz band 6dB for added bass response. Now we get to the good part. The Monsoons sound terrific, with the very "tight" imaging typical of magnetic planar speakers. This makes for a focused "sweet spot," where stereo imaging is precise and well placed — as is 3D posi- tional audio. Overall sound quality is solid throughout the audible fre- quency range, although there's no granular control for treble settings, and the high-frequency part of the signal becomes less discernible if you move out of the sweet spot. Audio CDs ranging from Beethoven to Cassandra Wilson sounded great, and gaming audio was equal- ly beefy. 3D positional audio from a Vortex2 reference board was ren- dered well. Thanks to Monsoon's 50-watt amplifier, these units can be cranked up pretty loud before there's any perceptible distortion — louder than either the Cambridge or Boston Acoustics low-cost units. Overall, the Monsoons bring a lot together. They have great audio quality, and they make magnetic planar technology more affordable. These speakers are now finding homes in Micron's newest systems. If you’re in the market for a pair of solid speakers, maybe they should find a home in your rig too. t COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 ^.computergaming.com photo; Michael Falconet Michael Falcor Wow! Audio for your computer that fl) g A3D’"from Aureal actually puts audio into perspective- ^ newest titles. Experience A3D for yourself at (U u Q} jtn "<3 o _o o 2 (U U) p 5 o c. o cr Q 00 < O >. d> c CD OQ tn 0) o O) OD c >. XI c 6u|>|jn] su3|)e BELIEVE YOUR EARS" Check out Sin^ the cutting edge new game from Activision & Ritual - It's got A3D. Enter online.- http://elexis.a3d.com O" Q. <■ a! 3* (Q 0“ n> (D 0 3 (A ■o (D QJ TT CD U) 1 O' '< (D Oi (D 01 (A O C 3 Q. (A O Q) '< O c 0 ) peeu noA uaijM Apueq uj saoioo )| op sjea CD CO '< o (D 0) "I (0 o “1 QJ O TT (/) o (n (D (U '< '< o c “1 a> >< (0 (n £U tn Aiuappns jj mou sueaiu LiD!Liy\/\ spjOM asaqi 6 u!>|dbji 01998 AuiCil Semlconduclor, Inc. A3D >n<l AuihI sr« liadamaiht at Auiaal Semieonducloi Inc. Other tiadefliarki arc propciliet ol their lospecliva avnert. AcllvlilenO It a railtleied trademark of Activlilon, Inc. flilual and Sin are trademaihi d( Ritual entertainment. Sin imaget are copyrightO Ritual Entertainment. Monster Sound It a reglttered Irodemath of Monster Cablefi. All trade names referenced are the service mark, trademark, or registered trademarks of their respective manutacturers. Go to #271 @ www.coiiiputergaming.com/lnfolink ! i REVIEW • REVIEW: ACT FORCE RS Costs Less, More by Loyd Case magine a force-feedback wheel for under $140. That’s not much more than some mid- range analog steering wheels. Richmond, BC-based ACT Labs has managed to pull off a real coup with the Force RS. Not only is computer' 1 APPEAL Price conscious gamers look- ing for a force-feedback wheei. PROS: Good grip on v4ieel; great pedals; solid feel. CONS: Serial port required (USB version to ship soon). REQUIREMENTS: Pentium 90 with free serial port. Price: S139 Manufacturer; ACT labs (800) 980-9997 this wheel cheaper than the com- petition, it's in some ways better. The first thing you notice is the grip. The genuine, simulated fine Corinthian leatherlike wrap around the padded wheel just feels right. There are seven buttons along the front face of the wheel and a pair of paddle shifters. Cosmetically, the wheel is slick, a touch subdued, and even a bit dangerous looking. The wheel plugs into a free serial port, which can be a problem for some users. But you’ll be able to upgrade easily to the USB plug-in cartridge, which will be around $25 when it ships. Another big plus is the pedal base. The ACT Labs pedal set is easily the best I've used in a low-cost wheel, and the base never moved on my carpeted floor. The angle and resistance of the gas and brake pedals feels just right, too. Filling NEED FOR SPEED III and can report that the forces generated by this wheel feel about right. They're not so strong that they wrench the wheel out of your hands, but you definitely feel it when you collide head-on. The level of resistance in normal road han- dling felt good, and the belt-driven motor didn't feel quite as "notchy” as the Microsoft wheel. I also boot- ed up the INTERSTATE 76 NITRO PACK and was pleasantly surprised to get some force feedback out of the game since it was tuned for Microsoft's wheel. About the only fault ! found is the mounting brackets. While this worked reasonably well on a flat desktop, when used on a folding I spent a lot time with EA's of table I have with sup- porting ridges under the tabletop, the wheel didn't seat all the way forward, which made it a bit wob- bly, Still, the mounting gear is easy to use and should work with most desktops. All in all, the Force RS is a real winner. The only downside is that ACT Labs doesn't have the distrib- ution muscle of a Microsoft, so you'll have to order it direct. If you like arcade racing and even get into racing simulators in a casual way, you owe it to yourself to give this a whirl. REVIEW • CELERON 333-A Intel's Baby Pentium II by Loyd Case f irst of all, let's dispense with the overclocking question. Yes, you can overclock a Celeron-A. If you do, it will always run at a fixed multi- plier of the bus speed. The 300MHz part will run at 450MHz if COMPUTER^ CSAMIMG APPEAL Usere on a tight budget look- ing for near-Penlium II performance. PROS: it's cheap. CONS: Unless you're into overclocking, it’s not all that fast REQUIREMENTS: 440BX-. 440LX-, or 440EX-based motherboard witii one slot. Price: S220 (street) Manufacturer: Intel (408) 765-8080 the bus speed is 1 0OMHz. The 333MHz part will run at 500MHz, It may be stable, but it may not. C6W generally doesn't recommend this degree of overclocking, but if you do, be aware of the risks. If you do want to experiment with over- clocking, the 300MHz part may be more stable. Now, let's assume for the moment that we'll be running our Celeron-A at the rated clock speed, 333MH2, and that the sys- tem bus is set to 66MHz. How does the Celeron-A compare against the 350MHz Pentium II, which costs about $110 more at the time of this writing? For 5110 less, it compares reasonably well. As we expected, the CPUMark 32 scores were somewhat less, as were the FPUMark scores from WinBench 99. The big surprise was the 3D GameGauge scores. The 350MHz Pentium II clocked in at 447 for 3D GameGauge, whereas the Celeron-A eked out just under PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS 3D GameGauge (8x6) Celeron-A 33Smt Pentium II 35aMHt 380 — about 15 percent slower. Note that everything except the CPU was identical — we simply swapped in the CPU and set the correct clock speed. (We tested on an Abit BH6 motherboard with 64MB of SDRAM and an STB Velocity 4400 graphics card.) In other words, for a third less money, you get 15 percent less performance, which seems like a reasonable tradeoff. So even if you're not into over- clocking, the Celeron-A, with its | 128KB of Level 2 cache running at ^ the full speed of the CPU, may be a | good deal. It will not, however, break | any performance records. LK'iVJ | COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » MNUARY 1999 ti.computergaming.c REVIEW • LOGITECH SOUNDMAN EXTREME Soundman Extreme-ly Bland by Loyd Case hen I first saw the Logitech Soundman Extreme, the first thought that entered my head was "Labtech." That was a somewhat uncharitable assess- ment. On the surface, the COMf»C»TER' 1 GAMIMG^ APPEAL: Loyal Logitech customers or those gamers who can’t find any other decent speakers. PROS: Decent game audio; very easy to set up. CONS: Underwhelming bass output; muddy music. Price: S149 (msnulacturer list price) Manulaciuier: Logitech (SIO) 795-8500 Soundman Extreme vaguely resem- bles some of Labtech's speakers. But the Soundman cost more, and they sound better. Having said that, let me add that these speakers don't sound great. For SI 49, you would expect some- thing pretty solid. I ran a bunch of music CDs to get a feel for the overall balance and clarity of the Soundman speakers, and I found them wanting for playing musical material. Sharp acoustic guitar attacks sound flabby, and vocal sibilants sound overly exaggerated. Despite Logitech's claims of fre- quency response down to 28H2, the deep bass response was practi- cally nonexistent. All this sounds dismal, but the speakers do excel in a couple of areas. Stereo imaging is very good, which is a must with HRTF 3D posi- tional audio schemes like Aureal's A3D. The speakers seem to have a midrange emphasis, which means that speech material sounds prominent. This is handy in games, where the speech is often mixed down in the mud of the back- ground sounds. So despite the lack of musi- cal fidelity, these speak- ers don't sound half bad with games. The speakers them- selves are very compact. Two satellites take up very little room on your desktop. But the bass unit is almost tiny, so it's no surprise that the bass output is anemic. Setup is easy, and there's no power brick since the power module is inte- grated into the bass module. Overall, the Soundman Extreme is a decent, though unspectacular, first effort from a company known more for pointing devices and game controllers. But there are bet- ter speakers that cost less, like the Cambridge SoundWorks PC Works and the Boston Acoustics BA635s. In comparison, Logitech's Sound- man Extreme seems like a wan ; debutante wallflower compared to ; the prom-queen presence of the BA635's. S3I7 1 REVIEW • PROTON MM750I Sight and Sound by Loyd Case M ultimedia monitors with built-in speakers and microphones seem attrac- tive at first glance. Wouldn’t it be great to have PC display, speakers, and microphone all in one compact computer' 1 GAMIA^ APPEAL: Users with limited space and modest audio needs who want a 1 7-inch monitor. PROS: Decent audio for built-in speakers. CONS: Slight, but noticeable rnoir^ pat- tern throughout the display at high reso- lutions in Windows. Price: S399 Manulaciurer: Proton Cerritos, CA package? The Proton MM750i comes close — closer than other so- called multimedia monitors. But it falls short of its aspirations. Unpacking and setting up proved to be something of a chore. The swivel base was a pain to attach. The monitor ships with audio cables, but they are very short. As a nod to the user with gothic taste, the monitor ships in a black version as well as beige. Once past the cabling hurdle, the MM750 proved to be a capa- ble, if unspectacular, 1 7-inch moni- tor. With a 1 5.8-inch viewing area, it offers a fairly low bandwidth, supporting a scant 65Hz refresh rate at 1 280x1 024. At a more rea- sonable 1024x768, the Proton managed an 85Hz refresh rate. We did notice a slight moire pattern in Windows, though not in gameplay. Controls are simple, with the now-familiar "wheel button" on the front of the screen. Press the wheel, and the on- screen display pops up, Rotate the wheel, and you can select your option and adjust speaker volume. The good news about the speakers is that they don't suck. The bad news is, they don't sound nearly as good as a pair of stand- alone speakers. The monitor's bass unit has an odd, vertical tube pro- truding out of the right rear corner and has its own 14-watt amplifier. The satellites share an 8-watt amplifier, but they're side-firing, rather than front-facing and have a ''3D audio" effect built in that isn't true positional audio. Instead, the effect widens the sound stage; but it can't be disabled, so there's always some reverb, and the sound is never com- pletely clean. Music played through the Proton tends to sound artificial. Games fare much bet- ter, and the unit pumps out a sur- prisingly loud volume. Bass came off subdued — there's only so much you can do with a four-inch woofer. If you're tight on dollars and desk space, you might consider the Proton — especially if you don't play audio CDs on your computer. The picture quality is decent, and the audio isn't awful. But if you can, get stand-alone speakers and a separate monitor. Your ears will be most grateful. v.computergaming.c COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 I could so kick her ass at Quake' She looks so pretty. penti,um=|[ \ ■ ■■■*1 i 1 i L i HARDCORE SYSTEMS FOR HARDCORE GAMERS. Award-Winning Complete Internet-Ready' 450MHz System Starting at Just Si, 699 If \ Model Name Millennia 350 Millennia 450 Millennia 350 MAX Millennia 450 MAX Processor Cache Memory Hard Drive Monitor DVD/CD-ROM Modem Graphics Sound System Warranty Intel Pentium ' II processor 350MHz 512XB internal L2 cache 64MB lOOMHzSORAH 8.4GB UltraATA hard drive* 17" Micron 700V)! monitor (15.9'' display) 32Xma>! speed CD-ROM drive 3Com/U.S. Robotics 56K WinModem*’ nVidia Riva 129, SMB SGRAM ID AGP graphics PCI 64-volce Wavetable sound 5-yfar/3-yeai Micron Power* limited warranty Intel Pentium II processor 450MHz 512XB Internal L2 cache 123MB lOOMHz SDRAM 1I.6GB UltraATA hard drive* 19" Micron 90014 monitor (18" display) 4.aXDV0!II ROM drive 3Com/U.S. Robotics 56K WinModem” nVidia RIva 128, SMBSGRAHSDAGPgraphics PCI 64-voice Wavetable sound 5-yeat/3-yearHlmn Power limited warranty Intel Pentium H processor 3S0MHz S12KB internal L2 cache 12SHS lOOHHz SDRAM 14.4GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA hard drive* 19" Hicron 900bt monitor (18' display) 4.BX DVDIII ROM drive 3Com/U.S. Robotics 56K WinModem" Diamond Viper S50 nVidia TnT, I6HB graphics PCI 64-voice Wavetable sound 5-year/3-year Micron Power bmited warranty Intel Pentium II processor 45DMHz 512KB internal L2 cache 12BH8 lODMHzSDRAH 14.4GB 7200 RPH Ultra ATA hard drive* 19" Hlaon 90014 monitor (IB'dispby) 4.8X DVDIII ROM drive SCom/U.S. Robotics 56K WinModem" Diamond Viper 550 nVidia Tnl, t6H8 graphics PCI 64-vDice Wavetable sound 5-year/3-year Hicron Power limited warranty Software Included Microsoft' Windows' 9B Hiciosolt Oifice 97 Small Business Edition Norton AntiVIrus Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Office 97 Small Business Edition Norton AntiVirus Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Office 97 SmaL Business Edition Norton AntiVirus Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Office 97 Small Business Edition Norton AntiVirus Also Includes: New HIcioTower’' case Advent AV009 stereo speaRets 104-key enhanced keyboard Microsoft IntelliHouse' I, S' floppy drive New MkioTowercase Monsoon HHIOOO flat panel speakers with subwoofer 104-key enhanced keyboard Microsoft InlelllMouse 3,5’ floppy drive Micron MiniTowercase Monsoon HHIOOO flat panel speakers with subwoofer 100M8 Iomega Zip Drive 1D4-Icey enhanced keyboard Microsoft InlelUHouse 3.5" floppy drive Hicron MiniTowercase Monsoon HHIOOO flat panel speakers with subwoofer lOOHB Iomega Zip Drive 104-key enhanced keyboard Microsoft IntelliHouse 3,5’ floppy drive Price 1,499 ■ ^ IWW pjymsniPlan 4Bmos. ^ 2^99 Payment Plan * 2 , 699 ^ 3 );; Payment Plan 48mos. ® 2^99 ‘33/™ Payment Plan AfeivioivPr/ee/ 48mo5. Play to win. New Rules. New Tools." ORDER DIRECT 1 - 888 - 669-0969 Call us toll-free or order online at www.micronpc.com/cgw REVIEW • THE INTENSOR CHAIR Ass-inine Peripheral by Loyd Case I survived the VFX-1 virtual reali- ty helmet, having nearly ripped out my ears straying too far from the PC to which it was tethered. 1 survived an explod- ing network interface card, having removed my head from the inside of the case only seconds COMPUTER GAMIIMG _WORI.D APPEAL: People who buy products based on the way they look. PROS: It looks like an alien chair from a 5far 7rek episode. CONS: Uncomfortable as hell; sounds terrible; expensive; a pain to set up. Price; chair, 5293: amp/subwoofer SI 99; chair base $99; S597 total (street). Manufacturer: BSG laboratories Panama City, FL (850)265-5000 before it self-destructed. I’ve even survived lifting 21 -inch monitors. But i nearly didn't survive the Intensor. After only a half-hour in this baby. I felt like I had three compressed vertebrae, I had whacked my funny bone three times on the so-called armrests, and 1 nearly blew out my eardrums when I rolled the chair back and yanked out the a!l-too-short tether from the amplifier. The result was a huge popping sound that left my ears ringing. If you get the Intensor, skip get- ting the base. The Intensor itself isn't too difficult to set up, but installing it into the five-wheel pedestal nearly reduced two grown men to tears. Attaching the arm- rests proved an interesting exercise in puzzle solving. Worse, the chair is easier to install in its folded posi- tion (since it would fail over any- way), but the armrests prevent the unit from unfolding once installed. On top of all this, it sounds terrible. The speakers sound tinny and flat, and the bass is pretty pathetic. Even with the subwoofer active, there wasn't a lot of bass rumble, and musical content sounded abysmal. Gameplay wasn't par- ticularly enhanced either. The Intensor may simply be poorly suited for modern PC games, Many games are coming out with 3D audio support via DirectSoundBD, Creative's EAX, or Aureal's A3D positional audio, and the Intensor completely screws up the imaging in 3D audio. I played around with A3D settings, even changing to headphones, but the 3D effect was either lost or ren- dered incorrectly by the position of the speakers in the chair, Controls are pretty basic, with a power switch on the main unit and a pair of controls on the chair itself — right between your legs. One is a volume control; the other controls the intensity of the — uh— effea. If you have the subwoofer, there's a volume knob and crossover adjust- ment on the bass unit. Cranking everything up didn't really make me "feel the action," though. Stay away from this turkey — unless you really do want a stiff neck. K't.'.v REVIEW • NASCAR SPRINT RACING WHEEL Easy Rider by Jeff "I Can't Drive 45" Green I hate hardware, and hardware hates me. Take any functioning piece of computer equipment, give it to me, and sit back as springs fly, circuits short, and all sorts of other bad voodoo goes down. This is why I was asked to review ThrustMaster's NASCAR Sprint Racing Wheel, an ultra-cheap, low-end steering APPEAL Newbie PC drivers looking for their first wheel. PROS: Simple installation and calibra- tion; small footprint; low price point. CONS; Tiny pedals from hell. Price: $79.95 (list price) Manufacturer: ThrustMasier {503)615-3200 wheel aimed squarely at first-time wheel buyers. Since a chimpanzee wasn't available, I was the next best thing to the ultimate hard- ware-impaired gamer. This wheel delivers on its promises. I had the Sprint Racing Wheel set up, installed, and ready to race in about three minutes. It's nearly Plug-and-Play — all you have to do is attach the enclosed damps to the wheel, fasten the wheel to your desk, and plug the cord into your gameport. Software installa- tion is just as simple. An install CD basically takes care of everything for you, including a superintuitive, visual calibration before you use the wheel for the first time. The Sprint Racing Wheel's foot- print is much smaller than higher- end wheels, making it a conve- nient, practical choice for those with a cramped workspace. Happiiy, the smaller footprint does not in any way lessen the quality of the driving experience. The wheel itself is small but solid and has a rock-steady feel to it as you drive, I've played with much more expensive wheels that didn't feel nearly as good as this one. There are four programmable but- tons on the Sprint Racing Wheel (as opposed to just two on ThrustMaster's higher-end NASCAR Pro Racing Wheel). There are two levers underneath the wheel that can be either mapped as buttons or as throttle and brake controls — depending on whether you want to use the Sprint Racing Wheel’s enclosed pedals, And this leads to the product's only serious flaw — these pedals suck. The pedal unit is small and flimsy, is easily knocked over, and the pedals themselves are so tiny that it's a struggle not to press both at once, Fortunately, the levers on the wheel work quite well — because you'll definitely want to use these instead of the pedals. As long as you can handle the compromise of either using no pedals or lousy pedals, the NASCAR Sprint Racing Wheel is a great first steering wheel. It's cheap, easy-to-use, and has the high-quality feel of more expensive ThrustMaster products. For those new to the driving game, it's a solid choice, SSJ COMPUTER GAMING WORLD » JANUARY 1999 /.computergaming.< DO SOMETHING MORON! Kegon Falls UJhen you design and build a 50-story tower with euerything from deluKe hotel rooms to juice bars to security systems, problems will arise, find some will be more challenging than others. Like massiue fires. Terrorist bomb threats. Rnd 87-year-old ladies who bought million dollar condos only to find themselues liuing under the hottest raue in town, www.yootpc.com VOOT Tower [vou BUILD IT. VOU DEAL UJITH IT. ABUSE CTEINAl AMMUNIIlO>^ •MMOftlALItY POWER' windows" 95/98 nintendo 64’ sega saturn- playstation” game When the clutches of evil have the city by its throat, when justice shoulders and the troubled masses cry out your name, you do whatever it do right. And shortcuts are no exception. With GameShark for Windows* 95/9^ game enhancer, you get the superpower to leap to the next level in a single bound. Long before the enemy, and the competition. You can also acquire superhuman strength, speed and longevity, if that's what the job requires. Whether you're top dog or underdog, evil will always pay, and good will always prevail. FERPCTUAL cash 1 $ 1 1 game boy" Registered to WIN a Falcon Northwest Computer System ($4000 Value)! / When you register your GameShark™ for Windows® 95/98. Check out www.gameshark.com for details! Available at these fine retailers: COMPUSA o mcemtax sollwiie® ©tar(»- vwhart 1 REVIEW • VIEWSONIC VP150 Flat-Out Beautiful by Loyd Case I 've been skeptical of flat-panel displays for gamers, but this one made me a convert. I’m used to laptop displays that either shrink or get horribly distorted when the resolution changes, but this is no longer a problem. If you don't mind the somewhat small image and the COMPUTER^ GAMING _ WORLD APPEAL; People with cramped desk space and looking for a superb display. PROS: It's small, fairly bright, and veiy, veiy flat. CONS: Expensive. Price: S995 Manjfactuier: ViewSonic Walnut, CA (800) 888-8583 nearly $1 .000 price tag, the ViewSonic VP1 50 may be just the thing to grace your desktop. The VP1 50 is an analog flat- panel display that works with any graphics card. It's not a digital flat panel and thus doesn't require a special graphics card. There's none of the usual distortion associated with tube displays, such as pincush- ioning, misconvergence, or trape- zoid adjustments. Setup is straight- forward — unpack it, plug in the VGA and power cables, and turn it on. I did have to hunt for the cleverly hidden power switch, though. (It's on the right side.) Although it's only a 1 5-inch dis- play, it's a true 1 5 inches diago- nally and somehow feels bigger. There's no tube to hide under the bezel, so it's really equivalent to a mythical 16-inch tube-based display. It's so flat that at first it appears concave if you're used to standard monitors. One concern with LCD displays in the past was the limited viewing angle. ViewSonic specs the viewing angle at 140 degrees horizontal, but it does start to fade a bit after being about 45 degrees off center. Still, for most uses that's not an issue. The picture itself is bright and steady, and in a close visual inspection, I noticed no dark spots — pretty impressive for a 1024x769 LCD. Clearly, LCDs have improved a great deal over the last several years. I put the monitor through its paces by running QUAKE II and CIVILIZATION II through a number of different resolutions. I was very impressed. Even when running QUAKE II at 320x240, theVPlSO displayed the image full screen. Image quality was veiy good, although the effects of interpolation of pixels was a bit disconcerting. At 640x480 and higher, there wasn't any noticeable image degradation. The maximum supported resolution is 1 024x768 at 75Hz, but there's no noticeable flicker at that setting. The VP1 50 is a great answer for tight desktops, provided you can afford it and can live with its 15- inch size. SPEED KILLS ATI RAGE FURY. So fast, you won’t know what hit you. • True 128-bit 3D and 2D graphics engine • Advanced 3D architecture including Superscaiar Rendering which doubles rendering performance and Single-Pass Multi- texturing to render images and effects together on the fly • A massive of memory for realistic 3D gameplay, massive textures and resolutions up to 1920x1200 • Designed for DirectX 5.0/6.0 and OpenGL with full iCD • integrated hardware DVD for incredible video playback • Features TV-out for big screen gaming Supports ATi-TV Wonder that turns your PC into a TV the New Sreed of Speed. vwvw.atitech.com/ad/cgw ® Copyri|ht 1998, ATI Technologies Inc. ATI, RAGE FURY and ATI-TV Wonder are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc- Produces may not be exactly as shown. • Experience 3D game action with true color performance at 1024x768 T he bloody hont for your enemy's^ FLAG CONTINUES. SURPASSING THE GAME ELECTRONIC G^ING MONTHLY AWARDED "1996 GAME OF THE YEAR", THIS SECOND GENERATIDN DF PULSE- PDUNDING 3D LAND, SEA AND AIR COMBAT^ IS THE ULTIMATE GAMING EXPERIENCE. Over 30 new maps with huge terrain and landscapes includ- ing jungle, desert and urban settings. Plus 2 new maps every month available on the website. Blast your opponents from ground and airborne vehicles Including Jump Jets, Tanks, Helf^ters, Assault Vehicles, Jeeps and PT Boats. Advanced enemy Al keeps you coming back for more! New 30 engine that creates more dynamic and realistic graphics and high quality 30 rendered objects. Full support for OpenGL and 3Dfx accelerator cards. Support for all joysticks including force feedback. Three perspectives... • first person • third person-close • third person-far ’-'u;, * 16 player action over the New multi-player support Internet, LAN, or 8 player/ 2 offers head-to-head dogfight computer direct connect & mode and cooperative or modem. Split screen 4 player death match action for up to mode on one computer. 16 players on LAN or internet. O ^ Panasonic- 0 193B Ripcord Games. RETURN FIRE 20 1997 ProliOc publlsnitiB. All Rights Reswed. All other Itadematks are Ihe properly of their respective companies. WINDDWS-OS CD-RDM IS BACK... “...a delightful 3-D Capture-the-Flag game that comes into its own in multiplay." _ pc Games ^ of™ “^^ether you’re a real-time strategy fanatic or a dyed-in-the-wool action hound, RF2’s IPJl got something for you.” -pccamer ..loads of fun and very addlcting...It’s the small attention to detail that wins you over.” . . an excellent value. Return Fire 2 is an unassuming action~fest with just enough strategy sprinkled on tqp to he nOteUJOrth^^^ — voodoo Magazine . .Amazing assortment of multiplayer modes. . . old fashioned, rock-solid gameplay — the best things never change." — Computer Gaming World Go to #078 @ wvm.Mniipiit9i4uning.com/infolink Lead a gang, control turf, build a power base and destroy your rivals on the mean streets of BEATDOWN. Real-time, missio based urban action takes you where no game has gone. Compete head-to- players via LAN Internet or mode 415/567-9501 http://www.hotb.com 1255 Post Street, Suite 1040 San Francisco, CA 94109 © 1998 HOT-B USA, Inc. All rlghls reserved. Bealdewn Is a Irademark 01 HOT-B USA. lirc.HOT.B is a reglslered r' trademark of HOT-B USA. Inc. ©1998 SOAR SOFTWARE. Cotp. SOAR SOFTWARE is a fradematk ol SOAR SOFTWARE CORP. Qo to #083 @ www.computergaming.com/infolink Developed by GET READY FOR A BEATDOWN! THE MOST TRUSTED REVIEWS FOR 17 YEARS 1 This Month CGW Editors' Choice Games Are Indicated in Yellow I Game Rating Page Age of Empires: Rise of Rome ★ At Ac A: * 354 Axis & Allies A Ac Ac At A 358 Caesar Combat Flight Simulator A A A A A 330 Creatures 2 A A ^ ★ 364 Entrepreneur: Corporate Expansion A A A A A 360 F‘16 Multirole Fighter A A A A A 326 Front Office Football Grand Prix Legends A A A A A 340 Hexplore A A A A A 336 Klingon Honor Guard A A A A A 316 Knights & Merchants A A A A A 356 Madden MiG-29 Fulcrum A A A A A 326 Morpheus A A A A A 334 NCAA Football 99 A A A A A 350 Pro Pilot A A A A A 332 Quake II: Ground Zero A A A A A 308 Rage of Mages A A A A A 338 Return Fire 2 A A A A A 322 Sbogo A A A A A 312 Trespasser: Jurassic Park ★ A: A >r 318 War Along the Mohawk A A A A A 362 The Game Genres Action Games that emphasize fast gameplay over story or strategy. Adventure Games that require you to solve puzzies to move through a story line. Ciassics/Puzzic Classics are old standbys such as Chess and Monopoly. Puzzle games empha- size problem-solving without requiring gamers to follow a story. Role-Playing A subset of adventure games, these stress character development through attributes. The gameworld tends to be large; the plot less linear. Simulations Highly realistic games from a first-person per- spective, including flight sims and space simulations. Sports A broad genre encom- passing action sports games, such as NBA LIVE; strategic sports games, such as FPS FOOTBALL; and even driving games, such as CART Precision RACING. strategy Problem-solving and planning are the keys here. These games emphasize resource and risk-management. Includes con- flict-based sci-fi and fantasy games as well as construction pro- grams like SlMClTY. Wargames A subset of strategy games, these re-create historical conflicts from a command per- speaive. They may be tactical, operational, or strategic. How Do Vl/C RsiO? We review only finished products, not prerelease versions. Ihe ratings are as follows: ★ ★★★★ Outstanding The rare game that gets it all right. A must-play experience. Ar At Ar Ar A Very Good Worthy of your time and money, but there are drawbacks. A A A A A Average Either an ambi- tious design with major flaws, or simply vanilla. A A A A A Weak Seriously lacking in play value, poorly conceived, or just another clone. A A A A A Abysmal The rare game that gels It all wrong. Pathetic. Coaster material. v.computcrgaminR.r COMPUTER GAMING WORLD ■ JANUARY 1999 “King’s ^uesc: TTlasif op CceRnicg is che advencuRe game oie most tuanc co pLag chis hoOdag season.” -CGW ujuiiu.8TeRRa8tudio8.com <&i998 Slerra”n-Uncil Inc, All rigfits rQsawaSierjJffia’S'iaBO, King's Quested MaAomerni^arnrademarilso^aoiSare^^^ ffademarks of Sierra On-line, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of MicrosofrCorporadon. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel corporation. Any other product and/or company naSMi are the property of their respective owners. ® indicates trademarks registered in U-S.A., which may be registered in other jurisdictions. — ^ >IJRR/{ Che scRies is 'in position to Reinvent the adventuste : gaming genRe...agQin.'’ asceR scoRycelteR ^bcRca tUilliama bRings lieR besc-selting Iting's (^uesc seRies tnco che' ne;icc mitlenium cuich a RevotucionaRg btend op cechnotogg, gameplag and scoRgcelling^ ^ou aCone have been chosen by pace Co make an epic jouRneg chRough ^ seven amazing lands co rccovcr che shacceRed pieces op che TTlask ' op CceRnicg and RescoRe tighc co a daRkening tuoRld. Succeed, and Ko»ER■r,^ honoR and gtoRg mill be gouRS. pail, . KlfiOMlSES'' poRces op evil mill Reign I i supReme...poR eccRnicg. * . RevotucionoRy 3 d acuonj| engine gives you comptece » pReedom of movement. I ' Real-time comfcfet! Tlepc gouR bRoad- suioRd and mete out punishment in a puRelg medieval manneR! IntRicate mental challenges RequiRC gou CO use gouR mind as tuell as gouR might. InteRact uiith dozens op unique chaRacteRS cuho luill guide gou in gouR quest to RCcoveR the lost pieces op the TTlasH op CteRnitg. : e;cpeRiente all seven ujoRlds thRough eitheR a ISC - OR 3Rd^®j3Sft8on point op vieoi. ... Go to #186 @iwww.'c0mputergatning.c6m/lnfollnk^ I STRATEGY/WARGAMES SPORTS SfMS ! CLASSICS/PUZ. CGW RGVIGWS IndGX These Are the Games We Have Reviewed in the Last Three Months Game Publisher Month Page CGW Rating Addiction Pinball MicroProse October 233 Beast Wars: Transformers Hasbro Interactive Oaober 233 Deathtrap Dungeon Eidos Interactive December 351 . -• . •' Get Medieval Monolith November 282 Gex: Enter the Gecko Midway Home Entertainment December 356 ► - K / - Heart of Darkness Interplay November 269 Incoming Xicat November 264 •. Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Epic Megagames 233 . A « * Mortal Kombat 4 Midway November 277 A V NAM GT Interactive November 280 A X A Rainbow Six Red Stomi Entertainment December 342 M K ».■ A * Revenge of Arcade; Golden Edition Microsoft December 356 - w A * Rampage World Tour Midway October 230 < ~ V A Redneck Rampage Rides Again Interplay October 230 A A ■, Stratosphere Ripcord Games December 352 K ». « A Terra: Battle for the Outland Kaon Interactive October 230 K- * » A Urban Assault Microsoft December 346 .■ .i . Vangers Interactive Magic October 224 . ^ A 1 1 Final Fantasy VII Eidos November • 286 ,1 Jewels II: The Ultimate Challenge Hoffmann and Associates November 328 1 ' r Leisure Suit Larry's Casino Sierra October 287 Looney Tunes Animated Jigsaws SouthPeak Interactive December 425 ^ ». V A Mega Solitaire Palladium interactive October 290 : A Ac * Notyet MVP Software December 425 - ,• •• Play This Play That Patch Products December 425 Ares Rising Imagine Studios December 376 Descent Freespace Interplay October 236 - /.■ F22 Total Air War DID/Infogrames December 361 Fighter Ace 1.5 Microsoft December 373 lAF Jane's Combat Sims December 370 , « iF/A-18E Carrier Strike Fighter Interactive Magic December 364 A - - Independence War Infogrames December 358 Jetfighter: Full Burn Mission Studios/Interplay November 305 . . .V * Spearhead Interactive Magic December 378 X-COM Interceptor MicroProse October 241 - A Warbirds 2.01 Interactive Magic December 382 3D Hunting: Trophy Whitetall Macmillan Computer Publishing November 299 .. .. .. Castrol Honda Superbike World Championship Intense Entertainment Interactive October 250 „ ^ Fox Sports Golf Fox Sports Interactive November 290 < A- Fox Sports Soccer Fox Sports Interactive October 264 A i A Golden Tee Golf Incredible Technologies December 404 .. i. = Microsoft Baseball 3D Microsoft October 252 w ^ A Microsoft Golf 98 Microsoft October 260 A Motocross Madness Microsoft December 388 -• . A NFL Gameday 99 989 Studios/Sony December 386 Redline Racer Ubi Soft December 394 A A Tiger Woods 99 EA Sports December 398 ^ ^ Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines Eidos Interactive December 406 A: A.' A- >• . Cyberstorm 2 Sierra October 270 . ' * X Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 Eidos • ' , ' • October 280 K w ’V - -A Dune 2000 Westwood Studios 408 -V A Emergency; Fighters for Life WizardWorks • ''.i-. . December 420 Incubation: The Wilderness Missions BlueByte October 284 .!■ . Insurrection: Campaigns for StarCraft Aztech New Media