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- / \ / \ / \ / \ ___________/ \__________ \ / \ April/May 1995 Vol.II No.4 / \ / ________________________________________________|______________ /_________________ CAIN ________-_____________/ /___|_|_|__________ Monthly Newsletter _______| |___________/ /____|_|_|__________ ______| |_________/ /____/__|__\_________ Central Atari ______| |________/ /____/___|___\________ Information Network ____| | | |_____/ /______________________________________________________________/ / / \ \ / / \ \ / / \ \ The Official Online Newsletter of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG _________________________________________________________________________ The Cleveland Free-Net Community Computer System is accessible worldwide! _________________________________________________________________________ telnet freenet-in-{a,b,c}.cwru.edu (129.22.8.32 or 129.22.8.51) _________________________________________________________________________ 216/368-3888 | 300-14400 bps | type 'go atari' at any menu _________________________________________________________________________ WWW: http://ace.cs.ohiou.edu/personal/mleair/cain.html _________________________________________________________________________ Covering: 7800/XE/XL/800/400,FALCON030/ST/TT/ST(e),PORTFOLIO,LYNX,JAGUAR CAIN Online Newsletter Published and Copyright (c) 1995 by Cain Publishing Publisher/Editor Voting/Conferences.........Mark Leair aa338@cleveland.freenet.edu Assistant Editor SIG Manager/Jaguar Area....Len Stys aa399@cleveland.freenet.edu 8-Bit Support Area..........Michael Current aa700@cleveland.freenet.edu 8-Bit Technical Forum.......Craig Lisowski aa853@cleveland.freenet.edu 16/32-Bit Support Area......Bruce D. Nelson aa789@cleveland.freenet.edu 16/32-Bit Support Area......Thomas Main em129@cleveland.freenet.edu Atari Classic Gaming Corner/ Portfolio Support Area......Fred Horvat ap748@cleveland.freenet.edu Lynx Support Area...........Barry W. Cantin aa852@cleveland.freenet.edu Atari WWW Support Area......Mark S. Smith M.S.Smith@dl.ac.uk _________________________________________________________________________ Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG Internet E-Mail: xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu _________________________________________________________________________ Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG, P.O. Box 364, Mentor, OH U.S.A. 44061-0364 _________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents >From the Editor..........................................The CAIN Newsletter -Mark Leair >From the SIG Manager...........................Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG -Len Stys Atari News....................Atari & Virtuality Preview First VR Game System Atari Jaguar's Library Approaches 100 Titles in 1995 Atari Continues To Expand Jaguar Peripherals -Atari Corp. Time Warner Interactive's Hit Arcade Primal Rage Time Warner Interactive's Power Drive Rally Performs on Jaguar Time Warner Interactive Demonstrates Commitment to Hockey -Time Warner Interactive 8-Bit Computers Support Area...............................8-bit News #1 - #5 8-bit Commentary -Michael Current 16/32-Bit Computers Support Area.............................Towers II Review Atari ST FTP Sites Update -Mark S. Smith Portfolio Support Area...........................News from the Czech Republic -Fred Horvat Lynx Support Area...................................Letter from Edward Castle Lynx Commentary -Barry W. Cantin Jaguar Support Area............................Jaguar News--VR Headset Specs. Internet Game Reviews--Hover Strike Internet E3 Show Reports Jaguar Commentary -Len Stys Atari WWW Support Area............................Atari Web Pages Latest News -Mark Smith Upcoming Atari Shows......................................Atari Show Calendar -Mark Leair Voting Issues and Results..................................Last Month's Issue This Month's Issue -Mark Leair General Information of Need.........................How to Contribute to CAIN Article Requests -Mark Leair >From the Editor -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Mark Leair Well, the leaves are out, the birds are chirping at 4:00 AM, and it is a lot warmer down here in Southeastern Ohio. Spring is definitely here. I only hope we can spring into summer with Atari. With school out, the summer is probably a great time to sell video games. Having plenty of leisure time, students of all ages will seek out a variety of entertainment. Video games certainly come to mind as a quick fix of boredom. Let's only hope Atari jumps on this opportunity. With other 64 bit systems possibly coming out this fall, they would be smart to launch a media blitz this summer. They have one component already in place: Price! Now, if they can get the software out there, the CD-Rom unit, and a good ad campaign, the Jaguar will roar into fall. Another information packed issue is here! Plenty of news for the 8 bit'ers out there, including information on a NEW graphical adventure game. For the Falcon users Mark Smith brings you a review on Towers II - Plight of the Stargazer. Last but not least, the votes have been tallied from last month's reader poll, and a new survey is included in the Voting section of the newsletter. Enjoy! -Mark Leair CAIN Publisher >From the SIG Manager -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Len Stys Well, I have to apologize for the double issue. Mark was on schedule to release the April issue, but I was not. I have been very busy in the last few weeks. My sister got married (congrats Joanne and Jim Mislay!). And I had some other things that needed to be done that had priority. But I doubt you will be disappointed by this issue. It is packed with news and information that you won't find anywhere else. Atari showed the Virtuality headset at the E3 show in Los Angeles and it recieved high praise by just about everyone that tried it. This may be the reason why consumers will choose Jaguar over other newer systems on the tmarket. Atari's shareholders meeting is coming up (June 5th) and I hope that all shareholders speak their mind. There are a lot of concerns that need to be addressed. For one, why is Atari clearing inventory of the Lynx? Is it still not comparable to the stylish GameBoys on the market? If the company does not want to spend capital to advertise it, at least include a catalog in each Jaguar for consumers to order the Lynx and its games. There is also the question of bonuses and options at a time when the company continues to lose money. And perhaps the biggest concern should be that Atari is not losing enough money. In order to make money, a company needs to spend money. Newspaper ads, Jaguar kiosks, etc. costs money and is needed for the Jaguar to be successful in the future. Why not check out the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG when you get a chance? It is a pretty cool place. While there, why not contribute news, reviews, and conversation? Len Stys, SIG Manager Atari News -=-=-=-=-= CONTACT: for Atari Corporation Jessica Nagel Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 for Virtuality U.S. Allison Ellis Edelman Public Relations (214)520-3555 for VIRTUALITY U.K. Helen Horner/Ben Vaughan Virtuality Group plc 011-44-116-233-7082 ATARI AND VIRTUALITY PREVIEW FIRST VIRTUAL REALITY GAME SYSTEM FOR THE CONSUMER MARKET AT E3 Affordable 64-bit Jaguar VR sets industry standards; available by end of year. LOS ANGELES (May 11, 1995) -- The Jaguar VR, the world's first fully immersive virtual reality game system for the consumer market, was unveiled today at E3. It is being developed jointly by Atari Corporation, developer of the world's first 64-bit game system, and VIRTUALITY Group plc, the global market leader in VR systems. The Jaguar VR incorporates VIRTUALITY's revolutionary new VR head-mounted display (HMD) and optional track joystick, offering unequaled display, audio, and tracking features. Atari's Jaguar VR sets an impressive industry standard for home virtual reality systems and has been designed with the highest international health and safety regulations in mind. According to Sam Tramiel, President of Atari, "There is not one consumer VR product that can compete with the Jaguar in terms of price, performance and quality. The Jaguar VR has been designed with human factors in mind and sets the standard for the industry to follow. We are committed to delivering great experiences and tertainment." The proprietary, ergonomic HMD weighs less than 1 pound and easily adjusts to comfortably fit users, with or without glasses. It features a custom-designed optical pupil projection system and a full-color active matrix LCD screen. In addition, the HMD's 3D spatialized sound system has been enhanced by placing speakers at the player's temple, with sound projected back to the ears allowing for peripheral hearing. A built-in microphone allows networked players to talk to each other. A docking station, which links the Atari Jaguar system to the HMD and joystick, houses the technologically advanced "V-Trak" infrared tracking. This is the fastest tracker ever developed for consumer application, reacting to real-time head and hand movements with no perceptible lag time in the virtual world. In addition, Jaguar VR is designed to be used only when a player is sitting with the unit stationary on a flat surface. If a player attempts to walk around while immersed in the game, an automatic cutoff will be triggered. Players who own an Atari Jaguar will be able to to upgrade by plugging Jaguar VR into their existing system. The Jaguar VR has a targeted retail price of $300. Jaguar VR Software Development ------------------------------ Through a software licensing agreement, VIRTUALITY is developing immersive virtual reality games for the Atari Jaguar VR. Atari's classic home and arcade hit "Missile Command" is being recreated in VR format by VIRTUALITY and will be available by the end of the year. In addition, the popular VIRTUALITY arcade title "Zone Hunter" will also be available for Jaguar VR with the system introduction. Discussions are also underway with a number of third-party developers for the creation of future games that take advantage of this unique technology to create new experiences. "The combination of Jaguar's 64-bit graphics processing power and our IVR technology has produced a phenomenal, fully integrated VR consumer product which has no competition, " said Jon Waldern, CEO of VIRTUALITY Group plc. "This system expands the boundaries of the in-home interactive games market and sets a new standard for others to try to achieve. Founded in 1987 in Leicester, England, VIRTUALITY Group plc. is the world's leader in immersive virtual reality entertainment systems worth more than 80 percent global market share. VIRTUALITY Entertainment, Inc. headquartered in Irving, Texas, was established n 1993 as the U.S.-based subsidiary to oversee all North American operations, sales, market development and distribution for its parent company. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. #### CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 ATARI JAGUAR'S LIBRARY APPROACHES 100 TITLES IN 1995 SUNNYVALE, CA (May 11, 1995) -- Atari Corporation announces that there will be nearly 100 titles for its 64-bit Jaguar entertainment system by the end of the year. "We will have every kind of game that players want, from the best developers and publishers in the world." comments Atari President Sam Tramiel. Based on the popularity of "Tempest 2000", Atari is launching a complete line of classic games, including "Dactyl Joust" and "Defender 2000", and "Missile Command VR" for the Jaguar VR. "Defender 2000" is being developed with three distinct play modes for the Jaguar by Jeff Minter, developer of "Tempest 2000". In addition, Atari will publish classic games for the PC at the end of the year, beginning with "Tempest 2000". Other new release titles include "Primal Rage" from Time Warner Interactive, the "Highlander" RPG series, "Fight for Life" and "NBA Jam Tournament Edition". The featured titles at Atari Corporation's E3 booth in Los Angeles are "TRF", "Rayman", "White Men Can't Jump" and "Ultra Vortex". TRF: TRF combines the latest motion capture technology and nationally known martial arts fighters in a wide variety of combat scenarios. Featured fighters include Ho Sung Pak, Dr. Philip Ahn, Katalin Zamiar and Daniel Pesina; who were all featured in the "Mortal Kombat" games. RAYMAN: Rayman lives in a fantasy land beyond the reaches of our universe. Rayman must restore peace and harmony to his world by defeating the evil Mr. Black and retrieve the stolen Great Proton. WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP: Trash talk runs rampant in this "in-your-face", two-on-two blacktop basketball shootout. Automatic camera control zooms in and swings around to catch all the action. ULTRA VORTEX: Players become one of the ten eye-popping, bone crunching warriors of the underground who battle it out in mind-bending arenas carved out of living rock. They have one goal in mind: Defeat the dreaded Guardian of the Vortex. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. ### Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products may be trademarks of their owning companies. Primal Rage(tm) and all related elements are property of Time Warner Interactive(tm). Rayman(tm) is a trademark of UBI Soft. Ultra Vortex(tm) is a trademark of Beyond Games, Inc. #### CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 ATARI CORPORATION ADDS TWO TOP INDUSTRY VETERANS TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM SUNNYVALE, CA (May 1, 1995) -- Atari Corporation has powered up its senior management team with the addition of top industry veterans Dean Fox and Jon Correll. Mr. Fox comes on board as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Correll as Vice President of Software Product Development. "The formidable skills and experience of Dean Fox and Jon Correll will provide Atari with a focused marketing plan and the development of the highest quality software for the consumer, taking full advantage of Jaguar's capability including 60 FPS, 16 million colors and 64 Bit Processing, " Sam Tramiel, CEO, Atari Corporation said in making the announcement. Prior to joining Atari Corporation, Correll held the position of Manager of Development Administration for Sega of America. At Sega, Correll implemented and negotiated development contracts and produced the first CD titles for Sega Corporation including "Night Trap". Correll began his career in the software and gaming industry as Manager of Product Development for Accolade in 1986. While at Accolade, Correll produced some of the company's most popular games including "Test Drive" and "Mean 18 Golf". Correll went on to consult various Silicon Valley companies including EPYX and worked as Director of Product Development for Three-Sixty. Before joining Atari, Mr. Fox founded, staffed, and led the marketing group for Rocket Science Games. Prior to RSG, Fox directed the launch for Sega CD and led ongoing strategic marketing, product concept and distribution consultation for several CD-ROM multimedia entertainment publishers. In his marketing and advertising tenure, Fox contributed to the introductions of many consumer products, including Sony Betamax and JVC VHS Videocassette recorders, Sharp laptop computers, and Sega CD multimedia game systems. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. ### CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 ATARI CONTINUES TO EXPAND JAGUAR PERIPHERALS SUNNYVALE, CA (May 11, 1995) -- Atari continues to provide new gaming options for owners of its 64-bit Jaguar Interactive Entertainment System. Key products to enhance the Jaguar play experience hit the marketplace in 1995, with many more to come. "Since Jaguar has already made the leap to 64-bit technology, we can now focus on providing even more value to consumers by expanding the system with new and innovative peripherals," says Sam Tramiel, CEO of Atari Corporation. One of the Jaguar extras is the much anticipated multimedia compact disc (CD) player. Priced at approximately $150, the Jaguar CD player attaches to the top of the Jaguar console. The Jaguar CD plays many new CD games, including "Battlemorph", "Highlander", "Blue Lightning", "Demolition Man", "Myst", and "Creature Shock" in addition to playing standard audio disks. The Jaguar CD player provides 790 megabytes of raw data storage, allowing video game programmers to incorporate more complex digitized images, full-motion video sequences and high-quality audio soundtracks. This powerful double-speed CD player also provides fast access speed for smoother game play, and its massive data capacity gives users better graphic detail, expanded plot lines and more characters for an overall enhanced video game experience. Additionally, built into the unit is the "Virtual Light Machine(tm)", which creates and displays 81 different light patterns on the video screen in response to music played through the system. Mr. Tramiel says about the system, "The combination of the most advanced technology, sophisticated software and affordable consumer pricing sets Jaguar apart from all competitors." Target ship date for the CD player is August, 1995. For around $30, Jaguar owners can take advantage of the Jag Link(tm), which allows users to play competitively side-by-side. The Jag Link enables users to connect two Jaguar systems for simultaneous game playing up to 100 feet apart. The Jag Link uses standard RJ11 phone line cable for linking two Jaguar systems. Team Tap(tm) is a new peripheral that for around $25 enables competitive, simultaneous play for up to four players on one Jaguar. The peripheral, which debuts with the new title "White Men Can't Jump", provides players with a two-on-two playground simulation experience. With two Jaguar systems and Team Tap, the competitive play can be expanded up to eight players. In addition, the Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator gives players the ability to link up over the phone. Developed by fax-modem-voice technology experts, Phylon Communications, the new technology permits two players to compete using a phone connection. Players can speak with each other during game play through the use of a headset. With the utilization of a "call waiting" feature, players can also pause a game to answer a phone call. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. ### May 11, 1995, Thursday - 08:59 Eastern Time HEADLINE: TIME WARNER INTERACTIVE'S HIT ARCADE TITLE, 'PRIMAL RAGE(TM)' PREVIEWING ON EIGHT HOME GAMING AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS; Head-To-Head Fighting Action At E3 Tradeshow With 'Primal Rage' Dominating Home Platforms BODY: Building off the success of their hit arcade game, "Primal Rage"(TM), Time Warner Interactive, Inc., Consumer Games Division (TWi) today previewed "Primal Rage" on eight home gaming and computer platforms at the E3 Tradeshow in their suite #308, in the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. International distribution for all eight versions demonstrated, as well as software for three more versions, are scheduled for release on two dedicated launch dates this Fall, 1995. On August 25, the company will release the Sega Genesis(TM), Super Nintendo Entertainment System(R), Sega Game Gear(TM), Nintendo(R) Game Boy(TM) and PC CD-ROM versions. November 14 is the date for the second wave of software on new gaming systems including the Sega Saturn(TM), Sega 32X(TM), 3DO(R), Sony(R) PlayStation(TM), and Atari (R) Jaguar(TM), as well as the Macintosh(R) CD-ROM. LOS ANGELES, May 11 "For a company to support a game on so many platforms is unprecedented," commented Mark Beaumont, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Product Development at TWi. "We chose to take an aggressive stance following the reception the game received at the arcades last summer. We know we have a mega-hit on our hands and will support the launch with extensive TV and print advertising campaigns as well as special events and on-line activities." Hit Arcade Title Moves Home "Primal Rage" is a head-to-head fighting game with an original look that features seven fantasy, pre-historic characters in a battle for supremacy. In creating "Primal Rage," TWi went back to the classics to invent something entirely brand new. Stop-frame animation, the process long used in Hollywood for movies such as "King Kong" and employed today for feature film special effects, was key in creating the game's look. The result is life-like prehistoric characters that move with unmatched fluidity, in a game loaded with detail and personality. The popularity of "Primal Rage" goes far beyond the appeal of the characters. The nearly unlimited fighting engine makes "Primal Rage" a game with more combination potential than practically any other fighting game to date. Each character has an individualized fighting style, and et of more than 70 moves including: fighting moves, powerful "secret" moves, masterful combo hits, graphic finishing sequences, punches, reactions to being punched, death sequences, victory sequences, and ready poses. The originality of the characters, the sheer number and ingenuity of their actions, taken in combination with the precision of the fighting collision-matrix, come together in an innovative, and addictive fighting game. TWi's goal is to have all versions look and play like the arcade experience. To that end, the original source code is being used to create software for the home versions and will be re-worked to take advantage of each gaming console and computer system's strengths. Fans of "Primal Rage" at the arcade will find home play to not only stay true to the original, but most versions will also include additional options such as a dinosaur tug-of-war and four-on-four battles. Time Warner Interactive, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), develops and publishes interactive consumer entertainment products that span across platforms from location-based and video arcade games, to video game consoles and computer platforms including: Sega Saturn(TM), Sega Genesis(TM), Sega(TM) 32X(TM), Sega(TM) CD, Sega Game Gear(TM), Super Nintendo Entertainment System(R), Game Boy(TM), Atari (R) Jaguar(TM), Sony(R) PlayStation(TM), CD-ROM for IBM(R) and compatible computers, Macintosh(R), and interactive TV applications for entertainment and gaming markets. All product names are trademark or registered trademarks of their respective owners. May 11, 1995, Thursday - 09:00 Eastern Time HEADLINE: TIME WARNER INTERACTIVE'S 'POWER DRIVE RALLY(TM)' PERFORMS ON THE ATARI (R) JAGUAR(TM) AT E3; New Atari (TM) Jaguar(TM) Title From Time Warner Interactive Shows Its Stuff BODY: Time Warner Interactive Inc., Consumer Games Division announced the preview of "Power Drive Rally(TM)" for the Atari (TM) Jaguar(TM) today at the E3 tradeshow in suite 309. Flying gravel, spraying mud, squealing tires announce the arrival of your all-terrain vehicle with opponents in hot pursuit -- better not look back! Based on the official World Rally Championships, players jockey for competitive times, major prize money, and sleek racing machines on the international touring circuit. This high speed, strategic driving game utilizes the power of the Atari Jaguar to project graphics so detailed you'll feel the challenge of long distance racing in 38 international road rally courses. "Power Drive Rally" is expected to ship in June, 1995 for an anticipated retail price of $54.95. LOS ANGELES, May 11 "Power Drive Rally(TM)" is the classic road rally, a two-member team endurance race that makes regular speedway tracks look like a Sunday drive. Your computerized driving partner is in charge of the map and barks out directions to you as you negotiate fallen logs, snow drifts and river beds making maneuvers around hazardous bends all the more gripping. The quality of tracks and terrain are vivid with details such as water pools reflecting the sky and clouds, tires creating skid marks, shadows, dust clouds, brake lights, and exhaust plumes. The Race Is On "Power Drive Rally" is a one or two-player game, where racers go head to head on three different types of courses: road rallies over mixed terrain including mud, gravel, and asphalt; time trials for flat out speed challenges; and obstacle courses with cones, curves and a sinister slalom. Cross the start line with a fairly basic vehicle and a small wad of cash in your pocket. You must tear across a range of terrain, from the break of day to the dead of night to beat your opponents, win prize money, and move onto more challenging vehicles and races. You'll find each vehicle has its own handling nuances with differences in cornering and road holding abilities as well as acceleration and deceleration. You're responsible for repairing and maintaining your cars. Fail to ed excessive damage and you may be penalized with disqualification. On the other hand as you accumulate prize money, you can tirade your car in for a higher spec model and gain automatic entry to higher levels of competition. "Power Drive Rally" lets you really drive -- on and off track. Head off-road and you'll feel the tight turns of doing a donut in the dirt, or loss of traction as you slide over ice or grass. Lose control and you might experience a gut wrenching barrel roll or spectacular wipe out. This is skill-driving for those with endurance and a sense of competitive adventure. Rest up! Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), develops and publishes interactive consumer entertainment products that span across platforms from location-based and video arcade games, to video game cartridges and computer platforms including: Sega(TM) Genesis(TM), Sega (TM) 32X(TM), Sega (TM) Game Gear (TM), Super Nintendo Entertainment System(R), Game Boy(TM), Sony Playstation(TM), Atari (R) Jaguar(TM), 3DO(TM), CD-ROM for IBM(R) and compatible computers and Macintosh(R) and interactive TV applications for entertainment and gaming markets. NOTE: All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. CONTACT: Tracy Egan, Public Relations Manager of Time Warner Interactive Games Division, 408-232-3213 May 11, 1995, Thursday - 09:04 Eastern Time HEADLINE: TIME WARNER INTERACTIVE DEMONSTRATES COMMITMENT TO HOCKEY WITH 'WAYNE GRETZKY AND THE NHLPA ALL-STARS(TM)'; New Hockey Title Shown on Four Systems at E3 Tradeshow BODY: Today at the E3 Tradeshow, Time Warner Interactive, Consumer Games Division (TWi) demonstrated their new "Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars(TM)" title on four systems at the Los Angeles Convention Center, South Hall, in Suite #309. Viewed for the first time were versions for the PC CD-ROM, Atari (R) Jaguar(TM), and Super NES(TM). A final version for the Sega(TM) Genesis(TM) was available and will ship May 26, 1995. LOS ANGELES, May 11 "Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars" is a result of TWi's dual license: an exclusive three-year contract with Wayne Gretzky, all-time NHL scoring leader and four time Stanley Cup winner, and a license with The National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) that brings professional hockey players' names, profiles and statistics to the game. "The sports market is very competitive -- we're going for winners, by pulling together the best technology, licenses, and talent," commented Mark Beaumont, Senior Vice President Product Development and Marketing at TWi. "We have a lot of experience creating sports titles and we're going out strong with 'Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars.'" Beaumont noted, "With two years of research and development on top of our three-year Gretzky exclusive, we've set the foundation for a winning line-up." "Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars" looks and plays realistically because professional gameplay was captured on video and in 3D rendered animations. To capture the real movements and character of Wayne Gretzky, Gretzky himself was filmed for use in the CD versions skating, passing, blocking, and scoring. The title features digitized film footage of NHLPA players to accentuate critical moments like face-offs, blocks and goal scoring. Video footage was taken, digitized and imported into a computer software package where character outlines or animated "skeletons" were constructed to recreate true movements and actions. The title features over 600 professional hockey players including 26 North American teams and six International All-Star teams. Battery back-up lets you track wins and stats, trade players, edit team line-ups and names, and go for a ull 84 game season with playoffs. Designed so that with just three pushes of he button you're on the ice, "Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars" puts you at center-rink for a unique close-to-the-action perspective. Video clips of referees appear to keep order during play and digitized audio announces penalties and goals. Player animations are 20% larger than images in competitive hockey games and details such as backwards skating action and the sounds of puck slaps and stadium music add to the realism. Time Warner Interactive, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), develops and publishes interactive consumer entertainment products that span across platforms from location-based and video arcade games, to video game consoles and computer platforms, compatible computers, and interactive TV pplications for entertainment and gaming markets. NOTE: All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. CONTACT: Tracy Egan, Public Relations Manager of Time Warner Interactive Consumer Games Division, 408-232-3213 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- | CLEVELAND FREE-NET WILL PRESENT __FREE__ COMPLIMENTARY USAGE TIME | | to the readers of: | | | | CAIN Newsletter | | | | New Users Sign Today! Connect by modem: 216/368-3888 or | | Telnet to: freenet-in-a.cwru.edu, 129.22.8.32 | | | | You can log on as a visitor to explore the system. At the opening | | menu ("Please enter 1 or 2:"), enter "2" to log in as a visitor. At | | the next menu, enter "2" again to explore the system. You will then | | read an opening disclaimer and a login bulletin, then be sent to the | | main Free-Net menu. Once inside, type "go atari". Follow the menus | | to read Atari-related discussions, reviews, news, and information. | | In order to post messages, send e-mail, vote, chat online, and sign | | a user directory, you need a Free-Net account. Apply for a Free-Net | | account by entering "1" at the second menu instead of "2". | | | | All new registered users receive "free" accounts which will not | | require payment for the usage of the system. | The Cleveland Free-Net has an Atari SIG comparable to other systems. The Atari SIG carries _ALL_ Z*Magazine issues. Z*Net & ST Report from 1989. All Atari Explorer Online issues. The latest and greatest Atari news. "Support Areas" for all Atari users. Multi- User Chat, Voting Booth, Wanted & For Sale, User Directories, and even direct access to Atari related Usenet newsgroups. No charge for registration or usage of this system! Register today! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8-Bit Computers Support Area -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Michael Current This month's CAIN Newsletter brings you FIVE news announcements from various 8-bit Atari vendors and developers. #1: Atari 8-Bit Support From Richard Gore (developer/vendor) #2: A Fine Tooned Engineering Update (developer) #3: New Atari 8-bit software from Computer Games Plus (vendor) #4: F.R.E.E., the new graphic adventure from Bertrand Le Roy (developer) #5: Another Fine Tooned Engineering Update (developer) Enjoy! 8-Bit News #1 ---------- Date: 30 Mar 1995 07:58:05 -0600 ATARI 8-BIT SUPPORT FROM RICHARD GORE ------------------------------------- y list of software for sale has now got quite long, so to save space and bandwidth I will just give a list of what I have got along with their prices, then if you need any further information you can simply e-mail me at chmrig@leeds.ac.uk and I will supply the information. My range of commercial software:- JAWBREAKER #4 ($9) disk, tape, Rambit tape 16k MOUSEKATTACK #4 ($9) disk, tape, Rambit tape 48k ARENA #5 ($11) disk, 64k XL/XE BUBBLE ZONE #5 ($11) disk, 64k XL/XE SUPER PRINT-LAB XE #6.95 ($16) disk, 128k XE GTRACKER #6.50 ($15) disk, 64k XL/XE BLACK LAMP * #4.95 ($11) disk, 64k XL/XE TUBE BADDIES * #4.95 ($11) disk, 64k XL/XE * available from 15th April 1995, advance orders are being taken. Special offer (1); buy both Jawbreaker & Mousekattack in one pack for ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ only #6.95 ($15). Special offer (2); buy both Tube Baddies & Black Lamp on one disk for ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ only #9.50 ($20). Ex-stock, shrink wrapped commercial software. Limited stocks. You are advised to check stock levels before ordering:- Disks: SUMMERGAMES #5.25 ($11) DROPZONE #5.25 ($11) SOLAR STAR #5.25 ($11) also known as Sun Star CYBORG WARRIOR #5.00 ($10) HALLEY PATROL #2.50 ($6) ROMS: GATO #6.50 ($14) DESERT FALCON #6.50 ($14) HARDWARE: YORKY 256k plug in memory upgrade for 800XL. Plugs into PBI -------- port, no soldering is required. Supplied ready for use with all RAM chips, manual and a disk of support software. Last few units, priced at #50 ($90) plus p&p. Prices in UK pounds (#) include p&p to UK, overseas add #2 for p&p, payable in pounds sterling or UK cheques, IMO, Postal Orders. Prices in US dollars ($) include shipping to USA, but payment must be in US$ cash, sorry no cheques (checks). For further information or to order contact Richard Gore at 79 SPROTBROUGH ROAD, SPROTBROUGH, DONCASTER, DN5 8BW, ENGLAND Tel. no. (01302) 784642 E-mail: chmrig@leeds.ac.uk Coming soon GTracker XL utilities, Golf Tour '95 and more....... 8-Bit News #2 -- Date: Sun, 9 Apr 95 07:17:19 -0500 From: F Tooned <ftooned@delphi.com> Subject: Sweet 16 Hi All, Just made it back from Canada... A well needed vacation I might add!! Sometimes it's better to just get out in the field and talk to people directly about what features a product should or shouldn't have. As everyone well knows, The Sweet 16, MIO II, and MARS 8 have encountered design problems, changes, delays, etc... I only hope that everyone can understand that even though they might be "separate" products, they all need to operate together, and not duplicate features (if possible). I didn't expect the MARS 8 to be finished in the past few weeks, and that was accomplished by changing the SIMM on board to address '816 memory as opposed to banked-memory. There will be a jumper on-board to select whether the SIMM is active or not. The MARS 8 will also work with internal memory upgrades such as Rambo, Newell, or Wizztronics. With the '816 memory going inside the computer now, I have opted to not include a socket on the MIO II. This way owners of Black Boxes and original MIO's will be able to use the memory without have to but an MIO II. For those of you that don't want a MARS 8 fear not, as Atari Classics will be featuring an upcoming article on how to add '816 memory to the PBI. On another note, it has become obvious that the need for a high speed serial port is high for the Atari 8-Bits. I was toying with the idea of incorporating one into the MIO II, but that tends to conflict with the original goal of providing a "low-cost" IDE interface. Not to mention that people shouldn't have to purchase an MIO II to have a high speed serial port. Well, let's just say that the MIO II won't have a serial port, but... I will be making such a device available very soon. No details are available at present, but it will be soon, and it will be extremely cool... Catalogs are being prepared, and will be shipping as soon as the MIO II's and MARS 8 goes into production. It will be very difficult to reach anyone here by voice for a while, but I always read E-Mail, and will be active here and on the FTe area on Genie. Mike 8-Bit News #3 ---------- Date: Fri, 14 Apr 1995 21:18:01 GMT From: aturco@netcom.com (Art Turco) Subject: GAMES FOR SALE - NEW New Atari 8 bit software COMPUTER GAMES PLUS 1839 E. Chapman Ave. Orange CA. 92667 phone (714) 639-8189 fax (714) 538-1707 email aturco@netcom.com Who are we? We have been Atari dealers since 1980. We started with Atari 8 bit. Our first ads were in Antic and Analog magazines, and in the beginning we were solely a mail order company. We now have a retail store too. The merchandise listed here is all NEW unopened inventory that has been in our stock since release. These titles have had various price reductions through the years, and we have again reduced them for this list. The prices reflect quantity on hand. The more expensive titles are probably our last copies. We hope you find something of interest. $15 -disk- Anti Sub Patrol (Rocklin) 5 -cart- Basic Computing Language (cart only) (Atari) 30 -cart- Basic XE (OSS) 20 -disk- Battle Of Antietam (SSI) 5 -disk- Blade Of Blackpool (Sirus) 3 -cass- Blue Max (Synapse) 5 -disk- Boulder Dash (First Star) 5 -disk- Bruce Lee (Datasoft) 15 -disk- Checkers (Odesta) 15 -disk- Cosmic Balance II (SSI) 15 -disk- Crossfire (On-Line) 20 -cart- Demon Attack (Imagic) 10 -cart- Donkey Kong (Atari) 10 -disk- Drelbs (Synapse) 5 -disk- Dropzone (Microdata) 2 -cass- Eastern Front (Atari APX) 18 -disk- Eastern Front (Atari APX) 3 -cart- ET Phone Home (Atari) 5 -disk- Fort Apocalypse (Synapse) 10 -cart- Gateway To Apshai (Epyx) 10 -disk- Gunslinger (Datasoft) 20 -disk- Gettysburg (SSI) 5 -disk- Hard Hat Mack (EA) 2 -disk- Instedit (Atari APX) Invasion Orion (Epyx) 5 -cart- Miner 2049er (no box) (FREE with any $15 total purchase) (Big 5) 10 -cart- Miner 2049er (with box) (Big 5) 25 -disk- Mirax Force (fabulous high speed British game) (Tynesoft) 5 -cart- Missile Command (Atari) Movie Maker (EA) 0 -disk- Murder On The Zinderneuf (EA) 5 -cart- Oil's Well (Sierra On Line) {great game} 3 -disk- One On One (EA) Panzer Grenadier (SSI) Pacific Coast Highway (Datasoft) 10 -disk- Pinball Construction Set (EA) 5 -disk- Preppie (Adv. Int) {like Frogger} 5 -cass- Principles Of Accounting (Atari) 25 -disk- Party Quiz (Suncom) {inc 4 controllers-great party game} disk- Racing Destruction Set (EA) 1 -cass- Rescue At Rigal (Epyx) 15 -disk- Rebel Charge At Chickamauga (SSI) 10 -disk- Return Of Heracles (FREE with any $40 total purchase) (Quality) 3 -disk- Sands Of Egypt (Datasoft) 25 -disk- Scott Adams - all 12 text adventures plus hint book 10 -book- Scott Adams - hint book for 12 adventures 5 -disk- Scott Adams - Saga 2 Pirate Adventure (graphic version) 10 -disk- Scott Adams - Saga 3 Mission Impossible (graphic version 10 -disk- Scott Adams - Saga 4 Voodoo Castle (Graphic version) 0 -disk- Scott Adams - Saga 6 Strange Odyssey (Graphic version) Sea Dragon (Adventure International) 10 -cart- Shamus (Synapse) 15 -disk- Shiloh (SSI) 5 -disk- Snooper Troops - Case 1 (Spinnaker) 1 -cart- Super Breakout (Atari) cart- Submarine Commander (Thorne EMI) 2 -disk- Timewise (Atari) 1 -cass- Trivial Pursuit (Domark) 3 -disk- Ulysses & Golden Fleece (On-Line) {early Sierra} 3 -docs- Universe Products Guide (Omnitrend) Upper Reaches Of Apshai (add-on for Temple Of Apshai) (Epyx) 3 -disk- Upper Reaches Of Apshai (add-on fro Temple Of Apshai) (Epyx) Video Vegas (Baudville) 10 -disk- Wargame Construction Set (SSI) 10 -disk- Warship (SSI) disk- Wizard & Princess (On-Line) {adv. #2 by Ken & Roberta Williams} Worms (EA) 5 -disk- Zaxxon (Datasoft) Zeppelin (Synapse) book- Technical Reference Notes (400/800) {massive, over 1" thick} 25 -hard- Atari 1027 LQ Printer {never opened, but sold as is} 2 -misc- vinyl cover for 1010 recorder 2 -misc- vinyl cover for 600XL power supplies 3 - CO16353 9v dc 3 - CO10472 9v dc 901017 20v ac CO17539 9.5v ac Atari 5200 games 5 - Real Sports Football Countermeasure payment: you can pay by check or charge card (Visa or Mastercard). If you are going to send a check please send email first and we will confirm that the titles you want are still in stock. We will then hold them for one week for your check to arrive. Please expect a two week delay for check clearance before your order is shipped. If you prefer to pay by charge card you can call your order in or send the charge card info by email. If you are going to use email we need the full card number and the expiration date. And, of course, give us your shipping address and phone number. There is a single shipping charge of $5 on all orders within the United States. If you are outside the USA we will quote you actual shipping once we can confirm your order. We can ship anywhere. COMPUTER GAMES PLUS 1839 E. Chapman Ave Orange CA 92667 phone (714) 639-8189 fax (714) 538-1707 email aturco@netcom.com For anyone in Southern California who would like to visit our shop, the hours of operation are noon-6pm Tue-Fri and noon-3pm on Sat. 8-Bit News #4 ---------- Date: 14 Apr 1995 10:56:19 +0200 From: bleroy@ccr.jussieu.fr (Bertrand LE ROY) ubject: The DEMO version of F.R.E.E. is available! NEW!NEW!NEW! F.R.E.E. is a new graphic adventure game. It features a hundred full-screen graphics 15 beautiful drawings, five disk sides filled with text and images, a menu and windows based user interface (95% of the game can be played with the joystick), automatic mapping, etc. And you can have the first two disk sides of F.R.E.E. for free (ha!ha! Very funny) Just send a mail to bleroy@moka.ccr.jussieu.fr or fabien@ssnet.com Or look for it at your favorite FTP site. I will try to spread it as fast as I can, but your help is welcome. As the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation commercials say: SHARE AND ENJOY! The complete commercial version is also available for $20 or 100 french francs r the equivalent in your currency (but of course we prefer dollars or francs) from: Fabien Royer 3211 Society Drive CLAYMONT, DE 19703 USA or: Bertrand Le Roy 72 rue des Landes 78400 CHATOU FRANCE If you want to use F.R.E.E. with PC X-former, please say so because for the moment you can only use the first disk: you can't swap disks 'on the fly' and F.R.E.E. for the moment uses only the first drive. But I am working on a special version that accepts to use any present drive, and this will enable you to use F.R.E.E. with PC X-former 2.5. For this I need one or two weeks (I have other activities, sorry). Thanks for your patience. Of course, the 'normal' version is AVAILABLE. Should I put the binary uuencoded disk images of the DEMO in this newsgroup? Bye. I hope that you will enjoy F.R.E.E. 8-Bit News #5 ---------- Date: Sat, 15 Apr 95 09:06:22 -0500 From: F Tooned <ftooned@delphi.com> Subject: What happened to the phones at FTe?? Hi All, My lease has expired, and I'm going to be shuffling things around here at FTe for the next few weeks. (I had completely forgot about the lease running out...) The phones will be off, until things get resituated. I'll be sending out the catalogs once the "new" info is available. Not to worry! I'll be checking in here at least once a week, to keep tabs on the situation. Man, I've gotten hammered here with E-Mail over the past two weeks! Thanks for taken the time to request product info... I was beginning to think that there was only a few people still out there. I mean, I've gotten more mail in the past two weeks than I have in the past 4-5 months. I may not be able to make an appearance at the Sacramento Show, due to the very recent changes... Once again, Thanks for the support! It's gonna be a really cool summer for the Atari 8-Bits!! Mike 8-Bit Commentary ---------------- Is it true? Will May/June 1995 (Volume ** 15 ** Number 3) be the last issue of Current Notes, the longest running Atari-oriented magazine ever? Please say it isn't so... Until next month, -Michael Current 16/32-bit Support Area -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Mark S. Smith Towers II - Plight of the Stargazer ~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Review by Mark Stephen Smith (msh@dl.ac.uk) ~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ At last the long awaited sequel to Towers has finally arrived for the Falcon. Towers II continues the role playing formula ut unlike its previous incarnation, movement is now completely free thanks to the use of a 3D texture mapped environment. Control has also be changed to make it easier to do things and all game controls are available simply by using the mouse with some keyboard shortcuts included. Introduction ~~~~~~~~~~~ Shipwrecked on Lamini you eagerly await the completion of repairs to your craft. No news seems to spread on this island and no contact seems to be made with anyone outside the island bringing the question of how they manage such wealth. After being invited to the sheriffs office you discover the Lord Daggan a man who once held one of the seats on the high council has resigned his position for things he deemed more important and retired to his tower. Strange things then seemed to happen in the tower and in the village, when questioned Daggan went mad and burnt down several villages houses, thankfully harming no one. At this point it was decided he was mad and must be stopped, none who were sent to stop him ever returned. Thieves have been spotted leaving the tower with large bags of money and one who was caught and questioned revealed many strange seemingly impossible tales, that due to what had occurred had to b believed. You have been asked to help, by sending in one man you would have the advantage as that would never be expected. You are given some pictures and descriptions of some of the things you may encounter. The reward in return for this help is anything you find in the tower you are free to keep, and when you return a small keep will be built for you, and you'll always have a home on Lamini. It is now up to you if you think you can help. Getting Started ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ The file is available in zipped format and requires one High Density disk. Once decompressed you have to decide were to install the program to. Installation is simple and only requires the partition and directory to be chosen. The game requires a hard disk with around 4 Megabytes free, and requires 2 Megabytes of memory. Once installed the game is loaded and after the initial credits you are given three options to choose from. The choices are: Introduction - Several pictures accompanied by text reveal the story so far. Incarnation - Start a new game. (See below for a full description). Continuation - Can only be selected once a save has been made, choosing one of the previously saved games will allow you to load that save. Selections are all made by using the mouse. Starting a new game (incarnating a character) ~~~~~~~ ~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~ When selected you will be greeted with a picture of the four characters available for use in the mission ahead, each have their own strengths and weaknesses, although Gerand is recommended for the beginner. He's weak magically but his high hit points and strength in battle means you are likely to survive longer. Merton is the hardest character to start with, a master of magic but only able to inflict small amounts of damage in battle and weak when attacked. In between are Tasler and Andros who have a mix of both fighting and magic skills. I chose Tasler for my adventure, giving me the best of both Worlds. Selecting a character you will get a selection of random statistics generated for that character. The statistics are in the following areas: STR - Strength INT - Intelligence WIS - Wisdom DEX - Dexterity CON - Constitution Values range from 9 to 20 and if you are not happy with your statistics choosing the character again will generate new numbers for you. Once you have chosen your character and you are happy with their statistics you are ready to begin the game and select accept for that character. The Game ~~ ~~~~ Starting the game you will be greeted with a main play screen, all the action in the game takes place on this screen. There is a picture of your character which is used for examining or consuming objects. The face can be flipped over to view a bodily inventory on which you can place objects such as clothing, weapons and other special objects on the appropriate part of the body. Underneath this is a holding area which holds four items although this can be extended by placing objects such as bags into one of the boxes. At the top of the screen are two bars, the green one is your health, and the blue is your mana. When hit your health bar decreases and turns grey, when the whole bar is grey you have been killed. When using spells your mana decreases and the bar turns grey, mana will return with time and can be quickly re-generated by sleeping. Also at the top next to these you will find a compass which is invaluable for finding you way around. Below the compass is the spell canvas on which spells are placed when they have been learned. It is empty to start with. Next to this is the main screen in which all the action takes place, and below that is the message canvas were all the messages are displayed during the game. In the bottom right hand corner you will find the following 5 icons: Fist - Gives you your statistics ZZZ - Sleep. Restores your characters health and mana. Map - Automatically generated map of areas explored. Disk - Menu containing load, save, resume the game, restart, and quit options. Note - Game volume adjustment. Moving the hand over the screen you can choose these icons, move objects around and select spells. Pressing the right mouse button takes you into the main play area were you control your characters movement. When in movement mode pressing "F" changes to full screen mode where the whole screen is taken up with your 3D environment. The right mouse button is used to toggle between the movement and manipulation screens, and full screen can be toggled on/off with "F". Movement is easy, pushing the mouse up in movement mode will make the character move forwards, pushing is back makes you move backwards, and pushing it to the side rotates your character respectively to the left or right. It is not possible to sidestep but you can walk and rotate at the same time. The control is sensitive to how strong you want the action to be, so if you nudge the cursor up from the centre of the screen you will slowly walk forwards, if however you push the cursor up as far as you can you will run forwards, this applies to all movements. At first this can be a little tricky to control as you in the panic of retreating from a fight often find yourself over turning, bumping into objects, and having some difficulty straightening up. However with a little practice control becomes easier (although not perfect). To strike you press the left mouse button, if you have a shield holding th mouse button after striking will hold up your shield. To cast a spell firstly you select the spell from the spell canvas and then you hold down both the left and right mouse buttons to cast the spell. Casting spells can be a little hit and miss and will depend upon your characters statistics, luckily failed spells don't decrease your mana. Statistics will also decide the strength and speed of hits, so it is a good idea to try and start out with good statistics. Moving around you will find various objects, to collect them you need to move within range of the object and then switch to the manipulation screen to place the object using the hand in your inventory. If it is food dropping the object on your characters face will eat it if he is hungry, or if it is a scroll doing the same will read the scroll. All magic scrolls are added to your canvas when read. It is also possible to just place the object back down on the ground or if you point the cursor higher up to throw the object. This can be done to attack creatures for instance and a nice touch is the way the ceramic jugs break when they collide with objects. Whilst on the manipulation screen clicking the mouse over a character in the main play area within range will speak to that character. This is important later on but is not useful against anything that is hostile and attacks you. It is important not to click on a character to talk to them when in the movement screen as this will hit them and they will attack you and not talk to you. To start out with the game is fairly hard and you will find yourself dying fairly quickly depending on what character you have chosen. Therefore it is essential to get a good start and to kill a guard and get a weapon. Once your in possesion of a weapon your hits are much stronger therefore reducing battle time. It is generally a good idea to save the game if you accomplish anything, after a hard battle, or before you do something you are unsure of. >From personal experience I have found the value of a save, having to redo entire sections because I made a mistake, forgot to do something, or used an bject up accidently that I needed. Exploration is a vital key to game success, it is important to be thorough and to watch out for secret walls carefully, this is where the automatic mapping system comes in invaluable, showing up the areas you have yet to explore when you are having difficulty finding the way ahead. Also be careful to speak with or kill any creatures you meet as they often hold vital information or objects to your quest. On route you will find many objects, these range from keys to doors and food, to gems, magical items and weapons. A fun weapon to use at the start of the game is the bow. To use this you will also need some arrows but the advantage of this weapon is that you can attack from a distance therefore keeping yourself out of harms way. Other weapons include everything from your fist and a mop, to swords, maces and magic wands. Also scattered around the tower are various furnishings and other things such as chains, pressure pads and pits. These all play a part in the many assorted puzzles throughout the game. To start off with the demo section of the game contains little in the way of puzzles, mainly consisting of exploring and fighting, with some small secrets and puzzles thrown in. It is not until you pass the demo section and enter the full game that it really comes to life. As you progress the game opens up revealing more interesting mazes and creatures along with many more puzzles and objects. You find yourself with tasks to complete to move on to the next section, with each section bringing new surprises and elements. At the moment I've got a handful of spells and I look forward to completing my current section as I know the next section is likely to contain a valuable and interesting object/spell and a new creature. The game really does have that one more go appeal and it is very easy to lose a few hours without realising, something I haven't really done since Dungeon Master on my ST. Even when you are stuck or have to redo a section due to an error it is hard to get fed up with the game as you often find yourself doing the same area a second time round much quicker and efficiently. With each new problem comes the prospect of an interesting solution and whilst not always obvious the rewards for solving a puzzle or area can be great feeling of satisfaction. The game becomes much more structured later on with the many puzzles making the game feel much more involved than the early demo levels which contain probably too much wandering and not enough interaction. I can only skim the surface of the game in this review as I am still making my way through the game and enjoying the game more and more the further I get. I don't know how far I've actually managed to get towards facing Daggan but have the feeling the way ahead is only going to get better and better. Graphics and Sound ~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ The graphics in Towers II are first class, from the opening picture and the introduction, all the way through the game. All the graphics are in True Colour and the shading on walls into the distance shows this off. For the most part most of the wall textures remain the same and can seem a little boring although they do change later in the game. All the characters you face are attractively drawn and fully 3D (can be approached from all angles and been een properly from that angle). The spells, objects and furniture all look excellent and my only critism is that they can get a little blocky close up (especially in full screen mode). This is obviously a memory trade off as mor detail closer up would require bigger objects and more memory, which in turn would reduce the number of objects available. The framerate for the Falcon is first class with the game running at around 12 frames per second and a little less in full screen mode (although it isn't very noticeable). Outside of some demos this is the best I've seen texture mapping done on the Falcon and those demos were only doing texture mapping and nothing else. On the sound front there is an atmospheric sound track throughout which is fairly pleasing. Whilst you won't find yourself listening to it purposely you also won't want to turn it off as you tend not to notice it when invloved in play and it seems to blend into the back of your mind without being obtrusive to the game. The volume can be altered but you'll probably want to keep it on. Throughout the game are a large range of sound effects all sampled and clear. These range from the cutting sound of a knife and a cry of pain, to the subtle click of a button on the floor. Sound effects accompany most actions such as casting spells, fighting and opening doors and all play over the background soundtrack. A good point about the in game sound is that it is in true stereo which helps you to identify were sounds came from. You can hear the footsteps of an approaching guard in the distance for instance and detect he's coming at you from your left. Gameplay ~~~~~~~ The gameplay is truely excellent and draws you deeper and deeper into the game. The further you progress the more you appreciate the game as it's complexity and storyline unfold. Each new discovery adds a boost to the appeal and new discoveries are never very far away. The range of items, puzzles and creatures are both diverse and interesting, with each step taking you closer to your goal unfolding new and interesting things. e demo section of the game whilst excellent really doesn't do justice to the depth and interest you'll encounter later in the game. Control is very easy and lends itself painlessly to this game, the only critism of the control method I have is movement adjustments can sometimes be a little oversensitive but for the most part are excellent. Sound and graphics create an excellent set of surroundings and wonderful atmosphere making it the closest you'll ever get on an Atari computer to date to actually being there. At first I had doubts about it being a free movement texture mapped game as I didn't think the Falcon was up to the job, but this proved me wrong and is a testiment to the programming skill of those invloved. Likewise the game has been brilliantly devised and the sound and graphics superperbly implemented to blend this into what I'd consider the best Falcon game to date. I really can't recommend this game strongly enough, and whilst this type of game may not be to everyones liking I recommend you get it anyway just to prove what the Falcon is capable of, and to surprise yourself as to how playable the game becomes. Overall ~~~~~~ An excellent game which is hopefully the first of many more to come. I cannot emphasise enough how much I think you should register this game to receive the manual to play the full game. The game is easily commercial quality and with such excellent gameplay and that one more go appeal it will be one you can't put down for months. The game really picks up after the demo section and should be an essential purchase for everyone who's tried the demo. If you haven't already tried it I recommend you do. What are you waiting for go out and get it! Good Points: - Excellent gameplay, one more go appeal. - Brilliant use of the Falcons graphics and sound capabilities. - Long term appeal. Bad Points: - Slightly over sensitive control for beginners. - Fairly hard for beginners but just right for the average game player. - Not enough clues to guide you sometimes. Overall Score ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ Graphics = 90% Sound = 88% Gameplay = 95% Overall = 94% The manual retails for $24 and is available from us (JV Enterprises) or from: STeve's Sales (916) 661-3328 B&C Computers (408) 986-9960 Goodman International (0782) 335650 Merlin PD (0453) 882793 JV Enterprises PO Box 97455 Las Vegas, Nev. 89193 1-800-252-0194 (702) 734-9689 Atari ST FTP Sites Update ------------------------- Last edit: 18-April-1995 Additions/changes since last list: 8 - ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (Directory change) - ftp.uni-bremen.de (Replaces wowbagger.pc-labor.uni-bremen.de) - nibelung.worms.fh-rpl.de (Site removed no Atari section) - ftp.rz.tu-bs.de (Replaces rzserv3.rz.tu-bs.de) - ftp.coli.uni-sb.de (Directory change) - ftp.uni-giessen.de (New site) - ftp.rz.tu-harburg.de (New site) - ftp.fu-berlin.de (Replaces pascal.math.fu-berlin.de) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ()==========================() // ____/__ __/ ____/ //\\ // / / / _/ // () // __/ / ____/ // // // / / / // // // _/ _/ _/ Archives // // // // // ()==========================() // \\ \\// ()=========================() (log in with "anonymous" as name, and full name/e-mail address as password) FTP instructions after this list! A T A R I S T F T P S I T E S : ------------------------------------- USA: -- atari.archive.umich.edu...(141.211.120.11)..../atari/ email server.............atari@atari.archive.umich.edu cs-ftp.bu.edu.............(128.197.13.20)...../PC/ATARI-ST/ world.std.com.............(192.74.137.5)....../src/atarist/ and /pub/atari/ ftp.std.com...............(192.74.137.7)....../pub/atari/ f.ms.uky.edu..............(128.163.128.6)...../pub2/atari/ CZECH REPUBLIC: --------------- ftp.dcs.muni.cz.....(147.251.48.3)........../pub/archives/atari/ SLOVAKIA: --------- ftp.upjs.sk.........(158.197.16.30)........./pub/systems/atari NETHERLANDS: ------------ nikhefh.nikhef.nl...(192.16.199.1)........../pub/atari/ star.cs.vu.nl.......(192.31.231.42)........./pub/atari/ ftp.twi.tudelft.nl..(130.161.156.11)......../pub/atari/ ftp.icce.rug.nl.....(129.125.14.129)......../pub/erikjan/Atari FINLAND: -------- funet.fi........(128.214.248.6)........ /pub/atari/ FRANCE: ------- ftp.cnam.fr.........(163.173.128.15)......../pub/Atari/ GERMANY: -------- alice.fmi.uni-passau.de...(132.231.1.180)...../pub/atari/ ni-kl.de.............(131.246.9.95)....../pub/atari/ or /pub3/atari/ ftp.uni-erlangen.de.......(131.188.1.43)....../pub/atari/ ftp.tu-clausthal.de.......(139.174.2.10)....../pub/atari/ email server.............mail-server@ftp.tu-clausthal.de ftp.uni-muenster.de.......(128.176.121.55)..../pub/atari/ ftp.uni-paderborn.de......(131.234.10.42)...../atari/ cs.tu-berlin.de.......(130.149.144.4)...../pub/atari/ email server.............mail-server@cs.tu-berlin.de ftp.fu-berlin.de..........(160.45.10.6)......./pub/atari/ ftp.uni-regensburg.de.....(132.199.1.202)...../freeware/software/atari/ vax.ph-cip.uni-koeln.de...(134.95.64.1)...... /pub/atari/ germany.eu.net........(192.76.144.75)...../pub/comp/atari-st/ email server.............archive-server@Germany.eu.net ftp.uni-stuttgart.de......(129.69.8.13)......./pub/systems/atari/ email server.............ftpmail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de informatik.tu-muenchen.de...(131.159.0.198)..../pub/comp/platforms/atari/ ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de......(137.226.225.3)....../pub/comp/Atari/atari/ ftp.uni-bremen.de.........(134.102.228.2)...../pub/atari_st/ ma2s2.mathematik.uni-karlsruhe.de..(129.13.115.2)........./pub/atari/ reseq.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de..(129.187.230.225)../pub/comp/ hrz.uni-kassel.de....(141.51.12.12)......./pub/machines/atari/ ftp.ira.uka.de...........(129.13.10.90)......./pub/systems/atari/ thp.uni-koeln.de.....(134.95.64.1).... rz.tu-bs.de..........(134.169.9.44)......./pub/atari/ oli.uni-sb.de.......(134.96.68.1)......../pub/comp/atari ftp.inf.tu-dresden.de....(141.76.1.11) ......./pub/atari/ uni-giessen.de.......(134.176.2.177)....../pub/atari rz.tu-harburg.de.....(134.28.240.5)......./ATARI/ UK: --- micros.hensa.ac.uk (148.88.8.84) ............/micros/atari/ archive-server@micros.hensa.ac.uk disabuse.demon.co.uk.(158.152.1.44)........../pub/atari/ phlem.ph.kcl.ac.uk...(137.73.4.24).........../pub/atari/ SWITZERLAND: ----------- ftp.isbiel.ch.....(147.87.2.27)............./atari/ ezinfo.ethz.ch....(129.132.2.72)............/st/ switch.ch.....(130.59.1.40)............./mirror/atari/ switch.ch.....(130.59.1.40)............./software/atari/ AUSTRALIA: --------- closer.brisnet.org.au.....(203.4.149.97).../pub/archive1/ATARIST FTP "mirror"-sites:('back-door' to other FTP sites when they are too busy ------------------- or there are other problems accessing them!) mirror.archive.umich.edu...(128.252.135.4) or (128.193.2.13) or (128.193.4.2) or (128.255.21.233) or (128.255.40.200) barnone.citi.umich.edu.....(141.211.128.22)... /afs/umich.edu/group/itd/archive/atari - (umich.edu, USA) archive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4)....../mirrors/archive.umich.edu/atari/ - (umich.edu, USA) ftp.switch.ch..............(130.59.10.40) or (130.59.1.40)... /mirror/atari/ - (umich.edu, USA) src.doc.ic.ac.uk (146.169.2.1)........./packages/atari/umich/ PS!!! 155.198.1.40 is more reliable!!! - (umich.edu, USA) src.doc.ic.ac.uk (146.169.2.1)........./packages/atari/uni-paderborn PS!!! 155.198.1.40 is more reliable!!! - (uni-paderborn, GERMANY) to find the numbered address of the FTP site, use the following command, while inside FTP: ftp> !host FTP-address [CR] i.e. "!host cs.bu.edu" DOWNLOADING FILES, Instructions: [CR]= carriage return/return/enter -------------------------------- 1) Go to the directory where you want the files to be downloaded. 2) ftp [CR]. 3) open {ftp address} [CR]. i.e. "open ftp.uni-kl.de" [CR] OR use the (IP) number address, NOT both! 4) "Name": anonymous [CR]. 5) "Password": {full e-mail name/address}. i.e. "hallvart@ifi.uio.no" [CR] 6) use "cd" to access the appropriate directory. i.e. "cd pub/atari" [CR] 7) bin [CR]. (set `binary` transfer mode) 8) hash [CR]. (shows 'hash` signs (#####...) when transferring data) 9) get {filename} [CR]. i.e. "get rename.lzh" [CR] 10) mget [CR] to get several files at once. i.e. "mget syst12.Z fixdsk.arc icon4.zip" [CR] 11) prompt [CR] to download several files with "mget" without having to reply "y" for each file when asked "get {filename}?". 12) quit [CR] to end FTP session and go back to UNIX 13) close [CR] to close the FTP site you're currently on, so that another site can be opened without having to set bin, hash, prompt etc. again. bin, hash, prompt will be turned on/off each time it's typed! - Be sure to check if all modes are set correctly (especially 'bin')! - stat [CR] or; status [CR] will show all modes and where you are connected. - Most files are compressed. Use an appropriate program on your computer on which the programs were intended, or in UNIX ....... - uncompress [CR] if ".Z" file - uudecode [CR] if ".uu" file - very often, files are still compressed in another format after uncompressing .Z and/or .uu. Use the appropriate decompression program for this. - ls [CR] lists files (shows all files in current directory). - pwd [CR] shows path. i.e. /pub/mirrors/umich/atari/utilities - If down-loading several files with similar names use "*". i.e. "mget *sys" [CR] (will get f.x.; datasys, lm23isys, xlinksys etc...) (ALL files with "sys" in their names) i.e. "mget *.lzh" [CR] (will get f.x.; stest.lzh, dw3.lzh, xlba.lzh etc...) (ALL files ending with ".lzh") i.e. "mget * [CR] (will get ALL files in the current directory!) - If your computer doesn't have a disk drive you can "remote login" to another computer (use an other terminal's disk drive); rlogin {computer name} [CR]. i.e. "rlogin hnoss" [CR]. You can now access the disk just as if it was on your own machine. eject [CR] to eject disk on disk-drives without "eject button" TRANSFERRING FILES TO MS-DOS DISKS --------------------------------- Part of this is dependent on you having the GNU msdos-utilities available at your site. If you don't, ask your local system operator how to transfer files to/from MSDOS disks. mcopy {filename} a: [CR] i.e. mcopy microtcx.zoo a: i.e. mcopy microtcx.zoo icone.lzh shblr.arc a: - mdir [CR] to show disk-directory/space left. - fdformat -d [CR] to format an MS-DOS 3.5" 1.44mMb disk ("-d" for MS-DOS) - fdformat -l -d [CR] to format an MS-DOS 720Kb 3.5" disk ("-l" for "low density") mcopy a:{filename on disk} {copy filename} [CR] to get a file from disk to computer. i.e. "mcopy a:dlist.txt test1.zip" - mdel a:{filename} [CR] to delete a file on disk. i.e. "mdel a:dslist.txt". - eject [CR] to eject disks from disk-drives that don't have "eject buttons". - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Original idea and list compilation by Hallvard Tangeraas, Oslo, Norway Now handled by Mark Stephen Smith (msh@dl.ac.uk) with permission from Hallvard This list may by all means be reproduced and distributed freely, but only with all data intact. Copyright (C) 18-April-1995 Portfolio Support Area -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Fred Horvat News from the Czech Republic --------------------------- Here's some very interesting and encouraging information about our beloved Portfolio that I received from Jan Sedlak a little while back. Who says that noone is supporting our favorite palmtop computer! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Jan.Sedlak@pedf.cuni.cz (Jan Sedlak) Subject: Portfolio lives o: ap748@cleveland.freenet.edu >From Portfolio Users and Club in the Czech Republic: In February we have finished a graphic version of Portfolio BIOS and DOS. This means that Portfolio can display any character using direct access to the LCD driver. This means that Portfolio can be used in countries with extended alphabet (eg. in Czech Republic). We used similar routines to those used in your PGC and PGX format. The resident program runs even under ROM aplications. We hope to implemet other graphic features: * blinking * inversion Portfolio thus will become more PC alike. Another aim of ours is to make Portfolio display 60*8 characters using 8*4 pixel fonts. This will mean that user will see more of the whole screen. There is also a lot of hardware we have designed and we produce: * FolioDrive - 3,5" floppy disk unit with included parallel interface and battery pack t was specially developed for Portfolio and enables to read and write 1.44 MB PC diskettes. No cables more needed. You can run files directly from the diskette. * PortWalk - tape recorder interface Enbles to save and load files onto any tape recoder casettes. It is very handy, and unlike 8-bit era of "tape recording", this interface is very reliable thanks to error detecting code. * 128 KB RAM CARD Atari cards are very expansive - the RAM card we developed uses one Low-Low Power chip and CR 2025 lithium battery (plus some diods). The assumed life expectancy of the battery at least 2 years. * 25 pin parallel interface As there are big problems with Atari dealers in Europe, we decided to produce 25 pin Centronics (Parallel) Interface. It is a bit smaller than original interface and consumes twice less energy. ********************************* FUTURE: If there are enough Portfolio users that will be interested in our products, we will be able to produce following: * 3.5 inch FDD unit with parallel interface and internal 128 KB memory chip to serve as cash and B: disk. * FAX-MODEM module to send and receive fax, modem messages every where in the world * 512 KB or 768 KB SRAM module to serve as a data storage medium * Interface for PCMCIA cards *********************************** Lynx Support Area -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Barry Cantin Letter from Edward Castle ------------------------- Hi All!! If you haven't guessed I'm a lynx fanatic! I've loved Atari and all their computers since I got an Atari ST. I went on to buy a Lynx and have started building up my games collection. I also write reviews for games (let me know if you want a review for any of the games I mention at the end of my letter). I have recently purchased a Jaguar and I am very happy with it. I love my Lynx and don't want it to suffer the same fate as the Nintendo (total oblivion), so I have put together this survey and letter to Atari that I have frequently been posting on the Atari and Lynx newsgroups. I hope this letter will show Atari that there is support for the Lynx and to **get their butt in gear!!**. I hope you have already filled in the survey, if you haven't please do!! My email address is: pcastle@cherita.win-uk.net. NOTE! This is not the finished letter! If you have replyed to me and aren't on the list let me know and I make sure you're put on! Thanks for your support! -EDD- Edward Castle (NOT PAUL!!!!!!!!) *&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&* Dear Atari, I have recently conducted a survey in the Lynx and Atari internet newsgroups. (*alt.games.lynx* and *rec.games.video.atari.*) Here is a copy of the survey: ________________________________________________________________ Help Support The Lynx! Please fill in the following questionnaire and post it back to me before May 1s the results on 15th May. I will also be sending the results to Atari. Come on! them that there still is plenty of support for the Lynx! I will be giving them address so they can ask you any questions they wish. If you do not want me to g you address, please say. Please Email me. ________________________________________________________________ **What is the best ever Lynx game?** I think the best ever Lynx game is <insert name of game>. **What score would you give that game? (As a %)** I would give it <insert game % here>. **What game would you most like to see on the Lynx?** The game I would most like to see on the Lynx is <insert game name here>. ________________________________________________________________ *EXTRA QUESTION* **What question(s) would you ask Atari given the chance (like this one)?** The question(s) I would ask Atari are: ________________________________________________________________ **I support the Atari Lynx!!!** <Place your name here>. Thanks a lot, lets hope Atari takes some notice of us Lynx game hungry gamers! Edward Castle. ________________________________________________________________ The response I have had has been quite pleasing. Here are the results of this survey: **What is the best ever Lynx game?** The best ever Lynx game, voted for by the gaming public is....... KLAX!! Close behind it were: Lemmings, Battlewheels, Shanghai, STUN Runner, Rampart, Blue Lightning, Chips Challenge, Xenophobe, Crystal Mines II, APB, Dracula the Undead, Warbirds, California Games and Baseball Heroes. **What score would you give that game?** The highest score given was 100%!!!. This was for Shanghai and was given by Barry W. Cantin. The second highest score given was 99%!!. This was for Lemmings and was given by James Bruce Haire and Klax and was given by Gregg Woodcock. The third highest score given was 98%. This was for KLAX and was given by Jason Simpson and Edward Barrett. The second lowest score given was 80%. This was for Klax and APB and was given by Andrew S. Wheat and was for Baseball Heroes and was given by Francisco Machin. The lowest score given was 70%. This was for California Games and was given by Jordan Ficklin. The majority of people gave 95% as the score for their favourite game. The average Score was: 94% (although no one actually gave this score). **What game would you most like to see on the Lynx?** The games that most people want to see on the Lynx are: Decent RPG games. (What happened to Guardians: Storm Over Doria? And where is Eye of the Beholder?) A Doom style game, both Wolfenstein and AvP came up more than once. Also mentioned were Doom itself and Dark Forces. Also mentioned a lot were Classic games Like Tempest, Battlezone, Asteroids, Pong!!, and Space Invaders. Some of the others that came up are Primal Rage, (come on, it's going to be on the Game Boy!!), Super Breakout, Marble Madness, Othello, and Crystal Mines III, Ikari Warriors, Xevious, Ultra Vortex, Road Rash 3, John Madden Football. Here is a list of some of the People who filled in the questionnaire: Edward Barrett, ad503@detroit.freenet.org Alyssa Forhan, forhan@mill2.millcomm.com Andrew Chin, asc@seattleu.edu Chris Pickett, cpicket@cello.gina.calstate.edu David Bush, dbush@northnet.org Gregg Woodcock, woodcock@bnr.ca Kurt Olsen, KURTO@cc.usu.edu Jesse Wiens, chinatom@clark.net Laura Wiens, " " " " Thomas Scaefer, tom@traveler.rhein.de Carl Forhan, forhan@vnet.ibm.com Brian Osserman, osserman@ocf.berkeley.edu Rob J Batina, rbatina@infinet.com Eric Lutz, iceman-e@nwu.edu Jesse Fuchs, fuchsjm@ucsu.colorado.edu Andy Norman, ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com Dan Woodard, SA073@getty.onu.edu Scott McCall, szm+@pitt.edu Jason Simpson, waxed2@seanet.com Andrew S. Wheat, tanatoes@netcom.com Kathy Madison, klm@umich.edu Steven M Henry, smhenry@vt.edu Barry W. Cantin, cantin@maf.nasa.gov, or aa852@cleveland.freenet.edu Frank Gemignani, FOG@ix.netcom.com Jim Dowling, dowlingj@alf2.tcd.ie David Poland, LORDJ@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu Jordan Ficklin, jofickli@nmsu.edu Francisco Machin, machfro00@dons.ac.usfca.edu Sam Houston, Not Connected Jonathan Clarke, Not Connected Bloke Down Fast Forward (Brilliant Computer/Video Shop), Not Connected Me, Edward Castle, pcastle@cherita.win-uk.net If you wish to contact anyone to ask them questions, or just have a chat, feel free to do so. If you wish to contact Sam Houston or Jonathan Clarke, please let me know and I will forward any questions, or info to them. Here are the questions asked by everyone, in most cases I have included their name next to the question(s), so you can reply by email, or you can send all the answers to me and I will make sure the varios people get the answers to their questions that they asked. Questions marked with a * on either side are ones I feel are important and I would like to have the answers sent to me as well so I can forward them to the Lynx and Atari news group. !"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!" ! Me, Edward Castle: 1. I once saw a magazine for the Lynx that had reviews, previews, and maps. I think this mag was for retailers only as I saw it in the aforementioned Fast Forward. What was it? Can I get some issues of it? 2. In a Telegames leaflet I saw a preview of Guardians: Storm over Doria. When will this game be released? *3. When will Eye of the Beholder be released?* *4. A long time ago I read that with the release of the Jaguar you would re- release the Lynx. What went wrong?* 5. What happened to the Lynx version of Alien Versus Predator (AvP)? Did Rebellion scrap it? 6. Would it be possible for you to lend me copies of Lynx and Jaguar games at I could review, and post the review on the net, then return (or buy) games? *7. What are your current plans for the Lynx?* Steven M Henry: *1. Why don't you reduce the price of the Lynx development kits, so people can program their own Lynx games? The Atari Club in Europe managed to make an excellent Tetris game. What could it hurt to lower the price and let people develop and sell games?* Daniel Cheng: 1. Could you consider making Lynx versions of Jaguar hits (AvP, T2K, IS)? Also, would you please make them multi-player (comlynxable)? Carl Fohran: 1. Why aren't you releasing more games games and obtaining more third party support? The Lynx is generably accepted to be superior in terms of hardware to the competing portable systems, but people always complain about the lack of of new/quality games.* 2. Would you develop a Super Lynx adapter for the Jaguar, especialy one would have hardware to intertpolate so the picture would not seem blocky on television. 3. Every store I talk to says the Lynx with 4 games package sells wonderfully. Why don't you get some more of your titles (all available by mail order) and accessories, especialy Comlynx cables, into stores? David Poland: *1. What are your current plans for the Lynx?* *2. Will the current games that are finished ever go into production?* Gregg Woodcock: *1. When are some of Sega's licenses that you acquired going to show up on the Lynx?* 2. Why don't you advertise on TV more? 3.Why don't you do more to court gaming magazines, particuarly for the Lynx (like giving them early evaluation copies of software AND hardware to play them on)? Thomas Scaefer: *1.Why is Atari withholding new games for the Lynx that are awaiting their releases for months and even years?* 2. Do you consider bringing back the Lynx to the main retailers again or will the Lynx handheld and games only be available through mail order firms in the future? 3. Are there any plans at all at Atari concerning the futurew of the Lynx? >From the customers point of view it looks like you are giving the Lynx too much suopport for it to die but too little to live. 4. Why did Atari stop signing up contracts with software firms willing to develope new carts for the Lynx? The Bloke Down At Fast Foward (I go down there every day, but still don't know his name): 1. I have read about you retail outsrech plan and was wondering if it only applied in America. There is quite a market for Jags in England and I would love to extend my Jaguar range but cannot afford it. This would be a perfect way. If it is possible could you please send me details through Edward. "!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"! I hope this letter has shown you that there is plenty of support for the Lynx still (and this is only the people on the net, there are hundreds more that are connected), so please don't let it die, and keep those games coming! Please send me a reply with the current status of the Lynx and answers to the questions, and feel free ask anyone mentioned in this letter any questions you want. I own a Lynx 1 and a Lynx II. I have a large selection of games which include: Ninja Gaiden, Shanghai, Klax, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, European Soccer Challenge, Basketbrawl, Xenophobe, Chips Challenge, California Games, Viking Child, Pinball Jam, Batman Returns, Zarlor Mercenary, Kung Food, Super Squeek, Xybots, Warbirds, Joust, Scrapyard Dog, Rampage, Gauntlet: The Third Encounter, Gates Of Zendocon, Checkered Flag, Ms. Pac-Man and Rampart. Perhaps you can see why I don't want the Lynx to fade away and die like so many computers, come on, do something to stop this happening! Edward Campbell-Castle. Proud Lynx Owner in the UK. Lynx Commentary --------------- It's refreshing to see people with enthusiastic attitudes about the Lynx. Ed Castle is one of those people and if you haven't already I encourage you to participate in his survey. This is the only way Atari will know how Lynx owners feel... Many Lynxes were sold over the past six months, and it's beginning to show up on the net and everywhere else. It's a great handheld and the best buy in portable gaming right now. Not much in the way of NEW games, and even I'm beginning to doubt that we'll see any more new releases for the Lynx. It's true that Telegames is about to release Krazy Ace Miniature Golf (which may be out by the time you read this), but other than that that, it looks very bleak. Atari has four titles *completed*, but it takes money and resources to put them into production. Right now BOTH of those are going into the Jaguar, which Atari (correctly, IMO) sees as their future. This isn't much consolation to us Lynx fans (unless you're a Jag owner too) but take solace in the fact that there are over 70 titles available for the Lynx. Even the early titles, for the most part, hold up well today. If you're the type of gamer who needs the latest of everything, the Lynx probably isn't for you. But if you're the type of gamer who just wants some great games (like "Joust", the best version yet!) at a very good price, then the Lynx *is* for you. If you don't want to see the machine go down without a fight, then complain. That's why Ed Castle has created this survey, which will get sent to Atari on May 15th. If you care at all about you Lynx, then reply to this -- and do it SOON. We'll try to get to the remainder of those Bubble Trouble hints/tips next month... it's not an easy game on Level 4! Anyone willing to contribute their own tips and tricks for this, please contact me at aa852@cleveland.freenet.edu and you will get full credit for your findings. In the meantime, Lynx up! %^) Jaguar Support Area =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Len Stys Jaguar News ----------- Atari Corporation releases the specs of the Jaguar Virtual Reality headset at the E3 show in Los Angeles: Jaguar Virtual Reality - VR Headset Official Specs """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Head Mounted Display (HMD): Less than 1 pound. Two degrees of freedom (DOF) tracking, stereo sound, and 52 degree horizontal by 40 degree vertical field of view. Uses a single 0.7" TFT active matrix color LCD containing 104,000 pixels. Optical System: Custom-designed pupil projection with aspheric acrylic lenses, beam splitters, mirrors and thin film coatings. Large exit pupil size of 5mm x 14mm. Can be used by anyone with an interpupilliary distance between 45mm and 70mm. Focus Adjustment: There is no need for focus adjustment because the optical system is highly tolerant, projecting a binocular image, aligned to infinity to both eyes. Tracking Systems: "V-Trak" is the fastest tracker ever developed for the consumer market, with a sample rate of 250Hz and a lagtime of only 4 milliseconds. Optional Joystick: Offers two of six degrees of freedom, allowing greater control over movements in the virtual world. Jaguar VR games can also be played with the standard Jaguar controller. Docking Station: Houses "V-Trak" position sensing system, a joystick interface and high speed communications link to the Jaguar for transferring audio and visual tracking data. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale, CA. ### Internet Jaguar Game Reviews ---------------------------- HOVER STRIKE ------------ From: rjung@netcom.com (Robert A. Jung) Subject: Jaguar review! HOVER STRIKE Date: Thu Apr 27 23:29:33 1995 Well, the pictures on the back of the box look nifty, at least. What's the game itself like? Let's find out... ============================================================================== HOVER STRIKE 1-2 players Cartridge Atari Corp., for the Atari Jaguar $59.95 OVERVIEW: The Federation's worst fears have been confirmed: Terrakian pirates have taken over the distant colony world, slaughtering and enslaving the populace. A rescue armada has been assembled, but are kept at bay by the Terrakian atmospheric cannon and defense network. A plan using the new HS709 armored hovertank is devised. Dropped behind enemy lines, the pilot must use it to destroy Terrakian installations and ships, working up to the cannon itself. Only then can the rescue force arrive and save the day. Okay, it's a fairly hackneyed and generic sci-fi storyline, but there it is. As expected, HOVER STRIKE casts you as the pilot of the hovertank, to blaze through the Terrakian forces on the ground and in the air. There are 30 missions in various terrain and visual conditions, divided into groups of six. Find powerups to rearm and refuel your hovertank, or recruit a second player to join in as the gunner. A tank is destroyed when it takes too many hits or runs out of energy, and the game ends when all are lost. Finally, the cartridge offers three difficulty levels and the ability to save a game in progress. GAMEPLAY HOVER STRIKE is similar to X-WING and CYBERMORPH in that it's an action game for thinkers. It is not enough to simply point and shoot, as this cartridge requires good mental juggling to keep abreast of the current situation. For example, some missions are dotted with baited traps that must be sprung, while others pit you against gigantic mazes of mountains or the pull of the tide. The pace of the game reflects this mental emphasis, and firefights are often separated by quiet lulls. Some will welcome the diverse complexity, but there will be those who bemoan the pauses in the combat. The entire Jaguar controller is used, with buttons for weapons select, target locks, braking, thrust, and firing. While the controls are responsive, piloting requires new skills. Since the tank hovers off the ground, it moves and steers depending on the thrust applied, while enemy fire and aspects of he terrain can change the course vector. It's similar to ASTEROIDS' thrust- and-turn controls, and can be learned after a few minutes of practice. The effort is worth it; able players can perform complex maneuvers like banking off a hill while strafing the enemy in a rapid retreat. Game difficulty and mission diversity are reasonable. The first set of missions are fairly straightforward, but the challenge builds up in later sets. While engagements can quickly become chaotic, your tank can take a good number of hits, and the availability of powerups is fair. In a two-player game, the gunner can aim all over the screen and have quicker access to the weapons. With coordination between the driver and the gunner, the hovertank's efficiency is noticeably increased, without relegating either player to a minor role. GRAPHICS/SOUND: graphics on HOVER STRIKE are very good, but fall short of greatness. On the up side, texture mapping and shading is used everywhere, and night missions feature an impressive "flare" source-lighting effect. Instruments text are all easy to read, though the main radar is a little small. Extra ouches like the minutae on the instruments and an adjustable external view flesh out the visuals. On the down side, the frame rate could have been better. It's passable most of the time, but drops slightly when things get frantic, and turning is fast but choppy. Some areas are short on animation, like the underground turrets that simply "pop" into view. Finally, textures are disabled on night missions, which is disappointing. Fortunately, the music and sounds are free of such discrepancies. Game effects are a good, healthy mix of weapons fire, sound effects, warning klaxons, and the voice of your on-board computer. Everything meshes together ll, completely reflecting the current situation. A number of nicely-crafted ominous tunes play throughout the game, adding to the action without diverting the player's attention. HOVER STRIKE is not an action game for players who like their combat nonstop and uncomplicated. Rather, the challenge of driving a hovercraft and the measured pace of many of the missions make this a game for folks who want to exercise their brains along with their thumbs. With nice graphics and better sounds, this is a very good -- though not totally earth-shaking -- game for the Jaguar. GAMEPLAY: 8.5 GRAPHICS: 8 SOUND: 9 OVERALL: 8.5 Rating values 10 - 8 Great! This game can't get much better. 7 - 5 Good. Average game, could be improved. 4 - 2 Poor. For devotees only. 1 Ick. Shoot it. ============================================================================== --R.J. B-) From: taylor@wherry.stsci.edu (None The Wiser) Subject: Hover Strike Impressions Date: Tue May 9 15:45:43 1995 Hey Everyone, Here's my take on Hover Strike - (Jaguar mailing list members may want to skip it since you've probably already read it) I really dig this game! In my opinion, it's one of the better Jag games currently available. I've sunk quite a few hours into it in the couple weeks I've had it, usually not realizing how long I've been playing. The low frame rate that's been mentioned is only bothersome when you're getting tossed around by enemy fire or careening off the walls. In these circumstances it should be disorienting and tough to aim. I suppose it would be nicer it it was silky smooth, but a $150 box is going to have limitations. The reversed stereo is annoying and troublesome. How does something like that get through testing?? I've also noticed that when there's a lot of activity it sounds like the sounds are clipping. It's an ugly crackly, popping sound. Otherwise this game's got the goods. The night missions are very cool! It took me a couple tries to really get the hang of using the flares effectively though. I also really like the night mission music too. Very pacey. Landscapes are interesting and require you to employ different tactics. The enemies look good and provide plenty of challenges. I also like the type of two player arrangement that was chosen, but have not tried it. Many times I prefer cooperative type games because none of my friends have Jags. It's just not that much fun (espcially for them) to kick some- one's ass over and over and over again. This setup sounds like it will work well. I can let them be the gunner since the most difficult part of the game is maneuvering the hovercraft. Finally I'd like to praise the ability to save between individual missions. I often don't have time to play games for several hours at once, but want to play a quick game before going out or to bed, etc. I've been stuck on the third set of missions in I.S. forever because of that. I'm actually getting a little sick of playing the first three and then buying it on Best Defense :). Hover Strike's approach suits me perfectly. I can pick a mission and finish it with the satisfaction of progressing in the game. I think they chose the right way to do it. Well I guess that's all for now. Patrick PS: What do you guys think of that galaxy that is displayed during the mission briefing? To me it's extra cool because it's an actual image from the Hubble Space Telescope. I happen to work at the Space Telescope Science Institute! We even got a credit in the manual. Internet E3 Show Reports ------------------------ From: carcarian@aol.com (CARCARIAN) Newsgroups: rec.games.video.atari Subject: THEA REALM FIGHTERS Date: Thu May 11 17:27:13 1995 Among the best games at the E3 show. Jag best: Hoverhunter,Thea Realm,Battleshpere(good job 4play),Ultra Vortex,Rayman. I can't believe how fast and smooth and ultra cool hover hunter was, and how clear and smooth Thea Realm Fighters was. How the hell did Atari get Primal Rage so far so fast. It looks almost done. VR helmet will sell the Jaguar, its awesome. From: carcarian@aol.com (CARCARIAN) Newsgroups: rec.games.video.atari Subject: E3 SHOW JUST GOT BACK Date: Thu May 11 16:23:33 1995 BATTLESPHERE AWESOME HOVER HUNTER UNBELIEVABLE THEA REALM FIGHTERS FREAKING AWESOME RAYMAN AWESOME WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP VERY GOOD HAMMERHEAD EARLY DEMO BUY PRETTY DAMN GOOD DEFENDER 2000 NEEDS WORK, NO MUSIC WHEN I WAS THERE POWERDRIVE RALLY AWESOME BLUE LIGHTENING THE WORST GAME I HAVE SEEN FOR JAG HIGHLANDER AWESOME ULTRA VORTEX VERY GOOD FIGHT FOR LIFE NEEDS ALOT OF WORK HOVERHUNTER,BATTLESPHERE AND THEA REALM WERE THE BEST VRHELMET LOOKS GREAT. CAN'T WAIT. HAD ZONE TROOPERS ON From: joecat@ix.netcom.com (Joe Cataudella) Newsgroups: rec.games.video.sega,rec.games.video.3do,rec.games.video.atari,rec. g ames.video.sony Subject: Tronix/E3 DAY 1 (Part 1) Date: Fri May 12 00:32:03 1995 Temporary E-mail address just for this report - my regular E-mail address is joecat@phantom.com. ================================================ E3 NEWS from Tronix - [Day 1] Thursday, May 11th 1995 ================================================ Part 1 Howdy folks - it's now 6:15 LA time, the first day of E3 has now come to close. Two words can best describe the first day: Exhausting and Outstanding. Compared to the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, E3 is a gamer's paradise - yet there's so much to see in this dense activity of sight and sound - there's no way you can cover even half of it in one day. The first day of the show is always brutal. You walk around with a video camera (I have to) in one arm, and 50 lbs of literature in the other. You can't stop and really enjoy any games s you're either filming or reorganizing your press kits before your bags burst open. I'll give you a brief rundown of what I saw just today - but don't forget, more will be covered (and more extensively) as the show continues (with less hassle). The day started with Keynote Speakers - Tom Kalinski of Sega, and Olaf Olafsen of Sony. Both gave nice presentations of where they felt the market was going, each ending with a video demo collage of their 32-bit babies. Both "performances" received a wave of applause. Kalinski's final words were "It's out there", referring to the sudden stealth-like release of the US Saturn. Kalinski stated that the Saturn will have 20 titles on shelves by the end of August. So, what's with Saturn-Day? Sony's ending comments pretty much brought the rowd to its knees when they announced a $299.00 price tag on the US Sony Playstation which will be coming September 9th. On With the Show! CAIN EDITOR'S NOTE: The Sega and Nintendo part of this message was edited out to conserve space. Jaguar --------- Jaguar setup though much small than the others had it's own healthy crowd - with two Virtual Reality setups at opposite ends of the booth. This new VR system will be coming out in the late fall - and will be priced under $299.00. Tomorrow I will get in line to try it - but from what I can tell from the external displays - the game people were "immersed" in looked mighty impressive. It was some kind of 3D space exploration game - looking a bit like AvP, with lots of detailed polygons. The tile is called Zone Hunter, and according to one of the heads of this project, this might very well be the pack in. People who tried on the goggles stepped off the specially made platforms with smiles on their faces Another title we might be seeing for this Jaguar add-on is a 90's Missile Command, VR-style. As far as games, there wasn't exactly a large explosion of new titles, but many of the promised titles were finally finished, or much further along in progress. There were a few monitors that weren't showing anything, so aside from the list below - more can show up on tomorrow's report. *Defender 2000 - Once again, Jeff Minter is king. I can't even begin to describe the magic surrounding this updated William's coin-op classic. D2K is chock full of special effects, and simply put - the hottest Jag-game in Atari's booth. *BurnOut - 3D motorcycle racing - updated further - and looking better and better! *RayMan - Hey, it's almost here - and it'll be worth the wait. *Flip-Out - Very nice-looking puzzle game... *Baldies - Looks like another Lemmings-type - not impressive. *Brett Hall Hockey - too early to tell - but knowing Accloade, don't count on it knocking your socks off. *TRF - A new fighting game - in fact, it was displayed on a large screen as everyone thought it was Mortal Kombat III as they passed. Looks great! *Myst - Jaguar CD - like the other 900 versions. *Highlander - Jaguar CD - looks juicy, though I'll have to look at it more closely tomorrow. *BattleMorph - Jaguar CD looks like Cybermorph - but it's unfair to judge, as I didn't take a crack at it yet. *Creature Shock Jaguar CD - looks sharper than the PC version! Fight For Life - They added more textures to the characters since he last time I saw it. Still needs works - but improving. *Vid-Grid - Jaguar CD -Some rock-n-roll-stye puzzle game with full motion music videos. Varuna's Forces - Jaguar CD - looking hot! A space/action adventure which I will be playing tomorow. Blue Lightning - Jaguar CD - Another improvement from the last time it was on display at WCES. Primal Rage - Only had a the title page done. Ultra Vortex - Yep, once again it's here - and they've added a lot more. The final version should be great (damn-well better be!). DeathWatch (I think this is the name ) - An immensiely colorful platform game - though showin in early stages. See Part 2 (3DO/SONY).... (Give me a few hours - I need to take a short nap as my eyes are going). -- ~ TRONIX MULTIMEDIA ~ ////Ahead//of//the//Game//// 3DO * Jaguar * PC-CDROM * Sega * VISIT THE TRONIX WEB FOR MORE Nintendo * Sony * Imports * Magazines INFORMATION, VIEWS, PRICES, ETC.. Multi-Format Entertainment Mail Order at http://www.phantom.com/~joecat From: rjung@netcom.com (Robert A. Jung) Subject: Rob's Jaguar E3 bits Followup-To: rec.games.video.atari Date: Sun May 14 02:19:04 1995 (Note the crossposting. Followups to rec.games.video.atari, thanks B-) Taking advantage of the generousity of a few good friends of mine, I snuck into the Los Angeles Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) for a few hours today to see what's up with Atari and the Jaguar. I may or may not also have gotten recorded by AEO's video crew, but that's another matter all together. Herein a report of what I saw. (Note: This is not, in any way, shape, or form, a report on the E3 show as a whole. I didn't have the time or the inclination to see every major player's booth, and I'm not claiming anything of the sort [hey, I had errands to run and things to do]. If you want reports on what everyone else was showing, there are plenty of other USENET reports that will do the job. This message is for those who want a detailed scrutiny of Atari's area) Hokay, let's jump into the fray... * FLOOR SPACE. Yes, Atari had the smallest space of the various console makers at the show. On the other hand, their space was well used. Sega's area (which was in the center of the South hall and next to Atari) was the biggest, but much of the area was open space, big displays, and to redudant showings. The Saturn area, for instance, had three units running DAYTONA (A personal disappointment for me -- the resolution's low, the horizon is -far- o short, and the steering wheel is sensitive as h*ll. Give me RIDGE RACER on the PlayStation instead), three running PANZIER DRAGOON, etc. Sega also had a section devoted to different forms of shelving(!) and Sega merchandise, and massive mock-ups for less-than-stellar games like GARFIELD and VR TROOPERS. Or look at Nintendo, who wasn't even in the South Hall with Atari/Sega/3DO/Sony, but in the West Hall with most of the computer firms. I lost count of how many Jaguar games I saw (I'll have to count after I finish this message); almost each kiosk was running a completely different title, with a few networked demo exceptions, which helped Atari cram more games in a small amount of space. A few games -- RAYMAN, THEA REALM FIGHTERS, WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP, and ULTRA VORTEX -- got the "big screen" treatment, with massive color TVs and a decorated theme area. RAYMAN, for instance, had vines and plants in the area, and "tree stump" seats for people to sit in. * JAGUAR VR. This was Atari's "big gun" product, and they made sure everyone knew it. Atari was handing out VR promotional packets with free photographic lides (for you magazine publishers) and lots of information, as well as "Jaguar VR" T-shirts (take the traditional black Jaguar tee, but replace the blood-red Jaguar logo on the back with a shiny embossed "Jaguar VR" instead). Two raised diases were set up in the front of the area, where visitors got a chance to try the Jaguar VR prototype gear. One line was devoted to members of the press and media, while a second line was for "everyone else." Both lines were long, though the media got preferental treatment. The hardware is 98% finished, and final molds of the equipment were on display. The VR system consists of three parts: (1) VR goggles. No stereo vision, but otherwise a snug-fitting headset. Works fine with glasses, too. Adjustable knobs for picture focus and head fit. Plugs into the expansion port of the Jaguar. (2) Trigger controller. A lightweight hand-held controller with two buttons: a "trigger" and an "action" button. Plugs into the Jaguar controller port. (3) Infrared receiver. Not used in the demo setups, but the final Jaguar VR set will use an infrared receiver to track the position of your trigger relative to your helmet. The software being shown was ZONE HUNTER, a shoot-everything-that-moves sci-fi game. It was currently running on a dedicated computer (unseen, possibly an IBM PC). A Virtuality rep I talked to says that work on the Jaguar game software has begun; the polygon count will probably be lower in the end, but they expect to make up for it by giving you a larger "virtual world" to play in. Yes, I got to try the VR gear. B-) ZONE HUNTER is a simple game: you play a futuristic space Marine, who walks around, through, and under a high-tech city, blowing away all sorts of aliens and enemies. Grab powerups for your gun, avoid damage, and reach your checkpoints before time runs out. Nothing too complicated, but it was fun to play -- think of it as VR DOOM, if you want (though not as fast). Graphics were plain polygons with a minimal amount of texture-mapping; sounds consist of weapons fire and a "radio" voice from your headquarters. The prototype VR gear works like a charm, and the tracking of your head and gun are perfect. For example, I stopped at the end of a hall, spun around, and blew away a mutant creeping up behind me, and didn't feel any sort of discontinuity from the game. Suffice it to say that this is a solid product. I expressed some doubt that the $300 price tag might not make it worthwhile for layers. The Atari rep I talked to quickly contradicted me: a LOT of retailers and sales representatives think there's a HUGE market for a $450 ($300 headset plus $150 Jaguar) setup. Atari's very eager to get this out by Christmas 1995 as a result, and I can't blame them. Final VR note: The current plans are to have at least two VR games available at the headset's release: ZONE HUNTER and MISSILE COMMAND 3D. I managed to sneak a peek at MC3D (it wasn't being shown to the general public), but the game was too early to get a feel for what was going on. At least coding has started... * NEWS AND MISINFORMATION. Here's a good time to segue into some potpourri of Jaguar news and whatnot... >> DOOM to be Jaguar pack-in? Don't be so sure of that, folks. Yes, Atari was showing new Jaguar packaging, with more colorful box art, more screen shots, and promotions of the Jaguar CD, Jaguar VR, and JagLink cables to retailers in private. And yes, the front of the box says "DOOM included." But wait! What's that -other- box over there, the one that says "ALIEN VS. PREDATOR included," then? Turns out that both boxes are marketing mock-ups. While there are plans to bring back the Jaguar-and-game package, there is no decision made yet as to what the pack-in will be. DOOM and AvP are merely used to give retailers a feel for the new box design. >> Does Atari have a clue? Despite what some people will say, Atari is not unaware of their situation in the market. They have a good machine for a good price, but their weakness is in software. They KNOW that. "So what are they going to do about it?", you ask. Good question. How does hiring experienced programmers from Sega sound for an answer. You heard correctly. Apparently, Sega of America recently laid of twenty-five programmers due to their own downsizing efforts. Atari is currently interviewing each and every one of those ex-Sega coders, and wants to gr;5H Sounds incredulous? So am I. But it gets more interesting. When I asked an Atari rep about how realistic this goal was, she insisted that it was a serious goal. Atari is counting 50 titles from themselves and their third-party developers; "We're actually trying to get more than 50 titles , but we admit there's a chance that some of them won't make it in time." Well, she seemed sincere, anyway. I'm still doubtful, personally, but I only report what I hear... >> Who's Afraid of Sony? Is Atari worried about the $300 Sony PlayStation? No. Why not? Because it doesn't exist. Take this with a bag of salt, too, but apparently the $300 PlayStation announcement is a bit of misdirection from Sony, to recoup some of their lost thunder from Sega's early Saturn release. The PlayStation will hit the 'States for $300, but there are reports that it's the WHOLESALE price. If this is true, then depending on how retail sales go, the PlayStation may end up costing anywhere from $340 to $380 retail after the dust settles... emi-related sidebar: most of the retailers I talked with weren't floored with Sega's early Saturn release. The feeling is that, at $400, it's still priced too high for most consumers. The SNES and Genesis are still seen as e price favorites, and the low-cost upgrades -- the Jaguar and the 32X -- are given better odds for survival. The consensus is also that the Jaguar is technologically superior to the 32X, and Atari's lack of games is the biggest thing holding them back (hmmm, sound familliar?). Okay, enough gossiping. Let's get back to the really interesting stuff, and talk about peripherals... * JAGUAR SIX-BUTTON JOYPAD. Yes, it was there, being used to show off ULTRA VORTEX. It feels about the same as the existing Jaguar joypad, but with the following changes: (1) Six buttons under the right thumb. The existing A, B, and C are joined by 1, 2, and 3, which map into the keypad buttons. The buttons are raised and round, instead of the flushed squares on the existing pad. (2) Two index finger buttons, which map into the keypad buttons 4 and 6 for left and right. (3) Minor mold changes near the keypad area, ostensibly to make removing overlays easier. (4) More tactile feedback on the joypad. For the most part, those familliar with the existing Jaguar controller will have no problems with this new one. Expect to see it appear in the Fall. * JAGUAR CD. Everyone seems to be looking at August as a release date for this peripheral. Why the delay? (Repeat after me) "No software!" A walk around Atari's E3 floor will confirm that -- NONE of the Jaguar CD titles shown were finished. Even VID GRID, the so-easy-I-can't-believe-it title, was running as an unfinished "E3 Demo Version." You could play it, but there were no provisions to set options yet. Some titles were closer to completion than others, but every Jaguar CD game was clearly stamped "Work in progress," and looked like it too. On the good side, the CD does exist; a few Jaguar CD games were running off EEPROMS, but most were playing on final-production CD units. I got a quick glimpse of the Jaguar CD packaging mock-up; there's not much to report, other than the Virtual Light Machine gets a good amount of promotion, and the box is printed for international sales (in three languages). * VIRTUAL LIGHT MACHINE. It's up, it's running, and it looks very spiffy. The Jaguar keypad is used extensively -- tap a few keys, and you can change the audio track on the fly. Or press the A button to bring up the CD player menu, where you can program tracks, fast forward, reverse, adjust the volume, and do other audio CD features. CD+Graphics flashed by briefly, but nobody had a CD+G disc to try it on... It's fun to play with the VLM. Just hold down the asterisk key, tap two digits (like a television remote control), and you bring up the effect. There seems to be 81 different visuals (9 categories with 9 variations each), and they're all entrancing to look at. Some effects effortlessly fade from one to the other, while others will blink immediately. Some effects are more/less sensitive to the music than others (this probably accounts for some people wondering why VLM didn't "react well" to the rhythm of a tune). Other effects play on different things -- tempo, frequency, reverb, stereo, etc. The idea is to encourage experimentation, and it does a very good job of it. And for some reason, I was amused that -- in the tradition of MTV and VH1 -- the VLM will flash a little colored "VLM" logo at the lower-right corner of the screen. Don't worry, it only shows up when you want it to. * RELEASED GAMES. Of the Jaguar games shown, only IRON SOLDIER, TEMPEST 2000 ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, VAL D'ISERE SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING, and DOOM were already available. No need to discuss them here, though I'm glad that more space was given to works-in-progress instead of less impressive titles like DOUBLE DRAGON V or CLUB DRIVE. Now for the meat of the matter -- the new games. I covered a number of titles two weeks ago in an article entitled "Jabbin' with Jeff." You may want to dig that up for reference; some games were almost identical, while others had more "advanced" showings at E3. Now, in no particular order... * DEFENDER 2000. I talked about this two weeks ago, in the selfsame "Jabbin'" message. No need to repeat myself here; the E3 version was the same as the one shown around Los Angeles for the last few weeks. "Classic" is a near-perfect clone, while "Defender Plus" is an in-your-face blast-a-thon with flowing colors and Pixelshatter-esque explosions everywhere. By the way, Jeff is glad that E3 is over; he wants to get back home and do some more coding already... B-) * POWER DRIVE RALLY. Significantly advanced over the version shown two weeks go. There are now option screens to configure your car, and more (and better) ounds throughout. I'm still lackluster on this game myself, but this is something for Time-Warner Interactive to worry about, methinks.IFE. I've been he aring this game get pounded for months and months and months, and when I finally saw it today, I was expecting to be disappointed. I don't know WHY people are griping; the version of FIGHT FOR LIFE I played was a respectable polygon fighter, and it's clear to me that the critics are ither playing earlier versions of the game, have an axe to grind, or both. The texture-mapped polygon graphics are very smooth (if it's not 30 fps, it's pretty close), while the detailed backgrounds are a blast to look at. The E3 version had all of the fighters' moves enabled, and a large number of them were printed for people to use. Francois Bertrand says the final game will let each player start with five basic moves, and earn more by defeating opponents. The new Jaguar six-button controller will be supported; sidestepping is done with the "4" and "6" keys, which map into the left and right index buttons on the new controller. Regular controls are A to block, B to punch, and C to kick. I managed to dope out a few moves on my own, and enjoyed Muhali's "Arabian noogie" attack. B-) Now, granted, FIGHT FOR LIFE is not quite up there graphically with VIRTUA FIGHTER on the Saturn or TO SHIH DEN on the PlayStation. But then, this -is- a four-megabyte cartridge; and after having tried VIRTUA FIGHTER on the 32X (the closest comparison to FFL, both conceptually and geographically), I honestly think FFL can hold its own pretty well. Francois says the game should go into final testing in a month or so; for now, I'd advise people to keep an open mind about this title. (Oh, and Francois' next project after FIGHT FOR LIFE is PONG 2000. He is *NOT* kidding, folks -- he wants to do this. After I left the E3 show, I started thinking about what could be done with the idea, and there are some possibilities there...) * BLUE LIGHTNING. Some folks have been saying this is the "lamest Jaguar game ever." I wouldn't go that far; BLUE LIGHTNING is a decent attempt to copy Sega's AFTERBURNER arcade game. The problem is that, after you strip away the neat FMV intro, the radical music, the animated jet models and pre-launch sequences, that's what you get -- AFTERBURNER, a fairly dated and simple arcade game. If this was a cartridge title (without the snazzy music and FMV), it wouldn't be so bad. But I cannot honestly see buying this on CD, unless it's at a discount. An Atari rep I collared said that they've only gotten "positive" responses on it, so I made sure to register a negative response for the sake of completeness. Time will tell... * AIR CARS. Now, -this- is a title that can be called "lamest Jaguar game ever" (or at least at E3). My deepest apologies to Midnight Software, but this is one gamer's opinion. While the game may have been reworked after a poor showing at the 1995 Winter CES, the near-final version on the E3 floor didn't move me in any positive direction. The only real changes that I could spot were better and more extensive use of Goraund shading; the sense of movement and terrain height is there. On the other hand, game objects look blocky and simple (a "tree" was nothing more than an elongated green pyramid stuck on a brown cube, for example) and things got chaotic pretty quickly (I suddenly found myself stopped in front of a tank which blew me away after three shots). The Midnight rep I talked to emphasized the eight-player networking aspect of the game, but I don't know if people will put up with the title just for that feature alone. * BALDY. An unusual puzzle game that looks like a cross between POPULOUS, LEMMINGS, and TYRANTS. You control the fates of a bunch of bald men who run around on a series of islands. Y * HOVER HUNTER. Hyper Image's game was also roughly two-thirds done. The graphics and control engine were complete, though there were no enemies to combat, and only two planets were available to date. What was there looked very good; realistic "soft" terrains with COMMACHE-like spot-texture-mapping, with smooth scrolling and movement and a realistic gradual fading in of distant features and objects. The biggest problem was that the bitmapped images (landscape features and other ships) got blocky very fast when you came close to them. The Hyper Image rep I talked to mentioned that they were already starting work on updating the graphics engine, using higher-resolution bitmaps and a better extrapolation algorithm to cut down on the problem. I wish them the best of luck. * RAYMAN. Forget Donkey Kong, Mario, or Sonic; Ubi Soft was promoting RAYMAN in a big way all through E3. Sticker sheets were everywhere, a twenty-foot- tall inflatable Ray was waving across the street from the Convention Center entrance, Ubi Soft's RAYMAN advertising (for all systems) was easy to snatch, and several Rayman cosumed walkers paraded around the show floor. Oh, the game itself? Like BURN OUT, this game's either finished or Very Darn Close. Anyone who's followed the progress of RAYMAN will not be surprised here; luscious-smooth graphics, wonderful sounds, and some interesting twists on the platform idea. I admit, I didn't give it that much of a look, since I was more intently after games that have received less attention to date. I ll mention that the early version of RAYMAN on the Sega Saturn looks identical to the Jaguar version; take that as you will. * FLIP OUT. From Gorilla Systems. -Vastly- improved over the early and incomprehensible version I covered in the "Jabbin'" article. The idea is as follows: you have a grid of colored tiles, which you must position into a certain pattern. By selecting a square and pressing a button, you "flip" the piece there into the air, exchanging it for another piece that's already flying. You have to keep "juggling" the tiles until you get the pattern -- and if you "drop" a tile, you lose a chance. It sounds like a simple puzzle game, but it can get complicated very hairy. For a challenge, I started at a higher level (there are about ten levels, each divided into several sub-stages) halfway through the game. I got five different colors, a rogue tile that belonged nowhere, and a chaotic pattern to deal with. Needless to say, I went -splat- pretty quickly. The graphics are the best thing about this game. Everything is either fully rendered or animated Claymation figures, from the funny-looking aliens that cheer your efforts and track your score to the tiles themselves, all with silky-smooth animation. I imagine this game will be pretty close to completion; whether it'll catch on with the public is another matter. UNNAMED PLATFORM GAME. From out of nowhere, with no name, Visual Design Studios (I -think- that's the developer) comes out with a cutesy gun-totin' platform title. You controlled a little warrior cartoon character who looks somewhat like the "Plok!" video hero and who wields a big gun. He shoots and unches enemies, grabs various spheres, and leaps on floating platforms and bottomless chasms in typical platformer fashion. It was a very early game, but already seemed interesting -- there were several layers of smooth parallax scrolling, lots of color, and crisp animation. But it's far too early to tell... * UNNAMED PROTOTYPE "INTERACTIVE MOVIE" GAME. And speaking of no-named mysteries that came out of nowhere, Atari was showing (very briefly) a prototype "interactive movie" for the Jaguar CD-ROM. All I saw was an extended video clip of a male hospital patient overcoming his nurse and trying to escape. It was a good demonstration of the clarity of the Jaguar CD's spooled video, but that's all I could really say about it. The Atari representative emphasized that this was an early prototype. It's only an idea under consideration, and may never appear as a final game at all. Still, there it is. * PINBALL FANTASIES. No surprises here. This is a straightforward port of the Amiga pinball game. Good flipper control and ball physics, but the boards truck me as bch harder in a final release.THEA REALM FIGHTERS. Another one-on-one fighting game, from High Voltage Software (they have a LOT of entries for Atari at E3, if you haven't noticed). The most notable feature so far is its use of several martial artists from MORTAL KOMBAT for its visuals. The game as shown was -very- early; animation was minimal, scrolling was jumpy, and players could beat the daylights out of each other indefinitely. I would advise giving this title a few more months before passing any sort of early judgement. * ULTRA VORTEX. Version 0.96 -- another "almost completely finished" fighting game, this time from Beyond Games. The E3 version was almost identical to the v.0.94 I reported from two weeks earlier; I was surprised, though, that the special move sequences were changed. The scrolling is still a little jumpy, but (still) doesn't interfere with the game itself. I'm not a big fan of fighting games, but I was having fun with this on general principles. Some of the "annihilation moves" were rather comical; for example, Mercury (the "liquid metal" character) turns into a giant rolling meat grinder and turns the loser into ground beef... The Beyond Games representative I talked with said that ULTRA VORTEX should be out in five or six weeks, which implies to me that the final version is in production already. Their next project is the highly-anticipated BATTLEWHEELS 2025, a Jaguar update to their original BATTLEWHEELS for the Lynx. * VARUNA'S FORCES. I wanted to say lots about this innovative CD game; I especially wanted to talk about how it implements the "control four commando members separately while seeing what they do" idea. But I can't, since the E3 version was fairly dated. The FMV opening, mission briefing, and character psychological profiles were available, but that was it -- the game itself was unavailable. The Accent Media rep I talked to, howver, was very optimistic that this game would be available with the Jaguar CD release. Looked nice, at least. * DRAGON'S LAIR. Another disappointment. I expected that a port of this title would be trivially easy, since all ReadySoft had to do was translate he controller engine. But DRAGON'S LAIR for the Jaguar was apparently a hastily-thrown demo for the E3 show, with everything running off the Jaguar's RAM. Only the first sequence with Dirk crossing the drawbridge was available; you couldn't really play it, however, since there were no visual cues to guide the player. So Dirk would keep crossing the drawbridge, get killed, get reincarnated, over and over and over and over... Not surprisingly, it looked like every other version of DRAGON'S LAIR on the market today. * BRETT HULL HOCKEY. An early version of the CD-ROM game, but on EEPROMs instead. Seems promising already -- individual NHL teams, logos, player names, and stats were available, with a smooth-scrolling rink, scaled sprites, and digitized graphics. Most interesting feature is the ability to change the "camera view" of the game. Press Pause, then press 1-9 on the keypad to change the view from overhead to wide-angle pull-back to everything in-between. I'm not a hockey fan, but I was impressed with the early effort. Only -slightly- less impressive than the upcoming hockey game being shown for the Saturn across the aisle. * WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP. Once again, it's High Voltage Software (didn't I say they get around? B-). Based loosely on the movie, this is a two-on-two halfcourt street basketball game. Four people could play the E3 showing, but I couldn't spot the four-controller tap that was used for the job. The game itself is great. Playwise, it's very reminescent of NBA JAM, but without the flashy slam dunks and with the need to clear the ball when you have possession. Passing, shooting, and blocking are easy and effortless, and you have a number of teams and four areas to play in. The big thing about this game are the visuals. Take a real basketball court, and place a camera rail along the center line. Now, as the player play in h fun. B-) * BATTLEMORPH. Attention To Detail's CD sequel to the original CYBERMORPH. I suspect that players who liked CYBERMORPH will love BATTLEMORPH, while those who hated CYBERMORPH won't care for this, either. Upgrades from CYBERMORPH to BATTLEMORPH include a farther horizon, a fair dose of texture-mapped graphics, more and larger worlds (the indica promises 60 new planets to explore), new and nastier enemies, undersea and underground regions, detailed background graphics, and a better/less irritating voice for Skylar ("Yay!", someone shouts B-). Controllers are the same in both games, though BATTLEMORPH adds a bank of weapon slots to be filled as you progress the game. The combat level is noticably increased, and there are some nice graphics touches scattered throughout (such as the underwater shimmering view). * HIGHLANDER. An animated adventure game based on the movie and animated ries. Think of it as a variation of ALONE IN THE DARK for a good feel. The CD shown at E3 had lots of areas to explore, but almost no items to find or people to encounter. Backgrounds are beautiful rendered screens, while the main game graphics consist of moothly-animated polygons with a minimal of texture mapping. An FMV introduction based on the animated series was also shown. Dave Bottomley, the representative from Lore Design, says that while contracts for HIGHLANDER 2 and HIGHLANDER 3 haven't been signed yet, the scripts for those games are already done. As with many Jaguar CD games, they expect to have this ready at the time of the unit's launch. --R.J. B-) From: llamaman@ix.netcom.com (YaK) Newsgroups: rec.games.video.atari Subject: Yak's back from E3, now maybe I can get some coding done Date: Sun May 14 17:41:57 1995 Well, I just got back from E3, pretty interesting show and a lot of fun, but I'm glad to get back and get down to a few contiguous days coding, as life's been a bit fragmented of late, with the two LA demo runs and E3 and moving house all in the last 3 weeks.. Response to D2K was good, especially considering that we were only demoing Classic and Plus modes (I have sone 2K stuff running but the graphics are just untextured renderings at the moment, placeholders to llet me test the multiparallax stuff). One person didn't like the ship hape and one person didn't like the psychedelic plasma under the planety surface, but there's no accounting for taste. Some people thought it was a bit graphically sparse, until I pointed out that this was only Plus and it was meant to be that way - the multilayered background and thangs are for the 2K mode. Everybody lloved the aurora. Most importantly, nobody bitched about the gameplay. Good to see plenty new titles coming out for the Jaguar. JagVR was pretty interesting - BTW the demos outside were running on non-Jag kit, probably Virtuality's own stuff - but inside, there was the actual Jag VR running Missile Command 2000. This was a lot of fun to play, being well suited to VR - it's quite worrying to be looking out across your peaceful domes, and then look up and see the warheads coming down. Kamikaze ships circle around before plummeting into your domes, and you're frantically craning your neck about as they zip past, trying to get a bead on them. Cool. Played on the Playstation and Saturn quite a lot, too. Impressions - Daytona is not nearly as nice as Ridge on the PS - they have a definite depthcueing problem where you can see the world being built in big chunks as you drive along. Liked the little driving controller though. Panzer Dragoon is spectacular, but the gameplay is entirely too much on rails to have long-term appeal. Kind of like a glorified Space Harrier. The Psyggies had a nice-looking racing game on the PSX - but there are *so* many racing games on the PSX... LucasArts are resurrecting BallBlazer on the PSX, which had me fired up at first, but on pill be the improved jumping, which now lets you leap high in the air or over opponents. Still, the game lacks and intuitive play mechanic, and many moves execute in an almost comic manner. For example, when you walk towards and opponent you take these little baby steps and your upper body remains completely rigid, and the flip kicks go by in about .1 seconds. To the development teams credit, though, many of the moves now have a more graceful feel and better pacing. WHAT IT NEEDS: 1.)Move the camera in, the characters look tiny much of the time. It is fine to move back for high jumps, etc., but the view is generally too far back. 2.)Characters need headbands, belts, ponytails, etc., that move in the wind and react to jumps and kicks, etc.. 3.)Study more human movement. Too often an action doesn't get a proper reaction. Punches to the head should make the head snap back. Punches to the gut should cause some degree of doubling over. A super powerful spin kick should send you flying, spinning wildly as you go (not realistic, but it sure drives home the point that you got tagged). ToShinDin is brilliant at this. Characters are in a constant state of reaction/action. Tag someone in the back as they are charging you and they stumble forward and fall. Cool moves like grabbing your opponent and repeatedly slapping them would help too (okay, so that would be a direct ToShinDin rip-off..so what?). 4.)Change the ground, I hate checkerboards. Thea Realm Fighters- I only got a brief look at this one, and my reaction was mixed. The graphics are generally very good, but the animation seems to lack smoothness (this is a number-of-frames-per-move problem, not a frame rate one). Special moves need to be pumped up. The rather dull fireballs, etc. look anemic next to the glowing fireballs and flashing sparks of Killer Instinct. Nice moves and a fair number of characters choose from. It is worth pointing out that the new controller was on hand, with the promised six buttons on top and two in front. The control pad has also been changed to give better tactile feedback hey still desperately need a joystick, though. Overall very promising, but that frame count needs to be taken care of pronto. Ultra Vortex - Cool game and easily the best fighter Atari has to show (smoother than Thea, even). Moves are awkward at first, but with very little practice I was pulling them off with no problemos. The biggest downers are the ridiculous delays and the music. The music is still pretty good, but I miss that cool track they had playing way back at the summer '94 CES. Goes into production in 1-2 weeks. Expect a late June shelf date...finally. RayMan - Gorgeous, as always, and effortless to play. Unfortunately, this one uffers from the GET IT OUT ALREADY syndrome like Ultra Vortex, not to mention the playable versions for the Saturn, 32x, and Sony (and maybe 3DO, I didn't check). Sigh... Rage Rally - A very cool game, but hardly enough to tax even the Genesis. This one succeeds on playability. Basically finished, but probably won't see store shelves until late July/early August SuperBurnOut - See Rage Rally. The scaling is practically hypnotic. Supposedly out in late June. BattleSphere - Just buy the freakin' thing when it comes out (early Fall is the current guess). The potential in this one is clear as crystal to anyone who tried it. The only title besides the VR stuff to seriously stand up to the Sony/Sega titles. Hover Hunter - Gorgeous landscapes, but no game currently. The network option should make this very tempting indeed. Biggest problem, sprites are extremely chunky and lack detail. Most look like blobs even at a moderate distance. This could change since the only sprites which could be viewed were your ship and the trees. That's it for this post. More later. Adios! From: gameboy@ix.netcom.com (William Longworth) Newsgroups: rec.games.video.atari,alt.atari-jaguar.discussion Subject: E3 Newz II Date: Sat May 13 02:01:10 1995 Now for some takes on CD-ROM titles: Creature Shock - Once again, Virgin briefly becomes the center of a "stopped making Jag games" rumour. Clearly, however, Creature Shock is coming out, though "Demolition Man," the other promised Vrigin title was no where to be seen. I only got to see bits and pieces, but it looked just like the P.C. game. This means its another good looking, mediocre playing title. Oh goody. I love the look, but I can't say I m looking forward to this one. Blue Lightning - What a f*cking joke. This game is pure crap. Hey everybody, we are so powerful we can scale sprites and stuff. Huge yawn. This is a major dog. BattleMorph - Yes there is some nice texture mapping, but it still looks miles worse than Total Eclipse. Of course, you couldn't go anywhere you wanted in Solar Eclipse either, but the look was still rather bland (pathetic, actually, next to the Sony and Sega). If it was a freebie I'd consider it, but otherwise, another yawn. To the developer's credit, it is very smooth, and the gouraud shading is better, though some color choices are still a little odd (i.e. more hot pink landscapes). Thea Realm Fighters - I already covered this in a previous post, so I will confine my remarks to one question. Other than music, what is the benefit in putting this on CD (I think there will be 20 fighters, os os, so that would be another reason)? The animation is WEAK compared to just about every other fighting game out there (MKIII and K.I. on SNES looked smoother). Kasumi Ninja II might wind up being a more apt title. SoulStar - just a running demo of a rendered cinema sequence. I like Core Designs, so I have high hopes. Should look pretty good with all the rumoured S.G.I. rendered sprites. Strangely enough, I came away hopeful about this one. Defender 2000 - Not a CD yet, since a number of elements are missing, but it did play exactly like the original (big surprise). I still think the graphics need more punch, but I like the feel so far. Here's hoping. Vid Grid - Please, must I review this trash? Highlander - Very reminiscent of Alone in The Dark. It looked like it had good potential, but once again, looked rather weak next to the, ahem...you know. SkyHammer (formerly Hammerhead) - This actually looked kind of interesting. It had a reasonably smooth flight engine, and the exturemapping blows away Metal Head. There's no real game yet, but I liked what I saw. This one is Jag only, amazingly enough, considering the same company is putting another title on the Saturn and Playstation. Brett Hull Hockey - Why is this on CD? Basically a scaling sprites game. Might be o.k., the sprites were, as usual, smaller than those on the Saturn hockey. M.I.A's, games not on the floor... Legion's of The Undead, Space War 2000, Tiny Toons, Iron Soldier II, AvP2, Pinball Fantasies (at least I didn't see it), Dactyl Joust, Batman Forever, MK III, .... The Jag will be packed with Doom, now. Just a little late guys, Doom was hot a year ago. If Atari had packaged it with the system last Christmas, they would have a much higher installed base now. Christ, its even going to be on the SNES by Christmas (and it looks o.k., amazingly enough). The CD will be out in August. Who cares, I'll be days away from a Playstation by then. This should be the Webster definition for "debacle." I'll still buy Rayman, U.V., BattleSphere, Hover Hunter, BurnOut (maybe), and Power Drive Rally (maybe), but that might be it for my Jag. Titles to seriously consider or just plain BUY - BattleSphere BUY Hover Hunter Seriously Consider (the graphics are really well done on the landscapes) RayMan BUY (if you like platformers, and don't own any other the other 20 zillion systems its being made for) Utlra Vortex BUY (its the only decent fighter coming out) Titles which look pretty good - White Men Can't Jump Good (wish it was smoother) SuperBurnOut Good (wish the sprites didn't look so SNES like) Power Drive Rally Good (nice FX (weather, etc.), but the graphics are also SNES-like) I'd like to say "Hey, hang in there, the Jag has great potential (it does)," but Sega and Sony had some positively mind blowing stuff on display. I mean MIND BLOWING. The Jag's best looking efforts were BattleSphere and the V.R. helmet. One game and an expensive peripheral do not a counter attack make. Atari needed a big wow and didn't get it (the V.R. was way cool, though). Show rankings - 1.)Sony With the announced $299 street list price, Playstation is the new word in home systems (and it has the games to back it up) 2.)Sega Pricey, which could hurt them, but expect a vigorous push to get the price down under $300. The software was awesome. 3.)3DO LOTS of games on display (unlike WCES), many of which were good. Stunning preview of M2, but with no playable demos, it was impossible to tell if the eye-popping visuals were drawn on the fly or canned (a 3DO trademark). If an M2 unit can be on the shelves (that's a 3DO with an M2 built in) for $350 or less (I doubt it), 3DO could be a big threat. 4.)Atari A decent showing, but they look like they are fading fast. No wow factor and dismal floor placement (right between Sega's small city and Namco's Playstation extravaganza) were serious kicks in the ass. 5.)Nintendo The only player with no next gen system on display. Killer Instinct was shown for SNES, and some seriously gorgeous dancers (Actually, there were a lot of stunning examples of feminine pulchritude on display. Sorry, I apologize to all females out there, but I am, deep down, a stupid horny gorilla, and I LOVE WOMEN...so sue me) did a little goofy K.I. number, but they couldn't hide the fact that this Christmas they were going to eat shit and like it. K.I. was done very well, though. It was missing some obvious things like the steam coming off Glacius, the fire off Cinder, the glowing sparks and other FX, and the backgrounds have suffered a bit, too, but overall, a very impressive translation (which should tell you something about how "advanced" the arcade game is). DKC2 was there as well. Yawn. Jaguar Commentary ----------------- Len Stys OK, Atari had a great showing at the recent E3 Show in Los Angeles. There is no doubt that there will be at least fifty games by the end of the year because most of the games shown were almost complete. The Virtuality headset was shown at the show and received praise from just about everyone that tried the unit. Greg LaBrec did a great job of organizing Atari's presence at this show. Everyone at Atari did a fantastic job of generating new excitement of an aging product. Yes, it was great, but everyone should remember that the E3 show is not reality. The E3 show is fantasy land. It is a place where company fficials, company employees, press, and dealers go for a few days to get a feeling of what things might be like in the future. It is not a glimpse of the future. It is what can happen if everything works out just right. And everything won't work out just right if company officials and employees get caught up in this excitement. Atari has always shown great products at consumer electronic shows. This is fact. Atari ST computers, ST portable computers, TT computers, Falcon030 computers, Portfolio palmtop, Lynx color handheld game system, and the Jaguar 64-bit tabletop game system. But Atari has never done a very good job at marketing and selling these products in the United States. I've been excited many of times about the announcement of Atari's products in the past, but not anymore. This is because I realize that there is more involved than just announcing a great product. The company must be able to sell that product. Atari can no doubt talk the talk. But can Atari walk the walk? Atari Corporation just released their 1994 Annual Report to shareholders and some interesting information is within this report. The only major disappointing news is that Atari is getting rid of Lynx inventory. It appears that Dean Fox is now the Senior Vice President of Marketing t Atari Corporation. We can only hope that Atari's marketing under his supervision results in success for the company. Atari will be going into the PC game publication business. One of the first games to be released for the PC is Tempest 2000. Five games are said to be released for the PC on CD in 1995. There are 101 Atari employees in the U.S. 58 in engineering and product development, 18 in marketing, sales and distribution, 5 in purchasing and production, and 20 in general administration and management. One thing that I was a bit surprised to read was a bonus that was given to Sam Tramiel, President of Atari after the Sega deal happened. He was given a bonus of $250,000. I could not feel comfortable accepting a bonus when the company I am leading is losing money. I would rather use the money to hire programmers, marketers, or create promotional material to help sell the company's only product. Atari still has a lot of work to do. And perhaps a lot of realizing to do. The Jaguar distribution is still awful. In the case of the Jaguar, the grass is greener in Atari's back yard. If you live in California, don't think for a minute that Jaguar distribution is that great in other parts of the United States. I drove up to my local Toys "R" Us store and there is a big banner in front of the store stating that the "Saturn is here!" The Toys "R" Us store does not even carry the Jaguar. There is obviously still some managerial problems at Atari. Atari spent thousands of dollars on advertising the Jaguar CD-ROM in magazines for the last several months and now the company decides that there is not enough games for it to be released before for August. The entire CD-ROM situation is a mess. Plain and simple. Atari's customers feel like fools for believing that the CD-ROM would be available last year. And the company literally wasted thousands of dollars on advertising a product that does not even exist in the marketplace. So what's the positive news? Yes, Ultra-64 is going to be delayed until 1996. This gives Jaguar some breathing room. The games are coming. Rayman is almost here and may be the biggest blockbuster game of the year. Other games like Ultra Vortex and Defender 2000 are sure hits as well. And lastly, at $399 for the Sega Saturn, the Saturn will most likely sell slowly this year. How does the Jaguar's future look? It looks like any of Atari's products in the past. It looks good if Atari decides to convince consumers nationwide to buy it. If not, the future of the Jaguar looks grim. Finally, I'd like to close my commentary by a message that was posted on rec.games.video.atari that I think makes a lot of sense. The author of the message states that Atari should lose money now in order to be put in a position in the future where the company will make money. He also gives some common sense marketing suggestions. Common sense in marketing? What a novel idea! From: jbbjr@aol.com (JBBJR) Subject: Is Atari Losing Enough Money? Date: Mon May 22 17:32:59 1995 Why the surprise about financials? Atari said last year they wouldn't make money until 2nd Q this year. Why the surprise about sales? Atari hardly had any released software until a few weeks before Christmas. Why the surprise about Sega Saturn? I couldn't understand why they were taking so long to release it here since it was already in Japan. Personally, I wish Atari would lose a little more money this quarter, to make sure they the games, programmers, ads, and distribution to make a presence this fall. Lose money on the hardware to make sales this Christmas and get the base to support contined game development. They have the hardware. They have the price. Everyone else will be $100 to $200 too expensive. There will be one $150, made-in-the-USA 64-bit machine and three 32 bit Japanese machines. I hope the marketing people forget the yuppie gadget set this Christmas (save them for the Jag 3). Go for the kids. Get awarenesss with the parents. Advertise in Parade and Sunday comics. Get someone on the morning talkshows to show the VR helmet and talk up bout how Atari is up against the Japanese with not one Japanese software house supporting the Jag, in spite of all the money they've made off of the US market. (Talk about trade imbalances and restraint of trade!) And, finally, most importantly, get those damn promised games out on time. Atari WWW Support Area -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Mark S. Smith Atari Web Pages Latest News ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~ Version 1.0 ~~~~~~~ ~~~ Date 21/4/95 ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ by Mark Stephen Smith ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ 5th Update ~~~ ~~~~~~ =============================================================================== Foreword ~~~~~~~~ Hello and welcome to the news item on the Atari Web pages. This document will describe the Atari Web pages as provided by Mark Stephen Smith and will inlcude a list of the latest updates for the month. Each month I hope to update this text with the very latest additions and news on the Atari Web pages. Hopefully these pages will provide an invaluable service to their users, but they are still at an early stage and developing all the time. As such any feedback and support you may have for these pages is more than welcome, it is infact encouraged. The more input I get from its users the better, as then I will know what is good and bad about these pages and can change them approproately in the hope of increasing their value to their readers. Now on with the show. News and Changes ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ Well since the original description a lot has happened. I'm now involved in several projects, and submit work to several Internet and diskmag sources for inclusion. I have also officially took over the maintenance of the Atari FTP list from Hallvard Tangeraas of which there have been a couple of updates. New items in this document since the last copy will be marked with **, updates will be marked with a U. All new items are also listed below according to the date they were added. This update is special as it contains the updates from the last two months rather than one month as is usual for the updates. This is a one off however and has happened due to the fact that my Web pages had to close down in March and a new site had to be found before the service was resumed. A new site was successfully found but I felt there were insufficient updates that month because of these events and therefore this update is larger containing both months. Please make a note of the sites new address and update any links or bookmarks to the Atari pages to the new address. Thank you! The new items this month are: 21/4/95 -- Nova Graphics Board Announcement 21/4/95 -- Sozobon C Announcement 21/4/95 -- FTP site Announcement 20/4/95 -- Speed of Light v3.8 update 18/4/95 -- Atari FTP list updated 18/4/95 -- Doom Review for Jaguar by Robert Jung 18/4/95 -- ECTS News 18/4/95 -- Kasumi Ninja Moves List 18/4/95 -- Coming soon for the Jaguar title list updated. 18/4/95 -- HENSA Atari TOS Newsletter Volume 8. No.7. 12/4/95 -- Speed of Light 3.7b update 12/4/95 -- Fried Bits Eastern Coding Convention 3 Announcement 12/4/95 -- CAIN Newsletter Volume 2. No.3 12/4/95 -- Apex Media Demo for the Falcon 12/4/95 -- HENSA Atari Falcon Newsletter Volume 8. No.3 12/4/95 -- Raiden Tips for Jaguar 12/4/95 -- Lynx FAQ Updated 12/4/95 -- Jaguar FAQ updated 5/4/95 -- Jaguar Game Cheats 5/4/95 -- Theme Park review for Jaguar by Robert Jung 5/4/95 -- AEO Newsletter Volume 4. Issue 4. in text and ZIP format 8/3/95 -- Jaguar Reviews pages format updated by Holger Kipp 7/3/95 -- Falcon Demo FAQ Updated. 7/3/95 -- 50/60 Hz Jaguar games adjusting to resolution list 27/3/95 -- Iron Soldier Jaguar Review by Holger Kipp 27/3/95 -- Syndicate Jaguar Review by Holger Kipp 27/3/95 -- Cannon Fodder Jaguar Review by Holger Kipp 27/3/95 -- Theme Park Jaguar Review by Holger Kipp 24/3/95 -- HENSA Atari TOS Newsletter Volume 8. No.6. 23/3/95 -- Pages re-open at new site, links being updated. 22/3/95 -- Pages closed down. 7/3/95 -- Given the news these pages must close at Daresbury by the 22/3/95. 5/3/95 -- Portfolio Club 4/3/95 -- Atari FTP List Update 4/3/95 -- Towers II : Plight of the Stargazer 4/3/95 -- HENSA Atari TOS Newsletter Volume 8. No.5 0/3/95 -- Questions and Answers question 15 answered 0/3/95 -- Towers II release announcement 7/3/95 -- Atari Related Links Page 7/3/95 -- Information on viruses 7/3/95 -- CAIN Newsletter Volume 2. No.2 3/3/95 -- Lynx FAQ updated 3/3/95 -- Jaquar FAQ updated /3/95 -- Wolfenstein 3D Jaguar Review by Robert Jung /3/95 -- Iron Soldier Jaguar Review by Robert Jung /3/95 -- Jaguar Bubsy Bobcat (In Fractured Furry Tales) Review by Robert Jung /3/95 -- Jaguar Val D'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding Review by Robert Jung 8/2/95 -- AEO Newsletter Volume 4. Issue.3 in text and ZIP format =============================================================================== What are the Atari Web pages? ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ These are a collection of pages covering all formats of the Atari. In these pages may be found the latest news, reviews, software for downloading, and various other information and links to other places of interest to Atari users. I have tried to make the structure of these pages easy to follow and as intuitive as possible but there is still a lot of work to be done yet. =============================================================================== How do I access them and what is the Web? ~~ ~~ ~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ First of all I shall look at what the Web is or to use its full name the World Wide Web. The Web is new way of accessing the Internet, unlike previous methods where you were required to enter commands into the program you were using the Web uses a more user driven method of getting around the Internet. This method is much more graphical than former methods and as such is much easier to get to grips with. When using a Web browser (the name given to a program used to access Web pages) the control method usually consists of a point and click operation. A Web page will consist of text and graphics which are sometimes highlighted in some way to indicate that they are selectable and link to more information or a particular piece of data. Such a link is reffered to as a hyperlink. In fact the whole system is a variation on hypertext and uses a script to create each page. Each script is written to a HTML (HyperText Markup Language) standard which contains the main body of text in the page and a few command tags for the browser as to how to format the page and what to do with links, etc. Web pages may contain text, graphics, sounds, and animations, although the later two are normally supported through external software. It is also possible using the Web to gain access to newsgroups, ftp sites, and gopher services all through the one program. As such this makes this a very powerful tool for Internet access, and coupled with its ease of use this has suddenly became the big thing in the recent Internet explosion into the media. Browsers can handle all properly written HTML scripts but may vary in operation when scripts are incorrect or contain mistakes. Browsers can be divided into to distinct types, graphical and text only. Popular graphical browsers include NCSA's Mosaic and the recent new browser NetScape. On the text side Lynx is the most popular textual browser (NOTE: text browsers don't show any form of graphics). To access the Web you must either use one of the above mentioned browsers on a machine such as a Sun, PC or Mactintosh, or if you want to access it via your Atari you will need a copy of the Lynx browser as unfortunately there aren't any graphical browsers YET for the Atari. =============================================================================== U Where do I find the Atari Web page? ~~~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ >From your Web browser choose to open URL and enter the following address: http://www.mcc.ac.uk/~dlms/atari.html If you can store a hotlist of addresses or something similar on your browser then it may be worth including this address for quick access in the future. Once you've done that you should see my main page so I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to write with your thoughts. (*NOTE*: This is the new site for the Atari Web pages, take note of it!) =============================================================================== U What you will find in the Web pages every month. ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ >From the main menu you have several links available to you, some under miscellaneous and others specific to a particular machine, or collection of machines. It is now possible to mail me directly from the Web pages, special thanks also to Frank Charlton for the new Atari Logo. First I will look at what will be in the Miscellaneous section. ************************* Atari Related links, Documents, FAQ's and Newsletters ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ First in the list are "Atari Related Links", these links are to other sources of Atari information or data (such as files, etc.). There is a link to many of the major Atari holding FTP sites on the Internet. Links to several Web pages by different people on the Atari. This will grow as worthwhile sites come up. At the moment you can visit: - HENSA to download Atari files (Moderated by Denesh Bhabuta) - ZFC's Atari Pages by Annius V. Groenink. This has links to various Atari related places, along with talk of his own work on Edith and his new Drive U Project. Annius is also working on a version of the Mosaic browser for the Atari and the best of luck goes to him on that. - Christer Gustavsson's Atari Gem Programmers Page. Very useful information for programmers grapling with Gem and the operating system. Also offers help via his questions answers page. Some links can be found to Atari related places. - CAIN Atari Pages. CAIN is the Central Atari Information Network and they create a newsletter which is updately monthly on all things new to do with the Atari. There are also links available here. - Martin Maisey's Atari Pages. Contains information (downloadable) on programs written by himself for the Atari. Again there are links to other Atari places. - Toad Computers Pages. Stockiest and retailer of many Atari goods. ST Format Pages. Information and previews of ST Format issues. **Volker Burggraf Atari Pages (German). **Desert Star Software Home Page. **ST Assembler Page **BSM's Home Page **ST Beer Mat Page **The Organised Chaos Licenseware Home Page **Index of /~jschlich/Jaguar/ **Lynx Pages **Atari Lynx Page **Atari Page by Frank Post (Partially German, partially English) **MiNTOS Distribution and Information Page **Julian's Atari Page **Atari Ghostscript **Atari Page by Robert Krenn **Simon Gornall's Atari Pages **Ben Halls Page (KSculpt + Calamus Information) **"Data Uncertain" Software **Kay's Home (MintNet) **CNAM Atari Pages **EMAGIC Users Page (Covers Atari) Helmut's Project contains Atari Links (English and German) Eero Tamminen's Atari Pages Atari Programmers Page The Vulcans Home Page Atari Users List Impulse Home Page (Demo Crew) NPG Home Page (Demo Crew) Atari Page by Dirk Klemmt Steve's Atari WWW Pages The Guitar Reference (For the Atari) usings of an Amateur Hacker The Atari Home Page by Martijn Dekker Tecnation Sonovista (Falcon based computer) Cybercube WWW Page (Atari Products) Yak's Zoo Atari Jaguar 64-Bit Game Machine Stuff 8 Bit Atari Page by Ivo van Poorten Atari Jaguar Homepage by Christian Svensson (very good and kept up to date) Jaguar directory Documents ~~~~~~~~ Useful documents will appear in here. At the moment there is: U Atari FTP List by Mark Stephen Smith (essential for the latest news on who provides Atari FTP sites). - Atari TOS Desktop Survival Kit by Thomas J Hopper. An essential guide to getting the most out of your DESKTOP.INF and NEWSDESK.INF files. - Recommended list of software for the Atari by Denesh Bhabuta. List compiled by Denesh for me of his best software for the Atari (updates coming soon). Mostly PD and Shareware, this list contains links to download most of the software mentioned. - Information on picture formats by Dave Bagget. Lots of information on the format of different picture files for the Atari. Information on Viruses. FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Useful FAQ's will appear here. At the moment there is: - Atari ST SLIP FAQ. This is a guide to connecting your Atari to a network. All you want to know about networks and the Atari. - Atari CD FAQ. Information on getting and using CD's on the Atari. Regular updates to this can be found in my pages. GDOS FAQ by Gerd Castan. Got a question on GDOS then this is the place to look. MiNTNet FAQ by Christer Gustavsson. Everything you wanted to know about MiNTNet. - AtariNOS FAQ by Frank Charlton. Answered questions and information on NOS. Newsletters ~~~~~~~~~~ Although there may be more to come the following newsletters are updated promptly as I receive them. These have been re-organised to make it easier to keep track of. At the moment there is: U CAIN Newsletter containing the latest Atari news. HENSA Newsletter containing the latest updates to the HENSA Atari archive. U AEO Newsletter containing the latest Atari news. Newsgroups ~~~~~~~~~ Atari related newsgroups. Send updates. The currently supported news are: comp.binaries.atari.st comp.sys.atari.advocacy comp.sys.atari.announce comp.sys.atari.st comp.sys.atari.st.tech comp.sys.atari.programmer rec.games.video.atari alt.games.lynx ************************* Questions and Answers ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ Submit your questions to here and get them included in this page. Answers are open to anyone who has something valid to say, and help is provided to me on Programming and Music questions by several knowledgeable sources. Please support this section, only by your interaction and questions will it survive. All answers are included in this page for anyone else with the same question and answers are also sent back to the person who submitted the question for those without Web access. If you feel you have an expertise in a particular area concerning the Atari and would be willing to answer questions on that area when and if I submitted them to you, then please let me know and you can join the team. Programming and Music are fairly well covered and I can cover Graphics programs, help with Technical questions would be appreciated. ************************** Reviews ~~~~~~ Here I hope to include reviews of Atari products both new an old. So far I have the following reviews: - Kobold review by Andy Curtis (ST Format) - Flash 2 review by Frank Charlton (ST Format) - Edith Professional review by Frank Charlton (ST Format) - MagiC review by Andy Curtis (ST Format) - Stello v2 review by Mark Stephen Smith (Myself) - Sportster Modem review by Frank Charlton (ST Format) - Storm Tracker review by Andy Curtis (ST Format) - Connect review by Frank Charlton (ST Format) - Zero 5 review by Frank Charlton (ST Format) - MIDI Grid review by Andy Curtis (ST Format) There are several reviews on the way by the above mentioned people aswell as some by myself. This section is now growing well now and Nick Peers from ST format recently expressed his interest in writing some reviews also. Again if you feel you would like to submit reviews for inclusion then please write to me. Please note these pages don't include Lynx and Jaguar Reviews, as they are contained within their own pages. ************************** News and Announcements Pages ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ Latest Atari news, and announcements from the Atari World. Currently contains the following: **Nova Graphics Board Announcement **Sozobon C Announcment **FTP site Announcment **Fried Bits Eastern Coding Convention 3 Announcement **Portfolio Club Announcement **Towers II release Announcement - Universal Virus Killer Book Announcement ************************** Updates and Information on these Web Pages ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ All updates and news on the Atari Web pages goes in here. Previews of whats to come soon are included and new items or updates to the pages are listed according to date with the most recent being first. Most updates contain links to the new material for instant access. Other things to be found in here are the number of accesses to the Atari pages. At the moment this is not supported. *************************** This now concludes the Miscellaneous section. Now onto the Other Pages. These pages are specific to a particular machine, or collection of machines. These are going to go through some major changes and you can expect a fair number of changes to be made to these in the next month or so. * Falcon Page ~~~~ This will contain information and files relevant to the Atari Falcon, currently his page is divided into the following areas: News and Previews ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~ In here expect to see any news or previews that come my way, whether they be small descriptions or full features with pictures. At the moment there is: - Pinball Dreams and Llama Zap News. - Apex News. This contains some information I got on Apex Media for the Falcon when I spoke to Douglas Little on the phone a few weeks back. Not very detailed unfortunately, but I'm waiting on my copy of Apex to give a full review so expect that to be rectified soon. - Dextrous News. Small description of some of the features of Dextrous with a picture. Only at an early stage of development, if I hear more it will go in here. - Towers II : Plight of the Stargazer. Pictures and description of this great looking Falcon only sequel to Towers. Expect the demo soon. - Towers II : Plight of the Stargazer Update! The latest news on developments. U Newsletters from HENSA on Falcon section of archive. Misc Miscellaneous information on the Falcon, including: U Falcon Demo FAQ. List of Demos for the Falcon, including some form of information on each. Compatibility list of games with Falcon. - Compatibility list of applications with Falcon. - Falcon Specifications and Information compiled by Rod McCall. New Software ~~ ~~~~~~~~ The latest Falcon/enhanced software available for download. Major revisions to be done with updates here. All files now list there size so you can see how large they are before downloading. At the moment the following software is included, with more to come: **Apex Media Demo (Demo version of the animation and art package for the Falcon) **Towers II (Shareware game) - Super Bomber Man (freeware) - Play MPEG v0.70 by M.D.Griffths (shareware) U Speed of Light v3.8 (shareware picture viewer) Scape a planetary landsacpe generator. Digital Tracker demo of commercial version. Obsession 1 level demo. U FOG issue 8 diskmagazine for Falcon. Other software worth having ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ Software worth using on the Falcon. - Backward v2.52. For compatibility with the ST. Please send any versions which are newer than this. - MultiBlow. Configurable overscan utility. - Starball. Excellent pinball game (Falcon enhanced). - Berzerk. Excellent version of Berzerk (Faster on Falcon). - FOG issue 7 diskmagazine for Falcon. FOG issue 6 diskmagazine for Falcon. **************************** Atari ST/STE/TT/Mega STE Page ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ This will contain information and files relevant to all the above mentioned Atari formats, currently this page is divided into the following areas: News ~~~ In here expect to see any news or previews that come my way, whether they are small descriptions or full features with pictures. At the moment there is: U Newsletters from HENSA on TOS section of archive. New Software ~~ ~~~~~~~~ The latest (most recent versions) software available for download. Major revisions to be done with updates. All files now list there size so you can see how large they are before downloading. At the moment the following software is included, with lots more to come: U Speed of Light v3.8 (shareware picture viewer). - ST Zip v2.6. Latest version of ST Zip. - Obsession demo. 1 level of this great pinball game. Other Software worth having ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ Software worth having on the Atari. - Utopus. Two player shootem' up (STE only). - Ozone. Good platform/puzzler. - Starball. Excellent pinball game. - Berzerk. Excellent version of Berzerk. **************************** Lynx Page ~~~ ~~~~ All the latest news and reviews on the lynx, along with cheats, etc. This page is divided in to the following areas: News ~~~ News on the Lynx and related material. At the moment there is: - Lynx Summer Steal Deal Extended to the Fall. News of price reductions for a limited period. Reviews ~~~~~~ Reviews for just about every Lynx game ever released will appear in here. All reviews are by Robert Jung. At the moment the following reviews are included: APB Awesome Golf Baseball Heroes Batman Returns Basket Brawl Bill and Ted's BlockOut BattleWheels Blue Lightning California Games Checkered Flag Chip's Challenge Crystal Mines II Dino Olympics Dirty Larry:Renegade Cop Dracula the Undead Double Dragon Desert Strike Electro Cop European Soccer Chal. Ultimate Chess Chal. Gauntlet:3rd Encounter Gordo 106 Hard Driven' Hockey Hydra Ishido : Way of Stones Jimmy Conners' Tennis Joust Klax Kungfood Lemmings Lynx Casino Malibu Bikini Volleyball Ms.Pac-Man NFL Football Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden III : The Ancient Shop of Doom Other Lynx Stuff ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~ Other items of interest to Lynx owners. At the moment there is the following: U Lynx FAQ - Lynx Tips and Tricks New Software Anouncement ~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently empty. **************************** Jaguar Page ~~~~~ ~~~~ All the latest news and reviews on the lynx, along with cheats, etc. This page is divided in to the following areas: News and Previews ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~ All the latest news and preview information I can find related to the Jaguar. **ECTS News **Hyper Image page linked to (Makers of Jaguar game Hover Hunter). - Jaguar CD Specifications - Rebellion Development News - Sinister Developments News - Sensible Soccer News U Coming Soon! - Hand Made Software News Reviews ~~~~~~ A collection of reviews from different sources, hopefully I will be contributing more to this section myself. This page has been re-formatted thanks to Holger Kipp. Reviews so far include: Aliens vs Predator - by Eric S.Boltz Aliens vs Predator - by Robert Jung Brutal Sports Football - by Randy Bubsy Bobcat (in Fractured Furry Tales) - by Robert Jung Checkered Flag - by Robert Jung ** Cannon Fodder - by Holger Kipp Cybermorph - by Robert Jung ** Doom - by Robert Jung Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story - by ????? ** Iron Soldier - by Robert Jung ** Iron Soldier - by Holger Kipp Raiden - by Robert Jung ** Syndicate - by Holger Kipp Tempest 2000 - by Robert Jung ** Theme Park - by Holger Kipp ** Theme Park - by Robert Jung Trevor McFur in Cresent Galaxy - Jer Howitz ** Val d'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding Wolfenstein 3D - by Robert Jung Wolfenstein 3D - by ????? There are many more reviews to come. Other Jaguar Stuff ~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ Miscellaneous information on the Jaguar. Information included presently is: U Jaguar FAQ - Raiden Tips - Jaguar Game Cheats - Kasumi Ninja FAQ - Ultra Vortex FAQ update for Jaguar **50/60 Hz, games adjusting to resolutions list **Jaguar Game Cheats More Raiden Tips **Kasumi Ninja Moves List Other Jaguar Pages ~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ Other pages specific to the Jaguar included in here. Currently there is: - Atari Jaguar Homepage by Christian Svensson There are others that will be included, some containing more recent news, but the one above is the most organised and intuitive one I've came across. **************************** 8 Bit Atari Page by Ivo van Poorten Not maintained by me these pages cover the 8 bit formats of Atari machines and are very comprehensive. Nearly everything you could hope to find is contained within these pages. **************************** What to expect in the future ~~ ~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ Some structural changes are likely to appear in the next months. I have introduced an announcements page where you can tell the World of anything you have to announce. Please send news of updates to your programs, Atari stuff for sale, and any other Atari announcements here (NOTE : Commercial companies should send information on products to be included in here and in the news sections). Also coming soon will be a monthly editorial. In this I will try and sum up the month past and to give my opinions on how I saw things for Atari at that time. Hopefully I will be able to look back over many good developments in my pages and summarise them as they happened. There is an outside possibility of starting a programmers and/or MIDI section in these pages but this is as yet undecided. I will judge whether or not to do this based on the kind of response I have. I do not want to repeat any of the good work done in these fields however by other Web page writers such as Christer Gustavsson (Where is the response for these pages?) More support is needed for the questions and answers pages, although initially successfull people just stopped posting their questions. Although the odd one is still coming and answers are still forthcoming. Please support this, it is of benefit to anyone who uses it. The Jaguar section should have a lot more news, pictures and reviews in the future. I have tracked down a fair bit of news and am in contact with a few companies now and hope to get news from them on there products. Both the ST and Falcon sections should contain much more news in the future, along with more of the best PD/Shareware, and PD/Shareware reviews. I should have several demos hopefully in the near future for games coming out on these formats. Lynx section is to continue to get reviews and I will update the news as and when I get it. Sorry about the lack of updates recently, more to come. Expect more links to Atari related pages in the future. There will be more newsletters, documents, updates to the FAQ's. Expect further reviews from Andy and Frank, along with myself (watch out for the Apex Media review). Hopefully I can include more screenshots, and do a few program tutorials. Nick Peers of ST Format and Holger Kipp have offered to support these pages with contributions in the future. Please write with your ideas, critisms, comments, submissions (software, news, reviews, questions, etc), to me and don't forget that I am now the official maintainer of the Atari FTP list originally by Hallvard Tangeraas. All updates to this list should now be sent to me. Thank you and see you with the updates to these pages next month! Upcoming Atari Shows -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Mark Leair << Computer Shows >> Updated: 04/30/95 To include shows (preferably shows that include Atari products), for the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG's Show list and the CAIN newsletter, end the show's name, date, location, and any additional information to xx004@po.cwru.edu. Please address the e-mail with the subject "Computer Show". The following information is correct to the best of our knowledge. However, we cannot guarentee its accuracy. Corrections and cancellations are therefore requested. +-----------------+ |Shows at a Glance| +-----------------+--------------+--------------------------+----------+ | Name | Location | Date | |--------------------------------+--------------------------+----------| |1. MIST Atari Fest VII |Indianapolis, IND |07/29/95 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ For more information on these shows, please consult the Atari SIG on the Cleveland Free-Net (telnet to freenet-in-a.cwru.edu or Nextsun.ins.cwru.edu) Once connected to the Free-Net type 'Go Atari' to get to the Atari SIG. In addition to show information, the CAIN newsletter would like to print any reports, summaries, or reviews of these and other recent shows. Please send any of these articles to 'aa338@po.cwru.edu' Thank-you... Vote Issues and Results -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Mark Leair << Voting Booth >> On occasion CAIN will conduct surveys on various issues affecting the Atari Community. Results are then published in the following issue of CAIN. There are now three methods for voting on these issues: 1> Cleveland Free-Net users may use the Voting Booth located on the Atari SIG. It is option '11' off of the Atari SIG's main menu. 2> World Wide Web users can use CAIN's Virtual Voting Booth -- option number '2' off of CAIN's WWW homepage. Use the following URL to get to CAIN's WWW homepage: http://ace.cs.ohiou.edu/personal/mleair/cain.html 3> Ballots are also excepted by internet e-mail. To vote for this month's issue place "CAIN Vote 5-95" in the subject line of the message. Next, cast your vote in the message body by entering "Yes" or a "No". Send this email to: mleair@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu Last month's issue ------------------ Do you think Atari Corp will resume manufacturing NEW games for the Atari Lynx? Results: 47 people voted. 20 26 (or 55.32 % of the vote) voted "Yes". 21 (or 44.68 % of the vote) voted "No" This month's issue ------------------ One important aspect of any company's advertising is "word-of-mouth" advertising. This month's issue attempts to find out how well Atari is doing with with its "word-of-mouth" advertising. Do you (or would you) recommend the Atari Jaguar to a someone else? Please vote "Yes" or "No". General Information of Need -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- How to Contribute to CAIN ------------------------- For full details on contributing to CAIN, please check out the "CAIN Online Newsroom," option 13 from the Atari SIG's main menu. In summary, we can use articles, tutorials, and reviews on Atari products. The format is simple --ASCII format with 80 characters per line. The text should be sent via internet electronic mail to "xx004@freenet.cleveland.edu". All submissions to CAIN become the property of CAIN, unless otherwise agreed upon. Article Requests ---------------- Below are some suggestions of articles we would like to see in future issues of CAIN. For a complete list of newsletter needs, please consult the discussion board under the CAIN Online Newsroom (option 13 from the Atari SIG's main menu). Newsletter Needs ---------------- Communications: Any articles that fits into the area of communications (ie: reviews, summaries, articles, tutorials on BBS systems, term or BBS software, services, etc for any Atari computer) may be submitted to this section. When submitting to this section, please address this article with the subject "Communications." File Archives: Any type of summary, review, or list of new files that are on any Atari ftp archive will benefit our readers. Please address this article with the subject "ftp archives." Tutorials: CAIN is actively seeking any project, "how-to," and tutorial articles for future issues of CAIN. These articles can be for any type of Atari product. Please address this article with the subject "Tutorial Submission." Atari Shows: Not only can we use information on upcoming Atari Shows, but we also can use reviews and summaries of recent Atari shows. Please address this article with the subject "Atari Show Information." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- THOUGHT OF THE MONTH: Risk it all Atari, what do you have to lose? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [C]entral [A]tari [I]nformation [N]etwork Newsletter Apr/May 1995 Copyright (c) 1995 All Rights Reserved No.012 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Central Atari Information Network (CAIN) Newsletter is produced by Cain Publishing and is no way affiliated with Atari Corporation. Cain Publishing is made up of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIGOps. CAIN Newsletter editors/staff produce this publication on a volunteer basis strictly to benefit users of Atari products. Views, and opinions expressed herein are those of the article's author(s) and not necessarily those of the editors/ staff of CAIN Newsletter, the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG, or its affiliates. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints must include: Name of article, author's name, name of publication, date, and issue number. CAIN Newsletter may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. CAIN Newsletter is believed to be reasonably accurate. If any inaccurate information is found within, please contact the editor of CAIN Newsletter and a correction will be made in the next issue. Atari, ST, Mega ST, STE, Mega STE, TT030, Atari Falcon030, TOS, MultiTOS, NewDesk, BLiTTER, Atari Lynx, ComLynx, Atari Jaguar, Atari Portfolio, Atari 400, 800, XL series, XE series, and the Atari Fuji Symbol are all trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. The "Free-Net" name is a Servicemark (SM) of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN). The Free-Net "FreePort" software is copyrighted by Case Western Reserve University. FreePort is a registered trademark of Case Western Reserve University. All other trademarks and identifying marks mentioned in this issue belong to their respective owners. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-