Usenet 1994 January/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicjanuary1994.iso/answers/PC-games-faq/part2

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From: [e-mail] (Jurgen Appelo)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.announce,rec.games.misc,comp.answers,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: PC GAMES FAQ <- Guide To The Gaming World (Part 2 of 2)
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Date: 22 Dec 1993 17:31:52 -0000
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Summary: This FAQ has answers to common questions and other useful
     information that all new readers of the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.*
     newsgroups should read before posting.
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Archive-name: PC-games-faq/part2
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Editor: Jurgen Appelo

# 4: COMPUTER ISSUES

4.1: What special hardware is made for games?

- Sound Cards
(From: Dups)
Sound cards are used to enhance the gaming environment by production of music
and/or digitized sounds such as the noise of a jet engine or creepy music in a
dungeon. Most games support SoundBlaster and AdLib and other cards that are
compatible with them.

Check out comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard and its FAQ for more info.

- Joysticks and Gamepads
(From: Dups)
The joystick is a hardware add-on which enhances gameplay by controlling
movement. There are also pads which can be used instead of the arrow and
number pads on the keyboard. The Gravis Gamepad incorporates both joystick and
pad. A hardware card (game card) that controls the joystick or pad must be
inserted into the computer and allows for a game port, which is usually a male
9-pin that attaches to the joystick or pad. There are also joystick
Y-Connectors which allow for more than one joystick, but you should only use
these if the game card can handle them.

(From: Richard Wyckoff)
A gamepad is a joystick, but instead of having an analog output, it has a
digital output, which means that instead of giving a range of values, like a
regular joystick, the gamepad only tells the computer that it is being pushed
in a certain direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonals). Gamepads are
more suited for arcade games, and any game where it is not important to know
how hard the joystick is being pushed, but just which direction it is being
pushed.

- Throttles

[Looking for a volunteer to write this part.]

- Rudder Pedals

[Looking for a volunteer to write this part.]

4.2: What are the most important alternatives?

- Soundcards

(From: Richard Wyckoff and Ian Cornell Donaldson)
- AdLib
  The first big soundcard. Mono, no DAC. 11 voice 2 operator FM synthesiser.
  Fits into either 8 bit or 16 bit ISA bus. No digital effects.
- AdLib Gold (1000/2000)
  FM synthesis, stereo, 16-bit DAC. SoundBlaster compatible.
- Gravis Ultrasound
  Wavetable synthesis (16-bit instruments, up to 1 meg of on-board RAM),
  stereo, 32-channel 16-bit DAC (for playing only, 16-bit recording is an
  option). SoundBlaster compatible through software. Roland MT-32 compatible
  through software. 8 bit ADC. Has a 32 voice WT synthesiser. Comes standard
  with 256Kb of memory, upgradable to 1 Mb. Includes MIDI/speed compensating
  joystick port. Needs 16 bit ISA slot.
- Pro Audio Spectrum +
  FM synthesis, 8-bit DAC. SoundBlaster compatible.
- Pro Audio Spectrum 16/PAStudio 16
  FM synthesis, stereo, 16-bit DAC. SoundBlaster compatible. Normally known as
  the PAS-16. Has 16 bit DAC/ADC and 20 voice 4 operator FM synthesiser.
  Compatible with the Sound Blaster. Stereo, has mixer and MIDI/joystick port.
  Includes SCSI CD-ROM interface. Needs 16 bit ISA slot.
- MT-32/LAPC-1
  LA synthesis (very nice wavetable related form of synthesis), stereo, no
  DAC. The MT-32 is an external module connected via a Roland MPU-401 MIDI
  interface. The LAPC-1 is the same thing on a card. SCC-1: LA synthesis,
  stereo, no DAC. More and better instruments than MT-32/LAPC-1, fully
  General MIDI compliant.
- SoundBlaster
  FM synthesis, mono, 8-bit DAC. AdLib compatible. ADC for sampling. Also
  includes a combination joystick/MIDI port. SoundBlasters after version 1.5
  could do full duplex midi. Fits 8 or 16 bit ISA slot, MCA version also
  available.
- SoundBlaster Pro: FM synthesis, stereo, 12-bit DAC is claimed. SoundBlaster
  compatible. Includes all features of a Sound Blaster v 2.0. Also has a
  mixer, twin DAC/ADC for stereo input, output of digital effects. CD-ROM
  (propriatry) interface built in. Version 1.0 has a 22 voice 2 operator FM
  synth. Version 2.0 has a 20 voice 4 operator FM synth.
- SoundBlaster 16/ASP
  FM synthesis, stereo. The ASP includes a "software upgradeable" chip which
  currently has compression features. Includes all features of Sound Blaster
  Pro 2.0 (and therefore Sound Blaster and AdLib). Has 16 bit DAC/ADC's. Can
  accept daughter boards (WaveBlaster). ASP has Advanced Signal Processor
  chip, allowing it to do advanced effects on digital samples. Needs 16 bit
  ISA slot.
- SoundBlaster WaveBlaster
  The WaveBlaster is an add-on for the SoundBlaster 16 which gives it stereo
  wavetable features (16-bit instruments, 1 meg of on-board ROM). Adds MT-32
  compatability and WaveTable synthesis. Comes standard with 4 Mb of ROM.
- MIDIBlaster
  External synth module that plugs into any MIDI port but is designed to work
  with the Sound Blaster series. Switchable between MT-32 and General MIDI
  standards.
- Multisound
  Sophisticated wavetable synthesis, stereo, 16-bit DAC, and an industry
  standard 56000 DSP

Some terms used above:

DAC
Digital to Analogue Converter. A device that turns streams of numbers
(samples) that represent sound intensity at a given moment into sound.

ADC
Analogue to Digital Converter. A device that turns sounds into streams of
numbers (samples).

FM
Frequency modulation. A form of synthesis where two or more sound sources
(operators) are added together to make sound. The more operators the better
the sound. Very flexible method of generator, but few operators makes for
poor sound.

WT
Wave Table synthesis. A more realistic form of synthesis involving small
recordings or samples of the appropriate intrument. However, is less flexible
than FM and requires some form of storages (RAM/ROM) to be on the generator.
On the other hand, it sounds much more realistic than FM.

MIDI
Musical Instrument Device Interface. A standard for electronic instruments to
communicate with other electronic instruments or with computers. General MIDI
is a standard mostly developed by Roland that defines what instrument sounds
are associated with a MIDI patch number.

- Joysticks and Gamepads

(From: Richard Wyckoff)
- Thrustmaster FCS
  Analog joystick, many extra buttons including a top-hat control switch.
  Supported by many sims.
- Thrustmaster FCS Pro
  The FCS with metal springs. Generally regarded as more reliable and better
  feeling than the regular FCS.
- CH Flightstick
  Analog joystick, throttle control
- CH Flightstick Pro
  Analog joystick, throttle, a few extra buttons. Somewhat like the FCS, but
  much uglier.
- CH Gamecard III automatic. Speed-compensating gameport. Important for
  high-speed systems if their gamecards are not up to snuff.
- Gravis Analog Joystick
  Analog joystick, throttle.
- Gravis PC Gamepad
  Digital Pad. Four distinct fire buttons supported by some games, or two
  buttons and two turbo-fire buttons.
- Suncom Gamepad
  Digital Pad. Turbo fire mode.

- Throttles & Rudder Pedals

[need someone to tell something about this]

# 5: SOFTWARE ISSUES

5.1: Who is that company?

[info about the important companies, has yet to be written]

5.2: Who is that person?

Here are some names of famous people, the companies they work for and a few of
the games they have designed.

- Mark Baldwin (freelance)
  Empire, Empire Deluxe, The Perfect General
- Jon Van Caneghem (New World Computing)
  Might & Magic series
- Lori & Corey Cole (Sierra)
  Quest for Glory series
- Chris Crawford (freelance)
  Balance of the Planet, Patton Strikes Back
  involved with the Game Developer's Conference and editor of the Journal of
  Computer Game Design
- Richard Garriot (Origin) also known as Lord British
  the Ultima series
  one of the founders of Origin
- Ron Gilbert (ex-LucasArts, now Humungous)
  Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island series
- Gary Gygax
  inventor of AD&D board games
- Lawrence Holland (LucasArts)
  Their Finest Hour, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, X-Wing
- Al Lowe (Sierra)
  Leisure Suit Larry series, Freddy Pharkas
- Sid Meier (MicroProse)
  Pirates!, Railroad Tycoon, Civilization
  one of the founders of MicroProse
- Steve Meretzky (Legend)
  Sorcerer, Zork Zero, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Spellcasting series
- Brian Moriarty (LucasArts)
  Beyond Zork, Wishbringer, Trinity, Loom, The Dig
- Paul Neurath (LookingGlass Technologies)
  Ultima Underworld series
- Chris Roberts (Origin)
  Bad Blood, Wing Commander series, Strike Commander
- Damon Slye (Dynamix)
  Red Baron, Aces over the Pacific, Stellar 7, Nova 9
- Jim Walls (ex-Sierra, now Tsunami)
  Police Quest series
- Roberta Williams (Sierra)
  King's Quest series, Laura Bow series
  wife of Ken Williams, founder of Sierra On-Line
- Will Wright (Maxis)
  SimCity

5.3: What general problems do game players experience?

- Out of Memory
(From: Dups)
The game requires more Random Access Memory than you currently have. Simply
check how much memory you have free by running CHKDSK or MEM. Check your DOS
manual about freeing more lower (i.e. conventional) memory and also the game
manuals to see exactly how much memory it requires.

- Packed file corrupt
(From: Joe Centenni)
This error message has been encountered in several older games. It is easy to
get around. The problem is caused by modern memory managers being too
efficient, and an old algorithm for the packing/unpacking files in DOS. If the
first 64K of RAM is free this error will occur. Make a clean boot disk and
boot from it to prevent the installation of your memory manager.

(From: Cesare Tirabassi)
Other work-arounds are: If you do not have DOS 5.0, run debug and launch the
game from there, like this:

   C:\> DEBUG GAME.EXE.
       -G (Program runs and terminates)
       -Q
   C:\>

If you have DOS 5.0, there is an undocumented utility, named LOADFIX, just
made for this purpose. Just launch the game by typing:

   C:\> LOADFIX GAME.EXE (the extension can be omitted)

[Looking for more common problems that many people experience.]

- Computer is too fast.

There are several programs that you can try to slow down your PC:

   nic.funet.fi  /pub/msdos/utilities/at/at-slow3.zip
   nic.funet.fi  /pub/msdos/utilities/sysutl/486slo.zip

- Graphic screen dump.

You can try the program PCX Dump 8.1, which is available as:

   garbo.uwasa.fi  /pc/graphics/pcxdmp81.zip

- Games don't work with DR-DOS 6.
(From: Chris Crouch)
[e-mail]
The typical error is that games complains about not enough memory being
available, while the mem command shows ample memory available. The problem is
that DR-DOS 6 automatically tries to avoid the "packed file corrupt" errors
with compressed executables by disabling the lower 64k of memory. The solution
is to get the DR-DOS 6 patch pat326.exe (a self extracting archive), and apply
it to the DR-DOS 6 system. This patch can be found at ftp.novell.com or
ftp.novell.de, in /pub/netwire/novlib/12. It removes this auto-detecting
feature of DR-DOS 6, so other older games will now give the familiar "packed
file corrupt" message. DR-DOS 6 has a utility called MEMMAX to get around
this.

[Looking for more common questions from game players.]

5.4: What does the acronym ... mean?

Below are acronyms for games used frequently by people in the newsgroups. You
can use them to shorten your subject headers and to prevent typing fatigue.
The question marks (?) are to be replaced by digits, like U? can be replaced
by U7 to represent the game Ultima 7.

   AITD    Alone in the Dark - Infogrames/I-Motion
   AOE     Aces over Europe - Dynamix/Sierra
   AOTP    Aces of the Pacific - Dynamix/Sierra
   AW      (SVGA) Air Warrior - Kesmai/Konami/GEnie
   B17     B-17 Flying Fortress - MicroProse
   BAK     Betrayal at Krondor - Dynamix/Sierra
   BARIS   Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space - Interplay/Electronic Arts
   BT?     Bard's Tale ? - Interplay
   CAW     Carriers at War - SSG/Electronic Arts
   CHQ     Command HQ - MicroProse
   CIV     Civilization - MicroProse
   COS     Clash of Steel - SSI
   CYAC    Chuck Yeager Air Combat - Electronic Arts
   DM      Dungeon Master - Psygnosis
   DOTT    Day of the Tentacle - LucasArts/US Gold
   DQK     Dark Queen of Krynn - SSI/US Gold
   EOB?    Eye of the Beholder ? - SSI/US Gold
   F117    F-117A Stealth Fighter - MicroProse
   F15-?   F-15 Strike Eagle ? - MicroProse
   F1GP    Formula 1 Grand Prix - MicroProse
   F3      Falcon 3.0 - Spectrum Holobyte/MicroProse
   FB      Flashback - Delphine/US Gold/SSI
   FOG     Fields of Glory - MicroProse
   FPFP    Freddy Pharkas Frontier Pharmacist - Sierra
   FPSF    Front Page Sport: Football - Dynamix/Sierra
   FPSFP   Front Page Sport: Football Pro - Dynamix/Sierra
   FRUA    Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures - SSI/US Gold
   FS5     Flight Simulator 5.0 - Microsoft
   GK      Gabriel Knight - Sierra
   GS2000  Gunship 2000 - MicroProse
   GOB?    Goblii(i)ns ? - Coktel Vision/Digital Integration/Sierra
   HB?     Hardball ? - Accolade
   HH      Halloween Harry - Apogee
   HOC     Heart of China - Dynamix/Sierra
   HOF     Hand of Fate - Westwood/Virgin
   HQ?     Hero's Quest ? - Sierra
   INDY?   Indiana Jones ? - LucasArts/US Gold
   JMFB2   John Madden Football 2 - Electronic Arts
   KQ?     King's Quest ? - Sierra
   LB?     Laura Bow ? - Sierra
   LGOP?   Leather Goddesses of Phobos ? - Infocom
   LOK     Legend of Kyrandia - Westwood/Virgin
   LOL     Lands of Lore - Westwood/Virgin
   LSL?    Leisure Suit Larry ? - Sierra
   LTOI?   Lost Treasures of Infocom ? - Infocom
   MB      Monster Bash - Apogee
   MFS?    MicroSoft Flight Simulator ? - MicroSoft
   MI?     Monkey Island ? - LucasArts/US Gold
   MM?     Maniac Mansion ? - LucasArts/US Gold
   M&M?    Might & Magic ? - New World/US Gold
   MOO     Master of Orion - MicroProse
   NHL     National Hockey League - Electronic Arts
   OOTW    Out of this World - Delphine/Interplay/US Gold
   PACWAR  Pacific War - SSI/US Gold
   POD     Pools of Darkness - SSI/US Gold
   POP?    Populous ? - Bullfrog/Electronic Arts
   POP?    Prince of Persia ? - Broderbund/Electronic Arts
   PQ?     Police Quest ? - Sierra
   QFG?    Quest for Glory ? - Sierra
   ROA     Realms of Arkania - Sir-Tech/US Gold
   RRT     Railroad Tycoon - MicroProse
   RTZ     Return to Zork - Infocom/Activision
   SC      Strike Commander - Origin/Electronic Arts
   SC?     Star Control ? - Accolade
   SC?01   Spellcasting ?01 - Legend/Accolade
   SF2     Street Fighter 2 - Capcom/Electronic Arts
   ShC     Shadow Caster - Raven/Origin/Electronic Arts
   SOD     Spear of Destiny - Id/FormGen
   SQ?     Space Quest ? - Sierra
   SWOTL   Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe - LucasArts/US Gold
   T2029   Terminator 2029 - Bethesda
   T7G     The Seventh Guest - Trilobyte/Virgin
   TIM     The Incredible Machine - Dynamix/Sierra
   TLB?    Tony Larussa's Ultimate Baseball - SSI
   U?      Ultima ? - Origin/Electronic Arts
   U??     Ultima ? Part ? - Origin/Electronic Arts
   UA      Unlimited Adventures - SSI/US Gold
   UW?     Ultima Underworld ? - Origin/Electronic Arts
   V4V     V for Victory - Three-Sixty/Electronic Arts
   W?      Wizardry ? - Sir-Tech/US Gold
   WC      World Circuit - MicroProse
   WC?     Wing Commander ? - Origin/Electronic Arts
   WCA     Wing Commander Academy - Origin/Electronic Arts
   WGH?    Wayne Gretzky Hockey ? - Bethesda
   WIZ?    Wizardry ? - Sir-Tech/US Gold
   WOLF3D  Wolfenstein 3D - Id/Apogee

5.5: Which games have different names?

There are some games with different names in different parts of the world.

   Air Duel (USA) -> Dogfight (EUR) - MicroProse
   Another World (EUR) -> Out of this World (USA) - Delphine
   Ultrabots (USA) -> Xenobots (EUR) - NovaLogic
   Ween (EUR) -> The Prophecy (USA) - Coktel Vision
   World Circuit (USA) -> Formula 1 Grand Prix (EUR) - MicroProse
   Rags To Riches (USA) -> Wall Street Manager (EUR) - Interplay

There are some games which have follow-ups with different names.

   Colonel's Bequest -> Laura Bow 2 - Sierra
   Hero's Quest -> Quest for Glory 2 - Sierra
   Maniac Mansion -> Day of the Tentacle - LucasArts
   Out of this World -> Flashback - Delphine
   Wolfenstein 3D -> Spear of Destiny - Id/FormGen

5.6: Which games have multi-player abilities?

(From: Blair Prescott)
There are a great number of PC games that can be played by multiple players,
and more are being released all the time. They require use of a modem, null
modem cable, IBM network, or just e-mail for their use. A partial list,
including only the more popular games, follows here:

   Falcon 3.0 - Spectrum Holobyte/MicroProse (modem/network/nullmodem)
   VGA Planets {Shareware} - Tim Wisseman (email)
   World Circuit (Formula 1 Grand Prix) - MicroProse (modem/nullmodem)
   SVGA Air Warrior - Kesmai/Konami/GEnie (modem/nullmodem)
   Empire Deluxe - New World (modem/nullmodem/email)
   F-15 Strike Eagle 3 - MicroProse (modem/nullmodem)
   Command HQ - MicroProse (modem/nullmodem)
   Tornado - Digital Integration/Spectrum Holobyte (modem/nullmodem)
   The Lost Admiral - QQP (???)
   Perfect General - QQP/UbiSoft (???)
   Air Duel (Dogfight) - MicroProse (???)
   Conquered Kingdoms - QQP (???)
   Spaceward Ho! - New World (network)
   Global Conquest - Microprose (modem/nullmodem)

[Looking for people who can complete the information here.]

5.7: Which games have additional files available for free?

- Falcon 3.0 - Spectrum Holobyte/MicroProse
There's a lot of information and files for this one. Have a look at:

   onion.rain.com  /pub/falcon3/*

- Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures - SSI/US Gold
You can find modules for this game at:

   wuarchive.wustl.edu  /pub/msdos_uploads/games/UA/Modules
   ccosun.caltech.edu   /pub/adnd/inbound/UA/Modules
   soda.berkeley.edu    /pub/frua

- Harpoon - Three-Sixty
User made scenarios can be found at:

   jumi.lut.fi  /pub/harpoon/*

- Wolfenstein 3D - Id/Apogee
Many stuff can be found at:

   ftp.cc.umanitoba.ca  /wolf3d/*

- X-Wing - LucasArts/US Gold
Add-ons, hints and cheats can be found at:

   wpi.wpi.edu /starwars/X-Wing

[Looking for more games with extra files on FTP sites.]

5.8: What are the known bugs?

- Betrayal at Krondor - Dynamix/Sierra
(From: Andreas Toenne)
The spell 'Final Rest' is used to permanently remove knocked out nighthawks
from the game. There is a major bug with this spell however: If one applies
'Final Rest' during a combat to a dead nighthawk, and a living nighthawk is
occupying the same location, then both nighthawks are removed. Shortly
thereafter the game locks up when it tries to move the living albeit removed
nighthawk. Be careful!

- Civilization - MicroProse
(From: Daniel Silevitch)
The nastiest bug in Civilization is called the "advisor bug". This is a well
know bug and MicroProse has been trying to fix it. Thus far, they haven't
succeeded, but there is a successful work-around. The bug appears when you
have the "instant advice" feature turned on. If you go to a city, and your
Domestic Advisor has nothing to recommend (i.e. no more improvements possible
for the city), the game will hang. The work-around is to turn off the instant
advice.

- Dark Queen of Krynn - SSI/US Gold
(From: Dups)
The Book of Amrocar is to be found in the Dumb Waiter in the city of
Hawkbluff. Without it you cannot continue the game. If it is not there then a
patch is required, available by FTP.

- Eye of the Beholder 2 - SSI/US Gold
If you possess a treble-class character in your party, any multi-hit spell,
i.e. one that hits your entire party, will cause a DIVIDE ERROR and the game
will bomb back to DOS. Don't have more than two classes per character.

- Falcon 3.0 - Spectrum Holobyte/MicroProse
(From: Blair Prescott)
Early versions of Falcon had many annoying bugs, most of which have been fixed
with the release of the version 3.02.1 patch, mig101.exe, available from:
onion.rain.com and cactus.org  /pub/falcon3/programs
ftp.informatik.uni-rostock.de  /pub/msdos/falcon3/programs

- Flight Simulator 5.0 - Microsoft
A bug report can be asked from John Mechalas <[e-mail]>.

- Might & Magic 3 - New World/US Gold
(From: Christina Warren)
Brother Zeta never talks to you, even though you have visited brother Delta,
who told you that you should go and see him. Brother Zeta is supposed to tell
you that you can find the shell on day 99. Also, Zeta is the last of the
brothers.

- Monkey Island - LucasArts/US Gold
(From: Christina Warren)
If you can't get to run the game with a SoundBlaster in AdLib mode on your
fast (486) machine, try running it with the PC in the slower mode. There is a
bug that makes the AdLib driver fail on fast machines.

- Pirates! Gold - MicroProse
(From: David R. Paoletti)
There is a bug that causes this game to lock up when you reach:
1) A town in which one of the evil people that know the whereabouts of your
family members is hiding. This will lock the game up just before it asks you
to select your weapon.
2) A pirate ship that you have been commissioned to hunt down.
There is a zip file from MicroProse in wuarchive's patch directory which
contains a patched EXE file that fixes both of these problems.

(From: Eberhard)
3) The hotkeys for land combat are not functioning correctly.
4) While attacking cities on the land with troops > 400 men parts of your army
disappear and will reappear if you make it to the duell scene with the enemy
captain.
5) After leaving a town by ship, the game sometimes reboots your system if you
are looking immediately at the captain's cabin.
6) Sometimes the system locks up if you exit to DOS and start again without
rebooting.
7) If you use the patch1 released by MicroProse there is a good chance you
will screw up your Hall of Fame. If you want to look at your progress in the
Hall of Fame, save your game and restart with your old piratesg.exe.

- Star Control 2 - Accolade
(From: Peter Geltner)
Don't play this game with SmartDrive installed. If you do this, your savegames
will only be written to disk when you quit the program. So, if you turn off
your PC without quitting properly or if the game locks up, you don't have any
savegames.

(From: Blair Prescott)
If the Arilou tell you to go retrieve an item and return, you will find this
impossible to do. Instead, return to a saved game and find the item before you
talk to the Arilou. Otherwise, the Arilou will not be able to help you, and it
will be VERY difficult to complete the game.

- Syndicate - Bullfrog/Electronic Arts
If you're having problems with your SoundBlaster at setting IRQ7, you should
set the factory default on the card to IRQ5 and change the setting in SYND.BAT
accordingly.

- Tornado - Digital Integration/Spectrum Holobyte
(From: Andrew Stevens)
The bug whereby SAMs hits always completely destroy your aircraft is fixed in
the revision A patch. The bug in the SoundBlaster driver causing hangs or
pauses in the sound is fixed in the revision B patch, due for oct '93.

- Ultima 7: The Black Gate - Origin/Mindscape
(From: Eberhard)
On Buccaneer's Den you will get a key which you will need later on the Isle of
the Avatar. This key sometimes vanishes from your Inventory. The best thing to
do is to put down the key somewhere you can remember, and use it first if you
need it. There is a patch for this bug, provided by Origin, and it can be
found at ftp.uwp.edu, in pub\msdos\romulus\misc\u7patch.zip.

- Ultima 7 part 2: Serpent's Isle - Origin/Electronic Arts
(From: Eberhard)
Not every door in the game can be blown away with powder kegs. Don't try this
on the door to the List field in Monitor or the game will lock.

- Ultima Underworld 2 - Origin/Electronic Arts
(From: Dups)
The game will not continue if certain "flags" or events do not occur. There is
also the infamous inventory bug which means you can't have 40+ items in one
sack and you cannot not drop items into water. The servant strike does not
resolve itself, you must get the UW2 patch fix at ftp.uwp.edu.

- Wolfenstein 3D - Id/Apogee
(From: Lee Scott)
In some earlier versions the secret elevator on episode 1, level 1 will not
take you to level 10, but level 2. This can be fixed by getting a patch from
ftp.uwp.edu in /pub/msdos/games/id/*, or by upgrading to version 1.4 also
found there.

[Looking for more well known bugs.]

5.9: Which games are we all waiting for?

Here's a list of some games that haven't been release yet. They have already
been promoted by the publishers, so we're all looking forward to them. For a
few games the expected month of release is mentioned. You can find a lot more
information about upcoming games in Game Bytes electronic magazine and the
paper magazines.

- 7th Guest 2: The 11th Hour (Be Afraid of the Dark) - Virgin (puzzle)
- A-10 Warthog - Spectrum Holobyte (simulation)
- Aces of the Deep - Dynamix/Sierra (simulation) january 94
  submarine simulation
- Carriers at War 2 - SSG/Electronic Arts (strategy)
- Civil War - MicroProse (strategy)
- Cyberrace - Cyberdreams (role-playing)
- Delta-V - Bethesda/US Gold (action) december 93
- The Dig - LucasArts/US Gold (adventure)
  In cooperation with Steven Spielberg.
- Dungeon Master 2: Legend of Skullkeep - Interplay (role-playing) december 93
- The Elder Scrolls: The Arena - Bethesda/US Gold (role-playing) december 93
- F-14 Fleet Defender - MicroProse (simulation) december 93
- Forgotten Castle: The Awakening - Twin Dolphin/EA (role-playing) january 94
- Goblin 3 - Coktel Vision (adventure) december 93
- Harpoon 2 - Three-Sixty (strategy) november 93
- Inca 2 - Coktel Vision/Sierra (action) december 93
- MechWarrior 2: The Clans - Activision (action) february 94
- Might & Magic: Arena - New World (role-playing)
- Mortal Kombat - Probe/Virgin (sport) november 93
  console conversion
- Pacific Strike - Origin (simulation) january 94
- Phantasmagoria - Sierra (adventure) juli 94
- Simcity 2000 - Maxis/Mindscape (strategy) january 94
- Space Simulator 1.0 - MicroSoft (simulation)
- SSN-21 Seawolf - Electronic Arts (simulation) december 93
- Star Trek: The Next Generation - Spectrum Holobyte (role-playing)
- Stonekeep - Interplay (role-playing) february 94
  full screen view
- Ultima 8: Pagan - Origin/Electronic Arts (role-playing) february 94
  (pictures available)
- Victory at Sea - Three-Sixty (strategy) november 93
- X-Wing 2: Tie Fighter - LucasArts/US Gold (action)

==============================================================================
# THE END

This is it. As I've already told you, if you have anything to comment on the
information given in this FAQ, please feel free to email me about it. Any
more information that can be included in the next version of the FAQ is
awfully much appreciated.

I owe a big Thanks to the following persons, who spent some time writing texts
that are included somewhere above, or who just mailed me and gave me valuable
tips and stuff.

   Mitch Aigner <[e-mail]>
   David Ashley <[e-mail]>
   Volker Blasius <[e-mail]>
   Jason Burrell <[e-mail]>
   Joe Centenni <[e-mail]>
   Joseph Cochran <[e-mail]>, moderator of csipg.announce
   Ron Dippold <[e-mail]>, who organized the group split
   Ian Cornell Donaldson <[e-mail]>
   Chris Crouch <[e-mail]>
   Neil Ensor <[e-mail]>
   Ken Fishkin <[e-mail]>
   Christopher Flake <[e-mail]>
   Peter Geltner <[e-mail]>
   James Hague <[e-mail]>
   Ismo K{rkk{inen <[e-mail]>
   Sir Launcelot du Lac <[e-mail]>, keeper of the address lists
   Ville Lavonius <[e-mail]>
   Brian Milner <[e-mail]>
   David R. Paoletti <[e-mail]>
   David Pipes <[e-mail]>
   Blair Prescott <[e-mail]>
   S.M.Sabri S.M.Ismail <[e-mail]>
   Maurice Schekkerman <[e-mail]>
   Lee Scott <[e-mail]>
   Daniel Silevitch <[e-mail]>
   Andrew Stevens <[e-mail]>
   David Timoney <[e-mail]>
   Cesare Tirabassi <[e-mail]>
   Andreas Toenne <[e-mail]>
   Christina Warren <[e-mail]>, keeper of the old csipg FAQ
   Richard Wyckoff <[e-mail]>
   <[e-mail]>
   Eberhard <[e-mail]>
   and Amnon Marechal.

This file may be freely copied and distributed on the only condition that the
contents should not be altered in any way. Commercial distribution of this
document is not allowed without my permission.

This FAQ is presented with no warranties or guarantees of any kind. I have
attempted to verify correctness of most of the data contained in this
document, but if you use this data, you do so at your own risk.

******************************************************************************
*  PLEASE LET ME KNOW THAT YOU ARE READING THIS FAQ. ONLY WHEN I RECEIVE     *
*  FEEDBACK I AM ENCOURAGED TO KEEP PRODUCING NEW VERSIONS. IF THE READERS   *
*  DON'T MAIL ME, I MIGHT THINK THAT NO ONE READS THIS. SO JUST LET ME KNOW  *
*  THAT YOU READ IT, AND TELL ME IF YOU FOUND IT USEFUL OR NOT. THANKSALOT!  *
******************************************************************************

==============================================================================
End of part 2. If you do not own part 1 of this FAQ, you can download it by
FTP at rtfm.mit.edu from the /pub/usenet/comp.answers/PC-games-faq/ directory.