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@BEGIN_FILE_ID.DIZDark Unicorn Dispatch Newsletter Nov/Dec Issue Dark Unicorn Productions' bi-monthly newsletter. This issue: CD32/SX-1, CD titles and where to get them, software reviews, new DUP products, new commercial games coming from UK, tons more. Get it! @END_FILE_ID.DIZ ### ## ### # # # # # # ### ## ## ### # # # # # # # # # # # # ## # # # # # # # # ## # # # #### ### ## # # # ## # # # # ### # ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ### # # # # # # ## # # ### ## ## # # # # ### ### ### ### # # ## ### ### ## # # ### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## # # ### ### # # # # # # # # # # # # ## ### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ### ### ## ## # ### ## # # ### "One Step Above Excellence" Dark Unicorn Dispatch Newsletter November/December Edition "A Bi-Monthly Informative Look Into The Amiga and CD32." Call Dark Unicorn Productions' World Headquarters - TOMBSTONE BBS (803) 863-0313 - 24 Hours - 14.4 K Baud - Latest Amiga Shareware On-Line Games and Interactive Fiction - Commodore News - Cheats DUP Products Old and New Always On-Line - Specialize in Hard To Find and Odd Amiga Shareware - Thousands of Titles Off-Line * Next Issue: AmigaGuide Format! * ... Table of Contents ... Introduction - Welcome to The Dark Unicorn Dispatch Coming Attractions - What New Is Coming To The Amiga Shareware Update - The Best In Shareware and PD Software Reviews - A Look Into Cannon Fodder & Valhalla Hardware Reviews - Find Out More About The CD32's SX-1 CD32 Corner - Learn About The Awesome CD32 The Future - Some Thoughts on The Amiga's Future Where Are We? - How To Contact DUP Members Introduction Welcome to the Dark Unicorn Dispatch. This issue we discuss the Amiga CD32 game console. If you are having trouble finding software, this issue's column CD32 Corner will be sure to help you out. We also have great reviews of the popular games Cannon Fodder and Valhalla: The Lord of Infinity. The latter really goes to show what a great production house can do with AMOS (ah, didn't know did you?). In addition to our helpful software reviews, we will also review the SX-1 "A1200 Emulator" for the CD32. All this plus much more! Next issue, we will release this newsletter in the popular AmigaGuide format. Stay tuned! There are a few things I would like to touch on in this issue's introduction. There has been tons of gloom and doom about the Amiga. I have seen lots of people run for the MS-DOS platform, dumping an old friend in the process. Some people, admittedly, DO keep their Amiga, but never turn it on after the Pee Cee enters the house. Let me share my outlook. o Commodore has been figuratively dead for five years. Drive the last nail in the coffin and let someone who CARES pick up the pieces and run forth. In my humble opinion, NO ONE can do worse than Commodore did. o PCs and Macs are STILL playing catch up. Those of us who have no choice to use those 'other' platforms at work realize this fact EVERY DAY! In regards to Operating Systems, graphic manipulation, and video production, in may be a long time indeed until these platforms catch up. Find a cool game on the Pee Cee that DOESN'T require a CD-ROM or five megs of RAM. o MicroSoft is cutting its own throat. Why? Well, consider the power of technology today and look at the 80x86 PC. There is STILL a 640K barrier there (among other things) and it is because no one wants to risk backward compatibility problems. Bing! Let MicroSoft continue to set the standard: it is STILL SUB- standard. o The Amiga will not die. Do you all realize that the Amiga should have died a thousand deaths already? The fact that this machine has survived this long is proof that the Amiga is HERE TO STAY somehow. You can't keep a good computer down. I also recognize that NO other platform has the loyalty, endurance, strength, and LOVE (yes, love) of its users. NONE. Consider that when you consider changing platforms. Do you ever think you could LOVE a PC? I couldn't. o Development is still happening! Look around. Just because Amiga World is shrinking and ads are smaller, there are a LOT of products and companies not represented in the pages of American magazines. If you really want a rush, get an Amiga Format magazine from the U.K. They are available from large book centers including WaldenBooks (if your local Walden doesn't carry it, send about ten Amiga friends in and ask for it; it is on their circulation list so they CAN get it). You can also order it from major American companies like Sideline Software and AmigaMan. Its nice to see a magazine totally dedicated to the Amiga that is STILL in wide format with over a hundred pages a month. I guarantee that this magazine will renew your faith. Faith is a pretty hard commodity to hold onto these days. o Above all, SUPPORT THE DEVELOPERS!!! I am really bad about registering my Shareware (something I am working hard to fix) so I understand why people don't. Being a Shareware programmer myself, it is often depressing to see how poorly a Shareware product does. Remember that demo groups, shareware programmers, and such often become commercial developers. Show the world that we are serious about supporting our platform and maybe they will too. There are already some rumors flying around about MicroSoft supporting the Amiga by coding a version of WORD for us. This scares me and you will understand why when you read the article 'The Future' elsewhere in this issue. It could be the worst thing ever for the Amiga. Well, I have rambled enough this issue. Hope you enjoy the coverage and PLEASE drop us a line and tell us what you think of the newsletter, our products, and anything else on your mind. Unlike some companies, we truly CARE about the Amiga. I would probably DIE without one. Of course, now that I have a CD32 and realize that there are more CD titles for it than any other console platform on the PLANET, life is good! Shane R. Monroe Coming Attractions There are literally dozens of new titles coming for the Amiga. Although there is a definate swing toward the AGA platform, there are plenty coming for ECS Amigas and for the CD32 (which is AGA too). DUP also has a bunch of great goodies in store for you. Last but not least, we included a couple of game cheats to help you all out. DARK UNICORN PRODCUCTIONS This is a little summary of all the programs currently in development here at Dark Unicorn Productions and some notes about them. I also included the coder(s) at the beginning so you know who is leading the project. Look for our demo/slideshow that contains exclusive screen snapshots of all these great games. It can be found on GEnie, Tombstone BBS, BIX, and any other good BBSs. FLYING TIGERS - (Seumas McNally) This is what we like to call an Arcade Simulation. Here is the deal. Imagine for a minute Choplifter, Gunship 2000, and Desert Strike all rolled together. That is the best way to explain it. The game is a horizontal side scroller a la Choplifter. You are offered numerous choices of helicopters to fly, each with its own distinguishing flying characteristics. You can even recruit a couple of 'wingmen' for the computer to fly with you. Then you arm up your chopper. Lots of missions will keep you busy for a while. The destruction rate is excellent; you can kill or destroy everything. The game is in its early beta stages and VERY playable. This will be a classic. IT'S THE PITS - (Kit Felice) An arcade adventure game featuring multi-part game play, smooth graphics, and very clean routines. I have seen the first couple of stages of the game and it is IMPRESSIVE! One scene has you flying down a tunnel like in StarDust blowing away these ugly bugs that are flying at you. Another is a very clean Lunar Lander type segment with some totally killer graphics. Pretty cool. I talk to Kit fairly often, and progress is coming along well. <TITLE CONFIDENTIAL> - (Troy Toulou, Shane Monroe <assist>) A new financial program, the likes the Amiga has never seen before. This will be a modular designed productivity title aimed at the personal finance and small business community. Modules can be added as needed by demand across a relational type database. Using a very unique, flexible, easy to use interface, this program will answer a lot of Amiga owner's prayers for a good finance system. We are projecting a preview around Christmas. FLEET COMMANDER - (Shane Monroe) Take command of a starship and explore the galaxy in this new space simulation! Very similar to Star Trek, this game will feature rendered graphics, digital sound, full motion video clips (!), exhaustive game play, great special effects, and tons more. The Shareware version will be a slightly crippled search, explore, and destroy game while the Enhanced Version may be available shortly thereafter with a campaign scenario which will allows landing parties, 3D asteroid flights, plus much more. The Shareware version is about 60% complete at this time (mostly coding is done; graphics are in production). A preview will be out hopefully by Halloween. TOMCAT - (John Graham) Quite possibly the most exciting game to hit the Amiga in years. Finally, full motion video for the Amiga; and without a CD-ROM! This new game will set new definitions as to what the world can do with this killer machine. The entire game is live video. If you want to see exactly how the game is played and laid out, get a Sega CD and play TOMCAT ALLEY. It is the root inspiration for TOMCAT. Plays just like it, too. Very exciting. The graphics are 1/4 screen black and white (color will probably come with our next FMV game), but very smooth and fluid. Full digital sound, of course. Don't expect it to be really big. The size and resolution of the playfield allows us to keep stuff small. The game will require a hard drive (or another device to install the game to) and will be recommended to be played out of RAM (with an accelerator there is NO break in the action at all running from RAM!). The caching program HYPERCACHE from Prairie Software is also a recommended option as it makes the game load faster for those with slow machines. Loading is done on the fly while you play; much faster than a CD-ROM. We project about 5 disks for this release. The Shareware version will be only air to air combat, while the registered version will contain reconnaissance and ground battle too. The engine for the game is completed, now we are processing all the tons of video to bring in. I have played it (early preview) and it is just KILLER! We are all very excited about it. A space simulation with FMV is tentatively planned if this game is popular. NOTE: Just before this newsletter went to 'press', we released the playable preview of TOMCAT and the response was TWICE as much as we had hoped for! We have people calling Tombstone BBS from Germany getting our products. TOMCAT is going to be HOT! Development for the NEXT FMV game is already in the planning stages! That about sums it up. If you have any comments or ideas about these titles, please write us. We would LOVE to hear from you! COMMERCIAL OFFERINGS Here is a list of games that are now available in the U.K. (possibly in the U.S. by the time you read this) or will soon be released. Start saving your money - it is going to be a merry Christmas!! Amiga Games Theme Park (AGA/ECS) Bubbles and Squeak Ishar III (AGA) On The Ball World Cup USA '94 Dream Web (AGA/ECS) Sensible Golf (AGA/ECS) Sensible World Soccer (AGA) Dawn Patrol (AGA/ECS) Pinball Illusions (AGA/ECS) Gulp! Mr. Blobby Lords of the Realm High Sea Trader Big Sea Kingdoms of Germany KTM Motocross Lemmings III Troll Islands All Terrain Racing Battle Isle II (AGA) NHL Hockey PGA Euro Tour Shaq Fu Putty Squad Out To Lunch Jungle Book (AGA) Super Stardust (AGA) Breach 3 Castle Conquest Dark Stone Dragon Stone Field of Glory Hannibal Police Quest III Robinson Requiem Realms Ruff & Tumble Mighty Max (AGA) Skeleton Krew (AGA) Top Gear 2 (AGA) Magic Carpet (AGA) Aladdin (AGA) Banshee (AGA) D-Day Detroit (AGA) King's Quest VI (AGA/ECS) Raiden Sim City 2000 (AGA) TFX (AGA) U.F.O. (AGA) Alien Breed-Tower Assault Cannon Fodder 2 King Pin Bowling (AGA) Kid Chaos CD32 Games Marvin's Marvellous Adventure Scavenger 4 (Nova Storm) World Class Cricket Jungle Strike MegaRace Communicator Alien Breed II Arcade Pool Banshee Captain Dynamo Brian The Lion Brutal Soccer Caesar & Chort Cannon Fodder Combat Cars Dark Seed Dragon Stone Fire and Ice Guardian Heimdall 2 Litil Divil Liverpool Ryder Cup Universe TFX Simon the Sorcerer Skidmarks Aladdin Kin's Quest VI Sim City 2000 Theme Park U.F.O. CHEATING For those of you needing a little help in the game department, here are a couple of cheats we came up with. Enjoy. Dune II - If you want to make LOTS of cash with your harvester, here is somthing to try. Every time you click on your harvester, it reports how much spice the harvester has harvested. Well, every time you click it, it also adds 1% to it. Just keep clicking and you will have a full harvester in no time! Valhalla: The Lord of Infinity - Here are the level codes: Level 2: LOPFGW Level 3: UHGWIL Level 4:ABHEFT Shareware Update Instead of discussing new stuff this issue, I want to recap those titles that we have found exceptional. Some are old and some are new; some maybe you have never heard of before. Remember, we get some UNIQUE stuff on Tombstone. This list is by NO MEANS comprehensive; but I want to give everyone some new things to look at. I mean, EVERYONE knows about TERM but what about Scheduler? UTILITIES 1. Virus Z II V1.9 - How could you turn your computer on and NOT have this program running in the background? Virus protection done RIGHT. 2. Scheduler - Anyone who knows a little something about the Amiga OS should have this program. You can view and remove tasks, windows, and just about everything else. 3. DirWorks V1.62 - Still the best directory utility ever. Smaller than DirOpus and easier to use than anything else. Skip Dir Works V2.0. Too much like DirOpus and it is no longer Shareware. 4. AmigaGuide - What the hell took this system so long to make it to the premier multi-media computer? Hypertext document system. 5. PC Task - Cool. Finally, I can cut ALL ties with the PC world. Sure it is slow; but it WORKS! Heh heh... Pretty neat playing PARATROOPER on an Apple II emulator, Battle Chess on a PC emulator, and still run the Amiga un- scathed. HA! MUSIC 1. EdPlayer - This is one of those titles that everyone somehow forgets to register and really should. Could support more formats... 2. EaglePlayer - THIS supports formats. I don't even know what some of them ARE! Lacks the finesse' of EdPlayer but has some really cool and different options/displays. 3. 2 Unlimited Demo- I know, it should be in the demo section, but it is more music than demo. This is one of the best around for music quality. DEMOS 1. H_Hammer II - Hypnotic Hammer II. 121K. Still one of the most impressive demo-2-size ratio. A total mind shock. Pumping cool music and wild effects. A must have. 2. Virtual Dreams - This is one of the AGA demos I HAVE seen and another bit of evidence that PROVES that Amiga can run a DOOM engine properly. This is from Fairlight. 3. State of the Art-Often copied, never duplicated. The very first of the 'dancing silhouette' demos. I still love the music mod (available on Tombstone, BTW). This is a true favorite. 4. 9 Fingers - Some guys as SOTA. Somehow they took live video and turned it into detailed polygons and animated it! Truly awesome. Music is decent, but the video process is what really makes this one shine. 5. Sequential - A vector rollercoaster ride and the best computer bubbles I have ever seen. 6. Americon Demo - Short but impressive look at what you can do with chunky pixels. 7. Odyssey Demo - Five disks. Over 20 minutes. Killer graphics and sound. Now hard drive installable. Space battle. Any other questions? 8. Kefren's D.D. - Desert Dream. God, what cool music! If I could program like that, I would really be making money hand over fist. Write games, damn it! 9. Cube-O-Matic - See, we can do texture mapping too! Good music too. Hey, interactivity! 10. Eric Schwartz - Take your pick. Favorites include Day at the Beach, Quality Time, Morphy the Magic Man, Batman (shed a lot of tears laughing over that one), and the Anti- Lemmings demo. Also, the intro from Super Frog was his, too. ENTERTAINMENT (No bias here, folks, just the facts <grin>) 1. Scorched Tanks - This game does rule. Death and destruction still sells. Up to 60 weapons and 13 shields with lots of tank deaths. 2. Ork Attack - Death, violence, and lots of gore: They finally got it right. The blood left on the wall is cool. 3. RingWars - Oh, yeah. It's STAR CASTLE! Vectors and all. Well done. 4. Deluxe Galaga - The latest version finally got my attention with the two player simul- taneous option. Worth the cash. 5. Klondike AGA - This is cool. Nice graphics, but it is still only solitaire. 6. MegaBall - Umm...I just threw this one in because I would've gotten lynched if I didn't. For me, I prefer Arakanoid... 7. Mine Runner - Lode Runner. Yup, perfect translation with only one sound effect being wrong. Oh, but you CAN play four players at once! 8. Deluxe PacMan - I still like it. Where else can you get a gun for the yellow guy? 9. Extreme Violence- Don't lie...How long did you laugh the first time you waxed the other guy? I thought so. BINGO! 10. Llammatron - I finally realized what a GREAT clone of RoboTron this is; I had to stop LAUGHING first. Next issue: A look at the latest and greatest from the files of Tombstone BBS! Software Reviews Games have been sparse these days (at least here in the U.S.) but the quality seems to have gone up. Cannon Fodder and Valhalla are two of such games. Let's take a look. CANNON FODDER For those of you who have been stuck on a deserted island, this game is pure classic arcade death action with some great little puzzle solving thrown in to keep the game challenging. The view is overhead and slightly tilted. The game play is entirely with the mouse. You control up to three little soldiers in various terrains like the jungle, frozen wasteland, etc. The input is standard 'click on the place you want to go and you will go there' deal. Weapons are handled the same way with the right mouse button. There are lots of enemy soldiers, buildings, etc. to demolish while you play. You can split your soldiers up and leave a little 'detail' back while one soldier sneaks around. You can even split them into three, one man details. In fact, some missions REQUIRE you to. The point of the game, basically, is to kill and/or destroy people and stuff. This is all for a mission, of course. The missions can be as easy as killing all the enemy soldiers or more difficult like destroying a heavily guarded enemy ammo dump. Some are almost wickedly hard 'Lemming' type puzzles where you must put a soldier in a specific spot or carry out a smaller mission within the mission. Beware, there are tons of missions that will keep you busy for a LONG time to come. The game is VERY well polished. The background graphics are very rich and detailed. The other, moving graphics are small but very well animated. As with all of Sensible Software's games, the sprites are terribly cute (as cute as soldiers blowing each other away can be) and though the detail is low, there is never a question as to what they are doing. Music and sound effects are excellent. The music is perfect. The killer intro song will have you laughing awhile (if you listen to the words). Sound effects finish the game off right. From the terribly excellent explosions to the screams of soldiers as they die, all are done exquisitely. Turn up the volume! Sensible Software definitely has a sense of humor. Most of their games has some subtle humor, but this one is great. Take for instance the fact that you can continue to shoot enemy soldiers over and over again. This is great fun. Pop a round in them and they scream, fly backward, fall to the ground and wait a second before disappearing. So, pop another round into them before they vanish. They will again scream and fly back. Repeat this until you are tired of hearing their screams. Great bloody fun. Speaking of blood, there is an appropriate amount littered through the game. Cartoon blood, though, to be sure. It is a very addictive game. Plan on wasting numerous hours playing it. Big bang for the buck. Hard drive installation is missing (of course) but the fast floppy loader makes life bearable. Swapping of the disks in minimal. Some form of two player action would've been a nice treat; maybe even over a null modem cable or ParNet. The version I reviewed was PAL, so if you still have one of those old OCS machines, you might want to ask the dealer about it before you fork over the cash. VALHALLA: THE LORD OF INFINITY Once in a great while we get a game that is truly different from anything on other platforms and certainly on the Amiga. VALHALLA is one of those games. VALHALLA comes on four disks and is billed (appropriately) as the Amiga's first talking adventure game. In fact, the story plot is told to you by the Prince of Valhalla himself (your on- screen alter ego). Somehow, the speech really lends a hand to the game. Even playing off of floppies doesn't slow down the action that much. The storyline is basic. Your father, the King, was killed by his brother in an attempt to take the crown for himself. You must find a way to reclaim the crown as your own. This is a pure adventure game. There are NO monsters to fight, however. The game is pure puzzle solving and exploring. In its most basic sense, it is an object-exchange game. Find an object, figure out where it goes, it will give you a new object, use that object to open a door, get a new object, etc. This is not a bad gendre, though, since you have much more time to think things out instead of engaging in an encounter every two minutes. The graphics are superb. Dark dank dungeon all done up in brown. Very nicely detailed. There is very little on-screen animation, though. In fact, the only real animation is your on- screen alter ego, the Prince himself. He stays stationary in the middle whilst the dungeon moves around him. His animation as he walks, peers, and talks is incredibly smooth and sharp. Other things, such as the talking skulls, have limited animation. The true magic comes from the little guy's personality. He will look 'up' at you and tell you just about everything that happens. For example, when you look at a key, he will lean forward, peer at it, and then look up and say 'It looks like a door key!" or something appropriate. This is the standard English accent of course. Other cute expressions are, "It doesn't fit!", "I can't do that!", "It's a SKULL!!" etc. The skulls themselves speak in their deep baritone voices, "BRING ME BLOOD!" or something similar depending on what they want from you. Although there are no monsters, there are plenty of ways to die, mainly through the use of pit type traps. His cuteness even extends to this point where he screams as he disappears. There are lots of ways to avoid the pits; sometimes you can see them, other times a hidden map will tell you where they are. The save game feature should be used often. Technically speaking, the game was well written. I could run it on numerous system configurations; from my brain dead A600 to my dressed out A2000/25mhz/7megs. (Haven't tried it on my SX- 1 equipped CD32 yet, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. The hard drive installer facility was not only easy but flawless and the icons from each disk arranged themselves perfectly in the hard drive window after the install to form a nice large picture. Nice touch. The game was written in AMOS, by the way. One more notch in this awesome languages' belt. Aside from published data deeming it so, any programmer of AMOS will recognize the occasional 'echoing' samples during the introduction speech. There are a couple of things I did NOT care for in the game. First, there is only one save game position. That is NOT cool for an adventure game of ANY type. On the plus side, it does restore the game in a flash; even off floppy. There are no options for turning off the repetitive speech. I wouldn't have a use for it, but some people would. Some nice music in the background during play would also be welcome. Also, I wouldn't mind a little 'arcade' mode somewhere in the game. Just something small to break up the monotony of the normal game play. Last thing, perhaps an option to play with the mouse. All in all, I heartily recommend this game. Even if you don't really care for adventure games, this one is quite well rounded and very pleasant. There is an instant liking of the little Prince and you will find yourself sympathizing with him when he says, "I'm SCARED!" Hardware Reviews This issue, we are going to discuss the new SX-1 expansion unit (about $249) for the CD32 game console. As most of you know already, the SX-1 basically turns your CD32 into a CD-ROM equipped A1200. With the exception of the Planar to Chunky chip, they are basically the same. The SX-1 plugs into the expansion slot on the back of the CD32. The box itself is rather plain, but has ports sticking out all over it for the computer basics such as a keyboard, disk drive, serial, parallel, etc. It also allows for RAM expansion and includes an IDE interface as well. Once connected and an Amiga compatible external disk drive in place, you are prepared to run the dozens of AGA titles available. As much as I hate to admit it, the games market is swinging to AGA. Some very hot titles like U.F.O., TFX, Aladdin, Sim City 2000, and others are AGA only. Any AT PC keyboard can be plugged into it, making it cheap to add it on. There is also a special SX-1 keyboard that better matches the CD32 available for about $45. This SX-1, naturally, allows you to use the popular PARNET software and cable to connect the CD32 to your Amiga. This, of course, allows you to tap that double speed CD-ROM drive as a device. No, a $600 CD-ROM drive is not a great deal, but it is a nice extra for the $30 it'll cost you for the PARNET stuff. Chances are you already have it. RAM expansion is handled by a chip and can be upgraded in the standard one, four, or eight meg manner. I doubt you will need more RAM, unless you plan on using the CD32 as your primary computer as well as console game machine. Software Hut has a 40MB HD for the SX-1 for about $150. This, again, is really unnecessary if you have your systems connected with PARNET. PARNET is REALLY fast, and should be usable for most games. Is the SX-1 expansion module for you? Well, if you are like me and already have a fully dressed out Amiga 500/2000/3000 and a CD32, and really want an AGA computer, this is one way of doing it and getting the CD-ROM drive as an extra goodie. With AGA fast becoming the gaming standard, it would really be wise for all die hard game fans to get this SX-1 to keep up. CD32 Corner This is a new addition to the Dark Unicorn Dispatch and it is here to stay. I got to see one of these incredible game machines about a month ago, but have been so busy programming on Fleet Commander that I haven't had a chance to try and get one. Now, I have one and it is really the most exciting console around. For those of you who know all about the CD32, go ahead and skip this part. I want to try and impart the excitement I have for this machine to everyone. I have a Sega Genesis at home too; I won't lie to you. Although half the titles available on Sega started off as Amiga games, there are always a couple of really big titles that take awhile to make it to the Amiga (Such as Mortal Kombat II and Beavis and Butthead). That is why I bought the Genesis. Let's run down a comparison chart of Sega CD and CD32. CD32 SEGA CD ----------------------------------------------------------------- Processor/Speed 68EC020/14mhz 68000/16mhz ----------------------------------------------------------------- Max Colors >256,000 64 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CD-ROM Speed Double Speed Single Speed ----------------------------------------------------------------- Extra/Custom Processors AGA Chipset/Planar One Graphics and to Chunky Converter One Extra 68000 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Expansion Ability One Port None ----------------------------------------------------------------- Controller Type 11-Button/Pad 3-Button/Pad ----------------------------------------------------------------- Software Available: Firmware N/A Hundreds of Titles CD Specific >130 Couple dozen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Price: $369-400 $300-400 ----------------------------------------------------------------- There are a LOT of good quality titles for Sega CD. Some of which I would really like to see make it to the CD32. Some of these include Dragon's Lair, Sewer Shark, Double Switch, Tomcat Alley, Night Trap, and some others. But, the grainy 64 color 1/4 screen full motion video from CD is becoming quite unacceptable in this new age of games. Also, the Genesis has a tenancy to overwork the hardware (yeah, like the Amiga has never done THAT) sometimes to the point of losing graphics altogether (Mortal Kombat II is a good example; have both players play Kitana and both do the Fan Wave at each other and watch most of the player graphics disappear). The graphic processor is very good, but no match at all for the AGA Chipset. Both can play regular CDs, CD+Gs (graphics are imbedded with the music and are displayed while the music is playing), and DK Karaoke discs. With a Full Motion Video Card ($249) you can watch V-CDs (actual movies) on the CD32. These movies are getting more and more popular and CD32 WILL play the CD-I format movies, too (one of the only things CBM ever did right). No option for this on Sega CD. When you turn on the CD32, you will immediately want one. The big AMIGA CD32 logo is on top of the screen with the CD in chrome spinning around in 3-D. A CD flies up to the screen and starts releasing colors at you. WOW! There isn't even a DISC in it yet! As you would expect from an Amiga based product, you can put in a CD at any time and it will detect it and begin to play it. You hardly ever have to turn off the machine. The CD playing facility in the CD32 is totally awesome. It is the same one that was used for the CDTV and it really is sharp. In addition to the standard shuffle, random, and programmability found in most CD players, the CD32 has a really neat (although mostly useless) feature. When playing a CD, it will actually show you a CD spinning. Then, above it, a laser beam is being shot onto the disc! The laser tracks the disc as it plays, at least giving you the illusion that the laser on the on-screen disc is in the same position as the laser is on the actual disc. It is all aesthetics of course, but it is still pretty neat to watch. The expansion slot in the back of the CD32 is used for the full motion video card or the now available SX-1 expansion device, which allows you to basically turn your CD32 into a CD equipped A1200. The SX-1 is reviewed elsewhere in this newsletter. Since A1200s seem to be scarce these days, this is one of your only methods of getting an Amiga comparable to this. You can also purchase an inexpensive adapter that will allow you to hook up your existing Amiga to the CD32 and use the CD-ROM. So, how about the software? Well, as you may have guessed, a lot of the stuff out is pretty much the same to its Amiga counterparts, but with a really nice soundtrack and/or some extra glitzy backgrounds. On the other hand, there are some miraculous titles out there, too. Many companies are offering CD 'bundles' of their popular games like the Lotus Turbo Trilogy (all three racing games on one CD) or Team 17's Ultimate Body Blows (Body Blows and Body Blows Galactic together). Don't forget, too, that most of CDTV's software can be used on the CD32 also. These titles are on BIG closeout everywhere and can be purchased for a tenner or less most of the time. Remember, too, that you can use all the PD CD's if you have an SX-1 or the adapter. There really is a wealth of software out there. So what are the best games for the CD32? I am still a relatively new owner, but here are my favorites so far are Liberation, Microcosm, and Chaos Engine. I have heard good things about many of the other titles, too, like Zool 2, Banshee, D/Generation, TFX, and Wing Commander. One title I was warned about was DEEP CORE. I heard it is pretty bad. Below is a list of all known titles that are AVAILABLE at the time of writing. Prices range from $8-$60. That is FAR from meaning that there are not tons of other titles out there being sold by private parties or available in the UK. Check your local For Sale or Trade Nets. CD32 Specific Titles Alfred Chicken Arabian Nights Banshee BattleChess Enchanced Battletoads Beavers Brian The Lion Brutal Sports Football Castles II Chambers of Shaolin Chaos Engine D/Generation Dangerous Streets Deep Core Defender of the Crown 2 Diggers Disposable Hero Donk the Duck Samaurai Fire and Ice Fire Force Flashback Football Frontier: Elite II Fury of Furries Global Effect Grolier's Encyclopedia Gunship 2000 Heimdall Humans Impossible Mission 2025 Insight International Karate Champ James Pond 3: Starfish John Barnes Soccer Jurassic Park Labyrinth of Time Legacy of Sorasil Lemmings Liberation Lost Vikings Lotus Trilogy Mean Arenas Microcosm Microcosm/Chaos Engine/Diggers Morph Naughty Ones Nick Faldo Golf Nigel Mansel Racing Oscar Overkill/Lunar C Pirates Gold Premier Reach Out For Gold Robocod Ryder Cup Golf Seek and Destroy Sensible Soccer Sim City Striker Summer Olympix Super Methane Bros. Surf Ninjas TFX (Coming Soon) Total Carnage Trolls Ultimate Body Blows Video Creator Whales Voyage Wing Commander (Soon) Winter Super Sports Zool Zool 2 Seven Gates of Jambala U.F.O. Alien Breed II Top Gear 2 Vital Light Kid Chaos Aladdin Guardian Universe Little Divil Jet Strike Simon the Sorcerer Beneath a Steel Sky Second Samaurai Arcade Pool Heimdall 2 Bubba & Stix Wild Cup Soccer Alien Breed/Qwak Emerald Mines Sheer Delight CDTV Titles That Are Compatible Long Hard Day At The Ranch Bun For Barney Advanced Military Systems All Dogs Go To Heaven American Heritage Dictionary American Vista AMOS PD Library Animals in Motion Barney Bear Goes Camping Barney Bear Goes To School Battle Storm Case of the Cautious Condor Cinderella Classic Board Games Fun School 3 8yrs+ Fun School 3 5yrs- Garden Fax: Fruits & Veggies Garden Fax: Garden Plants Garden Fax: Indoor Plants Garden Fax: Trees, Shrubs, Roses Hound of the Baskervilles Illustrated Holy Bible Illustrated Shakespeare Moving Gives Me A Stomach Ache Mud Puddles My Paint New Basics Cookbook Paper Bag Princess Psycho Killer Raffles Sexual Fantasies Snoopy: Case of the Missing Blanket Strip Poker Tale of Peter Rabbit Team Yankee Thomas Snowsuit Tie Break Tennis Time Table of History: Business Time Table of History: Science Women in Motion Wrath of the Demon SOURCES: Software Hut 800-93-AMIGA Better Concepts 800-25-AMIGA Sideline 800-888-9273 AmigaMan 800-258-0533 The Future This information is as current as 10/24/94 ... Right now, there is still no buyer for the Amiga. The contenders at this time are confirmed to be Commodore UK, Creative International (CEI), and Commodore Germany. Reports all say that all other contenders are no longer in the running (so what's the problem?) All the other contenders had no intentions nor wants to keep the Amiga alive; but simply to cannibalize it. Some ugly rumors are floating around about CEI as well. Let's take a look at each of these contenders and what we know. All of them want to resurrect the Amiga (Lazarus, eh? Remember AmigaDOS V1.x?) at least in SOME form. Commodore UK - My own personal hopeful based on all the new information about CEI I have. CBM UK wants to revamp the Amiga using RISC technologies and get AGA product back into the mainstream as soon as possible. They will concentrate solely on the UK market to start off with and will work with ANYONE who wants the distribution rights in other countries. Full support of the NTSC standard will also continue. I have a feeling that if CBM UK gets the bid, we will see a very different Amiga in the next year or two. One that will run just about everything. I also believe that UK will also license out the Chipset and make an Amiga Emulator for the PC and Mac. Overall, I think that they know how to market and will restore the Amiga. It just might take us awhile to see it here. Commodore Germany - Sorry, I have NO information at all at this time of writing. Just that they have entered the foray and are interested specifically in the A4000T. CEI - Something is really WRONG here. I truly think that there is something really bad happening behind the scenes of this deal. This is *all* speculation, folks. I really hope that I am wrong and I will be perfectly happy to eat every page of the newsletter if CEI gets the bid and I am wrong. Consider the following information and see if you can put them together yourself. Then you will understand why I am so afraid! 1. CEI has SILENT financiers whose names are NEVER revealed in any interviews or text. 2. The silent partner is reputed to be a multi-billionaire. 3. Rumor has it that Microsoft is developing MS-WORD for the Amiga... 4. When CBM UK made their extraordinary offer for the Amiga, CEI came forth with a bid that CBM UK couldn't HOPE to touch. (This is still rumor) 5. Commodore's liquidation got a rather large press spot in Microsoft's in-company newsletter. Okay, do you see it? BILL GATES WANTS THE AMIGA or at least parts of it. Don't laugh and say that it isn't possible or be REALLY stupid and ask why he would want it. WINDOWS SUCKS. That much is true. What about stealing the Amiga OS and making a brand new version of Windows? Or some other "new" and "standard" OS based on AmigaDOS? The Amiga is one of the most powerful computer engines ever made (VIRTUALITY virtual reality game systems are based on it as well as lots of other high tech and powerful systems). My guess is that CEI is a front for Microsoft. Bill has been waiting for years for Commodore to go under so he could step in and snap it up for a song. Steal the Chipset and make a new Windows-accelerator card. Before you start cheering, remember who we are talking about...Do you REALLY think that he would let it be Amiga compatible? Nope. He doesn't need compatibility with anything but MS-DOS and Windows. Don't forget; Bill Gates doesn't change a lightbulb, he just declares darkness as the standard and people follow him. Afraid yet? I certainly am. Once again, this is all speculation on my part. Sure makes a lot of sense, though, doesn't it? Ah, I know, why not just take Commodore outright? Because the liquidators KNOW that resuming production is the only way to make the Amiga immediately make money. If Microsoft stepped in, everyone would know what he was up to. Therefore, the CEI front. I'll bet CEI has even has the wool pulled over their eyes. Don't forget that Jay Miner pulled the wool over a lot of investor's eyes with the original Amiga (claiming to be building a game console). Bill probably promised Microsoft support and financial backing to CEI. In doing this, he will own a piece of the new Amiga technology. Now THAT is depressing. Hopefully, the creditors and courts will award the bid to UK even if the bid is lower. I just don't want to take the chance. Well, enough doom and gloom for this issue. All things considered, though, things are actually looking better for the Amiga. Lots of new products, hardware, and support. People are not abandoning the Amiga in droves like people predicted. I am confident that the Amiga will survive (even as Windows V5.0 or Chicago Deluxe or something). Ten years later and STILL in demand and on top of technology. Long live the Amiga. Where Are We? You can reach Dark Unicorn Productions in numerous ways. * U.S. MAIL Member's Name c/o Dark Unicorn Productions 110 S. Cranford Rd. #6F Goose Creek, SC 29445 * INTERNET Shane Monroe - s.monroe1@genie.geis.com Seumas McNally - j.mcnally1@genie.geis.com John Graham - viruality@bix.com * GEnie Shane Monroe - S.Monroe1 Seumas McNally - J.McNally1 Kit Felice - K.Felice * BIX John Graham - virtuality@bix.com * Tombstone BBS - (803) 863-0313 Shane Monroe - WYATT EARP John Graham - VIRTUALITY Seumas McNally - LONGBOW Troy Toulou - SPYDER Peter Olafson - PETEROO Kit Felice - CAPTAIN PSYCHO Dale McBane - MORGAN EARP Mike Hall - DOC HOLIDAY * Secret Service BBS - (803) 766-2050 Shane Monroe - WYATT EARP John Graham - VIRTUALITY