OS/2 Gaming News - by Colin L. Hildinger

t's time once again to check out the latest news that affects OS/2 gaming and gamers. Each month we scour the 'net and hound ISVs to provide you with a digest of all the events and updates in the OS/2 gaming market, complete with helpful links. Enjoy!

Cosmic Defender Beta

A new flight sim/3D shooter is entering beta testing as we publish this issue. Basically in the game, you fly a ship over the surface of a planet and shoot the bad guys. It looks like this could turn out to be a pretty fun game, check it out.

New Drilling Billy Beta

Two months ago I announced that a new version of Drilling Billy with better full screen and DIVE support was being worked on, and now it's here! To try it out you'll need to carefully follow the included directions, but it should work on many systems now. You can download the OS/2 version from Northwind's home page.

Entrepreneur Demo Released

Last month I announced a "beta demo" of Entrepreneur from Stardock Systems. Well, a few days later they released a GA demo (GA stands for General Availability, meaning release level code). The GA demo limits your play but allows you to play both on STARDOCK.NET and off-line. STARDOCK.NET lets Entrepreneur players get together and start games over the Internet.

One thing to make sure you do before you play the game is read the on-line documentation in PDF format. (You will need to install the Acrobat Reader for OS/2 to do this if you haven't already.) Also, when you're playing the demo, remember the limitations. There are things that you just can't do in the demo, so your strategy needs to be tailored towards those limitations.

Expect to see an unsupported full screen version of Entrepreneur for OS/2 some time after release. And don't forget, the pre-order price will end on the first of October!

GoldenLeaf Beta

A beta of the movement engine for OS/2's first 3D first person RPG is available on the Ultimate OS/2 Gaming Page. There's not a lot to do with it yet, but it shows potential.

Links for OS/2 Fix

If you've had any trouble with Links for OS/2, be sure to get the service release from Stardock. This release should fix all known issues.

PlusPak: B.U.G.S. Update

The update B.U.G.S. players have been waiting for is here -- Joystick support and more! And, if you're having trouble getting B.U.G.S. to work under Warp 3 make sure you check out the Warp 3 update kit available on the B.U.G.S. web page which will help you get DART up and running on Warp 3.

PowerGamer '97

Last month, Stardock announced a special deal called PowerGamer '97. For US$99.95 you get Galactic Civilizations II, Star Emperor Advanced, Avarice Preview, Avarice TFS, and Trials of Battle. This is a great deal, even if you already have one of these games! See Stardock's web site for more details.

Quake II for OS/2

That's right, it's looking very possible that OS/2 will get a full blown port of Quake II. Since id isn't writing a version for DOS, they have recognized that we OS/2 gamers might appreciate the opportunity to give them money. I can't give out further details, and nothing's final yet, but I'm eagerly looking forward to hearing more about this. And when I do hear, so will you!

The Ultimate OS/2 Games CD, Volume I

New from GCS, the Ultimate OS/2 Games CD, Volume I puts some of the all-time classic OS/2 games on one CD:

• Entertainment Pack for OS/2
• Toyland
• Matrix
• SeaHaven Towers Solitaire
• Aquanaut
• And more...

All of these games have been reviewed in OS/2 e-Zine!, and note that some of them have been updated since the reviews were done (see last month's game update). The CD will ship in October of this year. See the web page for more details, including pre-order information.

That's it for this month. For the latest news remember to always check out the Ultimate OS/2 Gaming Page, and if you know something that you think I don't, let me know!

Colin Hildinger is an Aerospace Engineering senior at Oklahoma State University and has been using OS/2 for the last 3 years. In addition to being the Games Editor for OS/2 e-Zine!, he maintains The Ultimate OS/2 Gaming Page and the AWE32 and OS/2 Page in his "spare" time.