Tim Fountain presents a round-up of the latest developments in the field of entertainment software
[Games of RISC is a regular feature in the magazine; this particular article is taken from issue 4 (November 2000).]
Every time I have to write another of these round-ups of the goings-on in the RISC OS gaming world, I seem to be fortunate enough to be able to report news from another RISC OS show just past. This issue is no exception, with the RISC OS 2000 show at Epsom having taken place last weekend. The big news was, of course, the new hardware products in the form of MicroDigital's Omega machine and the RiscStation portable. Hopefully when these machines go into full production we'll see a welcome boost to the gaming market. In the meantime we've had updates to a couple of old favourites, as well as news of a couple of new titles on the horizon.
Spheres of Chaos
Iain McLeod has updated his popular shoot-'em-up Spheres of Chaos, which now has even more baddies, psychedelic graphical effects and power-ups than ever before. The game also now has what Iain calls "Scroll-o-vision", where your ship always stays in the centre of the screen, avoiding the disorientation caused when you fly off the edge and reappear on the other side.
Also included is joystick support and lower resolution settings for users with older machines. The game can be downloaded from Iain's Web site. An almost identical PC version is also now available. The full, registered version of the game was on sale from RCI's stand at the show, and Iain was there taking suggestions and showing visitors to the games arcade how the game should be played.
Star Fighter 3000+
A few months ago, Chris Bazley released a patch for Star Fighter 3000 with various improvements and bux-fixes including:
- Fixing the key clash problem with Risc PC keyboards;
- Increasing the object pop-up distance (so you can see more hills in the distance; they don't just suddenly appear right in front of you, as shown in the screenshots to the right);
- Engine sound fix for Risc PCs;
- RISC OS 4 compatibility;
- Copy protection removed.
Version 2.00 of this patch has now been released, which makes the game StrongARM compatible. It can be downloaded from Chris' Web site at http://starfighter.acornarcade.com/. You will also need the Comp and Decomp modules supplied with the Stunt Racer 2000 level designer, available from http://homepage.eircom.net/~djkoshea/, and of course a copy of Star Fighter 3000. |
Without the patch
With the patch |
Artex news
Artex have been a bit quiet for a while, and there were a few concerns on the comp.sys.acorn.games newsgroup and some Web discussion forums that they may have deserted the RISC OS platform. However, this is not the case. The publisher of the PC version of their 3D strategy game Iron Dignity has been confirmed as TopWare (most famous for the PC RTS game Earth 2150), and release is still on target for Summer 2001. Due to the contract they have with TopWare, the PC version will be released first, with the RISC OS version following about three months later.
Artex' other project, TEK is also looking promising, and three of their team members are now working solely on this Command & Conqueror-style strategy game with the hope of getting it ready for release at next year's Wakefield show.
Eat My Dust
Another game that was evident at the show was Visions of the Impossible's new racing game, Eat My Dust, an early version of which was spotted on one of the machines in the games arcade. This overhead racing game will look familiar to players of the console favourite, Micro Machines, and as well as the usual racing game its features includes various weapons and 'extras' such as oil slicks and sheep.
VOTI seems to be putting a lot of effort into the multi-player side of the game, so playing with other people on one machine and playing over a serial connection should be possible, and hopefully playing over the Internet will be an option as well. A level editor will be included, so you can create your own tracks.
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| Title screen |
In-game |
Also at the show...
R-Comp Interactive was selling copies of the Second Edition of the RISC User ...in a Nutshell CD-ROM which, in addition to all the software on previous RISC User magazine discs, includes a RISC OS 4-compatible version of Desktop Hacker, the full version of Wolfenstein 3D, and many other games (including some old Superior titles). A bargain at £32.
Hatching the Krisalis
RCI also has news of an exciting new release which should be out in time for Christmas: the Krisalis Collection, a special-edition CD-ROM containing as much of the Krisalis Software back-catalogue as can be arranged. The CD's contents and price have not been absolutely finalised yet, but it will contain roughly 25 to 30 games and will cost in the region of £30 which, at around £1 per game, sounds like an amazing deal. The games are all being updated to work on the latest hardware, and will come with full copies of the original documentation. The collection may well be available when you read this, so give RCI a ring on 01925 755043 or visit their Web site to find out if it is.
