From: scot@jlc.mv.com (Scot Salmon)
Subject: Re: Wanted Network Games Info (Minotaur 1.01, NetTrek 3.0, Bolo???)
Organization: John Leslie Consulting, Milford NH
Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1993 01:58:04 GMT

In article <1992Dec29.142454.1@cc.curtin.edu.au> crod@cc.curtin.edu.au (Scott Kevill) writes:
>In article <1992Dec28.174806.1@vax1.umkc.edu>, bfoulk@vax1.umkc.edu writes:
>> [ ... ]
>> Also, has anybody had any experience w/NetTrek 3.0?  I think its the color
>> commercial version of the old SW game.  I have called several large mail order
>> places (MacWarehouse, MacZone, Mac'sPlace) and none of them seem to stock it.
>> Some of the people thought it was stoped being produced.  Does anybody know
>> where I can buy a copy, perhaps from the company directly?  Dou know if its
>> System 7 comp?  Does it work well?  (decent interface-speed/fast action)  I was
>> looking a new network game--we've played the life out of Bolo, Spectre, and
>> Mintoaur.  I'd appreciate any info you can give me.
>
>I haven't heard of NetTrek 3.0, but I do know of The Real NetTrek
>which is the commercial version of NetTrek 2.0 (the shareware
>version). NetTrek's not a bad game, but I got sick of it a lot
>quicker than I did for Bolo. I saw The Real NetTrek a while ago,
>and there is not much difference to the shareware version. The
>only differences I can remember are 1: a high score chart or hall
>of fame or something, and 2: the game has been 'colourized'.
>When I say 'colourized' I mean just that. The original b&w bitmap
>drawings are still there but the pixels are coloured (ie. the
>graphics haven't been re-designed.) So if you want to play NetTrek,
>IMHO go for the shareware version. I'm pretty sure both versions
>are System 7 compatible. I don't remember any bugs in either, the
>interface is quite reasonable, and there can be some pretty heated
>shooting battles.

Well, both versions "work" but 3.0 has some definite advantages AND
disadvantages.

+ color - everything is colorized, planets, ships, background, everything
+ reliability - 3.0 hardly ever crashes, whereas 2.0 crashed all the time
                network reliability is also up (i.e. multi-player)
+ single-player mode - I forget whether 2.0 had this, but 1.0 sure didn't
+ definitely System 7 compatible (I'm pretty sure 2.0 has problems with 7)
  (and MultiFinder/System 7 'multitasking' is safer with 3.0)

- BIG MINUS (I returned my copy because of this) requires 1 serial number per
  two players, i.e. you can have a 2 player gave with one copy, a 4 player game
  with two copies...whereas with 2.0 you could have up to 6 players (at which
  point it started to break down, very unreliable and unacceptably slow)
- costs $30
- still has some annoying "features" that can't be turned off, like 5 second
  countdown with loud bang/messed-up screen when you quit and long "screen
  wipes" when you die

>
>According to the news on the Bolo ftp server (bolo.stanford.edu),
>the next release (Version 0.96) is very close to completion.
>
>I, too, am eagerly awaiting this.
>

Yah!  Do we have a new features list for it yet?  Bolo is a great game.  I
hope he fixes the bugs with making alliances, in particular have a new member
trying to join a team that already exists.

Is there a color Bolo map editor out there?  I have the ResEdit extension that
is at bolo.stanford.edu, but that's really hard to use because the squares are
so small.  I really prefer the Bolo Map Editor application, but the lack of
color makes it hard to follow sometimes.  I kinda assume whoever wrote it is
stuck on a B&W Mac somewhere, because adding color really isn't all that hard.
(if you have the source; you can only go so far with ResEdit!)

-- 
"Man himself is so unlikely that if he did not          | Scot Salmon
 exist, his possibility would not be worth discussing." | scot@jlc.mv.com
                                    - Damon Knight      | 101010 222 52 2A...
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games